My Scratch Pad

To jot down some memorable events in my journey

Monday, February 13, 2006

Me in ChinkyLand - The Series

Valentine's Day, last year, was very special for me. No, I did not meet the “special person”. Last year, on the same day, for the first time I crossed the borders of India to reach the distant shores of China and Hong Kong to address my first ever official overseas assignment. As I was traveling on Valentine’s Day, some of my friends teased me saying “Indiali yaaru siGlilva… ChinaGe hode huDkoke”. That translates to “Dint you find anybody in India that you are going to China for the search?” :D

This tour was not a mere professional agreement. It has left lasting imprints that I shall cherish for the rest of my lifetime. It would not be fair to squeeze in an entire one month enthralling episode of my life into just one post. So, I am writing a series (a staggered one though) to capture those delightful moments. It is not in chronological order. Puhleez!! Nobody is here for a history lecture. Hope you enjoy this series!!! Here, we go….

THE CALL:

3rd January 2005:
First day in office for the year 2005. Lots of “Sweets at my desk” mails slamming my Inbox. But, I did not go to fetch any as I was occupied by two things. First, I had worn western formals for the first time to office. Like any other girl, I was conscious and was thinking does it look good on me. Second, I was not able to get print outs of the status report required for the conference call which would start in 10 minutes time.

Later, somehow managed to scribble down some important points from the status report and started the conference call. Our client counter-part, let me call her Ms CC, answered the call with her ever-sweet voice. All my colleagues are die-hard fans of her voice. We were discussing the same old bugs to be closed. I was still pre-occupied about my attire :D Suddenly, Ms CC started addressing me directly opposed to the usual way of addressing the entire team. I suddenly woke up from my half slumber, thinking if she had seen me gazing into a void. Damn it!! This was a telecon and how could she see me?

She asked me if I was fine to go to China to integrate a product for a leading customer. I was still blank. She re-framed her question so that I could react appropriately. By now, I was bombarded with a chain of thoughts:

Thought 1: What am I going to wear in China? !!!

Thought 2: I am an eggeterian. What am I going to eat there?

(The poor clients were forgotten :D)

Thought 3: I will be the only one from my team traveling to an unknown country. How will I manage?

Thought 4: What all can I get to see and learn there?

Thought 5: How will mom react?

I emerged out of this ocean of thoughts to squeak out “It should be fine” which delighted Ms CC. Then we wrapped the call. By then, I had mixed feelings.

Feeling 1: Happy – First time I was going overseas.

Feeling 2: Anxious – There are lots of colleagues and friends who have gone onsite, mostly to US, Europe and Australia. None to China. Even in my company which was 30,000 employees strong then, only about 2% would have gone to China, that too to commercial centers like Shanghai. The place I was going to visit was a small town, called Huizhou, 70kms from Hong Kong.

Feeling 3: Patriotic!!! I donno why…but I had this feeling. Sometimes, we do not have a reason for certain feelings. Maybe, this was the after effect of watching the movie Swades on New Year Day. I was feeling as though I will never return to India, not giving an ounce of thought that I will be back in a month :D Happens!! That’s how the human brain works :D

Feeling 4: Confused – How to apply for visa and work permit? How to get all my documents ready? Chinese visa has a complicated procedure. Donno where to start, what to do, whom to contact

That night, I was restless, these feelings and thoughts were iterating a million times in my dreams (rather nightmares). Not sure, when I dozed off thinking about the Land of Dragons.

TV Show of the Moment: Travelers on Discovery Channel

Next to Come: The Number Game

4 Comments:

At 8:38 AM, Blogger Deeps said...

Huh? Kind of abrupt ending..

I want to hear more, more, more. Then I'll comment comment comment ;-).

 
At 3:42 PM, Blogger Soumya said...

Hmm...I wondered whether I should wait till the end to comment...But I'll say "nanna eradu maathu" here...

I loved the way u've described ur thoughts & feelings...Waiting to read more...It certainly is interesting...

Last weekend, I went to a Chinese New Year party here at my univ...For the first time, I saw their cultural programme...I fell in love with their music and the wonderful photos they showed of their countryside...Huizhou was a small town u said, it must have been beautiful na!! Post pictures...

There goes my "eradu maathu"...Unstoppable it seems...

Yeh dil maange moooooooorrrrrrreeeeeee...

 
At 6:44 PM, Blogger Vanditha said...

Deeps,
This is a series. So ought to have an abrupt ending :D (Something like the soap operas :D) The actual ending will take some more posts. Anycase I will try to post it ASAP.

Soum,

Yeah..Chinese culture is really interesting. I felt strange too (obviously I am a foreigner there). Thankfully, I had some people around to help me learn more.

Huizhou is an industrial town. Not many scenic places except one beautiful lake. I will publish those snaps in later posts

 
At 1:12 PM, Blogger Shyam said...

ondh prashne...

ellaru videshakke hOg bandhmele, swalpa alli accent aLavadhsthaare. US-alli iro indianssu swalpa style hodheethare, 'r' akshara baro kade ella. haage, UK-indha baro foreign returnssu kuda, swalpa england accent hodheethaare.

nimdhu, swalpa chinki accent yEnaadhru aaitha? :))

yaakendhre..., avar hatra maathaadi maathaadi, swalpa 'sign languauge' jaasthi aagbidutthe. yaake antheera??? avarige sometimes, naav maathododhu artha aagolla. haage, namge avr maathaadodhu artha aagolla. avaaga, signs are faster alvaa???

nimma next blog yavaaga mUdi baruthee???

 

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