Finished Liar's Poker. This is one book I should have finished at B-School. But then again, its better late than never. Loved the way money markets , esp the Bond and Mortgage markets functioned (or mis-functioned) in the 1980s. The author takes us through his time at Salomon Brothers, while sarcastically commenting on the madness that was the money market. Since he was fresh out of B-school when he joined SB, his initial experiences at work was something I could relate to.

In other news, Arul and moi finally moved out of our shell ( read Malls) in Gurgaon and into the heat and hustle-bustle of Delhi, to meet Meril. The trip was memorable in more ways than one. As I said earlier, we finally decided to stop being lazy and actually take a 1-hour ride bus ride to Delhi. So it was our first foray into Delhi together. That's the first reason why it was a memorable trip.

The other reason as to why the trip was memorable can be found in Arul's Blog. Arul, millions of my Blog's readers will now log on to your blog to see what you have written about our trip. So please...dont disappoint them....

30 minutes ....



Date: 8th October
Time: 9.15 am

Woke up in the morning..around 9.15. Done with the ablutions, I reach out for the newspaper and take my seat on the sofa. I reach the sports page, when I feel myself moving about on the sofa....I was thinking.."Why the crap am I moving about, when I dont want to? "...2 secs later, I realise its the sofa under me that's moving...


Time: about 9.35 am

I rush into the room where Thangi, sloshed over from last night, was sleeping like a log.... "Get up Thangi, the building is shaking....WE GOTTA GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!!! GET UP!!!"



Time: about 9.37 am


I am making my way down the stairs, as are all the other inhabitants of the building. I hear a "Dont Panic" being shouted by someone. Somehow, that seemed to have a calming effect on people. The last thing you wanted was people rushing down the stairs like mad.


Time: about 9.40am

I just get out of the building and look behind...Thangi aint there. "I did see him following me...may be he's on his way down" -..................................................."Heck! I better go up there and get his ass down!"


Time: 9.45 am

Excitement and a sense of fear was thick in the air. Thangi, Kallu and Myself and a large number of tenants....standing in front of the building....discussing, the possibility of yet another tremor.


Epilogue:
An Earthquake measuring about 7.8 on the Richter Scale hit several cities in Pakistan in the morning of October 8th . The impact was felt throughout Afghanistan and Northern India. Delhi and cities around it felt the tremors at 9.30 am in the morning. High rise buildings were left particularly shaken by the tremor lasting for about minutes in Delhi.

I'm back on the blogosphere ...at last! Its been a whirlwind of travelling, adventure and tons of fun the last few weeks. It began with Chennai (as mentioned in my last blog), then Goa happened out of nowhere, followed by a week's trip to Penang in Malaysia, rounding it off with trips to Raipur and Nagpur.

First stop - Goa

The trip was an outcome of a 4-month sales contest. Some non-sales guys including yours truly was invited for the event, since we had in our own ways, directly or indirectly contributed to the success of the sales contest, acheived the targets,increased distribution etc etc - bottom line being, our company just got a lot stronger and richer :)

The trip was 3 day one, spread over the weekend. Being my first trip to Goa ( I didnt do it in engineering or in b-school!! I know....I'm a loser!), I was looking forward the one place my friends couldn't stop glorifying. And I wasn't disappointed.

3 days we partied on like crazy dudes on LSD (its a similie...i didnt do drugs!....and i'm not being defensive either!! ). The most enjoyable part was when 6 of us, took 3 bikes and rode off to Palolem Beach.

Here are some pics from the trip...


With friends just before the evening cruise


The amazing Goa beach backdrop...and me :)














On our way to Palolem Beach



On the Experience Rating Scale..I'd rate this trip AWESOME!

Arul wants me to blog on my trip to Chennai. So Arul, I shall oblige :)

The business aspect of the trip was so to say....an eye opener :o. Its career experiences like these that I've always wanted :) And I'm getting more than I expected!


The fun part of the trip was meeting up with Arul, Meril and Joseph. Joseph, who of course has familial obligations, could not spend much time with us, as he had to get back home. Aaaah....marriage, and the way it changes one's life :)


Meril had bought a hamburger that was bigger than her (so what isnt ?....just kidding dude!!) And by the end of the day, she was totally stuffed,and was left catching a half eaten burger, wondering what to do with it. (The last I heard, she ended up eating it anyways)


Arul broke down, complaining that TCS didnt have enough chicks. And how he missed NITIE and all his "friends" ;). He also couldnt take his eyes of a certain....ok, I think I shouldn't delve into the details here. :)


Joseph joined us for a bit. Though he didnt have anything to eat with us, I think his stomach was already full with the truckload of work he was handling.



I had a great time guys! Danke!

Arul, looking forward to your Delhi visit...we shall party like crazy!! :))