My last trip to Chennai was on 22nd December in 1998. Knowing that I'd really be under pressure, I applied for 2 weeks leave from my company. At least this way I wouldn't feel the pangs of guilt for playing truant. I was traveling by the early morning Lalbagh Express and at the Bangalore City Railway Station I picked up "The Hindu" newspaper. On page 3 was a half-column article with a bold headline that read "Koramangala on the Internet". I'm not a great believer of auspicious times and stuff like that, but it sure was a nice feeling that the day had started well. Good news, in a sense. I was standing on the platform just outside the second-class compartment. I read and re-read the article and suddenly realized that the train had started to move. I just about made it. Yes! It was indeed an exciting start. Right up my alley.
Around lunchtime I walked into the Rage office. JRK and Geeta extended their usual greetings, generally consisting of short, crisp sentences, adequately laced with four, five, six-lettered words. They attribute this to a kind of therapy that removes any signs of nervousness and makes one feel comfortable. Over the years I have downed many doses of their "local brew" and frankly, the therapy always worked.
I don't know whether curiosity actually killed the cat or not and I couldn't care less, but I must have lived more than nine lives those last three weeks just to take a peek at my website. The body language of JRK and Geeta suggested they had designed a great website. Their smiles were the giveaways. They kept needling me with "You want to see your site, eh?" To which I replied, "Of course I do, you bums. I didn't come here all the way just to check out your molars?" Patience has never been one of my strong points and testing it for too long is not recommended.
And then I saw it. The white-background Koramangala.com Home Page engulfed the computer screen. JRK and Geeta had their eyes on me to gauge my reactions. But I was in a trance hardly aware of my surroundings. My eyes were glued to the colour monitor as I navigated through the entire website page after page. It took me a while to react.
"Fantastic," I said and bowed before JRK and Geeta conveying my deep reverence for this masterpiece they had created. |
A few of the many people who have encouraged and supported us.
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