Life @ 243 Udyog Vihar

Usually stories and journeys start with a ‘Welcome ‘and end with a ‘Goodbye’ but this is no ordinary story. This is the short and spicy story of Trippers moving from our old ‘Partyvilla’ to our new ‘Las Vegas Partytown’. It was on Saturday, February 11, 2012, that we bid adieu to our old office and were welcomed with quite a celebration in to the new office. For those of you who were there, you know what I’m talking about. For those who missed the moving day ‘funathon’, here are a few snippets of all the craziness we indulged in on that day.

Happy TrippersI reached the new office by 11:20 a.m. and was in for a surprise the moment I stepped out of the elevator on the fourth floor. I saw a swarm of fellow Trippers hovering over four plates of paints (of different colors). I was with my colleague, Ekesh, from the Content Team and while we were still figuring out the meaning of the paint plates, a Human Resource Tripper came to us and quickly explained the reason. Within a minute, we had paint on our hands and gladly put our hand prints on the MakeMyTrip whiteboard. Next, we wrote down our very best wishes for MakeMyTrip and hung it on the ‘Wish Tree’. Next, we moved inside the actual office lobby and were taken aback by the intricate interior décor of the reception area as well as the work stations. At the reception, we got our 1000 MMT dollars each to be later used for bidding during the scheduled auctioning! We sauntered in and were welcomed to our work stations by our manager (Devika). Like a couple of delighted teenagers (or “giggling teenagers” as Devika put it!), we moved to our new work stations and got to work. Ha! There, fooled you! By work, I meant, quickly going through the welcome kit and devouring some of the delicious soan papdi.

...And Auction!The HR team (kudos to them!) had arranged for various fun filled activities that included a treasure hunt, bidding war, and arm wrestling. Of all the activities, the bidding war in the auction hogged the limelight. And why not! After all, we had Amit Somani running the show in his usual jolly manner.

With only 3000 MMT dollars between us, there wasn’t much that fit our budget in the auctioning. But we were quite happy to see all the people go nuts over the variety of objects on the bidding table. There were t-shirts, watches, a hockey stick, books, tiny Buddhas, and much more that were put out. But the one thing that had all of the guys drooling and sparring mercilessly with each other during the auction was the 2012 Kingfisher calendar. Now, you would think ‘why would a simple calendar be the subject of such passions?’. For answers, Trippers should seek the advice of Amit who was obviously delighted with the auctioning of the calendar or better still, ask Deep  who humbly pointed out during the auctioning that he was the one who procured the calendar in the first place!

The calendar with the lovely ladies on it was eventually sold for a whopping 33,000 MMT dollars!

Food was next on the menu! We had hired the services of ‘Bittu Tikki Wala’ and after stuffing myself with all the items at least twice during that day, I could say with some precision that the food was awesome. The dishes included chaat, panipuri, chilla, chole kulche, and of course, kulfi.

All in all, it was one rollercoaster ride with no speed bumps but plenty of screaming! The Human Resource, Housekeeping, Technology and the Administrative teams deserve a special mention and standing ovation for the mammoth efforts on their part for not only the smooth transition but also for making it so much fun.

The new MakeMyTrip office address in Gurgaon is - MakeMyTrip.com, 243 SP Infocity, Udyog Vihar Phase 1, Gurgaon, Haryana - 122 016. Map & Directions.