A trip to Calicut...

All my life, I've lived in north India. And I daresay, I'm well travelled in this region. The only city that I found worthwhile in all my years (although they aren't too much!) is Delhi, and Chandigarh/Dehradun to some extent. At every other place, I've wondered how could anyone live there?

I had the opportunity to visit Calicut as I had to arrange the tickets for my weekend visit to Bangalore. Calicut, I presumed like all other mid-sized cities that I have seen, would be a nondescript, smelly and backward town on Malabar coast. My presumption was based primarily upon its low profile (Has anyone heard of Calicut in news?).

And as it happens all the time, my presumption was off the mark. And by some distance. Calicut, in contrast to what I had imagined, looked like a prosperous town. The roads were well laid, their drainage system works well (It has to work being in Kerala!), plenty of supermarkets, stores selling all kinds of branded goods (even imported furniture). There was an odd mercedes as well. And some of the jewellery shops in Calicut could put a few on Bank Street to shame. Even the people in the countryside looked to be fairly well off. The folks were polite and helpful. Probably, what I forgot to take into account was the money from the middle-east with which this place is flushed with.

The countryside is very beautiful, the kind of place where one would like to spend their time of leisure. Its unimaginably green all around and along some of the vistas, one could see enough green to make one wonder if there were this many trees in all of Delhi? Calicut is some distance away from the campus (Kunnamanglam). I did this journey on a bike, the breeze was nice and mildly-cold. At some places, it was almost rejuvenating.

Probably two years spent in this environment here would add five more to my lifespan!

Really nice...

Of laws and lost keys...

My room has two keys (and locks). One is for the main door and the other is for the cupboard. Now over these past four and a half days, I have never been able to get to the right key on the first go. It always happens that I instinctively insert the cupboard key in the main door and the main door key in the cupboard.

This 100% failure rate left me exasperated and I thought of a way out. Now, whenever I needed a key, I made the uninstinctive choice, that is, I started choosing the key that I didn't choose. By induction, it was fairly clear that this was simply a matter of wrong choice. And logically, choosing the unchosen key should have solved the problem. Predictably enough, the failure rate was still 100%.

By deduction, I'm now saying that given a choice, one will always pick the wrong key [I've checked with others too...]. Murphy has no law regarding keys. Congratulations, you are one of the first people to read this hypothesis.

And also, I misplace my keys often and amazingly enough, I always find them at the last place I look for them.

Any coincidence here?

Calicut Woes

I'm terribly homesick. And the weather is not helping me. Either it rains or it rains even harder. The moment it rains, something stirs me and churns my stomach. I long to be with those whom I love the most.

My loneliness has probably made me much more intense than what I usually am. I've barely smiled in 3 days and have hardly talked to anyone, save my neighbour who happens to be a fellow TG-ite from NSIT. And there is precious little to do otherwise but to attend some silly presentations. There is one going on right now in the auditorium where Toshiba guys are trying to push their laptops.

What I've seen in these 3-4 days, I must say, has not impressed. There is no intensity and its way too laid-back for my comfort. I came here bustling with energy and raring to go but cynicism has started to creep in now. All my doubts and reservations have begun to resurface. And I'm not sure if I'll get what I'm looking for.

I know its in ones best interest to back a decision which one has already made. But as I've wrote earlier somewhere, there's a certain amount of pessimism to my persona these days. I feel culpable for leaving my family behind. I doubt my own faculties. And I'm finding self-reflection tormenting. I've this dreary feeling of loneliness all the time. I'm conscious of my stuation but I'm unable to do anything about it.

Highlights of the first day...

1. Stressful registration. I couldn't help having pity at the guys who were doing it. They were doing it most diligently but two people overseeing one hundred and seventy five registrations was a bit too much even for them.
2. Even stressful induction. Speeches were what speeches are like. The little said the better.
3. A high tea, the only thing high about which was the height at which the mess is located. And like most high teas, one couldn't escape the mandatory pastries and sandwich although samosa had given way to some south-indian-dish-with-naariyal-ki-chutney.
4. A good session with the chairs of various departments.
5. An uneventful evening.
6. A session with the students council.
7. A tiff with one of the 'committe-heads'.

@K

Its been one long journey!!!

After 1498, today is an epoch making day in the history of Calicut ;-)

first impression: remote but beautiful campus,

More to come...

And for that special person...

...Who is the reason of my being, I wish Godspeed, good fortune and all the happiness in the world,

I'll try to live up to your dreams...

Ankur

As I bid adieu to ST and Delhi...

Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord,
Then, I am ready to go!
Just a look at the Horses --
Rapid! That will do!

Put me in on the firmest side --
So I shall never fall --
For we must ride to the Judgment --
And it's partly, down Hill --

But never I mind the steeper --
And never I mind the Sea --
Held fast in Everlasting Race --
By my own Choice, and Thee --

Goodbye to the Life I used to live --
And the World I used to know --
And kiss the Hills, for me, just once --
Then -- I am ready to go!

-Emily Dickinson

For those who wish to stay in touch, I can be reached at pruthi[at]gmail.com...

Till I go live again from K,

GoodBye

Of a 'Mare ass' and a 'bull'...

My CLIP cordless broke down a couple of weeks ago. And since last week, we were getting a lot of blank calls. Here's what happened last night.

8:00 PM Phone rings, I take the call, no one speaks...
8:05 PM Phone rings, I take the call, no one speaks...
8:06 PM Phone rings, I take the call, no one speaks...

by this time I was majorly pissed off...

So, I get a blank call again at around 8:30 PM

8:30 PM annoyed, I speak loudly into the handset, "mummy pata nahin kaun gadha hai, apne paise aur hamara time waste kar raha hai..."
8:40 PM Phone Rings, Momma takes the call, no one speaks
8:41 PM Phone Rings, Papa takes the call, no one speaks
9:00 PM Phone rings, I take the call, A female voice, angry as hell, "aap mujhe kya keh rahe the, gadha? khud kisi saand se kam nahin lagte aap..." slams phone...

Me? simply jawabless...

Last weekend in Delhi...

...for some time to come. Just went to Galgotia's, A book on body-language caught my fancy. Means busy weekend ahead.

kho-kho in blog world...

Hmmmm...

So I've been tagged by Karan Shah, Here is my bit

Number of books I own:
Don't know. They are here, there and everywhere!!!

Presently reading:
[Reading Again]
Atlas Shrugged (I'm always reading it...)

[Reading for the First Time]
Catch 22

In the pipeline:
[In my possession]
The Virtue of Selfishness

[To buy and read]
The Atlas of Experience

Recently Read:
The McKinsey Way
The Origin of Brands
Made In America
The Da Vinci Code

Two of my favourites:
The Story of Philosophy
Malgudi Days

And like a true loser, I'm not tagging anyone!!!

Seven things that make my life awful...

1. I have no work.
2. I have no internet.
3. I have no money.
4. The manager wants me to be on leave till my last day here at ST, sacrificing my earned-leaves.
5. People are bored of me, no one asks about my last day.
6. No one is even contemplating giving me a parting gift or a farewell.
7. No one comments on my blog.

Am I a Pakistani?

Parineeta

[No spoilers in it...]

Watched Parineeta yesterday at Satyam. Contrary to the reviews that I'm now reading, I didn't find it too special. There were some glaring loopholes in screenplay and direction, and sadly, they were too obvious.

Pradeep Sarkar (Director) has some good work to his credit prior to Parineeta. 'Piya basanti' and a couple of commercials with Aamir Khan for coke being notable. But there are some other forgettable ones too, like Rani Mukherjees 'munch' TVC. So for me, Sarkar started with a clean slate.

And after Parineeta ended, I felt Sarkar had done some of his homework but surely not all of it. Artwork and sets were brilliant throughout. Cinematography was OK. Performances were competent. Music was good if not great. But there were a lot of pitfalls. One thing that constantly irritated was the near flawless and contemporary diction of every english word by every single character. Considering Parineeta is set in 60's Calcutta (it wasn't Kolkata then!), there was hardly a touch of bengali and that period in the dialog. I've never been to W.Bengal and I haven't read the novel but I'm not sure if I agree with the general 'sensibilty' of the characters in the movie. It seemed a lot modern to me. And some characters were real caricatures, not sure what Diya Mirza and Raima Sen were doing in the movie.

All that notwithstanding, the highlight of Parineeta was Vidya Balan. Her expressive eyes were a treat to watch and she put in a flowing and almost flawless performance. This role fit her to the tee. Saif Khan's frown, BTW, is getting too repetitive.

That apart, Parineeta is based on a Sarat Chandra novel, so was Devdas. And so comparison is inevitable. Devdas published in 1901, Parinita in 1914. But the recent movies based on these two novels are quite contrasting in treatment.

I never liked Devdas, but after Parineeta, my opinion has changed. Nautanki-like alright, but seeing Devdas, you can feel the huge amount of effort that has been put to create the right setting, in forms of script, screenplay and artwork. There is an effort to develop each character (which explains its long length). And of course, Bhansali being a master technician helped. Compared to it, Parineeta seemed like an adaptation, and a modest one at that.

I guess I was in one of my more cynical moods when I watched Parineeta. Its not that its a bad movie but it just didn't click with me. Still, hype notwithstanding, probably worth a try.

The Chacha Chaudhary challenge...

Check your CCQ,

1. How many brothers does chacha chaudhary have? Names???
2. Who are chacha chaudhary's co-passengers in the 'udne-waali-car'?
3. Of the three featured vamps in CC's titles, only one wields a weapon? Who is she and which weapon?
4. Sitter, Name of Chacha Chaudhary's dog?
5. Which character in a blockbuster movie of the 70's resembles a goon in one of the chacha chaudhary comics? [Chacha Chaudhary first appeared in 1969, Some have suggested that the movie character is inspired from CC]

Contemplating moving to LJ...

Suddenly livejournal seems a better place to blog...
What say you?

The greatest blonde joke ever...

Read it here,
Thanks KShah...

Chow Chow, Mow Mow and others...

This post has been panned by all and sundry, I'm removing this!!! Amit Arora's comment is in context with the original post. BTW original post talked about Chow Chow - A breed of dog, Chow Chow Mow Mow - A chinese delicacy and India Today Spice

KBC and philosophizing with Jim

I hear that KBC is returning to the telly. And this is probably the final nail in the coffin. I used to be a huge Amitabh fan until he started selling chocolates, cold-drinks, pens, bank loans, paints, suitings, automobiles, televisions et al. Probably the only product that he is not promoting on TV is womens toiletries. And I'm sure it won't be long before someone has an idea of having Amitabh even in these commercials.

For those who know me this might be a mild shock as I've been a Amitabh fan for so long but I've resolved that I'm not seeing any of his movies or his ads for the next 6 months. Pray that the TV remote is able to stand up to my even more frequent fiddling. Akai TVs in any case are not famous for being robust!

For quite some months now, the evening tea has been the only high point of my day in office. I catch up with a couple of friends whom I connect well with. And isn't it a pleasure when someone understands the unsaid! As our paths start to diverge, I'd particularly miss my conversations with Jim, with whom I share an excellent rapport. We've had our differences too but it has all been very constructive (for me atleast). On more than one occasion, I've been made to realize my self-righteousness. Most of the philosophy of my life has taken shape in these exchanges. And tragically, as my last day here draws closer, the more interesting and more insightful our conversations have become.

I'd remember a couple of things which have shaped my thinking... (both related to my career etc.)

1. It is very difficult to have a long term goal when you are as confused as I am. Its better to have short term ones, things which give you the pleasure at that point of time. And doing all this probably some day you'd find your calling in life. In short, I'm following infatuations to find the love of my life (wife, plz forgive the analogy!)

2. If nothing is clear even then, work for money. That way there'll be fewer regrets.

And the there are dozens of thumb rules that I'v formed. How I'll miss my evening tea...

Selling to a Salesman...

Well, the title is misleading. Actually, this is what I tried to accomplish. I thought I pulled it alright but as events unfolded, reality dawned on me.

I was trying to sell my M800 to a dyed-in-the-wool baniya-ka-balak(BkB) used car dealer. And I realized that I have a lot to learn before I even dream of a career selling soaps and oils.
It all started with a meeting on 31st night. BkB came with a 'party' to me with a quote which was a tad lower than what I was expecting. Usual bargaining ensued. I didn't budge from my stand. BkB upped the ante but just short of my price. I didn't take it, BkB was disgusted, He almost came down to mouthing profanities. He alleged that I had insulted him and blah blah. I said GoodBye.

Digressing to the 'party' for a moment. The guy who came to my home was different from the couple of guys that had 'tried' my car the day before. Anyway, once BkB left, some half an hour later, the new 'party' came with the 'original' party. I did some badmouthing about the BkB to them. They were amused. But these were softer guys, the deal was settled at my price. And once the deal was settled BkB resurfaced, he gave me the 'bayana' and the next argument was about who would keep the car overnight. All three hounded me and then a cousin came to my rescue. This cousin himself is a pucca businessman and he knew BkB well enough. What I then discovered amazed me. The original 'party' was BkB's brother and father. So basically BkB was trying to extract commission for selling my car to him!

Eventually, I had my price and I kept the car overnight. This was a mild ego-booster, coz I knew it isn't easy getting BkB kinds around. What I falied to realize was that BkB was a master businessman, he had decided to give in small quarters (by showing himself to be flexible). This softened me and he took back more than what he had conceded the next morning.

We were supposed to start at 9:30 the next day but BkB didn't arrive before 11:00. He made us sign all kinds of documents saying that he'll fill in the details rightaway. He told us that his cheque being of the same bank as our loan, it would realize in couple minutes. The money over and above the outstanding loan amount and 'bayana' was to be paid as a post dated cheque to be encashed once the bank delivered the NoC.

Once in the bank, we realized that cheque would take three days to clear as this was inter-division transfer. BTW, we paid for the parking and fuel. And he made 5 stops en-route back home for his personal work. He had already taken the delivery of the car and had given us a signed a delivery note. Post dated cheque was handed to us alright but we had handed our car only upon the basis of 'bayana' and he had all the documents signed! More descriptively, I had handed over the car on 15000 Rupees cash and rest was all cheques! I shudder to think what if cheques don't realize...

To rub salt to our wounds, he took 51 Rs. shagun money when he took the keys from my father. Also, he never filled the signed forms, he says that he'll fill it once he has a buyer, this way he'll manage to show our car as a genuine 'party' car and not a dealers car. He is now haranguing us that we help him sell our already sold car by posing as the genuine party. All because he has hungry kids at home (BTW he drives a honda city...)

badly beaten...