"Vista Food Court" - Infosys, Mysore Diaries - #BlogChatterA2Z

 After our hurried trip to Udipi, we came back to the campus on Sunday night. 

“For the first time, I feel relaxed coming back to the campus on a Sunday night. We have no important classes tomorrow nor an upcoming test. Feels great”, I said.

“Same here”, Myra replied, “I can finally spend some quality time with Chetan”

“Spend all the time while you can. We have about 14 days left on the campus. “, Arjun replied.

Myra looked taken aback and worried, “You’re right. Let me call Chetan right away “

Arjun and I looked at each other. We sped up so that Myra could talk to him in private.

“Lucky fellow”, Arjun said.

“Who?”, I asked

“Of course, Chetan”, he replied.

“Do you like her?”, I asked without thinking.

“She’s a good friend. Nothing more. I did get a little upset when she started dating Chetan and that did confuse me. But would I ask her out? No. I cannot spoil what we have by asking either of you out.”, he said. I was surprised that he’d given such a long explanation without any prompting. 

“Nice thinking. But didn’t you like anybody in these 6 months?”, I asked. Arjun smiled. 

“Come on, you must’ve liked someone. I had a crush on Gaurav. Myra dated Chetan. “, I chided him.

“It's a secret.”, he smiled mischievously. 

I was annoyed and did not prompt him anymore. 

“Priya, where do you think we’ll be posted?”, he asked me after a minute.

“Hopefully, Hyderabad. We listed Hyderabad and Bangalore as our preferences, right?”, I said in a worried tone.

That was the only worry remaining: our posting location. 

“We’ll have to wait a week”, Arjun said.

“Yes”, without realizing it, we had reached our hostel. Myra was far behind us. 

“Let’s meet tomorrow? She seems to be busy.”, Arjun said.

“Sure! Good night, take care”, I replied.

I always felt nice talking to Arjun, he was a friend in a true sense. No judgements, no complications, just a friend with whom you can have both simple and deep conversations. 

                                                                                               *

The next morning, we had a short session about projects. The instructor gave us an overview of what they’d be expecting from a typical project.

“You have about 10 days to complete the project. You are all expected to work in teams. Each team can have about 5 members but that’s flexible. We have a list of projects and you can choose one. If you have ideas of your own, please talk to me.”, he said. I mentally chose my team members.

“Each team has to work on all steps of a typical SDLC (Software Development life cycle) which include: Requirements gathering, Analysis, Design, and Implementation. You have to submit deliverables for each step of the SDLC. For e.g., for the “Design” phase, you’ll have to submit a high-level and low-level design document. I’ll share a document with all the details. Your project is deemed to be complete when you submit all the required documents. Also, on the tenth day, you are supposed to give a demo of your project. You can now form groups and you are welcome to work with your groups in this classroom”, he concluded.

Anusha, Rishi, Swati, and I gave one another a thumbs up. 

I could see Myra and Arjun walking towards us. 

“Let’s check with the instructor. We’ll be a team of 6”, Arjun said.

“You are smart”, Rishi said to Arjun. 

“Of course, anybody could guess our group members”, he said.

“Let’s go”, Myra said. We walked towards the instructor.

“So quick?”, the instructor said, looking at the 6 of us.

“Sir. Can our group have 6 members?”, Myra asked.

“Sure. Would you like to register your group?”, he asked us to which we agreed. We finished the registration and came out of the class.

“We have 10 days to finish the project starting from tomorrow. So today, we are officially free. What shall we do?”, I asked our group, coming out of the class.

“Let’s explore the campus. We haven’t been at all the places on the campus”, Rishi said.

“Nice idea. Let’s make a list of the places that we haven’t explored on the campus.“, Swati said.

We went to the Magna food court and came up with a list. 

“Let’s visit the place where the word “INFOSYS” has been formed from a cluster of buildings. We can see this from the aerial view of the campus”, Myra suggested.

We all agreed, had a quick lunch, and started to the place. This was located far deeper inside the campus. It was nice that we had lunch before walking to this place. After a while, we reached the location and could see the buildings. They were just normal buildings and did not look as if they were intentionally placed to form the word “INFOSYS”.

“This is clever”, I said.

“But disappointing. It’s just some buildings.”, Anusha said.

“Fortunately, there’s a beautiful food court nearby. It’s called Vista and it’s not operational all the time. It’s mostly for the ICICI employees working on the campus”, Rishi said.

“Have you been here before”, Swati asked him.

“No, but Manish told me about it.”, he replied.

Arjun pointed to a sign. It said “Vista food court” and had directions to reach it.

We walked towards the food court. We reached a clearing and on crossing it, there was a beautiful building which was surrounded by greenery. It had an open layout and a large shed-like roof. The words “Vista food court” were etched on the top of the door. 

We took the few stairs in front of it and walked inside. The food court was large and spacious. We looked around –there were a few stalls but there weren’t any vendors. 

“Guess, it’s not operational”, Myra said.

We stayed there for a few minutes walking around out the spacious hall.

“Time to go, not much to explore”, I said and we all walked out of the food court.

It was a beautiful food court but wish some stalls were operational. 

“Okay, next location: Mythri food court”, Anusha said and we all started walking towards it…..

-- To be continued

This post is a part of the Blogchatter A2Z Challenge.

"Udipi" - Infosys, Mysore Diaries - #BlogChatterA2Z

 After flunking the JSF test, the next few days passed by quickly. I got over the shock and started paying more attention to the modules. Unfortunately, there was no make-up test for the JSF module and I had to make up for the lost GPA in the module tests and the final Comprehension test.

 One after the other, the tests got over quickly and I scored well. Soon, it was the final Comprehension exam and I had to score above 80 marks to make up for the lost GPA. I sat in the exam hall, extremely nervous. I started answering the questions and before I knew it, I had completed the exam. I checked the time, there were 15 more minutes to the test. I rechecked all the answers and with trembling hands, clicked on “Finish”. “90%” the screen displayed. I came out of the exam hall feeling relieved and happy. Coming out of the class, I saw Myra giving me a thumbs up. 

I had officially passed Infosys training at Mysore. I looked around, people were coming out of the exam halls. I stood there, waiting for Myra and Arjun.

“Congrats to all of us !!”, they said.  They had passed the test too. 

The three of us waited for the rest of our friends. They had all cleared the test. We all congratulated each other and started going back to our hostels.

“We have to go to Udipi”, Arjun said to Myra and me.

“Why?”, I asked.

“I made a vow that we would go to Udipi if the three of us cleared all the tests”, he said.

“That’s so sweet Arjun but we still have a project to finish.”, Myra said.

“Yes, but I’ve heard that projects are not tough.”, Arjun said.

“Okay, then. Let’s go to Udipi this weekend”, I said.

We planned a trip to Udipi, we were to leave early next day which was Saturday and start back to the campus on Sunday. We asked a few of our college friends but they wanted to take rest after the strenuous exams. 

On Saturday morning, we started to Udipi in a travel bus. Udipi is notable for its Krishna temple and is also known as Temple city.

We reached the temple by 11 AM. The gate was enormous and was very artistic. It was bright red in color and was beautifully sculptured. 

 

We entered the temple. It was beautiful. The temple had a series of mandaps and had a huge veranda. It also had a pond in the center and had a mandap on it. 

The whole place had a serene feel to it. 

There was a long queue to the main temple and we waited for a long time. After a while, it was our turn for darshan. We were mesmerized by the idol of Lord Krisha and had a very good darshan. 

After the darshan, we were extremely hungry and were about to leave the temple to find a restaurant when an elderly priest came walking towards us and pointed us to the “annadaan” section. We couldn’t say no and we sat in the veranda for food along with many others. Soon, volunteers started serving lunch and we had a sumptuous meal. 

We thanked God for such a unique experience and after a few hours in the city of Udipi, we retired to our hotel. The next day, we went back to Mysore with happiness and content….

-- To be continued

This post is a part of the Blogchatter A2Z Challenge.

"Treading on thin ice" - Infosys, Mysore Diaries - #BlogChatterA2Z

 After our trip to Scandagiri Hills, we had body pains for about 2 – 3 days and we could hardly walk. In my case, along with the body pains, I was very sad. I was missing home terribly. It’s been a long time since I met my parents, younger sister and I had this sudden longing to see them immediately. I couldn’t stop thinking about them and I was missing them like crazy. 

“I want to go home this weekend and see my family”, I said to Myra while walking to the class. 

Myra stopped walking. 

“This weekend to Hyderabad? How’s it possible? “, she said.

“I can book a direct bus from here or I’ll go to Bangalore and take a bus from there.”, I said.

“When I asked you how’s it possible, I was not asking you the itinerary. How can you travel when we have the JSF module test next Monday?”, she asked, slightly alarmed.

“I want to see my parents this weekend at any cost. I cannot wait for another week”, I said.

“Can’t you wait for one more week? JSF is a tough and important module.”, she said.

“No, am going. I’ll book tickets after going to class”, I replied. Myra seemed annoyed. I knew that she meant well and that I was treading on thin ice. But I couldn’t describe my frantic thoughts about going home. I almost felt as if something bad is going to happen if I don’t meet them ASAP. I couldn’t beat that feeling. I HAD to go home that weekend. 

After going to the class, I started looking at tickets. There was no direct bus from Mysore to Hyderabad and hence, I booked 2 tickets from Mysore – Bangalore and a super deluxe bus from Bangalore – Hyderabad.  Beside me, Anusha and Rishi were wondering what I was up to. I signaled to them that I’d tell them later. 

I then sent detailed emails to Myra and Arjun and a second email to Anusha and Rishi. This was to avoid any follow-up questions. In short, I did not give them any scope for advice or questions. They could do nothing but send me “Take care” replies but I knew their opinion on my impromptu and reckless decision.

Soon, it was Friday evening and I boarded the Bangalore bus at about 4 PM at the Majestic bus station. 

 

I was traveling alone for the first time but the anticipation of going home took away all my fears and gave me a lot of strength. I reached Bangalore at about 7:15PM and boarded the next bus at 8PM. I had to travel overnight for 12 hours to reach Hyderabad. I was seated in a 2-seater beside a guy, who was also a Software Engineer. I did not realize how reckless my decision was until the guy next to me extended his seat to a sleeping position. I felt quite uncomfortable. One thing was sure – I was not going to use my seat as a sleeper. I stay wide awake the entire night. At about 5AM, the bus stopped at a location and the driver asked us to use restrooms. The guy next to me was a thorough gentleman and brought me tea. 

“Guess you did not get any sleep”, he said to which I nodded.

In about an hour we reached the MGBS bus station at Hyderabad.

I got down the bus and the minute I saw my father, I ran towards him and hugged him. I went home and met my mother and sister. All the heaviness in my heart had melted, I felt lighter. And then, I started talking. I did not stop until I had shared every single detail with them. When I’d told them about my impromptu decision, they were alarmed but they know me and did not argue much. They had also missed me a lot.  They told me what was happening at their end. Talking to loved ones in person beats phone calls any day. In the evening, I met my best friend from school, Sridevi, and spent quality time with her. 

The weekend passed by in the wink of an eye and before I knew it, it was Sunday afternoon. My father dropped me at the bus station. For the return trip, I got tickets for a direct bus to Mysore. I had brought the material to study on my journey but I was extremely tired and couldn’t study.

On reaching the campus, I had a familiar feeling as if I belonged. This was the first time that I realized that the campus had become my second home. I hurried to my room, got ready, and met Myra. We started walking to the class when Myra revised a few important topics for the test. I felt slightly alarmed because I did not remember most of the topics that she was talking about. I remained silent but I knew it – I was going to fare very badly. On reaching the class, the atmosphere was extremely tense – just like it had been for the POJO module. 

Soon, the instructor came in and we all started taking the test. People were not lying; the test was tough and without any proper preparation, it was horrible. Before I knew it, the time was over and my test got submitted without my intervention. I was staring at the screen – I had flunked!!

-- To be continued

This post is a part of the Blogchatter A2Z Challenge.

"Scandagiri Hills" - Infosys, Mysore Diaries - #BlogChatterA2Z

 The next week passed by very quickly, we were all working hard for the JPA module. By Friday afternoon, we finished our exam and were all extremely exhausted. 

Myra, Arjun, and I met our college friends for lunch. Everybody seemed exhausted and hungry. After a few minutes of silence and frantic eating, people started talking. Manish who was kind of the leader of the boys said, “All we need is a good break. It’s been a while since we all went out on a trip. Let’s go a trip”, he said.

Myra and I looked at each other, we haven’t told anybody about our Coorg trip. We remained silent, Arjun who was sitting opposite us did not say anything too. 

“Let’s go to Coorg”, Teju said. 

My heart sank. 

“No”, Anusha said instinctively. Anusha and Swati also came to Coorg with us but they were sitting far away and we couldn’t communicate with them. I panicked, what if she blurts out about our trip.

Maybe, it’s not a big deal if we tell them about our Coorg trip. But we’ve kept it as a secret for so long and also lied about it for so long. Telling them about our trip now seemed like a bad idea. I cursed our stupid idea of keeping it a secret.  

 “Why not, it’s a beautiful place?”, Teju asked. Arjun was about to say something when Rishi interrupted.

“Coorg is more of a scenic place. Why don’t we go on a trek? It’ll be a nice adventure for a group of 20”, he said. Two or more people nodded. 

Soon, more people were warming up to this idea and I felt relieved.

“Where’s the trek?”, I asked.

“Near Bangalore. It’s called Scandagiri Hills, and it's famous for trekking and sightseeing. Its surrounded by the famous Nandi Hills. The specialty of Scandagiri Hills is that the hilltop is very close to the clouds. Once you reach the top, you’d actually be standing inside the clouds.”, he said.

“How long is the trek?”, Manish asked Rishi.

“About 4 – 5 hours, we can go for either sunrise trek in the morning or for sunset trek in the night. You’ll actually be near the stars at night but getting back might be tricky.”, he said.

We were all fascinated by this idea and decided to go on a morning trek. Our plan was to hire a mini-bus from our campus, start at 7PM that evening to Bangalore airport, halt at the Bangalore airport for a few hours and reach Scandagiri Hills by 4 AM. The entire trek would take about 4 hours, so we would reach the hilltop by sunrise. We would come back from the trek by 9/10 AM, have brunch and reach the campus by Saturday evening. We planned it such that we had enough time for rest.

“Get extra layers”, Manish said as we all started leaving from lunch.

We went back to our hostel rooms and I started packing clothes for the trek. I never went on a trek before and going on a trek with 20 people seemed exciting. 

At around 7PM, we all boarded the min-bus and reached the Bangalore airport. We stayed there for a while and started to Scandagiri Hills at around 2 AM. We were all sleepy but full of anticipation. We reached the hills at 3:30 AM. The hills were so high that I had to strain my neck to look at the hilltop. Would I be able to do it was my question? 

A person, supposedly guide walked towards us and we booked him for his guidance. There was nobody in the vicinity but the guide assured us that soon there’ll be a lot of people trekking the hills. Without further ado, the guide started walking along a pathway and we followed him. That path seemed straight forward with only a couple of stones on the way. I wondered if the trek would be as simple throughout. That’s when the guide started climbing the hill on all fours. Some of us stopped walking. 

“Should we actually climb the hill on all fours?”, someone said.

“Yes, seems like it”, Arjun replied.

“But it's so steep”, they said to which no one replied.

We had signed up for this, we had no other option than to do it. Soon, one after the other, we all started climbing the mountain. We slowed down at times but I could say that we were at a moderate pace. Halfway through, someone who was ahead of us shouted, “Don’t look down”.

We all looked down and I literally reeled. At that point, I realized what fear of heights feels like. I’d never been at such a height before and that’s probably the reason for my late realization. I found a lot of people experiencing the same. My mind completely blanked out but the logical side of me said – “You’ve no other option than to climb. Just keep going and don’t look down. Also, you’re not the first person who’d done this”

 Without a second thought and before my mind could trick me, I started climbing at a faster pace. I did not look back even though people from behind tried speaking to me. When we halted for rest, I only looked upwards. Finally, before I knew it we were on the top of the hill. 

Everybody started shouting on successfully having reached the hilltop and I joined them. And then, I looked around. It was breathtaking! We were actually in a cloud – it was misty all around and slightly raining too. 

I was still taking all this in when someone pointed to the sky. The sun was shining orange and seemed very close. It was magical. Even the most avid photographers took a while to take out their cameras.

 

Once the surprise set in, we started going around and exploring the place. The surroundings were spectacular, we got the best view of the Nandi hills. It is then that we realized how cold it was, nice that we wore all the extra layers. 

The cherry on the top was the tea, maggi vendors, and a clean restroom. We all had Maggi and tea and spent a while walking around. That’s when one of us spotted a temple, it was Lord shiva’s – I had expected this, there had to be a temple here. We went in one after the other and had a quick darshan.

After spending a good 1 hour there, it was time to go down. I don’t want to go into the details of our return trip but it was very strenuous to climb down the extremely steep hill. But we were still in the aw of what we saw upstairs and hardly any of us complained. Soon, we were down the hill and looked up feeling proud of our trek. 

After coming back to the campus, while limping back to our hostel, I still had a smile on my face. This would remain one of the best experiences of my life.

-- To be continued

This post is a part of the Blogchatter A2Z Challenge.

"Romance in the Air" - Infosys, Mysore Diaries - #BlogChatterA2Z

 Planning a trip to Coorg at the last minute was a challenge but keeping it a secret after coming back was a bigger challenge. Myra was facing the brunt of it as she did not inform Chetan about the trip. He kept pestering her about why she hadn’t met him over the weekend and she was dodging his questions. 

Not informing Chetan about the trip seemed a little unusual to me but I did not question her. I knew that she’d tell me if she wanted to. Soon enough, she knocked on my door one day and said to me, “How do I tell Chetan that I need space sometimes?”

I processed this for a few seconds.

“As far as I know, honesty is the best way to go. Just tell him, he’ll understand. “, I said.

“It’s not easy, Priya”, she said.

“I know, but it’s not right to avoid him and not tell him the truth. This will only affect your relationship. Moreover, you both don’t spend as much time as before because he’s not our classmate anymore.”, I told her.

Myra looked anxious. 

“You’re right. I’ve been hurting him a lot lately, I need to make it up to him. Maybe I’ll plan something special for him this Friday.”, she said.

On Thursday, she sent Arjun and me an email that said, 

“Hey guys, am planning a surprise dinner date with Chetan. I looked up some restaurants on the campus and looks like the Floating restaurant is pretty famous. Do you guys want to check out the place tonight?”

Before I could reply to the email, Arjun replied, “YES!!!!!”

I smiled and replied, “Sure, what time?”

*

At about 6:40 PM, the three of us started to the famous Floating restaurant. I haven’t heard much about it except that it was surrounded by a pool. It was rumored to be the most beautiful restaurant on the campus. 

“The restaurant is supposed to look splendid at night”, Myra said with anticipation. 

“Can’t wait to see it”, I replied. 

“There you go”, Arjun said, pointing to a sign that said, “Floating restaurant”.

There was a 2 storied building in front of us. Frankly speaking, it did not look great, there was a lawn in front of the building and we crossed it and entered the building. On entering the building, there was a narrow walkway. Myra pointed to the walkway. It led to a wide pergola-like room. 

All of this was normal but the fascinating part of the whole restaurant was that it was located on a pond! We stood on the walkway and looked at the pond – it had large, beautiful fish in it. The whole place looked spectacular and well-lit. 

 “Woah!! This is the most romantic place I’ve ever seen.”, Arjun said.

“It’s the perfect place for a date”, I said and looked at Myra.

Her eyes were wide and brimming with happiness. I was very happy for her. 

I was looking around the whole place and I spotted a corner. It had a creeper plant surrounding the chairs and also had the best view of the water. 

A couple was sitting there, they were holding hands and seemed to be in a different world. It was too intimate, I looked away. 

“I’ll make a reservation”, Myra said. 

“Wait a second”, I said and looked back at that corner. I knew that I might be disturbing the couple but Myra was making a reservation.

 “Myra, you guys should sit there”, I said, pointing to that corner.

“Woah! Perfect!”, she said and suddenly turned away. Guess the couple was looking at us.

She nudged us and we walked away hastily. Myra made a reservation at the reception and we left the restaurant.

On our way back, my mind kept revisiting that corner. It was such a beautiful place and was tailor-made for romance. How nice would it be to go on a date there! After going back to the hostel, I switched on the TV and started switching channels. The song, “Kaate nahin kat te” from the movie, Mr.India was on. I smiled to myself and watched the song. Sometimes, all you need is a beautiful location and a lovely song to feel romance all around you….

-- To be continued

This post is a part of the Blogchatter A2Z Challenge.

"Quiet escape to Coorg" - Infosys, Mysore Diaries - #BlogChatterA2Z

 After successful completion of the “POJO” module, we were all getting ready to leave the classroom when Arjun signaled Myra and me to stay back. We were curious to know why. 

After everybody left the classroom, Arjun said to us, “The next module starts on Monday and we have this weekend off. Let’s plan something for the weekend? We can do some research here, book tickets, and then leave for the day. Don’t want too many people joining us in case we don’t get tickets.”

“Good idea. How about we visit a tourist location nearby? “, I said immediately.

“Let’s check for some places nearby”, Myra said and switched on her computer. In about a minute, we had a list on the internet and one of the places suggested was Coorg. I’d heard a lot about this place through my grandfather and I was excited to visit this place. Myra and Arjun were okay with Coorg and we started reading more about this place. 

Suddenly Anusha entered our classroom and I shouted without thinking, “We are going to Coorg”. 

Arjun looked furious. He had a thing about going on trips with too many girls and all the chatter.

“Oh really. Can I join?”, Anusha said. 

“Sure”, Myra replied ignoring Arjun.

She joined us and we started looking at tickets, hotel, travel, etc. We were lucky to find tickets at the last minute. But it was just for 5 people. 

“Should we book?”, I asked them.

“Can we ask Swati? I always hang out with her.”, Anusha asked. 

“Okay, but please don’t tell anybody else. We don’t have tickets and it’ll be rude to deny.”, I said. 

We booked the tickets and made all the reservations. That afternoon during lunch, when college friends were discussing plans for the weekend, we stayed mum. We had booked a mini-van and were to leave that evening. 

At about 6PM, we were in the mini-van having spent the entire afternoon dodging people, calls, and questions. 

Finally, when the car left the campus, all the girls shrieked in relief. Arjun, who sat beside the driver, hushed us and seemed extremely irritated. 

                                                                                    *

In about 3 hours or so, we reached a hotel in Madikeri, a place in Coorg, and halted for the night.

The next morning, we woke up early to visit a place called “Raja’s Seat”, which was predominantly a garden with beautiful flowering plants but also had a breathtaking view. This garden was supposedly the favorite place to relax and rejuvenate for the Kings who ruled Coorg. 

Watching the sunrise from this place was so special and we all enjoyed the peace and calm of the place. 

After a quick breakfast on the way, we visited the Madikeri Fort which was built in the seventeenth century by a local ruler and later captured and restructured by Tipu Sultan. The fort had an old-world charm to it and we all admired the simplicity of the place.

We then had a hurried lunch and started to a place called Namdroling Monastery (also known as the golden temple), located about an hour away. We were most interested in visiting this place because of its popular Tibetan Buddhist architecture. 

On entering the huge entrance that had Dalai Lama’s portrait on it, there was a lot of open space and greenery around. A huge temple stood in front of us. 

We saw monks in traditional attire, entering the temple. We followed them, entered the large temple, and were surprised by the high ceilings and huge Buddha statues. The Buddha statues were gold in color and the artwork was very detailed. The whole place was glowing because of all the colors. 

We stayed a few minutes within the temple and headed out. We sat for a few minutes outside the temple, the whole place had serene vibes to it and we were awestruck by the architecture of the place. 

We left the place in some time and went back to our hotel. After a good night’s rest, the next day morning, we visited Talakaveri. This place was the source of the Kaveri river and a small tank had been erected at the origin. The place also had a famous temple dedicated to Goddess Kaveramma. 

After checking out the tank and visiting the temple, we quickly visited the coffee plantations of Coorg. The place had acres and acres of green meadows full of coffee, tea, and spice plantations.  We had Coorg special coffee there which was amazing and also took many pictures in the meadows. 

It was almost 3 PM, we had a late lunch and started back to the campus. 

This was a hurried trip but it was definitely a success with such last-minute planning. We sure had big smiles on our way back. 

-- To be continued

This post is a part of the Blogchatter A2Z Challenge.