An evening in the PMT…

It was a fine Thursday… [ Last to last week I guess… (Had written this 1 that time only but couldn’t crunch time to actually post it...) ]
Like any other day….
The only deviation from the 'Standard Format' of my Office life was I had absolutely no work…
Usually, I have lil work :P

Here, at John Deere we need to complete 8.5 hours a day or els the Automated Leave System deducts half day Privilege Leave from my account very ruthlessly :(
But, my bus starts from here at 6.45 while I complete 8.5 hours at 5.30 PM only.
So I decided to take-off on my own rather than finding innovative ways to kill time, like… (there r so many ways I've devised, will dedicate a mail to that some other time :P)
I was in a different sorta mood…

Ideally, I would have taken an auto or something (it costs 150 bucks but even then)…
But, not that day… I thought lets experiment…
So I walked out of Magarpatta City (that’s where my office is located..)
Took a Shared Auto till the main signal where you get all the buses n all…
The auto, which has a capacity of "3" was carrying 7 ppl.. The driver was keen on getting in more but to my luck didn't find more commuters….
The Indian vehicles are completely ROBUST must say… Who said India is way behind in the Automation Industry, its actually progressing in a different direction :P
I could barely breath, partly because there was no space and partly cos of the strange odor in there…
When I got down on my feet I thought an eternity has ended, little did I know there were many more eternities to come :P

I took some 7odd minutes to cross the signal and get on the other end, where I could board the bus….
Like I said, I was in a strange mood….
I spoke wid the kids waiting at the stop…
Asked them bout the gov. schools n all… How they travel, their families n stuff…
Couldn't stop thanking god enough for the blessed childhood I had….
I missed 2 buses as it was overcrowded…
So, a good guy walked upto me finding me totally lost and advised to take a bus to Swargate (the bus junction) and then change from there to my final location, KOTHRUD…
The next bus was Swargate and I was determined to get into this one….
And I DID :D

Inside the bus, it was worse than the Auto I had boarded an eternity ago :P
I could get a place on the reserved "Mahilansathi" (Only for ladies) .. Phew…
There was this completely haggard looking lady, probably she was a worker or something somewhere….
I still cant forget her hands…
One can get such hands only if one break rocks for one whole lifetime….
I felt terrible for her, for ppl like her, for India and for me too… Wish I could help…
She was so disconnected and distorted that she plainly ignored my efforts to strike up a conversation with her… :((
She got down mid-way and a college going girl (guess in some govt. college for Arts or something) replaced her…
I started off with another effort to strike up a conversation…
This time I was kind of successful, not completely though…
I asked her bout the college and teachers…
She was in 12th (10+2) class… Though she looked very old for a 12th class girl…
Suman (that’s her name) washes clothes and cleans at a household to support her studies and her family…
She was very content with whatever she had and didn't seem to care for any big career or something…
How I envied her for that… Satisfaction is something I cant even dream of :P
Finally, got down at Swargate, and to my surprise in 1 piece… :D
I bade Suman a good bye….
She said I was a real nice girl and I couldn’t stop grinning…

But that was short lived, my next task was to find a bus to Kothrud..
I could take an auto (would have costed 45 bucks max) but I was loving the PMT experience…
Found a Bus for my place and boarded it…
I was hoping to meet another interesting person but..
Well, all my journey couldn't be full of interesting ppl…
There was this lady working in some bank (forgot the name) sitting next to me…
She knew the entire PMT time table by heart, no kidding…
She had her whole house hold in a mini bag…
A lil eating packet, water, money, accounts, book, some vegetables to sort out n what not….
The bus took the longest route possible to kothrud from swargate… I almost dozed off due to the vibrations...

Finally, reached home in that semi hazy state... Feelin happy n peevish at the same time... A cherished evening and journey...

All in all...
If you want to roam around whole of Pune, meet some very interesting characters, get a free sauna massage [:P] and still reach the destination in single piece….
TRY PMT…
The best way of TRANSPORT :P
Peace...

Keep off the Grass and Catcher in the Rye!!

Just finished reading both these books 2 days ago.... Keep off the Grass by Karan Bajaj first and then Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, its one of the TIME 100 All time best Novels.

Keep off the grass:
Its is a story of a NRI who comes back to INDIA, kicking his million dollar job at the Wall Street. He is haunted by the thoughts of his 'roots'. He gets admitted to IIM B and begins his bizarre self-discovery journey with another crazy character, Sarkar (I was in awe with this person, except few of his eccentricities) and Vinod. The book comments a lot on the Indian Institute of Management, not in very good light though. In India, every ambitious student dreams of getting in the IIM and here is Karan Bajaz going completely ruthless with his comments and observations about the finest of B schools in the world, and to our dismay its quite true.
The story is pretty stereotype in the sense these guys make big goof ups, get the lowest of grades, do all kind of possible screwing up but ... at the end of the day they find what they always wished for..... A lil hard to believe... BUT, what makes this book keep away from monotony is the language which is completely engaging and the thoughts on self-discovery and happiness the author has come up with. Its like the author is articulating the thoughts you always wanted to express but didn't have the right words.
The confusions of today's youth, the fucked-up concepts of happiness, the ways of getting away from it and finding oneself going in deep shit..... All is very well explained by Karan Bajaj. BUT, he not only explains the problems but comes up wid a plausible solution.
A truly engaging and un-putdownable book. A journey with your own thoughts if you belong to the pool of lost and confused souls.

Catcher in the rye:
It was a pleasure meeting HOLDEN CAULFIELD(The Protagonist).
A weird narration style by Salinger which gives you a feel of being zonked. The book does not have a plot nor a story. The author establishes a first person dialogue with the reader and then there is no stopping. He goes on to explain every detail of Holden's life for 3 days and his thoughts. The language may be obnoxious to few as it uses words like "phony" "goddamn" "corny" "fuck" in huge amounts.
Holden wants to be the Catcher in the rye and wants to keep away his sister and other kids from the 'phonies' and 'goddamn world' but towards the end he realises that he cant do so and his sister, Phoebe MUST learn the hard way and on her own.Salinger leaves the actual events of Holden's presumed suicide attempt and hospitalization ambiguous; Holden only uses euphemisms such as "getting sick" to describe what has happened to him, but the implications are clear. Yet even more ambiguous than what happened to Holden is whether or not Holden will recover from his difficulties. Nevertheless, while looking back on his situation Holden still harbors some of the same suspicions and deep cynicism that afflicted him throughout the book. Salinger ends the novel inconclusively: he gives no strong indication what Holden has learned from his difficulties, if he has learned at all, and allows for a strong possibility that Holden will continue his self-destructive and suicidal behavior.
(Some part taken from official review.)

More than half a decade separates these books but what surprises me is the questions, the problems, the confusions and the SOLUTION still remains the same. BUT every individual will have to DISCOVER it on their own.... That's the FUN.....

Enjoy the self - discovery :P