'Socially' active

 

The definition of being ‘socially active’ has changed so much. It was all about going out from the comfort of your house and attending parties and social functions and chatting a lot. With the advent of social media being ‘socially active’ may simply mean being active on social media – watsapp, facebook, twitter and god knows what other sites. 

A person you might not even know your face may be on your ‘friends list’ in facebook. I know a guy in office, who doesn’t know me, who doesn’t recognize me, who does not even smile at me when we cross paths and yet had invited me on facebook to be my friend (I had accepted his invitation coz I know him by sight and thought that if we aren’t friends now, we will be- after the facebook entry !! Frankly, I would ve been delighted if it was a pretty looking girl who had invited me and then followed up with everything - but gosh,  this is a guy I am talking about L). 

For all I know, on fb, he even wishes me on my birthday, likes the photographs that I upload and even tags me in office party photographs. And yet even in parties – we never interact !! So I say this – Filling your fb page and increasing your friends count over your other friends’ count is like a competition. It has nothing to do with you being socially active. 

Another point is that the meaning of ‘remembering me on my bday’ has lost its special touch. It was a proud moment for any person, when his friend used to call him up and wish him on his birthday (of course, as per the western culture – but then we have been greatly influenced by it in our childhood as well as youth.). It was equally dangerous for a boy to not remember his girlfriends bday.  Such forgetfulness used to cost the boy heavily !! Depending on the girl’s 'mental' tendencies, she used to slap him, physically assault him, stop talking to him, worst breakup with him or all of it – if her birthday was forgotten and flowers were not bestowed. But now, there are fb reminders – you can simply open the app and wish the person. The fun is gone – the action that followed forgotten birthdays is gone (the slaps, or breakups or whatever !!).

Watsapp groups are another rage. I am part of many groups, where I have not actually met people, but keep chatting with them. However, I am of the opinion that forwarding messages each and every time that you get them is definitely not social ‘activism’. That sort of stuff is like playing passing the parcel. For me and I am sure for a lot of people, there are usually huge amounts of messages which are not read, videos which are not watched, photos which are not seen and a lot of other stuff which is simply missed - intentionally or otherwise.  

All said and done – I don’t deny the advantages that social media provides – catching up with everyone – sometimes your childhood pals, sometimes relatives you never get to see, even chatting with your siblings who are abroad and can maybe meet you in person only once a year – you can still chat with them everyday !! 

But it does not mean that being socially active is you are active on social media. Its like showing a water can to a plant without actually watering it !!  

But well – that’s my opinion and I still do not deny that sometimes people can write better than they can speak or present. 

Morocco Part 1

If you look at the world map, you simply fail to notice some countries. You haven’t heard their name. They are not amongst the popular tourist destinations or no one in your circle has ever been there. But as the world is becoming smaller and smaller, there is no telling which place you’d land up, how much time you would spend there and what it would mean to you in the coming years !!

Morocco is one such country which happened to me. As a child I had never heard of it – as a country. The only morocco I knew is a snack in southern india with a similar sounding name ‘Murukku’ !! 7 years back I heard it as a project site for one of our company’s projects. Still it was a far away thing. I just knew it as a site for one of our company’s projects. Only when I was assigned to it for a short term work deputation did I start knowing it. I had a very different idea about it till I went there. Being an Islamic nation, all I thought about in the plane was – in case my wife has to accompany me sometime – she would have to wear a burkha and have plenty of restrictions!! How wrong I was !! Yes, people there are traditional but warm and liberal as well.

  

It was to become my home for two years. A place where I made very good friends, had very good colleagues, saw some beautiful sights and sceneries and enjoyed their culture and food – which is quite similar to India’s – Colourful, energetic and family oriented.

I have now been an expat twice for considerably long durations and I can say that for all the glamour and money that people back home view it (Depending on the destination of course) – practically it is something else altogether. Being away from family, having to prepare your own food after work, doing the dishes, having to oversee office tasks as well as home chores is a different ball game. On top of that, ensuring that your health remains good – It is as easy as hitting a bulls eye from moving car !!     

Casablanca where my workplace and my home away from home was – is a commercial city. Just like Mumbai, it is cosmopolitan, A fair amount of foreigners live – French, Spanish, Chinese, Indians who all come for work mostly and lot of them own houses in this charming city – as I hear.

People in morocco are warm and friendly to say the least. They have a family culture and live like kings – as in they are fairly satisfied with what they have – no rush, no hurry. In my interactions with them, sometimes, I was close to pulling my hair – flustered at their easy attitude. Mumbaikars would classify them as being ‘lazy’ but lets face it – we are in too much of a rush for everything and if you want to really live your life – you should do it in your own terms – in your own sweet time. One culture point - I saw a lot of kids being whacked by their parents in morocco, reminiscent of the Indian training culture of our generations and the generations before us !!

A peek into their food – Moroccans raise their eyebrows when you say ‘Vegetarian’. They cannot understand how a person can live only on veggies all their life. They have meat in almost everything they eat. ‘Where do you get your proteins from?’, they would ask.

Well, we Indians can write books and books about food – all types of it, so I never wasted my breath explaining to them what vegetarians eat!! Coming back to their food, Tajine was my favourite – It consisted of slow cooked meat stewed in cooked vegetables with Moroccan spices. It is made in an attractive earthen vessel which allows all the flavours and aromas to be trapped in. When the lid is opened, the aroma is mesmerizing !! Couscous is made from wheat durum and is cooked with meat and vegetables. Rfissa is a dish of chicken and lentils, which are served over a bed of pastry (pasta). In restaurant they have special days for each. I remember Rfissa being available on Wednesday and Couscous on Friday. Tajine is available all days. Shawarmas are famous as a kind of fast food version. They make and eat a variety of breads. Mssemen was my personal favourite, more so because it was kind of close to the Indian maida roti. During Ramadan they have a variety of sweets from dry fruits and stuff.            

To be continued....

Arch enemy and the greatest teacher of mankind - Corona

I consider myself the luckiest of the present generations. Neither were we as poor as our parents during their childhood nor did we have or get everything as the kids these days have or get.

However, there is certainly one mistake which all the three generations present today have made - we have taken nature and our freedom for granted. Never really cared about it particularly or gave it a second thought. Despite knowing that mother nature can take her own course and become vengeful.

So, all of us are under it now. No one – atleast those who are not classified as ‘essential services worker’ are part of the ‘Stay home, stay safe’ strategy to tackle COVID-19. Even those who are essential services live in the fear when the infection will strike them.

It is said that you can learn a lot from your enemies. As we fight one of the biggest threats of the modern era, we are being taught a lot of important lessons by the virus and subsequently – the lockdown .

Lockdown has made us stay home –– Made these happen and taught us the following lessons:

Do not underestimate the small and lowly beings of this earth. Remember that red ants have been known to bring down large African elephants to their knees by biting them inside their trunks. Need I say more? Stay alert and never let your guard down.  

No going outside unless absolutely necessary, not to waste energy and not to waste precious fuel. Just how good can the AQI be in Mumbai when there are less vehicles on the road !!

Spend time with family. How many of us actually get this much time in one month to spend time with your family? How many of us workaholics know which board game our kids actually like? How many of us really talk to our parents – what they feel, what they would like to do, what are the hobbies that they still pursue?

Bring only those supplies which are necessary to sustain us. Don’t be greedy and buy all sorts of eatables from the junk shelves – in case they make you sick and a corona suspect !!

Stop eating outside food – since no restaurants are open and the home delivery restaurants also have large waiting time or their delivery personnel are working in shifts.

Use your mobile phones, home PCs, laptops with extra care – if something happens to it during lockdown, who will repair them? All repair shops are closed. And we all know that we will just die if we don’t have internet or our mobile phones!!

Discover the joy of doing nothing. From a very young age we are taught to be busy, but no one ever teaches us how to do nothing !! Do it now.

Do the dishes ourselves – No maids coming.  

Try your hand at cooking – you will appreciate the dedication, hardwork and the expertise of a housewife !!

Watch the movies which you always wanted to on Netflix.

Record a song on Smule – who knows, maybe you are just a tad bit more talented than a bathroom singer !!

Play those PC games, which you might probably not have played since your college days !!

Practise Yoga and pranayam at home. Maybe you neglected it till now because of work. You will discover the joy and start doing it regularly when this is over !!

So many things – unexplored, unknown, unchartered. A time of realisations, a dawn of self discoveries, a once in a lifetime opportunity to do so much for oneself.  Let mankind thrive and death to the enemy virus !!    

The evolution and de-evolution of my biking era.

I had a tricycle when I was around 3 years of age and learned how to bicycle (on an old bicycle, which used to belong to a cousin of mine) when I was around 7 or 8 years old. When I was around 10 or 11, about to go to high school, my parents bought me my first own bicycle. It was a Hero Ranger. Hero is the name of the company that made bicycles and 'Ranger' was the model name. 'Ranger' was a very popular model back then and at that time was one of those very first 'mountain terrain' bikes that were made in India. These cycles were supposed to be rough and tough. They had somewhat heavy frames. The wheel radius was small but the tire was larger. These were quite different from the 'normal' bicycles which had a thinner wheel, lighter frames and used to ride faster. My sister had one of these 'normal' bicycles. The advantage of the normal cycles was that they used to cover a larger distance with a single round of pedalling as compared to the rangers, which required more effort and pedalling. I remember dad telling me that, I should buy a 'normal' cycle because it is better. But, I didnt agree with him at that time. I seemed to think that 'Rangers' were much more 'trendy' and new and hip. The normal bicycles were very boring in looks and I'd be teased horrible by my friends and the others at school !!
I rode the ranger till I was 16 years of age, I think. After this, my sister, who is elder to me by 3.5 years wanted a scooter. Dad decided to buy it, because, for one, he himself had a bajaj chetak, when we were young and he loves to ride two wheelers !!
Obviously, when the two wheeler was bought, I too wanted to have my share of riding it !! I had got my license of 'motor cycle without gear' made and took the 'scooty' out whenever I got the chance. The scooty was gearless, didnt go much higher than 40 km/hr and had a feel good factor !! My sister got married when I was 20 years of age. After this, I took the sole 'control' of the scooty and became the owner of it !! Of course, with ownership, come responsibilities and I used to give the scooty for servicing and used to clean it quite regularly. I used the scooty till the end of my engineering college days. Dad promised me a motorcycle, if I got a first class grade for my graduation. I did get a first class grade, and so got the bike on 13th October 2005 (which happened to be Dasara, a festival day in India) !! It was a Hero Honda Super Splendor. A truly reliable, efficient and a smooth but rugged machine it was !! It was the beginning of a long relationship with motorbikes !! When I rode this motorbike, I was the king of the road !! The feeling of riding a motorbike is very near to what is called 'blissful'. On this bike, I went on long rides, to matheran, to karjat, to lonavla etc. When, I joined a company, I went for my interview on this bike and when I got the job, I continued travelling by bike, even though, my company has a bus !! It was for the love of biking !!
Then 5 years back I was in a minor accident, in which my beautiful bike was damaged a bit. I got it repaired, but in the end, thought that I should probably sell the bike, while I get a good deal. I sold off the bike and decided to buy a new one. I bought a Honda Unicorn which has a larger engine capacity and hence more power than the super splendor. I bought it on 7 May 2008, which was an auspicious day called 'Akshay tritiya' as per the maharashtrian calender. The Unicorn is fun too, of course !! I roamed around on this bike at night, when I was a bachelor !! And, I took my wife on bike rides on this as well, when I got married !!
I took this bike on long rides too !!
I came to Holland, on 6 September 2013. It is a well known fact that in Holland, almost everybody has a bicycle. Holland has special bicycle roads and routes everywhere, apart from the car roads. So, I decided to go 'Dutch' and buy a bicycle. I enquired at a nearby shop, where they sell second hand bicycles. In Holland, you get very good second bicycles, because, unless the first owner has done any extraordinarily crazy stunts on the bicycles, they remain intact. Also, bicycles are well made, secondly, roads for cycling are good, so less wear and tear of the tyres and thirdly, the air is dust free here, which also contributes (I think it matters when the air is dust free, but still I'm not sure how, or I dont know how to explain it.). So, anyway, the man showed me a second hand bicycle for 50 Euros. I decided to buy it. After a day, I had a flat, so I got the inner tube of the tyre replaced (which the very ethical man, at the shop replaced for free !!). So, now I ride a bicycle, do all my chores on it and travel to office on it.

So from a tricycle, to a bicycle, to a ranger, to a scooty, to a motorbike, to a better motorbike and back to a bicycle !!! Different phases of life but the same enjoyment of biking!!
I'm calling it the evolution and de-evolution of my biking era !!!    

  

Mavshi Aaji - Ekdum bindaas !!

I was not much attached with mavshi - aaji (Grand Aunt). Yet I found it hard to believe that she was no more, even though, ironically it wasnt quite shocking to me that she'd died !! This is because she had so many health problems for such a long time, we used to actually wonder how she stayed alive for so many years !!

Mavshi Aaji was my maternal grandmother's sister. Grandmother has three other siblings....Two brothers and one sister. My grandmother and mother were very close with mavshi aaji.
Mavshi aaji was a very eccentric lady. It was fun to listen to her talk at times. She used to have a lot of comments about a lot of things. She also had a lot of 'abusive terms' in her 'vocabulary' and didnt quite bother to keep them bottled up inside her in front of us kids !!! You can imagine the glee, a kid experiences, when an abusive word is used by an elder in front of him !! However her way of talking didnt quite amuse all people. Sometimes, harsh words can have a long lasting and damaging effect, which did happen in her case. She lost out favour with her own sons, daughter-in-laws and her grandchildren. On top of that, in her recent days, she'd stubbornly chosen to stay alone in her old apartment, even though she had major health problems.
My sister and I were her favourite. She'd always tell grandmom that she'd love to have us as her grandkids !! This was also because her own grandchildren didnt quite give her much attention nor did they seemed to care about her....whatever be the case.
When I got married, she told my wife, "You are indeed a very lucky girl !!"

She was an excellent cook and had taught my mom a lot of recipes. When mavshi aaji was young, she was very good looking and used to act in college dramas. She was adept to the art of embroidery and weaving !! One more thing that I remember about her is her home made pickles !! Boy !! How I used to love them and look forward to these, when she gave a jar full to mom, when we visited her during the summer holidays !!

Going back to her past, she married a man who was also very eccentric !! He used to write letters and post them addressed to the 'Prime minister of India'. I dont think he used to work at all, and I am not sure how they made ends meet. He died a long time back because, I never did see him in my lifetime.
Mavshi Aaji, took care of her children (who by that time must be old enough of course !!)

She had a lot of fluctuations in health. She had a paralysis attack some 10 years ago, had diabetes for a long time. Her sugar levels had once risen to 400 and she was hospitalized. She was back to normal within a week's time !! Obviously, her health genes were tough, because she'd lived an active life inspite of all these recurring health problems. She died at a ripe old age of 85, alone in her own house, she'd so stubbornly decided to stay in independently.

If there was a way blogs could be read in heaven...I'd like to convey one thing to her which I did not tell her while she was alive....Its just that...I loved to hear you talk, straight out and openly, right from the heart, not holding a word back....ekdum bindaas !!

Ignorance is bliss? Yes at times.

What is this? What happens when you do this? What are the advantages? How economical is this compared to that? How best can this be done? Why is this here? Where can I find this? Where do I get to learn this? What did he mean when he said that?
So many questions. And from there on starts an a quest, a thirst to learn something new, finally the satisfaction of having gained the knowledge and then a new question and another quest and so on...The topic of this post is People with a 'chikitsak buddhi' or in english an 'inquisitive mind'
People with an inquisitive mind are rarely satisfied with their degree of awareness. They are always yearning to be the encylopedia....of trivia or essentials. They seem to poke their heads into all kinds of things that go around in the world...in everyday life or once in a lifetime. They challenge your opinions and question your beliefs and if they differ and dont get their answers....they haggle and pull faces and wear an air of extreme superiority. Even the tiniest of doubt and they'll dissect the whole matter and study the elements and put it back again to make it ...what they would call 'perfect' !!

Its not like this...its not as good as you think it is....you dont know exactly....statements like this are always heard from people of inquisitive minds. There is no doubt that most of them are very intelligent...if they werent they wouldnt be able to raise questions about everything would they?

As long as they are happy with their knowledge seeking spree in life its ok. But sometimes, habits can misguide your way of life. These very inquisitive minds start going deep into stuff which some others would say 'Forget it, it must be there for a reason'. These 'others' dont give a damn about that 'reason'.

Going deep into stuff is not bad....but it makes you think too much...You develop a habit of doing it everytime and then you are not satisfied when you dont get answers....because once in a while you dont !!!
Thinking too much about everything just puts more stress on your brain and believe me, the brain needs to be given a rest every now and then for it to think clearly.
And lets be frank with ourselves...do we need to know everything? Dont you have different experts for different fields? Dont they say ignorance is bliss sometimes?

A dutchman with an indian tongue !!

This is one amusing real story. The project manager (lets say he is Mr. X) on the project which I am working on currently, was given another project to handle from the same client. Our client is based in Netherlands and at the start of every such project, they invite all the lead engineers and designers on the job to their office to their office in netherlands for a kick off meeting. The main part of the work of this particular project was offloaded to a regional office. The leads from this regional office knew the project manager’s name, but had not actually met him and were going to travel to the Netherlands with him. They team was going to meet the team for the first time on the international airport of Mumbai. , The members of this team were told that ‘The project workshare co-ordinator’ would be travelling with them.
Here I must say that Mr. X would be the ‘Overall workshare co-ordinator’ for all the projects of this client in due course of time (although he was the project manager for the time being) and the new job would eventually be handled by a newly appointed project manager in the regional office.
These ‘functional designation definitions’ gave rise to one of the most amusing incidents which I have heard !!
The first time they all met Mr. X was at the international airport, starting from where the whole team was going to travel together. Mr. X introduced himself to all others and exchanged niceties.
I will introduce my readers to Mr. X…..This gentleman is parsi and he has the typical fair and polished looks of the people in the parsi community. Although not very tall, he is quite well built. He wears spectacles and speaks English with a good accent. Also his name is quite uncommon (It could be common in Parsis, of course !!). This speaks nothing of his professional capabilities, but I can tell you that he is a good project manager…a good co-ordinator….but for this post….describing his looks is more important as you read on……
Coming back to our story, the people of the team were all together checking in their luggage, passing immigration and security checks. They were all talking to each other but kept a sort of ‘shy’ distance from X. Members of the team kept chatting to each other in Hindi but when X asked them something, they answered in English. This kept on happening. X initially felt that because these people had met him for the first time, they were being very formal with him and speaking to him in nothing but English. However after some time, he started feeling that something was not quite right. He asked some of the people straight away…..’Tumlog itna formal kyun ho yaar? Mee tumchach manus aahe’ (Why are you being so formal ? I am one of you only.). It was then that people’s faces turned towards him in surprise !!!
The reason for this surprise was that they had mistaken him as one of the men from the client’s side and were under the impression that he is dutch !! His fair looks, unusual name and good English had led them to that belief……and then people were initially bewildered when he uttered a sentence in Hindi and later absolutely flabbergasted when he spoke marathi !!
When people realized this, they laughed their heads off!! They told us this incident and we laughed !! And to this day we laugh heartily and take our hats off ……to the dutchman with an Indian tongue !!

Bachelors, are you qualified?

Me and Wifey were sitting in a garden talking about our careers...how we thought they should be, where they are and what will we do next? The topic switched over to the qualifications that we had (Bachelor's and Master's degree)
Wifey is a Masters in German language and I am a Bachelor's in Instrumentation Engineering. I asked her....Did you find that while pursuing a masters in German....that all your subjects were related only to the German language? Or were there any other subjects during your 2 years of masters when you felt that perhaps, you were only 'beating around the bush'?

Silly question, eh? Well, you might say that....because when you say 'Masters in German' it obviously does not mean that they are going to teach you algebra. Or teach you the french language?

Then I asked her whether it the same with the bachelors degree? (Her bachelors degree is in sanskrit). Did they teach you only sanskrit for all the 3 years of 'Bachelors degree in Sanskrit'?

If your memory can take you back to maybe your first year of Bachelors degree, you will start appreciating my question. In Instrumentation engineering for instance, first year was a revision of science. Applied physics, applied chemistry, maths.Other subjects were engineering drawing, engineering mechanics etc. Second year and Third year were all electronics,computers and Electrical....electronic devices and circuits, microprocessors, computer networks, Electrical technology etc.

By the time I was in the final year of our Engineering, I had almost forgotten that I was supposed to be specializing in a field called 'instrumentation'. There were subjects related to instrumentation in the last year, of course, but then these were again covering different areas of instrumentation....which in itself is a vast field !!

It seems almost obvious now, that I knew almost nothing of instrumentation when I joined a company as graduate engineer trainees.

The point I am trying to make is....when we say starting of education for a bachelor's degree......doesnt it mean that one is qualified enough to only learn what is related to your subject of specialization? After all, you have been through school, junior college where you do the common subjects anyway. Do you have to do post graduation to totally be in that subject? Is Bachelor's degree just a degree, where you get a stamp of being qualified in a field when you are actually only just familiar with it?

Unfocus and Focus.

So why is it that I havent written for sometime now? I asked myself and told my friend over email chat that I probably should write something, just to keep my thoughts posted and for the sake of my readers' (a very few of those actually) entertainment.
We had a 'big email chain' discussion over this. He told me that I probably have gotten into some sort of 'writer's block' where I fail to express myself.
Maybe, I am simply too tired of writing, as I write hundreds of official emails a day, being a team leader and co-ordinator on my job now.
Maybe its just that I am physically tired at 10 o'clock at night when I usually update my blog. But I dismissed all these cases. There cannot be a writer's block for loss of expression, as I am watching a lot of Frasier these days and the sophisticated talk of the Crane brothers only makes you want to throw heavy words and sentences and what better way to do it than to write a post? !! And then of the official mails which I write, even if I write real good explanatory emails, most of them are wasted anyway, because our client takes great pride in ignoring my emails !! And physical tiredness is non existent for me...I am proud to say that I am never really tired. You could wake me up at 3 am in the morning and take me for a jog and I could still manage it (as long as I want to do it !!)

Then came a different angle....were my posts only a way to pour out all my feelings onto 'The black and white'? Since the time I got married, the frequency of my posts became lesser and lesser. Was it because I am in love...so much so that I cannot see beyond being with my wife for as much time as possible, without chasing other things? Is it possible as R suggested that with a life so content, why do I need to write at all?
Does it mean that I am so satisfied with my life right now, that I cannot raise any questions, any topics? Am I so blinded by love, that all I can see is my girl (wife) and not observe and analyze the sometimes frustrating, sometimes amusing, sometimes surprising incidents that take place. Am I so focussed in love that I cannot focus on other topics?

I tried to tell my wife this....but she thinks I am just throwing a line to her !!
R thinks I shouldnt tell her while playing computer games, but the truth is I see her eye to eye while throwing these 'lines'. Anyway, I hope I write more after this post. Unfocus on love a bit and focus a bit on writing for sometime will be the key...and it wont be easy !!

A little boy's haircut !!

It was just another visit to the barber's. Hair cutting like shaving is a must for us 'uncool' guys who'd like to keep our hair short !! After a haircut, I feel most relieved. It feels so nice and cool and free. Its almost as if, hair has extra weight which gets off, after the snips. As I was directed to the chair by the barber, I noticed that a very young boy was sitting in the chair next to mine. He must have been around 4 to 5 years old. His mother was sitting on one of chairs at the behind of the shop and instructing the hair cutter how to cut the boy's hair.

I remembered the time when my father used to bring me to this very saloon, when I was around the kid's age. My father still remembers me sitting quietly on the chair....'like a good boy' he says !! The barber never had any problem cutting my hair, as I used to sit very steady (unlike at most other times, when I used to be a very restless tot). It only used to be a problem when I used to shake when he used to shave off the fine hairs with a scalpel causing a very strong tickle !!

For some reason I also remembered that there was a stop next to the saloon from where dad used to get me a chocolate lollypop after every cut, as a reward for being good and steady !!!

So anyway, coming back to the present....this boy was getting more restless by the minute. He was fidgeting and making irritable noises. The boy wanted a particular hairstyle. He was telling the barber:

Boy: Uncle, I want to have this hairstyle, where my hair would stand like small prickly needles. Mom, tell uncle I want a haircut like akshay's !!

Boy's mother: No dear, Akshay's hair is only like that...it stands on its end...its natural. You have straight hair dear. You cannot have a cut like that.

Boy: Noooo....uncle, give me a haircut like I am telling you to !!

Barber: No beta....this cut looks good on you....dont do any hairstyles now. Do them when you are older and in college....right now listen to mom beta...

Boy: Nooo..nooo....nooo....

After his haircut was complete and the towel was removed....the boy's deliberately stamped his feet on the ground and huffed out of the saloon, his chubby cheeks red with anger at not getting the desired style !! His mom paid the money and hurried off after her son !!

Makes me want to say .....Kids, these days !! When we were young all we knew was that dad takes me to a barber's shop every month, where I have to sit and get my haircut. Once it was done...we were free to go.....the thought never crossed our minds as to how we'd look with this style....or with some other. 'Hairstyle' did not exist for us...we didnt know what that word meant. These days it seems otherwise. But then as my friend once said...Change is the only constant !!

Project Manager's prowess

I work for an engineering company.
These are 2 incidents which a project engineer told me about our project manager for a recently completed project..

Incident 1:
There was a vendor company in Hyderabad which was not releasing quite a few critically required documents to our company in time. These documents were well past the due date and the vendor company simply had not released them despite so many reminder calls and emails from our technical team. One day, our project manager got a call from the client to tell him to get it done quickly (I write this in soft terms...the client might have actually did more than just 'telling him to get it done quickly' by which I mean to say our project manager might have actually got a firing from the client.). Once the client's call was over the project manager called up XYZ (the vendor company's PM.)

Our project manager (PM): Hello...is this Mr. XYZ?

XYZ: Yes PM Sir !! How are you?

PM: Yeah, I am fine, ...Tell me...are there any 1 BHK flats available in Hyderabad?

XYZ (Was a bit puzzled..After all it was a topic totally different from the otherwise 'technical talk' ): Hmmm....Might be sir....Are you looking for flats in Hyderabad?

PM: Yeah 1 BHK mostly...How soon can you tell me?

XYZ must've started wondering whether PM had mistaken him for an estate agent !!

XYZ (mustve also started realising that something was wrong): Sir, I am sorry...but can you tell me how I can help you, please?

PM: Well, actually, I think I am going to be permanently transferred to Hyderabad by the client himself....Client thinks that I should come to Hyderabad and sit on your head to get those documents released, which they think would still require a lifetime.....

XYZ (There was a pause from XYZ...the statement had clearly left him midway between unpleasant shock, amusement and a disconcerting change of topics.):
I am sorry sir ....but...

PM (interrupting him): So thats why I was wondering whether I could buy a 1 BHK in Hyderabad....settle down there for the rest of my life....sit on your head and maybe then it'll take you maybe some less years to release the documents with my 'help'.

XYZ (Now fully understanding the gravity of the situation...): I am sorry sir, really very sorry....I'll get it done sir...those very documents will be sent by the end of this week....surely.....

PM: Ok...If they dont....please tell me if there are any 1 BHKs in Hyderabad...

XYZ (Trying to laugh valiantly): Hahaha...no sir...I assure you...it wont be delayed at all now...


The documents were at the PMs desk by that Thursday's evening !!


Incident 2:
The PM had sent a courier to the client's PM. The client is locally located The Client's PM called up 4 days later saying that the courier had not yet come. Again our PM got a firing and had to listen to stuff like...Is this how your company works? One courier has not reached on time....which courier company do you hire....etc etc...
When the PM set the phone down...he called the courier company through which the courier was being sent.

PM: Hello...XYZ courier services?

XYZ: Yes, How may I help you?

PM: My name is *** and I am speaking from ZZZ engineering company.

XYZ: Yes sir.

PM: Is there a job vacancy in your company?

XYZ (imagine his face): Ummm....Maybe sir...I'll have to check...Why do you ask sir?

PM: I think the client is going to get me fired from my company....because some papers were not sent to them on time. We sent those papers through your courier services...

XYZ: Sir....I understand sir....Its a dela..

PM: Since I am going to lose my job due to you....I thought maybe you should compensate by doing this small service to me and offering me a job in your courier company !! I think I could deliver a courier in 1 or 2 days at the most...hence doing a better job !!

XYZ: I am sorry sir....please give me the docket no. and I'll arrange to deliver it today itself...

PM: After you deliver that courier....please also send me an apology note from you...so that I can convince my client that it wasnt my fault !!

XYZ: Ok sir !!

The apology and delivery note were on the PMs desk by that very evening !!

Official trip to Netherlands - Groningen Part 3

Our office schedule was the same everyday. There is nothing much to say on the work front. When it comes to writing a post...I dont like to cover any details of that in the post. Anyway, thursday was shopping day !!! Most shops are open here till 8 PM on thursday and so as soon as we reached hotel after office, we dropped our office bags in the room and went off immediately with our shopping bags !! I shopped for a few souvenirs. And of course, we shopped for chocolates too !!! Chocolates were quite cheap in the Albert heijn market and we bought a lot of chocolates and some cheese too. I also went to a shop which sold only cheese. When I entered, I was most amazed to see hundreds maybe even thousands of variety of cheese. Each variety was neatly stacked in shelves. A full round 'wheel' of cheese looked like a big yellow tire. It just made you want to bite into it, as quickly and deeply as possible !! I was just so confused when I asked the shopkeeper....Would you happen to have a sort of 'assorted' packet of cheese? Shopkeeper: Nope, I dont have that...but you can have a few varieties on weight...maybe a 100 gms of each or so? Me: Mmmm...no...I think I'll buy just one of your recommendations...which one would you recommend? Shopkeeper: Well...lets see...you like to have one from pasteurized milk or normal.. Me: Normal. Shopkeeper: Strong or mild? Me: Medium...not too strong not too mild. Shopkeeper: Salty to taste or bland? Me: Well, on the saltier side.... Shopkeeper...All right then....here you go... He took out a cheese wheel from a nearby shelf....cut a slice....and sliced out a thinner slice for me to taste. I tasted it and it seemed to have a salty and slightly bitter taste...I liked it and bought 200 gms of it. He told me that it was 'beloga cheese'. Later I also bought some packed cheese from the supermarket. On friday, we said a final goodbye to our office colleagues. On saturday, we had a plane to catch in amsterdam at 10:30 and so we started off from Groningen at 6:00 AM in the morning. We reached Amsterdam at around 7:45 AM and after the usual baggage check in....shopped some more in the airport area in their famous 'SEE BUY FLY' duty free shopping area. The security check here was at the boarding gate. So once you go through the security check, you directly board the plane. The body scanning machine here was a sort of round glass enclosure. You had to step inside and then a glass panel would rotate around you and the round glass enclosure. I was forcibly reminded of the sci-fi movies where machines of similar design transformed humans into something else !! I told my friend that he would see a new ravi with superwings or something at the other end of the machine !!! After this we boarded the plane. Our journey was of 7 hours till Delhi. We reached Delhi at 10:30 PM at night where the outside temperature was an unpleasant 38 degrees celcius, at 10:30 PM in the night itself !! Our next plane was Delhi - Mumbai at 3:30 Pm which got cancelled and we got booking on a flight which left delhi at 7:00 AM the next day !!! Anyway...since there were 12 of us...we chatted a lot and had a lot of fun discussing funny incidents from the trip. It was one great trip afterall and hope there are many more like these to come !!!

Official trip to Netherlands - Groningen Part 2

On monday morning, we had an early breakfast at 7:00 AM and our cab was there to pick us up at around 7:30 AM. Its spring time in netherlands and one of the most amusing thing I find here is that the sun sets after 9 PM !!! Here it used to set at 9:30 PM and there used to be twilight till around 10:30 PM !!! There were days then I slept at 10:30 PM when there was evening light and woke up to bright sunlight which came as early as 5:00 AM in the morning !! So anyway, the cab left us to office...which was at a distance of around 30 Kms from our hotel. The office here was in a village called as Sappemeer. This was a farming village with a few big offices nearby. Our office here is in a nice spacious building with G+2 floors and a small canteen. Some tables are also laid outside, where people enjoy light sunshine in spring time !! There is a railway line beside the building compound and I was given a workplace which gave me a great view of passing trains !! The dutch people seem to have a slow style of working but never seem to sacrifice the quality of work done. The people in our office were a very helpful lot. We even asked them about Groningen and they were more than happy to tell us which places to see and which restaurants were good. First day in office was all about introductions and familiarization with people on the project, overview of the project and the agenda of the 5 day meeting. The first part was the most important as good communication is a must in any 'workshare' job. Life here is very slow as compared to life in a city like Mumbai. People seem to do what they like and its kind of hard to 'work hard' here. They seem to enjoy and work is just a smaller part of their life. Every evening we used to go around in Groningen. We went to the station (just to see how a dutch railway station and the trains there looked like and the intercity train fares to various cities..so that we would know...in case we go to groningen again), Martini tower (which is the tallest 'monument' in groningen), Harmsmeer lake (a nice quiet place with families and youngster enjoying the serenity of the lake.) We even took a round by one of the red light district lanes !! The latter most is the most interesting one to describe and might be most interesting to anyone who hasnt been there !! Me, jaggu and shashi ventured out one late evening. We were given the directions by our friend, naren.....who had frequented the place during the first four late evenings !! We followed his directions but missed a turn and went to Groningen station. When we were walking back, jaggu suggested that maybe naren had told us to turn in the wrong direction. So we went in the opposite direction and found it. From a distance we saw a lane with 'shops' with glass windows and red tubelights bordering the edges of the glass. Inside the 'shops' behind the windows were girls in two piece or bikinis. As we started walking down the lane, we looked at them. Some of them smiled and waved, some beckoned, some of them performed a short jig. It goes without saying that they were dressed to kill or 'undressed' to capture customers. On the whole, I would advise anyone travelling there to atleast go to the lane and have a look, just to know and see it for what it is, not alone, but with some people accompanying you. We did not feel unsafe or anything when we were walking down that lane but then it was a crowded thursday evening and then there is always an element of uncertainty when you are going anywhere for the first time, isnt it?

Official trip to Netherlands - Groningen Part 1

It was all rainy and fogged up as we landed here in amsterdam. However as our aircraft descended there was surprisingly no turbulence, quite typical of such foggy and rainy conditions. The pilot made a silky smooth landing and I bet that if anyone was sleeping at that time, he wouldnt have woken up !! Schipol is a spacious airport with 4 lounges (main waiting areas). It seems to be pretty much busy too. I think the reason for that would be that there are many connecting flights from Schipol to other parts of the world. We headed to passport control (immigration) where they asked us the usual questions. Q: Purpose of your visit? A: Business meeting. Q: What kinda business meeting? A: A scope identification sort of business meeting !! Q: Could you show me your invitation letter please? A: Yeah. Sure....here it is. The man looked at the invitation letter and looked impressed (Because the name of our company is quite famous apparently!!) "Hmm.... !!!" He said !! He immediately stamped my passport. All 14 of us, then picked up our baggage and assembled in the pickup area. The pickup fellow was there holding an identification board. He took us to the cabs waiting for us and helped us with our luggage. It was a good 2 hour drive from Amsterdam airport to Groningen. The distance between the two is approximately 253 Kms and so as per the math, the average speed was a fast 125 Km / hr !!! On the way, we enjoyed seeing the lovely dutch countryside. The fields here are stretched as far as the eye can see and the greenery is amazing. There was also a lot of cattle grazing in many of these fields. Netherlands is known for its dairy products like cheese. The dutch also harness a lot of wind energy, which is evident from the large no. of windmills that we saw along the way. We reached Groningen at around 10 AM local time here. Had the complimentary breakfast and went around to roam in groups of threes or fours (Our group for most of the time was me, Jaggu, VDP and SW from electrical). Groningen is a very quiet place. When we came here, it was as if we had come into a curfew area !! The receptionist told us that its because it was sunday and shops are closed and people too, sleep late into the morning, We were quite amused by this. She asked us on what day are shops closed in Mumbai? We told her that they are not closed on any day and are open till atleast 10 in the night !! It was her turn to be amused after that !!! After that we went out to roam around in Groningen, since our rooms would be ready after some time. Actually we just walked around just surveying what shops are there and where the eating places are as all of them were closed !! We saw a sort of 'Fun fair' area which was buzzing with activity when we went out later in the afternoon after returning to our hotel rooms and catching a short nap. We also saw a couple of subway outlets and macdonalds outlets which are open after 6 PM in the afternoon, meaning that we can go there to have our dinner meal !! Groningen has a lot of canals too and I saw a lot of people fishing as well.

We are the 'uncle' generation

Today we went to eat out at a restaurant. There were a lot of kids at the place. My friend spotted a kid who was playing with the window curtains. At the end of the curtains were these small 'pom poms'. The kid was taking great pleasure by hitting his dad around the head with these. From our side we took great pleasure in watching this scenario and laughing our asses off. The boy's dad didnt seem to mind and my friend RAA asked me, whether I ever....ever.... had the balls to hit my dad on the head or anywhere for that matter, playfully or forcefully whatsoever !! I replied in the negative and RAA commented that if he ever showed the kind of 'arrogance' the kid was showing....his dad would've trashed him to his right senses !!! Not that I mean to be an uncle lending out wise words...but it just so happens that things are quite different from what they were when we were kids. You might argue that how we were was different from what our parents were when they were young also...but again it so happens that we are closer in mannerisms and obedience traits with our earlier generation than the kids today will be with us. Our world was quite simple. Go to school, listen to the teachers, or dont listen to them, they yell at you, even hit you if you go to the extreme of 'misbehaving'. And then kids crying their eyes out. Either from the physical pain of the hit or from the prick of the conscience !!! Lessons in life were learnt this way. Come recess and it was time to play and eat our tiffins. Not many of us had money to buy from the canteen. We ate from our tiffins. Whenever we craved for change, we ate from other's tiffins !! It was common for teachers to pass the lid of a tiffin around in class, so that every one would put something in it....and give it to a kid who had forgotten his. When school was over, we went home, ate whatever food mom gave us and went out to play. It was outdoor games all the time in the evening. We didnt sit in front of PS2s and xboxes all evening, although we might have enjoyed some afternoon sessions of video games and computer games, during summer holidays at someone who was 'privileged' enough to own a nintendo, atari or a sony 'box'. For those familiar with the TV games terminology, a 10 in 1 game cartridge used to cost around 200 bucks and the ones who had these games had to beg their parents for a new cartridge...who in turn used to tell them, how lucky they were to get the box itself and how one should be satisfied with the existing games that were bought for them. After the evening outdoor games like cricket, football, kho kho, catch and cook, poison medicine, hide and seek etc., we went home and had our dinner. My dad used to come late and when he did come home, he used to wear a very 'forbidding' look on his face. That look on his face was enough to drive us to our obedient best. The memory of that face was enough to scare us, whenever mom threatened to tell our 'deeds' to dad when we had misbehaved anytime during the day !!! We respected our parents and sure as hell, we were scared of them too !! At night we slept, comfortable with the knowledge that our parents were the world for us, and would keep us secure. There was no 'strong sense of independence' the kids of today have !! We were simple as kids, ready to be led in this big bad world, by our parents. After reliving all these memories, it seems almost unbelievable, that this kid had the 'audacity' to hit his father playfully !!!

Life in a Roller coaster !!

Recently went to Esselworld amusement park. Had a lot of fun...sat a lot of rides. Ones that go up and down...
ones that take you to the top of the world...
ones that make you go round and round....
ones that splash you with water....

The best part for me, will always be...the roller coasters...Exciting little rail carts...make you scream and shout...and give you a thrill of a lifetime...initially you are full of anticipation as the cart slowly starts of...then you are full of awe...at the height it gains....you start to wonder when it'll start giving you the thrill. Meanwhile it reaches its apex...you see the rails in front of you....declining sharply...the car seems to pause for a moment....and then....you r never prepared for what happens next...the coaster plunges down at breakneck speed and takes the following incline with equal speed.....you feel the exhilaration and can barely stop yourself from screaming....from excitement...of fear, of pure adrenaline rush or 'simply' from the odd unrecognized feeling of extremeness that it gives you !!.
The coaster then quietens down again....then thunders down another loop...darts around on a banked circle...zips past a loop...in which you're going to go round and upside down....comes to a top point again...and then just when you start feeling that the ride is getting old now ....it plunges down again....but the loop is ahead....so instead of slowing down after its plunge....it accelerates terrifically and takes you inside the loop and turns you upside down and right side up again....it happens so fast that you hardly have time..... to feel scared or to get used to it.
Either case...at the end of the ride you decide that it was so much fun....that you should ride it again !!!
Roller Coasters offer you the enthralling opportunity of going at speeds which are not possible when you are driving a car, or riding a bike. Bikes and cars can be driven fast...but of course, more than the thrill.......speed kills there...
In a coaster, the force of so many gravities means that you are 'almost' sitting in a fighter plane.

I had so much fun....that I have vowed to go to as many amusement parks as possible and sit on many roller coasters !!!

Honeymoon in Mauritius - Part 4

After relaxing in the hotel for two days....going to the beach, taking walks just outside the hotel, sitting down in the room watching tv, romancing, eating pizzas for lunch......it was time for the saturday outing of 'Blue Safari Submarine'. Our group was taken to the motherboat of the submarine by another motor driven boat. We boarded the submarine through the top hatch by a ladder. The submarine had seats two in a row !! The 'cockpit' was a cramped space where buttons, displays, gauges, levers were mounted. The 'pilot' climbed in and all of us cheered him with a whoop of 'yeah !!' There were round windows along the sides of each seat. When we first climbed into the submarine we saw the hull of the motherboat since the submarine was attached to the motherboat.
After the 'pilot' explained the tour and the controls of the submarine in brief...the submarine took off. The submarine ride was smooth and it was like a turbulence free plane ride !! We saw many colourful fish and undersea life !! The pilot took us close to a barrier reef which is a undersea mountainous formation of corals. We were also taken to a shipwreck. The pilot explained that the mauritians dont sell old ships in scrap. Instead they purposely sink ships. The ships become breeding grounds for undersea plants which becomes food for the fishes and hence helps in preserving undersea life !! At the end of 35 minutes, we were taken up again. As the submarine rose, the sunlight being refracted through the waters created the impression that the surface of the waters was golden !! It was beautiful and can hardly be described. We were given some refreshments and were taken back to the shore. The shore area belonged to a hotel. The hotel had a big lobby opening out into its restaurant facing the sea !! It had a few sovenir shops where we picked up more sovenirs. We were taken back to our hotel. We picked up some bags of crisps and chocolate bars, which was our lunch for the day !! (The submarine ride was at 2:30 PM and it was 4 by the time we came back to shore. The driver was not ready to stop for lunch as he had to report back at 5:30 PM max). At dinner, we were given our special candle light dinner, which was a part of our holiday package !! The candle light dinner was on an outdoor table. They gave us special heart shaped pastries !!
The next day we were to depart mauritius. In the morning we did kayaking in the waters of our hotel's beach !! After this we had pizza once again !! The private cab driver dropped us to the hotel, where we spent time having coffee and window shopping in mauritius airport shopping area. We reached mumbai airport at around 3:30 AM in the morning, took a prepaid cab and came home at around 5 AM. It was good to see aai and baba....they had missed us more than we had missed them of course !! We were totally lost in each other and in the lovely country of mauritius !!

Honeymoon in Mauritius - Part 3

The next day, it was the island tour. 'Ile Aux Cerfs' is an island near the east coast of Mauritius. We were first taken to the tourist centre on the mainland, where we paid another 900 MUR for a speed boat ride around the island and to the waterfalls. The Speed Boat ride was very thrilling. I'll always remember the boat rider !!
A casually smart looking black man. A holiday T-shirt and bermudas and a pair of cool shades. He was quite muscly and was talking happily with his girlfriend. He had a stereo on the speed boat, with the hip local mauritian music, which was fun to listen to and perfect for the fast boat ride !!! The speed boat took us around the island and through a sort of canyon to a waterfall, which fell off a low cliff. It was here that we saw monkeys....real ones, of course...not the ones we see everyday !!!
After this the speed boat took us to a platform. This was the launching platform for the parasail. Each of the couples were harnessed to a parasail. It was a double harness where the girl was harnessed in the front of the boy, so that he could control the direction of the parasail. The guide there taught us how to control...It is easy to pick up but hard to do....really requires all the power of your arms if you want to move yourselves sharply to the left or the right. After checking our harness, the guide signalled to the speed boat rider (the speed boat to which our parasail was tied) to go ahead. The speed boat accelerated and pulled at the ropes taking us up into the air with sheer speed !! It made our adrenaline rush and we whooped for joy !!! We were up in the air by around 50 metres in a matter of just 3 seconds !! After being airborne for around 5 minutes, the speed boat lined us I made a landing which would make pilots proud of me !!!
From here we were taken by another slow motor driven boat to the island. As we were halfway there, it started raining !!! It gave us a great chance to be chivalrous....to our better half ....and of course... to our cameras too !!! I quickly threw a big plastic over vrunda's head and also covered the camera !!! Once we touched the shore...our new boat rider didnt even bother to help us out of the rocking boat !! He jumped out of the boat and scampered to the shelter as soon as possible, leaving us all behind !!! We helped each other out...Vrunda and me did not bother to run after that as we were dripping wet anyway !! We walked along the shoreline to where our group had assembled. Our guide there told us to be back by around 3:00 PM to catch our boat home. On the island we first changed into dry clothes. The island was like one big party venue !! Speed boats, cruisers, sailboats were anchored along a sand bar and the beach. Some boats were arriving...On one boat the people on were singing and partying. As soon as the boat shored, the people whooped for joy !! We took a walk to the edge of the sandbar. Me through the water and vrunda through the sands as she had had enough of being wet !! After this little walk we went to an indian restaurant where we had non veg thalis. The restaurant was a nice place. Each table was on a sort of 'machan' - an elevated platform supported by 4 poles. After our lunch we roamed around more and had ice cream !! After this it was almost time to go back. So we went to the assembly point where we met our group. It started raining again and we took shelter near the boatshed. When the rain stopped our guide pointed us to the speedboat which was supposed to take us back. We climbed aboard and very soon were zooming towards the mainland. It was drizzling pleasantly now and it was pleasant after the bright sunshine !! Our bus took us back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the day chilling out on the beach chairs and having dinner !!

Honeymoon in Mauritius - Part 2

On reaching the hotel, we were welcomed by a lady named 'Sidney'. Sidney had a very french accent. She asked us to fill up a form. After we filled up the form, we were asked to give a copy of our 'wedding CORD'. Atleast that was the way I heard it !!
I've been to the states and spoken to people with British and Chinese accent of English but the french one was new and I had to ask the lady 3-4 times before I finally understood that 'CORD' was actually card. Realising it, was, of course, another shock as throughout the booking of our trip we'd never been told that we would be asked for proof of our marriage at the hotel. Luckily, I had the wedding card scanned and had uploaded it up on my gmail. Another good thing was that I had my 'Galaxy Smartphone' ....I connected to the Wi-fi and sent it to the hotel email ID. We had reached the hotel at around 12 noon and the check in time was 2 P.M. However we were given the room at around 1:15 PM...thank god for that !! From 12 noon to 1:15 P.M we went for a tour of the hotel.
The hotel had its own beachfront, a lovely swimming pool adjoining a bar overlooking the white sands of the beach and blue ocean waters !!!
After checking in and settling down...we went for our proper 'Lunch' (Before that we had mom's home made 'chivda'). Lunch was pizza....well made and a very wholesome meal.
We went to our rooms, freshened up and napped a bit. At 3:45 P.M, a gentleman called 'Fardeen' showed up to plan our activities for our week of stay. Fardeen was one of those guys who love to show the world that they're 'simply cool'. He had his 'brochuurresss' ready and at hand...and explained all the couples, the day tours and the activities and water sports he had to offer and the prices. Each couple selected their favourites. We picked up...Parasailing and the Blue safari submarine. After this we spent some more time in our rooms.......resting. As the evening came, it was a great joy to see the sunset on the horizon and watching the sun drown its acrylic colours in the blue waters and then enjoy the light cool breeze, whilst sitting on the beach chairs and enjoying the romantic star show !!!

The next day, it was the south island tour. This included...
the glass factory...which was rubbish,
the diamond factory...there was no factory to be frank!!
The dead volcano...this was just a crater with lot of volcanic ash solidified...The mountain had a good view, however !!
The 7 coloured earth of the chamarel ...you really can see the 7 colours...we have taken lots of photos here and near the sleeping volcano !!
The sovenir shops....where we shopped for some sovenirs.
The ship building factory...Lovely....real masterpieces...and real attention to detail...there were lot of wooden ship models, for display and sale. Price ranges starting from 700 MUR to 100000 MUR !!
This was a total standout tourist site in the south island tour...real amazing....

We were also shown the Shiva Temple of Mauritius. Our tour guide said, "Billa, pata hai? India kaa Billa.....woh mauritius ko donation deta hain.' Till now, I had become quite familiar with the French accent of the locals and understood that 'Billa' means Mr. Birla....Mr Aditya Birla contributes a lot to Mauritius and has made a temple in mauritius. The shiva temple has a 105 metre statue of Lord Shiva, which however does not have a 'damroo' in his hand !!!

We had lunch in an Indian cuisine restaurant....both me and Vrunda had a veg thali at 400 MUR.

We were dropped at the hotel at around 5:30 PM after which we had a great time relaxing on the beachside again !!

Honeymoon in mauritius - Part 1

The planning stage was an intense research in geography, geology and economics...by this i mean we travelled (in our visions and day dreams) to many parts of asia, exploring our options of destinations...mountains, beaches and monumental city wonders and considered the budget of our trip. After all this..it was a wonder that we selected mauritius...quite a 'standard' honeymoon destination !! A bit expensive in terms of 'standard'...but still quite a favourite amongst honeymoon couples. Mauritius it was....a small island near the coast of eastern africa...
We had been looking forward to this trip ever since it was planned back in September. We were scheduled to depart from Mumbai on the 28th Nov morning. It was a 0400 hrs flight in the morning, and after checking in and the security checks, we were at the waiting lounge near the boarding gates. As expected there were many honeymoon couples, so from there itself, getting 'intimate'!! There was a slight hiccup while boarding, where my wife had forgotten a tag on her purse. We had to go back to the security counter to get ones, as the idiots at the gates didnt have any.
It was Vrunda's first time in flight and it was most amazing for her to experience the exhilarating acceleration and takeoff and the slightly bumpy landing of the plane.
Mauritius airport is known 'Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport'named after one of the famous prime ministers. As soon as we got off, we were directed to the visa counters. Mauritius has a visa-on-arrival system for Indians. The visa process was extremely quick. We just had to present our passports and our hotel booking vouchers. The visa was stamped and we were 'Welcome to mauritius' as told by the counter officer !!
As soon as we collected our baggage, we were outside, where there were currency exchange counters, where we purchased some 14000 mauritian rupee (MUR). There was a slight confusion as we waited at a counter no. 7, where the agency representative who was supposed to pick us up, had not arrived. Moreover counter no. 7 bore the name of a different travel agency !! After a bit of 'asking around' we came to know that the pick up guy would be waiting outside the airport at the arrival gates. As we walked outside the agent with the board checked our names on his list and introduced us to a cab driver who would drive us to our hotel. The cab driver was a tall fellow. It was difficult to tell his origin. He had a mixture of south Indian and south american looks. The people in mauritius are a mix. Indians (Biharis), south americans, french, africans. The locals speak a language called 'creole' which is a mix of the indian language 'bhojpuri' and french. While we were being driven to the hotel, I noticed that the weather seemed to be tropical, however the air seemed to be fresh and the skies were a lovely blue lined with a few scattered clouds, which looked like cotton. The roads were good, rules were being followed, generally and it was very clean. Our resort 'The Jalsa Beach resort and Spa' was at a place called 'Poste Laffayette. Looking out of the window was a treat by itself. The scenery and the landscapes were so beautiful...that i could not quite bring myself to face the fact that my video camera has limited memory and cannot record the entire hour of our travel !! So i recorded a video and then sat back to relax and just watch the beauty of nature with lenses of my eyes and record it in my own memory !! After an hour of driving we came to a slightly inclined road..beyond which nothing could be seen...as our car went further and reached the apex...it was a sight which i can probably never forget...a vast and deep blue shoreline was clearly visible...lined with white sands and waves swirling and twisting in a foam to meet the sands...Very soon we reached our hotel.

Delhi belly and Bbuddah hoga tera baap.

Both these movies released at the same time. Probably on the same date. Yet they're quite different. Personally, I have liked one and hated the other.

Delhi Belly.
This movie was given a thumbs down for the toilet humour, a scene or two of vulgarity and the use of abusive language. On the other hand, some critics lauded it for the filmmaker's bold comedy.

If you ask me, I enjoyed every moment of everything that's there in the movie. The story is okish...the one in which there are a lot of mix ups. The mix up routines similar to those seen in quite a lot of movies of recent times...one of them which comes to mind is the kunal khemu starrer '98'.

The casting is good. Imran khan, kunal roy kapoor and vir das, play the perfect roles of bachelors. The house which they live in fits the description of a 'bachelor's pad' well. Broken fans, plaster coming off the walls, unhygienic conditions and general carelessness. Shenaz Treasurywala looks hot. Its hard to believe that she's 36 (years of age !!:) ) A big 'Wow!!' for her. The villian's role done by vijay raaz has suited him and his 'proficient style' and the timing of his 'gaalis' makes you role on the floor with laughter !!

The film has targeted the young section of the audience of india, which enjoys humour in any form...pure classic or vulgar. Abusive language is part of their everyday lives and as such they like the openness of language used in the film.

Bbuddah Hoga tera Baap
Why the hell did I come to watch this movie? Were my thoughts 10 minutes into the movie. Bbuddah hoga tera baap has been compared with Delhi belly for reasons of being released at the same time and both being comedies.

Most of the critics have even pointed out that Delhi Belly is bad and BHTB is good. All those amitabh fans get a lot of joy by watching Amitabh Bachan in a 'superman' type oldie role. Frankly, amitabh might be good in the movie, coz he's simply the personality no one could match. You can say that, he being what he is, has salvaged a ridiculous show of stupidity.

Sonu Sood is a smart fellow, but his talent has been wasted in the film. I think he could do much better roles ! Sonal Chauhan is undoubtedly a pretty face..but that's about it. Hema malini has been aping nirupa roy these days....what with the crying in BHTB and other movies like 'baghban'. Raveena tandon...well best not to say anything.

The movie has amitabh saying something like 'beep beep' whenever any 'gaali' comes to his mind. Another poor joke. It would have been much better if he'd been open about it like vijay raaz in delhi belly.
So the talk about amitabh 'stealing the show' in the movie are all rubbish. There is no show...there is only amitabh.
Overall, if you watch this one after delhi belly after like I did, you're likely to like Delhi Belly than this one ANYDAY !!

Is God an Instrumentation Engineer?

We have been titled as 'Jack of all trades'. I think it is likely that we're 'master of all'. Frankly, its nothing to brag about.

This is the 'occupational hazard' of being an instrumentation engineer. If you work in an engineering company, or are familiar with the working of one, you are no alien to the fact that instrumentation makes up only 10-15 % of the total manhour calculations and also around the same percentage of of the entire budget of the project is dedicated to instrumentation. It is thus, very clear, on paper that we have got less than an ounce of work on the project, when you compare us with biggies like 'Civil' 'Mechanical and 'Piping' (technical departments). In between the huge fabricated vessels, large mechanical rotary equipment like compressors, the intense network of pipe racks throughout the plant, all built on their equally strong and large civil foundations of RCC, it is certainly hard to notice that the huge fabricated vessels have some small tappings, with level sensors, which protect the vessel from overflowing and 'drowning' the plant (its an exaggeration, but its probably the mildest thing that could happen if level controls are not in place !! ). No one would give a damn about those little pressure transmitters at the suction and discharge of compressors...indeed they arent noticeable and I cannot explain how important they are !! Those piperacks, that also accommodate instrument cable ducts and trays. (I cant tell you the purpose of running cables throughout the plant...you must know that yourself instrument engineer or not...if you dont or cant figure that out, you're foolish !!).
The valves, transducers, control systems, the cables, the UPS requirements for all these, the compressor controls, the impulse piping / tubing hookups, Input / Output generation....you name it and we do it...
I thank god, that process engineers do not shirk their responsibility of developing P&IDs. Otherwise we would have to do that too...as P&IDs are 'Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams' !!
Moreover, if the above mentioned equipments do not work, it is most likely that an instrument engineer is called upon first citing suspicions on the malfunction of an instrument in the line rather than the equipment or piping !! I cant remember any examples or I would've written it here. Our problem is that, we do not design equipment that is large in size. But the quantity of the smaller items that make up instrumentation of a plant is larger in number !! For each piece of equipment there might be a 100 instruments !! For 100 equipments the number is quite quite large, if you do the math! Still these small items are lower in cost, but require a lot of design engineering.

In short, they are just like us instrumentation engineers. There are lots of them out in this world who work hard for lesser money than their so called big brothers ...Civil, Piping and mechanical !!

I conclude my small 'essay' with an analogy....
The control system is a system which controls the plant process. Which means that it will alert personnel in case of a hazard, and also trip / shutdown a plant when necessary...and those are just two of the many things it does !!

A control system is like forces of nature which control the earth and its beings.
The 'Forces of nature' were created by God. A very realistic question....Is God an Instrumentation Engineer?? :)

Apna Bazaar

Its official now. Vashi's oldest and most popular supermarket has closed. 'Apna Bazaar' has been closed and now they are going to make a new building in its place. As far as I know, only the ground floor will now house a ministore Apna bazaar in place of the 2 storey superstore.

There was a time when Apna Bazaar was the one and only central hub for shopping. Come Sunday, people crowded into Apna bazaar to shop. It had everything....provisions, pharmacy, toys, bicycles and tricycles, shoes, clothing, stationery, watches, utensils etc. I remember myself going with Mom and Dad almost every sunday back when I was a kid. My sister and I used to help our parents complete their shopping, occasionally slipping goodies like cream biscuits, peanuts, pickwick, cheese and maggi noodles into the shopping basket. In those days, all these items were a treat for us kids !! (still is a treat, but its different now, these 'fancy' items are available in plenty and buying power has increased. Moreover, financially we were not that well to do in those times so our parents rightfully avoided spending on fancy items).

Sometimes I used to get lost inside the store, since there were a lot of rows of racks full of provisional goods. One or two times, I was close to tears, since I couldnt find mom !! Finally, when I did find her I was so happy, I hugged her very tightly and didnt leave mom's side till we reached home !!

On the first floor there was a toys section and I remember that sometimes, me and my sister used to tell mom and dad, we are going to the first floor to look at the toys while they shopped on the ground floor. It was a great joy to look at the toys and discuss our 'prospects' of owning those toys sometime later, when our birthdays would 'entitle' us to ask our parents for those !!!

When shopping was finally over, there used to be a popcorn cart just outside of Apna Bazaar. The man used to sell fresh popcorn for Rs 2 a packet!! Dad bought a packet or two everytime. (If you go to a theatre these days and ask for the smallest portion....its Rs 25 !! Talk about inflation !! ). Sunday shopping was thus a joyful family activity in Apna Bazaar, with the regular popcorn treat !!

As we grew up, vashi grew too, and with the upcoming malls and supermarkets, Apna Bazaar lost a lot of its customers to these big fancy malls. But the advantage remained....Apna Bazaar being a co operative departmental store, rates of provisions have always been subsidized and below the maximum retail prices. Since other supermarkets too offer a subsidy, advantage Apna Bazaar is deuced.
Anyway, 3 cheers for Apna Bazaar, its hard not to feel bad about its closing down. The store is a part of my nostalgia !!

Presentation day

He sees people arriving. He sees them looking at him in a shrewd calculative manner...his attire, his posture, his overall appearance. People gather around, take their seats. He makes the formal exchanges of visiting cards, hopes that the big authority over their would hand his card, for the sake of staying in touch with him. Hoping that Mr. Big Guy would provide him a big market for selling his stuff.
And then starts the presentation. Not that he's much nervous about the presentation. He's done it hundreds of times. He's just slightly worried whether it'll do any good, in terms of increasing his sales, or its just another one of the crappy sessions for a bunch of 'good for nothing' doodle goofy junior employees who are being trained by Mr. Big guy!!
He sees some watching him intently, they're the clever ones, eager to learn, maybe they'll get some business for him !!
He sees some others watching him and smiling at each other, apparently finding him as funny as a joker in a circus, or maybe having a good laugh at the way his tummy makes a big and ridiculous shadow in the light of the projector !!
He watches still others, totally blank, probably not understanding a single word he's uttered !!
The presentation moves on and on, we watches people, some with their eyes wide open, as if deliberately avoiding the temptation of snoozing, some unashamedly doing the same. There is a small 'commotion' as a fellow with a tray arrives. Tea break. Everyone in the dozy lot jumps up to reach out for their cups. Surprisingly, those with their eyes closed are the first ones to get their cups of tea.
By now, the presenter has understood all the people....those who're eager to hear him and those who're ready to sleep !!
Tea time is over, back to the presentation, back to their original activity !!
Presentation moves on and on....there is never enough time....so say the usual... "Since time is short sir, I'll run through these slides quickly and tell you everything in brief."...A good strategy to impress the client. Show him that you know it so well that you can change a long presentation into a short one and still explain everything !! Fact is, the presenter would say the same thing, even if time was enough !!
End of presentation is a 'Thank you' slide. And next is 'Any questions?' Mostly there are none, as most of the people have'nt understood a thing !!
Those who do, ask questions...if the presenter knows the answers (like a good presenter), he'll tell them. If he doesnt...he'll say "Hmm, let me check that and come back to you". Everyone shakes hands, says thank you.

Presentation day in the life of the presenter....thats how it is.

The optimist's journey

My dad had dropped me at the ST stand in vashi, and as soon as I got down from the car, I saw an 'asiad' arrive (Asiads are semi luxury STs or state transport buses) . I climbed into the asiad, which had a lady conductor, who was yelling "Expressway, pune, expressway pune, chala chala chala" (It was a bus going to pune, which would take the expressway route). Usually if you go to pune via the expressway it takes a very short time. When I climbed the bus, it was 12 noon exact. Thinking that I'd be in pune at 1530 hrs latest, I was happy. I had a date with Vrunda at 1700 hrs. As soon as I sat down on a seat, I heard a retching noise. The small girl in front of me, was puking outside the window. Travel sickness. Those with travel sickness puke and others who don't have it feel like puking on seeing them. I got up from that seat and went to another quite some way back. The conductor handed me my ticket and I settled down. As I settled down, I heard the retching again, this time a bit differently. Thinking that the small girl must be really really sick, I started making a music playlist on my mobile so that I could hear songs throughout my journey. I was also thinking about Vrunda, when I heard the retching again, and suddenly realised that its coming from the immediate back seat. There was a small boy there, who was puking. What the hell was happening? Was there a vomiting competition going on?

Ever the optimist, I thought, its good that they are throwing up outside...if it was inside, we would have little puddles of someone's yesterday's l***h. The bus was atleast 10-15 years old I thought with its rattling boards and creaking seats...which is quite normal with these ST buses!!

Unexpectedly, the 'expressway' bus took a detour into the panvel city !! As expected, it got stuck in traffic and it was another half an hour before it reached the panvel bus stand. The bus entered the fuelling station on panvel bus stand and it was around another 25 minutes before we got into the fuel loading bay as there were 5 buses ahead of us !! All passengers were infuriated by this time, obviously !!

Why obviously? Because.....
- The bus had taken the detour into panvel, which was not meant to be...it was an 'expressway' bus....so it had to take the expressway route, which starts before panvel and bypasses all the panvel city traffic, thereby saving travel time !!
- It had entered a fuelling station during a journey. An ST bus does not normally go into fuelling during a journey. This 'activity' also meant wastage of travel time !!

After the fuelling stop, the driver again stopped at the stand for some time (approx 15 minutes). The bus exited the stand through a different route owing to the ongoing road construction. The new route was like a 'village road' and soon all the passengers were being thrown from side to side, up and down and against each others shoulders. My jaw was rattling by the time we had reached the main road again and the boy behind me had a fresh spate of 'waqars'. The time was already 1:30 PM. It had taken a full hour and a half just to exit panvel. By 2 PM we were on the expressway and going smoothly. Luckily the ghats did not have much traffic and we reached the second toll booth by 3 PM. Here the ST made a stop at the 'Kailash Parbat' hotel. Thanks to the coupon system in Kailash Parbat, no one who travels by these buses, gets to eat anything here !!! (The coupon system makes it imperative for people to pay money for their food items, collect coupons and then go to the distribution counter!! The time taken by this process is much more than the time the bus is scheduled to halt!). After the break time was over, the bus conductor started taking a head count. The bus had already pulled out of the parking lot when the conductor completed the head count, and found one head (fellow) missing !!. The driver stopped the bus there itself. A full 5 minutes passed before we saw the missing fellow running towards the bus. The bus conductor reprimanded him... "Kalat naahi kaa ho tumhala? Sangitla 15 minuta tari ardha taasa nantar yeta? Bus jaat hoti ata. Nashib changla hota tumcha." ("Dont you understand? I told you the bus would wait for 15 minutes. The bus was about to leave. It was your good luck that we didnt take off without you!!")
The fellow coolly sat down on his seat without paying the slightest attention to the bus conductor. It was 3:30 PM by this time and pune was atleast an hour away.
The optimist in me reared its head again and said, "Maybe their won't be much traffic in pune city".
So lucky, there wasnt !!!
I reached the pune swargate bus stand at half past 4, the least expected time !!! Half an hour before our date !! I mean, ok I had to rush to grandma's and then get ready, but it could be done !!

My dearest Vrunda was going to pick me up at 5 (In pune, she picks me up, since she's got a two-wheeler !! Its my locational and situational 'majboori' that I cannot do so.). I got ready, and punctual as ever, my Vrunda rang the doorbell at 5 PM sharp !!

We had a lovely date, after such a 'terrible journey'. And of course, in all, I'd say all was'nt well but it ended well !!

Without mercy, without remorse, without compassion

This is a dialogue from the TV series named 'Band of Brothers' based on the story of Easy company 101st Airborne division of the US army during world war II.
A 'Private Albert Blithe' confesses to a 'Lieutenant Ronald Spiers' that he hid in a ditch after making their first parachute jump in Normandy.

He tells the Lieutenant that he was scared and so he hid in the ditch.

The lieutenant tells private Blithe that, that was'nt the real reason why he hid in the ditch. The lieutenant adds that they were all scared when they made the first jump. Spiers follows it up by telling Private Blithe a very effective way of 'Overcoming his fears and fighting like a soldier'

This is what he tells Private Blithe,

'You hid because you think there is still hope. But Blithe...the only hope you have is to accept that you're already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll function as you're supposed to. Without mercy, without remorse, without compassion. All war depends on it.' (from the TV series 'Band of Brothers')

I like this dialogue. And if you read it carefully and understand, you'll like it too.

No pain no gain

No gain without pain? Well, yeah. I remembered this proverb as my memories jogged back to yesteryears, when playing sports were a part of everyday life.

These days we do play sports, but of the mental sorts...and not the ones commonly known as 'games' like cricket, football, kho kho, catch-catch and all.

Falling and hurting yourself was very common and rarely did it result in anything more complicated than the murder of the person who committed the foul !! (if it was a game like football and if the 'fouled up' player was good enough to chase the fouler or was 'big' enough to commit his 'murder'!!!).

The small bruises, the annoying sprains, the huge cuts, the deep wounds, the small abrasions....all contributed to 'pain'. And no matter how bad the pain...it was temporarily forgotten in the frenzy of an exciting ongoing match!! In fact....everything else was forgotten once you got out onto the playground !! It was just a game, but it had to be won...it had to be treated like a war. Once the game was over, you came to terms with the pain which had been temporarily numbed. And then the pain used to hit you and water and medicine would seem to worsen it....Soframycin was great but tincure iodine and antiseptic solutions used to make them burn...so much so that you felt like yelling !! I've had lots of falls.....tripping over, toppling over, falling flat on my face and breaking my tooth, landing on my bums, scraping my knees, bruising my shins, hurting my elbows, spraining my ankles...on top of which I committed quite a few fouls in football myself !!! I have been battered, bruised and hurt. After sometime you get used to these falls, become tougher and grow stronger....its natural.

Its same with life isnt it? You fall, you rise, you fall again, rise again, this time a teensy bit more easily.

Vrunda

The reason I have not been writing any posts on my blog for quite a few ‘days’ is because I cannot think of anything apart from the person after whom the title of the post is named. Vrunda, the new person in my life. This post is dedicated to her. And I know that I won’t do any justice writing a descriptive post, because words cannot describe her. And ‘Wonderful’ seems to be too small a word for this purpose.
My fiancée’s out for a trip with her college friends. And so I turned back to writing a post on my blog, so that I could somewhat douse my longing for her company. I am, of course, unsuccessful.....my longing only increases, and no matter how much I try to involve myself in my routine, I cannot help but remember her every moment.
A poem for her.....written by me....

Nacheez tum ya zaaleem ek pari,
Is dil ko Tadapaa rahe kyon?,
Kyun yuh khayalon me aakar hamare,
Pathar ko pighala rahi ho?

Dil kehta hai, tumhare saath hi baithe rahe,
Zindagi bhar, zindagi you hi kat jaye,
Pyaar karte karte tumse,
Zindagi kaa sunhera geet gaye.

Erratic.

Dictionary definition of erratic: Lacking consistency, regularity, uniformity, having no fixed or regular course.

When you get in contact with an 'erratic person', there are likely to be some sparks. An erratic person can never be right, but the fact that he thinks that hes always right, makes him go horribly wrong. There is a distinct difference between the psycho and the erratic. A psycho is a psycho....the psycho has a medical condition. The erratic acts like a psycho, but has no history of any medical condition. An erratic may be familiar with the symptoms of a psychotic, but cant recognize that he shows the same symptoms.

Erratic behavior is one of the finest techniques of getting on to other people's nerves. It is one of the only 'offence mechanisms' of our body, in that it efficaciously maintains the erratic person's sanity and successfully drives the people around him crazy.

How to recognize an erratic person? Simple..........He'll do insane things, with no consideration for basic etiquettes. He'll not be bothered about what he is talking in front of anybody. He'll contradict himself every second sentence he says. He'll talk like he is alexander the great.

When he starts talking, you feel like you're listening to a radio which is receiving garbled frequencies.

People like that in high up positions are purely chickenshit.

xcuse me.

Always wondered why people say 'excuse me' after the sneeze. Does'nt make any difference if you say it later. But that's what we hear everyone do. Its because, sneezing is involuntary and it comes upon suddenly and once out, its a gun blast without a warning and hell, there isn't any point in saying 'Excuse me'. Rather 'sorry' seems to be correct. But most of us have a habit of saying 'excuse me' after you've blown the wind at 150KMPH.

A friend of mine says 'Excuse me' after he's sneezed. But its strange to hear a big guy like him making such a small sneezing sound. Its actually odd to hear that 'excuse me' when you havent even heard the sneeze itself !!! I once got myself out of his way when he said 'excuse me', thinking that he's having trouble getting past me !!!

A girl in our college class had a sneeze whose sound was midway between a rat squeaking and a lady shrieking when she spots the former.

My own loud sneeze had once scared my one year old niece so much so that her eyes went wide for a fraction of a second, then she started bawling on top of her voice and later we discovered that she'd wet herself !!! She gave terrified looks on seeing me for the next few days !!!

Then, there is the blaster.....the kind of one, one of our neighbour makes......makes your ears ring for a while. My great grand father had a sneeze like that too. My mom tells me that one day, when great grandpa sneezed, my uncle, upturned his eyes and fainted !!!

Strange post to write after so many days....??

Grooming.

Once my education was over, I started working (obviously!!). In school, my teachers, truly taught me, that is, I gained knowledge from them. They were good. I didnt think much of my college teachers. Indeed they were'nt that good either. All of them were just doing their jobs, standing in the classrooms and pointing at some odd figures on the board, explaining diagrams and all that. We, in turn were doing our jobs, keeping our attendance to the bare minimum required in order to pass the year. Teachers were more of a bother to us. We studied on our own, out of books, guides etc. When I took up a job in a company, young and fresh out of college, I had least expected anyone to 'teach' me. It was to be......... that way. They say that experience is the best teacher and so it is.

However, even after being through such 'What-is-a-teacher?' times, I still firmly believe that there should be someone to groom you, throughout your professional life.

There is a thin dividing line between teaching and grooming. When you are in a profession, you're already qualified to do the work and knowledge and experience teach you how to do it. But if you're groomed well, you actually do it with efficiency, quality and 'professionally' at the same level of experience and education.

Due to such limitations as time and manpower, we are plunged into the sea without really knowing how to handle the big waves characteristic of the high seas. All seniors and people in managerial positions seem to be having this attitude. Nothing better, than a kick in the ass of those pesky juniors, who come to us for every little thing. Let them learn for themselves. Throw them into important meetings, discussions with client. Let them sit there, alone and answer all the questions and load them with all possible work. Only then will they learn, how we do it.

I cant quite explain it to you, what I mean to say. But just think about the concept of grooming and you'll realise for yourself.

Crass, huh?

God help me. I think I am turning into an animal. Its not that I am sprouting horns or anything, its just that, I have become indifferent. I dont care much about people (except a few, of course), I dont care that they dont care about me. I am pretty nasty in my thoughts, 90 out of 100 times and dont quite hesitate to implement them. I dont mind it when people tell me bullshit, I am ready to hear whatever snide comments they pass as long as I get to return the favour. I derive a sadistic pleasure in backtalking, replying with a vengeance, raising my voice and yelling at people.

I frequently misunderstand innocence to stupidity, and thunder down upon those idiots. My vision doesnt let me differentiate between a driver with an 'L' plate or otherwise. I treat them all as equals and give them hell of a time anyway. I dont find old college photos nostalgic and think "What a horrible student I was" ,when I see them. I dont like romantic movies interesting and laugh upon those who watch them. I hate those kiddies song shows on TV and swear at those little twerps. I dont care about what you think about this post.

Crass, huh?

Queer?

It was raining yesterday, when I went out on a drive via an intercity road. I could see the mangroves along the shores, dark, bleak and the distant mountains pitch black and tall in the moonless and rainy night. Kind of reminded me of maku's village, where its pitch black at night, so dark, that if you hadnt had the god given body co-ordination, you wouldnt know whether the potato crisp you want to eat is going into the nose or the mouth.

He'd invited me there to his farmhouse. One of my friends (IAK) and I were to join him and his group of 2 cousins and a friend, who'd already reached.

Well ya, so we'd reached maku's farm house in the evening. His farmlands are situated right in the valley of the sahyadri mountain ranges. Its a picturesque place, especially in the monsoons with fields of paddy on one side and cloud covered mountains on the other. We had made plans to make a night trek and have our dinner in the mountain air. One of maku's uncle had prepared dinner and was going to be our 'local guide' to the way up to a clearing in the woods, where we would have our dinner. We packed the food, and started off, equipped with battery operated torches and a 'laalten' (A kerosene lamp). The moment we crossed the fence, it was obvious that we would have to stick together to avoid getting lost in the darkness. Maku's uncle leading the way, we passed through the fields, breathing the fresh and cool air. Thankfully, it was not raining at that time. We had a nice one hour trek to the place where we were supposed to be having dinner. We enjoyed our time up there. Maku's uncle downed a full 'desi' liquor bottle and rest of us contended ourselves with cold drinks. Maku's village has a lot of queer stories, the ones which are typical in an isolated village. These stories include ghost sightings, animal sightings and other such incidents. Panther and wild boar sightings are a common phenomenon there. Maku's uncle told us a lot of real life stories that night.

After stories and dinner, we started back. There was a small stream of water which we had to cross. Maku's uncle spotted two crabs in the water (not uncommon, there). He is known in the village to be an expert crab-catcher. True to his reputation, and that too after he'd downing half a bottle of liquor, he swooped his hands into the water and came up with the crab, which was struggling against his firm grip. All this was done in a flash of a second !!. He'd caught the crab between the shell and the pincers.

He took hold of a container and put the 'still struggling' crab inside it, closed the lid and handed the container to me. Thereafter, when I held the container, I could feel the crab knocking against the walls of the container !!!

He went after the second crab, which was crawling ahead with great speed. Uncle took one of maku's cousins along with him to hold the torch. He asked us to wait at the very spot. We saw them go along the stream a long way, and finally out of sight as the stream twisted and turned through the woods. After sometime, we started worrying about uncle and maku's cousin. Both were gone for a long time. We were stranded and couldnt move without our 'guide'. We started contemplating whether to go see where they had gone. I said "Guys, if it rains, we'll be soaked to our skin." My friend IAK responded by saying, "It didnt rain when we trekked up, nor did it rain when we ate our dinner, beneath the open sky, why now?".

A moment later, as if someone above had heard our conversation.............it started raining. We couldnt wait there now. There was no shade. Uncle had not come back. So we decided to follow the stream along which he and maku's cousin had gone. As we were walking along, we started calling them aloud. There was no response. After walking clumsily in the rocky bed of the stream, we came up to a point where the stream narrowed and it was covered with an arch of bushes, so that you couldnt see beyond. We must have shouted out for them 7-8 times from there and there was no response. Then suddenly, maku's cousin called back, "We're coming". And then they appeared, ducking under the bush-arch. They had finally caught the second crab too.

Later, when we reached his house, maku asked his uncle...."Where were you?". He said that he'd chased the crab for quite a long distance and had finally caught him just some distance away from the arch of bushes. Maku asked him why he did not answer to our calls. His cousin who was with his uncle told maku that they'd answered aloud the first time they heard his voice. Maku said that he'd called out several times near that bush there. But strange as it seems, maku's cousin and his uncle, heard our voices only once, even though both parties were near the bush.

It could be nothing but isn't it just worth noting that,

-Rains only started when maku's uncle disappeared, compelling us to go after him instead of waiting there as he had told us to? It wasnt raining throughout our excursion....and just started at that time? As a matter of fact, it did not rain again all night and even the next day?

-If we were around say just a few feet away from the bush arch and they were a few feet away too, only on the other side, where we couldnt see them, how could they have heard our voices only once when we yelled our throats out for around 2 minutes continuously?

Was it just be maku's drunk uncle and his non-drunk cousin lying? Or was it simply another one of those queer incident which happened there?