The AP Chronicles

I was reading this post earlier today and got to thinking of my own (solitary) experience of living away from home. Sometimes I really can’t believe I spent almost 2 years there...

After just under a year of working with my first company, I got an opportunity to work with a fairly well-established Pharma OTC company, but the posting was in Vijaywada, HQ of Krishna (a district located on the east coast of Andhra Pradesh).
While I quite liked the setup of my first company not to mention the job itself, I wasn't really rolling in the dough, so I took the new job. The thought of moving out of home, living and working in an alien city was quite intimidating and continued up until the time I boarded my train to Vijaywada from VT station.

The folks had come to see me off and I remember feeling distinctly out of sorts as the train started to pull out of the station. As I numbly waved my goodbyes to them, I had half a mind to just jump off and tell Dad that this was a huge mistake and I didn’t really wanna be away from home. As their shapes started to blur with the distance I lit up a smoke and drew deeply. Gave myself a mental pep talk - "Listen... you're almost 24... There’s tons of people who've left their homes at far far younger ages, traveled greater distances than you for education... work.... This is an experience. You're getting to see a different part of the country... Think of this as an Adventure!!"
And that last line, dear reader, kept me going for the 20 or so months that I was there...

My flat was located kinda on the outskirts of the city. It was a 1 BHK affair... some 600 feet or so. HUGE by Bombay standards and I used to pay a rent of Rs. 1000 (!!). OK let me explain coz there was a tradeoff... One, the location as I've mentioned meant lowish rents anyway. Second and most importantly, I was told I could be shifted to any empty flat as and when the current flat I was currently in, got sold off. Since I really didn’t have much junk of my own and was on the road for like 20 days a month, I figured the deal was a good one and took it.
*Course the deal came back to bite me in the a$$ shortly...

Summers were a bitch in AP. Temperatures used to routinely hit 45 degrees. And when on the odd occasion, the mercury would touch 48, then the locals would go, "Oh today it’s really hot." (?!?!) Never have I so craved the humid heat of Bombay more.
Sometime though, it'd get a little scary. I remember touring a place called Bhadrachalam in the peak of summer in '03. The temperature was a skin melting 51 degrees! I was so dehydrated before my meeting with the local distributor, I decided to stand in the shade of a nearby 'Cool Drinks' stand and have a Goli Soda (btw this is one of things I sorely miss about small town India) to cool off. As I'm replenishing my body with the fluids it so desperately needed, I saw this slightly older chap walking by and after a few feet of passing the shop, dude just collapsed! Several bystanders rushed to guy and carried him off the road into the shade. By then my sales guy called me in to meet the distributor. About an hour later, we got done and stoked by my previous Goli soda, I decided to have one more. The crowd that had gathered before had gone by now, but I asked the vendor if Fainting Dude was ok. He muttered something back, which my colleague turned to me and quietly translated, "Saar, he has expired..."
I decided then that two summers were quite enough for me in this place.

*Shortly after this trip I came back into Vijaywada. It had been a tiring train journey. I had been on the road for about 17 days at a stretch and when I got off the station, I'd made up my mind not to haggle with the rick guy about the usual overcharging they'd do. I just wanted to get home. But no motor ricks so I had to get into one of those cycle ricks which I hate coz I'm a big built guy and I can’t stand the thought of someone peddling my fat ass for a good 5 kilometers. But no choice and at that point I didn’t really care so sat in and headed home. Reach my building and find the elevator is out of order, so I trudge up 3 flights of stairs. I tried to open my door but it wouldn’t open. I hear someone coming up the stairs and its my neighbor who says my stuff has been shifted to another flat in a different building of the complex! So I go to the office and collect the keys to my new flat which is located in the 'A' Wing on... wait for it... the 7th futhermucking floor! So yet again its WALK WALK WALK up 7 flights of stairs!
That was NOT a nice day... no sirree.

I wish there was enthralling stuff to write about my time in AP but being located in Vijaywada meant that the only "exciting" things to do was going for weddings in my distributors' or team members' families (immediate or extended), or some puja associated with Diwali or Pongal or somesuch.
But the standout memories of the entire AP experience were:-
- While traveling upcountry in an area with heavy Naxal presence, our bus was pulled over and a thorough search was carried out of every passenger and their luggage for grenades and firearms.
- Visiting the beached submarine, INS Kursura, at Vishakapatnam's Ramakrishna beach. I now have major respect for the (small built) dudes who'd spend weeks under the waves in these metal tubes. Must've bumped my head like 10 times in those cramped confines.

- Being told my "worth" at one of those afore-mentioned weddings. "Saar... you're very young and holding such a good post in a company like ____. You'll get atleast 50 lacs from girl's side!... Should we find a good Andhra girl for you saar??!"

- Got 'picked' up for a one night stand (yup... first time ever!) in Vizag. Hah! Who knew that an evening, which started out with a innocent drink at the bar, would end the way it did! Oh and she was an older woman too. OK so while not a cougar, she still older than me. Aah so many fantasies fulfilled in one night hehe

By the end of Dec '03 though, I'd had it with the place and the job. So one fine day, I packed my bags, mailed off my resignation to the Hyderabad office and headed back to Bombay. I still think of that time in my life as one big adventure. An experience that came squarely under Life Lessons.

I don’t really miss that place - except that sometimes... I do...

Getting away from it all

A lazy Saturday in progress... Woke up late, had a bit of breakfast. Then later headed with the Madman and the Banker to Hard Rock for lunch. I'm sitting now at the Madman's house writing this post on his Mac (bloody annoying to get used to, being a PC user my entire life) which I think I could get to like given enough time and well.... my own Mac.

I'm sitting on the steps of the entry to his house in front of this tiny lil garden posting while the Madman snores away contentedly inside his room.

The past few days have been an equal mix of dread and anticipation. Dread stemming from the fact that there is now only 2 weeks to go before I leave my company. The anticipation is a result of a trip I will be taking towards the end of the month. What started out as a week long trip to Koh Samui has blown up and become a South East Asia jaunt of sorts. I will be travelling for about 6 weeks and will back in Bombay only in the new year. Places on the list are Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and KL. Trying to squeeze in either Vietnam or Cambodia as well although it doesn't look too promising.

The aim besides travelling is to catch up with family and friends (old and new) living in these places. Also to try and visit places of interest located near to the above cities mentioned. Last, but definitely not the least, on the agenda is to play a serious amount of poker. The Hold 'Em scene is thriving in Singapore and KL and it would be good to meet up and play with different players. I think my game's been stagnating off late and this might be a good way to refresh it.

It's the coming back after which is bringing back those anxiety attacks. The thought of job hunting (successfully) given the current bleak market scenario is a daunting one. But I'm not thinking too much about now coz that'll just succeed in ruining the upcoming vacation.


Where the hell is that Fairy Godmother when you need her?!?!

Dazed and Confused

Heading home from work today, I felt a lightness that I haven’t felt in a long time now. I had a slight grin on my face through out the ride, which left my cab-sharing colleague a little concerned about my mental state.

Couple of issues in my life have been creating havoc and mentally I am tired... just soooo damn tired. One of them being work... rather my lack of interest in what I have been doing for the past 4 years now in my present company.
S'funny that after 8 years of working in sales in different industries I come to a realization - I really don’t wanna be doing what I do. OK so maybe it isn’t all that funny. Ironic probably would be a better word I suppose. Actually I came to this particular conclusion sometime ago – 4 years ago to be exact (... wait a minute!).

So of course, like any sane individual who has no clue where his career is going, I clamped it down and promptly joined sales in a media company thinking probably the change of industry would be what would cure my ails. 52 months later and I get the distinct feeling that God who’s probably lying sprawled on his Divine Couch (that’s right! It IS called that!) smoking his spliff, slowly wagging his finger going, “Toldja ya maaaaann…”.
Yes I do need to work out my religious issues but c’mon you gotta admit God as a spliff smokin’, dreadlock bearing Rasta would look waaayyy cool.

So why am I grinning like a fool? Coz I told them I’m gonna quit. Its incredible once I did it, the feeling I got. Its all doom and gloom in the work-place these days anyhow what with team changes, new bosses, insufficient hikes and below par incentives. All I could think about was the fact that I was free. That feeling was quickly followed by, “You #*%$ing idiot!! What are you going to do now???”

Still I feel liberated. Maybe it was time to move from this place anyhow. I’ve never been one for making close friends from work but I did make a couple here. Ever since they left, this place hasn’t been the same again. Time to move on… into the unknown once again.

Which reminds me - I haven’t given an interview in four years. Damn! I wonder if they still ask those same bullshit questions – “Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?” “Sitting in my million dollar apartment overlooking Waikiki and sucking down Mai Tais, thinking about when I wanna take my private jet to the Bellagio to play some high stakes with Daniel, Gus, Phil and the rest of the boys”. Idiota!

And so the hunt begins…