"Raju in Bengaluru"

hii folks,

The summer this year has been a great experience for me, for I have traveled to newer places and met different people from various backgrounds. And in the process, realised that I am lucky. In plain simple terms, just lucky enough to be what I am now.

It was 4'o'clock in my watch, weather cloudy and with a soft breeze blowing through me, I was feeling very good about myself. I was doing things which I never thought would be able to do. I was going to conduct focus group interviews with two groups of people whom I have never met. And the thought of meeting new people and talking to them, asking questions and seeking answers was leading to a little bit of anxiousness and nervousness!!

I was waiting at the Nagarsandra circle, wondering why Bengaluru is full of places named with "Hallis", "Sandras", "Gudis" etc. I was utterly confused when I heard the guy on the phone saying "Nagasandra" while he was actually referring to "Nagarsandra". Incidentally both are different places, something which I realised after visiting "Nagasandra" only to find that this wasn't where I was supposed to be that evening. Finally I was at the right place, waiting for a guy who was according to what the guy on the phone described was, supposed to ride an Activa in a blue T-shirt, and coming to pick me up from the circle.

I instantly recognised that guy, and he also recognised me too. I don't know whether its your instinct or something else, but once you have a description of the one you want to meet, its amazing how you can recognise them, though you have never met each other before.

He was a tall frail looking guy, but almost scared the hell out of me with his ridiculous driving skills manoeuvering the Activa through small corners and streets. It was like the Activa was obediently following his instructions!! I heaved a sigh of relief once I reached the destination. Well the initial apprehensions I had about my ability to communicate with newbies were uncalled for as the objectives I set for myself were met. Participants were telling me more than I had asked for. After a spate of emotional outbursts and jokes apart, I was ready to leave when "Raju", the guy who had dropped me asked me where I was from.

Minutes later I was at ease talking with Raju because he was also from AP, the state where I am from. It always feels good to have someone with whom you can speak in your mother tongue in a "foreign" land. You can always learn something in life by meeting new people, and that is what precisely happened with me.

"Raju's" life has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride. Born in the sleepy town of Anantapur in a peasant family, he was only expected to earn for his family as early in life as possible. As has been the case in most of the rural India, he too was a school dropout but was quite aware of the happenings around him. "Experience is the best teacher". He came to Bengaluru three years back, with dreams in his eyes, carrying his families expectations and burdens on his shoulders. Fortunately for him, the city didn't fail him. His ever smiling face had masked various emotions of pain and struggle that he and his family had to endure in his childhood, getting oppressed and exploited by the princely Zamindaars of Rayalaseema. After working as a mechanic for an year, he now is working as a Video operator recording focus group interviews and earning a decent 3000 bucks each month. His employer has been kind enough to provide him his daily share of meals and shelter to sleep. He narrated me his entire story during the 20 minute ride on the Activa, back to Basavanagudi bus stop. Though Bengaluru's traffic was noisy enough to act as an hindrance, but still I managed to hear him throughout, even as he was evading Trucks and jumping Traffic signals with ease!!

While I was wishing him all the best for his future endeavours, he pulled out his cell phone from the pocket and asked for my number. I was shocked, but then realised that the Telecom boom had already empowered the masses. I realised that at such a young age, "Raju " has seen and experienced much more in life than I have and so here was a guy whom I admired for his courage and conviction. His family is now somewhat in a better condition because he sends half of his monthly salary back home.

The "thousand watt" smile that he had while he bid me farewell left a strong and indelible impression on me. Something which will always remain memorable for a long time to come.

Regards,

taureansandy

Sandy Sandy!!

Hii folks,

Last weekend we (me with my roomies) went to visit one of the cleanest beaches seen ever in a long time. Don't be surprised because even this wasn't clean in the true sense, but certainly clean when you compare it with most of the beaches on the eastern coastline of India. I was in a trance when I felt the sand slipping beneath my foot. But the journey from Mumbai to the Island beach of Gorai, brought some stark and bitter truths out. Gorai is a fairly big island to the west of Borivali, where the Essel Group has already set up Asia's biggest water theme park.

A small channel of sea separates Gorai from the mainland. The tide plays havoc with the sea and its surroundings out there especially, when the visiting tourists throw out the litter in the sea. The mangroves are submerged under water during the day and once the Sun begins to set, the water level begins to recede fast, thus uncovering a huge muddy stinking dumpyard. No wonder for a nature lover like me, I couldn't spot a single sea bird except for Crows. By the way, when you find an unusually high number of Crows congregating at a single place, you can be assured that the soil and the surroundings there is either not fit for wildlife habitation or is littered with all kinds of Garbage possible.

And then there's an unfinished overbridge there, supposedly meant for the tourists to cross over the channel. You have wooden mechanised boats always overloaded with passengers and a disaster waiting to happen. Once you cross the channel, you are welcomed by the stink of Horse dung littered all over the road. Courtesy, the Tangas there. From there, its a 10 minute ride in an autorickshaw to the Gorai Beach. The coast is lined with Coconut trees that make the beach that much more scenic. But then again, you can't help but notice that the Hawkers and Vendors there who don't hesitate to dump the waste in the open.

But the beach soil is awesome and hard enough to act as a cricket pitch and a racing track. I took hardly 5 minutes to change into the swimming costume and threw myself in the sea. Swimming here is that much more easy than in a swimming pool, because of the sea water's high density. And for the next one hour, we spent clicking photographs and in the process tasting what real salt is!!

A beach is a place where you forget all the things in your life, and surrender yourself to the calm and serene yet the mighty and powerful sea. And suddenly when I was back to my usual self I realised, Was it me who swam and swam his heart out and enjoyed jumping in the sea?No, it wasn't ME. He was someone else. He was a part of ME. He, who had no worries in life and only knew how to swim and swim all the way to a place, elusive to many of the people in the world called HAPPINESS!!

Regards,

taureansandy

Don't dare say "Bombay"

hii folks,

The summer this year has brought me to the financial capital of India. And here I am developing a marketing strategy for a well known private life insurer. Never known how it feels when you don't know what to do or when you don't have much work to do, but now I have been having more than my share of such experiences which I don't deserve. Nevertheless, on a brighter note I have traveled quite a bit here and explored new places, beaches and interacted with many people. Meeting people can be quite a nice experience, but also in some rare cases be horrible!! But you do learn how to face different personalities which is what I am up to these days.

Coming to Mumbai, it is a city of contrasts. It is very rare that you find a slum besides a skyscraper. People are either very nice or very rude. My first solo experience was one amongst my worst ever experiences with a taxi driver taking me for a ride. That is when you realise the importance of knowing a city well before you come and settle down. People here are fast paced and the slower ones are brushed aside. Buses are jam packed at peak hours, so much that you have to stand on one foot in the bus. Hire a taxi, only when you know where you want to go, because there are inevitably many routes to a given place. Don't dare say "Bombay" when you are in a crowd, because there is every possibility that the crowd will stare and castigate you the very next moment!!

The problem with Mumbai is it is surrounded by sea. And with the population rapidly growing more because of migration of labourers than natural reasons, the tree cover is coming down. On my way to Gorai Beach, which is an island beach, I witnessed how mangroves are being cut down to make space for realty. Though south Mumbai is awesome (British Legacy), the central region and the suburbs are pathetically planned. Mumbai for sure, will be one of the first cities to be submerged under the sea. I might sound utterly pessimistic and even I hope that doesn't happen, but people rarely acknowledge the bitter truth.

I was walking down the Marine Drive with my friends, when one of my friends commented on how the sea behaves violently here, come Monsoon. During Monsoon, you will find the entire Marine Drive wet. Nothing new in that. But, what's interesting to observe is the increase in the height of the sea levels over the years and Mumbaikars will vouch for that. People will never forget the Mumbai floods in 2005. I have heard some gory stories of people missing from that day onwards.

Mumbai might be a city full of resilience. It has faced all calamities and terror acts and yet shown an amazing restraint, rarely found anywhere. After the 26/11 attacks, contrary to what I thought there were no riots. Mumbai has the capacity to accommodate anybody from the world. But there's always an end to anything and everything.

I was shopping near Dadar railway station and bought a track suit for myself at a roadside stall. Polythene carry bags are banned in Mumbai and one isn't supposed to use them. But what the stall owner did was quite shocking. He uncovered a small jute bag and from it unleashed the CHOKER, read the polythene bags that do nothing but choke the earth's soil. Of course thankfully, I had brought my own bag so I refused to take that carry bag. He stared at me as if I have refused to take GOLD from him!!.

Now unless people stop doing such things, Mumbai's future looks bleak. Mumbai is a city I admire and I am pretty sure a lot of you also do, but then what future does Mumbai hold for itself when roads are dug incessantly to make way for MonoRail and then not covered off immediately, when manholes are opened at night and when you fail to find a single Trash at some of the Local stations here!! Point to ponder I guess.

Regards,

taureansandy

The year that was.....

Hii folks,

With only a few days to go before the first year ends at IIMA, I don't know how it is going to end for me. This period has been full of many downs and very few ups for me. A rare experience for a guy who has been used to achievements all his academic life. But this year has been a great learning experience for me. Though grades have been low, but learning has been good.
This was also the year where I revisited the actor in me when I did about 4 skits, and learnt how difficult it is to merely reproduce your lines in front of the CAMERA, leave alone showing your expressions.
I never imagined, that a transition to this great institute would affect my existing relationships, the bad way. When you become busy, then no matter what, misunderstandings are bound to crop up. This is what hurts you the most especially when you know that you always wanted to be yourself with others, but then comes the HALO effect into picture. You are now considered to be a great man because you are a student at IIMA and people start seeing a HALO around you instead of looking at you as who you were and who you are; a good friend and well wisher which I always aspire to be. And in the process, people fail to understand the physical and emotional stress that a student here can face. And that is what precisely has happened with me.
But as they say, every coin has two sides to it. There were also moments of pure fun, madness and joy at the campus. It all began with the T-nite when I bonded with the entire class and made new friends. Then came Diwali, when my dorm won the best decorated dorm contest. Enjoyed some wonderful moments with my tuchchas, hitting fours on their difficult balls and in the process hitting it off with them. The camaraderie for once certainly acted as a stress buster, amidst innumerable surprise quizzes and assignments. Then came Sonu Nigam who unarguably had one of his best concerts @ IIMA. I can still vividly remember the entire night full of ecstasy and sheer joy, especially when you see a less than a year old infant baby dance to his songs.
Stress was something which I experienced in full force at two distinct occasions. One during the various term examinations and then during my summers. But my mental strength sure could have become robust. There were internal debates within the campus about the workload we were facing, that it never decreased as was promised by the authorities.
Nevertheless, amidst the stress, there were those little moments of laughter when we cracked jokes on each other. Doing group assignments can be very boring, but it wasn't for me when you have a guy in your group who doesn't know how to be angry. This guy has an awesome sense of humour and its pure fun and a privilege to be with him.
And then there is your family, which is a constant pillar of support no matter where you are. Even as my group is still working on WAC, one of the most famously infamous courses here, am I writing this blog, fully knowing that my mind is past its processing period with the time now being 03.10 am!!

PS: The blogger is going to face the toughest ever fortnight in his life beginning today!!

regards,
taureansandy

Criticism is indeed bitter!!

Hii folks,

This post is especially for the IIM A Junta. For the first time, I have received a comment that has pinched me no end. The previous blog that was intended to be just a funny piece of fiction has been misconstrued as something that projects Non-MBA students in bad light. And I have been called as "ARROGANT". Well, my intention was to highlight the plight of many students who give more importance to money than relationships. I have many good friends who have been more successful than me without having been an MBA graduate and so there's no reason for me to be arrogant. There was no other thing intended and I sincerely apologise to all those who think I have been derogatory. I don't wish to further clarify my stand and hope that people understand my viewpoint.

regards,

taureansandy