Must be the first week of May when we were traveling to Sikkim. Enroute to Yungtham, we stayed over at Lachung. It was around 7-ish in the evening, pitch dark, came out of the hotel for a stroll.
Quite amazed to see how a shack-like shop could stock foreign liquors. Out of curiosity, peeped inside the shop, saw a middle-aged cop happily sipping-in a drink from a bamboo glass.
I knew what to do... Ordered one for myself and started talking to the cop, employed in Indo-Bhutan police. Later, the lady owner and her husband joined the conversation. Came to know that the drink, named Chhang or Thumba, is a local-brewed millet beer, and traditionally served in bamboo glass with a wooden straw.
Took few pictures on my cell-phone camera, but alas, lost my it while returning from Tukla.
It was an amazing experience to see, taste, and feel the unofficial state drink of Sikkim.
Photo courtesy: Anindita Sarbadhikary
I am whistling, opps working from home (WFH)! My wish of composing a mail with the similar subject line is soon going to be a reality.
A small one-liner, not-so-important mail means a lot to me. Sounds funny, huh! Lest I get emotional, you need to read this story…
It all started more than a year ago, when the bumpy roads of Pune affected my lower back. Orthopedic surgeon got scared after knowing the fact that I drive 10 miles daily to work and consulted me to go for an MRI scan.
Next is what? Stuck in acute pain, I applied for WFH option. Looking at the response from the HR department, I felt I’ve seriously done something wrong.
Like a true government organization (hey, did you hear BrinhanMumbai Municipal Corporation - BMC) WFH option starts from a certain band, and poor me, I didn’t fall under that category.
However, the HR department did advise me to take necessary medical test and get it certified by the company-appointed doctor, and the doctor has the final say. Spend 6K for an MRI scan and the scan report suggested that I should refrain from driving such a long distance.
However, the MRI report didn’t satisfy the doctor to give me a go. Rather, he resorted to a holistic approach and started explaining me all the possible means and methods of getting rid of this pain. It took no time to understand he’s parroting management’s view, perhaps in a different way.
So my wish to WFH dashed into the yard, and I continued commuting to work with pain. Hopes revived when my director who came from US to Pune for a business trip and promised to take this matter to the authorities. However, that didn’t yield any different result.
Cut to June 2008, new job, new location. My employer, Big Blue, values a lot when it comes to wasting time on beating long city traffic, and encourages WFH.
Now, broadband connection is up and running (BSNL, thanks), can get connected to the office networks, and all set to sent the mail.
Hello world...
