Traffic

They look down upon the myriad boxes, rolling along on feet made from rubber from their lofty perches, with curious detachment. Aware that with a tiny flicker of their coquettish eyes, they can cause brakes to squeal like pigs being slaughtered. At their command, internal combustion engines hunch together - heaving, purring and clutching at each other, like participants in a depraved Roman orgy. On their whims, they send commuters running helter-skelter like insects scurrying in search of food.

They look at the mangled pieces of metal and the shards of glass that were once vehicles, but now lie like lovers spent, having just consummated their togetherness.

Like little children revelling in mischief, they wink in merriment.

And the chaos goes on.

Simmering Summer…

It’s been less than a week since I moved from the cool climes of Bangalore to hot, sweltering Jamshedpur. Yes, the weather is killing me. And I do miss the lilt in the Hindi accent of the people there, the numerous book shops, the awesome eateries, the brilliantly pleasant weather, and most of all – my erstwhile employers, Microsoft.

 

However, it has been an exciting time since I returned to campus. There’s a whole new crowd of new juniors, so we guys can enjoy being the ‘exalted’ seniors, who are fountainheads of knowledge. (hee hee)

 

Many facets on campus have undergone a facelift, and it’s nice to see freshly painted buildings, neatly trimmed lawns, better air-conditioning in classes, and lots of other changes (though the mess food is as bad as ever).

 

The best part is the junior ‘interaction’. There are 240 of them, and there’s just me with my limited processing power. How in the name of God shall I remember 240 names? And it can be doubly tough when almost all of the others know your name.

 

Anyhow, this term promises to be a mix of fun and learning, a mix of sweat and tears, and victories won and battles lost. (I’m just hoping that the wins exceed the losses.) Since we get to choose our own subjects this term, I’ve picked up some that I think I am interested in. They promise to be quite a mouthful.

 

In addition, the personal startup venture is still hanging fire, but hopefully, will take off by the end of the month. Once that happens, life should be suitably busier. Also, there are other responsibilities on campus that one needs to take care of, and they assure me of their time demands as well. :|

 

Overall, the summer seems to be a super-busy time but I am guessing that it will be satisfying and rewarding too.

 

Amen!

 

P.S. Sorry for the drabness of this post. And thanks for reading it. :)

Weekend woes

This is proving to be a rather tough weekend, even though it’s only begun. The next week will be my last at Microsoft, as an intern. On Friday, I shall be ‘leaving on a jet plane.’ Of course, I don’t know when I’ll be back again.

 

Due to some issues with the data that I was supposed to analyse, much of what I had done over the last few weeks has gone to waste, and I need to fix things and get them back on track in about 2 days. Like I told my guide – tough but not impossible. I will always value what she told me then, “Sumit, resilience is an important virtue, and I’m glad you have it.”

 

If I’d been in an army and she’d been my commander, I’d have marched into battle, and wiped out the entire opposition on my own, after those words. (Luckily for any potential opposition, she’s an HR person and not an army commander.)

 

Still, yesterday was a rather frustrating day. After all, there was mountains of rework to be done. Also, most of my XLer friends have finished with their internship stints and have gone back home. Even my new friends from IIM Indore left yesterday. So, the next week promises to be boring, at the very least. (I hope I’m proved wrong.)

 

However, I am hoping that the avalanche of work that threatens to hit me, at least keeps me busy. Moreover, there’s also work to be done on the new startup venture front. My team mates and I are pretty excited about the whole thing, and a lot of time has gone into planning and strategising. Now, we execute. :D

 

Hopefully, you’ll hear more about that in the near future.

 

This is the last weekend in Bangalore, and I realise that I have missed out on visiting awesome places like Alleppey, Mysore, Coorg, Coimbatore and lots of others. I wonder what ate my time away, without me even realising it. Anyway, not much can be done about it now.

 

The worst part of the weekend will be PACKING! Heck, if there’s one thing I hate more than packing, it has to be unpacking. I have no clue how I’m going to fit these piles of junk into my bags, and then con the airlines representatives into believing that the bags are well within the weight limit.

 

I think I have cribbed enough, but if need be, dear reader, you shall be taken on another trip into a dreary life. So, watch out!

Bringing to Life…

 

I just thought of getting clicked in front of this giant wall-to-wall poster at work today. I thought it came out pretty well. What say?

Going Camping... Part II

After having built up the suspense about live frogs and scorpions in Part I the blogger is back with photographic evidence of the adventures. Unfortunately, all those creatures refused to pose, so we didn’t click them, fearing their retribution, if they were to be displeased.

 

However, to compensate for the lack of fauna, we clicked a lot of flora (who had no choice :P ) and some humans (who also didn’t have much of a choice when they were being clicked).

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll start with introducing the humble abodes of the participants - ‘tents’ which were more like cottages, with thatched roofs, metal cots, attached baths, and electric lights.

 

Of course, everything was among sylvan surroundings with no traffic, no pollution, no cellphones/laptops, and perfect tranquillity all around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was nice to be in such simple surroundings, though I’ve always considered myself a city hick who can’t survive without a phone and an internet connection. Surprisingly, I adjusted pretty well. Though, being akin to a hyperactive kid, I find it tough to sit still for more than 60 seconds. Hence, it is a rare shot of me when not dozing off during the session. (No offence to the facilitators, who were awesome. It’s just me… I am what I am! :D )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was super-excited to learn that I’d be staying in an ‘Alpine’ tent though I had not the faintest clue about what an Alpine tent is, or does. So, I was almost like a kid who has seen his new toy, when I was shown my tent. Obviously, it rocked more than those other ‘tents’. HMPH! (By the way, I realised that a tent is larger from the inside, than it appears from the outside.)

 

There, in the backdrop is MY tent. A much more peaceful and beautiful location, I assure you except that at night, I just felt glad at not having brought a horror novel along. :P (However, I did consider returning to the location alone, and staying for a week or so, in the hope of writing a horror story. Haha!)

 

 

 

 

At night, we had a little party with a bit of alcohol for those who partake of it, and soft drinks for those who don’t. The funny part is me wearing a ‘Carlsberg’ jersey and posing with a can of Thums Up.

 

(For those who’re wondering, NO that’s not the HR dress code. Maybe, it’s just that people tend to see ‘Red’ when they think of HR. )

 

Now, comes the tricky part. The photo that follows has been given some ‘interesting’ captions by a creative bunch of creeps that I call friends. As long as you don’t laugh or grin, you’re allowed to proceed further. (Smiling is allowed, of course. Who did you think I was? Hitler? Stalin? Castro? Ha!)

 

 

 

 

Some of the captions that have been suggested for this picture (not in any order of preference) are:

a) Stairway to heaven

b) Mujhe pata tha ladka bahut upar tak jaayega! (Loosely translated as, “I always knew that this guy will scale lots of heights in life.”)

c) Moving up the corporate ladder

 

I needn’t say that you are free to unleash your creativity and suggest more such.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, the really uncomplimentary ones were reserved for the next photo. However, I’m still including it, because I’d like you to focus on something. (I’ll let you know what… ;) )

 

Comment: “This is how and why wireless technology was invented. Some idiot sent Sumit up on wires!”

 

Anyway, the reason why I’m asking to you take a look at the pic is… Check out the biceps! :D

 

So, like you saw, the trip was fun! There are lots of pictures, but most of them have not been shared by the lazy ones responsible for sharing them. As and when they arrive, they will be shared. (Of course, you’re expected to keep your wisecracks to yourself.)

The Thoroughly Enjoyable Lightness of Being

Apologies, Mr. Kundera, for twisting around your story's title into something that you may not even remotely recognize. (Although, there should really be no problem if you can't even remotely recognize it. :D )

Whatever! No title fits better, so I decided to take a bit of prosaic license (to kill) with your title.

Thankfully, good days at work are becoming the norm. While working yesterday, I was a bit scared of barking up the wrong tree, and going rather off-track, but in today's meeting, my thought process was praised, and said to be in sync with the vision of one of the leaders. Yeah, pretty impressive, I know! But I ain't gloating! (yet!)

What made my day yesterday was one of my friends/juniors making it to XLRI, after a long wait on the dreaded waitlist. This chap was a bit down-in-the-dumps till the 'Agony Uncle' act by yours truly. (I ain't gloating even now! So, wipe that forbidding expression off your face! Please.... )

Today, the day's been made by a very special blogger friend - Corinne, whose Everyday Gyaan keeps me rejuvenated. You see, I've been nominated for the 'blogger friendship award'. :D



(Yes, you can frown now, for I AM gloating now. HMPH!)

I would like to thank the autorickshaw drivers in Bangalore, the (expensive) laundry service, the (unpalatable) food, my awesome colleagues, Microsoft (my 'employer'), Google (for creating blogger.com), Hathway (the ISP), Dell (my laptop maker), my cat*, the spiders in my room, and my dear readers, of course, for making my blog more active and readable.

In addition, I'd further like to nominate the following people for this prestigious award: *drumroll*

Scriber - for being so creative and awesome!

Kaddu - for her pragmatism laced with that touch of irony/sarcasm.

Nikita - for the oh-so-brilliant humour, and for allowing Abk, Nik and me to run riot on her blog. :D

Choco - for being so unique, so tongue-in-cheek, and so hilarious!

Shreyans - for taking such thoughtful perspectives each time.

Tangerine - for being one of my first friends here in Bloggersville.

Ishu - for making it to this list despite using a word that I have an aversion to - 'jogging'. :|

Harshad - for being a fellow sufferer at the hands of profs (and encouraging me to try couchsurfing. :P )

Aquarius - for belonging to the "As the Aquarian thinks, so shall the world... in fifty years." clan.

Deepti - for being her adorable self.

Div(y)a - for some brilliant and creative writing.

Sindhu - the name says it all! Hakuna Matata - no worries! :)

*drumroll**drumroll**drumroll*

Yes, that's a long list. But then, these folks are worthy! Also, the list is not numbered, because the names are in random order, not ranked, ok?

Thank you everyone, for sharing snippets of your thoughts on your blogs. :)

P.S. I think I have some kind of psychological disorder. Songs get stuck in my head, and keep on playing in an endless loop. Since yesterday, the needle is stuck on 'Can't help falling in love with you' by Elvis.

Edit: I forgot to credit Mr. Kundera. Thanks!!

XLent times!

Thursday was a holiday here in Bangalore, because of the elections. Yes, it is probably shameful to treat an event of national significance as a 'holiday' but then I had strong reasons for not voting (or so I think). Because of so much regional politics, it is difficult to know what is being done by which party, in which state. So, I see no reason to vote in Bangalore, when I don't know enough. All my life, right from school elections to college elections, and to the Lok Sabha, I've voted 'rationally' – taking into account the candidate's profile, manifesto, the party's national plans etc. When I don't even know the names of the local candidates, I don't think I ought to vote.

So, it was a very pleasing feeling to have a day off. Consequently, on Wednesday, a friend from XLRI and I decided to meet up for dinner. Over a Subway meal, we were called over by another chap who is interning in Bangalore. So, off we went and parked ourselves at his serviced apartment. (The opulence of it all staggered me – a TV, a refrigerator, a cook, and an elegant apartment made me shut out the image of my cluttered single room with stuff strewn about untidily all across.)

After watching the Indian Premier League, we proceeded on a lengthy chat session (which went on till about 5 in the morning). Bushed by then, we were dead to the world (and our phones) for the next 7 hours. After that, we decided to go to Brigade Road in the afternoon and grab some lunch.

We got ready and reached Brigade Road, only to find that most eating joints were closed due to the elections! UGH!! So, we spent the next one hour roaming the streets and looking for a place to eat at. (And you thought that man foraged for food only in the Neanderthal or whatever ages.)

Anyway, I suddenly broke that despondently trudging formation that resembled a collection of Manchester United players after their 4-1 drubbing by Liverpool, and made a beeline for a nearby shop. Nope, even though my frame (and my exchange with Nikita) indicates otherwise, it was not a restaurant or a sandwich shop. It was a shop called 'Magazines' and it caught my attention because there was an alluring sign proclaiming that back issues of US/UK magazines were available at only a 100 bucks each. (No, you pervert! I wasn't after 'those' magazines… I was looking for something on football.)

But of course, football magazines were out of stock, so the formation reassembled itself, looking more and more like Arsenal's walking wounded at the end of an average football season. Finally, we found an open restaurant that was called 'Stars n Stripes' but was advertising 'sugarcane juice' and 'chicken biryani' on banners outside. Weird, huh?

Still, food is food, and some (disastrous)pizza, Schezwan noodles, and chilli mushrooms, washed down with chilled sugarcane juice and Thums Up sent us on our way. Of course, the waiters seemed to think that we had unlimited time and were very leisurely about the whole affair. So, we gave them a few decidedly unfriendly stares before we left.

Then, another friend was supposed to join us, so we went on to one of Bangalore's landmarks – The Corner House (that's an ice-cream parlour). As recommended by Bangalorean friends earlier, we ordered for a 'Death by Chocolate' aka DBC which was liked by two of us, and detested by another two in equal measure. Anyway, after some random discussions on DBC, the next argument was about where to go. One of us was very keen on going to a restaurant that had a karaoke night tonight, but the rest of us vetoed the idea and decided to go to some place where we could chit-chat. So, off we were to Garuda mall – where we sat for a while, ate, blabbered away and then decided to leave.

Of course, the damned auto rickshaw drivers had to put an end to what had been an otherwise perfect day. They were demanding totally outrageous fares, and refusing to go by the meter. One of us retorted, "Bhaiya, auto khareedna nahin hai, sirf jaana hai!" (I don't want to buy your auto bro, I only want to travel in it). Those chaps got irritated and started giving us gyaan. We walked off in a huff, with a couple of us constantly turning back, muttering angrily and glaring at them.

But eventually, it was good to get back home and reminisce about the lazy day.

Takeaways:

1. Bangalore is a paradise for book lovers. Every nook and corner has treasures waiting to be discovered. (Someone get those pirated books away, please! UGH!)
   
2. If I had my own conveyance, and my own cooking arrangements, Bangalore would've been the ideal city to live in.
   
3. I suck at air hockey. Gloating over my victory in the first match 4-2, I got thrashed 1-7 in the next one. K
   
4. One ought to do this kinda stuff more often. It was so much fun!
   

Banga-lured!

Pretty adventurous, the last few days have been... (No, this is not a conscious effort to sound like Jedi Master Yoda... it is purely incidental that he copied my style in his speech.)

I've been in Bangalore for a few days now, and I love the city already! It's a pretty different experience from Delhi, Chandigarh, or Jamshedpur. And a few key learning points I've gathered so far are:

a) Learning the local language - Kannada, is pretty easy. All you need to do is suffix every word with 'aa'. So sambhar becomes 'sambhar-aa', MG Road becomes 'MG Road-aa' and so on. No, I'm not saying this is all there is to it! It's just that if you manage this bit well enough, you're half-way there. I'll teach you the next half as soon as I learn it myself. Ok-aa?

b) The South Indian food that we are served up North is not authentic, not withstanding the claims of the restaurants. For me, it's a tough choice. I don't like South Indian food, and it costs nearly half as much as the North Indian fare at most places here. So, it is essentially a toss-up between starving myself on North Indian food, and bleeding my pockets dry, or starving myself on South Indian food. (Suggestions will not be appreciated!)

c) Autorickshaw drivers are as cheeky as anywhere in India. I was impressed by the fact that I just had to jump into an auto, and give the driver instructions. The fare would obviously be metered, unlike places like Delhi where these guys grin at you and tell you that the meter is defunct, so you'd have to bargain with them. Of course, my joy was short-lived, when I found that the chap was trying to round off a Rs. 33/- fare to Rs. 40/- just because he'd have to travel some distance before finding himself another passenger. (I resisted a strong urge to 'flip him the bird' and walked on, but not before he had charged me Rs. 35/-.)

Still, there are lots of things that I like. For instance, the weather, the nice and musical lilt of the local accent, and the city overall - to name a few. However, strangely enough, there is lots of piracy here. Every nook and corner seems to have a few hawkers selling pirated movies or books. I wonder what the 'enforcers' charge, to look the other way, and to allow this trade to flourish.

(I'll be writing about my Microsoft experiences later, because I expect them to be thrilling enough to write a few hundred pages.)

P.S. This blog is now 50 posts old. Hurray!