Guys, let me tell you a story.. A story of my last weekend in Scotland.
Venkat and I, planned for an outing .. away from the buzzing cities, to discover the country side of Scotland.Its indeed marvelous. The beauty of the nature at its best.
Cutting short, we reached the Craingorm mountain the next day.Before I move ahead, let me tell you something about Craingorm mountain. This is the famous for skiing in UK. It attracts professional skiers from all over the world .. and so it did attract us :P . This was the first time skiing experience for us and we were excited . We were the among the first ones to reach the place and it was still closed and we were in the queue for the tickets,which reminded me of my college days, standing in front of the theatres to watch the movie on the first day, first show !!. We hired the skiing equipments and were all set.
Upon reaching the peak , we were there at the 6th highest peak in UK, covered with snow and it was truly beautiful. We watched the people skiing, how they made their turns and most important thing was How to STOP !!. It was a peak and we had to stop somewhere at any cost !. I couldn't count the number of times I fell during the first hour at the peak. I was here when it was snowing and believe me, its horrible to walk and now, i was skiing! After making enough number of attempts, we both were tired and decided to give up. Upon arrival to the camp, a voice of the instructor said "You can't be tired so soon !". We tried to convince her with the fact that it was our first time just like we try to convince our clients on the code we have delivered :P. My friend, Venkat was asking the lady the techniques of skiing and i kept on listening. She demonstrated everything from start to the technique to stop, which, according to me, was the most important part. After all the demonstration was over, Venkat said "How long does it usually require to learn ?". The lady replied "Almost no time !". And she said, with her finger pointing to her head "Its all here. If you wish you can, you can!".
Now, this charged me up. I did fall a couple of times after that, but guys, i did ski for the next 4 hours and this was one of the most memorable days of my life!. When i came down to the camp, i wanted to thank the lady for all the words that inspired me, but i couldn't find her. This was really an eyeopener for me and so would like to tell you "If you think you can, you can!!"
signing off for now.
cheers,
vineeth
Monday 31 May 2010
Saturday 16 January 2010
My First International Flight ...
AI 131 .. Mumbai to Heathrow Airport,London.
The very sight of the e-ticket gave me goose bumps! Offcourse, what more could I expect when I ask the travel desk in my office to book a ticket 2 days prior to my travel date ? I somehow made my mind to embrace the fact that I had to travel by the same airline. As the blog's title contains "Mango Man" , I would like to ask you one simple question. A question about Air India. What would be the first image that comes to your mind, when i say "Air India" ? I would say , the majority would imagine an aunty as an air hostess!! well, its indeed true.
I practically envied all the passengers in the air port, flying with the Kingfisher, virgin atlantic, only to name a few. I had a co passenger , a colleague , a friend with me consoling me all the time. I arrived at the airport at 9 PM IST and the flight departure time was 2 AM IST. The moment I got down of the taxi at the airport, I was one among the crowd.The scene at the airport was exactly like the crowded MG Road on Pune, the Majestic Bus Stand of Bangalore, the Durgad Bail of Hubli. The unusual crowd was due to the Haj pilgrims. It always happens in India, One person travelling, and the whole family is at the airport to see you off or receive you.I entered the airport so that i could make calls in peace and the person at the other end could hear me !! I called up my friends, as many as I could, on my way from Pune to Mumbai. As expected, the response from them was "What the hell" as I was informing them at the last moment. It always happens, if you are working in a software company,in the company i work ,and the most important bit.. IN THE PROJECT I WORK.. you would never know when your trip would be cancelled.I remember the dialogue extract from the movie, the 3 IDIOTS .. as Virus says "%... Life is a race....%". The same happens every where. Its a hard truth. This came in my mind when i was thinking of my project. I was nowhere in the list of people who were to travel onsite 2 weeks back and after 2 weeks, I am sitting at the airport!! There is a complex formula, with N number of factors which the management applies to decide the person who has to go onsite. In my case, I simply knew the result of the formula ... A bottom up approach of the software development life cycle or the recently famous Test Driven Development ;).
Not deviating on the topic, after going through the check in process, the emmigration etc, I waited in the lobby near Gate No 5 where the AI passengers were supposed to. As the departure time was 2 AM, I missed out the IST part of the time. As far as i know, IST stands for Indian Stretchable Time and the Mango People are used to it. That's the good part being the Mango People, we all get used to things pretty soon. The last thing I could expect is the change in the Gate number for the departure. Now, there was chaos everywhere.After a long search, I am at the right Gate.after 30 mins, I was ready to board the aircraft.That was a big relief. As I entered the aircraft from the front door,I was greeted by a lady not so young. I always thought that the Air India was the place were the air hostess would join after their retirement in any of the other air lines!!!! The young lady was as old that she would have a daughter working as an air hostess in the Kingfisher.I next noticed luxurious seats. I felt happy thinking that the flight's good and not as bad as expected. But this feeling died almost the same time. The very next moment i realised that it was the Business Class and not the economy class.I thought, one day ... but not today. As i moved along the aisle, the width of the seats kept decreasing. And there i was, in the economy class.The seats as thin as a famished child in Mongolia, both in width and the thickness of the seat. i felt as if i was sitting in an unreserved compartment of the Indian Railways!! The domestic airlines i had travelled,in India,were much much much better. I quietly settled in my seat and the aircraft was soon ready for take off. as the aircraft took off from the Mumbai airport, i looked down to have a glimpse of the city from a substantial height. All i could see, was the great slum of Mumbai which every foreigner after the movie,Slumdog Millionaire bagged the Oscars.I waived my hand to say bye to the city of Mumbai and India.I soon fell asleep.
I was woke up by an even more older air hostess. Oh God, gimme a break. I was offered some snacks and some coke. I was later told that the liquor was not served in AI as a recent modifications in their policies.Gosh !! I hate the policies, whether its of Air India or the ones in the software companies.The latest dictionary meaning says that the Policies are those set of lines, which can change at any point of time without the prior notice and is always beneficial to the company. This is not the Recession Effect I believe. This is the work of the highly qualified brains of an MBA grads graduated from an equally sophisticated college of the country. In all, this again added to my list, the list of things which made my first International Flight unforgettable.
The next morning , when I woke up, I was flying in the perimeters of the Heathrow airport. I looked down to see if I could identify any of the structures from the top. This view was no where in comparison with the view that in Mumbai. The pilot informed us that there would be an added delay in the landing as the runway was not free.Nobody there in the air traffic control room would even bother about the AI 131 I thought. The temperature was 5 degrees outside and wind blowing with it. The lady sitting next to me explained the weather and the effect of the cold Siberian winds blowing in England. As I came out of the airport, to board the taxi, i saw a giant poster of "Incredible India" advertised by the Ministry of Tourism right in front of the Heathrow Airport and I thought India is definitely booming. And I am in the land of Angrez !!
More in my next post.
signing off for now.
Cheers,
Vineeth.
The very sight of the e-ticket gave me goose bumps! Offcourse, what more could I expect when I ask the travel desk in my office to book a ticket 2 days prior to my travel date ? I somehow made my mind to embrace the fact that I had to travel by the same airline. As the blog's title contains "Mango Man" , I would like to ask you one simple question. A question about Air India. What would be the first image that comes to your mind, when i say "Air India" ? I would say , the majority would imagine an aunty as an air hostess!! well, its indeed true.
I practically envied all the passengers in the air port, flying with the Kingfisher, virgin atlantic, only to name a few. I had a co passenger , a colleague , a friend with me consoling me all the time. I arrived at the airport at 9 PM IST and the flight departure time was 2 AM IST. The moment I got down of the taxi at the airport, I was one among the crowd.The scene at the airport was exactly like the crowded MG Road on Pune, the Majestic Bus Stand of Bangalore, the Durgad Bail of Hubli. The unusual crowd was due to the Haj pilgrims. It always happens in India, One person travelling, and the whole family is at the airport to see you off or receive you.I entered the airport so that i could make calls in peace and the person at the other end could hear me !! I called up my friends, as many as I could, on my way from Pune to Mumbai. As expected, the response from them was "What the hell" as I was informing them at the last moment. It always happens, if you are working in a software company,in the company i work ,and the most important bit.. IN THE PROJECT I WORK.. you would never know when your trip would be cancelled.I remember the dialogue extract from the movie, the 3 IDIOTS .. as Virus says "%... Life is a race....%". The same happens every where. Its a hard truth. This came in my mind when i was thinking of my project. I was nowhere in the list of people who were to travel onsite 2 weeks back and after 2 weeks, I am sitting at the airport!! There is a complex formula, with N number of factors which the management applies to decide the person who has to go onsite. In my case, I simply knew the result of the formula ... A bottom up approach of the software development life cycle or the recently famous Test Driven Development ;).
Not deviating on the topic, after going through the check in process, the emmigration etc, I waited in the lobby near Gate No 5 where the AI passengers were supposed to. As the departure time was 2 AM, I missed out the IST part of the time. As far as i know, IST stands for Indian Stretchable Time and the Mango People are used to it. That's the good part being the Mango People, we all get used to things pretty soon. The last thing I could expect is the change in the Gate number for the departure. Now, there was chaos everywhere.After a long search, I am at the right Gate.after 30 mins, I was ready to board the aircraft.That was a big relief. As I entered the aircraft from the front door,I was greeted by a lady not so young. I always thought that the Air India was the place were the air hostess would join after their retirement in any of the other air lines!!!! The young lady was as old that she would have a daughter working as an air hostess in the Kingfisher.I next noticed luxurious seats. I felt happy thinking that the flight's good and not as bad as expected. But this feeling died almost the same time. The very next moment i realised that it was the Business Class and not the economy class.I thought, one day ... but not today. As i moved along the aisle, the width of the seats kept decreasing. And there i was, in the economy class.The seats as thin as a famished child in Mongolia, both in width and the thickness of the seat. i felt as if i was sitting in an unreserved compartment of the Indian Railways!! The domestic airlines i had travelled,in India,were much much much better. I quietly settled in my seat and the aircraft was soon ready for take off. as the aircraft took off from the Mumbai airport, i looked down to have a glimpse of the city from a substantial height. All i could see, was the great slum of Mumbai which every foreigner after the movie,Slumdog Millionaire bagged the Oscars.I waived my hand to say bye to the city of Mumbai and India.I soon fell asleep.
I was woke up by an even more older air hostess. Oh God, gimme a break. I was offered some snacks and some coke. I was later told that the liquor was not served in AI as a recent modifications in their policies.Gosh !! I hate the policies, whether its of Air India or the ones in the software companies.The latest dictionary meaning says that the Policies are those set of lines, which can change at any point of time without the prior notice and is always beneficial to the company. This is not the Recession Effect I believe. This is the work of the highly qualified brains of an MBA grads graduated from an equally sophisticated college of the country. In all, this again added to my list, the list of things which made my first International Flight unforgettable.
The next morning , when I woke up, I was flying in the perimeters of the Heathrow airport. I looked down to see if I could identify any of the structures from the top. This view was no where in comparison with the view that in Mumbai. The pilot informed us that there would be an added delay in the landing as the runway was not free.Nobody there in the air traffic control room would even bother about the AI 131 I thought. The temperature was 5 degrees outside and wind blowing with it. The lady sitting next to me explained the weather and the effect of the cold Siberian winds blowing in England. As I came out of the airport, to board the taxi, i saw a giant poster of "Incredible India" advertised by the Ministry of Tourism right in front of the Heathrow Airport and I thought India is definitely booming. And I am in the land of Angrez !!
More in my next post.
signing off for now.
Cheers,
Vineeth.
My First Blog !!
Hi all,
Well .. here it is .. my long time wish to write something ... even now, am not sure what i will be upto .But, let me assure you, you wont be bugged up after reading my blog ... A new beginning in a new year.
Cheers,
Vineeth
Well .. here it is .. my long time wish to write something ... even now, am not sure what i will be upto .But, let me assure you, you wont be bugged up after reading my blog ... A new beginning in a new year.
Cheers,
Vineeth
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