Life at CG!!!!!!!

PandeyJi is back in the writing business... and yes.... Pandey's can write a bit as well... not just sell PAANs and are not that corrupt Thanedar Chulbul Pandey for sure!!!
Well a very emotional start to the post, but I am really sick of being called chulbul, not because it suits me, it kinda does, but Salman is NOT suited in the name!!!! Role yes, def., he is the biggest ass u can find in Bollywood, but please, spare me the horror of Robinhood Pandey!!!!

Anyways starting with what i am here for
"LIFE AT CYBER GREENS".
Its been more than 4 years now in Sapient, with atleast 2 years in the CG office.... Coming back from Noida to CG has actually inspired me to write this.
The true depth in the post can only be felt by ppl who have worked full-time in both the location, occasional visits DO NOT COUNT!!!!




CG or should i say, Gurgaon has its fair share of problems... I mean everything is a challenge here.

• Getting from the Toll to office. 
• Getting to the Toll from Office. 
• Boarding the bus/cab. I swear in the time i leave my seat and the 7:30 cab moves from the CG office, i can get home from the Noida office.
• Shuttling b/w 9th and ground floor. The sheer challenge of using the lift has forced me to have my lunch on my seat.
• The AC. Its NEVER, EVER at the right temperature, its always either too cold or too hot. :| :|
• The Roads.. OMG.. I stayed in ggn for 2 days recently. and my car suffered damages more than it has in its whole running life!!!!! Had to search for the least objectionable Pothole on the road and a cherry on top was the copious amounts of rain!!!!

Inspite of all this.. Life is a bit different here. Its not the regular office life i have seen in Noida. Here, long working hours are more fun and less challenge. And the visual treat while on the more than occasional breaks are always welcome!! How so ever a person keeps cribbing about the long working hours, the inconsiderate transport arrangements, ppl deep within them, do realize that its the life they have chosen and they want to live it. Many a ppl are literally crying after leaving Sapient. Well some are pretty happy as well, so it all evens out on that front.

Coming back to CG, Commuting to ggn on a daily basis has def. taken a toll on me. But still there is a zeal to get up in the morning and catch that 6:40 Bus. There is a sense of professionalism in the air. Although the 'gaon' is in Gurgaon but its the Noida office which feels more like a gaon!!!!
I have always been careless and shabby when it comes to clothes. Never really cared. But in Ggn, I feel like wearing good formals and smart casuals. Maybe the morning tea on 7th floor has inspired to take more care of my looks or maybe its just the airconditioning in CG.
The food options are Numerous, Noida was more like a school canteen when it came to food. In Ggn you can have anything you can imagine. Host of speciality restaurants, lunch beer options, food court, tiffin boxes and what not!!!!

Spl. credit should be given to the N number of malls in Gurgaon. Have nothing to do; need some bird watching; going for a team event; gone shopping; on a date?? Gurgaon and Ambiance mall offers u everything...
If you keep the transport, the roads and the civic arragements aside, Gurgaon has truly transformed into a International city, with complete Skyscrapers, host of malls, luxury homes, the best brands in the industry, and the haut haut lifestyle!!! ;) ;) ;)

Last but not the least... MACHAAN!!!! Lots and lots of fond memories associated with machaan and similar places in ggn. The so called ahaata's in UP are piece of crap when compared with the ones in ggn. Amazingly cheap liquor, good food, great place to sit. and Good crowd. What more do you need???

Recent addition to my list of drinking places has been Route04. It has opened up inplace of the Merc Benz showroom, awesome place. Very nominal pricing in Happy hours. Good cocktails. Great but a little overpriced food.!!!! Good ambiance!!!! Worth a few visits!!!!

So cheers to GGN!!!!!
A few office pics that I have taken over the years - Office Album!!!

A Vacation called SPOC

Its almost a year and a half since my trip to Germany and i am finally writing a blog entry about it. Yes i am a douchebag!!! Showering no more disrespect to the avid bloggers community, here is it -

SPOC - Sapient Point Of Contact. We at T-Com go to Munich for 3 months on a rotational basis for this role. Well it is a different kind of a challenge, being there all alone, facing all the client queries. But ITS FUN!!!! So is this blog entry... nothing official about it!!!! :) :)

The Arrival:
The story starts much before i actually arrived in Munich, before the departure from IGI, also before the packing and weighing of the bags. Its about the day when things got finalized. I was finally traveling overseas. It had been delayed for various reasons, cant complain now. But yeah, missing the BeerFest was a really dumb choice!!! I cant write how much I wanted/want to be in Munich at the time of the OktoberFest.
With an excess baggage of arnd 11 Kg, my mom still wanted a few more things to add in the already 18 Kgs of food!!! She loves me way too much!!! ;)

First Day:
I reach MUC at 2:30 CET to find a BMW series 5 waiting for me outside. That car had a SOFA for a seat man. I kept admiring the car all my way to the apartment, maybe that's why i tipped the driver 5 euros on a bill of 60!!!! :|
There were Divraj and Vikas, the German Playboy Printing House employees!!!! ;) Well let me not complicate, they wer working for Burda, which prints Playboy in Germany. ;)
We almost immediately left for Mariene Platz the main shopping area in Munich, spent 500 Euros on the frst day of landing, watched the crappy ChandniChowk2China and had a totally diff/ taste of Pizza Hut, European style!!!! ;)

First Week:
The first week was eventful as well, money was flowing like water, 35-40 Euros a day was the avg. as of now!!! Spl mention for the skippable Munich Masala parties with Sehgal and co., Fab dinners with the big daddy of Team black 'Abhishek Dada' (spl. the Afghani restro and GAST)!!!
P.S: Associate Level ppl, avoid dining with AB if you have a decent appetite. He WILL make you eat the last piece of food bite on the table. Talk about work pressure!! ;) ;) ;)

The next couple of months:
The next couple of months were little eventful, but i did visit a lot of great places, mostly with these apartment guys and Jagdeep, the Scout Scout ;) had been my travel companion for most of the trips i took in Germany!!!!
Traveled places:
1. Augsberg - A truly awesome place, with majestic Castles and divine cathedrals. Had got the Swarovski in Rhodium ring for mom and my next girlfriend (Yeah its kinda cute isn't it, Shopping for a future girlfriend??).
2. Ulm - This was the client side, which is home to the ULM MINSTER 'Tallest Church in the World'!!!!!

3. Berlin - All courtesy of the Oracle guys who we met in the Olympia park in Munich. Berlin was fun, my first international nightclub visit, and the Pegasus Hostel. What can be a better than opening your eyes to the back of a European girl in her bare essentials?? :D :D Well this is the hostel i crashed into for the night in Berlin, co-ed dorms and even washrooms!!!

 4. Some more places like Chimsee Lake, Neuschwanstein Castle, then the Netherlands trip to Den Hagg, Rotterdam and Amsterdam!!! Wont make my blog boring with these entries, but yeah AMSTERDAM has to have a special para!!!!

Final Days:
In my last weeks before the return, clubbed an extended weekend with a couple of vacations and me, Jagdeep took off to Netherlands.. we went to Amsterdam, Den Hagg and Rotterdam!!!! It was an "AMAZING" trip.... Right from the word go... it was awesome all the way!!!! We reached the main Amsterdam city from the Schiphol Airport after traveling TICKET-LESS in high speed inter-city trains. Well we did not really have an option there. ;) ;)
Upon reaching the city, it was already late night, searching for our hotel was a huge task, should have roamed arnd the ARLD roads instead of going to the hotel ;) ;)
Cant thank Jagdeep more for accompanying me on the 'Easter weekend in Netherlands', for eating copious amounts of KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut junk food, for helping me to the Hotel after i got stoned!!!! Yeah that was in Rotterdam, I was 100% stoned, cant remember much from that day!!!!

Spl. reference to the small guesthouse we went to in Rotterdam 'Tourist Travel Inn', very cost effective; the rooms, beds were awesome and the Uncle was really nice and sub-continent friendly (lived in Goa for 20 yrs)!!!

The blog till now seems to be a little disoriented,  which is actually no surprise as I have written it!!!!
The point that i wanted to make or convey is that going onsite is not just about making money, searching for the per-diem receipts, going to clubs or working with the clients like an ass. The experience is exhilarating. It brings out the best in you.... Good or bad, but it does give you that kick... I have to say, the 3 month vacation was the time that i learned most in my professional life. It gave me a perspective towards things, towards work, towards life and towards BEER!!!! :D :D :D

I hope to get this blog included in the SPOC Rampup guide. ;) ;)
Signing off with 3 Cheers for all the former, current and future SPOCs... Hip Hip Hurray!!!!! :) :) :)

P.S: Some memories from the trip at My Picasa Albums!!!!