Chennai so far........ part 1

Finally the college days were over and it was time to step into the professional life. I thought I would go home and rest for a while before eventually getting into the grooves. I had hardly finished my final semester project presentations that me along with the other folks who were hired by Accenture were summoned to join. I was one of those unlucky ones asked to join the Chennai facility. I already had enough of the excruciating summer in Jaipur for the last four years and prayed that my next stop would be relatively hospitable. But alas, man proposes and God disposes. The last days in the college were really different. The exodus of graduating students bidding farewell to the place which had been their home for the last four years, the late night chats in the Thadi (a makeshift eatery) over a cup of tea promising each other to remain friends for life and a few emotional ones sobbing aloud after a shot of liquor. Finally after getting my things in order it was time to say goodbye and get moving. 

       I flew from Guwahati to Kolkata from where I boarded a connecting flight to Chennai. Everything was fine until I was told by the SpiceJet ground duty staff that my cabin luggage had been flown to Bangalore and that I would get back my belongings after I reach my hotel in Chennai. It was the first time I was onboard an aircraft and it was great. The experience of being in the middle of nowhere high up in the night sky where the only visible thing outside the window were the blinking lights at the extremes of the two wings was indeed surreal. I reached Chennai airport at around midnight the same day and awaited till the morning as my friend was also arriving from Delhi the following morning. Our hotel was quite far from the main city. We thoroughly enjoyed the prerogative of staying in a luxury hotel made available to us by the company and had a blast for ten days at a stretch. The complimentary breakfast buffet was the much needed icing on the cake. If you would ask me of my first experiences of Chennai I would have to tell you, its smell. Each place seems to have a very characteristic smell. Nowadays while returning from office I can guess the place I have reached with closed eyes. So even though sometimes I fall asleep in the bus I am awakened by the signature smell of my destination stop. If you happen to use the public transportation at the peak hours especially in the early morning it is a nightmare. Its as if you just entered a perfume shop. The strong smell emanating from fresh (I guess) jasmine adorning the braids of the ladies or the obnoxious odour of people blasting off their chairs. I assure you that you won't want to face such a predicament. Fortunately the company provides it own buses for its employees and we are relieved of such miseries.

   My rendezvous with the IT industry started with two months of excruciating training. It was their own way of exposing us to the demanding life that lay ahead of us. I also got acquainted with the jargon that is quite ubiquitous in the IT world. Words like issue, stretching (an euphemism for labour exploitation), resource (I personally find this word very offensive. It kind of demeans my identity), EOD(End of Day) gradually became a part and parcel of my vocabulary. The absurdity of chatting on AIM with the person sitting just next you.  

To be continued................