Why this Kolaveri Di...

22nd November 2011 -


8.30 am
I check the updates on my Blackberry Messenger (My every morning bathroom routine - Multitasking) and saw a few of my friends put their status as something like 'Why this Kolaveri Di..' and 'Kolaveri Soup Song'. The amusing part was that these were guys who are not Tamil. I understood the meaning but didn't understand the reasoning. I didn't give it much heed and finished my job I was sitting for successfully ;-)


5.15 pm
I login to Facebook after a series of meetings and calls at work only to hit on more of updates like the ones I saw on my BBM. I was curious now and pinged a friend of mine to ask him, what this Kolaveri was all about. He smiled and asked me to check his facebook page for a link. You know 'Har ek friend Zaroori hota hai'. Well, one needs unhelpful friends like him too. I had just managed to enter his name that my outlook popped a  reminder saying 'Call in 15 mins'. I snoozed it and closed Facebook to work on the report I had to present.


10.30 PM
Big Boss Time. Sunny Leone :-D


23rd November 2011


8.20 am 
You got it - My everyday fresh routine. This time 7 to 8 of my friends had the same update with thumbs up and ROFL smileys all incorporated with the words.
Now I was in Kolaveri - Murderous Rage - In case any of you didn't know what this meant. I had to find out what was this. I pinged a few friends of mine and those D-heads didn't respond. The more you need a friend the delayed response you get.


10 am 
The first thing I do at work post clearing my emails is check on youtube and I see Dhanush (Whom I call the Salman Khan of Tamil Cinema - Really you should see him without a shirt), staring at the mike and says 'I am sing song'. I was like....WTF??
As I listened to the song I had a smile on my face. It was Tanglish (Tamil + English) at the best to be combined with a lost love scenario. What more can you ask.
As the song got over, I looked around to see 4 more of my colleagues surrounding me with an amused look and a big smile. I think its this very characteristic of this regional Tamil song of managing to bring a smile on peoples face and arouse curiosity, that is propelling it to greater heights.


The next 15 Minutesu Minutesu was funu funu...at the Canteenu, Canteenu :-D


5.15 pm
I had an hour before another call and my hands without my knowledge typed 'Why this Kolaveri Di' on youtube. And before I could stop myself, I was engrossed in the Songu Songu.
Its now I saw the number of hits for this song and it was 16 lacs and that too in 4 days of its launch. This song was spreading the length and breadth and depth of internet like fire.


24th November 2011


9.30 am
I entered my office and was checking the paper headlines when I heard this Malyalee security guard speaking over the phone. Someone had called him thinking he was Tamil (Well the Northies still believe anyone from below Maharashtra is a Madrasi) and was asking him the meaning of 'Kolaveri'. He was trying to get the word pronounced correctly 'Kola...Kya?' 'Kola...puttu hota hai' (Kola Puttu - is a Malyalee snack). I knew he wont be able to do justice, smiled and went to my desk.
But then that's how quick this song was spreading. Everybody was curious and was listening to this song.


10.20 am 
I logged into twitter and saw that Kolaveri was the 3rd most trending word on twitter only after 'Cyrus Mistry' - the new Tata Boss. Wow!! now that seriously is an achievement.
Big B and Anand Mahindra tweeting about the song and expressing they liked it too.


The You tube hits were at 33 lakhs and the song was playing all over the Radio and Mtv and was 4th in the international chart I heard.


It just goes to say, how a simple concept with music and words appealing to a larger crowd can do the job for you. No need of lavish internet marketing strategies - SRK are you listening.


But believe me at the end of the day, this whole hype, phenomenon, record break had to be connected to Rajnikanth** - Mind it!!


**
For those who don't know -
Dhanush is Rajnikanth's son in law.
The director of this movie is Rajnikanth's Daughter.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR12Z8f1Dh8&feature=aso

Bus anyone??

I would like you all to know about an experience I had recently. It is about drinking and driving - the exact two words that attract so much attention these days.

As you well know, some of us have been known to have had encounters with the authorities on our way home (or someone else's home) from the odd social session over the years. I am sure you will agree that its certainly no fun.

 A couple of weeks ago, I was out for a few drinks with a bunch of good pals and as time went by had a few too many beers and some smooth single malt. Like everybody else around me and like always I thought I am under control.

 Knowing full well within myself that I may have been slightly over the limit, I did something I've never done before ever - I took a bus home.

I arrived home safely and without incident, which was a real surprise, as I have never driven a bus before and am not sure where I got this one. :-D

Mind - here and there...where?

It was a lazy Saturday. Perfect for people like me who believe in the fact that God created humans to be lazy and enjoy his creation, but some nosy ancestor of ours screwed it up at some point.

I had to go back to Bombay - My every weekend routine since the last one and a half years. I wanted to complete reading 'The Lost Symbol' and so decided to take the 'Shivneri' Volvo from Pune station and thought of spending the 3.5 hours of the journey comfortably reclined on the seat reading and sleeping and sleeping and reading. These two verbs mix together so beautifully.

I boarded the bus by 11 am. With the book in my hand I settled down by the window seat. I had only read a few pages that the driver turned the radio ON - Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM Pune, came alive. I didn't mind because the first song that played was 'Tu Jahan Jahan chalega, mera saaya saath hoga'. Its one of my favorites and is soothing to listen to this song. It was a program to play old popular Hindi songs and I loved the fact. It complemented perfectly with my plan of travel. I got engrossed in the gripping suspense of Robert Langdon trying to save an ancient secret which is balancing this world as per Dan Brown the great, while humming the songs.  

"Tujse Naraz nahin hoon Zindagi...hairaan hoon main..." I was admiring this song, with the book placed on my chest so that I don’t miss the page I was on, when I noticed a flickering voice from the radio. It was like another channel trying to intrude into the old songs saying 'Buzz off oldie'. I don't know if this noise was there from the start or it just creeped in, but it was now that I paid ears to it and my listening attention got diverted. At this juncture I was also getting constant pings from a group chat, which I wanted to ignore but the vibration on my thigh always managed to grab attention. When I used to hold it in my hand, the pings would stop only to begin as soon as I slipped my phone into my pocket - annoying. 

So here I was trying to figure out what is the faint, sad sounding, irritating noise creeping in over the FM while wanting to enjoy the Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar duet along with completing the book that has been in my bag for over a month now and trying mightily to ignore the pings playing kathak on my thighs. 

So my mind is split at 4 different places and I can do nothing about it. All I could do was keep swinging from one to another. Read a paragraph, listen to song and then give attention to the noise and then hurriedly grab my blackberry. 

It’s here that I realized how similar it is to our everyday life. We have our priorities set, but there comes disturbances which make us sway and we get muddled up in juggling everything and ultimately push across our main objective. Our mind is a monkey, which wants to be at all possible places at the same time. 

Control it - Control yourself.

So what did I do to overcome all of this? I wrote this blog :-)

Harrowed in Hyderabad...

Recruiting was my job and out-station hiring one of the channels. This highly coveted reason took me on a visit to Hyderabad in October 2009. We had a few vendors there and they were supposed to line up some excellent,  hardworking, smart candidates eager to work for 3G in apna Mumbai. To begin with I couldn't digest how will I be able to recruit the 'aheavii Aekcent' wala Hyderabadi's for the customer service openings we had. But then it was my job to search for the diamonds among the coal ;-). My train ticket was booked and was under RAC. It got confirmed only on the day of my departure. I louee my travel department. At this point I didn't focus much on the fact that my return ticket is on waiting list. You may ask how is that a big deal...well it turned out to be one. It lead me into a messy affair..much on that a little later.

I was in Hyderabad for a couple of days. I was put up at Lakdi ka Pul (as one word). The vendors whom I had to meet were in Secunderabad, which wasn't very far from where I was staying. The first day - Surprisingly, I was at this vendors office on time and to my surprise there were no candidates. I mean, I felt as if I was called there to drink tea and inspect the old computers and stacks of files in this 19 and a 1/2th century building. I was there for 5 hours and they couldn't line a single candidate. I was mind strained (you know the word that I wanted to use - but avoiding from a larger viewer/reader perspective ;-)). But you know what saved the day - Paradise. Not Heaven. The famous Paradise Hyderabadi Biryani House. It was bang opposite to where this vendor's office was. I had a scrumptious, spoon licking chicken Biryani and dozed off for sometime. That was how my first day in Hyderabad was - Utter waste.

The second day was better. I went for a ride by the necklace road. Its more like apna Marine Lines. Necklace road is by the Hussain Sagar Lake. I had to be at a vendor at Banjara Hills that day. Banjara hills is akin to apna Pali Hill. A posh Area of Hyderabad with good crowd, clubs and a nice locality in totality. Here thankfully I was presented with some work. You know without it I would have been bogged down with the guilt of spending company money for nothing. I hope you feel me here. I had some 7 candidates to interview. 6 of them could only introduce themselves and I ticked the 'Failed' button of my mind. So horrible in communication. The 7th guy was better but huge ego and a mis-fit. He was an engineer, did MBA from UK and now wants to work in a BPO. Another one rejected - dis time on stability grounds.

So the summary is something like this -
2 days stay - 24 hours of train travel - 2 vendors - 7 candidates met - zero selects - But a scrumptious Biryani.
How impressive!!

My train from Hyderabad was on the same day at 7.30 in the evening. I had packed my bags in the morning itself. Another colleague of mine who was with me and whose native was Hyderabad said it would only take 20 mins to reach the station from LakdiKaPul and I can leave by 6.45 pm. My bad, I believed him and later realized that this is how luck plays with you. We left by the rick at 6.45 and got stuck at a circle on the NH 9. There was some kind of a morcha and mera locha. We waited for 10 mins but no sign of the rickshaw moving. I hurriedly got down and started running towards the Nampally station (Hyderabad Deccan railway station). I had 15 minutes and I had to get my train. I was running with my bags and worse still I was wearing my chappals. People I passed were searching for a camera of 'The Amazing Race' unit. It was a run to remember. I stopped twice to ask for the direction. Every sound of the train smoking black led my heart to skip a beat. I ran ran and I reached just as the train was pulling off from the platform. Luckily the train was on the platform adjoining the station entry and I didn't had to cross any bridge. You remember Kareena Kapoor's introduction in 'Jab we Met'. Similar was my entry but there was no one to help me get in. Only girls have all the fun here.
I managed to get into a second class compartment from where I moved to the AC section. Now if you recollect my ticket was in the RAC mode and I hadn't yet checked if it is confirmed. I earnestly thanked the Indian Railway for having an internet based ticket status checking facility and thanked Nokia for developing a GPRS enabled phone as I checked the status. And surprise surprise - it was still RAC.

I went blank for a moment. The train had started, I don't have a confirmed ticket, I have a night to spend - what to do? I knew that there are no tickets available in the bus as my colleague had enquired in the evening. He was to stay back in Hyderabad for a day and leave the next day. I gained composure with the thought that with a little money to the TT, I could manage something - No no Anna Hazare wasnt popular then. I parked my luggage and checked out the 3 AC compartments. I couldn't see even one empty seat. The thermometer of my hope fell down a bit but not completely. I couldn't spot the TT so spoke to these blue shirted guys who provide blankets and towels in the compartment. They asked me wait till the TT comes and he would surely help. The place where these guys keep the blankets is by the toilet and it has kind of a wooden bench which can be unfolded. I was given a  place there to sit by this generous blue shirt guy. The TT came by 10.15 pm and on spotting me had a angry look. 'What want you here' is what I heard and spent a few seconds decoding it. Well but I knew he didn't have much time for me so I told him my story and he was like, get down and get into the unreserved section. I tried to reason out that I have a 2nd AC ticket so something can be done and I can pay extra. But he was like there are no seats available and that he cant help and I should move off immediately. The blue shirt guy asked me to speak to the 2nd class TT and ask him to help. I thanked him and took a voyage in the train to sport TT number 2.

I have traveled a lot in the Indian Railways and I know the nuisance of someone who has an unreserved ticket sitting on my reserved seat and saying 'Pleaje Adjusht no'. I could have done that (not with that accent), but it's awkward and something I can never do. I managed to locate the second TT and spoke to him. This guy was more calm and helpful. But he also didn't have any seat to give me. By now it was11 pm or something and the train was reaching Wadi Junction and I was frustrated. I had to get a normal ticket because right now though I had an RAC ticket, I was a ticketless traveler. I had no option but to get off the train. I crossed the bridge, located the ticket counter. To which place should I take the ticket? I cant sit by the bathroom the whole night to reach Bombay for sure. I found out that the next big station is Gulbarga. I have passed by Gulbarga when travelling to my native in Tamil Nadu a countless times and it did look like a decent place. So, I thought and Prayed that may be I will get a bus from there. I took the tickets and boarded the same train which was still waiting at the station - May be it felt pity on me. I stood by the door for another 2 hours and at 1 a.m. reached Gulbarga. I walked out of the station expecting a bus stop but could only locate a couple of tea stalls and a pitch dark road starting from there and ending I don't know where. I asked a local about getting a bus to Mumbai and he said, its like 10 kms away and its dangerous to travel alone at night. That was the downfall of another of my hope.

I checked for a confirmed ticket to Bombay that night or early next day but there was no availability. The next plan I could come up was to take a train to Solapur and a bus from there to Bombay. The next train to Solapur - a passenger, was at 4.30 in the morning. I spent the 3 hours of the night in the station platform. I was damn sleepy, but didn't want to lose my belongings, which above all had the files of the important interviews I had taken of the Hyderabadi's. I sat wondering how exciting this trip has turned out to be. I could feel what people without a confirmed ticket would feel. I could feel what a person lost would feel - though not entirely as I knew my geography :-).
The train to Solapur was on time. It was relatively empty and I boarded the train, selected a berth and went of to sleep. I reached Solapur at 7 am or so. Places look better in the day light, I concluded. My enquiry started - this time in my fluent Marathi. The Bus Depot was some distance away. no luxury buses were going to Mumbai in the morning. Luxury eludes you, the more you chase her. What a learning, from what a situation. Well, I then took a rick and reached the ST stand. Kolhapur is like Pune how it was 10 years back. Very laid back and slow. I booked my ticket in the Asiad ST Bus - The only luxury I could lay my hands on that day. The luxury turned a little more luxurious as I got a window seat. I had a vada pav and chai and started my journey among the 'aamchi maathi, aamchi maansa'. Relating it to a movie - it was like Shahrukh Khan in Swades, minus the background score by A.R Rehman :-)
Till 10 am, the journey was pleasant but as the Sun God decided to show his presence and might, the journey became a nightmare. The rays were penetrating the windows and my skin and mixing with my blood and it was boiling now. The rattling sound of the aged ST bus body when running over the impeccably maintained country roads was deafening. There were times when my seat literally flew up in the air and miraculously got back to the original position - defying all laws of physics, I must mention. I bought a Marathi Newspaper. I hid myself from the sun using the news of the previous day - Thank God.
The lunch of Maharashtrian Thali at some village - the name of which I didn't bother to register, was really good. Atleast food didn't let me down.

I expected to reach Bombay by atleast 4 or 5 pm maximum. But in this trip no expectation of mine saw the lights of accomplishment. I reached Bombay at 8.30 pm and the Next day was a serious feedback session with my admin team and a series of escalations in HOPE (the same elusive character again) that others don't go the way I did.

Cubicle is my world

Every night I sleep with positive thoughts bursting in my head (u know those bubble kinds) that the next day will be the most amazing day at work. I will just surpass all my sleepy head colleagues and be the next rockstar employee of the month, quarter, year and even the decade. You know full-on Ranbir Kapoor style - "Sada Haq Itte Itte Rak" types. Yea yea with the middle finger gestures made to perfection with an attitude to die for. Once done, I get sleep like a baby. Sleep with a constant smile and drool :-)

But then as it is 7.30 am for some reason I start my day with a fight - a fierce one - a violent one. Its when my alarm clock sings. We fight but the clock wins. Not before I am late by atleast 15 - 20 minutes. Rush! Rush! follows and traffic! traffic! happens and late! late! I get. And I end up after my so called sleepy head colleagues are updating their Facebook status saying "yawn! yawn! I am in the office - WTF" and the boss is playing angry bird level 15 with so much passion which hardly transcends into our target meetings. But for them, ironically, it hits hard that I am late which in a moment transforms into giggles and khus-phus (Russel Peters discovery for the sound of bitching).

But there is someone who awaits me with open arms. My Cubicle. The next best thing after my beanbag at home. My cubicle, where I spend 8 hours of my day doing some very valuable contributions to the betterment of the company and the society at large.

Well, its from here that I spread the message of peace and well being. C'mon not like a speech and stuff...My updates on Facebook and my blackberry, silly. Which is read and liked and commented with some irrelevant replies for which I can only return a smile; a fake one of course.

I spread a smile. I make this world a happy place. I add links from Youtube to Facebook and also share other interesting articles. I am so sure everyone see's them and I make their day.

I learn to farm, save the world from Mafia's and also raise my pets. Yes all while I am in my cubicle. What else you need, I ask.

Once I am sure I have done enough for the sake of the society, I check my emails..this time work emails. I ignore most, reply some and delete the rest. Next comes opening some excel sheets..No No, not to work, but you know ALT+TAB should open something meaningful if someone trespasses into my area right. And I am so quick here, so far no one knows that I work for the society from within the office. Top Secret. Secreter than Dan Brown's hidden secrets of the Ancient world.

My desk has all the important items that I need for my work. A box of Almonds, motivational yet funny quotes, pictures, tooth pics and so on. You know all that is needed to ensure you work peacefully.

My desk phone voicemail feature serves me very well. I have realized that if you let it ring away, people feel you are so busy and that makes a mighty impression. So what if at times you have to listen to some abuses. Its all part and parcel of the work environment.



I even write my blogs from MY CUBICLE ;-)

Foxey - you teach me better than my school...

Foxeyyy!! I Screamed...

But he just wagged his tail, barked (not as energetic as it used to be) and kept running behind the cat. And then the sight of the day. He put his sudden brakes. It didn't strike me until sometime later that the cat had stopped and was growling back at my dog. And Foxey like a good child, like a fox saying 'grapes are sour' turns back and leaves as if nothing had happened and he was just jogging to keep himself fit.

He is 12 and still looks like a year old Pomeranian. Jet white (adapted from jet black), extremely furry and handsome. In human years he is 80. Now that's a long time isn't it? In the last one year he has gone through a lot of physical changes. He cant hear...so the growling sound of the cat didn't win, it was the sudden stop :-). His vision isn't as it used to be. His appetite has gone down..but chicken is still his favorite. Above all, he has a nervous problem due to which his hind legs tremble at times and his eyes flicker. Like a stage of paralysis.

BUT he is a true fighter. He walks, behaves, loves like everything is as it was all these years. He falls at times due to the trembling but gets up and walks like nothing has happened. This hasn't deterred his quest to climb the sofa or the chairs. He does it effortlessly. Though these days he cant sense my car or bike entering the building, he gets up and jumps on me as soon as I enter the house. He still plays with my socks. He jumps on it as if he is hunting and throws it in the air and tries to catch it again. He still runs away from Mom and hides when its 11 am. Because that is the time he knows we make him bath most times.

Looking at him, I feel it would be a blessing to be like him.

He Say's -

• Always look ahead, no matter what. 
• If you fall, rise like nothing ever happened. 
• Love inspite of your shortcomings. 
• Go through your day even if you sense things aren't as it was.
• Live life to your fullest.

This picture is taken when he was negotiating on a very grave problem. Whether to jump or not to jump :-). Guess what - He did jump. Fighter Foxey

Big Decision!

26th July 2005 - My Wet Birthday

In Bombay they say 'Jab bhagwaan deta hai, chapar faad ke deta hai'. That day god did give chapar faad ke and the medium he chose was in the form of Rain. It rained like there is no tomorrow.

My day started early in the morning. I was working in a BPO in Malad and I had to be present to answer customer queries by 4 am that day. There was no sign of rain in the morning. I was to meet up with friends for lunch in the afternoon and the plan to party were to be made there after. The rain started by about 11 a.m. It started as a drizzle which made me feel its going to be a fun day with booze and a bit of rain dance.

We entered the restaurant for lunch at 1 and till 2.30 pm, we were enclosed and couldnt get an update on what was happening outside. As soon as we stepped out, I saw that the drizzle had grown into a crazy prankster. I could see the roads being filled with water. I praised the municipality for an amazing job they had done. Okay! the adventure streak in us still didnt allow us to press the panic button. We thought it to be a great opportunity to get wet and walk all the way till we could no more take the rain. Once we reach that point we decided to take a cab and go home.

We started to walk. Crazy things followed like Dancing, splashing water, shouting at the taxi's all the way. Slowly we saw like a lot more people on the road and fewer vehicles actually plying. It dawned on us that the roads are getting inaccessible. Cars are breaking down. By this time we had reached Goregaon S.V Road. What we saw ahead of us was like unbelievable. The road across the railway bridge was like a river. People had tied a rope across to assist people to cross the road. Slowly we began to get serious. We crossed the road, thanks to the help of local people but only after we saw a few people losing the balance and getting swept by the force of water. One of them was a poor aunty. She must have been pushed by the water a good 50 metres, before some folks could help her.

Gauging the seriousness we started looking for a cab. All the cab's were either stranded because of engine failure or were already full. Luckily we got a cab who could only move about a kilo metre before his engine also gave up. We were at the western express highway now and shivering frantically. The whole of the expressway was full of traffic. No vehicle moving even an inch. I could see people starting to walk, deserting their cars. I checked my phone and there was no network. No network in any of our phones. Damn! Vodafone and Airtel would have drowned we thought.

After a bit of blame game and strategizing, we decided to go back to work and spend the time in the office premises, till we could get a vehicle to go back home. The way back was no less than an adventure. We were wading through knee deep water. We were exhausted. We could see the whole of bombay on the railway tracks. People were jumping off the immovable trains and walking the tracks. It was dangerous. But desperation to reach home was the cause. We heard news of the rain not going to stop for another 48 hours and that there is a Tsunami that is impending. Tsunami, as found out later was a rumour. Our fun side was now no where to be seen. All of us had a tired and grumpy look. It was a difficult 3 hours of walk back to the office.
We reached the lane opposite to Toyota showroom near mind space. The water was till our chest. My friend shorter than me had it till her neck. Another important decision; do we proceed or get back. What if there is an open manhole in between. That would have been the end of our experience. But then again, we had limited choice. We cant afford to be stranded in chest deep water for long. I gave my friend the support and we started walking on our toes. It took us 15 mins to cross a 200 metre lane.

Ofice was a crowded market. Everyone whose shifts got over after 3 didn't dare to leave the premises. We were drenched completely. But then, we werent the only ones. Many of the folks had returned back like us. We had no dry clothes nor could the AC in the office be turned off. I spent an hour in the bathroom trying to get as much of hot air as possible from the hand dryer. By the time I was done, I saw a queue to follow me. Crazy Day. The canteen had to prepare extra food for the whole company who would be spending the night in the office. In the office, people were getting worried. No one was able to get in touch with their loved ones and that was making them think pessimistically. The employees who stayed close to the office got as much as dry clothes as possible but we werent that lucky to lay our hads on any.

Contingency plans were been formulated at work. People who have stayed back will need to work the next day, till the management takes stock of the situation and arrangement could be made to put a message in the IVR informing our customers about the situation in Bombay. I slept on the ground, shivering the whole night in my wet clothes. It was a terrible night. Many of the employees hijacked two chairs to make themselves comfortable and sleep.

In the morning we took calls, though we struggled. more than 200 calls were waiting to be answered at any given time that day, because of shortage of staff. By 10 am in the morning, the rains has reduced down a bit. Many of the employees left the office. I was one of them. I and my friend took a rickshaw. The driver was a brave guy, greedy too. He wanted 100 rs above the metre. We agreed. We could reach till Juhu before the rickshaw gave up. I had to reach Sion and My friend Wadala. We walked through Juhu which was impacted terribly. A few pople whom we passed said their were corpse near the Juhu circle. We didnt cross that. As we reached near the link road, we got a tempo who dropped us till the Andheri station. We thought we would get a train. But many amazing mumbaikars had spent the night at the station and it was crowded to fill every inch of the platform. We were extremely tired by now. Our adventure didnt to be ending.
We waited on the road for sometime and to our relief the BEST had continued to operate the bus service. We got a bus which we took till the western express highway. From there we walked till santacruz airport, before we couldnt carry on anymore. Lot of vehicles were stranded. People who stayed nearby were offering tea and biscuits to the stranded people. That is the Bombay Spirit.
We took a bus which was relatively empty. We sat and thought, under the worst scenario we will spend the rest of the day in the bus. The bus moved at a snails pace and took 4 hours to reach Kala nagar in Bandra. For the first time I saw people on boats in Mumbai. It was the fire brigade who had the inflatable boats to help people. I thought the bus wont be able to cross the area as the water was almost to the height of the bus window. Our driver didnt give up and he got us through. What a relief.
It was 6 pm. We got down at T-Junction and took a cab. I went to drop my friend at Wadala. No traffic all the way. But the driver wasnt ready to come back to Sion.
Now I was alone, walking to Sion, cursing the rains.

I reached home by 8 pm. My ordeal of 30 hours got to an end. My parents were relieved to see me as they had no clue of my presence. My bike which my brother had taken was under water near Bandra. My Bro left it and walked home. He was lucky that he was close to home and could easily walk it out.

My 24th Birthday taught me quiet a few lessons.
- I learnt that physical fitness is of prime importance.
- Health is very important. If we were not fit at that time we wouldnt have been able to take so much of physical and mental stress.
- Fun is good as long as it doesnt turn foolish
- This world, no matter how bad it is, there are people who will help you around. They will help you with a vada pav at least.
- Businesses will always think of their survival before they do of yours. Work - Life Balance is absolutely important.
- Always keep warm dry clothes in your work locker :-)
- Always befriend people who stay a stones throw away from your office or college or your club.
- Nature has been and will be superior to Mankind.

Fight Corruption - I Moved beyond FB - I made my point

Today is the third day of the protest against corruption led by Anna Hazare. I have been active on the internet since a few days adding status messages, pictures, videos and notes all in support of the movement. But that's so convenient, isn't it? Sit on your couch with your laptop or mobile with music playing in your ears and type a few words and enjoy the comments and likes.

The real support is out there on the streets. The slogan shouting, the tricolour flying around you, the banners...just took me to another era altogether. An era which I thought was lost among the black and white pictures. The era which I thought existed only in the Indian history books. I was so wrong.

I got a text in the morning about a rally in Pune from Balgandharva Chowk till Sarasbaug. I called up a few people and got the exact route of the rally. It was Balgandharva Chowk - J.M. Road - Deccan - Lakdi Bridge - Alka Talkies Chowk - Tilak Road - Abhinav Chowk - Sarasbaug. I then coordinated with my roommates and got Venu and Kaushal into the act as well. We decided to join the rally at Deccan at about 6.15

I was excited. This would be the third instance of participating a rally for a cause. The previous two were when I was in my engineering college. The very first one was in 2000. The students in Mumbai were protesting against the 4 KT a year rule for advancement to the next year. We reached Azad Maidan with our chest inflated with the feeling that we have finally grown up. As we reached, a police constable tapped me from behind and said 'Chala Chala'. I thought may be he doesnt want us there. Then I positioned my eye towards his pointed finger. And then it struck me. We were being boarded onto a police van. I looked at Stanley and Bala, who in turn looked at Gaurav and we said 'Chal Bhai, lifetime experience hai'. We were taken to the Colaba police station and they left us by 3. While we were inside they scared us by saying that we will spend the day in the station and that they are going take pictures son and publish in the paper. By 3 we were so worked up that as soon as we came out of the police station, we took the first cab and ran away from that sight.

So my point is, though I was juvenile then and got scared a bit at the end, I know what to expect now and be prepared for the inevitable. I took my car and we reached Deccan by 7. It was my only second trip into the heart of Pune and Venu my guide was also clueless. We kind of got lost but the people were very helpful in helping us locate the exact rally wala lane.

We got our voices mingled to the screams of 'Vande Mataram' and 'Hamari bas ek hi maang - Jan lokpal Jan lokpal'. The moment I joined, I felt like - this is what I was missing on FB. The real shouts, the real banners and the real peaceful protest.
As we saw people just looking and not participating we screamed  ' Bhagtay kay? Shamil vha' which means 'what you looking at? come and join us'. As in when police used to appear the slogan used to change to 'Yeh Andar ki baat hai...police hamaare saath hai'. This more often than not left a smile on the tired and grumpy faces of the policemen.
The amazing part was to see families, starting from the grandmother till the grandchild who may not even speaking, coming together to join the rally. I also saw a lot of college students in the crowd. Many of the guys had lanyards on them. Straight from office you see. Different sights.

Its been 3 days and there is no incident of any stone pelting, fights, messing up with cops etc yet. And that's what is the beauty of this protest. You come out, show your support, make your presence felt and go home safe. This rally too was as peaceful as you can get.

We finished the rally at Sarasbaug by lighting the candle as a sign of our support to the Bill.

My relationship with sleep

She visited me at the wrong time ;-)

I love to sleep!!!

Wait! hold your question, mate. I know whats on your mind.

With whom?

Let me clear that. I love to sleep alone and she (Nitradevi) loves me in return. Yes, we have a reciprocal relationship. We give as much time to each other as possible. We give equal amount of time to each other, no less no more. The equation is always set to equilibrium.

I will tell you how it is reciprocal in nature. There are times when I have so much to do, in terms of work, interact with family n friends, surf the net, write a blog, kick myself etc that I just call Nitradevi by my side and she responds in a flash.

Once she is there -

- She ensures my ears go deaf. I mean deafer than the deafest.

- She makes sure that the door bell stops to function. Almost like miraculously.

- She makes me make my presence felt in the house. Really! Its through my nose making me sound like a roar followed by a meow.

- She also makes my trip. Yes I visit places and then forget. Almost as soon as she is gone.

- She also teaches me bonding. Yes I wake up with my legs and hands on people lying next to me.

I embrace her as soon as I feel her around. I don't let her go, never. Well, almost never. Exceptions do exist. In the night when the nature calls me, I put my body on the control mode and don't leave her side. There are times when she feels its time to get up for office but I keep convincing her to let the feeling go.

Thats my dedication!

Its worked wonderfully well for us, all these years. Its a match to die for.

Avoidance...hmmmm...yea, i avoid her when I am in the office and yes sometimes when I am working. And the best part is, she never feels sad about it.

Do I feel something now? Oh yea, there she comes. See you guys, time to sleep :-)

Wine and Beer shop - But Rum shows its face

Please don't try this at home

Its a cold and windy evening. The rain gods seem to have gone lazy and their presence is felt only by a light drizzle. The sky has covered itself with the saffron cloth with intermittent patches of dark gray. Amazing! The perfect weather and setup to call our dear friend 'Old Monk' for company. 

These were only thoughts running in my head while I was staring at the sky from the balcony, when I heard my friend approaching me. 'Dost, gala suka suka lag raha hai na, Rum peete hai?' He asked me the question for which I just had one Answer. YES!. He is my true friend. He can read my mind. Girl friend...aahhh...lets not get there.

We jumped on his CBZ and left towards the most sought after place in any city/town/suburb or a village after a medical shop and a temple, the Wine Shop. Or may be the medical shop follows the booze shop in popularity. Well, an interesting topic to do a survey on. My mind just wanders leaving the point of the present aside. aargh! when do I grow up? I know...hhmmm.......never?

Our usual shop 'Kalyani wines' near the building was closed for some reason. May be Kalyani felt like making Biryani that day. You never know. But my friend and me debated on the fact that how can the owner be so insensitive towards the need of the fellow humans. Sad. But we didn't lose hope. 

We went to the next shop just about a kilometer away. That shop left us disappointed again. His words infact broke our heart. 'Old Monk' is out of stock. Nahiiii, hamare naseeb main old Monk nahi hai aaj, my friend sobbed. I had to lift myself up from the trauma and console him and motivate him to keep looking. Being a natual leader, my words instilled the drive back in my friend. We left with more vigor and purpose than before. 

We narrowed on another shop and got down. The hoarding said ' Famous - beer and wine shop'. Well yea, with beer and wine around you gotta be famous. Fame and wine are directly proportional. More the wine, more famous you are (another of my famous theories). 

While waiting in the line, we kind of understood he will not have Rum as he can only serve beer and wine at that place. But we didnt want to give up on the shop keeper so easily. We asked in a mild tone 'Rum hai, Rum'. He said in a harsh tone 'NAHI'. Our mission just got tougher. We used tactic # 2. Uncle last week hi humne liya tha, ek khamba. Thats it. It worked. The guy went to the general store nearby and got a litre of Old Monk. 

What a sight. Rum Face so bright. 

So that's how guys and gals, Indians do the right thing, only in the best interest of the customer.

Ok people, so what do we learn from all of this?

1) Never give up - you are always close to the Rum, I mean the goal

2) Always have a plan B - usually its the other plan that gets you the spirit.

3) Observe keenly - this helps you formulate your actions better.

4) In India, everything is possible

And finally Have a knack for writing - else you will end up writing crap like me :-)

Room mate - torture me weirdo

Okay, here he was. Straight from Amdavad via a halt at Surat. A bag full of Undhiyu and Ghantiya and some more tongue twisters. His look said it all. A cunning, boring, self centred gaanda. Thank you landlord for this exemplary favor on me.

  "Hi" is all that I could say. He started "Myself Hites, from Amdavad, Gujarath. Ay am new here. Freser. Job looking here. okay". I said yeah OKAY!

I didnt need a few days or a few hours to know that he is a weirdo. 15 minutes was all that it took. I have never decoded a person so soon in my life. The rest of the days I have spent with him only reinforced the same fact again and again and yes, once again.

I saw him sleeping with his windcheater one night and I spent the next half an hour looking for water leakage from the ceiling. And that was like a 'Oh Shit' moment for me. It  isnt leaking dude, thats him, the weirdo.

My morning alarm on my phone just gave up on me. Really, it felt so sad that its job is now taken over by my roomie's mothers call at 6.45 am that it just stopped shouting at 7.15 am. 'Kem cho, mazaama?' became my new alarm music.

He used to give a lot of interviews but I think he carried his distinction on his face. Companies never gave him a second look.

The reasons -

- I want a job close to my eating place. Interviewer Bhai, where else will I get veg home-like gujrathi thali.

- I will not work beyond 6 pm. I am a man not Machine. Be a Man!

- I cant travel alone at night. People nowadays rape without any sexual preference. Hai ki Nai.

- I will write the test with the internet ON. Googling is allowed in the job na, then what.

-  I will use my programs as my products and sell them on Quikr. You companies arent doing it, I am writing them with my NOledge.

- how are your company polisies, haan.

These really are only a few ways how he managed to screw up his chances.

I felt pity on him and used to give him gyan on how to behave in interviews, how to answer, how interviewers gauge his thought process etc. But I realized I was talking to a pit of sand. One day he asks me ' Vinos Bhai, giving me gyan gives you so much pleasar?'. I just slapped myself hard and the weirdo won.

 Its actualluy 'He is not weird, He is super duper gifted'

I feel pity at times. No, not on him. Ofcourse on myself to have to endure this torture.

16th August 2011 - My encounter with the freedom struggle

Today is a historic day in the life of everyone born post 1947. I have seen the struggle in movies and seen pictures in some old archived newspapers. But to see it unfold in front of your eyes, during the times when I can assimilate facts and can decide what is just and what is not is extremely heart wrenching.

Many today debate that Anna is setting a wrong example by holding the government by the neck. They say he is playing with the law. I say SO WHAT? I say WHICH LAW? The law that is biased and is in the pockets of he rich and influential. The law that in the last 65 years hasn't been able to even recover 1 rupee from the ministers who have looted innocents. The law that has kept Raja and Kalmadi in 5 star jails. That law that has given Hasan Ali bail.

Holding a protest to get a law enacted is a contempt of the parliament. How convenient to say so. There have been (In my limited knowledge) at least 15 -20 wide spread bandhs that have happened in India since the 90's. Weren't they contempt of the parliament. When BJP was in power the congress did the bandhs. When the Congress was in power, BJP did the Bandhs. They lighted the buses, broke open the shops, threw stones and killed innocent people. Who got punished for all that? The latest been during the Babri masjid verdict. Which wasn't even a national issue. People's pulse was against it. Who cared?

Hypocrisy is the word. Utter disgust.Since independence how many nation wide protest on the principle of 'non - violence' and 'Anshan' have we had in order to bring a change in the society for the benefit of the civilians at large? I cant recollect any. If that is the case then how can the congress say that Anna is setting a wrong example and tomorrow anybody can follow suit. Excuse me. Indians are no fools. It takes a Man of impeccable character and dignity to get the whole of the nation behind him. A RAUL Gandhi or a Arun JETLEE can only dream about it. They can only FOOL people to follow them to do something.

I will be extremely happy even if the Jan Lokpal Bill fails in containing the corruption. At least the ministers now know whose servants they are. The work of Jan Lokpal Bill isn't just whats on paper. Implementation will have even more road blocks. However its this passion in people to make INDIA corruption free that will take us through and make us be an example to the other countries and to ourselves.

Long live this drive to clear out corruption. I BOW to all those who are multitasking between work and family and the fight against corruption. Lets keep going.

JAI HIND!!!!!