First blog (supposed to be)

As the title suggests this was supposed to be my first blog titled 'My best ever Delhi trip??'. I had this one ready right after getting admission into SP Jain.. but something stopped me from posting this. I made some changes recently but tried to retain the most as the original.. The original title doesnt seem to be relevant any longer..

Well, the third list was out and I was not in it. Had little hope as only 3 were in the 2nd list announced a few days earlier. I was actually surprised that there was one among them who didn’t accept the offer. So, I was mentally prepared to go for CAT 2009 and thought of starting the mission after a little time-off where I would concentrate more on my job (appraisal time :) ).

Then one fine day, there was a mail from the Alstom university to confirm my participation for the training on the Environmental products (ESP, Bag filter). I had attended the exact same program 2 yrs back and still don’t remember exactly if it is Bag or Back :P. The training was scheduled at our Noida office so I didn’t inform my boss about attending the same program earlier. I always looked for an opportunity to meet all my friends in Delhi and it was the perfect time to help me get the over the results and start afresh for CAT 2009.

Thanks to the global recession, our company also took the cost cutting measures even though the business was good. Now we had to go to Delhi in a train. Time for me and one of my juniors (who also loves Delhi) to find the trains such that we can spend our maximum time in Delhi.

So we finally reached Delhi one day before the scheduled training. Then, just about when I was going for a bath, I noticed my cell ringing and it was from a Mumbai landline. I was relieved that it was not any customer or vendor but then started cursing the call centre guys who pick only those days when I’m out of Gujarat. I answered the call reluctantly with these words ready ‘I’m in roaming right now, call me after a week’ Thank God I picked up the call and didn’t utter those words. Instead, just stood there listening to the other person. What I had heard was the best news that I had heard in ages and it took a lot of time to sink in. (by now, u must have guessed it.. it was a call from SP Jain asking me if I was interested in their offer). With no one in the house to share the news with, I started making panic calls informing everyone (even my boss and he was happy for me).

The next 3 days in Delhi were eventful with me bunking the training program on 2nd day (felt really good especially after seeing the state of my juniors who could not manage to stay awake during the program. They were very angry at me for bunking the program and not worried about the consequences. Little did they know that I had resigned), hunting for loans, catching up with friends, etc etc…

BesT DaY of My LifE... 13.09.2009

I have scrapped the old Top 5. Here is the new one and they are all on the top position.. Sivapriya, Shailey, Ramya, Kinnera, Preeti, Divya, Usha, Bhawna, Yashaswini..... and if the following were girls, they would have featured in the above list along with the others.. :-)
Vishal, Prathap, Naitik, Pranit, Kabir, Khalid

What made me change the list so suddenly... It was all due to the things happened this day. And as revealed to me later, there was a lot of planning and perfect execution by all the above mentioned people in making my day...

What happened that day...

As the clock struck 12AM, the usual traditional way of clebrating a birthday in the BH followed. This time was special for others too as I shared my bday with another guy and they had a chance of thrashing (bumps) 21 times on the whole.. (1+1+5+5+3+3+3)
Strangely though, the pain due to the sprain, had subdued in those celebrations....


Then the morning started with our end term exam... wishes from more friends in the college and the phone calls... Had a plan of a treat in the evening in a nearby restaurant...
The exam was over and we were all happy... not that everyone wrote the exam well.... but bcos the OTIS special lecture was cancelled and we are free for atleast the next couple of hours.
Vishal: "Am going to the BH, will try to sleep.. will meet u at lunch"
(That's weird, he generally doesnt get sleep in the day except during the classes... must be very tired)
And all others said almost the same thing and we dispersed...
I was in the library to check out my mail and to do some part of the group assignment that we were supposed to submit the next day...
Lunch Time: Heavy rainfall.... Rain on my birthdays is not new, so fine.. (Manohar can never forget my last year's bday treat... Maggi at my home thanks to the rain :-) )
messaged evryone that we shall leave for lunch in a few min.
Only reply was from Preeti which said: "Ordered food.. u guys carry on"... slightly angered after seeing this..
Started dialling all others...
Shailey... no response... must be sleeping
Vishal... no response... must be sleeping
Pranit...no response... must have put his cell on silent mode
Kinnera... asked me to start in a few min for the mess...
Prathap... eating somewhere else... (this angered me more.. comon guys, its my birthday and i want all my friends to be with me for most of the day..) I blamed the rain...
Divya... had food in the bistro and asked me to call her if i need company... (good, atleast i wont be alone)...
Kinnera... lunch in bistro...
So the lunch was over and so was the session that followed (no one of the batch could follow this special guest lecture)
3:30 now, as we wanted to leave very early this time for dinner (so that the cindrellas can just enjoy and not think abt reaching the GH before 11PM)... we all decided to plan our visit to the sitara's place accordingly..
Preeti: "Lets all start by 7:30 today, we will come back from Sitara's place before that."
(ok.. no probs.. we can come back early for a day)
But now, time for some group meeting to work on the assignment...
At about 4:45, shailey & I left for our mentee's place. Just before this, I thought of informing all those whom I was expecting in my treat..
Ramya: "Am going to my relatives place, will be joining u guys in the restaurant" (a bit disappointed)
Lokesh: "Sorry, I'm going to the treat of Arpit. But I'll not forget abt the pending treat from u." (One of the disadvantages of sharing the same birthday)
Manasa: "Going to Arpit's treat.. will give a special appearance if possible"
Varun... no response...
Bhawna: "Have lasya practice today, may not be able to make it to ur treat" (pleaded her for sometime after which she said she will try)
wow.... Wat a great start... all the first 5 negative response...
Sivapriya: "Ya, sure... let me know the place and time".. (Finally someone is coming for the treat)
Divya: "No probs, will be there" (Good, some positive responses)
The rest... viz, Preeti, Pranit, Kabir, Vishal, Pratap, Kinnera, Naitik, Khalid, Yashaswini, Usha... they will definitely be there...
SMS to all from Vishal (after discussing with me) that we shall be leaving for Food Inn at 7:15 PM from BH.
Returned to the hostel from the sitara's place at 7 PM.. Asked Shailey to get ready and come to BH along with all other girls by 7:15 as mentioned in the Vishal's sms.
Call from Kinnera:
Kinnera: "Hey, the pain has aggravated, may be i'll come to the restaurant along with Yashaswini.. btw where r u going"
Me: "Food Inn"
Kinnera: "ohhh... fine" (didnt she like the place... cud have suggested some other place instead of cancelling it rightaway)
Pranit, Naitik and Vishal were ready... now Prathap..
Prathap: "Rey, cant make it raa.. have OJAS meeting which may last till 10:30... get me one leg piece and a egg biryani.. dont forget my order raa.. One leg piece and egg biryani"
Me: "Wat's so urgent abt OJAS that u r missing my treat?"
Prathap: "Arey, I'm telling u a top secret raa... dont tell this to anyone.. we r launching OJAS tmrw and have to do the decorations, so I cant come.. check ur mail tmrw morning. Remember raa, One leg piece and egg biryani"
(Common, must be faking it, will call Anish to find if there's something really going on)
Preeti: "Hey, I'm still at mentee's place... will take atleast another 2 hrs.. i'm making up for the time that I cudnt spend in the last few weeks"
Am very furious now.. She was the reason we came back early from our mentee's place and now she is saying this...
sms from Usha: "Sorry Bharat, cant make it to ur treat as I'm going to attend my best frend's bday treat"
(Where did her best friend suddenly pop out from in Mumbai and how can he share the same bday x-( )
Vishal: "lets eat Chat in the Juhu beach and then proceed to the restaurant."
(eating chat before dinner!!! ok le as we have lot of time for all others to come, if ever they are)
Call from Sivapriya: "I'm in Juhu and will take some time to reach the BH"
I asked her to wait there only and to join us wen we reach there...
Vishal: "SP went to Juhu?? Did she tell u with whom she went?? shud have asked her if u disturbed them :-D "
Shailey, Divya and Khalid reached to the beach first near the Tulip hotel where we all were supposed to meet.
Vishal & I were dropped at the other end of the beach and we started walking on the beach towards the Tulip hotel..
Pranit & Naitik were also dropped the same way and they were behind us...
Shailey, Divya and Khalid were calling us too frequently to find out where we were..
Meanwhile Prathap called Vishal and said that his meeting is over and is starting now for Food Inn..

Vishal kept saying "Remind me to inform the Food-Inn wala that we'll get late".

(huh.... wat's there to inform him, there r only 7 of us right now and only 2-3 more expected.. Food-Inn wala can accommodate us anytime...)
Call from Yashaswini: "I'm ready.. where r u guys.."
Me: "We r in juhu, Prathap is also ready now, contact him and u both can reach the restaurant directly."
Yashu: "ok Bharat, will talk to Prathap.. c u guys there."
Finally saw Shailey and Divya and we started walking towards them.. (now we have to wait for Pranit and Naitik)
Then there was the surprise.. Bhawna walking towards us... (Wow.. she left the practice for the treat... and wen did Vishal tell her that we are in Juhu)
turned my head to the left and there they were, all smiling... kinnera, kabir, prathap, SP, Neha, Sreedev, Yashaswini, Preeti, Usha..
and infront of us... candle lit cake with the most beautiful setup possible around it..
This was the best ever surprise that anyone had planned for me so far...

I was the Bakra but i loved it...
Then we were joined by Ramya in the restaurant... I received wonderful gifts and asalways the cindrellas had to rush :-)
So, 13th September, 2009, is it the best day of my life???

Not actually... but its a close second to "getting admission into SP Jain"

But undoubtedly, the best birthday i ever had... :-)