Cycling trip to den Hague

Myself and five of my friends decided to do some biking yesterday ( 28 Aug 2010 ). I woke up at 6:30 had my bath and also had my breakfast and was ready to hit the roads of Delft & den Hague. I was clad in the proper cycling attire. The others were dressed up in jeans,sweaters and jackets. The initial plan was to start at 7:30 but usual delays pulled us back and we started from our place (Poptahof Noord) at 8:30.

We took the longer biking route adjacent to the highways. It was really amazing to ride down such a beautiful path. We crisscrossed many lakes and canals and then went staright ahead down the road. It is in fact just a straight road from Delft to den Hague. We cycled for about 90 minutes and we reached den hague. We could have reached there faster but we stopped now and then for taking photographs. The route was so scenic that we just couldn't stop admiring the beauty.

Once we reached den hague we decided to cycle another 5 miles to scheveningen beach. The day was quite sunny and little cold, perfect conditions for biking. We reached the beach at around 10:45 and parked our bikes on the hilltop. All of us were quite tired and decided to munch on some food before getting down into the sand. Vishwa and Praveen had packed some sandwiches, Bhramesh had got some fruit cake and I carried some bottles of water. We had nice little snack and then went down to the beach. It was the North Sea that we were looking at. The waters and the waves were quite serene compared to the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal.

All of a sudden the climate changed suddenly and we hit by some heavy showers. We could in fact see the clouds coming in from the see and envelope us. Thank God I had packed a raincoat inside my backpack. All of us had our raincoats and we were all well protected. The Dutch weather is very unpredictable so never mistake a sunny day thinking the weather will be fine all day.

After having a good time at the beach we decided to pay a visit to the Haagse Markt. This market is very famous in den Hague because we get good for comparatively cheaper prices than in the supermarkets. But one needs to make a cautious choice when selecting items because the items bought do not come with a receipt and its very alluring to buy more as the prices are very less. We also visited a small Indian grocery shop called "India Gate" from where I bought Moong Dal and Rice Flakes (for making poha or avul upma). It costed me 8.95 euros for these two items.

All of us were quite tired after this long cycle ride,visit to the beach and walking down the Haagse Markt. We decided to get back home and followed the tram route, we reached Delft in a shorter time. This was the first time I had biked for so long and it was truly an amazing experience. The separate bike roads, cold climate and natural greenery by the roads make biking a truly enjoyable experience in The Netherlands.

6 Aug 2010-My last day at Ashok Leyland

Its been 3 years 2 months and 6 days at Ashok Leyland, India's second largest commercial vehicle manufacturing firm and on the 6th of August 2010 my profesional career at Ashok Leyland came to an end. Foof ! thats was quite a long time at this fantastic organization. AL as it is unofficially known has given me a solid foundation to kick start my professional career.

From now on no more getting up at 5:00 in the morning, no more pacing up the road to board the bus at 6:30 am and no more healthy breakfast at the AL canteen. Oh my God ! things are turning around so quickly. It looks like I just joined AL as a GET (Graduate Engineer Trainee) some time back but coming back to reality I have come a long way. Got promoted to the post of Deputy Manager, worked on some important bus projects and handled additional responsibilities.

Work life at Ashok Leyland was really cool, the working hours being 7:45 to 16:00 hrs. It was entirely up to you to stay back after 16:00 hrs and only on rare occasions would office work force you to stay very late. The work life balance at Ashok Leyland is one of the best in the industry and I must admit that whole heartedly.

My seat in my office was the corner seat and what an amazing view of the greenery can one see from outside the window. The job at AL is one of the dream jobs for every aspiring engineer  wanting to work in the auto industry. I was associated with the Vehicle Electrical group at AL's product development centre. This group was a small group with about ten people when I joined, but as more and more electronic features were being incorporated in the vehicle the group strength kept on increasing because there were new projects to work on and more manpower was needed. My group strength is close to thirty now.

I will always be proud that I was associated with AL and I have no qualms is returning to this wonderful organization sometime in the furture. GETs are given special treatment and are nurtured to be the next leaders in the organization. But unfortunately many of them leave at the end of their bond period, mostly to pursue their higher studies. I too am going to The Netherlands to pursue my higher studies in Sustainable Energy Technology.

Mr Ghose or DG as we call him is a very cool boss and amazing fellow. He has chided me, applauded me, nurtured me during my stay at AL. Being my first boss I'll never forget him. The to & fro trip to Alwar will be etched in memeory for ever. I learned a lot from my on duty travel trips and got meet amazing people and see amazing places. My GET friends at AL, oops the number has come down to five from ten,will always remain close to my heart.

At the end of the day it was a choice between financial security and growth. The pay at AL was too good to leave the organization but it was my decision to pursue my higher studies. I could have done this part time but there is no fun in doing a part time study. One cannot do justice to work and study in this case, atleast this my opinion. Well, I hope I have made the right decision and look forward to bigger and better things in the future.

I can say I have forged some very stong bonds with this great organization and its people.