Boxes Are Bewitched...Part I

“Alcom wants to send something to u... gimme ur address” ...Ajith said

“Why not u... y not u give ur address”... I say

“I don’t like taking up responsibilities”... says he

“What about others” ... I ask

“Everybody has reasons”...says he... hmm...

And lo! The courier came... I thought the “box” has come... but no... they were papers... I call up Blue Dart and ask what I am supposed to do with the papers...

And the race begins... against time and against fate...

The process was simple... we had to get the sales tax clearance for the consignment (or the “box”... our protagonist) and then submit the clearance in the airport to take over the box...

It was 4.30 Friday evening that we get to know all this... and we were in the “royal” state of West Bengal where govt. offices have 5-day-a-week policy and officers leave by 5.30 PM at the maximum

4.45PM: Ajith out of office... poor soul with his bits and pieces of Hindi, finds a taxi that would take us to Beliaghatta with great difficulty

4.55 PM: I find myself a victim of wierd looks from people passing by as I wait outside my office...

5.00 PM: I am guiding Ajith and “Dada” (the taxiwallah ofcourse) to my place

5.05 PM: More than 5 min gone...confusion and ecstatic conversation prevails on both sides...

5.10 PM: I find them finally!!!...passing by...

I clamber into the taxi and say “Dada, Beliaghatta jaldi se pahuncha dena...please”

Says he... “pehle suru hona tha...aur pachaas lagenge”...hmm... din’t expect anything better...

“Dada...100 hi bahut hai pehle se... aur pachaas?”... tussle goes on and then...

“Accha pahuncha tho deejiye pehle...phir dedenge ”...

We know it ain’t far as he stops over coolly to drink water...damned... taken for a ride again.... It wasn’t as if we were least expecting it...

5.20 PM: We reach the office... I rush to the first floor

5.22 PM: We need to go to the sixth floor of another building... guided in half Hindi and half Bengali...

And about the building...long and winding corridors with lots of corners... and come a corner... it’s a literal dump yard of waste...

Rooms were lined up in these corridors with “Chatterjee”s and “Bhattacharjee”s pasted on them

Enter the room and reams of paper work...covered with black dust are stacked up in the cupboards

And...the phone...straight from Graham Bells laboratory...as Ajith would say... uses the same technology that Bell originally used...

5.25 PM: Three men surround us... everyone more than willing to help... make me fill forms and thrust a few more to be filled up and say “kal 11 baje ayyiyega...aapka kaam hojayega”

“abhi nahi hosakta?”

“Abhi officer saab chale gaye na...” hmm...

“kal tho aapka kaam ho jayega waise to Saturday bandh hai lekin aap ke liye kar rahe hain”...how privileged!!!

And the wierdos 4% sales tax calculation on 2635 comes to 1054!!!

5.35 PM: Ajith and me find ourselves on the roads of Beliaghatta

People taking bath under the roadside taps, SBI ATMs used for playing hide-and-seek.... and Ajith would say “this place was made before God ever created the world”...

We say no to all the taxis passing by and exploring the place (It was my crazy idea though...) and finally walk to a place where taxis didn’t stop by for us...

We finally get into a bus that would take us to salt lake after a drawn out one hour... Reach salt lake and we looked like haggards... being hungry, we have an early dinner at Hangout...

Now the papers were still with me... peeping out of the cover of apples... apples straight from the roads of Beliaghatta

We wait for Suchen and Roshan to come and they come and then out of nowhere comes the suggestion of going to Caught n Bowled...

Everyone was ecstatic... Mumbai Indians crush the Knight Riders...finishing the match in just over five overs...

Back to the PG and lo! the papers are gone... frantic calls are made... me to Ajith, Roshan... and they to Caught n Bowled...

Poor souls Ajith and Roshy, rush back to the place and get hold of those papers; papers and sanity...both restored... everyone's at peace... hardly knowing what was to come upon us, the next day n for days to come...

This is still the story of the mere papers... the "box" is yet to play its role...

History Repeats...

...it's not even an year since I have left the world in-and-around cabins that I am back here again. Summers is on and I am welcomed back to the world of formal wear, tea-breaks, mails and messengers and lunch coupons. I should be sorry that these are the only things that I could recollect about a working life as I write this.

Thank God... I amn't looking into the code, not even the documents this time around...No...One year of MBA and not even into balance sheets or devising marketing strategies either... World still runs on IT... life's come a full circle and I am back into the world that I thought to have left behind.

Consulting(wow!!!), Technology consulting(accha chalo, there'd be some learning...), Devising DW systems(lemme look for a retail vertical), 1 week and no project yet ( I am in the company of B and C guys...y worry)... it goes on... and a week's done...

"Thinking is the most unhealthy thing in the world, and people die of it just as they die of any other disease."... cynical Oscar Wilde goes on in the other window...

Re-living Last Six Months on Kampus...

So here goes the story...early aspirations fading away, initial enthusiasm melting down, planned discipline turning slack...all a part of every new phase of life...but there is something more...the fading away, melting down, turning slack didn’t happen so early...there were long evenings in the library which were longer for each quiz and the superlative reserved for the term exams. Few library corners were to be named after some of us...early morning mist would just be setting in and each moment of our next half-an-hour chat at the crossroads back to the hostel, would be spent cursing the stack of books on personal front and the course work in the collective gag. The long evenings at the library were spaced with timed breaks at the night canteen...and the famous pun on relativity could never have a better metaphor. The superlative reserved for the term exams was also meant for Friday evenings... the Friday evening fun stretched to Saturday mornings to make Sunday evenings worth deplorable again...the cycle continued...
It continued and as it seemed would go on for two more years in the least...the gang, the gag and the gala time.
But good or bad, things come to an end...And they came... nothing changed, neither I nor the people around me...but everything did seem to change. Then I found some of the rarest virtues, patience and care...with me around they could be the greatest of all too ;) Then our first B school competition at IIM Indore came around and some of life’s loveliest friendships happened. Santosh, Krishna, Shravya, Sindhuja... if u r reading this by any chance... thanku all for the wonderful time...I realised, probably for the first time, having fun could be so much fun. Then to the city I dreaded the most... Mumbai... the K J Somaya trip changed my perceptions of the city totally. Think of the trip and only one face comes to my mind...Hardik...the unconditional affection and the affecting smile...he transcended the goodness I’ve known.

Am I Back??

I dunno wat I would be writing about... it’s strange getting back... I had to break the initial resistance u feel of going back to a thing of past... there’s been a barrier built by time... something u could have broken at anytime u wanted to... u wished to... u wished and still were reluctant.... each moment u thought u had to... u realised how far it was... then the moment went by... and farther it went...
It’s been a long journey of six months... long enough to know the people around me like I have known them for ages... long enough for the happenings of six months to fade the rest of my life’s memories as though they have never been... long enough to wipe out feelings of nostalgia that I thought I always had... long enough to realise that I am total disconnect in the world I have once been in... long enough to know that my world changed but my people didn’t...I changed but my soul didn’t... my feelings changed but my heart didn’t ...and change changed ...for its own sake...

Sahana Saral Thoovutho...

I dunno what's enticing in this song...but yeah...right now addicted to it.As the song and its lovely picturisation still haunt me...I feel great to have made the decision to go for "Shivaji"...after a long contemplation.
ARR's magic and the lilting tamil lyrics do make a great combination sometimes. Tamil lyrics never fail to mesmerise me...probably it's the charm of the unknown.
As I scare people here with my obesession...it goes in a loop in my mind..."Sahana Saral Thoovutho..."

In the 'K'ampus...

It's just been four days now at IIMK but the feelings and the familiarity make it seem otherwise. The academic atmosphere has set in quite early...Each night the notice boards at the mess and the hostel are crowded. Curious students wondering what's in for the next day...who's addressing us to which material to collect at what time...I've probably never seen notice boards get such attention.
Academic discipline and efforts are stressed in almost every address during the three day induction.
First day of our classes began today. A class that is supposedly the introduction to case study analysis...apparently didn't seem to be an introductory class. We were up until 1.30 -2, the previous night analysing the case scheduled for the today.
Motivation, I realised could come from any source...sometimes from someone you'd least prefer. But I was lucky enough that though the realisation came in later, the cue was taken much earlier.The effect was that the confidence levels rose to wipe out the insecurities.To be put simply, it got me the attention of one of the toughest-to-be-pleased prof.It brings in an urge to do better.
And as learning takes off formally from Monday, there would be lesser periods of inactivity. Library would still be my address at K...but probably "Two Alone and Two Together" would have to give way to MA, OB and stuff...
One thing that I've realised is ...Time here never flies by...we are made to live and remember each moment's learning.

The First Few Impressions...

Where would you find a large family room at a hotel in the commercial heart of the city...for Rs 370/- a day... Welcome to Kozhikode...
Honesty, Simplicity and Hospitality...are not anymore rare virtues here... they are a part of life...
I realised probably for the first time...how people could live a contented life at enviable standards...gluttony and commercialism are unheard of...people charge aptly for the sevices they offer...and quality of the service is unquestionable...They embrace their duty with responsibility and a smile on their face...
Work here is worship...it's not a routine chore to go through...right from the bus driver to the hotel attendant...there is a willingness to help people out...
Traditions are taken pride in...there are still movies made with a soul...and language is no barrier there(I watched one such movie on our way to Guruvayur)...
Strangely abundance doesn't make them overtly complacent...the value of the resources is always respected...
Far from the hustle of the metros...a land where virtues still hold ground...serenity and peace still rule the roost...truly it is the God's own country...