My hilarious trip to MSR Bengaluru

It started with one fine morning when I came to know that I have been selected to attend the YLP (Young Leader Program) bootcamp at Bengaluru in the Microsoft Campus, Signature building. The MS guys informed us that they have done our bookings at a guest house called Polonest which is just 5 min walk from MS office. And we should report at the MS office at 10.30AM sharp on the 31st of July 2009. I booked my tickets at Howrah Yeshvantpur express which leaves Howrah on 8.35PM and takes three days to reach the destination. Mark my word its 3 (THREE) days. So, I boarded the train on 29th July 2009 and it left the station on time. I was bubbling with joy as the sweet memories of Hyderabad boot camp dawned me. I was traveling by A.C 3 tier and the guys made the compartment so cool that it was almost unbearable. But the days went of without much fuss and the train was on time and we reached in the vicinity of Yeshvantpur station at around 7.45. The scheduled arrival was 7.55AM. But as the legacy of the Indian Railways continued we were stranded there for more than one hour and we finally reached Yeshvantpur at 8.55 AM.

I boarded a pre-paid auto from there to Domlur and it was really a long trip and I finally managed to reach my destination at 10.10 AM. So, I just got 10 mins to freshen up. I went to my room had a quick shave changed my clothes and was on my way within 10 mins. I reached MS office with other MSPs waiting for me on 10.35 AM. At the Signature building reception we were given a Visitor's badge and were escorted by our beloved Mr. Siddharth to the board room at the first floor. Oh sorry I forgot to mention, we were offered some refreshments at the office (tea,coffee,cold drinks). Then our long day started with the inaugural speech from Mrs. Pratima Amonkar, head of the Acad Team of MS and we were given our schedule. Then the founder of the LeadCap Mr. Sangeeth took the podium and enlightened us with the true spirit of leadership. He emphasized on the true essence and qualities a leader should possess and told us that leaders are not born, leaders are made. Leadership is a decision and a choice. Then we had a brief tea break. And after that we again had a session from Mr. Sangeeth and after that we had our lunch.

We heard about the inspiring tale of a whizkid Mr.Suhash Gopinath followed by a lecture from Mr.Gowda a faculty of IIM-B. Then we had a brief brush up about what is leadership village followed by a profiling test. Then we had a video conferencing about the interpretation of our profiling by renowned doctor Mr. Ram Raghavan and the day ended in a hectic fashion. We were then bestowed with a task of making a presentation about how we think we will introduce Leadership campaign in our college. We finished the presentation at 3 A.M and was dog tired and so crashed into bed.

Next day I woke up at 6.30 AM in the morning, finished my morning ablutions and prepared myself for another hectic day. I went to the terrache for breakfast to find very few of my friends there. We had a quick breakfast and headed to the MS office for another hectic day. The day started with a little intro about Leadership village from Mr. Anil followed by Leadership Game and finally by our presentation. As we are the first team to present we got some token gift for our work. Then I and one of my pal signed out as we had a flight to catch. We had a quick breakfast and we got some goodies from MS and my much awaited dopod for Live@Edu. Then we went to polonest and then towards airport. We missed the BIAL bus and had to take a cab till airport. My pal was runnning late so he hurried for the check in counter. I checked in and had a coffee from CCD that freshened me up. I then boarded my flight at 6.15 and was on my way to Kolkata with a stopover at Chennai. I finally landed in the Netaji Subhash International Airport at about 10.00PM and collected my luggage and met my bro outside the airport who came there to receive me.

I enetered home at about 10.45PM and I called it a day................