IT THING..
She
has an 'IT THING' for quotes, I'm talking about my younger one. I
remember, Once she has told me about her habit of writing quotes on her
hostel room wall. I doubt, why isn't she busted yet by officials. She
even has a collection of quotes.
I
was 19, a teenager. Rebellious, wild, provocative years. The time I was
introduced to pop culture, The year Michael jackson left us all with a
gasp. Everything we saw, we've tried our best to be their virtues.
Once she shared this quote with me.
"I beg young people to travel. If you don't have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown, eat interesting food, dig some interesting people, have an adventure, be careful. Come back and you're going to see your country differently, you're going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You're going to get a sense of what globalisation looks like. Its not what Tom Friedman writes about, I'm sorry. You're going to see that global climate change is very real. And that for some people, their day consist of walking 12 miles for four buckets of water. And so there are lessons that you can't get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that Europeans - come back and go, "Ohhhhh." And the lightbulb goes on.
- Henry Rollins."
Felt like she whispered it into my heart. I was touched. I was rebellious too.
From the moment, all I wanted was a passport. But I was only a guest for few
months.
I'M NOT IN THE GAME...
In the past few years, sundry of events has molded my life. Now I'm working
at zyxware. The company were planning for an outing. I had my mind set on not
being a part. The person responsible for coordinating the tour was Marin.
I tried my best with excuses, but she was
wouldn’t take no for an answer. Grr.... I should've tried better.
OMG.. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING..
The day has arrived, but I was worried as it was my first time on train.
But the concern was short lived as one of my colleagues, Jagadeesh accompanied
me from Aluva. In an hour, we were to be joined by others from Ernakulam
and Tripunithura.
First time on train, everything has to offer me was a wtf(I meant what the fudge) moment, the chaiwalas (Why are they in here :O), the marvadis (Playing some instruments, Sounds good).
We were split into 2 groups for the game, "Guess the movie". We had a confident Maggie as our leader, sort of. An outrageous chithra on the other end. The geeks has destroyed the fun of game by googling for extremely old movie names (Cheaters...). In the end it was a tie. We had a lot of fun. The game brought out the charisma in Glenn and emily, playful persona in Jiji, Junaid and Tiju, Very much chirpy chithra, Always smart Arjun, Alfred and Maggie, Our Freakish Fathima, Vinod too had stopped by in between.
I took a break and had a short nap. Someone patted on my shoulders, we were about to reach trivandrum, in 5 minutes. 'She taxi' took us to hotel. I was exhausted, I was dying for some eatables. It was sadhya for lunch. I was delighted.
Spent few minutes in the room before we rushed to venue. On the way what I've noticed is the roads, they are rather more appealing than what we have here in Ernakulam, no waste junks to the side of the roads, and traffic signals at every junction.
MIRACLES DON'T HAPPEN BY CHANCE...
I wanted a miracle to happen, that the presentation to be lifted. But the Trivandrum hall at Technopark was waiting for us. On entering, It was Anoop sir on the podium to the very bottom left of the hall, wrapped by well
furnished arc shaped tables, a few people were scattered over here and
there. We were joined by Safallia and Marin, made there by their own.
LATE FOR SURE..
We were a bit late, we missed the introduction. Presentation was a long process. Over all, if my memory is alright, there were quite a few. After Anoop sir, we had one by Thomas, George, Vimal. Then.. Then... I'll make it random.
TCT team, Newsletter team, Hardware team. (If I forgot anyone, its not intentional. All I could blame is my stupid head.)
Anoop
sir had briefed on the history of the organisation, the efforts he and
his initial pals had put to built Zyxware as what we have today. He had
explained on the various services offered by zyxware as an organisation
towards the medical field, Also had expressed his desire to offer more
services. Free software, Freedom walk also took a turn in his speech.
Thomas
and George had more to say about the companies growth and its governing
strategies. George had shared his experience on attending a media
conference, importance of media in IT world. Thomas had kept reminding
the growth figures 100 crores, 1000 employees. I felt the company is
safe in their capable hands.
Vimal
had explained about the heights we could attain as a tech mughal. He
had a more emphasis on the technical strides to make the escalation
process much swifter. He had quite a vision on the technologies that
could be introduced to improve the organisation’s brand.
BEING SERIOUS...
The presentations that decorated at its best were, Yohannan sir,
and Abhai's. Others, even with its importance, I felt like they were busy handing the figures, 100 crores, 1000 employees and a few lost themselves somewhere in the presentation. I was enlightened by the way Yohannan sir had convinced his colleagues and Abhai's body language was appreciable.
(Its easy to judge, but If I don't mention these people, I'd feel guilty for not doing so.)
Later, momentos were handed over by their respective superiors. The day ended with a dinner at ginger restaurant. I'm not a foodie, all I could say is that the food was delicious. We went to bed urging for a blessed morning.
RUSH HOURS…
Woke up by someone knocking on the door. It was Jiji, she was all dressed up.It was 7.00 on the Clock, we were supposed to join the team by 7.45.
Oh GOD.. A day with all its rush and hush. Grr...... Somehow we've managed to join the team.
It was an hour long journey to poovar. In between, Mubashir had
some funny questions in hand. It was more brainstorming than funny I Guess! Phew!
Yaser and gang entertained us with their folk songs.
From there 10 minutes to resort in boat. The mangrove, small channels dribbling to both sides, hushing meadows, streaming water were all watchful.
There
was a children’s park in the resort. What was waiting for us was
something that I can't digest even now, person in the swing was Thomas
the ‘CEO’ and the rest of Zyxware, Trivandrum!
At around 1.00 O'Clock, we were put into groups to do a presentation on strategy related to media. Many suggestions were put forward, every one has unanimously proposed the idea of Jijo to create an app that gives news related to a place. It was our presentation first. Presentations were going on.. the rest were busy with the food. The starters weren't good, but the ghee rice was cool.
FUN TIME...
We went for a walk through the resort, there were few rooms along the way. One of those was a prayer hall. A lady was performing prayers, the way she performed I guess she is a buddhist. Some time later, we went to one of those floating houses, it was a single bedroom, bathroom attached, perfect wooden furnishing.
The wind outside the house was fun filled. Altogether it was awesome. After a few minutes, we left for the beach across the lake. I love beaches. I went to a beach when I was 10, ever since I fell in love with beaches. The sand dunes were white as porcelain, neat and tidy, water was blue (Felt like I'm somewhere in southern
Europe), The tides were rather busy to wash everything off the shore. The sun was in its mood, brightest as ever. The wind too was holding its hands with others to make the atmosphere a bit mischevious.
After
returning to the resort, a few had their seats registered around the
tables. Anoop sir was joking around, with his colleagues Thomas, George
and Vimal. They were in casual mood. We didn’t get a chair. Someone has
asked the guys to make place for ladies. It was only Anoop sir who had
offered a chair. A gentleman. No one else weren't responding.
Premshankar : “Aarum kelkunilla… ’” (No one is listening)
The
hall bursted into a big laugh. Krishna and her team were announced as
the top dog of the strategic game. We left the resort by 5.30 evening
after a group photo.
WISH LEFT..
Before having our dinner, we stopped by Kovalam beach, but it was all dark. I could barely see the tides leaving my wish to see Kovalam unfulfilled once more.
THE END...
By 8.00, After having the dinner, saying goodbye to all. We left to catch our train. Everyone squeezed into their berths for a deep sleep, we had set alarm for 3.00 AM. I was feeling a bit awkward on my way to sleep.
Trmmm.....Trmmmmm..
The alarm.. Damn.. In 15 minutes, we left Ernakulam station in She taxi targeting vinod's home.
I took the front seat. I was feeling nauseous. Just before reaching
Tripunithura, I threw up. By reaching his home, Vinod had insisted to have an early cup of tea. But every one rejected with a sweet smile. May be they were concerned about me. Next stop, was my place. In an hour, we reached, I had to fulfill my formality, I had asked to stop by for a tea. Just formal, because I was at my worst.
Felt sluggish for next 2 days. Complete bed days. It was a bigger cost what I had to pay for.
Hmm... But those beaches, island, floating houses, they were all mesmerising and worth it.
Hats off to the hard work of the coordinators. Happy to be acquainted to many. It was an another world of joy and happiness. Hoping the best yet to come... that would ship me through its waves of happiness and sorrows....
QUESTION HOUR..
In Zyxware, questions are always welcomed. I don't know to whom I should
ask this question, I don't know whether it would risk my job. As I have
set my mind for this, It has nothing to do with looking back. We did a presentation cum media strategy session cum outing. When are we going to have a real outing? I meant a day or a couple of days only dedicated to outing.. No presentations.. No meetings… No strategies..
DISCLAIMER
Warning: Spelling or grammar errors in this article are the product of a poor schooling system. Pay teachers more than athletes!
Disclaimer: The above is the author's personal opinion, not intended to hurt or offend any individual or entity.
