Thank you Marcos!

When : Five and a half years back.
Where: A restaurant in Bangalore.
Scene: I am with 3 of my friends, sort of a farewell for me, after submitting my resignation at my previous company.
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Friend 1: So Rajaram, where are you joining?
Me: I am going to Cyprus.
Friend 2: Ah, that's a good company, Cypress Semiconductors, Its in Chennai , right?
Me: No no, Cyprus is not the name of a company, I am "going" to Cyprus
Friend 2: Sorry, I didn't know that Cyprus is a city in USA.
Me: Cyprus is the name of a country ...
Friend 1,2,3 : What ?? Where is this country ?
Me: Its in Europe..
Friend 1: In Europe, never seen it in any of the maps ..Is it a big country ?
Me: No, its a very small country , too small to mathematically scale it to normal maps..
Friend 2: ugh ..then why are u going there ..
....
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Such was the general knowledge about the existence of Cyprus few years back. One of the main reasons I chose to come here was the "exoticness" imprinted in my mind about an island in the Mediterranean sea. I remember, back in school, during the geography exams, invariably there used to be a "map" question asking us to point out the Mediterranean sea and i used to search the globe trying my luck with all landlocked water bodies !!

But, this was all pre-marcos era. Marcos Baghdatis, from the city of Limassol in Cyprus (the city where i stay) has put Cyprus and all its tray sure on the world map. He was the runner-up in the recently concluded Australian Open, an impressive feat for a person ranked 54 and from a country of around 700,000 people. I am sure any shopping mall during Diwali time in India would have more people in it!

I am thankful to Marcos, as he has saved me the trouble of explaining the history, geography, economics and what not to all the middle-aged relatives back in India.
All these relatives, after following the Australian open, would have researched enough to teach me a few things about Cyprus. Now, its listening time rather than talking time ...