With a heavy heart

I leave. I came, I saw and now I leave. There is so much to say that saying it all will take a lot of time and space but still I want to say it cause this is the moment. Time has come. Time of transition. Yes, one more transition.

The last one was when I had come to Infy. To a totally new place, clueless about it. I still remember when for the first time I was sleeping with a complete stranger (Rashi) in the room. I have my own way of doubting ppl and I had this weired thought that she might be a psycho who might actually kill me while I was sleeping.

And then I remember the face of my father when I was leaving for office and that was the first time in his life when he had to let go. He was praying.

And then the first time I had a look at Infosys Mysore. It was beautiful. Flowers, trees grass, pathways, buildings everything was well structured and beautiful.

The first day at ILI, I felt as if I was here by mistake. I wasnt gud enough to be here. Everybody else was knowledged except me. I proved myself wrong by clearing Compri with third highest matks in the class with all A grades. The person with the second highest marks was Robin. I dint knw him then.

Those were the days.
Rains, thunderous rains, and we would go from Food Court to Hostel Rooms singing songs, playing jokes under those huge umbrellas and still get wet. I loved that rain.That muggofying stuff. gobbling up things like anything. Thanks to Neha and Mohit. without them I would have been nowhere. And the way Smita and Rashi would drown themselves in books. I hated that part of them. The Bandipur Sanctury trip. That gobbling up of Breakfast and rushing for class. And learning java for the first time. That was good.

The postings.
I got posted in Mysore (luckily with Neha and Mohit). I shed a bucketful of tears. Mysore is shit. no place to live. its so sleepy. u dnt get anything here. Initially around 25 ppl were posted here but then 10 got reposted and only 14 of us were left. And I cried double.

Finding Home.
There were five girls left. Neha and I were frnds. Rumana and Shruti knew each other. Preety was the only girl from her group. Luckily Robin (her trng frnd) also got posted there. Must have been a tough time for her. Then there was Pari (Parikshit), famous as a big flirt of the training batch (and he lives up to the reputation), two Mohits (garg and joshi), naveen, vipin and rahul mehta. We found a set of flats in yadavgiri. ours was on first floor, the guys' was on ground. Rahul and Robin found a home near ours. Yadavgiri seemed like a dull place at that time.

Office.
I was tryign my best for a swap but things dint work out. I finally landed up in PLM ECU. God Bless me. A nice pack of fresh joinees there. Soon I found a set of nice frnds in them. The Coorg trip. That was a wonderful trip we went for. That place is just too beautiful. And all the people were great too. That was the peak. The next week Shriti got to know that she was being transffered. Then Siva got transffered. Then Shobana, toolika. So many of them in a small time span. Things were getting difficult in office. No projects were coming in. There seemed no future.

Rommies.
Shruti got transffered to Blore. Four of us were left. And gradually a bond developed. we started understanding each other and liking each other the way we were. Everybody put in a lot of effort in collecting stuff for home.And it felt good to come back home and to watch TV and try cooking a dish or two on the weekends. But then Rumana and Preety got involved in a Hard Core development project and they would hardly spend anytime home. And Neha opted for the afternoon shift. So, we began to see less of each other. I would only meet Robin and Preety during lunch hours.

Java.
Robin and Chetan suggested to go for Java Certification. I prepared. relentlessly. day and night. I wanted to get out of that mess in office.

Lonliness.
Since most of the people were busy, I would do things to pass time on my own. I would cook:-). I would go out for stralls in the mornings and sometimes in the evenings. And I realized what a beautiful place Mysore was. Once I was going to give clothes for Ironing. And I saw the red flowers under my feet. And I looked around. That was the first time I realized how beutiful Mysore was. And now I revere it for the same.I would dance at evenings carefree. That was freedom. Utter freedom.

Rains.
And once I deliberately got completely drenched in rain. The Mysore rains are wonderful. They fall with full force. And its lovely.

Friends.
Sometimes we would spend the entire night gossiping, giggling. Saw many places. CCD, Pizza Hut. Robin would keep talking about some high level stuff. That made me raise my bar. And the rides in Pari's Car with his silly songs playing (toot gayi chudiyan kalayi main). Rumana and I would laugh like anything. The best part was our trip to Waynaad. Once again hats off to Neha for arranging it. We went total mad during that. Pari babaji and Robin babaji. And that 'Come to me..' and that 'arririrara u' of theirs.

Moving On.
Trips bring ppl close. But when they end, mostly ppl depart. Neha was leaving for Sapient. I was being transffered to Blore. My work life was going nowhere. My request for PU change was not entertained and I had decided to leave infy. I had cleared Java Certification. From Bangalore it would be easy to look for another job.

Leaving Mysore.
I cried, cried and cried. I was gonna miss the stralls, the silent hours I would spend on the roof, contemplating and looking at Chamundi and the hills, the mad dancing and the circle of frnds.Luckily all of us left around the same time.

Bangalore.
No place to live. Overcrowded. At least the part I got exposed to was like this. Lots of traffic. Most of the time was eaten up by travelling. Not safe enough to go for stralls. small homes. No personal space. No roof also. I wanted to get out of it. It was killing whatever was left in me.

Resignation.
Finally I got a job. I was going to Sapient.

Leaving South.
I went to Mysore (I hadn't known I will) to pack the remaining stuff and get it sent to Delhi. I met Robin and Preety and cried. I am gonna miss the time spent together on Robin's balcony that day all my life. That cool breeze, that sound of coconut trees. Life lies here, in such moments. I departed with a heavy heart.

Leaving...
Its time to depart. With a heavy heart, I move on. I had never known what this phrase actually meant until now. I had never realized that a person could actually experience the inability of words to describe a feeling. What I am feeling now can not be stated, it can only be felt and understood. I am gonna miss this time, and I pray to God that he brings us to even better, happier and more beautiful times.