Trip Tirupathi

Trip Tirupathi
For Sree’s Marriage

A Short Intro

I started writing this blog on 3rd May, 2008, couple of days after Sree’s marriage. And I am completing the same on 3rd May, 2009. Exactly one whole year to complete the blog. By the time I publish this blog, Sree even got a kid :). So I dedicate this blog to Sree’s kid. Long time since I spoke to Sree as well. Din't get time! I am not sure if she is in US or India by now. I have to find that out and talk to her to know about her kid!

Ok! Now lets go back an year via the blog.

Sree’s Marriage Plan

At last, finally Sree’s marriage was fixed in a short notice to be on 1st May 2008 at Tirupathi with an andhrite Krishnama Raju, a tall smart guy working in Tech Mahindra at Bangalore who was planning to go USA after the marriage.

Our initial plan was that, Giri, Ajith and I would attend the marriage function at Tirupathi. The surprise factor for all of us was the marriage was scheduled at early morning 3 AM on 1st May 2008. Can’t even imagine! But it is a usual practice in Andra it seems. So we booked the train tickets for 30th April 2008 evening 4:35 PM in Tirupathi – Mysore Garudathiri express. And the return tickets were booked for 1st May 2008 10:05 AM Madras express train. But unfortunately Giri could not join us due to his health conditions. So we cancelled Giri’s ticket to reduce the list to just Ajith and I.

My Plan for the day – 30th April ‘08

This was my plan for the day,
- Reach office by 9:30 AM
- Onsite Call to know the work for the day
- Not to do any work assigned for the day
- Get a greeting card for Sree
- Close the three Process Audit observations for the month of March
- Leave office by 1:00 PM
- Reach home by 2:30 PM
- Pack up, have lunch and start from home by 3 PM
- Reach Central Railway station by 4 PM
- Leave Chennai to Tirupathi by 4:35 PM

All reasons how things go as planned

Wednesday 30th April 2008 9:35 AM, I switched on my PC at ‘TDL08E10’ Tidel Park 8th floor north wing ‘A’ block. To my surprise I got some work for the day from Onsite. But as planed I decided not to do any of them. So just checked my Cognizant mails, UHC mails, Gmail and went for a coffee. Good start is half done! By 10:30 AM my cell phone reminded me to get a greeting card for Sree. I went to ‘Dawn's Blossoms’ shop at Tidel Park 1st floor. As I entered, a card with a cake on its cover hit my eyes. The cake and Sree’s face flashed for a moment and I picked the card instinctively.

I started working on the Audit observations by 11:00 AM. I gave a clean finishing touch to it with a mail to the SQAG QR with evidences to close the observations by 12:35 AM. So far so good! But will this go well till the end? My Project Lead came to challenge it. God! He wanted to review a presentation on “Spring” prepared by my team mate. I almost decided that the total plan has been collapsed. But fate played its game my way! Thank God! My Project Lead was called for a different status meeting. So we postponed the review meeting to Monday. Cool!

I started from my place to meet Ajith at 6th floor Tidel Park north wing ‘B’ block. I handed over the card to him to get it signed from the AUP team. After having a short chat with the team I called it a day. It was a perfect 1:00 PM when I unlocked the last access controlled door at Tidel Park with my ID card. So far so good!

I reached the Tiruvanmiyur MRTS railway station by 1:04 PM and a train heading to Chennai Beach graced the 2nd floor platform no 2 by 1:09 PM. It is a Mr. Ideal metro rail colloquially called “Flying Train” in Chennai. No Traffic… No Signal… No Diversion… No Staging… No Breakdown… Apart from all these ‘No Hassle’ factors, we have a few free value added services as well. Fresh air flow… Perfect Chennai city view… Fabulous view of the second largest sea shore in the world, Marina reflecting the streaks of the scorching sun… Enjoying the value added services with “No Hassle” factors; I reached the Park Town station by 1:38 PM. It took me 5 hard minutes in the sizzling sun to walk till the Central Bus stop nearby. Within a minute I saw a 7H coming to pick me up till Anna Nagar. MTC bus travel in Chennai is truly tough to manage; that too in summer. It is just converse of the “No Hassle” Metro trains. I reached the Collector Nagar bus stop by 2:29 PM. It took me another 3 hard minutes in the same boiling sun to reach my home by 2:32 PM. It’s just a couple of minute’s divergence from my plan. Still so far so good!

After lying down for a few minutes under the fan to beat the heat, I started packing up for the trip. It barely took 2 minutes to pack up with the help of my mom. A special thanks to Mathan for rumpling my neatly pressed shirt. I took my next 15 minutes for lunch and the successive 5 minutes to get ready. Finally I left my home as my clock ticked 3:00 PM. Perfect! So far so good!

I preferred a train to bus for all the good known reasons. So after a short while in the bus stop, I boarded a share auto to Nungambakkam railway station by 3:07 PM. On my way, I sought to make sure if Ajith has started from his home. I was surprised to see his reply for my “Wher r u..?.” SMS. It was because; he was on his way to home at around 3:25 PM. I really doubted if he would reach the station on time. But Ajith was confident that he would. I also wanted him to bring a Nokia charger as my mobile was running out of life. After another horrible half an hour horrible travel in the auto, I reached the metro station by 3:40 PM. I had a few minutes to relax in the station before I sight a train bound to Chennai Beach reach the platform. Ajith ringed me just as I got into the metro train to say that he has missed the train and he is on the way in an auto to Central railway station. This was not surprising to me as I anticipated this. He also added that he has to pay 200 bucks for the Auto which he did not have. So he asked me to wait in front of the Central railway station. After a 6 minutes train travel, I reached the Park station by 3:52 PM. Perfect isn’t it!? Its 8 minutes ahead of my plan. Hats off to my self! So far so good!

Ajith’s Plan for the day – 30th April ‘08

This was Ajith’s plan for the day,
- Reach office by 10:00 AM
- Planned to complete the “Session time out issue”
- Leave office by 2:15 PM
- Reach home by 2:30 PM
- Pack up and start from home by 3 PM
- Reach Central Railway station by 4 PM
- Leave Chennai to Tirupathi by 4:35 PM

All reasons how things go against the plan

Ajith reached office at11:00 AM which was an hour shift from the plan. The next shock for him was he has got a few more tasks other than the only planned task. Based on the priority of the new tasks, the already planned task took the back seat. The other tasks which occupied the front seat are, updating the HPSD status sheet, configuring data extract automation in FTP, send the CFS code change to onsite, update onsite about the status of a problem ticket. With these priority tasks, he planned to do the “session time out issue” in parallel with the help of Senthil. He started the data extract automation with the help of Vijay Bhasker as he is doing it for the first time. CFS code change was like Greek and Latin for Ajith as he was working in ASP for the first time in his 2 years of life in Cognizant. Struggling to complete the tasks, time went past 2:15 PM. The actual planned task, which was happening in parallel, started by 11:35 AM and got over by 2:35 PM. As the time went past 2:30 PM, Ajith decided that he could not complete all the tasks; so he handed over the HPSD status sheet update to Suganya.

He prepared 4 mails on different subject to onsite in next 20 minutes and rushed to catch the 3:00 PM train to Velachery. But he just saw the training moving on as he reached the station. So he got to wait till 3:20 PM to take the next train to Velachery. Ajith also took the same Mr. Ideal metro train to Velachery by 3:20 PM and reached Velachery by 3:30 PM. The same train would wait for 10 minutes in the station and start back to Beach station by 3:40 PM. Ajith’s plan was to go back to home, which was 600 – 700 meters from the station, pack up, charge the cell phone and come back to the station to catch the same train. All these should happen within 10 minutes of time. Possible..?? Impossible..?? Ajith ran all the way to his home to reach in 3 minutes time. Packing up, he spent 3 minutes to find his cell phone charger in vain but. Finally he just got 2 minutes to reach the station back from home. He again started running and even got lift from a biker to reach the station. An action replay was executed in the Velachery station. Yes! He reached the station just to witness the train leave for Beach. The next one is only at 4:10 PM. Obviously he can’t wait for the next one. So he decided to take an auto to reach the Central railway station. He called me up and said, he took an auto and need to pay Rs. 200 which he did not have at the moment. So he asked me to wait near the entrance of the station. As his cell phone was dying for charge, he switched if off. Wondering whether he would reach the station on time or not, he was enjoying the fast and furious drive in the auto. When he reached Spencer plaza, he called me up to boost my hopes. Finally he reached the station at 4:27 PM.

Ultimate perplexity at 11th hour

As soon as I reached the station, I rushed in to check the platform number. It was platform number 7 which would grace the Tirupathi Garudathiri Express. Then I came out to wait for Ajith to come in the hot sun! I though I should call Ajith to make sure where exactly I should wait in front of the station. But I was irritated by the pleasant voice saying “The Vodafone number you have dialed is switched off. Please try again later.” I got a bit tensed. I kept on trying to reach him in vein just to hear the same irritating message in the same pleasant voice. I also dropped him a SMS which was pending for delivery. I could not realize what is happening and could not imagine what would happen. The time was 4:15 PM and yet to get any update from Ajith. I almost decided that we would miss the train and the total plan is screwed up! As the time passed, I started thinking about reasons to tell Sree for not making it for her marriage!

Finally my mobile vibrated for Ajith’s call at 4:19 PM. I got my hopes back and attended his call. Ajith told me that his mobile is also dying for charge; so he had it switched off. And he added that he has just crossed Spencer Plaza. All my hopes rose a few seconds back fell to ground! I thought he could not reach the railway station in another 10 minutes. When the situation was shitted, a crow wanted to make it more explicit. Yes! A crow shit my shirt. Cleaning it, I waited anxiously for Ajith. I was looking into every auto that crossed me to find Ajith inside it. All praise to the auto driver who took Ajith to the Central railway station in just 6 minutes from Spencer Plaza. Ajith called me up at 4:25 PM asking where I stand? Yes! I missed his auto. Ajith said that, he is standing near a tree in front of the station. The station is at least 300 meters long with lots of trees in front. Where to search for him?!? Finally, after both of us running here and there I sighted him after 2 minutes by 4:27 PM. He was just 10 meters away from me! Adding sour to our situation, I found the CCTP (Chennai City Traffic Police) barricades betweens us. I ran around 15-20 meters to take a U turn to catch him. I handed over two hundred rupee notes from my purse to him and waited for him to come back.

It was 4:28 PM and my hopes were back again; we had 7 more minutes for the train to start. Still we started running to platform 7 overtaking the entire crowd in the station. The railway clock showed 16:30:04 when we reached the platform to witness that the Tirupathi Garudathiri Express did not leave Chennai with out Ajith and I. We got a bit relieved and started walking leisurely when I just wanted to make sure it is right train. Then we started searching for our coach D2. We walked till the end of the train just to realize that we did not see the coach D2 at all. Crap! Our fate was still chasing us to ditch. We started running back and it was too late; the train started. So we just got into a compartment near by which was a jam packed general compartment.

There! Started out second innings of the wrangle for the day!

Get… Set… Go… Search D2…

Ajith and I were just relaxed that at least we got into the train. The scorching sun and the 11th hour tension evoked our thirst. To our surprise, we saw a guy selling cool drinks coming our way. Ajith got a sprite bottle to yield our thirst. We were standing near the door awaiting the train to stop at the next station. We enquired a guy sitting there to know that D2 would be just two compartments away from the one we were in and also the next stop would be Perambur. The train stopped at Perambur station the next 15th minute. We got down in a hurry from the train on to a horrible station which did not even have a proper platform. We ran in search of D2. To our surprise, no coach had its name posted on it and every coach looked like a general compartment. We even enquired a few about D2; but just got back a perplexed look as if we asked their month’s salary! No one knew that a D2 coach existed. Crap! The train started moving in less than a minute and we rushed into another coach which also happened to be a general compartment. Ajith and I were really disappointed that we are standing in a general compartment even after booking a ticket in advance.

Cursing our fate, we were standing near the door watching the hot Chennai moving on… We had to wait for quite a long time to see the train stopping in the next station. We could not even change our topic to talk something other than finding D2! We even thought that TTE would have cancelled our tickets by this time and even if we find D2 in the next station, we would have to continue standing in a general compartment. But still, Ajith was so determined that at least a single station before Tirupathi we should find D2 and occupy our seats. After all we reserved it for us na! In our course of standing in the general compartment and running for D2 in platform, we enquired about D2 to a lot of people. The funniest part of it is that none of them knew that a reserved coach called D2 ever existed. Such a bad time of ours!

The train halted in a station at around 5:30 PM. Still with 100% hope, we started running back and forth the platform in search of D2. Unlucky Ajith and I did not find it again till the train started again. Fate was still chasing us! With 102% disappointment we got into another coach which looked a bit free giving an impression that it was a reserved compartment. With no hope, we enquired an old chap about D2. For the first time we got a convincing answer that it was a reserved coach but he did not know what the coach name is. As the old chap boosted our hope back to 100%, we were just roaming inside the coach. There we sighted a guy with specs reading a Sidney Shelton book, who had all the very looks of a typical software engineer. We enquired him whether it was D2. We were really exited to hear him saying, “No. It is D3.” Thank God! At last we met a person in the train who knew about ‘D’ named coach in the train. We ran to the end of the coach to see the name of the coach posted on it. Ajith hanged out of the door to make sure it was D3. Yes! It was. So we ran to the other end of the coach assuming the reserved coaches would be connected to each other. You know; our fate was still chasing us and the chase episode was yet to come to an end. The coaches were not connected. I just hanged out of the door to see D2 posted on the next coach. We were on cloud 9! Finally we were relived to a great extent. The reason why we could not find D2 so far was that the train had stopped in stations where the platform happened to be on other side of the train where the coach name is posted. Height of Fate’s game! Ajith and I were eagerly waiting for the next station.

Finally into D2

The train halted in a station at 5:55 PM. We rushed to the next compartment and identified the seat numbers 64 and 65. Alash! Finally, at last, after 1 hr and 20 minutes we reached the seats we were supposed to have started our journey from. Our 1 and a half hour wrangle inside the train ended there. It was really a great experience in a train for the first time both Ajith and I.

The bogie was occupied by a small family; a mom, dad a two daughters. I would call them a perfect middle class family enjoying their trip. Both the gals were not really great but not bad too! A good relaxation after 3 hours of struggle. After relaxing for quite some time, Ajith and I started talking something or other for a long time. Our topics shuffled between A à Z of 0 à ∞. Chennai… Tamil Nadu… Andra… Andra meals… Kerla food… Kerla gals… AUP… College… EPD (PBD)… Electronics… Trees… Lake (which passed by)… Nature… Universe… Java… Struts… Spring… JSF… College love stories… Love break ups… and what not….!!??!! As usual chatting with Ajith was interesting.

Fun with Sowmya & Saranya

Just being in the bogie for some time with the family, we learnt the name of the elder gal to be Sowmya and younger one to be Saranya. It was real fun to listen to their conversation. They both were teasing each other. Occasionally their mom too joined the fun to tease the dad. Ajith and I stopped our chat and stated following them! Then Sowmya took her dad’s Nokia mobile to play the traditional ‘Snake’ game. The bet between the sweet sisters was “will Sowmya score 500 points in the game?” Saranya was trying to distract Sowmya so that she does not reach 500 and she was confident that Sowmya would not reach the target. But Sowmya was determined to win Saranya and the game. Ajith and I just did not gamble on them; but were really exited to know who will win the game. Finally Sowmya won the game for her determination. She killed the snake with 540 points on board. There was a chaos for a few seconds.

Nenu Ra… Renigunta Reddy…

After crossing a few small stations, the train entered a major station at 8:10 PM. It was typical Andra Pradesh. And it was Renigunta. Ajith and I got down the train and checked for something to eat. We got a biscuit packet and a Maa bottle. We just stayed out to have a short chat. What else we have got to talk about now! Of course it was about Sowmya and Saranya. We started debating who was better. Saranya vs. Sowmya. But Ajith came up with an out-of-the-syllabus answer. He said the aunty (Saranya Sowmya’s mom) was better than both of the gals. I was shocked to hear his answer which was ethically, morally, psychologically, sensitively, perceptively wrong. In spite of all the said “ly” wrong factors, I had to accept with Ajith as his out-of-the-syllabus answer was a fact.

A few minutes latter the journey started again. To our surprise the train started moving toward Chennai. Within not more than 10 minutes before we realize the direction, the train was entering another major station. It was Tirupathi! Hooph! We reached our destination. Though we did not sight any board, as everyone got down, we also did.

@ Tirupathi

Just getting out of the platform, we saw a huge number of clean shave headed people to confirm we are at right place. We both switched on our cell phones. Ajith had 2 and I had 3 missed calls from Sree and a SMS which read, “Contact 9840865755 for any help”. Good to see that SMS. We got out of the station around 8:30 PM and called up the number which Sree gave. I spoke to Sree’s cousin and was told that we would be picked up in 5 minutes. Standing in front of the railway station in a busy road we were looking at the shops doing their peak hour business. Suddenly Ajith asked me, “Can you read the shop’s name board?” I replied, “I just can’t read a single character of it.” He was jumping in joy hearing my reply. I failed to understand the reason for his joy! Then he said, “This is how I feel being in Chennai for 2 years.” The very moment I understood the pain of the people who stay away from their home town for earning their daily bread. Hmmm… In a few minutes, a brand new Hyundai i10 came to pick us up to the reception hall. We met Sree’s brother in the hall and Sree’s cousin who was equal to 1 Ajith + 2 Lachus took us to a hotel nearby for refreshment. It was IPL season. We got ready watching a hot IPL match and came back to the reception hall by 9:10 PM.

The Reception

Sree & Krish were looking gorgeous on the Dias. Sree looked thin in her dark red designer saree dropped in northy style. But Sree & Krish could have smile a bit more. Ajith and I sat in the hall to relax for a few minutes. We decided to go to the Dias to meet Sree. As we just reached the Dias, the couple started clicking pics with Krish’s family. After waiting for a few minutes, we came back to our seats. After a few minutes latter we went back to the Dias again. Our fate was chasing us from Chennai till Tirupathi or what? Yes. Now the couple started clicking pics with Sree’s family. We came back to our seats again. For the 3rd time we went to the Dias after making sure that no one was at the Dias, except for the couple of course. So finally we met Sree & Krish. Ajith did not even remember to hand over the card to the pair posing for the photograph. Sree had to remind him to get her card!

What next? The aim of the experiment; yes the dinner. It was a original agmark Andra meals. Finishing the dinner with an ice cream we came back to the hall. After having another short chat with Sree we left the reception hall. Sree’s cousin took us to Tirupathi Devasthana Residence. It was close to midnight when we got settled in the room. And we have got to get ready by 2:30 AM the next day morning for the marriage. Horrible. In spite of this Ajith went for an evening walk and finally we slept at around 1 AM in the morning.

Miss Sree to Mrs Sree Krish

After snoozing both our mobile alarms twice, we both got up at 2:25 AM in the morning. Ridiculous. I have never seen the clock ticking 2:30 AM in my life time. With a high degree of reluctance, we both started getting ready. Finally we got out of the room sharp at 3:00 AM. We took an auto to the mandapam for Rs. 25. Only after a few minutes of travel we came to know that the driver did not know the route to the mandapam. The auto driver was speaking in Telugu, Ajith in Malayalam and me in Tamil. Ultimately no one understood each other. Great! It was a perfect mess. The auto driver showed us the whole of Tirupathi. The railway station… Two other Kalyana mandapams… APSRTC bus terminus… Two railway gates… Finally somehow he took us to the mandapam at 3:10 AM and we ended up paying Rs. 40 for the trip.
It was a perfect timing that we reached the mandapam. Sree was being taken to the Dias with a huge gang of relatives escorting her. Next it was Krish’s turn. He was also taken to the Dias. The funniest part of it was a screen was dropped between them. As some kind of religious rituals was going on, someone brought the so called ‘license’, ‘Thali’ with atchathai around the crowd. We were just waiting for our turn and the person just skipped us to move to the next row. Great insult!

It was 3:27 AM; the ‘D Time’ for Sree. Yes! Sree bowed for Krish to become Mrs. Krish. Actually Krish was under the process of tying the knot for about a minute. Was he knotting more than 3 or it was tough to get around Sree? Anyways, it was a strong knot. For the next few minutes the whole hall went to the Dias to bless the couple.

For the next 10 minutes it was real fun. The couple was made it sit facing each other and both were given a bowl of rice. The ritual was to take a hand full of rice and drop it on the other’s head. It was suppose to be a ritual. But Sree & Krish made it a game. Sree was not able to rise to the Krish’s head to drop the rice. So Krish would twice do the same by the time Sree does it once. Everyone in the hall enjoyed the game along with the couple.

Tamil Vs Malayalam

With one down, Ajith and I started talking about who was next on cards in AUP. I said “Next would be Ramya”. He said, “Oh! Remya.” There started a lingual war between Tamil and Malayalam. We started discussing the difference in accent between Tamil and Malayalam. Starting with Ramya Vs Remya, we went to RAM (PC RAM), ROM, Ram (person’s name), Rome and so on and on… As the couple was playing a few other games, Ajith and I were playing the lingual war. As usual it was fun with Ajith.

Full Andra meals @ 4:00 AM in the morning

At around 4:00 AM in the morning Sree’s mom and dad asked us to go have our food. We went to the dining hall to have a full Andra meal at 4:00 AM in the morning. This was the first time in my life time to have food at 4:00 AM in the morning that too a full meal. We felt like being in a dream. It was another typical Andra meal starting with ‘pappu podi’. It was really an amazing meal. But still Ajith felt that the Andra meal near Tidel Park was better :). We just relaxed for a few minutes there after our heavy meal at an unusual time. By the time, we could not find Sree & Krish. So we just informed her parents and brother and left the mandapam at around 4:30 AM. We again took an auto to the Tirupathi Devasthana Residence. We were surprised as he asked for just Rs. 15. He took a short right from the mandapam and a U turn in a while and we were at the destination in less than a couple of minutes. We looked at each other and thought how we were cheated by the auto driver in the morning. Anyways, it’s all in the game! We went back to the room and decided to have a short nap, get ready by 9:00 AM, roam around the city for a while and board the train at 10:05 AM. But as usual after snoozing the alarms for couple of times, we got up only at 9:00 AM. So our plan was a flop. We got ready in a hurry, vacated the room and went back to the mandapam to hand over the key to Sree’s brother. This time we were clever enough and decided to walk to the mandapam. The railway station was also walk able from the mandapam.

Kingfisher Strong

As we came out of the mandapam and crossed the railway gate, we saw a Bar. Ajith wanted to have a chill beer to beat the heat at Andra. So we went into the empty bar; may be we were the first customer for the day! Ajith asked for a Kingfisher strong beer. The waiter said, they had only Kingfisher Premium and not Strong. Though Ajith was not really happy with it, after a while of thought he ordered for Kingfisher Premium. The waiter brought a chill beer with 2 glasses. Ajith filled his glass very professionally. I asked him to fill a little of my glass. I just took it and was about to taste it. He stopped me and said, “Say cheers and continue”. So after the formal cheers, I tasted it. Crap! What the hell. I felt like drinking a juice made out of a rotten fruit. The smell was disgusting than its taste. By the time I came out of the feel of its taste, Aiith had started filling the glass for the second time. My god! I wondered how he is able to. Paying Rs. 68 for the crap, we left the bar. I badly wanted something else to get the bloody taste out of my taste buds. We searched for a boomer and got it only after enquiring a few shops. Finally we reached the railway station at around 9:40 AM. This time we were well in advance for the train. It was D4 for the return journey. We found D4 in first attempt this time and landed in our seats 25 and 26. The sun was even worse than the day before. Finally the train started at 10:10 AM. Though we got the seats on time this time, beating the sun was really tougher than the earlier. We really struggled during the journey. We alternately slept on and off till Chennai. At last we reached Chennai central by 2:20 PM. We departed from the station and we left home from there to end the Trip Tirupathi.

Moral of the Story

Below are the moral of the story “Trip Tirupathi”
- Be on time for train journey.
- Don’t plan for day time journey in April / May. Try A/C coach.
- Don’t gulp Beer. Try Rum instead.

Day 1 @ AUP

Prologue

It was the third time we assembled at Thiruvanmiyur bus depot on November 11 2005 to take a share auto to TCO. Surender, Preethi, Karthik Sundaram, Kalai Sundari, Sridevi, Karthik and I. With our usual bid to push Karthik Sundaram out of the auto, we reached TCO at around 9:30AM. Two batches, CHN05AJ032 (My Batch) and CHN05AJ033 were waiting anxiously at the ground floor TCO auditorium for their projects to be allocated on successful (!?!) completion of the Java training at Cognizant Academy.

We all know the infamous algorithm Cognizant uses to allocate project to ELTs. All the 25 people will be sorted by their last names and the first 3 or 4 would go to Project X, the next 3 or 4 would go to Project Y and so on. Amazing right! I don’t know who came up with this billion $ algorithm. So I knew most probably I would be working with

Tamilvanan Ananthakumar
Ulaganathan LakshmiNarayanan [It’s me!!!]
Vadivelmurugan Preethi
Vaiyapuri Jeyachandiran

in my very first assignment in Cognizant.


Chapter #1: Deciding our fate in Cognizant

It was around 10:30AM when Divya J, HR came into the audi to publish our fate. After a short informal chat, she came to the point. She declared that the whole batch AJ032 would be working together in a same project in SAP technology. So we all screamed in joy! Then she started reading out the names just for formality. But we all looked at her with a blank face as all the names were strange. Not from AJ032. Simultaneously, we heard a grand applause from the AJ033 batch. Oops! It was AJ033 which was set to work together. Divya apologized to all cheerless faces and started allocating projects for us, AJ032. Though none of us were interested to hear our manager’s name, we were to. I knew I would be in the last chunk to get a project according to the algo. Finally, I got my turn. As expected, Anand, Preethi, JC & I got into a same project and were asked to meet Mr. Sidharthan Swaminathan (contact no - 9443088808) at Siruseri, the farthest away Cognizant office in Chennai. Storing his no as Swaminathan in my mobile, we all started dispersing from the audi. So, it was time to end the AJ032 era. We congratulated each other and started moving to their allocated offices.

Chapter #2: 12:00 Noon Siruseri Shuttle

Anand had come in his bike to office. And JC joined him and they started their journey to explore the Siruseri Cognizant office, which we know was under construction. Preethi & I went to the security to know the shuttle timings. It was just around 11:15 and the shuttle was only at 12:00 noon. We had the guys got posted in Navalur were with us as their shuttle was at 11:30A.M. I just called up my dad and mom to inform that I am posted in Siruseri office for my first assignment in Cognizant. Next I called up Vinoth and Loka to inform the same. Vinoth did not pick his mobile. His mobile was out of service then, if I remember correct! After 11:30A.M, Preethi and I were left out in the TCO security room waiting for the security guy to inform us about the shuttle. We were talking about our training sessions just to kill time. My mobile then alerted me for Lakkshme’s call. I explained the same story to her in a short conversation. The time went past 12:00 noon and the security did not inform us about the shuttle. Doubtfully we enquired the security just to know that the shuttle has left on time! And he added that the next one was only at 3:30PM. So we called up Anand and JC who were in the verge of exploring the way to Siruseri office and informed that we will have our lunch at TCO and come by 3:30PM shuttle.

Chapter #3 Quick Lunch @ TCO

Next we called up the guys posted in TCO, Surender, Karthik Sundaram, Malar and Vadivu for an early lunch. Before even we start our lunch, I got a call from Anand. By the time Anand and JC had met Mr. Sidharthan (he was not Swaminathan!) at Siruseri. Anand said, Mr. Sidharthan would like to meet all four of us at Navalur office. So he asked us to be at Navalur ASAP. Preethi and I finished our lunch in a hurry and went to the security room again. We were said that the same 3:30PM shuttle would take us to Navalur as well. So we dropped catching the shuttle and decided to take a bus to reach Navalur immediately.

Chapter #4 Polaam Poo Van Travel to Navalur

We both dint even know where the bus stop was! So we waited in front of the TCO office to get a share auto or a van. With in a few minutes, we got one such not-so-crowded van. Once we got in it, the conductor said, “Poplaam Poo…” In the mean time, we informed the guys at Navalur, Kalai, Mohaideen, Deepak and Saravanan that we are on the way to Navalur. As we reached Sholinganallur, the van was almost empty. Seeing our ID card tags, the van conductor asked us, “which company you guys are working in?” I said him; we are working in CTS and going to Navalur office. He then started telling his own gloomy story. He said, he did not study well and all those story and added that one of his class mates was even working in Sholinganallur TCS. What a difference education makes in our life! Hmmm… At last we reached Navlur office at around 2PM, after a bumpy ride. Curse the IT Highway. The front view of Navalur office was impressive. We met Kalai in the Phase I reception and she left immediately to meet her manager. Then we met Deepak and Saravanan near the Phase II cafeteria side entrance. Within a few minutes we saw Anand and JC coming our way. As they approached us, I asked Anand, “Have you met Sidharthan?” He showed a guy in T shirt and Jean with a red colored helmet in hand who was moving fast in front of them and asked both of us to follow. Without a next word, Preethi and I said bye to Deepak and Saravanan and started following them.

Chapter #5 First Meeting @ NV21AM09

All four of us followed him to Phase II first floor. We went past the first access card controlled door and entered the work floor. For the first time I felt as a Software Professional seeing the ambience of an IT company! It was a great feeling then! Sidharthan (I will address Sidharthan as Sid going forward) led us through the next access card controlled door and asked us to wait in the meeting room, NV21AM09. The meeting room was net even air conditioned. It was too hot to stay inside. A minute later, Sid came in accompanied by another guy. We were asked to introduce ourselves with our names, college, and degree and so on. Then he introduced himself as Sidharthan and said he was also from Anna University, 1999 Civil Engineering. And the other guy introduced himself as Hari Shankar. Sid told that the project name is “Automated (!?!…) Project”. I could not realize the second word he spelled.

Now it was turn to screw up us. Sid asked what all you guys learnt in Academy Training looking at me! Unlucky me! I started, core Java, Advanced Java, SQL, XM… Sid interrupted me before even I complete XML and said, “Leave the rest. What all you learnt in Advanced Java?”[After all we all belong to Advanced Java batch 32 right!] I though. (“Who the hell knows!?!”) I just paused for a few seconds. Seeing my black face, JC came to my rescue. He added, we learnt JSP, Servlets and all… Hmmm… That’s when I knew these were collectively termed as Advanced Java! Great na! Then Sid asked us to explain out roles in the MFRP (My First Real Project) which we ‘should have’ done during our training! I said, I designed the HTML for the UI of the project and did some JavaScript validation. I did neither but! Everyone in the room knew this expect for Sid and Hari.

Finally Sid came to the purpose of the meeting. He said we will be working in a core development project based on JSF, Java Server Faces. It sounded Greek to me. And he added that the project is in design phase and the development is yet to start. After pondering a lot of stuff about the project in Manglish*, both Hari and Sid left the room. Immediately Anand shook hands with all of us saying, we are into a very good project. It was true! I asked the other, what is our Project Name? It is Automated ..!!??.. Project…! That’s when I realized that no one understood the 2nd word!

And now it was Hari’s turn to talk. He picked up a marker and jumped to the board to explain what JSF is. He used a lot of Java jargons during the session. I could make out none, which I was suppose to! He was talking about “Life Cycle”, “MVC”, Request, Response… and all those stuff. Hari was an over enthu and quick guy, jumping between his chair and the board quite often. Once the session was over, Anand said that we dint have lunch, so we’ll go have our lunch and be back. Sid said OK and was about to leave the room, when Anand interrupted again to ask him the full name of our project. Sid repeated, “Automated Underwriting Project (AUP)”. With the satisfaction that I learnt at least the name of the project, I left the meeting room. The very first meeting in Cognizant came to an end.

* Manglish - Managers' Language

Chapter #6 Lunch @ Andra Mess

We again met Kalai, Mohideen, Deepak and Saravanan outside and shared each others experience with our respective managers. Next we went down stairs to the check the cafeteria, which was closed. It was 3 PM! We dint know then that Phase I too had one. We then went out of the Navalur campus to search for a hotel. We saw a direction board named “Andra Mess” in front of the campus. We followed it to find a small hut hotel. Even though it was almost empty, it was not closed. Anand and JC started their late meal for the day. Preethi and I were just sitting on lookers. I dint even imagined that I would come to the same place for lunch often in future with a bigger same team even with Sid. It happened after one year then but! During the lunch, JC and Anand explained their adventurous journey in bike to find the Siruseri office, which can br written as a separate story! And we were back in the bay at around 3:45 PM.

Chapter #7 TeamAUP

We were again asked to wait in the same meeting room. A minute latter, Sid pulled the whole team of AUP in to the room. It was just a 9 member team with out us. It should be an introduction session, I thought and it was. We introduced ourselves and now it was their turn. They were, Balaji, Gowri Shankar, Maneshveni (None of us understood her name when she said one!), Thiripurasundari, Murugavel (We thought he was a great scientist of AUP then. But we latter realized, he was not!), Praveen Yarasu and Karthik. The team left back in the room after the short intro session. Then Hari came back in with a small bunch of printouts on JSF and distributed to us. I felt like having a Rebitex book on “Learn Malayalam in 21 Days”. Hari gave us the seat locations in Siruseri and asked us to take the evening shuttle to Sisruseri and start reading JSF. Was he crazy? I thought! Why can’t we leave home now? It’s just the very first day in the project right?!

Chapter #8 Siruseri Shuttle and my Fate

With a bit frustration, we went towards the security gate to take the evening Siruseri shuttle. The whether was moody and it was drizzling a bit. So with our umbrellas expanded, we enquired the security about the evening Siruseri shuttle. My fate against the Siruseri shuttle chased me still. To our surprise the security told us that the evening shuttle to Siruseri is not shunted on Fridays. His answer was a bit convincing for us as we assumed that we could leave home now! So I called Hari on his mobile and informed him that we don’t have the evening Siruseri shuttle on Fridays, expecting nothing other than “Go Home” word. He just paused for a sec and casually asked us to come back to the bay and read from there. I was highly shocked to hear that. After exchanging a weird looks with each other, we went back to the work floor, Phase II first floor.

Chapter #9 6:30 PM and still running

We met Sid and Hari again in the work floor. Sid asked us to sit along with them and read JSF (The Rebitex book!). Instantly JC said him, “We will sit in the cafeteria and read”. At least we could talk to each other na! But Sid dint accept and asked us to sit along with them. He is our manager right! Among 4 of us, I was asked to sit in Sid place and read. Unlucky me again! I don’t really remember where the other 3 were placed. None of us were even able to spin our eyes out of the JSF Rebitex. It was horrible time since I joined Cognizant. I still remember, while I was reading (just looking actually!), Sid was asking Karthik about some cost of a few softwares from RAMS, which he had asked for earlier.

I managed to read JSF till 6 PM in the evening, but nothing made much sense to me though. As the clock crossed 6 PM, I was eagerly waiting for Sid / Hari to ask us to leave for the day. But that dint happen at all. After all the working hours is 9 AM to 6 PM right! Beyond 6 PM, I could not even read a single word, but I turned back and forth a lot of pages. The training effect! Leaving sharp at 6 PM. I really felt tough to kill time as my mood was all inclined to leave home. The clock crossed 6:30 PM as well. No sign from Sid / Hari yet. But every one around were seen to be working so active only beyond 6 PM. I wondered, “Do these people even go home in the evening!?!” Finally when the time was close to 7 PM, my bad luck said good bye. We were again called back to the same hot meeting room by Sid. Of course Hari joined us. I guess that was the latest we stayed at office till then. I dint even imagine that that would be the earliest time to leave going forward!

Chapter #10 Good bye Day 1 @ AUP

Once we all assembled in the room, Sid looking at us asked, “Where are we?” None of us immediately answered the question. You know why? Because, none of us understood his question as such! I was really puzzled by this question. I was wondering… we are sitting at Navalur office na…! Then why is asking this funny question, that with a very serious look! If he would have kept quite for a few more seconds, I would have replied him, “We are in Navalur”. Thank God! He spoke again, making his question more lucid. He asked, “Where are we in JSF?” Aaah…! I virtually laughed aloud. We all then put forth some points each about JSF in turns. Then after a short lecture in Manglish, we heard the most awaited, billion dollar word, “Go Home”. At last the longest so far came to an end. When we came out, it started raining. Anand and JC left took his bike to way home. Preethi and I met Kalai, who was just waiting for us and went to the bus bay to find our way back home.

Epilogue

The upcoming days in AUP were really miserable to all 4 of us that too immediately after our Class A training at Academy. We were shuttling between Navalur and Siruseri for a few days till the Siruseri office blazed. We all got two PCs each allocated, while quite a few of our batch mates’ dint even got a seat. And the days went past and on 22nd February 2006, all 4 of us were confirmed as Programmer Analyst from PAT. Next the MUW R1 went into production successfully (Is it !?!). Preethi got released from AUP to EES in March 2006. After a few months in MUW R1 QA support, all 3 of us we moved into FUW Online Phase II. We were well settled in AUP during this period and everything was going good. And in January 2007, JC quit Cognizant to join SAP. Then Anand and I worked in OLCS for a few months. Next we both got into some ad hoc modules like, RRF, DSMT, Data Selection and so on… Next it was Anand’s turn to depart AUP. He moved to Oracle in May 2007. In the mean time, the project went through a rough whether and it was about to come to an end. Just a month before the grand finale of AUP, I got released and got in Product Benefit Data Base (PBD) in June 2007, last among the 4 to get out of AUP. And finally AUP was wound up in early August 2007.

Yelagiri Trip!!!

Yelagiri Trip
“Well Planned is half done…”
But the above verse doesn’t hold good for our trip. October 11th 2007, evening 6:30, Praveen stood from his place to ask, “Shall we go to Yelagiri tomorrow?” Knowing the pathetic situation of our project, we dint make a decision right away. Once we spoke to our onshore coordinator, we finalized that we will be @ Yelagiri on October 12th 2007. Within another two hours, Praveen made arrangements for Qualis to and fro. Planning Done!

Journey Started…
We all me at Ponnamalle bus terminus to start our “Well Planned” trip! We started our travel after having a hot sip of tea. The journey was cool one as the road was too good for Qualis.

Hero of the Trip…
Right from minute 1, Barathiraja a.k.a. Barathi was the target of everyone. I don’t want to cause any more damage to the girl as we have already done injustice more than possible during the trip! I think some one would have blessed Barathi as “Nee romba nallvan”. So he was ready to accept what ever was put on him.

@ Vellore…
We dropped at Vellore, the hottest place in Tamil Nadu (Yes! It was) to have our break fast around 9 AM in the morning. Once done, we got into the Vellore fort to feel the taste of ancient architecture (No more OO design!). The silent temple of Jalagandeshwarar inside the fort was a good one. Next we decided to go round the great wall of the Vellore fort. We just went for over the walls for a few metes to find nothing other than a few “So Called” lovers sitting (!?!) around. Then we continued our journey towards Yelagiri.

Way to go… Yelagiri…
After an hour’s travel, we started climbing the Yelagiri hills. Yes! It is suppose to be a hill station. So the weather got changed to be pleasant. Finally we reached “the” place at around 12 noon after crossing 14 hairpin bends all named after “Thiruvallur Valaivu”, “Kambar Valaivu” a few to mention. “Aai Valaivu” needs a special mention here…:). We were wondering where to start our sight seeing, so stopped at a tea shop to know that nothing :is there to start with…!!! :(. Before we finish our hot cut of tea Barathi had a chat with the Yelagirites and we decided to visit the Boat House to start with.

So called Boat House…
After paying Rs.3/- entry fee each (including the “Non Stop Nonsense Driver”) for the Park cum Boat House, we just saw a small muddy pond there with a couple of worn out boats in the pond. So we dropped the boating plan and just went around the lake as the weather was quite cool. Again back to square one at Yelagiri we saw a “So Called” lover under a tree, but in a different posture this time (Yelagiri was a bit cool!!!). During the hour long walk around the lake all 6 of us were targets in turns…Take a Break… Have your Lunch…On the way back from the lake in search of a good restaurant, we found a guy standing outside a small road side hotel. Praveen enquired “Where do we have a decent hotel here?” The guy directed us to “Hotel Yelagiri”. But latter we realized the he was the owner of the small road side hotel. At Hotel Yelagiri we were made to wait for more than half an hour to get the food on our tables. In the mean time Senthil called a guy standing there asking for water. He politely served us and finally said, “I served you guys. But I have also come here for lunch as you did.” We all looked at each other and said an embarrassing sorry to that guy and continued our spicy lunch.

Trek… the only consolation @ Yelagiri…
Next we planned for trekking… We were heading towards the way to “Swami Malai”, a small hill above which a temple is located. So we expected a hill to start. But we were on our foot for about 15 mins to reach the base of the hill. The time we started climbing the hill it was hot as in Chennai!!! Moving on, as the altitude raised, it was a bit cool and green. As usual we halted at most place to have photo sessions. Tough the hill was a small one, it was too steep and the path was bad. So everyone got tiered soon. Praveen and Maruthu were not able to climb beyond a point. They halted at a shady place. We four (Senthil, Sathya, Barathi and I) continued our trek. It was really awesome, climbing beyond that point. It was not a usual trek spot where we could see ppl moving up and down. We were climbing alone. As the altitude rose, it was more interesting and thrilling. Finally, we reached “The” spot. The highest point of Yelagiri hills. It was really worth climbing. Amazing! A small temple build on a single piece of rock was good piece of work. We were 4 there. Had a camera in hand. What else, we shot nearly 40 to 50 snaps there. None of us were willing to leave the place. We just lied down on the rocks for some time. At last it started getting dark. So we decided to climb down. It was not as bad as climbing up. As a whole it took 3 and a half hour to come back to square one. We 4 were sure; Praveen and Maruthu missed the ultimate sense of the trip.

EOD :) Need some place to stay…
We started searching for a place to stay under utter tiredness. We enquired quite a few places and finally settled down at “Hotel Ajay”. The owner/manager/room boy/“all in all” guy there was in 101% OH­­­--. Just settled down in the room and went for our dinner. Thanks, at least we had TV in the room. Browsed thru’ and finally decided to watch “Salaam Namaste” in Sony Max. There… Day one ends.

My dear gals... plz do not read the below stanza…
We all woke up around 8 in the morning. A few went out for a coffee. And we all started getting ready for the next most awaited falls “Jalagam Paarai falls”. Sathya, Maruthu and I got ready and the rest were in Q. Mr.“All in all” came to our room. He dint open his mouth at all. Just signaled us to come out. None of us understood what he was trying to tell. He repeatedly was imitating the same thing asking us to come out. We thought that he was asking us to vacate the room immediately, wondering why!!! Then he symbolized a girl and asked us to come out. Ah… Finally we got what he was trying to tell us…!!! Yes! We were literally called for “prostitution”! We were speechless for a minute as it was absolutely unexpected. Getting out of the shock we said him we are not interested. Then he said, you guys should keep up your words and should not say no to what you asked for. Then we explained him we dint ask for this and you might have come to our room by mistake. He just looked around the room and said a big sorry and went out. Few minutes latter he called our Qualis driver and asked him to find out if any of us are interested. Thank God! He said a no to him. We hurried the rest of the ppl to get ready soon and get out of the lodge as soon as possible. And finally we got ready to vacate the room. Mr.“All in all ” called us and said just have a look at the girl. If you guys don’t like leave it else you can... And also he added that it’s just Rs.300 per head!!! At last we managed to move out from that place after a snap in front of the lodge :). This was the first time we felt happy for not having a girl in our team. Thank God!

Jalagam Paarai falls…
Traveling thru’ the sugarcane and banana fields we reach the Jalagam Paarai falls. We went in search of the falls for a few minutes and finally found out some water leaking between the rocks. Assuming this to be a falls, Barathi and the driver took bath in that so called falls. After yet another disappointment, we started our way back to Chennai.

Back @ Vellore…
On our way back with utter disappointment, we decided to visit the Golden Temple in Vellore. We reached the temple premises at around 4 PM. It was said that it would take around 3 hrs to come back. So, every one was reluctant to go for it. But finally we made up our mind to visit the temple. Ooof... what a rush!!! Too hard to manage. But after one hr of snail movement, we reach the entrance of the temple. As soon as we entered the temple, the environment was too good. The green effect was simply superb. Full of marbles. Paka maintenance. Good see a temple like that. Finally we reached the golden part of the temple. It was worth waiting for it. It glittered like anything. None of us were able to believe our eyes. So much of gold in one place. The core temple area was surrounded by a pool of water which reflecting the scintillating “Kopuram” of the temple. This was the second consolation for us after the trek.

Back to Chennai…
We started back our journey to Chennai. But our eyes were still in the Golden Temple! To get out of it we saw an accident on our way back. Finally we reached Chennai around 12 midnight. Then next day we were designing our same old pdf reports…