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Sleepless in Gurgaon


The transition is complete. Say hello to my not-so-little friend - Gurgaon.

When I first arrived at the Delhi airport from Pune, I was about to be blown away on dust storms after being vaporized by the intense heat of Delhi, but the taxi arrived in the nick of time. Able to breathe again in the air-conditioned environment of the taxi (which also seemed to be complaining about the heat), I looked outside. All I could see were gigantic concrete and glass structures, thumbing their air-conditioned noses at the people who coined the term "greenhouse effect". Gurgaon didn't seem to be belonging to the state where Khap panchayats still rule the roost. I guess this is the price we have to pay for pretending to be democracy.

Soon I arrived at the guesthouse and prepared for induction in my new company and the struggles of life ahead. Sporting an uncombed, Harry Potter like hair I was sure that I would not make a first good impression. So I decided to go for a hair cut at the nearest market whose name itself was the "Shopping Mall". After shelling out 90 rupees for a simple hair cut, I wondered out aloud whether my entire hair was worth that amount, much to the delight of the barber. I consoled myself by assuming that this was their revenge for the movie to be named "Billu Barber".

At my new company, my over-priced hair cut didn't create a flutter as I had expected. The girls looked through me and it felt like home again. I was put together in a batch of 30 people and made to go through the week-long induction process. At the end of the truly enlightening lectures which informed me how this company was different from other companies, its culture, values and other stuff, I was elevated to a different level. I could now understand why managers and MBA's love to use big words for the simplest of issues and was all geared up to use them myself.

After the first week, I have to find out a house for myself. After all the guest house is only for 2 weeks. After braving through the scorching sun and cunningness of brokers, I still am not able to find anything. Lying on bed at night and looking at the circling fan, I really and truly am sleepless in Gurgaon.
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Location: Gurgaon, Delhi, India

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