Day 1

Eversince I have been trapped into the moh-maya of school/college/competitive exams I too have developed a desire to wake up early and then study for a few hours and the go ahead with the rest of the things in life [as this happens to be the biggest traits of all successful people from the old times. Remember the adage - Early to bed, and Early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise]. Alas, this remains to be a dream to even now [I first decided to do this when I was in class 10], but I have never did this. I do not mind breaking the alarm clock for committing a suicidal mistake of waking me up early in the morning. And neither do I mind my moral and sensibility running down to the sink when I start that Gaali Galoz session if someone tries to wake me up.

Lekin! ... first day here in Korea was a surprisingly different experience as I woke up on my own and without much struggle (pata nahin kaise), I was stunned as if I got some electric shock when I saw the watch - it was 4am!!! Aisa kaise hua bhai? Kaise Uth gaya mai! Kisne Utha diyaa saala! Saalon kahin kisi chinki ne mujhe neend naa aane ki dawai to nahin de di hai!!!!!! With all those thoughts I did some calculation and I came to know that its 7:30am in local time zone and if I dont reach the office in next 30 mins then this could well become my last day. Yes! Back in Bangalore I was instructed to maintain the sanctity of the 'office hours', unlike of what I did in Bangalore. So I was all charged up for a turn-up well within 8am and impress everyone (and myself).

Got ready in a jiffy [ofcourse! without a bath, temperature was already low enough to scare the hell out of me.], and as soon as I stepped out of the guest hose my instant reaction - Abbe! ye kya ho gaya? Kiske itne saare kapde dhoye hain ki saara jhaag road pe aa gaya hai! Or for that matter kahin ye surf-excel ka road show advertisement to nahin hai!!!!!!! But then I controlled my emotions and started walking on the snow [Last time I had walked on snow was a few years back when I had visited Kashmir, and trust me those experiences are still intact in my mind, who can forget the numerous spine chilling aches all over the body after falling over and over again]. Thanks to my Kashmir experience, I knew how to escape the slippery snow........but I believe some of the people are not so lucky - They fall again and again, only to forget after 15 mins [Ghajini effect hai bhai!]. So it was an interesting sight to see chinkis falling over and over again.

Girls ko dekha..........kya beauty hai bhai.......and by the time you are done judging with the facial beauty, you drop your eyes and zip zap until you are reach their skirt! Boss kya chote chote skirt pehenti hain.........lekin snow mein itne chote chote skirt! Kyun behen? Khud se koi dushmani hai kya? Pata hai recession chal raha hai....lekin plz poore kapde to pehen lena tha na? Ya fir kuch aisa khaati ho jisse ki thndd ka koi asar hin nahin ho raha????? Whatever be the reason.......it was ironic to see such minimal skirts.....when the whole world is shivering in cold and begging for some livable temperature these girls were making mockery of the weather.

At one point it looked as if these girls have formed some group against the cold weather and they have a unique way of protesting. Seems like they discuss the following among their group:

1st Girl : aaj to temperature kuch khaas nahin hai, sirf -10 degrees, maza nahin aa raha hai.
2nd Girl : kal agar -15 ho jaaye to mai wo brown waali short skirt pehen ke aaungi
1st Girl : Haan yaar....maine bhi kaafi time se -15 nahin dekha hai, kal ho jaaye to maza hin aa jaayegaa
2nd Girl : Tu bhi kuch chote skirts pehna kar. Ye kya summer waale kapde pehen ke office aati hai.

Trust me, these girls can scare any outsider by their sheer acts of bravery against the chilling cold (which has clearly affected everyone else in this part of the world). Kahin bhi dekho.......everyone is shivering, and these girls are just not bothered about the cold.

Anyway, coming back to the Day 1........ I managed to reach office in time [FYI, its just 5 min walk from my Guest House], and then I saw two people at the security gate - bending almost 90 degrees to welcome people inside office, and they did same for me. While I was passing by the security gate the only thought which came into my mind was - Boss! din mein kitni baar 90 degrees bend kartey ho? [This question was more prominent in my mind when I realized that this particular office has more than 50 thousand employees, and even if only half of the employees are welcomed in the traditional fashion, then to watt lag jaayegi bhai! Life mein kabhi Korea mein Security Guard ki post accept nahin karni hai mujhe!!!!!!!]

HR welcomed me with a genuine smile and a discomforted and de-railed english, and if the HR's english was de-railed then imagine the english of the others, especially the one who are truly into technical aspects of the work. My worries of turning into an alien were becoming clear while I was in the lift and talking to the HR Lady en route to my destined seat on the 21st floor. [While I used the word de-railed I am reminded of Lalu Yadav.....Boss if Lalu starts speaking in English in front of these Koreans, then he would truley be considered as a champion of not only the Railways revival back in India but also the English language. Sach mein!]

Initial discussions and work plans were slightly horrifying.......more because they misplaced certain english words....and secondly because they don't believe in the eye-to-eye contact..........they talk shying away from you. God knows why. Anyway......to my deep amazement while discussing I came to know that "I have to Deliver in one month!" Gosh! I was wrongly thinking that they wanted a technical person for their kind of work! [Jokes apart, they really made it clear that the pressure would be too high and I have deliver in whatever circumstances].

I was shown the coffee vending machine, cafeteria, and some of the people - who could come to my rescue whenever I am deep into the shitty codes. There is a corner on each of the floors known as 'IdeaPoint', and the specialty of the IdeaPoint is that it gives an amazing view of the whole city. This IdeaPoint on the 21st Floor became my best friend in just a couple of days........indeed a place where I could generate ideas while sipping coffee and watching those ant-sized cars on roads.

While Day 1 had nothing unusual to offer, it did leave me with a question which needs to be answered, not only by me or someone else but the we need to find a collective answer to this question - A country whose area is nothing more than the area of Karnataka State, has population of 50 million and still stands tall in global fraternity. Whereas we Indians, who are 1.2 billion in numbers (and growing rapidly); area wise we are at least 20 times larger than this country, but still we are considered as a Third World country when it comes to the global standing. Whats that one thing which lacks in India, and is making India go at a sluggish pace.

Added Later......

Know the interesting facts about Suwon, the city where I was staying

See these 3 Koran Girls dancing to a popular english song