Now that I had reached the office well before time, I decided to explore the area. Good roads, few people roaming around here and there. Once inside the office, you are into the company land. so now newness around. I decided to straight away go to the training room and do some surfing.
Soon, the trainees arrived. Most of them were straight from the ILP and hence it was difficult for me to skip some of the topics. But I nevertheless covered the topics and they were able to comprehend most of it (Or atleast I assume so :-P) The training room over there was quite big as compared to the ones I have seen before : quite spacious with all the latest software. There were more than 30 trainees here and hence some of the machines had to be shared.
An important part of any office is its support infrastructure like coffee machines and canteen,etc. This office had many options at the coffee machines: Lemon Tea, Sugarfree tea/coffee, Masala Tea and IceTea. I was amazed by the options and gleefully had Lemon and Masala Tea. Both tasted very good. The canteen food was also very good and cheap. For Rs 35, you got 2 sabjis, dal, rotis, rice, papad, dahi/buttermilk and salad. The best part was that you could take any or all of this any number of times for the amount you paid initially. The quality of this food was also very good.
My stay was arranged at A6 and A7 bungalows in the same infocity campus. Before you assume something else, let me clarify that I got a room in that bungalow and not the entire bungalow. I must admit that TCS provides very good TQs (Transit Quarters) with all the facilities like an attached bathroom and good food, AC, TV, etc. But I also assume that this must be the case in any Big 5 IT companies. Nevertheless, you must appreciate the fact that your company does care about you when you are on some visit.
The food at the TQ was also good and tasty. I always knew that the food in Gujarat is very good and I was right in that respect. The TQ also had wireless fidelity and hence I was able to access my mails and orkut as well. On the first evening I had to walk the highway to reach my TQ but the next morning the TQ housekeeper showed me another path so that I could reach my office in only 5 mins.
I think I have described quite a lot about my office and TQ and the place in general. In the next and the last part, I will write about Akshardham which is an important highlight of my stay in Gandhinagar.
Showing posts with label Kingfisher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kingfisher. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
My Travels - Gandhinagar - Part 2
Before reading this post, I suggest you read part 1.
Now that I have landed at the Ahmedabad airport, It was time for me to head to the company office in Gandhinagar. So I picked up a pre-paid taxi for Infocity, Gandhinagar
A few facts before we move ahead.
A. About Gandhinagar :- Gandhinagar is the capital of Gujarat. It has been named after the father of the nation - M.K. Gandhi. It is a planned city and hence at this place you will find names like sector-1, sector-2 and so on. Further there are very less traffic signals and to compensate for them, you have circles to navigate at various junctures. It is also said to be a green city. I think the reason for this would be: 1. all public transport vehicles like rickshaws and buses use CNG. 2. Planning of the city and 3. Lots of trees and gardens everywhere. Ahmedabad is certainly the biggest city of Gujarat but it is not planned and hence more like Mumbai.
B. About Infocity :- Infocity lies on the outskirts of Gandhinagar. It was an attempt by the Keshubhai Patel government of 2001 to bring IT companies to Gujarat. When I first heard about this place I expected it to be some huge complex with lots of buildings and lots of activities. But I was disappointed. It had only one building called as IT Tower 1. My company has two floors over there and plans to add one more. Besides, it has plan to develop a SEZ in Gujarat. Right now there is only one building but construction has begun for atleast 2 other towers. The infocity however has a residential township as well where people stay and that is a very good thing. It helps to reduce the commuting time. Apart from that, I also observed that since the residential was a part of the complex, there was wireless network present everywhere. That pleased me the most since I was able to access my mails and orkut which I am not able to do normally from office area.
The pre-paid taxi was quite costly (cost me arounf Rs.300) but as long as such costs are reimburesed by the company, I dont mind travelling in them.
People do say that Gujarat has really prospered in the past few years and it is growing even faster than China economically (around 15%). A major contribution to a fast growing economy is that of the roads and infrastructure. The roads in Gujarat are really good and I had a pleasant journey in the taxi as well with less traffic as well. The entire stretch from Ahmedabad to Infocity Gandhinagar was a smooth ride. Plus the rides that I have got once while travelling from Mumbai to Surat makes me believe that Gujarat is definitely doing good as far as roads go.
Well I have reached my office quite early and have a lot of time (around 2 hrs) to while away at the office.
This ends part 2 of the gandhinagar travels. In the next few parts I will describe a few more aspects of my stay.
Now that I have landed at the Ahmedabad airport, It was time for me to head to the company office in Gandhinagar. So I picked up a pre-paid taxi for Infocity, Gandhinagar
A few facts before we move ahead.
A. About Gandhinagar :- Gandhinagar is the capital of Gujarat. It has been named after the father of the nation - M.K. Gandhi. It is a planned city and hence at this place you will find names like sector-1, sector-2 and so on. Further there are very less traffic signals and to compensate for them, you have circles to navigate at various junctures. It is also said to be a green city. I think the reason for this would be: 1. all public transport vehicles like rickshaws and buses use CNG. 2. Planning of the city and 3. Lots of trees and gardens everywhere. Ahmedabad is certainly the biggest city of Gujarat but it is not planned and hence more like Mumbai.
B. About Infocity :- Infocity lies on the outskirts of Gandhinagar. It was an attempt by the Keshubhai Patel government of 2001 to bring IT companies to Gujarat. When I first heard about this place I expected it to be some huge complex with lots of buildings and lots of activities. But I was disappointed. It had only one building called as IT Tower 1. My company has two floors over there and plans to add one more. Besides, it has plan to develop a SEZ in Gujarat. Right now there is only one building but construction has begun for atleast 2 other towers. The infocity however has a residential township as well where people stay and that is a very good thing. It helps to reduce the commuting time. Apart from that, I also observed that since the residential was a part of the complex, there was wireless network present everywhere. That pleased me the most since I was able to access my mails and orkut which I am not able to do normally from office area.
The pre-paid taxi was quite costly (cost me arounf Rs.300) but as long as such costs are reimburesed by the company, I dont mind travelling in them.
People do say that Gujarat has really prospered in the past few years and it is growing even faster than China economically (around 15%). A major contribution to a fast growing economy is that of the roads and infrastructure. The roads in Gujarat are really good and I had a pleasant journey in the taxi as well with less traffic as well. The entire stretch from Ahmedabad to Infocity Gandhinagar was a smooth ride. Plus the rides that I have got once while travelling from Mumbai to Surat makes me believe that Gujarat is definitely doing good as far as roads go.
Well I have reached my office quite early and have a lot of time (around 2 hrs) to while away at the office.
This ends part 2 of the gandhinagar travels. In the next few parts I will describe a few more aspects of my stay.
My Travels - Gandhinagar - Part 1
Hello everyone,
Ever since I gave my resignation from my company, the bosses seem to have realised that there will be no one to look into the queries, proposals and trainings related to JSF, Java 5 and other seemingly non-preferred technologies within the Java domain. All others in the team are now working on some high end products like IBM e-Commerce or Portals like Vignette and Weblogic.
So my bosses decided to send me to a few places to give training on JSF. Hence I have been to Kolkata and Gandhinagar. While Kolkata was a 6 day affair, Gandhinagar was relatively short for only 2 days. Nonetheless it was a nice trip and I will write about it in this blog
There is a project in Gandhinagar that uses JSF. However, they were facing a lot of problems related to it. So it was decided that I would go there and train them on JSF. Little did they know that I have also never worked on any JSF project and hence even I would be having the same problems that any normal developer would have with JSF. But there is a difference. I do have the concepts of JSF quite clear and hence I do know some of the work-arounds for some of the problems.
The training days were decided to be on 8th and 9th June 2007. I decided to take the morning flight to Ahmedabad by JET Airways. This is the third time I have travelled by a airplane and I am loving every bit of travelling by a plane. Since I was travelling in JET after they went for a makeover, I expected them to sport their new uniforms and new things. But I was disappointed to see the same old dresses and style. However their service is quite good. Since the flight is only of 45 minutes, you can somehow pass the time in eating the snacks and looking out of the window or reading some magazines or newspapers. But if it is some long distance journey like Kolkata, then you will get bored quickly. This is where Kingfisher is really one up against JET.
The food was quite good and the journey also went off quite well. From an airplane, Mumbai looks stunning - Made up of disparate islands held together by some bridges. At night it looks even more beautiful under the lights. Anybody coming to India can easily say that it is the most lighted city in India.
In contrast, Ahmedabad looked no more than a small town from the plane while it was landing. Maybe I was comparing it with Mumbai and that was the mistake. Anyways, the Ahmedabad airport is quite decent and there were no problems in getting out of the Sardar Patel Airport of Ahmedabad.
This is the end of the first part of the series on Gandhinagar travels. In the next few posts I will be be detailing on the remaining part of my stay at the place
Ever since I gave my resignation from my company, the bosses seem to have realised that there will be no one to look into the queries, proposals and trainings related to JSF, Java 5 and other seemingly non-preferred technologies within the Java domain. All others in the team are now working on some high end products like IBM e-Commerce or Portals like Vignette and Weblogic.
So my bosses decided to send me to a few places to give training on JSF. Hence I have been to Kolkata and Gandhinagar. While Kolkata was a 6 day affair, Gandhinagar was relatively short for only 2 days. Nonetheless it was a nice trip and I will write about it in this blog
There is a project in Gandhinagar that uses JSF. However, they were facing a lot of problems related to it. So it was decided that I would go there and train them on JSF. Little did they know that I have also never worked on any JSF project and hence even I would be having the same problems that any normal developer would have with JSF. But there is a difference. I do have the concepts of JSF quite clear and hence I do know some of the work-arounds for some of the problems.
The training days were decided to be on 8th and 9th June 2007. I decided to take the morning flight to Ahmedabad by JET Airways. This is the third time I have travelled by a airplane and I am loving every bit of travelling by a plane. Since I was travelling in JET after they went for a makeover, I expected them to sport their new uniforms and new things. But I was disappointed to see the same old dresses and style. However their service is quite good. Since the flight is only of 45 minutes, you can somehow pass the time in eating the snacks and looking out of the window or reading some magazines or newspapers. But if it is some long distance journey like Kolkata, then you will get bored quickly. This is where Kingfisher is really one up against JET.
The food was quite good and the journey also went off quite well. From an airplane, Mumbai looks stunning - Made up of disparate islands held together by some bridges. At night it looks even more beautiful under the lights. Anybody coming to India can easily say that it is the most lighted city in India.
In contrast, Ahmedabad looked no more than a small town from the plane while it was landing. Maybe I was comparing it with Mumbai and that was the mistake. Anyways, the Ahmedabad airport is quite decent and there were no problems in getting out of the Sardar Patel Airport of Ahmedabad.
This is the end of the first part of the series on Gandhinagar travels. In the next few posts I will be be detailing on the remaining part of my stay at the place
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