Punching bag.

I saw a punching bag in the gym today. And for some reason it reminded me of myself. Hmm......I wonder why???

There is light at the end of the tunnel I know

There is light at the end of the tunnel I know,
Never have I seen it, though.

The tunnel has been dark and cold,
And the walls are covered in slime and mould.
If only there was someone who could hold,
A light for me and make me bold.

Still, there is a light at the end of the tunnel I know,
Never have I seen it though.

I feel blind and nowhere to go,
And long for the sunshine and the glow,
Outside, where the rivers and rivulets flow,
And the trees and flowers blossom and grow.

And I walk on, because, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I know
Never have I seen it though.

-By me.

Mixed emotions.

I feel like writing and yet am at a loss of topic. There were a lot of emotions going through my mind on this day. And for once laughter took a side seat with all others. Monday morning started with the usual phonecalls, people requiring work to be done on priority basis. I answered everyone politely, did all the work and generally, behaved as the usually good boy that I am in the office. That was the somber part of my emotions. Unaffected, unflappable and essentially quite cool !! (I flatter myself saying this.) Then told my boss that I would leave half day, which gave rise to his usual bickerings:

Me: Sir, I am leaving half day for Ganapati visarjan.
Boss: Oh no !! Why do you always do this? There was important work today you know.
Me: Correct. And I have finished it already. Apart from that, my leave record is great.
Boss: Even I have ganapati at home.
Me: You can go too, cant you, boss?

That backtalk was greatly satisfying. I am one believer in Lord Ganesh and the strength he gives us !!! So there was anger and aggression from my side.

Ganapati visarjan is one sad affair. Its hardly a day we get to see the idol at home, when its time to take it away !!! Sadness at immersion.

Later on, met a friend after a long time, talked to him felt good. Later on we met with other friends. Caught up and had some fun laughing and chatting. Happiness.

One more thing which I fail to recall, brought up some strong emotions. Now I cant remember it like I usually forget dreams !! When I do recall, I'll write it down.

The smiling face of muthu.

A few years ago a friend of mine explained to me the concept of positive energies and negative energies in people. Although I didnt exactly 'rubbish' or 'balderdash' his theory, I didnt quite give it a second thought or rather, listened to him in an offhanded sort of way. After all belief is different for different people and freedom of expression means anyone can say whatever he / she believes. But these days, I have actually started observing that a living person does 'radiate' positive or negative energies. Also, I think that a smiling face or the ability to smile or laugh a lot imparts a person with positive energies. (This is my opinion and I know a lot may find it stupid or highly biased.)
One of my investment consultants is such, that the day I decided to invest my money through his agency, I couldnt help thinking that he wouldnt lose my money or couldnt help thinking that he would always give me the correct advice as to which investment schemes to put my money in or where not to put it. The investment agent's name is muthu and he has a smiling face.
Same is the case with one of my friends, who has a smiling face. You cant help but trust such people.
One of my seniors in office, doesnt laugh a lot or smile, but still encourages people and never creates bad vibrations. I have this feeling of 'he's always there to solve the problems which I cannot handle.' (Although, I havent had such problems till date !!)
Another of my seniors, is the boring type, slow and the 'always complaining' types. I feel 'ill' when I am in his company.

Point of saying all this is (without the greatest of examples.) that there are some people who are very positive and have a 'we'll take care of everything that comes our way' attitude towards life. Hence, they are always generally happy and keep radiating this positivity, the mere reason being that the positive energy is a projection of our 'general happiness'.
Dont worry, be happy.

From RCF to Allahabad..

I know this seems to be a funny title to the post. But I'd prefer to remember the two as, being related. I remember our very first 'official visits' to the RCF industrial facility at Trombay. Our final year engineering project required us to go to RCF every monday. And although our final year project title was 'Installation and commissioning' of a certain plant, we did neither......install nor commission. In fact my fondest memories of those 'official visits' were only eating out at the nearest 'Jhama' after 'working'.
Recently, I was sent to a vendor's works facility in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh for some 'real official work' from my office. (This was quite unlike the college final year project trips....there was real work to be done and eating out wasnt going to be the real objective !!!). I left Mumbai on Friday evening. Checked in my luggage at mumbai domestic. Reached IGI domestic 2 hours later and booked a pre paid taxi. It was my first time in new delhi. Weather around this time is hot, if not raining. The roads were truly amazing in New Delhi, at least in the part through which I travelled. The taxi which I got was a horrible looking thing, it looked like it had been bumped at least a dozen times and vibrated so much that I checked the underseat for any artificial massaging devices. Moreover, the driver was determined to give me a 'joyous, roller-coaster like ride'. He speeded up when he saw a speed breaker and I am quite sure that you have to do the opposite !!! I was all rickety by the time I reached New delhi station, from where, after dining at a nearby place, I sat down in the Prayagraj express, and the train left for allahabad. It reached Allahabad in the morning time at around 7. I came to the gates and was immediately surrounded by cycle-rickshawallas. But I found the car that was supposed to take me to the Hotel. On the way, I realised that Allahabad looked more like a town than a city (like many other indian cities!!) . Of course, it is a city and it has its own university. The significance of Allahabad lies in the fact that the three big rivers....Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet at Allahabad. The meeting of the three rivers is known as sangam (Every time we travelled to the vendor's works there, we passed on a bridge, built over the sangam, which was a very impressive, two pillar suspension bridge.) The Hotel was very nice and after sleeping for about an hour and having breakfast, the car dropped us at the place where we had work. Now, here came the real fun. It was a very 'conventional' type of office. We were invited to a conference room where there was a clear inch of dirt on the horse-shoe shaped table. The chairs were such that each time you sat on one of them, a castor would come off !!! There was an old black and white TV (No projector) and an old black board. It reminded me of one of our bigger school classrooms. Once you got used to this very old idea conference room, there were coolers, which circulated hot air because they werent supplied enough water !!! The managers cabins were worst, with notice boards being stuck on opaque window frames. The cabin door was fixed up with a hydraulic closing apparatus, which closed the door slowly. But since the door hinges didnt seemed to be oiled regularly, the doors creaked till they closed and just a centimeter before the door closed completely the hydraulics would disengage and the door would close with a loud 'thud' which rattled all those notice boards and disturb their 'straight line' alignment. In cabins too, the chairs were broken, but atleast they didnt have castors. People here were completely 'cool'. It seemed that, only 4-5 people worked in that office. Rest all would be found in the same position in the evening as they were in the mornings and be found doing no work at all !!!. People came to the conference room after lunch quite often, as it was open, when we 'customers' had come and it was cooler in the conference room. Once or twice I even spotted people nodding their heads and sleeping completely inside the officers cabins. The official closing time was 5 PM. Since the gate was a bit away from the main office building, people started off at 5 minutes to 5 itself, so that they would reach the gate at exactly 5 where they would punch out their attendance !!! I have never before seen such 'cool' or 'slow' working atmostphere.
Every morning we used to leave the hotel at 0930 hrs and reach the vendor's works at 1000hrs. I worked in this office for 5 days and expedited 5 months pending work !! So you can imagine how slowly these people must be working!!
Me and another fellow from the client side were first time visitors for allahabad, and so on a holiday decided to visit the sangam. The river bed is huge and you have to get to the sangam in a boat. The people here can take you for a ride, in the boat and also where money is concerned. We paid the boatman Rs 450 for a ride. We gave him Rs 450 and not more than that (Even Rs 450 is too much). I dont want to hurt any more 'yatri sentiments' and wont say more on this part. Finally our work got over on thursday and we left at 9.30 Pm by the prayagraj express. Reached Delhi, at 0700 and had to catch a plane at 1115. So roamed around a bit on the IGI domestic, saw some pretty looking dames, checked in, boarded the plane. The famous bollywood actor Mr. Anupam Kher was on the same plane as I was. Stepped down from the airport bus beside him. Didnt shake hands with him, though. No reason why.
All in all quite a memorable trip, in terms of seeing new people.