Hot Attack Tea Stall

GHs always questioning us about our unclean places, mails to higher officials on project status, blowing the TLs and external agencies, anticipation of getting a new project with funny names, waiting to get calls from HR consultants, taking printouts of all communication, requesting Commercial dept for advance payment, wait for the local conveyance to be reimbursed, mailing status reports to GH and dispatch of questionnaires that are quality checked (?), mailing useless templates created by our GHs, the day fades away same as our faces. The VPVS members assemble themselves in the Hot Attack Tea Stall, a small teashop in the ground floor where most of us from our office retires after the office hrs (some spending most of their time). We make sure we always sit behind the cash counter as that place is bit hidden so that no colleagues spot us chatting.

Selection of food items always depends on who is going to shell out money!! Each member makes sure the victim is not spared. Arun and Siva mostly go in for “Kutti” Samosas, While Bala choosing either baji or Samosas and Myself, most of the time Sandwich (health conscious) or rarely samosas. The session starts with quick snapshot of the day and with a group discussion – mostly topic would be about a poor soul in the office.

Then comes the desserts session, each members waiting for a chance, carefully go through the menu card and select the high priced ice creams or milkshakes. Then there would be an evil grin on all the members’ faces except one guy who happens to pay the bill. Now its time to taste! Each one of us wanted to taste other’s desserts while Arun makes sure he holds the straw if we want to sip his ice cream or milk shake and the session ends up with a quarrel.

When the tea guy waiting for us to vacate the shop for a long time, gets the bill with a sweet smile (for the sake of it) and my friend settles the bill and ask us “So guys, who’s turn is it tomorrow?” we all shout in unison “Not Me!!!”

ICF Open

The X IMRB team takes the pride to call themselves as the “Varutha padtha valibar sangam (VPVS)” gathers on every Saturday in ICF ground to play the ICF open shuttle game!!! Not to miss out Nandy who always makes his presence at least as a sports enthusiast. Though we are only 4 in our team but making everyone gather in ICF ground is a easy(???) task for the VPVS association, the deal has been taken with proud and willingness by Vinod Bala. Then my sweet bro Arun makes his existence with 2 or 3 calls..but then comes our supreme hero Siva… I bet you it takes minimum half an hr of hard time to make him atleast open his eyes… u gotta call lot of times to his mobile phone and to his land line, if he picks it up and assure us that he would be there in 15mins, we hope he is at least going to make his presence, if his mom or sis-in-law answers the call then we are sure to forget him for the session.

Much awaited shuttle game starts usually with Nandy being the spectator at around 7.a.m, if at all Nandy shows interest, then the game would last only for 10 mins and we here his usual comment “ Kanna kattuthu”!!! If the match is between Bala and me, its very apparent that sugsdgr8 comes out with laurels from the crowd comprising of 4 people, Bala still didn’t learn from me on how to show love and affection to Arun dons the role of an umpire.

Match between Bala and Siva would be very interactive and contributing on making each other bend to pick up the shuttle cork and most of times playing with words which are mostly unparliamentary only to Nandy!!!!

Arun tries all his Sania shots and Sachin styles in racquet, most of the time we got to remind it’s a different game and had his proud moments when he got China feather cork which never played its role.

The session would be mostly spent on debates, leg pulling and office gossips and the corner tea stall helps us to rejuvenate ourselves. Rest (most) of our priceless time would be spent on gazing at School students, Reserve police force and employees of ICF and few people who play the match earnestly.

When the sun starts showing mercy on us with its hot rays and no interesting passerby we decide to disperse. Siva goes for a puff, Bala & Nandy needs tender coconut and Arun and myself sips sugarcane juice to bring back our energy. We are tired u know?!?!?!

Chennai 2 Mumbai 2 Nasik

The Indian Cricket team sorry IMRB team of the year 2003 has been ordered to attend the training in Nasik, while most of them were warming up the seats and yet we had completed good number of projects which in fact very obvious that we don’t need training, in spite of it, we were told to attend our one week net practice (may be to show numbers to the CEO!!). So comrades from Chennai who was thrilled to play their part, gets their first air-tickets, as it was Arun and Siva’s first trip to Mumbai and second to mine, we were told to meet our GM who would be giving us directions to our Mumbai office. We were sitting in the conference room, comes the GM with his Orissa accent tells us the direction, Siva was noting it down, GM instructs us “you have to look in for a ra(e)d building so you cross 3 p(f)lyovers which would be called as Senapathi bapat Marg!!. Ok! Got the address, we reassure to ourselves, we got to cross 3 plyovers to get into the rad building!!!

After settling ourselves in Jet airways we find out Arun having a long face, reason he needs the window seat, siva & myself get compromised! yep, kids always have a liking for window seats, we make him sit there, we land up in Mumbai after our 45 mins journey. There waits a gentleman to receive us and we were surprised to find lots of comrades have already reached. As Kerala team reached late and after having head counts by another exhutive we placed ourselves in to the taxi and the exhutive who received us sat in the front seat to help the driver to reach the rad building, we were very curious to find the plyovers that our GM mentioned, we didn’t cross 3 plyovers but we crossed many plyovers.. we started asking the exhutive (executive) where is the Rad building? we crossed so many plyovers? but when do we find senpathy babat marg? After 20 mins of travel we find the rad building, after resting in there for an hr we were taken in a bus to Nasik. Trip to Nasik was very pleasant I dozed off!!!!

The resort was beautiful with good architecture, Siva and Arun where made to stay with exhutives from other centers, while I was made to stay with a gal from Ahmedabad.

All Sessions went on well, people could easily recognize us, when there were any question sessions, they started hearing either any one of Chennai exhutive’s voice, apart from that they always hear the chuckling sounds in the dinning area, the higher exhutives decide to part us as they concluded we are not networking, then one night came the singing session, where in every exhutive is supposed to sing a song, I didn’t hear what arun and siva sang as I got call from my parents, but next day during breakfast one exhutive from bangalore told me that Madhavan committed suicide – reason, I sang Vasegara from his movie Minnale

Judgment day

The last day of the training session, all the exhutives were ORDERED to submit the feedback form and present themselves by 5.30 p.m in the conference hall. While I was waiting, I see no trace of Siva and Arun, after few minutes of waiting I see Arun making his foyer into the conference room with the feedback form rolled out and with a proud face as though he got his long awaited PHD degree. I could make it out that all the higher exhutives eyes’ on him, he slowly slide inside and sit next to me. As my group head and GMs had already come and sitting on other side of the room and starring at Arun, then comes our hero Siva, with the same way as Arun entered, sits with a jarring sound – He drops the keys in the hushed room!! Meeting ends, we are surrounded by 3 big exhutives from Chennai and rebuking at us for the phenomenal launch pad in the conference room.

Its Party time babe!!

In spite of the barking we were told to enjoy the party that was arranged by the company with high spirits, first time Arun tastes its and demands more of it, we control him and take him to the discotheque, on the way he tells us “hey guys, I see Moon and stars spinning in my eyes”!!! While all the exhutives from other centers, dances with the same step that Amitab or Dharmendra (I can only remember those two names) would have used those steps when they made their intros into the movie, our incomparable Arun leaps in the dance floor and starts dancing like “VIJAY”, siva gives him company immediately with typical tamil kuthu, and then I see no one in the dance floor. The Clock ticked 12, we were asked to clear ourselves but I see Arun and my GM entering into a squabble with the DJ to play more songs, we were then decently pushed out of the disq, we see our Group head and GMs on our way to dinner, Siva entered into a conversation with them as though nothing as happened. Arun asks for a peg of rum and we all settle for our dinner. We were told to rest ourselves in the room and gather at 7.30 a.m next day to leave for Chennai.

Its Puking time babe!!

When I reached the bus, Siva said Arun puked in the room, So did I at 5.00 am!! - the digestive system of mine couldn’t do its job properly!! We were are all given a send off by all higher exhutives and we were told to see the railway tracks and the bridges constructed by the British on our way back to Nasik – Mumbai route. But I could enjoy the scenery only for 30 mins, remaining 2.30 hrs I was puking!!! Siva had fantastic time of taking picture while I puke (Siva, do u have those pics still???). Reached Mumbai airport after resting for a short while in rad building (Senpathy Babat Marg), boarded into flight, see Arun again with a long face, we compromise ourselves, we made him sit in the window seat. Chennai welcomed us with its usual warmness. I came to know after two days, that our GH and GM honored Siva and Arun for their conduct on the last day.