I actually intended to post this early last month, but somehow just could not find the time to do so. One thing that I realized through October and November is that life is a great leveller. It makes you experience great lows! Like the one I had in October, when nothing was going my way. At the same time you also are riding the crest, like I was in November.
There is nothing that did not go my way in November. It all started off with my preparations for CAT and mockCATs. I was starting to get more and more confident and was consistently improving my score. I had fought with my dad and convinced him that I have to do an MBA at any cost. I had argued that after more than 5 years of experience, this is the correct time that I should take the MBA plunge. I was mentally prepared to leave my job (a decent paying job at that) if required to pursue my MBA aspirations. My mom was a great support, and my belief was vindicated when I got an interview call from S.P.Jain for the 1 year MBA program. And this, without even appearing for an entrance test. I was ecstatic.
On a parallel front, I was coaxed into looking for a house by everybody at home. Their primary concern being - constantly increasing property prices. If I loose this opportunity to book a house, then I would never get the currently prevailing property rates later-on. This was being drilled into my head by my family, especially my Mom. To be honest what they were saying was right. If you see the last 2-3-4 years, property prices have doubled. Consider the current appartment where I stay in Mumbai. When we bought it, it costed us approx 18 lacs. As on today, the cost of the appartment is 33.6 lacs. While all this was going on in my mind, a third front starting to get active.
The US front was the third front. My boss mentioned to me that I would have to go to the US for about 6-8 months for a project. My client would be coming to visit our office. They would be conducting a 2 week training. And after the training I would have to go to the US. I would be going to Florida. Wow! I was very excited at this whole opportunity. Forging new ties, interacting with new people and ofcourse the "lure" of US and Florida. All this was getting to me.
Now I was at a complete crossroads. I could choose only one path. I could not kill two birds with one stone. I could not bake my cake and eat it too. The choices I had were......
1. Do MBA forget about everything else.
2. Forget MBA and do everything else.
At this point, I think I should mention a poem written by Robert Frost. It goes like this.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
.
.
.
(last stanza)
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Unfortunately, I have not taken the path less traversed. I have not taken the hard way out. I have taken the easy way out. I have decided not to do MBA right now. So I went ahead booked a house and am right now in the US. Whether this is the right decision, I dont know, only time will tell. Also, I cant totally say that I dont have any regrets. Somewhere deep down, I know and my conscience knows that there is a hint of regret, because I might have just lost out on the best possible chance of doing an MBA.
But, Life moves on...
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Life's Troughs And Crests
Monday, October 31, 2005
Speaking my heart out about Pizzas!! (slurp!)
The title itself sounds yummy isnt it?? Doesnt it remind yourself of that wonderfully crispy pizza laced with yummy toppings you had at this lovely place with great ambience. One reason I chose (or is it with the extra 'o') to blog about this is the fact that I had the most delicious pizza yesterday (Sunday 30-10-05). There is this place called Pizza Express in Mumbai. Its on the road connecting Churchgate station to Marine Drive bang opposite a restaurant called "Gaylord" (no the title does not indicate a hang-out place for gays - although I may be wrong here..I'm not sure ;-)).
The ambience is good, the service is good and though the pizza takes a tad too long, you can gouge on some drinks and starters, and that should keep your mouth occupied before the actual thing is placed in front of you. The restaurant's got a pretty decent variety and there's also a fair bit for the "pasta-thetically inclined". (I'm pretty good at coming up with such words, ain't I?)
Okay now back to the "real" stuff about which I actually want to talk. Its like this. In Mumbai you get pizzas right from the "gali-ka-grill-sandwich-wala" to the zingyest, zaniest, and most famous restaurants.
At the "gali-ka....-wala" you get a single size mostly 6/8 inch pizza with pretty thick pizza bread and standard toppings (read: onion, tomato, capsicum, mushroom) laden with lotsa grated cheese. Many-a-times it is half-baked and the cheese does not melt into the toppings.
The next "type" is the Udipi-restaurant-pizza. Udipi is a wonderful place in South India with lots of greenery and lovely temples and of course not to forget the "Shettys". The "Shettys" are a Tullu community mostly into restaurant business (also into dance-bar-thingys...more on that in another post) and do a great job at that.
The choices you get here are only slightly better than the "gali-ka....-wala" pizza. The sizes are pretty similar, there is slight variety in toppings. One thing that typically strikes you when you browse through the pizza section is that there is always a "
I had one such pizza at one such Udipi restaurant. (I'll spare the name just in-case the owner or someone happens to read this post. I'm a peace loving, life-fearing person just like you) :-))) I was totally "shell-shocked" at the look of the pizza. This pizza had lots of nuts, honey and sweet-cherries as dressing. Now of course I do like nuts and cherries, not to mention the honey too, but then please...not on my pizza!!! Anyways, I'd still want you to try that stuff out and check it out for yourself. Maybe you have a "sweet-tooth" which is sweeter than mine!!
Moving on. After this comes a whole lot of "quick-pizza" restaurants that promise you prompt service, free-pizza-deals, extra-free-cokes, etc...etc. A typical 14" pizza would have 8 slices, quite enough for 2 people. (Of course people like me can finish-off a whole one) :-))). The pizzas you get here the indianised equivalents of the american style pizzas. They have the most variety. Variety in terms of toppings, in terms of sizes and heavy customization. The height of customization would be tandoori-paneer pizza with black olives and jalapenos, pineapple and extra cheese. Oh My God!!! Given this kinda combination, I wouldnt be surprized if the italian inventor of pizza turns in his grave!!!
This is the most popular with the middle class, who would much rather enjoy the pizza at the comfort of their homes, watching their favourite soap serials. (The talk or rather even the thought of soaps especially ones starting with "K" makes me feel pukey)
The final category of restaurants is "authentic-italian-pizza" restaurants. There are a whole lot of them in Mumbai. The size of pizzas is standard (mostly 10"). Crust is thin, the toppings are pretty standard, olives, jalapenos, coloured-capsicum, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, mushrooms, baby corn and sometimes paneer also. The Indian element is evident in these "authentic-italian-pizzas" too, but there is not too much mix-and-match. Most pizzas that you get here in these restaurants are not too spicy and you might have to sprinkle chilli flakes on top to make it spicier. Despite the "indianisation" these pizzas are closest to their italian counterparts. In many cases you also get a choice in the types of cheese - Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Chedar etc etc.
I've had pizzas at all these places and enjoyed it thoroughly, albeit some more than the other. Wow...What a mouth-watering ending to a delicious, sumptuous post about pizzas. Wishing you happy Pizza Hunting!!!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Jinxed Month!!!!
Believe me. I'm writing this blog with un-imaginable, indescribeable, utmost frustration. This whole month has been completely jinxed for me. It started off the "lure" and the "expectation" of going to the US. I was supposed to fly-off on the 3rd of October. But due to some reasons which can only be best described "out-of-hand" the trip got delayed, delayed and yet again delayed. The result, I'm still languishing here in Mumbai, with no end in sight.
The next thing that happened is when I gave my car for servicing and repair work. The tyres were so worn out that it caused tremendous wobble. The car felt as if it were on a rocking boat rather than on a road. I gave the car on the 1st of October and finally was able to lay my hands on it again only after almost 20 days. I got it fully and completely rectified and in pristine condition only on the 19th.
Between the 1st and the 19th came Dussera, which was on the 12th. On that fateful day I lost my cellphone. The point is not the fact that I'd have to spend 13-14 grand again on a new phone, the biggest problem was loosing all my data. Well somehow I got over that and got a new SIM card and a new phone.
But then the jinx is not yet over. How can it, because the month is not yet over! Saturday again, after exactly 3 days after I got my car from the service center, it started to give problem. The A/C again gave up on me. Oh My God!!! What the hell is happening?? I spend blody 30 grand on the repairs and servicing and in 3 days the A/C conks off!!
How more unlucky can you get?? I dont know...What more is in-store for me in the remaining days of the month? I dont know...The most frustrating part of the "problematic-car" ordeal is the fact that I had to drop the car on Monday morning at 9.00 at the service center. Take a bus, reach office and then in a couple of days come back from office again in a bus go to the service center and pick up the car again. God! Just the thought of it makes me feel so frustrated!!
The distance between the service center is about 40 kms and it takes more than bloody 2.5 hours to cover the stretch. Just thinking about the ordeal gives me the creeps. For almost the whole month, I've been reaching office @ 10.00 and Monday again I was be late. Monday was supposed to be my meeting with my Proj. Manager to discuss about the US trip, but then gues what?? Its got delayed AGAIN!!!
I'm so used to the delays right now that if anything happens on time; I am AMAZED!! Also the fact that I've spent almost a lac of rupees this month does not - in any which way - provide any semblence of solace to my troubled mind. Inaction and Idleness is one thing I ABSOLUTELY detest. And this month I've not got anything except that. I can only hope that next month everthing goes back to normal. I'm also hoping that there should'nt be a DELUGE next month with everything happening simultaneously with me having no time to digest and assimilate stuff. But I've got this sinkin feelin that its gonna be that way.
CAT, SPJain, US-Trip and God alone knows what else lies in wait,
spending and biding their time to catch their bait,
And no points for guessing who the bait is,
Its me, its me, its nobody else but me!!!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Its Not About The Car!!!
Prologue
A car meets with a minor accident, no damage in particular, just a dent near the bonnet and nothing else. The car's ailing and ageing. Tyres worn out. Air pockets form inside the tyre surface. These air pockets cause massive vibration inside the car. The car is taken to a service center for repairs.
The First Week Story
One week gone, not much work done on the car. The owner calls up the service center for information and is told that the tyres have been changed but the accident damage can be claimed in Insurance. The owner agrees. Forms are filled. Details are elaborated. Assurances given that the car will be ready by the end of this week (2nd week).
At the end of the second week, the owner gets a call. "Sir, there is some leakage in the valves, we have to open the dashboard and replace the valve". The service center mechanic continues, "Sir, that will take a lot of time so you will get the car only on Monday."
The owner reluctantly agrees (nothing much he can do about it really). All through the weekend he constantly reminds himself that his relegation to a 'public-transport-user' will end soon. Come Monday evening, his reliance on buses and trains will be gone forever. His spirits are on the rise and all through the day he expectantly awaits a call from the service center.
Dashed Hopes...
All through the day he glances at his watch. He regularly glances at his mobile phone to check for any 'network problems'. There ain't any. Finally at 16:30 his patience runs out and he calls the service center. The expressions on his face change from an expectant look to that of despair and then to an angry look. In a fit of rage, he lambasts the service center attendant. The attendant is unnerved comes up with cheesy excuses which the owner does not buy. Sparks of invectives emanate from the owner which ultimately ends in a sigh of anguish and in frustration bangs the phone.
Still No End In Sight...
The remainder of the day passes incident-free. The owner's mind still occupied with the thought of procuring the car sometime soon. The next day again frustration takes better of him and the owner calls up the service center again to find out about the status of the car. His expectations have been reduced from actually getting the car to getting mere information about the progress of the work done on the car. The owner's first attempt at establishing contact with the service center attendant goes in vain. The attendant realizing the number does not take the call and switches his phone off.
The owner is relentless, he tries on the landline and luckily manages to get to talk to the attendant. The same guy whom he had talked to yesterday. The attendant explains (although unconvincingly) the reasons for the delay which appear to the owner as excuses. Finally the owner cuts the phone after coming to know that his car, his baby will not be ready neither today, nor tomorrow. The attendant does not give him an exact date.
The owner is devastated. Its been 17 days since he last saw his car and he still cant see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Thats the end of the story!!!
Moral of the story: I still havent got my car back from servicing and I dont know when I'll get it.
Friday, October 14, 2005
With Or Without You (I mean the Cellphone) :-))
Unbelievable isnt it?? But I did experience it. For the first time since the year 2000 (the year I got my first mobile phone) I was "unreachable, uncontactable" (call it what you want) for one whole day. The whole day I had this thing going on in my mind that somebody or the other will call me. If anyone calls he/she will get a recorded message the service is temporarily disconnected and will probably think that I havent paid the bill or something.
But anyways, apart from a couple of close friends and folks from home, I dont think anyone else would have called me!! You know thats the thing about having a cellphone and not having one. When you have it, you get only very few calls and when you dont have it or you have lost it, then you probably end up getting a lot of calls. Its the classic Murphy's Law syndrome. For the non-technically inclined here's the explanation of it. MURPHY's Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
Another thing is that, the biggest impact of losing one's cell phone is not the fact that one has to pay money and get a new phone, its actually losing the phone numbers, SMSs, calendar entries, reminders, pictures, and many other stuff which affects one more. So in the whole ordeal I was set back by a cool Rs.14 grand!!
Didnt go for anything absolutely top of the line, but its more medium (or probably high-medium) range with 1.3Mp camera, 65k colours, Bluetooth and all other so-called "normal" features. Its actually Nokia 6230i. If you're interested have a look here. I thought it's pretty cool. Later-on my sister actually told me that there's another Nokia phone the 3230 with same 1.3Mp camera which costs just about 1/2 a grand more but with video editing and real-player. But the flip side is that you get only 32Mb memory stick along with that. So, frankly I think its pretty even.
You know, people have this overwhelming urge or compulsion that each time a new phone comes into the market, you try to bargain for an exchange offer and buy the latest phone. The psyche behind it is rather intriguing. Ofcourse I am no Angel and I too fall in the same category. My take on this is as follows.
You buy a new, cool, sexy, phone with "mind-blowing" features. You show it off to your friends and relatives and harp your way to glory about your "new-found" gizmo and cuddle as if it were a "new-born" pet. You take real good care of it and it's the darling of your eye. Pretty soon (read 3-4 months) it no longer remains a "new-born" baby and it is relegated from a pet-toy to "just-another" electronic gadget. You use it for all possible things, to store alarms, to set reminders, to store a list of things to do, to save net-banking passwords etc etc. In about 8-10 months, you are not very concerned if it falls down accidentally or if the colour fades. Now you actually start to abuse the phone rather than use it. :-))
In another 12-14 months you envy people who show you off their newly bought stuff. (They having gone through a similar process with someone else with another phone). And somehow it gets into your head and you start contemplating buying a new one. Further on, after about 14-16 months, you go ahead and exchange your battered, worn-out, abused phone with a brand new pristine stuff for approx the same money you paid to get our old phone.
And the cycle continues....
All this, and you cannot imagine spending a day without punching a key on the cellphone atleast once (if not many more times). Trust me it is hard!! Go ahead if you dont believe me...try it once...and then post a comment on this blog that you proved me wrong. You would've only proved that you are probably not much of a slave of this sojourn electronic gadget...called the Cell-Phone!
Monday, October 10, 2005
Delhi, Here I Come - How I Finally Reached Delhi Overcoming All Pit-falls
For the uninitiated, there are 2 "Rajdhani" trains going to Delhi from Mumbai (erstwhile: Bombay) (Somehow like to old name better - anyways whats there in a name..more about that later). One called "Rajdhani" leaves at 16:55 and the other called "August Kranti Rajdhani" leaves at 17:25. I was booked in the earlier one. Both the trains leave from the suburban railway station of Mumbai Central. I was all gung-ho about my first visit to the capital city, trust me I didnt know what was in store for me.
How It All Started..
Along came 9th September, the day of my departure. Interesting turn of events before the "eventful" day had culminated in that day (9th) becoming a sort of help-your-friend-at-any-cost day. My friend's brand new powerbook (an apple laptop - you imbeciles) had conked off some days back and it was stashed away at a service centre and my friend and I went to collect it. The service centre was located at Andheri. The next thing he wanted was to have was a Ruksack (word lifted from German Ruk meaning back and sack meaning bag) for the notebook.
Basically he wanted a backpack and the service centre recommended a shop at Marine Lines. We drove down from the suburbs all the way to town (more than 30 kms through aluminium and tin rubble - read traffic) only to be told that the bags were out of stock. All this while, it was raining very heavily and by the time we left town back for the suburbs it was 13:30.
The Adventurous Drive Back...
Driving back was a huge adventure, Worli was waterlogged very badly. Somehow I squeezed through the traffic, waded thru' water and reached Bandra only to find a bigger traffic jam. And then I pulled out a driving master-stroke. You can liken it to a magician pulling out a rabbit out of his hat. (Oh My God...I looove it when I come up with an idea like this and then I never stop harping about it..hehe) I took a short detour behind Mahim and reached the highway pretty fast. And the best part...I avoided all traffic. After that it was slick driving, cutting through traffic and rain like a Scythe which helped me reach home @ 15:30.
Hurry Hurry Hurry...
Ran into to the house, changed quickly (no time for shower) and took my bags. Fortunately for me most of my packing was done the previous night so I was happy. But unfortunately for me there was some last-minute packing left to be done which was pretty bad. Dumped all the remaining stuff into the bag and ran out. The time 15:45.
Atlast I'm Up And Away...
Reached Goregaon station and was standing in a queue to buy the ticket and in the process missed a "fast" train. This was to be the most crucial moment that day. Why?? I'll come to that later. For now, I consoled myself and reminded myself of one saying in Hindi (Its actually not a saying its just a dialog from a Bollywood movie which has achieved cult status) - Bus, Train aur Ladki chali gayi toh nahi roneka, ek gayi toh doosri aati hai. It simply means, dont mull over a missed bus or a train (the ladki / girl part is probably indigestable) if one goes another one comes along. So I waited and the next train was slow. Well, it was 16:05 and I thought some train is better than no train at all. So I got in.
Oh My God Still A Long Way To Go...
At Andheri I decided I would end up missing my "Rajdhani" if I continued in the slow train, so I got down and thought of catching a fast train. The time was 16:15 and the indicator showed the expected arrival time as 16:05. There were announcements running proclaiming the 10 minute delay of the next fast train. That made me think that the train should be come-in any moment now. So I waited and waited and waited....Shucks! 15 minutes gone still no sign of the train. Meanwhile, a couple of slow trains have already gone after the one from which I had got-down.
The indicator now changed to 16:35 and an announcement proclaimed the arrival of the train in the next 2 minutes. I started mentally preparing myself for the situation of me missing the train..I started to think of the other ways of getting to Delhi. Surely, now the only option left for me was to take the next flight out of Mumbai. Meanwhile, the train - to my amazement - came exactly on time and zillions of people got down with many more zillions waiting to get in.
Wait And Hope...
Once you get in the train you experience an agonizing wait. And thats one thing that I really hate. Because at that point in time there is nothing which you can do. (Whatever was in my hands I screwed it up by leaving late) So now, all you can do is have patience and hope that there are no further delays. The train went pretty fast and by the time it reached Dadar, it had overtaken 2 slow trains. There was a short delay at Dadar. (Or maybe I felt the delay because I thought it stopped a wee bit longer than normal). When the train left Dadar, the time was 16:47 and the time to Mumbai Central should take about 7 minutes. That left me with only 1 minute to catch my Rajdhani. A tiny chance....but a chance nonetheless!! I was starting to feel upbeat.
I'm Almost There...
The fast train overtook the earlier slow train I had boarded just after Dadar and another slow train after that. It made me happy because I realized I had taken the right decision at Andheri to take the fast train. Made me feel all the more ecstatic. Mumbai Central was approaching and looked out of the window and saw the Rajdhani Express still standing at the platform. I was euphoric. Looked at my watch and it read 16:54. So my calculations were right I still have 1 minute to go. Now, everything is in my hands.
So Near Yet So FARRR...
Come Mumbai Central, I jump out of the running train and onto the platform, I take the overbridge and go to the first platform only to be told that the Rajdhani was leaving from the next platform. So I gathered all my luggage (not that I had lots just 2 pieces), ran up the stairs again and got down in the next platform. I could see the last compartment of the Rajdhani. I ran like never before, like my life depended on it, like a rugby fly-half dodging the standing Coolies. I saw a couple of other people running along with me. But sometimes things are just not under your control. It was as if you were destined not to achieve that target. This was the same case. I had missed the train. I rewinded to the time I spent buying a ticket at Goregaon. Had I just gone directly, I would have got the earlier fast train and also I would have got the Rajdhani. The only thing that remained now was a "IF ONLY".
Now WHAT!!??!!...
I stopped to gather my breath back. I had put in my best effort (discounting ofcourse the initial delay) but it was not to be. Slowly I walked back thinking what should be done. The other person (a sikh - an ethnic group which wears a turban - called papaji in Mumbai lingo) who was also running to catch the train, caught up with me and asked me what my future course of action was. I told him I was undecided and he suggested that maybe we can try tickets for the next Rajdhani. Now, that was a good suggestion (And people make dumb jokes on these guys!) and I had not thought about it at all. Thanks Papaji!!!
So we proceeded towards the ticket counter. The walk back was agonizingly slow and the platform was noisy. As I approached the ticket counter the Dhin increased significantly, people pushing and shoving each other trying to buy the ticket for the next Rajdhani. All these people had missed the train and there were atleast 100 of them. I stood in the line and started to fill up the ticket form. While I was doing so, the papaji also requested me to fill in his details. Reluctantly, I filled in his details as well.
A Whole New Tribulation...
Normally I am rather wary of strangers, somehow I dont talk to anyone just like that let alone help them. But somehow I got over this mental block and decided to help him out by filling in his form as well. Confusion reigned supreme outside the ticket counter. And chaos added fuel to the fire. No one was sure which was the ticket counter because the tickets were being issued from the "refund" counter. Suddenly, a lot of people on provocation by some goon rushed to the adjoining counter and I forged ahead bypassing atleast 15 people. Now I was 3rd in the Queue and thats when the security was called in to control the crowd.
Actually, the tough part was not getting pushed and shoved and squashed around in the Queue; the tough part was taking care of the bags in the whole ordeal. I started to feel claustrophobic and slightly nauseous. I started to sweat profusely and it showed on my face, on my hands, on my T-Shirt and even on my trousers. Each second of standing in the line seemed equivalent to 1 day in a small, sweaty, humid, sticky room with no electricity. (like the Attic). I was on the verge of giving up, started to think that to undergo so much ordeal just to get a ticket is not worth it. Suddenly one person moved out triumphantly with his ticket.
Light At The End Of The Tunnel...
My hopes got a fillip seeing this and I started to coax my mind into bearing the brunt for a little longer. My back ached since it controlled the pushes from people ahead. My arms ached since it controlled the weight of the people pushing from my back, my shoulders ached since they bore the weight of my bag. Each passing second seemed like never-ending trauma. Just as I contemplated giving up another person moved out of the line with a ticket. I was at the counter.
Papaji To The Rescue...
I thought finally this thing is coming to an end. I asked for 2 tickets for 3-tier AC but I was told they were sold out so then I asked for 2-tier AC. I got the tickets and I was supposed to pay 4440. Now I was faced with a different problem. I ran out of cash. I had only 1500. I asked if I could pay by credit card and I was given a negative reply. Papaji actually turned out to be the saviour. He willingly paid 3000 and the issue was settled.
About Time I Got Some Success...
Finally, finally, finally I came out of the queue covered in sweat from head to toe, my arms, legs, back, shoulders aching, but I came out victorious. A sense of achievement filled my lungs - or should I say it was fresh air! I think it was both. Now the whole torment lasted for 20 minutes and I just had 5 minutes to search for my seat in the next Rajdhani. So I run again this time assured that I'll get the train.
I was able to locate my seat in the nick of time and no sooner did I crash into my seat, than the train moved. WOW!! I could not believe that I had to go through all this just to get into a train which would get me to Delhi. I started to dread what lay in-store for me in Delhi. What more adventures would I experience.
Rajdhani Express CHüGG Away...
As the train gathered speed, I re-counted all my feelings, my decisions, my thoughts and everything else I could think of as my train passed one suburban station after another and mumbled a silent prayer of thanks to god for everything that I experienced. This is what I call destiny! You cant change it try as you might! So live with it and make best of what you got!
Friday, September 23, 2005
An Interesting August Saturday...Directors Cut
August came...
August went...
A lot of money I spent...
Mobile for my darlin sister...
MBA application forms for me...
Oh My God...I was on a spending spree..
And none of it came free...
Along came a big fat bill...
which I should pay and I definitely will..
Well...I ran out of rhyming words in writing that, but trust me I didnt have to rack my brains hard to compose those. Just about 10 minutes of typing...and vola! Now back to the blog.
My best weekend in August was 20-21. I went on an adventure camp to a place called Sajan which is about 100 Kms north of Mumbai. Both Saturday and Sunday was so hectic I didnt have time to think about anything else but the adventure activities I did and I was supposed to do. This post talks only about saturday. I'll post about the turn of events that took place on Sunday pretty soon! You get the point don't you? ;-)
SCENE - I---LIGHTS, CAMERA and ACTION---
Saturday started off at the crack of dawn...trrring trrring...no thats not the telephone, its my alarm clock...buzzing away as if there is no end...I looked at the time 5 'o clock, have to get ready soon or else I'll be late for the 6.00 am bus. Finally after much mind-coaxing, I crawled out of the bed and got ready.
---CUT---
SCENE - II---TAKE-3 and ACTION---
Reached bang at 6.00 am...lot of people waiting and no sign of the bus anywhere at all. Buses arrived at 6.30 and off we went. Continuous singing was going on - mostly Hindi songs. At one point when we ran out of songs we started singing Ad jingles!! Lifeboy, Surf (2 bucket paani) and god knows what else. Reached the place at 9.00 or so. Had some breakfast and listened to what we were supposed to do there for 2 whole days.
---CUT---
SCENE - III---TAKE-5 and ACTION---
Run, run lets search....clues: where off-roading starts, asman se gire khajoor pe atke, sajan ki aarey colony, pavilion, sangeeta bijlani, pholon ke rang se, dhalta suraj dhal jayega, swimming pool, and some others which I dont remember. We were supposed to hunt for tags which were strategically placed at some locations all over the camp and the clues indicated where they were. This sparked off a mad rush with everyone running off to the nearest location. This was likened to the quest for a seat in the IIMs.
All of us were divided into 12 groups of 10 each. Each group had a group leader and was told to come up with its own name and a war-cry. 4 of these groups formed a super-group. Each of these big groups were named as Charlie, Alpha and Tango (C-A-T). (Hope you got the link). And each of these 3 groups were controlled by 2-3 people from the organizers.
I was starting to get the feeling that adventure trip is fine, but the comparison to CAT is probably reading a bit too much into it.
---CUT---
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY!!
But the games we played were real fun. There was a game wherein we were given some half-broken pipes and some marbles, the objective of the game was to get a certain number of marbles into glasses kept about 10 meters away. Each team had to commit regarding the number of marbles it can put in the glasses.
Relation to CAT:- set a target, plan how to go about it and achieve it.
And then there was another one where there were some circles within a triangle with 1 circle at the apex and 9 circles at the base. a group has to start from the base. each person was to occupy a single circle. When the "go" command was given, each person has to move within the next 3 seconds. If any person does not move then its a foul and the team has to start again. The objective of the game was to get all the team-members out from the "apex-circle" in the least possible time.
Relation to CAT:- dont make things complicated. even the most complicated of problems can be solved using a simple approach.
Then there was a river crossing excercise wherein a person suspended upside down from a rope was supposed to cross a "river" by pulling his body-weight using his bare hands.
Relation to CAT:- overcoming fear.
And lastly there was "hangman". There was a big circle drawn on the ground and there were objects strewn all over (inside the circle). Each object had some points. A person from the group would be suspended in air over the circle. Team-members had to tug the rope harder to keep the person suspended. The suspended person had to collect the objects within the circle and collect them in a basket. If any part of the person's body touched the ground within the circle, then the object with the maximum points would thrown back into the circle. The objective was to score maximum points.
Relation to CAT:- careful planning, knowing when to give up, order of attempting questions.
SCENE - THE NIGHT ADVENTURE BRIEFING---TAKE-2 and ACTION---
At night there was a trek planned. The trek was to be in a "real" forest. The 3 super-groups C, A and T were briefed about the terrain and the layout. There were 5 stages. To get to the 4th stage we would have to cross a river. There would be arrows all along the trail with the stage numbers marked below it indicating the stage. Each stage had a particular color of tag. The first stage-white, second stage-yellow, third stage-green, fourth stage-red, fifth stage-black. Each of these tags had 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 points respectively. The tags were stuck at places upto 20 feet on either side of the trail at a height ranging from 3 feet to 7 feet. Objective was to collect as many tags as possible.
It had been raining all day and the night was no exception either. We were told that the possibility of getting lost was very high and that group leaders should ensure that roll-call was taken regularly. Each group of 10 would be accompanied by an observer and if the observer finds anyone missing then the super-group to which that groups belongs to will be disqualified.
---CUT---
SCENE - NIGHT TREK-THE REALITY---TAKE-72 and ACTION---
The buses reached the location were the teams were let into the forest. Due to continuous rain, the trail had become pretty dangerous and the crossing of the river between the 3rd and the 4th stages was impossible. The water level in the river was "chest-high". So the course was changed and now there was no river crossing and we were told to follow the trail directly without crossing the river. I thought to myself, Oh My God! Wonder what else is in store? This is turning out to be a nightmare.
One group each from Charlie, Alpha and Tango were sent into the forest together. The order was fixed, the first groups from each of the super-groups were first sent and then the 2nd groups and so on. I thought to myself, this would be an unfair advantage to the groups coming later because the earlier groups would have picked up most of the tags, leaving very less stuff for the others.
The terrain was extremely treacherous. Very slippery. Moreover, all of us in my group were pretty concerned about others getting lost in the thick foliage. So we had constant roll-calls. These inturn slowed us down. The trail in the 1st and the 2nd stage was reasonably wide. There was lot of room to walk comfortably and look around. So we did look around a lot. I looked around too but came up unsuccessful. But the trail got progressively narrower. The 3rd stage was HORRENDOUS!! It was a downhill stage with very very narrow trails.
By now my objective of the trek had changed. My objective now was to come out of this trek in one piece without any injuries and I focussed just on completing the trek. I guess that was the objective my whole group sought.
---CUT---
SCENE - JUNGLE TRAFFIC JAM---TAKE-48 and ACTION---
Ever heard of a traffic jam inside a jungle?? Well I actually saw one. At one point in the 3rd stage there was a 6 feet drop and you had to jump. The continuously falling rains didnt make things easy at all. So progress was very very slow. So the groups which followed caught up easily with the groups which had a headstart. The trail was so narrow that only a single person could go at one time. Also trees and shrubs with thorns didnt make the progress any easier. And people from following groups started shouting and howling. Some people were so desperate that tried to squeeze in and get in front.
---CUT---
SCENE - THE RIVER and THE FINAL STRETCH---TAKE-35 and ACTION---
Somehow we crossed the downhill strech, without even looking for any tags or anything. The sole aim being to get over this ordeal as quickly as possible. Suddenly the trail started widening and I could hear gushing water. The river ATLAST. I must say despite all my misgivings about the trek and the feelings that were running through my mind, the sight of the river that night was awesome. I was just trying to imagine the sight with the moon shining its silver light. That would be some sight.
Now came the time for a roll-call and found everyone to be safe and sound. We started to proceed ahead, but the observer stopped us and told us to wait. I told him that everyone of us is here and we just want to get out of this place. He still didnt allow us. I saw 3 groups go ahead and two of them had the lead organizers with them. I thought to myself had there been somebody along with us then we could have also leapfrogged ahead of the other groups. Even to this day I dont know why we were stopped although all the members were present.
Finally, after sometime we started moving and the trek back to the bus was pretty much uneventful. The trail was very slippery and tripped more than a couple of times. Luckily I gathered myself quickly and was on my feet again.
---CUT---
CAT LEARNINGS FROM THE TREK - My Feelings
All through the trek I was thinking to myself, what is going to be achieved by doing all this? Getting in front, gathering silly tags, risking an injury, possibly even getting lost. I posed these very questions to my rational mind and came up with the answer - NOTHING! If only an IIM seat could be secured by collecting maximum number of tags, if only coming first in a night trek could help one get into the IIMs. If only...If only...
The fact of the matter is that it is not possible. To get a seat you have to have performed well in CAT. To perform well in CAT you have to have good preparation in Data Interpretation, Maths and English. And you should choose the right questions to attempt. You should be able to identify the easy questions. You should know your strengths and weaknesses and attempt the CAT paper based on those.
If the trek were just a trek, I would have enjoyed it. The location was mindblowing, the setting was great and the terrain was challenging yet interesting. But to combine that with collecting tags, and associating the collection of tags with success in CAT is a big no-no for me.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
The Beautiful Lake District - Northern England
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
W. H. Davis
I distinctly remember this W.H.Davis poem (I'd learnt this in school in the 8th or the 9th grade) and somehow this poem created an everlasting impression on my mind. And trust me these were the very words that came to my mind when I visited the amazingly beautiful - Lake District in Northern England. We are so very engrossed in going about our daily chores that we fail to admire the natural beauty around us. An irony that I should be reminded of this W.H.Davis' poem in "Wordsworth-Country".
In the Lake District, the overwhelming beauty of nature oozes out in every lake, mountain and valley. A typical misty, cloudy Autumn morning awaits me there, bekoning me to beauty rivalled only by the lakes of the awesome Switzerland and South-Austria.
I was fortunate enough to visit the Lake District during Autumn when the trees had just started to shed their leaves and there were brown, mahogany, auburn coloured leaves strewn all over the roads and canopy of trees on both sides of the road sheltering from the sun and the rain alike. It was as-if I was transported into a labyrinth of meandering roads bordered by lakes and mountains.
It had rained early that morning but as the day progressed, I saw the first rays of the sun hitting the lake (thanks to the absolutely unpredictable, yet typical English weather). The lake started shimmering in glorius sunlight. Nonetheless, all the waterfalls were in complete grandeur, buzzing with activity and humming a sweet tune soothing to the ears. I felt as if all of external world did not exist at all. In short it was too good to be true.
The path I followed took me through magnificent old buildings, each building dating back to the 19th, 18th, 17th centuries. I was particularly fascinated by this 16th century church tower. This is the oldest church in the area. I stopped there and wondered, "Time seems to have come to an absolute standstill here". The church tower with the greenish-brown tree as a backdrop made a perfect setting for a picture.
All this and much more await you at this paradise. In my opinion, if you are visiting England, the Lake District is an absolute must-visit. It is absolutely no wonder that such sublime natural beauty of the Lake District propelled William Wordsworth to write inspiring poetry singing lavish praises about mother nature. (By the way, it also had a similar influence on me...it propelled me to write this blog..hahaha)
On a more serious note, I was so enchanted by the nature and the surroundings that I actually didnt want to leave the place. Alas! all good things come to an end, and similarly so did my short trip to Lake District (and so does this blog post hehehe!!). At the end of it, all I can say is that, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and would love to visit the place once again. 
I leave you with this picture of mine taken somewhere in the Lake District at some dusty wooden park bench - a place which I would like to visit sometime again in the future. Adios!!
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Walk Walk Walkin' to Heaven's Door
900-odd mm of rain in about 36 hours, that was what we experienced.
6.5 feet of gushing water at J.B.Nagar near the international airport.
10 feet of storming water at Amboli Andheri-west. 4.5 feet of water at
S.V.Road Andheri. There was water upto the ground floor of Shopper's
stop at Andheri. At many places there was waist high water.
@17:00, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
my story begins at 05:00 pm on Tuesday when our office decided to let us all go a bit early because of the heavy rains. My UK colleague has come here for my project, so I was told to accompany him to his hotel. We left from Vashi-Mhape at 05:15 pm, saw a huge traffic jam on the main road leading to the Thane-Belapur highway, tried to take an alternate route thankfully...it was neither flooded nor there
was any traffic there..a stroke of luck, so finally reached the highway and joined a huge traffic jam. Meanwhile...I got a call from mom saying its raining very badly...my Dad was stranded somewhere close to Worli...near his office....my sister is somewhere at Juhu...anyways...the traffic jam was so bad that Mhape to Airoli which normally takes about 30-40 minutes, took about 2 hours. I tried making a few calls...they were not going through on the first attempt...one had to keep trying continuously...
@19:00, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
Beyond airoli and on the bridge and the eastern express highway, no traffic at all, but trust me absolutely blinding rain. so progress was rather slow. the driver of the esteem at this point started getting edgy...i told him to go as far as possible...somehow convinced him to drive on..still the mobile networks were haphazard...sometimes full network...sometimes no network...suddenly got a call from my project leader saying that i could take the vehicle home...and it should not be a problem...i tried calling up home repeatedly...but i was not getting through at all..and now we were reaching gandhinagar..
@20:10, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
on top of the gandhinagar flyover...there was a bit of a jam...cars moving slowly...reason...at the exit of the flyover...there were floods and it seemed like flowing river...our esteem was rocked like a boat...somehow the driver drove on..and we reached IIT...there was complete blackout...no lights anywhere...no street lights so cant make out where there is a divider and where the road...driver drove on...just beyond the main gate of IIT...HUGE FLOODING...only way we could make out the divider was because people were walking on the divider...and water was knee high.
Check this mid-day link for unbelievable pictures....
@20:40, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
All of a sudden...the esteem broke down...i thought to myself...not here...please...god help...the driver wanted to abandon the car...but i coaxed him to try a couple of times...suddenly the engine coughed back to life...i told the driver that we are almost close to renaissance...just a few KMs to go...we started again...noticed that the water level was so high...that all 4 wheels of a honda city ahead were submerged inside water...thankfully...by some good luck...water did not come inside the car...the driver i must say was extremely skillful...and drove on...I was still trying to call up home but to no avail...mobile networks were completely jammed..
on reaching the road adjoining the powai lake...saw lot of flooding...powai lake was overflowing...all the water was on the roads...OH MY GOD!! started to think we were not going to make it...to make matters worse...a truck had broken down on the road and traffic was starting to build...thought to myself...if the driver stalled here right now...we are goners!!!
@21:00, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
Thank god that didnt happen...the driver actually told me that its better to wait for a while and let the water from the engine dry out...before we proceed again...I thought that was the most prudent thing to do...and we waited for about 10-12 minutes...while the driver was just accelerating with the car in neutral. We got going again and took a diversion around the broken down
truck...the water level was rising and i realized that its better to make the journey further in a bus...high ground...less chances of break-down...it was then that i saw an LnT bus....waiting just ahead...this bus was the same bus which left our Mhape...office at 05:00 pm and now it was close to 09:00 and we are just at
Powai...but thankfully much closer to home than Vashi!!
@21:20, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
20 minutes and We were absolutely stationary...almost at the gates of LnT Powai office...and pretty close to Renaissance...so i thought its best that I get into the LnT bus now...otherwise...it will go ahead and I'll miss it...so I instructed the driver to drop my UK collegue off at the hotel about 15-20 minutes away...and i
joined the bus...I was to come to know later that there was almost 4 feet of water on the road leading to Renaissance and my poor UK colleague had to wait until 04:00 on Wednesday before he could get into the cosiness of his hotel room.
@21:30, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
Anyways...back at the bus...seeing the traffic jam going towards SakiNaka...I decided to spend the night at my LnT's Powai office. I asked others in the bus...many people were skeptical about it...Jayashree the bus co-ordinator was in two minds...i convinced her that its better we spend the night in the comfort of the office...where we could get coffee and biscuits...and stretch our legs...and attend to nature's calls...and most importantly make calls to our dear ones and inform them about our state...
All mobile networks were jammed...only very few calls were going through...somehow i got through to my mom...told her i'll be spending the night at the powai office...at that time I came to know that my sister was stranded at Andheri station...my dad started for home...and then after spending 1.5 hours in a traffic jam...he decided to go back to office at worli...
@21:45, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
We called up the admin department at LnT Powai office...asking them permission for us to stay in the office...at first they were completely uncoperative...I thought that was ridiculously inhuman...but in the end...they relented to our repeated requests...and finally we were allowed to spend the night at powai office...once in the office...i saw that many people from Powai...have stayed back in the office..so atleast we were not alone...:-) there were about 30 people in the bus...but in the office we saw atleast 100 people or more...we got hot coffee to drink and some biscuits to eat...
@22:30, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
Hunger had taken me over completely...I had not eaten anything since my lunch at 13:00 in the afternoon...then suddenly I realized that I have the lunch that my mom gave me in the morning...i was not able to have it since I had lunch with my client..well...all was not lost...and sank my teeth into some chapatis and potato curry...YUMMY!!!
@23:00, Tuesday 26th July, 2005
staying at the Powai office gave me opportunity to call up everyone and inform that I am reasonably safe...the mobile networks were long dysfunctional...and from the landline I first called up my mom...told her that I was fine..i then called up Rishi a friend of mine who worked in Powai...he told me that he had left his office at 03:00 pm...on his bike...and somehow...managed to reach home by
around 09:30 pm...pushing his bike through more than waist deep
water...he also told me he saw people being swept away by flowing flood water...these are unbelieveable sights in a city like Mumbai...I spoke to my project leader (PL) and my Manager...my PL had somehow managed to reach his home at Airoli in about 2 hours...and my manager was still stuck in Mhape office..
@00:30, Wednesday 27th July, 2005
Long night lay ahead...but I was in no mood to sleep...i logged into one of the PCs and just wiled away my time browsing...thats when I came to know that there was close to 620mm (almost 2 feet) of rain in about 12 hours...THATS UNBELIEVABLE!!! saw some others watching movies and tom-and-jerry cartoons...but somehow i was not in a mood to do such stuff...
@03:30, Wednesday 27th July, 2005
Suddenly, 2-3 colleagues came around and told us that the rain had let off...they had enquired with some policeman who mentioned to them that traffic's pretty clear at SakiNaka. So we decided to leave as soon as day broke..
@05:00, Wednesday 27th July, 2005
I left from LnT Powai office at 05:00am and our bus took the SakiNaka route, a big mistake! Upto SakiNaka there was no traffic jam what so ever...immediately after sakinaka...the bus encountered a big jam...Having not slept a wink through the night, I was feeling extremely sleepy so I dozed off...
@06:20, Wednesday 27th July, 2005
woke up after about hours time...and found that in 1 hour the bus had moved just about 50 meters...i was absolutely frustrated...i decided to get down from the bus and walk it up home...
@06:40, Wednesday 27th July, 2005, The Long Walk To Heaven Begins...
I started the walk at around 06:15 - 06:20, thankfully, there was no water-logging...but I saw that the Andheri-Kurla road was a huge mess, it looked like a graveyard of cars and buses. At J.B.Nagar there was still water-logging, although it had receded substantially.
@07:40, Wednesday 27th July, 2005, The Long Walk To Heaven Begins...
After an hours walk I reached the highway at around 07:40 am. Desperately tried to hitch a lift, but no one was willing to give one. If a guy stopped his car to help
others, people would crowd him...and a couple of good natured guys were kind enough to provide lifts. Yet many others driving alone or with their drivers didnt even bother to stop and just splashed water on the waiting people and just drove away.
@08:30, Wednesday 27th July, 2005, The Long Walk To Heaven Begins...
Finally, I walked back right along the highway, the only thing willing me along was the overwhelming urge to reach home as early as possible...and there was more surprise in store..just after the jogeshwari flyover I noticed the carnage caused by the floods. Cars were lying hither-tither absolutely randomly, some cars piled up on
top of another. You could make out that people have abandoned their cars and have just ran away saving their lives..there was even a Mercedes...which was abandoned...I just thanked god...that I had not taken my car to office on Tuesday..
And Finally....
All's well that ends well. I got home at 09:15 am on Wednesday completely famished, with blisters on my feet..only to know that there is no electricity and drinking water in my colony. But still there is not place like home. I went off to sleep almost immediately hoping everything would be normal soon....could not take a bath bcoz there was no water...Actually...not that there was no water....there was water...but there was no electricity to pump the water to the overhead tanks...
The waters have receeded now...but things are looking pretty grim in and around Ambernath, Badlapur and Dombivili...I still havent been able to contact my grand parents in Ambernath...the phone lines are completely down...
Lets hope this comes to an end soon...and normal lives are restored as soon as possible...
Friday, July 08, 2005
The Quotation Times
It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place. -- H. L. Mencken
Rama:- This is so very true; Many-a-times I get a nagging feeling that the other guy is lying more because I know that I will lie if I were in his place. ;-)
The surprising thing about young fools is how many survive to become old fools. -- Doug Larson
Rama:- Well, we have to thank our advancements in the field of medicine for that.
Actions lie louder than words. -- Carolyn Wells
Rama:- Hell..Yes!!
The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause. -- Mark Twain
Rama:- You should ask Atal Behari Vajpayee for that :-))) He's very experienced and talented at timing the pauses rightly. ;-)
Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman. -- Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, 1845
Rama:- OH MY GOD! I never thought of that.
To Lenore,without whose never-failing sympathy and encouragement, this book would have been finished in half the time. -- P. G. Wodehouse (Dedicating his book "Heart of a Goof" to his daughter)
Rama:- Talk about an honest dedication, you cant get anything more honest than this. :-))
Thursday, July 07, 2005
The Old New Thing : Why is the line terminator CR+LF?
The Old New Thing : Why is the line terminator CR+LF?
Now thats what continuing the confusion with no end in sight. The whole story of the Carriage-Return/Line-Feed thingy makes an interesting read, but ultimately no conclusion is reached. I mean, what should I do? Treat CR/LF as a single "new-line" character? Or two "new-lines"? Or only LF as a single "new-line"? Or only CR as a single "new-line"?
OMG! so many options but no end in sight, the tunnel just gets longer and longer and no light in sight!.
-Rama.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
My First Blog Post
Hey Guys,
Just created my first account at www.blogger.com. I must say I'm rather excited about it. In fact excited about the whole concept of this. Will use this to post regularly about me and whats happening around me and my thoughts and views.
Enjoy Reading!
-Ram.
