Kaushik Banerjee - I will miss you

I happened to work with you in not as many deals as I would have liked to. I remember the time we worked in 2017, where you supported the entire deal from Sydney for a huge transformation program  while I was in Manila for our APAC Sales Conference for 3-4 days. You held the fort together for a very complex transformation deal we were working on, during a very critical juncture. You had just moved from a sales role to consulting, but the value you added was phenomenal and one of a pro. We didn’t work on other deals post this. Maybe because you were working with your banking customers and I was working with Utilities customers? However the bonds we formed in spite of this were so strong, so personal. I am deeply pained to see this untimely demise of you my dear friend - Kaushik. Why did you have to leave us so soon? 

It was such a pleasure meeting you at work, that unmissable smile on your face, your speech often laced intellect with humour.  Our coffee catchups exploring every cafe shop in and around 76 Berry Street in the mornings or noons were so rich with conversations. Despite our hectic schedules we used to try our best to get those 20 minutes for a brekkie and coffee in the morning or just an afternoon coffee to break a hectic work hour. We had just started exploring cafeterias for good breakfast in North Sydney and planned to do more of it. Do you remember the brekkie down the plush restaurant on Walker Street? The conversations spanning across work, personal lives, about the world of consulting, how we could position ourselves better as individuals and organisations. We also discussed books, consulting reports that you were so well averse with. You used to read a lot digitally as well. Your love for wooden furniture with stressed wood and everything that had character. Our long conversation exchanging how we chose bookshelves - especially wooden are still so fresh in my mind. Your wit, sarcasm were so well woven. Your strength of character as you battled the day to day challenges on professional and personal front completely shone though. The unmissable smile on your face always underscored that strength with a subtle message, which now I interpret as ‘The show must go on’. You used to love to travel and I had keenly followed your photos posted from your trip to UK a few years back. You had recently travelled to Vanuatu last year over a long weekend and had told how you and family planned to take break every year. You were in India as well in December break this year, so was i. Our discussion on Andheri and Mumbai is still fresh in my mind.

We both had been a part of Toastmasters in our early years of the professional life. We discussed so many times in the last few years to get back to being an active part of it again and join one of the clubs. The last I spoke to you was during the lockdown when I was in self isolation. I was just seeing my WhatsApp messages and see I had shared my blog with you post that conversation. I had urged you to write one, which you did by end of April. You had sent me a link to your blog as well on 28th April, which I read, re-read so many times. Your command over language, the smooth narrative and ability to make the reader picturise what you communicated on your blog was awesome. I loved the personal touch that you brought in with mentions about Pebbles, your cat and cherished possession in the blog. You have so nicely also mentioned about the life around your cats even on Facebook in the last few years, which have been so warm to read. My life changed from 02nd May due to a personal struggle I had to go through and in parallel to that a contractual negotiation that took a huge toll on me. I know you were busy as well. Calling you crossed my mind so many times in the last few weeks, but I thought I will speak to you soon. In fact on Friday, 12th June at 5.45 pm I was having a casual chat with another colleague who sits around us. I spoke about how fun it was to have my office desk next to yours, his and of the people around and the humour, fun we shared in between our hectic work meetings. You were our jest, conscience keeper and friend in need. Your penchant to collect  different water bottles, classic stationary and especially expensive pens was well known. You had a class, style, sales accumen and a big heart. 

On Saturday, June 13th when I got this news in the morning, I was shocked and couldn’t believe it was true. I had to pinch myself to ensure it wasn’t a bad dream. It took sometime for me to digest it. Once I got your address and knew it was safe to be outside your house considering current lockdown rules,  I tried driving to your place as fast I could, directly taking the M7 and then M5 to reduce the 50 kms of distance between our houses, in less than 40 minutes.  I couldn’t meet you but could feel your presence, the furniture choice and shades had class written all over it as I entered the reception, numb and hardly able to say any words I could to Natasha except that ‘ I used to sit behind you at work and have coffee with you often’. Natasha, going through so much, admirably put up a strong front and told me ‘ one soy flat white, that was his favourite’.

Maybe God himself has been going through these unprecedented times with lot of courage and needed someone witty, with a sense of intellect, power of words, warmth and humour to keep him strong. Om Shaanti Kaushik! Pray for strength for Natasha, your family and friends.

Global Haircutting Experience – Part 5

Price: $ 15 - $ 30 excluding a tip. Prices depend on how closer or farther you are from the city

It’s a while since I blogged about getting a hair cut outside of India.  I got an opportunity to work in the Southern Hemisphere and in a new continent, as I was finishing my engagement in UK in 2013. My wife and I jumped into the opportunity to re-locate to Australia. Sydney has now been home for close to seven years (come May) and during this period of time, I have constantly shifted residence. With this shift in housing from the Western to North Western parts of Sydney, we also had to choose different shopping areas to get groceries, vegetables and all sundries or for self-grooming such as getting a haircut.

In Strathfield, I found a place right next to the square in front of the train station. It was perched on level one of a big building that house various shops from grocery stores, laundries, Korean fast food joints, florists to dollar stores. As you climb up the stairs, a bell chimed thereby alerting the shop owners upstairs that they had a visitor. The men’s saloon was straight up and the women’s was just to your left hand side as soon as you took the last step up the flight of stairs. The gentleman in the men’s saloon was a person of Indian origin, who comes from Gujarat, a state in the western part of  India. Over the three years that I stayed in Strathfield, I would have visited him atleast 25 times. Every visit was full of conversations ranging from Bollywood, cricket to Indian politics. We discussed at length about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was elected to be the Prime Minister for his first tenure around that time. The respect, adulation and following the person had for Mr. Modi was unmissable and he had all the facts of how well Modi had done as the Chief Minister of his home state – Gujarat. Whenever there were cricket matches where Indian team played, be it IPL or International matches, he used to have it telecast live on the television set that found a permanent place in the corner of the modest work space. The waiting times indeed kept everyone creatively occupied if not with cricket matches, with Bollywood movie songs. Songs, that take you down memory lane to your growing up years and allowing you to visit parts of your own personal memory that you were surprised to re-discover.

Once we moved farther from the city, towards the ‘Wild West’, Girraween became our new abode. The closest train station from Girraween is Pendle Hill or Toongabie, depending on which end of the suburb you reside. Pendle Hill had shops occupying both sides of the narrow street called ‘Pendle Way’. Pendle Way connects the Pendle Hill Station on one side before merging into another lane. On another end, it takes you upto Great Western Highway, one of the major roads connecting various suburbs between Parramatta and Blacktown and an alternate to the M4 motorways. Pendle Hill is the ‘South India’ or ‘Tamil Nadu’ of Australia. The suburb has a rich history of European and local Aussie inhabiting it for a long time. Over the last 20 -30 years the social fabric of Pendle Hill has changed and it has been dominated by people from the Indian subcontinent, especially from Tamil Nadu (a state in the South of India) and the Tamil inhabited parts of Sri Lanka. The Tamils of Sri Lankan origin, have always made a home away from their original home in Sri Lanka, in countries such as Norway, UK, Australia. I have found them to be one of the most hard-working people and easy to get along with in my limited social interactions. There are big hoardings on both sides of Pendle Way advertising various shops that sell everything from Indian, Sri Lankan groceries, flowers for various religious ceremonies, gold jewellery, Indian ethnic clothing to items for Puja / worship. Most of the hoardings have signage both in English and Tamil. This strip is also the gastronomic bowl of authentic South Indian food – both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. The prices are reasonable, ambience is modest but food is great. If you happen to walk down this street and have a look around, you may well feel you are in a village in Tamil Nadu in India than in Sydney. There is a barber shop right in between various shops, called ‘Ceylon Cut’.  I have at least had 22 haircuts across both of their branches – one in Pendle Hill and the other right outside Toongabbie road for the couple of years I stayed at Girraween. It has been an interesting experience getting the hair cut here, as the television in the corner is constantly switched onto Tamil TV programs aired by SunTV. Having been born and brought up in Mumbai, it’s a totally refreshing experience to listen to Tamil Songs, movies in the background as you wait for your haircut or have it. I got new friends here, not only with the person in charge but also the various hair stylists who gave me a hair-cut. Some of the interesting stories of how they got to Australia and this shop, from Sri Lanka or even from within Australia are waiting to be told some other day. However cannot resist indicating that once we had a lady of Asian origin who was interning in an otherwise male dominated work space. I didn’t see many takers who volunteered and when I was asked if would be OK, I decided to try it out. Though the lady had a language barrier (she could understand some amount of English), the person in charge communicated between me and the lady to pass on the requirements on how I would like my hair cut.  While I was a tad nervous on how the final outcome would look like, my fears were put to rest as she did a good job. It is indeed inspiring to see the diversity and inclusiveness built even by these small businesses. When I accompanied my father here for a haircut, while they were in Sydney, I managed to get a special rate for Seniors (knocking off $ 3 from the usual rate)!  Once the hair cut is finished, as I settled the bills, the gesture with which the person in-charge communicated showed a lot of gratitude and keenness to serve again. This aspect was always certain for every visit I would have made to the Ceylon Cut in Pendle Hill. There are few customer experiences that touch your heart and stay etched in for a long time, and this one is just one of those rare occasions.

Last year, we shifted from the Inner West to the North West and in the last few months, I have been visiting the barber at Parklea Markets, a flea market selling anything from vegetables and fruits to groceries, bargain items, clothes, memorabilia and dry fruits. It also has a huge garden, collection of pots, antiques, kids play areas and of course a barbers shop. Adams barber shop now has two spots, right in front of Entry 1 of Parklea Markets and the other, far behind, near the CBA ATM. I have had a hair cut at both places and been served by young kids, who seem to be some Middle Eastern country (maybe Iran, Iraq or Lebanon). While few are able to communicate in English, the ones who can’t can quickly understand what you want post a translation from the owner. They do a fab job, but operate only on a cash (which wasn’t the case with the other two mentioned above) basis. Recently when I had gone shopping to Parklea over the weekend with my father and father in law, I decided to have an unplanned activity and had a haircut, while I asked them to explore the shops around, as there was hardly any waiting.

On a lighter note, dad asked me to check if they had a Senior’s discount or a bulk discount for three heads and it was politely declined by the team. Maybe few months or years away? Is it the right time to now be self sufficient and buy a men’s grooming kit and do all the hair-cuts at home? Time will tell, or probably the growth of hair as I age will determine 😊

UK Special - Boxing Day Sale!

Festivals are a time to open up your purses and splurge on food, clothes or other accessories.  Irrespective of the economic cycle a nation or the world is in, this is a time when you as a spender will not mind spending your hard earned money. During these times of festivals, especially the brands whose products you buy cannot choose to ignore you. 

These brands and the larger organisations behind them try to make the most of this sentiment to “spend money“ by offering huge discounts and door buster “hard-to-ignore” deals. It is a time for them to improve their top line (revenue) and take a marginal hit on their bottom line (profits) – as the discounts drive down the profit margins; however it is still impressive for them to repeat this practise of giving discounts many times a year. For you as a buyer, it is – a hit on your savings (equivalent to profit margins), depletion of top line (income/savings) but a huge satisfaction of our consumerism and the feeling of “getting a good deal”.

In the UK, one of the best times to get a discount is during the Boxing Day sale. Boxing Day is the day after Christmas. Traditionally from the olden ages, it was a day when the rich & luxurious used to give presents to their servants, workers or close ones and give them a day off. Maybe this symbolizes the efforts put in by the people throughout the year and an act of Thanksgiving. Boxing day is also a public holiday in the UK.  Today, Boxing Day is the day when the English loosen their purse strings and the High Street Retailers and all organisations across Clothes, Fashion and Electronic Goods give their best bargains to increase their wallets of the shoppers in England. 

A Boxing Day sale is exactly similar to the sales which go on in the US – a day after Thanksgiving (which typically comes in November). Shops are open from early in the morning till late in the evening with their cash registers clocking sales by the minute and their websites loaded with internet users buying items virtually. The early morning door buster sales are for the determined shopper, who can wake up early in the morning, brave the cold and stand in line before the store opens for the day, ready to get best of the deals. However even if you miss door buster, there is still enough meat during the entire day, for you to splurge your money on!

Debenhams, Harrow Mall, London, UK - 2010

A visit to the shops later in the evening, just before they close for the day gives you a sneak peak of the highlights of the day. One of such pictures was captured by me during the Boxing Day sale of 2010, when i was in London – visiting a Debenhams outlet in Harrow. I am sure there would have been a few “cat fights” between ladies – trying to snatch the first best outfit that hits the eye!

This Boxing Day of 2012 , Meenakshi & I had been to a factory outlet – Junction 32, which is about 20 minutes from our place. A very nice mall – horizontally spread – just like the huge malls in Connecticut, US that i used to frequent with my friends. Over 90 multi brand outlets don Junction 32  and keeps one busy with the discounts and offers all over the year. In a span of 5-6 hours that we spent at Junction 32, we gave footfalls to Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Collectibles, Marks & Spencer, Gap and allowed Nike, Next and Gap to have a share of our wallet!  Next is typically known for better quality and styled clothes than Primark, Marks & Spencer and is a suggested “must visit” during Boxing Day sales in UK.

Junction 32 Mall, Castleford, UK - 2012

Thanks to Subway for ensuring we were able to relax and recharge our batteries before finishing off abusing our credit cards this Boxing Day Sale! Hope we stay off this temptation for sometime now and avoid buying this we did not plan to buy in the first instance! 

On a lighter note - let me assure that if you miss shopping this day when in England, with the lady in your house - be prepared to get "boxed" on your jaws or tummy for sure! No wonder -someone named it right as - "Boxing Day" when men ought to loose the match!

Happy Boxing Day folks!

Comic Strip: Lucy and the TV person by Ms. Sanjana Iyer

As a kid, i was slowly discovering the penchant for writing. The vent was through 2-3 page short stories scribbled on the calendar diaries gifted by my dad. The frequency was periodic and not regular and unfortunately it wasn't as clean as writing it on computer - thanks to my illegible handwriting (which still has stayed loyal to me to this date!) and correction/ spelling mistakes!

I had never attempted a comic strip ever - probably because of bad drawing skills and also lack of an imaginative mind. My niece Sanju the poetess has now donned the hat of a comic strip creator in this one. Found this lying somewhere at my sis's place while they were shifting houses this November. Got a chance to sneak this one into our bags and post approval from the budding writer - i have decided to put this one the blog. Putting this in an image format for ease of read for all!

All the best Sanju! Carry on writing and creating these comic strips! When you grow up - do follow "Calvin & Hobbes", "Dilbert", "Garfield" and "Chintoo" (if you learn marathi) - which will be good inspiration!

Global Haircutting Experience – Part 4

United Kingdom - England

Price: £4-£6 (INR 320 - INR 560) excluding a tip (2006-2012 prices)

Probably the last of the series under this topic on my blog – unless I visit another country! Having donated my locks of hair for years in India and then having cut it in US and Norway I have had a chance to have this experience in England as well.

I have been visiting England as a tourist since 2006. However, since 2011, I have been deputed for work on an official assignment.  Over these trips, I have had my haircut in London on numerous occasions and also in Leeds. The price I have paid for these haircuts is somewhere between £ 4 and £ 6 per hair cut session (excluding any tip which is around £ 0.50 to £ 1.00).  Because Britain has been open to immigration for years (prior to 2010), the influx of Asians, Iranians and African’s makes it a very price competitive market.

In London, my first few experiences have been at the salon on the High Street just before the junction of Ealing Road and High Street in Wembley. The hairdressing salon with a signboard of Irfan is quiet prominent amongst other signboards that may well make you feel you are in India. Signboards like “Chennai Dosa”, “Bank of Baroda” donning the entrance of these Indian bastions may make a local Englishman feel like an outsider! Irfan typically has hairdressers from Pakistan/ border of Afghanistan and Pakistan or from Afghanistan who have sought asylum in England. With typical Bollywood music playing in the background and conversation in broken Hindi with Urdu influence,  you doesn’t feel you are in a foreign country when you close your eyes as the scissors go – click, click!

In Leeds, I have been able to find another cheap hair dressing salon – right next to a Persian restaurant in the city centre.  An African man does a good service of cutting your tresses for not more than £6. With conversations spanning London Olympics and other sports and travel around the world – I have fond memories of having visited him for 2-3 times.

Early this month, I was literally forced onto having a haircut in London (though I knew long before I needed one, but was just plain lazy!) by my sister. Since my wife is in India and my work was taking me more often to London, I had crashed into my sisters & brother-in-laws for over a week. Early December, I spotted a hairdressing salon on Wembley Plaza, right outside Wembley Central station which proudly proclaimed to cut your tresses for £3.99/- under the name of “Satish Haircut”. I was a tad circumspect if the low price had something more suspicious about it. After running it past my brother – in-law to get his local expertise, I decided to take a risk. Satish hairdressers welcomed me and thankfully – there was no waiting time at 5.00 pm on a cold Tuesday evening. Satish’s cell phone was playing Kumar Sanu songs from the Bollywood movies of the 1990’s in the background. I explained to him in plain Hindi (like we do in India) on what needs to be done, closed my eyes and went into a trance feeling i was in India – thanks to the music and an Indian guy around. In about 20-25 mins I was down a few white and black hairs off my head and got closer to the haircut I always wanted so badly while abroad, but never got. My tip justified my satisfaction for sure! Thanks Satish – if I happen to come next time – all my tresses are to be cut by yours truly! Thanks for the Gujarati conversation in the background you were having with your other colleague; I could well have been in Ghatkopar, Mumbai in India that in Wembley, England that chill December evening! Home away from home!

Having a hair cut is the cheapest in England, outside of India – if you know where to look for – especially Asian/ African dominated areas. Even while I was in Norway, whenever I used to visit England, I planned my haircuts to ensure those £7-£ 10 were saved - eventually to be splurged in something else which was much more trivial! 

Bro Bonding - Happy,but not Gay!

It seems a while since i wrote a full blog post which is not another travelogue or pic motivate. There is no waiting time for an idea that has arrived as they say! It’s been a while now that I have wanted to blog on one of my old friends – Vishal or aptly nick named Sandy by me and Rana (another common ex-colleague cum friend cum roomie of ours).

Sandy and I studied in the same engineering college – specialized in Electronics engineering, but we were in different class rooms throughout the course. Our paths hardly crossed in the first three years of our four year engineering course. In the fourth year – thanks to the extra-curricular activities we were involved in – Vishal leading the IEEE activities and yours truly dabbling in both IEEE as well as Placement Committee, we started to know each other and understand our existence. Our relationship was that of acknowledgement of our roles in these extracurricular activities and there was nothing like a “friendship” or common bonding between us. Neither were we friends nor were we trying to avoid each other. Both were however destiny’s chosen projects – when it came to the next 10 years of our life post final year of engineering – 2002.

Thanks to my participation in the students placement committee of our college and the impending recessionary clouds left by the Internet Dot Com Bubble of 2000`s, not many of us got campus jobs after completing a torturous 4 year engineering course! Vishal & I were sailing on the same boat and were going about our own ways of hunting jobs – not crossing our paths between May and July of 2002. In August’ 2002 we both were invited by Infosys – along with other batch mates and the larger strata of Mumbai's engineers for one of those “entrance tests" in one of the colleges in Mumbai. Such examinations are conducted by the dozens in India by Public Services, Banking Industry, but was probably being conducted for the first time - out of campus by a reputed Private company. We cleared the written test, sailed through the interviews and got our offer letters on Sept 5^th 2002 (I am thankful to god that i used to check SPAM mails then and not DELETE any emails! The appointment letter landed on my SPAM folder!) After a 4 month long ordeal of being jobless and watching other batch mates start going to their first job and getting monthly salaries, we felt life wasn’t too bad. (Interesting point to note that post 2002 - the flood gates opened in Indian IT organizations and they started ramping up from being a 15,000 strong organization to 150,000 - 200,000 strong organizations now in 2012).

We both connected with each other then and thanks to the fact that we had a common alma mater in our engineering college, our residence in close by suburbs ( Thane & Mulund) – we geared up with other likewise friends to prepare for being in Infosys Bangalore from end September – the first job of our lives! The Infosys job was destiny's play to probably bring us closer over the years. Be it the shared frustrations of being jobless before we started, or discussing pressures of day to day work life – that we did quiet often since we were sharing our accommodation with other room mates. We spent a total of 3 years – sharing common accommodation across cities like Bangalore, Pune which deepened our understanding of each other and our resultant friendship.

Over the years, the mutual interests that have connected us well include (not an exhaustive list):

a) video games – we totally exploited Sandy’s X-Box in 2003/ 2004 / 2006. I always wanted to buy a video game console for myself, but guess never was able to buy one. Maybe loosing to Sandy on a “Dead or Alive” game fighting down was better than solo single player escapades from reality?

b) Toastmasters Club – we both joined this amazing movement in Bangalore – through the local Infosys Toastmasters Club. We donned various roles during meetings, gave various projects from the CTM Manual and also were office bearers. That spark from Infosys Bangalore was also further implanted in Infosys Pune, when we started the “Lets Talk” public speaking club, which was then certified as a fully functional Toastmasters club. In fact i had posted about “Lets Talk” on this link in 2004. Pls click here

c) Hanging Out & Movies: We painted “Bangalore” red by hanging out in Brigade Road – MG Road – Commercial Street and by watching most of the movies in single screen (multiplexes were just gaining an entry then) theatres over weekends with other room mates or by renting DVD’s and watching it indoors. Some of the good times we have had as room mates is also captured on "Tribute to Bangalore Roomies" at this link.

d) Blogging: This has been an “acquired” taste for us over the years. Sandy’s blogs have stayed true to the internet and have been descriptive, detailed – articulating his travel and travails as a global nomad across India, China & Americas. He is now dabbling very well by blogging on areas out of his comfort zone. You can access his blogs here. One of the blogs on this site - Dogs take on corruption was an inspiration i derived when we were together at the Registrar office in Thane, India in April 2012.

e) Humour:  Over 10 years – there have been so many shared memories now that we have a pulse on each others sense of humour and those incidences from 2002- 2006 that still makes our face break into a smile if not a passing laugh. Be it “SaSa” and his pink tubelights or the innocence of “Tatya Vinchoo” – our dear roomie, “Sasuma” or “Boss”– we chose to exploit humour in the most unusual circumstances!

f) Being Spontaneous: Doing as crazy a thing like putting up a tent in the living room of your apartment and enjoying a beer inside, playing “Holi” inside the walls of our 3 BHK late at night – back from office or diligently weaving a story on the fly and selling ourselves as poor students from Sangli to bargain a piece of kitchen and bathroom ware from a “Marathi centric” seller in Kothrud, Pune - we guys have done it all!

g) Enjoying Outdoors: We have jointly done the “Bababudanagiri / Mullaianagari” Trek with other roomies and also the 40km cycling trip to Manchenbelle dam. Blog for these trips are also available online - Manchenbelle Trip Blog or Mullaianagari Blog ! Look forward to another outdoors in the coming years!

g) many more – but will reserve it for some other blog!

Sandy has been “God’s Saviour” on many occasions – the most important ones during my home moves. When i moved in from Bangalore to Pune - following Sandy (he moved a month earlier to me), i had pushed some luggage through him to Pune. When i landed in Pune – a city where i knew no one – Sandy had come to pick me up at the station – ready to embrace the tonnes of baggage i had carted out from Bangalore. Even when i was moving back from Pune to US or while i was moving houses in the US, i had Sandy with me in Connecticut, helping me shift through boxes! He was in Connecticut for a group re-union and didn’t mind lending a helping hand for the shifting! I should ideally feel guilty for taking advantage of his helpfulness so much. However i know i can depend on very few people and he is in that short list of mine!

We no longer work for Infosys. We are still very much upto date on our lives. We do speak often  – almost once/ twice a month and keep connected through GTalk, Facebook and our Blogs. Sandy is currently in a very interesting part of his professional journey, a journey not many undertake. I am sure all the positive elements of nature will conspire to help him achieve the pinnacle and realize his potential.

As i said - there is no waiting time for an idea that has arrived! This blog idea has been niggling my mind for some time now. I chose to reserve it till Sandy’s Bday in December, but can’t help – the time of this idea has come!

And by the way if your mind just went a tad mischievous – we are “Happy, but not Gay” !

DC & Sandy rocking @ Thane, India

"The beautiful butterflies" by poet Sanjana Iyer

My niece Sanjana is young, but has a way with words. Glad to share that her poem and picture were chosen amongst many other entries in her school and other schools in London to be featured in the “Wild World” Magazine issued by National History Museum, UK. I got a scanned copy of the printed edition from my sister and here is the Poem from Sanju titled “The beautiful butterflies”. Pls note that the bright and bubbly butterflies in the pic below are also drawn by our adorable and enthusiastic poet.

Sanju got a book on “Bugs” as a present from Wild World. Here’s wishing all the best to our dear Sanju aka Ubbu to develop her writing career!

About Wild World:

Wild World is packed with 32 colour pages of features, fun facts, competitions, puzzles, posters and much more. You can enjoy a special feature on the top 10 lethal weapons of the natural world, hear from TV wildlife presenter Chris Packham, and there's an opportunity to help name a wasp.More on it at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/become-a-member/magazines/wild-world/

Met Irrfan Pathan (IP) in Kolkata Airport!

We love meeting celebrities, don’t we? I happened to meet one today. I just landed about a couple of minutes back in Kolkata Airport – come here for a two day customer visit. I got off boarded from the plane and walked towards the conveyor to collect my luggage. Standing across on the other side of the conveyer was a man i thought i had seen before. I was sure he was an important guy as there was one of the ground staff at Kolkata airport, lurking around him - probably about to request for a pic with him. Other passengers around didn’t pay credence initially, but then realized it was a celebrity. I am bad in identifying celebrities in person – but this time i was bang on! It was Irrfan Pathan (IP) – the all rounder in the Indian team who has now slowly made sort of come back into the team. Irfan had a handsfree snaking around his neck and the other hand was twiddling with an electronic gadget – maybe his cell phone. I was initially hesitant to walk over and meet him as i just didn’t want to appear as JADCF (Just Another Desperate Celebrity Fan). He was gracious in signing autographs for hordes of people as he waited for his luggage.

The cricket fan in me however overcame my initial hesitation to meet him as a JADCF. I walked across to the other side of the conveyer, paying gay abandon to any luggage that was snaking across the tiny strip. A tap on the shoulders, shook his hands and here’s what transpired:

Me: Hi Irrfan. Nice to meet you.

IP: Thanks. Nice to meet you

Me: Its nice to see you in the team to Australia. Look forward to see you in further trips. Your tally of 160 odd wickets should hopefully touch 500. Fingers crossed.

IP: Thanks for the wishes. Inshallah!

Me: All the best!

Irrfan Pathan - Kolkata airport

After a few minutes, when his luggage was in place, he then headed off to the only place where women cannot enter – mens room! Probably the Kolkata Night Riders practise is commencing starting tomorrow, for the Indian Premier League (IPL)!

I then clicked his pic from the side. For some reason, had i been JADCF, i would have succumbed for a pic together or for his autograph.But nah..maybe some other day/ some other celebrity.

Signing off from my first fresh blog from Kolkata city airport – within 30 minutes of the occurrence of the event covered in this blog! But promise – this is a true story and “Ami Shotti Bolchi!” (meaning "I am saying the truth" in Bengali)

Encounter with a German with Indian hangover at Oslo

It was one of those weekday evenings, which is like many others that you live throughout your working life. It is marred by suits, crisp shirts, polished shoes and a packed calendar at the start of the day that make you nervous in the morning and tired and stress free by night. It was a Wednesday evening and about three weeks before my last day in Norway. I was transitioning my role, responsibilities and customer relationships to my successor. We had returned after having a meeting followed by dinner with customer at a place which was about two hours away from Oslo by Train. It would have been around 10 pm when we had alighted out of the NSB train at National Theatret railway station at Oslo.

Just before the train came to a halt, i saw an old lady who would probably be in her late 50's. She was lean, relaxed and looked a weary traveler with a check in baggage that had weathered many a countries and a small trolly cabin baggage. The lady had gathered all her luggage around her and patiently waiting for the train to halt and doors to open so that she could alight. Very rarely does the gentleman in me wake up. Since i was not carrying any bag this time, i voluntarily offered to lift her heavy cabin baggage and place it on the train platform. Having done that, my colleague / successor immediately mirrored me and took her cabin baggage. Once we were at the platform and all the passengers started rushing towards the exits of the station, she paused and asked us "Are you from India". We answered in unison "Yes". She smiled and said she had lived many years there. This lady did not look Indian or Asian in any aspect. Over talks we realized she was originally from Germany but had travelled enough over the years. Her command over English also underlined the fact. Over conversations, we decided to walk down the long lonely platform of the station and took the escalators to travel up by two floors to reach the entrance of the railway station. The lady was thanking us for helping her and on the way and was interested to know about our backgrounds. So as two suit laden gentleman walked across the station with a lady and her bags in tow. we looked like her personally armed bodyguards out of a Hollywood movie!

The lady was a part of a cult in India called "Ananda Marga". It is one of those many organizations which preach ancient scriptures, Yoga and some teachings of the universe and life from Hindu religion. She had spent an impressive number of years (maybe greater than 10) in India and across the globe. Several other volunteers and peers like her travelled across the world to organize relief in places of floods, famine, earthquake or other natural / man made disasters. She also had a Hindu name christened to her by her Guru, prefixed by the word "Didi" which fondly means "sister" in Hindi. For sake of protecting her identity, i wish to not name her, but her pronunciations of her name and other Sanskrit / Hindi words were second to none.

As the conversation became more interesting, we decided to walk her a bit more further than we had initially intended to. We decided to slide her 40 kg luggage for over 20 minutes to the pier at Aker Brygge, where all the ferry's hop on and hop off passengers. Over the walk, i exchanged notes on Yoga, the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" and about "Paramguru Mahavatar Babaji". I was sharing also my own experiences of meditation when i was onto it years back. Her reflections and intelligent discussions on the subject with rich insights on Indian history and Yogic art were phenomenal. She mentioned that she was now coming to Norway for a short assignment and was pleased to find shelter in a small island off Oslo. Typically, people like her from the Ananda Marga (the meaning of which is "Path to Happiness" in English) live off such help from kind hearted people. They typically have their institutions in rural areas or off farms, so that they can cultivate their own food and consume it. They believe in being self sufficient internally than having to buy things from the market.

Since it was just two - three weeks since another Indian religious guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba had met his end, i asked her if she knew about him. Sri Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi had a huge following from India and all over the world. Its difficult for anyone to not know him. During his last rites, all the major cults had been to see him one last time. I remembered seeing the controversial peer Swami Nithyananda attending Sri Sathya Sai Baba's last rites in a newspaper clipping on the internet. We spoke about the reputational risks in philosophies like these as a lot of Genuine Baba's turn out to be scamsters and don't have a clean image. She was honest enough to admit that her cult also had experienced some allegations years back, but still those who believed continued with it. The conviction with which she spoke also highlighted the mind share that these guru's are able to have on their disciples over a period of time. Some of these Guru's would be actually the best "Salesmen" ever known. Selling something for money (short term) is one thing and selling something for nothing and yet gain their patronage for life (long term) is all together a different ball game.

We finally saw her off at the ship terminal till she boarded the ferry and waved her hand at us and thanked us profusely. We waved back at her, smiled and wished her all the best. I was smitten by this unique experience of meeting a European with more of Indian culture and knowledge of Sanskrit, yoga than an Indian in Europe was some experience.

The moonlight shone over the horizon. The ripples over the calm sea were colored with moonlight in patches as if by design than by accident. Staring blankly on the ships and private boats parked around the banks of the sea, my mind was wondering - Why did we meet Didi? What is it that the supreme forces of nature wanted me to experience out of this meeting? Is there more to life than just the capitalist undying quench to travel, earn, slog your assess off and yet be disappointed with what you have and strive for more? Is it important for us to appreciate and ingrain the deep reserves of mythology, scriptures, yoga that the rich culture of India brings along? Has the West now let go off plundering material wealth off India and looked forward to soak itself in our cultural richness to find their lost path? While they were finding their lost path's, are we Indians loosing our sense of direction by looking westwards for everything?

I keep thinking..and so will you!

Subway Sandwich of Cricket, Politics and Bollywood

Last few months, the Indian economy has been like a long Subway Sandwich which has a lot of filling in it. The bread on either sides signifying the period between which you want to access what happened in India. The filling in between the bread being signified by Cricket, Politics and Bollywood and all seem to be intermingled.

Especially Cricket and Politics have added a lot of weight and meat to the thickness of the Subway Sandwich (India’s economy). The Indian cricket team’s tour to South Africa, followed by the 40 days of the journey to win the World Cup had already drained Indians of their craze for the game. If this was not enough, it was followed by IPL for another 40 days which is more like having twice the tomato filling in a normal subway causing the subway to explode. Thankfully the Indian economy won’t explode due to cricket in the real sense of the term. It would rather implode by the wavering levels of productivity that too much of cricket brings into the nation. Too much cricket means increased advertisements spends by various multinationals there by leading to a unwanted inflation in prices of items you are made to consume. The coffers of BCCI, cricketers are filled up from these advertisements and all that a spectator like you and me are left is heartache if India loose the match and future loss of hard earned money irrespective of their win or loss. The future loss is due to the potential increase in prices of things we consume from Car Batteries to Chyawanprash, caused by the money that a Yuvraj or Sachin needs to be paid to say a one liner to sell that product. Too much of tomato kills the taste of other ingredients in  a Subway sandwich. Similarly, too much of cricket kills the purchasing power capacity of the country as we pay more for the same products and also are less productive when matches are being played, leading to small setbacks in personal and professional life.

The story will now become more complicated. While you thought your Subway only had cricket in between, you never felt the taste of the black olives or politics as you munched the subway with your teeth. These black olives are way too much and signify the black mark the Indian politicians have left on our democracy. The black mark due to their unending corruption scandals which just keep getting better. If the Commonwealth Games farce was not enough, we were further brought to our knees by the telecom scam which is potentially the biggest scam of Independent India, masterminded by ex minister A Raja.   Raja became lion hearted by giving away telecom spectrum at throwaway prices in 2008, thereby causing potential loss to the Indian ex chequer by over INR 1700 Crores or INR 170 Bn. In return he did receive kickbacks, which are themselves to the tunes of money one can never imagine. So while we slog out and pay 30% of our income as taxes to the government, people like Raja and Kalmadi have figured out the best way to spend your blood and sweat. A few more scams and people like them, will ensure that we are without “Roti”, “Kapda”, “Mobile”, “Bijli”, “Sadak” and “Pani”. I do not wish to mention about “Makaan” as the real estate prices are already exorbitantly high – thanks to the builders lobby supported by politicians entering real estate business. Ironically the mantra of the Congress government had Roti, Kapda, Makaan, Mobile, Bijli, Sadak, Pani in all its political manifestos, speeches and message for the people when it was fighting for re-elections. The message just sunk amongst us innocent citizens that they promised to loot us of these comforts and not enhance these for better!

Bollywood is more like a sauce. A sauce that can mingle with tomato’s and olive and yet maintain its own flavor. Through the concept of IPL all the Bollywood stars – Priety Zinta, Shilpa Shetty, Shah Rukh Khan and host of other saucy pretty young entertainers mingle with the tomato’s or cricket. The only sources of mass adulation known to the sauce / bollywood is mixing with cricket / tomato or flirting with black olives/ politics. Power, popularity and money (PPM) attract themselves. No wonder the upper echelons in all three fields – Cricket, Politics and Bollywood always mingle with each other as the magnetic effect of PPM never wanes off. Income tax apparently is a non existent word in the dictionary of many a Bollywood personalities. They are able to evade this through connections to politics, smart chartered accountants and finally invest the saved tax in the largest and unofficial Section 80 C scheme for black money makers in India - the IPL! And this unofficial 80C surely does not have the Rs. One Lakh (INR 100,000) limit that us lowly nine to fivers struggle to invest for a financial year to save some taxes!

And as you think about the Indian economy and take that last bite of your subway sandwich almost in anger, you cant help but feel a bad taste in your mouth left by too much of tomato and black olives. The stain on your t-shirt caused by the sauce spilt on it almost underlines the fact that you can never escape the populism of the three forces in India that rule your life directly or indirectly - Cricket, Politics and Bollywood. You almost shrug your shoulders in despair and give into an accepted sense of defeat against the entire system.

And as you are given into the Goliath’s of the world,  it takes a 72 year old man from a non descript village of Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra to start removing the black olives from your subway sandwich. Well, lets just save the story of the David called “Anna Hazare” for another day!

Global Haircut Experience - Part 3

Norway

Price: NOK 100 ($ 18, excluding tip) in Oslo and NOK 200 ($36, excluding tip) in Stavanger. These are the minimum in these two cities for Gents. The rates otherwise can go upto NOK 400 ($72, excluding tip) for men and start from NOK 300 ($54, excluding tip) for women.

Norway is one of the most expensive places on earth. It’s a fact well articulated by the various surveys available on the internet.  If you come to Norway and stay here for some time, you realize the gravity of things being expensive. For example, take the case of the haircut. Haircuts are really expensive here and its no surprise that a lot of Norwegian men don’t have much hair or are close to bald. Is cold weather not conducive for hair growth on scalp? Or are the genes of the current generation Norwegians aware of the sky high prices for haircut, hence decide not to allow hair growth? I would though not like to generalize that Norwegian men are bald – but nevertheless was told about this by an Eastern European lady who was giving me a haircut in Oslo. In my 18 months in this beautiful country, I have had haircut only thrice – twice in Oslo and once in Stavanger. In between these, I had an opportunity to travel and hence the hairdressers in India and in UK shared the responsibility of trimming my tresses! It was more by accident than by design!

I was recommended this place for a haircut by my friend, who has been in Oslo for long.  On a Saturday morning, just a day before my wife joined me in Oslo I went to Gronland, the official residence for a lot of the Asian and African migrant population.  Gronland is very crowded on Saturdays and week days in the evening. This is because, all the different vegetables, groceries, food items , clothes are easily available here. Walking through the narrow allies can be scary and spooky at times, but will make you feel you are walking through three different continents at the same time – Africa, Europe and Asia. Gronland is also the place where we get all the Asian Groceries in Pakistani shops and have good Indian, Sri Lankan restaurants.

I waited for sometime for my turn at the hair saloon and was ushered in by a guy from Iraq. He could speak fluent Norwegian and some broken English. He had other customers in various other chairs so he pointed me to a lady in the corner who would cut my hair. Maybe she was the one who could speak the most fluent English. The lady hairdresser was nice. While she cut my hair, over conversations I got to know that she was from Eastern Europe and had worked earlier in Sweden. In Norway, she was working and saving money to fund a hair dressing professional course in UK. She already had an Apple iPhone and a Mac book laptop! Voila! This place is so different. Norway is one of the most die-hard fans of Apple’s products. Even hairdressers and the commonest of commons had an iPhone / Mac Book. Hope i live to see this day in India in the next 40 years.I decided not to talk about my Dell laptop of the past 8 years after i heard of her Mac Book! She was aware of the Indian diaspora doing well in the field of computers and then amongst other conversations, my hair was finally down to about half to three fourths of an inch from the scalp. A little close to being a Norwegian?

The remaining two haircuts were spread between Oslo and Stavanger. The guys who cut the hair were from Iraq / Iran and were total professionals. They took not more than 20 minutes to shape my long tresses the way they thought I had instructed them to shape. It was silence and some background English music all along. 

Over conversations with my colleague Kim today, i got to know that the reason why women are hairdressers for both men and women in these countries is only because hairdressing was considered pre-dominantly a feminine profession or pastime. If men are into this business, it means they are gay. Anyways, I believe for folks from Middle East and Asia this principle may not apply as our folks look at it as a profession and they necessarily may not be gay!

Psst psst..hairdressers make tones of money in Norway. I have seen so many saloons in Stavanger that I have lost count. A typical saloon is called “Frisor” in here and I hear its tough job to open one as one has to go through rigorous training, approvals etc. to be qualified to have a haircutting shop. But once they are established, there is no stopping the money from coming in as the hair tresses fall along!

The Frisor below my house is charging NOK 400 (USD 72) for a haircut for men. Can anyone please adopt me and gift me a haircut in there? Kidding... I will wait till i head back to India or go to UK to get it done at 1/6th to 1/7th of the cost!

Global Haircut Experience - Part 2

Unites States Of America

Price: $16-$20 including a tip (2004-07 prices)

Between 2004 and 2007, I spent more than 3 years in Connecticut, US. Thanks to the nomadic life that we all IT professionals so eagerly look forward to! During this period, I was coming to terms with the different way of doing things in a different part of the world. Be it transitioning from water to tissues or smiling at strangers and uttering “Hi. How you doing”, at the speed of light! I had my share of haircuts as well.

A lot of my colleagues in my previous organization wanted to cut cost on all fronts and definitely wanted to save on haircuts which were almost 13-15 times the hair cut cost in India. Some folks brought a hairdresser kit and did it themselves at home, while others used plain $2 scissors and criss crossed the mop of the hair on their head in the directions they wanted to. Its almost like a kid gone crazy with a pair of scissors in his hands! Others looked for cheaper alternatives like the Chinese/ Asian hairdressers who typically were less expensive than the US hairdressers.

I was of the firm belief of not taking this route and decided to do it the “American Way”. I started regularly going to “Cost Cutters” a chain of hair dressing shops in the US, which was located not more than 700 meters from my house.  The name misleads one to think that the cost of haircut may be less. Its actually no cutting on costs! Had it been India, I would have walked to have my haircut. But it was USA, so there comes my car. From the time I pushed the ignition, till the time I reached the saloon, it took no more than three minutes – phew maybe my car engine may not even have woken up from its slumber since the drive last day! Cost Cutters had chirpy hairdressers – all ladies. I never thought it was  common to have lady hairdressers in US.  Had it been India, people would have gone to a hair cutting saloon with lady hairdressers, with all the wrong thoughts in their head!

I soon realized that the parameters of giving my requirements for haircut changed in this new country. Gone were the days when Rajesh Khanna and I had an unsaid understanding or common language. Now I had to decide how long or short I wanted my hair in terms of levels of hair cutting where a scale of 1 to 5 indicated how long or short you wanted your hair to be cut. It is important to know which is the lower and the higher end of the scale, else the look of “Freshly Peeled Chicken” can haunt you in just half an hour of miscommunication! 

The hairdressers in US are chatty with their customers and peers around. They however want to spend less time or effort on your hair.  So they use more of automation – a machine like a grass mower which weeds of those long tresses of hair in a jiffy, than the clickety scissors which the Indian hairdressers love to use. Thankfully, I have never slept off during a haircut, but always kept my eyes closed – almost in a state of meditation. In this state, I think of the lives these hairdressers would be leading, while listening to their conversations. It definitely gives insights into their way of life, their struggles, their humane side. 

During special occasions, like Halloween, all the hairdressers dressed into funny costumes. It added a lot of variety and color to an otherwise boring experience for the customers. I was once attended to by a dresser wearing the costume of a “Witch”. The other time it was a buxom fairy tale princess.   Customers had an opportunity to vote for the best dressed hairdresser and finally she won some small cash prize. I heard the “Witch” did win once, so guess my vote was bang on the money. At the end of the haircut as you pay for it, its polite to pay a tip in the US as the hourly wages are low and tips bring in added revenues to the hourly workers. Dishing a decent tip also  makes you feel nice and brings a delight onto their faces.

Global Haircut experience - Part 1

One of the monthly rigors that you need to carry out – to appear clean, well groomed and approachable is having a decent mop of hair on your head. It is a critical indicator of your appearance to the external world and also for your own internal self confidence that is also defined by your looks. A hair cut can be a monthly routine or twice in three months routine, but nevertheless is a part and parcel of every working professional’s life in the corporate world. The only exceptions to this regular hair cutting regime could be due to fashion - AR Rehman , MS Dhoni (who had huge mops of shoulder length hair in the beginning), Radio Jockeys, actors  or due to religion.

For that moment lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour the hairdresser has complete control on you like no one else. Like a lead mentoring the orchestra with the swift movement of his music stick, the hairdresser uses his comb, scissor or razor in his hand. This movement of the comb/scissor/razor are the tunes to which your head subconsciously sways for that hour. Its like being in a rock concert with no music playing, but still your head-banging in and out. As you bow down, or sway sidewards all you are doing is dancing to the tunes of the hairdresser while his scissors chirp away to glory cutting those locks of hair that you managed to grow since your last haircut. Skillful and crafty enough – he not only saves your ears from being cut, but also uses that tiny razor to remove those microns of hair defining the boundaries of your sideburns and outline of the head meeting the neck. The craftiness of delicate work does make you tickle, or sends shivers down your spine. This experience is more out of your own anticipation to get hurt and then experiencing not getting hurt the next second or because of the sensuousness that your nerves detect when a razor just shaves a micron of hair just a centimeter above them.  Over the years, as I have taken numerous haircuts with hairdressers all around the world, I have realized that a lot occurs during haircuts.  If hairdressers are chatty enough – I can chat incessantly throughout my haircut. If hairdressers are quiet, I can go the silent way with my mind free to think what it wants to. If I have known the hairdresser for a long time, at times I even go to sleep during the entire haircut! I had the same hairdresser for 23 years in Mumbai, India during my growing up years and all it required for him to ensure my head obeys his orchestra is to gently tap my head in the direction he needs it  to move to, while I was blissfully asleep listening to the background radio playing old hindi songs. My head was totally obedient of the hairdresser as if in auto pilot mode, while i dozed off  in a world of Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar songs. However if you are having haircut in a new country, its important to ensure you don’t end up sleeping away to glory but are alert. The reason being that only you know how you want to look! The hairdresser can give you that “Fresh Peeled Chicken” look if left unguided, the look that will haunt you for weeks and make you the butt of jokes till then! Listed below are some of the experiences of having a haircut in a globalized world across Americas, Europe and Asia.

India

Price – INR 100 (approximately $2!)  This includes a head and back massage with special aroma oil

Having been born and brought up in India, of course most of the haircuts in my lifetime will be attributed to India and more specifically Mumbai. Though I have had haircuts in other cities while working there – Bangalore, Pune, nothing like the Mumbai hair cut. 

From the time I was a kid, I used to accompany my father to the same hairdresser saloon in Mulund and almost had the same hairdresser for 23 years since I was born, until we moved out to a different suburb of Mumbai. All the hairdressers in this “Maharashtra Hair Cutting Saloon” right opposite Mulund (East) railway station, knew us quiet well, including the owner - a Marathi manoos always dressed in Safari and somewhat resembling Mr. Sharad Pawar, the Maratha politician. It would seem slightly uncommon, but when we were shifting suburbs and moving to a bigger house at CBD Belapur in 2004, I had specifically gone to bid them goodbye for that one last haircut and believe me – it was an emotional moment. For those 23 years – usually on Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Wednesday (the only auspicious days when I was allowed to have a hair cut) of a month, I had my hair cut by my favorite hairdresser  - who resembled  Indian hindi movie superstar Rajesh Khanna per my imagination. He used to call me “Baba” since the time I was small enough  to fit into his big chair  and needed two big cushions under my ass to lift me till I could see myself in the mirror !  With Rajesh, he knew exactly what I wanted and sometimes the experimentation I carried out also came out well – like a crew cut, spiky cut which were a fashion rage during my college days. The haircut costed anywhere from INR 10 – INR 50 till I was 23. That including a handsome tip made the day for Rajesh and ended my monthly visit to the hairdresser. Even 6 months back, when i was in India on a vacation in Oct 2010, when i was in Mulund, i specifically stepped inside the saloon to search for Rajesh and he was just sitting outside, having a tea. We exchanged pleasantries and i introduced him to my wife was just waiting outside the saloon. Rajesh was glad and shared that one of the other hairdressers (who had cut my hair atleast once) died of a heart attack a year back. It was sad to know. Rajesh planned to retire in a years time and settle back in his hometown in UP. Hope i get that last haircuit of Rajesh before he hangs up his boots or should i say scissors?

Since we moved to a new suburb – CBD Belapur in 2004, I have literally stayed out of my suitcase – thanks to my work which took me to Bangalore, Pune, US, Norway and host of other places. Hence, when I am at home I have been going to the recommended hairdresser by my dad – Royal Hairdressers.  This hairdresser is now faintly familiar with me as he knows I give him repeat business a little less regularly – once every six months, when I am at home for vacation, but nevertheless with an unforgettable tip. To add to it he has been successful to upsell value added services like a head massage and back massage which I finally succumbed to. After all – if i can spend a minimum of 8-12 times the cost of a haircut in India while abroad, why not indulge in some self fulfillment when it costs a fraction of the amount it would otherwise cost abroad? A haircut in his AC room (non AC is less expensive), a massage for the back and head with aromatic Navratna oil including a handsome tip – all for INR 100! 

What more does one want in life??? 2 months before I come to India on vacation or just before I travel abroad, I ensure my haircuts are planned for this arbitrage and pleasure in India! 

To be continued...

Goodbye Uncle Pai

Last week on Feb 24 2011, the world lost one of the best comic writers – Mr. Anant Pai – fondly known as Uncle Pai. He is most famous for being the father of Indian comics through series like “Amar Chitra Katha” (ACK) and “Tinkle”, which have been the food for thought for many Indian kids since the 1970’s. Indian kids valued Uncle Pai even before they were taught the mathematical value of Pai in their algebra class = 22/7!

The series of stories interwoven in ACK typically wove around mythology and gave people like me a good eye over the Indian mythological series of Krishna, Mahabharatha, Ramayana or some folk tales like Panchathanthra, which we would have otherwise never ever known. Though the “Ramayana” and “Mahabharatha” television series telecast by broadcasting company Doordarshan on Sunday mornings brought everything to life, ACK still holds the key to understanding the nuances of these epics. Though over the years – once I reached my teens, my ACK’s and Tinkle’s gave way to Archies, Asterix, Tintin – the Indian comics always held a special place in my heart.

Our family wealth of ACK’s and Tinkle digests have been preserved well by hard binding, when they were purchased about 30-35 years ago. This would be the only ancestral property we can offer for the future generations! The only reason why this is possible is only because of fathers patience, foresight, skill and principle to keep books carefully. After my sister had patiently finished all the ACK’s and Tinkle’s i went through those same books, characters, stories, crumpled pages like she had and re-lived the tale narrated by Uncle Pai. I distinctly also remember the first page of Tinkle, which always used to have a welcome note for the kids from Uncle Pai.This Diwali, when i was in India for vacation, i safely rescued this treasure of "The Chandrasekarans" during the annual spring cleaning and put it atop the loft for further preservation.

Tinkle was amazing with a blend of interesting characters and their simple and unique tales. Each issue had atleast 10-12 stories, each story with its own central character. Some of the central characters are Suppandi – the village simpleton who sincerely follws misunderstood instructions, Kapish - a clever monkey, Kaalia – the crow, Tantri the Mantri – tale of a scheming minister, Nasrudjin Hodja – a man with witty brain, Shikhar Shambhu – the hunter who is meek but potrays himself as the greatest hunter and many more. It wasn’t unusual to spot the Tinkle’s and ACK’s dangling on book stands in railway platforms and stations with their various colors and characters speaking out to kids like me. We used to get so excited watching them that the next 10 minutes used to be spent pestering our parents to part with that 10 Rupee note to buy a copy immediately for us or a journey full of our tantrums. Its another matter that the books used to be a fast read and ignored after reading front-back in less than 40 minutes.

Apart from ACK, Tinkle I used to follow the Diamond Comic series from Pran. Pran, like Uncle Pai created memorable characters like “Chacha Chaudhary”, “Billoo”, “Chacha Bhatija”, “Fauladi Singh”, “Chotu Lambu”, “Lambu Motu”, “Motu Patlu”, “Mama Bhanja”, “Pinki” and “Tauji”. Each character had a comic book series and interesting series. During the schooling years, the summer vacation between April and June used to be spent turning pages between Uncle Pai’s and Pran’s comics.I did dabble a bit on "Chandamama", "Champak" (thanks to the reminder on Champak from wifey!), and a south special children regular magazine called "Gokulam" but these were somewhere lacking the punch of Pran or Uncle Pai.

Hats off to Uncle Pai for inducing the folklores and mythology of India through his comics. Else, all we would have remembered were Veronica, Betty, Richie Rich, Superman and Tintin! Kids of this generation - take a break and get out of your Nintendo's, X-Boxes, Facebook profiles, TV channels and grab that ACK or Tinkle! It will do you a world of good.

Happy Bday Swifty!

Jan 14^th 2011 a landmark day indeed. I completed two years in TCS and so did my new car Swift complete spending two years with me. Time flies! It indeed does. It was as if only yesterday that I was researching a lot on cars. A well laid out research which had been on the backburner for sometime as we already had a family car – FIAT Uno. The Uno ofcourse was out of circulation in the market and was being a “White Elephant” in terms of reliability and expenses.  The Uno was a used car when we got her in 2001 and served us well for the 8 years she was with us. In the later years, she was high on maintenance and low on reliability – a disastrous combination. So we thought – ok lets plan for a new car.

Mom-dad - doing car-pooja on Jan 14 2009

On the wheels

So there began the research – over internet, talking to friends and relatives to gain feedback on the models they owned and that were of interest to us. Ultimately, it was a close tie between Zen Estilo, Chevy U-VA, Hyundai i10 and Maruti Swift. Zen Estilo and Chevy U-VA were stricken down due to un-popularity and the problems GM had. The buying decision now centered around low maintenance, high availability of service stations pan India and low cost of spares. In all these parameters the Hyundai i10 and Swift were close, and even though interiors of Hyundai i10 were better than Swift, we chose the Swift. Swift won hands down for the looks, low maintenance of Maruti cars, space and demonstrated performance. I have no regrets to this date. So far, it has been a smooth spin with her and I wish I had my arms around her steering as I type these words!

Top View of her

In the first 10 months that I had Swift, clocked close to 10k kms effortlessly. Thanks to the drive from CBD Belapur to Andheri Seepz each day – to my office. Me and my wife used the car almost 3-4 days a week and somedays the whole week and commute together, excitedly celebrating each rollover of the odometer to a 100,200….1000…1100…10,000 mark. The celebrations were by punching our fists jointly up in the air and shouting an excited “ye”! Kind of kiddish, but we enjoyed doing that. Remember those days, when we used to switch on the radio in the car and surf through various FM channels listening to loud music, silly jokes of the radio jockeys and laughing our ass out. The traffic jams looked effortless with such fun, comfort and high quality AC of the car.

I had a secret wish (one of the last ones in the list of long wishes!) to drive down to my marriage in my own car. This was kinda granted. Though I did not drive and we arranged a chauffer, still it was worthwhile to “Swift” down my way to the marriage hall to take wedding vows. Also remember the time me and my sis spent before marriage – literally spending all our time together in the car – shopping from one mall/ shop to another and inviting one set of relatives to the other. Lot of memories with the Swift.

Always enjoy discovering times with her

There has been no long drive except for the trip to Lonavla on Valentines day in 2009 and then my official trip to Pune in November 2010 . It was a pleasure ride all the way along.So its kinda remarkable that the with just the office trips and family rides the car clocked 10k kms in the traffic of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai within 10 months ! During these long drives, I barely realized that I was clocking more than the permissible speed limit by about 20-30% unless I saw the speedometer. 

Prior to the Swift, i have owned and spent my life driving the Fiat Uno, Toyota Corolla and couple of Nissan Ultima’s in India and US. I can say without any hesitation that the Swift is miles ahead. Maybe because we remember only the most recent things in our life or because the Swifty was a brand new car (all others were used cars), she will always have a special place in my heart.

Here's wishing you - my deary Swift, many long years of good service, low maintenance - after all you had the luxury of a good pooja from Mom, Dad and I when we took delivery two years back. Miss driving you here. Raring to drive you, once am back in India! Long live Swifty, we need to clock a lot of kms together! 

The Un-Social Network

I have been in Norway for a little less than fifteen months. For more than 40% of this time, have spent staying alone without family or even a roomie. This is perhaps happening for the first time in my life and nothing that I experienced before.

I have lived the past nine years of my working cum educational life out of the suitcase. Whether it is the time spent while working in Bangalore or Pune in India or in Connecticut in USA, I have always had numerous roomies to share apartments with and virtual roomies to hangout with. The virtual roomies are some good old folks, who just don’t sleep at your place regularly unless they are drunk or it’s too late. Apart from that vroomies (virtual roomies) hang out with you to eat, sleep, drink, roam, shop and do everything else. Even during the MBA days, where I had the first time experience of staying in a hostel (though the B-school was located in my home city – Mumbai), I had a roomie and a group of virtual roomies. It’s the camaraderie in the big group that brings all the excitement in staying alone during your Bachelorhood 1.0 days (pre- marriage).

In Bachelorhood 2.0 (post marriage) I had initially shared apartment with a roomie in Oslo. Then when wifey joined, we had a great time watching movies, going for various outings in and out of Norway or just hanging out with friends. After we moved to Stavanger and she left, life has been one hell of a ride back to Bachelorhood 2.0. It ain’t no bed of roses, I can tell you that. Though I do not have any roomies and stay by myself in this 65 sq foot 1 BHK apartment, still have vroomies to hang out with. Vroomies and I typically have the Friday and Saturday night party/ hangout at Pedersgata or my place – enjoying some conversations, drinks and food. However what I dread is the company of myself, once am back into the apartment.

Have been my own roomie for the past 6 months. When it comes to doing my share of the work, I end up doing everything L as there is no one to share it! Be it the cooking, cleaning, loading the dishwasher, ad hoc utensil clean up, watching movies, listening to music or at times sharing that rare drink. There is no scope to gossip / have conversations, get different perspectives real time or be updated about the happenings around in India, Norway or anywhere/ anything else.  Even if am sick, have a fever or feeling down and depressed, have no one to rely on in person than myself. I leave the house at odd hours and come back at odd hours, especially when I am travelling and it is uninviting and dreadful to walk into a quiet house when you are come back as a worn out traveler. I have seen those days, when I have been given delightful surprises by my wife – with the house all decked up, aroma of freshly cooked food in the air and the lights set just the way I want them to be – with candles and all. Then the excitement of someone waiting for you for so long / wanting you back – the first hug , the first kiss. From those days, to this day, when I unlock the door and just find stillness inside and nothing else, all I can grumpily say to myself is “Welcome back Deepak” and then grudgingly get back to business to cook myself a meal or make that hot tea.

In life, all of us at sometime want to be “left alone” or want “our space”.  I can truly stand testimonial to the fact of how it feels to be alone. It ain’t no good folks. Enjoy the company of people close to you whenever you can. It’s never a burden.  When you have too much of time for yourself, you won’t know what to do? Watch a string of movies? Read all those books that you always wanted to? Write all those books that you always had wished to? You can never get all that done while alone. Trust me. Your mind would wander around all things you may want to do/ think of and not to do/ think of. It is totally off the harness of a stable mind.

This kind of an experience of staying alone can truly jeopardize the social skills of any human being and I am no different. You miss the small things like home socializing so much (barring the times with vroomies on weekends) that I fear I am not turning un-social. In fact. also miss office socializing unless i have meetings to go for in Stavanger or travel to head office to Oslo. I work from home 24X7 unless travelling, so no scope of office socializing too. So to avoid that, I try to stay connected to the world through phone, skype, chat and more importantly Facebook. My mind wants escapism through this jail of living by my spirit and shadow through Facebook -  my true virtual companion. At times I guess I take it too far with my updates exploring new details of my life or depth of my thoughts for that day. I miss sharing living space with a human being. Guess that is being vented out in the form of updates on Facebook by the hour / day. Am unable to figure out if it is done by me to escape hearing the clock tick by each second, whenever I am in the living room (incidentally where I spend 90% of my time when in the house) or wanting the world (in the form of my network of Facebook friends) to know what I have been doing. At times walking quietly to the library to pick up movies or shopping at the local grocery stores makes me get out of the house once every 2/3 days (unless i have meetings / official work) and escape the quietness and loneliness. But apart from that there is hardly any other new thing to talk / discuss about.  Seeing this, the mind gets hungry and makes my fingers type in Facebook.com on the browser and check updates and put my updates to keep myself on the news and vent escapism.

Have to indeed dig myself out of my un-social network and also from the self addiction to social network through Facebook. Need a detoxification by diverting my mind to various other things – maybe like re-starting meditation or getting regular on this blog or re-starting the Gym. 

Life has never been so quiet ! This is definitely going to be an experience for the longer run that will be etched in my mind forever. Maybe i am getting geared up for something special by the forces of this earth. Only time would be a testimonial for that.Till then will try to cope up with the un-social network!