Google Nexus 6p: Do I really deserve this gift I got from Akka?

So it goes like this.....whenever my close friends see a new gadget with me, the first thing they say is, "Didi ne gift kiya hain na?"

Hope you got it ;) And I am not telling you what all akka gifted me...I have enough friends who pull my leg like above...I do not think I need more of them...;)

Coming back to my gift Google Nexus 6p, the flagship phone of 2015, Akka gifted this amazing and smooth (outside and inside) smartphone after I completed my M.B.A. I initially wondered why did she buy such a costly phone and that too for me :P Even she never used such a phone before. Sister's love you know ;)

It was April, 2016 and  I had my M.B.A convocation to attend along with the family. Though the major excitement was receiving the degree in-front of family, teachers and friends, there was a rather smaller happiness in carrying my new Google Nexus in my hand. Many of friends were checking out its features and and yes my close one's were praising my sister. While few felt dramatically sad of being the only child to their parents, few felt sad of not being the younger one in the family :P

I quickly started getting used to the mobile's User Interface (UI) and liked the speed at which it process the applications, tasks etc.

That very first seat in SRS travel bus:
Now comes the first day at Wipro Limited and the corporate induction was in Bengaluru's Sarjapur campus. Had a hectic day at office and was coming back to the hotel in the office bus (managed by SRS travels). I got down the bus at the hotel and checked for my nexus as I was almost there at the reception. First shock of the day, the very first day of my corporate life post MBA, and I was not able to figure out where the mobile lost. I rushed back to the bus to check and the bus already left. That is the only mobile I had carried to Bengaluru and was successful in losing it the very first day. First thing I did was to call the HR and ask for the driver's number. I got the transport manager's number and could trace the driver's mobile number too later. While I was busy doing all this, there one voice running in the background and it says 'Vamsi, be careful and do not lose the mobile'. You might have guessed it right and yes it was my akka's voice.

I called the driver to find out his mobile not reachable. And my mobile was ringing initially and then was switched off. All the negative thoughts started coming into my mind and they all say me, 'Vamsi, you have lost you mobile and it is gone now.' I started to believe the voice and it further went more loud and clear as a ring to transport manager's phone started telling switched off. As I slowly lost my hopes on finding the nexus back, I quickly walked towards the near-by Airtel store to get my SIM blocked. It was already 8:30pm and the store was about to get closed and I was asked to come back the next day.

A couple of hours later I get a call from my dad and he says that SRS travel manager has called and asked to collect the phone. That was the most sweetest thing I would want to hear that moment. I was super excited and took the number of the travel manager to check on more.

I called the travel manger and understood that getting the phone back to the office security gate would a good option and infact it started raining that night.

I got my nexus back the next morning at Wipro and this incident increased my trust and respect for SRS travels. Thank you so much SRS travels.

I then told to myself that this should be the first and last time I would lose my Nexus again. But history repeats :P Not just once, but multiple times.

There were several other times for the next 2 years, I used forget my Nexus at various places like roadside restaurants, office desks, canteen table etc., and somehow I got it back. Every time this happened, I used to warn myself of being careless but that hardly helped :P

Before I tell you what finally happened to my Nexus this today afternoon :( I should tell you one such incident when I thought, "I lost my Nexus for sure and god has given enough chances to me"

One weekday morning and I was in an rick on my way to office. I have a habit of placing the mobile on the seat while in the auto and this time I forgot to take it while getting off the rick. I got into the office and checked for my Nexus before I quickly ran back to the gate to find the auto no where around. I kept calling the Nexus with my spare mobile (not a smart one :p) and on the 3rd or 4th call, the driver picked it up and said he is far from my office but can handover the mobile in next 10 mins. I said I will wait at the gate. I got my mobile and I was very thankful to him. In fact the next passenger who got into the auto after I got down gave the mobile to the driver :)

Now just look at the fate. The same thing happened few weeks later and this time I forgot my spare mobile in the rick. I am yet to get it back :/

Let us now come back to what happened to my Nexus today. I was on my way to office to get my keys from the desk. As I entered the campus, I was passing my Nexus from the left hand to the right and it slipped. The screen got broke and is completely blacked out. I can sense the WhatsApp messages with the vibrations but can't see what's there on the screen. As I called the Huawei customer care center, they said that the support for Nexus 6p is no longer available.

That leaves me with an amazing gift which I may not be able to use the way I was few hours back. As I now recall the number of times I almost lost it and the amazing memories it captured, I am going to miss it. But it is my Nexus and by the way...

this question comes back to me again, "Do I really deserve such a gift?"

And then the answer comes up..."Does not matter...It is akka's love ;)"

To Puducherry and its a shut down :/

Its Saturday 6:00 AM as I open my eyes and look through the window to see how Chennai looks. Yes, it was my first visit to Chennai and yes a random one. Random visits to places has its own pros and cons. This time the pros - many of my friends in Chennai did not know that I am going to meet them - and therefore the cons, one of my friends already made a road trip plan to Yelagiri :/

On reaching my friend's place, I see another friend who came over previous night post a party. The first thing I asked them was,"What's next?" But all my excitement took a pause as one was ready for his Yelagiri trip and the other was going back to sleep. Inspired Vamshi also slept off :P though the sleep lasted not more than an hour and a half. As my friend and I plan the day to make it as exciting as possible, we found one common thing that we never did and it was a trip to Puducherry alias Pondicherry. We tried booking Puducherry tickets twice through PRTC in the mobile but the web page was not fully loading. Excitement makes you do whatever it can. I took out the laptop, connected it to mobile hot-spot and booked the tickets for 10:30AM.

We took an auto to Koyambedu  and that 35 mins journey had some learning - thanks to the auto driver. After asking about our whereabouts he started talking to my friend in Hindi and to me in Telugu adding some English sentences in between. Three things he was very sure of,

1. Enjoy and roam around as much as you can before getting married

2. See good as well as bad of the world and that's life is for you. It is like a game.

3. Keep in touch with your good friends.

Infinite white land on the way to Pondy

Stepping into Koyambedu bus-stop took us for a shock as we did not see even one Puducherry bus. On enquiring, we got to know its a bundh in Puducherry :O

The first thought that came up in my mind was, 'What about Puducherry trip?' Second, 'What about the money spent on the tickets?' Lastly, 'How did PRTC let me book the tickets when their buses aren't running??'

We some how managed to get a TNSTC bus to Puducherry :) As we traveled along the coast line, the only thing I could see for majority of time was infinite white land. Both of us were feeling super sleepy as that fresh cool wind races through the window over our faces.

Street view - White colony

As we reach Pondy at ~2:30 PM, it was all deserted with all the shops closed expect one, chai dhukan :D We were super hungry and got some sandwiches to eat. Time flew as we roamed around the French colonies and the Rock beach. Towards the evening, we got into a beach side restaurant- risque and the view was just amazing :)

View from hotel - Risque

By 7:00 PM, all the shops were back to life and it did not take us a second thought to get into one amazing restaurant. Had lunch, breakfast and dinner together :P As people started coming on to the roads, the environment got better.  We sat at the rock beach, silently watching those waves reaching out to the shore and getting pulled back into the sea.


That was how a random one day visit to Pondy left us with great memories.

Rock Beach

GMT Ice-creams - Must have

Night view from Rock Beach

Make sure you travel to different places and experience the new you :) Cheers to travelling!

When my Sunday saw Tamil Nadu for the first time - Krishnagiri Dam it is :)

If it is one of those weekends when we don't have any plans at all, crazy questions come up knocking our brain...
Is this the life you want to live?
Is this the place you want to spend your weekend?
Is it worth for those unlucky friends who work even on weekends feel jealous of you?
Is it worth calling it a weekend?
Is it worth listening to 'Cheap thrills'?
blah blah blah....:p :p

Yes.....2nd of July, 2017 was one of those days for me :\ And I heard Mithila saying that "its okay not to have a plan" and i was like seriously?? (hahaha just kidding. Mithila said on a slightly different context though). Okay, coming back to 2nd July, around 10am I thought I should go out to a place near-by so I that I can be back by night. Thanks to Google Maps, I found Krishnagiri Dam :)

Hosur Bus Station

Waise, Krishnagiri Dam is in the district called Krishnagiri :p and is about 100 kms from Electronic City (that's where I live). Took a bag and started filling it up with things I felt relevant. They were - mom made chips, 4 bananas, a dairy & a pen (borrowed from flatmate), mobile chargers and a selfie stick (this is something new for me :p). As I wear my bag, I felt it was too big for the things I was carrying :p That black sweater lying on my bed helped me ;)

As I start for my so called unplanned plan, I don't see any KSRTC buses running on the roads. Finally got one and reached the main road from where I got a bus to Hosur.

On my way to Krishnagiri

As I took the bus to Krishnagiri, that one hour journey showed me few peaceful sceneries. Once I reached the Krishnagiri bus station, the Google map pointed the Dam ~20 Kms away. Took an auto, a bus and an auto to reach the dam. It was 4:10pm by then. There were good number of visitors and seemed like most of them are frequent travelers to this place. Looking that those ways riding on the water restlessly was an amazing experience as always.

Beautiful view from the Dam

Children were innocently trying to shout as loud as possible as they expect an echo of their voice :) Realizing their strength, they waited for few more friends to join and gave another shot. That's team work for you. People feel team work is taught in closed rooms when kids do it better while playing a cricket match on the streets. I really feel there is a lot of change a kid goes through in terms of confidence, truthfulness, team work and openness to learn from people across ages and capacities. A cultural shift is required in the society and as mother Teresa said, "What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family".

Man fishing

As I walk through the park developed besides the dam, I saw some idols which must have looked great they were actually made. Looked like the park was not maintained properly. I saw people fishing as they were sitting at the edge of a bridge beneath which there was water flowing. This scene reminds me of the patience we have these days. With technology ensuring faster responses and faster ways to communicate to anyone across the globe through various channels, many of us have forgotten the art of patience and ways of dealing it gracefully.


With various such thoughts boggling round my head, I choose to start my journey back to the city. I reached by 9:30pm. Had a lovely day with new experiences and thoughts. Hope to have many such small trips in coming times. And I would surely encourage each one of you to travel to places - new people, culture and environment would surely make you a better person. Thanks for bearing with me in this journey. Cheers!

#Vast #Peace View from the Dam

[Please share your feedback/ opinions. They would surely help me :)]

In Conversation with a Man...On the way to Bahubali 2 - The Conclusion

It’s a long weekend and all thanks to the May day :P Saturday took off pretty boring and landed just the same way except that ‘Bahubali 2 – The Conclusion’ movie tickets got booked for Sunday 10:35 show at Forum mall. Sunday wakes me up excited to see the movie not just because it is Bahubali, it is apparently the costliest movie ticket I ever bought :P

As I get into the bus and secure my bus ticket, they were two options to choose: either put on my earphones and listen to music or try getting into a conversation with the man sitting beside me. I would not have got much to share with you if I had chosen the first one.

As I slowly get into a conversation with him, it just reminded me that life is more than just mobile phones and laptops. That gentleman has got more than 10 years of experience in IT industry and worked for 4 well known firms till now. He is married and his wife works at a well-known bank in Orissa. He visits her once in 4 -5 months and spends rest of the weekends with his college friends. He says, “IT job is unpredictable and a job in SBI is so very much secure” As he expects the next IT boon in Andhra Pradesh, he thinks of making his next shift to Vishakhapatnam, from where Orissa is just around 6 hours journey.

As the bus reaches my destination, he asked my name and introduced himself. One of those different experiences while I travel on the roads of Benguluru – the city where traffic seldom sleeps :P

Next time if you get into a similar situation, you know which one to choose…..YES the second one J

A 4 year old kid and his two precious stones

While I was waiting at the bus-stop for my bus to arrive, this kid took all my attention with his joyful, creative experiments without getting tired. No, I'm definitely not talking about that kid who got two ruby stones from his aunt on his first birthday. I'm talking about that kid who is very happy playing on a footpath amidst a sunny weather. He just had a pair of stones and each was of about a size of cricket ball. As I was looking at him, he kept the stones side by side and started pushing them forwards until the color of the tile on the footpath got changed. After doing this for a couple of times, he then started pushing one stone at a time and I was wondering what will he do next. And to my surprise the next combination was one stone above the other.

As he plays for few more minutes, he takes a strategic break roaming around his mom who was feeding her younger baby with a liquid (not sure if it's clean...not sure if it's milk water…) and begging for money.

This scene made me think about happiness, creativity, hard work, persistence. All these aspects are unknowingly displayed by the kid and here I have a question, “Why do they start disappearing as the kid grows in this 21st century?”

Happiness:

Study says that 50% of our happiness doesn't depend on the job we do, the family we are a part of, education we pursue, colleagues, vehicle we own, money we have etc. It all depends on a simple two letter word 'us’. And the happiness with which the kid was playing with the stones is just an example. Nowadays due to the influence of social media, many of us have unconsciously given the remote of your happiness to those people who live/ react to our post/ pictures. Isn't the right time that we rethink?

Creativity:

Though he had only 2 stones, the kid found different ways of arranging them and helped himself by not getting bored. Creativity follows thinking and everyone of us need to have our own time to analyze and think so that we step into the circle of creativity. If we choose to be socially available most of the time through any of the possible networking sites/ apps, aren't we degrading our chances to be more creative?

Hard work & Persistence:

We often listen people saying that it's more of smart work that's key rather than hard work. But that doesn't apply everywhere and importantly in maintaining relationships (with colleagues, friends, relatives etc.) Using shorter, easier ways through social media and expecting the maintain tougher rather important relationships is not a good idea and won't work for longer duration. Probably we should start thinking if an emoji can replace our emotions. I don't think they can, do you?

Speak out: The battle between Ego and Fear – Who wins?

Even after being at various number of conclaves/ conferences/ lectures/ sessions (with whatever name we call), asking a doubt to the speaker in front of hundreds of our colleagues creates a sort of fear and only few of us overcome and leave the auditorium with a happy and peaceful mind (clear mind). The best part is we all know that clarifying doubts is one of the best ways to learn things. Even then our learned mind leaves the auditorium confused.

Google, AOL, Bing…….

Some of us might be thinking, “What importance does the issue mentioned above play in our life?” Others might be thinking, “Why to open our mouth, ask question and indirectly inform others that I didn’t knew this before?” And some others might also be thinking, “Why to waste time in asking doubts when we have Google, Bing and AOL etc.?”

In this regards we should try to understand few pointers. Firstly, constructive learning always happens when we ask how, when and where. Secondly, it is always better to tell people that we don’t know and avoid the chance of them perceiving that we know. Finally, the online search engines have got definitions for almost everything under this world, but the unique and relevant perspective is always brought by that particular speaker at that particular instant of time.

Ego Vs Fear

Few years back the same fear of speaking in front of many people stopped me from getting 100% from many of the conferences which I had attended. Then I slowly understood the cost of hiding my questions owing to that fear. But one day during a seminar on “career path and opportunities”, which was attended by more than 200 individuals like me, I had a doubt which I eventually asked and got it clarified. This was possible due to the Ego Vs Fear mantra which worked for me. It works very simple - whenever we got a doubt framed in our mind, just raise the hand and rest would be taken care of! This is how it works - the moment we raise our hand, all the people notice it and they expect us to ask our question. Since we fear asking question, we stay calm for a second and this get counter-attacked by our ego which tells us not to get fooled in front of hundreds of people by staying dumb. Therefore, in this battle between the fear and the ego, ego emerges as the winner and this results in us asking the doubt and getting it clarified.

Thanks for your patience. Your opinions and suggestions are valuable :)