TRIVANDRUM

I hated Trivandrum at first. Why would I? It was nothing like Bangalore. Also I went there at the wrong time. What added to that was I went there alone, usually batches from a college are called together. The fact that there is a very schoolish atmosphere at TCS there with rules everywhere did not help. I also went during peak summer and was given really lousy accomodation there. So I guess the first month and half at Trivandrum I became a loner. Preferred staying alone.

This was the absolute rejection phase where I could not like anything about the place. But the surprising thing was when I came down to Bangalore- and I did try coming as much as I could- I missed the peace I had there. Nobody to bother you, away from the problems, so close to nature everything.

Gradually I started accepting the place as it is, without any comparison. Started making new friends. I actually started like it. Soon it was like I was finding excuses to not go back during long weekends.

The best part about Trivandrum is that though it is the capital, it is such a laid back city. The place I was staying at is just a km and a half from the sea. There is this fisherman’s beach called which is completely empty. Much better than the commercial Kovalam beach which was just 2 kms away from where I stayed. The view from CLC( Corporate Learning Centre, TCS) is just amazing. Just coconut trees which looks like grass from the distance and the Arabian sea. The view from top is beautiful, the sea on one side and the start of the western ghats on the other.

My favourite place is varkala, where I’ve had so many fond memories. Sleeping on the beach, all night, drunk; going swimming pretty far into sea, standing on the cliff viewing the sea on one side and hills and greenery on one side while drinking beer. This has to be one of my favourite places in the whole world - not that I have travelled much- but still.

The place I stayed at is called TCS Executive Hostel. There is this little stream flowing just behind it- you could go sit there for hours and not hear anything other birds chirping and frogs croaking. There was this bar called B6 just close by where almost everybody from TCS would be there on Friday nights – they had to be there- there were no other bars nearby.

I came there during a really really tough period in my life, and I changed, and matured and learnt a lot. I made a lot of good friends – Rohith, Mamatha, Umar, Liza, Mansa, Rajath, Pawan, Ashok, Malli, Pooja, Bhanu, Chivu, Manohar, Harsha, Lovepreet ( yes that’s a name), Mindri, Praveen, Sameer, of course our HR Shafiq and Finance guy Ashutosh and Cheta from the Nayar shop and anybody else I might have missed out on. You made my stay awesome. Especially Rohith, Mansa and Umar

Thank you Trivandrum- my favourite place in the world( along with Bangalore that is)