I'm .net-ted

Training Duration - 19th Oct to 28th Oct '05. Missed the last day 'cause I had a reservation on the YPR-HTA that day. I was headed home.

Location - Almaz Software Solutions (off Ring Road). While the location on Ring Road meant that it was really close to #398 (all I had to do was wait near the Mahindra showroom on 80 Foot Road & soon enough a company cab/bus/car/van would show up offering a ride to Domlur @ 5 bucks only! Managed to ride on HP/Spheris/Philips/iFlex & other company vehicles this way. Now, how many people can boast of having done that?), the 'off' made things a bit ...er, off kilter. That's cause it meant taking a short cut .... every morning & evening .... that passed thru the de-facto ...er, dumping grounds of the nearby slum dwellers .... dumping as in ...er, human waste. You get the picture!

Instructor - Niraj Bhat. Mr. niraj_rules@rediffmail.com was the fastest instructor I've ever faced. He would type out programmes on his Presario at lightning speed & expected us (1st time .net-ters) to keep pace perfectly. Having said that, his knowledge of .net was pretty good & he took the trouble to see that all of reached at least a minimum level of understanding.

Brains - Chayan Biswas's. Working during the training, that is. This guy is a genius. He could grab concepts out of thin air while the rest were trying to figure out the last one/get a high score in Pinball or Minesweeper or Solitaire/checking out the babes/trying to stay awake. And guess who got to sit next to him .... me! What this meant was, that I could goof all day while being sure of the fact that I could turn to him to clear all my doubts before the day was through. Thanks dude, you were a great help.

Most significant moment - The rains on 25th October. It rained like there was no tomorrow. Bangalore went down on it's knees as traffic jams snaked back for miles. Whole localities were underwater & people reached EC at 11 after having set out at 7:30! That of course, was before Hosur Road was shut down completely.

Best part - It's a toss up between the food; being able to build a text editor & mini explorer using .net in a mere 20 minutes & giving the rain related chaos on 25th Oct a go by (since Ring Road had no traffic jams .... at all!). The food of course wins it hands down .... proper North Indian buffet lunches served free of cost .... heck there's no competition!

Significant aside - Returning home one day during the training & I spot this fantastically souped up black Baleno parked near the Sify Gamedrome. Blue lightning graphics on the sides, a double deck spoiler, black-out film on the tail lights, skirts all round & blinged out chrome alloys .... a proper, tasteful & high cost mod job. Just as I'm approaching it, a fat-silk saree clad classic auntie type with a handbag comes out of the nearby showroom ........ & points the remote locker at the car, gets in & drives off! It took me about 5 minutes to stop mouthing the F word after managing to pick up my jaws from the floor. The Baleno even had a rorty exhaust!