THE PROPOSAL
I was getting tired of my job at the reputed audit firm. The work was getting monotonous and there was no more excitement. I knew what was missing, but I couldn't fathom what might rejuvenate me. What job could I do that would bring the spring back in my step? A break, maybe? Just quit the job and see the world? Yeah, that might be it!
So I went up to my boss that fateful day to tell him about my plan. I wanted to enjoy my life a little more, do work that was a little more worthwhile. I told him that I was resigning. My boss, Mr. Kalra, kept his cup of coffee down and looked at me thoughtfully. "Meet me after lunch."
I didn't think too much of it. "He'll just gimme a gyaan session", I thought. A leisurely lunch with colleagues-cum-friends later, I went back to his cabin. As he closed the door, he gestured for me to sit down. "Alpana." he said, "I would like to make you an offer. If you choose to take it, we'll discuss it more in detail later. But if not, you mustn't utter a word to anyone."
This was unexpected and sounded very unsettling to me. As I squirmed a little in my seat, Kalra continued. "Our firm does business with a lot of high profile clients. A lot of their information that we deal with is extremely confidential and 99% of the people employed with our firm never get to see that information. This is not part of the regular work that we do. Statutory and internal audits, regulatory compliances, business process consulting, is just what the world knows that we do. But below that, there's a lot of activity that no one sees. To remain competitive, companies have to perform activities that cannot be publicly known. Hell, it cannot be known to anyone except their Board of Directors, the CEO, CFO and COO! Our firm analyzes this information to understand how many of these activities may incur legal proceedings based on past data. We study trends and consult them on how to perform each activity in a way that seems correct to the world and its courts. We have close to 30 such clients in India. It's a small number, but it's a large percentage of our earnings."
By this time, my jaw had dropped open. I wasn't sure of what I was hearing. Where was this conversation going? Was it legal? Where did I fit in?
He went on. "You are one of my best employees and a close buddy as well. We have a team of 8 people in India who work on these projects. I would like for you to join us. The pay would be incredible, I promise you. A 500% raise. This is very sensitive work."
My eyebrows rose. 500 percent? Was this some kind of joke? It crossed my mind to record this conversation on my cell phone, but I had lost my beautiful Nokia 6110 Navigator two months earlier and the temporary cell phone I was using did not have the recording feature. Just as well, this could be trouble. Maybe I shouldn't be part of it at all. Just get up, tell him you're not interested and leave, I told myself. But this was the world's most lucrative offer knocking on my door!
"What's the catch?", I said as I finally snapped out of the daze. "None." said Kalra, "Officially, you work for our firm like you did. But your location changes. We don't do this work from the Mumbai office. You will be given a car, an apartment, and all your meals will be paid for. You will have a different phone number for all work pertaining to this and you must never mention what you really do to anyone. Not one person."
"And you said no catch! What exactly will I be doing again?"
"I cannot tell you now. All relevant information will be given to you once you are ready to get aboard. Certain papers will be signed and you will then be briefed. I understand you need your time to think over it. You can take your time and let me know in a while. Does that seem okay?"
"Yeah, it seems good. Umm. Let me think about it and tell you tomorrow."
"No, no. Take your time. In fact, take the rest of the week off. You'll think better without any pressure from work bogging you down! Let me know on Monday."
Wow! First a great offer and now a 4 day weekend? I liked this life already. I got up and made my way to the coffee machine. I needed coffee to assure me that I wasn't dreaming. Coffee in hand, I took the elevator down to go outside the building. I needed a smoke. As I puffed on my cigarette, I saw Sachin across the parking lot. I waved to him. No amount of coffee or smokes was making me feel less queasy. I wanted to be distracted.
Sachin didn't waste any time complaining about me not calling him down for a smoke. "Why the fuck do you want to smoke alone today, anyway?" I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "Work tension, what else? Have a deadline." In a few minutes, the conversation steered towards mutual rantings about work, bosses and a receding social life. I was finally feeling better.
On reaching home, I realized that I may never meet my friends at the firm again. Would I have to completely abandon every thing I had here, every person I knew? Was the money just a carrot to put me in deep shit? I would have a hard four days.
For the first two days, I couldn't sleep. By day three, I had made up my mind.
I walked up to Kalra that Monday. "Hey! Wanna go down for some tea at the stall outside?". "Of course! Let's go now. I'm free!", he exclaimed.
I played with the multiple rounded mounds that made up the small tea glass. "I'll do it." "Great!", said Kalra. "I'll explain you all details tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I'll start with the procedures."
BLISS
By the next month, I was packed and ready to start with a new life. It would've taken lesser time to shift, but we didn't want suspicions to rise, and I just told everybody I was relocating coz I needed a change in my stagnant life. Considering how much I had been complaining about my job, nobody suspected anything wrong.
The new office was beautiful. It was a sprawling complex with pruned gardens and plant sculptures. The building was an all-glass exterior with 10 storeys. While the "regular" teams worked on the first 9 floors, the 10th floor was all to us. Eight of us. The ninth, my boss Mr. Kalra, worked out of the Mumbai office. My apartment was right next door, within the same complex, and only separated from the office building by a gigantic swimming pool shaped like an hourglass. I could literally swim to office!
And the apartment was fit for a queen! 4 bedrooms, each with an individual bathroom. All fitted with tubs and luxury shower enclosures. The bathroom in the master bedroom even had a jacuzzi! The living room was the size of a mini-theater, with a dining area on the side. All furniture was in Mahogany, rich in style and decor. The kitchen was furnished with every kitchen unit possible, along with expensive china and porcelain cooking pots. Was I gonna live here all by myself?! Was this really happening to me?!
Unpacked and settled, I felt a surge go through me. I was gonna live the dream life. This was the best decision I had taken in my entire life! It was almost lunch time and I decided to meet with my new colleagues. I had already been given all their numbers and I scrolled through them on my new Blackberry. My old phone lay in the bedroom drawer. I had to use that number for all personal calls. The name 'Chirag Soni' sounded like a good one to call, based on random intuition. "Hi Chirag, this is Alpana. I just reached here today from Mumbai. Thought I could catch up with you guys for lunch so we can get to know each other better. Do you have any plans?" Chirag was friendly, "Of course lets all go to San Antonio's for lunch! Do you like Italian?" Do I! Everything seemed to be falling in place perfectly! The office looked great from outside, the apartment contained more luxury than I ever had, my colleagues sounded awesome and I was gonna eat free Italian food! Maybe for the rest of my life! "I love Italian! So I'll see you in half an hour below the office building!"
Life rolled on beautifully. We worked for 15 to 16 hours each day on weeks on an end, but when a project was finished, we had at least two weeks off. So we worked our asses off and then lazed and partied for two weeks! On most such free afternoons, I lazed around in the pool, lying on my purple inflatable lilo. The only other people living near me were my colleagues, who liked to go back home and meet their families. I preferred isolation. I would read in the pool, get my Mojitos in the pool, and even get my dog Ubuntu in the pool!
THE TALK
But all this time to yourself makes you think. My work involved me bending the rules. It wasn't the most ethical job in the world. Sure, most companies play around with loopholes in the law and many even blatantly break it! But should I really be part of it? Just eight months later, my conscience was beginning to pinch me. And very hard at that! I decided it was once again time to speak with Kalra. He would be in town in a few weeks. This conversation had to be done in person. I could wait.
The Tuesday he arrived, we had a lavish lunch at the Sheraton to celebrate a successful project that had enabled us to receive more lucrative jobs from the same client. We had won their trust and they spoke very highly of our quality of work. Kalra had even brought in another colleague from the Delhi office to join our team. All was well with the firm. Buy I wasn't enjoying the success anymore. I felt guilty. Kalra was holding his stomach in his cabin - a sign that he'd eaten too much and would not be able to work for another half an hour at least. I took the opportunity and slid the door halfway. "Hi. Can I come in?" "Yes, yes. I'm too full to work anyway."
"Kalra, what happens if somebody finds out about what we do?" His eyebrows rose. He got up and said, "Let's talk about this in the Cheshire." The Cheshire was our largest conference room, equipped to seat at least 20 people. Many discreet client meetings were done there. It had very high security systems, with a biometric fingerprint scanner and sound proofed doors and windows. Footage of video surveillance went directly on to a hard drive that was only accessible by Kalra. My heart pumped faster. What was he gonna tell me?
As he locked the door behind him, he looked around the room. It was a rectangular room with a large rectangular table right at the center. Twenty one chairs adorned it's rim. Ten each along the length of the table and one at the head. Behind this chair, was a huge shelf and drawer set. The opposite side of the head of the table had no chair. Instead, there was a large white screen hanging from the ceiling, a foot away from the wall. A projector hung on the ceiling, the remote laying right under it on the table. Along the entire length of the room, at the other side of the door from which we got in, was a huge french window. From it, you could see the swimming pool and my apartment, and almost the whole neighborhood. Even San Antonio's. But we couldn't see anything now. The blinds were drawn and the lights had to be switched on.
We didn't sit. Kalra said, "Why are you questioning such a lucrative career? You make more than enough money for someone your age, you meet and interact with the top brass of the society, you live life king sized...well queen sized, you drive a BMW and you always get free time every few months to take a long holiday! What else do you want?" I tried to put my words together. "I want to be able to tell my family and friends what I do. I want to have a job where I don't need to lie to everybody. And what if we fall in trouble?". I could see Kalra was not enjoying a bit of this conversation. His brow was furrowed and he shook his head in a disapproving way. "You notice there were no women in this team until you came along. I thought you would be sure of what you wanted in life, unlike other women who are indecisive about such things and suddenly bring up the ethics issue. But I was wrong."
There was silence for the next few seconds. I was hating Kalra at this moment. He was actually saying that being ethical was a downside! Then he spoke again. "Alpana, we are in a very powerful position, both you and I. I would request you to reconsider your decision. We deal with such sensitive data. Trust me, I know things about companies and their top ranking individuals that no other man knows. I know things about my employees that nobody knows. I have people who dig out every piece of information on every person that I have interacted with. It's power that you can also have one day."
Did he know stuff about me that nobody else knew? "You mean you know private stuff about me too?", I asked. Kalra shrugged, as if to say that was exactly what he was telling me. "What do you know about me?!?", I exclaimed. "Alpana, I have a folder in my laptop of every employee and every client of mine. I know whatever there is to know. I know you might be angry at first, but it's necessary. You must understand. It is necessary due to the sensitive nature of work we do." "Well," I said, trying to think calmly, "when was the last time I spoke to my parents?" "Oh that's simple. It was updated just yesterday. Sometime in the evening yesterday. Around 6 pm I think? Using your personal number, of course." No, no, no. Maybe that was just a lucky guess. It can't be!
"What is my favourite kind of food?"
"I don't remember that kind of stuff! But I can look it up. Is this really worth the effort?"
"I need to be completely sure you're not faking this. Please, if you can."
"Ok wait up." He got his laptop from his cabin. I was thinking of more questions to ask. I had to be sure!
"It says that you keep changing your preference between Italian and Greek."
Oh my God! "Kalra, you're freaking me out! When was the last time I lost a cell phone?"
He did some searches on his laptop. "Almost a year back. It was your Nokia Navigator. You loved the phone so much that you never bought another one to replace it. You are still using your friend's black and white phone for your personal number."
"And if you know so much, where is that phone now?" Hah! I'd got him! How would he know that?!
But he just smiled. He was reading something on his laptop and he was smiling. And I felt cold. Did he even have information about all of my things? "Come with me", he said and took me to the huge rack of drawers and shelves. "We try to gain as much information about our employees as we can. A cell phone is one of the most valuable sources of information. Since you had lost yours, we decided to track it down." He opened one of the drawers, using a security code. There were three Nokia Navigators. Two were black and silver and one was blue and white. The one I had lost was a black and silver. I picked up one of them and slid it open. I went to the phone menu to look at the contacts.
I couldn't believe my eyes. These were all the numbers I had lost! I went to the image gallery and saw pictures of my cat, my parents, my ex. This was my phone! I was ecstatic and resentful at the same time. I needed to plan my next move. Kalra sensed the change of emotion in me and decided to speak, "Keep your phone. I'm sure you missed it. It was hard getting our hands to it, but we finally did. You see, although you lose some amount of privacy, think of the advantages. You'll never lose anything again permanently. I'm not even gonna mention the money and power benefits I spoke about before. You are protected with us. We offer you more than anything any other firm can give you. Aren't you thankful for this?"
"This...this is really mindblowing.", I said as I continued to stare at my old phone. "I think I need some rest to digest this. Can I take the rest of the day off? I need some time in the pool and some Blue Label to get me thinking straight. This has given me a whole new perspective."
"Go ahead. I'll call the bar at the pool and ask them to put the tab on me. Remember, you are a valuable resource and I'd do anything to retain you."
Two hours later, I was tipsy on my lilo, with my 6th glass of Blue Label. Large, on the rocks. Last I remember, Ubuntu was splashing away in the water before I dozed off, my empty glass of whiskey floating in the pool.
WHO AM I?
I was startled awake by the bar staff who seemed extremely concerned. I had been floating around for three hours in my sleep. I turned to look at the clock at the bar - it was 10 pm. After some assurances to the staff that I was fine, just tired, I put on my bathrobe and whistled for Ubuntu to follow. As I went up the elevator, I still felt a little drunk. I hadn't eaten and that was making things worse. Ubuntu must be hungry too, I thought. Back in the apartment, I fixed him a special dog dinner to make up for being late. I would have an egg sandwich. Half an hour later, I was sitting in front of the television watching Rakhi ka Swayamvar, a ridiculous wedding reality show which was interesting in such a weird way! Everybody in this show took themselves so seriously, while the rest of India watched on just for the entertainment quotient. But my mind was elsewhere. My phone. How did they get it? Do they know where to find thieves? Do they know these thieves? Is our firm in nexus with gangs? AARRRRGHHHH!
Enough! I hadn't even used my beloved phone since I got it! How ungrateful. I would change the SIM card from my black and white phone and put it where it belongs - my old Nokia 6110 Navigator. The phone that Nokia made for me and just me - especially considering that nobody else wanted to buy it! Power on. Vodafone IN. Half battery, full signal. It was dawning on me that I was at the cusp of a firm's promise and its inevitable threat. It was a very thin line that I was standing on and I had to make a decision quick. To be or not to be, that was the question. Maybe I should speak to somebody from home to calm my nerves down. A friend. I needed one. I dialled a number. My head started spinning and everything around me became a blur. I could hear barks but I couldn't move. I was getting convulsions and I fell off the couch. Rakhi Sawant was telling some idiot's mother that she wouldn't quit her day job after she got married. For a second, everything suddenly became clear. I could see everything around me in rich, vibrant colours. And then, I blanked out.
I woke up in bed, naked and cold. The curtains were closed and everything still looked hazy to me. I sat up and looked frantically for my phone. What the fuck had happened?? As I stumbled across the bed, I saw a photo frame on the bedside table with a couple looking very much in love. Both of them in their late twenties. The man looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn't place him. The woman was a total stranger. I had never seen this picture before. Where had it come from? What had happened last night?
I walked across the room, still searching for my phone. There had to be something there that would give me an idea of last night. As I walked towards the curtains to draw them, I saw a fleeting figure of a man across the room. He didn't have any shirt on. I froze. I was staring at the curtains now and immediately drew them with one hand as I plucked a table lamp with another. Holding the lamp high with my right hand, I turned to where I'd seen the man, ready to defend myself if required. Staring right back at me, was the man, completely naked with a table lamp held high with his left hand. I squinted. It must be the sudden brightness in the room, coupled with my wooziness. I didn't move. Nor did the man. "Who are you?", I shouted, my eyes blinking. No answer.
In a few moments, as my eyes got used to the light, I could not understand, I could not explain what I saw. As I dropped the table lamp from my hands, the man in the mirror did the same. I walked towards the mirror and saw the man coming closer. I lifted my arm and saw the hair beginning from my wrist continuing up to my elbow. I ran my arm through my chest and felt the hair right down to my stomach and beyond. I looked down to see my legs. More hair. I was only a few inches from the mirror. As I stared at the mirror, the strapping young man looked back with tired eyes and a slight stubble. Wait a minute, haven't I seen you somewhere? The photo frame!
LIFE CHANGES, TIME CHANGES
I opened my wardrobe to wear some clothes. Shirts, trousers, suits, tees, denim, underwear. Supposedly my clothes. But on one small rack, I could see some women's clothing. Were these my earlier clothes? There were so many questions in my head! How did I turn into a man? How did all these things come into my house? It looked like the same house! The view from outside the window was the same. Who was the woman in the picture? Were these her clothes in the small rack? And where was my phone? Then it rang.
The sound was coming from the bathroom. I ran inside to find it on the open glass shelf that held all the toiletries. As I picked up my phone, I noticed a shaving kit. Also mine, I guessed. My Nokia Navigator showed Madhumita Ghosh calling and I slid the phone on.
"Heyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!" came the voice at the other end, "Did you wake up finally? Or are you still in bed?".
"Uhh...no I just woke up. My head hurts a little." I tried to weigh every word I was saying, but speaking to her came comfortably.
"It's soooo beautiful here in Switzerland! Just snowed today! I emailed you some pictures. Did you see?".
Email. What was my email ID now? It couldn't possible be alpanamandal anymore.
"Which ID did you send it on?"
"Arre! I always mail you on gaurav dot mukhi! Why would I suddenly switch to the yahoo address?"
"Accha so gmail?", I took a wild guess.
"Are you okay today? How many more gaurav dot mukhi email addresses do you have? Unless you haven't told me about some dicreet IDs!"
Discreet! The fact that I was a woman yesterday was discreet! Looked like I knew her for long. But I didn't really. How do you handle your wife at this stage? Was she my wife?
"So what have you been doing in the Swiss Alps. Gimme some stories.", I dragged on, to get some information out of her.
"Ohh...you know the usual. Been working my ass off. Waiting for the weekend. Two more days. Then we go snowboarding! Enough of skiing already! But you know how Infosys makes us work. We have to lick our clients' feet! Always putting in more hours than we get paid for. And I was enquiring if I can have visitors in the guesthouse and the company policy says that I can't, unless it is my spouse and/or children. What crap! So if you come here, we'll have to stay in a hotel."
So I was getting some picture at least. Sounded like she was my girlfriend who worked at Infosys, currently in Switzerland for work. Great. Now to know about my history.
"Erm...", I mumbled, "I'm not sure I can come. I think I'll be busy working. You know how unpredictable it is."
"What!??! But you always get a couple of weeks off after a month and a half or so! At least speak with Kalra, no? I'm sure he'll let you off this one time."
Kalra! She knew Kalra! After so much information, I could still not put the pieces together. So much for being smart.
"Listen, I gotta go now. I have to take a shower and get to work. I'll speak with you later."
"Whatever. You are always trying to get out of situations like this by hanging up. Don't call me at all. I don't wanna speak to you."
"I have to go! Please understand! I will speak with Kalra, okay?"
"Alright! And call back with good news!"
"Okay baby, buh-bye."
"Bye love."
Beep. I pressed the red button on my phone.
Did I just call her "baby"? Why was I feeling like she was a stranger and my lover at the same time?
I couldn't go to work. If I called Kalra, would he be expecting Alpana or Gaurav on the line?
I found my Blackberry by the table and called Kalra.
"Good morning, Gaurav. What's up. This early?"
So I was Gaurav to everybody! It was like I was living a parallel life and never knew it.
"Kalra, I've been feeling sick. I can't get to work. I may not be well tomorrow either."
"Gaurav, I'm really sorry, but you know there's a deadline tomorrow and that cannot be compromised. You know what, just come to office for an hour and delegate the work to a junior. Then you can just check the report before sending it out to the client. That'll take another hour but you can do that from home."
Junior. When did we get a junior?
"Okay I'll do that."
"And you can go to the 3rd floor. There's some one hour session for the juniors today and they'll all be gathered there. Catch hold of someone."
"The 3rd floor?"
"Yeah, they'll be in the training room."
"Hmm. Alright, Kalra. I'll speak with you later. How long are you in town?"
"I'll fly back on Friday."
"Okay. Bye then."
"Bye."
Beep.
I didn't work on the 10th floor anymore. They had done something to me! I was part of the "regular" team. Kalra, that bastard! What had he done?
Showered and ready, my mind elsewhere, I went to office. One thing was for sure. My apartment was the same, my dog was the same, my car was the same, the pool was the same. But I had changed. My life had changed. But Ubuntu didn't notice the difference at all. He was his usual playful self. Like nothing had ever happened!
As I walked towards the 3rd floor in my office, everybody seemed to recognize me. Hi Gaurav! Good morning, Mr. Mukhi.
I sat down and saw a throng of people lining the training room. I went up to one of them. "Hey, what session do you guys have here today?"
"Report writing", said the stunning young girl. Fresh out of college. Wow! We really do pick up a good looking crowd in our firm! Oh man. I was already thinking like a seasoned guy!
"Great! Just what I need. When do you finish this training?"
"Two hours. 9:30 am to 11:30 am."
"Okay so you have half an hour to spare now. I have some work to explain to you. You will begin after your session, but give me the deliverable no later than 5 pm."
She nodded and we went back to where I was sitting. Seating arrangements were ad-hoc on the first nine floors. I missed the 10th floor already.
After explaining the report to be made, I transferred the client dump on to a pen drive. She got her laptop to take the data. As she connected her power adapter to the socket below, I couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was. She wore a black skirt that was just the right amount of tight. Not too scintillating for office attire, but not too drag either. The grey stripes on her white shirt curved with her curves. Her hair was tied in a high pony. Her stilettoes made her calves look tight and toned. This girl had to be in my team!
She held the pen drive out to me. "I'm done copying. Can I call you if I need any help?"
"Of course! I won't be in office, but I'll be available on call. Here's my number."
I walked back home. Her name was Deepti. Deepti Chabbaria. Nice. Then I realized, I'd known exacly what deliverable was to be submitted, where it was stored on my laptop and all client information was at the tip of my tongue. It was getting less and less obvious to me if Kalra was really involved in this, or if I had become crazy.
I spent the whole day looking through everything at home. What had changed and what had not. Essentially, all evidence of me ever being a woman were gone. The only girly items at home seemed to be Madhumita's - since they didn't belong to me when I was Alpana. I figured she didn't live with me, but probably visited often, and therefore kept a lot of her stuff at my place. I logged on to gmail.com and instinctively typed in a password along with my user ID. It was correct! Alpana Mandal must've been someone from a past life!
YES, TIME CHANGES
And a month went by, while I remained Gaurav Mukhi. Madhumita was coming back from Switzerland and I wanted to meet the woman I loved yet didn't know why! She landed at the airport in the morning and called me, "Gaurav baby! I'm back! I'll go home, keep all my luggage, get fresh and then let's meet!".
"I might be a little late at work, Madhu. Could you come this side to save me time?"
"Sure! I'll see you at your place? I'll spend the night there. Chalega, na?"
"Of course! Come over whenever you can. I'll give you a call when I get free."
That evening, the excitement to see Madhumita was overwhelming me. I couldn't concentrate on work one bit. I left work by 10 and bought a few flowers and wine. We were gonna meet after so long, she'd like it to be romantic. I opened the door of the apartment, very slowly. I wanted to surprise her. But the house was empty. It was normal for Ubuntu to get out of the apartment using the doggie door and roam the complex. Pets were allowed to walk around the complex, as long as they were well behaved. But where was Madhu?
I took out my two phones and switched off the Blackberry. No office calls to disturb me tonight. Keeping it on the table, I called Madhu from my Nokia Navigator.
She picked up quickly, "Where are you??!?!"
"Where are you?? I thought you said you'd be at home!"
"But I am! I've been playing with Ubuntu all this while. I let him out for a while. Just reading a book in the bedroom."
"Madhu, stop joking with me", I said seriously as I walked into an empty bedroom, "Which bedroom?"
"Your bedroom! Listen, just come home. Don't play games."
"Madhu! I'm in my bedroom! You're not here! Things have been very wierd for me lately and you're making it worse! Just tell me where you are!"
There was silence at the other end. Then she spoke again.
"Gaurav. I'm worried about you. I don't know what is happening. But I'm in your bedroom and you are not here!"
The sweat on my forehead came together to become bigger beads. It was happening again. Nothing made sense to me. It was like I was living in a fantasy world. I thought hard.
Madhu was petrified. For the first time, somebody was sharing the threat of the unknown with me. She was almost shouting.
"Gaurav, tell me what's going on? This is not funny!"
"Madhu, calm down, okay, calm down. I'm gonna move the bedroom door. Tell me if it moves for you as well." I closed the bedroom door. "Anything?"
"No! It was and still is open!"
"Madhu, are you sure you're in the right apartment?"
"I opened the door with my keys and played with Ubuntu! Of course I'm in the right place!"
I looked at the clock high up on the wall. "What time is it, Madhu? Up on the clock in the bedroom."
"It's...it's 10 pm.", she spoke slowly.
And I sat down on the bed, where she should have been, but wasn't.
"There's something wrong. I see 11 o clock."
I hadn't braced myself for this. We were in different time zones. My world didn't make sense. Again.
I know the plot just goes haywire. A lot was going on in my life. This is a mixture of my emotions while quitting my job, the pain of losing my Nokia Navigator, and a lot of John Grisham novels. And it was a dream I had in March. A tad exaggerated, in terms of dialogues, but still purely based on that dream!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
MTNL Triband - Goodbye!
In 2006, I remember being completely excited about my first broadband connection at home. I even wrote a blog post about it, including steps on how to set it up (since getting support from MTNL may well be a pain for a lot of people)!
Well, 3 years later, I couldn't take the bad connection any longer. The speeds were good, but after some random interval of time, the connection would drop. I complained at their 1500 helpline number, but they said there was no problem at their end. Maybe the router was at fault? That was the most convenient excuse since I'd bought the router myself and it was not rented from MTNL. I kinda lived with it coz when I was working, I was spending most of my time in office with a good internet connection. I mostly logged on from home to check email, Orkut and Facebook. But that would change, since I had quit my job and I really needed a good, fast connection.
My first choice was Airtel, but they didn't service my area (Andheri East). Also, when I put in a request for feasibility, I didn't get any replies at all. Every call I made resulted in a request ID and an assurance that they'd perform a feasibility analysis on my building and let me know. I never got a call back. In one instance, when I called back citing my request ID, they said that ID did not exist!! I left my phone number on their site for them to call back. Again, no call. I was sick of it after waiting for over a month and decided to go with Tata Indicom, even after reading bad support reviews. Thankfully, it's been 2 months now and I have no major complaints yet. There was just one glitch for 2 hours one day when their connection went down, and their support, true to their notoriety, gave me lines generated by the computer in front of them.
Me: My connection is not working. I can't even get on to the Tata login page.
Tata: Did you try removing the cable and putting it back again?
Me: Yes. Doesn't work.
Tata: Did you try restarting your machine?
Me: Yes. Doesn't work.
Tata: Ok I'm gonna log a call and give you a call ID (or something to that effect). We will look into the matter and an engineer will come to solve the problem.
Me: What is the exact problem, though? I can ping your local Cisco router but not the DNS server. Is it a problem with the server at your end?
Tata: No mam, everything is alright at our end. Our systems show no problem.
Me: But if i can ping the router and not the DNS server, doesn't it mean that either there is a problem between the router and the server OR at the server and/or beyond?
Tata: Ah...err...umm....Mam I have logged a call. We will look into the matter and an engineer will come to solve the problem.
Me: Yes I get that. Can you give me any more information so that I can assess how long it might take?
Tata: It will be solved within 24 hours maximum mam.
Me: That's a large window. If you could help me with where exactly the glitch is, I would appreciate it.
Tata: We will look into the matter and an engineer will come to solve the problem.
Me (annoyed now): You have already told me that 3 times. Let's make a deal. If you don't know how to find out, tell me you can't. But don't give me the same statement over and over again!
Tata: Sorry mam. We will look into the matter and an engineer will come to solve the problem.
Me: Do you have Level 2 support I can speak to?
Tata: Yes mam, but they'll tell you the same thing mam.
Me: I don't think you can really help me. Thanks. Bye.
After all that shit, the line started working in 2 hours. What I realized was that the guys at the helpdesk were not technically competent (or equipped) to tell me anything at all. Their job was only to find out what the problem is, see if it can be solved by restarts / IP configurations / internet settings, and if not, just logging a complaint. Chandan has a Hathway connection and I've heard him on the phone with them. They are very, very competent technically. Also, the Tata guys categorically told me that they could not help me out with configuring my wireless router to the connection when I was having some issues. They could've saved me 30 minutes. Eventually I had to sort out the glitches myself. Basically, if you are not technically competent, it'd be best not to go with Tata in case you're deciding to wi-fi enable your home.
However, having said all that, the broadband connection of Tata Indicom by itself is really good. Their only thumbs down is their support.
Anyway, so we kept the MTNL connection as a standby, in case we didn't like Tata's service and decided to switch back. After 2 months, when I decided to stick with Tata, I called up MTNL to disconnect the broadband connection. Since my number falls under the Marol Telephone Exchange, I was told I have to go there with an application for discontinuing service. Sheesh! Why can't they take an online or phone request?? The router was mine and so I didn't even have to return anything!
Anyway, so yesterday I went to the Exchange with my dad, as a part of the multiple chores on our to-do for the day. We walked across the security guards at the gate who asked us (very nicely, I must add) what we were there for. We were shown the way to the Customer Care Center. There are two of them, by the way - one says Quick Customer Care and the other one was the regular slow one I guess. Lol. Anyway, the guard there told us to go into the "slow" one. Looks like we didn't have the quick option. Haha. Our government is ridiculous!
Once in, there were counters that said "Enquiry and forms", "Bill pay", "Change in details/services" (all handwritten, by the way), but no broadband. So we went to enquiry.
Dad: We need to disconnect broadband.
Enquiry man: Who does the router belong to?
Me: Router is ours. We didn't get it through MTNL.
Enquiry man: Write an application. Mention that the router is yours. (Pushes a sheet of paper to us). Then go to the 2nd floor and meet Mr. Musale. He will stamp the application. Then come back down here.
Ohhhkay...So we have to do all the dirty work that's supposed to be their's to do. So we write an application, get out of the slow customer care office and ask someone where the entry to the 2nd floor is. We have to walk around the building a bit and reach a reception area.
Reception lady: Gate pass?
Me: We don't have one.
Reception lady: Then go to security at the gate and get one.
Dad: Go all the way to the gate? Why can't you give us one?
Reception lady: I don't have gate passes. You have to get gate passes from the gate.
Dad: Then why don't you give it to us at the beginning only. Who's gonna go back to the gate?
Reception lady: (Looks at me) She will go get it na.
Me: (Laughing) It's okay, dad. I'll go get it.
So I walk to the gate, get a gate pass to meet Mr. Musale and come back around the building. I show reception lady the gate pass and she lets us go in. Up the elevator and we're on the 2nd floor. We enter a room that says "Sub Divisional Engineer - Broadband". There's a lady chatting up with some other people across the room.
Me: Mr Musale?
Broadband Lady: He's not come. I mean, he's come but he's not here at the moment. What do you need?
Me: We need to disconnect broadband. This application needs to be stamped.
Broadband Lady: Whose router is it?
Me: It's ours. We've mentioned in the application.
Broadband Lady: Okay. I'll stamp it. (Stamps and signs) You take this downstairs. They'll give you a work order. You bring the work order up and I'll put the details in the computer and it's done!
Dad: So we have to come back up again?
Broadband Lady: Yes, yes, of course. I can't disconnect unless I have work order details!
As we go back downstairs, I wonder why everything is computerized if there is no automated workflow. I guess it'll take another 20 years. After coming down the elevator, we are asked to submit the gate pass. We say that we've been called back with a work order. Thankfully, we're allowed to keep the gate pass. Back at the customer care office, we realize again that there's no counter for broadband. Back to enquiry counter. The man we spoke to earlier is busy. There's a lady at the other counter.
Dad: Broadband disconnection?
Enquiry Lady: You have an application?
Dad: Yes, stamped.
Enquiry Lady: Go to counter number 1.
Counter number 1 says "Change in details/services". Hmm. There are 2 windows at counter number 1. One of them is already busy with another guy wanting to disconnect his triband connection. He's not having a great time with the man across the counter. We have a friendlier looking lady at the next window.
My Counter Lady: Application? (Sees and starts entering information in the computer) You want to take Plan 250? Ok...economy plan.
Meanwhile, Counter Man sitting in the next window is not very happy with guy wanting to disconnect triband.
Counter Man: Your application does not have the phone number for which the disconnection of broadband is needed!
Guy: Well I gave the application and they stamped it! They didn't mention anything for me to add!
Counter Man: How can they stamp applications with incomplete information?!
Guy: Well, they did. What can I do?
Counter Man: These guys just don't look at what they're signing. (Pushes the paper back to the guy. Guy looks confused.)
My Counter Lady: Arre, just write his number on the application somewhere!
Counter Man: (Taking application back and scribbling on it) Hmm. Where is your last bill?
Guy: I didn't bring it.
Counter Man: (Looking very irritated) We need your last bill! Why didn't you get the last bill?
My Counter Lady: You can get the last bill details on the computer. Just look it up. (I'm really starting to like this chick now)
Counter Man: Arre, so much effort we have to take! We have to open another program to get those details (One of the few moments when I'm amused and flabbergasted at the same time!). Why can't people get their bills?
Phone rings behind My Counter Lady. A man sitting next to it picks it up and starts talking. Then another phone rings beside her. Another man walks up, picks it up and starts talking. When they finish, My Counter Lady is irritated. This conversation is in Hindi coz its just not funny otherwise.
My Counter Lady: Tum log phone pe dheere se baat kyon nahi kar sakte ho? Mereko tum log ka baat sunne ka nahi hai. Zara haath laga ke baat karo na!
Guy next to her: (Smirking) Kya karke baat karu?
My Counter Lady realizes what she said and giggles.
Counter Man: (Singing the Cadbury ad jingle) Khush hai zamaana aaj pehli taarikh hai. Meetha hai khaana aaj pehli taarikh hai.
It's actually the 28th. The atmosphere is all nice and playful!
By this time, Counter Man finds out that the guy wanting internet disconnection has not paid his last bill. He can only disconnect after paying bill.
Guy: But i put in my cheque.
Counter Man: Well it's not cleared.
Guy: So now what do I do about this?
Counter Man: Either pay in cash right now or wait for your cheque to be cleared and come back.
So that's it. The guy has to leave. Meanwhile, My Counter Lady's work is done.
My Counter Lady: Did they ask for a work order upstairs?
Dad: Yes. Do you need my last bill?
My Counter Lady: No. I looked it up on the computer. (She's so sweet, no?)
She gives us the work order and we march back upstairs.
Broadband Lady: Okay. It'll be done right away.
Me: There are 2 copies. Do we need to keep one?
Broadband Lady: No. No. There's no need. If you want, here, I'll write down the work order number for you in case you need to enquire. (Gives us the number)
Dad: Just wanted to tell you that we disconnected after a long period of dissatisfaction.
Broadband Lady: Ohh. You should've complained here before disconnecting. We would have solved it. In fact, we can still do something.
Dad: No, no. Now we have a new connection and we're very happy with it.
Me: We tried complaining a lot, but the helpdesk lines were always busy. It was really hard to get through, let alone complain and get the problem solved.
Broadband Lady: Really? See the phone's not ringing at all right now!
I laugh at that wierd statement and we leave. And finally, we have successfully disconnected the MTNL triband service! I'm glad I have a lot of free time on my hands coz I can only imagine how frustrated I would have been if I was still a working professional with limited time. Go up, come down, go up, come down! It was almost like a treasure hunt! But it was fun and I think everybody working there was generally happy with life (and why not) and it showed in their interaction with us. The government must improve their workflow, though. A multi-window experience is really unnecessary for a customer. I wonder if they'll ever learn.
Well, 3 years later, I couldn't take the bad connection any longer. The speeds were good, but after some random interval of time, the connection would drop. I complained at their 1500 helpline number, but they said there was no problem at their end. Maybe the router was at fault? That was the most convenient excuse since I'd bought the router myself and it was not rented from MTNL. I kinda lived with it coz when I was working, I was spending most of my time in office with a good internet connection. I mostly logged on from home to check email, Orkut and Facebook. But that would change, since I had quit my job and I really needed a good, fast connection.
My first choice was Airtel, but they didn't service my area (Andheri East). Also, when I put in a request for feasibility, I didn't get any replies at all. Every call I made resulted in a request ID and an assurance that they'd perform a feasibility analysis on my building and let me know. I never got a call back. In one instance, when I called back citing my request ID, they said that ID did not exist!! I left my phone number on their site for them to call back. Again, no call. I was sick of it after waiting for over a month and decided to go with Tata Indicom, even after reading bad support reviews. Thankfully, it's been 2 months now and I have no major complaints yet. There was just one glitch for 2 hours one day when their connection went down, and their support, true to their notoriety, gave me lines generated by the computer in front of them.
Me: My connection is not working. I can't even get on to the Tata login page.
Tata: Did you try removing the cable and putting it back again?
Me: Yes. Doesn't work.
Tata: Did you try restarting your machine?
Me: Yes. Doesn't work.
Tata: Ok I'm gonna log a call and give you a call ID (or something to that effect). We will look into the matter and an engineer will come to solve the problem.
Me: What is the exact problem, though? I can ping your local Cisco router but not the DNS server. Is it a problem with the server at your end?
Tata: No mam, everything is alright at our end. Our systems show no problem.
Me: But if i can ping the router and not the DNS server, doesn't it mean that either there is a problem between the router and the server OR at the server and/or beyond?
Tata: Ah...err...umm....Mam I have logged a call. We will look into the matter and an engineer will come to solve the problem.
Me: Yes I get that. Can you give me any more information so that I can assess how long it might take?
Tata: It will be solved within 24 hours maximum mam.
Me: That's a large window. If you could help me with where exactly the glitch is, I would appreciate it.
Tata: We will look into the matter and an engineer will come to solve the problem.
Me (annoyed now): You have already told me that 3 times. Let's make a deal. If you don't know how to find out, tell me you can't. But don't give me the same statement over and over again!
Tata: Sorry mam. We will look into the matter and an engineer will come to solve the problem.
Me: Do you have Level 2 support I can speak to?
Tata: Yes mam, but they'll tell you the same thing mam.
Me: I don't think you can really help me. Thanks. Bye.
After all that shit, the line started working in 2 hours. What I realized was that the guys at the helpdesk were not technically competent (or equipped) to tell me anything at all. Their job was only to find out what the problem is, see if it can be solved by restarts / IP configurations / internet settings, and if not, just logging a complaint. Chandan has a Hathway connection and I've heard him on the phone with them. They are very, very competent technically. Also, the Tata guys categorically told me that they could not help me out with configuring my wireless router to the connection when I was having some issues. They could've saved me 30 minutes. Eventually I had to sort out the glitches myself. Basically, if you are not technically competent, it'd be best not to go with Tata in case you're deciding to wi-fi enable your home.
However, having said all that, the broadband connection of Tata Indicom by itself is really good. Their only thumbs down is their support.
Anyway, so we kept the MTNL connection as a standby, in case we didn't like Tata's service and decided to switch back. After 2 months, when I decided to stick with Tata, I called up MTNL to disconnect the broadband connection. Since my number falls under the Marol Telephone Exchange, I was told I have to go there with an application for discontinuing service. Sheesh! Why can't they take an online or phone request?? The router was mine and so I didn't even have to return anything!
Anyway, so yesterday I went to the Exchange with my dad, as a part of the multiple chores on our to-do for the day. We walked across the security guards at the gate who asked us (very nicely, I must add) what we were there for. We were shown the way to the Customer Care Center. There are two of them, by the way - one says Quick Customer Care and the other one was the regular slow one I guess. Lol. Anyway, the guard there told us to go into the "slow" one. Looks like we didn't have the quick option. Haha. Our government is ridiculous!
Once in, there were counters that said "Enquiry and forms", "Bill pay", "Change in details/services" (all handwritten, by the way), but no broadband. So we went to enquiry.
Dad: We need to disconnect broadband.
Enquiry man: Who does the router belong to?
Me: Router is ours. We didn't get it through MTNL.
Enquiry man: Write an application. Mention that the router is yours. (Pushes a sheet of paper to us). Then go to the 2nd floor and meet Mr. Musale. He will stamp the application. Then come back down here.
Ohhhkay...So we have to do all the dirty work that's supposed to be their's to do. So we write an application, get out of the slow customer care office and ask someone where the entry to the 2nd floor is. We have to walk around the building a bit and reach a reception area.
Reception lady: Gate pass?
Me: We don't have one.
Reception lady: Then go to security at the gate and get one.
Dad: Go all the way to the gate? Why can't you give us one?
Reception lady: I don't have gate passes. You have to get gate passes from the gate.
Dad: Then why don't you give it to us at the beginning only. Who's gonna go back to the gate?
Reception lady: (Looks at me) She will go get it na.
Me: (Laughing) It's okay, dad. I'll go get it.
So I walk to the gate, get a gate pass to meet Mr. Musale and come back around the building. I show reception lady the gate pass and she lets us go in. Up the elevator and we're on the 2nd floor. We enter a room that says "Sub Divisional Engineer - Broadband". There's a lady chatting up with some other people across the room.
Me: Mr Musale?
Broadband Lady: He's not come. I mean, he's come but he's not here at the moment. What do you need?
Me: We need to disconnect broadband. This application needs to be stamped.
Broadband Lady: Whose router is it?
Me: It's ours. We've mentioned in the application.
Broadband Lady: Okay. I'll stamp it. (Stamps and signs) You take this downstairs. They'll give you a work order. You bring the work order up and I'll put the details in the computer and it's done!
Dad: So we have to come back up again?
Broadband Lady: Yes, yes, of course. I can't disconnect unless I have work order details!
As we go back downstairs, I wonder why everything is computerized if there is no automated workflow. I guess it'll take another 20 years. After coming down the elevator, we are asked to submit the gate pass. We say that we've been called back with a work order. Thankfully, we're allowed to keep the gate pass. Back at the customer care office, we realize again that there's no counter for broadband. Back to enquiry counter. The man we spoke to earlier is busy. There's a lady at the other counter.
Dad: Broadband disconnection?
Enquiry Lady: You have an application?
Dad: Yes, stamped.
Enquiry Lady: Go to counter number 1.
Counter number 1 says "Change in details/services". Hmm. There are 2 windows at counter number 1. One of them is already busy with another guy wanting to disconnect his triband connection. He's not having a great time with the man across the counter. We have a friendlier looking lady at the next window.
My Counter Lady: Application? (Sees and starts entering information in the computer) You want to take Plan 250? Ok...economy plan.
Meanwhile, Counter Man sitting in the next window is not very happy with guy wanting to disconnect triband.
Counter Man: Your application does not have the phone number for which the disconnection of broadband is needed!
Guy: Well I gave the application and they stamped it! They didn't mention anything for me to add!
Counter Man: How can they stamp applications with incomplete information?!
Guy: Well, they did. What can I do?
Counter Man: These guys just don't look at what they're signing. (Pushes the paper back to the guy. Guy looks confused.)
My Counter Lady: Arre, just write his number on the application somewhere!
Counter Man: (Taking application back and scribbling on it) Hmm. Where is your last bill?
Guy: I didn't bring it.
Counter Man: (Looking very irritated) We need your last bill! Why didn't you get the last bill?
My Counter Lady: You can get the last bill details on the computer. Just look it up. (I'm really starting to like this chick now)
Counter Man: Arre, so much effort we have to take! We have to open another program to get those details (One of the few moments when I'm amused and flabbergasted at the same time!). Why can't people get their bills?
Phone rings behind My Counter Lady. A man sitting next to it picks it up and starts talking. Then another phone rings beside her. Another man walks up, picks it up and starts talking. When they finish, My Counter Lady is irritated. This conversation is in Hindi coz its just not funny otherwise.
My Counter Lady: Tum log phone pe dheere se baat kyon nahi kar sakte ho? Mereko tum log ka baat sunne ka nahi hai. Zara haath laga ke baat karo na!
Guy next to her: (Smirking) Kya karke baat karu?
My Counter Lady realizes what she said and giggles.
Counter Man: (Singing the Cadbury ad jingle) Khush hai zamaana aaj pehli taarikh hai. Meetha hai khaana aaj pehli taarikh hai.
It's actually the 28th. The atmosphere is all nice and playful!
By this time, Counter Man finds out that the guy wanting internet disconnection has not paid his last bill. He can only disconnect after paying bill.
Guy: But i put in my cheque.
Counter Man: Well it's not cleared.
Guy: So now what do I do about this?
Counter Man: Either pay in cash right now or wait for your cheque to be cleared and come back.
So that's it. The guy has to leave. Meanwhile, My Counter Lady's work is done.
My Counter Lady: Did they ask for a work order upstairs?
Dad: Yes. Do you need my last bill?
My Counter Lady: No. I looked it up on the computer. (She's so sweet, no?)
She gives us the work order and we march back upstairs.
Broadband Lady: Okay. It'll be done right away.
Me: There are 2 copies. Do we need to keep one?
Broadband Lady: No. No. There's no need. If you want, here, I'll write down the work order number for you in case you need to enquire. (Gives us the number)
Dad: Just wanted to tell you that we disconnected after a long period of dissatisfaction.
Broadband Lady: Ohh. You should've complained here before disconnecting. We would have solved it. In fact, we can still do something.
Dad: No, no. Now we have a new connection and we're very happy with it.
Me: We tried complaining a lot, but the helpdesk lines were always busy. It was really hard to get through, let alone complain and get the problem solved.
Broadband Lady: Really? See the phone's not ringing at all right now!
I laugh at that wierd statement and we leave. And finally, we have successfully disconnected the MTNL triband service! I'm glad I have a lot of free time on my hands coz I can only imagine how frustrated I would have been if I was still a working professional with limited time. Go up, come down, go up, come down! It was almost like a treasure hunt! But it was fun and I think everybody working there was generally happy with life (and why not) and it showed in their interaction with us. The government must improve their workflow, though. A multi-window experience is really unnecessary for a customer. I wonder if they'll ever learn.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Mabuhay to Philippines!
So there I was, catching a plane to Manila in the Philippines. Usually, I research a lot about a place before I reach there, but for this trip I had not gotten any time at all. I'd just come back from my trip from Rajasthan, gone on one date with Chandan, and hopped on the plane the night of the date! To top things, while coming back from my date, I lost my phone. My favorite Nokia Navigator :(
This trip was really getting to me. First of all, I was recently infatuated and I couldn't meet the man. To top it, the work was pathetic and I wanted to quit my job. How many internal IT audits can you do? Fellow auditors / consultants will empathize.
I loved the food in the Philippines, though, and if you are a non-vegetarian with an experimenting palate, you'll have a ball of a time here. I tried balut, which was the most daring thing for me to do there. It's basically a chicken or duck egg, which is allowed to partially fertilize. When you eat it, it's already got a beak like structure and eyes. If you can get over the mindset against this, it is actually quite tasty with a few drops of vinegar!
I was with a colleague who wasn't a non-vegetarian nor particularly approving of balut, but she loves to travel as much as I do! So we made a few weekend trips - one to Taal volcano in Tagaytay and another to Laiya beach. Tagaytay is simply beautiful and you should just not miss it. Laiya is alright - you can give it a miss.
We travelled in Philippines only using public transport. Just to get to Tagaytay, we used Jeepneys, buses, FX (airconditioned vans) and the tricycle. And this was only one way! We never felt unsafe, although the local guys in our office were astonished by how brave we were being!
My favourite mode of transport in Philippines was the Jeepney. The drivers are honest and will not fleece you. Contrary to the tricycle, in which the driver will charge you double or triple the amount when he sees that you are a foreigner. You must always negotiate prices and ensure that you go down at least half the amount they first quoted. Shopping is a similar experience - it's like shopping at Linking Road, Bandra. Haggle, haggle, haggle. And then they tell you, "Last price mam, no less, last price!" Hehe, they're cute people.
Overall, I didn't really like Philippines. There's a lot of fun to be had at Makati and Manila for sure. But these were my issues:
In fact, when Chandan came to the Philippines, we noticed how people were honestly very happy to see couples. They just love people in love! Let me explain in bullets again hehe.
Oh but by the way, Chandan did not quite have such a good day at the airport after I dropped him. You have to pay an airport fee of 750 pesos when you leave Manila. And only in cash. They do not accept cards. Chandan was totally out of Pesos and only had a card. He had to run around, went to a forex kiosk and got his dollars converted, and then had to go through the security check again. He almost thought he would miss his flight! In the end though, it was all good. And in 2 weeks, I came back to Mumbai.
Also want to remember Peter Ibarra from FirstSource, Manila, who was a spontaneous and witty man. Work was never dull with him around. He was the one who got the balut for me and was always interested in yapping away in office or going out for a beer after work. In July 2009, he passed away from pneumonia. He was only 27 years old.
This trip was really getting to me. First of all, I was recently infatuated and I couldn't meet the man. To top it, the work was pathetic and I wanted to quit my job. How many internal IT audits can you do? Fellow auditors / consultants will empathize.
I loved the food in the Philippines, though, and if you are a non-vegetarian with an experimenting palate, you'll have a ball of a time here. I tried balut, which was the most daring thing for me to do there. It's basically a chicken or duck egg, which is allowed to partially fertilize. When you eat it, it's already got a beak like structure and eyes. If you can get over the mindset against this, it is actually quite tasty with a few drops of vinegar!
I was with a colleague who wasn't a non-vegetarian nor particularly approving of balut, but she loves to travel as much as I do! So we made a few weekend trips - one to Taal volcano in Tagaytay and another to Laiya beach. Tagaytay is simply beautiful and you should just not miss it. Laiya is alright - you can give it a miss.
We travelled in Philippines only using public transport. Just to get to Tagaytay, we used Jeepneys, buses, FX (airconditioned vans) and the tricycle. And this was only one way! We never felt unsafe, although the local guys in our office were astonished by how brave we were being!
My favourite mode of transport in Philippines was the Jeepney. The drivers are honest and will not fleece you. Contrary to the tricycle, in which the driver will charge you double or triple the amount when he sees that you are a foreigner. You must always negotiate prices and ensure that you go down at least half the amount they first quoted. Shopping is a similar experience - it's like shopping at Linking Road, Bandra. Haggle, haggle, haggle. And then they tell you, "Last price mam, no less, last price!" Hehe, they're cute people.
Overall, I didn't really like Philippines. There's a lot of fun to be had at Makati and Manila for sure. But these were my issues:
- I was staying in Alabang. This is like the Jogeshwari of Manila.
- Tricycle guys and people selling wares are out to fleece you.
- City is unsafe at night.
- The beaches are not as beautiful as they can be made. The water is pristine, but there are ugly boats in the way.
- Traveling from Manila to any tourist location is very difficult by public transport. You have to take multiple hops to reach your destination.
In fact, when Chandan came to the Philippines, we noticed how people were honestly very happy to see couples. They just love people in love! Let me explain in bullets again hehe.
- When we were heading to Puerto Galera, we decided to buy some alcohol, because we had read that alcohol over there would be expensive. When we were paying for the whiskey in the store, the guy at the counter saw our bags, gave us a big smile and said, "Love potion, eh?".
- At the ferry station to Puerto Galera, while we were waiting for our boat, we picked up some bottles of beer and while we were looking out at the sea, Chandan gave me a peck. The security guard nearby went, "Good beer, eh?". Again, with the big smile. Ha ha.
- At Bamboo House, the lady in charge couldn't stop giggling at us. When we were picking a room, Chandu asked me which one I'd prefer, and she went, "Always let the woman pick, right?" And she giggled some more!
- But the best story was when I dropped Chandan at the airport. We were running late and so as we reached the airport, there wasn't much time to say goodbye. So we asked the security guard at the airport entrance if I could come in up to the check-in counter with Chandan. The guy said he couldn't because it was airport rules. So we thought "Ok. This is it. We don't get a very peaceful bye bye." But then the man said, "Are you his wife?" I said, "Uhh...no.". He asked, "Are you his fiance?" And I thought that I should play along if this guy was giving us an option. So I said yes. And he said, "Well, it's not really allowed, but I'll tell you what. Let him go check-in. And you stand outside here. When he's done checking in, I'll let him out to meet you and he can go back in later." Wow! So Chandan checked in and came back out. We had our last 10 minutes of yapping and he finally left!
Oh but by the way, Chandan did not quite have such a good day at the airport after I dropped him. You have to pay an airport fee of 750 pesos when you leave Manila. And only in cash. They do not accept cards. Chandan was totally out of Pesos and only had a card. He had to run around, went to a forex kiosk and got his dollars converted, and then had to go through the security check again. He almost thought he would miss his flight! In the end though, it was all good. And in 2 weeks, I came back to Mumbai.
Also want to remember Peter Ibarra from FirstSource, Manila, who was a spontaneous and witty man. Work was never dull with him around. He was the one who got the balut for me and was always interested in yapping away in office or going out for a beer after work. In July 2009, he passed away from pneumonia. He was only 27 years old.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
When Catty fell sick
While I was in Jodhpur in the middle of January 2009, I got a call from mom. Catty had been vomiting and completely stopped eating. She was so weak that she couldn't move. Mom thought she was dying and I was completely shaken. She was taking Catty to the doctor and till I didn't hear back from her, I couldn't even eat.
In a couple of hours, mom called back. The doctor was suspecting liver problems. Catty was given saline drip for half an hour. It was horrible. How can such a small animal have to go through so much torture? Over the next 3 days, Catty was given drip twice a day for half an hour each session. Blood tests were performed and the results were what the doc had suspected. Liver inflammation. Why? I wish we knew exactly. There were several possibilities:
When I came home from Rajasthan, as I entered the house, I called for her. She was under the diwan in the hall and I saw her head pop out along with a faint meow. My sweetheart was sick :(
But mom was happy that at least Catty was now well enough to acknowledge my presence. Mom had been through a very rough 3 days. Unfortunately, I was only around for 2 days, after which I was leaving for the Philippines. I felt awful that I couldn't take care of my cat.
But that day and the next, I took her to the vet for her drip session. The sessions were now only happening once a day. It's a situation I hope she never has to go through again. As the vet poked the fat needle into her veins above her paw, I saw all the earlier needle marks from the previous sessions. She was so weak that she didn't even try resisting the needle. For half an hour, I saw her just lying there, poor thing not knowing what was wrong and why she was being subjected to all this. But she probably knew it was being done for her good. So she stayed. And she bore the pain. It was Sunday.
By Monday morning, she was recovering. Since the tests had revealed what exactly was wrong with her, she had been put on oral as well as intravenous medicines and they were affecting her positively.By Monday evening, her appetite had increased and I was really thankful that I didn't have to leave home with her in a bad shape. I knew that things would be alright.
For all those who have pets, it's a terrible time to deal with their sickness. Especially since you never know exactly where it's hurting them - if only they could communicate that. But we learned one thing from this experience, if you are getting your house painted, it's a good idea to keep your pet out for that time. We suspect that our cat not only inhaled the paint and all sediments, but it also probably mixed with her food and must have therefore created a bigger problem. We had taken all precautions (keeping her food in the room that was not being painted, keeping the food covered), but you know how dust finds its way through!
I love you, Catty :)
In a couple of hours, mom called back. The doctor was suspecting liver problems. Catty was given saline drip for half an hour. It was horrible. How can such a small animal have to go through so much torture? Over the next 3 days, Catty was given drip twice a day for half an hour each session. Blood tests were performed and the results were what the doc had suspected. Liver inflammation. Why? I wish we knew exactly. There were several possibilities:
- She ate something wrong - maybe an insect or some garbage.
- Maybe it was her food. The cat food that she eats everyday. Maybe her body was rejecting processed food.
- We had just undergone painting work at home. Maybe inhalation of all the dust and paint caused the inflammation.
When I came home from Rajasthan, as I entered the house, I called for her. She was under the diwan in the hall and I saw her head pop out along with a faint meow. My sweetheart was sick :(
But mom was happy that at least Catty was now well enough to acknowledge my presence. Mom had been through a very rough 3 days. Unfortunately, I was only around for 2 days, after which I was leaving for the Philippines. I felt awful that I couldn't take care of my cat.
But that day and the next, I took her to the vet for her drip session. The sessions were now only happening once a day. It's a situation I hope she never has to go through again. As the vet poked the fat needle into her veins above her paw, I saw all the earlier needle marks from the previous sessions. She was so weak that she didn't even try resisting the needle. For half an hour, I saw her just lying there, poor thing not knowing what was wrong and why she was being subjected to all this. But she probably knew it was being done for her good. So she stayed. And she bore the pain. It was Sunday.
By Monday morning, she was recovering. Since the tests had revealed what exactly was wrong with her, she had been put on oral as well as intravenous medicines and they were affecting her positively.By Monday evening, her appetite had increased and I was really thankful that I didn't have to leave home with her in a bad shape. I knew that things would be alright.
For all those who have pets, it's a terrible time to deal with their sickness. Especially since you never know exactly where it's hurting them - if only they could communicate that. But we learned one thing from this experience, if you are getting your house painted, it's a good idea to keep your pet out for that time. We suspect that our cat not only inhaled the paint and all sediments, but it also probably mixed with her food and must have therefore created a bigger problem. We had taken all precautions (keeping her food in the room that was not being painted, keeping the food covered), but you know how dust finds its way through!
I love you, Catty :)
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Rajasthan trip - The blue city
15 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
We reached Jodhpur at 2200 hrs and got into two auto rickshaws at the station to show us a few places to stay in. After some searching, we found a beautiful hotel in the center of the Jodhpur clock tower (Ghanta Ghar) area. It is actually a temple called Tijamata Mandir, half of which has been converted into a hotel. The place was stunning with beautiful decor and was one of the best places we have ever stayed in as part of our group trips! It even had a rooftop restaurant with a wonderful view! Of course, it was more expensive than the Jaisalmer hotel, but at Rs. 1000 a night, it was actually a good bargain, considering that all 5 of us were in the same room. The room by itself was okay, but the hotel was wonderful.
But more about the hotel later. It was already 2300 hrs and we were hungry. There was only one restaurant open around and the rickshaw waalas dropped us there. It was an awesome Muslim joint (don't even need to specify. All Muslim restaurants are awesome!) and we chomped on a lot of liver masala and bheja fry among the equally tasty chicken curry and naans. We finished post midnight and this being a small town, there was no transport to take us back to the hotel. The owner of the restaurant was very helpful though and he told his sons to drop us on bikes. With 2 sons, 2 bikes and 5 of us, they had to make 3 trips to drop us to the hotel and the warmth of Rajasthani people continued. It really amazes me to see the difference between the people here compared to every idiot we were acquainted with during our North trip and especially in Delhi.
In Jodhpur, we continued with our laziness and watched TV for a good couple of hours at least. Chandu and I spoke through the night long after everyone was asleep. When I was finally tired of all the talking, I fell asleep and the day finally ended.
16 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
The next day we woke up to more TV with Mahabharat from our younger days. I wonder if kids watch it anymore. It used to be our staple Sunday morning for so many years! We got up from our beds and took a shower only when we were hungry for lunch and went to the rooftop restaurant. The view was beautiful and we were totally loving this hotel! Only drawback - since this is a temple, only vegan food is served here, and they do not serve alcohol.
Doorway to heaven!
Walk in the door and find the beautiful garden and restaurant beyond
Take a left and the hotel room corridor can be seen
Get into the corridor for the cleanest, whitest floor!
After entering the main door, take a right instead of the left and find the temple area
Post lunch, we left for Mehrangarh fort in an auto rickshaw for Rs. 100. I also called my friend Shubhra and told her that I was in town and we made dinner plans. Tickets to the fort cost Rs. 20 plus Rs. 50 per head if you want to take the elevator to the top. We wanted to go walking, but we had reached late and the guide advised us to take the elevator to save time. The guide costs another Rs. 200 and a camera costs Rs. 50. We had 2 cameras and it would be a waste of money to pay 100 bucks for cameras. So we told the guy at the counter that we would not use one camera so if it would be okay for us to pay for one. And true to the Rajasthani warmth, he said it was absolutely fine!
Our guide was a man with the traditional mustache and we had a great time listening to the history of the fort. When the tour was done, we were at the top of the fort looking at the blue city below. We sat at the edge and looked below. It's times like these when I feel like free falling into the depths! Vedant wanted to look at the other end of the fort-top and dragged me there. The fort was closing and we had to leave soon so we walked back towards the stairs where the rest of the gang had already left. Soon, we caught up with them and were looking for a rickshaw at the foot of the fort when a local told us he knew a shortcut we could walk through to the city below. It was just a 5 minute walk downhill and we couldn't believe that the fort was so close to where we were staying! And to think we wasted money on a rickshaw ride!
The real man!
As blue as a city can get!
We wanted to buy some beer and while we asked the helpful man directions to a wine shop, we decided to show our thanks by offering him something to drink. To our surprise, he immediately accepted and so we bought him some alcohol to make his night!
As I sipped on some nicely chilled beer back at the hotel room, Shubhra called. It was time for me to leave. I was to take a rickshaw to her house, from where we would go out for dinner. But I was distracted. Over the days, Chandan and I had become close and I wanted to stay and spend more time with him. But this was Shubhra, my best friend from school, who I hadn't met in so long! Friendship had to come first and so hesitatingly, I left.
At Shubhra's place, I also met her husband Pankaj and beautiful 2 year old daughter, Trisha. We left for a suburban hotel - Bal Samand Gardens. It's a pretty place which used to be a bunch of stables in the king's time, which have now been converted to rooms. In the center is a large open area, which serves as a restaurant. It was really cold and the waiter will get you a personal hot coal container to keep your table warm.
I wasn't very hungry and I really just wanted to get back to the hotel. But as we drove back, Pankaj offered to show me the Umaid Bhavan Palace which I'm glad I said yes to. Because it was mind blowing at night, with the lights making it look more royal than ever! Pankaj and Shubhra have courtship stories around Umaid Bhavan and I couldn't help smiling at the romance the place brought.
Pankaj dropped me to the hotel (after I forgot the way) thanks to local passersby's help. Back at the hotel, the guys had just finished their dinner too and we were back to TV. I was showing Vedant my skills of removing hair from the root using just my nails and used Chandu as an unwilling volunteer. As I plucked a beard hair right through, he got really pissed and didn't talk to me at all after that! But I didn't even know! He just kept quiet and went off to sleep. After the rest of us watched some American Idol, I was finally ready to sleep.
17 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
The next morning, I was woken up at about 0530 hours by Chandan pulling my eyelids open! He was awake and, well, he just thought it appropriate to wake me up too! Somehow, I didn't mind. We spoke until everyone else got up - I told him how my dinner with Shubhra was and how much me and Debarati missed her not being in Bombay. And other general stuff. And while we were talking that morning, we had a moment. A moment where we both got quiet and there was what is popularly known as sexual tension. Lol. By now, people were awake and Fahim kinda figured that there was something brewing between Chandu and me and the rest of the trip, he would sing "Ringa Ringa" from Slumdog Millionaire to us, with a teasing face! I've never been embarrassed by all this teasing, and so I played along, smiling and saying "Aah, so now u know!".
I wanted the rest of the gang to also see Umaid Bhavan and so off we went. The Palace is up a steep road and the rickshaw was so slow that we could read messages written on the rocks at the edge of the road at least thrice each! Umaid Bhavan is truly majestic and we hung out for a good while. We didn't wanna do anything for the rest of the day as our laziness increased. Also we had a train to catch that evening and so we came back to the hotel.
Back at Ghanta Ghar, I set out to buy some salwaar-kameez material for my friend, Priti. She'd asked for pink bandhni material and I just hadn't found the right pink or the right combination of pink with another colour. While at the market, I found Chandan following me around, with nothing he wanted to buy himself. I knew the man was feeling just like I was :)
For lunch, the guys wanted to go back to the Muslim joint and eat, but I was pushing to try a new place. Why stick with the old, I urged. Eventually, we ate at a bad hygiene restaurant with okayish food. We were hungry and too far from the good restaurant and I was cursed a lot. My bad! We ate and did some shopping at a nearby market. I finally found the pink material I was looking for, and also picked up a kurta for Mhatre, which Manish had forgotten to pick up when he was in Rajasthan.
At 1845 hrs that evening, we got on to our train to Bombay. Our trip was ending! However, my travel days were not ending. I had received a call from office a few days earlier asking me if I was okay with traveling to the Philippines as soon as I came back from my vacation. I didn't have any problems and had said yes! As luck would have it, all my visa stamping was done in 3 days while I was vacationing and I was to leave on the 19th! And I was just starting to like Chandan! What timing! Damn!
We played more charades on the train and then all of us except Vedu went out to the door for a smoke. Now this is illegal and I should know better, but we were rightly punished for it. While we were smoking, this scene emerged:
Gayatri: "Koi pakadta nahi hai kya idhar?" ("Doesn't anybody ever get punished for this?")
Chandan: "Ab tak toh aisa hua nahi hai" ("It's never happened before.")
Alpana (with cigarette in mouth and spotted by a TC): "Uhh...I think we are caught!"
LOL. The TC didn't say much - just asked for a fine of Rs. 200 per head! And we were like whaaaaaa....that would be 800 bucks! Almost as much as room rent at Jodhpur! We negotiated, but the TC wouldn't relent. He asked us girls to get back to our seats while he spoke with the guys. When we came back, we told Vedu our story and he went off towards the TC, laughing! With the extremely amazing bargaining power that he has, he brought down the total fine to Rs. 200!
So we decided to hit the sack before anything else went wrong! Chandan and I weren't getting any sleep though, for obvious reasons. And we wanted to settle some stuff out. None of us were really sure about the other's love life status. If we were both really single or not even! So we talked about where we were in relationships and we were pretty much in the same place. Both had been through big breakups in the recent past and it was kinda putting things into perspective for us. Again, we slept really late after a whole lot of talking.
18 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
We reached Bombay at 1200 hrs. At Borivali, we were picked up by Manish and Roopali and Chandu and I went over to their place for lunch while Gayatri and Fahim went back home. Vedant had already gotten off one station earlier. We saw Manish and Roopali's wedding and engagement pictures over some bread and chicken. I left soon after to reach home quickly. Catty was not well and I had to see her. But that's another blog post. The next one, in fact.
And with that, ended the Rajasthan trip. It'd been a good one. :)
We reached Jodhpur at 2200 hrs and got into two auto rickshaws at the station to show us a few places to stay in. After some searching, we found a beautiful hotel in the center of the Jodhpur clock tower (Ghanta Ghar) area. It is actually a temple called Tijamata Mandir, half of which has been converted into a hotel. The place was stunning with beautiful decor and was one of the best places we have ever stayed in as part of our group trips! It even had a rooftop restaurant with a wonderful view! Of course, it was more expensive than the Jaisalmer hotel, but at Rs. 1000 a night, it was actually a good bargain, considering that all 5 of us were in the same room. The room by itself was okay, but the hotel was wonderful.
But more about the hotel later. It was already 2300 hrs and we were hungry. There was only one restaurant open around and the rickshaw waalas dropped us there. It was an awesome Muslim joint (don't even need to specify. All Muslim restaurants are awesome!) and we chomped on a lot of liver masala and bheja fry among the equally tasty chicken curry and naans. We finished post midnight and this being a small town, there was no transport to take us back to the hotel. The owner of the restaurant was very helpful though and he told his sons to drop us on bikes. With 2 sons, 2 bikes and 5 of us, they had to make 3 trips to drop us to the hotel and the warmth of Rajasthani people continued. It really amazes me to see the difference between the people here compared to every idiot we were acquainted with during our North trip and especially in Delhi.
In Jodhpur, we continued with our laziness and watched TV for a good couple of hours at least. Chandu and I spoke through the night long after everyone was asleep. When I was finally tired of all the talking, I fell asleep and the day finally ended.
16 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
The next day we woke up to more TV with Mahabharat from our younger days. I wonder if kids watch it anymore. It used to be our staple Sunday morning for so many years! We got up from our beds and took a shower only when we were hungry for lunch and went to the rooftop restaurant. The view was beautiful and we were totally loving this hotel! Only drawback - since this is a temple, only vegan food is served here, and they do not serve alcohol.
Doorway to heaven!
Walk in the door and find the beautiful garden and restaurant beyond
Take a left and the hotel room corridor can be seen
Get into the corridor for the cleanest, whitest floor!
After entering the main door, take a right instead of the left and find the temple areaPost lunch, we left for Mehrangarh fort in an auto rickshaw for Rs. 100. I also called my friend Shubhra and told her that I was in town and we made dinner plans. Tickets to the fort cost Rs. 20 plus Rs. 50 per head if you want to take the elevator to the top. We wanted to go walking, but we had reached late and the guide advised us to take the elevator to save time. The guide costs another Rs. 200 and a camera costs Rs. 50. We had 2 cameras and it would be a waste of money to pay 100 bucks for cameras. So we told the guy at the counter that we would not use one camera so if it would be okay for us to pay for one. And true to the Rajasthani warmth, he said it was absolutely fine!
Our guide was a man with the traditional mustache and we had a great time listening to the history of the fort. When the tour was done, we were at the top of the fort looking at the blue city below. We sat at the edge and looked below. It's times like these when I feel like free falling into the depths! Vedant wanted to look at the other end of the fort-top and dragged me there. The fort was closing and we had to leave soon so we walked back towards the stairs where the rest of the gang had already left. Soon, we caught up with them and were looking for a rickshaw at the foot of the fort when a local told us he knew a shortcut we could walk through to the city below. It was just a 5 minute walk downhill and we couldn't believe that the fort was so close to where we were staying! And to think we wasted money on a rickshaw ride!
The real man!
As blue as a city can get!We wanted to buy some beer and while we asked the helpful man directions to a wine shop, we decided to show our thanks by offering him something to drink. To our surprise, he immediately accepted and so we bought him some alcohol to make his night!
As I sipped on some nicely chilled beer back at the hotel room, Shubhra called. It was time for me to leave. I was to take a rickshaw to her house, from where we would go out for dinner. But I was distracted. Over the days, Chandan and I had become close and I wanted to stay and spend more time with him. But this was Shubhra, my best friend from school, who I hadn't met in so long! Friendship had to come first and so hesitatingly, I left.
At Shubhra's place, I also met her husband Pankaj and beautiful 2 year old daughter, Trisha. We left for a suburban hotel - Bal Samand Gardens. It's a pretty place which used to be a bunch of stables in the king's time, which have now been converted to rooms. In the center is a large open area, which serves as a restaurant. It was really cold and the waiter will get you a personal hot coal container to keep your table warm.
I wasn't very hungry and I really just wanted to get back to the hotel. But as we drove back, Pankaj offered to show me the Umaid Bhavan Palace which I'm glad I said yes to. Because it was mind blowing at night, with the lights making it look more royal than ever! Pankaj and Shubhra have courtship stories around Umaid Bhavan and I couldn't help smiling at the romance the place brought.
Pankaj dropped me to the hotel (after I forgot the way) thanks to local passersby's help. Back at the hotel, the guys had just finished their dinner too and we were back to TV. I was showing Vedant my skills of removing hair from the root using just my nails and used Chandu as an unwilling volunteer. As I plucked a beard hair right through, he got really pissed and didn't talk to me at all after that! But I didn't even know! He just kept quiet and went off to sleep. After the rest of us watched some American Idol, I was finally ready to sleep.
17 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
The next morning, I was woken up at about 0530 hours by Chandan pulling my eyelids open! He was awake and, well, he just thought it appropriate to wake me up too! Somehow, I didn't mind. We spoke until everyone else got up - I told him how my dinner with Shubhra was and how much me and Debarati missed her not being in Bombay. And other general stuff. And while we were talking that morning, we had a moment. A moment where we both got quiet and there was what is popularly known as sexual tension. Lol. By now, people were awake and Fahim kinda figured that there was something brewing between Chandu and me and the rest of the trip, he would sing "Ringa Ringa" from Slumdog Millionaire to us, with a teasing face! I've never been embarrassed by all this teasing, and so I played along, smiling and saying "Aah, so now u know!".
I wanted the rest of the gang to also see Umaid Bhavan and so off we went. The Palace is up a steep road and the rickshaw was so slow that we could read messages written on the rocks at the edge of the road at least thrice each! Umaid Bhavan is truly majestic and we hung out for a good while. We didn't wanna do anything for the rest of the day as our laziness increased. Also we had a train to catch that evening and so we came back to the hotel.
Back at Ghanta Ghar, I set out to buy some salwaar-kameez material for my friend, Priti. She'd asked for pink bandhni material and I just hadn't found the right pink or the right combination of pink with another colour. While at the market, I found Chandan following me around, with nothing he wanted to buy himself. I knew the man was feeling just like I was :)
For lunch, the guys wanted to go back to the Muslim joint and eat, but I was pushing to try a new place. Why stick with the old, I urged. Eventually, we ate at a bad hygiene restaurant with okayish food. We were hungry and too far from the good restaurant and I was cursed a lot. My bad! We ate and did some shopping at a nearby market. I finally found the pink material I was looking for, and also picked up a kurta for Mhatre, which Manish had forgotten to pick up when he was in Rajasthan.
At 1845 hrs that evening, we got on to our train to Bombay. Our trip was ending! However, my travel days were not ending. I had received a call from office a few days earlier asking me if I was okay with traveling to the Philippines as soon as I came back from my vacation. I didn't have any problems and had said yes! As luck would have it, all my visa stamping was done in 3 days while I was vacationing and I was to leave on the 19th! And I was just starting to like Chandan! What timing! Damn!
We played more charades on the train and then all of us except Vedu went out to the door for a smoke. Now this is illegal and I should know better, but we were rightly punished for it. While we were smoking, this scene emerged:
Gayatri: "Koi pakadta nahi hai kya idhar?" ("Doesn't anybody ever get punished for this?")
Chandan: "Ab tak toh aisa hua nahi hai" ("It's never happened before.")
Alpana (with cigarette in mouth and spotted by a TC): "Uhh...I think we are caught!"
LOL. The TC didn't say much - just asked for a fine of Rs. 200 per head! And we were like whaaaaaa....that would be 800 bucks! Almost as much as room rent at Jodhpur! We negotiated, but the TC wouldn't relent. He asked us girls to get back to our seats while he spoke with the guys. When we came back, we told Vedu our story and he went off towards the TC, laughing! With the extremely amazing bargaining power that he has, he brought down the total fine to Rs. 200!
So we decided to hit the sack before anything else went wrong! Chandan and I weren't getting any sleep though, for obvious reasons. And we wanted to settle some stuff out. None of us were really sure about the other's love life status. If we were both really single or not even! So we talked about where we were in relationships and we were pretty much in the same place. Both had been through big breakups in the recent past and it was kinda putting things into perspective for us. Again, we slept really late after a whole lot of talking.
18 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
We reached Bombay at 1200 hrs. At Borivali, we were picked up by Manish and Roopali and Chandu and I went over to their place for lunch while Gayatri and Fahim went back home. Vedant had already gotten off one station earlier. We saw Manish and Roopali's wedding and engagement pictures over some bread and chicken. I left soon after to reach home quickly. Catty was not well and I had to see her. But that's another blog post. The next one, in fact.
And with that, ended the Rajasthan trip. It'd been a good one. :)
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Rajasthan trip - The quaint town we all love!
15 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
It was the day we had to leave. We had a young college going group staying in the room next to ours. When we met them in the morning, one of them said to me, "So, you guys had a party last night!" and I said, "Yeah! You heard, eh?". And the guy went, "Yeah. All of Jaisalmer heard!". And that pretty much summed up our drinking night! Woo hoo!
We had a train to catch at 1600 hrs and so we had half a day to look around some more of Jaisalmer. We'd read about some excavation area near the Jain temple and decided to have a looksy. We took a rickshaw and while on our way, it started pouring! We couldn't believe that it was raining in Jaisalmer! And not even a drizzle. This was rain! And it was winter!
Well the excavation spot was a disappointment, coz we didn't know exactly what was excavated. There were no signs, no boards, nothing. So while it rained, Chandan and I got wet in the rain, while the rest of the suckers looked for cover. And we saw an eagle bearing the winds, standing atop a thin wood pole over a house.
Such a statement!
When it was really wet and cold, and after taking pictures and videos of what surrounded us, we found the rest of the guys in a house, which obviously belonged to somebody who wasn't there, and waited for the rain to stop. Well it didn't, and so when it slowed down a little, we made our way back to the rickshaw that was waiting for us, where we saw some men cutting wood, old style with hands and axe! So our guys Vedu and Famu took a shot at it and well, just wasted the wood-cutters' time. They made tiny dents in the wrong places. Not worth too much writing space.
And so we headed back to the hotel, packed our bags and were off to the station for our train to Jodhpur. It was quite cold as we left Jaisalmer and we had to cover ourselves in blankets as we played Uno. Chandan, I realized was warm and I took full advantage and wrapped my hands around his arms, and of course, made the suggestion to Gayatri to do the same! Lol.
The rest of the journey we played dumbcharades and found what an absolutely complex player Fahim is at that game! Let me give you an example:
- Fahim shows us the sign for Hindi movie with one word, with the word split into two. He's gonna sign us the second half.
- Fahim shows us the finger rubbing sign for money. So we guess 'money'.
- He then draws a rectangle with his hands. So we guess 'money note'.
- Then he rubs his hand over his head. So we guess 'hair'. No. 'Bald'? Yes.
- So he shows 'note' and 'bald' again. Okay....'Gandhi'? Yes, Gandhi.
- Now he does a woman's curves with his hand. This took time for us to understand. Gayatri got it quickest. He mean't Gandhi's woman - 'Kasturba'! Haha!
- Now he splits 'Kasturba' in half. We eventually guess 'kast'.
- So that's the second half of the movie's name. What could the first half be? After a few seconds of thinking, we got it - 'Shikast'!!!!
And to do that, I would have shown a bow and arrow or a gun or something to show hunting, get to 'Shikaar' and then get to 'Shikast'! But Fahim is a complex guy!
Another one was this:
- Fahim signs to us that it is an English movie with two words.
- He starts with showing us a butterfly sign with his hands. So 'butterfly' it is.
- Then he signs for the Hindi word for 'butterfly'. 'Titli'.
- He signals a word that rhymes with 'titli'. We finally guess 'Italy'.
- That's kinda the first word. He now asks us to guess the rest. We guess ' Italian Job'. Lol.
And again, to do that, I would have just done the sign for blow job and gotten it! Haha. But I repeat, Fahim is a complex guy!
We were reminded by fellow passengers that we were having way too much fun, and therefore getting noisier. So we finally stopped and went off to sleep. It wasn't so cold that night, as we got farther away from Jaisalmer. Soon, we would be at Jodhpur and I would meet my school best friend, Shubhra, who I haven't been able to be in touch so much anymore, ever since she got married.
It was the day we had to leave. We had a young college going group staying in the room next to ours. When we met them in the morning, one of them said to me, "So, you guys had a party last night!" and I said, "Yeah! You heard, eh?". And the guy went, "Yeah. All of Jaisalmer heard!". And that pretty much summed up our drinking night! Woo hoo!
We had a train to catch at 1600 hrs and so we had half a day to look around some more of Jaisalmer. We'd read about some excavation area near the Jain temple and decided to have a looksy. We took a rickshaw and while on our way, it started pouring! We couldn't believe that it was raining in Jaisalmer! And not even a drizzle. This was rain! And it was winter!
Well the excavation spot was a disappointment, coz we didn't know exactly what was excavated. There were no signs, no boards, nothing. So while it rained, Chandan and I got wet in the rain, while the rest of the suckers looked for cover. And we saw an eagle bearing the winds, standing atop a thin wood pole over a house.
Such a statement!When it was really wet and cold, and after taking pictures and videos of what surrounded us, we found the rest of the guys in a house, which obviously belonged to somebody who wasn't there, and waited for the rain to stop. Well it didn't, and so when it slowed down a little, we made our way back to the rickshaw that was waiting for us, where we saw some men cutting wood, old style with hands and axe! So our guys Vedu and Famu took a shot at it and well, just wasted the wood-cutters' time. They made tiny dents in the wrong places. Not worth too much writing space.
And so we headed back to the hotel, packed our bags and were off to the station for our train to Jodhpur. It was quite cold as we left Jaisalmer and we had to cover ourselves in blankets as we played Uno. Chandan, I realized was warm and I took full advantage and wrapped my hands around his arms, and of course, made the suggestion to Gayatri to do the same! Lol.
The rest of the journey we played dumbcharades and found what an absolutely complex player Fahim is at that game! Let me give you an example:
- Fahim shows us the sign for Hindi movie with one word, with the word split into two. He's gonna sign us the second half.
- Fahim shows us the finger rubbing sign for money. So we guess 'money'.
- He then draws a rectangle with his hands. So we guess 'money note'.
- Then he rubs his hand over his head. So we guess 'hair'. No. 'Bald'? Yes.
- So he shows 'note' and 'bald' again. Okay....'Gandhi'? Yes, Gandhi.
- Now he does a woman's curves with his hand. This took time for us to understand. Gayatri got it quickest. He mean't Gandhi's woman - 'Kasturba'! Haha!
- Now he splits 'Kasturba' in half. We eventually guess 'kast'.
- So that's the second half of the movie's name. What could the first half be? After a few seconds of thinking, we got it - 'Shikast'!!!!
And to do that, I would have shown a bow and arrow or a gun or something to show hunting, get to 'Shikaar' and then get to 'Shikast'! But Fahim is a complex guy!
Another one was this:
- Fahim signs to us that it is an English movie with two words.
- He starts with showing us a butterfly sign with his hands. So 'butterfly' it is.
- Then he signs for the Hindi word for 'butterfly'. 'Titli'.
- He signals a word that rhymes with 'titli'. We finally guess 'Italy'.
- That's kinda the first word. He now asks us to guess the rest. We guess ' Italian Job'. Lol.
And again, to do that, I would have just done the sign for blow job and gotten it! Haha. But I repeat, Fahim is a complex guy!
We were reminded by fellow passengers that we were having way too much fun, and therefore getting noisier. So we finally stopped and went off to sleep. It wasn't so cold that night, as we got farther away from Jaisalmer. Soon, we would be at Jodhpur and I would meet my school best friend, Shubhra, who I haven't been able to be in touch so much anymore, ever since she got married.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Related Posts
