Coffee Days

Infosys Training lasted for about 2 months from August to October. And most of the 240 of us had developed a certain bit of fondness for Bangalore's weather and life.

It was not a surprise that when the training was over, all of us posted in Chennai left Bangalore with a bit of apprehension about the new place. There was definitely a prejudice created in our minds about the people and the culture. And though it might have been to some extent encountered by us from our experience searching for apartments or our early experiences with our neighbour's, things fell into place after some time and we learned not to generalize our assumptions. We so enjoyed our stay that we revel talking about those happy days now.

It started with a wonderful stay at the Ramada Raj Park for a week followed by frantic search for apartments. And lucky us that we found 3 apartments in the same building. And most of the other folks recided in the nearby vicinity.

Most evenings and weekends were spent in groups, large or small, at the various restaurants in the city. Adyar Bhavan in Adyar - traditional rice, sambar & rassam thali. Coffee @ Hotel Ramprasad. Khana Khazana on the beach. Planet Yumm. Wang's Kitchen. Pizza Hut. Jus Parathas. Eden. The Residency. Dhaba Express. Don Pepe. Icarus. Chawla's Chicken. Kabul. Crescent. Sweet Chariot Cafe. Cafe Coffee Day. New Yorkers. Fruit shop on greams road. Copper Chimney. Karaikudi. Saravana Bhavan. Cascade. Bella Ciao.

Movies were fun too in Chennai at Sathyam, Ega or the cheaper Anu Ega. Or we could also be found shopping at the Spencer's Plaza or Isphani. And if we were not out eating, shopping or watching movies we certainly would be found at the Besant Nagar beach!

There quite a few nearby weekend getaways. Mayajaal. Kovalam Beach. Pebble Beach. ECR. Mahabalipuram (pancakes & beer). Pondicherry. Pulicat. Tada Falls. Muttukadu.
There quite a few distant getaways too. Kodaikonal. Ooty. Yercaud. Hogenakkal Falls. Coorg. Munnar-Kovalam-Varkala-Quillon-Allepey-Cochin. Wayanad.
Most decided on the spur of the moment.

The office time never felt like work except for a few such as Sumeet :) Most of the time was spent in others cubicles discussing about the weekend's activities.

From the start in October 2003 to about the end of 2004, a bunch of guys n gals came together to Chennai and today a gang of friends talk about those good old days.