A Trip to Ooty

Three years ago,my friends decided to visit manali during the monsoons.We were excited since we had seen a documentary on the channel Travel and Living about it.Unfortunately ,due to heavy flooding,we had to cancel our visit.Nevertheless,our friend suggested an alternative.Since,his mother was the vice president in Reliance,one of her perks included free stay in hotels all over India.We narrowed down on Ooty and started making preparations.One of us was leaving for U.S the next month, so we decided to go on this last trip together.Sadly,few had other priorities and that left just the three of us me,my brother and my friend.We were all pumped up,especially me and my brother because this was our first trip on a plane.Like most single men,we started flirting with the air hostess.We pressed the buzzer for the silliest reason but she never got irritated and was enjoying the attention.My friend even suggested taking down her number,which i turned down because frankly ,I was too chicken.We landed at Coimbatore and were searching for a shared cab.Our friend being a south indian was well versed in tamil which was a blessing for that was the only language they understood.He negotiated with the driver and told him to take us to Sterling Resort which was high on a hill.There were a couple of other passengers including a newly married couple who were scared out of their wits on learning they were travelling with us.A couple of minutes into the journey ,and they realized we were not abd guys after all.On reaching the resort,we were shown to our room which had a living room,a kitchen and a bedroom with a balcony overlooking the hills.We paid a visit to the wildlife sanctuary,boating club,botanical garden and Dodapetta peak which is the highest peak in Asia.Unfortunately,we didn't spot tigers because we were travelling in a bus and that scared them away.The driver milked every opportunity to charge us (twenty rupees for taking pictures of deers and elephants) and the rest for being a guide.The weather was quite pleasant ,firstly because of the monsoons and secondly because there was no noise and air pollution.There are no fans in hotels and restaurants and everything is eco-friendly.Even while shopping,we were handed out paper bags.Some of those should be applied to mumbai as well.We bought different types of chocolates(rum n raisins,mints,dates and walnuts,cherry to name a few).The bus tour turned out to be amazing.Always the last ones to board the bus after sightseeing, the expression on the passenger's faces was priceless.On our last day,we cooked food which was a total disaster ,burnt potatoes,dal and soggy rice.We visited the loo soon after.We were sad that the trip ended so quickly.We shopped for almost everything including souvenirs,chocolates,oil,tea and clothes.At the airport, the cops inquired about the brown stuff in our bag which was nothing but tea packed in a transparent plastic bag.The trip turned out to be my best trip ever so far.

Breaking rules

Rules are meant to be broken.We say this nonchalantly without realizing the consequences.If you forbid a child to do something,he does it anyway in spite of repeated warnings.There's a child in all of us which forces us to break rules even when we, as mature adults are aware of it's consequences.We always jump queues,signals and railway tracks knowing it's dangerous and causes inconvenience to others.Sort of gives us an immense pleasure.I would say a little discipline never hurts.In Other countries,you are fined for littering and in some,you end up behind bars.See the irony,Indians living in other countries don't litter but mess up their own homeland.The recent ban on smoking in public places has invited a lot of wrath from smokers.They wish to live life on their own terms but is it too much to ask to show a little concern for others.Not to smoke in places where people are affected.In a lift ,I noticed a sign that said,Lift not available for going down,take the stairs instead, to which a doctor said ,Hah! rules are meant to be broken, and pressed the button to go down.We were only three floors up,How hard is it to take the stairs down? They always advise others to follow the book,be disciplined, and here he was clearly flouting one.I chose to take the stairs instead.

Superstition

Don't be superstitious.We've heard this phrase many times,haven't we?.What makes us superstitious?.Is it our belief in god and supernatural powers?.I'm sure, scientists would beg to differ with a rational explanation for everything.I've seen people blindly following certain predictions.I mean,it's harmless if you inquire about it once in a while just for fun,but to lead your life as per those predictions is sheer stupidity.Many people have predicted my future(at times I was literally dragged).Some turned out to be true and some ,well,even a five year old could have guessed that.I had this friend in college and she was in love with this guy since her school days.After going around secretly for a couple of years,the girl's parents found out about their rendezvous and the benedict arnold who rattled them out turned out to be her own sister.Since she was a jain and the boy was a pahadi(he belonged to a tribe from the himalayas)there was complete chaos.She wanted to elope and packed all her belongings in a bag(jewellery et all).The boy turned chicken and said his astrologer has predicted that,if they got married,his mother would die.I've heard different types of excuses for breaking up but this was right out of a movie plot.I mean, come on, grow a pair dude.She was heartbroken and eventually married a guy of her parent's choice who turned out to be a wife beater.Things would have been different, had the guy shown little guts.

Rock on

I saw the movie "Rock on" last night.I must say i had mixed feelings for that movie because on one hand it connected with the life of the youth of today and on the other hand it seemed like a repeat of the flick "Dil chahta hai".Farhan akhtar has to still recover from the success of "Dil chahta hai".Clearly he has made a conscious effort of repeating the same scenes of his earlier flick.Somehow i feel both of his movies are a reflection of someone's lives and i'm one of them.Suffice to say,i've lived life to the fullest but you can never say never.

Women :A mystery?

They say love is blind,sad but true.I read an article in Hindustan times Cafe about a girl's love story.She falls in love with her senior in school.The boy is a flirt and is simultaneously having an affair with different girls.In spite of all this,the girl totally smitten by him failed to believe he was cheating on her.Even after being confronted by one of his girlfriends,she refused to break up with him.When she demanded an explanation ,he said,Don't believe them,they're just jealous.He abused her a couple of times and apologized later.When he repeated this offense over and over,she told him she would move on ,to which the boy said,Think again.Finally, he told her to get lost and they broke up.Even now she still pines for him,hoping they will meet again.Why do women chase boys who are abusive and aggressive? They have these huge debates about equality of sexes but in reality,they like to be treated that way.Let me clarify,I'm all all for women's liberation et all and I strongly believe they are superior to men(My species are gonna hate me for sure) but its high time girls, stand up for yourself and demand respect,don't let guys treat you any different.

Drama in a Bank

All of us know for a fact that people employed in government offices don't work.What came as a rude shock to me was the same attitude being displayed by employees of a bank.I had to get some franking done on a sale agreement which required a visit to the bank.Since the amount was more than 1 lac ,i was told to come the next day.After much pleading,the manager agreed to do it the same day.After filling out the necessary forms,i proceeded towards the cash counter.The cashier was a lady and after letting out a huge sigh which was a sign that she was doing a huge favour to me,replied that the documents were not stapled properly.I didn't want to create a fuss so i went to the other counter to get the documents stapled although it cost me to stand in the queue again.After glancing thru her watch she realised it was lunch time so, she sent me to the manager to get it thoroughly checked and when i came back she put up a sign "Gone for lunch".After waiting for 30 minutes,she came back and frowned that the staple was not in order since it needed a stamp and a copy was supposed to be handed over to me.I told her politely that she could do it herself since it was not such a tedious task,she replied back with a stare as if to say it was not her job.A female standing beside me had to experience the same situation and she wondered why i didn't say a word.Unlike me,she lost her cool and said to the cashier"You people are not the only one's working,there are other people like us who work too".There was complete silence for a moment and it was hilarious to see the expression on that cashier's face.All this was worth the service charge that i had paid to get the franking done.

Teacher's Day

Today is teacher's day but it's just like any other day.During my school and college days ,we used to look forward to this day so we could chill out with teachers.They are the role models who work as reference guides and help us in making crucial decisions.Face it,all us have had our respective crushes.I know i had, on my french teacher who was also my English teacher,"Miss Chopra" we called her.No!!!! she's not a relative of Yash Chopra.I didn't have the hots for her but let's just say i was impressed..She always encouraged me to get higher marks in all my subjects.I scored 75 marks in English and french but she was not happy and made it quite clear while handing out my result.She always thought i was from Iran,I wonder why.At the end of my first yr in junior college ,she got married and moved to the states.I couldn't fathom the fact that she left.But life goes on.HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY Miss Chopra.

Black Magic

Few days back,I was watching an episode about black magic on National Geographic Channel.Do spirits actually exist?.What i saw in that episode was terrifying.It seems ,in order to cast a spell ,all you had to do was get the photo or hair and that person's life would be doomed forever.The priest destroyed all the belongings of the person doing black magic.What followed was even more horrifying,some fell sick during the ritual of destruction and some even died.Why are people so superstitious?(sic)

Drama galore

Majority of us have this habit of blowing things out of proportion.The Perfect example are certain celebrities and politicians.They provide more drama than saas bahu soaps and reality shows.Take for instance,a not so famous celebrity would use all his/her strategy to gain publicity just to be featured on page 3.They would even go to the extent of providing gossip to the media.Now,you know where the media gets their information from and who is their source???.On the episode of "Bigg Boss" last night I was disgusted to see rakhi vijan and sambhavna seth outdo each other to gain maximum footage.Everyone knows their careers are in doldrums and they want to grab every opportunity to uplift it.

Oops!!!!

We were this mischievous group who were always up to something. We used to ring up each other and say,"Am i speaking to hrithik roshan?".Landline ruled those days.Once ,i called up my friend and since there was no caller id back then ,nobody could identify the person on the other end.His dad answered and since their voices were practically identical ,it was difficult to differentiate.I inquired "Is this the BMC office?" to which he replied "Nahin,wrong number".Not willing to hang up i said "Abey khajoor,pehchana kya?".There was complete silence and he asked angrily "Kaun hai?".Realizing my blunder I knew this was the father.After apologizing I hung up. My friend got a earful about the company he kept.After this incident I ducked whenever i saw his dad approaching .My friends had a gala time with this.We are more civilized now thanks to cell phones.

Marriage

They say "love is blind and marriage is an eye opener".This turns out be true in most of the cases. I've seen couples totally smitten by each other when they are dating.Innumerable calls and sms is followed by daily meetings.It's quite impossible to take their eyes off each other and for some ,the world outside their cocoon doesn't exist.Friends and relatives are totally forgotten.Once they get married ,both take each other for granted.Somehow,the insecurity of losing one's partner flies out of the window coz now you know that there are dim chances of falling in love again.Although,some would beg to differ considering the recent amount of divorce cases that have been cropping up.After getting married, you know for sure that at the end of the day,you end up under the same roof.What people fail to realise,it requires immense effort to keep the same spark alive.It doesn't help if you find fault in each other and land up in the counsellor's office.The answer lies beneath and only you can solve the puzzle.Spending some time away in a recluse spot together would definitely strengthen the bond.Small gestures like making one's fantasies come true may ignite the lost touch.The fortunate one's who follow these tips get closer and the lesser fortunate ,Well !!!! ,the lawyers make money out of their misery.

April Fool

I was prankster in my teens.On numerous occasions i was reprimanded for these pranks.I never realized the tables would turn someday.One of my office colleagues pulled a fast one on me on the 1st of april.Posing as someone from FM radio he called me up on my landline and said he wanted to speak to me regarding a bumper prize.My father answered and was quite excited on hearing i had won the bumper prize of 1 lac.He's the perfect example of "Counting the chicken before they hatch".He made plans on what to do with the prize money.The top priority on his list was to paint the house specially since the ceiling was cracking up,second was to get a second hand maruti 800 and all this before i even came on the phone.Once i came on line ,the person on the other end inquired if i listened to FM radio.Now, since i was working night shifts , i hardly had time for a wink forget listening to radio.I replied in the affirmative coz i was too excited to tell the truth.He went about inquiring what i intended to do with the prize money and if i had a girlfriend.That gave him away and I knew this was my friend Dharmesh from the office.Suffice to say ,i was pretty embarassed and it gave him an opportunity to pull my leg in front of everyone.My father's dreams came crashing down, not to mention mine too.I learnt my lesson and henceforth,i vowed never to play a prank.But then ,you never know, as Arnold said in Terminator, "I'll be back".

Twinkle Twinkle little star

In yesterday's episode of "kaun jitega bollywood ka ticket",twinkle and puneet were back in the game due to public demand.It's pretty evident from the fact that this was a strategy adopted by the head honcho.I mean,who would want to lose such participants who are responsible for raising the TRP's of the show.Much to the disgust of the other contestants and the judges,the show goes on.All that talk of self respect and dignity went down the drain.It's all about money,money,money .What was more hilarious was to see the audio visuals of the comments made by the judges when they had walked out ,which were quite nasty but true.According to me,they shouldn't come back but I'm just a viewer so,my suggestion doesn't count.

Telemarketing

Working in a call center you encounter various experiences.I worked in both inbound and outbound processes.The experience of working in an outbound was more Fun.At the beginning of every call, it was mandatory to confirm the right person we were speaking to.I called up to inquire about a certain Mr.Smith.His son answered and said he was digging potatoes.I inquired about the convenient time to call back and was shocked to hear him say never.Judging my expression,he said ,it won't be possible because his father was DEAD. While working in a collecting process,this lady Beatrice always had excuses for not paying up.Once ,she told me she couldn't pay up as her mother had passed away ,so,after offering my condolences i hung up.When i called up after 6 months,she said the same thing that her mother had passed away the earlier day ,to which i replied sarcastically "Was it the same mother who passed away six months back??". She hung up but paid the amount the very next day.Next,i came upon a customer who said if i was looking for his wife, i should ask the cops ,for she stole his car and ran away with her boyfriend on which the payment was due.It's experiences like these that make the job more interesting.

College memories

Bunking lectures,organizing socials,going for outings with friends was our agenda during our college days.I miss chatting with the canteen owner who was known as "shetty".Nobody knew his real name coz "shetty" sounded more cool.Once,i suggested he should include a new dish.And so began the trend of bread pakoras and chinese pulav.Not once did I see him in a tense mood.Always smiling and inviting suggestions on how to improve his menu.Some of them took advantage of his sincere nature and never paid him back .Then there was a sandwichwala called "suresh" outside our college who used to make these amazing sandwiches.Mine was a "special" which had unique ingredients like extra chilli paste.Nobody could savor my sandwich coz a fire brigade had to be summoned after consuming one if you know what i mesn.Just opposite was "Rich fast food" where we always had masala dosa though the masala was non-existent most of the time.Any request for extra masala would invite a stare from "uncle".He usually surrendered.Our usual hangout was "tiwari's tea stall" where apart from few gossips we relished his homemade samosas made by his wife.He bought sweets when he had a baby girl.Inspite of being uneducated and orthodox ,he never cursed fate for giving him a girl unlike the so called literates willing to sacrifice anything for a boy.Ours was not a huge campus so we would be found near NM college ,where our friend's girlfriend studied and Silver beach which was an extension of juhu beach(Not many people know this) The amount of time that we spent at NM college made everyone believe that we were their alumnis.We were always on the black list for poor attendance and we had these PTA meetings where our parents were called in.Some brought their elder brothers and sisters to these meetings.A few brought their neighbours and friends posing as brothers and sisters.The result was quite amusing if i may add.

Fair and lovely

"Wanted fair ,beautiful and well cultured girl from a respectable family".These are the kind of ads we come across matrimonial classifieds.I have yet to read an ad where it says "wanted dark skinned girl".Majority of us have this fetish for fair skin or should i say "gori chitti".Even the ads of fairness creams display that you would get a suitable husband or a boyfriend only if you are fair skinned.Does that mean a dark skinned girl would never get married and be single for the rest of her life.Another misconception that we have is that ,only a beautiful girl can make our lives better.What happened to emotional connectivity!!!.It's very sad to say that all us have this perfect picture image which never exists.A man with a darker complexion will always have a fair women on his arm.I guess these men are unaware of the latest ads of Nivea which is meant for men which could make them fairer.This friend of mine always found faults in a girl be it her looks or character.He should thank his lucky stars for even meeting a girl because frankly he was no looker , but found it amusing to pass comments.He wanted a girl who resembled "angelina jolie".His quest for that perfect girl is still on.A partner should be someone with whom you are compatible with, looks should be secondary.

Reality shows

The latest one to join the bandwagon of reality shows is balaji telefilms.Not one to be left behind ,the head honcho decided to adopt a new strategy to rake in more moolah.Famous for extracting maximum work from her employees,she roped in all her telestars and created a dance competition.Last week's episode was a full fledged drama where twinkle bajpai and puneet left no stone unturned to raise the TRP"S.Guess all those visits to holy shrine's has finally paid off. What was more hilarious was the continuous threat made by twinkle to walk out of the show.It was a pleasure to see her finally quit the show.The amount of whistles and applauses that followed her exit was total paisa vasool.One of the contestants even commented "now the real competition has begun".Another victory in ekta's kitty.

True Story

It was my first job in a call centre in vashi.My office was in a place which was quite deserted in the night.After sunset it was quite spooky.Nobody ventured out after 9p.m.Why the hell would anybody want to open a venture in such a place.We had pick up and drop facility irrespective of the shift timings which was one of the perks of working in a call center.How i hated those graveyard shift(shift after midnight).Anyway,it was during one of those shifts that something happened.Five of us were travelling in a tata sumo and were half asleep.A few blocks away from our gate,our driver screeched the car to a halt and screamed like a devil.Being in the front seat,I woke up with a start and saw his eyes wide open with terror.We thought he had run somebody over but what followed was even more horrifying.It seems he had passed through a floating spirit of a man which was not white(thank god for that) and pretty unlike what they show in movies.We laughed out loud, one even joked that he had too much to drink but, that was clearly not the case.He was shivering with fear and didn't say a single word till he dropped us at the gate.The next day he didn't report to work as he was down with fever.Was it really a ghost, or was he joking.We will never know but I must admit that his eyes filled with fear still haunts my memory.

Search for a cook

Now i know what Sherpa tenzing felt when he reached mount everest because a search for a cook was no less.My wife and I decided it was high time we hired a cook.The question was , how do we go about it?.Now the only person with all this information would be our friendly neighbourhood(no,not spiderman)watchman or should i say security guard.We don't refer to them as Watchman anymore.I never knew our guard was a part time real estate agent and ran an employment agency.I just had to dial the intercom(take that yellow pages) and lo and behold ,there was a cook at my doorstep.After the initial question and answer round about where she worked etc etc...we got down to one where she asked, "How many people do i have to cook for?". She heaved a sigh of relief when she realized she had to cook for two.Before we could decide her remuneration she made it perfectly clear that she would come in once a day and if we require her services for more, then that would be double.I almost fell out of my chair.Anyway, she assured us that she would give us a reply at the end of the day after speaking to her employers and accordingly adjust her timings .We should learn a thing or two about time management from these people.Maybe they should be in the corporate business.I got another call that in case we haven't decided,he can send another.The second one was even more hilarious.She said she could cook almost anything and when we handed out our list, she replied sheepishly that she couldn't cook all of those.I told her exactly what i had heard during all of my interview sessions "We will get back to you".How i wish i had taken up a career as s chef ....We almost did a tribal dance when we got a positive response from our first cook.She has finally decided to cook for us lesser mortals.Bon apetit!!

Mtv Splitsvilla

Lately,I've become an ardent fan of Mtv Splitsvilla which is a reality show where 20 girls compete for 2 boys who are ex-roadies.Although the show has been termed a bit too chauvinistic, it grows on you once you start watching.Compared to the Saas Bahu dramas ,this is most entertaining.The most hilarious part is ,the girls are here just for the sake of money and not love which is quite evident from day one though they beg to differ.In the introduction phase the girl's comments gives us an over view about who would be chucked out first.The way Raghu changed the scenario at the last moment during the dumping phase was aplaudable.I don't want to sound like a PR for Raghu but it shows that he means business because not only do they get a chance to win 2.5 lacs but also end up hosting a show for Mtv topped with a full fledged career as a VJ.Those who were chucked out said some nasty things about the 2 guys in their blog.I guess ,it's a clear case of sour grapes.Serials move over, it's time for Reality shows guys!!

Interview Dilemma

At some point in life, everybody has appeared for an interview whether it's for admission in kindergarten,college or for a job. I on the other hand have appeared for more than 150 interviews.Each interview was a memorable experience.It's is a tool for testing one's patience. I mean, just imagine, the amount of hours you spend idling away just for that one interview. No matter how prepared you are,the fact is ,the entire decision lies at the sole discretion of the interviewer. It all depends on their mood.Heaven help if they had a spat earlier in the day ,it's doomsday for you. As always,I reached on time for one such interview at a multinational call centre.What i failed to realize was that the person who collected the resume didn't believe in the concept "Early to bed and early to rise".She walked in way past 11a.m which ,according to her was too early.She began by exchanging pleasantries with her colleagues. Helllooo!!! we are not here for donations exactly but no, we were just lesser mortals in her eyes. She did spot a few familiar faces though.With more exchanges to follow ,she turned towards us and took our resumes ,which by the way was the most important task in the world.She had the audacity to point out the flaws in the resume. Multitasking is also her forte as she handles calls and other miscellaneous work.After a good one and half hour ,the phase 1 of the interview began. I was ushered in the cabin and told to introduce myself. As soon as I began, the person conducting my interview was busy in his own world. Half the time he was glancing over his cell phone and laptop( it surely must have been porn since he was so engrossed)I wanted to shake his puny frame but the image of the burly security guard standing right outside forbid me to do so. I hate the part when they ask you about your family.I feel tempted to reply,My family is in the mafia and run a syndicate inside Arthur road jail and then watch their expressions.Wouldn't that be priceless!! They are also very punctual about their lunch hour but it doesn't apply for the rest. At the end of the day or night so to speak,I was totally exhausted in my fifth round. I remember vaguely what happened in the last round and rushed home without even waiting for the outcome.I surely didn't want to work in such an organization where they have total disregard for the time and feelings of others.Part two continued in my next blog..........until then ..adios...

Railway employees enjoy lap of luxury

I was shocked to see an article in mid-day about the apartments constructed for railway employees.Two 12 storey buildings with 24 flats each measuring about 2500 sq.ft.Wow!!!! talk about living in luxury.Everybody had this notion that railway staff lived in cramped apartments with basic facilities.But this one has a swimming pool ,health club etc.Such a flat would set you back by 4 crores in today's market.The amount spent on the construction was 16 crores.What we need are new tracks,additional coaches but the railway believes in squandering the tax payers money over frutile projects like these.To top it up,the railway chief says that the building is for the benefit of the employees.My point is, what about the public who pays for their benfits.Shouldn't they get a share too..Sitting in an air conditioned office,passing such comments won't help anyone,chief.At least in the States they get retirement benefits if they pay their taxes on time.Maybe we should learn a thing or two since we fund their foreign survey trips(air quotes)of these ministers anyway

Article about Estate Agents

There was an article in a popular newspaper about Estate Agents.It said ,estate agents operate from a cubicle office and are rude many times.The journalist probably had a bad experience which compelled him to write this.Some of them are true in fact,people who have zero knowledge about real estate have the audacity to call themselves "agents".They work as part time electricians,tour operators,model co- ordinators,paanwalas etc and are supposed to be know it alls.What they fail to realize,real estate requires complete dedication and knowledge about the market.These Fly by the night operators feel contacting professionals who are well versed with the nitty gritties of this business makes them one too.If the deal clicks through ,they are the first ones to claim their share.The Hard work is done by others and they take the spotlight.There are some who feel they own the agents just because they are paying commission.In order to gain respect you have to earn one.