That's exactly how I felt after my recent trip to Mumbai. It's not that it was my maiden trip to the city -- I've been there a number of times before. But I've been mostly confined within my hotel room in VT during the night, and within my client's office during the day.
It was only during this trip that I ventured away from what is called the "town side". I was putting up at Malad at a friend's place. And was visiting Andheri during office hours, shopping at InOrbit Mall and Bandra during whatever free time I had. And I've never seen so many people every-fucking-where. There was not even a single place where the people-to-floorspace ratio was relatively less. Every place was as crowded as the other.
It was a mad house. For two continuous days I had a headache because of the humid heat and the constant noise of traffic.
What's the use of earning a package of 7 lakhs plus, in a city like this when you end up spending 7,000 for a measly little room which you don't even feel like calling a home! It looks more like a prison cell with the iron grills jutting out of the holes in the walls people like to call "windows"!
What's the use of earning so much when every day of your life you have to leave home at six in the morning cuz it takes two hours to train-hop and reach your office? Covered in someone else's sweat!
What's the use of living like insects crawling, fighting, jostling for space every living moment of your life?
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Train to Hell
I was in Mumbai over the weekend. I had to board a bus from Bandra at 9:00 PM back to Goa. So I boarded a fast local from Church Gate to Bandra at about 8:00 PM. And that was the biggest mistake of my life!
I was smug about getting a seat at Church Gate and had a HUGE bag which was kept on one of the overhead racks. Bandra was about five or six stops away, so I was busy SMSing people left, right, and center.
The train stopped at Dadar.
"Bandra next station hai kya?"
"Haan. Aapko utarna hai kya?"
"Haan"
"To aap baithe kyun hue hain yahaan. Nikalna shuru kariye warna utar nahin paayenge"
I got up -- my bum was not even an inch away from the seat and poof -- someone else's butt was warming the wooden plank. I managed to pull my bag from the overhead rack... and that's all I managed to do. I was stuck! Literally stuck!
"Arre itna bada bag lekar kahaan chad gaye"
"Bhai sahab kahaan utarna hai aapko"
"Bhaiyya Bandra utarna hai"
"Arre toh dhakka maaro -- aise nahin utar paoge Bandra"
Shoving and heaving my way from out of the sitting area to the area right in front of the door I realized what I had just done. I had moved from an area with a packing fraction of 0.99 to an area with a packing fraction of 1.00!
Suddenly everyone in the compartment knew that there's an idiot with a huge bag on his head who was supposed to get off at Bandra and who still hasn't reached the door. Can you beat it -- I was just three feet away from the door!
"Bhai sahab -- so rahe the kya abhi tak, pehle utarna shuru karna chahiye tha na!"
Everyone around me was trying to inch me closer to the door. It's not like people were not trying -- but no one could fucking move! No one! It was a deadlock! Never in my life could I have imagined that so many people could squeeze into so little space.
I wasn't sure whether the sweat on my skin was mine or of the ten people I was in close contact with. I had to follow a seemingly dismembered elbow up to an arm up to a shoulder to a face to figure out who was hooked onto my arm with all his weight. The bugger was actually sleeping with all his weight hooked onto my arm -- bloody hooker!
Bandra came and went. More people got onto the train. Yes -- MORE PEOPLE!
Then finally, when Andheri came a BIG push from behind helped me traverse the last three feet to the door. I was out -- freedom at last!
I rushed back to Bandra on a fast local in the opposite direction, which was thankfully empty.
I just don't know what to make of my journey. Should I be amused about the state of affairs? Should I brush it off as "Life"? Should I be apathatic?
Why do people still come to Mumbai? Go back! No place -- house full!
I was smug about getting a seat at Church Gate and had a HUGE bag which was kept on one of the overhead racks. Bandra was about five or six stops away, so I was busy SMSing people left, right, and center.
The train stopped at Dadar.
"Bandra next station hai kya?"
"Haan. Aapko utarna hai kya?"
"Haan"
"To aap baithe kyun hue hain yahaan. Nikalna shuru kariye warna utar nahin paayenge"
I got up -- my bum was not even an inch away from the seat and poof -- someone else's butt was warming the wooden plank. I managed to pull my bag from the overhead rack... and that's all I managed to do. I was stuck! Literally stuck!
"Arre itna bada bag lekar kahaan chad gaye"
"Bhai sahab kahaan utarna hai aapko"
"Bhaiyya Bandra utarna hai"
"Arre toh dhakka maaro -- aise nahin utar paoge Bandra"
Shoving and heaving my way from out of the sitting area to the area right in front of the door I realized what I had just done. I had moved from an area with a packing fraction of 0.99 to an area with a packing fraction of 1.00!
Suddenly everyone in the compartment knew that there's an idiot with a huge bag on his head who was supposed to get off at Bandra and who still hasn't reached the door. Can you beat it -- I was just three feet away from the door!
"Bhai sahab -- so rahe the kya abhi tak, pehle utarna shuru karna chahiye tha na!"
Everyone around me was trying to inch me closer to the door. It's not like people were not trying -- but no one could fucking move! No one! It was a deadlock! Never in my life could I have imagined that so many people could squeeze into so little space.
I wasn't sure whether the sweat on my skin was mine or of the ten people I was in close contact with. I had to follow a seemingly dismembered elbow up to an arm up to a shoulder to a face to figure out who was hooked onto my arm with all his weight. The bugger was actually sleeping with all his weight hooked onto my arm -- bloody hooker!
Bandra came and went. More people got onto the train. Yes -- MORE PEOPLE!
Then finally, when Andheri came a BIG push from behind helped me traverse the last three feet to the door. I was out -- freedom at last!
I rushed back to Bandra on a fast local in the opposite direction, which was thankfully empty.
I just don't know what to make of my journey. Should I be amused about the state of affairs? Should I brush it off as "Life"? Should I be apathatic?
Why do people still come to Mumbai? Go back! No place -- house full!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Bachelors' Lunch
I haven't been blogging much lately. As I type my "comeback post", I'm trying to analyze the reasons of why this could be so. Three reasons come to my mind:
(1) I have drastically reduced the time that I spend on the computer.
(2) Whatever time I do spend, is mostly spent in working -- i.e. no more slashdotting and incessant Google Readering
(3) The "I-just-have-to-blog-about-this" feeling has subsided to quite an extent!
With that, I return to the topic of the post -- "The Bachelors' Lunch" -- which was probably the first 'event' of it's kind for me at Synapse. The idea about the lunch just popped out of nowhere as Shaalini, Mohan, Jwahar, and I were waiting for Abhi to get the '50% discount Marriot cake' on the night of 13th Feb.
Okay, sorry for another detour -- but I just have to tell you this. The pastry shop at Hotel Marriott gives away all bakery items at 50% discount after 9:00 PM every night! :-P Happy calorie counting!
So the idea that popped out of nowhere was that all bachelors at Synapse would cook lunch for everyone else the next day. Jawahar was given charge of logistics and managing the whole affair.
The many cooks that cooked up many a tasty broth were:
o Gurpreet with his Lemon Garlic Chicken - the one in the topmost pateela, right next to the Maggi Ketchup bottle
o Naveen with this Tossed Salad - the one in the red tub
o Moi with my Chilli Paneer - the one in the kadhai towards the bottom of the pic, more on this later
o Mohan with his Rasam & Rice - rasam in the bottom left corner
o I don't remember what was in that pressure cooker -- probably something that Jawahar cooked
o Then there was Italian Pasta by Zubin (not in the picture)
o Not to forget the Strawberry Shake by Kumar.
o Oh yes, and there was also the fraud Jal Jeera by Abhisek!
Moi posing proudly with my freshly cooked chilli paneer. I was the first one to get my hands down and dirty with all the choppping, dicing, and cooking!
My yummy chilli paneer in its full glory!
The general commotion in the kitchen. That's Indu in the saaree helping out us lesser mortals with the cooking. She's the inhouse cook whipping up a tasty menu week after week.
Gurpreet in the act.
Our CEO, Gourav Jaswal, getting a handful!
(1) I have drastically reduced the time that I spend on the computer.
(2) Whatever time I do spend, is mostly spent in working -- i.e. no more slashdotting and incessant Google Readering
(3) The "I-just-have-to-blog-about-this" feeling has subsided to quite an extent!
With that, I return to the topic of the post -- "The Bachelors' Lunch" -- which was probably the first 'event' of it's kind for me at Synapse. The idea about the lunch just popped out of nowhere as Shaalini, Mohan, Jwahar, and I were waiting for Abhi to get the '50% discount Marriot cake' on the night of 13th Feb.
Okay, sorry for another detour -- but I just have to tell you this. The pastry shop at Hotel Marriott gives away all bakery items at 50% discount after 9:00 PM every night! :-P Happy calorie counting!
So the idea that popped out of nowhere was that all bachelors at Synapse would cook lunch for everyone else the next day. Jawahar was given charge of logistics and managing the whole affair.
The many cooks that cooked up many a tasty broth were:
o Gurpreet with his Lemon Garlic Chicken - the one in the topmost pateela, right next to the Maggi Ketchup bottle
o Naveen with this Tossed Salad - the one in the red tub
o Moi with my Chilli Paneer - the one in the kadhai towards the bottom of the pic, more on this later
o Mohan with his Rasam & Rice - rasam in the bottom left corner
o I don't remember what was in that pressure cooker -- probably something that Jawahar cooked
o Then there was Italian Pasta by Zubin (not in the picture)
o Not to forget the Strawberry Shake by Kumar.
o Oh yes, and there was also the fraud Jal Jeera by Abhisek!
And now for some 'in-the-action' pics
Moi posing proudly with my freshly cooked chilli paneer. I was the first one to get my hands down and dirty with all the choppping, dicing, and cooking!
My yummy chilli paneer in its full glory!
The general commotion in the kitchen. That's Indu in the saaree helping out us lesser mortals with the cooking. She's the inhouse cook whipping up a tasty menu week after week.
Gurpreet in the act.
Our CEO, Gourav Jaswal, getting a handful!
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
E. Sreedharan
After seeing the Konkan Railway bridge here in Goa and realizing that I'd be using it quite frequently now :-D I decided to read up on the man behind the legend -- E. Sreedharan. He completed the Konkan Railway project before schedule and is now working as the Managing Director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The DMRC is also before schedule. Completing a government funded large-scale civil engineering project before schedule is nothing short of a miracle! And these are not any civil engineering projects we're talking about. It's the Konkan Railways and the Delhi Metro Rail. The first time in India such contructions have ever been attempted!
Read about him at the following links. Inspiring!
E. Sreedharan - Wikipedia Entry
E. Sreedharan - Interview in The Indian Express
Read about him at the following links. Inspiring!
E. Sreedharan - Wikipedia Entry
E. Sreedharan - Interview in The Indian Express
Monday, January 30, 2006
Synapse -- Rocking Office
I've taken up a job at Synapse, which is an 'Information Agency' based in Goa! I'll be working as a Technology Specialist. And yes -- there actually are people working in Goa!
I've just been through my first day here and I'm already in love with the place. The office is an old Portuguese bungalow in Dona Paula (that's a town about 8km from Panjim). The two storeyed bungalow is painted bright red outside and has a big lawn with a volleyball court! There's even a tree with a truck-waala Goodyear ka tyre doubling up as a swing! Inside the bungalow the walls are painted in cyan, cream, red, yellow, purple... every other color except gray.
And there are no cubicles! Every project group has a room to itself with open desks for each member of the group. Every room has a lovely balcony. I spent the day reading up 'introduction-to-Synapse' stuff (induction related documents) in the balcony!
And since it's a bungalow, there's a full fledged kitchen as well. That's where I'll be having my breakfast, lunch, evening snacks, and dinner.
Apart from the 20 odd people that work at Synapse, there are three office (or official!) dogs -- canines. I'm yet to get acquainted with them -- seem to be rather quiet fellows.
The beach is hardly a two minute drive from the office. I was given a welcome lunch at a restaurant located on the beach. Goan curry and rice is yummy! It was the first time in my life that I had so many fishes.
Life seems so vastly different from what it was in Gurgaon -- let's see what it has in store for me...
I've just been through my first day here and I'm already in love with the place. The office is an old Portuguese bungalow in Dona Paula (that's a town about 8km from Panjim). The two storeyed bungalow is painted bright red outside and has a big lawn with a volleyball court! There's even a tree with a truck-waala Goodyear ka tyre doubling up as a swing! Inside the bungalow the walls are painted in cyan, cream, red, yellow, purple... every other color except gray.
And there are no cubicles! Every project group has a room to itself with open desks for each member of the group. Every room has a lovely balcony. I spent the day reading up 'introduction-to-Synapse' stuff (induction related documents) in the balcony!
And since it's a bungalow, there's a full fledged kitchen as well. That's where I'll be having my breakfast, lunch, evening snacks, and dinner.
Apart from the 20 odd people that work at Synapse, there are three office (or official!) dogs -- canines. I'm yet to get acquainted with them -- seem to be rather quiet fellows.
The beach is hardly a two minute drive from the office. I was given a welcome lunch at a restaurant located on the beach. Goan curry and rice is yummy! It was the first time in my life that I had so many fishes.
Life seems so vastly different from what it was in Gurgaon -- let's see what it has in store for me...
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Credit Card - At Last!
Yippee! I finally got credit card! It's an HDFC Gold Card with a credit limit of Rs 75,000 :-D
What I can't understand is, why can't they have PIN numbers for credit cards? This facility is available only for Maestro debit cards. Let me explain with an example.
Point of Sale (POS) Purchase
Internet shopping
I've mailed the HDFC people about the liability of the card holder if the credit card is misused to make fraudulent online purchases. Let's see what their response is....
What I can't understand is, why can't they have PIN numbers for credit cards? This facility is available only for Maestro debit cards. Let me explain with an example.
Point of Sale (POS) Purchase
- Master/VISA (debit or credit card): One just needs to swipe the card at the POS and sign the receipt.
- Maestro (debit card): One news to swipe the card, enter the ATM PIN into the Verifone, and then sign the receipt.
- The Issue: In case of card theft the Master/VISA can be easily misused at any POS. The Maestro, however, can not be used without the PIN at all. Why can't the Master Cards and VISAs have this extra level of security? Beats me!
Internet shopping
- Master/VISA (debit or credit card): One needs to enter the card number, name of the card holder, expiry date, and the CVV number (three digit number printed at the back of the card).
- Maestro (debit card): Just doesn't work online. Have tried a number of time but have always failed :-)
- The Issue:With Master/VISA cards all the details required to shop online are given on the card itself! An unscrupulous person need not even have physical possession of your card to shop online -- he just needs the card details. The "apparent" security cover -- the CVV number -- is also given on the card itself and can not be changed!
Sample this - you purchase something at a restaurant, the waiter takes your card, charges you honestly for your current bill, but writes down your card detail (including the CVV number), and poof -- you've crossed your card limit even before you know!
One solution to this problem is to memorize and scratch off the CVV number as soon as you get your credit card. But such obscure techniques could be avoided if one could have a PIN aka debit/ATM cards.
I've mailed the HDFC people about the liability of the card holder if the credit card is misused to make fraudulent online purchases. Let's see what their response is....
Monday, January 09, 2006
Review: 15 Park Avenue
Rating:
Genre: Drama
15 Park Avenue is not an easy movie to watch. It's not the case that it's a bad movie -- on the contrary it's an amazing movie. Do not miss a chance to watch it! But it's certainly not an easy movie to watch.
The Story
The story is powerful. It's about Mitali/Mithi - a schizophrenic girl - her life, her family, and her own reality. The movie is narrated in the present with a series of flashbacks building up the plot.
Mithi is an almost normal child with symptoms of schizophrenia which show up rather rarely. Joydeep/Jojo (Rahul Bose) falls in love with her and is adamant on marrying her, much to the dismay of Mithi's sister, Shabana Azmi. Mithi joins the Illustrated Weekly as a journalist and is sent all alone to a small town in Bihar to cover the post-poll riots. She is raped, repeatedly, by the local goons there. Jojo tries hard to accept her -- but fails. Shocked by the trauma of the gang rape and her lover leaving her, Mithi succumbs to acute schizophrenia. Her sister sacrifices her own life to take care of Mithi.
Jojo goes on to marry and has two kids. Eleven years while holidaying in Bhutan he sees Mithi and is overcome with an extreme sense of guilt of having failed her when she needed him the most. After meeting her a couple of times, he becomes determined to help Mithi find her imaginary home at 15 Park Avenue. All this, much to the disapporval of his wife.
The End
The end is symbolic and we spent the rest of the evening trying to come up with various interpretations of it. The one that I felt was most plausible is that Mithi finally finds the meaning of her life -- her home at 15 Park Avenue with a happy family -- albeit in a separate plane of reality. After she has gone the others start looking for their 15 Park Avenues -- their meanings of life. What do you think -- do you have some other interpretation?
The Actors
Konkana Sensharma has played the part of Mitali flawlessly. You can almost feel her hallucinating when she goes on to describe her imaginary house situated at 15 Park Avenue, five imaginary kids, imaginary pet dogs, and an imaginary husband who works at Baghdad as the prime minister of shikakai.
The scene where Mithi is raped is heart wrenching. Long after the movie, it still haunts me. The other scene -- where Jojo makes love to his wife (Shefali Chhaaya) and she asks him about his past relationship with Mithi -- is powerful too. Two extreme forms of sex juxtaposed against each another -- one to express hatred and the other to express love.
The way the confused emotions of Shabana Azmi are handled are also good. The scene where she starts shouting and blaming her mother for her failed love life is so realistic.
The Verdict
15 Park Avenue reaffirms your faith that all is not lost in Bollywood -- with the No Entry's, Garam Masaalas, and Mahesh Bhatt's skin flicks. It is a must watch!
Friday, December 30, 2005
What Should I Do With My Life?
That's the title of the book that I had impulsively purchased from Fabmall after reading Rashmi's blog post about it. Have read through the first eight "life-changing" stories in the office loo, but nothing great yet. Let's see if I can figure out what should I do with my life by the time end this book!
Oh and it's a great feeling carrying such a book around in the office - people think you're in a mid-life crisis and will have your life figured out in some time. While they, would still be stuck with the trappings of life! Cheap thrills... he he ;o)
Oh and it's a great feeling carrying such a book around in the office - people think you're in a mid-life crisis and will have your life figured out in some time. While they, would still be stuck with the trappings of life! Cheap thrills... he he ;o)
Fabmall - A Mixed Experience
Was referred to Fabmall by someone on the ILUG-D mailing list. Ordered two books from them. The nice thing was that I didn't need a credit card (which sadly, I don't have yet) for shopping on this site. The HDFC direct debit facility worked just fine - which is great.
But what was not great was the fact that the buggers sent me a pirated book! They sent me the goddamn pirated version of The Mythical Man Month for two hundred and seventy five (Rs 250 + Rs 25 shipping)! I mean if I had to buy the pirated version I would've done it long back. Why the hell did I have to pay the entire amount for a poor paper, tattered binding and indecipherable printing! A poor version which probably would not give me the complete "book-reading experience"!
I called up their customer care about this issue, and they asked me for a written complaint in an e-mail. I shot it off immediately. It has been two days and I have not received a response from them.
The other book What Should I Do With My Life? is the original one.
The website said that the books usually shipped in three days, but they were a bit late. I had ordered them on Wednesday, and got one book on Monday (next week) and the other on Tuesday. Though they did send me a mail saying that the books might be a bit late.
So, it has been a mixed experience with Fabmall. A range of payment options. Well made website. One book in perfect condition, one pirated book! Delivery a bit late.
It was a hundred times better than First and Second at least. I used to follow up my order on the phone with their "Dial-A-Book" service everyday for two weeks and the book nevery came. I finally took the hint and looked somewhere else!
But what was not great was the fact that the buggers sent me a pirated book! They sent me the goddamn pirated version of The Mythical Man Month for two hundred and seventy five (Rs 250 + Rs 25 shipping)! I mean if I had to buy the pirated version I would've done it long back. Why the hell did I have to pay the entire amount for a poor paper, tattered binding and indecipherable printing! A poor version which probably would not give me the complete "book-reading experience"!
I called up their customer care about this issue, and they asked me for a written complaint in an e-mail. I shot it off immediately. It has been two days and I have not received a response from them.
The other book What Should I Do With My Life? is the original one.
The website said that the books usually shipped in three days, but they were a bit late. I had ordered them on Wednesday, and got one book on Monday (next week) and the other on Tuesday. Though they did send me a mail saying that the books might be a bit late.
So, it has been a mixed experience with Fabmall. A range of payment options. Well made website. One book in perfect condition, one pirated book! Delivery a bit late.
It was a hundred times better than First and Second at least. I used to follow up my order on the phone with their "Dial-A-Book" service everyday for two weeks and the book nevery came. I finally took the hint and looked somewhere else!
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