An auditorium styled class-room with the class-well being dominated by eccentric characters, who often had names patterned as AK-47, Golu or just Baba, meant that you were extremely lucky if you had being assigned a seat in one of the rows at the back. Of course your luck was also dependent on how much foresight your parents had by not naming you as Abhishek or my personal favorite -Aaditya. An alphabetical order among other things meant that Zuhaib would be perennially safeguarded from the fierce stares that the occupants of the front benches often were subject to. Of course cold-calling was a great leveler and something which the front benches swore by as the only proof of existence of God & justice.
Shekhar's grand parents, more specifically his grand father was to be thanked for having christened him strategically in the later half of the curve. Shekhar would never be a part of either the front benches or the back benches, he was safe in the middle to back bench zone. Safe from the vicious stares and taunts as well as the cold-calls which would generally be targeted at Abhisheks, Aadityas, Vinayaks and Zuhaibs. He was like an Indian cricketer who came at five or six down. One was assigned this number only if either you were not good enough to open the batting or not a good enough bowler to allow you the luxury to come out last. He was expected to just fill the seat, not much else was expected. Though the logic seems nonsensical but if you were a Indian cricket fan you would implicitly understand. Another implicit implication is associated with this assertion - if you don't agree with the logic then you are not a fan of Indian cricket - blasphemy!
Lovely Cyra on the other hand had Bal Thackeray & Co. to thank for her fortunate location in the middle-to-back rows. If you still haven't guessed it by now then let me put it simply - this story is of Shekhar & Cyra, and it is not a love story, at least not with a happy ending. Coming back to the seating arrangements, it was not that Cyra was some political kid who bullied the PGP office into getting a seat of her choice. The Maharashtra system of nomenclature, devised by some nut belonging to the aforementioned political clan, was to blame - a simple name like Cyra became Sahukar Cyra Bahaman.
But then again, it was not all bad. It put Cyra & Bittu in adjacent seats. And it also gave yours truly an opportunity to script this tale, which is a work of pure fiction by the way.
The initial euphoria of being an IIM-wallah was wearing thin and so did the usual "oh-we-have-adjacent-seats-how-nice" routine, they were two weeks into the system and surprise tests were looming. To top that the committees would soon be having another review for the potential recruits where half-baked lame ideas would be given as much consideration as world peace. Life was not all that it seemed to be.
THWACK!
Shekhar suddenly breaking out of his self-loathing reverie looked at the source of the interruption - Cyra. His look expressed an what-the-hell-why-did-you-kick-me look. Cyra merely motioned with her big black eyes towards the piece of paper next to his notebook. He adjusted himself from his reclining position to a more studious and attentive position while all the time maintaining a good eye contact with the professor in front. Having attained this position he glanced down to see two words written in a sleepy sort of scribble - Whats up? He thought for a second and his best response to that was - ??. Which though not much in terms of volume but was a definite conversation starter. What followed was an alternate exchange of scribbles which not much in volume but seen in the right way would amount to a profound conversation. It looked something like this:
C (Cyra) - what's up?
S (Shekhar) - ??
C - bored. sleepy.
S - ??
C - ass!! bored, sleepy!
S - ??
C - talk?
S - ??
(pause for a few secs)
S - cool, quiz?
C - ?? nah!
S - ??
C - gossip?
S - :) ohk? who?
C - you :)
(no response as Shekhar goes back to looking attentive)
C - gf?
(no response as Shekhar glances down at the new scribble and goes back to looking attentive)
C - are all dilliwallahs like this? boring?
S - ??
C - Partha! same as you. all nsit ppl same... boring!
S - am dce, not nsit! and delhi rocks! not like bombay ahem... mumbai. jai maharashtra
C - ha ha, very funny.
S - what abt partha though?
C - he claims to be some stud from dce, met him in the index meet. you know him?
S - kind of, CL. nsit is sad, dce rules!
C - like i care! so gf?
S - :(
C - who do you think is the hottest girl in the batch?
S - (shekhar surprised by the question) why?
C - aisey hi... some girls were talking.... so i thought ki lets do primary research
Why don't you please include the remaining mortals in your conversation um.... Mr. Bharadwaj is it? and Mr. Sahukar .... Ms. I mean. What is your name actually? Bahaman? Sahukar?....
CYRA... Cyra added loudly.
Well, thank you Mr & Mrs. Cyra. I think the class can thank both of you for a surprise quiz. Everybody please take out a sheet, calculators are allowed but you will not need them, it's a ten minute quiz with two questions, it will be graded out of ten marks and will carry a weight of ten percent in your final score. The first question is of seven marks and the second one of three. Is everybody ready to write down the question now?
15 minutes later... the class ended and students started moving out from the class.
THWACK!
A not-important-enough-a-character-to-be-named character went - Nice going Mr. Cyra... beta teri toh aaj haapy birthday hai.
Bittu was now Shekhar a. k. a. Bittu a. k. a. Mr. Cyra
the stage was set - for the heartbreak
-
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Bittu Part 2
Part 1 here
continued...
But he promised to himself this was the last time he would be #2. Hel(L) would know only of Shekhar #1 (though he cringed inwardly at making himself sound like a David Dhawan movie). The first day at L was registration and section allotment. As he walked up to the registration desk, somebody tapped his shoulder from behind. When he turned back he saw it was a girl. The girl said -Hi! Do you have pen to spare? I need it for just a minute. Bittu took out one of the pens, handed it to her, said - No sweat! and moved on to the join the queue.
Girls were a rare species in L, in fact they were rare in almost all fields of under-graduate and post-graduate studies except for medicine (only in India), and this could be very well understood from the stats which stood at 27 + 256 = 283. Where 27 being the number of girls, 256 being the number of guys and 283 the grand total of students in the class of 2009, IIM Lucknow. These stats would undergo some subtractions as hel(L) was notorious for chucking out students with poor academic record at term ends. But that is something that we need not concern ourselves, Bittu was in the positive tail of the normal curve. Academics would be the least of his preoccupations. Trust me on that.
Well, having registered himself he went ahead and joined his friends for remaining part of the pre-lunch registration session. During lunchtime he decided to skip lunch and go to the "Chintan Block" to collect his study material for the first trimester. Not that he was in a hurry and eager to start studying but he just wanted to avoid the rush that would be there later on. Actual studies would not begin for another two days as the first two days would be taken to prepare the students for the case method of studying. Right now most of the others had their nose buried in the sample case which would be taught in class today after lunch. That meant when the class would break for the day there would be a sudden surge in the Chintan block and getting your material would become a positive headache.
He was still a good 50 steps or so away from the counter but could still see that there was already somebody there collecting their material. He silently cursed himself, not #2 again, but he was not surprised, of course his was not the most original idea. What was interesting though was it was a girl at the counter, what were the odds he thought and then answered himself about - for: 1/9. The girl had obviously underestimated the the volume of books and notes that she was to receive and so had he. It would be difficult to carry all the books, nay impossible. He aborted the idea of collecting the books now and reminded himself to bring along the trolley suitcase when he comes later in the evening. He turned around and had taken only a few steps when he heard - Hey! Help please!. It was the girl at the counter asking for help with the books. I had no idea it would be so much, can you help me please? My hostel is closeby only. Up to the gate if you don't mind? Shekhar thought was this fate? Second time in a day some girl speaks to him. Well what the heck he thought, try karney mein kya jata hai, right? Shayad yahan #1 ho jaye? He walked up to her and tried his charming best - Serious miscalculation, huh? The girl smiled a very disarming smile and said - Totally! I should have listened to my boyfriend when he had warned - go prepared. He's an alum you know, 2007 batch. He is in Merrill right now, IB division. Shekhar mentally -KUNDA!!! boyfriend? aur karley try, kuch nahi hoga, verbally - Oh really! That's awesome, so a power couple, sahi! Let me help out with those, it's not a problem. About 10 mins. later they were standing in front of Hostel 1 - the girls hostel. He hesitated for a second as he stood at the gate, the girl sensing that said - It would be super helpful if you could just bring it up to my room. Anyways its cool here, boys can come in and go anytime of day and there is no guard also. And you can get your first peek inside the girl's hostel as well. This girl sure knew how to get work done by the guys. Anyways our hero Bittu didn't see any harm and came with the girl up to her room. That is when he heard - Ruchika! You got your books also? Right behind him was the same pen-girl he had seen in the morning. She recognized him immediately - Hey! You again, thanks for the pen in the morning. I couldn't give your pen back, you simply disappeared. I'm Cyra, Cyra Sahukar. Bittu, not used to so much of female company blurted out - I'm Bittu, I mean Shekhar. Cyra just smiled with raised eyebrows while Ruchika could managed to raise only one eyebrow and commented - Cute name! Thanks a ton for helping out. By the way which section? Bittu - D, what about you two? Cyra - D? That's quite a coincidence. So am I. And you too Ruchi, right? All in the same section. Ruchika - Small world. Cyra seemed to be in thought and then said - Am in room 119, next to Ruchi. See ya guys around, have to run for lunch.
to be continued...
-
continued...
But he promised to himself this was the last time he would be #2. Hel(L) would know only of Shekhar #1 (though he cringed inwardly at making himself sound like a David Dhawan movie). The first day at L was registration and section allotment. As he walked up to the registration desk, somebody tapped his shoulder from behind. When he turned back he saw it was a girl. The girl said -Hi! Do you have pen to spare? I need it for just a minute. Bittu took out one of the pens, handed it to her, said - No sweat! and moved on to the join the queue.
Girls were a rare species in L, in fact they were rare in almost all fields of under-graduate and post-graduate studies except for medicine (only in India), and this could be very well understood from the stats which stood at 27 + 256 = 283. Where 27 being the number of girls, 256 being the number of guys and 283 the grand total of students in the class of 2009, IIM Lucknow. These stats would undergo some subtractions as hel(L) was notorious for chucking out students with poor academic record at term ends. But that is something that we need not concern ourselves, Bittu was in the positive tail of the normal curve. Academics would be the least of his preoccupations. Trust me on that.
Well, having registered himself he went ahead and joined his friends for remaining part of the pre-lunch registration session. During lunchtime he decided to skip lunch and go to the "Chintan Block" to collect his study material for the first trimester. Not that he was in a hurry and eager to start studying but he just wanted to avoid the rush that would be there later on. Actual studies would not begin for another two days as the first two days would be taken to prepare the students for the case method of studying. Right now most of the others had their nose buried in the sample case which would be taught in class today after lunch. That meant when the class would break for the day there would be a sudden surge in the Chintan block and getting your material would become a positive headache.
He was still a good 50 steps or so away from the counter but could still see that there was already somebody there collecting their material. He silently cursed himself, not #2 again, but he was not surprised, of course his was not the most original idea. What was interesting though was it was a girl at the counter, what were the odds he thought and then answered himself about - for: 1/9. The girl had obviously underestimated the the volume of books and notes that she was to receive and so had he. It would be difficult to carry all the books, nay impossible. He aborted the idea of collecting the books now and reminded himself to bring along the trolley suitcase when he comes later in the evening. He turned around and had taken only a few steps when he heard - Hey! Help please!. It was the girl at the counter asking for help with the books. I had no idea it would be so much, can you help me please? My hostel is closeby only. Up to the gate if you don't mind? Shekhar thought was this fate? Second time in a day some girl speaks to him. Well what the heck he thought, try karney mein kya jata hai, right? Shayad yahan #1 ho jaye? He walked up to her and tried his charming best - Serious miscalculation, huh? The girl smiled a very disarming smile and said - Totally! I should have listened to my boyfriend when he had warned - go prepared. He's an alum you know, 2007 batch. He is in Merrill right now, IB division. Shekhar mentally -KUNDA!!! boyfriend? aur karley try, kuch nahi hoga, verbally - Oh really! That's awesome, so a power couple, sahi! Let me help out with those, it's not a problem. About 10 mins. later they were standing in front of Hostel 1 - the girls hostel. He hesitated for a second as he stood at the gate, the girl sensing that said - It would be super helpful if you could just bring it up to my room. Anyways its cool here, boys can come in and go anytime of day and there is no guard also. And you can get your first peek inside the girl's hostel as well. This girl sure knew how to get work done by the guys. Anyways our hero Bittu didn't see any harm and came with the girl up to her room. That is when he heard - Ruchika! You got your books also? Right behind him was the same pen-girl he had seen in the morning. She recognized him immediately - Hey! You again, thanks for the pen in the morning. I couldn't give your pen back, you simply disappeared. I'm Cyra, Cyra Sahukar. Bittu, not used to so much of female company blurted out - I'm Bittu, I mean Shekhar. Cyra just smiled with raised eyebrows while Ruchika could managed to raise only one eyebrow and commented - Cute name! Thanks a ton for helping out. By the way which section? Bittu - D, what about you two? Cyra - D? That's quite a coincidence. So am I. And you too Ruchi, right? All in the same section. Ruchika - Small world. Cyra seemed to be in thought and then said - Am in room 119, next to Ruchi. See ya guys around, have to run for lunch.
to be continued...
-
Bittu Part 1
Boy meets Girl.
No sparks fly, life goes on.
Boy keeps meeting Girl.
The Boy falls for the Girl.
The Boy starts to woo the Girl.
The Girl doesn’t respond.
Life goes on.
The Girl keeps meeting the Boy.
The Boy keeps wooing Girl.
Eventually it happens… Love (or something like that)
They live happily ever after.
This is not the story of the Boy and the Girl; this is the story of B2: The Boy 2. The Boy 2, the guy who used to sit next to the Girl in the class, who was the Girl’s closest guy-friend before Boy happened to Girl.
Summer of 2007:
A new first term at L, another new batch of wide-eyed kids, all of them wannabe CEOs, entering the gates of hel(L). Most of them were engineers from either the IITs or DCE/NSIT/NITs. And among this crowd of engineers was Shekhar “B2” Bharadwaj, B.E. Mechanical Engineering from DCE, class of 2007. Back in DCE the college staff had assigned him the roll number - 2K3/B2 and Bhandari, his soon to be best friend, not able to recall his name had called out loudly “B2” during lunch. Since then he had been known as B2 or Bittu. Bittu had had a love-hate (mostly hate) relation with the #2. Always #2 in the class, the #1 position had different claimants but nobody could dislodge Bittu from #2, not even he himself. He was in the college cricket team and easily one of the best players, but here also he was #2 and the vice captain. When the CAT results had come out he was waitlist #2 on the L list. ABC his #1 choice of institutes had bypassed Bittu. But he was still happy with his WL #2, he would easily make it to L, the conversion was a sure shot. Perhaps the only time he hadn’t grudged his #2 status.
But he promised to himself this was the last time he would be #2. Hel(L) would know only of Shekhar #1 (though he cringed inwardly at making himself sound like a David Dhawan movie). The first day at L was registration and section allotment. As he walked up to the registration desk, somebody tapped his shoulder from behind. When he turned back he saw it was a girl. The girl said -Hi! Do you have pen to spare? I need it for just a minute.
To be continued…
-
No sparks fly, life goes on.
Boy keeps meeting Girl.
The Boy falls for the Girl.
The Boy starts to woo the Girl.
The Girl doesn’t respond.
Life goes on.
The Girl keeps meeting the Boy.
The Boy keeps wooing Girl.
Eventually it happens… Love (or something like that)
They live happily ever after.
This is not the story of the Boy and the Girl; this is the story of B2: The Boy 2. The Boy 2, the guy who used to sit next to the Girl in the class, who was the Girl’s closest guy-friend before Boy happened to Girl.
Summer of 2007:
A new first term at L, another new batch of wide-eyed kids, all of them wannabe CEOs, entering the gates of hel(L). Most of them were engineers from either the IITs or DCE/NSIT/NITs. And among this crowd of engineers was Shekhar “B2” Bharadwaj, B.E. Mechanical Engineering from DCE, class of 2007. Back in DCE the college staff had assigned him the roll number - 2K3/B2 and Bhandari, his soon to be best friend, not able to recall his name had called out loudly “B2” during lunch. Since then he had been known as B2 or Bittu. Bittu had had a love-hate (mostly hate) relation with the #2. Always #2 in the class, the #1 position had different claimants but nobody could dislodge Bittu from #2, not even he himself. He was in the college cricket team and easily one of the best players, but here also he was #2 and the vice captain. When the CAT results had come out he was waitlist #2 on the L list. ABC his #1 choice of institutes had bypassed Bittu. But he was still happy with his WL #2, he would easily make it to L, the conversion was a sure shot. Perhaps the only time he hadn’t grudged his #2 status.
But he promised to himself this was the last time he would be #2. Hel(L) would know only of Shekhar #1 (though he cringed inwardly at making himself sound like a David Dhawan movie). The first day at L was registration and section allotment. As he walked up to the registration desk, somebody tapped his shoulder from behind. When he turned back he saw it was a girl. The girl said -Hi! Do you have pen to spare? I need it for just a minute.
To be continued…
-
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Boom-boom
Ice-cream after lunch should become an SOP (standard operating procedure) from now on. It’s because of the ice-cream isn’t it Jojo? That was Dr. Pal (Head R&D) teasing Jojo, the marketing dude (in every sense of the way) for southern Mindanao, and his team. Dr. Pal loves his corn, he loves the fact that Jojo made good his promise - Dr. Pal, you don’t worry. You’ll see all the Healer 101, except for those in critical areas. “Critical” in the Filipino lingua franca means - war torn or politically sensitive area. Refer this for further clarification.
Fritz, driving the Nissan-Frontier with me as the co-passenger, observed - (With a smile that said- Oh! we’re so fucked now) It’s perfect; if abductors attack we’ll be gone. It’s the same place where the ice-cream comment was made. It was not a critical area, at least not that critical.
Jojo on why this would be the last location for our crop tour - There is another location towards that side (signaling to the west) but because of the boom-boom (trying to play down the gunshots hardly 200 - 300 meters away) we’ll not go there.
Some unintelligible words interspersed with the word sniper. That were the PCs (Product Consultants - Jojo’s team basically) talking among themselves.
Sounds fun?
This was me on the crop tour (read product evaluation) before launching of a new GM (genetically modified) corn hybrid - Healer 101. Area - Bukidnon & Cotabato. The “boom-boom” place - Carmen, Cotabato. Date - 4th December, 2009.
If you have never heard a gunshot then it sounds like somebody cutting wood. If not told I’d never have guessed it.
-
Fritz, driving the Nissan-Frontier with me as the co-passenger, observed - (With a smile that said- Oh! we’re so fucked now) It’s perfect; if abductors attack we’ll be gone. It’s the same place where the ice-cream comment was made. It was not a critical area, at least not that critical.
Jojo on why this would be the last location for our crop tour - There is another location towards that side (signaling to the west) but because of the boom-boom (trying to play down the gunshots hardly 200 - 300 meters away) we’ll not go there.
Some unintelligible words interspersed with the word sniper. That were the PCs (Product Consultants - Jojo’s team basically) talking among themselves.
Sounds fun?
This was me on the crop tour (read product evaluation) before launching of a new GM (genetically modified) corn hybrid - Healer 101. Area - Bukidnon & Cotabato. The “boom-boom” place - Carmen, Cotabato. Date - 4th December, 2009.
If you have never heard a gunshot then it sounds like somebody cutting wood. If not told I’d never have guessed it.
-
Thursday, November 26, 2009
An experiment with story telling
September, 2009:
I was at the international airport, delhi. Three months into my job since passing out of L. The economy had played a nice little joke on both of us, one got the company that she desired and the other the coveted overseas location. But both of us were pretty much bummed as hell, the reason being - she hated both her job and me for my stupid career move. While I toh had multiple issues (too long a list which included all that comes along with getting hired in a recessionary economy and the panic that hits you when you realize that you don't know when you will get to see her next time). I was silently cursing himself, why did I have to act so stupid? A frigging coward! If only I had sat in the final placement week instead of taking a company that came before the placement week... damn! I'm so gonna miss her. stupid! stupid!
Present:
When was the last time I saw her? gurgaon? Yes, she had muscled her way all the way to gurgaon with site visit as an excuse. damn! Her parents had not been too enthused about the whole trip, she had missed some family wedding or something like that. Well, this would not help me get into their ( her parents' ) good books for sure, but those 3 hours we had together was certainly worth it. Till that time my location had not been finalized yet she knew that this would be the last chance to meet, be together, for a long time.
Its been more than 3 months since that day, she was right! It has been a long time (and perhaps some more) before we get to meet again. sigh! stupid!
August, 2009:
I was in bombay. An extended weekend courtesy some government holiday and an impending trip to the corporate office meant that I play hookie from office and head to bombay. It also meant that I was missing my sisters marriage anniversary. And the fact that I had not been home for 2 months and now when I had a holiday I was running off to bombay, not delhi. Not a popular move by any stretch of imagination, and not something that would have got her in my parents' good books either.
I lose out on details sometimes. I was not only in bombay, I was in the kitchen with her mom, *alone*. She was cooking prawn pulao I think (her mom doesn't hate me, I've reached this stage through previous appeasements which can be discussed later) and I offer to cut onions for her. I take up the knife, skin the onions and then dice it into symmetrical little rectangles. Obviously not my first time in and around kitchen. She (her mom) is obviously impressed that I know my way around the house. And I thank my mom (I love you mom for making sure that I can cook), but I guess she would not be too pleased as to how I'm using my skills. She asks what are our plans now? stress ours. I say with complete honesty, I dunno. Her mom remarks - She is too simple, she thinks she is smart but she is too naive. She might be a bombay-girl but she really is not better than a village girl. I say she is pretty intelligent. She shakes her head and says - Solving equations etc. is not what I mean, she is not very worldly wise. She thinks it will be simple, it will not be simple for you guys. In fact it would be very difficult. Plus, she is very religious. I nod my head, there is really no answer. I say - I know about that and I respect that completely. One can't force beliefs on another person, I respect her faith completely.
At this time *she* entered the kitchen and the conversation ended. But I got the ending from *her*. Later in the evening we were alone outside, she poked my ribs with her elbows (not a pleasant experience but something I miss these days. stupid!) and goes - what the hell did you talk to my mother about? I said - nothing much but I hope I didn't screw up or something. She replied with a smug face - whatever you did she likes you. she said Partha is good boy, he is mature. I would have no problems but if only... Now we just have to deal with the "if only" part from both our parents' side.
All I could do was smile weakly and nod my head in reply.
Any suggestions dear?
-
I was at the international airport, delhi. Three months into my job since passing out of L. The economy had played a nice little joke on both of us, one got the company that she desired and the other the coveted overseas location. But both of us were pretty much bummed as hell, the reason being - she hated both her job and me for my stupid career move. While I toh had multiple issues (too long a list which included all that comes along with getting hired in a recessionary economy and the panic that hits you when you realize that you don't know when you will get to see her next time). I was silently cursing himself, why did I have to act so stupid? A frigging coward! If only I had sat in the final placement week instead of taking a company that came before the placement week... damn! I'm so gonna miss her. stupid! stupid!
Present:
When was the last time I saw her? gurgaon? Yes, she had muscled her way all the way to gurgaon with site visit as an excuse. damn! Her parents had not been too enthused about the whole trip, she had missed some family wedding or something like that. Well, this would not help me get into their ( her parents' ) good books for sure, but those 3 hours we had together was certainly worth it. Till that time my location had not been finalized yet she knew that this would be the last chance to meet, be together, for a long time.
Its been more than 3 months since that day, she was right! It has been a long time (and perhaps some more) before we get to meet again. sigh! stupid!
August, 2009:
I was in bombay. An extended weekend courtesy some government holiday and an impending trip to the corporate office meant that I play hookie from office and head to bombay. It also meant that I was missing my sisters marriage anniversary. And the fact that I had not been home for 2 months and now when I had a holiday I was running off to bombay, not delhi. Not a popular move by any stretch of imagination, and not something that would have got her in my parents' good books either.
I lose out on details sometimes. I was not only in bombay, I was in the kitchen with her mom, *alone*. She was cooking prawn pulao I think (her mom doesn't hate me, I've reached this stage through previous appeasements which can be discussed later) and I offer to cut onions for her. I take up the knife, skin the onions and then dice it into symmetrical little rectangles. Obviously not my first time in and around kitchen. She (her mom) is obviously impressed that I know my way around the house. And I thank my mom (I love you mom for making sure that I can cook), but I guess she would not be too pleased as to how I'm using my skills. She asks what are our plans now? stress ours. I say with complete honesty, I dunno. Her mom remarks - She is too simple, she thinks she is smart but she is too naive. She might be a bombay-girl but she really is not better than a village girl. I say she is pretty intelligent. She shakes her head and says - Solving equations etc. is not what I mean, she is not very worldly wise. She thinks it will be simple, it will not be simple for you guys. In fact it would be very difficult. Plus, she is very religious. I nod my head, there is really no answer. I say - I know about that and I respect that completely. One can't force beliefs on another person, I respect her faith completely.
At this time *she* entered the kitchen and the conversation ended. But I got the ending from *her*. Later in the evening we were alone outside, she poked my ribs with her elbows (not a pleasant experience but something I miss these days. stupid!) and goes - what the hell did you talk to my mother about? I said - nothing much but I hope I didn't screw up or something. She replied with a smug face - whatever you did she likes you. she said Partha is good boy, he is mature. I would have no problems but if only... Now we just have to deal with the "if only" part from both our parents' side.
All I could do was smile weakly and nod my head in reply.
Any suggestions dear?
-
Friday, November 13, 2009
Much ado about marriages
It was the summer of 2002, the results were out. None of the IITs, none of the NITs, neither DCE nor NSIT, Bangalore was still an option, but too expensive for my ego. I'd come to believe in a philosophy where, intelligent students either don't pay or pay less for studying. And studying meant engineering; if someone was doing B.Sc. then that meant he was just plain retarded. And you would enroll in a private college in Bangalore only if you were a spoilt rich brat. AIEEE had been the only exam where I had a decent rank and that still left the door open to BIT Mesra, which though a private college had a reputation for being home to hardworking diligent students. The first counseling didn't get me anywhere close to Mesra but it did get me some quaint college in the city of Chennai, almost 2000 km from my home in Delhi.
Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology.
Till that time I, by my own confession, was still a kid. I'd had a pretty protected life, never had to worry about any of the worldly issues. Parents were always around to take care of things and my sister was there to give me hell with her tantrums, in other words life was good, no in fact it was better than good, it was better :)
But now the results meant that I would have move to Chennai. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It was time the scrawny little awkward kid finally grew up. This development was quite definitely the single largest event that influenced how I have turned out as an adult at 25. This event also gave me my first true friends - a whole gang of them. I’ve no friends from grade school that I can call buddies, and I sometimes wonder why? Anyways, getting back to the story, the first was Girish. Girish Kumar Bharadwaj, 2K2 SIC 402. I was Partha Basu, 2K2 SIC 401. The only common thread that we shared was both of us were from northern part of the country and were in the same section – Instrumentation & Control. For one year we were the best of friends. Then in 2003 I ran away, DCE it was. I had betrayed Girish, he was alone in that hell-hole now. But, he was one of those friends who push you forward rather than hold you back. I knew how he felt, he even voiced it once, he said something like – Yaar, main toh akela ho gaya. Ab toh IC mein koi nahi bacha, par tu galti se bhi laut ke mat aaiyo.
Its been almost 5 years since I saw him; we talked occasionally but never managed to meet. He is getting married on 1st of December, 2009. Best of luck and best wishes Girish & Niharika. The whole gang is going to be there - Shwet, Vikash, Abhijeet, Avanish… all of them. I so wish I could also be there brother. My best wishes to both of you once again.
Fast forward to 2009, there is another friend of mine, somebody more recent. He was my classmate at IIM Lucknow. One of the most decent and gentlemanly people I’ve ever met. But as the old adage goes - Nice guys finish last - he is nowhere near the front. An eligible bachelor by every sense - tall, dark and handsome (dark in TDH refers to the color of hair and not skin, if you are still wondering he is fair, extremely), he landed one of the best paying jobs from campus and he is pushing the limits of hindu age of getting married, for a guy. Either he was too lazy or too much of a chicken in his prime. Well he wasn’t lazy so that makes him a chicken? Not a chicken either, in reality he is just a nice guy. That is his problem and now he has another problem - no girls. His current state of affairs in his own words - yaar ladki main major dimaag hona chahiye… smart honi chahiye… and well educated… aur kaam karne main enthu… unfortunately aisi ladkian a) brahmins main kam milti hain b) agar hoti hai toh already booked hoti hain… toh isliye… abhi tak kuch bana nahin plus then i am manglik… apparently a very strong one at that… toh wahan kunda ho jaata hai. Best of luck to you too dude! I hope you meet the 2010 deadline :)
Having already played with the time coordinate we now focus on the space coordinates. Shifting from India and coming to an island country in the Pacific Ocean. An orange colored SUV is weaving its way thorough the traffic on the highway connecting Gensan and Davao - this is Philippines. The SUV is packed, the front two rows are occupied by middle aged couples whose destination is a hill station resort in the vicinity. The last row is occupied by a 25 year old guy, a new addition in the company of one of the guys in front, and a 9 or 10 year old girl, the same person’s daughter, and along with them a host of food & drinks that the people in front have made. The guy can smell the rajma, not bad at all especially since he misses all the home food. But on the other hand he wonders what is he doing here? A weekend free and I’m spending it like this? As a tag along? Oh! How badly he is missing his “spirited eighth”, what he wouldn’t do to be with her. And yes he has no idea that the destination has no cell-phone coverage, so he doesn’t know that he is in for some scolding later on. But anyways, he dutifully tries to make small talk with the little girl. Tongue twisters, brain teasers and all such exchanges are carried out. Then the little girl exclaims - You are weird! I like you. Fate! Even the small girl knows that this guy is a bit eccentric, but for her in a good way, she likes him. Some more time passes on the road and the little girl (LG) asks - Can I ask you a secret? The guy (TG) nods and says – Yes, you can. LG – Are you single? You are not married right? TG – That’s right, I’m still unmarried. LG – Will you marry me when I grow up? Then the time froze. The guy came up with like 20 answers to the innocent question and with each of those 20 answers he did a separate scenario planning of how it might play out, but the beauty of this part is that all this would not have taken more than a fraction of a second. However, what ultimately did come out was just a random string of words which made sense at that instant. TG – Only if you study hard and become a scholar when you grow up. LG (nodding sincerely with a wide smile). He didn’t screw up, he acted like an adult. No! He was an adult. A slightly smug adult, it was the first time any kid had had a crush on him. It told him one thing for sure; he was growing older. Soon he’ll have his own deadlines. Silently he hopes that he has already found the – one – the one who mixes up words and comes out with most charming new ones like - TELU.
There is no connection, no hidden moral. Just three things that were on my mind for some time now.
@KT: you fit into that nice guy mould. So, get busy! Seriously!
Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology.
Till that time I, by my own confession, was still a kid. I'd had a pretty protected life, never had to worry about any of the worldly issues. Parents were always around to take care of things and my sister was there to give me hell with her tantrums, in other words life was good, no in fact it was better than good, it was better :)
But now the results meant that I would have move to Chennai. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It was time the scrawny little awkward kid finally grew up. This development was quite definitely the single largest event that influenced how I have turned out as an adult at 25. This event also gave me my first true friends - a whole gang of them. I’ve no friends from grade school that I can call buddies, and I sometimes wonder why? Anyways, getting back to the story, the first was Girish. Girish Kumar Bharadwaj, 2K2 SIC 402. I was Partha Basu, 2K2 SIC 401. The only common thread that we shared was both of us were from northern part of the country and were in the same section – Instrumentation & Control. For one year we were the best of friends. Then in 2003 I ran away, DCE it was. I had betrayed Girish, he was alone in that hell-hole now. But, he was one of those friends who push you forward rather than hold you back. I knew how he felt, he even voiced it once, he said something like – Yaar, main toh akela ho gaya. Ab toh IC mein koi nahi bacha, par tu galti se bhi laut ke mat aaiyo.
Its been almost 5 years since I saw him; we talked occasionally but never managed to meet. He is getting married on 1st of December, 2009. Best of luck and best wishes Girish & Niharika. The whole gang is going to be there - Shwet, Vikash, Abhijeet, Avanish… all of them. I so wish I could also be there brother. My best wishes to both of you once again.
Fast forward to 2009, there is another friend of mine, somebody more recent. He was my classmate at IIM Lucknow. One of the most decent and gentlemanly people I’ve ever met. But as the old adage goes - Nice guys finish last - he is nowhere near the front. An eligible bachelor by every sense - tall, dark and handsome (dark in TDH refers to the color of hair and not skin, if you are still wondering he is fair, extremely), he landed one of the best paying jobs from campus and he is pushing the limits of hindu age of getting married, for a guy. Either he was too lazy or too much of a chicken in his prime. Well he wasn’t lazy so that makes him a chicken? Not a chicken either, in reality he is just a nice guy. That is his problem and now he has another problem - no girls. His current state of affairs in his own words - yaar ladki main major dimaag hona chahiye… smart honi chahiye… and well educated… aur kaam karne main enthu… unfortunately aisi ladkian a) brahmins main kam milti hain b) agar hoti hai toh already booked hoti hain… toh isliye… abhi tak kuch bana nahin plus then i am manglik… apparently a very strong one at that… toh wahan kunda ho jaata hai. Best of luck to you too dude! I hope you meet the 2010 deadline :)
Having already played with the time coordinate we now focus on the space coordinates. Shifting from India and coming to an island country in the Pacific Ocean. An orange colored SUV is weaving its way thorough the traffic on the highway connecting Gensan and Davao - this is Philippines. The SUV is packed, the front two rows are occupied by middle aged couples whose destination is a hill station resort in the vicinity. The last row is occupied by a 25 year old guy, a new addition in the company of one of the guys in front, and a 9 or 10 year old girl, the same person’s daughter, and along with them a host of food & drinks that the people in front have made. The guy can smell the rajma, not bad at all especially since he misses all the home food. But on the other hand he wonders what is he doing here? A weekend free and I’m spending it like this? As a tag along? Oh! How badly he is missing his “spirited eighth”, what he wouldn’t do to be with her. And yes he has no idea that the destination has no cell-phone coverage, so he doesn’t know that he is in for some scolding later on. But anyways, he dutifully tries to make small talk with the little girl. Tongue twisters, brain teasers and all such exchanges are carried out. Then the little girl exclaims - You are weird! I like you. Fate! Even the small girl knows that this guy is a bit eccentric, but for her in a good way, she likes him. Some more time passes on the road and the little girl (LG) asks - Can I ask you a secret? The guy (TG) nods and says – Yes, you can. LG – Are you single? You are not married right? TG – That’s right, I’m still unmarried. LG – Will you marry me when I grow up? Then the time froze. The guy came up with like 20 answers to the innocent question and with each of those 20 answers he did a separate scenario planning of how it might play out, but the beauty of this part is that all this would not have taken more than a fraction of a second. However, what ultimately did come out was just a random string of words which made sense at that instant. TG – Only if you study hard and become a scholar when you grow up. LG (nodding sincerely with a wide smile). He didn’t screw up, he acted like an adult. No! He was an adult. A slightly smug adult, it was the first time any kid had had a crush on him. It told him one thing for sure; he was growing older. Soon he’ll have his own deadlines. Silently he hopes that he has already found the – one – the one who mixes up words and comes out with most charming new ones like - TELU.
There is no connection, no hidden moral. Just three things that were on my mind for some time now.
@KT: you fit into that nice guy mould. So, get busy! Seriously!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Hello World!
Yes yes I know how I sound. Yes, it is "the new place syndrome", so obviously I sound similar. Also the fact that I'm ME and not somebody else, I'll naturally sound like ME.
But yes your point is well taken, lemme see if anything useful comes out of this. In the meanwhile I have done nothing much except for change the theme of the blog a bit, the previous one was too plain-jane. So, this is basically a test post.
Hello World! I'm trying to be less pretentious this time around. Wish me Luck!
But yes your point is well taken, lemme see if anything useful comes out of this. In the meanwhile I have done nothing much except for change the theme of the blog a bit, the previous one was too plain-jane. So, this is basically a test post.
Hello World! I'm trying to be less pretentious this time around. Wish me Luck!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Coordinates & a confession!
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City of General Santos or more popularly Gensan among the locals is going to be my base for a next few months. Won't waste more time on providing trivia, if you are really curious check it out here.
What I really wanted to say was that right now (sitting in office) I've absolutely no work and writing a seemingly inconsequential post on an equally inconsequential blog is the best thing I can do. I confess, I have absolutely nothing better to do!
I couldn't help but notice how similar it is to India, but only much fewer people. It is remarkably sparsely populated. Especially in the eyes of a Delhiwallah who has had the experience of traveling on "Bahari Mudrika" at 8:30 AM or a Bambaiya riding the local at any time of the day. Less people, same stares. Only difference is my eyes are not one of those in the crowd, this time the crowd is staring at me.
I do have to look being busy while I sit in office, so I promise to continue it later. And yes, not from home but from office. At home I can still watch porn or some titillating bollywood song, which is quite possibly not an option in the office. I confess I do fake it! And yes I do occasionally watch porn. I'm such a sinner!
Off now.
Moving on
Somehow I have developed an acute case of lacunar amnesia towards the username and password of my previous blog. Just something left over from there. I'm really fond of this image. Just wanted to share it with everybody.
Moving on from Lucknow to Gensan
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Moving on from Lucknow to Gensan
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Trial Run?
I could think of no better way to start off but with a few acknowledgments:
A certain Mr. Seth and his work "From Heaven Lake". No heroics, completely devoid of fantastical happenings and a most uneventful journey (almost), and yet a very enjoyable read. I wish that I match up to something like that with this.
Mr. Tiwari, this post is a namesake to his creation. A wonderful social commentator.
@KT: You should not be wasting your time at Khozikode. Cannes or a Sundance would find you more useful. If not as a creator, then at least as a critic.
And finally Ma'am Pinto. Every artiste (may I be so pretentious to claim so?) needs an audience, and for me it is but you. I don't think too many people would ever end up here and ever actually read it. But I can count on you for sure.
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