Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Paris Quickie ... !!

I wish I was there ... Oh I wish ... sigh ...

Paris was one city that I had performed the maximum R&D when I was in Malmo. I was so smitten by my trip to Paris that I hardly worked during the week that led to the weekend when I was supposed to go to Paris. But the stupid Icelandic volcano chose a wrong time to ejaculate ... I could have used a more sombre term ... but I have lost all respect for Iceland and everything related to it ... errr ... was it Miss Iceland in the last 5 at Miss World? :P

By the time that weekend arrived, I had the entire Paris metro system on my fingertips and I had a ready time table for the weekend to visit places ... Eiffel tower, Louvre, Champs Elysses, River Sienne, Disneyworld ... I had Paris going all over in my mind ... but alas ... it never happened ... and that remained the sore point of those magical 18 weeks ...

But they say lightning strikes twice ... whatever ...

Biwi had a 6 hour stopover en route to her flight to Helsinki on Sunday. The fact that she was going to land in Paris at around 7 am was even better ... her connecting flight to Helsinki was around 12:30 ... we had to plan it to precision ...

the target was to get to the Eiffel Tower and head back to the airport ... thats it ...

I am not a huge fan of flight departures and arrivals from and to India ... so accounting for an hour of delay was inevitable ... so we were talking about arriving in Paris at around 8 am ... check-in could be done even half an hour in advance since there was nothing to check in :P ... so the deadline was to reach Paris CDG latest by 12 ... we assumed 30-45 minutes to get out of the flight and get to the metro station at the airport and to purchase tickets ... so we were staring at a departure of around 9 am from Paris CDG ...

This also meant that Biwi needed to be seated very close to the exit of the aircraft ... that was done by web checking in ... the easier part was done ...

Paris metro is known by the name of RER ... there are several RER lines in Paris similar to Central, Harbour and Western in Mumbai ... Paris CDG fell on the RER-B (Blue) line ... Biwi had to board a train to St Michel Notre Dame which is around a 30-35 minute journey from the airport. Get down and then switch to RER-C (Yellow Line) and head to Champs de Mars ... which is around a 10 minute journey and its the closest metro station to the Eiffel Tower ... it is a 10 minute walk from Champs de Mar to the great structure ... so an hour was a good time to reach Eiffel Tower from the airport ... spend 15-25 minutes over there and another hour to get back to the airport ... which meant Biwi would be back at the airport by around 11:30 am ... wonderful ...

As expected, there was a 30 minute delay in departure from Mumbai ... the flight arrived at CDG at 7:45 am ... and it took her around 8:15 to get her passport stamped and stuff ... she spent some time identifying the metro station at the airport and purchasing tickets ... and she was on board a RER-B headed to Saint Remy (last stop on the Blue Line) at 8:55 ... switching trains was quite straight forward according to her ... and she was at the Tower before 10 ... well before 10 ... and she left at around 10:20 am to be back at the airport at 11:25 ... amazing amazing turn of events ...

Sitting at home in Pune ... I was predicting what she would be doing and where she might be at every minute ... praying that she does not back out of the plan ... afterall she was alone in a city completely new to her ... in some way I may have been a bit selfish that I wanted her to go to the Eiffel Tower at any cost ... but I knew that is capable of pulling it off ... and she did ... proud to be her husband ...

Some pics from Paris ...








So for anyone in a similar predicament ... here is how to get to the Eiffel Tower from Paris CDG airport (remember there are 2 airports in Paris ... the other being Paris Orly) ...

There are 2 RER stations at CDG ... at Terminal 1 and at Terminal 2 ...
You need to board a train with the last stop either as Massy Palaiseau or Saint-Remy. There are fast and slow trains in Paris too. A fast train skips lot of stations and halts at the important ones while the slow also skips some stations but halts at more stations than the fast one ... thats the only difference ... but if you are going to the Eiffel Tower ... it doesnt make a difference if you board a slow or fast one since the station in question is a Halt station for both the fast and slow train ...

It takes 30-35 minutes to reach a station called St Michel Notre Dame. Get down here. Switch to RER-C (Yello line). The train you board at St Michel should be headed to either of the following stations ...

Pontoise
Argenteuli
Versailles - Rive Gauche
Saint Quentin en Yvelines

It is a 10 minute journey from St Michel to Champs de Mars and then a 1 km walk from the station to Eiffel Tower. Biwi tells me that its visible from the station itself ...

I have also attached a map. There is a black box for St Michel and a Purple one for Champs de Mars ...




Happy PARISing ... !!

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

STATUSfied ... !!

Yeah ... so what?

I dont recollect when I started it but I liked putting up a real-life status message everyday ... atleast on the working days coz I hardly accessed the Net during holidays ...

Of late ... I have been skipping it ... partly due to a change in job and partly due to the fact that I am always online ... on my cell ... so the holiday logic was not working ... so I thought I better move on ...

Its no use doing something if you are losing the plot or disrespecting a trend ... so I guess its time to say good bye to this everyday phenomenon ...

Over the last 5-6 years ... its been a good way to interact with people ... people pinged me and started talking ... so it was a nice mediator ...

There was some philosophy ... some witty ones ... and some garbage ... but it was a good ride ...

But theek hai ... maybe sometime in future I will pick it up again ... I am STATUSfied ...

Cheers ... !!

Monday, September 06, 2010

Sahi Sikhaaya ... !!

I think Teacher's Day might be the least celebrated of all special days. Or ... maybe thats relative ... some people attribute a lot of importance to this day and why not? It makes perfect sense to raise a toast to some of the most influential people in one's life ...

I too have been blessed with the presence of such individuals in my life and I found it pretty strange that I have never looked at this day as a special one ... no wonder people call me emotionless ... dratch ...

I started my education at St. Mary's ... not the popular school (with pretty girls :)) but it caters more to aspirants who want to become teachers ... so how did I start at such a place? These aspirants were our teachers ... they were first taught to handle 3-4 year olds and then graduate to higher grade classes ... what's the logic? It should be easier to harder isnt it? :P

Anyway ... I dont remember any specific teacher from St. Mary's but there was one who taught me how to play on the swings and see-saws ... I just have a vague memory of how she looked but nothing else ...

I moved to that beauty of a place called Bishop's High School ... a stone's thrown away from St. Mary's ... an all Boys school (it has changed now to Co-ED ... dratch) ... a place ruled by the canny Mr.B.W.Roberts who taught us to BE THOROUGH (the school motto or tagline) and a place where I met the most amazing teachers ...

Started off with the cute Miss Fernandes in KG ... she was perfect for Kindergarten kids ... curly locks and not too strict ...

I met her polar opposite in Miss Pathak (most of ladies in Bishop's were unmarried ... not sure of the logic) ... a strict middle aged spectacled women ... she knew when to crack the whip ... Standard 1 helped me realise that everything in life is not cute like Miss Fernandes ... :)

Standard 2 threw up a very different kind of teacher in Mrs. Pope ... she was 4 feet 5 inches in height married to a 6 feet 2 inches Mr. Pope ... the Bishop's version of the Bachchans ... she was very affable and not too strict ...

I was then the student of my favorite teacher till date ... Mrs Daniels ... she was the one who convinced me to work harder and come up the ranks ... improved my hand writing ... she made us participate in Art related activities like painting or carving ... she even made me correct books of classmates ... come on ... Mrs Daniels was also beautiful ... I dont know if I had the senses to identify what 'Beautiful' meant in 1990 ... but I would say she was good to look at ... :)

It was Mrs Desilva in 4th ... again a middle aged grumpy lady ... she was always on collision course with Mrs. Daniels ... they kind of didnt get along ... Mrs. Desilva too wanted me to correct books of my class mates and Mrs Daniels had come to know about this and she had given me quite a verbal pasting that I should discontinue with it ... but at that time I kind of didnt know what to do ... :P

In between, we had subject teachers too ... like the so called aunty teachers in Mrs Singh and Mrs. Randhawa who taught us Hindi ... the irresistibly knowledgeable Mrs Sharabali ... and the effervescent Mrs. Forester ... the most bizarre teacher I have ever seen ... in a cute way ... it was as if she had grown old entirely in Bishop's ...

It is a big transition from 4th to 5th ... the Building changes ... we were now in Middle school from Junior school ... and who better to welcome us than Mr. Baskaran ... the man with the swagger and a unique way of teaching and talking ... a heavy South Indian accent ... we were also introduced to caning by him ... and he taught us Science of all subjects ... goodness gracious ...

We had 2 class teachers in 6th ... Mrs. Highland and Mr. Dolas. Mrs Highland was quite a practical lady. She went about her job in her own way which was quite professional. She was also a pretty lady and she was a perfect foil to Mr. Highland who taught Chemistry in Senior School ... she taught us Geography ... she went away midway to be with Mr Highland abroad and was replaced by Mr. Dolas ... a person capable enough of being the school Hitler ... anything was possible for him using his cane ... his slaps ... Gawd ... he also thought of himself of being the school hunk ... forever displaying his charisma (or trying to) to the lady teachers ... but he was not bad at heart ... taught us History ...

Enter the joker ... Mr. Chavan ... the bald headed, duck-walking, India-loving Hindi teacher who was our class teacher in 7th ... he corrected papers just by looking at the name of the person ... if its some one whom he liked ... it would be 8/10 ... else 4/10 ... end of story ... he wrote the most compelling patriotic songs during the School Concert ...

We were now in Senior School ... and we had to start wearing trousers instead of shorts ... Chemistry, Biology and Physics made an entry ... and Mrs Girija was the perfect teacher to not start off our Senior life :P ... she had strange habits ... she kept chewing something ... people said it was Tobacco ... I would say you need guts as a teacher to be chewing tobacco in Bishop's ... she kept shaking her legs vigorously when seated ... and lets not even get into the explanation ... she taught us Physics ...

Then it was Mrs. Mitra ... maybe the prettiest teacher of Bishop's in my time ... did someone say Aarti Saagar? :P well yeah ... she was pretty but she was the music teacher in Junior school ... too bad ... Mrs. Mitra was the quintessential perfect teacher ... taught us Geography ... contours, South-Westerly monsoons, Soils, Volcanoes, Dams ... who cares? when its Mrs. Mitra teaching ... :P

Finally, the most funniest teacher I have met ... Mr. Johnstone ... I think I have picked up waving hands or performing actions while speaking from him ... I used to pull off a good imitation of him in school ... the way he spoke, the way he taught, the way he walked ... everything was funny ... the way he gave examples about Physics ... hats of sire ...

These were just the class teachers ... we had several other subject teachers ... the Principal himself, Mr. B.W.Roberts didnt teach us but his towering presence during the assembly everyday was quite intimidating ... and Mr. Guzder ... a man misunderstood by most due to the way he was ... he seemed very strict and probably was ... but he had a whacky sense of humor ... he taught us The Merchant of Venice for God's sake which was one helluva ride ... I think today Mr. Roberts and Mr. Guzder are most looked upto by the old boys ...

Mrs. Singh was the lady Hitler who taught us Maths, Mrs. Furnell taught us English along with Mrs. Rawlins, Mrs. Jadhav was (and probably still is) teaching Biology ... Mr Aviet tortured us towards History and Civics, Mrs Neena Daniels taught us Chemistry ... another gem of a person ... a great sense of humor for a lady ... Mr Jumbo Fernandes also taught us Hindi ... best remembered for conducting tests on the first day of school ... dammit ...

Mr. Dupratt taught us painting and Art ... Mr Chaudhary helped us pick Craft (Fretsaw, photography, Carpentry) ... Mr Jagtap took care of the Shloks in Sanskrit ... and there were the PT Sirs ... Mr Austin and Mr Wandre ... march-past would never be the same without Mr Wandre ...

It was quite a leap when I entered college ... and I dont have a lot of teachers to talk about from Wadias ... the best I remember is Mr. Joshi ... who taught us Maths ... he dragged the entire lecture solving one sum ... best known for teaching us Determinants ... and there was Mr Mudgi ... who taught us Maths and Physics ... but the most influential person for me in Wadias was Mr Andaar ... he looked like he is a Commander in force ... upturned moustache and a commanding voice ... he was the perfect Department Head for Mathematics ...

In between, I had joined classes for 12th ... where Mr Kelkar was quite close to being the funniest teacher I have met ... while teaching Physics, whenever there was a theorem to be proved ... like e=mc square (pardon me ... I am not writing the power 2 for square) ... he used to say "put it in a box" ... and I had no idea what that meant ... I used to be with my very good friend Nikky ... and I just asked him ... "which box?" ... :P

This was a time when I entered Fergusson ... again a place where I met some great teachers and some really unfortunate ones ... :D

My first encounter was with the colorful Mr D V Kulkarni ... I didnt have the faintest idea that he was the Department head ... he didnt have a lavish way of presenting himself and I was quite surprised when I knew his actual position in college ... an avid gardener ... I must say he was responsible for the prettiest department in Fergusson ... his witty one liners are the ones to die for ...

One of my best teachers was Thakar Mam ... she was extremely professional and very cordial ... I still feel like punishing myself for joining classes on a subject taught by her ... she used to teach us Statistics and Maths ... even Atre Mam was the same ... very good teacher and a joy to talk to ... Joglekar Mam was another bubbly character who taught us Maths ...

Mrs. Page was one hell of a strict teacher ... a disciplinarian to the hilt ... no wonder people were scared of her ...

Snehal Mam tried to be as convincing as possible while teaching us DAA and CCT ... but the subjects themselves were so enduring that we couldnt blame her for not understanding most of the stuff ... Tarannum Mam ... well she was more of a friend to me and I think she was a better friend than teacher ... she taught the most life threateningly boring theoretical subjects and I liked getting into debates with her just to lend some color to her lectures ... not that I succeeded but it was well worth the effort ... :P

There were some mediocre teachers in between ... but still worth a mention for more reasons than one ... Kavita Mam, Deepali Mam. Kukde Sir and the joker in the pack... Sharma Sir ... famous for his outrageous English statements ...

I had joined classes for Maths ... Manisha Deshpande ... more popular as MD ... maybe the most unique teacher I experienced ... her classes were more like a laughathon ... she had so many differences ready about how life is different in Pune and Mumbai ... plus she paid extra attention to her Saaris and her jewellery ... girls paid extra attention to that and maybe learnt a thing or two from her ... she was funny in more ways than one ...

I found an astute teacher in Anand Das during PG ... he probably knew every technical detail of anything he taught ... kind of a genius ...

Every person has something unique and all these teachers have left an indelible mark in their own way ... and I would forever be indebted to them ... I am a firm believer in Education being the best investment of life ... and our parents, even though they do a huge favor on us by funding our education, still end up doing the easier of the 2 tasks ... its the teachers who perform the more difficult task ... of inculcating the right knowledge in us ...

I am what I am due to the education I received ... and I wish to thank all my teachers ... I may have missed some but that does not take anything away from them ...

Jo sikhaaya ... Sahi sikhaaya ... !!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Freakish coincidence ... !!

Read on ...

"Pratik Beri?"
"Yes ... that's me"
"Please come ..."
"Yes"

I walk my way down the cubicles and make myself comfortable on the chair assigned to me. A pretty lady sits in front of me.

"Hello. My name is Kiran (this is probably the first time I am not using the actual name. Her actual name is quite unique and not many people have that name) and I am here for your HR interview. Can you tell me about yourself?"

As soon as I hear her name, I start getting goosebumps ... no ... not again ... my history with coincidences is pathetic ... dratch ...

"Oh Yes. As you know, my name is Pratik Beri and I ... (she cuts in ...)

"Pratik Beri ... hhhhmm ... why does that name sound familiar? ... anyway go on ... "


Flashback ... cut to September 2009 ...

One of my dear friends Appu (this is a real name ... and Appu would love this post) had appeared for an interview with the same company and they had informed him that they will be calling him for an HR round later. Some days passed and he did not get a call. He asked me if I knew anyone in this company so that we can know the status. One of my very dear friends was working in the same company.

I wrote him a mail with Appu in CC. The 3 of us exchanged mails discussing the exact scenario. At one point, we all got frustrated and started with some abuses and filthy talk regarding the approach followed by the company regarding the HR interview. We did not realise that my friend had accidentally added the HR's name in the mail thread. The name of the HR was KIRAN ... !!

Not being sure as to whether Kiran is actually a male of female, we had assumed it would be a guy and let our tongues wag ...

Kiran finally turned out be a lady and she wrote my a friend a very stern mail regarding corporate decorum ... that was that ...

Back to real time ...

I had a decent HR interview with Kiran and she asked me her last question. Her question was "Who has referred you?" ... I was so lost reminiscing about September 2009 that I didnt have the common sense to mention a name other than my friend ... and told his name to her stupidly ...

Her reaction left me cursing myself ... it was ...

"Now I know why the name Pratik Beri sounds familiar ... thank you ..."

The result of the interview should not be a secret now ...

Cheers ... !!

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Dil Li ... !!

Sach mein Dil le liya ... Dilli ... a city deserving to be the capital of the great country of India ...

I have been to Delhi thrice now in the last 6 months and every visit has been so enriching .... it was extremely chilly in January ... extremely hot in May ... and sticky/rainy in July ... I have seen all seasons ... :)

I was there for 4 days this time ... we had decided to see the Taj Mahal on Biwi's birthday and with Prakash staying in Noida, it was quite an easy decision to make ...



The monuments were a treat right from the first day ... India Gate, President's House, Parliament House, Laal Killa, Jama Masjid, Bahai Temple (also called the Lotus Temple), Birla Mandir, Humayun's Tomb ... every monument had ROYAL stamped all over it ...







The drive on Rajpath was also divine ...



But the icing on the cake was THE TAJ MAHAL ... we had left Delhi at 10 am and reached the Taj at 4 pm ... I have to say the traffic in Agra is pathetic for a city which hosts the best wonder of the world (Yes ... the Colosseum doesn't even come close to the Taj ... not even a contest) ... plus the highway protocol is shabby in this part of the world ... how else can you justify 6 hours to cover a distance of 200 kms ... the last 6 kms took 2 hours :P



But once we saw the Taj ... it was a jaw dropping moment ... we just couldn't get enough of it ... its such an amazing monument ... it took us almost 3 hours to check it out completely ...

I also had the best food at Agra ... a 2 Chapati and Chhola combo for Rs. 10 ... bliss ... and as has been the case with several of Biwi's birthdays ... it rained heavily as soon as we entered the Taj ... it was Mumbai last year and Agra this year around ... something with 3rd July and the rain that keeps following Biwi ...

Towards the end of the trip, we were extremely privileged to be at the Akshardham Temple ... just visit it for the light, water and sound show ... its quite a spectacle at 9 pm ...





The Metro is also another phenomenal landmark of Delhi ... plush trains with quite an astonishing frequency and it runs completely on an over bridge ... so you can view Delhi from a height ... its quite an experience ...

And last but not the least ... my suggestion to anyone who visits Delhi ... go to Chandni Chowk and head straight to Parothewaali Gali ... its one of the best "eating gullis" that I have been to ... and the menu was something I have not seen so far in my life ...

Bhindi, Nimbu, Khurchan, Parat, Mutter, Kaaju, Gaajar, Paapad, Karela, Kela ... if you are wondering what these are ... they are the flavors of Parathas ... at a reasonable Rs. 30-40 per Paratha ... lip smacking delight ...

Seriously ... Basti hai mastaano ki Dilli ... Gali hai diwaano ki Dilli ...

Cheers ... !!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Hejdå ... !!



That's Good-bye in Swedish ...

Its time to bid adieu to Malmo ... a city that I have made my own for the last 18 weeks ... I say it with quite a lump ... but life goes on ... but its been a pleasure living in Malmo ... a weird city where you feel more Danish than Swedish ... due to its proximity to Copenhagen ...



I will miss the daily routine ... getting up at around 6ish and getting ready before waking up Kunal and then calling Biwi ... then proceeding to get the tiffin ready ... followed by tea/coffee ... getting down and waiting for the rest of the gang and trudging out in the snow (and later some sunshine accompanied by a chill in the air) towards Triangeln to board the bus ... and then walking again from Centralen to office ... while coming back it was a different story ... we started discussing about dinner at 3 pm itself ... the knocks on various doors to get the Belan for roti ... :P

We got so much of free stuff at Centralen ... from ready-to-cook chicen to ice creams ... to juices ... amazing ...



The weekend trips to the open market ... a walk down the frozen lake (its no more frozen and it looks inexplicably pretty) ... after-dinner walks till Gustav Adolfs Torg ... those midnight dancing attacks at the hotel club ... casino hopping ... a laidback afternoon at Kungsparken ... brannboll at Ribergsborg ... just too many memories to jot down ...

We talked about it in February that post-April ... time would fly since most of us were going to visit places around Europe ... and with Biwi also coming to Helsinki ... things only got better ...



Helsinki, Rome, Venice, Zurich, Bern, Spiez, Luzern and Copenhagen ... the only sore point was Paris ... but I will be back ... :P

I also learnt some Swedish ... but at best I can define my skills as below-par... :D

I couldnt stay without my Jojo card (its Yoyo and not Jojo :D) ... coz that guaran-damn-teed that I could freely roam around Malmo by bus without paying a penny ... er ... ore :P

It was weird in Jan and it is weird now ... back in Jan, it was like sunset at 1530 and sunrise at 0900 ... now its sunrise at 0430 and sunset at 2200 ... so its been quite weird that way :) ... we almost saw no sun in Jan-Feb since our office timings are 0800-1600 :P



As much as I am thrilled to get back to India ... I am peeved to imagine that I wont be in Malmo now ... a beautiful city and a great host ... I will miss you Malmo ... take care ...



Cheers ... !!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

A Stroll ... !!

Its overcast all of a sudden here in Malmo. It reminds me of the time I actually landed in this city in January. There was bright sunshine for close to 2 weeks but it has become drowsy again ... I mean the weather ...

Kunal (my roomie) went back to India this morning to be there for this sister's wedding. We have a 4 day weekend starting today. I went with him to drop him off till the Central at 0715. After his train to Copenhagen departed ... I went back to the bus stop to board any of the number 8s, 2s or 7s ... but the first bus was in 11 minutes ... hell crap ... lets go walking methinks ...

Its a straight path from the Central to our hotel unlike the bus route which meanders around the city.

It was only after 5 minutes of walking that I realised that there are not a lot of people on the street. It was almost pin drop silence at 8 am on a Thursday (Yes, it was a holiday). It was now that I started counting the number of people I see (I counted a moving vehicle as 1). When I was done with the 3 km distance ... the count stood at 59 ...

Yeah ... they do take their holidays seriously here ... :P

P.S: There is a fountain on the way that you can control on your own. Each pipe in the fountain has a corresponding button outside ... and anyone can press any of the buttons to get the ripple effect ... slick ... and I discovered this one week away from my departure to India :P

Cheers ... !!

Monday, May 03, 2010

Losing a P ... !!

One of the saddest days of my life ... DAPP disintegrates and here I am sitting at a place far away from the mayhem ... Prakash leaves Pune ... to pursue something better in Noida ... surely a FLAG AT HALF MAST day ...

KYA DIN THE YAAR ... I have repeated this statement with Biwi so many times over the last 4 days ... its such a crushing blow when we both come back to India ... Prakash Bajiya saale ... :(

He will be missed ... from his unmimickable sense of singing ... to his innovative card games ... from his total negligence of timing :P ... to his filthy mouth ... :D ... kya kar diya saale ... I have never had such a MIXED FEELINGS birthday ever ...

My friend Adi's demise is still the worst moment in my life ... but this is a close second ... suddenly I feel too old realising that life has to go on and this is very much close to what's in store post our 30s ...

I dont have too many good (read: close) friends and its doubly screwing when someone as close as Prakash goes away ... I cant stop thinking about how lost we are going to be on weekends ... especially Friday evenings ...

Dev Uncle's kitchen, Meghdoot, Signature, TOaks, Marz-O-Rin, Pizza Hut, Tamhini Valley, Nivaant ... it brings tears when I foresee that DAPP would not be frequenting these places ...

Its with immense pain that I write that each of the members of DAPP would be in a different city starting tomorrow ...

Chal koi nahi bande ... here's wishing him all the best in life ... dekhe to sahi ki Noida mein woh baat hai bhi yaa nahi ...

signing off with a patented Prakash Bajiya dialogue ... one that he used when we reached the top of Rajgad on a terrible windy, rainy and slippery trek ...

Ban naa chaahte ho duniya ki sabse badi company? :P

and I would like to dedicate one more of his punchlines (I have also been using it of late :D) to Prakash ... JAZBA HAI BANDE MEIN ...

Cheers mate ... and Plan C yaad rakhna :P

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Regretting a Joy ... !!

Ouch ... this week has been excruciatingly painful ... Paris dreams went up in the air ... er ... ash ... and there are still signs that this may continue ... something tells me I am never gonna visit Iceland in my life :P

This was followed by me not being present for the Bachelor's party of one of my dear friends ... Sabhtarsha ... and today he enters wedlock ...

After irritating the hell out of each other for 9 years ... from FC to Persistent to AT ... it almost felt like I was wedded to him ... and I am hoping my wife does not read the last statement :P

Here's wishing my good old fat (I heard he has been gymming :P but I also heard he has not given up on Good Luck yet :P) friend a sweet married life ... have a good one mate ...

I hope Sabhtarsha is an even better husband than he is a friend ...

Cheers ... !!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Shylock Land ... !!

He is one of my all time favorite fictional characters ... for some reason I like the villains who have this aura about themselves and didnt Shylock have that? A mean guy who was mostly correct in expressing his views ... but not necessarily in the correct way ... and I am going to Shylock land for Easter ... along with another childhood-dream place ... Roma ...

Shylock happens to be the evil twist in one of the very few comic plays by Shakespeare called The Merchant of Venice ... a legendary play that takes me back to school everytime I remember it ...

We were spared the nuisance of Julius Caesar coz our batch was the first to start off with The Merchant of Venice after most of our senior batches went through that ordeal called Julius Caesar ... and we had Mr. Guzder to teach us Literature at school ... who better than Mr. Guzder I say :P

The Merchant of Venice is a play set in Venice and is a story about 2 friends ... Antonio and Bassanio ... where Antonio is a ship merchant while Bassanio is his spend thrift friend ... and Antonio always helps him out in all his endeavors ... Bassanio is in love with Portia who lives in Belmont ... Shylock is also a merchant but he is a Jew and his angst against non-Jews has been portrayed so amazingly ... Shylock and Antonio never get along ... Shylock has a beautiful daughter in Jessica who is in love with one of Antonio's close buddies Lorenzo ... and there is the clown Launcelot Gobbo ... all in all its a twisted plot with Shylock always trying to gain on Antonio in some way or the other ...

Bassanio needs some money from Antonio to go to Belmont and woo Portia ... Antonio's ships have still not returned and he is a bit short on cash so he decides to borrow money to help Bassanio ... and surprise surprise ... only Shylock is ready to lend him money in Venice ... but he has a shrewd condition if Antonio doesnt pay him the money on time ... he will cut a pound of flesh from Antonio's body ... :P

The play can be divided into 2 parts ... the first part is all about introducing all characters and there is more of Antonio and Shylock ... but the 2nd part is more about Bassanio and Portia and how they come to Venice to help out Antonio ... Portia steals the show in the last quarter of the play ... but its a gripping play and makes you chuckle a lot ...

I remember that Biwi and I spent a lot of time discussing Venice for our honeymoon ... but since we got married in December ... we were a bit wary of the snow ...

But it looks like we are pretty close to realizing our dream ... we will be in Rome on April 1,4 and 5 while we will by roaming in the gondolas at Venice on April 2 and 3 ...

I hope we come across Shylock ... Bon Voyage ... Cheers ... !!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Helsingfors ... !!

Well, thats the name of Helsinki in Swedish and I thought it is appropriate if I somehow used both Swedish and Finnish in some way :P

I had been to Helsinki last weekend to meet Biwi and throughout my flight I kept going back to that horrendous day in October when it seemed like every path I was taking had an invisible wall that I was banging against ... and who would have thought on that day that I would be meeting my beloved in Helsinki of all places ... but am I complaining? No way ... :)

The thing I like about Europe is that office hours are only till 4 pm which gives anyone ample leeway to plan something on a Friday evening. I boarded a train from Malmo to Copenhagen (since that's my closest international airport. Malmo has its own airport but it does not have too many good direct international connections) at around 5:30 pm. It takes around 20 minutes to reach Copenhagen airport (the train station is located at the airport called Kastrup Lufthavn) and I was at the airport at 6 pm ... still 2 hours away from my 8 pm flight ...

Copenhagen airport is quite huge (I have not been to too many airports to be honest) and I thought its the right time to explore the airport. And a person like me has to head straight to the liquor section, isnt it? Well yeah.

It took me around 40 minutes to check out all options and short listed a few that I will get to India in 2 months time. But I took some wine biscuits for Biwi and after paying in Euros, I received some Danish change. Man ... I was suddenly carrying Euros, Swedish Kronors, Danish Kronors and INR ... all at the same time ...

It was a 90 minute flight to Helsinki and Biwi had promised me that she will be at Terminal 1 at 2230 local time (Helsinki is an hour ahead of Copenhagen) but I did not find her when I reached. It was 2300 and there was till no sign of Biwi and I was starting to worry a bit ... coz I did not have a cell ... neither did she ... and there was no way to contact her if she doesnt turn up ...

But she finally came at 2315 and I was relieved at first and then extremely happy to meet my wife after 2 months ... I was so emotionally drenched ... thats what I call ... Moments ..

We boarded a bus that took us to Helsinki Central station (called Rautatientori) and its quite some distance from the airport. From there it was a 15 minute walk to Biwi's place ... and we had some planning to do for the next 2 days ...

Saturday morning and a bit of afternoon was consumed in making some food and it was early evening when we headed out ... along with Biwi's 2 colleagues ...

It was colder than Malmo the wind was making it worse ... but we went to The Rock Church first. I must say I have never seen a church like this in the sense that it does not look like a church from outside but once you are inside ... you feel like remaining inside ... its beautiful and has a arena atmosphere about it ... there is a gallery too and the view from the gallery is even more special ...











From there, we went to Zoological museum but that was already shut but we managed some pics ... and then we visited the Parliament house ... I couldnt believe that the President of Finland stays just down the road with zero security ... :P







Helsinki is quite picturesque ... the trams, the statues and small over-bridges make it very pleasing to look at ... Swedish is the second language in Finland and everyone knows both Finnish and Swedish since its part of basic education ...







We then went to The Cathedral ... this is the standout place in Helsinki for me ...

It reminded me so much about what I have read about St Peter's Basilica ... the statue of Alexander in the open space in front of the Cathedral gives you that great historic feeling ... if thats a valid phrase ;)







Unfortunately, there was a procession in place inside the Cathedral and we couldn't quite get inside ... we then roamed around in the streets which was magical ... a typical European evening ... there are people who come out on the street and play music ... just amazing ...





We checked out a few malls. Biwi and I also went off on a metro tour :P ... this was my first time in a metro train and its really something to behold ... Biwi also told me that the metro in Helsinki is the world's northernmost metro ... Kudos ... :P

We then headed back home ...

Sunday morning was also consumed by food and we headed out post 1 pm ... it was funny though ... day light saving had started and there were 2 huge tower clocks in the centre of the city which showed different times ... it was hilarious ... fortunately we had set our watches to the current time ...

We went back to The Cathedral and managed to get inside this time ... and it was even more prettier inside ... there is something about these churches in Europe that does not allow you come out again ... but we had to ... sadly ...

We checked out some more malls and managed to get some Euros for myself and my colleagues back in Malmo since our cards don't work in Sweden and Denmark coz Euro is not the default currency there ...

Back home ... I was eating away since I was not going to get any food till 11 pm coz my return flight was due at 2115 ... Biwi walked me till Rautatientori from where I was supposed to board the bus to the airport ... these are the times you hate being part of ... leaving your loved one after spending some magical moments ... but we are going to meet again and I am sure we are gonna have more fun ... with that I waved good-bye ... reached Copenhagen at 10 pm and then Malmo at 10:30 and was back at my room at 11 pm ...

And as I put up as my status message ... I need a unique scissor ... a scissor that cuts wings ... wings of TIME ... so that it never flies when I am with my loved one ...

Alas ...

Till the next fun trip ... Cheers ... !!

Sunday, March 07, 2010

A Regrettable First ... !!

Its my Dad's birthday today ... and its the first time I am not at home on either of my parents' birthday. Yes ... its a regrettable first ...

March is a festive month at home with both my parents celebrating their birthdays along with their anniversary ... and its the first time I will be away from my parents in March ...

Happy Birthday Daddy ...

And ... this may well be my shortest post ... since there is lot more to feel than write ...

I hope my absence hasn't dented the atmosphere in any way ... Enjoy Mummy and Daddy ...

This is one of my favorite family photos ... times when we did not have a lot but were much more happier ...



Cheers ... !!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

A Prayer Answered ... !!

It is that kind of a day when I dont know whether to feel happy or sad ... the undercurrent is definitely happy but I am sad that I am not in India.

Not that it is terribly bad news but I would have loved to be in India right now ... Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar froze time for around 210 minutes and I have not done so many Refreshes in my life on a web page ...

Sitting on the last bench of a so called Knowledge sharing session, I was hooked on to this match from the beginning ... that fact that Viru got out early on meant that we may have a pedestrian approach to the game ... but that was a mis-que on my part ...

SRT pulverised the Proteas into submission ... and bare in mind this was against one of the best bowling attacks in the world ... they had Steyn who has wrecked havoc in the Tests and the so called man-in-waiting Parnell ... couple that with Kallis who has a 200+ scalps in ODIs ... and the so called excellent death bowler Langelveldt ...

I am not at all ashamed that I didnt understand anything that was "transferred" to us today ... I think there were 22 overs left when he reached his 100 and I just hoped that 22 overs would be sufficient for him to complete the double ... so 13 years now ... the butchery of Saeed Anwar had haunted us ...

It was a pain to watch SRT go through all those near misses at Chennai, Hyderabad, Christchurch, Barbados ... but the man is a piece of genius ... 21 years and still going ... hats off sire ...

I would have loved to go out today to Camp or FC just to get the feel of the crowd and the atmosphere ... a good old fashioned Chaai and Bun Maska would have been just fine ... and lots of chatter about THE GOD ...

Well played sire once again and I am not gonna forgive you for playing another blinder on a working day ... hands high up in the air and bowing sire ...

Cheers ... !!

Friday, February 05, 2010

What a Marketplace ... !!

If you are guessing that I am going to brag about something in Sweden ... you are wrong ...

This is about a movie that I experienced yesterday (Yes, I call it an experience). Its called Mandi. Its an old movie(1983) directed by the legendary Shyam Benegal. So whats it about? Why do I call it an experience and adorn it with exclamations?

Well, the story is very simplistic fundamentally but the way it has been woven ... it seems surreal ...

Its about a Kotha based in old town Hyderabad and its several inmates. This Kotha is run by the effervescent Paan-chewing Rukmini Bai (Shabana Azmi) who is like the godmother to all the prostitutes. Note that she is not the usual godmother but has this really whacky and comic way of dealing with situations. This is the highlight of Mandi. A sensitive topic is portrayed in a comic or lets say a very relieving manner. It reminded me of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron which is a landmark comedy movie which essentially deals with a sensitive topic ...

Rukmini Bai has an ensemble supporting cast in the form of prostitutes starting with the charming Zeenat (Smita Patil). Zeenat is a great singer and practices singing for hours per day. She is treated like a jewel by Rukmini Bai and she will go to any extent to maintain the virginity of Zeenat. The reason for this unfolds through out the movie and its very funny during the scenes in which Rukmini Bai runs helter-skelter preventing a suitor from sleeping with Zeenat ... Zeenat is also very childlike and Smita Patil has pulled it off like a piece of cake ... most other prostitutes are jealous of Zeenat but not in a grudging way ...

One of them is Baasanti (Neena Gupta) ... who is also a great singer and an equally potent dancer ... she always complaints to Rukmini Bai about why Zeenat gets to do Riyaaz before her and even for a longer duration ... she is also having an interesting interlude with the sleazy street photographer Ramgopal played so amazingly by Om Puri ... Ramgopal loves to click nude pics of the prostitutes and from interesting angles :P ... he has his way with the flirty Parveena but he is very fond of Baasanti ... and Baasanti would never give him any nude pics ...

Nadira ... played by the beautiful Soni Razdan is a foul mouthed wonder piece eternally egging on Rukmini Bai in all her endeavors ... Ila Arun is a delight to watch being pregnant through out the movie without ever concealing (in fact she does not know herself) the father's name ... :D ...

There is one other prostitute (or is she?) that is inducted into the Kotha ... she cant speak ... and is unaware about her duty when she first comes in ... her name is Fulmani and much of the movie revolves around Rukmini Bai illegally using a muted person to run her Kotha ...

There are some amazing characters supporting this main cast ... Harish Patel as the Hawaldaar who always dreams of sleeping with Zeenat and is thrown out innumerable times by Rukmini Bai ... a person who knows all the Dafaas of the law :P

Annu Kapoor as the expression-less doctor who keeps frequenting the Kotha to check all prostitutes with special attention to Ila Arun since she is pregnant ...

But one of my favorites is Tungrus (what name is that?) played brilliantly by Naseeruddin Shah ... Tungrus is like the office boy of the Kotha doing petty jobs ... like picking up baggage, getting tea, running errands for Rukmini Bai ... and when the night descends, he likes to drink beer and abuse Rumini Bai for destroying the lives of women ... he hates Rukmini Bai's parrot coz he feels the parrot is a Chamcha ...

Being a story based in Hyderabad, its great to listen to the Hyderabadi Hindi especially from Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah ...

There is another angle to the movie ... that being Mr. Gupta played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda ... he is a richo annexing land after land to his riches ... and finally he lays his hands on the area where the Kotha is situated ... there are several dialogues between Gupta and Rukmini Bai about shifting them to a different location ... at first Rukmini Bai doesnt agree ...

The Womens Liberation group head, Shanti Devi, also comes by to speak ... this is one of the best scenes about how Rukmini Bai justifier her profession ... she calls herself and the other prostitutes Kalakaars ... but the way she does it is so special ...

Shanti Devi is also a member of the municipality which is headed by Saeed Jaffery who has a vested interest in the brothel ... I wont say what coz thats a suspense element of the movie ... and the municipal board votes in favor of chucking out Rukmini Bai from her current location to th outskirts ... Gupta promises Rukmini Bai that he will help her set up her Kotha in the outskirts ... apparently Annu Kapoor is also a member of the municipality and the only one who votes against the municipality's decision :P

Gupta has a daughter to be married in Ratna Pathak Shah and Saeed Jaffery has a son Sushil whom he wants to marry to Ratna's character to settle debts with Gupta ... Gupta invites Rukmin Bai to his place to provide some entertainment during the first meeting between Sushil and Ratna ... Rukmini Bai comes with Zeenat and Baasanti ...

Sushil is smitten by Zeenat's beauty and her singing and falls for her immediately and keeps pursuing her for the remainder of the movie ... there is a very funny scene where Ramgopal, Hawaldar and Sushil end up at Zeenat's room at one time and Rukmini Bai shows up to chuck all of them out :P

When Rukmini Bai moves to the outskirts and starts setting up her Kotha there, Tungrus does not accompany them since he is very fond of the old place ... he drinks and abuses everyone and cries ... everyone at the Kotha miss Tungrus so much coz they feel handicapped by his absence ... and finally Tungrus comes walking along to the new place ... just amazingly shot ...

Rukmini also asks the prostitutes to do stuff that Tungrus used to do like the household chores but they are quick to snap "Hamaara kaam jo hai wohi karenge" :P

The best scene for me is ... between Rukmini Bai and Amrish Puri's character ... he plays a Jogi Baba and finds himself at a place where Rukmini Bai is venting her frustration to herself that no one is listening to her like before ... this scene is so funny that it will bring tears to your eyes ... watch it yourself ... Amrish Puri is great in a 2-minute role ...

Ramgopal and Baasanti also hit it off ... with Baasanti agreeing for nude pics ... its something like "Tu Parveena ki nangi photo kheechta hai ... meri kyu nahi kheechta?" :D and Ramgopal promises her that he will help her to become an actress in Bambai ... he has contacts you see :P

At the time of the delivery of Ila Arun's baby ... Rukmini Bai is coaxing her to deliver a baby girl ... coz then the girl would inherit her mother's job ... it is a very stupid thing to think about but it has been done in a very comic way ... Rukmini Bai is happier than the mother when Ila Arun delivers a baby girl ...

The essence of the movie is the camaraderie between all inmates of the Kotha and the amazing support cast ...

There is Pankaj Kapoor and Satish Kaushik too in itsy-bitsy roles but they do impress you ...

The movie flows from the beginning ... hits top pace in between and has an equally twisted, emotional and comic climax ...

I would seriously recommend this movie to everyone who likes meaningful (and in a way meaningless :P) cinema ...

4.5 out of 5 ... go lay yourself :P

Cheers ... !!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Sverige musings ... !!

Ok ... Sverige stands for Sweden ...

Its been close to 2 weeks since I have been here and I thought its a good time to write about some of the stuff that I have observed over here.

The day I landed at Copenhagen (I know its in Denmark but it's a stone's throw from Malmo), the instructions (both written and oral) were so precise that I did not feel like a newbie. I didnt spend a lot of time for a train ticket from Copenhagen to Malmo. There were 3 different platforms, each catering to different regions. There was one dedicated platform for Malmo and there were lifts to take passengers to the platform from the airport. The ticketing system specified that there would be a discount if the number of people are more than 1. This was fruitful :P

Before every station, there were clear announcements as to which is the next station and the duration for which the train would halt at that station. This was very helpful since we had lots of baggage with us and it calmed us down a lot when we knew that Malmo is the last station and the train would stay there for close to 15 minutes.

The sunrise and sunset were some of the initial shocks. It was 5 pm when we reached Malmo and it was pitch dark. The sun doesnt rise till around 0830. So it was like going to office in the dark and coming back also in the dark.

The pedestrians have their way most of the time here. The vehicles would stop if they see anyone crossing or even when they feel that someone is approaching the zebra. So now I am used to walk right past the road. If I do the same in India ... I would be killed ... in a very bad way :P. People who are driving bring along lots of stuff with them for TP in case they have to stop if people are crossing. For example ... sandwiches, newspapers, etc.

There are also buttons at each crossing for pedestrians that speeds up the Green signal. Divine.

People here are very reserved and stick to their groups if they have one. Buses are twice our size and its pin drop silence inside. This is very weird for us Indians. We love to make friends with strangers. People dont like strangers saying Hi to their kids :(

There is a digital status board at each bus stop with route information and the due time for each bus. Additionally, there is an asterisk for each bus on this board which denotes that the bus is close by. And the bus will stop at the designated place and not an inch further or behind. There are buttons available to every passenger which can be used to inform the driver that you want to get down at the next stop. If there is no1 who presses this button and the driver finds that there is no1 who is waiting to board the bus either, then he will not stop.

Sweden is a child centric country and people value their families a lot. Its common to find people coming to office during odd hours like 3 am or 5 am and leave by noon to be with their families. Parents pick up and drop their kids to school everyday. Both parents are entitled to leaves when the baby is to be born. Both parents can work at 80% workload till the child is 8 years old. Both parents are entitled to sick leave if their kids are sick. Locals feel homesick in office ... :P

People love their weekends ... in the sense that they stay at home. The streets are deserted during weekends. Most of the stuff is automated ... but thats expected in this part of the world. People talk more about going to a different country during their free time rather than some place in their own country :P

The local currency is Kronor. One Euro is around 10 Kronors so that translates into 1 Kronor = 6.5 Rupees ... most of the grocery here is quite affordable ...

30 eggs are for 25 Kronors, Onions are 5 Kronors for a kg, Potatoes are 8 Kronors for a kg, Tomatoes are 4 Kronors for a kg, a Bread packet containing around 30 slices is for 10 Kronors, boneless Chicken is 75 Kronors for a kg, a lite of Milk costs 10 Kronors, a litre of cooking oil is for 17 Kronors, etc.

If you convert it to Indian currency, it may seem expensive but as a percentage of the salary it is quite affordable ...

Well ... thats most of what I have observed over here ... I am sure there is more to come ...

Cheers ... !!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Cards galore ... !!

Everything here works with the help of cards ...

I have less of cash and more of cards it seems in my wallet. I have my identity card and photo ID card from India. When I left India, I was given a Travel insurance card to cover my medical expenses, if any, from India to Sweden. I was also given a Citibank World Card for Euros which contained my allowances. As soon as I arrived at my hotel in Malmo, I was given the hotel card, with the help of which I can access various stuff in the hotel like washing machine, room, hotel entrance as well as lifts. Yes, you cant use the lift without a card. If you go inside and press the button of some floor, it wont work if you dont use your card. As Sabhtarsha would say ... Ajeeb hai yaar ... :P

On the first day of office, I was given the Tieto Sweden card to access stuff in the office here. The HR came up and gave me yet another card. It was the medical insurance card. Yesterday, I was the proud (??) owner of yet another card. The monthly bus card to roam around Malmo any number of times during one month.

Lagta hai patte khelne baithna padega ab ... or do I need a card for that too?

Cheers ... !!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Sprint across Vantaa ... !!

It was 1430 local time as the aircraft descended towards Helsinki airport, more commonly called Vantaa. At that moment, I was not too concerned about the mind boggling clouds surrounding the aircraft or the snow outside. The big concern was that my connecting flight to Copenhagen was due to depart from Vantaa at 1535. Something told me that it was not going to be easy. And it came true ...




My seat number was 59J ... the total capacity was 60 seats and I was sitting in the tail of the aircraft. The aircraft had just one exit and it was going to me an arduous task getting to the exit. We touched down at 1435 and it was 1445 till I came out of the aircraft. Now what? I had to find my way to the "Connecting flights" section. Fortunately, I found the section sooner than later. The gate number for my flight was 28. I had to go through the security check in. I had 2 bags with me. One laptop bag and the other a carry-on bag. The carry-on bag contained ready to eat stuff like Maggi, etc. It also contained something that was going to set me on a marathon across Vantaa. It was a bottle of aftershave lotion. The limit on such liquids is 100 ml and unfortunately mine was 150 ml. Dratch.

I was asked to step aside and I went through a rigorous examination of what I was carrying. I was asked to remove my belt, watch, Kada, wallet, boarding passes and tickets. Practically, everything apart from what I was wearing. My shoes and socks were checked in detail. I was not enjoying this. All I could hear was ... "This way please, Sir" or "Please turn around, Sir". Fortunately, I was not carrying anything suspicious. After querying their seniors, the security personnel gave me 2 options ...

One ... remove the aftershave lotion OR Two ... check in my carry-on baggage. For some reason, I didn't like the first option. I agreed to the second option. I was asked to proceed to a counter with my baggage. It was 1455 and I had to wear my belt again along with putting everything back in my pockets. I met a person at the counter and he asked me to furnish my passport. He proceeded to ask me something which I did not understand in 2 attempts, primarily due to his accent but it was more to do with where I am headed to. I replied with Sweden. He pointed me to his left. I asked him, "Where am I supposed to go? I am in a hurry". He said, "Find it". I did not have time to be surprised by this.

I headed to the direction he mentioned and saw lots of counters. I went up to a counter and met the lady at the counter. She was courteous enough to inform me that counter number 215 is the one I should be going to. I asked her for directions and she told me its towards the right. All this while, I descended from the 1st floor to the ground floor of the airport. I went up to 215 and let the lady know my state. To my surprise, she took it up urgently and said just one thing ... "Sir, I will make sure your bag is boarded in the aircraft but I must tell you that you need to run". No wonder ... it was 1520 and I was wondering if I would be allowed in.

Surprise, surprise. Another security examination since I was using a different entrance of the airport. Double Dratch. I went through everything again. The belt, watch, wallet, etc. It got over in 5 minutes.

I had to climb the floor I already descended but from a different direction and make my way to gate 28. When I reached the first floor, I was at gate 13. I had to run across 15 gates to reach gate 28 at 1530. The people were still moving to board the flight. That sight made me feel great. I boarded the aircraft and thanked my stars for everything.

At a temperature of -8, I was sweating as I took my seat ...

Cheers ... !!