Evening, to be precise. Here's a gist of what unfolded on that fateful day.
Tuesday, 17th November 2009, 6:00 PM – Thinking of getting out of office early today. Not much work anyway. The match is boring as well. Sri Lankans batting like the asuras and raavanas combined together.
6:10 PM – Happen to look outside. Startled. The world outside the windowpane is pretty much pitch black in complexion. Like a scene straight out of Armageddon or Apocalypto or whatever those doomsday movies are called.
(Oh by the way, its not supposed to be pitch black, let along even a hint of black before 7 PM here)
6:30 PM – Take a long peek at the situation outside. Pondering how to manage getting home amidst this cataclysm. Need to go for a hair cut urgently. Have a wedding to attend next weekend, and I don’t want to look my best, lest I impress any nubile and impressionable young ladies down there.
6:40 PM – I am informed that someone is coming to get me and has a spare umbrella. Bless her. As you might have guessed by now, I don’t have an umbrella with me. I stopped carrying those contraptions long back, after I had magnanimously donated quite a few of those to the general unassuming public within a short frame of time, during my adolescence. I also don’t carry water bottles to school. Rather, I didn’t. Long story. Suffice to say, I am pretty much resistant to the worst of water today.
7:00 PM – Reach the subway (MRT). Bid adieu to my gracious saviour and board a train back home. The hair-cutting saloon is on the way from the MRT to my home. Its called Sri Kandi. Reminds of a rather delicious Maharashtrian dessert. Anyway, they charge only $8 per haircut and the ambience is rather like one you would find back in my hometown. Only air-conditioned. No massage to top it off, though. But the cheapest and best I could find.
7:15 PM – Hey how’s that possible? I walk out of the underground station and on to an implausibly dry sidewalk. No hint of rain. No stormy winds. Am I in the same city or what? Barely 10kms from where I boarded but the world is showing no signs of ending here! It’s all pretty balmy out here. Rather.
7:40 PM – Haircut is done and a satisfied customer walks out, having again unknowingly and magnanimously donated his newly borrowed blue umbrella to the unassuming Sri Kandan gentlemen. However, God smiles on those who do good deeds and such must be the traits of my previously described gracious saviour. So, my barber uncle (I hope I don’t have to call him hairdresser uncle) comes running out after me and completes the cycle of Good Karma. Thank God, I think – at least, my record with umbrellas stays intact.
7:45 PM – Walking through a football field on one side and an unused school building on the other – which defines the footpath leading into the estate where I live – I come across a rat scurrying for cover. Probably initially attracted by my Ganesha belly but later intimidated by my rather stuck-up and indifferent presence, the rat tries to escape into the football field through a wire mesh fence at least 4 times and fails. On the fifth try, he succeeds, obviously. Dumb rat, I think. But wait, this is the first time I’ve seen a rat in Singapore, I believe. Is this an omen?
7:50 PM – Trudging up the steps to my apartment block on Braddell Hill (yes, its rather hilly, by Singaporean standards - must be at least 10 meters above sea level), I again wonder why there is no hint of rain or storm or even any breeze. It’s just eerily quiet. And calm.
8:00 PM – I’m the first to reach home today. As I settle down on the couch in our living room, again the absence of a breeze is discernible. Usually, the cross ventilation in our 19th floor setup can lead to an unnecessarily windy scenario if both windows are open. Today, the silence is palpable. A baby lizard leaps off the window grille on to my thumb, as I open yet another shutter.
8: 10 PM – I can hear a dog howling rather loudly in a neighbouring building. Very unusual – even the dogs and the babies are well behaved in Singapore. Suddenly, even the koels aorund here start cooing. Out of nowhere, on a still November evening.
8:30 PM – Where is all this leading? Why are things so unnaturally calm and quiet? Not even a leaf is moving here, when just 10 km away, I valiantly escaped a storm that was supposedly about to wreak havoc in the Central Business District. Why are the animals behaving so oddly? Why so many firsts in one single evening?
And then it hits me. We are in the eye of a storm. A huge one is brewing. It’s on its way. A twister or tornado or something. A shiver of anticipation goes down my spine. This is going to be a lifetime experience. One I can surely write about. Tell my grandchildren. The works.
9:00 PM – Finish a good dinner of French Toast and Maggi Hot ‘n’ Sour Tomato Chill Sauce (“Its Different”) to help me prepare for the eventuality that is fast approaching.
9:10 PM – The sky is weirdly white. Not even red. Just a whitish orangish grayish haze. I know it’s coming. I message some of my friends about the impending catastrophe, warning them to stay clear of open spaces.
9:20 PM – The streaks of lightning are more noticeable now. My eyes are hooked on the sky with feverish anticipation. I know we can’t be in the eye for much longer.
9:30 PM – We must be almost there. I can visualize myself being branded a hero for having predicted this, and saved so many lives. Getting a Red & White bravery award or maybe the Marlboro Man award or some tobacco company award will be a breeze now.
9:40 PM – Are we there yet?
9:50 PM - Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
10:00 PM – NO we are not. Unfortunately, nothing happens. All my romanticizing comes to naught. It’s just another boring Singapore evening - and windless at that.
Nothing to shout about. Sighhh.
Showing posts with label narrative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label narrative. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, June 06, 2008
Sarkar Raaz
Being a sucker for diversity, here's something to lighten up the mood after all the ethical and moralistic soul-searching that I led my readers to do, after my previous post.
One fine day, sometime in the month of February 2006, we notice our protagonist, a guy named Suvro Sarkar walking towards the office of a guy (well actually, respected Professor) named Sahadeb Sarkar, then Dean of PGP, IIM Calcutta, accompanied by a certain PGP Representative who later became famous as the private statistics tutor for the damsels in distress of our junior batch - but that's an entirely different story and hopefully, the damsels in question may someday add more colour to the episode. At this point, we stop to ask ourselves - what is our protagonist doing here? He has not been seen much to hobnob with the academic faculty, and today he's headed towards the most feared and viled dungeon of all - the PGP office! We asked him later and we reproduce the contents of his reponse verbatim below:
Top Secret Mission: To secure a fresh date for his STEP (Student Exchange Programme) interview, which he had missed, having been away from campus for a week to attend his brother's wedding.
He goes inside the Dean's room, and the PGP Rep decides to abondon him at this point, having more urgent matters to look into - or so we suppose - and so from here on, its a battle of the Sarkars.
Sahadeb (SDS): Yes? Who are you?
Suvro (SVS): Sir, I am Suvro Sarkar (stressing on the Sarkar part, to emphasize possible kinship), 1st year PGDCM student, Sir.
SDS: So what can I do for you?
SVS: Sir, I have a request. Sir, I missed my STEP interview...I had my brother's wedding to attend, Sir. Is it possible to reschedule my interview to today or tomorrow?
SDS: So you were away to attend your brother's wedding?
SVS: Yes sir.
SDS: Which day to which?
SVS: (calculating fast to reduce the number of days as far as possible) 1st to 5th feb, Sir (feeling pretty sure he can bank on senior Sarkar to feel nostalgic about Bengali weddings and let the point drop)
SDS: So, 5 days.
SVS: Yes sir! (feeling inordinately proud of his institute, now that he is sure his Dean can count).
SDS: Have you read the PGP rules book?
SVS: (trying best to appear truthful, unsure where all this is leading) Yes sir.
SDS: Did you miss the point that you have to inform the PGP Office if you are out of campus for more than 2 working days?
SVS: Oh! is there such a point Sir? (oh, that did not come out the way he would have ideally wanted it to - more of a spontaneous reaction he might regret).
SDS: So you did not think it important to read the rule book? (and regret he does)
SVS: (on the backfoot, well and truely) No Sir, I've read it, Sir. This one skipped my mind, Sir.
SDS: So you think you are above all such rules eh? If you good students do like this, what will happen? Eh?
SVS: (taken aback at the assumptions of moral and ethical standards of "good" students) Sir, good student...no sir, I am sorry Sir - I have read the rule book - just missed that point - won't happen again, Sir - I'm very sorry, Sir.
SDS: So you missed 5 days of classes I see.
SVS: Unfortunately, Sir.
SDS: Hmmm...who did you ask to mark ur proxies?
SVS: (aghast - trying to look like someone who has never heard the word proxy before in his whole life) What - me sir? Proxy- sir? No no, I don't believe in proxies, sir.
SDS: Oh is that so? (calls out to one of the clerical staff) Udayyyy (or watever the name was), bring me the - what section are you? - section C - attendance files for 1st to 5th feb...
SVS: (hoping that his over-enthu classmates had not been foolish enough to mark any signatures against his reg number) No problem, Sir...you wont find any proxies, Sir (trying to sound belligerent and brave)
SDS: (flipping through one or two sheets and not finding any proof against our protagonist) Okk I'll ask the PGP Office people to go through all the sheets in detail (proof of how jobless they are, usually)...you can go now - and give me the application you brought - I'll sign it.
SVS: (relieved) Thank you, Sir! and I'm very sorry, Sir about not informing PGP Office.
So our protagonist went on to live another day and sat through the STEP interview and then opted out of it - all this for nothing! - but that again, is another story. There were some other side effects, though, of the above episode. The attendance sheets were indeed checked - no proxies were found against his name (for the benefit of doubting Thomases, he had categorically instructed all his friends not to mark any before he left for his brother's wedding, having calculated that he was reasonably above water in terms of attendance in all the subjects) - but a pattern of regular proxies were found against many other names and as a result, attendances cancelled en masse, students summoned and warned- sparking large scale rows and debates, and putting an end to the mass-scale proxy signature campaigns as had been practised in the previous two semesters at Joka.
Friends, Romans, countrymen - I believe you will herewith bless our revered protagonist for accidentally removing one of the most widespread social evils in Jokaland, which was threatening to erode the very moral fibres of one and all. Hail the protagonist!
One fine day, sometime in the month of February 2006, we notice our protagonist, a guy named Suvro Sarkar walking towards the office of a guy (well actually, respected Professor) named Sahadeb Sarkar, then Dean of PGP, IIM Calcutta, accompanied by a certain PGP Representative who later became famous as the private statistics tutor for the damsels in distress of our junior batch - but that's an entirely different story and hopefully, the damsels in question may someday add more colour to the episode. At this point, we stop to ask ourselves - what is our protagonist doing here? He has not been seen much to hobnob with the academic faculty, and today he's headed towards the most feared and viled dungeon of all - the PGP office! We asked him later and we reproduce the contents of his reponse verbatim below:
Top Secret Mission: To secure a fresh date for his STEP (Student Exchange Programme) interview, which he had missed, having been away from campus for a week to attend his brother's wedding.
He goes inside the Dean's room, and the PGP Rep decides to abondon him at this point, having more urgent matters to look into - or so we suppose - and so from here on, its a battle of the Sarkars.
Sahadeb (SDS): Yes? Who are you?
Suvro (SVS): Sir, I am Suvro Sarkar (stressing on the Sarkar part, to emphasize possible kinship), 1st year PGDCM student, Sir.
SDS: So what can I do for you?
SVS: Sir, I have a request. Sir, I missed my STEP interview...I had my brother's wedding to attend, Sir. Is it possible to reschedule my interview to today or tomorrow?
SDS: So you were away to attend your brother's wedding?
SVS: Yes sir.
SDS: Which day to which?
SVS: (calculating fast to reduce the number of days as far as possible) 1st to 5th feb, Sir (feeling pretty sure he can bank on senior Sarkar to feel nostalgic about Bengali weddings and let the point drop)
SDS: So, 5 days.
SVS: Yes sir! (feeling inordinately proud of his institute, now that he is sure his Dean can count).
SDS: Have you read the PGP rules book?
SVS: (trying best to appear truthful, unsure where all this is leading) Yes sir.
SDS: Did you miss the point that you have to inform the PGP Office if you are out of campus for more than 2 working days?
SVS: Oh! is there such a point Sir? (oh, that did not come out the way he would have ideally wanted it to - more of a spontaneous reaction he might regret).
SDS: So you did not think it important to read the rule book? (and regret he does)
SVS: (on the backfoot, well and truely) No Sir, I've read it, Sir. This one skipped my mind, Sir.
SDS: So you think you are above all such rules eh? If you good students do like this, what will happen? Eh?
SVS: (taken aback at the assumptions of moral and ethical standards of "good" students) Sir, good student...no sir, I am sorry Sir - I have read the rule book - just missed that point - won't happen again, Sir - I'm very sorry, Sir.
SDS: So you missed 5 days of classes I see.
SVS: Unfortunately, Sir.
SDS: Hmmm...who did you ask to mark ur proxies?
SVS: (aghast - trying to look like someone who has never heard the word proxy before in his whole life) What - me sir? Proxy- sir? No no, I don't believe in proxies, sir.
SDS: Oh is that so? (calls out to one of the clerical staff) Udayyyy (or watever the name was), bring me the - what section are you? - section C - attendance files for 1st to 5th feb...
SVS: (hoping that his over-enthu classmates had not been foolish enough to mark any signatures against his reg number) No problem, Sir...you wont find any proxies, Sir (trying to sound belligerent and brave)
SDS: (flipping through one or two sheets and not finding any proof against our protagonist) Okk I'll ask the PGP Office people to go through all the sheets in detail (proof of how jobless they are, usually)...you can go now - and give me the application you brought - I'll sign it.
SVS: (relieved) Thank you, Sir! and I'm very sorry, Sir about not informing PGP Office.
So our protagonist went on to live another day and sat through the STEP interview and then opted out of it - all this for nothing! - but that again, is another story. There were some other side effects, though, of the above episode. The attendance sheets were indeed checked - no proxies were found against his name (for the benefit of doubting Thomases, he had categorically instructed all his friends not to mark any before he left for his brother's wedding, having calculated that he was reasonably above water in terms of attendance in all the subjects) - but a pattern of regular proxies were found against many other names and as a result, attendances cancelled en masse, students summoned and warned- sparking large scale rows and debates, and putting an end to the mass-scale proxy signature campaigns as had been practised in the previous two semesters at Joka.
Friends, Romans, countrymen - I believe you will herewith bless our revered protagonist for accidentally removing one of the most widespread social evils in Jokaland, which was threatening to erode the very moral fibres of one and all. Hail the protagonist!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Your girlfriend must be really beautiful!
This is what a certain Mr. Tony Ho, SVP (Sales & Marketing), Contel Corporation, had to say to me when he had realized the full implication of what I was attempting to do. It was 6:30 in the evening, I was in a car in a perpetually smoggy forbidden provincial town in China called Dongguan and I was attempting to cross the border some 80 km away and reach Hong Kong that night. All this for a 12-14 hour stay, since I'd have to leave HK (assuming I reached there) by 12 PM latest next morning to have any hopes of getting on my return flight to Singapore. Before you ask, the flight was from Shenzhen Int'l Airport. And just half an hour ago, I didn't have a single Yuan on me.
Okk...cut...rewind rewind rewind...
The trip I'm talking about is a plant visit organized for Singapore analysts and fund managers by a Singapore-listed Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer called Contel Corp. The plant is in Dongguan, one of the big three cities in the affluent Pearl River Delta region of China, just aft of Hong Kong. And the nearest airport is in Shenzhen, which is the electronics workshop of the world and also the nearest point on the mainland from Hong Kong. Well the airport is strictly not in Shenzhen but lets leave that for later.
So this trip of mine was initially planned to happen in the last week of September but was postponed owing to lack of interest among other participants. Back then, I was a trifle disappointed since I was quite aware of the proximity of Hong Kong and Shenzhen and on paper, a journey to and forth seemed quite do-able. Anyhow, chance presented itself once again 2-3 weeks later and the trip was happening this time on the 17th and 18th of October.
Early morning flight and I head for the airport in an early morning taxi. Finally, I find myself on the flight, next to a kiddish looking guy and a senior looking guy, who I supposed were also on the same analyst visit. The kiddish guy really turned out to be a kid, fresh out of graduate school into one of the local brokerages. The older guy was indeed, an industry veteran, who had retired from professional life to run his personal investment firm with his family's money. Towards the end of the flight, when people start planning how best to spend the night in Dongguan, I deem it imminent to break the news that I won't be there, as I would be going to Hong Kong. "So you are flying back from Hong Kong eh?" "No, I'll meet you guys back at Shenzhen!” I see some dumbfounded faces around me. But being peaceful Singaporeans, they don't press the matter any further apart from assuming that I must be on some kind of illicit mission to make so much effort worth the while.
I let them assume whatever they could and then I made the biggest mistake of the trip. We land in Shenzhen; I come out of the airport with the group, and being the organizer-type, start hunting around for the tour bus assigned to us and conveniently forget about foreign exchange! Halfway on the hour-long bus-ride to Dongguan, I realize this stark truth and my mood gets gloomier while the others sleep it off. The surroundings don't help at all but I'll spare you a description of the journey on the highways of China. Suffice to say that it is not a pretty sight - especially being accustomed to the lush green paddy fields along NH2 (the erstwhile Grand Trunk Road) and NH6 (Bombay Road) of West Bengal. Probably, with modern marvels like the Singur car factory coming up, we'll get to see less of the same, too.
Having reached Dongguan, and having disembarked at the hotel, I wonder aloud if I might find some transportation to Hong Kong from the hotel premises in the hope that some fellow analyst would care to translate and ask the hotel guys. The only female in our group was a pretty friendly one and she takes pains to find out, from various sources, including the doorman, concierge and tourist booklets, that the last bus to HK leaves at 5:30 PM. Realistically, we couldn't be back to the hotel by that time - my plant visit starts at 2 PM! My spirits suitably dampened, I seat myself at the lunch table and nibble at meats of various species while acquainting myself with executives from Contel. The COO, on hearing my HK predicament, immediately rushes off to enquire about options from the hotel management, but in spite of all the blessings I showered on him and his family, he returns with nothing new. Ditching the tasteless desserts and fetching my bag from my room, I saunter confidently towards the reception desk, where I'd hitherto spotted a foreign exchange counter. Woe and dismay, for they only convert HKD and USD. A big jolt for the Singapore Dollar and to the egos of the Singaporean analyst team. I sms my friend in Hong Kong, asking her not to wait up for me.
The gloomy day turns gloomier as we drive deeper into a perpetual haze covered country interspersed with gaunt white buildings. One of them turns out to be our final destination - Contel factory. After a boring presentation, we get to the Q&A session - and I am praying that my fellow analysts keep their interrogation short. However, it seems that they are intent to know all kinds of inane stuff in glorious detail and I am left in the lurches, counting the minutes as time rolls on beyond 4 PM. After what seemed an eternity, Tony, whom I have introduced before, suggests we proceed on the plant tour as the employees' shift would end shortly. I skip along with the Group, not deigning to ask a single question of the management in truly unprofessional analyst style (though I would end up as the only analyst filing in a plant visit note). As dusk envelops the hazy environs, I am itching to make a dash for the hotel or train station or bus station or somewhere. But not having a single Yuan in my pocket, kind of thwarts all my instincts and I wait for the ordeal to finish. When it’s eventually over, and we have seen assembly lines churning out electronic guitars for video games and LCD TVs and VCD recorders and all sorts of other useless stuff at one-tenth the price that Walmart and Circuit City retail them for, we get back to the Boardroom.
They gift us an E-Bible (if anyone is interested, I can forward it) and people take a lot of time to move out. I place my pleading eyes on Tony and Lip Kee (the CFO) and Tony (good man!) asks around for the best way to get to HK. 6 PM already. I had done extensive research on the Internet, which had informed me of trains at 7 40 PM and 8 40 PM, direct to some station in HK, but they seemed to have no knowledge of it. As I keep getting more despondent, the guy says there is a train to Shenzhen at 6:30 - do I want to try that? It seems people can cross the border there to HK. Of course, what are we waiting for? Our car, the CFO offers, rather apologetically. Some hope, at last, but there remains one last barrier to cross. Currency. And no bank will be open at 6 PM. I turn to the CFO. " Excuse me, do you have some extra Yuan on you? Can I pay you in SGD now...say 500 Yuan or so?" Flustered for a while, the guy fishes out five 100-Yuan notes as we settle on a willing buyer-willing seller exchange rate of 5 Yuan to a Singapore Dollar. "You might use it when you go down to Singapore once in a while", I offer helpfully. Phew! I had currency. Confidence back, I steel myself for a lonesome journey from nowhere to anywhere.
On the journey from the factory to the hotel where the management guys got off, the CEO, CFO and COO of Contel Corp offered me valuable advice on the dos and don'ts of travelling in China. "As long as you have your passport and your money with you, you are safe." "Keep my number. Any problem and you call me. Even if you lose your money, don't lose your mobile". "You know, if you get off and walk on this road, there is no guarantee you will not be robbed right now." Very helpful, all, but it left me feeling much less confident than I initially was. "So how many times you have been to China?” First time, Tony, first time. "So you can speak Mandarin?” NO. "You have been to Hong Kong before, right?" NO. "This is your first time in China, you can't speak the language, and it will be your first time in Hong Kong. And you are travelling across the border, in the evening. BOY, your girlfriend must be REALLY beautiful!!!" And, content in their assumption, they all had a hearty laugh about it. Not really wishing to contest their theory or interrupt their mirth, I joined in. "Oh yes, she is. Good guess, Tony!”
So they get down and the driver takes me to the train station. He gets down, locks the car and comes with me to the train station. Oh no, I can't read a single thing anywhere. It’s all Chinese (no, not Greek). I look on gratefully as the driver-chappie goes to the ticket counter, buys 2 tickets and hands me one. Without a murmur, I follow him as he rushes off towards the platform, and I'm relieved when a train rolls in 2 minutes later, which has a "Shenzhen" sign in English. As I try to push a 100-Yuan note into the helpful chappie's hand for the ticket, he refuses to have to do anything with it and instead motions me on to the train. An empty compartment beckons and I'm about to be in for a shock as the train covers the entire 90km stretch at an average speed of 160km/hr and in some stretches 180km/hr. If you are wondering how I calculated the speed, there was a LCD panel above the door of the compartment, which indicated as much. It took me about 45 minutes I think to cover the stretch. Whoa - China rocking!
As I get down at Shenzhen and follow the direction signs reading Hong Kong, I am reminded of what Tony had earlier told me - "When you exit the train station, you will see the Shangri-La Hotel. Don't go towards it. Go to the building in the opposite direction. You will find the immigration counters on the first or second floor. Be very careful!" - so I follow the signboards and eventually exit the train station at street level. I can see the Shangri-La at some distance but the signboards saying HK have petered out. So I walk all the way to the Shangri-La, click a few photos of night-time Shenzhen and discover that the only building that could be opposite it was the point where I had started walking. No problemos. I am way ahead of time, anyway, thanks to that super fast train. I meander back to the building and find the Chinese immigration counters on the first level. Forms filled out and they happily let me leave China. Oh did I forget to mention that my visa was a double entry visa. I had to re-enter PRC again the next afternoon for my flight back to Singapore.
After a pretty long walk through corridors and bridges of no-man's land, I somehow reach the HK immigration counter and after the guy had taken a look at my Indian passport, and heard my story about landing in Shenzhen, going to Dongguan, returning to Shenzhen, crossing over to HK, then back again and on to Singapore, he must have assumed I'm part of some currency racket on some quick errand. So I'm promptly shipped to the senior immigration officer's office to be interviewed. Frustrating wait and then I shove down the visiting cards of CEOs, CFOs and the like down the interviewer's throat in a brave attempt at intimidation. Bored with my version of events, he lets me continue on my journey of discovery. Dignity restored, I find a restroom, change out of my formals and fork out my maps of the Hong Kong public transport system. Having worked out my destination, I reach the ticket counter, only to realize the currency of business has changed. Bang opposite was a money exchanger, probably offering the worst rates in town, having set up shop to cater to morons like me. HKD in hand, I now had a ticket to East Tsim Sha Tsui (ETST). It was 7 30 when I had reached Shenzhen - it was past 9 PM now.
Anyhow, I reached ETST and then found the interchange to Tsim Sha Tsui - the subway/train system is way too complicated compared to Singapore - and here I met up with my friend AJ. I'll leave out the details of the remainder of the night except for the fact that the time between 2 AM and 4 AM found me having a few drinks with a banker friend of mine in Hong Kong's famed Lan Kwai Fong district and the remainder of the night till 8 AM found me sleeping it off on some other unsuspecting friend's sofa. The next morning brought with it my first glimpse of the great city in natural light and it was quite awesome and much beyond my expectations. There is a certain life in the people and a vibrant all-pervading spirit, quite reminiscent of Calcutta. I guess having a planned city takes the fun out of it. The narrow roads, congested alleys, British styled architecture, street side vendors, and modern high-rises jostling for space all lend to the unique aura the Hong Kong emanates. Singapore, by comparison, is sterile and lifeless.
So having taken in the sights and sounds, I now turn my attention to my return journey. I had gathered from various sources that the ferry from HK across the Pearl River Delta to Shenzhen is the quickest and most convenient way of getting to the airport. Smugly complacent in this knowledge, AJ and I call up the ferry companies but as luck would have it, all are fully booked. 11 AM in Hong Kong and I still have no transportation. Flight back at 4 PM. Will I make it? Tension tension. Train would take one hour to the border. God knows how much time at immigration. And then no clue how to reach the airport from Shenzhen train station and I had a fair idea it was 30 km away. No Tony and no driver-chappie to help me out this time around. I am pretty much royally screwed.
We make our way to the nearest ferry terminal in the hope of some ferry company we had missed out on but we can't even make out which boat is headed where, far less, when. Just when I'm beginning to think that I have to risk the train journey, we find ourselves standing in front of a bus terminal with colourful buses sporting Shenzhen/
Guangzhou signs. After some painful attempts at communication, we discern that a bus for Shenzhen airport will be leaving in about 10 minutes, but I'll have to change buses in between. Still not convinced that I am on the right bus, I try to ask the driver when we would be reaching the destination, but he remained unconvinced too. Running out of options and having already purchased a 100 HKD ticket, I decide to risk it and wave goodbye to AJ and Hong Kong.
A Good Samaritan on the bus decides to be my interpreter for the rest of the bus trip and safely guides me through all the formalities on either sides of the border. Finally, some pretty girls in traditional costumes notice a pink bus company sticker on my shirt as I come out of Shenzhen bus terminal and take me to a mini-bus and a short bus journey later, I'm inside Shenzhen Int'l Airport within one and a half hours of leaving Hong Kong. Wow! A fitting finale to a whale of an adventure. I'm damn pleased as I make my way home and promise to write about it someday. That day is finally here!
P.S. Took me about 6 months to pen this down. Apologies to all concerned :)
Okk...cut...rewind rewind rewind...
The trip I'm talking about is a plant visit organized for Singapore analysts and fund managers by a Singapore-listed Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer called Contel Corp. The plant is in Dongguan, one of the big three cities in the affluent Pearl River Delta region of China, just aft of Hong Kong. And the nearest airport is in Shenzhen, which is the electronics workshop of the world and also the nearest point on the mainland from Hong Kong. Well the airport is strictly not in Shenzhen but lets leave that for later.
So this trip of mine was initially planned to happen in the last week of September but was postponed owing to lack of interest among other participants. Back then, I was a trifle disappointed since I was quite aware of the proximity of Hong Kong and Shenzhen and on paper, a journey to and forth seemed quite do-able. Anyhow, chance presented itself once again 2-3 weeks later and the trip was happening this time on the 17th and 18th of October.
Early morning flight and I head for the airport in an early morning taxi. Finally, I find myself on the flight, next to a kiddish looking guy and a senior looking guy, who I supposed were also on the same analyst visit. The kiddish guy really turned out to be a kid, fresh out of graduate school into one of the local brokerages. The older guy was indeed, an industry veteran, who had retired from professional life to run his personal investment firm with his family's money. Towards the end of the flight, when people start planning how best to spend the night in Dongguan, I deem it imminent to break the news that I won't be there, as I would be going to Hong Kong. "So you are flying back from Hong Kong eh?" "No, I'll meet you guys back at Shenzhen!” I see some dumbfounded faces around me. But being peaceful Singaporeans, they don't press the matter any further apart from assuming that I must be on some kind of illicit mission to make so much effort worth the while.
I let them assume whatever they could and then I made the biggest mistake of the trip. We land in Shenzhen; I come out of the airport with the group, and being the organizer-type, start hunting around for the tour bus assigned to us and conveniently forget about foreign exchange! Halfway on the hour-long bus-ride to Dongguan, I realize this stark truth and my mood gets gloomier while the others sleep it off. The surroundings don't help at all but I'll spare you a description of the journey on the highways of China. Suffice to say that it is not a pretty sight - especially being accustomed to the lush green paddy fields along NH2 (the erstwhile Grand Trunk Road) and NH6 (Bombay Road) of West Bengal. Probably, with modern marvels like the Singur car factory coming up, we'll get to see less of the same, too.
Having reached Dongguan, and having disembarked at the hotel, I wonder aloud if I might find some transportation to Hong Kong from the hotel premises in the hope that some fellow analyst would care to translate and ask the hotel guys. The only female in our group was a pretty friendly one and she takes pains to find out, from various sources, including the doorman, concierge and tourist booklets, that the last bus to HK leaves at 5:30 PM. Realistically, we couldn't be back to the hotel by that time - my plant visit starts at 2 PM! My spirits suitably dampened, I seat myself at the lunch table and nibble at meats of various species while acquainting myself with executives from Contel. The COO, on hearing my HK predicament, immediately rushes off to enquire about options from the hotel management, but in spite of all the blessings I showered on him and his family, he returns with nothing new. Ditching the tasteless desserts and fetching my bag from my room, I saunter confidently towards the reception desk, where I'd hitherto spotted a foreign exchange counter. Woe and dismay, for they only convert HKD and USD. A big jolt for the Singapore Dollar and to the egos of the Singaporean analyst team. I sms my friend in Hong Kong, asking her not to wait up for me.
The gloomy day turns gloomier as we drive deeper into a perpetual haze covered country interspersed with gaunt white buildings. One of them turns out to be our final destination - Contel factory. After a boring presentation, we get to the Q&A session - and I am praying that my fellow analysts keep their interrogation short. However, it seems that they are intent to know all kinds of inane stuff in glorious detail and I am left in the lurches, counting the minutes as time rolls on beyond 4 PM. After what seemed an eternity, Tony, whom I have introduced before, suggests we proceed on the plant tour as the employees' shift would end shortly. I skip along with the Group, not deigning to ask a single question of the management in truly unprofessional analyst style (though I would end up as the only analyst filing in a plant visit note). As dusk envelops the hazy environs, I am itching to make a dash for the hotel or train station or bus station or somewhere. But not having a single Yuan in my pocket, kind of thwarts all my instincts and I wait for the ordeal to finish. When it’s eventually over, and we have seen assembly lines churning out electronic guitars for video games and LCD TVs and VCD recorders and all sorts of other useless stuff at one-tenth the price that Walmart and Circuit City retail them for, we get back to the Boardroom.
They gift us an E-Bible (if anyone is interested, I can forward it) and people take a lot of time to move out. I place my pleading eyes on Tony and Lip Kee (the CFO) and Tony (good man!) asks around for the best way to get to HK. 6 PM already. I had done extensive research on the Internet, which had informed me of trains at 7 40 PM and 8 40 PM, direct to some station in HK, but they seemed to have no knowledge of it. As I keep getting more despondent, the guy says there is a train to Shenzhen at 6:30 - do I want to try that? It seems people can cross the border there to HK. Of course, what are we waiting for? Our car, the CFO offers, rather apologetically. Some hope, at last, but there remains one last barrier to cross. Currency. And no bank will be open at 6 PM. I turn to the CFO. " Excuse me, do you have some extra Yuan on you? Can I pay you in SGD now...say 500 Yuan or so?" Flustered for a while, the guy fishes out five 100-Yuan notes as we settle on a willing buyer-willing seller exchange rate of 5 Yuan to a Singapore Dollar. "You might use it when you go down to Singapore once in a while", I offer helpfully. Phew! I had currency. Confidence back, I steel myself for a lonesome journey from nowhere to anywhere.
On the journey from the factory to the hotel where the management guys got off, the CEO, CFO and COO of Contel Corp offered me valuable advice on the dos and don'ts of travelling in China. "As long as you have your passport and your money with you, you are safe." "Keep my number. Any problem and you call me. Even if you lose your money, don't lose your mobile". "You know, if you get off and walk on this road, there is no guarantee you will not be robbed right now." Very helpful, all, but it left me feeling much less confident than I initially was. "So how many times you have been to China?” First time, Tony, first time. "So you can speak Mandarin?” NO. "You have been to Hong Kong before, right?" NO. "This is your first time in China, you can't speak the language, and it will be your first time in Hong Kong. And you are travelling across the border, in the evening. BOY, your girlfriend must be REALLY beautiful!!!" And, content in their assumption, they all had a hearty laugh about it. Not really wishing to contest their theory or interrupt their mirth, I joined in. "Oh yes, she is. Good guess, Tony!”
So they get down and the driver takes me to the train station. He gets down, locks the car and comes with me to the train station. Oh no, I can't read a single thing anywhere. It’s all Chinese (no, not Greek). I look on gratefully as the driver-chappie goes to the ticket counter, buys 2 tickets and hands me one. Without a murmur, I follow him as he rushes off towards the platform, and I'm relieved when a train rolls in 2 minutes later, which has a "Shenzhen" sign in English. As I try to push a 100-Yuan note into the helpful chappie's hand for the ticket, he refuses to have to do anything with it and instead motions me on to the train. An empty compartment beckons and I'm about to be in for a shock as the train covers the entire 90km stretch at an average speed of 160km/hr and in some stretches 180km/hr. If you are wondering how I calculated the speed, there was a LCD panel above the door of the compartment, which indicated as much. It took me about 45 minutes I think to cover the stretch. Whoa - China rocking!
As I get down at Shenzhen and follow the direction signs reading Hong Kong, I am reminded of what Tony had earlier told me - "When you exit the train station, you will see the Shangri-La Hotel. Don't go towards it. Go to the building in the opposite direction. You will find the immigration counters on the first or second floor. Be very careful!" - so I follow the signboards and eventually exit the train station at street level. I can see the Shangri-La at some distance but the signboards saying HK have petered out. So I walk all the way to the Shangri-La, click a few photos of night-time Shenzhen and discover that the only building that could be opposite it was the point where I had started walking. No problemos. I am way ahead of time, anyway, thanks to that super fast train. I meander back to the building and find the Chinese immigration counters on the first level. Forms filled out and they happily let me leave China. Oh did I forget to mention that my visa was a double entry visa. I had to re-enter PRC again the next afternoon for my flight back to Singapore.
After a pretty long walk through corridors and bridges of no-man's land, I somehow reach the HK immigration counter and after the guy had taken a look at my Indian passport, and heard my story about landing in Shenzhen, going to Dongguan, returning to Shenzhen, crossing over to HK, then back again and on to Singapore, he must have assumed I'm part of some currency racket on some quick errand. So I'm promptly shipped to the senior immigration officer's office to be interviewed. Frustrating wait and then I shove down the visiting cards of CEOs, CFOs and the like down the interviewer's throat in a brave attempt at intimidation. Bored with my version of events, he lets me continue on my journey of discovery. Dignity restored, I find a restroom, change out of my formals and fork out my maps of the Hong Kong public transport system. Having worked out my destination, I reach the ticket counter, only to realize the currency of business has changed. Bang opposite was a money exchanger, probably offering the worst rates in town, having set up shop to cater to morons like me. HKD in hand, I now had a ticket to East Tsim Sha Tsui (ETST). It was 7 30 when I had reached Shenzhen - it was past 9 PM now.
Anyhow, I reached ETST and then found the interchange to Tsim Sha Tsui - the subway/train system is way too complicated compared to Singapore - and here I met up with my friend AJ. I'll leave out the details of the remainder of the night except for the fact that the time between 2 AM and 4 AM found me having a few drinks with a banker friend of mine in Hong Kong's famed Lan Kwai Fong district and the remainder of the night till 8 AM found me sleeping it off on some other unsuspecting friend's sofa. The next morning brought with it my first glimpse of the great city in natural light and it was quite awesome and much beyond my expectations. There is a certain life in the people and a vibrant all-pervading spirit, quite reminiscent of Calcutta. I guess having a planned city takes the fun out of it. The narrow roads, congested alleys, British styled architecture, street side vendors, and modern high-rises jostling for space all lend to the unique aura the Hong Kong emanates. Singapore, by comparison, is sterile and lifeless.
So having taken in the sights and sounds, I now turn my attention to my return journey. I had gathered from various sources that the ferry from HK across the Pearl River Delta to Shenzhen is the quickest and most convenient way of getting to the airport. Smugly complacent in this knowledge, AJ and I call up the ferry companies but as luck would have it, all are fully booked. 11 AM in Hong Kong and I still have no transportation. Flight back at 4 PM. Will I make it? Tension tension. Train would take one hour to the border. God knows how much time at immigration. And then no clue how to reach the airport from Shenzhen train station and I had a fair idea it was 30 km away. No Tony and no driver-chappie to help me out this time around. I am pretty much royally screwed.
We make our way to the nearest ferry terminal in the hope of some ferry company we had missed out on but we can't even make out which boat is headed where, far less, when. Just when I'm beginning to think that I have to risk the train journey, we find ourselves standing in front of a bus terminal with colourful buses sporting Shenzhen/
Guangzhou signs. After some painful attempts at communication, we discern that a bus for Shenzhen airport will be leaving in about 10 minutes, but I'll have to change buses in between. Still not convinced that I am on the right bus, I try to ask the driver when we would be reaching the destination, but he remained unconvinced too. Running out of options and having already purchased a 100 HKD ticket, I decide to risk it and wave goodbye to AJ and Hong Kong.
A Good Samaritan on the bus decides to be my interpreter for the rest of the bus trip and safely guides me through all the formalities on either sides of the border. Finally, some pretty girls in traditional costumes notice a pink bus company sticker on my shirt as I come out of Shenzhen bus terminal and take me to a mini-bus and a short bus journey later, I'm inside Shenzhen Int'l Airport within one and a half hours of leaving Hong Kong. Wow! A fitting finale to a whale of an adventure. I'm damn pleased as I make my way home and promise to write about it someday. That day is finally here!
P.S. Took me about 6 months to pen this down. Apologies to all concerned :)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The Pink Floyd Experience - adapted from the experience and expressions of Sourojit Bhowmick...
The dream of watching the God live is one that most of us do cherish...and I am yet to realise my dream...however, here's a sneak preview of what can be...the words are not mine...rather they belong to my dear friend Sourojit Bhowmick, who is currently pursuing his PhD in the US of A...
"As I start writing this, I just pray that I do not forget, those 3 hrs, in the years to come.
Somehow I would like to hold those scenes in my mind, for the rest of my life. I will write what exactly I saw , felt and experienced. There may be many spelling mistakes and errors .. as I am writing in a flow…almost closing my eyes and remembering every moment of that DREAM…
"As I start writing this, I just pray that I do not forget, those 3 hrs, in the years to come.
Somehow I would like to hold those scenes in my mind, for the rest of my life. I will write what exactly I saw , felt and experienced. There may be many spelling mistakes and errors .. as I am writing in a flow…almost closing my eyes and remembering every moment of that DREAM…
Let’s begin …. The mega event was at the New England Dodge Music Center (a place where legends like Jim Morrison, Coldplay, Metallica, GnR to the Beatles have played.). So the show was from 8 pm, and we started at 6 (hoping to reach by 6:30). We got the first taste of Pink Floyd hysteria, when we reached the express highway, just 6 miles from the center. Now here I would say, in my 1 yr of stay in US... I have never seen traffic jam in the express ways… not even in the busy NY express way … but mannnnnn... when we were just 6 miles from the center... We could c the line of cars!!!! It was crazy!! People were shouting... Throwing beer bottles... doping … from the cars!! There were all sorts of squads around...SWATS, Dog squads etc etc …. But the best part of police here was … THEY NEVER INTERRUPTED THE FUN!!!!!They didn’t even stop ppl from doping n boozing! They were just watching for vandalism!!!!
Neways... when we reached the arena, the magnitude got me!!! it was like entering a packed Eden Gardens, for the first time !!!!! Around 40,000 people!!! From all age groups!! Hippies … druggrs, rockers, wheel chair bound people, old, young, men women of all sorts!!!!! It was just overwhelming!! So we went and secured our spot… about 40-50 mts from the stage ….. Just below the overhead ceiling. And behind us, was the wiiiiiide lawn sitting area... it was like a hill... And completely packed!!!!!
The show began with the trademark whiskey bottle and cigarette...on the screen... n then smoke came from the left on stage,as if someone was smokin … n thennnnnnnnnnn. .. a black figure .. in jacket & black pants .. emerged, with a guitar in hand.. accompanied by the euphoric thunder of 40,000 people … when they saw the living legend …ROGER WATERS was ON STAGE …in front of our eyes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .. I could c people crying... when the first sounds of his guitar hit us... Those first strings from “in the flesh”… as he sang “so ya ..thot ya ..might ..”.His voice reverberated all across the arena,and we were mad . After that … it was just pure magic ….. He gave us one song after the other … in that memorable voice!!! And the awsm vocals of Dave Kilministr, synth of Harry Waters (Rogers’ son)…. With the GREAT Jon Cairn!!!!!!!!!! And Andy Fairweather (The Pulse Concert Guys) …
The Wall part 1 had its usual head banging affect!!!!! There were ppl everywhere... Doping n drugging!! … It was going on…With psychedelic lighting... This led to Syd Berett’s face on screen... “Shine on” was coming...N then when we reached ... “Shine on you”... There was the harrowing picture of Syd Berrett on screen ... and slowly a laser face of Berett appeared on the crowd!!!!!!! …Suddenly he started those famous lines ... “Remember when you were young … you shine like the sun” …. That was it... we were just hysterical!!! Every single person was singing! It was dark ... n everybody was lighting some light. ..And holding it up... And swaying!! It was a scene worth watching!!!!! There was a laser that also swayed with the song.
The lighting and special affects was throughout unparalleled … during “set the controls of the heart of the sun” …. There was a fire on screen .. and then the smoke of the fire .. from the screen .. suddenly started coming out n spreading on the crowd !! such was the affect. It was pure psychedelia , and we were being hallucinated by music and machine !!!! While during “Time” and “Money” .. the whole video was on us !!! as if we were being grinded inside a clock …. I know , u wont believe .. unless u b a part of it .. but this is what each and everyone .. present there felt !!!!
After “shine on”, we could c a radio in the screen, some one was tuning … there was a silence in the crowd... We knew ... what was coming... “Wish you were here”!!!!! The moment those guitar chords sounded …. We just knelt down in respect …. While Roger Waters said “So ...so u think u can tell…”… the affect was heavenly!!!! Millions of small bubbles (like the soap bubble)… came from nowhere...And covered us!!!!! …. I must say here... something was soo emotional... it brought tears to our eyes …!!! Every one was just singing and swaying … everyone had sparkling eyes... tears dripping!!!! Wish You were Here, a song that had moved a generation .. was having its tremendous emotional affect !!! Following this there were other gems like, Fletcher memorial, perfect sense, animal (sheep)… and then was “leaving Beirut” … another masterpiece!!! He spoke again… “Thanks for coming… u have been a great audience”...He explained why he wrote this song ….and then sang it. Those of you who have watched the video of this song in youtube ..must know that its based on cartoons …. And there also it was cartoon, but the only speciality was .. sometime the cartoon figures came on the crowd .. from the screen .. thanks to the laser affects !!!!!!
After this song .. HE came near the crowd .. n said “Its been long .. will take a 15 mins break .. but will b back” Now the break was memorable... coz they left the huuuugeeee pig balloon from the stage... n crowd was passing it ... so that it can come out from below the ceiling area... To the open area ... n man... WE TOUCHED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was just AN electric feeling… n then it went behind us… to the lawn area ... finally into the sky!!!!!
The next part of the show was …the main Dark side of the Moon... and I really don’t have words to explain it!!!!! There was everything on stage!! Fire, smoke, moon landing, astronaut, and a huuuge moon!!! (Which became bigger from a small size, in that break of 15 mins) .
Part 2 started with “speak to me”,,Breath , great gig in the sky , on the run … and then came “brain Damage” . So before “brain damage” he thanked the crowd again … n introduced the band members. And then he started “The Lunatic is on the Grass…” and as it started... we could c that there was a sudden cloud on top of us … n then lasers were crazily moving on us …suddenly in the stage there was that world famous prism!! It was moving slowly on us!! It came on top of us,n a light from one end …entering the laser prism…And vibgyor coming out from the other end !!!!!!!!!! The whole “dark side of the moon” Prism logo was there on us... Made by lasers!!!!! We were all speechless to c that creation !! n the lines …“And if the band youre in starts playing different tunes,Ill see you on the dark side of the moon”!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dunno wat happnd … but I was just overwhelmed by the music .. tears in my eyes .. looking at the greatest music innovator of our times !!! everyone was staring at the laser …. As he sang this song with impeccable precision , as all the other songs !!!!!
The brain damage song signalled that the show was comin to an end …. Then after a few other tracks like eclipse , break in the wall II, and bring the boys back home , Us n Them …. the stage darkend … waters said thank you … n he was leaving !! we were all shouting .. “don’t go” … there was a mass sadness !!! the show was over and we couldn’t accept it !!! BUT SUDDENLY out of the dark .. a ghastly voice said “Is there any body out there?”.. GOD that was like too much of a hysteria !!!!!!! N next that everlasting music .. from “comfortably numb” .. with a whitewash of light !!!!!! … all hell broke loose .. every single living being , must have shouted at that time !!!! .. Roger “God” Waters was singing “hello heloo .. is there anybody in there?... just nod if u can hear me” … the words from the god himself !!!... comfortably numb sounded as if , I was listening to the original track from the CD !!!!!!! ….. again .. we were lighting matches , candles , lighters , ciggerettes , torch .. into the sky !! .. swaying …to the music !! It was crazy !!! Listening to one of the most famous songs of this century .. from its creator ..!!!!!
With “Comfortably Numb” the stage was dark again … n this time it was permanent. We could not believe that the show was over … infact no one could !!! we didn’t even feel that we were standing /shouting and swaying for 3 hours non-stop !! ..so after the song .. everyone was standing ….. speechless .. atleast fr 3-4 mins .. n slowly we realized it was over .. people started movin .. very very very slowly. No one wanted to leave the arena…. We cldnt believe that , we had seen the living legend .. we couldn’t believe that we were so lucky to watch the god himself !!!! Me anurag and Veda , stood there for almost 30 mins more … there were fireworks in the sky … n we were just quite … it seemed that we were just out of a dream …. N then slowly started moving with the crowd …..
I would like to specially add something here about the crowd .. there were ppl .. doping , drugging , boozing all around !! people were druggd out .. n u cld just c them swaying and dancing like a child. And the best part was , beers were being sold inside the arena itself !!! policemen were everywhere .. but what I like that .. 99 % of them didn’t had guns (which u c with every policeman here) .. !!!! they watchd ppl drugging n dopin .. but didn’t stop !!!! they just kept an eye …there were people of arnd 60-70 yrs age !!! am not exaggerating !!n there were wheelchair bound floydians too !!!!.... that’s why they say .. Pink Floyd is not a music group .. it’s a mass movement !!!
So that was my experience .. I may have messed up with the song sequences .. but mostly they are correct.. I cldnt explain every single lighting, and also didn’t talk about all the songs e.g Any color you like , Mother etc .. coz words can explain them .
But I just pray that these memories never die ….. AFTER ALL .. I FINALLY DID SEE .. THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON .."
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Summer's Placement 4: The Final Cut
People say all's well that ends well. I used to hold the same view. Now, I believe all's well that ends. Bringing you the concluding part of the six day saga that brought me into very close contact with my soul, forced me to ask lots of questions and helped me know lots of people inside out. Key learnings...isn't that the term? Nywayz lets join our protagonist at the beginning of Slot2.
Day5:
8:30 am
Okk so a new day and a new beginning awaited me as I brought out my 3rd new shirt and hoped for the best. Lots of shortlists. Today I'm bound to be busy. Lets hope things get over early. Wishful thinking!!!
Day starts. Nestle calling. GDs. How I hate them. Its like letting loose herd of hungry lions on a rabbit. You never know what the interviewers are looking for in a GD. What are the criteria? The maximum airtime? The critical points? The moderator role? I don't know. Never will. But one thing I made sure on this day. Maximum effort. I redefined my GD styles. More as the day wears on.
11:00 am
Have had 4 GDs I guess till now. Pretty insipid stuff till now. Problem now seems to be that I meet the same motley group of people in every GD. Guess Controls is using some optimal scheduling algorithm. I'll work for Controls in the finals, I think. This is interesting stuff. Complex non linear programming I guess. NP hard ???
12:00-4:00 pm
Flurry of GDs. From one room to another. Oh btw, I actually start a GD. Hehe. This is fun. Who am I? I no longer know myself. Somehow manage to squeeze in lunch. These packet lunches are fun, too. Seems like a picnic. Life is fun.
4:00-8:00 pm
Or is it? Entering the double digit GD region now. And I know I have the SAP 2nd round interview sometime in the evening. I need some time to chill out before that! Do I have time? Spend 1 hour waiting for a guy to make it 8 guys for a GD. Lady on the panelist want to ride a bike around the campus. Infra team frantically search for equipment. This is one team I won't join! What a life! Place rep calling on cell. SAP at 8:30.
8:30-9:30 pm
Nervewracking half an hour wait before the interview. Another telephonic round. Start scribbling notes. The phone rings at 9. Pick it up. Rehearsed opening line. The guy starts speaking. And keeps speaking. Arre lemme speak, too! I must do something. So I do. After every two sentences, I rephrase his words and throw it back at him. Nice strategy. Seems to be working. I don't know what this interview was meant to judge. Anyway, he hangs up and wishes me luck. Is that a good sign or a bad sign? Do I need the luck elsewhere?
Dude no time for that crap. Next stop Agrotech GD. Hurry up. The whole group is waiting for me. How do they expect me to come out of my interview inertia so soon! This is ridiculuous!
9:30-11:00 pm
I felt like screaming "I told you so!" when I came out of the room after the GD. Never opened my mouth even once. By the time I realised that a GD was in progress, it was too far gone!
Next stop ITC interview. Oh well, finally ITC realizes my worth and shortlists me after the GD.
Good goin, ITC but I guess our only relationship will be Wills Navy Cut. Made for each other? Don't think so. 11:00 pm and still not done. Can you believe it? I can't. Times Group calling. Get it done with.
11:30 pm
Finally I make it back to the arena. Whew!!! What a day. Can't believe so much action in one day. I don't know where I'm getting the energy after 5 long days. Pure adrenalin? People I did not know yesterday are friends now. Sharing the same adversity brings people much closer, I guess. And not sharing it or even trying to does alienate people. Lots of lessons life teaches. And finally, now that I have time to think, the goosebumps start all over again. What if not SAP? When will they declare the damn result? Why is the placerep not calling? Why does the front desk never call my reg no and send me to the place office? Why not? Why me?
Day 6
7:30 am
Know what? I have a direct interview call from Coats India. Lucky me! After a very nervewracking night and desperately seeking to stay calm, I wait in the arena. Breakfast? No thank you, sir! Oh btw my cuffs are dirty. RR's room and his shirt. His tie proved lucky for RS. Will the shirt do the same for me? Lets see. But I guess the term lucky was fast losing significance!!!
8:30 am
Front desk calling. Where to, dude? Which GD? Place office. My heart skips a beat. Place office, finally??? Will my prayers be answered finally? Try not to think. The next few minutes are a happy daze. I got through. I am supposed to tank interviews for the rest of the day.
I feel like sinking to the ground. Relief. Nothing else. I am numbed.
And I am happy. For the simple reason that I can now officially tell the bloody interviewers to go to hell and stay there, for all I'm concerned. Go to hell, people. Enough is enough. Bahut ho gaya nautanki!!!
Rest of the Day
Go around in that suit, which now feels like second skin, screwing up interviews left, right and centre and leaving behind baffled interviewers in my wake. This is fun. This is absolute bliss. Life never felt so good. Perverse pleasure maybe, but pleasure nevertheless. Retribution, perhaps? Finally changed to my jeans and kicked off the shoes. Ahh how good does it feel to have the simple things in life!
That's about the end of the story. Fantastic experience, without a doubt. Missed only two things in the entire process. Otherwise seen all and done all. Couldn't do the voluntary stuff and hence, missed the chance of helping others. And two, did not savour the experience of companies making a pitch. However, no regrets. You never get all the good things at one go! But how do you define the good things in life? Okk...I won't get philosophical...enjoy!!!
Day5:
8:30 am
Okk so a new day and a new beginning awaited me as I brought out my 3rd new shirt and hoped for the best. Lots of shortlists. Today I'm bound to be busy. Lets hope things get over early. Wishful thinking!!!
Day starts. Nestle calling. GDs. How I hate them. Its like letting loose herd of hungry lions on a rabbit. You never know what the interviewers are looking for in a GD. What are the criteria? The maximum airtime? The critical points? The moderator role? I don't know. Never will. But one thing I made sure on this day. Maximum effort. I redefined my GD styles. More as the day wears on.
11:00 am
Have had 4 GDs I guess till now. Pretty insipid stuff till now. Problem now seems to be that I meet the same motley group of people in every GD. Guess Controls is using some optimal scheduling algorithm. I'll work for Controls in the finals, I think. This is interesting stuff. Complex non linear programming I guess. NP hard ???
12:00-4:00 pm
Flurry of GDs. From one room to another. Oh btw, I actually start a GD. Hehe. This is fun. Who am I? I no longer know myself. Somehow manage to squeeze in lunch. These packet lunches are fun, too. Seems like a picnic. Life is fun.
4:00-8:00 pm
Or is it? Entering the double digit GD region now. And I know I have the SAP 2nd round interview sometime in the evening. I need some time to chill out before that! Do I have time? Spend 1 hour waiting for a guy to make it 8 guys for a GD. Lady on the panelist want to ride a bike around the campus. Infra team frantically search for equipment. This is one team I won't join! What a life! Place rep calling on cell. SAP at 8:30.
8:30-9:30 pm
Nervewracking half an hour wait before the interview. Another telephonic round. Start scribbling notes. The phone rings at 9. Pick it up. Rehearsed opening line. The guy starts speaking. And keeps speaking. Arre lemme speak, too! I must do something. So I do. After every two sentences, I rephrase his words and throw it back at him. Nice strategy. Seems to be working. I don't know what this interview was meant to judge. Anyway, he hangs up and wishes me luck. Is that a good sign or a bad sign? Do I need the luck elsewhere?
Dude no time for that crap. Next stop Agrotech GD. Hurry up. The whole group is waiting for me. How do they expect me to come out of my interview inertia so soon! This is ridiculuous!
9:30-11:00 pm
I felt like screaming "I told you so!" when I came out of the room after the GD. Never opened my mouth even once. By the time I realised that a GD was in progress, it was too far gone!
Next stop ITC interview. Oh well, finally ITC realizes my worth and shortlists me after the GD.
Good goin, ITC but I guess our only relationship will be Wills Navy Cut. Made for each other? Don't think so. 11:00 pm and still not done. Can you believe it? I can't. Times Group calling. Get it done with.
11:30 pm
Finally I make it back to the arena. Whew!!! What a day. Can't believe so much action in one day. I don't know where I'm getting the energy after 5 long days. Pure adrenalin? People I did not know yesterday are friends now. Sharing the same adversity brings people much closer, I guess. And not sharing it or even trying to does alienate people. Lots of lessons life teaches. And finally, now that I have time to think, the goosebumps start all over again. What if not SAP? When will they declare the damn result? Why is the placerep not calling? Why does the front desk never call my reg no and send me to the place office? Why not? Why me?
Day 6
7:30 am
Know what? I have a direct interview call from Coats India. Lucky me! After a very nervewracking night and desperately seeking to stay calm, I wait in the arena. Breakfast? No thank you, sir! Oh btw my cuffs are dirty. RR's room and his shirt. His tie proved lucky for RS. Will the shirt do the same for me? Lets see. But I guess the term lucky was fast losing significance!!!
8:30 am
Front desk calling. Where to, dude? Which GD? Place office. My heart skips a beat. Place office, finally??? Will my prayers be answered finally? Try not to think. The next few minutes are a happy daze. I got through. I am supposed to tank interviews for the rest of the day.
I feel like sinking to the ground. Relief. Nothing else. I am numbed.
And I am happy. For the simple reason that I can now officially tell the bloody interviewers to go to hell and stay there, for all I'm concerned. Go to hell, people. Enough is enough. Bahut ho gaya nautanki!!!
Rest of the Day
Go around in that suit, which now feels like second skin, screwing up interviews left, right and centre and leaving behind baffled interviewers in my wake. This is fun. This is absolute bliss. Life never felt so good. Perverse pleasure maybe, but pleasure nevertheless. Retribution, perhaps? Finally changed to my jeans and kicked off the shoes. Ahh how good does it feel to have the simple things in life!
That's about the end of the story. Fantastic experience, without a doubt. Missed only two things in the entire process. Otherwise seen all and done all. Couldn't do the voluntary stuff and hence, missed the chance of helping others. And two, did not savour the experience of companies making a pitch. However, no regrets. You never get all the good things at one go! But how do you define the good things in life? Okk...I won't get philosophical...enjoy!!!
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Summer's Placement 3: Slot 1
Woh lamhe...woh raate...koi na jaane...thi kaisi baate...
Seriously it gives me the shivers whenver I think of those nights when I slept with uneasiness gnawing at my heart and all the time knowing that I had to take adequate rest to perform from early morning the next day. Frustration, exhaustion, fear, doubt, attempts at motivation, all rolled into that one little head in the darkness and calm of the night...it was a nightmarish few nights!
I'll skip day 2 of the process since nothing much happened really. Had one GD and being the first one in the process, you seriously should not expect me to perform! An HR consultancy firm decided to interview me and posed all sorts of situational questions to which I had standard kgpian answers of Illumination and other Hall activities...how the hell are we supposed to conjure up situations that wud compare with those having work experience? Anywayz, no cribbing! Oh yes...another GD in the evening and one of the topics I remember!!! "The humble farmer and Murthy"--plz enlighten me with your views if u have any...personally I took affront at the topic and decided not to make the effort of speaking!
Day 3: Slot 1
7 am
Wake up to find my name on just one new shortlist out of some 5-6. HLL Sales n Mktg wants me. Very nice, indeed! I' m absolutely cut out for marketing!!! Somehow get over the newfound frustration and make it to the arena.
8 am
Back in the same suit, new shirt, same tie. New faces arriving. Old faces there, too. Everybody raring to go. The wait starts, yet again.
11:30 am
Can u believe it? I'm still waiting and I have multiple shortlists today! Have the guys at controls gone nuts? Is my reg no. missing from their list. I'm turning paranoid.
12 pm
My day is made. HLL calling for a GD. Nice start. Some topic about killing a character in a saas-bahu soap opera. Goes passably well. Get up to go. Oh no...what's this. Another GD? Back to back? At that point I start hating all marketing companies and as a mark of sincere protest, desist from speaking.
1 pm to 7 pm
A blur. That's all remains of this period. I'd heard that people forget the name of the company they are interviewing with. I was lucky that didnt happen with me. I forget the exact no. of interviews I had, interpersed with a few GDs, one of which (E n Y) went well! (I was actually performing at GDs...man am i changed!)
8 pm
Back to room after dinner. Lots of small talk. Irrelevant. Try to think about my chances tomorrow. Not feeling very confident. Another bad night.
Day 4: Slot 1
8:30 am-12 pm
Okk today I'm out of the arena in a flash. Thank u controls. Couldn't have tolerated a third day of that fag-mint-wait routine. Had 4 interviews back-to-back. Interestingly, I was a very confused man at the end of it all. One Systems firm, one Fin, one Consult, one Marketing...my core competency had changed so many times during a stretch of 2 hours that I did not know whom I was bluffing! Man I must really have confused the interviewers. I'm not sure whether I highlighted the right focus area at the right place. By that time, I had almost stopped caring. Thought of giving my best. Just not doing it.
5pm
Not much activity the rest of the day. No other shortlists. People again start getting offers. RS makes it ti Citi finally. First kgp conversion in the slot. Me and Y start walking aimlessly. Arnie has an offer, too. Many ppl smiling. Me burning? Offers to be declared at 7.
6 pm
SAP shortlist out. 6 names. Mine included. A sharp pang hits me. I know this means sth is wrong. No Slot 1 for me. Damn. People still don't want to believe. I do. And somehow, my resolve steels suddenly. Telephonic interview at 7:30. Go back to room. This is my last chance, I tell myself. Focus. Convert. Focus. Convert. What a feeling. I forget everything else around me. No worries. No tensions. Just do it. Too melodramatic? So be it.
7:30 pm
Waiting on the Place Office stairs for the interview to start. Can hear the Slot 1 offers being announced and ppl clapping. Again the burning in the heart. Know my name's not on the list. Can't believe it somehow. Come to terms quickly. Telephonic interview. I have to show energy, Arnie had told me. Build up energy. Write points down. Even a opening line. I'll have to do this. No escape routes.
8:00 pm -9:00 pm
What an interview! The guy tells me then and there that I've made it to the second round. Done half the job. Half still remains. Have reached a state of peace by now. Know things can't be any worse. So from now on, no more worrying. Things will take their own course. A confident end to a bad day.
10 pm
Get ready for Slot 2 and Marketing. Crasher on marketing fundae. Dude am I multifaceted now!
Next instalment: The remaining phases.
Seriously it gives me the shivers whenver I think of those nights when I slept with uneasiness gnawing at my heart and all the time knowing that I had to take adequate rest to perform from early morning the next day. Frustration, exhaustion, fear, doubt, attempts at motivation, all rolled into that one little head in the darkness and calm of the night...it was a nightmarish few nights!
I'll skip day 2 of the process since nothing much happened really. Had one GD and being the first one in the process, you seriously should not expect me to perform! An HR consultancy firm decided to interview me and posed all sorts of situational questions to which I had standard kgpian answers of Illumination and other Hall activities...how the hell are we supposed to conjure up situations that wud compare with those having work experience? Anywayz, no cribbing! Oh yes...another GD in the evening and one of the topics I remember!!! "The humble farmer and Murthy"--plz enlighten me with your views if u have any...personally I took affront at the topic and decided not to make the effort of speaking!
Day 3: Slot 1
7 am
Wake up to find my name on just one new shortlist out of some 5-6. HLL Sales n Mktg wants me. Very nice, indeed! I' m absolutely cut out for marketing!!! Somehow get over the newfound frustration and make it to the arena.
8 am
Back in the same suit, new shirt, same tie. New faces arriving. Old faces there, too. Everybody raring to go. The wait starts, yet again.
11:30 am
Can u believe it? I'm still waiting and I have multiple shortlists today! Have the guys at controls gone nuts? Is my reg no. missing from their list. I'm turning paranoid.
12 pm
My day is made. HLL calling for a GD. Nice start. Some topic about killing a character in a saas-bahu soap opera. Goes passably well. Get up to go. Oh no...what's this. Another GD? Back to back? At that point I start hating all marketing companies and as a mark of sincere protest, desist from speaking.
1 pm to 7 pm
A blur. That's all remains of this period. I'd heard that people forget the name of the company they are interviewing with. I was lucky that didnt happen with me. I forget the exact no. of interviews I had, interpersed with a few GDs, one of which (E n Y) went well! (I was actually performing at GDs...man am i changed!)
8 pm
Back to room after dinner. Lots of small talk. Irrelevant. Try to think about my chances tomorrow. Not feeling very confident. Another bad night.
Day 4: Slot 1
8:30 am-12 pm
Okk today I'm out of the arena in a flash. Thank u controls. Couldn't have tolerated a third day of that fag-mint-wait routine. Had 4 interviews back-to-back. Interestingly, I was a very confused man at the end of it all. One Systems firm, one Fin, one Consult, one Marketing...my core competency had changed so many times during a stretch of 2 hours that I did not know whom I was bluffing! Man I must really have confused the interviewers. I'm not sure whether I highlighted the right focus area at the right place. By that time, I had almost stopped caring. Thought of giving my best. Just not doing it.
5pm
Not much activity the rest of the day. No other shortlists. People again start getting offers. RS makes it ti Citi finally. First kgp conversion in the slot. Me and Y start walking aimlessly. Arnie has an offer, too. Many ppl smiling. Me burning? Offers to be declared at 7.
6 pm
SAP shortlist out. 6 names. Mine included. A sharp pang hits me. I know this means sth is wrong. No Slot 1 for me. Damn. People still don't want to believe. I do. And somehow, my resolve steels suddenly. Telephonic interview at 7:30. Go back to room. This is my last chance, I tell myself. Focus. Convert. Focus. Convert. What a feeling. I forget everything else around me. No worries. No tensions. Just do it. Too melodramatic? So be it.
7:30 pm
Waiting on the Place Office stairs for the interview to start. Can hear the Slot 1 offers being announced and ppl clapping. Again the burning in the heart. Know my name's not on the list. Can't believe it somehow. Come to terms quickly. Telephonic interview. I have to show energy, Arnie had told me. Build up energy. Write points down. Even a opening line. I'll have to do this. No escape routes.
8:00 pm -9:00 pm
What an interview! The guy tells me then and there that I've made it to the second round. Done half the job. Half still remains. Have reached a state of peace by now. Know things can't be any worse. So from now on, no more worrying. Things will take their own course. A confident end to a bad day.
10 pm
Get ready for Slot 2 and Marketing. Crasher on marketing fundae. Dude am I multifaceted now!
Next instalment: The remaining phases.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Summer's Placement 2: Slot 0
Okk so we come to the most awaited part of the whole summers process...the slot 0 firms with promises of a foreign placement and a stipend in dollars amounting to more than 500,000 in local currency! The preparations for these companies are the most focussed and its almost like the other slots do not exist at all. Slot 0 is the be all and end all of placements...in the lead up to placements week, that's the general impression that you get. The shortlists start coming and those are the first heartbreak points for many. People suddenly realize that they are still not good enuf even though they've cleared the CAT...that they can still be rejected!
Anyway I'll limit the discourse to personal experiences. So I, fortunately or unfortunately, had only 2 shortlists out of the 12 firms visiting campus and those were Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, two of the biggest biggies. I was all keyed up on the eve of the day...tried out my new suit...was quite impressed by the sight, the corporate image and all!
Day 0: 9 am
Everyone ready and raring to go. Quite a nice gathering of people in suits. People discussing current stock prices and P/E ratios. A few copies of the Economic Times circulating. Suddenly I remember I don't have the last closing figure of the Sensex. Rush Rush. Join my fellow Kgpians for some small talk and breakfast.
10 am
The first interview calls start. People start trickling out. A few among them will not return throughout the day. A few return, to be hounded by thousands of queries. I wait.
1 pm
I am still waiting for my first call. People with 3-4 shortlists are already done with the whole process. AJ is done but seems tensed. I smoke and chew mint with RS. Have packet lunch. The picnic feeling starts.
3pm
Still waiting. Only people with 2 or fewer calls still waiting for the process to start. People desperately cracking PJs to keep from losing patience. A few more puffs and a few more mints. AJ even more tense.
4pm
Merrill Lynch calling. First bike ride to Tata Hall. Ushered into first interview. Tell the guy about myself. What's 92/85? 1 point er...er...08? Okk...whats the square root of 1000? Ahh...33 squared is 1089 so it shud be 32 point 4? Oh no I forgot that 32 squared is 1024. I, the guy whose been doing this stuff mentally since class 10. Oh shit. Guess the no. of flights Jet Airways operates in a day. Oh no...what's this...do some complex calculations and come up with a figure of 30. Try scrutinising the interviewer's face for any signs. Nothing. Some more crappy stuff. Then its done. Im wished best of luck. I'll be wished that for a few more days!
5 pm
Lehman calling. First interview goes really well. The lady is impressed. Am able to communicate my CG. Cudnt do that at Merrill. Solve probability problems and fin fundae with ease. Lady ushers me for another interview. But her seniors are too busy in convincing people why they shud join Lehman. Have the sinking feeling that they have realised capacity constraints. Offers are being made all around. A few like me stand around, oblivious to the rest of the world. Some guy eventually decides to do an interview for me. Asks some stupid stuff about my internships during graduation. Give even more boring answers. Neither of us are impressed. My day ends.
6 pm
Come back to the front desk (that's the arena). People discussing offers. Me ruing my luck. I was timed out of the process, I feel. Maybe, may not be. I had my chance, I did not capitalise. People were given more chances. They did. Leave the arena. On my way out, meet AJ. She's done it. Good for her. Relief on that front. Feeling a tad bit low myself, tho.
Rest of the evening
Cheer myself up. Do nothing much else. People come to room. Some console, some wish luck, some treat me to chocolates. Waiting for tomorrow. Still chance of a foreign offer. Let us hope for the best. Try some combined study with Arnie. Not much good. End the day with bakar session with RK and Stud. That wud be the pattern for days to come.
Anyway I'll limit the discourse to personal experiences. So I, fortunately or unfortunately, had only 2 shortlists out of the 12 firms visiting campus and those were Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, two of the biggest biggies. I was all keyed up on the eve of the day...tried out my new suit...was quite impressed by the sight, the corporate image and all!
Day 0: 9 am
Everyone ready and raring to go. Quite a nice gathering of people in suits. People discussing current stock prices and P/E ratios. A few copies of the Economic Times circulating. Suddenly I remember I don't have the last closing figure of the Sensex. Rush Rush. Join my fellow Kgpians for some small talk and breakfast.
10 am
The first interview calls start. People start trickling out. A few among them will not return throughout the day. A few return, to be hounded by thousands of queries. I wait.
1 pm
I am still waiting for my first call. People with 3-4 shortlists are already done with the whole process. AJ is done but seems tensed. I smoke and chew mint with RS. Have packet lunch. The picnic feeling starts.
3pm
Still waiting. Only people with 2 or fewer calls still waiting for the process to start. People desperately cracking PJs to keep from losing patience. A few more puffs and a few more mints. AJ even more tense.
4pm
Merrill Lynch calling. First bike ride to Tata Hall. Ushered into first interview. Tell the guy about myself. What's 92/85? 1 point er...er...08? Okk...whats the square root of 1000? Ahh...33 squared is 1089 so it shud be 32 point 4? Oh no I forgot that 32 squared is 1024. I, the guy whose been doing this stuff mentally since class 10. Oh shit. Guess the no. of flights Jet Airways operates in a day. Oh no...what's this...do some complex calculations and come up with a figure of 30. Try scrutinising the interviewer's face for any signs. Nothing. Some more crappy stuff. Then its done. Im wished best of luck. I'll be wished that for a few more days!
5 pm
Lehman calling. First interview goes really well. The lady is impressed. Am able to communicate my CG. Cudnt do that at Merrill. Solve probability problems and fin fundae with ease. Lady ushers me for another interview. But her seniors are too busy in convincing people why they shud join Lehman. Have the sinking feeling that they have realised capacity constraints. Offers are being made all around. A few like me stand around, oblivious to the rest of the world. Some guy eventually decides to do an interview for me. Asks some stupid stuff about my internships during graduation. Give even more boring answers. Neither of us are impressed. My day ends.
6 pm
Come back to the front desk (that's the arena). People discussing offers. Me ruing my luck. I was timed out of the process, I feel. Maybe, may not be. I had my chance, I did not capitalise. People were given more chances. They did. Leave the arena. On my way out, meet AJ. She's done it. Good for her. Relief on that front. Feeling a tad bit low myself, tho.
Rest of the evening
Cheer myself up. Do nothing much else. People come to room. Some console, some wish luck, some treat me to chocolates. Waiting for tomorrow. Still chance of a foreign offer. Let us hope for the best. Try some combined study with Arnie. Not much good. End the day with bakar session with RK and Stud. That wud be the pattern for days to come.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
My kerala trip part 3
Ahh...eventually i find some time out for my blog. First there were the godforsaken midterms (which, incidentally didn't go too bad, except for that course on data structures, which i'll have difficulty passing!!!) and then there was the world war!!! Hey relax guys u don't have to panic, this world war was restricted to the premises of IIMC alone and we warriors, after 3 days without sleep resembled zombies in action! I lost my voice...well ppl in war do tend to lose something, i sacrificed my vocal chords, nothing much. Then i was in kgp for my convo...fun time after a long time with my wingies...love u all, guys!!! Finally here...so here goes the concluding part of the kerala trilogy...So from aleppey we went to kollam and this was one heck of an experience coz we covered some 35 kms on water on a rickety double decker boat through some of the most glorious countryside! It was Christmas Day and we started round 9 am and reached kollam around 5pm. Though my mom started off by falling off the stairs of the upper deck and landed into the arms of a bemused nipponese tourist, who was very apologetic about it all, the cruise remains the finest 8 hrs of the entire trip. The upper deck, barring me and my bro, was fully composed of foreigners of all shades and in varying degrees of undress (which prompted my mom to stay primarily below deck). One thing which disoriented me was the nonchalance with which these bloody tourists kept littering the deck and the backwaters with their banana skins and water bottles and what not, these same ppl would be so civic minded in their own countries! Anywayz the last phase of the cruise under the moonlit sky and the lights form the chinese fishing nets illuminating our way was breathtakingly beautiful!The next day (Boxing Day, 2004) we started off towards trivandrum on the last phase of our journey and stopped midway at a beach called Varkola. This is a little known beach, not on the usual itinery of Indian tourists, but nevertheless worthwhile as advised by the travel magazines we had referred to. The beach in itself, was quite a surprise since it was quite narrow and overlooked by a cliff...one had to climb down stairs to reach it. Once we reached down, i was pleasantly surprised to discover that indian tourists were grossly outnumbered by the bikini toting populace. Indeed shocked would be the right word...it was a scene straight out from california...never seen so many bikinis at one place! Suitably enthused, me and my bro took to the seas and my father followed soon after, though he hadnt planned on doing it and cosequently, was short of a bathing costume. However, true to kgpian tradition, agar tempo high hai, to kaun rokega...he goes into the water in his briefs and soon, we have to advice him to stick to being underwater!!! The waves were quite high at this time and we were having quite a whale of a time...my mom was of course, suitably psyched out since she was having difficulty spotting us during the time we were ducking under the waves. However, even our bravado was cut out when a towering wave crashed down, flooding the whole beach upto the cliff face in its wake. The tourists sunning themselves, suddenly found themselves without an umbrella! Another one followed, and soon we were scampering to safer places...two blasts on the whistle by the guards and even the burliest of the white tourists had come out of the water. However, nothing followed and soon the bravest among us ventured out again and continued our games with the sea...only later were we to learn that about that exact time, tens of thousands of lives had been lost elsewhere on the planet...the thought really chills you to the core.We checked in to our hotel in trivandrum and only then, i received an sms from my aunt, vacationing in goa, asking whether we were all right. All right? What the heck? I switched on the TV and we were literally too shocked for words. The images will forever remain etched in my memory and the fact that we had been so far, yet so near to it all really hit hard. We thanked our lucky stars...i mean, we had been on a beach at precisely the time when the tsunami had struck! 50 kms due south at kanyakumari (last stop on our tour, dead and broken) the waves had claimed at least a thousand...50 kms due north, the waves had eaten up whole villages in alleppey and kottayam distrcits, places we had been to just the previous day...the whole thing was too unbelievable, it almost made me sick!!Nywayz our spirit of travelling remained indomitable and we chugged on towards Kanyakumari, our last halt, inspite of being warned that tourits were not being allowed entry. In the meantime, we had been to the hallowed beach of Kovalam but red flags littered the shoreline and no one was being allowed within 10 feet of the pristine alluring waters which had swallowed up so many just the previous day and yet, that day, looked so calm and innocent! Kanyakumari resembled a ghost town, with its shoreline properly devastated and the jetty broken and the boats all on the roads with their owners playing cards to while away time. A place usually thriving with more than a lakh of tourists on any given day had no more than a thousand tourists to boast of and it seemed the townsfolk were still to come to terms with nature's fury. Finally, we come to the end of the eventful trip...lots of memories, some i've managed to pen down, some remain confined to my grey matter...in short, NICE!!!
My kerala trip part 2
So cochin was where we had stopped last time. Nice city cochin (or kochi)...its actually a twin city concept...the mainland is ernakulam and there are 5 islands which constitute cochin. So a boat ride is what it requires to get a feel of old world cochin. The portuguese touch is very evident and the jew town has an antique feel to it. Next stop...munnar...sleepy hill resort, surprisingly cold compared to the rest of kerala (dec temperatures hover around 25 degrees). We had great fun on a power boat ride in a dam reservoir closeby...it was a topsy-turvy ride to say the least. We discovered a old hill road leading to kodaikanal but unfortunately, the road was not fit for consumption.Next on the itinery was the hilly lake town of periyar. We had a boat ride scheduled at 7:00 am, on my father's assertion that early morning is the best time for animal viewing (the periyar lake is surrounded by thick forests, infested by tigers, elephants and other varied wildlife, the lake actually was formed by flooding of forestland due to the construction of the periyar dam).As it turned out, at that unearthly hour, we couldn't even see the water from the boat...thick fog (the thickest i've seen) covered the entire lake surface. Animals...what...where? Where's land, for heaven's sake? When the sun finally broke through the cordon, it was a special sight, and though we eventually did not sight even a single species of wildlife apart from some wild boars (obelix, where art thou?), the fog created an extra dimension to an unforgettable experience.On to allepey...the land of sunshine and beaches and the annual boat race, it was a short stop but the beach was quite good. Oh incidentally, periyar will forever remain special to me 'coz that's where i checked out my CAT results and in alleppey the next evening, we celebrated my 6 calls and 99.85 percentile with a few beers. It was the first time i was drinking in full view of my mom and though initially unnerving, i was surprised to find that she was so cool to it all. I'll end this one now...the concluding part of the trip and oh yes...the tsunami(!!!) next time!
My kerala trip part 1
Well i'll be going for the chronicling stuff with retrospective effect...so i'll start with one of the most enjoyable trips i have had in my entire life. That will be my December trip to Kerala, alongwith my family (parents n bro). This trip was in stark contrast to the one we had undertaken earlier in the year when we had gone on the haridwar-hrishikesh-kedarnath-badrinath route. That had been more of a pilgrimage, bitter cold, harsh environs, shabby lodging, and i wont even begin to talk about the food. Suffice to say, it was tough on the body and tough on the mind but that made it very a very special trip indeed. I'll never forget the 14 km walk/trek upto kedarnath...it was amazing...one of the best experiences of my life. The sheer up-climb, the glimpses of snow-clad mountains in the distance, always beckoning, the roar of the mandakini as it flowed alongside in the gorge all made for a heavenly experience. Add to that the multitudes of people, the khacchars (mules, for the uninitiated), the dolis, the pitthus, the coolies, the roadside(or gorgeside, for that matter) tea stalls, and u have the general picture of something unforgettable. The kerala trip, on the other hand, was pure indulgence. Comfort, luxury, good food, even better sights. Kerala has everything to offer - from hills (munnar) to forests and lakes (periyar) to beaches (allepey) to commercial centres (kottayam/ trivandrum).The trip started on a rather ominous note when i broke my glasses on the morning we were supposed to leave for calcutta. I was playing cricket (december is the time u play cricket, don't blame me!) and somehow, the ball found its way to my specs, of all days, on that day. I was initially psyched out but, somehow, managed the situation by running to the optician (i actually availed the bus service, though i cud have driven the scooter, but my mom wud have none of it), and we were able to reach calcutta on time. Dinner was on the Shatabdi Express since we were travelling executive class (for those who haven't guessed, my father's company was paying for the trip...wat do they call it...LTA i guess). We had our flight the next afternoon and it was a rather strange setup. My brother was going on the Sahara flight and we had the IA flight to madras and then we had a connecting flight to Trivandrum. As luck wud have it, both the flights got delayed (for very separate reasons!) and we missed our connecting. This incidentally was the first time i was on a flight (actually once b4 at the age of 10 months, so i discount that) and i did quite well for myself.This though, resulted in some fun actually as IA had to put us up at a nice hotel and all with buffet dinners and hot tubs and large screen tvs and what not. Quite nice, very nice, in fact. Who knows when i'll be able to afford such luxury, so enjoy while u have it. Two international flights later, we landed in cochin and on the way, befriended a local family who gave us a lift to the city (thereby saving us 1000 bucks). This now...rest will follow later.
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