Tripster!

I hear myself and other people say that 'Oh! I love travelling!'. But I find that very few people actually do what they love, in this area. There are many villain for not doing it..Lack of time, money, opportunity are few on top of my mind...I have myself gone through these dilemma. Thankfully, these reasons were overcome with urge of change and we planned to go to Isle of Wight last weekend.

This has been my 3rd trip to UK and possibly would be the longest. I have been quite lucky to see and feel this country in detail. I always prefer seeing one place across several days rather than several places in one day. This gives more feel to the trip rather than a superficial trip with incessant photo clicking (to capture the most in a short span of time).

We decided to go to Isle of Wight across two days (and regret it as I think you need more than a week to actually feel the place. But again the villain Time and Money came into play). We rented a car, booked the ferry to cross the  strait Solent, booked a hotel and were ready to take the trip.

The rented car arrived late thus delaying our trip. Thanks to the traffic to London we were slowed down again. We had reserved our ferry before hand hence we had to reach Portsmouth in time. Finally, when we arrived just in time, we found out that the ferries were running late :). We became relaxed and realised how perfect the day was - sunny with blue sky.

Our mind is a beautiful thing. It ignores beautiful things around it so easily, when it is pre-occupied with worry and is stressed

The Cars moving towards the ferry

We got into the ferry and found it to be well organized and people on their best behaviour. Just the thought of going to an Island is so romantic. And did I mention that we were celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary that day? Aha! what a perfect day...

Mr. A on the ferry

We reached the port Fishbourne in a short span of 45 minutes. Once on land, we zoomed on to  the beautiful roads. There were few roads marked for horse riders and we saw number of horse riders on those pretty roads. It was like a dream!!

We reached the hotel in Sandown with no major issues, thanks to our faithful Tom-Tom. We decided to rest for half hour before heading to the beach (which was literally 5 minutes from the Hotel). Once on the beach, we took a long walk along the coast. The sea was really scenic and the sound of the waves soothing. We decided to have dinner in one of the sea facing restaurants but found all to be full by 7 pm. After trying many places we found our perfect little joint which exactly fitted our idea of a quite dinner.

We headed back to the hotel as we wanted to have an early start the next day.

The next day we started off at 5 am ( I know, but we are kind of early birds).

We headed to a quite beach in Ventor. The sunrise was such a pretty sight. Is it not sad that the sun rises every day of our life without fail and we require a special vacation to appreciate it.

Then we headed for St. Catherine's Point (southerly point of the Isle of Wight) which was set-up in the early 1300s. Here, our tom tom went crazy and was asking us to drive on the right side of the road (UK is left side driven country). Looks like Niton was a American Port during the WWII hence the exception. The walk to the lighthouse was magnificent. We could see the cliff, the lighthouse and then the vast sea.

Bird's view of St. Catherine's Point.

Then we went to The Needles which are beautiful stacks of chalk on the western side of Isle of Wight.  Unfortunately we did not much time to walk down the end point. We decided to take the Chairlift to the shore of the sea. It was a sight to remember as we descended down to the shore. Mr. A was superbly scared as he felt that the chair lift did not proper safety (I disagree as the height was so low and the speed was so slow that there was no need of any safety). It was untouched with the stones on the beach whithered due to the wave. Peaceful! Later on, we also did some browsing and sightseeing.

But after sometime it was time to return back. As we had to get back on the top east corner of the island - Fishbourne. I enjoyed the peace of the ferry ride, this time on - trying to relive the wonderful moments on the island. Even though the above writing mentions only the destination, I would want to re-iterate that the drives from one point to another was the show-stealer.

I would recommend everyone to visit Isle of Wight who want to see a different side of England.

To Live Alone, again

Why is it so difficult for me to live alone? Is it because I have got used to him. There have been multiple occasions in the past where he has been away but I always have had a miserable memory of it. Not sure why? It is not that in those instances I was actually miserable. On the contrary, I had really good times with friends and family. But in those good times too I always wished that he was with me and that he is missing these good times. I am not dependent on him for my day to day chores. I can manage it quite alright. But still I miss him. Wish that he is with me. I guess, these long distances make you realize how important someone is to you and how much you need them. I guess this phase is quite enjoyable that you are feeling these complex emotions and some where he too is missing you... May be not as much to write about it... :)

This is my Infy :)

So here it comes, probably my last week in Infosys.

I have had a very emotional relationship with this company. Not because it paid me (peanuts) but because it made me who I am today, professionally as well as personally.

This was my first company (always a special relation),

the first time I left home and lived alone (in a guest house which was more comfortable than home),

got my first pay check here (Ahhh to see a bank balance in your name and which you have hard earned, what a joy!)

learnt not be afraid to speak your mind in front of people elder to you or more experienced to you (Thanks to Indian Culture we are taught to do the exact reverse),

learnt to do job in the correct way (pls note, not right or wrong way, but the correct way),

met amazing people here (list of friends and colleagues (who got lost too) is looong),

got re-acquainted to a distance cousin (who is my best and worst friend at the same time (can someone beat that?)),

met my future husband here (and had few lovely time off with him here(even till the last month))....

And a place where I got the confidence (first time in my life) that I am actually really good in something (credit - back to back good CRRs)

The list can go on...

Infosys is different than any company. The huge campuses, the large infrastructure, the large teams, process oriented work, brilliant people (and the super dumb lot too), the unexplained rules, the swipe ins and outs, the 9.15 hour clause, the tie (which are lost terms now), the huge MLPL, the weird shaped buildings (the ECC and the Anda building), the numerous blue colored umbrellas at the entrance of each building (which don’t seem numerous when it rains), the bus bay (can you imagine a huge area just dedicated to the company buses), the lovely and lush green cricket ground (there comes the twinkle in Mr. A’s eyes), the multiple food courts with multiple choices, the recreational facilities (which I admit I was a rare user), the pool facing Cafe Coffee Day, exotic birds chirping in lush green garden, the special CCD kiosk near gate-1 (covered with huge green trees and the squirrels running around fearlessly (Mr. A and my favorite place)), the journey from Home to Office and back (Initially the bus rides and then the lovely car rides (Not lovely for someone who was driving (Thanks to the much talked HJW traffic))...

Again the list can go on (will be updated as I will miss them)..

The last time I left Infosys, I felt bad but not as hallow as I feel today (as if I am leaving a part of me behind). At that time, it was more of missing friends more than this organization. Today, I feel that I will miss the organization as a whole. All the above things and of course the ring of the text on the last day of the month telling me that there is a credit transaction in your account….