Mallu in Delhi – Part 1

December 19, 2008 …

With @fagunbhavsar falling head-over-heels over Parvathy Omanakuttan and vouching that he is going to use coconut-oil for cooking from now on, i just cant stop laughing at the fact that i’m literally bringing the coconut-oil-touch into the shudh-dahi-hindi over here. One of the few things that my friends, or rather the only thing that my friends asked me not to do in Delhi/Gurgaon or any other place in North-India, is to speak hindi. I tried but i couldn’t, the cabbies over here will only reply, “Yes Sir” to what ever you ask them in english.

“Will you pick me up tomorrow morning?”, “Yes sir!”

“or do i have to book a cab by calling up the office?”, “Yes sir!”

So the only was i could was to ask them something was in Hindi, and realize that they are smiling at my accent. Naah !!! i dont care.

I knew the journey had started, when at BIAL, i over heard a kid tell his mom in a thick British accent – “I’m not bull-shiting you mom!!!”. Ya right and i have fluent Hindi!!!.

Its some how destined that every time i travel, something embarrassing has to happen. This time i was brimming with confidence in my new semi-formal jacket, and confidence was overflowing when i saw the Kingfisher Lady at the check-in counter greet me with the broadest smile ever and a well placed, “Have a nice flight, sir!” on parting. Did i just feel like James Bond!. Ya the joy didnt even last for 5 min. I was in for the security check. I had only carried 2 bags for my 5 day trip and the security had to ask me to open one of them.

That fortunate bag had to be the one with all my clothes. No he didn’t ask me to pull out all the clothes. But he took out my deo, my hair cream and pulled out my bottle of Vaseline cream. Oh ya, i use lotion, coz its a dry weather outside and i knew Delhi was going to be worse than Bangalore. Oops i just made it worse! Any way he took it out, and i bet even a blind man 100mts away could’ve spot the bright colored bottle. He said its not allowed. Saving the last bit of dignity, i packed my bag and asked him to keep the lotion.

Then started the boooooooring wait to board the flight. It was so booring that all i could think of was, icon smile Mallu in Delhi   Part 1 i had them written down too -

  • How will i stop 2s in sending me the message “Where are you?” every 17mins. I have a very interesting solution to that
  • Should i get married or settle in a live-in – this killed most of the time. I had to settle for live-in, considering the money that i can save or may be with half the money i save i can go on 2 honeymoons
  • Is there any way i can provide proof to Hexium’s question of Chicken or egg?

Thankfully it was time for boarding the flight. Good looking stewardesses, great food, ultimate passenger comfort. I’ll give 4.95/5 for Kingfisher Airlines. Taking away 0.05 coz, everything good in this world is either illegal, banned or owned by someone else.

Finally Delhi airport, it looked clean and different from my last visit. So here is a lesson that i learned long time back and always forget to implement it. Make your bookings/arrangements before hand. Dont think that you can do things impromptu. I didnt book my cab from the airport to the guesthouse and the next cab at my disposal was another 90minutes away. Ohh man!!! More time to kill…

Luckily the cab was there in 20 minutes and i reached guesthouse around 12PM. Off to sleep.

When you desire something true to heart, the whole universe conspires against you. My dad, my mom, my friend, the cabbie, the receptionist everyone called me and woke me up in the middle of my much needed sleep after 24hrs. Decided to call off the sleep and went to office.

I must say, people from Delhi are decedents of some Matrix generation. I tell the cabbie, “DLF Phase II, M 12/29“. Voila! the cabbie takes me there. Another set of numbers and there i’m staring at my destination. How do they do it? I do understand that its their place. But its just mere numbers. C’mon its like memorizing websites by their I.P. addresses. May be they should crack this on the next season of Myth Busters!!!

I’m looking fwd for the next 3 days of training … i hope they dont sleep off…

Wedding Bells!!! Uhh What? Where’s my BFG?

(Still wondering what a BFG is? read on…)

I was there, standing at a railway crossing. I can walk across the rails and go ahead on the road, on my way, where ever it can take me. But, No! I park my bike and start walking on the railway line. Minutes and hours pass by. I come across green meadows, houses, hills; it was a timeless journey. No thirst, no hunger, no pain, nothing. It was me, the railway line and the view. I don’t know how far i was walking. The sun was there shining high up in the sky. He never moved. I was lost in my thoughts.

It has been quite sometime that I’ve started hearing some strange sounds. It sounded like the ringing bell of an old steam-locomotive. Ting…. Ting…. Ting….

I was high on my spirits. After a long walk, i have a train to go forward. This was like the ultimate dream. Or am i dreaming? I stop to turn around. What the…. my legs are glued to the ground. I cant move!!!. I was struggling like hell to free myself. Behind me i could see the dust and smoke rising up in the horizon. What ever it may be, the dream was just about to turn ugly. My heart’s beating a 1000 beats per minute.

I look behind. I see a shining far behind. Its small, its fast and its coming my way. I’m struggling like hell. I hear the bell ringing even closer. I turn behind… What the #$#%^&^(*(&)(*_)… a pandit with neatly shaved head, big pony tail flying behind him, ringing his bell with one hand and a ‘portable’-fireplace (might be some new 21st century invention).. running towards me. What on heaven’s sake is that?

“Son”, holy crap!!! its my dad, standing to my right.

“What… How… Why…”

“Son”, jeeezzzz, its my mom, standing to my left.

“What… What are you guys doing here?”

“Tie the knot my son!!!”, they both say that with absolute precision that can even leave the most meticulously synchronized systems to shame.

“Tie what?”, i look in front of me and i almost faint. I’m holding a ‘mangalsuthru’ and there is this girl standing in front of me. I don’t know jack shit about her. Is this a right time to at least ask her name?. What am i doing …

Ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting …….

I was still sweating and breathing heavily as i jumped out of my bed. Checked around me and all round my flat just to make sure that i didn’t really wake up after my first-night… or worse 20 years after my marriage. So why do i get the feeling that this is what is going to happen to me????

Parental-pressure is high! By parental-pressure i mean damn crazy pressure that can cause you to go sleepless for days at end. If i thought that could only be the only one which can cause unrest in my serene life, i was wrong. There was… No… there IS a far more greater pressure that will eventually get happy bachelors to get married. Its scientifically called Peer-Pressure a.k.a Friends.

Celibacy is not my way of life. But Yes, face it! Its your FRIENDS who will eventually get you married. They will all be there. They are the greatest treasure that u can have. Even long after you are gone, you will live within your friends. ‘Gone’ as in not like you are dead. ‘Gone’ as in, you go on-site and they will still talk about you as, ‘Kaminaa Saala!!! On-site se kuch nahi leke aayega. Fakeeerrrr…’. You live now, not after you’re dead.

They are there. But have you ever though about what happens when they all eventually face the running-pandit, gets run over by him, never gets a chance to wake up and lives the ‘dream’. Oops you’re in trouble.

They all get married and start their family. They no longer enjoy the jokes that you shared. Even worse they even reach a point where they tell you, “Dude don’t talk about all that, she doesn’t like all that”. Worse still, his wife hates you and more worse, her husband starts having feelings for you.

Oops! your friend will change. They all change eventually and you are left alone. You just cant go and make more friends because, the ‘make-great-friends’ list gets shorter with age. Soon you will find yourself without the great friends that you used to hand out with, no new friends and you are being treated like an adult where ever you go. And i believe the later stage is definitely not where i want to find myself at.

So now there is even more pressure on you to get married…

Whats that… Ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting… Where is that BFG (Big Fucking Gun), i’m gonna kill that pandit…

WTF… its full platoon of relatives and friends marching towards me. Dad and Mom holding a garland each, friends with kids and its then i realize that the pandit was just a side-kick.

I just stand there like a scapegoat as they dance around me… Ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting…

Writer’s Block : WTF !!!! Fuck it, I’m back

 Writers Block : WTF !!!! Fuck it, Im backI was there. It didn’t feel great.

I was scared, i was lost, i was wandering in the dark.

I hit the Writer’s Block.

Trust me its a damn scary place. Felt good when i reached there, mainly due to the fact that i was busy at work and i was in no way even getting time to pee. Forced into the dark the force grew weaker in me. Two days back i faced the bitter reality that i had hit the block, i shouldn’t have taken the left turn at the T-junction at the dead-end, for what joy?, i have no idea.

Goddess Wikipedia (a.k.a. Goddess Saraswathi in Hindu Mythology), describes Writer’s Block as :

Writer’s block is a phenomenon involving temporary loss of ability to begin or continue writing, usually due to lack of inspiration or creativity.

Naah!!! Nothing of these caused my condition. I had inspiration(lots of it) and i had lots to write but i didn’t. Why? I needed a reason and today i have a reason to write. Breaking the door, like Rajani, i’m out with the reason i needed (I wish it was more like a girl that i walked out with).

20th Sept, 15th Oct and this one on the 30th of Oct, that was the frequency of my posts in the last 2 months.

Looking back i ponder what made me stop, was it the work or was it something more noir. Yes, work was one of the reasons, undeniably. 20+ hrs of working on a single day, my friends began referring me as IBM‘s bitch. Getting adjusted to the new life was one definite factor. But when i search deep it was something more than that. One that pains me still, tried shrugging it off, but couldn’t, it still lingers in the darkest thoughts. It can be described as one that is scariest for a writer. I was never credited for something that i wrote. Even my closest friends didnt acknowledge the fact that it was me. Bang! i got a “500 Internal Server Error” when i was expecting a “200 OK” with “Connection: Keep-Alive”.

Any way its all behind me, and i at least think that i’m back.

BTW my lingo has now been reduced into the results of an aftermath of heavy AS2/AS3 testing, with heavy dosage of XML and Development team that doesnt consent to bugs.

Taken this opportunity, if u would like anyone who is coming across this post to share, what made them hit writer’s block and how they did eventually overcome it….

icon smile Writers Block : WTF !!!! Fuck it, Im back

Single, Sex and Marriage

Of late, especially after i booked my flat, my folks are after me, pressurizing every bit inside me to get married. Well, thought you should know, i’ve been a bachelor and i had my share of heart breaks and breakings. After the last one, i just decided to settle with the drunk chicks at the pubs or rather get’em drunk. But how the hell am i supposed to know that my folks were having such plans for me. Trust me, its tough to be a single, good looking, smart dark bachelor down south (i love vanity). The nosy neighbors and relatives makes sure that the juice is sucked out of you. Damn you Suckers!!!

The hard part is, you don’t get to choose or say a word beyond telling yes/no to the girls that they parade in front of you. I consider myself lucky, some guys i *knew* never even had that.

Son! THIS IS YOUR BRIDE! Marry HER!

Yes dad!!!

I mean whats the whole pressure thing about? I’ve been a really well spoiled bachelor so far, waking up and sleeping with the timings of people half-way round the world, eating anything that i could lay my hands on – stale breads, half-cooked spicy chicken curry that cleans your food-track once a month, Domino’s pizzas that run for 2 days etc. etc.. Now i’m being even more responsible by booking a flat (i need to mention that it was again pressure from folks). Now that i have a place for myself, the next thing that i need to concentrate is my career, blogging, make some money etc etc. I’m not ready to be tied down.

What are the odds, that the girl they pick for you is not gonna make your life miserable? Dad’s got a comeback for that too, “At least both the families are there to help you out with that”. Then why cant i just find someone with whom i’m comfortable with? Facts to be laid straight, yes they did take care of you for a long time, but do they have to pick up your partner too.

Am i ready to take the responsibility? Hell no! May be i would like to get married, after i know that person a bit more. If not, then jumping into marriage is no different than having sex, with her and your parent’s consent!

As a closing note, the last conversation with my dad ended with him telling me this -

“As a bachelor, you live like a King and die like a Dog, Once married, you live like a Dog and die like a King”

No idea who put that in his head, but i sure did got it out. Even my mom was left gaping after that dialogue.

The Political Misdirections

manmohan singh The Political MisdirectionsYa ya ya, The UPA government won the trust vote. Now everybody is happy, lets say the UPA and its allies are at least happy that the nuclear deal will happen without any glitch.

So whats keeping the Left in the news, well they have dutifully expelled Somnath Chattergee, as of now!!!

And the BJP, the poor saffron brigade had MPs that switched sided, took money etc etc and are finding themselves in their pool of shit.

As for the wanna-be PM or rather the future PM, Rahul Gandhi, his speech at the parliament was meant to be patriotic. Its amazing when somebody out of the blue has a burst of patriotism. The wanna-be PM Lalooji (i will only call him lalooji as he is the only devil around with an angel’s halo – look at the railways), he sure did crack some dialogues and made his point on the Lok Sabha floor. At least he had the balls to say that he wants to be the PM, may be not now but later (great!!!). I would rather see the nation run by him than by Mayawathi.

Copy of INDIA POLITICS NUCL The Political MisdirectionsSo you thought that everything is going to settle and die down after the trust vote? That we will have our so called ‘nuclear-deal’, of which half of the debating politicos have no idea what its about, going through and life will go on as normal. I cant believe that somebody as dumb witted as the Muslim League (or one of their clones) comes up the brightest allegation – Nuclear Deal is anti-Muslim!!!.

Well Nuclear-deal is done or rather will be. Now what will i do for my entertainment. At home the trust vote sparked so much of interest that after we lost our borrowed tuner-card back to whom it belonged to, my room mates went on a buying spree. They bought a new internal tuner-card and DAMN!! the thing never worked. They had to cuddle themselves in front of the streaming video that they could salvage out of the Wimax connection. Next day i reach home to find an external tuner-card. Great!!!Perfect!!!

When all my hope was lost – Ram Sethu pops up. Ok! i’m sorry, i thought we done with that controversy a long time ago. Naaahhh, the government needs something to remain in news. The latest news says that Ram nuked the Sethu after he was done with Lanka. So what? Preserve it!!! Preserve something that is speculated to be God’s creation and let the freight ships make a Lanka journey. Let the price of goods carried by the ships to the Bengal coast be more, let the people suffer.

12inter The Political MisdirectionsBut hey wait a sec!!! why is it that we have controversy and allegation and political drama filling up the air-waves. Guys, just rewind a new weeks back. What was it that hit the news then? INFLATION!!! and we were damn sure that the Government couldn’t do much about it, than sit and watch. The price of a barrel of crude oil just went beyond Mars and there was no stopping the inflation arrow. But what happened???

Aren’t we still in that same phase. Aren’t we still facing the Inflation terror???

Ohh wait!!! the govt has diverted all public attention to Nuclear-deal.. Ohh that’s done.. its Ram Sethu now!!!!

Enjoy the Price Hike!!!!