gajabhuja funda

This day that age

There was a chill in the January air when the boy stepped out of the bus in Koramangala, Bangalore. The forum mall that exists today was not even planned at that time. He began a short walk towards the fifth block area, where his seniors from college lived. They had agreed to have him for a brief period of time, before he found out a place for himself.

Just a few days ago, there was a wild party in his University hostel welcoming the new decade. It was the last day of the year and the last examination. He did not even concentrate on the examination. Universities are fun. The moment you score well in one semester's examinations, it was taken granted that you would score again and again. It was that way. It was fun. He heaved a bit, not because of the chill. Those memories would remain just that, memories. Over the next few years, many such moments would come back to him. Heck, even today, he speaks paeans about his hostel life.

It did not matter much to him that he had a job in his hometown. He had left that to come over to Bangalore for a new job, in what proved to be a rather fruitful move. He wanted to see the world and understand what it was going to offer him. He was, in effect, trying to extend the new found freedom that he had tasted in his hostel for the few years before he came over for a job.

He took a bus to get to Indra Nagar, the location of his job. The inner ring road connecting Koramangala to Domlur was under construction, and bus traffic was not allowed on that road. It was restricted to personal vehicles.

He was given a rather cordial welcome in his new office. He was their 300th recruit, trainee or otherwise. The new job seemed loads of fun, for it seemed to be an extension of his hostel life.

For the next nine months, he was drowned in his new job. For some strange reason, the company where he worked was trying out some uncharted territory, and he was only happy to be a part of it.

Nine months later, things subsided and he resumed his normal life, visiting friends, an occasional run in the inner ring road, visits to gym, to near by places, and of course his hometown once a while.

Visits to San Diego followed and along the way, he picked up a Master's degree from Indian Institute of Science, ran a few marathons, bicycled his way to many a place and of course, motor-biked his way to many places too.

Eight year later, while in Mexico, in a fit of nostalgia, he quits his job, and decides to get back to his hometown.

Yes, Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a full decade since the boy, yours truly, started his career. It has been a rocking roller coaster ride.

Here's to raising a toast to the next decade, a decade in which I hope to get that elusive killer app finished, sell it to someone and make boatloads of money, and retire away to the mountains.

Shyam

PS: Quite fittingly, since a good part of the "wild life" was spent in Bangalore, the "other half" is from there.

Posted by Unknown at 3:07 PM