Thursday, May 12, 2011

Leaving on a jet plane...

First post of 2011 coming in May! Well I sure am getting lazy. Anyways, better late than never.

Surprise!
I got a new niece! Too bad I'll miss all the firsts for a while. Aditi, someday if you happen to read this, you can't imagine how happy we all were to see you for the first time.

Roaming around...
It was back in December last year that I was told that I will be travelling to Australia. So I was determined not to miss Club Adventura trips. Managed to go on two treks if I remember correctly. And then there was the trip to Goa with Mangalore teammates.

For the first time I got my teammates to come along on a trek with me. The trek was to Kudremukh peak. We had to cover about 30 kms in one day and I covered it with ease. Happy about that :) Very often there will be someone in the team who will be the butt of all jokes. Sadly this time it was me. Looking back, I probably picked the wrong trek to take my teammates because the jokes have now come to haunt me in office.

The other one was a beach trek in Kerala, close to the Karnataka border. We started from the famous Bekal fort. It was the beginning of the summer and trekking on a beach was something I was not too keen on since I had just recovered from a bad tan from the Goa trip.But then this was my last chance to trek with Adventura before a year long break. Played holi on the beach, and then some football and frisbee. Fun trip.

Happyness
Between all this my mind was somewhere else. I was watching the world cup with utmost hope. And what I saw in the first few matches was deeply disturbing. The team did not seem to have passion. The fielding was sloppy and the body language, indifferent. And the match against South Africa was a heart break. The team did exactly what the nay sayers said. They were in a great position and then they lost their way. In a way I was happy that it happened in a league match. But it did not look like the team cared about it. How wrong was I! The match against Australia was something special. Suddenly the whole team looked alive, looked like they were in it to win. I can still feel the happiness of that win. Pakistan match was a formality, but the innings of Misbah Ul Haq looked very suspicious. The final lived up to the hype. And when Sachin got out, it was too much for me to handle. Had to watch some movie for a while to calm the nerves only to watch Dhoni play the innings of his life. What a man! What a player! When the team lifted the cup it was sheer ecstacy. It means so much to us to see the team lift the cup. And it was good see the same emotions in the team members. Moments to cherish for a lifetime...

Down under:
Landed in Australia on 18th of April. I was expecting a lot of things... Sadness, excitement, nervousness ... But to my surprise, I did not feel any of those. From day one it was business as usual. I am still trying to think what is different here compared to India apart from the usual list of things. One thing that springs to mind is the relaxed attitude of the people. There is no hurry to cross the road or get out of the tram. Having lived in bangalore, I instinctively rush to the tram door when its about to open. I wonder how many people think 'What a moron!'.

A tram crossing the Flinder's Station, in front of federation square:
















View outside the window of the apartment where I stayed:





















Walked around the city on a weekend, visited Rod Laver Arena and MCG but could not go in cos there was a game scheduled.

The Yarra river flows through Melbourne:














Our office is in Docklands with Victoria harbour on one side. Its a beautiful view outside the office window.













1 comment:

Ajay said...

gottagutte kelsa ilde bitti kootidyanta.. :P