Idle Musings...

2006-07-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

OK TATA BYE BYE !

Wierd name for a website. But what they were offering sounded too good to be true. A budget of 50000 bucks to travel in India for 15 days. Registered for a lark. Next thing I know, I get a call asking me whether I would kindly reply to their mail asking for more info, as I had been shortlisted. Had just returned from a Tiger reserve in eastern Maharashtra.

A couple of mails back and forth, and I am called to Mumbai for an interview. Wow ! But who the hell are these guys ? And why are they offering what they are ? So many questions. So few answers. Anyway, they call up again and let me know that they'll be picking up the tab for the Mumbai trip. Not bad.

So there was I, all ready to go. Excep for a small hitch. Had no clue where in Mumbai I was supposed to turn up. Waited all day for their call. Finally looked around the web and found their address.

Absolutely no signboards anywhere in the building or outside it, saying that this was the office. Rang the doorbell of what was a few BHK flat with trepidation, wondering what was inside ! Nice office, though.

All the shortlisted fellas turn up one by one. Pretty nice people, though there were the usual couple of snobs. Had a great time talking about all sorts of stuff with them. The guys conducting the 'interview' were quite chilled out too. In all, had a great time. Good weather, which was quite a bonus at this time of the year.

Came back, and couldnt wait to know who the lucky bugger was gonna be. Wasnt me. What the hell....... had a good time.....

2006-06-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

Target : IIMs

Finally took my first step towards realising my ambition of getting into the IIMs.... with or without reservations - went and checked out a coaching institute.

After last year's disaster in the quant section, i have to nail the bloody thing now. Really studied hard for CAT, ended up screwing it. got so disillusioned, went for XAT without a watch.......... got 98.45. Funny how things happen !

Been all over Pagalguy for the last few days. Just beginning to realise how much I want to get into the darned places. And after seeing pics of the Kozhikode ( pronounced 'Ko-rhi-kode', informed by a mallu colleague with dire threats if not complied with ) campus, I think if i do get the choice between anything else and K, I'll go with K. Pretty clear priorities, that way !

Its still a long journey, but i am very much looking forward to it...

2006-06-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

I love thunderstorms. There something about them which i find really peaceful. I know it doesnt make any sense, but I still do. There's something very cleansing about them which appeals to me. Like they remove, or atleast muck around with, all the dirt and grime of the last 8 odd months. Though how that is peaceful i cannot explain...

A raging thunderstorm gives rise to a wierd-for-the-situation urge in me - to drive a bike through the thing. Innumerable have been the occasions when I have driven my girlfriend crazy by leaving for my house just when a thunderstorm starts. The empty streets filled with water are just too inviting. I just love the kiddish thrill of cutting through the water at a high speed, drenching myself. Someone once told me to 'grow up', in jest. My reply... 'I wont !'

I am always impressed by the raw power in Nature. It never ceases to amaze me, regardless of how many times i have seen it. And I have seen it a few times. Most of them, when it threatened to destroy me. It still has me attracted, though. The latest encounters have been a wee too close to comfort, but I continue as if nothing has happened. Maybe it'll all end suddenly like it does for flies in those horrible electric insect-killers. ZAPP !

2006-04-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

just 7.45 pm. still some time for dinner. should have eaten something before. playing cards in the bus. 5 people sitting in one sleeper compartment. nice deal i've got. so many of these cards. difficult to get al of the same suit together. its so bloody dark. why cant the driver tolerate a bit of light ? behaving as if i was trying to install floodlights inside the bus. whats this bright light coming from the left frontal side of the bus ? a truck. whats a truck doing on the left on a right hand drive system ? must be parked. its moving. ohhhhhhh shit........... CRASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. whats all this liquid on my face. lights come on. shit, its blood. shit, its pouring out. my entire face. my hands. my clothes. RED. how did i come on the OTHER side of the railing ? nose is hurting. why cant i stand steadily ?

'harshad, are you ok ?'
'dada, tu thik ahes ka ?'

5 dazed faces. looking at me in shock. they look ok. thank god. where's kaka ? at my feet. face down. blood flowing through the head. not responding. i have a closer look. 'kaka?' no reply. shit. himangi panicking. kaka responds. 'i cant get up.' atleast he's conscious. someone help in lifting him. no one. understandable. entire aisle covered with shards of broken glass. plastic bits. clothes. books. playing cards. blood. screams fill the air. someone helps himangi in lifting kaka. blood streams down a head weathered by the years. the kids look on, frightened. one old man, with blood streaming down his head. one youngster, leading the group, face half covered in blood. mouth filled with blood. told the girls to move aside. somehow manage to lean out of the window before it all comes out.

instruct abha to call for an ambulance. himangi suggests calling up hemant thete in amravati for help. thank god somebody has kept her head in all this.

himangi administers first aid to kaka. i am ok, i say. looks relieved. kaka is made to lie down on our seat. a wailing bus cleaner is bought to the berth originally occupied by kaka. cries when anyone touches his leg. bus door enmeshed with truck. no exit. people shouting from outside, asking us to jump. cant, with kaka the way he is.

tell the girls to jump out of the window. they seem relieved to do so. understandable. they go. me and himangi try to think of a way to remove kaka from the bus. finally, somebody helps, and he is lifted out through the window. i jump out too. thorns all over the place. the kids huddle together, bewildered, stunned, confused. kaka is sitting down, dazed. hundreds of people close in on us. why cant they give us some air ? why cant they give an old injured man some air ? a man asks if we want a rickshaw. i ask him to get one. he looks unsure. wants money. i give him 50 rs. how can i be so stupid ? must be the blood loss. never see him again. somebody in the crowd asks me to go and get my luggage, otherwise it'll be stolen. oh god, i compltely forgot that. back over the thorns towards the bus. in through the driver's door. go in. shit, i forgot about the glass shards. where are my floaters ? here they are. now i can move about. remove one sack by one. get suspicious looks. yes, they all are ours. no, i am not stealing people's luggage. cant you see my bloody bloody face ? yes. must be yours. manage to get down all the baggage. where're the binocs ? and this and that ? loose bags. finally everyhting is brought together.

kaka is given electral. somebody hands me 4 packets of it. i thank him for it. he says its from our own medical kit itself. how did that come out. oh, yes, himangi administered first aid to everybody.

'is everybody ok?' slowly the kids nod. inform your parents, i say. they have. the crowd keeps increasing. 2 policemen arrive. where's the freaking ambulance ? they want the complete names of everybody in the group. given. give the cell to the policemen. his isnt in range. things continue like this for a while. i keep the crowd back, yelling at them. the kids look relieved to see me normal.

9 pm. hemant thete arrives in a sumo. we leave for amravati. trying hard to convince my parents that i am ok. difficult. kaka admitted to hospital. we have some fruit juice. come back and have dinner at midnight at hemant's house. god bless him and his family.

the kids are sleeping soundly in the terrace. the mosquitoes dont offer me that privilege. i keep waking up every 10 minutes to see himangi either crying or staring blankly. god, she's badly affected.

mosquitoes and sleep fight a pitch battle. sleep wins at 4 in the morning. i drift off to a deep but still restless sleep. i came so close to a deep and restFUL one so few hours ago..............

2006-03-16T19:24:00.003-08:00

A lot of water has flown under the bridge. Havent been able to update my blogs because the company i used to work for didnt believe in giving us net access. Well, i have finally quit the job i hated so much. Am starting something of own, something which I love doing.

More about that and the previous months soon !

2005-07-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

Life is about to change a lot in the next few months. I'll be leaving a comfortable and easy life out here and going out into the big bad world to see what it has in store for me. I'll be shifting to nashik to take up a job out there.Living alone will be quite an experience, but i am going to terribly miss people and things out here.

Life goes on, change is inevitable, blah blah blah.That's the usual crap that i've been telling myself all the time, but i know its not going to make the transition any easier. everybody's been telling me to enjoy the last few free days of my life, and that is so NOT a good way to cheer up folk like me !