November 8 12 30 am in the night...
me and my friend sarvoday decided to take the wheel and go on a night drive...i took the steering...not knowing what journey would unfold..from there on..after driving for abt 10 mins...we decided to hit the highway and head nicosia the capital city....so i stepped on the gas...(even though was fined 2500 rs for speeding the previous day)..and touched the highway...heading towards nicosia ..a good 85 km covered in 45 mins...was a chilly cold night..thank god we had woollens...there sarvo took the car and we roamed in the city...for some time...finding place to park...we bought something to eat and drink...and then we took off for the turkish republic of cyprus..not knowing the route we landed up outside the nicosia jail...first...and then outside a UN post..with 2 soldiers carrying guns and looking at us...we showed them our passport and they gladly helped us on our way....reached the turkish cyprus border at 3 am...and the police guy checks our docs...and asks ..what the hell were we doing there at 3 am...unfortunately the guy who does car insurance for the turkish cyprus would come at 7 am...so we head back to the town centre...i said lets go home but sarvo insisted we had come all the way not to go home...so i agreed..and we slept in the car till 7 am...got up and freshened ourselves..bought snacks...filled petrol and went to the turkish gates...did insurance..got visa..and entered an unknown place....not having any map..with no cell coverage...but we went on....saw turkish flags on all lamp posts and almost all buildings there...saw a mountain with turkish flag in huge imprint on it...they actually carved out the flag on the mountain....took a left and reached the higway...sarvo had the wheel...and we went on for abt 100 km...reached a military base...where the soldier looked suspiciously...we showed our docs and were left with no trouble...so we drove on..and reached a small village..with small mountains on one side and ocean on the other...a place of beauty....we took the car on the kaccha mountain roads...and the car happily obliged...had some food and then took on towards the nothern most tip of cyprus..driving and driving at abt 100 kmph for 2-3 hrs..later we reached what is perhaps without any doubt the most beautiful place i have ever seen till date in my life...the parallel road along the ocean the valleys and mountains and trees on the other side....nature at its best to thrill us....what joy....
at abt 3 pm..decided its time to head home...sarvo drove till the turkish gate..where in between we were stopped by police for routine check....at the border i showed my passport which had the turkish visa paper seeing which the officer got angry and said not to show him anything turkish else he would shoot us dead..got scared ..said sorry and he left us....reached the town centre...at 5 pm ...freshened up...filled petrol...i took the steering..sarvo was too tired...so went backseat to sleep...
nothing bad had occured to us or the car...was a perfect trip till...
at the highway...me tired but awake and in control of the car..sarvo sleeping behind..car at 120kmph...pitch dark at 6 pm evening...nice music..and suddenly the handbrake lights start glowing....got so scared..with me alone awake...on the higway dark at 120 speed....but i kept cool....checked the handbrakes...other brake..reduced speed a little..and found out only problem with the handbrake indicator...nothing to worry..but those 5 mins were scary and tense...
reached home at 7 pm....took a bath..and hit the bed....and woke up today 9 nov at 8 am....and so the drive of my life...came to a happy ...wonderful..end.....
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
2 months away
November 6 , 2008
Woke up at 7 : 10 in the morning. got ready for office...went in the living room..and my eyes looked at the calendar...november 6...2 months away from home...2 months away from family..from friends...from india....
getting used to the feeling that i m away here in cyprus for a reason..to shape my career...to enjoy what life here throws at me....and i m enjoying.....enjoying life at amdocs...and life in cyprus..the places..the places..my car..the night drives....but all this without my family..and friends of tsec......TSEC....the reason i m here...used to crib about college when i was there...but now i realize how much TSEC has given me back....wish to quote a line from an album called college days by Gaurav D..(an ex student of TSEC)..
" I m really gonna miss this place...
I m gonna miss my college days..."
Woke up at 7 : 10 in the morning. got ready for office...went in the living room..and my eyes looked at the calendar...november 6...2 months away from home...2 months away from family..from friends...from india....
getting used to the feeling that i m away here in cyprus for a reason..to shape my career...to enjoy what life here throws at me....and i m enjoying.....enjoying life at amdocs...and life in cyprus..the places..the places..my car..the night drives....but all this without my family..and friends of tsec......TSEC....the reason i m here...used to crib about college when i was there...but now i realize how much TSEC has given me back....wish to quote a line from an album called college days by Gaurav D..(an ex student of TSEC)..
" I m really gonna miss this place...
I m gonna miss my college days..."
Monday, November 3, 2008
from india to cyprus
September 6, 2008 - 7 : 55 am
That was the time i took off from Indian shores to a new unexplored and unheard of destination called Cyprus to kick start my career.
Lots of firsts happened to me on that day. First time i saw the Mumbai international airport, first time i sat on a plane (to be honest i was nervous and that too on a window seat), my first departure stamp on passport, holding foreign currency and plenty more. By the way, cars are not the only thing that experience traffic jams in Mumbai. Even planes were in a long queue all awaiting their turn to fly high.
Landed at Bahrain airport in about 3 hrs time. Bahrain airport is a heaven for duty free shopping. You practically get everything there from neeedles to bikes. And Indian airports are not the only ones announcing in Hindi. I was shocked to hear Hindi announcements at Bahrain. So Hindi is famous outside Inida also.
Got a call from home at Bahrain and then realized how expensive ISD calls are even for incoming. 1 min talk cost me 100 bucks and went into negative balance. But never mind.
So then reached Cyprus - Larnaca airport at about 5 pm India time. Then came the realization why people crib about airliners. My first journey abroad and i lost my bag thanks to gulf air. Anyways more surprising was the number of people handling the arrivals at Larnaca. Only 8 -10 staff was managing the entire arrival section. Talk about efficiency and cost cutting.
From there on had a 1 hr bus ride to Limassol where Amdocs is located. Limassol is a small city famous for its beaches and shopping and discs. Went for a walk in the evening to see what is it like being away from home.
Thankful to my family and friends who encouraged me and supported my decision to tread a different path. This would never have happened had it not been to them. Thanks to Amdocs as well.
That was the time i took off from Indian shores to a new unexplored and unheard of destination called Cyprus to kick start my career.
Lots of firsts happened to me on that day. First time i saw the Mumbai international airport, first time i sat on a plane (to be honest i was nervous and that too on a window seat), my first departure stamp on passport, holding foreign currency and plenty more. By the way, cars are not the only thing that experience traffic jams in Mumbai. Even planes were in a long queue all awaiting their turn to fly high.
Landed at Bahrain airport in about 3 hrs time. Bahrain airport is a heaven for duty free shopping. You practically get everything there from neeedles to bikes. And Indian airports are not the only ones announcing in Hindi. I was shocked to hear Hindi announcements at Bahrain. So Hindi is famous outside Inida also.
Got a call from home at Bahrain and then realized how expensive ISD calls are even for incoming. 1 min talk cost me 100 bucks and went into negative balance. But never mind.
So then reached Cyprus - Larnaca airport at about 5 pm India time. Then came the realization why people crib about airliners. My first journey abroad and i lost my bag thanks to gulf air. Anyways more surprising was the number of people handling the arrivals at Larnaca. Only 8 -10 staff was managing the entire arrival section. Talk about efficiency and cost cutting.
From there on had a 1 hr bus ride to Limassol where Amdocs is located. Limassol is a small city famous for its beaches and shopping and discs. Went for a walk in the evening to see what is it like being away from home.
Thankful to my family and friends who encouraged me and supported my decision to tread a different path. This would never have happened had it not been to them. Thanks to Amdocs as well.
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