Remembering the rains!

 

Rains are amazing. They bring respite from the summer heat. The smell of rainwater falling on burning earth is something else. If its a thunderstorm, I sit and count the seconds between a lighting flash and the sound of thunder, thus determining how far the lightning strike was(its something I picked from a Walt Disney Movie – In Search of the Castaways, anyone seen it?)  Sometimes there is a power cut and you are left with nothing to do but listen to splashing drops of rain and the thunder of the lightning. Its a raw form of communication with Mother Nature - where for a brief moment you forget about the post you just liked on facebook, the tea you put on the kettle, the cell-phone you cant find in the darkness – its just you marveling at the lightning across the sky. You feel you rediscovered a part of yourself – something ancient, something raw – even though moments later the feelings gone.

Rains also bring memories of places, of people, of times gone by. Deepanjan Dey has written what I consider a masterpiece titled “Random Rainy Days”. It expresses what many of us feel on Random Rainy Days.

Today was one such Random Rainy Day! After dinner I felt like having a chilled coke so I walked to the nearby store. There was a slight drizzle but the normally crowded street was empty. Deja Vu! I was reminded of the rainy days of Manipal.

It used to rain non stop – remember! Sometimes I would decide to go to Timmy’s for a Keshto and a chai (no not a sutta – i do not smoke). It was difficult to find people who would accompany me in the rains and thus sometimes I went alone. Of course, on the way people would hand over 10 bucks to me to get some sutta. Sometimes they would also hand over an umbrella, not because they cared that much that I would get drenched, but because it was one of those rare moments when they had somebody’s umbrella with them. Whose? Who cares – just get the ciggs will ya?

I would climb the short wall behind 9th block and jump to the other side, carefully making my way to Timmy’s, on the lookout for snakes who perhaps might decide it was lovely weather for an afternoon crawl! Ever since I saw a cobra crawling on the road next to Timmy’s, I was fairly certain I was going to die bitten by a cobra which was hiding below the bench inside Timmy’s shack. Whenever I entered Timmy’s shack, I tried to see whether there were any snakes around. But it was pitch dark and I reconciled myself by thinking that any snakes in the shack would have crawled away the moment Timmy anna would appear from behind the shack shouting “Kaun hai?”. You cannot imagine how terrified I am of snakes! Yet I used to go to Timmy’s every day, overcoming my fears to savor half fries, keshtos, chai and the sight of the valley. That sight was something else when it rained.

Sometimes I would start playing songs like “Raindrops keep falling on my head..” on my comp and others would join in for some good music and good bakar.

During the rains, you also got to better know random people studying with you. Waiting for the rains to get over, you would start reading the notices on the notice boards, even though you had read all of them a couple of hours ago on the way back from lunch. You would find a notice about the fine you had to pay for some random thing or the available rooms in 10th block for your batch and then you would start cursing the college authorities with some random dude you hardly spoke to. Of course, some years later that random dude became a very good friend as both of you were placed in the same company.

I saw this video on facebook today in Mayur Kislaya’s news feed. Its a recent one of the rains in Manipal. Then I went out and was reminded of Manipal and all of you as I soaked some of the drizzle.

Remembering all the MITians and Manipal on this random rainy day! We Rock!

Crying, Life and Loneliness

I think one of God’s gift to human beings is the ability of humans to cry. It gives us the ability to overcome loss, mistakes, failure. Life seems worthless at times and you want to end it. There is so much pain that you cant bear it. Things are the way they are and there is not much you can do to change them. However much you want.

The depression hits a new low when you are unable to move on, because there is nothing to move onto. Sitting alone you get negative thoughts. Even when you are surrounded by people you can be the loneliest person in the room. You wish there was someone who you could talk to, someone who would guide you through the turmoil and darkness. But you realize there is no-one and then you realize there is no one because of the way you are. You have repelled people away from you, staying quiet and lonely all along. And now when you need someone to talk to there are none.

At such instances, your life seems meaningless. This is bad as you feel like ending it. After all something which has no meaning should not exist. And then you cry! And all the body releases hormones which make you feel positive, which give you hope. You feel light and you move on.

Crying is a survival technique as powerful as the anti-bodies in our blood. Too much depression can lead to suicide and the body fights this by crying. So if you are feeling depressed and lonely just cry. And move on! 

Some random song...

Its almost 13 very dusty kilometers from my office back to home. Nowadays I have started listening to my i-pod on the way back. However, there have been times, when with nothing to do, I have tried to come up with a few songs. I find that my mind really works well there is a lot inside for it to say. 

Once I was returning home tired and was flabber-gasted by the dust that was in the air that day. Irritated I came up with the following song. Can't sing it to you, so leave the tune to your imagination.

All around, everywhere.

there's dust in the air.

dust in my eyes, dust in my mouth

dust everywhere, i go north or south.

where's the place

where no dust is found

is it outer space

is it under ground

dust in my eyes, dust in my mouth

dust everywhere, i go north or south.

others in posts to follow...

Damn The Geeky Sassy!

Yes Damn him!! Thanks to his new found interest in ASP.NET he has ignored us completely . He has forgotten about this blog. He only posts on his tech blog. To hell with him. I am not visiting this blog anymore.

Calm Down Folks!! There are hell lot of things I gotta write about, with the final postcard being one of them. But I am tied up with quite a few things.

But I cannot blame my workload. I gotta blame my time management. So I am trying to have a focussed approach (yeah right!! how many times have we heard that before??) Lets not be very optimistic. But lets be hopeful!

Definetly something before march end. Till then Thanks for Visiting!!

Cheers

The Final Postcard-On its way!!

We all have been waiting for the final postcard from Shanghai to arrive! WE!!!????

Let me confess! I have been waiting as well to finish off that chapter for quite some time now! Though I could still go on and on about the trip to China, I think it is quite a drag now! So I have begun work on on e final post which will bid adieu to China! Hopefully that will be done by the month end and I could then move on to newer posts. If you are thinking what is keeping me so busy, visit my tech-blog over the next few weeks and you shall know!!

Till the final one arrives.....Cheers and Have fun!!

Postcard from Shanghai-6

Its been a looooooong time coming!! Those are the starting lines of the song with which the Documentary on Woodstock 69 begins. But I am talking about what is supposed to be the final postcard from Shanghai! It has been a long time coming!

Well, the whole China experience was a very memorable one. It was memorable because I made friends there and am still in touch with them. It was memorable because it was the first time that I had been to a foreign country. It was memorable because I was able to finish my task with flying colors.

The Chinese people are very polite. When one weekend the gang in China was going on a trip to Nanjing, we took a fast train to Nanjing. The cleanliness and order in China is something which will amaze people from India. You cannot blame the population for not being able to control things. Of course, you may need to deal with things with an Iron Fist at times, which is really not something which happens in India.

The strangest of things happened. I made a friend who was born on the same day as me, I mean the same birthday and the same year. And that happens to be the day China proclaimed itself as a republic. Also there is a city in China, which has the same name as me. And of all the countries in the world, China happened to be the first one I would visit. Remarkable isn't it?

In college I used to say to my friends that one should live across the world in all the famous cities. I have already lived and experienced New Delhi and Bangalore. I have been quite a few times to Mumbai. I can now also say that I have experienced Shanghai as a city to live and the experience was enriching. I also visited Nanjing.

Things that I remember from the trip is work of course. Then the breakfast at the hotel and the taxi ride to work. The voice and the message you heard when the taxi driver put the meter down. The remarkable taxi drivers themselves. Teppen-Yaki where we used to have lunch everyday, with the cute and courteous waitresses. Boy they had a lovely smile! Nanjing Road and the Bund. Pearl Tower. The electronics market. The railway station at Nanjing. Liz and Kiki and Lily. Johnson and Kevin. Chenggang and Frankie and Joe. The Hymall Store. The Howard Johnson Hotel where I had a haircut for a hundred RMB and where I was staying with the night drinks. Beer at Pushkar's place before I left. Pu Dong Airport. Chinese Music at McDonald's.The calm and order that existed. YSP! The guy who used to work in the night shifts. People whom I trained. Chinese the language which I will learn someday! The Shanghai Skyline!

Pictures say a thousand words so some pictures from China as a slide show. It was one experience and I wish to return there someday. Zhei Jian!

Postcard from Shanghai - 5

So here I was watching a Chinese serial with a cute girl! The characters in the serial were young; a reflection of China maybe! Ding Dong! That must be Mano, and it was!! Boy was i glad to see him. There was a sense of relief earlier in the airplane when I saw fellow Indians, but this time it wasn't just any other Indian. It was my friend from College. I had known him since first year of engineering and he lived with me for a few months when we first came to Bangalore. "Nice to see you Mano!!". He asked me if I had any trouble reaching the hotel and then went on to narrate how he was all alone the first time that he had come and no one was there to pick him up! One part of me was thankful that I had had no trouble but another part thought about the adventure and excitement it would have been had I ventured to reach the hotel all by myself. Mano told me all I needed to know. From how to use the card provided by the company to how to go to the office.



He told me that we would be going to his Service Apartment where Srini was also staying and would be having dinner there. Mano wasn't wearing any sweaters and I asked him if he wasnt feeling cold. He said no and that it was pretty pleasant now and that I would get used to it in a couple of days.We were about to leave and I asked him what documents should I keep with myself. The most important thing was to keep the print out of the address of the hotel and the office which was in Chinese.We locked the room and went down and out of the hotel to catch a taxi. Now back in Bangalore I was used to catching a bus or an auto-rickshaw, popularly called an auto(which is a motorized-tri cycle) and this taxi thing was new for me. Mano explained that the Taxi sign that you see on top, if it is lit then the taxi is available for hire. Just give a hand and they will stop for you. Get in the taxi and show them the print out. Don't try and tell them. No one understands English. Everything is in Chinese. Your hotel is named Howard Johnson. In India that name remains Howard Johnson irrespective of whether you are in Bengal, UP, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. But in China, Howard Johnson is not called Howard Johnson. It would be called something else. So if you say Howard Johnson Hotel, no one will understand anything.


A taxi slowed down and we got in. Mano said something in Chinese. The driver was not sure so Mano took out his printout and passed it to the driver who took out his specs and nodded in agreement. "OK OK" he said meaning that he knew where we were to go. Shishya mano replied. "What did you just say?", I asked. "Thank You! That's how you say thank you in Chinese! You know Guru-Shishya right! Thank you in Chinese sounds very much like Shishya...though it is not spelled like that!" "Shishya...!!" I repeated."So how do you spell it?" "Xixie.." "X i ..!! X...??" "Yes, thats how you spell it in pinyin. pinyin is how you write Chinese in the roman script!! So you know the sound sa in hindi...the same sound is written as X in pinyin.. We wont have much trouble picking up Chinese as the sounds in Hindi are pretty similar... But the tough part is the pronunciation.. If you pronounce a word incorrectly it might mean something else!!"

"Another you should know is that the Chinese word for Road/Street which is lu.." "Loo..?" "yeah..Lu...see I told him Hong Shu Lu.. meaning .." "Hong Shu Road..", I completed. "Oh ! You mean to say that back in Bangalore, I stay at Airport Loo???" "Haha!! Yeah you got it"

The taxi driver said something in Chinese. Apparently we were already on Hong Shu Lu. Then Mano told him something which contained Hong Shu Lu and another street's name. The driver understood!! "I was telling him that we have to go to the intersection of HongShu Lu with (I dont remember the name of the rd.) We reac that place then take a U turn to the other side where my Apartment is...See there on the other side... that's where I stay ! High Sure.." The taxi reached the intersection or chauraha as we might call it and took a U turn dropping us in front of High Sure All Suites Hotel! HOTEL?? I thought he was staying in a Service Apartment!! Well if you are staying for a long term they provide you the room on lesser charges he explained. They call it a Service Apartment. Well, it sure is pretty luxurious for an apartment!! We entered the lift where Mano swiped his hotel card and then pressed a button. "I can only go to the floor for which I have authorization! Security!!" Wow. Impressive.

We reached and I finally met Srini, recognizing him instantly having seen him at HSC earlier, but not knowing who he was. We sat down and I helped myself with Heineken. Then we chatted about work and all and had a splendid dinner of Rice Sambhar, Potatoes and curd cooked in pure South Indian style! Later, we bid goodbye to Srini and went to Mano's room where we just chatted. Mano told me more about the Chinese language and the office and we just chatted how our friends were in Bangalore and elsewhere! It was getting late and I decided that since I had to reach the office by 8:30 in the morning I should go and sleep! I was tired with all the traveling from India!! Seems odd doesn't it, that the fifth postcard and I am still just 24 hrs into my journey! Well it was only this part and a few other days worth writing about as the rest of the time I was busy with work, which I am sure I don't want to bore you with.

Mano Dropped me and helped me board a taxi! "Dont worry! Just show him the print out and he will do the rest!If any problem just call me!" Wow! To trust a cabbie is not what you do in India, be it Delhi or Bangalore! And here all alone in this Mega City late at night in a place where nobody would understand what I was saying, my friend had said to have complete faith in this cab driver!! It wasnt without substance as I later found out!!

I was back at the hotel in my room trying to get some sleep! More about the days that followed in the coming posts!! Till then Enjoy!!

A New Counter

Though I have already configured Google Analytics for my blog, I just added a new counter. Encouraged by the fact that I was getting views from some unexpected places I have taken this step. Hope the counter moves really fast!!

Postcard From Shanghai - 4

I had boarded the minivan and started out from the airport in my last postcard. The van was a left hand drive. Hmmm...just like the US.. The roads and the infrastructure was amazing..I remember being awestruck when I first went to Delhi in 1997...For a kid from a then small town like Ranchi...Delhi was just amazing....the same amazement filled me once again... We made our way through a few flyovers and tunnels and onto what seemed like the main road... Must've been six or eight lane...not quite sure which...the van was speeding at 100 kmph already....wow.."How long to the hotel?" I asked. I was told that airport is quite far from City. "About an hour if we dont hit traffic, but now I think we come across some heavy traffic..so more time", he replied in his broken english. "Is it going to cold like this in Shanghai in the coming days? Does it snow here?" I enquired, because along the side of the roads were columns of coniferous trees, probably pine. And I hadnt brought any warm clothes. "No, it remains pleasant, gets hot in May, June. Cold in winter" "Does it snow?" He couldnt understand what I said and just smiled and said "dont know". We were still quite far from the city as the area seemed to be full of industries and factories. Still cruising and listening to Chinese music on the FM that the driver had put on I was just looking around. Suddenly i felt something whiz by. I guessed it must be a fast train or monorail.

We were now nearing the city and I could see houses on the side of the roads. Residential areas. Also the traffic was beginning to grow.And soon we were no longer cruising by dragging at snail's pace in a jam. However, after having experienced the jams daily at Marthahalli-Whitefield, this jam was a new experience. It was more civilized! and the reason for that was there were no bikes or autos! only cars and trucks all driving behind each other and sticking to their lanes. I could see a lot of spaces between the cars where my honda unicorn could navigate and move ahead. but no bikes. "Evening jam. People go back to home after office." "Yeah I know. Jams like these at evening also common in Bangalore." We were pretty close to the city when he decided to take a detour off from the main road and try to avoid the jam. I saw people riding bicycles on a road only meant for bicycles. Neat planning! We were surely in the city. The area was residential with lots of Apartment buildings. Then there were shops with their names in chinese. Whats that? It was the first Indian restaurant I had seen outside India!

After a few minutes we were on a bridge and in front of me I could see what I had been waiting for in the flight! The Shanghai skyline! I was astounded! The image of Kevin McCallister looking at the NY skyline from the airport in the movie Home Alone 2 came to my mind!Its was just what you see in the movies, only this time it was for real!

Soon I realized that we were driving on an elevated road. I was very impressed by this design of roadways. An elevated road with exit and entry point every kilometer. I was driving right past the skyline and was simply speechless. I just kept looking around. Time flew by and the van had now gotten off the elevated road. We must be pretty near I thought. Just then we took a right and entered the campus of Howard Johnson All Suites Hotel.





"Welcome to Shanghai sir! May i have your passport?" I handed over the passport to the desk clerk who spoke fluent english. He blah-blahed something about the charges that the company was paying and asked for a credit card. Now i had applied for a HDFC credit card quite a long time back but had not received it. Cursing the HDFC people for their delay in service which had presented me with an awkward situation, i took out the card handed over by the company. "No sir, this is not a credit card. A credit card looks like.." "Yeah I know what a credit card looks like but I dont have it." The desk clerk looked at the driver and said something in Chinese. I am sure he said "What kind of idiots do you bring to this hotel?" They had a small conversation in Chinese after which I was asked to wait as the clerk went inside. He came put and said that I could pay in cash. I asked him how much? Oops he was in a fix now? what if he said an amount which I didnt have at the moment? "800 dollars" "Sorry I dont have that much right now. I would have to withdraw from an ATM. Is there one nearby?" And then I realized that the World Money card wasnt working at the airport! Damn it! what a way to begin the stay in China! "There is one ATM but you will get only RMB's there!" Now I was truly in a fix! "So dont you accept the local currency?" "Yes we do" Phew!! He then talked to the driver once again and said, "Sir I understand that there has been some confusion regarding who is supposed to pay what. Why dont you pay an amount that will keep you going for a day or two and then get things cleared once you go to your office tomorrow?" "Yeah that sounds like good idea" I handed him some RMB's and thanked the driver. I was wondering if i was supposed to tip him but he left promptly to my relief. I was running out of cash!

My luggage was transferred to room 714 (or was it..? cant remember). I decided the first thing to do was to call up ppl back home and let them know that I have reached. I called up my manager first. Then my home. Then I called up Srini in China and told him that I had reached safely. Finally I called up Mano to let him know that I had arrived. Mano asked the address and said he would be here in half an hour. I looked around and the room was pretty comfortable. I switched on the TV to find all east asian language channels.. Korean, Chinese and Japanese... to my relief there was HBO, CNN ,ESPN and channel news asia which were in english. but still i watched what seemed to be a chinese sitcom with a cute girl!! waiting for Mano to arrive!

Some pics of the hotel room below..!! More coming on the next post!

Shubh Deepawali

After 7 years I am back home on the festive occasion of Diwali. And things have changed a lot. No more does the prospect of bursting crackers excite me. In fact I spent my day pretty quietly doing nothing really. In the evening I just clicked some snaps around the house. Poor Laika has had a terrifying day today curled up at the corner of the room in fear, panting and looking very sick. It is well past midnight and the crackers continue to explode like there was a War going on. Wonder when will they agree on a Cease fire!! Just excited about the fact that have to drive tomorrow! Here are a few pics that I clicked on Diwali!

Blogger Play & My New Blog

Hi There!! While the work on the Shanghai postcards continues, I just wanted to post something to introduce to you my new blog on technology as I had promised in one of my previous posts and to let you know of another cool thing that Google has come up with, Blogger Play.

First of all, Blogger Play. What should I say? Check it out yourself Aint it cool?

Lastly, I have also started a blog on technology I am working on. Check out my tech blog in Some Sassy Links. And let me know your feedback/suggestions.

I might be going to Mysore for Dussehra this weekend and try and click as many pics as possible. But before I post about that I will complete the Postcard Series! So watch out!

And please keep commenting! It really is a source of encouragement for me to keep on posting!

For Mr./Ms. Anonymous

Though the postcard from Shanghai series is still not complete... I am breaking the continuity of that series of posts...

Recently during just another discussion with some of my MIT friends after a long long time came up the topic of the tragic events of 2006...Almost a year is gone since his accident but Shashank still lives in the mind of many....and so does the Gujju guy..watever his name is...

In my last year's post regarding the incident, an anonymous person had commented on my posts and had vent anger on the gujju guy... I had also been asked to correct my post....I dont see anything wrong from the post but I do agree that it doesnt bring out things in the way they happened....
As anonymous had commented it was the gujju who was driving the car when the accident took place... well I dont have any police records but what everyone knows is what anonymous has written...it was indeed him...and hence many people blame him for that...

.I am not a person in a position to blame anyone.....I just ponder over the past and try to understand things as they happened and try to learn lessons from them so that I can avoid any unpleasant experiences...For me the gujju guy represents people who you should beware of...beware if he claims to be your friend....beware of him.... the guy has put the photo of the Ford Ikon after the accident in his Orkut profile..... the same Ikon which caused the death of another person... He seems to be flaunting it....What kind of a person does that....?

Many of us have clouded judgments....Our instincts fail to judge correctly or we dont trust our instincts...If it is the second case then it is really sad... In my experience you should be aware of your instincts.... You should be able to judge how much you can trust a person... how much can he be your friend..... Misjudgment can lead to very bad results.....as we found out last year...

I cannot even imagine the pain that his parents will be throughout their life.... I just wish that they have the strength to move on....

Postcard from Shanghai - 3

Where were we? Ah yes! The flight from Bangkok to Shanghai....I spent time listening to the various music channels till very soon lunch was served...It contained chicken cooked in some kind of sauce with rice and a few other dishes including a sweet dish made out of corn..the air hostess was also roaming around calling "Chinese Tea! Do you want Chinese tea sir?" I wondered how different would Chinese tea be from Indian Tea and remembered that they put some herbs etc in their tea. I was tempted to ask for it but decided not take any risks. I read the Thai Newspaper from Bangkok and let me tell you one thing which I felt at that point of time.....India's democratic nature reflects in the nature of its press..the arguments and the articles published along with the news in our leading national dailies are a good food for the intellectual mind... and that was something which I found missing in that Thai Paper...Maybe it was because most of what was written was about something which was unfamiliar for me... !!

I was tired and decided that I should sleep. They were showing a movie, which was set in the early 1900's it seemed and my tiredness got the better of me and I decided to have a short nap..(as most of you would know...taking naps come very naturally to me... :)

When I got up the movie had stopped and the map was on display... We were over China and very close to Shanghai..Another half an hour and we would land.

The air hostesses started distributing the immigration forms. This was the first time in my life I was doing that ( In case you are wondering why I didn't fill it when I landed in Bangkok, that's because I wasn't going into Thai territory...I wasn't crossing the immigrations..... You know....immigrations.... the TERMINAL....Tom Hanks ...) I started to fill in the details carefully...... After all, a small mistake could cause hours of delay...and I wasn't sure that my pick up would wait pretty long....The forms asked the general stuff, but also asked about the medicines that I was carrying... Now I wasn't sure what medicines I was carrying...nothing special I knew but still.... I left that blank....then there were questions about my health and illnesses... Hmmm.... Blank again...I needed advice...There were questions related to poultry...WHAT..?? Oh the bird flu scare... and SARS Questions as well.. wow... so that is really how they do it... to prevent a epidemic...

I realized that the man beside me was also filling the form... Hmmm... So he was Japanese...So why was this guy going to Shanghai... business...?? Must be...And now I could make out that he was Japanese...His facial features a bit different from the Chinese ...or was it my mind playing tricks again...??

I looked out of the window and could see....haze... and below that land... it was pretty hazy ...reminded me of the winter haze in Delhi...but i knew that it wouldn't be that dense... If you fly from Bangalore then you would have noticed the dusty haze that clouds the city.. its just that you get a different view of things from the top... I was anticipating the Shanghai sky line to be visible any moment... but all I could see were factories and industries and ships on the far side...but no sign of a city... Come on... This must be the final descent of the plane... I can see the ground clearly and the vehicles..trucks carrying goods.....but still no sign of the city!! I realized judging by the height that I am not going to see the Shanghai skyline from this flight....for it doesn't go over the city side...

Touchdown... we had landed...and i could see the airport building on from the window on the other side... it reminded me of Geneva Airport Building in Tintin and THE CALCULUS AFFAIR... As the plane Taxied along the runway to wards the terminal...I saw a whole lot of huge boeings and airbuses belonging to Air China, United Airways, Singapore Airlines, Japanese Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Virgin...WOWWWW!! I also noticed the Red and Yellow colors of the Chinese flag fluttering in the wind..So this is it ...I have arrived in China...I remembered what people back had told me...They are hostile towards Indians... I also remembered that India lost the 1962 Indo China War....and that George Fernandes had once called China as India's biggest threat...

There was no democracy in this country...I could be jailed and the authorities would deny all knowledge of it... I would spend my life in a Chinese Prison...doing what..? Learning Chinese perhaps...? What if the authorities deported me back ..? That would be better than being stuck in a jail... Suddenly I wasn't very sure I wanted to get off the plane..

The plane had stopped and people started to get up, among them many Indians that I had seen at Bangkok airport before boarding. The sight of fellow Indians was a huge relief. I started to arrange my papers and then got up and walked. "Thank you sir, Have a nice day", said the lovely air hostess with her hands joined in a Namaste. I too joined my hands and said Thank you and out I came...Brrrrr.... Iiiiits...ccc..cold... Maybe I should have brought some warm clothes... I got down the stairs to find that the first bus was already full an on its way... I had to wait... Then came the second bus which I boarded and was glad to find that an Indian also boarded and sat down right next to me.. He must have been around 30-32 years old.. slightly bald and dark... I still had to fill the missing columns of the immigration forms... So I started a conversation with this guy.. He was working for HP and hailed from Bangalore.. He had been to Shanghai many times...I told him that I worked for TESCO.. I asked him about the form and the columns regarding medicine...He asked me if I was carrying any special medication.... I said no.. just the normal cough and cold ones....he said then do not fill that you are carrying any of the listed medications...coz that will only delay you check... I thanked him and told him how grateful I was for it was the first time that I was traveling and was all alone. We discussed how badly India had done at the World Cup and what a disgrace they had been.

The bus stopped and we got down. I told him that I needed to complete the forms and get my papers in order. He wished me a good stay and Shanghai and all the best.
I went to a pillar where they had a pen and the forms that were given on the plane.. I took out my copy and filled out and then put everything in order.. The passport...The immigration forms and the Invite letter... "Answer the questions in a calm voice and do not contradict yourself, or you may land up in trouble", the hurried travel briefing at HSC had told me. Well moment of truth.

I walked and took my place at the end of one of the many queues behind the immigration counters. Soon it was my turn to get my passport stamped. I went and greeted the Immigration officer whose face was absolutely expressionless. I handed him the passport and the invite letter and the forms. After checking the papers he stamped my passport. This is it. I have now officially entered China. I moved on to the ATM which was just outside the immigration counter(As my friend Mano had instructed me, I planned to withdraw some local currency and use the World money Citi Bank card which had been provided)The card was not working. I could not withdraw any currency!!

Normally I would have panicked but thanks to Mano I knew that the card may take some time to get activated as he had found out earlier when he came to China. I moved on and collected my luggage. Then I decided to get some of the dollars converted to the YUAN so I had some local currency. Once finished I found my way to towards the exit. CUSTOMS!! No I had nothing to declare in India, so i guess I got nothing to declare here. But still one cant be too carefree! I went and picked up a Customs declaration form and read through the rules. Nope I did not qualify for any declaration. I just walked through the nothing to declare area of the exit confidently. All this currency exchange and customs etc had really taken some time and I was beginning to wonder if my pick up would still be waiting. Just as I was getting out I saw a man with the placard with my name written on it. He was looking at various people and pointing to the placard. I approached him and he heaved a sigh of relief. So did I.

The company had sent a goldish-brown minivan. I boarded and we started away from the airport.... Lot to cover about the trip from the airport to the hotel.... this post is getting pretty long so watch out for the next one..!!

Postcard from Shanghai-2

Wowwww...!!! Look its here..! The Second Postcard from Shanghai! Well actually it has been sent from India only but never mind..... finally we get to know what happened in Bangkok and the journey onwards....That's where we left at the end of the first postcard remember..I had just landed at Bangkok.. Well it was 4 in the morning...local time.... So here it was... I had stepped onto a soil not Indian for the first time in my life... Wow... Now I don't know if any of you who have been out of India ever realised that but I did...It was a strange feeling.... Like the beginning of the expedition to explore the Unknown...
Anyways, in the flight they had shown that Transit passengers had to restrict their access to specific areas of the airport.... Now from the videos of the airport that I had seen in the flight.. I knew that it was amazing... but you got to see it too believe it.... It was the first truly International Airport that I had been to...it was huge...you would get tired just getting out of the airport..must be like a kilometer or so from the terminal.. so they had these conveyor belts...just stand on them...you wont get tired when you come out.....

It took around 20 minutes to reach the spot where I would get the boarding pass for my next flight... however it was so early in the morning that all the counters were closed...they would open at 6 am I was informed...

So i was just strolling through the Airport and exploring the duty free shops.. Then another guy approached me and asked if I was getting any Network Coverage on my cell.. He was Indian and from Accenture Bangalore going to Manila, Philippines...He had to make an urgent call...I told him that I wasnt on roaming...He had to send an important message to his manager..So now we started looking for an Internet Cafe..We didnt have to look very far...But guess what the charges for browsing were like... any guesses..?? It was $3 for half an hour... i could not believe myself... but later on even I spent $3 to surf the net...even I had to send a few messages to my team members...

It was morning and after having explored the length and breadth of the Airport we decided it was time to go back and get our passes...I wanted a window seat coz I wanted to see the Shanghai skyline when we flew over it...After getting the boarding passes...I bid the gentleman goodbye॥and sat there waiting..there was still a good 4 and a half hours before the departure....

So I decided to surf the net for a while and bought a coupon for 30 minutes for $3.... I checked the mail and responded to people back in office and to some of you as well... and guess what... 30 minutes had gone by.... So I left to refresh myself... after that I decided to check in and then wait... After passing the Baggage security, I walked down along the long stretch towards the last gate where I was supposed to board... I found a bench and sat down.... I was one of the first guys to get in... A few other people came but there was still a good 2 hours for the departure... Feeling absolutley heavy and with nothing interesting to do and no stranger chicks to talk to, I decided the best thing to do was to sleep..Some people were already asleep on the bench..and no they were not Indian.. So convinced that sleeping on the bench would not harm India's reputation in any way as other countries were already doing the same, I set an alarm in my cell and went off to sleep...I woke up to find people boarding an aircraft and panicked that I had over-slept...but I quickly heaved a sigh of relief when I realized that it wasnt for Shanghai..I went and washed my face and came back to see the Thai staff getting ready to start the boarding... Observant as I always am, I was just lloking around at the people who would be boarding the flight... Predominantly there were Chinese and you could make out that the flight was taking you east... Someone had commented.."The more east you go...the thinner they become..." ....What becomes thinner..? Any guesses.... Well I dont know what was on your mind but I am talking about the eyes.. The transition from wide eyed India to Thailand and now Thailand to the more Chinki China was apparent... There were all kinds of people.. Young, Old, Married, Single, Asians, Europeans, Americans.. There was this lady I remember who I was sure was from China who looked to be the CEO of some company...If I remember correctly she was carrying a simple backpack which had the logo of IBM or TI (am not very sure which one) and looked to be around 40-45 years old..though you really cant tell their age just by looks... She was accompanied by a fair guy wearing a jeans, shirt and a blazer who I felt was probably from America and was mouch younger than Her...CEO to be maybe.. I thought...They were walking around and talking and it looked as if she was explaining him something...like how to do business in China... And he was listening very keenly....I wondered how it would be to work with the Chinese...I had heard a lot about that back in India from my manager..."They dont like Indians..!" "They cant take decisions" "They dont understand anything" "They will make your work difficult.." I had the feeling that it was going to be really tough time ahead...And I was preparing myself for that...

There were a few Indians as well waiting for the boarding to begin...Then there was a french couple who were going to Shanghai to meet the girls brother...who had a life travelling and doing work for some kind of a charity organisation or something..as far as I could make out.. the young lady was talking to this guy who probably was from Great Britian... Then again there was this family travelling, young parents from UK, with four kids, who were running all over the place creating a lot of noise...Huh..Kids I thought..Doesnt matter whether they be black or white..Asian or european..all they want to do is play and have fun...
Quite a lot of Chinese had also gathered by this time.. I saw a young couple with a new born...The only child they are ever gonna have..?? I thought...

Anyway...The whole scene reminded me of THE TERMINAL...and I also thought about the world as a whole new place.... I was also playing this game where you look around and try and guess who your co-passenger is going to be..you know..the person seated next to you....There were quite a few people in my list...

Ding Dong...Ladies and Gentleman We are now boarding Business Class only.... Hmm.. I am travelling in Economy...Anyway...Finally Got up and boarded the aircraft...took my Window seat...and waited in anticipation...would I be lucky this time... Nope...A thin guy wearing glasses (most of them do wear glasses) came and sat by me...He was wearing a T Shirt which was pro american...Hmmm...so some of the Chinese are pro America..? But he had a face which was expressionless...A face which told ... Dont Disturb me Buddy...So I just did what I am best at...kept quiet...I plugged in the earphones that the air hostess handed over (at least they were damn pretty) and gazed out of the window... The first few channels had Chinese/Japanese/Korean/etc..I dont know which exactly...then came the 8th one which had english..not rock ...the 9th one had Hindi..but then the music suddenly stopped and the voice of the video recording came..there was a tv screen in front(probably 25")..The standard safety procedures were detailed.. then the screen showed the map...we were currently in Bangkok and it showed then where we were supposed to go... I had a good look at it...I had never really paid attention to this part of the world much... and now I was going to fly over it... I really liked the map which they showed...

So I decided to relax and have a nice flight...! About the flight, the gentleman sitting beside me and more...in the next post... This one's getting pretty long..!! Watch out for the next one..!!

WTF is happening to me...?

Hello out there...So the Sassy postal system is back to its old ways again...Long time no post....and what about the much awaited postcards from Shanghai...when are they gonna be delivered... patience friends..patience..that's the name of the game... well as some of you know that Shanghai was really hectic..and if I started writing the postcards then I would hardly have the time to visit places or sleep...now obviously I HAD TO visit at least some places... and as you know I never compromise on sleep... so my grand plan was to write beautifully about Shanghai once I was back in India.. but to do that I needed NET connectivity at my home... well that has been a long time coming..but guess what it finally came one fine day..and guess what happened next.... the comp has gone insane...no anti virus... and now there is some problem with the hardware so the comp wont start...Well thats how my life is as you already know...

anyways..dont really know what crap I am writing right now.. just know that will be sitting down soon and will be delivering the whole postcard from Shanghai series with snaps.. all in one go...

Please wait a little longer... there is some quite interesting stuff on your way...

And as for the delay ..."Dibuchi.."

Postcard from Shanghai-1

So here it is...Shanghai, China... Things happened really fast the last couple of weeks... I had finished the previous project I was working on and thought I would take a much needed break and head home.... I was about to book my tickets when one fine morning I got to know that I will be working on a project for China and that it was happening very soon... Life has been really hectic after that...Didnt even realise that I was going outside India until the last day, when the Travel desk at my company gave a travel briefing...It suddenly hit me.. Shit.. this wasnt just Bombay or Delhi I was going to.. It was China. Shanghai.. I was going outside my country for the first time and I was going ALL ALONE..!! Now I was pretty confident about things initially, but suddenly there were a lot of questions in my mind.What if something went wrong? If i wasnt too well or anything? It wasnt that I was going to Bombay or Delhi or some other place in India where in case of emergency some long lost family member or friend would come to the rescue... I was going into the unknown..And I fear the unknown...

Anyways...here I was at Bangalore Airport checked in and waiting...caliing every one I could think of...unable to reach anyone for an hour or so...damn Airtel service is going down...I grabbed a bite at CCD and then luckily was able to talk to people... and then I was on my way.. After a nice dinner of Chicken & Rice with wine and apple juice.. I was fast asleep...Woke up just when the plane was about to land at Suvarna Bhumi Int'l Airport...Bangkok.. (FYI..I was flying THAI..)

About the Airport and the journey after that in the next post.... gotta grab some Chinese food for Lunch...!!

Just time pass...

People who are too shy to sing in public or they have a voice so musical that even Julie Andrews would shy away, engage in what is commonly known as bathroom singing. It's interesting that singing when you are alone has been christened as bathroom singing. Bathroom is not the only place when you are alone. Riding your bike to the office also presents you with a great opportunity for you to explore your hidden talents.
For an absent minded person like me to concentrate on driving, I need some thing to be focussed on. Unfortunately, the Bangalore traffic requires too much concentrtation during rush hour, something which I believe no human being can achieve(if you drive the way I do, rash but always trying to be safe, you probably understand what I am talking about.)
Hence I sing or hum when I am driving alone. I find it a very suitable way not to get irritated at the traffic situation here.
Only the other day I was singing "Here I am... On the road again.." on the road..?? Where the hell is the road man..? all i could see were boleros, marutis and then a bmtc bus limiting my view of the horizon to a few hundred metres. Dring rush hour there are no roads in Bangalore. Every road is converted into a parking space. What the hell am I talking about? Well, the speed at which traffic moves from Marathahalli Bridge towards airport or the other way around, you can check out the latest offers at the factory priced outlets lining up beside the road till you are clear and out of the jam.

That is pure frustration. I have to drive back home again in a few minutes. I just found out time today to post as there was no work to be done today and I dont want to leave early and get caught in the evening rush hour. But I guess I'll leave now. As for the posts, there are 2-3 posts which are pending and which I wanted to write about a long time back. Well, with connectivity improving with a new broadband connection soon you can expect some more nonsense from me. Till then take care.. Cheers...

I need Feedback

Search for the cigarette pack
Its up there, High on the rack
I jump to grab it, but I hurt my back
Oh I just need some feedback

Dream of flying a Lancaster amidst the German flak
Playing games on my Apple i-Mac
There are so many things in this world I lack
Oh I just need some feedback

The CIA Supercomputer one day I will Hack
All my wishes dont fit in Santa's Sack
Heaven on earth is Timmy's Shack
Oh I just need some feed back

Met a guy yesterday named Jack
He spoke Like Donald..Quack Quack
Dhoni will Hit Mcgrath on Sunday..WHACK!!
Oh I just need some feed back
Ya I just need some feed back..!!

A Great Day for Freedom

Long time, no post! Well, have been a bit lazy lately... you know.. there were quite a few things to write about but just didnt have the drive to sit and write.. But finally I decided that it was getting a bit too late.. So here we are...

This post is titled a Great Day for Freedom...Freedom.. that's an interesting word.. I wonder how many of us understand its true meaning.. In my view a state of complete freedom is one when whatever you do, wherever you do, whenever you do, your actions are not bound by constraints. Your surroundings do not have any effect on the outcome of your actions and vice versa.

Can we ever attain this freedom? Its like asking "Can we ever tell where does the curve xy=1 meet the coordinate axes?" I hope you understood what I meant. There are a number of things from which we want to attain freedom. One of this things is getting up in the morning to catch the company cab just to find out that you have missed it by a whisker.

Yah you guessed it right. "I've got a bike. You can ride it if you like." A Black Honda Unicorn 150 cc with 0-60 kmph in less than 6 secs. I guess life will be a lot convenient now.

image courtesy

This is the End....

"This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end "


That's how the song begins. It tells you, "This is the End". Seems ironical that the first line of the song, its beginning, talks about the end. It's not that ironical when you look at life. At the beginning of anyone's life, one doesn't know what will happen in the future. Everything is uncertain except for one, THE END. Yup, the only certainity in Life is Death.

I have never seen death closely. I have been kept away from it. Some of my close ones have embarked on their next journey, but I was nowhere near to bid them the final goodbye. And that is why I am afraid of it so much, that I avoid it. I dont know how it would affect me. But I know it would. It affects us all, in some way or the other to know of a person's death. This is something unknown for me, and I want it to be unknown for as long as possible.

"Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again ....."

Never. For Gone he is. A week after his terrible accident on the intermediate ring road, Shashank Upadhyaye is no more. All the plans, everything which he had have gone with him. Forever. That's what hits you the most. It's effect is permanent.

I had known him since my first year of engineering. Though we lived in the same hostel, I hardly knew him for the first few months. He was mostly locked up in his room, studying, isolated from the rest of the world like a hermit. However, in the second semester, I got to know him as he was a very good swimmer and wanted to participate in the swimming competition, whose organisation was being assisted by me. His worry at that time mainly was his branch, "Industrial and Production". He wanted it changed and so was always studying hard. I still remember the disappointment on his face when the first sem results were out. That was the day when the competition was to be held. He had managed 3.5 or so and was disappointed that he would be stuck with IP for the rest of the four years. He did not feel like participating. I tried to cheer him up a bit so that he would participate. He came to the competitions . A few days later, the list of people whose wait-list for branches had been cleared came out. Shashank got Electrical. You should have seen him that day. It was one of the happiest days of his life. After that we bumped into each other now and then and I had good conversations with him about various things ranging from Swimming to Subjects(we were in the same branch)to teachers and anything you can think of that 2 people from the same college would talk about.

The day you get your first job, is again a moment unforgettable for anyone. The same was for him. I had congratulated him when he was selected by Perot Systems. It was also a turning point in his life, or so people who were around him more say. After the placements, he changed. Everybody in MIT does. He started enjoying life, so to say. I used to hear about him and his girlfriend, when he was doing his project in Bangalore.

That he already had an accident in Bangalore, didnt deter him from driving fast, as I found out when we were returning in his car from Legends of Rock after watching Argentina lose to Germany in the Quarters of the WC. Driving over 80 kmph, after a couple of mugs of beer is not funny at all. But who is there to tell you of the risk you are undertaking? You are so high: on beer, on the song "ya ali.. yaar pe qurbaan.. " playing at full volume and the rest singing along at the top of their voices, and on the speed of at which you are travelling, that to think or talk sense is a far cry.

"Lost in a Roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane.. "

Yes. Even after graduating from college, we are still children, and we are insane.

"There's danger on the edge of town
Ride the King's highway...,"

A danger which we don't realise...

"The blue bus is callin' us
Driver, where you taken' us ......
. C'mon baby, take a chance with us .."

And if someone talks sense, to play it safe, that's what we say. C'mon baby, take a chance with us ..

"This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end "

Now, he is gone. But he has left us with a lesson. "Don't drink and drive". I guess its tragic incidents like these that bring some sense to us. How many of us have made the same mistake so many times? Yet, it has taken the demise of another for us to realise our folly.

"It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die

This is the end"
Goodbye, dear friend. May you rest in peace.You will always be alive in our memories.