Bitter-Sweet Symphony thats LIFE !!!

It’s all about the SPIRIT!!!

2010-01-19T02:49:00.000-08:00

The journey started when I joined this new team that included four regular marathoners. As a part of the joining formality, along with the Personal Data forms, I filled up an extra form for SCMM 2010 Half Marathon Registration.

Training for the race day was another unique experience. I wouldn’t even dream about waking up at 4.00 am for my studies, but here I was catching a CST bound train from Vashi at 4:45 am. Every Sunday, we reached Marine Drive by 6 and started the 10 – 15 kms jog by 6:20 am, do a little stretching exercise and then go for nice breakfast at Stadium restaurant near Churchgate Station. The practice sessions were definitely a realization of how your mind can tame the body and push it to the hilt.

The Race Day was not only a testimony to the strength of one’s mind but also of the wonderful human spirit that we always read/ hear about only during calamities. Who runs a marathon - An individual? Yes; but who wins a marathon? The answer to that is the Human Spirit. A runner draws his energy from every elderly individual determination to finish is unconquerable, from every youth who challenges one to stretch the limits, every sideline supporter who cheers for you without any strings attached and the spirit in you that seeks to leave a imprint on the sands of time. The panoramic view Worli and Bandra while running over the sea link was like an icing on the cake.

I am most thankful to all the people who had come down on the roads with their families, the volunteers and every runner to have cheered and supported me till the finish line. Bill Rodgers, the four times Boston Marathon champion has rightly said – “A marathon can humble you.”

The Trip

2009-11-02T23:47:00.000-08:00

I am sure to write a sequel to this thread but just dont know how it would progress. First time experiencing the thrill of updating things on the go (i.e. with bare minimum delay that is unavoidable to frame a logical script)
--
It has been almost 1.5 years now since we guys had met on campus. Well as far as I am concerned, the people I am talking about became good friends only in Term VI when all of us gathered in "The Room" for finals preparations. The chat group on BRacket was aptly called "Final_Prep_Mktg_NiceTry!" The sessions were filled with commotion (maybe I felt it that way cuz it was the first time I was attentive to some marketing talks - with studs). The best part of these sessions were the snacks and tea/ coffee that we ordered :) Well, the room descriptions are best left to my dear friend 'M' who started off but just like our preparations got lost in some 'alley'.

Anyway coming back to the topic, here I just want to set the context of what might result in writing sequels to this post.
So, since the time we left campus, there have been 2 instances wherein most members of the group (if not all) have been able to meet face2face. Both being very memorable - Saiko's wedding in Kolkata and Udai's in Hyd. I and Manage have been able to catch up with individual junta once a while over the past 1 year, especially when the stints took us to even the most God-forsaken places around this country. Each of those meets (however small they were) have been wonderful and etched in my memory.
Just going off-track, to think of the shortest of these meets was umm... I think they would be two, umm... I think 3, no-no there is definitely a 4th one. Chuck it! Sometimes it feels like every time I have met this set - the time was never enough to call it a long meet :)

This also sets the context of all of us wanting to go together on a trip to someplace where heads would be rolled (from a tamil saying- Mandai Urutardu) , old memories laughed upon and several new ones written for times to come. When the collective enthusiasm of the group crossed all boundaries, thanks to the boredom and frustration at their respective workplaces, we decided that the time has come to take a break. And what better way to unwind than to meet up with all those freaks who formed the FPM_NT group.

Now when the will is there, the way should translate right? However, we all had something to remember - how the most diligently and meticulously designed trip can go to dumps if the will isnt too strong. So, there we go again. By clubbing the 3-W conferencing facility of mine and Manage's we decided that the dates of travel would be 22nd Jan 2010 to 26th Jan 2010. The travel place that won the bid was North-East (Shillong, Cherapoonji and Bada Paani). Other close contenders were Srilanka (great effort on the information collection by Tuls) and some places like Gangtok etc. The main consideration behind choosing NE was that our beloved Manage(r) could use his influence as an ASM and set things in place.

With two main criteria fulfilled, the group now awaits the consent (informing bosses about the unavailability during the period) and then we head to the next steps with economic implications.
As I publish this post, there are 3 people who have expressed their willingness in writing :) - Mri, Kavity and Vinay.
Yeah! Even I haven't given it yet :) Will go talk to my boss after his Analyst Meet and then mail the group by EOD. ...tbc

Transitioning from the year 2k4 to 2k5

2006-05-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

This story I write reminiscing the good old days I spent in Kolkata in a small team of 5. Well though the project had started at such a small scale it reached a team size of 40 at its peak. And I feel fortunate enough to have featured till the end. Since the day we i.e. Me and Hari reported for the very first real-life project of our life under the able guidance of Anindya da and KG, we had a strong bonding with our mentor, guide and good-friend KG (I hope Krishnendu da doesn’t mind me addressing him as a friend of mine :)). The work for us started from the 14th of September ’04 and was pretty hectic to have drained us out by the year end. The 3rd of January ’05 was a holiday (for some reasons that I can’t recollect now) and the New Year started on a weekend. It was like the most auspicious time to get out of Kolkata and freak out at some other place – drinking booze and enjoying the free time. The time was perfect, the numerology was in our favor and KG was the first one to pounce upon this opportunity to break away from the shackles of office and run-away to a far off place to chillax. I wanted to go home but 3 days was not sufficient to have a good break if I spend almost a day in the train traveling one way. If I am ruling out my options of going home, then how can Hari even dream of it – he was from Kerela and it took him 52 hours to reach home from Kolkata, wherein he had to change 2 trains and then travel by bus for 4 hours. I just wondered which small village this smart mallu belonged toJ. The other team members wanted to spend some quality time with their family and that left only the 3 of us – KG, Me and Hari, as the 3 musketeers who would travel to someplace else and drown their worries along the way.

Oh boy! The team was formed but the place still undecided. There was a flurry of suggestions pouring in from all sides and you would have guessed; only KG was the guy who could evaluate and then rubbish them – one by one. All this drama started from the 15th of Dec keeping in mind that there would be no booking available if there was any delay in plans. A final consensus was reached – with me and Hari nodding to everything KG said, and we planned to go to Sunderbans. So excited I was to see those famous Bengal white tigers (which was the remotest possibility) while floating around in a house boat over the placid waters & sipping some liquor. Hari was a guy who had first time ever traveled out of Kerela and was equally excited. KG being a champion drinker had already getting dreams about how he would finish bottle of whiskey and how he would repeat his famous dialogues from the yesteryear films and what not. It was fun working in office during the last 10 days of the year with vivid imagination of how we are going to spend the 3 days away from office and not thinking of any work. But we forgot the golden rule -“Make hay while the sun shines”. The work at office was never easy and we slept over the plans of booking a hotel in advance. Eventually on the 27th of Dec I made the first call to a WBTC office to make us a reservation and received the first blow that all rooms are booked. The whole day all 3 of us kept making frantic calls to all travel agents and hotels spread across every nook-n-corner of Kolkata to get a booking but in vain. With a very heavy heart and thinking that all the plans had flopped, that day we left for home early i.e. at 8:00 pm instead of our trademark time of 10:30pm.

I just couldn’t sleep till late that night and was having nightmares of how I would be bored to death in those 3 days and thinking that a minimum of 3 bottles of hard drink could cajole me into deep slumber to escape the ennui. “Every cloud has a silver lining” and our very own KG was in himself full of silver. He rang up me and Hari at 6:30am the next day and said that he is getting his car fixed and we can drive to Digha for the New Year blast. I don’t know about Hari but it was a long time since I had seen a day starting at 6:30 am :). Suddenly all the nightmares had become pleasant scenes with us three involved in a drunken revelry by the sea-shore. To refresh your memory a bit, on 25th Dec 2004 the Indian coastline was hit by a massive Tsunami that drowned thousands of innocent people and the Christmas celebrations throughout the world were spent mourning for the peace of the departed souls. The WB govt. had announced that no one should be allowed within 3 km vicinity to the sea and Digha was abandoned for all tourists. So we were hit not by a Tsunami though, but received two blows in two days and I was again feeling my dreams drift towards the nightmares of last night.

KG i.e. short for Krishnendu Goswami a.k.a Krish da is a person who once takes up a task and gets his mind to it then there is no looking back – neither for him nor for the team. He had put his heart and soul into this project and was desperate for a break, even more than me & Hari. Thorough out his life, as we came to hear from him later, he has looked the storm in the eye and had emerged a champion in every such battle. It was under him that we learnt the importance of taking up responsibilities and striving hard to achieve excellence. Many a times there was a debate as to why he (KG) never wanted to share his problems with us and only know as to what was going on in our life. He would always parry all such queries shot at him with his penchant ‘chalta hai re’ and leave us wondering as to what he wanted to mean by that. But it took some time for the lesser mortals like us – me and Hari to understand that he had been very protective of us and wanted to open the gates for us only once we were completely prepared. He is a man of options, then how could he ever let go this opportunity of drinking for 3 whole days. Yes, KG is a regular, in fact very regular (I despise the word chain :)), smoker and heavy, though steady, drinker. Moreover his antique Maruti 800 had gone through a complete health check-up and he wanted to go on a long drive on that.

On Friday afternoon KG went to get the delivery of his car from the garage and called it a day at office. By evening 7:00 when both I and Hari were drooling about how we would spend the 3 days –watch movies, go for a jog, sleep, take bath for an hour n what not, my cell phone rang. It said ‘Krishnendu calling…’ and then came in the good news and also a bad news. The good news was that we three along with KG’s driver would be driving to Santiniketan – Shri Rabindranath Tagore’s abode for 2 days n 3 nightsJ and the bad news was that we were to wake up and be ready by 5:00am the next morningL. I and Hari wound up our work for that day and went home for dinner. Being a Friday and as a ritual Nibin & Shakki – Hari’s roomies and our batch mates during CTS training called me to have some booze at his place. After that I decided to pack up n port myself to Hari’s place and KG was informed to pick us up from there.
One piece of info: Hari is a very clean chap – he neither smokes nor does he drink anything except his pegs of Sprite.
That night we both didn’t know what to dream of Santiniketan and faded off into deep slumber just chit-chatting as to what the next 3 days be like.

To be continued…

Hindi Poetry

2006-05-12T03:25:00.000-07:00

Statutory Warning: With whatever hindi I have learned, spoken and written, through my stay in the various provinces in India, I am warning you that reading this poetry maybe harmful to whatever hindi knowledge you already have. The poet (self-claimed) is not responsible for any of the damages that may be caused to an individual or organization upon reading the following poems.

This first one is a genuine – dil ki pukar, to one of my friend that just got typed down on a piece of paper. Sincerely, I still don’t understand how the emotions turn into poems and eventually a post on this blog.

Ek din apne ek dost ko maine phone lagaya
Magar phone to sirf bajta hi gaya
Nahi usne phone uthaya, na uske kisi saathi ne
Yehi problem hai landline ka sochkar aazmaya doosra paitra maine

Phir maine uske cell par try kiya
Lekin usne bhi mujhe ek angreezi gaana sunaya
Na kisi ne phone uthaya, na chod saka main message
Aur Jab kiya use SMS, to report aaya ‘Undelivered Message’

Do din ke asafal prayaas ke baad
Ek mutual friend ke through pata lagaya hisab
Bola who mujhe ‘apne chaavi par uda chuka woh apna pre-paid credit’
Aur PG ke chakkar mein jo choda usne job, saath gava baitha the power of debit

Phir maine socha kyun na likhun use ek patra
Lekin kismet mein likha na tha humara mel ya mail
Jo woh bhi vapas aa gaya kehke ‘No claimant to avail’
Bas gujre mere baaki din karke uski yaad
Lekin dukh isi baat ka rahega ki bichadne se pehle na kar sake baat.

This next one was just a thought that cropped up in my mind and was wonderfully modified by my dear friend Adarsh.

Main aur meri lighter aksar yeh baatein kiya karte hain
Sutta hota to kaisa hota, agar maachis na hota to kaisa hota
Tum is baat par jal jaati, tum us pal boojh jaati
Maachis hota to aisa na hota, Maachis hota to vaisa na hota
Main aur meri lighter aksar yeh baatein karte hain

Yeh maachis hai ya teri sautan
Yeh tiliyaan hai yaa uske dil ki dhadkan
Yeh Homelite ka brand hai yaa TATA ka vishwaash
Hawa ka jhonka hai yeh uske dhadakti aag
Sutte har bar aakhir uski baahon mein kyun samaa jaati
Tumhaari dil ki aag hai yaa ek dhokha
Yeh flame ki takraar hai yaa sutte ke patile se ikraar
Ki jab mujhko bhi yeh khabar hai ki sutta maachis ke saath hai
Magar yeh dil kehta hai ki sutta sirf tere saath hai, tere saath hai
Main aur meri lighter aksar yeh baatein kiya karte hain

Majboor yeh haalaat idhar bhi hai aur udhar bhi
Sutte ki jazbaat idhar bhi hain aur udhar bhi
Dil keh raha lighter ke paas jaao, patila keh raha hai maachis mein sama jaao
Stub kehta duniya ki saari rasmein mita dein
Deevar jo hum dono ke beech hai woh mita dein
Dhooyein mein is maachis aur is patile ko jalaa dein
Kyun dil mein sulagte logon ko hum bata dein
Haan humko tambaakoo se mohabbat hai, mohabbat hai
Ab dil mein yeh baat idhar bhi,aur udhar bhi

Main aur meri lighter aksar yeh baatein kiya karte hain
Cigarette smoking is injurious to health na hota to kya hota
Dhumra-paan nishedh naa hota to kya hota
Main aur meri lighter

Time in T.I.M.E.

2006-05-08T04:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a story of a group of guys who had nothing in common but came together with a common goal and were determined to put in their best efforts to achieve the Ultimate!!!

One fine morning in a class bustling with fervor to learn from the legendary “SM” of the TIME institute two boys sat side by side – one wearing a cap all the time to suppress the locks of hair that stood in all direction indicating that he rushed to the class directly out of sleep and another guy who was apprehensive of the stiff competition ahead of him but zealous enough to give every one of his competitors a run for their money.

The capped fellow, named Avanish was a seasoned player in this game of CAT. He had spent many sleepless nights last year i.e.2004, not worrying about filthy matters but preparing for the final exam of CAT. He was a guy who had mastered all the tricks of smart calculation and eventually nicknamed the “Quant Guru” – well at least within the group that got formed and it was also attributed to his pedigree since he was born into a ‘Marwadi’ business family. He had spent his entire life in Kolkata except for the 4 years of engineering which he spent in a college at ‘Chikmangloor’ in Karnataka. Avanish was not only good at calculations but had his own way with words. During the preparation he had not only gained mastery over the exquisite set of words in English but also merrily flaunted with the foreign words of French and Greek origin. Well, I know you might be thinking that then he must be named the “English - Guru” instead but no! In CAT there are 3 major sections – English, Quants and Data Interpretation (DI) and to excel in the English section one need not have an out of the world vocabulary but very good comprehension skills that would help you crack the RC passages and gain an upper hand over the others. This was present in abundance in another guy – Rajarshi, who batted like a master blaster when the bowler was RC and the game of cricket was CAT.

Rajarshi was a cool dude who had his own mobile phone and gaming business in partnership with one of his childhood buddies. He took a bold decision to take a break from business, though he knew that he was sounding the death knell for his partnership, and prepare well for the exam. He was an aspirant who was attempting the most uncertain exam for the first time. He was a true Kolkata guy roaming around the streets on his Bajaj Pulsar – 150. A fair and stout guy and also a self-leaned guitar player he was the cynosure of all eyes at any of the get-togethers of the aspirants at TIME. His decision to take a break was very bold because he had ventured into his business so that he could devote enough time towards the practice with his evolving band wherein he was not the lead guitarist but the lead vocalist. And now here he was dedicated to only studies and taking a break from his passion that was Music. On the other hand, Avanish was no less talented and had a wonderfully flexible and thin body (all credit goes to his fantastic metabolism rate) and could move his body with the grace of Prabhu Deva. The first rendezvous of Avanish and Rajarshi was through two other links in the chain – one was a married gentleman named Shatadru and other the boy whom Avanish met in SM’s class.

Remembering of that other guy, his name was Kartik. He was a software professional like Shatadru and was posted in Kolkata since the past 8 months. Kartik was a tam-brahm, born in Maharashtra, did his engineering from Allahabad, trained at his company’s center in Chennai and now posted in Kolkata. He was disgusted with the city since he had no friends either from school or college with whom he could share his heart with and as a last resort to move from the technical ennui of his work and that of the city he joined TIME for the preparation of CAT which if cleared would open the doors to the world of new opportunities. Shatadru was no different in his motives to take CAT. He had been a techie since last 3 years and wanted a change of profile to suit his area of interest at work.

Shatadru fondly referred to as ‘Uncle’ in the group, had married his love whom he met during the training program of his first company. He had a very well built body and good height and could command respect for not only his age  but also for the sharp mind that ran fast behind that bespectacled face of his. He stayed in Kolkata with his family and had taken his first attempt at CAT during his final year of engineering at Jadavpur University. This was his second attempt and as for Kartik, he was leading the race of attempt counts with 3 unsuccessful ones earlier on. Shatadru was a great fan of SM since the very first day of class and also was a favorite of SM because of his maturity, almost perfect English grammar and on the dot attitude. There were so many instances when the other kids in the group were reviled by him for being off the scheduled time. Shatadru was a core Bengali at heart. He would deem it an uneventful day if there had been no fish or chicken in any of his meals that he had throughout the day. A well cooked home-made preparation of mutton tasted like ‘Rasagolla’ to him.

These 4 musketeers on their way to bell the CAT became friends during an English class wherein a ‘jugalbandi’ started between SM and the students when SM in his full mood to flirt diverted the topic from a simple plain meaning of ‘amour’ to sex and related fantasies. The introduction of these guys that started on a fun-filled note became a deep rooted one that became a sort of dependency for Kartik who was staying away from home and his dear friends had become his family – as is said ‘Home away from HOME’.
The awesome foursome knew their limitations and an incentive to the bond amongst them was that they complemented each other very well. Also the reasons for hanging around in the group were different for each one of them. Shatadru had become a complete family man and while with these 3 guys he was able to relive his golden days that he had spent with friends from school and college and speak his heart out that he couldn’t in a corporate environment at office. Rajarshi needed people who could back him up in this new venture of his and also get accustomed to spending a day without his old friends. For Kartik it was a break from the mundane office work and a set of people who would keep the momentum going till the final goal is reached. Avanish was still recuperating from the horrors of failure last year and needed a patient ear to not only the rhetoric of his rough love story but also his meticulously rhymed poems. This was all apart from the common aspiration of tasting a bite of the most coveted IIM pie.

The steam engine that was set rolling by the teachers and counselors at TIME caught pace when everyone was pouring into their books and trying to find new strategies to maximize their scores. But two people seemed to be lacking in the race, Kartik and Shatadru. It was very difficult for both of them to cope up with the extra hours of study after a tiring day at office. It is rightly quoted that the bonds of friendship are reinforced by sharing. Similar stuff happened when a recurrent meeting was planned on every Saturday at 3:00 pm at the TIME classroom for discussion of the concepts of quants, strategies for English and deliberations on the smart guess work and fast calculations. Avanish’s chubby friend Sachin too joined them during the meets. He was a stud in DI and knew many good techniques of winning over a problem. The guys were rebuked by Uncle a number of times for not reaching the venue on time and finally rescheduled it to 3:30pm. Every one was watching everyone’s back and they were always eager to lend a helping hand to the one who stumbled, and most of the times it was Kartik who needed the support. Even today are reminisced those days when they took at break at the make-shift shops in front of the Telephone Exchange Office. One of small confectionary shops in that area started a chain of his own by serving puffs and pastry to these gourmands when they were famished after 3-4 hours of rigorous studies. The momentum had started building and the group was gaining confidence of cracking it this time if they continued at the same pace.

One fine day while SM was on a high and taking the entire class on a frenzied ride on the English wave, Shatadru burst in with a box of ‘saundesh’ and smiling from ear to ear. His wife, Swati had been blessed with a beautiful baby girl. From that moment on the entire class ratified his epithet of ‘Uncle’. This gave another place to unwind oneself from the mundane office work and studies – Uncle’s home. There one could forget all miseries while fondling with ‘Swara’ – the baby girl and having a hearty laugh with Swati. She was a very charming lady who had a knack of relaxing the mood with her good humored banters. Kartik was the most shameless fellow to drop in at Uncle’s place any day to have a feel of home. His other favorite hang outs were Avanish’s house for lunch and anywhere with Rajarshi for a fag, a peg or some eye-exercise at City Center. His eating proportions earned Kartik a nickname at Avanish’s place – ‘Neanderthal’, a person who eats as if he has not eaten for days together. Well, no one was to relish home cooked food like a person who stays away and goes to a hotel each night as if it were a duty call and not pangs of hunger. The tea at Sachin’s place was another lure for taking a break amidst the preparations.

Days passed by and everybody could witness a substantial growth in the level of understanding between each other parallel to an increase in the scores that they scored in the mock exams. Shatadru, despite having a very solid grasp over the fundamentals of mathematics, consistently faltered when it came to DI. The scores in DI used to haunt him like unburied ghosts from the past. Meanwhile Rajarshi was blasting the English sections as if it were child’s play for him but finding it difficult to gather the same pace in Quants section. Sachin became the ‘DI guru’ in the group with leveled performance in the other 2 sections. Avanish was oscillating between the highs and lows whereas it was not until the 5th mock exam that Kartik cleared the cut-offs in all the 3 sections. After the 5th mock, on the night of Kali Puja, the group decided to do a night out and help each other in overcoming their respective weak areas. Rajarshi couldn’t turn up due to some family commitments but the other 4 met with full preparation. There were 2 flasks of tea and some snacks from Sachin’s home, Avanish had got some tea and snacks and Kartik with Uncle was ready to enjoy the preparations. The awesome foursome started directly on the 5th gear and was committed to destroy all their fears with ‘gyaan’ pouring in from all directions. But they could sustain the momentum for not more than 2 hours. Then started the rounds of tea and cigarettes interspersed by the ‘How to solve a problem in a Minute’ lectures by the each of them in turns. But as they say old habits die hard. Uncle started reading in an out-stretched position and slowly slid into deep noisy sleep on the wooden bench. As if a divine intervention for Avanish, his cell rang and he ran out into another classroom to spend the night chit-chatting with his love. Sachin and Kartik were waging a lost battle against the Sleep Goddess. Though the study hours didn’t stretch to 7-8 hours as planned, but it did have a positive effect on the scores of mock CAT-6.

The scores were constantly on a rise for all the aspirants – Kartik had covered substantial ground as compared to his initial standings and Shatadru was able to get rid of his DI ghosts to at least clear the cut-offs. Avanish, Rajarshi and Sachin had started making a forte of other areas apart from their initial expertise. Just when things were taking a turn for the good, Kartik’s aspirations hit a road block. He was to go to his client’s location for 6 weeks starting from 13th August. Though he was bound to return before the D-Day, there was no guarantee as to what chance he would stand against the others on his return. Amidst the chaos and desperate voices ringing in his head, he was not able to concentrate neither on his work nor on the studies. SM told him – “Cross the bridge only when you come to it!!” It was like a guru-mantra which changed his thinking right from that moment on. Kartik happily boarded the flight to LHR, London but not before warning his friends to not write him off. The group continued on a frenzied momentum, devising new tricks and strategies and raising their confidence levels by leaps and bound. Meanwhile, Kartik was having a gala time roaming around in Scotland and London completely devoid of any thoughts of 20th November ’05.

The judgment day was nearing fast. Kartik had landed back in India and the remaining days were as if he was learning to walk on the crutches lent by the group. The tension levels were soaring and it was becoming really difficult for many to cope up with it. SM sir decided to cool it off one day prior by organizing a camp fire night, in fact eve, on the terrace of TIME, Salt Lake. Almost everyone turned up, even the most hostile ‘junta’, who opposed the proposal gathered to relax. Avanish was the last to enter the show. Unfortunately he has fallen ill and was completely wrapped from head to toe with warm clothes to cut out the cold. Rajarshi and his friend raised the spirits when they started playing, on the guitar and mouth-organ respectively, the tune of ‘Hum honge kamayab’ and the entire group erupted in concert.

That night the entire group dispersed hoping that they all would be singing together in a similar camp fire night that they would celebrate on one of their coveted IIMs

The Title Song

2005-12-11T21:55:00.000-08:00

The song that moved me at its first hearing in my college days and is also the title of my blog is a composition of the legendary band "The Verve". The Verve was formed in a small Nothern English City of Wigan in 1989. Long acclaimed as among the most innovative and spellbinding bands on the contemporary British pop scene, the Verve finally broke through to a mass international audience in 1997 with the instant classic "Bittersweet Symphony".

The band led by the magnetic Richard Ashcroft was known for creating one of the most complex and rewarding bodies of work in the history of modern rock 'n roll. Thier elemental music identity grew leaps and bounds with hits spun one after the other, distinguished chiefly by Ashcroft's elemental vocals and Nick McCabe's echoing guitar leads. The band's long arduous journey culminated when they were at the peak but not before it went on to encompass a major break-up, multiple law-suits, an extensive diet of narcotics and a penchant for the psychedelics. Know more about the band and its members at The Verve.

Chris Martin introduced him as "the best singer in the world" when he performed "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (which Martin called "the best song in the world") with Coldplay at the London Live 8 concert in 2005.

Here goes the lyrics of the song, but dont be contented with the words and do make it a point to listen to the song.....

Bittersweet Symphony
The Verve
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
Your a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you
to the places where all the things meet yeah
No change,
I can't change I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mould, I am here in my mould
But I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mould
No, no, no, no, no
Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds
that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind,
I feel free now
But the airways are clean
and there's nobody singing to me now
No change,
I can't change I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mould, I am here in my mould
And I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mould
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change I can't change
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
Try to find some money, then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you
to the places where all the things meet yeah
You know I can't change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mould, I am here in my mould
And I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mould
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change my mould
no, no, no, no, no,
I can't change
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
(It justs sex and violence melody and silence)
(Been down)
(Ever been down)
That you've ever been down
That you've ever been down

The departure...

2005-11-30T22:58:00.000-08:00

Amidst the confusions and wierd abberations that I was having, I just landed up in UK at my client's office on 25th Sept 2005, a brand new Monday of a brand new week(I refer to this as current and everything is relative to this), exactly a year and a dozen days past my landing in Kolkata. Well, I would love to tell you as to why all those threads of thoughts that troubled me before my departure from India. The story that needs to be told till today unfolds as below........

Thu (Last to last Week): My PM asked me if I would go toUK to support one of my colleagues. I asked him as to how long I would be gone and he said maybe a month or two .... real short term. I denied because I had started some serious CAT preparations and had a strong feeling of Belling it this time. I could not have given this reason and hence made up some ancient, tried and tested crap about family troubles (touch-wood) etc etc. Then he started his lecture saying that work is like serving your duty and I should feel responsible etc etc. Then he asked me to convey my decision by tomorrow.

Fri(Last to last Week): I was busy, he was busy .... we didn't meet. I felt relieved that the problem is resolved. Also I really not prepared for it. So, had a peaceful week-end, studying and enjoying with my friends. But, I should have known that there is always a lull before the great storm.

Mon(Last Week): My PM called me up and asked as to what I had decided. By then I had talked to my parents and some of my other friends & well-wishers, and came to a conclusion that I'll take everything in my stride. But before putting up the question to me he said "I've asked another senior guy (SD) to go if possible but he(SD) has some problems of his own." I said "That's good"(and internally was hoping that the noose has been let out of my neck) and as a reply to the question posted earlier I said "I don't mind digesting anything that comes to my plate." and I smiled, though I never wanted to, as I made an exit from his chamber.

Tue(Last Week): In the meanwhile, I had tried my level best to persuade the other senior guy (SD) to please take up the work and go to UK for the assigned job. The senior guy refused b'coz he was getting married on that Saturday and also was marked to go to US for some other project and yes that was long-term. As I had seen it coming in my dreams over the past few sleepless nights, my PM walked upto me and said "Kartik, so you are the chosen one :) " I was asked to get all my documents for the subsequent VISA processing.

Tue day end and Wed first half(Last Week): Running hither-tither to get all documents, photographs and approval letters. I sincerely missing Hari then, how confortable everything would have been riding to all those places on his bike, but unfortunately he was held up with some critical work at office(i just wonder when some work is not critical :)). Atlast before lunch on Wednesday I submitted my documents and the VISA form for UK to the travel desk. The respite amidst all this chaos in my world was a sumptuos lunch that I enjoyed at the B'day treat of my off-shore team lead.

Wed eve(Last Week): I shopped some formal shirts, ties and shoes. Spent the evening with Hari just like that, reminiscing the old days and buying stuffs.

Thu(Last Week): I reported late at office and also left early in order to do the remaining shopping and get hold of all the goods, I mean cigarettes, medicines, etc that my on-site colleagues had asked for. I met some of my friends and narrated the story that you read now.

Sat(Last week): Yesterday I had been in office to just collect my foriegn exchange and bid good-bye to my team here, who were pulling my leg that I should set the trend by doing some work at on-site instead of just forwarding the mails to off-shore with a subject line of FYI(For Your Information) and FYIA(For Your Information and Action). I had to board my flight to Heathrow from the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Dum Dum, Kolkata at 1330 hrs (IST). Last night we had a gala-time chit-chatting and packing my baggage at the room. Well, the feel of the GBP in my hands gave me a special kick.
Early morning I woke up, did my prayers, called up home and some friends and ofcourse did the stuff that every other human does. Ram, one of my roomies, accompanied me to the airport and I thank him for the same since it atleast helped me push the break on the growing swarm of butterflies in my stomach. Well, once inside the airport lobby, I just followed the instructions that were given to me by my PM and the guy at travel desk and went on to finish the formalities for getting in the Cabin baggage, cleared the immigration check and finally relaxed in the bay eagerly awaiting my flight to get docked at the terminal.
It was a virgin experience for me boarding an airbus and travelling in a flight for more than 1.5 hours. As luck would have it, I travelled my entire 9 hour voyage in the Executive class of AI, streching my legs to the fullest, pushing the back-rest to the max and enjoying the movie on the adjustable TV as I sipped through my Champagne. Well, I got upgraded to an executive class b'coz there was a duplication of my ticket with some BA passenger who had to be accomodated in AI due to cancellation of BA flights. But, one should never complain and took everything in my stride :)

Yesterday (Sun -Last Week): Having landed at LHR and wading my way through the innumerable immigrants, I passed into the foriegn land under the pretext that I was a Senior Associate with my company and was in for some requirement clarifications and bagging some new projects into our off-shore kitty. I had quite a relaxing ride to my pre-booked hotel 'The Regent Lodge Hotel' and got into my room after resolving some conflicts with the authority over there and having a chat with my on-site team lead. I spent the night feeding on some candy bars and quenching my thirst with the fruit juice cans each worth a pound.
Sunday morning my senior came over and took me over to his apartment and a small trip to the client's office. There in I met the first person with whom I had earlier conversed over the phone regarding some project issues :Mr. M, who was settled in Britain and spoke with a heavy Tamil accent. Also, I became of the fact that we drink the running water from the tap when we are thirsty. How on earth was I to decipher that after living in Kolkata, wherein drinking one glass of water directly from the tap may infect with all the water-bourne diseses you can think of.

Today i.e. Mon: I took the most convinient bus-ride in an year, from my hotel to the office, attired in the best formal clothes I had packed and yeah, I wore a tie for the first time since the beginning of my professional life. I await my meeting with the client and users wherein we would discuss the issues for Period Rationalise, that is the first and foremost reason of getting me here.
I still wonder how much is to be explored and wondered about the place, Dunstable and how many such things to be learnt like quenching your thirst with the tap water etc.
Be patient and I'll let you know how I digressed from my path of belling the cat and landed up again back into the same old work, I was doing at off-shore.
TO BE CONTINUED.....

Killer of Dreamz ..

2005-11-28T04:36:00.000-08:00

My first attempt at penning down some of my thoughts as a poem.....

What am I,
a Man of Principles or a Killer of Dreams,
Toiling hard I was - day in & day out
for a dispensible cause that I called FUN,
While my mother begged me for a
visit to HOME.
I visited London instead, had some RUM
and traipsing about in Scotland was I,
caring a dime for the RAKHI sent by my
sister in Motherland.
A core professional that I've become,
I shake hands with my father
who longs a hug from his parted son.
Busy was I, on an analysis and coding spree
while my dear frens persisted that I quit
and follow my dreams.
Hey GOD, what has become of me,
I have a heart of stone and nerves of steel,
I hence bend low and pray to thee,
Please make not any more like me.
AMEN

The Kolkata Saga - Part I

2005-11-07T04:13:00.000-08:00

B 'n B (born and brought up) in Nagpur, graduated from Allahabad and then trained in Chennai and Delhi left me with only one direction to go, in order to have inhabited all the coasts in India, EAST. Even during my numerous adventurous trips that I made EAST had been the only coast untraversed. But as I say LIFE is a bitter-sweet symphony and it gave me a fair chance to enjoy the eastern culture when I was posted at Kolkata to work for CTS.

Flash back: The memorable day 10/09/04 when 9 out of 10 people who got their posting in Kolkata were attending the final rituals of the Training program at 27, Whites Road, Chennai. What a lovely batch it was all the prisoners collectively numbered 308 :-) !!! And even more adorable was the troup destined to reach Kolkata on the 12th of September 2004 - a conglomeration of 3 mallus(Hari, Nibin & Shakki), 1 tambi(G. Anthony), 3 UPites (Sachin, Rahul & Swati(f)), 1 NE gal (Zeenat) and a hybrid(Kartik)- thats me and best part was none of us had ever stayed or for that matter even visited Kolkata !!
I had a very pleasant candle-lit dinner with my remaining 3 room-mates and we mulled over the memorable moments that we had spent together at Chennai. Even the others had their food and bid adieu to their beloved ones. We all proceeded to Egmore Station from where we had to board the Chennai mail. Finally inside the AC compartment away from the heat and sweat ... it felt like heaven. But at the same time everyone (i mean those who had some feelings :P) was sad camouflaging their emotions with a hard-pulled smile. The real feel-good factor happened when Sh. Priya, one of the prisoners of the 308 batch came to the station to see us off. Sharp at 10.30 pm the train started - destined for the 'City of Joy' with 9 apprehensive souls dreaming about their share of joy ..........

15 days at Akash Ganga: So there we were, stranded at the Calcutta railway station outside platform number 20, involved in an altercation with a bunch of taxi drivers over the sky high taxi fares they were demanding to drop us at the only address we all knew: Hotel Akash Ganga, 1, Orient Row, Kolkata. Frankly speaking none of us knew heads or toes about kolkata and didn't even know whether they were asking for the right amount. But based upon the past experiences with the taxi and auto drivers in India, we kept pestering for a cheaper drop. Finally after all the disputes settled we all got dumped into 2 taxis along with our luggage and were bound for the Hotel. As we cruised across the magnificent suspension bridge - we all were pouring our heads out of the taxi to have a full view of The Howrah Bridge. After that bitter altercation we all were wide awake at 5:45 am and enjoyed the ride to the fullest. The drama again started when everyone was teaming up with one another to find a perfect room-partner with whom he/she would spend the next 10 days (although we all got it extended till 15 days under the pretext that we had not managed to find a house to shift into :-) ). Another reason being everyone wanted to be away from the one and only Rahul Dwivedi.....one of the UP guys I mentioned. Though he was not a bad guy, but he was quite boring as he never enjoyed the company of others and the later didn't enjoy his.
Oh!! forgot to tell you, we all had an all sponsored trip from Chennai to Kolkata, including the food 'n stuff. All thanks to Vijay who didn't board the train and Nibin 'n Party who got the ticket encashed. Vijay quit CTS as soon as he heard about his posting at Kolkata and is now having a good time in the States.
The hotel rooms were pretty descent with the TV, A.C. and also a geyser. Now, stop thinking as if it was the first time I had checked into any hotel :-) The best part was my roomy and also sutta partner Shakki. Also Hari was put up in the next room. We three-some had wholesome fun and even more when accompanied by the others.
Out very first day at Kolkata was an eye-opener. All our concepts of breakfast were shattered when we were offered dishes like mutton-chap, keema kulcha etc as breakfast and we all were expecting to hear something like bread with butter, fried eggs etc. (Well, later we realized that we had been looking in the wrong places.) So, after a bickering start to the day, we now set out on a hunt for some good restaurant and finally landed up in one owned by a mallu and served all the south-indian delicacies from idli to idiappam. As you might have guessed the 3 mallus were ecstatic :-) So was everybody else and on that happy note we had a brunch (break-fast + lunch) and retired to our rooms for a pleasant nap. After a refreshing sleep, all we hungry creatures again ventured out into the wild. We experienced our very first Tram ride as we hopped into one as the mild drizzle suddenly turned into a heavy shower. It was bound towards someplace called 'Park Street' and we got aboard from Park Circus.
I'll let you know some insights - Park Street has now been renamed as 'Mother Teresa Sarani', although none of the addresses of the shops display that but there is a single sign board on one of the crossings which proves this point. And one more thing, even the trams have an executive class :-) One of the tram bogies would have a giant-size cieling fan attached while the other won't. Hence if you board the former, they will charge you 50p extra as compared to the later.
We were joined by one more guy 'Asru', a school freind of Zeenat and our first acquaintance in Kolkata.We all got down at a place as soon as the rain stopped. After a heated debate on what should be done next - watch a movie, eat something, roam etc. the general consensus was to EAT. Again started a frantic search for some descent place where they served veg as well as non-veg. All thanks to Swati for that. And to our surprise we found none, moreover it was pretty late in the afternoon - around 4 pm. As a result of that, we all filled ourselves with the road-side stuff i.e. rolls, tea, sweets, samosas and what not. The return journey was an eye-opener in terms of the public transport system. We boarded a jam packed bus (3A - if I'm not wrong) the boyz standing and the gals seated...there is quota everywhere !! The bus seemed as if it was a boat earlier on and they had raised 4 tin walls around the flattened boat with wheels attached to the bottom. It felt as if we were riding on the sea where the roads were waves, dented at places by the tram tracks. The buses have very good breaks and the driver doesnt hesitate an inch in exploting his resources. Leave alone the standing public, even those seated are not spared of the back-ache which results after a mere 5 minute ride.
Can you even guess what is painted on the door of the driver of these buses? - 'Pilot'. And believe me they live up to the expectations of that name :-) This very memorable day ended with a copacetic dinner of biryani at 'Zeeshan'. Well, that almost became a spot for our evening snacks & dinner when we returned from office, through-out the stay period. All of us were very exhausted and had a good night's sleep to wake up into a new day, that again would be cherished by maybe all of us - The first day at CTS, Kolkata. (Read about that in another post) !!
Every day for us would dawn at around 8:30 am, there-after a heavy break-fast and a chauffer- driven ride to the office. Now, don't start reading between the lines to comment that we had our breakfast without finishing the daily chores :-) Also, dont misconstrue that CTS had made arrangements for the daily drop. We always took a taxi but on all days the same taxi. He surely was a person to learn from atleast in terms of punctuality. The weekdays were pretty de-energizing and dull. After the droopy office hours and travel we all were left only with enough energy to throw ourselves on the beds and watch some shows on the idiot box. The weekends were even more enervating with umpteen futile trips made to Salt Lake in search of a house to shift into.
But, this highly spirited group of ours never missed out on capitalising on any of the occasions. The very first of these happened on the 13th of Sept. It was Swati's b'day and we had planned to have a party at midnight. The cake, chips and soft-drinks were arranged for and also a very special gift (though it hurt our pockets that time :-)) Sharp at 00.00 hrs, expecting to be the first to wish her, we knocked at Swati and Zeenat's door. Wallah !! both were wide awake and Swati's college friends were a minute ahead of us. But despite that dismal start we had a good time relishing the cake, chips and cold-drinks. There was a good deal of gappa-goshti / adda / bakaiti interspered with the sweet melody of 'Ghumshuda' that was played on Swati's cell by her numerous well-wishers. Ahh!! talking about the special gift we gave her. We gave Swati her very first identity in Kolkata - a new SIM. Time flew by and we all were back in our beds by 4 am and I feel Rahul would deeply regret not being part of that celebration, though no one ever enquired about that.
There is a good story associated with the cell numbers too. Along with Swati's SIM, the others, except for me and Shakki, too got their numbers and in a sequence. This lead to innumerable instances of Hari answering someone asking for Zeenat, Nibin re-directing Swati's relatives and vice-versa. But for the poor chaps they never got some-one from the opposite gender on the other end of the phone who would be interested in talking to them :-) Life cruised smoothly over the ocean of new experiences at Kol and we were deprived of any celebration until Zeenat's b'day (20th of Sept.) Even on that occasion everyone enjoyed their part of cake, chips, soft-drinks and more importantly 'the chatter'. But for Zeenat we couldn't get any gift :-( and I'm really sorry for that. As you might have guessed we were deprived of the "esteemed" company of Mr. Rahul Dwivedi.
I sign off for now reminiscing those lovely memories that savoured our stay at Hotel Akash Ganga before we shifted to our respective rented houses in Salt Lake.