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!!!!

The Trip to Nandi Hills!!!!!!

Where should i start? Mr. Pandey is again at a crossroad, having to choose between eying a haut airhostess and writing this entry. Currently sitting in a 2 Hr delayed flight back to Delhi writing the post with THE PEN borrowed from the same haut Airhostess!!! ;) ;)

As Bau would put it, Typical Boys. Kuch nahi ho sakta inka!!! :D :D

Anyways coming to the topic, planning the trip to Nandi Hills started a few months ago, Molie was always into going there for the sunrise; planning, cancelling with many a people, always pestering me to get more details and wishing that i was in BLR to accompany her on the trip. Much did i know that the trip was infact on the cards!!!

It all started with a Yes-No, Yes-No Syndrome, I was supposed to go into Silence on the previous night and do the Yoga+Meditation in the Morning. But true to say, bunking sessions of an advanced course and delaying the onset of Silence by a few hours was DEFINITELY worth it....

Nandi Hills is an amazing place and going there with your near and dear ones adds another cake on top of the cake!!! :) The serenity and sheer scenic beauty of the place takes your breath away. Somehow at Nandi Hills, i did not feel out of the ashram, both have an amazing aura and calmness in the wind, i wish i could do the 20-40-40 there itself!!!!

< Break > The airhostess is back.....
Traveling at a height of 38,000 Feet at 400 km/h with temperature outside at -47 Celcius. It gives me goosebumps while admiring the pretty bosom of the same hot airhostess as she serves dinner to my friends and countrymen!!!
Yeah yeah, i am sick; but what i have also learnt from Bawa at one of his Awesome sessions is that being crude at the core & being able to speak the awesome/awful things in your mind is a rare trait, and being able to do so also helps you bring out the +ve traits of your character as well.
Or maybe this Rs. 20 Spicejet Caffeine is giving me the kicks or maybe i am just trying to make my blog interesting!!! :D :D

Now getting back to the Hills, there are some things that i cannot write here, else my dearest sister Ms. Molshree Gupta with start shouting aloud of my feminine traits!!
But i have to write something right???
After sleeping at almost 1AM we had to get up at 3 to get ready for the trip. We had hired an Indica whose driver was i guess, no no i am sure was pretty drunk. :D :D Earlier i thought it was the sweet and sensual aroma of Tequila and Bacardi of Target's team event but to my misfortune, i guess it was the Desi Kannad Tharraa!!!! :| :| :|

The Trip was arranged by Mrinal, a fellow Sapient employee, an avid and exemplary photographer!! This guy saw the beauty in everything as soon as he got his hands on his SLR. Its really nice to see people follow their passion and hobbies in the midst of their busy work life, i guess this is what keeps you going!!!
Though Molie disagrees but even taking out my 5000 Kodak Super Crappy Digicam would have been an insult to Mrinal's SLR whose spare lens was twice as costly as my camera.
Then there was BBB - "Bhargava the Buddy Boy"... He seemed strikingly similar to one of Sapient Munich's director and started almost all of his sentences with "Buddy Boy". A wonderful guy none the less, totally enjoying every moment.
And on the bike there was Raju, for whom Mrinal was doing a matrimonial portfolio service (FOR FREE).
Wont disagree that i was also tempted to get some Matrimonial pics clicked myself!!!



Enough of useless reading, now for some good information, some quick tips and features of Nandi Hills.

1. Nandi Hills is located 40-50 km from the New Airport on the outskirts of Blr, the drive is good but a little bumpy. And you need to be a decent Hilly Billy to take the car all the way to the hilltop.
2. We had got a good decent crowd, but cant be sure with these bloody drunk Kannads. They can be drunk 24X7 man. So the fairer sex should not be going in small or all female groups.
3. The entry gates and ticket sales open only after 6:00 AM. So no use reaching to early.
   Tickets costs are normal. Car-80, Bike-15, and ppl-5 per head.
4. TAKE a Jacket & Umbrella along, it can rain anytime and its really cold up there at this hour.
5. Ruby smells really NICE, Ohhh sorry, let me introduce you to Ruby. She is the HAUT Airhostess I had been referring to all along. So Fly Spicejet!!! HA HA!!!
6. Do drink the Yella Neeru... The fresh and chilled coconut water just made our day over the hill top.
7. Take your own food, if you want it to be like a picnic, though you get food options up there as well, but not too sure of the taste/quality.
8. You might find a few desperate couples here and there, looking for a sneaky session. But please, get a room for Gods sake!!!
9. You can also Stay there, cottages are at just Rs. 300 a night. So it is a good weekend getaway as well!!!
10. We went for Sunrise, sunset can be even better, so that's an option too.

So cheers... Cheers to Nandi Hills and Ruby the Air Hostess!!!!!

Weekend Getaways!!!!!

After a long week of bullshit work, late nights, one can really use a weekend of peace and fresh air in the hills. Out of the few weekend trips i have had(Jaipur, Agra, Kasauli), This weekends trip to Kasauli was the most expensive and less of fun. Probably coz we did not drink much! 3 Cheers to BP for this, guy who used to drink a bottle did not go beyond 2 drinks!!!!!! Also the duration was very less, bloody 2 days only. we ended up staying in the hotel/cab for like 90% of the time!!!!!!

There i was, Sunday 5:30 AM, verranda of our hotel, looking through the beautiful landscape in front of me, with clouds fighting for space below and birds flying about in the spirit of a new dawn.

Then just kept standing there and looking into the most peaceful morning i have ever had!!!! Far away from the bullshit of work, shitty share market and the complexities of life, looking into the horizon and the rising sun casting its rays slowly on the clouds below.
This was the last trip we guys might have together, Aditi's flying this weekend, so its just me, ahuja and BP now... Well, thats not really a bad thing, now Ahuja is a free bird (Am just joking Adi!!!)...