I'm not leaving my Bike!!!

Somebody took my keys sometime back from Aravind. The set consists of two Bajaj keys with two key rings. If any of you have it, kindly return them to me. Sorry for the spam and TIA.

"Don't take your bike, Saji. What will you be using it for over there? Its dange........"

"Daddy, atleast there, I get to use it. I don't want it rusting away here. I'll take it on the same train anyway. There won't be any issues transporting it there."

It's always hard convincing daddy. This time around, I sounded more responsible I guess. I had just won the debate on taking my bike all the way to Jamshedpur.

July 11
I took the bike to the station, made sure it was set to leave on the same train as me, the Dhanbhad express to Jamshedpur. I paid the guy who "embalmed" it 20 bucks just to make sure, it reached Jampot in one piece.

July 13th 2.30pm
Hopped of the Dhanbad express, went straight to the cargo compartment...... Searched frantically for anything resembling my bike.

"Guess the bums delayed it. Hopefully they'll send it across the train scheduled to arrive the next day. "

I went on to the freight department and told them about my predicament. My Hindi was broken. I wouldn't have gone very far without CM helping me with all the Hindi he knew.

"Bhaiiyaa. Isko bahut takleef hai"

I was told to come again the next day to check up on the bike. I went the next day again with CM, hoping to see some sign of the bike. Nope...none.
Days slipped into weeks. Three weeks on, I spot this kind gentleman at the freight department who resolved to trace the bike down for me. I don't know what he did. but 3 days hence, i spotted the bike in the bike stand with all the embalming intact.
Did a quick check up and found the clutch hanging loose broken at the edges.

"Bhaiyya, Clutch ko kya hua?" , He glanced back. More of a grimace.

I could hear his expressions shout...."Come on sonny, I thought you wanted the bike !!! Do you think I rode it all the way here ??"

"Theek hai..Koi bath nahi...Leke ja raha hoon bhaiyya Thanks."....innocence splashed all across my nonchalant face.

As I took my bike, the supervisor narrated the story of how my bike went all the way to Dhanbad, found no takers there and returned to Chennai. It was in Chennai when yours truly traced it. He managed to get it across to Jampot in one piece. As I rolled my bike out, he sported a grin. (lets say signing off in style) I handed him a hundred rupee note. (It was the least I could give!) "Kaafi hai bhaiya" "Thank you Sir" I thanked CM for all the help, took it to the nearest bunk, filled some petrol and was away to college, quite relieved that the Indian Railways was atleast this good. (Dante was also part of the several rescue attempts. Bro...If you read this, Thank you)

I looked out my window towards the bike stands. Hmmm... my bike stood right there. Unfortunately no keys. It sported a second skin of dust, though.

Sometimes, friends can turn out to be worse than the railways. But must confess, it has not been a totally bad experience. I have ...gotten to use my bike. While the railways emptied the tank, friends always kept it full. I've never had to fill petrol (Probably thrice at XLRI... I m not joking!!!)

Right now, as I wait for some kind soul who took my bike to return the keys, (All I'm asking for is a bit of responsibility) I can't help feel some kind pf remorse in not listening to my dad. Perhaps, the bike would have been better off at home.

I guess, the railways is a little better, it did bother to return my bike.
p.s.
Friends, in the above rumination, for all purposes, is to be taken in context. I shall not be held responsible for any misinterpretation of the same.

The Full Circle

Life in a B-School is no walk in the park. I learnt this the only way it could be. The summer internship process is to start in a few days here. I will fondly remember them as some of the most traumatic days in my life.

"shortlist aa gaya dost ....CTS.....is mein bhi kaat gaya" shouted a voice in the corridor.

my heart began to beat a little faster. The eeriness of GH3 made it a little harder for me to silence the excitement.

'Please...god.. atleast now...'

Fear made me stay back. I opened up the 'summers' folder...quickly scanned the folder for the CTS application. Went through the answers .

'No... nothing wrong .. here'

shut down my comp. The entire afternoon was spent in contemplation. went down for the 4.15 pm lecture. I hated to look at the noticeboard.

The previous nine companies had ditched me. I was one of the last 10 to be shortlisted. I had company in my roomie. We kept each other good company in fact. We never had to console each other, because both were in the same boat, heading nowhere.

s...sanj.. saur.. shiv.....

The weight pulled me down. It was becoming difficult to put on a brave face. The past seemed to have suddenly lost meaning. I walked straight on, fighting to keep the tears back. I did not want to call up home.

The rumination did not help much either. It was sometime later that evening that I got my first shortlist. It wasn't a miracle. Everyone who applied were shortlisted. but comforting... yes....

Now, as I write this blog, with a PPO from EY (one of the 5 companies to have shortlisted me, including the one above) I can't help but laugh to myself....... Life and the box of chocolates.

Vikky ... yeah... I guess I did come the full circle.

Juniors......well...chuck it... Who am I to be advising anyway?......Enjoy the coming week.

I had to update it...

Rishi’s started a new blog. All the blogs mentioned in the right hand bottom corner of the screen have been updated, in the last one month. Why would people read mine? I guess it is the repeatability quotient. People out there love reading sad poems, trying to understand what they mean. And when they do figure it out, it is Sharjah all over again.

“We did it folks. I think I know what this bugger’s writing about. It’s about his girlfriend.”

(Applause)

(Coughing out Loud) Ahem… Sorry. Hate to disappoint you Pal. But let me leave you once again in the dark.

“It is always good to not know something about someone.” - Sheetal A. Mehra

Meanwhile, writing this blog with a renewed dedication to make it more frequent. Now for a more objective measure to a goal which so far has only been defined by my “efficiency” of meeting targets, which are not well defined.

I might have gone a little verbose there, but excuse moi. After all, I haven’t blogged for ages.

Lets see…… a new blog every third day…. Or every other day. Now let me get ambitious. Every day.

(Crowd yelling in the background)

(Panoramic view of the audience across the world, a la “Independence Day” breaking out into wild celebrations.)

(Silent Chuckle)

I wish.

Where to from here?

I  have lost my charm.
He’s  losing interest.
I’m not serving the purpose
I was meant to.

His lost diaries
To be seen by a few
A close conversation
Me and you.

Too many footsteps
Have come this way
Let me be the one to say
Please stay away.

If I could tell you again
I d tell u to be aware
Let him close to open me
His deepest secrets are meant for thee

But say not a word.
Just know the man
He might not be worth it
But maybe he deserves a chance.

Keep on the Firing Line.

I hope to have been a great friend.
When everyday, it becomes a struggle
I question if it was the way
It was meant to be.

I will never know the answer
I will rest in the quiet ruminations
Of questioning my being
Of understanding the man I am

I have ditched friends before
For more selfish reasons
And brushed aside the guilt
Leaving behind the shrapnel

Will leave the cleaning for another day
When I probe my self for the carelessness
And ask my self for forgiveness
For now, it is just time and me.

Give me Red!!

“Conjunctivitis!!!”
“No. Actually I don’t know what. It happened after the Bod...”

At this point, the person is no longer looking at me. I begin to feel like a patient who’s just had the pleasure of having his scalp opened up by Dr. Hannibal.

“Did you see the doctor?”
“No.”
“Then why don’t you!!!”

Others choose to simply flip over.

“Saji, Saji please look at us and give us all Conjunctivitis.”
(How much did you say is it going for in the markets?)

Funnier still are the ones who realise it is conjunctivitis in the middle of a conversation. The following is one I had with someone on the lift…

“Dude!! Kya? Just woke up?”
“Nahi yaar. Somethings gone wrong with the eye”
“IR Chootiye…”
“I don’t know… I don’t think its conjunctivitis…”

There is momentary silence. It’s like the other person had a sudden attack of claustrophobia. His whole body wants to cringe away and his mind preventing. The silence reigns, till we reach the 4th floor.

“Take care, dude!” Still looking away from me.

“Conjunctivitis” brings with it a bundle of goodies. I get to stay the whole day in my room doing things, which I’ve wanted to do for ages like reading a good book. The others don’t mind either. They would rather have you stay to yourself. It is one time when fraxing becomes legal. (For the uninitiated, to frax is to free-ride)

But it’s weird at the same time. I personally don’t enjoy people telling me I sleep a lot. I don’t. Conjunctivitis has given me the laziest-soul-on-GH4 look which I’ve begun to abhor. Right now, my only prayer is I don’t get to the point of wearing glasses like my super sexy Chief Minister.

Now don’t get me wrong here. No particular reason. Don’t think the fashion’s caught on in the North yet…

Party Time !!

27th May, 2006. D-day.  The result of a month of hard work was to show in an hour. The venue - the Royal Orchid Plaza. I was really anxious to see it unravel before my eyes. Even more because of the large sponsorship we had notched. Shatdal and me had spent a lot of time on the field for the alumni meet and was in a way hoping for it all to end soon. It was not doing any good to our projects but our experience had taught us a lot. With the grades we boasted of I guess the decision was easy.  Of the sponsors for the evening, Urban Yoga and MohanChoti were the biggest. We also had Canon sponsoring in kind with a Photo Shoot Studio. To make it even more memorable, everyone who took photographs that evening was given a XLRI titled frame to carry the photograph along.

Bodhi Tree graced the “festival” too and it was not long before we had the alumni swaying to the beats of GMD and XL Ki Kudiyan. Better still, I was at the drums. I still hold on to the drum sticks I used that night. Not everyone gets to drum live on stage for the Bodhi Tree!  Some of the alumni went all out for the “Crooner of the Night” award and did well in the process. Think A+ sponsored in kind with Kids games and the kids were treated to good intellectual entertainment.

To increase the nostalgia quotient, the alumni were subjected to farewell videos of the 2005 and 2006 batch. It was no surprise when the familiar chant began to make its presence felt. We got a doze of 1…2…3…4 to open the dance floors. “We want a Wet Night experience”. Unfortunately Bangalore has turned into the epitome of merciless curfews. All hotels and restaurants were “obliged” to close by 11.30 to ensure that they remained “operational” the next day. Hence the wet night experience did not carry on very long. But on the brighter side, the biggest party, the biggest sponsors, the best chapter and to top it all the most enthusiastic bunch of summer interns.

…Viva XL Bang! ... Viva XL!

Weekend with the King

Had an amazing last weekend. I went to work on Saturday morning, trying to knot up loose ends of my "first" project. Was a few hours into it when Shatty called me up for the trip to Mysore. The decision was quite easy to make. Quite an "amazing" experience...7 of us ...in a Qualis..Shatty, Ravi, Divya, Joyda, Manku, Misra and myself.

The Bangalore-Mysore highway was brilliant...... pride of the Roads Ministry, four-laned all the way, and quite scenic. To top it all, the highway also had a Coffee Day ...from out of nowhere...where we stopped both ways.

The first stop that evening was Colonel Baileys Fort where Tipu Sultan used to torture enemy spies and soldiers....atleast that was what we liked to imagine...there was a cannon lying in the middle out of nowhere.. talk about running out of ammunition. We then headed for the Brindavan Gardens....a brilliant show of Fountains. will always remember the night. went on to get dinner in a Hotel with a "slightly" overpriced menu.

Then began the interesting part....went hunting for acco at around 12 after a grand dinner. Ravi remembered it having the suffix "International"....;-))...Mr International, we couldnt find. There were hardly any rooms in any of the other hotels....considering there was some festival happening. Finally we did manage to find a place that "fit" the international look.......;-))...... the door of the bathroom creaked and was delicately hanging on to its hinges..... There was a huge piece of rock in it..too.......Joyda held the contention that it was the physical fitness equipment....a Bench Press or something.......and finally the shower did not have the shower-head. so a fine trickle..... ....eh..... happened.....Everyone was wary about using the commode......Mysore was always a city of wars and battles.....and the commode confirmed it. There was sufficient proof of long battles there and the remains of war were for all to see...

Anyways..next day we visited the Mysore Maharajah's palace.. Grandeur at its most elaborate...."Phew" a nightmare for the palace maid......daily exercise for people living in it.......Guess the King needed his exercise...

Anyways, soon after we left for somnathpur ....to check the brilliant architectural marvel of the 12th century.... the Narasimhan temple.....was simply brilliant.....and had a wonderful time ..with joyda and Divya explaining wonderful stories from Hindu mythology.....

Vijayshankar had called us in Mysore on Saturday inviting us for his birthday party on sunday....so we had to get back by 8 PM. We went home ( where I stay) planing to clean ourselves up but came to a hard realisation....with 7 others in the PG where I stay.....water wasn't necessarily a luxury. Took our dirty selves to "Mainland China"... it was quite a huge gathering of around 20 xlers....of three batches '05 '06 and '07......Ended it with brilliant dessert.......

"Bangalore................. is happening Dude...."

Reverie

Well, nobody’s turned up so far. Today might just be the day. One of those days when you sit back, do nothing, but listen to the wind blow by. Breathe in deep and smell the sweet lavender….

THUD……..

Damn the fool who hurled the brickbat of a book.

“Wake up U Moron!!”

Now coming back to the sweet lavender….

The Bachelor Life !

Summer of 2006 is teaching me a lot.

I m a paying guest. Bangiyappa gardens to be my residence for close to 10 weeks. No sight of a flower around let alone a garden. or was it that tuft of grass growing in the corner? Anyway a garden its called.

but for the lack of a garden, the lack of water, crowded rooms, the dog that prefers to "mark" (quite a pungent mark at that) the entrance as its territory, the place is damn neat.
The place is a quarter kilometre from where i work now. for company, I have in order of meeting Shifin, Aditya, Koushik, Anshul and Jinson. Aditya and Anshul, summer trainees themselves.

Anshuls trying his hand at cooking today. Must say hes quite the cook. Hes cooked a pasty Poha today. I used to despise this "thing" up there in Jamshedpur. But now, it tastes simply delicious. Guess I have higher priorities in my life now.

Only when you are away do u realise how close u were, how much u miss them. You now realise that u have one more chance, one more year to make it up, to be part of those moments, to carry with u those memories, to pick those bits and pieces....

Will be back.

Summer of 2006.....GET MOVING !!

..."Summer of 2006" .... I have it scribbled across the first page of my Summer Internship notebook. Started expecting the flow to be real smooth....right now bottlenecks all around. I guess its upto me to get around them...
An amazing project ...lot to look forward to ...a clear deliverable.....Everythings perfect....xcept
(Very Confidential !!! sorry.....)
Having to deal with the first Job. had a lot of expectations .......still do......but several closely held beliefs came crashing down.

"One cant be that Jobless !!"
Look at me Now.........guess blogging will become more regular now

"They definitely can't leave me on my own !!"
(Coughing) If its about company, you have the desktop cat..... its upto to you to make your mark. Start with cutting wood for the pencil.

"Quality work will be recognised .."
not disproved yet.........will see to it that it is not.....for now it still ain't a myth....

Its not that I have nothing to do....I have lots to do in the Future ......theres this bottle neck in the fray. For all the "Operations" I learnt....this one seems to be THE ONE. Only time will tell.....

I ll fight .....will squeeze out of..it............. especially..when I have no other option.

Right now there's blogger and stumble upon toolbar

....He He........Thank God for small mercies.

The concept of NOT going around...

I am single. Not committed. In the society I grew up in, it would be considered quite normal. (quite a dismal picture actually) but where I m now. Whattttttt ? Seiously ?? (must be Gay !).

"U ....going around?"
...negative
"Seriously........U must be jokin !!"
...negative
(or if the persons more on the "wittier" side
"Seriously.....come on...There must be some guy out there who likes u")

The next 2 seconds are a nightmare. picture myself on my knees, outstretched arms
"but.......people .....understand !!!!"
Yeah, Somehow people don’t seem to understand the simple fact that I haven’t met the girl of my dreams. or rather "available" (talk about lingo ...) girl of my dreams. It can happen u know.
The next stage is the funniest. They give u the look reserved for people walking the gang plank.

“Not planning to go for the arranged stuff, are you?”. Let me confess here, I ve always answered “no.”

The truth........ in an other 6 - 7 yrs. (Hopefully!) btw You are all invited for the answer.

Can I blame it on my schooling.... No.... happiest days of my life. Crushes have happened. But that’s all thats happened. Quite Sad. but status quo remains...

as long as I m okay with it.
...affirmative.

Maxi Fair...

Maxi fair was tiring. Wouldn’t complain though. It was a whole lot of fun too. I have never laughed so much in public....actually....never have had to try so hard to stop laughing either. The blank faces on the respondents, trying to grasp my version of Hindi, had simply opened the floodgates. “Hanuman” next door wasn’t doing much to help either. Reminded me of my initial bouts with the language… tuition classes with Thomas Master.

Ashwin, Sebin, and I if I remember right… were weak.... The subject….Hindi. Thomas Master used to come to our parish where he was known for two things: his military discipline and tuitions. I don’t know how, but somehow our mothers got to know of our desperate struggle with the language that they decided to call on Mr. Hindi himself.

Now Thomas Master was an army veteran...the ones who had worked on tanks and all that. He constantly harped on them glory days during our tuition classes. The army had left quite a mark on him in addition to the knowledge of the national language.

Our tuition classes were fun. I by some grace of God had this faint knowledge of the language. (Which now on hindsight, I’d have to deny). Hindi was not a very interesting subject. Our Hindi book consisted of several chapters, collection of short stories actually. Essays on each of these short stories were part of the curriculum. The general convention was to learn these essays verbatim..... Which we were quite bad at.

Not to worry....We walked our own paths. If the words didn’t come to us, we made them. We were kind of “good” at it. We could churn out Hindi words like the popcorn machine at annapoorna. A lexicographer of the language would feel scandalized at the rate at which we generated new words. Ashwin especially was king of the ring. A typical creation would be something like “Tenzin Norgay nay Mt.Everest climb kiya aur uthar ek green flag dala.” It required some skill to keep the attention of the reader on the subject at hand. Our masterpieces were often "appreciated" I thought....so much so that it soon rose to means of entertainment.

Now...Thomas Master himself sometimes provided us means of entertainment. He had an ailment….Ulcer or something similar. This often forced him to burp frequently, really long ones too. He would ask us to read the essay. We would be so “deeply” engrossed in the essay when it would break out. The silence torn apart by the deafening roar of his burp……. BUUUUURRRRRRRRPPPPPPP!!! (Just realised that a burp is one of the hardest things to spell!)

The response …immediate. All our faces would dive into the books, peering out to take a glance at the protagonist. The only thing visible would be our shoulders and they would be shaking violently. Let me inform you at this juncture, that laughing to oneself is not very easy. Talk about self-control!!!

The silence would continue to reign till Ashwin’s vocal chords decided to break free.....the silence ………before the storm....torn apart...kind of like the reaction for the action. The rest of us would faithfully follow with wild laughter. Thomas master would only raise his head, snicker and then continue doing whatever he was doing. From all his experience, he usually chose to ignore us. Probably it was because he understood us. “In autumn, the young leaves always laugh when the old ones wither away.” I remember him advise me, “Son, Don’t ever let your senses control you.”

Thomas master passed away in the year 2002, when I was in my 2nd yr of college. It was a cardiac arrest that took him to his heavenly abode. I owe him a lot for what he’s taught me. I know Hindi now….at least enough to survive, enough to last a day in Maxi fair. But more than all the Hindi…..I owe him a lot for what he’s taught me about life.

I am in hanuman chambers ….. The cast sitting right next to me. His tail is lying broken on the floor next to me. I am squatting in the corner, my sides splitting with laughter. I am desperately looking for someone to take over my stall. A simple advice… but yet…

Guess I’m only human...