The day when I declared.. was "My last day"

I was going through my emails archive, and I found an interesting email that I had sent sometime long back. Yes, it was the farewell email that I had sent when I was leaving in  my first company, where I worked for 5 years before I decided to get more adventurous and explore more horizons as well..

So here goes my first ever, Farewell email, as a result of my resignation !

Yes, its time for me to bid farewells and take my leave since this is my last week here in this organization with Friday June 6,2008 being my last day at office.  And I am not sure if this is my last day as a tester. Here on this day, I am recalling my journey so far being a tester for past 5 years. I love bugs, of course I do and it’s because of them I make my living, just the way Doctors make their living because of diseases & cops because of thieves. With that said, I find myself amid this sect of people, who serve the mankind by identifying & getting off the weeds. And that’s what I do…
Service to IT world.

     Building a bridge on river Thames is of course difficult, but much more difficult is to stand up & say to the people “I have tested, it won’t fall.” no matter how many kids in the kindergarten will still rhyme “London bridge falling down” at that moment. Those were my shoulders who took the bottom line responsibilities when I delivered the product. Those will be my
shirt’s collar (again on the same shoulders) which will be caught if something goes wrong in production.
     For developers, I become a menace at times, but the same ‘me’ protected them when customers did not ask them anything but me “Why you did not catch this bug in testing?” It’s true that this job of Testing has given me the liberty to say with confidence to the developer: What’s wrong is wrong, so fix it.

     However this journey of mine as a Tester can never be meaningful, if it had not been for people like you, who taught me, the tricks of the trade, the intricacies of the systems, and all that I today can claim I know about.

     In my short span of 5 years that I have spent here in this organization, I was given a lot of opportunities to learn a lot of new things, understand a lot of things and in the process become a better professional. There have been times, wherein I have troubled you at one point or the other, with my rather naive questions, for which you have been patient enough to listen to me, and also help me out. I take this opportunity to thank one and all, for all that you have done to help me grow as a better person.

     I wouldn't want to wrap it all up with a simple Goodbye, because personally I feel that you bid goodbyes only to people whom you will never meet again. So I am going to just say, until we meet again, sometime, somewhere, somehow, take care. May all good things come your way and also request you to wish me the very best, as I venture out into the unknown, meeting new people, pursuing bigger challenges and in the process trying to become a better person.

 Before I wrap, let me just add that, at any time, if you find sometime and a little thought to spare, please do email me.

The day when I was told.. "You made a difference to us"!

Its friday night... the clock says the time is around 1 in the morning.. I aint asleep yet... Nope.. I aint slogging at work... nor trying to work from home to get things done.. I aint awake coz I aint getting no sleep, coz am stressed out or nothing.. Am awake coz I was moved by something that I saw.. a movie.. a movie named "Gridiron Gang"..

Friday nights have always been pretty mundane.. hang around with friends... let the "elixirs of life" flow.. or slog at office..

Today I had decided to come home and just chill at home..

I was as always channel surfing when I stumbled into this movie on HBO.. titled "Gridiron Gang".. The story line is very special.. An ex football player turned coach who works at a correction center, trains a bunch of teenage boys, who are serving their juvenile crime sentences, into playing football.. and in the name of football teaches these kids what it means to stand up and fight for, in life.. what self esteem is all about.. what does it mean to walk with pride..

The movie actually brought back an interesting incident in my life, which is still vivid in my eyes.. I was so choked up with emotions, that I had to vent it out.. So here's how it goes..

It was the most difficult period of my life.. I was very sick.. survival chances was almost zilch.. I had no clue as to what was wrong with me.. (Now   I am not gonna sit and educate you on the medical terms of what my illness was all about and steal away your reading passion here...) I was in this Intensive Care Unit.. all by myself.. with only the nurses to keep company, and the occasional visit from doctors, who would keep checking on me..

Those were the days, wherein I used to count minutes.. watch the clock for hours and it would just move a few minutes.. Intensive Care Units or ICUs as they are called in this part of the world, have always its own share of intenseness... lives are brought in dangling by the thread.. and the messiahs of God.. the doctors try all their might, to save precious lives.. It was one such day.. around 6.30 PM when I could hear the nurses running helter skelter and I could hear the distant cries of a lady as well... No one would tell me what was going on.. Two days past and on the third day, I saw a lady, with her face all puffed up coz of profuse crying.. peep into my room, because she couldnt bear to hear my wails of pain.. That day I was in a lot of pain, and almost was on the verge of throwing my hands in the air, and asking Lord Almighty.. "I give up.. Now take me back..".

She came next to me, sat next to me, placed her hands on my forehead and said.. "Dont worry son, you will be just fine..." She must have been in her early 40s I thought and she gave a faint smile at me,when I turned to her.. I asked her, what brings you here, and why are you crying.. She just replied, "My son is admitted.. he is sick".. and she went off..

It got me curious, and I started asking the nurses about her son.. At first they hesitated and then told me.. her son had attempted a suicide because of a love failure, and both the girl and her son had been brought to the hospital and were battling for their lives.. I havent actually managed to understand what drives people to suicide, until one day when I almost stood facing it.. (Now that's a different story...). A week later, I learnt her son was progressing well.. He was still in the same ICU.. and one evening he came to visit me. That was the first time I was seeing him. He was all weak, worn out, and very young.. He had just completed his 12th standard.

He came to my bed, sat next to me and we talked. I dont know what got into me, (maybe it was the morphines that I was constantly being given, to curb my pain).. I started talking to him about life.. To this day I dont remember what I spoke to him, but all I remember is, I spoke to him for a very long time. Finally he bid me good night and went to his bed. After a few days I was shifted to the general ward and was moved to a separate room. I had totally forgotten about this boy to whom I spoke to. I was recovering, but very slowly and was still in a whole lot of pain.

One afternoon, a young lady, probably in her 25, walked into my room held me by my hand and said.. "Krish, thank you.. thank you so much".. I was confused. I was already under a lot of sleeping doze and I was still trying to figure out what was reality and what was not. Here was a lady, who knew my name and was thanking me for something which I didnt even know. I looked around to see if I could find my lil girl (that's my mum..). I cudnt find my mum in the room. I asked this lady.."I dont seem to remember you..". She then called a trim looking young man, who walked in with a big smile and said.."Brother remember me" ?? After a lot of thinking I finally recognised him.. He was the same worn out boy to whom I had spoken to in the ICU. My my, I must admit, he had changed a lot. With great enthusiasm he said.."Brother, you know what, I joined Engineering".. I still didnt understand what was going on. His sister then told me something which I still remember "Krish, I dont know what you told my brother, but you gave us our family's hope. We thought we had lost him, when he attempted the suicide and didnt know how to talk him through. You did that.. You made him realise life's importance and its meaning.. Now I have two brothers, including you".. So saying, she took out a silver ring, that she carefully gift wrapped, and put it onto my fingers. By then my mum had come. She told my mum.."Aunty, you have a very responsible son".. My mum was in tears, but I was still not sure what was going on..

Tonight as I watched that movie, wherein Rock, who plays the coach role, walk past the "Gridiron gang" team, who manage to win a match, with a smile on his face, depicting that satisfaction of having made a difference in life, it brings back memories of one of the very few people, who ever came and told me "Krish, you made a difference in our lives.."..

The day I bid to folly

It was a typical friday morning.. the weekend was just around the corner and grinning at me.. ! As always I was hooked up to my lappie for two reasons.. 1) To check and see if there were any critical or important mails in my office mailbox.. and 2) To work on my farm on farmville.. lol.. Yes, very recently a very nice person, introduced me to this and ever since I been addicted to farmville.. sad part is I never get enough neighbours.. for whatever reasons I wouldnt know.. lol..

Coming back to the story.. so I was logged into facebook and was doing the routine stuff of fertilising my neighbours farms, when I saw this AD appear on facebook which said.. Apple iPhones at 25 paise.. !! Normally I overlook such ads, because at the back of the mind I always have this fear, that I might end up in a phishing website.. but as they say curiosity kills the cat.. ! I became curious and clicked on it to see what was in store for me.. It was a penny auctions website, and I was looking around at the site and saw that offer again.. Imagine.. a 40+k iPhone being put up on auction for a mere 25 paise !! Greed overtook me, and I decided to try my luck as well... I quickly signed up to this website, and decided to bid for it as well.. the said asked me to confirm my mail ID before I get 1 "free" bid, that I could use.. in a jiffy i confirmed my email ID, earned my free bid, and with a valorous grin, click on the bid button.. and voila!! I was the top person on the bid list.. The item had just another 30 minutes to go before the auction expires and I was getting excited.. I sat glued to my lappie, staring at it.. 10 minutes past.. and gosh ! someone else bid for it as well.. I was panicked.. I couldnt let go of it.. I immediately looked around in the site, to figure out, how to get more bids.. and that was where I fell into the trap.. !!

The site said.. I could "Buy 12 bids" at 690 rupees.. If it was me in full senses, I would have probably said "bugger off"!! But here I was in a frenzy.. I had to win this auction.. I didnt know what took over me.. I decided to go ahead and buy 12 bids... I found that the auctions site, offered paypal.. I had a paypal account.. I immediately was on the way to checkout using paypal, trying to buy it.. but some thing happened, and my checkout failed.. the omens were all telling me... "Dude, stay out.. you are being a complete jack-ass!!".. but I wasnt to be seeing it.. I came back to the auctions site, chose credit card as the payment method and in a flash, had made the payment and got 12 bids, to my account.. I was now a triumphant man !! I immediately went back to the iPhone auction and clicked on Bid button.. phew! my name was again on the top of the list..

I sat and waited.. every minute seemed like an hour to me.. I could hear my mum yelling out.. "Kanna.. you are running late to work, its 9.45".. I wasnt paying any attention to her words.. as the minutes slowly ticked by, and I was in the last minute, before the auction expired and that glamourous iPhone was mine..! it was close to just 5 seconds before  it expired.. it was like watching a cricket match.. yes yes.. the India Pakisthan match ofcourse.. !

That was when I was taken by surprise.. I was shocked.. someone else bid for it.. and the timer reset itself back to 20 seconds.. I hit the bid button frantically.. my first paid bid was gone and to make things worse, I now had another dude/dudette competing with me.. it was like a do or die situation for me.. and that was when the whole thing hit me.. I could see atleast a dozen people bidding one after the other... I bid.. and bid.. and bid.. I had exhausted 4 of my bids and there was still no signs of the auction closing.. the price of the item was only increasing by "a paisa" for each bid.. I decided to calm down, wait and watch.. minutes ticked by in a flash.. 15 minutes were gone and the bid game was still on... I was running late for a Call.. I had to decide to give up... that was when I started feeling miserable.. 700 hard earned rupees blew off in a flash, and I didnt even buy anything, not even a dress, nor spend it for my parents or my friends .. not for a movie.. not in a restaurant.. I blew it away in an internet gamble.. ! I felt like kicking myself, for the folly that I had committed.. I could even hear Manmohan Singh talking about Economic policies and inflation and what not.. (dont ask me, why was I hearing all that.. I have no clue..)

Just 30 minutes, back I was explaining to my dad, how such bidding websites, trap you, into spending all your money.. and what happens.. 30 minutes later, I fall for the same trap.. I could even literally see all those proverbs which talk about hard work being the only way to come up in life .. ! I felt like I had committed a heinous crime.. ! I came to work with a heavy heart of being a complete idiot.. and promised myself.. never again will I try my hand at my luck.. and never get into bidding things, without completely understanding the entire thing.. !

I checked the same website by noon, and to my surprise, the bidding was still going on for that item.. from 25 paise, the price had come to 8.50 rupees and was still going on.. I checked a couple of minutes back.. the auction finally closed, at 10.41 rupees.. and someone won that 44k iPhone at a meagre 10 rupees !!! That was more than what I could handle..
Sigh.. ! Imagine, what all greed makes you do...

My first interview

It was yet another lazy sunday morning, and I didnt have too many entries in my usually lengthy "To-do" list at home.. I was just to go and get a decent summer friendly hair cut and that's it... It was around 9 in the morning and I was still happily sleeping.. but nope.. she cant stand that.. She wont miss a chance to ensure that, she pours a big bucket of cold water, literally on this happiness of mine.. Yup.. am talking about my mum... She came and yelled..."Wake up... its 9 in the morning"... After the regular mundane routine of brush thy teeth, wash thy face, read newspaper.. I decided to watch some movie on my lappie... There wasnt much to watch on TV either, so I decided to stick to watching some movie on the lappie.. "Three idiots" was the unanimous choice.. Though I had watched this movie a couple of times, I decided to enjoy "Chathur Ramalingam's " astonishing hindi accent...

        This time as I watched the movie.. I suddenly realised that I was seeing bits and pieces of my ever green first interview experience... as I watched "Raju Rastogi" take his interview.. So I decided to share it with all my readers.. (yeah yeah, I know I aint got a crowd but still...) Here it goes...

      It was the month of March way back in 2003... I had come to Chennai to attend my first ever interview with an MNC, accompanied by my father.. I had been stuck to bed for the previous three months due to a severe leg problem and after a lot of pondering and debating, I had decided to give this interview a shot...

       It was the day of the interview and my friend Iyer (that's srikanth) had agreed to come along.. So I set off, clad in a black pant, a white shirt (which wierdly had a big flower design on it), no tuck in, with an elbow crutch... We arrived in Tidel Park, and as my friend was busy trying to figure out the formalities to get in, I was simply lost, gaping at this huge building, which I had only seen in television...! I was thrilled, not because I was getting to attend the interview at such a big place, but because of the fact, that I was entering into this building which among my friends back in hometown was an achievement by itself.

         We figured out which floor we were to go, and I for the first time in my life was seeing an escalator and an automatic lift! The child in me was running around all over the place, dumbstruck by the pomp and glory of this place...I was actually inside the premises of an IT park.. ! Yay!! I kept telling myself..

         We reached the floor and I was shocked...!! There were close to around 150+ folks.. I told my friend... "Iyer, dont expect me to make it through... I came here just for the sake of it..I dont stand a chance".. to which he replied... "No problem mate... Just go and have fun".. Round 1 was a written test, and the results told me I was through, which to me was a big surprise... Round 2 was a group discussion.. 150+ folks, were now reduced to a mere 15 people, from which I was told that 7 of 'em would be short listed.. I wasnt too worried about being selected or not selected, because my biggest aim in life had been fulfilled.. I always wished to just be in a software company atleast for a day.. and here I was, living that wish ! Round 2 was to be a group discussion and our group was asked to debate over "Should Indian cricketers be allowed to act in Ads".. well I had been in bed for 3 months and the only thing that I had done was watch cricket.. so I was happy..phew! atleast not a difficult topic... The group discussions were over, and I was told to wait in this big glass door room with the rest of the people.. while everyone was busy introducing and getting introduced, I was sitting there lost in my own world, swaying on those world class ergonomic chairs... someone sitting next to me asked me curiously.. "What are you doing mate?".. All I could do was smile and reply back.. "Living my greatest wish"... am sure he never understood what I meant... !

                Now it was time for the last round of interviews, wherein I learnt that we had to go through the Director... I sat and nervously waited for my turn... and finally I was called in... I saw a tall man with glasses sitting in the room and asked me to come in.. I politely apologised for coming into an interview in a typical Non professional manner, and explained him the "Flashback"... since I was a fresher he didnt ask me much on the technical side, but just asked me as to why was I carrying an elbow crutch and its story..After listening to it fully, he said.. Ok.. we will get back to you on this... I timidly asked him.. "Sir.. Can I ask you something..".. He said "Sure thing.. go ahead".. I said.. "Sir, I think I was pretty blatant in explaining my past, do you think it was correct to be honest or, do you think I should have subdued the facts..".. He just smiled and replied.. "Am glad you were honest.. Stick to it.. Its a lot more easier"..

              Three days later, when I was informed that I got the job and was asked to come to the same place again to collect my Offer letter.. my father decided to tag along with me... Karthik Sir... (I still call him that way...) called me in and handed me over the offer letter and was busy explaining to me the HR policies.. but he noticed I wasnt paying any attention... I was busy counting.. He stopped and asked.."What are you doing".. I replied.."Sir I am trying to find out, how much am I gonna get every month"... to which he replied.. "Oh that..atleast 15k"... I was shocked..."15k was what I used to earn in a computer center in a year".. I timidly asked him.. "Sir, really am gonna get that much"... he burst out in laughter and asked.. "Who is that elderly gentleman who has come with you..."..I replied, that's my dad.. He said.. "Go tell him, you got the job and this is what your salary is...".. I rushed out to tell my father I had finally got my job....All I could see was, his eyes in tears.. but he wouldnt show it... He had a shy smile on his face and said.. "Kanna, come let's go home..."...

              This entire scene was flashing in front of my eyes, as I watched Raju Rastogi, take his interview... I paused the movie for a second, for my eyes were moist... and sat to think... that's what some movie makers do to you, while you watch, what they claim is a figment of their imagination... !

The weekend getaway to Yelagiri !!

Well, it was the time for the much awaited weekend getaway, a trip to the local hillstation..."Yelagiri".. Well to those of you who dont know much about this place, here's a little background. Yelagiri is a small hill station right after Vellore and is around 235 kms from Chennai. The place is so poised that its almost a bike drive from Bangalore... well as all of my other trips, this trip too had its own share of confusions and questions lingering around all over it, as to whether it would happen or not.. but then again, I was determined to see that this does happen and thanks to Rose and his co-operation in sharing the same determination it finally happened.
So it was Saturday morning and I heard the distant voices of a familiar voice which whispered.."Kanna get up, its 6 in the morning, you were supposed to be getting up..".. yup after a few repeated calls, I realised it to be the much familiar voice of my in house emperor Mr. mahadevan, my father.. !
As always I tried convincing myself that I ought to get out of bed and start getting ready.. and finally by around 7.30 AM I was all set to leave from home. I was to drive down to Rose's house in Anna Nagar (its around 20+ kms from my place) and I was looking forward to this drive for a couple of reasons, the biggest of them being I would get to drive the "Trail Blazer"... (hold on, I can see you scratching your head pondering over the fact as to what the heck is this trail blazer.. well its my new Suzuki access 125 cc). So I switched on the "Kung Fu Panda".. (lol, there you go again scratching your head.. relax.. KungFu Panda is the name I gave to my mp3 player, coz trust me or not, it still makes me believe, that there is no special ingredient in life.. now dont ask me what does that mean... its a feel good factor man.. duh !!)
So as I literally swayed to to Greese is the word and literally did some head movements as MJ sung Smooth criminal, I was zooming past the lazy morning traffic of chennai. I had messaged rose that I would reach his home in an hour and guess what.. I managed to live up to the timings... and I reached his area by around 8.30. It was time for a quick cancer stick break and while I enjoyed the first puffs, I called up Rose to get directions to his home.. I was actually standing a couple of buildings away from his home. So after the fags, I reached Rose's place.. Gosh! his house was a real big one and there I could see the mean beast of the roads.. his brand new Skoda Laura, waiting to greet me and I could even hear it say.. "So mate.. you all set for the cruise.. you have no idea as to how royally I can treat you..." !! Yippie.. I was literally jumping around at the mere thought of hitting the Bangalore highways, in this "Smooth Criminal".. (hehehehe... you guessed it right.. thats the name I gave to his car.. coz its damn smooth and it can be a real bad guy on the roads..) Rose greeted me at the doors wearing half trousers.. lol.. yeah it was the first time I was seeing him in the non professional attire.. (I am so used to seeing rose dressed up all like the perfect professional, that it took me time to adjust to this scene...)
The doctor in the house.. (yup... thats Mrs. Rose) treated me with a fabulous cup of a strong tea and while I sipped it enjoying the taste, Rose got ready and so was the lil P.C Shriram.. yeah that would be bittu as he is so profoundly called at home.. Ryan.. Rose's son..) So after all the tata bye byes send off ceremony we finally hit the road at around 9 AM.. and soon we hit the highways.. I was still exploring the luxuries of his car, coz trust me, it had so many things in it and his car managed to keep me dumbstruck and filled with awe almost throughout the journey..
Well the drive was the part that was filled with ecstacy to me atleast... Bittu was busy giving directions to his dad and hand picking cars on the road, which he wanted to be overtaken by Rose.. and I sat and watched this Ferrari race driver team, zoom past those vehicles with ease.. Bittu I figured, was a lot more educated about cars than me.. even though I was close to almost 5 times his age, I knew barely anything on cars.. He could identify any brand of cars that he saw and was discussing about BMWs while I was with great difficulty busy trying to keep up to speed with these guys... and while we discussed about a lot of things at work, about music, about politics and what not, before we realised we had reached Vellore, our first pit stop.. not for a break but to pick up a very close school mate of Rose... the one and only Balaji... I was actually happy for the fact that despite these guys being only school friends, these guys were making it a point to meet up after such a long time, which I thought was very unique...
Soon we picked up Balaji and after the initial hesitations, Balaji and me were chatting away to all glory.. Balaji knew a lot about music, atleast a lot more than me and he and rose were discussing the technical nuiances while the skoda was playing the ever green kamal hassan hits composed by the one and only.. the great maestro Ilayaraja himself...
Bittu was getting all worked up coz he was looking forward to the hair pin drive that Yelagiri hills had to offer and we still werent getting there.. Finally we started our journey upward towards the Yelagiri hills and we hit the first hair pin bend.. unlike the other hair pin bends (the only other hill station i have visited was Yercaud and my comparisons are only with respect to that place..) here they had named each and every hair pin bend after a famous tamil poet.. so we were crossing the kambar bend and then the thiruvalluvar bend and then the bharathiyar bend and so on.. there were 14 bends of them in total and as well ascended up the hill, the view was simply fantastic.. and to add to it, we would bump into a pack of monkeys along with their families and the little ones playing around.. Bittu was all excited...
We reached the Yelagiri hill tops by around 2.30 I guess and went straight to the lodging we had booked.. which was Golden Nest.. it seemed pretty new and even though it was extremely hot outside, it was really cool inside the rooms. We were given this one big room with 4 cots and bittu jumped in to reserve his bed.. a pretty decent lodging I thought.. we were told that they would provide dinner based on orders but didnt have anything to offer for lunch.. So we decided to walk to the nearby hotel.. Hotel yelagiri.. the place was a down to earth place, but the full meals.. (yup unlimited full meals) was damn good especially the "meen kuzhambu" and the "chicken kuzhambu".. surprisingly rose announced that he was going to be a strict veggie and stuck to the veggie version of it, while me and Balaji had a go at the omlettes and the fish frys.. and even lil bittu had a go at 'em as well.
After lunch it was a siesta time, and before I realised I was snoring away to all glory.. while Rose and Balaji were busy catching up of all the latest and greatest in their lives..I woke up around 5 PM and the first thing Balaji told me was.. "You were snoring a lot man".. lol.. I was a bit embarrassed and immediately asked Rose.. "Rose how do I fix this snoring to which Rose calmly replied.. reduce weight..." and that was the end of my quest in curbing the snoring.. lol ! That was quick wastnt it.. !
Well in the evening Bittu was all ready to go and take the boat rides and we made it to the lake by around 5.30 only to be told that the boat ride was closed for the day, because of the lack of boatsmen (there was just one guy who was frantically doing trips and the guys at the counter decided to give the boatsman a break...) Bittu was disappointed and so were we, but then again the sight at the lake shores lightened me up.. hehehehe.. yup.."Ladies.. Ladies..".. lots of 'em.. good looking.. so it was time for the only bachelor in the group.. (Bittu aint eligible you know, coz of his age factor.. hehehehehe) to do some "Sight Seeing...". So I told Rose to take Bittu around the park, and Balaji agreed to accompany his pal, while I was busy looking around... lol.. But the view at the lake was simply amazing.. even though its a very small lake, the waters were doing their magic to me.. and I soon was lost in their tiny waves, cherishing every moment of silence and peace that they had to offer me, and before I realised I was in a trance kinda mental state.. It actually took the giggles and sweet voices of a very pretty lady to shake me out of it.. lol.. yup.. there was a couple.. and the lady was extremely pretty... it reminded me of the famous Onida TV's ad.. "Neighbours envy, owner's pride.." and I could see it in the guy.. that was the first time, wherein I also for a split second felt.. "Marriage is good..." lol...
Well it was getting dark, so I decided to move on (even though I didnt want to.. for various obvious reasons ofcourse) and so we headed back to the hotel, even as Bittu was still running around all over the place, grinding his father with rapid fire questions and Rose, as patiently as he always is.. was answering him. The scene reminded me of my good old days of train travel, wherein through out the night, I would sit with my father and keep asking him a zillion questions while he patiently replied to all of it.. I guess when it comes to their children all fathers are like that.. which also made me sad.. coz these days I never seemed to show the same patience when he asks me a question... I had to be a lot more patient with my father I thought... lol, look at how many thoughts I already managed to stir up....
We reached the hotel, and Rose went on to remind those guys about the dinner.. (We had already given our menu to those guys in the noon itself and it was time for reminder 1). Rose had to go meet his another school mate's folks who were living in yelagiri.. (infact it was them who helped in arranging for the accomodation and all that).. while I chose to stay back at the hotel, coz I needed to stretch my legs.. so I was busy watching TV and they were playing this movie.. "Never been kissed" on STAR Movies..
Close to around 8 Rose came back from the visit and Bittu had almost gone to bed, even while he was walking back.. food was still not ready and for the first time in all these 7 years, I saw something that I never had seen before.. "Rose was worked up and was yelling at those people for not preparing atleast that one dosa which bittu wanted to eat".. Finally food did arrive by around 8.30 but by then the lil master was fast asleep.
We all had our dinner and after talking for almost close to 4 hours we finally fell asleep... the climate had become extremely pleasant and there was a tint of chillness in the air even..
Sunday morning Bittu I guess was the first to wake up, and I woke up after Rose.. Balaji was the last to greet the morning sunshine..
We all had our coffees, and ordered for the breakfast.. (this time those guys were really on the alert and brought everything 10 mins ahead of the time they had promised.. lol.. that's what an active vocal customer can do to speed up things I thought..)..Rose was busy getting lil bittu all set for the day.. and while Rose was having his bath, I casually decided to strike a conversation with Bittu... I asked him.. "Hey why did you not wake up yesterday night despite your father waking you up so many times..".. to which he replied in a typical tamil hero accent.."I was tired you know".. then I asked him, so all set for the boating today..to which he replied..."Boating and all next, first thing.. visit to Church.. its Sunday remember.. first you have to go church, all other things only after that..".. I was like shocked.. whoa !! this lil guy was all devotional at this tender age...
Rose came out, got ready and the father son pair drove off to the church while me and Balaji lazied around in the room talking about music and all other stuff...Finally we got ready.. and by then Rose had also returned.. We checked out of the hotel and then went over to the same lake, for the boating trip.. Bittu was all energetic and was jumping all over the place in excitement.. now here's the confession part.. I was the only chicken in the group, who was shit scared about boating.. I tried expressing it in a subtle manner.. but only later realised that the fear was like written all over my face.. and was so evident that Balaji casually turned to me and asked.." Boss are you scared of water..." lol...
Our boatsman we learnt, was a kid doing his plus one, who was being responsible to his family and doing this as a part time job.. for whatever reasons of his.. ! He with great expertise rowed us into the lake and then told us something which got me so scared, i even refused to move a muscle..Rose was the culprit here, coz he was the one who asked this question to that guy.. Rose asked him.. "Thambi, how deep is this lake.." to which he casually replied.. "Only 40 feet sir..".. that was enough to literally cling to Balaji.. Bittu on the other hand was so busy playing in the boat, he had his hands in the water and was busy picking leaves from the water, while i was like stuck to the boat and frantically praying that this boating trip be over... I had made one point clear to rose.. he was to snap pics of me, as many as possible, all with my coolers on.. lol !! Yeah yeah, I can hear you say... "Why advertisement!!".. hehehehe
Finally it ended, after the boatsman giving me a heart attack when he literally rammed into another boat and these two boatsman were involved in a friendly debate about some stuff, while I was desperately trying to tell them.. "Guys, whatever be your indifferences, can we please settle it on the shores".. to which the other guy replied.. "No sir.. it has to be settled right here in the middle of the lake.." So saying he gave a tug at our boat, which sent it jostling.. and i was like literally holding balaji's hands tightly... Am sure Balaji must have thought, look at this guy, he looks like a big donkey and still is so scared about just a boat ride.. !!  (Rose, find out if that was the case and let me know will you... so that I can cook up a good excuse to present before balaji the next time I bump into him...lol..
We then headed back to a restaurant.. Hotel Surabi, had our lunch and then started the descend from the Yelagiri hills...while rose drove the car, bittu was enjoying the view from the top of the car..I was busy capturing all the visuals into Rose's camera... During our drive back, it was time to put on some real dhin chak music, so I hooked on the KungFu Panda onto the Smooth Criminal's auxillary input.. (better remember who is KungFu Panda and who is Smooth Criminal..else am gonna have to make u read this all over again... understood ???? ).. First on the cards was "Hakuna Matata..." from the Lion King.. that was for lil bittu.. followed by "I Like to Move it Move it.." from Madagascar.. (thanks to Arvind for introducing me to this song..).. after that followed some scores by Abba, and then Greese title song, MJ's all time hits viz., Beat it, Dangerous, They dont care about us, Smooth Criminal.. followed by a whole bunch of only English songs... yup.. only englipikeesh songs.. you know.. lol !!
We dropped off Balaji in his home at Vellore and then headed home, with a big smile on our faces, coz it was a great weekend.. but also with a small frown.. damn we were returning back to the hustles and buzzes of Chennai...

There you have it folks.. that was my weekend getaway to a small hill station.. yelagiri.. !!!

Enough of reading, now get back to work will you.. lol... !! Just Kidding.. :p