"IT" happend in Chennai...

After what seemed like an eternity, the train came to a screeching halt at the station...I got up from my seat and walked towards the door, jostling past the crowd that were barging in through the door...Craning my neck out, I could see the ever familiar face of Kinu trudging along towards S9, flanked by his dad. I waved to him and he responded back with the ever pleasant "Kinu-ish" smile(something that I would have to endure on a daily basis, over the next couple of years). The day was Nov 4Th, 2004 and we were on our way to Chennai, to "Celebrate Work", I mean, that's what Cognizant blares out to the world...For freshers like us, the idea of transfiguring into breadwinners from bread eaters(excuse the PJ, but what else do you call folks who love nothing better than to rest on their arses and enjoy the pleasures of life, from the confines of the couch)..

After Kinu had settled down, we decided to scout the compartments to check if any fellow cognians had boarded the train..As none of us had seen each other, the plan was to walk around mumbling "CTS", "CTS"..This of course, was inspired from the flick "Akkare Akkare Akkare", where the hero and his sidekick run all over an airport in US, mouthing..Eh, hmm, now that is nother story...And to the surprise of all the passengers on the train, here were two perfectly healthy youngsters, walking around mouthing gibberish..ready made candidates for any mental asylum..Since it was masterminded by Yours truly, the plan worked to perfection...Soon, nine of us were walking around the train, chanting gibberish phrases, which always seemed to have the word "COGNIZANT" in it..I met Rejin, Sherry, Naveen, Roopesh, Anoop, Bipin and Binu for the first time that day..

The next day, all of us, cramped together into a call taxi and made our way to Kelampakkam, where we were put up for the first 2 months of our training period...In case the reader is not familiar with the name of the place, kelampakkam is a front runner for the "most inhabitable place in Chennai"..There was a big lump in my throat, as we passed through never ending stretches of barren land...My IT dream was crumbling before my eyes...

Reached the hostel where our stay was arranged...actually, it was an Ashram of a Baba Chinamaya, or was it Dayananda ??? no idea, lets call him Swami Thanukkumpol Kidukidanandha !!! The best part of the whole deal was that we were put up at the same place with all the girls...In adjacent rooms...Needless to say, the guys were quite excited..We were shown the way to our dorm(the girls were just a glass door away) and amidst wild celebrations, I began unpacking my stuff...

Hold on to your cards !!!!

Am not sure how many would agree to this statement(not that I care), but here goes...Malayalis(atleast, the ones that have a life) love to spend their friday nights downing a couple of pegs(any brand would do), a Mohanlal movie(any movie would do) and a deck of cards(any game would do)...Another mortal would have preferred to chill out at a club, watch a movie at the nearby theatre ,cozy up with a book or heck, even hit the bed early....but not us...Our idea of a dream Friday night is a bit different...

Been playing cards for quite sometime...Got started with the ones like "Bluff", "Donkey', "Trump" etc...grew up with "28"(erupathi ettu in malayalam), "Rummy"..Hoping to graduate with a round of Blackjack at Vegas..Neither am I a master in the game nor do I have the money to throw a serious challenge to the competitors(we malayalis tend to brag a bit), but I would still consider this to be an achievement in my life..

Why ??
From the big round table at my ancestral home, to the dark, desolated corners of the engg college classrooms(no teacher would dare to venture anywhere near), to the lush green paddy fields near my home, I have played cards at almost each and every place...and now, lo and behold, you get a chance to play at the mother of all places, Vegas...I am just looking forward to the trip !!!!

My personal fave game would certainly be 28..I would like to think(and honestly, I do think it is true) that this game had it's birth at some paddy field in Kerala...Should have been started by a group of unemployed jerks, who after whiling away their time at one of those umpteen tea shops that you find at any junction in Kerala, decided to hit upon cards to do something creative...and lo and behold !!! 28 was born...Mark my words friends...this one is tough to break cause the rules are a bit crooked...The player will have to get every1 of his grey cells to action and one false move -> BANG !!! your team gets the Kunukku on the ear(usually the joker card)..We used to design all sorts of complicated ones with coconut leaves back at college...truly addictive, indeed..

gotta move now..a friend is buying me dinner and I just don't want to miss that ;-)

Disclaimer:
Attention Reader(if you are this beautiful, single girl who would be on the lookout for that someone special to drop out of the sky), don't get the impression that I have a compulsive addiction to the game..No !! I spend my time doing creative work as well...playing cricket, snoring away to glory on my bed, picking on my roomies for no reason whatsoever etc are my idea of spending quality time..