One place, four friends, five days - and memories to last a lifetime! Those five days were enough to set us into another world, another routine, another mood altogether!
Running to catch the bus to Peenya Industrial Village. Standing in those crowded buses where we could hardly see outside the bus; but craning from time to time to check if we missed our stop or not! On lucky days, sitting by the window seat and looking at B's mysterious muse of a house and planning on going there someday! Waiting for K to get off from the back of the bus and finding that he got off much earlier and had to walk a lot. Trying to find an auto at that place, gosh!
Walking on a to-become familiar route to reach the gates of ISTRAC. The same old routine security check at the gates. Parting ways with our cell phones for 8 whole hours - the thought itself was torturous, the act was pure agony. But the result - bonding time with B, S and K, just like back in an era without cell phones - simple and fun!
Sitting for hours on the sofa, waiting for the training to begin. Passing time by playing word games and planning class trips. K's (in)famous tryst with the air conditioning. Leisurely lunch breaks. Full meals for four rupees. Managing to finish the amount we put on our plates and thereafter wanting to sleep, in the already soporific surroundings. Wondering if work life would be dull, looking at the sad faces of the employees. Trying to determine just where the sensors started working on the auto-opening glass doors by walking back and forth. Hiding stuff in K's hair. Exploring the campus. Looking at a fresh entrant of trainees and wondering, how bored will they look after a couple of years at work. Waiting for the benevolence of Lakshminarayana and his assistant. The balloon guy who made us laugh till we cried. Soma and his friendliness. JV and respect! The TV lady who just fell in love with K. The beautiful flowers on campus, and how we wished we were allowed to get in cameras to just take pictures of those flowers. The inspiring talk by that man, whose name I can't remember, but whose words I can. The room from where they control launches. Watching the tracking of the satellites, live! JV's in depth and detailed explanation of the antenna system, which valued more than my semester worth of Antenna classes. The thrill of it all!
And then, after a long day, catching a bus again and returning back home, having learned, laughed and lived another day in ISRO.
DISCLAIMER: It is in no way intended that the work at ISRO is boring and hence the employees look dull. Infact, ISRO would be one of the most exciting places to work, and hence, we pondered about this fact. Also, a year later, having entered the corporate life myself, I realized that this is a general trait and not particularly caused due to any organization.
