Mysore Tales

Life gives us some beautiful gifts in the form of people we meet. These li’l gifts are a lifetime treasures. I did not write for a long time now as life was happening..!!!! Yes, I was in Mysore :P. Four months trip again.. yet again..!! I am sure I need not describe how it was, coz every trip is as rocking as before. What changes is the people and some special moments with them. This times journey was again special with a few more lunatics added to the list.. Vishal, Mrinal, Arif and Pavan. And of course there were more who made my journey so beautiful.

Vishal and I have known each other since last year but bonded beyond the professional walls this time. The memories of our first few meetings last year will never fade.. Vishal, for people who do not know is my manager at the client’s location which is none other than Infosys, Mysore. He joined Infy last year and replaced Manish Bijlani, our previous manager. Vishal Malhotra is another “Sindhi” manager at Infy BPO. I think Infy has a special inclination towards “Sindhi” managers (no offence whatsoever). He is an Agricultural Engineer from Kolkata who pursued his MBA in HR from SIBM-Bangalore. Having studied Finance for the initial years during his MBA, Vish (one of his nick names..wait for more..:P) chose to take the biggest risk and shifted to HR. Ideology behind it- HR was his interest more than finance. Finance could have fetched him money and a better role but JOB DISSATISFACTION. What a smart move!

He is a spiritual person who lives a simple yet a calculative life when it comes to work. Taking risks is not his cup of tea as he ensures no risks. Very straight forward.. No matter what, he will not please you. I compare him with a coconut though..hard outside but soft within. As I mentioned before, he takes no risks, Vishal does not like being pointed at or pulled down or taken for granted at work just coz he’s friendly outside work. (We all must learn that). Balancing the act of professionalism and personal life is well carried by him who inspires many around. Vishal is the youngest in his team and has brilliantly managed and supervised the FT team since his joining.

One thing you cannot let go unnoticed is the SMILE... OMG... He wears a cute, dimpled smile that melted me every time I was irritated or angry. Vishal is a strong person but emotional yet pretends to be emotionally strong :P. (Sweetheart, it is evident, don’t make an effort, “wink”). Vishal and I started interacting more in May and since then there is no seeing back.. Thanks to me..I leave no chance to catch him and drag in a conversation..hehehe.. Be it at work, on the weekends, on calls, messages or FB chat. LOLLL.. A sensible, intelligent, sober, calm, soft soul lies all in one. He is 25 years old and thinks like 50 years old. But hold on, that does not stop him from having fun. Dance being the closest to him, he leaves no opportunity to jiggle-wiggle on any tune..be it the old romantic numbers or the latest jhatka and item numbers. He does it all with finesse. We too exchanged few steps on Senorita at his place once for which the video has yet not been shared with me. VM.. :( That’s another nick name..!! :P

It seems to be never ending about him, I 

think I have observed him quite a lot.. (tongue sticking out :P) and apologies if I don’t mention something important or not so important but it’s all with me and will be remembered forever. A very important part of this trip was our weekends and I will not miss out on this! Every weekend has been worth remembering spent with Vishal. The dinners, the red wine, movies, late night parties at his place, random discussions on the terrace, the drives, end of the world and lots more. Thanks to these weekends, Vishal said he would only miss my presence on weekends as weekdays are spent at work. (Isn’t that rude???) (Sad face) Jus kidding, I think I have made a place in his heart that despite his denial, he would still think of me at times.:) :P (not over confident though) And don’t get angry Mr. Malhotra as I am really afraid of angry young man looks. Ahh..Surprised!! Well yes, he has a bad temper, not at all times though. He hates being intervened in his personal space. He loves to enjoy his free time alone and those days he really does not like anyone around. Vishal has a limit when it comes to dealing with people, after a point he likes being left alone. He hates sticking around on the phone and is also bad in staying connected with people; hence, his friendship comes with a statutory warning. (wink)

How can I forget to talk about his love for his family.. Marvellous!! His unconditional love for his 2 sisters, nephew Ahaan, his parents and cousins is to be admired. Despite being located at different zones of the country, I am sure his family does not find him away. Thanks to the telecommunication industry.. J he ensures to make a call every day. (Mr. Malhotra you too can stay in touch, see.. “wink”) Oh yes, cooking!! One of the few guys I have met who cook deliciously. Dal, aalo chokha, bhindi..yummmmm.. I can still taste it. For sure, his wife would have to work very hard to please him or she has to be extra-ordinary in her cooking skills. (hehehe)

Vishal is a darling, undoubtedly and I really thank him for being there when I needed him the most. I hope he does not go by my taunts (though I still miss pulling his leg and taunting him, “wink”) and irrational behaviour at times but I do appreciate every bit of it. I still cannot forget the last week before I left when he was chirpy and tried to make me smile as my contract had closed. I am sorry for being cranky that night and getting into an argument for no reason. I thank him for all the gyan about personal and professional things that he had been sharing. He was my support system throughout. (Big smile and a hug)

 

Well, enough..There is more to be written. The queue is still long.. :P My next support system was MK, Mrinal Kaul who is BHR at Infosys BPO. He joined Infosys as a software engineer a few years back, post his training period of 6 months MK was being selected to train the new IT batches for Mainframes. And look at the small world, Vybhav my friend I spoke about before was his trainee then. It is a sight to see Vybhav and MK together coz it is never ending talks about all the people they know. Yeah, I faced the torture (not literally though, hehehe) BTW thanks to Vishal that MK and I became such close friends because they have known each other for a longer time. Times that MK and I have spent are the most memorable ones. MK is a simple, down to earth, busy in his own world types. When I say “his own world”, I mean MOVIES. Yes, he is a movie buff. You name a movie and you can hear the story, the complete cast and the background of the story if any..hehehe.. He only enjoys movies and we truly respect his first and till now the last love (MK do something about it..hehehe).

MK is from Jammu, did his engineering from JSS, Noida and pursued MBA(HR) from Wellingkar. Thanks to that, Vishal and MK still have inter-college conflicts as Wellingkar and SIBM-B had inter-college competitions when they studied. And I just loved the light arguments between the two during our lunch, tea and dinner breaks. Oh yes, MK was throughout there during every break I wanted which certainly reminds me of one thing which he could never change was his habit of continuously swirling his ID card; whether he is sitting at his desk, or walking along the road or while being stationary anywhere.. He has to do it and hurt me..lolll.. (of course unintentionally :P) I miss it now though MK (sad face) I have memories from the 4^th floor where at every break people would only find me sitting at MK’s cubicle. Yes, I loved sitting with him and writing quotes for him on the stickies. He was so patient and always welcomed me in his cubicle. And I hope the stickies are still stuck and have not been removed or replaced [will be sad if removed :(]

Mrinal is currently reading about Labor Law which helps all (MK, VM and I) of us strike a conversation, and learning by leaps and bounds about the subject. Thanks MK for opening my eyes, lollll. One attribute that he possesses is his LAZINESS. Damn, you will see him super active at work but on the personal front, he just loves lazing around forgetting to shave or cleaning his house due to which we could not cook as planned on one of the weekends. Arghhh!!! Nevertheless, it shall happen sometime, I hope (fingers crossed :P). MK also has a passion for driving. Even if he is all alone to drive the car to a destination far off, he would not mind. He just needs to get hold of the steering and play his choice of songs. One amongst many of his favourites is Tum hi ho bandhu from the movie “Cocktail” and I love the signature step he does from the song. Awww... MK, you have given me some unforgettable days and times to reminisce. He would never say no if I had to go for a drive after my 3 to 11 shift as well. The drive to Chamundi, Coorg Cafe will never be forgotten. I want to go on a drive again with you “sad face” but only if you promise to leave your phone. Arghh... Vishal and MK have irritated me with their phones so much. None has a girl friend (in my knowledge though) but are always on phone..How, why?? MK, do you remember the “baby” joke?? I am sure you do.. :P

Arif Sait, a.k.a Arifiya.. a name given by me is such a cute, li’l friend. I adore him a lot. He was my partner in all the crimes along with Guruji a.k.a Pavan Singh and of course Dennis the menace. Arif and I have worked together for Infy since 2010 but had never exchanged much of words. To describe him better, Arif is a lean, thin yet a strong chap. You might not even think twice to fight with him but hey hey..be warned, he can really knock you down. Arif belongs to a background where he has learnt to stay strong and give it back.

 

Lately, Arifiya was unwell and his weight dropped drastically. Believe me; he cannot afford to lose even a gram of it. I sometimes really get worried, what would he do?? Well, I have always been telling him to stay in my house in Delhi as anyone who comes here surely gets some extra inches while they return. (not kidding) :P Arif and I had some beautiful times in the campus where we would go for breaks outside the campus especially on Fridays after the graduation ceremony as the shift would get over earlier. The get together in my room, chit chatting and the old hindi songs are to be cherished, specially “Har kisi ko nahi milta yahan pyar zindagi mein”. The drive behind the infy campus in his Ritz is what I miss in this crowded city. Arif is my darling and I miss him at every point.

 

Arif will always be found with our guruji, no matter what. Pavan is sweet, polite but very strong. His stories about the fights he had in the past always kept me away from him (what if he punched me :() hahaha...actually he even did. On one of the evenings at my place, where Dennis, Arif, Pavan and I were kind of partying, god knows what struck his mind. With some music in the background, Guruji got up and started punching Dennis lightly on his arms and just then turned and punched me on my arm with a lighter intensity though. LOLLL.. There goes denny, laughing on the floor seeing my shocked expression. I did not feel the pain but was wondering what if the intensity was higher?? Sigh!! (Phewww, god was kind)

I was lucky to have met one of the cutest members in his family, Vedant. Pavan, yes not known by many is married and has an adorable son. I missed to click him but will surely get his pic soon. Vedant seems to be a copy of guruji and am sure, our man will too be a strong and smart person just like his dad. My wishes will always be with him and I am sure next time I meet him, he will be quite grown up to talk. :P

 

Guruji and I had befriended on my last trip at the Shradha house but got along better this time. He too has been a great support to me and these guys were always available when I needed them. From the time our day started until late in the night, we all had tonnes of masti, fun, gossips, drives, and lots more.

Mysore is a never ending journey for me and despite the fact I shed tears while I leave that city, the intensity of the pain has not reduced. I do not know what destiny has in store for me; however, I wish it takes me where I belong. I would love to live there with the one I love and live days and moments I have only thought of living in the most beautiful and romantic city of this country. There happened more incidents and stories on this trip which I will write about soon. You know Mysore is all about a wonderful journey that has no end for me. The much awaited is the Banyan Tree accident that happened on my first visit to the campus. Wait till you hear about it..!!!