Road trip to Kodaikanal

It was a bright mornin with clear skies as 6 jubilant college-goers sped off to Kodaikanal from Madurai in 3 bikes on 06.09.08 (Saturday). The drive lasted 5.5 hours which included a 1 hr halt at Batlagundu for breakfast 'n' various foto sessions on the scenic route. With a sudden shower that started toward the end o' d journey, we all entered into sterling resorts in time for lunch, dripping wet and shivering.

Alright, now lets not go into all d boring details about wat we did.. So goin to d highlights... I'm sure whenever u ppl visit kodai, u'd probably drop by d pillar rock, suicide point, pine forest, blah.. blah.. blah.. whatever is present in d regular brochures. But for a change, i suggest u guyz try Mannavanar lake i.e., if u haven't yet been there. Its abt 40-45 kms from kodai n its simply beautiful. U hav a few view points, n an interesting temple on d way. Most package tours take u 1ly to a view point frm whr u can c lake. But u got to cross Mannavanar village to actually reach d lake. A take away lunch n a drink of ur choice (remember dat u hav to drive back all dat distance) wud aptly blend into ur relaxing vacation.

Fairy falls (foto to d left) is another interesting n isolated place, apt for a good chat, located within d govt horticultural farming limits. Taking a detour on d way to d observatory should take u directly to d spot...

N here's another tip. If u r goin up there in a bike during d cooler seasons, I wud advice(wat i've learnt frm experience) a helmet, eye gear, n a pair of gloves to keep ur fingers frm becoming unreactive to motor signals. N dis is for d riders... Try not to stare at d walkers or d cyclists (js while riding) ;-).

Some gud food spots dat i wud suggest:

Non Veg

1. Nadar mess - Bus stand road

2. a couple of muslim shops(forgot d name) - market road

3. u also get gud pigeons n beef in market road

4. Tibetan bros restaurant

Veg

1. Astoria - near bus stand

2. Meenakshi Bhavan - Lake road

I'm poor in dis section. So if u r a veggie, u better look to sumbadielse for suggestions.

Btw, if u ever wanna find such outta d way places, u'd be better off chatting wid d tibetan shop owners near bryant park rather than d tourist guides. Those ppl hav lived their entire lives there n giv u info outta genuine interest rather than for monetary benefits.

Almost ThoughtWorks...

Last weekend, we had a company called thoughtworks visiting our college for campus recruitment. For those who hav already heard abt the company, I dont think there's anything I hav to say. For those who haven't heard of it, thoughtworks is a service cum product based software company that pays 5 lakh+ per annum for freshers(thats the most interesting part). So its like a dream for most techies to get in. U can check out http://www.thoughtworks.com/ and http://www.workwiththegeeks.com/ for further details.
Nyway, we had a long(n quite boring) pre-placement talk followed by a really interesting logical assessments session(this is very different frm the regular aptitude tests conducted by other companies). Around 10 in d nite, my friend sends me dis msg. "Hey u r selected for the next round. Come to college by 8.30 in d morn". Nw wat was dat all abt. Did he really expect me to start preparing then. By nw u must've realized dat I hadn't prepped for d company at all.. So i js browsed thro my C book for 15 mins js to do justice to myself... N the company too..
The next day was a nightmare. B4 I realized wat happened, I had cleared the coding round along wid 19 other ppl. N I was 2nd in line for the tech interview. It was then that I realized that I had to get my CV printed. So rush did I as usual n cleared the interview too(wid a bang). But there was a 2nd round of tech interview(oh my god!!) for 10 of us n they screwed me big time in there :-). Justice was finally served n 2 ppl made it into the company while I rode home wid the title "Almost ThoughtWorks". U must've guessed that part nyway when i said "justice" was served :-).
What I wanted to share is that I didn't feel a bit down for not making it in. Probably it was bcoz of the fact that I njoyed both the interviews. It was not the usual enervating xperience, but rather an energizing one. I slept like a log the entire consequent day, but I still surely did njoi that unexpected day...
Dis post tries to serve 2 purposes - Making aware the recruitment process for thoughtworks n sharing my xperience along wid it... Feel free to post in queries. But if u know nybody els who can help u, then u r safer not considering me :-).
I may not lead, I may not follow, but I sure can confuse...