50 Days Pune

Pune… The city where I spent last 7 years... Yes, 7 long years… But looking back now, it seems like a very short time… Pune is home… It’s the place where I really ‘grew up’, where I learned and got many awesome things, a place which will always be special and I would want to come back again and again. But for now it’s time to move on and leave this city… for good, I guess.

I will be moving base to Boston, MA from 15th Aug to pursue a 2yr full time MBA at Babson College’s F.W Olin Graduate School of Business. This leaves me with my last 50 days in this lovely city. As much as I am sad about the fact of leaving, I don’t want to spend this time cribbing and crying… Instead I have decided to revisit all the great memories, places and ppl from last 7 yrs. While doing so I will keep a log of it here.

50 days and 50 posts... That’s my target… The posts will serve as an excellent memoir for me and might come handy to ppl who are new (even old) in Pune and looking to explore… There will be many personal references of course but I will definitely make an effort to keep it understandable without any prior knowledge. So here I begin the last 50 days before I scoot off…!!

Bon Voyage!!

I have created a new blog for this @ http://50dayspune.blogspot.com

I will continue writing here for the next 50 days....!!!
Do visit!!

The lost hour!!

So last night while I was well not sleeping and listening to some blissful Mark Knopfler, something happened and I lost an hour... Many call it Daylight Saving, I just think its evil.. A prank played by the insomniacs to make the sound sleepers suffer.. Just like that in a moment of bliss I lost an hour and the enormity of that event stuck me... Its a freaking HOUR we are talking about..

This not-so-happy realization made me take a trip down the memory lane.. Not sure if it was the music, the snow fall or may be something I was having, the philosopher, the introspect-er and the trying-hopelessly-to-cling-on-to-the-past-er took over.. Remembering all the hours which may not have been possible in this lost one but the ones most close to the heart.. Some happy, some not so much, some euphoric, few insane..

1. The 60 min of Sunday mornings when my brother and I were 10 and 8... And Jungle Book..
2. The 1 hour sports period every week during school.. When sports meant shouting at the top of our voices and running berserk all over the place..
3. The hours appointment with the dentist every 15 days.. I believed at that time the ghost looked exactly like the fat lady in the white coat who knew only one word ‘Spit’!! The ice cream grand-mom used to get once we were out of the satanic places. I miss you, Aaji and I no more think of you as the devil, lovely Dentist lady!!
4. The hour in the school bus each day.. The most fun part of the schooling experience.. The hour of singing, antakshari, fighting, gossips, cheating on the conductor at times when traveling by government buses, arguing with strangers over acceptable limit of noise that can be created in public transport.. Geez, feels like yesterday..!!
5. Moving to junior college, the exactly 1 hr lunch break everyday... The hour of new excitements, old stories and new spices, the hour of teenage independence...
6. The one hour extension on Sundays to “In-time” in the hostel. This hour turned into hours as we progressed through college days though.
7. The longest hour when I was trying to reach college for 3rd year result. It was a ritual and superstition to collect the result with the bunch of together. We feared if we all were not together something nasty might happen. I was getting back from Mumbai and trying to make it on time only to learn that there was an Auto-strile. Darn!! I walked, ran, crawled in midst of 100s of worried calls and texts till I made it just in time.
8. Every 60 min of Puoshttam and Fiodiya Theater play.. In the light room or on the stage the euphoria was always at the peak..
9. The excruciatingly unbearable hour of Somaiya classes on Engineering Mechanics. The professor had an effect on the eyelids that it was impossible to keep ‘em open but he hated them closed and in between the students spent an hour of agony and closeness to god to just praying for the hour without getting caught..
10. The most adventurous hour White Water Rafting in Kundalika river with the bestest set of friends...
11. The 10th season finale of FRIENDS.. Watching it with friends and wishing that it never ended...
12. The hour narrated in my last post..
13. The only 60 minutes spent by the beach before midnight on 31st Dec night after a 29 hour journey using all possible means of road transport... The 60 precious moments of splashing waves, tipsy eyes and hardly burning bonfire was the beginning of the most crazy friendship bonds that will last a lifetime...

This list made me think of many other moments which essentially are not remembered with an hour’s measure... All those.. some other time...

For now, in the memory of the hour.. that could have been...

The journey against time...

It is acceptable that after an exhausting 5 day conference the brain doesn’t work that well but it performs to such abysmal levels is unacceptable. So I was set to fly on a 6AM flight out of LA to Chicago. Yes, 6 AM!! I guess I had started losing it that time itself. And for god knows what reasons.. actually could be the party that night.. I booked the cab for 4 freaking AM. Another friend had an International flight to catch at 6.30 AM and I rubbed of my imbecility to him as well and he too agreed to leave at 4 jinxed AM. FYI: we knew it takes min 30 mins to reach the airport from the hostel.

The lovely day before the journey was spent at Universal studios, Hollywood by yours truly without ever reconsidering the the departure arrangements. As I was shouting my tonsils out at the Jurassic park and Mummy ride, somewhere a taxi driver was falling sick and contemplating bunking work the next day. As I was happily shopping at the souvenir shop the same guy was deciding not to inform his boss for whatever goddamn reasons. And thus was sealed my date with the most traumatic journey so far...

Tired as an obese guy running the treadmill for 3 entire minutes, we returned to packing, remembering each moment of the last 5 splendid days together so that we don’t forget a single penny with each other and exchanging pictures so that we could show off on FB and back home. The session was so intense that I could hardly catch a wink. My friend and I were ready at 3.55 AM at the hostel reception to err... WAIT!!! I gave the cab guy a reasonable 30 secs of delay time and approached the manager frantically. Turns out the manager was a patient guy and decided to wait 10 mins before he would make the call. It was 4.20 AM we were still at the hostel with no signs of the taxi. Restless, I finally called another cab. And as fate had it, the same obese guy who ran the treadmill was there to pick us up. It took him an eternity to get back in the cab, buckle himself up and get going.

I was just about to heave a sigh... and there I was.. STOP... I forgot my bag pack at the reception. We were just a block away from the hostel so I got down and ran... The longest run of my life... It was 4.30 AM and we were just starting for the airport. Cab driver asked what terminal and my friend did not know his terminal no, it was not even on the print out he was carrying. Very smugly I looked at my print out and announced terminal no 3. We dropped my friend at terminal 1, which btw turned out to be the right terminal for him and his entire journey from there was uneventful and peaceful while I was just gearing up for the crazy ride.

I got down at Terminal 3 and started looking for American Airline counter when a lady which I am very sure was a witch announced that American Airline was Terminal why god why 4. I looked at the godforsaken printout with a new vision and realized terminal 3 was at Chicago. So with my 20 pounds each check in bag and a 8 pound bag pack, the 1xx pound I ran again. It was 5AM and I din not even have my boarding pass yet. I crawled to terminal 4 and tried to get in the queue, it was too long so I got in the self check in. For some reason it asked me $60 and I had no time to argue with the machine so I made the payment and got the boarding pass. Only to realize I was actually traveling to Fargo from Chicago and did not have enough time at Chicago airport for baggage transfer. This stuff cant be made up... It was happening and I was living it...

I HAD to get into the queue to get my baggage tagged to Fargo and the queue was of all the ppl on the earth who cannot use the self check in machine of course. So the pace of the queue can be imaged. I finally had my turn after what felt like sitting thru Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, the lady very graciously asked me for $60. But I just paid it to that good for nothing machine. “Then check in from there” she said with that glint in the eye. It was 5.10 and I had no choice but to give her the bucks... She tagged my bags and we exchanged fake smiles...

Thoroughly tired I ran towards my gate which was 257 miles away from the entrance. But I passed the security hurdle and made it at the gate just in time. The privileged Business class was then boarding. For once in my life I was happy to NOT be traveling Business Class... Little Joys!!!

I gave my boarding pass and entered the aircraft which felt like entering heaven. Uncannily, I was not frustrated or angry at myself. It was a lesson learned and a good change from my boring traveling routine. I even punched the air and smiled as sat on the worst seat on the plane....

Long Silence

Its been a long silence.... Still trying to figure out what was it that kept me away from my beloved blog...

Was I too busy.. Or I did absolutely nothing worth mentioning...??

Was it a writer’s block.. Or I am just mistaken in considering myself one...??

Was it because of the several setbacks... Or just the high personal standards.. ??

Was it cos of the sleepy days.. Or the restless nights.. ??

I am yet to figure that out but what I do know is I need to get back to this old friend... There are a lot of stories I want to share a lot to vent... So here I am back again... To... telling stories... attempting lame jokes... futile efforts at profundity... and loads of whining... So here we go again....

Brought to you bai... BAI!!!

I know the title sounds like I am already facing some kind of mid life crisis… But to tell the truth, I actually may be… Just that it should be called pre-mid-life-crisis… (just to make me feel a little better) Both my maids are giving me a tough time black mailing me for a hike, a bonus, a saree, plea to get me or my roomie married, etc. Hence this post is dedicated to the two absolutely lovely ladies I know… My maids….

Bai 1: My cook, whom we have employed since last year is without a doubt a great cook. But apart from that she has some more striking features:
1. She is convinced by the fact that any preparation that does not form a mini swimming pool of oil in the pan is NOT edible.
2. She confuses groundnuts for salt. So we end up having affluent quantity of groundnuts in ALL the vegetables, but err salt may or may not be there… Depends on what kind of a day you are having…
3. She makes full use of available resources. So if on a particular day good amount of ghee is available at home, her hands won’t even shake a little before cooking the whole meals in ghee instead of oil. [I am trying to lose weight here…]
4. Her excellent time management skill is one quality which amazes me… Our Bai 1 has the key to the house so [we trust her if not her cooking] she is at liberty to come any time. By ‘ANY’ there is a reasonable unspoken understanding of the time window. But the excellent time manager that she is, she usually comes in at 4 PM to cook DINNER. Rest of the time she utilizes watching TV (again, use of all resources).
5. She is an adroit at story telling. Taking benefit of my naïve mom’s emotional heart; she made her believe in the story that Bai 1 will be chucked out of her house if she doesn’t pay the owner 2 grands COS the owner is in dire need of money. (Sure) Although she made it clear to my mom that in case Mom cant give her the money Bai 1 will start staying on the streets in her old age with no one to look after her. My Mom gave her 2000 bucks AND a packet of Paneer. Apparently she also told my mom that she loves paneer but has NEVER tasted it.
6. Bai 1 takes HUGE offence if even a morsel of what she cooked is left over. She gives me a ‘Show cause’ notice every time some food is left over. My roomie nonetheless makes sure we don’t have any leftover by giving away the food to Bai 2 early in the morning. We learned to respect food because of her.

That’s about her. So Bai 1 now has to pay back some 3K to us, and she falls ill. She decides there is no harm is asking for more money in return to all the hard work she does.

Bai1: I need 500 Rs
ME: WHAT :O
Bai1: I need to get some tooth extracted, need it for that.
ME: But you already have borrowed 3K, return that 1st and we can discuss this later.
Bai1: Don’t you feel anything for a old person who feeds you daily? I am in PAIN.
ME: See you ask my roomie for money, she gets more salary.
Bai1: But you are the one who is caring and talks to me.
ME: Sorry, I cannot help this time.
Bai1: OK, FINE. I thought you had your heart in the right place. And today is an auspicious day, so I asked. But fine, I will stay in pain.
ME: <> Please, close the door when you leave.

Meanwhile, I can’t get rid of the sick feeling, discuss this with a friend. She thinks I am heartless too. Aaargh!!!

Bai 2: The maid who does (rather supposed to) cleaning and washing clothes. But she also has some excellent qualities that I would like to highlight:

1. Speed: She can finish brooming, dusting, washing clothes and gossiping about all living ppl she knows in less than 7 min and about 32 secs.
2. Communication Skills: She is an ace communicator, come Hindi, Marathi, Gujrati or English; she knows it all. Also, she won’t give up any chance to display the skills (it’s all about selling yourself these days) by speaking all the 9 words she knows in each language apart from Marathi.
3. Caring Mother: She makes sure to give her kids ample time daily. So she gets them to work daily. Those kinds in turn make sure that they play with everything in the house, starting from my laptop, TV, microwave to books, furniture, dustbin, etc. And mind you 7 min 32 sec are enough for them to create havoc. (Her own genes after all :P)
4. Friendly: As mentioned in point no. 2, she is an extrovert and a communicator. This also makes her a friendly person. My friends who come over for stays, have developed a warm camaraderie with her. She also makes efforts to take the friendship forward by blatantly commenting on how short, stout, dark and ugly they are. All in good humor off course.
5. Integrity: Bai 2 is working for us for over a year now. She is ideally expected to daily but she does manage to grace our place twice a week with her esteemed presence. We raised questions on this but were duly shut every time with some or other reason. BUT, Bai 2 is a female of integrity; after 13 long months she told us, its not possible for her to come daily so she will come only twice a week and we can reduce her salary a little for the same.

These ladies make my life so interesting and happening. This post is my humble effort to showcase my love for them. Much in the same way they do it, daily.

Youthopeia

In my last post I anounced Youthopeia. Here is more on what it is about:

What is about?
Youthopeia, as the name suggests is a HOPE, but it doesn’t stop there; it’s a passion and a vision to bridge the gap between the Rural and Urban youth. We firmly believe that youth can bring about a change and YH aims at exploiting the enthusiasm of the youth for a better society, a better country.
The concept of Youthopeia came up after a lot of brainstorming on various issues which can act as catalyst for change. The best change agent would be change at grass root levels. YH is way of sharing the privileges that we are blessed with, with the underprivileged counterparts.


What’s the mission?
To empower Rural youth to increase their participation in social development of Rural India. Simply put, its making the rural India capable of solving their own problems with an initial impetus from the urban folks.


How does it work?
1. Taking road trips to villages and establishing a dialogue with the Rural counterparts.
Understanding their problems and coming up with feasible solutions after discussions with other fellows
2. Working with Secondary/Higher secondary schools to revitalize the interest in education, by showing the kids the BIG picture and making them meet possibilities.
3. Using the social media and Internet to spread the buzz and awareness.
4. Buddy program: Wherein every volunteer will be made to for a buddy group with the rural counterparts and will be actively helping them out with their problems, queries, information or just being a good listener/friend.

Initially, villages around Pune are targeted. But if anyone want to take this idea up in different part of India, we will help as much as possible.

Who are we?
1. Not just another NGO.
2. WE are not change-makers, we strive to create them.
3. Believe that the one who faces the problem knows the best solution.
4. Induce the mentality for change in the minds where the need is felt the most.
5. Its not about participating in some event on a weekend, getting a t shirt and updating the FB/Twitter status. Its about developing a relationship with the rural counterparts.

YH is an attempt to see a change what we truly believe in. If you believe that you can make a change, do visit YH.

BACK !!!

Where the fuck was I?? Is that the immediate question that will follow?? Well, fail enough, I have been hibernating for over 2 months now. I should be happy that the blog survived such tough times. Ppl keep asking; why is the blog dying, what are you up to, where are all the reviews and accounts of occasions you promised will be on the blog????? I have been hiding and running away from all these questions. Here are a few answers…

Enduro3, immediately after the Delhi trip, oh the Delhi trip was with college friends for 5 days in and around Delhi. Enduro 3 was an incredible experience, from buying the cycle to the never ending practice sessions to long email threads motivating and de motivating each other to deciding the team name and finally quitting after the grueling competition. This left me very exhausted both physically and mentally.

TWITTER, one of the main culprit is Twitter. It has kept me away from my first love, Blogging. But soon enough I realized, Tweeting is just like a one night stand, it can make you happy w/o any commitments but a blog is where true happiness lies. I will still keep visiting Twitter but will never forget you, my Blog.

Reading, its one of the better reasons of staying away from blogging. I have been reading some off beat stuff for a while now likes of Curious case of a dog in the night time, Never let me go, Animal farm, 1984 and the Inheritance of loss. Each book a different kind of delight, each with a different voice and scenario. Loved all the time I spent with Christopher, Kathy, Snowball and folks. I wish I could do a post on these books but I do not consider myself worthy enough to review any of these books.

Youthopeia, certainly the best reason for being away. YH is trying to bridge the gap between rural and urban India with the help of the youth. It’s a way to spread the hope to the ppl less privileged that most of us are. I wont say anything much here but would like to urge everyone to visit the BLOG and know more. Its one thing I always wanted to do and finally the wheels are moving. Contribution, feedback and comments are most welcome.

TEDxPune, the latest addition in the host of activities. The day I came to know about TEDxPune, I jumped on the opportunity of becoming a part of something so amazing and exciting. The first meeting was last Saturday and it was a great opportunity to network with some of the most passionate ppl in Pune. Looking forward to contribute more to the event and making it a HUGE success.

Apart from all these reasons, menial excess like laziness, hanging out with friends, outings, movies and sleep kept me busy. But now I am back and I plan to stay J

Peace.