Farewell Dear Friend

Posted on by Roshan 2 Comments

As stated in a post a few days ago I lost another member of my team. This one hurts the most. We joined the company around the same time (she in the 3d week of December, 2006 and I in the 3rd week of January) and have been in the same team since then. We were teammates until I took over the team in July 2008. From that time onwards she has been my backup and the heart & soul of the team. She has been a source of inspiration, friendship and won the admiration, respect & affection of almost everyone who has ever interacted with her.

The rest of the team and I have taken her leaving us very badly. I mean, she left because she got a wonderful opportunity in another company and further her career as well but that doesn’t make her absence feel any lesser. On her last working day / her farewell, I was in Bangalore for the GB training. I jumped at the chance to not be there while her farewell was done – I just didn’t want everyone to see me bawling like a little girl! The rest of the team and she were crying a lot.

We are missing her charm, her sense of  humour, her wisdom, her personality, her advice and her love. The team and I are going to find it very hard to get over the fact that her smiling face is not there to greet us everyday. But we wish her well. I’m going to try and get her to join the rest of us for an early dinner on my birthday in 2 weeks.

This is the last team photo with her in it. She’s sitting in the front row, right in the middle. All the best Ajeeba for your new role in the new company.

Back From Bangalore

Posted on by Roshan Leave a comment

I’m just back in my apartment & in my bedroom. I was in Bangalore for the past 3 days, to attend a Green Belt Training, having left Cochin on Monday evening in a Volvo bus. I reached Bangalore by 7 am the next morning and was there till last night when I left for back home. I was joined by two colleagues from my office and there were 14 of us in all who attended the training. The 3 of us from Cochin were put up in an apartment owned by the company and used as a guesthouse for out of town employees who visit the city on official business.

The apartment was nice although a bit on the old side. Small but nice living room with somewhat spacious bedrooms, 3 in all. I really liked the half circle shaped sit out area in the bedroom that I was in, giving me a good view of the neighboring houses & apartments and some lawn area. I was greeted each morning by a rush of welcoming cold breeze and the caretaker would serve us some excellently prepared coffee. I found the cups to be too small for my liking and would ask for 2 cups the sweet brew each of the 3 mornings that I was there. I would wake up at 6:30 am,  brush my teeth & wash my face and come to the living room where the days’ paper would be waiting.

I’d sip the coffee and read through the papers and enjoy the cold breeze blowing in through the huge windows behind the dining table. By 7:30 am I would go and take a shower and a shave and get ready for the day, while the caretaker prepared his sumptuous breakfasts –  toast & huge stuffed omelets the first morning, stuffed dosas on the second and puri & potato curry yesterday.  The dinner he served us on day 1 was also great; simple yet delicious. I’ll write a couple of more posts on my trip a little later. Right now, I’ve gotta go get ready for work.