A new chapter

I have been absconding for a while. I am shamelessly providing an excuse. See below for the same :)

Random Ramblings over a weekend

It has been a couple of weeks since I wrote something here. Work has kept me busy, and is going to be so for the next couple of weeks.

Enough and more has been said about Sachin Tendulkar, especially in the last few weeks. SRT, in '90s as Rajdeep Sardesai, writes in his column in HT, represented the energy and enthusiasm of the new India that was emerging from unshackling of the socialist era. He changed the paradigm. He transformed the [self] image of Indians from being quiet, striving also-rans to a force to reckon with and more importantly decimators of opposition. Not too many people realise this, but the jingoistic fans of today would have little to cheer if SRT had not laid the base, back in the mid 90s.

Watching him play is pure bliss. It is a privilege to have witnessed his knocks both on TV and in person. This is an article written in 1988, about SRT before he made his debut, by Harsha Bhogle. Here is a man, who fulfilled his destiny

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There is Metro rail construction near my office in Bombay. There has been some construction going on in my office area, ever since I moved to Bombay - be it flyover, underpass, foot over bridge and now metro rail.

The construction has made the road so narrow that there are traffic jam lasting an half an hour is common every day. This means that no auto-rickshaw is willing to venture near my office both in the mornings and in the evenings. A 5 min ride from my home to the office translates to 15 min wait for the auto rickshaw in the morning, and a 30 min wait in the evening. Many a days I walk back home- a 20 min walk. If there was a pedestrian track, footpath etc, I would love to walk to work and back. However, I have to wade through horrible traffic and carbon monoxide emitting automobiles. Not at inviting option at all.

I am exasperated with the situation. I have been patient enough for past 3.5 years, hoping that things will get better, but no. The city of Mumbai has terrible infrastructure. It sucks. Roads are bad, traffic is worse, public transport isn't planned. For Bombay-ites or mumbai-kars, this city is the best-est place in the whole wide world. Start a conversation about Bombay/Mumbai, and words like cosmopolitan nature, open society, live and let live, enterprising nature and of course.. 'spirit of Mumbai' is thrown at you. Spirit of Mumbai is like 'Mere Paas Maa Hai' statement. No one knows what it is supposed to mean, but once uttered, it cannot be countered by logic.As a fellow blogger once wrote,' [In Mumbai] where people wore the badge of cosmopolitanism like an honour to outshine the irksome space crunch and commuting chaos.'

I am not able to justify to myself the insanely high cost of living and the terrible quality of life. If one doesn't live in south Bombay, Bandra or such areas, and /or does not have an own house, he definitely is up for a very tough time.

Net, Teleconferencing, Video conferencing, Virtual presence all have changed the way we do business. I don't necessarily have to be stationed where my partners, suppliers, customers and banks are anymore. This will surely make people and businesses consider options beyond Bombay in the near future. Businesses and people will migrate away if the infrastructure isn't stepped up significantly. And that migration may be to a city a few 100 kms away in Gujarat. People who have not visited Gujarat in the past 5 years should go there now. Check out the physical infrastructure that is available across Gujarat. A financial capital is coming up which is already the talk in the business circles.

Sachin Tendulkar says that Mumbai belongs to all Indians. He speaks the truth. Mumbai has come to typify all the problems that India faces in different parts of the country. Poor infrastructure, terrible or no planning, lack of coordination, resource constraints, linguistics/ regionalist politics and so on.

Ps: I know every other city, town, village in this country faces similar problems, if not worse. I am not comparing Bombay to any other place. I believe I have earned the right to crib about the city after living here for past 3.5 years.

The above paragraphs may be too harsh and negative. I have chosen to highlight only the negatives. I am quite aware of that.

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Have you guys seen ‘Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahaani’? If you haven't then you guys have really missed something.. errr... someome - Katrina Kaif. Sigh! She is beautiful, pretty, gorgeous.. Oh! I could go on and on and on.. Anyone who can arrange a for a small tete-e-tete meeting between me and Katrina and take a picture of both of us shall be rewarded beyond his/her imagination. He/She shall be praised a thousand times in this world and the next. He shall get special mention in my blog, my twitter, facebook, email etc. I shall sincerely pray that his/her [day] dreams come true.

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I was in Bangalore a week ago for my cousin sister's wedding. It was something we all have been looking forward to for the past so many months. We all arrived 3 days in advance to participate in the sangeet and also help out in the wedding preparation. In spite of one's best efforts to execute a wedding successfully and going out of way to please everyone, people will crib. Period. Especially about the food and khatirdari - reception/ ease of movement/ travel to and fro from the wedding hall etc.

I was in charge of the transportation, logistics, reception and send off committees. Ok, there was no committee, only two of us - me and my uncle. It was a huge logistical nightmare. There were 132 people coming from out of town from the boy’s side and around 50ish from our side. The people were put up in 4 different service apartments. People had to be received from the stations (bus/ train), transported to the service apartment then to the wedding hall and back and all this multiple times over two days. Not everyone had to be present for all the functions and a few people of course had to be accorded special attention.

We had a 3 hour first day meeting to take stock of the trains, planes and buses people were coming in. Being the MBA, I drew up two huge flow charts, one to chart out movement of various people and the other for the vehicles. Quite meticulous planning, I must say.

The next two days were whizzed by. I started my reception work on Friday evening at 7.30 pm at the station and continued till 10.30pm. Then the next batch was expected at 3.40 am on Saturday morning and so on till the last group arrived at 7 am. The Platform ticket checker and I bonded over chai at 3.30 am with me cribbing that one should be allowed to by platform tickets for a day. The fun was when one of trains was late and it upset our vehicle flow timings. Much joy happened! Anyways I will spare details of the next two days, but I would say that to the untrained eye, things went off smoothly. And what more, I was also involved in a lot of festivities and had a lot of fun too!!!

And now that the cousin is married and all, all eyes are trained on me. I was told 1657 times by people I knew and didn’t, that route was clear and I should be next. I don't think my route was ever blocked... Anyways, there is always time when the inevitable happens. Its going to be my time soon!

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I am totally envious of people who have talent in music. I have dabbled in music a bit myself. I learnt Violin, Hindustani and Carnatic for a sum total of 7 years under 3 teachers. Every time I changed a teacher, the teacher would insist that some unlearning and learning was needed, and hence I had to restart or go backwards by a few years/ months. The net result of all of this was that, I almost always never proceeded beyond a point. Sigh! Anyways, the positive of all of this is that I have a basic understanding and a high level of interest in music but my knowledge about it is minimal. I made attempts to restart my violin lessons learning again, even in Mumbai, a couple of years ago. However, once my teacher moved out of Bombay, I lost the enthusiasm to find a new teacher and re-learn everything.

I am slowly discovering music for myself, especially Carnatic classical, jazz and world music (Shakti, Myntra, Rhydhum, Buddha bar etc). I so wish, I was proficient with an instrument. No, not a concert performance level proficiency, but a level where I could make music with gay abandon. As a blogger put it, [to be able to play] With the sort of combination of shamelessness and talent that a lot of us aspire to.

There is a certain joy, happiness and bliss in making music. Being lost in that moment is magic. Well, the next best thing is to enjoy watching when others make music. Check this link out. Don't miss it The two performers are out there absolutely enjoying the moment.

Oh Calcutta

One of my closest friends got married this week. I was in Calcutta for her wedding. And I had a good time. No, infact, absolutely fabulous time.

I am trying to put my finger on the exact reason why it felt so good. I guess it was the company. 7-8 of my batchmates, quite a few seniors that I know and a few colleagues. It was the first wedding that I have attended in recent times, where I knew so many people personally.

Or the other reason could be that the wedding was such an intimate gathering of close family and friends in such a wonderful setting. A small house and garden on the banks of a pond/lake, a wooden bridge across a small waterbody - one of those which makes that woody-rickety sound when one walks on it. Not the old dilapidated sound, but one that evokes a slight tinge of nostalgia of the good times shared. The place was tastefully done up with flowers- bright, simple and elegant. There were only 50-60 people at the wedding, fully engaged in the proceedings. We sat around the mandap and watched and interacted, cracked jokes, poked fun and celebrated. The glorious winter calcutta sun joined the celebrations showering warmth and affection over the intimate gathering.

Continuing on the reasons bit, a simple gesture that felt really good was that everyone who came for the wedding from outstation was received by someone regardles s of the arrival time by train or air. I was received by one of my seniors and I in turn did couple of trips to receive some friends. Those who read this blog would know that I travel quite a bit. Infact I've been traveling ever since I left home for hostel after school. And in all my travels, even though I know that there would be no one at the airport or station or bus stops to receive me, I always look out for known/familiar faces. It is just a nice feeling for me when someone is there to receive. Period. Anyways, the gesture did not stop at receiving us. The bride and the groom had not slept the entire night, but were there at the airport at 5am to see us off. I was given the walk of honour right upto the security beyond which they were not allowed. Else I am sure they would have walked me right upto the flight. This gesture is really reflective of who they are. Nice, genuine people who care for friends and family. No wonder the two days were filled with the 'feel good' factor.

No trip to Calcutta can be called complete complete without puchkas, jhalmuris, sandesh, rosogullas and mishti dahi. Some shopping at New Market, a pilgrimage trip to Eden Gardens and Mohun Bagan and a drive through the howrah bridge and the trip was complete :)

The sun rose early by 530 and set by 5pm. It was dark by 530. The malls and eateries were teeming with people at 630ish while by 8, the crowds had thinned down. By 9 many shops were closed. This is quite contrary to Mumbai where there is sunlight till 7.30ish (may be 630 in winter) and given the travel required, dinner is usually 9 o clock plus. And everyone was wearing winter wear and half sweater. And a person on the scooter was wearing monkey cap. I don't quite understand this because the temparature was may be 18-20 C and I was walking around in shorts and T-Shirt. I wonder what I have been missing.

Park street and all the streets in that area are all one way. In the morning from 7 am to 1pm park street is one way towards the office direction and shakespeare road is one way in the opposite direction. This is to facilitate traffic movement in the direction of offices. However post 1pm till evening the one way is reversed. It is now in the direction away from the offices to facilitate traffic movement. And its not just one road which turns turtle, but infact almost all roads in the area including the feeder roads turn turtle. It can be quite confusing to a person who is new to Calcutta. As my friend quipped, ' Its like the entire city turning inside out'

I quite liked the relaxed atmosphere in Calcutta. People are in no hurry. I don't know if I can live here for a long but for a short duration it is great. You get a lot of time for yourself and family to pursue your interests, to have a life.

One of seniors in my company narrated this experience about Calcutta. This was 10 years ago in 1998 and he was in IIM Calcutta. It was two or three days to go for Valentines day and he had to speed post his valentine's card to his girlfriend else it wouldn't reach on time. He was standing at the Jokha post office in the long speed post queue at 5 pm and the speed post van had just rolled into the post office complex. If he missed sending it by that evening's delivery, the card wouldn't reach on time. And given the long queue he was sure to miss it. As he stood there in the long queue wondering what to do, the gentleman standing ahead of him noticed the unmistakable envelope in his hand and asked him 'valentine's day?'. When he nodded in affirmation, the gentleman yelled out to the row of people standing in front of him ' Urgent. Speed post for Valentine.' And everyone in the queue smiled and let him through to the front so that he could send the speed post first. This person claims that this level open mindedness and that too in 1998 cannot be found anywhere but Calcutta. I have a strong suspicion that his Mallu lineage will by default convert praises to eulogies when it is about fellow Bongs. But still I have to agree that the open mindedness and live and let live atmosphere of Kolkatta is probably unmatched in this country.

How I wish that they (people of Bengal) embrace the develop and let develop culture too.

A wedding, some dancing and a lot of merry!

Its a journey to which I have been a part of. In a very small, tiny but (I would like to consider) important measure. Last weekend, one of my closest friend H got married to D. I have mentioned about them here.

The wedding had all the ingredients. A party , mehendi, sangeet, the wedding and the reception. I can go on and on describing it all, but there are a few things which I have to mention here.

- I danced away to glory on many days and had a lot of fun. I have never felt this happy for anyone in such a long time. I can vouch today that it would be very difficult to find nicer people than H & D.. and even more so as a couple.

- Everyone who came to the wedding had a lot of fun. Everyone was smiling / dancing/ laughing etc. I could see and feel why weddings are called joyous occasions. Literally.

- I felt totally welcome, so much so that I felt I belong there. The warmth of the families was felt by everyone who attended the wedding. I was unceremoniously reprimanded in full view of public by H's dad for being an hour late for the Sangeet. ( In my defence, I was following Gujju Standard time, and I did not miss anything :) )

- H & D have been working hard on organising everything about their wedding for the past one year. From cards, to the 'setup of the place' to the caterers to logistics.. everything. The 5 day event was flawless. Executed to perfection. It was classy in design, look and feel. D is a designer par excellence and from wedding clothes to to decorating the place to the cards, she designed it all. I am going to attach three pictures here.. first one of the wedding place, second of the mandap at night or rather evening time and third of the reception. I am not going to even try describing the beauty, elegance and panache.

- Finally, here is wishing them a great life together, forever!

Friday Musings

Om Shaanti Om ...I managed to catch that this week. Total timepass I tell you. Shahrukh had a reason to overact (I do like him, and his acting occasionally) and he did that pretty well. I enjoyed the song with 31 stars and was so excited when it was onscreen. I am such a fimli guy :) The music is pretty nice and I have been humming 'Om shaanti Om' and 'Ajab si' songs..and ofcourse how can I forget Deepika Padukone..

I have to let you in on a secret. I have a knack of spotting talent you see. I spotted Deepika Padukone 2-3 years ago and predicted that she would make it big. She was in my top 5 long ago.. oh and that is the other secret.. my top 5. I have this top 5 list which is periodically updated.. right now there is Kiera Knightley, Vidya Balan, Deepika Padukone, Asin and Shreya. And I tell you what they made it to my list long ago.. Kiera with Bend it like Beckham (long before the Pirates series or Arthur). Vidya balan made it there with Parineeta, Deepika with her Close Up ads, Asin- much before her Gajini movie and Shreya.. well yeah.. she made it there after Shivaji only..

I take my top 5 list very seriously. I am planning a trip to London in the next year.. hopefully and one of my agenda items it to track and meet Kiera Knightley. So I am searching for her calender and ways to meet her. If any of you could help.. I would be eternally grateful :). I learnt that Vidya Balan was a second cousin of a cousin of my friend. I did convince my mom to talk to my friends mom if she could talk to Vidya Balan or Vidya Balan's mom.. but I guess it got lost at the first or the second cousin stage, I think. But hey, I did try.

So you see, the top 5 is a priviledged place to be :)

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I had mentioned two posts ago that I would be attending Archie's wedding or rather reception this week. I did that yesterday. And it was fun. Well, not in the literal sense of fun but I had a different experience. The wedding was in Chembur in the Murugan temple (Or the Madarasi temple as the Autowallahs call it). This gave me an opportunity to visit this temple, something I had been wanting to do for a long time now. Anywho, the interesting part of the evening was that there was only one person that I knew in the entire gathering, and that was the bride. I had met Archie through blog and orkut and her circle of people had never intersected my circle of people and hence I was alone in that hall. And boy, what fun it was. It was a typical tam-bram crowd which had gathered there

- There was a group of people of elderly disposition (see I am polite ) sitting in the rows behind me, and I heard the quintissential Tam brahm names - Raghu thatha, Kittu mama and Ramamurthy uncle. Guess only an 'Ambi mama' was missing.

- I heard a mami telling her husband at 7.45pm ' Vango, kalambalam, naazhi aachu'

- I saw a group of mama's discussing the some article in 'The Hindu' and politics and staunchly supporting the BJP

- Some maami's sitting in a row just ahead of me had started their 'maami' work. 'Adhu Lalitha ponnu thaanai. avullukku pakkaralaa'. (But I tell you, weddings are great places to meet members of the opposite sex.. personal experience you see. )

- A mama was telling his group.. 'Maami, pannarai dosai odai bettera irukku'.

But something was missing.. it wasn't feeling complete till I heard one of the women say- 'Kolangal paathelono' . Thats it. How come a gaggle of women and no mention of soap operas or rather mega serials. I silently clenched my fist and muttered 'adhu!'

I had now had a almost complete tam-bram social event experience.. (well ofcourse I missed the filter coffee among a few other elements..but it was as good as it gets kinda thing)

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Tomorrow, saturday, I am going river rafting. So I am looking at an action packed weekend. Hope its fun. If I get some pics, I will put them up.