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.