Where Are You From?

I always smile when someone asks me "Where are you from?". Somebody asked me in Houston, and I said 'Mobile, AL'. Somebody asked me in Mobile, and I said 'Bangalore, India'. Somebody asked me in Bangalore, and I said 'Bhagalpur, Bihar'. Somebody asked me in Bhagalpur, and I said 'Jabalpur, MP; but I have spent most of my life in Bhopal and Indore'. :)

Have a Good Friday

I had been looking forward to my first weekend since arriving in The Hague. It will be a four-day weekend, on account of Friday (Good Friday) and Monday (Easter Monday) also being holidays. During weekends, I used to miss my breakfast while in IBC Diamond District as I never left bed before the 10 AM deadline. Here, I had the luxury of sleeping even late as a pamphlet in my room informed me that breakfast will be available till 12 noon on Sundays and Public Holidays.

So at 11 AM today, I found myself visiting the breakfast room for, umm, breakfast. What was weird was that there were no people in the breakfast room. What was even weirder was that THERE WAS NO BREAKFAST. With not even any waiter around to explain what happened, I didn't have any difficulty deciding to pay a visit to the neighborhood McDonald's (Yeah, they ask for payment) and force some junk food down my food pipe.

On my way out, from the corner of my eye, I saw the receptionist greet me "Good Day". I had a nagging suspicion that she must be knowing the reason behind what happened and I found myself explaining my breakfast room visit to her. Very politely, she informed me that breakfast is only available till 10 AM on Fridays. Equally politely, I informed her that today happens to be a Good Friday. Confused, she rang her supervisors and explained the situation to them. After hanging up, she informed me that Good Friday is NOT a Public Holiday.

Well, yeah, Easter is. I decided not to argue and moved on. As I left the reception, she said "Have a good day, sir".

Goede Vrijdag to everyone!

Rajdhani Express

After completing my studies, I always have to undertake and onward journey because there are no direct trains between Kharagpur and Bhopal. Usually I prefer to change trains from Nagpur (the junction where the north-south and east-west routes intersect), but since I was a bit late for booking tickets due to late change of plan I had to take a break at Bilaspur. I traveled from Kharagpur to Bilaspur in Howrah Kurla Express, and for the latter part of the journey till Bhopal was in Rajdhani Express. While the journey till Bilaspur was eventless, the travel in Rajdhani Express isn't something I would be forgetting for some time to come.

We boarded the train at 8 am in the morning. The train had a very slow start, but we discounted it to the fact that there was a mega-block in the Bilaspur-Durg route. The services had an impressive beginning. The breakfast arrived within minutes of the train's departure and the public announcement system buzzed with the details of the stations en-route and the time of journey. But our happiness was short lived. The bread served with the breakfast was stale, conspicuous by its foul smell. The omelet was also unpalatable. After the breakfast was over, we learned that there is no water in one side of the coach, leading to rush on the other side. This fault was, to my surprise, never rectified. The service by IRCTC caters was also sub-standard. They kept bugging us to take back the used plates starting the 3rd minutes we were served breakfast. The caterer that served us didn't utter a single word, that passed of as very rude. By his third or fourth visit, I actually thought that he might be a dumb person. My pity for him ended by his tenth visit when he uttered his first words. The AC setting of the coach was set to such a cold one that for the whole journey, we had to use woolens. The lunch was slightly better than breakfast but still below average as compared to the service of other trains I have been to. The snacks served comprised of Samosas, sweets, mango drink, and namkeen. Unfortunately even the branded items were of sub-standard quality. We decided to not order dinner at all. It was undoubtedly the most inconvenient journey I ever undertook on a superfast express.

Mission Hyderabad

I never thought I would be doing this so early. Even before passing out of IIT Kharagpur, I am already half way through an industrial consultancy project. This was something I have been trying to blog about for quite some time, though couldn't do for various reasons.

The story began when a friend of mine (Vivek) returned from his summer internship. He brought a very interesting proposal. Through another friend, he was contacted by a certain entrepreneur who wanted to redesign the machines of his plant. Vivek toured the plant and was positive about our ability to handle the project. So here was Vivek telling us about the plan. The idea was to conduct this event under the aegis of Mekanika, the Mechanical Engineering Department's Society. I was chosen to lead the team of juniors to complete the project. We thought it would be quite easy to do as it will be universally regarded as a positive step. We got our first jolt when a professor we told this to informed us that it is not as easy as it sounds. He told us that since it requires monetary exchange, doing it through the department's society would require taking permission from SRIC. This would involve a lot of paperwork, bureaucratic hurdles, and most importantly, time. This was something we didn't had. The owner of the company told us to visit the plant as soon as possible so that he is ready when the demand surges. After a lot of thoughtful discussion, it was decided that we have to do it personally. This meant both risk (as we won't have any official support), as well as gains (we get to keep all the money with ourselves as the SRIC won't be taking away the monster's chunk (30% of all remunerations).

So we decided to set sail alone. I made a team of five people, (of course including myself), and chose three from them (Noopi, Rudra and Kothari) to go with me to the plant for a detailed visit. We decided to go on weekend, though there were still problems as it took a whole day to reach Hyderabad. Naturally we chose the fastest of all trains on the route (Falaknuma Superfast Express) for our journey. As we couldn't get reservation in AC 3-Tier, we had to do with Sleeper Class travel. It rained almost throughout the journey and hence the weather was exceedingly pleasant. During the journey, Noopi gave sermons on purity of life and soul, while Kothari and Rudra tried to debunk his philosophy and prove him fraud (of course jokingly). It got cold during the night, but I had no problems as I brought along my bed-sheets. But situation was quite different for the others. In addition to myself, only one other had brought bed-sheets to use during the chilling night-time. The other two were quite clueless how to spend the night. One of them had a towel, and he decided to use it to protect himself. With this backdrop, I went to sleep. I had a lazy break from sleep around 7 am. When I turned, I saw something that made me forget the sleep. I saw the guy who hadn't brought any bedsheet lying over the guy who did, with the bedsheet over them. Apparently during the late hours at night, the poor chap realized that he cannot sleep in this state and asked for help from his friend. His friend accomodated him with pleasure (I am not telling their names for privacy issues). When I saw this, I couldn't help but capture the shot in my mobile phone. Fortunately, I now find that the picture came out pretty bad and incomprehensible (!) so that I am able to post them online without getting into privacy related issues. Here' the pic:



When everybody woke up, we spent quite some time joking on their public display of homosexual behaviour. The journey ended without any other significant event.

The train arrived full two hours late in the Secundrabad Station. A person was waiting for us at the railway station. He took us to a nearby hotel for lodging. We had lunch together, after which we were joined by the owner of the company. He took us to the plant where we were to study the machines and suggest improvements. The plant was smaller with respect to the number of machines I had expected, and larger in terms of the area. He first gave us a tour of the whole plant, with detailed working of every machine. Some of the machines he had were very crude and self-made, but were in working condition. As expected, he was having troubles with the low output and frequent failure. He also showed us a newly bought machine that was working fine. This made our work easy as we could lift design details from the new machine and customize it for the old one. It would still require some engineering calculation, but not much. He also asked us for complete know-how on how to make replicas of the new machine. He even wanted us complete Engineering Drawings, with bill of materials as well as the supplier details. The last part, we promptly refused to take up because of lacking experience and other obvious reasons. For dinner, he took us to club-like place. On entering the place, he started filling a guest book. I was surprised to see that, and thought that he was probably booking us a room or a suite to relax and eat. I was more surprised when we proceeded to the dinner tables, to join one of his friends. On reaching there, we took our seats in cozy sofas, when menu came. The menu surprised me most. The menu card was hand-written, and there wasn't any price listed for the items. I later learned that this was only the snack lounge and the place to dine was separate. But there again, there was no custom of paying the bills. During the dinner, he asked us in detail about our future plans, and specifically if we were interested in joining him. He gave very attractive offers, but we avoided answering the question directly.

The next day, we were to go to the plant again for taking measurements. Although it looks quite simple, it was a herculean task. We could only complete taking the critical dimensions in the time we had before lunch. We were hurried to a Chinese Restaurant, where we again joined the owner and another of his friends. When the orders came, I promptly asked for Chop-sticks; something I have been practicing eating with for quite some time at home (for Maggi Noodles). As expected, the noodles were easy to eat, but rice gave good resistance to my eating. Eventually I won, and finished with a clean plate (bones remaining). Then, the owner asked us about our expenses. I told him that our expenses were Rs. 4,900. He gave us Rs. 5,000 without even asking for bills. I was expecting this, but only half-heartedly. Our return trip was quite uneventful.

Since then, we decided to confirm taking this consultancy project, and started working on it. The need for another trip was felt, and as I write, two of us are packing for Hyderabad. I hope that we are able to complete this successfully, which would be a dream-come-true for me, as well as an experience to cherish thoughout my life. One hurdle remains....We have no clue how to ask for money, or for that matter, how much to ask.

Note: I have taken care to exclude details of the work in hand due to possible contractual issues.

Out of Business

I stepped down of the cycle-rickshaw at IIT Kharagpur Railway Station on Wednesday to go back to me home in Bhopal. I had two luggages with me. One was a backpack and the other a big suitcase. As I laboriously loaded the backpack onto my shoulder, a coolie came near me and asked whether I needed any help. A smile beamed on my face as I pulled the handle from underneath the suitcase and demonstrated the free wheeling motion of my strolley. Seeing me walk past proudly by him, he commented:

"अगर ये सब आप करने लगेंगे तो हम क्या करेंगे?"

("If you start doing all these things, what will we people do?".)

PS: I wonder why it's called strolley. Is it because it is combination of a suitcase and a trolley?

Another Travel Diary

I spent the past few days traveling to my Mamaji's place, both in Tatanagar and Dhanbad. The journey has a sorry start. I was supposed to board the Steel Express that arrives at 7:20 pm. So on last Friday's night, in order to reach by 7 pm, I took a rickshaw at 6:30 pm. On the way to the railway station, I noticed something odd; that no vehicles are coming from the opposite side. It was a strange feeling, but I don't know how I noticed this and actually chose to ignore this as coincidence. But I noticed the reason very soon. When I reached the railway crossing, I found that there was a train standing across the railway crossing. This was again strange as I had never seen this before. I dodn't remember any signal just after the crossing, and I would regard it a folly of the engineers if this were the case. But soon, the red-light thoery was dismissed. People started coming looking for something with torch-lights. Now I proposed a new thory.....A chain pull. But alas, even this was not true. When they zeroed in onto a place, instead of climbing the train and catching the culprit (who, if existant, must have already fled), they started seeing under the tracks. A few more people joined in. One of them came back to tell that a scooter-rider has been hit by the train and has died.

That the crossing was manned should not create stirrings in your mind. There is hardly anyone who abides by the dropped level-crossing bars by his own choice. All the vehicles, including bicycles, rickshaws, scooters, etc., use their flexibility to create a mockery of the crossing. Even I do it, though only after being triply conscious. But anyway, someone had been in hurry to have missed noticing the incoming train. From what I gained from eye-witness account (they spoke in Bangla, and I understand it in parts), the man's scooter got shut down on the crossing, and the man tried to start it instead of steering it to safety first. The man managed to get the scooter going, but the train was also quick to knock him off. I couldn't help blaming the IIT authorites who have for some mysterious reasons, kept the joint project with the railways of creating an over-bridge over the said crossing in back-burner for years.

Coming back to the story, I waited for the train to start again as it was not possible to cross the level-crossing on the rickshaw. But then people told that this is not going to finish off quick. There will be a police enquiry and only after it will the train move. This all will take close to half-an-hour. I was undecided whether to believe their speculations or not. But within a few minutes I realized that I better do something quick as time was running out. I gave a 5 rupee note to the rickshaw-wallah and crossed the crossing by going over the train. I had a few moments of panic when I was aboard the train. After managing to board the train and before I got to the other side, the train gave a whistle, prompting people to board the train from where I was supposed to get down. The big shoulder bag I had added to my misery by restricting free movement. I panicked as I knew that if the train started going, there is no chance that I can get off it before the next station, which will surely mean two things: Missing the train to Tatanagar, and a hefty penalty. Fortunately nothing happened and I crossed over to the other side without any problem (as if this was not enough). On the other side, I took another rickshaw to the railway-station, and I realized that I got it just in time as on reaching the railway station, the Steel Express entered the platform with me.

I spent the next day at Tatanagar with my eldest uncle (Mamaji) and his family. My grandmother was also bed-ridden owing to a fractured hip. After spending the Saturday and the morning of the Sunday, I took Swarnarakha Express to go to Dhanbad. On the day I was to travel, my uncle gave me a suggestion. That instead of taking the train to Dhanbad, I should get down at a station called Patherdih. The reason he gave for it was quite interesting.

Not long back, the said train travelled from Tatanagar to Dhanbad going through Patherdih and then Jharia before going to Dhanbad. Then happened the great fires of the underground that have been raging even till today. That led to a sinking of the section around Jharia as the coal under it gave way. Since then, the train has been retained to run till Dhanbad, but from Patherdih onwards it now takes an alternate route by going around Jharia. This means that the train has to change direction and now the situation is that while the journey can be completed in under 45 minutes if we take a Auto-rickshaw from Patherdih, it takes almost one and half hours to complete the journey if we continue to stay in the train. This translates to a near complete emptying of the train in Patherdih. This is a chain reaction as a more empty train means a greater chance of incidents like robbery and this prompts even more people to leave the train.

So even I unboarded the train to get into a crowded tracker (I believe its called so) to my Mamaji's place. That the tracker was crowded looks like an understatement to me. Though designed to hold eight people (including the driver), it moved with 15 people on board. And this even with the condition that the roof was so low that it was impossible to stand upright.

I spent the next few days in Dhanbad (upto 2nd November). I don't play with crackers as I have a history of smoke-related problem since the Diwali of 2000. But anyway, this never came into picture owing to the tight schedule of pujas. We had a Laxmi puja at home from 7 pm to around 8 pm. After that we took a cab to reach the shop where we had a Puja from 9 pm to around 10 pm. After that, we went to a nearby Kali temple to have a darshan and bhog and by the time we reached home, it was already midnight. I came back the next day from the usual passenger train to Adra followed by Rupashi Bangla Express to Kharagpur.

The Bottomline

I Am Lazy

The seriousness of this bottomline made me write it on the top, to always remind me of it.

Looking back, I see that the last worth-while blog I had written was way back on 6th August, about my birthday extravaganza. Since then, many new developments have taken place in my life. And I have been lazy enough to not document anything in my sweet personal diary. Before anything, let me count all the reasons I feel are quotable for my laziness.

1) My love for blogging.
Okay, this needs an explaination. I am addicted to a crazy phenomenon called blogging. And I am crazy about it. I have added some 30 odd blogs to my Sage list and read them throughout the day. I had decided that every day I will spend two hours blogging. And reading these alone (with creative inputs and redirects from various other blogs) takes about three hours of my daily schedule. This way, I am left with no time to spend with my diary.


2) My Professors
All of a sudden, the whole department seems to have realized that the fourth years haven't been getting any homework. So all of the Professors I take lectures from have started giving outrageously many assignments, volumes that will even make Hermione crying for mercy.


3) My extra-curriculars
As this is a story in itself, I will write a detailed description of it.
In the beginning of the semester, I was sure to carry on the fame I have accumulated on my swimming skills. But soon I realized it was not to be. Attributing to a host of factors including those mentioned above, for the first two weeks I managed to get my feet wet only twice. I knew the writing on the wall and decided not to renew my subscription. Suman had other plans and is currently cursing his wisdom. But since I cannot let my body laze around, I decided to run. Not like Forrest Gump, but in a more civilized way around the Scholar's Avenue. And since I am even more civilized than the rest of the civilization, I decided that I would rather jog. I found a wingmate (Nasir) and we decided to share the madness.

Again attributing to the factors that prevented me from swimming, and a few more pointless arguements, I sit here writing with having gone jogging only twice in the past week.

This hasn't been the only development in my life. I had a few memories worth remembering on this Raksha-Bandhan. Far away from being a Hallmark Holiday, it isn't even a holiday in IIT Kharagpur. I didn't get any Rakhi till the D-day, and got one only on the same day. It was my from Shipra Didi. I took it with me to the class as I planned to visit SN Hall after the Lab class. Even in the lab I tied Rakhi to Atanu and Aditya (Ok, tightened; not tied). Jena had already got me to tie one on him.

After the Lab, I went to SN Hall to get the Rakhi tied from Pallavi. She also tied one of hers on me. After the routine blessing, I went back. I had to catch the next day's train to Dhanbad, the Assansol Passenger which departed at 4:45 am. So I had to put an alarm of 3:30 am to reach on time.

Upon reaching the station, I enquired about the train timing, and was frustrated to know that the train actually leaves at 5:35 am, costing me an hour of sleep. But this brought me another worry. The information of the train timings were briefed to me by my Mamaji, who also told that I would be getting a connecting train from Adra to Bhaga. If he had done his arithematic based on the fact that the train starts at 4:45 am, I was sure to miss it. Fortunately, he didn't use any such methods to calculate it, and was sure of the arrival timing of the train at Bhaga. I reached Bhaga at around 11:30 am and home at around 12 noon.

Before going further, I want to document the reason for my visit. One fine day I get a call from my sisters, Nidhi and Iti, that they have bought Rakhis for me. But they aren't mailing it. If I want them, I should personally come over to Dhanbad and get them. This was blackmail, but I couldn't complain.

We spent days together doing nothing but masti. We (I and Ankur) returned by the Monday's Passenger to Adra followed by Rupashi Bangla Express. Fortunately for us, there wasn't any rush in the Express train that I had to bear while I was coming back last time.

There were more events. I designed the website for my Department's Society. And tried to make it as functional as possible. But since I am not too bright, Prof. C.S. Kumar said, "This definitely can be made better." And as a tribute to my effort, I put in the logo I had myself created as the official logo.(See left) As the official logo hasn't been finalized yet, all are welcome to come with suggestions of MES logo. But NO GEARS OR ROBOTS please!

Another event that happened was the freshers' intoduction of the department by MES. As I and Atanu are the only active members, we had to share almost all the responsibilities. Although it stated as a damp squib due to torrential rains, it was a success eventually. I will not go into the details as they I am saving them for the MES blog. We are planning many more events, and hopefully they will be organized well.

This seems enough for a single post. But in this I have proved one thing. Blogging this much is not a thing a lazy person can do. And hence,

I Am Not Lazy, I Am Just A Spoilt Youngster.

And this is the bottomline.

(N.B.: Incidently, this is my 50th post in my personal blogs section. i.e. leaving aside 193 posts in Humour blog and 68 posts in Serious blog.)

Trip to Indore

A bit bored with the usual routine of life, I and Ankur decided to go to Indore for a couple of days. It was decided that we go on 11th morning and return on 12th night. As Akshat was busy with his training at Lupin Chemicals, he expressed his inability to come.

We set off at around 8 am and reached by about 1pm. We went directly to Kashyap's house to stay there. After spending considerable time there, we called up Shaunak and decided to go to his place. After bhatting for some more time, we went to Supriya's residence, from where we were escorted to SGSITS College. I had seen the college just once before in my life, so the escort was necessary. There we met many more people. They included Shainesh Baheti, Babu Priyavrat, etc. We intended to meet Mohil Khare and Sulabh Jain also, but they weren't there. Ankur surprised Baachu by calling him from his sister's (Deepti Jain) mobile phone. But as he was sleeping, the dose wasn't that strong.

Then we went to Buddy's Cafe where we also met Charles and Aadil. Later we went back to Kashyap's place to sleep. The next day, we decided to go to a movie but as there wasn't any worth watching as well as unwatched by everyone else, the idea was dropped. We went to Chhappan Dukan with Kashyap and Shaunak and had our lunch there. After that we planned to go back to Bhopal. But Ankur also had plans to meet Urvashi before leaving. So, on way to the Bus Stand, we stopped at Celebrations to have coffee with her. Then we took another bus to get back home.

Trip back home

I started my journey back to home on 25th June, Saturday. I reached the airport at approximately 2 pm and the Jet Airways flight I had to catch was from 3:45 pm. But reaching there I found that the flight has got even more delayed and will now be leaving at 4:45. I nad no choice but to wait for the flight. The flight eventually took off at 5 pm and I was apprehensive that I might miss the connecting flight from Mumbai. The whole journey was tensed and every minute that went past made me feel more uneasy. Only one thing was in favour of me that I had booked my tickets and luggage as connecting to the next flight and had even got my next flight's boarding pass. When the flight eventually arrived in Mumbai, it was already 5 minutes past the time of departure of the previous flight. My hart sank. But there was a surprise waiting. An on-flight announcement said that all the passengers who are on board and going to Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Indore should report to the ground staff on getting down.

YES! I knew I will be saved. On getting down, I found that a Jet official is anxiously looking for passengers asking "Ahmedabad? Bhopal?". I told him "Bhopal" and he made me stand aside while the others unboarded the flight. As soon as everyone was out, he started searching for a vehicle to get us on board. He got a bus emptied and the five of us were taken to the next flight. As I had not been security checked, my Boarding pass did not had a security stamp. An official just made a vague seal with pen that said "Security Check". I boarded the next flight after being just 5 minutes on ground.

The next journey went quite eventlessly except for the fact that the food was worse than I had ever eaten on Jet. It looked as though they have changed the caterer to Indian Airlines one. The gentleman sitting next to me had already got his son sitting in the window seat that acually belonged to me. I gladly accepted the aisle seat as I felt that the kid appreciated the window seat more than I would. I reached Bhopal at dot 8 pm, just 3 hours after taking off from Bangalore.

Mysore Revisited

After spending quite a lot of indistinguishably boring days at GE, Mummy and Papa visited me on 26th May (Friday) and they stayed for a weekend. They reached on Friday morning via a Jet Airways flight, but took more than an hour to reach Whitefield from Airport owing to a particularly rush traffic and a poor Taxi-driver. The journey to Whitefield cost them Rs. 200/-. After keeping their belongings in my room, they left for the market (M.G. Road) while I left for my office. But they were very much disappointed as well as frustrated by Bangalore weather as that day saw one of the most torrential rains of the seasons and that too during day time. And with the Traffic Jams accompanying this, it took them the whole day to get back home. I got them a room in Kothari Complex itself for Rs. 200/- per day, as they were very tired to go and search for another.

The next day we visited GE in the morning. I had a lot of problem getting them in as the security men wanted a confirmation from the reporting manager, who wasn't there. Later, we went to Mysore, with the bus leaving at 4pm. The journey cost us Rs. 103 per head. The journey was peaceful but took more than 4 hours. We were late for almost everything and had to call it a day. We took a hotel room in a hotel called "Rajdhani Group Of Hotels", which had very poor furnishing but insanely high prices as compared to the room's worth. But my parents thought it worth as they told it was better than the others visited.

The next morning we hired an Auto-rickshaw for Rs. 170 that was supposed to make a trip up to Chamundeshwari Hills and back, and drop us on the Palace. The hill was very steep up. The hill is considered one of the 8 holiest peaks in South India. On top is a temple of Chamundeshwari Devi. There were two ways of visiting the temple; one was free entry, and the other was a Rs. 10/- "Special Darshan Ticket". We took the special ticket to avoid wastage of time, but were disappointed to find equally long line there. The line didn't move for the first 20 minutes as the gates were closed. Then it opened for 10 minutes when a lot of people ahead of us were admitted but our turn didn't come. For another 30 minutes, we were waiting in vain. Then we became frustrated and decided to leave. But as soon as the decision was taken, the gates opened and we went ahead. After returning from the temple after yet another 20 minutes, we had an argument with the Driver as he expected us to be back in 30 minutes and we took one and half hour. We argued back telling him the ordeal. Then we briefly visited the Nandi temple and then went for the palace. It was a magnificent architecture and viewing it all took almost one and half hour more. After taking lunch, we went back to the hotel room to pack for our travel back.

We took a bus similar to the one already traveled in during the first journey and the bus left at approximately at 2:20pm. We reached Majestic Bus Stop by 6:30pm and fortunately got a bus for Whitefield within 10 minutes.

When we reached near HAL, it started raining heavily. The rains continued till we reached Satya Sai General Hospital and then miraculously, it stopped. We went to Chetan Lodge where we rented a Triple Room for Rs. 450/-. While we came back to eat at Mayuri Sagar, I took my official stuffs to Chetan Lodge so I can go directly to GE the next day.

Life @ Padabnabh Nagar

On reaching Vishesh Bhaiya's home, I found that he lives in a rented flat with his wife Shruti. When I reached there, his mother was also present. Shruti Bhabhi quickly offered me breakfast.

Just after completing the breakfast, my father called and enquired whether I have get the new SIM card. I hadn't enquired about it an unfortunately when I enquired, I found out that he hadn't got it yet. I somehow managed to convince Papa that everything is under control. Soon afterwards, Vishesh Bhaiya left for the Airtel office to get two SIM cards, as he wanted one for himself also. In the meantime, I chatted with Shruti Bhabhi and her mother-in-law on various topics. She showed me some of her articles that got published in the newspapers and they were really good.

We had chicken for lunch, which was well prepared. In the evening we watched the movie "Mujhse Shadi Karogi" which was "OK" sorts. We had Chat for dinner.

Next day after eating another stomach full of chicken curry, I left at around 5 pm.

I had to wait approximately 15 minutes before I got the bus (Bus No. 15A). The bus dropped me in KR Market, where something happened what I feared. I found myself totally lost in the market without any clue where to go and which bus to take. I asked as many as 10 different people but the answers they gave were inconsistent and inaccurate. I couldn't even read Kannada so I had no chance of reading anything written on the buses. I didn't even knew where to go as there were as many as 6 exits from the Bus Stop. Even more unfortunate was the fact that when I came here from Whitefield, the bus stopped in a street nearby which obviously wasn't in the bus route.

Eventually after struggling for nearly 15 minutes, I saw a bus (Bus No. 319B) with ITPL written on it. I jumped in without haste. On enquiring later I found that it would go through O-Form. I also came to knw that Bus No 320 goes to Whitefield directly. This was sufficient. The bus travel took eight rupees up to O-Form as it was a longer route, but I had no problem with such minor changes. I reached back Whitefield to find that Vikas arriving at approximately the same time as mine.

Travel to Vishesh Bhaiya

While I planned to go to Bangalore, my parents insisted that I take a SIM Card there. I opposed the idea as I felt there is no need for a new SIM as the current reliance SIM was working fine. But they were adamant and I had to bow. But I forced the condition on them that they will have to find a SIM, as I won't be having any local proof of identity.

They worked around the problem nicely by suggesting that I collect it form Vishesh Bhaiya (younger brother of Manisha Bhabhi). They found out his phone number and address from her and asked him to get one SIM from me. He agreed. I was supposed to collect it from him after going to Bangalore.

So here was I in Bangalore on 4th, with a settled life and nothing to worry about. So I called him up on his cell no. I reached Shruti Bhabhi (obviously his wife) and she told me that Bhaiya is not there and will be getting the SIM card on his back to office.

I had no hurries. My job at JFWTC left me with little time to visit the city during the night and I also learnt that it would be atleast a one and half-hour journey. So I told them to have the card and keep it till I collect it the coming weekend. Shruti Bhabhi insisted that I stay at their place for the weekend, which I was not sure to accept or not at that moment. So I borrowed some time.

Later when I told about the phone call to my father, he was very upset by the fact that the SIM card hasn't been purchased till now, but I calmed him by saying that it would have reached their place my now.

On Friday again, I called Bhaiya to find Bhabhi again with the same promise that he will be bringing it today. This time I was also taken aback. I didn't knew to trust her or not, and I showed my discontent. She told me to relax and I conveyed that I will be coming to their place on Saturday morning, to which she requested that I do it early and have breakfast with them. I accepted the offer.

Next morning I woke up early, and after having a bath proceeded for their home. I had enquired about the route and was told by Ishwar Singh (the owner of Kothari Complex) that I will have to get down at KR Market and its a very short journey from there. The place will be some 23 kilometres and it will be less than 2 kms from thereon. Shruti Bhabhi gave a slightly different account by saying that KR Market is about 7 kms from their place. As she herself was not sure, I decided to first reach KR Market and then decide on further conveyance. Ishwar Singh told me that 90% of the buses going towards Marathalli go to KR Market and it looked true as I boarded the first bus arriving. The conductor enquired my destination to which I replied "KR Market". He took 7 rupees. It was a bit surprising as inside Whitefield it took approximately Rs. 2/- per km and here he's asking even less that 0.5. The journey was very long (approximately 14kms taking 1.5 hrs) but comfortable as I got a convenient seat. I found out that everybody refers KR Market by saying "Market". I wondered if it’s the main market of the city.

On reaching there, I knew I was lost. I had no idea as to which bus to take, as I couldn't read what was written on them, and to add to the confusion, there were more than 6 ways out of market. I had to take help from locals, to which a gentleman suggested that I take Bus No. 15 to reach Padabnabh Nagar. I had no idea how big the place was as Vishesh Bhaiya's address also included the line "RK Swamy Layout" in it, which by itself can by a big place. But no one had any idea and I decided to first reach Padabnabh Nagar first.

I waited for the bus at the required place for approximately 15 minutes, but no Bus No. 15 came. I got frustrated and decided to take an Auto-rickshaw instead. I told the Auto-Rickshaw driver where I wanted to go. He insisted on going by Meter, as he was not very sure of the address. He even asked another Auto driver to confuse me even further by saying:

"There's no RK Swamy layout in Padabnabh Nagar. There is RPC Layout."

This was bad news for me. I had no option, but to make a call to Bhaiya to enquire about his residence. I found out that he himself is new to the place and doesn't have any idea of KR Market. He confirmed that its RK Swamy Layout and suggested that I take an Auto to Hill Side Hospital as I am confused. But I didn't like the idea, as his residence being 7 kms from Market would convert to at least Rs. 80/- for Auto-Rickshaw travel. But I had my options running out. Fortunately this time, luck was on my side.

As soon as I walked out of STD PCO to catch an auto, I saw a bus numbered 15A come and stop behind it. The auto-rickshaw driver saw me with confused eyes as I went behind the auto to catch the bus. The next part of the journey was very pleasant as I enquired to my delight that Padabnabh Nagar is the last stop. I got a window seat and I waited patiently for the journey to end. Around half an hour later, some 8 kms from Market, I saw a sight that caught me cold. I saw a building named "Hillside Hospital" whoosh past by the bus. I jumped to my feet immediately and made for the gate. Fortunately for me, the bus stopped just 100m from that place.

I called Bhaiya from Hill Side Hospital, only to find that he lives just behind it. I heaved a sigh of relief as soon as I reached his home.

Prince Charming and The Cinderella Story

One more thing happened in the weekend that I didn't mention in my previous blog. WickC told me that he has written a couple of more blog entries. What a relief! I have been waiting to read more news of his life and he hadn't written any since last one month. Somehow, I feel that his life is pretty more colourful than the rest of us. And WickC lived to my expectation.

On opening his blog, I found that he had written about his journey to Ranchi and back in the two blogs. The going part was OK, but what I read in the second one caught my eye. He wrote about a girl he saw in the train journey who was sitting opposite him. And he fell in love with her attributing to the scenic beauty of the surrounding with her own beauty. But alas, he couldn't talk to her as she was with her family. Poor WickC.

But what surprises me more is that how can WickC manage to find his muse ever so frequently. He has told me of the million stories of how he fell in love again and again with different girls, latest being this. His life seems to be in line with Lord Krishna. But sadly for him, this wasn't to be his gopi. While he had the previlege of having many in his school days, his love has been one sided in his whole affair of IITKGP. WickC must be feeling like Prince Charming looking for his long lost Cinderella by thinking about every girl and wondering : "Kahin yeh woh to nahi!!!"

Dhanbad Tales

I had to wake up the next day due to the commotion caused by Nidhi and Iti. They are usually up by 6 in the morning. I remember my school days when I too had this habit. Although now waking up at 6 seems a bit out of question, I still miss my school days and want my childhood back.

The whole morning we chatted on various topics including our current lives and future plans. It was more relevent for their side as Iti has just passed 12th and Nidhi is in 1st year. I had not much to say. I happened to know that Nidhi too is an avid Harry Potter fan and for the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon, it was the topic of discussion. Iti couldn't comprehend much what we said, but pretended to enjoy it too. I came to know that Nidhi has "Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix" book and I immediately mentioned my wish to read it.

She said : "If you are going to read it now, when will you talk with us?". So sweet of her. She gifted the book to me so that I can read it in my free time in KGP.

In the meanwhile Iti showed some of the greeting cards she had received for her birthday, new year, etc. She also showed the diaries of a few friends she has taken to fill in. For those who couldn't understand what it means, here's the explaination. As against the usual Slam Books we have to be filled in by friends, it appears that the girls use diaries as a substitute. It has its advantages and disadvantages. While the advantage is that people can write as much as they wish to (the entries I saw were easily 8~9 pages with 30~35 lines per page) , the disadvantage is that you might me at a loss of words to write anything as there's no guideline.

After seeing those, I must say that girls are a lot more sensitive and romantic than I thought. Even if writing for another girl, they have used such a great degree of emotion and romantic language that I couldn't have imagined of. Same was the case with the cards.

I wish I had a girlfriend.

In the evening we went to market but were disappointed to see very few shops open. Even the ones open had Holi related stuff to sell, so we had very few alternatives. We settled for eating Chat and Softy. The rest of the day went rather eventless.

The next day we woke up to say hello to Holi, the festival of colours. Nidhi and Iti planned to not play it initially, but were later forced to play when their grandfather insisted. In the meanwhile I learnt that long time back, my only Mausi died due to people recklessly playing Holi with all sorts of stuff like mud, cow-dung, cereals, etc. Since then onwards, thet didn't played it with that fervor. I also learnt that my Mamaji (Sunil Nandan Sahay) had worked in GE before moving to US.

By the time my Nidhi and Iti were back, they were unrecognizable and spent the next few hours cleaning themselves. We ate the customary Meat Curry for lunch. I played the Abir Holi in the evening as it is harmless to skin, easy to wear out, and people play it with decency. Nothing much happened the rest of the day.

The next day I started preparing to leave. Mamaji had gifted us (me and Ankur) a Leather Bag each. Nidhi and Iti were very saddened to learn that I am going. Nidhi didn't even eat her lunch that day.

I had to catch the 1455hrs train (Bhaga Adra Passenger), so I left a bit earlier around 2pm. On my way, I saw places where the gound level has dipped 4~5 metres owing to the fire that has been raging inside the grounds for the last few decades.

I caught the train and the journey to Adra was very comfortable. I reached Adra on time at 2pm. Here I found another of my friend from Kharagpur, Sudeep Banerjee. As I had no time to call Dhanbad, I took his help to send an SMS back.

I caught the Rupashi Bangla Express which leaves at 1620hrs. It was also full. I had to stand till Bankura station when I managed to get a seat. I reached Kharagpur by 7:30pm, but another surprise awaited us.

We decided to take a Taxi as there were many people. But we found that none of the taxis has any driver in them. Neither were there any Autorickshaws. The Cycle-rickshaws were also very few and they demanded obscenely high money. I was fortunate enough to manage getting a rickshaw, and there were three of us on-board. But the man was professional. He steered the rickshaw even faster than the ones carrying 2 people and we safely reached IIT. I was relieved to be back in RP Hall.

The Great Indian Railways

My weekend was full of adventure. Well, first of all it started on thursday instead of friday due to a real "Good" Friday. On the morning of 24th, my sleep was terminated by a call from my dear sister Nidhi, who asked :

"You are coming to Dhanbad, Na?".

Poor me. I got blackmailed by her innocence.

Although I was not quite sure how I could make it, I felt that I should have gone to Dhanbad. But I had to say "No" to her as I knew that the day ahead has two labs, the second of which having 2 experiments to do instead of 1, making the job even more difficult. But seems like luck was by my side (or my sisters' side)!

After reaching the Hydraulics Lab, we were told by Prof. Maiti that we have to do only one experiment today instead of two. I knew that this was my opportunity. I decided to hurry on with the experiment, so that completing it before schedule, I can go on to catch the 1650hrs train.

But the experiment proved to be pain fully long. I was able to complete the experiment only by 4:10pm, and told my friends to do the submission on my behalf. I ran for my room, packed my luggage in a record time of 3 minutes, and left the room for the station. The only bit of planning that was a part of my plan was that I wrote "Adra-Bhaga" on my palm to remind me of the station names I can't afford to forget. In the meanwhile, I tried to contact Ankur to ask whether he would like to come, but he didn't answer the ring.

I embarked on an cycle-rickshaw for station, but didn't call anyone as I myself wasn't sure whether I would make it or not. Reaching the Railway Station on dot 1650hrs, I tried to vaguely recollect which train I was supposed to catch that will take me to Adra. My memory failed me and I had to buy a ticket of the 1710hrs Kharagpur-Adra Passenger that looked like a safe bet. Seated comfortably in a window seat of the train, I waited for it to move, as I called Ankur (This time just to inform(!) him that I am going to Dhanbad. It appeared that the last time I called him he was out for Snacks.) and Mamaji to tell my plans. Mamaji reasoned to tell that I may be fortunate enough to catch the Adra-Bhaga local. But this was not to be!

The train refused to move as the clock ticked by. I leant from fellow passengers that the train will proceed only after Neelanchal Express will depart (to the same location, Adra). I dimly recollected that this must have been the train I was supposed to catch on the first-hand. I decided to continue with my journey on the same train as I thought it to be a bit too risky to go for a ticket of Neelanchal, which was about to leave any minute. By the time the passenger train's wheel cranked, it was almost 5:45pm.

I waited as the train leisurely strolled towards its destination, but another surprise awaited me. One of the passenger told me that all the train on this route are running late because of a faulty line on a river bridge. I was already beginning to feel the heat of the problem as the train started halting on stations for unusually long time. The gentleman sitting opposite me was very doubtful of the possibility of my catching any train that day as he believed that there won't be any train remaining for the day by the time we reached Adra. Other passengers had similar views. To add to my misery was the fact that the train halted at a very remote station (Ondagram) for eternity. Bhaga being just under 40kms from Adra, there wasn't anything I could do as people were apprehensive of the possibility of even bus services running on the route during night-time. At this time I started preparing for spending the night at an unknown destination without eating dinner. Never in my whole life have I slept without eating anything, but if this was to continue a bit more, it was going to be my first time.

It was quite late by the time the train started. And in a while, we reached the aforementioned bridge. It was in a real bad shape. Nevertheless, the journey continued and I was happy as long as the train was moving. But another bad thing started happening. It started giving passes to other fast trains on the same route. I was fortunate to have a few knowledgable passengers who told me when the train halted at a station (Jhantipahari) that Purulia Express will also halt on this station for a while. As I had passenger ticket, I was not entitled to board an Express Train, but the way this passenger train was running, I had no other option.

When I got down on that station, to my surprise I saw many more familiar faces, the most familiar being Orko Kundu. He was going to Adra itself to meet his sister so he had lesser worries. The others were hoping to catch Patna bound South Bihar Express, though a few didn't even have a ticket, while the others were unsure of the time. They just hoped that the train gets delayed so that they can go on with their journey. I managed to find a place to sit on the train, while the others had to keep standing. Their misery didn't last long as Adra was just 35~40 minutes from that station.

Disembarking from the train, they found South Bihar Express standing on the platform and about to leave. I was again left on my own, and decided to first have something to eat. I found a snacks-stall, and found only boiled eggs worth trying. I bought 4 eggs and immediately ate two of them, keeping the other two for the rest of my journey.

The vendor was a gentleman who enquired why I was in so hurry. I told him that I plan to reach Dhanbad. He told that all the trains to Bhaga have left and I should try reaching Dhanbad via Assansol. He told me that South Bihar Express goes via Assansol, and if I am lucky, I will catch it. I ran for the ticket counter and immediately bought a ticket to Dhanbad via Assansol, naturally after confirming what the vendor had said.

As I started my journey back, climbing the bridge to go on to Platform No. 4, I heard the announcement of the South Bihar Express leaving the station. Chill ran through my nerves as I ran as fast as I could. By the time I reached Platform No. 4, three such announcements had been made. I found the general bogie just in front of me, but it looked packed. I peeked in to see whether people are just standing on the gates or is the bogie actually full. The person on the gate whiffed my purpose and commented :

"Come on in. The Coach is Empty".

I ran along the direction of the train to find that even the Sleeper class is flooded with people. I decided to take the chance and boarded S4 Coach that atleast had the space to stand. Within a minute, the train whistled off to Assansol.

This coach was also packed to capacity. I barely managed to get a place to stand. But I was counting my days as the TTE was steadily marching his way towards me. I waited for doom to strike as he kept on checking tickets, alloting berths and imposing fine. When he reached our coach he was slowed a little. This was because almost everybody had a grievance.

Some of the people, I learnt, were KGP students who were going to Patna. The two boys had confirmed tickets, while the girls had wait-list ticket. One of them was a First Year B.Tech., while the other was a First Year M.Tech. Atleast they had a seat to sit on. There was another passenger in the adjoining bogie who boarded the train without a valid ticket and creating nuisance. He pleaded to the TTE in a very Bihari accent:

"I know that it is wrong to board the train without a valid ticket but what can I do! It so happened that today was to be the day I didn't had any money to buy tickets. You may have a look into my purse. Please understand."

The TTE looked at him with confusion and disbelief. But he was hardly able to do anything. He continued his work asking others for ticket. When he was busy asking tickets to some nearby passengers, with his back towards me, I decided to move on to the adjoining compartment. When he was done with checking ticket for the remaining passenges, he asked announcingly :

"There was a boy standing here. Where did he go?"

I froze, keeping my back towards him. Fortunately he didn't pursue his quest long and I heaved a sigh of relief.

I gathered from the fellow passengers that I may be fortunate enough to catch a train in Assansol as there still might be a couple of trains left in the night to come. But the trouble was that many of them were long distance trains and hence I might not be allowed to board them. I decided not to worry and continue till Assansol.

"Let's face the demons as they come. Why make your life hell when you are still living?" I said to myself.

I reached Assansol by about mid-night. I stepped down to plan the remainder of my journey. I enquired from a lacal standing on the platform whether any train bound for Dhanbad is due in the night. He pointed to the train stationed on the same platform. I was jubiliant. I confirmed it from a passenger sitting inside the train and to my relief, he too was going to Dhanbad. Within 10 seconds of my climbing the train, it rolled on. I felt like Harry Potter did when he first embarked on the Hogwarts Express.

But I had other worries cropping up. I had to switch off my mobile as there was no network connectivity till Assansol. To add to my misery was the fact that I had forgotton to bring my Mobile Charger which meant that I cannot afford to leave it on without any connectivity hoping it finds a network. I tried to contact Mamaji (in Dhanbad) but outgoing calls were not allowed. I was again losing hope. If I reach Dhanbad to find that all the STD PCO's are closed, how will I contact them? I didn't had their address to reach their on my own.

Here again the luck was on my side. As soon as I disconnected the call to the Reliance Service, the phone rang, call being from Dhanbad itself. I briefed them that I have left Assansol and am on my way to Dhanbad. He asked from which train am I coming. I was clueless. In the hurry, I had forgotton to see the name of my Hogwarts Express. I had to ask the fellow passengers to eventually tell him that I am coming from Ranchi bound Vananchal Express.

He said : "Excellent", which meant to me that I need not worry any more. Now the fact dawned on me that if WickC came with me, he would have reached home a lot earlier than he actually did.

I reached Dhanbad at around 1:15am and was readily welcomed by my Mamaji. The journey henceforth was quite pleasant, and after a tasty dinner, I said goodbye to the most memorable journey of my life spanning approximately 9 hours in 4 trains.