Archive for the ‘Life in Pune’ Category

HCL > Red Hat > IBM, Pune > IBM Gurgaon

November 16th, 2008

31st January, 06 - when I was still an HCL Tech employee - I had read a Paul Graham’s article - which mentioned that there are two type of people - those who earn their livelihood by doing what they love to do and those who do what they love by earning livelihood from something they don’t like so much.

The transition from HCL Tech (Noida) to Red Hat (Kalyani Nagar, Pune) had directly put me into the first category. Time passed, priorities changed, and with changing jobs, short term objectives also changed - but the long term objectives were still there, visible clearly.

Today, almost 30 months later - I am part of the second group, supporting what I love by doing things that support me financially. The bigger objective is still very much there. Getting back to Delhi with family & my team is just going to put that more into the focus.

Talking of getting back to Delhi - how can I miss the mention of Pune.

Taking the plunge to go and work with Red Hat, away from my family & friends - literally turned me ‘upside-down’. This was my first ever stay away from the family and a ton of things changed with that. Money matters suddenly became important, finding good people to live with became top most priority, finding friends whom I could talk at same wavelength became a challenege and what not. The independence came tagged with a sense of responsibility - which ofcourse took a back seat for the initial period - but it sure kicked in, hard - sooner than later.

When I came to Pune, I didn’t even knew how to operate a Debit Card in an ATM - or even how to deposit a cheque correctly. Ofcourse, driving was supposed to be even out of mention. And I really don’t feel ashamed about it anymore. As I realized, all the people I met during my initial stay in Pune were more or less like at the same page as I was - sometimes even worst!

And that turned out to be the best part!

Living away from the family literally taught me everything I needed. Independence, sense of responsibility & ownership, the missing sense of belonging to my roots, being comfortable with what I am, managing money matters (thought I still am a n00b at it) - and ofcourse driving :)

Luckily, I made some great lifelong friends in Pune - the D25 legacy!
Ratish & I met when we were playing against each other in a Tennis match about two years ago at Deccan Gymkhana Club. Though somehow I won that match… but the dude won my heart. We went on to become room mates in just a couple of months - and that was when I became part of the D25 group. Friends @ D25 were exactly what I was looking for in Pune - full of fun when enjoying and trustworthy when in need. Though the original members @ D25 are now scattered all over India, the legacy still lives on - D-25[at]googlegroups.com

Pune is a great city - unarguably the best after Delhi. A probable second home for Delhi folks who want to relocate.

The flight Captain just announced that we are going to land in a few minutes - so I am going to log off now. If you ever have any questions about life in Pune - please feel free to ping me.

Good Bye Pune!
12:41 PM, thousands of feet in the sky.

Posted in A strong urge to blog..., Life in Pune | Comments (0)

Next stop…

August 22nd, 2008

New Delhi!

New Delhi

(Hopefully) I’ll be reaching Delhi before Midnight Saturday (23rd Aug 08). Very excited and anxious at the same time as I’m traveling via Train :(

Bon voyage Maku!

Posted in Life, Life in Pune | Comments (0)

Come Sunday - and we iRock!

August 11th, 2008

The week has just started and wait for the weekend has already begun! Here’s why…

iRock

The finals for IRock are scheduled here in Pune and you bet we arn’t going to miss them!
Dodge this - I have just booked 13 (yes thirteen) tickets for this Sunday!
Its also my much awaited birthday party (well sorta :P)

So come Sunday - and we iRock! :)

Posted in A strong urge to blog..., Life in Pune, Roomies | Comments (0)

Catching up with life!

June 7th, 2008

Past few months were crazy! An 18 hours work pattern was addictive!

But I am so happy to be back to a normal routine. I finally broke a 3 week long jinx and at 7pm, was all set to hit the gym. Its been long since I last smelled myself sweating - and its was such a welcome change. The combination of Bryan Adams (being directly delivered to my ear drums) and abdominal crunches is awesome… you just cannot believe how much it can motivate you!

Just if I can somehow shift my work schedule -3 hours, I can continue this in realtime (one is not expected to hit the gym at 12 midnight!)

June’s target - get back to 32′ 34′ waist size!

Posted in A strong urge to blog..., Life in Pune, Music | Comments (2)

So what is an {ab}normal day like?

April 23rd, 2008

Considering that I am more of a night person, my day starts at 9pm

So its almost 2:30am now - and guess what? Movie time ;)

Shubhu is watching Highlander off the DVD - too bad, i’ll have to plan for some other flick…

Posted in ApnaBill, Life in Pune | Comments (1)

« Older Entries