Life's a crazy mess!

It was just another day in the office when I got a call from my Technical manager asking me to prepare for an interview in a couple of hours by our client. Although surprised, I felt it was best doing something about it rather than brooding away. The afternoon on the same day, I finally had the interview and well...I wasn't impressed by myself.

The next day, my TM calls me into his office with a fierce look on his face. The client had returned with their feedback and it must have been bad....with a disappointed look on his face he showed me his laptop with the mail open...it read "We would like to hire Shanim Sainul for the project at Delhi"....WTF?? a big laughter by my TM later reality
struck..."Delhi" seemed to be brightly shining on my face like a billboard in Las Vegas....Oh Boy!!!

A long wait later, I'm finally here in the capital! My first day was uneventful, we spent 2 hours going around different sectors of Gurgaon in search of my company's office there. Apparently we had taken the wrong road to Gurgaon and ended up taking the wrong turns and were in a completely different locality. Finally at 3pm in the afternoon after a whopping 2.5hrs I was finally in the office. After the initial introductions and the reinstallation of my laptop, I was heading back home. That's when I realise how different things are in this city. I had to cross over the border and hence no through taxis to the place I was put up at, Dwaraka. My manager in Gurgaon dropped me off near the border, and I decided to walk till the border and look around for a Delhi auto. Alright so I did cross the border, but not a single auto in sight...it was as if they were alerted well in advance of my arrival and decided to evade me at all costs! A lone cycle rickshaw helped me out then...uhm...yeah I was hell guilty riding on one but well he insisted and dropped me off at the nearest junction asking me for just 2Rs!!! jeez...Guilt won over and I paid him 10 bucks....which again seemed too little for dragging over 80kgs of weight for over a km. The rickshaw charged me 60 bucks and I was finally at my pal's place around 10 in the night.

The next day was quite uneventful, besides the morning ride to my client's office. I went by three modes of transport spending over a hundred bucks to finally find the place, only to know later that I was to meet my reporting manager the next day. hmmmmm...oh well it was fun and I ain't complaining :) Under my better judgment I decided on going back home that evening by the company cab....was I relieved to reach home at 6:30! The next day was much more interesting, I was finally going into Delhi and not sticking to the routine Gurgoan journeys. My reporting manager had asked me to meet him in the GK-II (Greater Kailas) office in the afternoon. Had a relaxed morning and slowly moved out of the house and took a rick to GK-II....uhm...if u guys are wondering why I'm constantly on ricks and not on buses like it was when I had entered Bangalore...well...times change and company pays ;) (atleast I'm hoping)...and moreover, there are practically zero buses from Dwaraka to most parts of the city...hence not worth waiting for one.

It was an hour long journey and I was finally in one of the most posh areas in the city. When I got the address, I was told that the place was near the M-Block market....for a moment I pictured a vegetable market with bullock carts all around and hawkers screaming out for attention....sigh...yep I was wrong. The M-Block market is anything but that...the first shop I saw CCD, followed by Barrista, and a couple of other coffee pubs..I later learnt that this is the girl hangout...uhm...youth hangout in Delhi and has some of the best pubs....pubs like Diva and rpm...yep it's a hep part of town and trust me...it's awesome....as for the babes...well all of you who've seen the forward about India Pakistan Friendship (the huge crowd of girls at a concert to be more specific) apparently haven't been to delhi!!!! The below average looking girls here are as pretty as the above average looking girls back in Bangalore....and trust me...the guys who've been to Bangalore can surely get what I mean!

The weekend was quite ok, I couldn't go out much as my pal who was to give me company had work over the weekend and we just had the morning to go places. I was looking for a place to stay so it was more of house hunting than anything else. Took a ride on "Delhi ke Shaan"...no it's not my imposter...it's the Delhi Metro!!! For those who have been to London, well it's pretty much like the Tube...isn't that enough said? The Metro is just too good, and it surely makes you feel you've been teleported to some developed nation as you enter any of its stations. The only thing that gives it away is the hindi written along with english everywhere. Travel around the city is a breeze with the Metro and I'm just waiting for the time it covers the city as a whole....the second phase of the metro is expected to complete by the end of '07. Just dropped into Karol Bagh...saw a couple of houses....uhm...rather an excuse of a structure which was being rented out for over 4k and then moved back to Dwaraka where things seemed more sensible. The story about my house hunting would be a chapter on its own so I shall refrain from going into details.

Monday was an awesome day. I had woken up fully charged up and entered the bathroom to take a bath. The "courageous" person that I was, I decided to take a bath in cold water. Filled the bucket and the first mug sent shivers all over my body....with the second...I was numb! It kinda helped actually, didn't feel the rest of the mugs of water after that...so it was kewl...literally!!! The papers finally answered my puzzling mind...it had snowed in the north and has brought the mercury down in a big way...temperatures were now lingering around 9 degrees Celsius and was expected to slide further down....sigh...sweaters and two T-shirts followed. Yep the temp had come down in a big way and I could feel it all through my journey to GK-II that morning. A small chat with my colleagues and a meeting with my managers in Bangalore later I headed to Tis Hazari, a site where I would be working to check out a few things. The first thing I did notice there was monkeys! Oh boy...yes...just outside the Metro after a 2 minute walk, the place was filled with monkeys jumping around trees! hmmm...a transition from the most modern, to the India we read in most American books. It was 6 by the time I got out of there. Took the metro to Rajiv Chowk and waited for a pal at the station there and jumped out to see CP...ie. Connaught Place. The place where Ghandhiji's assassin made plans of murder. An awesome place is the smallest compliment you can give. The circular road surrounded by both International and Indian brands can surely bring out the shopper in you...and for us misers, the Palika Bazaar opens its arms out welcoming you into its stores. The place is just beautiful!!!! And as my manager said....greenery abundant ;)

Things have just begun, I'm loving it already...keep watching this space for more...for now...ciao!!