Another Phone Call

The caller (a female voice) on my 'personal' mobile phone:
Caller  : Hello???
Me      : Yes....
Caller  : Is this Meghna Garg from ABC ltd.
Me      : Yes..... (hopes rising...:-))
Caller  : I am xyz calling from blah blah consultancy
Me      : Yes.....
             (Hopes rising again - its good to talk to placement consultants especially when your resume is up on the job portal)
Caller  : I wanted the number of your HR deparment......(pause)
Me      : ???!!!! (confused) what??? why??? (thinking all sorts of things)
Caller  : I wanted to ask about the empanellent of our consultancy at your company...
Me      : (Mustering up courage... faking a stern voice) How did you get my number xyz???
Caller   : From your resume on the job portal :-P :-) (perhaps grinning at her own smartness)
Me      : Here goes.....xxxxxxxxx (
             (chickened out from a smart cookie reply hoping someday she'd call me for the right reason ;-)
Me     : (Aloud to my fellow co workers) What a NERVE!!!!!

A Phone Call

This was a random call from a job seeker to the dealing room. The caller was calling for the 2nd time for a job opportunity. The first time he called, it was answered by a new joinee in the team who really didnt know how to respond. Then of course, the pro steps in ;-)
 
Caller  : Hello???
Me      : Hello. Who's this?
Caller  : Hello, is this Dhasti?
Me      : [He's got the name wrong, the name is Khyati], No- this is not Dhasti.
Caller  : Can I talk to Dhasti?
Me      : There is no one by the name of Dhasti over here. You've called a wrong number. [about to disconnect]
Caller  : No, no. I wanted to apply for the job of the trader.
Me      : Please contact the HR. They are responsible for vacancies in the company.
Caller  : No - no. My friend Ashish told me that there is a vacancy here.
Me      : Who am I talking to?
Caller  : Ashish.
Me      : Ashish from? [I meant the company]
Caller  : Ashish from Ghatkopar!!!!
Me      : :-P :-O [whaattttt] [ rejected already!!!!]
Me      : Ashish, please get in touch with the HR team. They will guide you.
Caller   : Give me the number?
Me      : [ Rejected again - didnt use the word "please" and yes - I am not the receptionist]
Me      : Its available on the company website.
Me      : Thanks [putting the receiver down]
Me      : [to myself] Phew!!!!!  The nerve of the guy!!!
 
All of us : Ha ha ha :-D

Hyderabad

The long weekend of Good Friday had been planned well in advance. The gang decided to meet (the gang about which I spoke in detail in one of my earlier posts). And well, it all materialised :-). Its been 5 years since we all passed out. 5 years since we all have been through the various phases of life. 5 years since we've become more wise, sensible and intelligent (well - hopefully) and 5 years since all of us met TOGETHER. Well, we have met in bits and pieces but not all of us together :-). 
Ekta (Chennai), Munish, me and Megha (Mumbai) coordinated our flights to almost land at the same at the Hyderabad airport. Must say, its an awesome new international airport. One can easily spend time over here. After landing, we went on a treasure hunt. A Treasure hunt to reach Shobha's place with popular landmarks like Karur Vyasa Bank branch and a tree plus a random shop :-P. Finally, we managed to find each other after the driver pointed gleefully at the "laadies" standing on the sidelines ;-) (hehehehe). And yes - she is THE ONE. At whose place we would be crashing for 2 nights and 3 days. Free lodging, free boarding and free food. Plus a cute little girl called Aaradhya to hang out with (<3 :-) ).
So - all of us were eating at once, talking at once and me - trying to sleep for once. Dont blame me. I slept at 12 and woke up at 3 to catch a flight at 5. All the timings are in A.M. The rest can but I really cant do without my beauty sleep :-P. sigh!!!! I tried in vain to sleep for an hour but the little devil - oops ANGEL....<3 wouldn't let me plus all the loud laughter of the ADULTS was really it. Yeah - I am a lazy person plus I can sleep on demand :-).
Soumya came in later with her little 6 months old bundle by the name of Medhya. Sweet little darling (thats because she stays put, does not walk, talk or run) untill she grows up. I can imagine both the mommies, Shobha and Soumya, exchanging notes on the little developments of their champs.
Was meeting Ekta after 3 years. In the meantime, she has married and is settled in Chennai. Also working in a rival general insurance company. Well - we were also exchanging notes as to whose company is worser.
Our husbands exchanged notes on work and wives :-P.
There was a lot of coochie cooing all the time over the kids. I guess they were the centre of attention and attraction. Bouncing off like in game of passing the parcel, I am sure they must be enjoying every bit of attention.
We roamed the streets of Hyderabad in a traditional sense. Shobha and Rajneesh took us to Golconda Fort and treated us to some awesome medu vadas at a local shop nearby. Wish I had a picture. (Ya ya - I try not to be one of those who clicks a pic of everything eaten and updates it on facebook - I know quite a few who do :-) - In case you are one of those are reading this, no offence :-) ). Well - we had the vadas again.
There was a visit to Shilparaman, a permanent handicrafts exhibition, Charminar and Laad Bazaar. We shopped a lot. And hence by the time we got home, we were just about ready to eat anything.
Shobha and Rajneesh treated us to a Dominos pizzas. A treat for their new home. We wiped that one out in a matter of minutes.
Gaurav had got the game of Pictionary. Was playing it for the first time. :-P (Ya - go ahead - giggle or laugh out loud). We were yelling and fighting within 10 minutes of it already. And yes - we did get emotional while playing it :-P. Hence, for the sake of mankind and friendship we stopped :-D.
On our last day of our visit, Soumya treated us to a home cooked lunch at her place. Yes - she cooked. We ate. She served us snacks. We ate. She served us soft drinks. We drank. The desert - wiped out. WOW!!!!
It was time to leave. There was a flight to catch back home. Back to the regular rigamarole of life :-). It was a good and a welcome break. We actually enjoyed meeting the old and the new persons at the same time. It was interesting to note the growth of each one of us and note how all of us have turned out. And I must say, we pretty much did a decent job.
Looking forward to more of such heartwarming and lovely get-togethers.



P.S. For more details on sight seeing check this link out

Hyderabad - A traveller's perspective

Hyderabad is the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh. It was founded in the year 1591 by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah. It is a city which projects a strong cultural influence along with a booming information technology industry. Famous for its Pearls, Biryani and Karachi Bakery biscuits, the city is small enough to provide a sense of comfort and big enough to let you grow.

The Hussain Sagar Lake is a popular tourist destination which offers a boat ride, a small lake side restaurant and good snacks. In between the lake stands a tall Buddha structure.


The Golconda Fort was established by Quli Qutb Shah. The fort is in a good shape except for the grafitti which is an eye sore at some places. It is really painful to see love declarations of the current generation on something which has such a historic value


If you look closely, you can look at scribblings on the wall

We climbed all the way upto the Golconda Fort and the city view which was visible to the eye from the top was simply beautiful. During such a climb, I realised that I must really build up on my stamina or the lack of it is really going to be  a deterrant in other visits. There is a also a light and a sound show which we skipped since it was in the evening.
.
View from the top

We learnt from one of the locals that inadequacy of water, and frequent epidemics of plague and cholera persuaded Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah to venture outward to establish new city with the Charminar at its centre and with four great roads fanning out four cardinal directions. Hyderabad's fame, strategic location and Golconda's legendary wealth attracted Aurangazeb who captured Golconda after a long battle in1687. Making a grand 'Gate' is one the main architectural points of the Mughal influenced architecture... If you observe carefully in all the cities which were under their rule, there is a 'gate' for e.g. India Gate (New Delhi), Gateway of India (Mumbai), Dilli Darwaja, Teen Darwaja (Ahmedabad). Other than this they made tombs ...or maqbaras which are also famous...the most famous one being the Taj Mahal which is actually a tomb.

Charminar, Hyderabad


Anyways, Charminar is famous for its locally found authentic biryani and the famous hyderabadi pearls. There are scores and scores of shops and bargaining is the key. We went to a wholesale shop and one of our friends bought pearls to her heart's content. I was happy buying a small pendent set for a relative from the shop which costed me Rs. 125/- WONLY.....:-)




Ahead of Charminar, is the Laad Bazaar. Popular for the bangles made of lac. In Hindi, it is more popularly known as lac ki chudiyan....couldnt resist myself and bought myself a couple of them.





Apart from the traditional places of Hyderabad, there is also a permanent handicrafts exhibition at Shilparaman. One can find all kinds of traditional arts and crafts from paintaings to footwear to bedsheets to clay art to sketching to junk jewellery to wooden artifacts and what not.

 I got myself a broad, shallow clay pot (dont know what to call it) mainly for the purpose of decorating rangoli or diyas during the Diwali festival for a mere sum of Rs. 100/-. In Mumbai, we find this at no less than Rs. 350/- :-O.

 Wanted to get a wooden jewellery box but they didnt have the sections which I wanted. So I opted for a wooden artisan's box with appropriate sections for Rs. 150/-.




Our hyderabadi friends gifted us 2 beautiful masks as token of memory. Touching. And no - I didnt inquire of the cost ;-).



Other than the shopping aspect, there are people who will put mahendi on  your hand in like 10 mins and sketch a portrait of you (well at least 60% familiar) in a very short time.



All in all, thoroughly enjoyed this trip to Hyderabad. Touched on its various aspects and felt enriched as to how another city / place has touched my life and how I will take back memories from here.

Office Comparisons

Ekta and me were comparing notes on our work places when we met in Hyderabad. She works in a rival general insurance company. Rival??? - I am not too sure about the "rival" bit but anyways.....

Ekta        : If there is a function in my family in Chennai, my boss asks me to leave early :-P
Me          : Well mine too. Atleast he has never said no.

Ekta        : We can use GTalk.
Me          : Me too :-P
Ekta        : :-P

Ekta        : We have had no offsites.
Me          : Me too :-P
Ekta        : :-P

Ekta        : No increment.
Me          : Me too :-P
Ekta        : :-X

Ekta       : I get leaves without much hassle.
Me         : Yeah!!! This one I am winning - I can take "SICK LEAVES" in ADVANCE  and well  accumulate them too :-O
Ekta       : You WIN *clap clap*
Me         : *Taking a bow*

P.S. I had to win this one ;-)