Last 5 months... it's been quite a trip

5 months back, had someone asked me the last preferred time for blogging, I would have said "Friday Night" before the person could bat an eyelid. Yet, that's precisely what I'm doing now. Life is a lot different and organized now than what it used to be. Things that have changed between then and now go beyond the last digit of the "yyyy" part of the date, things which I wanted to eke out in this blog but they never got beyond the "drafts" section. Friends have switched jobs, moved out of the city, a new one has come in, old friendship has been revived, gymming has become a religion, egos have clashed, cricket matches have been lost, my nephew has got cuter and naughtier, an almost-certain transfer to mysore has been defied, a chess championship has been won both as an individual and as a team, I've moved into a new project and yeah, the BIGGEST news is that the much feared CAT-astrophe HAS eventually happened. Not that I expected to top this time but then, I'm sure it would have come down to "those 3-4 questions" which, if solved quicker, would have been the difference between an 88.61 %ile and the one on the right side of 96, the one that I had last year! In a way, it has sorted out a few things. In the past few months I've got a new reason to stay here in Hyderabad and keep pressing. Work or no work, office never drew more than "just enough" attention from me. But now, having been working for 2.5 years, the thought of taking a 2-yr break for "possibly" a better job wasn't exciting me enough and thankfully, I got a CAT score that has really sorted things out.. talk about being an optimist!!!

2012 started off with a completely unplanned trip to Pune. Being a VERY organized person when it comes to my travel dates, I still can't believe that I decided to catch the 9 p.m. bus to Pune (for a 3 day trip) at 7 p.m, DURING a game of Chess! As I've discovered in the past, such unplanned trips often turn out to be the best ones an this one went exactly that road. The trip did little to change my perception that Pune is a GREAT weekend getaway but settling there, specially in the IT industry, is a STRICT no-no (hence it joins Bangalore in my list of "Cities I'd NEVER want to settle in"). It was my 4th visit to Infosys Pune since completing my Mysore training, spread over a period of nearly 2 years - and the observation that couldn't escape my eyes was the continuous decrease in the no. of known faces you bump into in the food courts there. Nontheless, it was great to catch up with whoever is left. 

Closer home, the weekend right after returning from Pune was occupied by the Inter Corporate Chess tournament, hosted by Infosys. It was open to more than 60 IT/ITES companies in Hyderabad. Last year I could not participate despite being selected for the team, as it clashed with my leaves. However, lightning missed striking twice very narrowly this time, as the tourney fell on the weekend sandwiched between the Pune-trip weekend and the one on which my family visited here. I've never been in favour of playing more than one serious game of Chess in a day but as has become a norm now, we had to play 7 games over a 2-day period. Considering it was a corporate tournament, you get some very good players who make you think so hard that at the end of the day your mind completely goes blank. Day 1 turned out relatively easy for me, as the opponents from D.E. Shaw and HSBC blundered once each, which was enough for me to mount an attack and then there was no looking back. Day 2 was the real challenge, in which we were required to play 4 games. I got a walkover in the first one, as my opponent was too lazy to come at 9 a.m. on a Sunday.  The next game(Round 5) would rate pretty close to one of my best defensive games, in which, despite trailing by quite a bit throughout the game, I made quick enough moves to leave my opponent short of time and claim a win. The Swiss League format is such that if you keep winning, your opponents for the next draw keep getting tougher. Round 6 was a bit of an exception, in which I went for the good old english opening with black which confused my opponent. Round 7, the last of the lot, turned out to be thrilling, as I was again trailing all the time but somehow kept fighting. In the end, my time did run out but I had made my move which would have caused my opponent a forced mate in the next move. Since I didn't have enough time, the points were shared and I ended up as the only unbeaten player with 6.5/7 points, which was not bad at all. My teammates Vishal, Parthipan, Rohit and Rizwan also fared great in their games, which ensured we won the tournament by a distance. Beating Sanjay Saxena was the best moment for me, as he was one trouble maker who was accusing Infosys of cheating in "every tournament in the past". He did end up as the 2nd best player though. 

Ok, enough of Chess bragging now. Bhaiya-Bhabhi's visit to Hyderabad last weekend came at the perfect time. Having the excuse of guiding them through the city, I also explored a few places I had never been to, including the Golconda Fort, Zoo, Charminar and revised the places such as Lumbini Park and Eat - Street. They were tiring-but-enjoyable 3 days and am looking forward to my next Delhi trip in mid Feb to join my family in celebrating nephew dearest's 1st birthday :-)

The 2 non-manipal people out of 4 have moved out of our beloved 4 BHK abode and guess what... 2 manipal people have joined in. Things couldn't have been more perfectly timed. Not that Nitin and Deepak were any trouble, but now, the 4 of us - Sagar, Anubhav, Vinit and myself are from the same college, same batch and our flat still has a car and a bike :). 

All in all, Hyderabad hasn't been a bad place to stay, after all. A city where I am at my office desk within 10 minutes of starting from home, a city where I've made a lot of good friends on my own and have the company of few of the old timers and a city I ddin't initially want to come to! Yet, there seems to be some void... that one missing piece that'll complete the picture. What is it? Even I don't know for sure!