FUN AND GAMES

Fun and games were anything but. After an interactive session with mr.ram about the event. Then a guy who looked like a cross between P.diddy and Damu the local tailor showed up. We were forced into teams and made to “have Fun” . the details are too painful to mention.

I will draw your attention to a dilbert strip where catbert(I think) gets a contract for teaching aerobics to engineers, cuz “ the others asked for money – you said you’d do it for the laughs” said the pointy haired boss.

PRIZE GIVING

we were marched like a flock of geese to the next venue. It was very hot. And sunny. And we were very thirsty. We saw people reclining on the grass. Someone familiar with Hindu imagery will remember Vishnu reclining on the giant serpent.

After much dilly dallying, the function finally started. They showed us clips from some “rock” concert. I spare you the details. Everyone was squirming. And laughing. I commented : are we in the right room.

2 healthy people from maharashtra got 3 and 2. Sony won 1^st. rather thrilled, I must say. Oh! And his acceptance speech was superb in contrast to the healthy boys’

3^rd : “ I am grateful to wipro (etc etc) I have been practicing a lot for this event. I used to do programming during my holidays

2^nd : “ once I realized I was in the final, I started doing extra questions. I am an electronics student, you see.

Sony : I did no prep. I came to have fun (words to that effect) my partner scolded me for not taking it seriously.

Mr. sadagopan (hope i got it rite) is the director of iiit Bangalore. He gave an interesting speech on what our priorities should be as engineers. The rest of the speeches may have been thought provoking, but I was dozing.

Enfin. The reimbursement. They refused to reimburse the cancellation charges we had to suffer cuz they rescheduled the event at the last moment. They couldn’t provide us with transport immed. We could get a bus if we waited till past 7.

We were asked to surrender our tickets for the reimbursement. Ms menon tried to take our return tickets also. This led to a situation that wd have bn funny.

We finally ended up having to pay thru the nose 4 the auto ride. It was a very dusty and bumpy ride. We were asked to be ready by 7 pm when Chris’ father would come. Everyone except Chris was ready. Like I said, “When it is someone else’s father, you tend to be on time.”

Rohit would be taking a flight to trivandrum.
Uncle gave us dinner at a nice place. The food was nice and we all ate with relish. We were really hungry. Chris had left nearly half of her food behind. I was hungry enough to have that too and perhaps if uncle wasn’t there, I may have. [:)]

We reached the station just in time 2145. The train was a bit late. We stood at the platform discussing marriage and duties of wives.

COIMBATORE

0630

I woke up and looked down from my middle berth to see Chris and sherin combing their hair. We soon reached the station. After waiting for about 45 mins at the platform, we trooped to KR bakes opposite the station. (btw, this station has no overbridge, it’s under!)

KR coimbatore is just like KR in Kerala in terms of customer service : eat if u want to. KRcoimbatore is horribly unclean and you need a gasmask to enter the toilet.

The next train was also late. Renu Sony and I checked our weights and fortunes, while the other 2 girls totally refused! we looked at some Caucasian tourists and wondered why they were there.

And finally, in the train.

We play with the motoming photoediting sw, gave sony a French beard.

Back Home

we got off at north. Took a bus home. Tada! End of trip

CodeZap Guru - Final round – Bangalore: Part2

VENUE

It was HOT. And I don’t mean cool. We had been asked to report at gate 13. we did so. The chaps there had no clue. We weren’t allowed to get in. 3 seniors from college came to meet us. I will not repeat the things they told us. I don't want them to lose their jobs. I don’t want to get sued. After much persuasion, we were allowed to stand in the shade of the gate. The security personnel at wipro are ruthlessly effective.(don't sue me)

After 15 mins

We were made to walk all the way to gate 10, no pavement. Dusty. Hot. Over there, the seniors from college left us at the “place where they give you an ID card”. By now we had explained to 7 people at wipro about our event. The card making was fairly easy. They took a pic of u with the Logitech camera, printed a form, stuck it in a plastic badge and gave it to you. Of course, they took liberties with the spelling and the photo looked more like ET than me.

2 female wipro employees whom we had noticed at the breakfast area herded all the contestants there to the desired venue. Tower 16. Did I mention b4 that it was hot? We walked...

There were 3 big elevators there, but nothing seemed to be available. Gives you an idea of the sheer volume of traffic. This portion of the building seemed slightly deconstructed!

We reached the comfy room where the test was to take place. We met Mr. Ram, the organizer. His face was to haunt me for the next 3.5 hrs as I tried to figure out where I had seen him before...rather who he resembled.

I needed to use the restroom. You need a Wipro employee id card if u have to leave the room. I finally managed to secure exit and entry thanks to Ms. Shobhana Menon, who we later found out was also Ms. Rajagopalan. The test had been outsourced to Devsquare.

Most of my test was spent looking at the counter so I could be free. Finally, when my test was over I started eating cookies. We weren’t allowed to leave. So I started playing minesweeper. The earlier records were credited to PARUL. Of course, I trashed her records. But things became boring again. Finally, we were given bags and caps. I must confess, the caps were really unwearable : White with an electric blue bill.

Chris had some problems with the software (everyone did, but hers were the worst) so she had to stay back to finish her work. We left for lunch.

There was a wide array of food to choose from. But most of the stuff was oversalted. I ended up forcing the jeera rice down my throat with buttermilk. Sherin had to dump her full biryani – she said she’d never seen it like this before. Oh! But the paranthas were really nice. Amazingly, the fussiest of us all, Rohit, ate everything!

We went to a room labeled the HAND WASH. There were no mirrors thus, you cannot wash your face. I went and showed my hand for the water to flow. I got fully drenched. The super-faucet!! I walked over to the other taps. By now, I had definitely washed more than my hand. I saw no tissue dispenser, but there were dustbins.

Chris joined us soon. We were taken to the place where we would try have Fun and Games. (like, when was the last time some1 told u : now ul have fun. And u actually did?!)

We had to walk a lot. Cuz the gate nearer to the destination was Entrance only- no exit. So we marched to the exit. I saw a boy, around 10, sitting on a moped.

CodeZap Guru - Final round - Electronics City - Bangalore

travel to the city was paid for by Wipro, but only 2nd class train fare. we had booked our tickets and were later told that the dates had changed. we had to cancel and rebook... of course, the cancellation charges thus incurred were not reimbursed! bye bye 80 bucks..

the trip began 337pm ,April 2, when I met renu at the karimakkadu jn, just as I remembered that my watch wasn’t working anymore , and that I hadn’t packed a tooth brush, paste, soap or towel. The brush and soap were easily purchased from the local store/shed.

The ride to Toll was easy, courtesy Renju Jose of electronics. We took the desired bus, which was desirable until hey asked us to pop off at kaloor. We then reboarded another bus, only to c the former bus speed past?!

Meanwhile, renu had forgotten her Id card. I of course couldn’t 4get it, cuz I had lost it ages ago. Her friend from Biomed was to race to the railway station and deliver it, much like we see in the movies.

At the station, nag and Sony were already there, Rohit came soon. But still no sign of the card carrying biker. The ticket bearers were already on the platform. The departure time was 5pm. It was 448 already. We moved to the platform, saying bye to nag.

The train had already come. We located the coach easily, but the ticket bearers were missing! After much effort and phone money, Sony set out in search of them, located them ,and brought them back. In the interim, I went and bought some water.

THE TRAIN JOURNEY

A middle aged nun and a tall guy prevented the 6 of us from sleeping in the set of 6 berths. But while we were awake, we played a lot of hand cricket (renu was a successful captain, unlike Sony, who was removed after he won the toss and lost twice!) and twenty questions, where sherin’s uncanny guessing ability helped her team win.

At palakkad, we had our dinner of veg biryani. Someone had bought roti. But the curry with it was atrocious. Chris and sherin had sandwiches from home. The nun had rice and beef packed in banana leaf.

Chris’ mother had asked her to pack a mug. Why? Indian railways provides no means for you to wash your bottom if you are traveling second class. 2^nd ac has a mug chained to the train!!

Renu and I got the side berths and she graciously let me have the lower berth. We sat and talked for a bit even after the others had slept, cuz renu had to have her last set of medicines. We soon discovered that the others were merely lying down. Sony was listening to music. Rohit’s feet were sticking out.

It has been instilled into many of us from a young age that train journeys are the best places for a young girl to loose her belongings. Thus I looped my handbag around my arm, wrapped my head in my shawl, mummified myself in a blanket, used my bag for a pillow and prayed that I wouldn’t fall off!

I woke up early and about an hour later, we reached the station. Chris’ father (central excise and customs) had sent a quails to pick us up. The chappie coolly ignored all the speed bumps along the way. We later found out that he is the raids-driver! We got lost. And we learnt some kannada phrases as we heard him ask for directions on the phone.

AT THE GUEST HOUSE

Azim premji foundation. The chaps at the security check looked into our baggage, issued id cards and let us in. needless to say, the campus was like an oasis of artificiality. Cultured lawns, planted trees. Nevertheless, very beautiful and pleasing.

After much form filling, we got our individual rooms. Chris tried to persuade us into sharing. I unlocked the door and started groping for the switches. Nothing happened. I touched a door, it creaked open and I saw someone moving! I screamed. But midscream, I realized that it was a bloody mirror, mounted on a bloody door. Now who the bloody hell comes up with such ideas to scare the friggin daylights outta people groping for light in a dark room!

My scream brought Sony, Chris, sherin and renu. They laughed a bit and bravely ventured in. none of them had been able to switch on their light either. Soon, a chappie came and inserted the key into a slot and the lights came on. What sweet irony. How is one to find the slot in the dark!?

I will not go into lengths to describe the room : bed, big curtained window, phone, phone book, pencil, 2 side tables, one table, 2 chairs, one teapoy, kettle, jug, glass, cup, box with coffee teabag sugar creamer. And now the jaguar infested washroom: regular toilet, no health hose(mug provided!) shower with hot/ cold mixer, big mirror with hot cold faucet, santoor soap, teeny shampoo, 2 towels – one of which I later wrapped around me like they do in movies. But I didn’t sing the song. And the towel was white, not pink.

I borrowed paste from sony. As I was doing so, renu told me that close up wasn’t too good for ur health. Renu and I took normal sized helpings of paste. On seeing this, sony said : oh, why so less paste?! I always take it like they showing the ads…

At 7 we went to have breakfast. Buffet. Then Chris’ dad came and picked us up. The road was under construction in many places. It was a dusty, bumpy ride at the back of a qualis. Chris’ dad gave her a motoming – Awesome!!!