Unexpected happiness

For a person who likes to travel, it is a great opportunity to be allowed on a day's work to a different city. The whole experience of boarding an early morning flight and reaching a new airport and city might be anathema to some, but to me it is sheer joy.
I cannot vouch whether this enthusiasm will remain if I am sent to the same place numerous times or if I'll be as relaxed as I am now if I have something intimidating (like a presentation clad in a saree) to do....but hey analyses apart....this post is not about pessimistic possibilties.
The bonus on this trip is the fact that I have literally nothing to do. Doing just one fifth of the total work I do on a given workday at office, it seems as though I will have three hours to explore the city by myself. The opportunity is so unexpected and so exhilerating that I am finding it difficult to plan what to do for those few hours. Should I make my way to a famous minaret or should I head to the huge serene lake that I remember from my only visit here two decades ago? I am spoilt for choice and I have little time so I should get to the planning. Tee hee!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wanderlust

Image
The travel-bug keeps biting me again and again and I respond in the only way that I can....by giving in. It is a shame to be living in a country as massive as India and not to have the thirst to travel, for we have mountains and forests, beaches and desert land....and above all we have history. I have been travelling since I was two and a half. Getting away from the mayhem of city life makes my heart soar, my spirits lift and my soul breathe a sigh of contentment. Don't get me wrong....I would be a fish out of water if I lived anywhere but in the heart of a bustling metropolis....but these vacations are what keeps me sane in my role as a city-dweller. Everything about travelling excites me. From the initial tentative planning to the extensive research (oh yes! I am one of those nerds who reads up before heading off) even the mundane bookings et al....I live for these moments. The best bit though is the expectant wait leading up to the journey date....I become an infectiously che...
Read more

Snippets from Hyderabad

Snippet 1:  The Microsoft R&D offices in the Financial District of Hyderabad are the epitome of modernity and the symbol of the city’s cyber-corporate ambitions. Having reached early I was welcomed in by an HR representative of the company and was shown through the halls which were dotted with comfortable couches and seating spaces to the mammoth cafeteria which resembled the mini food court of a shopping mall. After taking trays full of food we made our way through yet more open workspaces and common chill out areas that sported foosball tables, carom tables and ping-pong tables. Also noticed, numerous coffee stations equipped with soft drink machines, coffee and tea dispensing machines, candy and noodles and of course....a microwave. Later, ensconced in her room, which had a fabulous view chatting over breakfast the HR lady told me that the company employs the best software brains of the country and does not blink while providing them handsome pay packages and numerous be...
Read more

Scenes from Bombay 2011

Scene 1 Through the thick grey layers of the monsoon clouds the city below appeared. From my window seat the first things I saw were the numerous high-rises dotting the cityscape. The aircraft dipped lower and I could see patches of cobalt blue all over...but I couldn't figure out what they were. Lower still and I could make out the buildings properly and then with a jolt I realised that the cobalt blue was that of tarpaulin. Tarpaulin that made up the walls or roof or both of innumerbale shacks and shanties that dotted the ground. There were so many that there was no land left visible....just a sea of cobalt blue shanties....'welcome to Mumbai' said the air-hostess! Scene 2 Seated in the yellow-black fiat taxicab I was already starting to perspire. The humidity was like a hot wet blanket that zapped me of my energy and left me a tad listless. Looking out at the roads I saw squalour. Drizzly rain and a thick overhang of grey clouds served only to enhance the gloomy decre...
Read more