Such untainted was Amol Gupta’s effort with the script that I was overwhelmed. Simplicity and sincerity were the key ingredients of Aamir Khan’s directorial debut “Tare Zameen Par”. And during the first 15 minutes of the movie I could draw parallels with my life of all the mundane commotions of our naïve protagonist Ishaan, which by the way gave a splendid performance.

The innate similitudes took me back in time when I use to toss gazillion innovative bahanas to bunk school just for one day, pull some crazy prank, add layers of mud over me by the time I am back from school, virtually box with kids next door, run for a kite, get pampered by mom when dad was designated villain, indulge in rowdy peer comparisons, lie precariously, unleash those captive imaginations in most dilapidated manner, fancy a virtual friend, get over protective about my baby sis, get thrown out from class for every single possible reason, get notes of excellence and not-so-excellence and even worse, of disapprobation.

I did it all and I relived those moments when Ishaan did it. Its not about whether it was appropriate or not or my guilt conscious was taking command or something; it just rejuvenated those careless, or should I say apathetic days of my life. It was about the time when I used to be wacky and reckless. Thinking of consequences was not my obligation; ma-pa did that for me. All I was supposed to do was to do, do whatever I please, however I please.

The childhood that’s eroding with every passing day, was gifted back to me in those 3 hours. The genuineness of the movie was because director himself was living each of the moment with Ishaan. There is a scene, where Ishaan was getting late for school and while running for the bus, he saw a mud-hole. He jumped and splashed it all over. Now to think of it, you need to be a kid. You and I are probably too self-conscious to do something like this now, even to think of it. The scene of flipbook exposed the vulnerability of a 9 year old. A thing like this requires getting into the script, feeling the mood of the movie and most importantly pouring your heart out. Aamir did that.

The second half of the movie was even better. It strikes a chord, leaves a itch somewhere. Parents do make their child live their dream, many a times forcefully. Imaginations are curbed as we grow older. Instincts are kept at bay and materialistic results become the benchmark of life. Dreamers, by default, are labelled as losers.

This movie dares to ask why!! And such innocent, yet mature is the approach that it makes you think. It compels introspection. The impact travels from heart to brain, from emotions to thoughts.

It raises even bigger issues like why in a country like India with such a diverse population; innovation is still an occasional hunch. Why do people here make run of a mill choice and not think beyond the horizon? Why kids like Ishaan have to struggle because they dare to be Howard Roark? The flaw is inherent in us and we all are responsible shelling million kids like Ishaan.

So after all this, do I think I’ll let my kid be so independent that it exempts me from his/her every action? The answer is NO. But then that’s the discussion of some other day. This day and this post is about the movie “Taare Zameen Par”. This movie made its way in coveted “Anshul’s Fav Movie” list and I’ll ask all the readers of this blog to do yourself a favour. You owe it to Ishaan in you.

p.s. I don’t feel like discussing the acting, animation and all those things. Trust me, they were all secondary. But before I forget to mention, lyrics and music were phenomenal.

Labels: From the other side of the Lens, I, Lord's review, Memoirs, Sentiments, Wandering Thoughts, WTF

a blog dedicated to these awesome 3 months at joka. No text, just visuals.
~ensoi








~earlydays@joka

Labels: I, Joka Land, Memoirs, Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyy

19^th may 2k7 was one of the most memorable day of my life. It was the class reunion of St Paul’s 2k1 batch. To be honest, it was more fun than the farewell. I met lots of junta after 8-10 years. The excitement was inevitable, but the degree of proximity was surprising yet extremely comforting.

The whole planning started about a month ago. The core organizers were Ritesh (mama), Shweta, Suchit (t2), Pritesh, Rohit, Saurabh (papa) and me (yours very own Lord Anshul). As most of them were into business and all in Ujjain itself, we thought it would be much better to settle the event at our very own hometown. After a lot of thought 19^th may was decided as the D-day.

I reached Ujjain on 14^th, and then started series of meetings. All the old class fotos were dug out, the list was formulated and the exhausting process of reviving contacts was started. Everyone got busy, and cell became more important than ever. At the same time other plans were to be decided. All of us succumbed to the conjuring whims of “lady nostalgia”.

For the first time something on such a large scale was happening, and me and mama were in no mood to screw it up. Few other futile attempts of such sort ended up in a disaster. Everyone was foned and mama and I made sure that we would personally try and meet as many of them as possible. Rohit was given responsibility to contact and meet people in Indore. And others in Bombay, Delhi, Pune and Bangalore were called up.

T2 was responsible for hotel booking. With all his contacts in Ujjain, no one else was more suitable. And that guy did a brilliant work too. He got us “Shanti Palace”, which when we contacted was not free that day. Our hero spent a “high-spirit” evening with the GM of the hotel and we got a booking: D. We asked him to make sure that it is banquet hall and he said us we will get whatever we want. Brilliant!!

Food was decided by Pritesh and Papa. The program was scheduled from 5 to 10 and this made 2 courses a must. And being in Ujjain I had to settle for veg onlyL. No regrets!! Culinary options were secondary for me that day.

Mama and I then started looking for a decent memento. The whole idea was to have an event so grand that all “oh-I-am-so-busy” souls should feel that they have missed something significant and if something of this sort happens after another 5 years than we could expect almost 100% attendance. The memento was decided and the order was placed for 30 pieces. (Thanks a ton Mohammad for all the help).

A lot of other plans were fashioned and defashioned. We were planning to call teachers but finally decided against it and thought let this be strictly our batch’ event. Then we planned to give few informal awards (“the geek”, “most notorious”, “laugh riot”), but then got scared of puny disputes that might arise. Then we planned to arrange some skit or some little program, but lack of time held us back. We finally settled for a brief introduction of what happened in life after leaving school and little free-lance dancing:P

Digicams, handycams and lappys were arranged. Hotel guy was asked to arrange for music system and amplifiers. So far so good. Then again life has never been so kind on us.

Till 19^th morning everything was going so peacefully that it just didn’t make sense and I was waiting for some screw up. And it came from memento guy. He said that there was some problem with the print of memento and he has to re-do entire thing. I almost erupted “Mr. Mehta!! I am about to sign your death warrant. I want everything ready by 5 sharp, or I’ll hang you by your neck” and slammed the fone. Still the condition was under control.

Anyways we consolidated entire stuff and reached the hotel by 4:45. Abhinav and I reached there to ensure the arrangements. But surprise surprise!!. Everything could not have rolled so smoothly. Those idiots were confused and thought the entire event was supposed to start at 7 and in lawn. I could feel mercury rising in my veins. I barked at them to finish the entire thing by 5:30. I called up t2 by that time. “Seth” t2 was fuming and almost fought with the manager. But it was so late to do anything that we had to settle with whatever was being given to us.

Junta started to come by 5:30 and but only in ones and twos. I was like lol!! No one here understands the meaning of punctuality:P Major chunk came around 7. I am usually hyper for no reason, but that time I was visibly hysterical. And by 7:30 most of them were there, thought few ditched at last moment and didn’t show up. We anyways realized that weather became super sexy and lawn was very soothing.

We than started a mini intro round where everyone told what they have been up to after leaving school. And I realize I guess my class had one of the most diverse set of students. Only thing missing was probably an IAS and someone in police. We had everything else. Engineers, Doctors, Politicians, Lawyers, Artists and everything (it includes a guy with criminal record as well) :P

Then next 3 hours were the best time of my life. We all laughed, shouted, gossiped and danced. It never felt so good. Anecdotes were floating in the air and I can’t recall a teacher who was not mocked. Few got married and few engaged, and we were listening to their love stories. Time flew faster than ever. Me and J hugged and consolidated when we heard that P got married: D. Then came time for a group foto. It was more beautiful than any other foto I have ever seen.

We all parted with a promise to do the same again in another 3 years. But that time on even magnificent scale and with even more junta.

While coming back, I collected my memento, dropped R at her home and turned back to home. I ran in and called pa, ma and dids and told them everything. Phew!! Finally after 5 hours my lips were released from the continuous stretch and I crashed into bed.

Labels: I, Memoirs, Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyy

time for nightouts again..

UCL semifinals are here...and as Rafa Benitez has predited i wish its going to be AC vs. Liverpool final again...and ofcourse unlike istanbul, this time i do not want to witness any thrills in the final. a stright forward win would be nice.

my prediction says, ManU- AC match is going to be on hell of a match. AC has refound its confidence, with team almost certainly qualifying for the UCL next season even after points penalty. Man U is going to have a tough time in wake of injury and super tight schedule in EPL and Chelsea closing up for the title race.

For Liverpool - Chelsea match, i cant give an unbiased opinion. Heart and soul for "the Reds". But the problems faced by Sir Alex is faced by Jose as well. Team looked extremly drained out this weekend against Newcastle. I doubt if this match will go to away goals and will be settled on aggregate.

Up "the Reds".

Players to watch

Liverpool : Mascherano
AC Milan : Seedorf
Chelsea : Wright Philips
ManU : Ronaldo

Labels: Memoirs, Soccer, Sports, Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyy, YNWA

Sakshi didn’t tag me for this: D, but I thought of roping myself in it, forcefully: P. Summers are here and like most people, I’m nostalgic too. Now that I’m working, I miss those school days summer vacations, those tension-free strolls with friends, those cricket and badminton sessions. Summers were more fun as a kid.

Grandma’s kitchen: I distinctly remember, I used to go to nani-dadi's place for a month or so. I was the first kid on either side of the family so I was the most pampered one too. I was crazy about "nariyal barfi", I still am. My nani use to make those awesome nariyal barfis for me, and also a big packet was packed for me when I was about to leave. Ohh that thing was heaven. My nani is an amazing cook and it’s amazing what she can do without onion-garlic-ginger. My uncles were quite younger to my mom so no kids there. My sister and I were the rulers. Our wish was law. I miss those late night terrace sessions with my nanaji. We use to talk about everything from various constellations to various mythological stories, from world politics to Ghalib's shayari, from Sanskrit sholkas to Urdu lessons, from my studies to my friends. We use to sleep on terrace. I miss those "odomos" nights and early morning wake up calls.
From there I use to go to dadi's place. It was a joint family there, so already bunch of kids waiting for me and my sis. And then hell unleashed. Mumma and chachis use to bang there head on wall. I miss watermelon time (my dadaji use to call it "bakra" lol: D). I miss that chaats/paani puri of Aligarh and those amazing and yet cheap pastries of "ram bharose bakery". I miss that wall climbing sessions. I miss those cricket sessions with super bouncy rubber balls. I miss those math sessions with my cousin (I m a good teacher!!).
Coming back to Ujjain used to be almost a nightmare.

Sports: now I’m a pulp of fat, but as a kid I use to be pretty athletic. Fastest bowler around and one of the better fielders. Those days morning was booked exclusively for cricket. 6 o'clock in the morning and I’m cycling like a blaze to the ground, sometimes to avenge yesterday's humiliating lose, sometimes with a determination to repeat that classic yorker of last game. “Aftis” were reserved for TT sometimes or sometimes watching WWE with friends or playing cards with mom. Evening was for badminton. But in badminton it was rather better case for me. I was a champ. And I was usually hailed as one as well. I used to walk court with utter dominance and grace. And at 7 in the evening it was time for swimming. I had family pass, but alas Ujjain is not a town where u can see girls in family time. Nevertheless, swimming still is my favorite form of workout. Man!! I’m one lazy fat boy now.

Ice-creams/popsicles: I remember them for very different reasons from what most people do. As a kid I had severe tonsillitis. I was not allowed cold water of fridge, let alone ice-creams and popsicles. But I was a very good kid. Mumma says that I never made a fuss about it, will refuse politely even if someone offers me one. I was not allowed anything that was cold. But what!! I make up for it now. :D

Discovery channel: as a kid I was crazy about it, use to watch everything. (Only exceptions were news, cartoon network and matches.) No matter if it was biological/genetic shit or wildlife adventures or some travel guides. I'll watch it religiously. Right from my childhood; I have that knack to know everything. Unlike some people who want to be king of one thing, I am always inclined towards a basic knowledge of everything. I’m scared of a thought that I might end up in a bunch of people where I have no idea what they are talking about and I’m just staring their faces. That fear is still in me, and may be its getting stronger everyday. So whenever I talk to someone and I come across something new, first thing I’ll do after that is to hit “wikipedia”.

Maths: There is something between my family and maths. At least finding maths interesting and equally amusing, is a genetic disorder in me. My mumma always make sure, that during summer vacations, I do some maths. She will get next year’s maths book and make sure; I finish it well before next session even starts. My papa has always been my maths teacher. And I never realized when this interest turned into love. Condition became so bad that while I was about to get in 9^th, I was pretty competent with 10^th-11^th maths, and much better than kids in those class.

Maths still is my first academic love. And as GB Shaw said “First love is a little foolish and a lot of curiosity.” Come on, call me geek!!

Food: Summer is not the best time of the year for foodies, but there was a lot to drink. And two of my favorite fruits use to stack up in fridge. Watermelon and Mango are my love. I distinctly remember, papa used to get fresh mangos daily on his way back home from his morning walk. And then there was mango shake. That was a must have every evening. But I live because of my love for “lassi” and “shikanji”. People drink bed-tea, but I used to drink “bed-lassi”.

I still have my share of fun. Still like sitting on terrace in the night in cold summer breeze. Summers are all about minimal clothing, multiple-shower-sessions, crew-cut hairdos, ice-creams and cold drinks, midnight longdrives, hot babes in shorts and skirts and sports season finals. But vacations are not the same anymore; life is not the same anymore.

Labels: I, Memoirs, Tags

This blog is about the biggest concert of my life and I’m sure the feeling was shared by more than 25k people watching the God’s live act. Bangalore was going bonkers for the sight of Eddie. Pop was long out, and heavy metal was the new sound of music. Almost all the modes of transport converging towards bangy were packed with eager fans, dying to see the unimaginable and gasping in utter disbelief “Oh my fucking GOD, I still can’t believe that I’m going to see Iron Maiden live and that too in India.” And let’s not talk about the fans of bangy. Maiden performing live only in Bangalore, was official stamp on the unofficial-n-invisible-n-debatable document which reads Bangalore is the rock/metal capital of the country.

*I was trying to think of a scientific explanation for it and this is the best I was able to come up with. Bangy is the silicon valley of India and silicon is a metal, so it has to be metal capital. I know its crap, but 5 hours of brutally savage head banging without dope kinda makes your brain do rock n roll*

I had friends coming from all over the country for the concert and for the past few days I was busy arranging tickets and accommodation for them. I was so thrilled that philanthropy had taken over my sanity. And on the D day we were a bunch of 7 mean guys, most of them were drunk (at 1 o’clock in afti) and doped, and for being the sober one, I was given the responsibility to arrange for taxi and take care of the tickets. We reached the venue at 4 and managed to get few packets of “sutta” inside, hiding them near our holiest of the holy, in our undies (idea no. 53 in the bestselling “101 advantages of large undies and chubby ass”)

The moment I entered, my eyes popped out of the socket and as my friends say I was shouting “Holy Fuckkkk!!” All that I could see was people in black shirt and dirty jeans without any exceptions, well almost without any exceptions. It was a different world altogether. It was mean, it was dark, and it was crazy. Age no bar, color no bar, caste no bar, and sex no bar. It was a world where tattoos and piercing were no more a taboo. It was a world where “fuck” was the most frequently used common noun. It was a world where weed and spirit were staple diet. It was a world where Maiden was the only God and no one was atheist.

There was still time for concert to start and we thought what better way to waste some money and time on merchandise. I was in my maiden shirt, but could not resist the temptation for another one. Here goes “the greens”. Next pit stop was sandwich shop and the Pepsi stall. Sandwich sucked, by the way. And so did the sound. They said, maiden got 20 tons of instruments with them. Tell me, speakers were not in them. Sound was pathetic, by any standard. But whatever!!(I possibly could not have sounded more indifferent).

The concert started at 5 o’clock with the stage being occupied by FTN (winner of campus rock idols ’07). Who cares about the genre, they sucked major. We were busy hooting them shouting “suck my dick”, “fuck off bitch” and our very own kgp special “ek do teen char, band karo ye atyachar”. Our unison and undying hatred to that crap was source of inspiration for people standing next to us, and our rhyming masterpieces proved contagious for our neighbors as well. Finally, we got relief from that junk in around half an hour.*I guess they were done with the performance but I won’t mind taking credit*

Then came Parikrama. It was their 3^rd live performance that I was attending in last 5 years, and every time they were getting better and better. Their chick guitarist had added layers on his waist. But the best part was their recent addition of a violinist in the group. He was a surprise addition in an essentially rock band. Crowd was going berserk on the performance when they played hits like “but it rained”, “rhythm and blues” and “whiskey in the bottle”. I was especially impressed by the violin instrumental.

Then came the most boring part of the day. Before this let’s define loser. Loser is someone who thinks genetic advantages always pay. Laura Harris’s (daughter of founder and lead guitarist of iron maiden, Steve Harris) performance proved the definition. Enough said.

All minnows were done with their efforts. Some good and some not so good. But my clock of patience was ticking and heart was pounding higher than ever. Even the anticipation of the thought of seeing maiden was giving me jitters. Stage preparation was going on. Mob was turned to frenzy mode. It was in this time, I saw a kid (no more than 10, mind you) wearing a maiden tee-shirt, which could have fit two like him was shouting “maiden maiden!!” sitting on his father’s shoulders. And I was like “man!! And I call myself fan.”

Suddenly lights went off. And when they come back, I could see masses of blood and flesh on stage. Then I thought I know who they are. It was Dave, Steve, Adrian, Janik and Nicko. All the hands were up in the air making that typical head banger’s \\m// . Ear deafening sound of “maiden” was thundering the sky. But I was still looking for the king of the gods. And then he arrived, in a black blazer and a mic in his hand. Bruce was here.

Then he started singing. Song list was

The reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
For the greater good of God
Wrathchild
Trooper (yes! he had Union Jack in his hand)
Fear of the dark
Run to the hills
The evil that man do
Iron Maiden
Brighter than a thousand suns
These colors don’t run

The voice was magical. It was more perfect than the body of any Greek god. It had velvet touch, irrespective of the pitch. He was everywhere. At one moment he is up on the steel bars, and next moment, just on the face of crowd and in a split second he is on tier 2 of the stage. After that I lost my senses. I was higher than any amount of booze can take me to. They had that scintillating presence that people talk of. Bruce’s energy, Adrian’s jugglery with guitar and Nicko’s smile made that entire wait worthy. It was like a living one of the most beautiful dream ever, when you wish if you could sleep forever.

And then Bruce said “bye bye Bangalore”. Nicko threw his stick in the crowd and Janik threw his picks and some bastards just got lucky. My heart sank. Just one hour! We were spellbound and were hoping that the curse would never be lifted. We started to move back trying to go out. But then he came back with “2 minutes to midnight” and we were like “whoa!!” there is still more to come and this time Bruce came out with Eddie. A giant Eddie. And finally came “Hallowed be thy name”. Crowd was getting mundane and I was one step ahead of them.

I was busy head banging, jumping and throwing my hands around. I was dancing insanely. By the end of an hour my neck, back, legs and hands were telling me to chill out. And then I jumped some more. I have lost the count of number of feet I had crushed and how many times I faced the same. My head was blessed with gift of perpetual motion. Back and spine witnessed the fury like never before. My voice had gone down two octaves. But fatigue was something unheard of, and pain was sweeter than ever.

And then they bid the final good bye. Such a crowd was not what they would have expected in this part of the world. Demography has always deceived them and a lot of other bands. But let’s hope not anymore.

Maiden concert is over and now only must watch concert in my list is of Opeth. But I’m an optimist. I’ll watch it someday, if not in India then maybe in Sweden.

And to Maiden, all I could say is “adios amigos”. :)

Labels: I, Lord's review, Memoirs, Strings and Drums

GD was an interesting topic. It was about attrition in software companies. We were supposed to identify the reasons and come up with the probable solutions. We were a group of 9 people and 3 panelists, one of whom was IIM C alumnus. And after conclusion of the GD, every one of us was suppose to summarize the discussion in one minute.

Interesting thing happened during my summary. For the first time in my life I was very organized, and was putting forward the problem, causes and solution categorically. But in between one of the panelist said “Anshul your one minute is over, but continue continue, carry on with your points, finish it.” J

*I have no idea, if it is good or bad, can anyone help me interpreting it*

Anyways, excerpts of interview are as follows

P1: please give me your certificates.
A *hands them to him*
P2: so anshul, tell me something about yourself.
A: blah blah...
*in between this P3 told me to relax and sit comfortably*
P2: oh so you are a chemical engg. And you work for which company?
A: sir, TCS
P3: so was this transformation tough?
A: not exactly sir. It was a long thought process. Blah blah…
P1: so what is the attrition rate in TCS?
A: sir, something around 10%
P1: so what is TCS doing about it? Tell me from the points discussed in the GD.
A: They are trying to make their paycheck more competitive and have made a lot of changes in their HR policies. They have tried to improve the onsite opportunities for everyone, and they try to make sure that any employee, who has worked more than 2 years, should be given a fair chance to get an onsite opportunity. They are also trying to shuffle projects of an employee, so that he should not feel stagnated.
P2: what do you think are the key reasons of people to quit TCS?
A: sir, as we discusses, people usually quit for mainly two reasons, firstly lack of competitive salary and secondly, not satisfied with the quality of work. In TCS, most of the projects are of maintenance and support, so people do leave company for that reason. And also a lot of them feel, that package is not sufficient.
P1: so are you in development?
A: yes sir
P3: and are you satisfied?
A: very much sir.
P3: what technology are you working with?
A: sir, I’m working with pl/sql and oracle applications.
P2: we talked about incentives and team outings. So what do you think people prefer monthly team outings or may be cash 2000 rs?
A: sir, it depends. I feel bachelors prefer hard cash, while families prefer picnics and outings.
P3: so how long have you been in Bangalore?
A: sir around one and a half years
P3: so you must know quite a lot about the city, eh?
A: yes sir, I think so.
P3: so what is the recent thing about Bangalore that is in news?
A: sir, these days the news about stray dogs in Bangalore is hot. A lot of people have been their victims and eventually two kids died because of dog bites. So state government has issued an order to capture something around 1000 dogs a day.
P2: why don’t you think they kill them?
A: sir, they were planning to, but PETA and other animal activists didn’t let them.
P1: what do you think is a solution for this problem? Are you satisfied with the initiatives of the govt.?
A: yes sir. I think that the govt. is doing a good job. I too feel killing is not option. The dogs should be sterilized and left in a jungle far from the city.
P2: what about the people living in nearby villages?
A: sir, it has to be made sure that the place where the dogs are left should not have any human population in its vicinity. Otherwise they can crate havoc there.
P1: but when you leave them in jungle, they will die their eventually. So why not kill them?
A: sir, but in jungle they have an opportunity to live. If they have will and caliber to sustain, they can survive. But if we kill them, they won’t even have a choice but to get killed. In jungle they always have an option. And after that they have to live by the laws of the jungle. As Darwin said it “survival of the fittest”.
P1: so anshul, do u eat non-veg?
A: yes sir.
P1: chicken, mutton everything?
A: yes sir.
P1: so when you eat them, that time you don’t think of taking an animal life? Why are you thinking about these dogs?
A: sir, I don’t dig canines.
*rofl*
*I know it was very bad of me to make such an informal smartass comment, but it just slipped off my mouth, and the mood of the room made me little too relaxed. Even they were laughing on it.*
P2: anshul, tell me about your hobbies?
A: blah blah
P3: so you like movies, who is your favorite director?
A: Quentin Tarantino
P1: so do you read newspapers?
A: yes sir, I do.
P2: so have you read about the financial budget?
A: yes sir, I have.
P2: what do you think about it?
A: blah blah
P3: I guess that is it anshul
A: thank you sir!! J

*there were a lot more questions, but I don’t remember them now.*


Finally I’m done with my interviews. Now I’m keeping my finger crossed and waiting for the results. But now life is more miserable than ever. Now that I know, I know that I have screwed up at many points, now I do not have a chance to correct any mistake I made. No more interviews left. And even this thought is giving me jitters. I hope I can hold on my sane self by the time these results are out.

Labels: I, Memoirs

so 8th march was my d day.

there were 3 profs in panel and batch size per panel was 8. but one guy in my batch didnt appear (yeah yeah, ppl do miss iim a interviews). there were few friends of his and they were telling me that this guy got full waiver in MS from a decent university, so he dropped the plan for MBA. *thank God for small mercies*

Lets start with GD. it was a case study and it blew. pathetic would be an understatement and i was completly dejected by the time it ended. but may be it was good for me. i knew i have nothing to loose, as i'm already out of contention for the seat, and this subconcious thought help me do better in interview. but i still cant believe that GD could have been this pathetic.

lets switch to interview now, which i feel was ok. but i could not have done better than this, actually i didnt know anything more than this :P

P2: hello anshul, please hand me your certificates.
A*gives them his folder*
P2: so anshul, did you have tea? :)
A: thank you, I don’t drink tea.
A1: you don’t?
A*smiles*: no sir, i don’t like it.
P2: oh, that is strange.
A: yes sir, I’m not against it hardcore, but prefer not to have it.
P3: so do you drink whiskey?
A: no sir, I don’t take alcohol as well.
P3*devilishly*: oh you said hardcore, so i thought u drink hard.
A*what a pathetic pj*
P2: so what do you drink?
A: I drink milk, lassi and fresh lime, and occasionally cold drink.
P2: hmm, you are a good boy. But you know tea is good for health. it very good for blood and removes laziness.
A: yes sir, i have heard it purifies blood and act as detoxifying agent. And with regular lemon tea, skin glows.
P2: yes, but as soon as u add milk to it, all of it is gone. Tea is good only without milk.
A*whatever**smiles*
P2: yeah, you are a chemical engineer na. So can you tell me two things which are good, but if you mix them product is harmful?
A*hmmmm*: I guess hydrogen and chlorine. But hydrochloric acid is not good. Not that its bad, but it can be harmful.
P2: chlorine in itself is harmful.
A: oh, then may be hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur combine to make sulfuric acid*grins*
P2: *laughs*
P1: take biscuits please, or you don’t eat biscuits as well.
A*grins*: no sir, I eat biscuits.
*takes one good day*

P1: so anshul, what do you want me to ask from you, chemical engg or software?
A*grins*: sir, I’ll prefer software.
P1*laughs*: then I’m going to start with chemical engineering.
A*laughs with him*: as you wish sir.
P1: so what is market risk?
A: sir, I have worked on market risk software solution, but I don’t have much idea about it. But I can try it.
A: blah blah
P1: now you don’t want me to go in details of portfolio management?*grins*
A*smiles*: no sir.
P1*smiles*: ok, so this project MR-STAR of DB with which you were working, what was it about?
A: blah blah
P1: so you were into development?
A: yes sir.
P1: hmm, so you are chemical engineer. Let’s see, you are given a job in Pharma Company to design a database for them, for their various products, specifying contents, moisture content, assay.*he gave me whole funda of pharmacy, which I have never heard of. My god, I can’t believe how anyone can know so much. I started smiling* so what all tables will you define tables?
A:*I cracked this question, made a brilliant architecture*
P1*smiles*: so what is a relational database?
A: blah blah
P1: so tell me name of few databases?
A: oracle, my sql, ms sql, Sybase
P1: you missed access.
A: oh yes sir, access of course.
P1: which one have you worked with?
A: only oracle.
P1: ok. So tell me difference between mass transfer and mechanical operations?
A: blah blah
P1: let’s take one beaker of water, and add salt to it. It will dissolve, right? Can u draw me the curve of rate of solution vs. time?
A: hmm, sir I’m not very sure but it should be a reverse exponential curve, taking time on x axis.
P1: and why so?
A: sir, initially the conc. of salt will be zero in water, so conc. diff will be high and so higher mass transfer. But slowly as concentration of salt in water will increase, driving force that is conc. Difference will reduce and so will the rate.
P1: hmm, ok. So will this curve ever meet x axis?
A: I guess not sir.
P2: now consider a case, when I’m continuously adding more and more salt. Now what will happen?
A: sir, I don’t think it will make any difference.
P1: so what will happen at time infinity? Will it meet?
A*ponders*: hmmm no sir.
P1: have you heard of super-saturated solution?
A*oh my god*: sorry sir, it will meet x axis and not on time infinity but long before that. It will depend upon solubility of solute in solvent, temperature and many other factors.
P1*smiles*: and what about in other case?
A: it will depend upon amount added, after a particular amount, solute will stop dissolving and rest all will settle down as precipitate.
P1: so have you heard of super-saturated solution?
A: yes sir. Blah blah
P1: what will happen if its sugar in place of salt?
A: nothing will change sir, just solubility is different for sugar and salt, so only shape of curve will change but not its nature*smiles*
P3: in your weaknesses you have written that sometimes you get so engrossed in work of your liking that you tend to forget your other responsibilities
A: yes sir
P3: so while playing computer games, you ignored your studies?
A: not exactly sir
P3: but you get so involved that you don’t know what is going on around you?
A: yes sir, sometimes I won’t even realize that my friend came into my room.
P3: can you tell me some other incident when you get so involved where you compromised your studies?
A*since cgpa is not good, no point arguing that I never compromised*: sir, during illumination competition, I was involved in huge magnitude. It the kind of work I like to do and in sync with my skills.*please ask me question on illu*. I was heavily involved for about a month during all four years of my stay and at that time I fell I have compromised with my studies. But I feel that helped me in many other fronts. I learnt various other intangible skills like how to work in team, how to take decisions, how to manage resources, how to motivate people and I feel I’m a much better person now.
P3: now you said your hobby is analyzing movies
A*yo baby !!*: yes sir!! *smiles*
P3: ok, latest movie I saw was "GURU". Can you analyze that movie for me?
P3*turn to other panelists*: have you seen that movie?
P1: yes, I have *smiles*
P2:*nodded*
P3: anshul please go ahead.
A: sir, I feel the strongest point of the movie was its story. It was written brilliantly and was well executed too. Its amazing how one can portray almost lifespan of a person in such a short time and still able to tell what he wants. It helped maniratnam to direct a movie for which he himself has written the script and screenplay. This way he can execute his vision properly without any conflict of interests and opinions. He directed it brilliantly, and the movie was very gripping. Pace was good, but still I feel the length of the movie was not acceptable. It was way too long. And camera work I didn’t like much. For a director of maniratnam’s caliber I was expecting a better job with more close-ups.
Movie could have been shorten by not picturising few songs. I can’t see rationale behind that twins songs.
P3: as a matter of fact, do you think any song is necessary?
A: no sir, I’m not in a favor of songs in movie. At least not in favor of increment the length of movie half an hour that way.
P3: why do they out songs?
A: sir, mostly because it appeal to the masses here.
P3: what do you think?
A: sir I feel many a times lyrics of the song add to intensity of the shot. Let’s say a romantic song will help people understand song the deep feeling of love of couples for each other. Like the song “tere bina” portrayed exactly that.
P3: but don’t you think directors anyways do that in the scenes. And also they are providing visual aid to a story.
A: sir, I agree but songs are more appealing. They have rhythm and they can shape up the mood in a much better way than any shot. But I personally feel for that running around the tree and dancing is not the only way. I feel they should play the song in the background and vary the volume accordingly. If there are some dialogues then the volume should come down to almost mute level, while it can be raised again later. It will reduce the length of the movie significantly.
P3: ok. Anything else you wish to say about the movie.
A: sir I was moved by the acting of abhishek bachchan. He was superb.
P3: can you elaborate
A: sir, the intensity in his eyes was brilliant. I feel this was his best roles till date and this was his best performance till date. He delivered exactly what was expected out of him. He had that sign of passion and confidence in his body language. In particular I like the scene in which he encounters the businessman in the market. He was superb. I liked the way he picked up gujrati accent.
P3: you speak gujrati?
A: no sir.
P3: then how do you know that his accent was good?
A: sir, I don’t know if it was authentic or not, but he felt comfortable with it. I have seen many movies in which people pick up accent but perform below par. I feel that he had done a great deal of homework.
P3: what about aishwarya?
A: sir, I feel she was ok. She was looking very graceful. I should appreciate makeup artist for that.
P3: hmmm.
P3* turns to other panelists*: you want to ask something else?
P1: it’s ok.
P2: it’s ok
P3: thanks you anshul
A: thank you sir
P2: please collect your certificates and yeah*smiles* please have some toffees.
A*takes on melody :D*: thank you sir !! :)

so this was it. remember all this i faced when i have slept only for 10 hours in last 72 hours. yeah yeah champions league and office were taking its toll on me. and the fact that i was going to face A's interview was giving me nightmares and i had spent a lots of sleepless-rolling-on-the-bed nights.

please keep your fingers crossed :D

Labels: I, Memoirs

there were 2 profs in my panel. one was prof rp suresh and i have no clue about the other one. cant find him on the website.

GD topic was disinvestment of PSUs. GD was pretty good. no fish market, everyone contributed decently and lots of points came.

and excerpts of my interview are here

p1 = 1st panel member
p2 = 2nd panel member
a = anshul

p1: hello anshul
a: hello sir *takes his chair*

p1: you are a chem engg from iit kgp, working in a software industry and now planning to go for management. i cant see any relationship.
a*smiled, was expecting this*: sir, my jee rank was 1235 and chem engg was the best thing tht i was getting at iits.and at that point of time i was not aware wat exactly chem engg is and wat comp sci. is. and i worked really hard to get into iits and i was not interested going to some other engg college. but later in my second year i realised that i was not particularly interested in chem engg, but my interest lies in programming and software engg. so it was a well thought decision to move to the field of software engg. and management is wat i feel i want to do now. i love programming and that knowledge will certainly help me in my subsequent career in management.

p2: but dont u think, govt spent a lot of money making u a chem engg. and u wasted it.
a*screw govt.*: i dont think so sir. i feel more than acedemics, iit offered me quality ambience. i am a firm believer of peer learning, and i feel with the kind of exposure i got at kgp, it helped me learn a lot of intangible skills, which are going to be very helpful in my career. as one of my prof aptly said " at iit, we make u learn, how to learn". i believe i'm a much better person now.

p2:so tell me one good reason to believe that same thing wont be repeated if you enter in iims.
a: sir, iit was a mutual decision of my parents and me. and at that time i had a lot of peer pressure and parental pressure. but management is wat i feel i want to do. its my sole decision and i feel i am naturally motivated to do this. i have interest in managing things, and i believe i am ready now to take my job responsibility to next level.

p1: have u ever heard of a decreasing function.
a*how dumb u think i am*: yes sir, i have.
p1: you CGPA is a perfectly decreasing function.
a*lol, thts a nice way to put it*: sir, as i said earlier, in my second year i've realised tat i m not particularly interesrted in chem engg. so then i decided rather putting my efforts for something i dont believe in, i'll do stufff which i want to do and i'm good at. so i explored a lot of field there which were almost alien to me before. i participated and organized various events. i started exploring movies and music.i was/am an avid programmer. but with all these i made sure that i didnt lag in my studies. i tried my best to develop other skills, at the same time performing decently in my academics.
*shine in eyes*
and also sir, i feel the best way to analyze my academic performance will be to look at my semester GPA. and in first year when there were general subjects, i had a much better record. and after that it is almost constant. so proves that though i didnt have great deal of intererst in chem engg,but i still magaed to perform reasonable well, though not as good as my first year. and this explains the drop in gpa.

*i bitched about chem engg and made sure tht they wont ask me any academic funda*

p2: hmmm, so i see. you want to be a film critic.
a*come to big daddy*: yes sir.
p2: wat was the last movie you saw, anshul ?
a: sir, last movie i saw was "parzania" and "a few good men"
p2: so tell me something about "a few good men".
a* just wat i want u to ask me*

after this i gave them funda for 5 mins justifying wat jack nicholson did was good. his intension was clear, but results of the action was unfortunate.

p1: you support nazi or u like hitler?
a: sir, i do not agree to wat nazis did to jews. that was very extreme. but i do like hitler. i respect a person who can convince a whole nation to do wat he wants, and that too because of respect and not fear.
p1: ok

p1: so have you done something in which you hve lead a team of people.
a*aahaaa, my forte*: yes sir.and after that, i was giving them funda of illu.
p1: so as u told me, you need to convince people to work with yo for illu and motivate them. you knw, its been eons and management gurus are still not able to figure out, how to motivate people. and you said, you were able to do it. can u let me know, how u did it ??
a: sir, i have had a priviledge to have frnds and juniors, which were not very difficult to handle. and i had a very good rappot with most of them. so whenever i wanted them to work, i just went and met them personally and asked them to do this as a favour to me. and fortunately, most of the times, they listened to me and put thr efforts. i tried to make sure that they should have that emotional attachment to the whole process, and for this, i just tried to have thr maximum involvement.
p2: you know, this thing might work in college, but not in real life.
a: yes sir. i realise that, but i want to learn these tit bits of management, and thats why a formal management education will be a big asset in my career.


p1: p2, you want to ask someting else.
p2: no, its ok
p1: well then, anshul. its all from our side
a: thank you sir :)

Labels: I, Laff Riot, Memoirs

wodden floor, saffron lit ceiling, comfortable sofas, dark yet gloomy ambience, hiccup inducing cocktails, draught beer, mushy mocktails, 10000 W bose sound system and rock and roll. ladies and gentlemen, may i proudly present, the pub of the bangalore, Purple Haze.

a place 'to be' on weekends. had a treat thr yesterday. so even better. drink and eat all u want and it will be billed on someone else's plastic. its more fun that way. B was giving me treat and G was along with him.

i was suppose to reach thr by 7:30. but then life arnd me can never be normal. my roomies P and S had to go out somewhere for half an hour around 4 o'clock. i was taking a nap in afti so i asked them to lock the door from outside and warned them not to disturb me.

it was 7 o'clock and i was thrilled. was going to purple haze after a long long time.awesome !! i was all ready. mast tees, jeans aur a lot of deo :D. was going out to get an auto,just to find out that these two arses were still not home.they were somewhere 15 kms away from home. it cundnt have been a better spoiler. i was bugged, so called them and shouted my ass off.

but then i realized i had the keys. so 'another' brilliant idea flashed in my mind. i called up the water guy and asked him to get water can for us. though can at home was not even half empty, but then i cant think of any better thing. poor guy came and i asked him to unlock the door for me. and amazing i didnt even have cash to pay him. so i asked him to take money later, and didnt even gave him the old can. he sure wud be cursing me. aah but watever !! free as a bird.

then i got an auto and reached purple haze. *ok sherlock holmes, i had money enough to pay the auto guy* and then at gate, there was a big huge, even by my standards, bouncer to greet me. you never carry money on a treat. but cell was still there. called up B and ask him to deal with bouncer and his cover charges. and then he escorted me in.

fundoo ambience. and i was welcomed by 'tears in heaven'. ok this may be irrelevant, but this song was written by clapton in memory of his four and a half year son who fell down from his apartment on 53rd floor. now pay attenion to the lyrics, it will make whole lot more sense.

playlist was amazing..dont remember all the songs but here are the few i know and remember

Eric clapton : tears in heaven
U2 : where the streets have no name
Nirvana : come as you are
Alice in chains : man in the box
Godsmack : i stand alone
Whitesnake : still of the night
Pantera : primal concrete sledge
Rammstien : ich will
Nirvana : smells like teen spirit
Iron Maiden : bring your daughter to the slaughter
Dio : holy diver \m/
Metallica : one
Peral Jam : jeremy
Pink Floyd : echoes
AC/DC : highway to hell
Ozzy : shot in the dark
Judas Priest : a touch of evil
...and a lot more

3 hrs thr were awesome. and best was when dj turned the super bass on while playing 'one'. brilliant. the floor waas shaking..and every where one cud see people just banging thr head insanely. junta was bizzy gulping beer..and i was bizzy reducing the count of roosters on this planet :P

and B was going berserk. anyone will after 3 pitchers. and bastard spilled the whole lot of beer on my jeans..its still stinking :(..and i have no intensions to give it for laundry for quite some time.

now insanity. he came on the floor and started banging his head. body was going wild in tht freelance desi bhangra. it was beyond my understanding how can anyone dance like tht on some decently hard tracks. but those who know him, knows B is capable of doing it, and much more.

somehow managed to get him out of the pub. my god. it felt aweful. my ears were pratically numb and i can lit feel hammer banging on my head.a frndly adv, sudden change of ambience can invoke crazy suicidal thoughts in ur head. something similar happened to G then and he promised to give me a treat next week. for no reason. lucky me !! :D

Labels: I, Memoirs, Pet Pooja

oh, i have done it a lot of times before. just that this time i decided to make it public, ahem rather more public. this 'harkat' is often considered benchmark for nuiances by my fellows. though i have done things more gross than this one, but to maintain decorum of this blog, lets not push it, and stick to this one

this all happened few days back. most of u wud know, how difficult these post lunch sessions are. you just can keep ur eyes open. and wat makes matters worse, nice comfortable chairs in cool, calm ambience. perfect to take you in 'aagosh of nidra devi'. oh it was just one of those days, i was wasting time till late the night before, somehow managed to get the bus to the office in the morning, and as usual didnt feel like working. though i didnt have much work that day but like anyone else, my boss gets some kind of sadistic pleasure when he sees me sitting on my chair even though i stare aimlessly and with zero productivity in my moniter. and if you ask to leave early he will give you a face so disgusted, that even mrs lincon wudnt have given being asked upon about the play.

yeah, i was yawning majorly. oh i am yawning even now *yawwwwwwwwwn*. anyways back to topic. i was yawning and desperatly wanted to sleep. and darn them, unlike few companies, mine does not provide basic infrastructure like dorm to thr employees. and i knew it can be suicidal and appriasal killer to sleep on desk, for two reasons mainly. this boss is new and not much aware of my sleeping-in-meetings syndrome and second and more important one, he is more strict and pain. poor me :(

even in that lathargic mood my head was working like a F1 car, to think of an alternate place. yeah yeah, all u intellugent ass by now must have guessed what place i m talking about. and for the dumber ones, i'll make the task easy. it was a commode. its not as gross as it sounds. in software companies, you have nice clean toilets, with seats shining as if they are just polished by mercury and air smelling really good. and hygiene factor is much higher that wat you'll usually find in a bachelor's apartment.

so it was in that moment, i swiped out of ODC(offshore development centre) and headed straight to restroom. then i ensured it was empty and then looked for the most dry and clean one i could find. i placed the lid over the seat, and rested my ass comfortably on it. put an alarm of half an hour, and slided my head to rest over flush. and zzzzz...

where thrz a will, thrz a way !!

Labels: I, Memoirs

Clear your mind,
hold your watering mouth,
and keep a check on your gluttony.

*take a clean, shining scoop spoon !!
*bury it deep in vanilla ice-cream..
*scoop out a big ball of it..
*repeat first three steps again...
*take 3 piece of brownies and place them neatly in the bowl besides the scoops..
*spread over it, sinfully rich molten chocolate..upto half the bowl..
*to increse fat content in body..add some extra cream..
*place few red luscious cherries..
*garnish the stuff with more chocolate..
*finally add some nuts over the whole package..
*take a big bite...

congratulation, you just add few mm of fat around your tummy..

Presenting before you, ladies and gentlemen,"Death By Chocolate"..come, witness with me a phenomenal, royaly addictive and unearthly experience...*add more such adjectives, sometimes my vocab bind me in constraints*this is one of those rare edible stuffs, whose simultaneously stimulates, four out of your five sense organs..sense of hearing, somehow ,is left untouched by it...aaah rats !!

if you are figure conscious..work out everyday for atleast 2 hours everyday this week, or if you are more of a first order glutton, and have some kind of unsatiable ravenous hunger, order one more. loose your belt, ignore the surprise in the eyes of cashier !! and attack !!! and yeah..to add more taste..allow few drops of chocolate roll down your cheecks..and stop worrying about lips hemline getting a tan.

p.s. dont forget to satisfy your ego, by looking in envious eyes of ppl sitting besides, while they curse thier choice.

Labels: I, Memoirs, Pet Pooja

a home that can withstand heavy rains, enough to submerge half the town, may not be able to counter carelessness of few dumbos, who claim to be one of the most intelligent ppl of this country.
needless to say, i too am a proud member of that list. :P

it was a cool saturday morning, and all of us were bizzy getting rid of last week's fatigue..by rolling into bed late in the morning..hmm correction..noon.
*if its morning, its not late..isnt it ??*
such puny things count more than any high end leisures, once college life is replaced by a rather more hectic "corporate life".
and lucky i m to get roomies who belong to similar school of thought.

ok enuf, lets carry on to the story..

so, i wake up at..i guess 11..to find other 3 are still in "aagosh of nidra devi". ;) though i was subdued and dizzy, but still cant forget those hilarious postures. one was smiling mildly..i m sure thr was some hot and sexy lassy in her dreams.other had his mouth wide open, he was sleeping like a baby but snoring like a bear, and yet other..cant see his face, he had packed himself in a blanket..
*they were gaurav,punit and anjan, but i dont exactly remeber who was who*

nyways, i started the day with all normal activities, and while shaving i realized, the water-tank at roof-top is about to dry up...grrr.."DARN !!" said i, and ran downstairs to turn on the pump.i reached at ground floor only to find out, there was no power for last two hours.though sleepy, i was smart enough to place a mug under the tap to hold on last few drops for a face wash. when i came back upstairs, i found tht mug empty and one of my roomie laughing and showing middle finger to my smartness. :P

meanwhile, we tried a futile attempt to "jugaad" a mugfull of water from all the taps at home, but failed miserably.reluctantly, we had to consume all of our drinking water to clean ourself up.the only good thing was, we all got a valid reason for not taking a bath. so one of the adventurous souls suggested lets go to hyderabad house (this place makes best biryani and kebabs in bangalore) and then to marathalli (this place has lots of factory outlets) to celebrate the salary we got recently."Bravo!! Bravo!!"

yeah, before i forget to tell, one of my roomie "gautam" was at his frnd's home last night, so it was four of us who went for this day-out :P. we called him and told bout our plans, and confirmed that he had a duplicate key with him, and then hailed for an auto.

next 6 hours were bindas masti, ate nice food, earned a lot of bonus points on our credit cards and tons of jokes throughout.

then suddenly i heard "woh lamhe", my cell was ringing. and ..
anshul : hello

gautam : sala, kahan hai tum ??
*needless to say, he is bihari*

anshul : hum bhi ghar aa rahe hai, auto main baithe hai..ka hua ??
*when u talk to a bihari, talk in biahri*

gautam : sala, tumhe pata hai ki kya hua hai ghar mein ?

anshul : kya hua bhai ??

gautam : sala hum abh ghar mein ghuse to dekha, poore ghar mein paani bhara hua hai!!

anshul : WHAT !!!!!!!!!! :O :O

gaurav,punit,anjan : abe kya hua be ??

anshul : gautam bol raha hai ghar mein paani bhar gaya !!
WHAT !!!!!!!!!!! * 3, :O * 6*

anshul : kitna paani hai be ??

gautam : abe bahut jyada hai, wat lag gaya hai..ek room ka to. dono matress literally float kar raha hai..mera joota aadha paani mein doob gaya hai.

anshul : WTF !!!! kaise hua be yeh ??

gautam : yehi hum tujhse poochne wale the !! *for a bihari, he is surprisingly cool*

anjan*literally shouts* : are beta !! subah paani nahi tha..to ghar pe saare nal khule chor gaye honge..

*damn !!!!!!!,cried us all*

*gautam overheard him on fone*
gautam : height hai carelessness ki !!!

anshul : chup be sale, tu jaldi se kuch kar, hum log 1 ghante mein pahuch rahe hai.
*anshul ponders and turn pale, bhak !! comp to floor pe hi pada hua tha, wat lag gayi beta*

anshul : abe comp ke paas paani to nahi hai na ??
*oh god !! not near comp, kahin bhi aur chalega*

gautam : nahi, bach gaye..us room tak paani nahi pahucha !!
*ohhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!, sigh of relief*

gaurav : abe tera i-pod !! woh bhi jameen pe hi pada tha !!
* we all could see fear of death in his eyes !!* :D

gautam : dekh liya !! u are lucky, usse kuch nahi hua !!
again *ohhhh !!!!!!!!!, sigh of relief*

anshul : chal theek hai, do watever u can..hum log ghar pahuch rahe hai !!

*click!!*
*click!!*

we reached home in about 45 mins. the door was wide open. i stepped in first and *chappak*, i thought "anshul in waterland!!".cant explain condition of home. a top notch mess. auuugghhh !!!!

finally to get over tht trauma, junta bought some booze. we first threw all wet matresses and blankets on the roof and then sat besides. unlid the RS and i went on with my pepsi. came back to flat at 3 in the morning, and reached a unanimous decision, we have to go to some other home to spend tht night. and took off immediatly.

i know after reading so long, you wont like me giving you funda, but a small one is more or less mandatory.

"pray to God, you wont fall under such drastic condition, for i know, if histroy repeats itself, which it will, like me, you too will commit same blunder"

Labels: I, Memoirs, WTF

diwali is here,
and i can feel cracker roaring and typical smell of gunpowder and phosphate is tickling me.
but am i moved by it ??
do i really want to celebrate diwali this way ??
what is it, that i m missing, and missing big time ??
am i addicted to illu ??

yes, yes, a million times yes.
boy o boy !!!
this life is feels so empty without those countless night-outs..
those 20 days *read as nights* between DP(durga pooja) and diwali are definately most adventurous and fun filled extravaganza of spring semesters.
and now when i m more thn 1500 kms frm kharagpur,
it just feels that i m missing my part of fun.

i shall rather give a brief intro of illu for all non-kgpians, before proceeding any furthur,
"illu"..is a abbreviated form of illumination
which in fact is an inter-hostel competition organised at kgp, on diwali night.
here every hostel is suppose to make HUGE structures of diyas..
and by huge..i mean herculean sturctures in which more than 30k diyas are used.
and to give shape to this mammoth task..a work force of more thn 5000 man hrs (i m being amazingly modest with this assumption) is required.
no simple task to manage, mind you !!

and as d-day approaches, task seems more so un-finishable,
but then thts wat iitians are famous for,
they wait for water to rise not only upto nose, but way past thr hairs,
and then one gentle stroke to pull them out of world's mightiest tide, leave these ripples apart.

last few days..work is carried out on continous basis,
one can sniff oil burning at one of the corners,
a bunch of think-heads, determining and analyzing last moment contingencies,
another bunch of "shers", with all thr might, pulling metal wires, determined to thin a 14 guage wire to 16 guage.
few more, having fingers wrapped in leukoplast, holding loops and bent over to chatais,
yet another bunch, arranging mess tables, and all sort of "hammali" works.

all this rolling infront of my eyes as a slideshow,
but alas !! english fails miserably, when words try to describe emotions.
and this year,
i will be sitting in my filthy flat,
lighting up few crackers,
and feeling nostalgic, ad nausea.

p.s. sorry Mr. Admas, for voilating copyright rules,
but i feel like singing
"those were the best days of my life"

Labels: I, Memoirs

Damn you Indra !!
i beg of you..O merciless sadist ruler of heaven, do pardon us all from your wrath
and let the ppl of earth, esp bangalore enjoy few non-dripping days..let alone sunny days.

man it is raining like hell..
two days bak, while landing bak at my home, i was drentched from head to toe..

to add more to my tragic wet life..
i can find water cloggeed in front to my home..
no, it wasnt a flood, but a simple muddy water patch streched all over the road,
my shoes were crying "trahimam, trahimam", but ovrhearing them..
i let myself on mercy of bangalore water disposal department, whose i existance i doubt,
and i could feel water seeping through them..duh !! grrr

and when i enter my room..
i was shivering and can feel my teeth cluttering against each other..
and then i heard my frnds pointing thr fingers at me..and rofling..
"aa gaya sale" said they "aur ghoomo baarish mein".

actions speak more than words, so belived i,
so i removed my shoes and stinky socks :D,
for which everyone was feeling, it better to poke nose into a pig's armpits rather thn my shoes.
* and i mean it * ;)
immediatly i can find my lathargic flaties running for thr life..

in tht moment...i recalled a poem. i use to sing when i was kid,
"rain rain, go away, come again another day"
and some s.o.b said "amen!!!" ..right at the moment !!
and voila !!, all the gods who were hostile to me, got another reason to piss me off,
the wish was granted, and tht too on an urgent basis, so tht night it rained like never before,
gutters were oveflowing, which is not new to bangaloreans.
but getting sevage water into ur bedroom, was new to them as well.

its not like i dont like rains..
but things are different when you r dressed in a black formal trouser and grey shirt !!
and last thing i want is, my leather shoes exposed to muddy waters and helplessly watch them getting fucked.


and today..i was eating a hot bhutta sitting besides door,
i could feel a nostalgic wave running through my spine,
i wish i was still at kgp..
that footballl grnd,
those bunch of guys running for a punctured futball, we used a rugby.
those wounded-but-no give up legs
those muddy patches on my shorts and shirt,
reddy cheering from first floor,
anurag whistling as usual,
giri da growling on top of his lungs,
i remember everyone of them,
then i morphed the poem
"rain rain go away, come again some other day",
"give me bak my college days,i want that football play"
then i nearly whispered "amen !!!"

Labels: I, Memoirs