From Bay Area to Bangalore - Month 1

Pre-Move
Leaving the place I lived in for 12 years, almost a third of my life and almost the whole of my adult life. Mixed feelings, resentment for having to leave a well settled life, my dearest friends, the work which I never felt was 'work':at the same time hope for something new ,something different, a break from the monotony probably. Scurry of good bye parties from beloved ones doesn't make it any easier to say exactly that.

Post-move:
Landed in Blore. The way the parted brothers greeted each other was priceless. Usual vacation like welcome and environment.A week or 2 go by that way.

Work:
Then comes first day of work. There is a beautiful campus with a clubhouse and other facilities and then there is an ugly building opposite to it where the spill over employees are housed till the 2 new buildings are constructed sometime mid year. No brownie points for guessing which building I get to sit in. I get a very high traffic open cubicle, but on the other side is the full view of outside. I get to keep an eye on the driver from the third floor. He doesn't know it. I am the only member of my team here. All processes are similar to Cisco SJ except for one major difference. When some one says something takes 2 hours , they actually mean 2 days. Hmm few more days go by and I realize that's true everywhere, not only at work. Now only if someone can make my manager understand the IST jargon..specially since I am on Indian payroll it should make all the sense *wink* *wink*.

Observations on life in general:
I feel life is in full color here with a lot of dimensions to it. The roads, the functions(in lieu of parties), shopping scene, the movie experience, everything is so alive. Every day is new and comes with different surprises, some time shocks but it still new :). Currently put up at in-laws, quite far from work. Commute each way takes couple of hours. I leave around 8:00 Am and am back around the same time PM. Sometimes I miss that monotony back 'home'. I miss being able to getup and grudgingly doing my treadmill. I miss making my own tea. I miss having my oatmeal with dry fruits while I browse through my mails. On the other hand, I love the filter coffee being handed to me as soon as get up in the morning. I love the fact that I don't HAVE to drive, and better still I don't ever have to listen KLOK 1170AM again. The radio scene is so awesome boss, what can I say, too many choices.

There are innumerable shopping choices. Getting to each choice takes a good chunk of time and dependence on someone(mostly driver). Sometimes I have to depend more on the driver than I depend on Hubby. Everything looks awesome when you buy it. It may or may not stay that way depending on your luck. How much you pay or where you shopped has no relevance.

Saved the best for the last , the food.THE food. THE FOOD. YUMMY! Everything is Yummy, food at home,food in functions, food in multicuisine hotels, food in international hotels, food on the street side, food in low end veg darshinis, all food is mind numbingly delicious with one exception, my cafeteria food. People really have to work hard to come up with that kind of tastelessness. I have started locking up my lunch along with my other precious belongings after eating only once at my cafeteria.

Lack of privacy is an issue. Maybe it is just the environment I am in. Generally life so far here has been a mix of some good days and some bad days, which is the case with life anyways. Looking forward for better days ahead like always.

More later..