Green Loco

So Far Away

2009-11-11T11:41:00.000-08:00

Been running a little dry on the positives apart from being very exhausted.

Welcome the bed.

Time out.

In The Name Of

2009-10-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

I am totally out of touch with the life that should be. To make it the affirmative, it is now the new life that makes me think back to the one that was.

Someone told me Cal makes you lazy and disproportionate. The second transformation is moulding itself into my routine yes, but I'm pushing hard to keep away from the first. Let's hope that sticks. But now, to address the second is a priority of the first order.

Anyway, life's been all that off late - revising a 'proposed' keep in touch list,putting on a blobs of weight over 2 months,experimenting more with seafood,finding more politics on my plate than I'd imagined and having to swallow it with a straight face etc etc.

Sit back and then fathom this experience for 30 more years to come. Delicious.

What I also wondered at times, was how ineptly formed certain structures were. It happens everywhere but it's so puzzling to see senior people who don't know jackshit about their job. How do they get there? How does HR not see it? Why do so many companies have a similar scenario? Is this whole performance review term a put on? How often do we see some guys at the bottom who should be pushed higher up the ladder than their superiors? Does the top worker work his way up and slack off as he approaches the top?

How how how.

I don't get this.

Resurrect

2009-10-02T09:55:00.001-07:00

This is the pits.

Again and again a burst of blog posts and then I'm out of it for weeks. Last post almost a month ago. Not good signs.

Ok, so I didn't get to go home for the first long weekend that was gifted late last month. And I'm not doing anything special this weekend either. Some of my friends went to Goa,near it or did something spectacularly adventurous.

Pujo was a good outing. I saw 6-7 pandals and got a nice flavour of the event. People say its really crowded but I don't think it's that big a deal. Coming from a packed place like Mumbai - no chance. Very picturesque themes done up for the pandal.

Lemme place a pic for ya. (click on it for a better view of the glimmerin' neons)

No Rhyme

2009-09-04T04:41:00.001-07:00

It's been 4 weeks since we moved into the new flat & there have been 4 maids who've stopped by at our place offering to help/aid in household cleaning/servicing.

I guess word gets around the minute they see an open window that was closed for months together or light emanating from an odd spot in the building. Good to know help is at hand. The only problem being that..

We can't converse in a common language. All the maids rattle off in Bangla and leave me speechless. I try hard to go slow on the Hindi with timely gestures to illustrate critical tasks like cooking,jhaadu,poccha and the like. They follow my hand movements and pause a few seconds before smiling and starting off again. In full flow.

Yes, it's a sweet sounding language but I really can't tell the questions from the statements - assuming that both are imbibed in her sales pitch - which becomes a bit of a worry because I don't know where I'm supposed to hold the talk & reply or nod my head and let it go on.

And each of these four times, I resort to my (expected) saving grace - asking for a mobile number to get back with details at a later date. So I motion with a make believe handset against my ear, waiting for a positive from the lady at my door. She watches my actions and responds with a shake of the head. More incomprehensible talk for my ears.

That brings an abrupt end to something that may have been a likely pact with a domestic help.

I need a crash course in basic Bangla. Maybe I should consult Mr. Ghose, our next door neighbour for one. Or from anyone else who's willing to.

India's Bulletproof Train

2009-08-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

ToI recently had an article on the most dangerous train ride in the country - a 103km trip from Lumding to Haflong in Assam, which has been repeatedly ambushed by militants.

Off late, there has been no activity after the Black Widow leader, Jewel Garosa was arrested two months ago. These militants understand the inconvenience and danger caused to the locals but they won't tolerate any movement of security forces along this route. As long as they spot army/police personnel, they will be target the trains. The locals however, have a second filler. They say there is a road transport lobby backed by a former Union minister which is using these forces to prevent goods trains from plying on the route.

20km en route, a forest area approaches. This is where the dangerous part begins. There are forces along the tracks with sand bagged walls et all. Between this point and the 32km mark, a train had been derailed by the warring lot, who'd removed 3metres of railway lines. The bogies are still lying on their side, engulfed by creepers and shrubs. After the 35km zone, the sabotage zone ends. "They prefer to shoot you after this point", says an official.

There are 37 tunnels along this section. Each station is fortified with bunkers and manned by jawans. Four stations were so vulnerable that they had to be closed down. Work on the broad gauge line is also affected. Appeals have been made to Mamata Bannerjee.

The enginer drivers are experienced and they can only smile in the face of this danger. They've seen things happen. And all they have for protection are bullet proof windows. "It's not possible to keep them shut all the time since it gets hot inside the engine", notes one driver. Also, if the militants choose to shoot from atop the hills, there is no cover for them. But they go about their job, just like their colleague Nityananda Bora did. A year ago, the militants had shot Bora several times but he still managed to reverse the engine into the tunnel in order to save lives. He was shot at point blank range soon enough. Bora was awarded the Kirti Chakra, the second highest peace-time gallantry award.

It's an ongoing fight for the Hill Queen.

Jumpin' Modes

2009-08-29T10:01:00.001-07:00

Transport switching.

In a heavy traffic cities opting for the best mode of travel is critical. I started building alternative routes to get home from my weekend destinations today.

After finishing off at Park street, the easiest (and laziest) thing one can do is grab a cab and head home. Point A to point B without the bother of stopover/changeover. That's the problem you see. You can't KNOW a city like that apart from knowing that single route perfectly. Geographies are meant to be explored. That's what gives the person a choice while choosing his/her travel options.

NG suggested an alternative route once we started moving towards home. Two or three transport mode switches but cheaper in the long run he said. I hadn't traveled the Metro in my 2 weeks of stay here. So why not, I thought.

I made my way to the Metro station down the road, got myself a ticket and boarded the Dum Dum bound rake. 4 stations and 12 minutes later I was at MG Road. Came out, enquired around for my share auto stand and started moving towards the same. This is where one can feel the humidity in plenty. Within minutes, I'd broken into a sweat as I hurried along the main road towards the Girish Park. And then I remembered Mumbai.

The share auto took us to Kankurgachi, a suburb located on the border of the Salt Lake region. Got off there, paid the auto chap 8 bucks and looked around for more transport. Located a 2nd auto and did the same. The auto moved along, with 7 of us stuffed inside. I was ok with the seating arrangement because I was comfortably sandwiched between the auto chap and a man on the left. No chance of falling out either.

We came out at a junction which looked very familiar. I looked to my right and saw the service lane leading up to Mani Square mall. Ah! ...awesome. So were abt 5min away from home then.

Got off @ Labony island a couple of minutes later and flipped the bloke a fiver.

Rs17 against Rs150. Weighed against the same duration. (approximately)

Parabola

2009-08-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

Enter the office, sit in front of the PC, generate about 100 call/day (incoming and outgoing inclusive), help yourself to a ridiculous amount of coffee,enjoy a light moment in the day with friendly workplace blokes,stretch that lunch time to bask in sanity and then back to routine.

Weeks are flying by. Like,seriously fast. And I'm coming full circle to the same checkpoints I started off with 6-7 months ago. At that time, I imagined the swiftness with which I could pull it off a second time. Maybe that much faster, a third time around. But it's always different. Of course it will be. Dynamic isn't it? That's what everyone calls it. An ever-changing world that we live in. So the factors will change everything aroudn you. And you'll have to adjust. It's all about how fast one moves with the flow.

On a personal front, I need to push old habits into this new life. To straighten out a few things. Or cut some fat where not required. And of course, maintain this blog. It can't die. Not now. Not yet.

The Big Picture

2009-08-27T05:10:00.000-07:00

Finally.

After a long 2 weeks, the basic things are ALMOST in place. The temp clothesline doesn't look like it'll support for too long so I've 'requested' the local electrician to come by.

Society bound helpers (plumbers/electricians/odd job chaps) are quite a convenience. Mr Ghose (yes, that's how you spell it), an elderly chap who lives with his wife is our neighbour who provided us with the contact. A helpful chap, judging by his proactive measure to speak to Surprakash on our behalf to get a few things done for the electricals.

It's like a big checklist, this entire home setup business - ticking off each item one by one or putting % completion figures next to each and reviewing it on a periodic basis. Then prioritise the critical tasks,push for those first up and get necessary resources to take it past the finish line.

Project management?

Look To The East

2009-08-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

4 in the pipeline and all running parallel towards the finish line (or so I hear).

Fun will come. Tank up.

Yellow Blazin' Ambiz

2009-07-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty certain that Cal cabbies are in a terrible rush all the time. No matter how 'lazy' people say/claim the city is, the aggression and energy is visible while driving.

Ambi seats are huge cushions that collapse under your weight (no matter how light you are). So u sink into the seat and for a second, if you're used to any other car, it can be a little alarming. Then you realise it's the big broad car of the 80's that's making it happen. An amusing but rather useful move is how everyone turns off their ignition at traffic lights. At least the cabbies. And trust me, there are plenty of yellows in the crowd. This morning in fact, it was at about 8.40am along this narrow street (Cal's full of these) when we had to stop at the red light.

An instant silence broke into the scene & muted the neighbouring noise levels. For that short span of seconds, the silence was loud - I could only hear the tram moving along the tracks up ahead and the sound of birds chirping on somebody's rooftop. And then the lights turned green. All the engines came back to life. The road rage returned.

Quaint feel to the whole scene for those moments. Maybe that's the thing about this city. Maybe this is what they call Kolkata. Amazing.

Ham & Cheese

2009-07-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

Several bookstores host a small but distinct corner of their ample floor space for snacks and coffee. You sit with a companion and contemplate the purchase of a book in your hand's grasp,discuss some old classics and even rattle out names of authors/books that should figure in the store's racks.

Again, it was SG and I at the spot, exchanging ideas and thoughts. He'd picked up this fighter plane book;it was a big broad hardbound make having a jet plastered across the cover. Every young boy's spark. I didn't know SG was into planes.

So we ordered for some coffee while SG flipped through some familiar models in the book and read out highlights of each. He was very fascinated with planes;I could tell he was going headlong into the book already. He told me about a plane that had the ability to somehow fold back it's nose during flight - yea, jaw dropping stuff I know - which gave it a sort of handbrake action to stop short in its path. A pursuer would fly past and you'd have your man in the firing line within seconds. Bam! Another bird had a selection scope of 24 planes within the radar, shortlisting 6 lucky targets for heat seeking missiles. So long fellas.

We called for some Chicken Nuggets;they were alright. Great aroma though. That's a good strategy actually. Set up a make-do kitchen in the premises and set off a nose twitchin' aroma that'll pull in the crowd deeper into the store. And as these losers (I was one of them today) wander past the aisles, they spot a book they'd like to have. Voila! There's your sale recorded at the register.

So anyway, I bought myself a book about the Indian Railways turnaround. I'm bloody excited I am. Let's see how it turns out.

Oh, and did I forget to mention the delicious Ham & Cheese sandwich at the snack spot?

See? .....Saw!

2009-07-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

A complete turnaround from yesterday. Today I got jacked royally at work.

Just the whole routine that got to me and the fact that some stubborn vendor was not trying enough to have an issue resolved. A critical problem to make matters worse.

We were discussing how in our workplaces, we note certain slowcoach elements that drag everything back a decade. Or so it feels like. And we wonder how they survive. How they last long enough to drag the system into degeneration. Possible.
How does HR select these guys anyway? It's a shame. Quite a sham.

When it came to discussions, SG & I worked together on several (enjoyable) and long drawn out dissections of various topics. Both of us had a knack of querying more about the same thing in different ways to arrive at multiple possibilities. This is what I liked. This is what gives you more out of something that's constant or fixed. Extract more juice from the orange till its completely dry. Then move on to the next with the same consistency. Repeat. We'd build a little synopsis of the scenario and then move on to the next topic.

And you know, we picked out random topics. Today we pondered over the 12 year delay that McDonalds took to launch McNuggets, after having come to India back in 1996-1997. At the end of it, we took home some points to think about and a hunger well satiated.

Courtesy Pizza Hut.

Rain

2009-07-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Orissa rain hits in the second week of June. This year it's been way out of line. We're in the 2nd week of July and the monsoons haven't had the slightest coming this way.

Gusty winds. Now that's a phrase I can place in Bhu. This one time, a retailer opposite the office, who was excessively pampered with operator boards stacked one on top of the other had his day. Just like any other dog would've. This Aila thingie, it just smashed his exhibits to smithereens. (inclusive of the !dea board)

The next day this tapering structure of boards was swaying in the breeze. Airtel and Idea had been ripped off completely. Aircel was the first on his roof so it had weathered the storm. And by afternoon, the Voda guys came along and placed a new one above it. Tata just had danglers in the shop. Reliance doesnt even count. Maybe DoCoMo boys will come by soon.

Today was a great day at work. Things were happening fast. I was remembering many to-do list items and checking them off too. Unearthed new issues and resolved them within an hour or so. Felt good. And all this, alone. When you're handling the entire portfolio at the circle, the feeling of added responsibility gives a kick. WHen you take decisions, another kick sets in. Your hands are full but you love it. Because you know you're learning. And you know thats growth.

I got a call today from a manager in another circle. He wanted to know what we were doing in Orissa that was raking in helluva moolah on voice. Oh, that felt great too. Not that I was doing some rocket science or the like, just that people had indirectly started acknowledging (in some small way), the efforts put in by the team here.

Let this streak continue!

(And it's just started raining here)

Modern Times

2009-07-04T00:50:00.000-07:00

I've realised a disinterest in watching television. Now is that a good thing or bad - I'm not sure.

Today I missed the Wimbledon final. But I got to hear everything about it as it was happening. People on FB had these crazy status updates every few seconds. On chat, the first few lines of a conversation started on the same note. I got 3 SMS' about it too. Guess I don't need to watch anything. Everyone knows the latest updates through networking across various platforms. There's hordes of useless reality shows nowadays. Even the News channels exhibit the most senseless material which is all a waste. But you get to know of it all. And quick.

Choosing to stay away from mass media like this, I wonder the impact it has. As a cautious consumer, I'm being selective in my choice of media for relevant feed. Look at FB. It's caught on so terribly fast, you have to spend 5min each day going through silly requests for games/applications/quizzes on your 'wall'. And the second you give your consent to one, more will come along the same lines. Evil it is. Again, everyone knows what the other is upto. Someone started a Doordarshan quiz. In about an hour after that, I saw 20 odd people on my list who'd taken it up.

And look at Twitter. One bad twit about your experience with ABC and you have the company chaps at your feet, ready with a gratification package. Recently, a firm got back to a customer within 19min of his grievance post on the social networking site. And of course, got him to remove that reputation killing message. Its amazing.

Welcome the information age.

Running Out of Steam

2009-06-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

This engine above the headline; it's running out of steam.

Each time I visit this page and attempt to write something, I fail. Terribly. I have many things to write about. Wait - I have instances I would like to write about. But it doesn't stick. By the time I reach this URL, I'm like, "Nah. Forget it."

Need a fresh start. I think I'll take a short break before I return. After that there's going to be a change. There will be unexplored sights and sounds.

New experiences in retro city.

Have You Ever Been As Tired?

2009-06-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

Schism

2009-06-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to see some heavy politics at work. I think politics is omnipresent;its just a question of who comes across it first and picks up the cues fastest. And learns from it.

I want to think back a few months. I want to live the life back then. Life in college too. I miss it. At times, too much. I think about it when something comes up. Or when someone says something that'll remind you of the same. But I hate politics. I really do. I can never understand why you need politics. To stay ahead you say. To rile the roadblocks to that promotion.

Someday I want to have a workplace where there is no politics. No bitching, fighting, backbiting or conniving acts of disgust. Too perfect? Maybe. Impossible? Why? Have you tried? And tried enough?

Let's Go Get Lost

2009-06-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

Taste the bitterness of the situation.

Savour it. Because tt may not last. One far worse could be next.

Slow Down

2009-05-31T04:43:00.000-07:00

It all depends actually.

But anyway -

We unravel new rountines once we start working. The acquaintances turn into occasional "hang out associates" and before you know it, there's a new group on your social outing sessions. There's a time squeeze for the old timers - chaps you spent years with. And then you get some moments to slow down and think about the past.

For starters, it'd been a while since I'd done any walking. I walked a lot during college days - Navrang to Stn,stn to college,mutiple flights of stairs during the day at college and even the periodic walk through the market when traffic jams got too damn obstinate. College days are indeed long gone. So I asked Mallik to drop me outside the society, a sizeable plot with a cluster of buildings placed among a handful of lanes. Whipped out the pod and plugged in as I walked back home. Just to get that feeling of doing the regular thing you know?

And it felt good. Even though it was only for about 500m or so.

Talk about walking down memory lane.

VLR

2009-05-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's about being attached and detached. By observing trends on this unit, you can gauge the quality of subscribers - ones that take shelter or those shy away from it.

There's definitely a flavour of unrest within the ranks these days.

I'm very uncomfortable at times. Having uncovered a surprise (sneak?) attack, the equations have abruptly changed. The degree of fairness is to be questioned. And who will question it? I can't. I'm not involved. And I hope not to be for that matter.
But it percolates to me as well, you know. Oh well, I've to deal with it. I'm a little insecure though, I must admit.

That's the weird thing. Earlier in college or school - even the damn society cricket matches - you could go up and sort it out. Speak your mind. Out in the open. There'd be a big debate of sorts yea but then, it was all clear in the end right? Self-driven liberty along with the consensus building blocks and it's over before the worst begins.

Here, you hold back the words and put on your best expressionless face/response to the shit that's going on.

Sit and watch. Everything. Silently.

(Rocha's ringin' in my ears)
Cellular phone sounding the death tone"...

Total Recall

2009-05-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

I felt it this time.

The Mumbai routine ...the humidity that sucked the energy out of you in a few hours of travel, the noise enveloping crowded railway stations - it was triggering the past.

Smells,sounds,visuals of pockets within Mumbai had started off a chain of thoughts in my mind. Yea, I so did want to visit college but that didn't happen. Most of the trip was spent doing work which is alright but then, now I feel like I should've done a bit more travel in the city.

The humidity has got to me though. 3-4 months of Bhu have brought some pleasant air to the climate but as soon as I stepped out of the aircraft here, that mucky layer of sweat formed in no more than 15min. Welcome!

Coupled with the high temperatures, a sweltering atmosphere in Cal is something to look forward to. Haha... man it's going to be a killer.

Big Break

2009-04-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

Off late, a brooding and inexplicable dry patch has run rampant on this blog. Empty kegs and all that sorta thing.

Too much on hand really, but I won't ever make mistake of using the words, "no time" or stuff like that. It really gets to me you see, because I think I've spent two years of my life understanding the value of time, at times having experienced the consequences if I strayed away from it.

Work is a form/lump of little tasks, that keep piling up behind your back the minute you start working on one of several items. A quick glance and damn!... a few more people stack up their requirements. Small jobs that tend to get bigger with every minute that you leave it pending.

Hehe. Killer formula.

Yawwwnn

Positives

2009-04-09T12:26:00.001-07:00

Day was pleasant...starting with the weather.. coool breeze..

The Marketing team meet, discussions over the past 3 months, setting KRAz, clocking in the first VAS revenues, great food, a jovial environment in the Marketing cubicles, bonding more and more, completing pending tasks faster than expected, an amazing rasgulla preparation for dessert during lunch hour.. it all fell in place today.

The world of VAS begins!

Inhibition

2009-03-29T12:01:00.001-07:00

Time and time again it's always a reactive session. I'm starting to get very tired of this whole thing. I don't want to drop it. It's a big deal but at the same time,people better stop and understand the consequences of possible adversities.

So, one should accept a person for what he/she is. If they're not going to do much about keeping in touch, how much longer can I? So I'm going to let go a little further.

Because it sounds preachy if you bring it up for action. Because it may sound like no one gives a shit except you. Because it can create a bit of a mess really. But everyone pays if there isn't a contribution from each party, in some small way. And that, no one can deny.

Let things roll freely. If someone kicks the ball once in a while, it's great. If no one does, let the ball come to a halt. Maybe that's the better thing to do.

Why don't people wake up?

All The Time

2009-03-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

Drop in activity among the friends circle is a sin in my books.

Some have slipped out of scope and those I leave be. But there are many others who are around, with the occasional flyers and all that but it just isn't your regular feed. That's what I can't understand.

It can't work like this you see. Barely a year into Corporate life and a fizzle out looks possible every now and then.

In the trademark scoff of a Marathi maanus - "Ssshhhhyyyeaaa!"