Finally I reached Madras....
What can I do...I was dispatched at the perfect time,
last week of June, 24th to be exact..had everything gone proper
I should have been here 15 days earlier..but this world is not
perfect..you agree. The sail over Atlantic was great..no bad weather..
though it is Hurricane season now.Other than a evening with
thunderstorms and all,
and one bad day of food poisoning (blame it on lobster I tried
at lunch) it was all picture perfect. Maybe that was the cause...
so when it was time to cross the Suez Channel (for the shortcut..
if you forgot your geography), I was all asleep. By the time I woke
up it was too late. I contemplated shall I turn back to Suez Channel,
wait there in Queue when my turn comes up to cross it, or try to make
it faster , explore the new route of cape of good hope and relive what
vasco-ga-dama did 600 years back. So if you know me..you got it right..
I tried the adventurous way... my calculation was not wrong too....
if I could continue the faster speed I was crusing, a very little
sleep only what is needed I could have reached ontime by 3d July..
earlier I was schedueld to reach 1st of July..spend 2 days sightseeing
in coastal india and then land on Chennai on 3rd. So with this new route
I was ready to skip my vacation around Pondicherry etc but reach straight
to Madras. Yes...you wont believe it was too hard not to stop around Sun
City South Africa.I patted myself that I was able to curb my "temptations"
and still continue on my journey. I knew when he sees me on chennai at
perfect time he will be too happy... but it was something else in store.
On 30th June evening, 5.15PM to be exact while I was sipping tea over
Indian ocean enjoying the sunset, they appeared out of no where. 3
mechanized boats around 15 total people. From outside you will think
it is a fishing boat but have a close look and one can see their real
intention. Well there was no confrontation...as I have no option but
to obey them looking at their automatics and personalities. killing
person like me is just like maybe you or me kill a bug...you dont give
a thought. Yes I am talking about those notorios Somalian Pirates.
They aksed me what all I was carrying..looking at my possesions
(virtually nil!) they were surprised, After having a discussion among
themselves I think they thought I must be some spy or soemthing.
Their leader talked to someboody over a hand radio. I was sure that
they are going to shoot me... was thinking about all the good times
I had, all my unfinished tasks... all the while I was keeping my eyes
closed..after all I didnt want to see it coming. It was probably more
than 5 minutes when finally they aksed me to board their ship. I was happy
and sad both. Happy because I was sure they are not going to kill me...
sad because for sure I was going to miss my schedule. Over next 4 days
I was kept blind folded was given good food and drinks at regular
interval. Occasionally I could hear them laughing/dancing and also
gunshots. I though gunshots signify some more persons like but probably
not as lucky as me to be alive Finally around 4th or 5th morning we reached
a small island. They opened my handcuff and I was straight way taken to
a tractor and from there to a small shanty village. This was the place of
their leader. Without any formality he asked me what I do, where I came
from why I was sailing without any stuff for such a long distance and
where I finally intend to go and meet and for what purpose. I was absolutely
honest..gave all the answers precisely. I could see the expression changing
of their leader and some other henchmen of his sitting beside. By the time
I answered their last question..they all were so gloomy and sad you wont
believe. Finally the leader rose up and came to me hugged me (I still cant
forget the smell of his colgne and tobacco..what a combination..coulpe of
days back they had a good loot from one of containers carrying cosmetics
and tobacco). Anyway the leader said that unintentionally they commited a
great mistake and asked me and the pesron whom I was going to meet to
FORGIVE them. They said they cant even think of the wrath of the "GRUDEY"
(I dont wknow what they were referring as GRUDEY), they said if GRIDEY
came to know about this their entire village/boats/business/family
might disapper within a day. They afraid him more than they afraid the
antiPirates ship or US Warships over Indian Ocean. They have heard too
much about this GRUDEY and his curses. Seems whatever he says
(even unintentionally) becomes truth within days. If anyone ever
tries to cheat him or say bad about him the consequences were certainly
disastrous. But anyways seeing the circumstances changing like this I
also took some advantage and made some deal. they agreed to let me take
rest for 1 or 2 days more, gave me the best of the food and wine..they
offered more "heavenly luxuries" but I did decline....I wish
my Moral science teacher could have seen that. The deal was they will
send me to Madagascar by one of their fastest boad and with full security.
There an agent of theirs will provide me another boat/rations etc for
my onward journey to India. So from then onwards things were again picture
perfect...Long story finally short.. today 18th July 11.15PM I am at
Chennai. I hope to meet my Recipient tomorrow morning at 9AM when he
comes to work. I will meet him right at his Office,
and Say him Happy Belated Birthday, Grudey...I mean GURUDEV!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(Mail was sent to Vathshan and All on 18th July 2006....a "massive" way to
say BELATED happy bday)
For those who dont know Gurudev (Vathsan) he was born on Amavas ke raat
and has a magic power of turning things nasty whoever wishes him bad
or even thinks bad bout him. So all of us (his close frnds) ensure
that he is always kept happy. I am not kidding...there are so many
examples....
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Email collection
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
India Trip Report 2005
Best Viewed with IE
Well..it is that time again. A glimpse of whats Happening and Whats In in India. Here is my attempt to capture what I saw and felt over there during December 2005!
Foreword:
This was our first trip after Ritwik was born and traveling with him we were extra careful. Thats a huge checklist which I can share if any one needs it :-)
Luckily our tickets were purchased long time back and we were allowed the old liberal rule of 70lbs each, total 4 suitcases..and mind you we used that to full extent. This time not with gift items but with his stuff only. At the time of leaving home we had 11 pcs of luggage (including stroller/diaper bag etc.). Learnt a good lesson and while returning had only 8 pcs!
Couple of months back DFW opened a new international terminal and one needs to see it to believe it...I can only say it is indeed world class.
Lufthansa experience was good, Frankfurt airport was really disappointing. In severe cold and windy weather, we had to get down from the Plane and Take a bus for the terminal. The whole airport is full of Cigarrete SMOKE. Previously I saw that type of smoking in Narita Airport. Too much of passive smoking there!
The next segment of flight was comfortable but who cares for comfort when in couple of hours you will be in Delhi.
Entering India: 10th Dec @ 2AM
Airport very much looks the same. The immigration officer is still very "boring" and "non-smiling"and looked tired.
Our next flight was at 5AM to Raipur so we were in hurry. Prepaid took 600 INR for IGI to Palam using a Toyota Qualis. Also divested off around 200 Rs to the guy who helped me bringing the suitcases from belt to taxi. Tried a little bit haggling but...NO not our cup of tea anymore!
The Indian EXPERIENCE had already started...
Private Airlines:
This was the first thing noted at Palam....2 years back it was Jet and IA mainly..... Well now right there you see counters and staff (and quite impressive ones) of Spice Jet, Kingfisher, AirDecan, Sahara and so many others. For that matter now Raipur is connected to Calcutta via AirDecan and you know the fare..it is just 2300 Rs which
is comparable to 2nd AC. If booked early then it can be as low as 500Rs! So air travel is NOT a luxury anymore and all the flights are heavily booked.
Media:
There is INDEED a drastic change in this field. I am talking mainly TV. Print media no significant changes. But plethora of TV news channels.
And it seems if any channel is NOT doing a sting operation ..then they cant survive there for much long. They news hungry channels need to have breaking news every day or so...
Within short span of 4 weeks I came across Breaking News like every other day...which can range from "Parliament Evacuated because of Bomb Threat, Kiran More ka Putla Jalaya or even Patna Passenger Train Derailed: No injuries Reported".
Once indian audience was stuck with Serials or Movie Songs only..but now there are more Channels for News and Current Events.
And this investigative journalism at its peak. Operation Chakravyuh, Dronacharya, Operation Majnoo (Meeruth SP/Collector got transfered because of this..as police openly harrased couples in a Park), all happened within couple of weeks.The leading among these are "India TV" and Aaajtak.s. And there are clones of these channels which cater to state and city also. Like ETV MP or Raj TV of Bhopal.
NDTV still maintains its eliteness.
All these "in-the-place" reporters style are very much same..."abhi aap dekh rahey hai...., kya aisa uchit hai? Turant SMS bhejiye at 7575 with A if u agree N if u dont". Very typical but public has gone crazy after them!
These reporters are so common moving around ..the other day when I tried to take a snap of my old favorite cinema hall (now in rubbles) a passing rickshaw-wala asked me "saab, aap kis channel sey ho?"
The other new thing which I witnessed is be it a game show or music contest or some "sansani khej news" every other channels are trying their best for audience participation. Its a boom for these wireless companies and BSNL too as well as channel itself. Through out 24 hrs there will be tickers requesting you to send SMS indicating your opinion or vote. And people are sending too.
Guess BSNL or HUTCH making how much money if after one episode of Sa-Re-Ga-Ma there are 7 to 10 lakh of sms/calls made. The bounty is shared by the Producer as well.
I cant close this section without mentioning about one more stuff. The standup comedy has finally arrived. While I was there ..I think it was Sahara which was having this contest called "Great Laughter Challenge" I must mention Navjot Sidhu...remember the cricketer.
He is big TV personality now and was surprised to see his command over Hindi as well as English. His specialty : He adds an idiom at every other sentence. And it is really true. Whether it is commentary at the end of a Test Cricket or as Judge of
this challenge show. You may see this cassette at a local store..worth a watch. Especially watch out for Mr. Ehsaan Quereshi. I believe he became the champion..he is fantastic!
Cell Phones
I think by now we all agree that model of Cell Phones and popularity is much more than we see here. Guess what I heard one afternoon when I visited the paan dukan behind our house. Their the owner of the shop was gladly showing his instrument to his friends. And I did see a wide screen Nokia handset in which they were watching some video..and they were discussing if it has a "bluetooth" in it, streaming video
capability/ if real player is installed.....I was shocked listening their lingo.
Technology has finally reached to the mass..where it is being appreciated most and used in daily life.
Wireless Providers
The Wireless providers are having a busy time too. With the services offered and the competitive price..it is keeping customers happy. Within a week alone in December, Reliance, Idea and Airtel offered LIFETIME scheme where you get a mobile number for life by paying around Rs 990 only. Receiving calls/sms free for the rest of the life. Then in first week of January Tata Indicom and BSNL too joined the bandwagon. Just one move is needed by one provider...at the end customer is the KING.
BSNL is still the cheapest but has a very bad name regarding its service, It is nicknamed as "Bheetar Sey Nahee Lagega" (ie you cant get signal inside the room)
Goyal Saria
Remember Dr Shahani. Whose famous (or infamous) ads appeared through out northern and central India (mainly over the building walls besides railway lines entering a big city...a cheap but very effective way of advertising). But now Dr Sahani has been taken over by Goyal Saria , Rathi Sariya and like others (atleast for Raipur/Bhopal area). It took me a while to get what this "Sariya" is.
And then someone told me it is the iron beams. That made sense as I did see massive constructions going on this central part of country. Be it roads/ houses/industries name anything.
Doctor Visits
Both mom and son were sick for the major portion of the trip. This gave me opportunity to visit many doctors/labs/pharmacies. A doctor's standard fees is around 150Rs. By default he or she gave atleast 5 or 6 medicines..yes even for an infant!. If not cured in next visit be prepared to add 2 or 3 more. There were few exceptions too I must admit.
The diagnostic labs (in fact all of them) require to open shoes before entering the facility. It is justified with so much dust around, but opening/tying shoes from one to another lab is painful sometimes.
One product caught my eye at pharmacy was Emamis "Fair and Handsome" . Emami launched this that year itself targetted to Men who want to look good. As is nearly all the salons now offer "Gents" Facials with Ayur or this above cream.
Travel: Train / Roads
As both were at home, sick, I did the most of the traveling in and around cities alone. For a trip to Dongargah (150kms from Raipur) for a change I decided to use a passenger local train and that too in general compartment. Spent around 8 hrs (to and fro) and did experience a lot for which I was not ready may be. Traveling in those
compartments I did see extreme poverty, half naked children in that severe winter, did see families migrating from one city to another with all their belongings in search of employment. It was really bad. Maybe with all so much GOOD and POSITIVE things happening in the country...this was a heartbreaker. Unfortunately their plight and their stories have been overshadowed by the record high index of Sensex, Forex reserves and FDIs.What I saw that day..even if 60% of country (and not that regular 80) is at that level... Vision 2020 can never become a Reality..for sure.
Saw laptop and cell phone chargers at the 2 tier AC compartments. 2 years back it wasnt there... But why 110V?
Moving to Roads. Inter City roads are wider than what they used to be... in many cases multi lanes. Many toll ways and bypasses. But who is ruling the roads over? and the prize goes to Tata Indica.
These cars have flooded the whole country. Be it private or transport operators.. seems this is number one choice currently. Very sturdy and reliable and "kifayati" with all features you get in an imported card is the answer I got from most of the drivers. It seems now Ratan Tata has promised and working on a car which will cost Rs. 1 lakh.
Atleast Dhyan Singh (driver with whom I traveled most) is eagerly waiting for it!
But Dhyan Singh and other drivers have a bad habit too. Now the seat belt rule is strictly applied even in cities like Raipur and Bhopal. But they think that is some sort of punishment. So they put it on only when they enter the main area of the city. As soon as as they leave city area and are in highways (with high speed) they will get it off. If there is some highway checking, they will park the car, put it on and pass the police barrier and put it off. I tried to convince them you need it more for high speed and not inside city when moving slow...they kept laughing!
Samrat Talkies, DVDs and Chholywood
Coming back to movies now. It was too disappointing to see that once my favorite movie hall Samrat Talkies which was near our railways quarter and where I saw many movies from Lav-Kush (with the knowledge of my parents) , to Tarzan (without the knowledge) in an extreme dilapidated condition. This was the hall which used to have 7 shows on select fridays starting from 6AM for hot new releases like Sahenshah and last show used to end at 3AM in the morning! This hall was like Big Railway Junctions... always busy, active and full of energy.
This was the theater which used to provide free bangles to al "mataon and bahano" watching Pyaar Jhukta Nahin. Now it is deserted, and up for sales since last couple of months. Owner is willing to sale if buyer plans a multiplex..but he is getting
offers for housing complex. Must be an old "emotional" movie buff trying hard to continue the show.
So who is the culprit? It is not a brainer to know the pirated CDs/DVDs are responsible. Two years back VCDs were at peak...now almost taken over by DVDs. Just mere 50Rs you get good quality of DVD with 3 movies. DVD players start at 2500Rs. So who will go and buy a ticket of 75 Rs to watch a movie...simple economics right. One can get latest Hollywood release like Charlie & Chocolate Factory or Friends/Sienfiled series at 80Rs. 90 to 100 song MP3s at Rs 60.
If you are a regular movie buff and dont want to build a collection then you will prefer to be a member of a local shop and buy a 90Rs Rewritable RW DVD and after watching the movie rewrite a new movie with Rs 20 again.
But there is one segment of movie industry which is still defying that... and that is Chattisgarhi Movie Industries. They are literally minting money. After the grand success of Mor Chaiyan Bhuiyan (my roof, my land) two years back the "chholywood" as it known currently has around 100 movies in production or just completed. While Devgan Starrer "Shikhar" was running with 50% capacity with discounted tickets the two other movies "Bhola Chattisgarhi" and "Lalu Kalu bar Chalu" were having houseful shows!
Dollar Cinema vs Rupee Cinema
Do you know what dollar cinema is. This I read in film critic section of a local daily. The author has a valid concern where he mentioned now a days all producers in Bollywood are going for dollar cinema.... ie movies which makes more money abroad and targetterd for them like Hum-Tim/Salam Namastey and Neal-N-Nikki.
Where as there are very few who are making Ruppe cinema like "Apharan" which became a success because audience can associate and mingle with characters. I found this comparison interesting!
Engg. College Visit.
This year our college was celebrating 50th anniv. Unfortunately I could not attend as I was leaving the day when it was starting ..but still I took sometime off and visited our department after 12 long years!
There was a huge change waiting to welcome me. The GEC Raipur has now become NIT Raipur and it is no more a state (Chattisgarh) engg. ' college. They will be opening one soon.
But the good part of becoming NIT was huge funding from Center and it was evident from the labs I visited, infrastructure they have now compared to our times. There are many departments newly added like biotech, IT, Computer Science, Masters in many programs etc. Department level collaboration with IITs. The HOD Khan sir (during our days he was also known as "can-sir" for his non stop somking! but very dynamic and authoritative) invited me to have talk with final year students which I gladly accepted.
Students were smart and I faced many good questions and for few of them I was not prepared..like when one student asked me how is the nano tubes going to affect the current chip industry or the design flow I described. I avoided my "non-preparedness" by saying that it is still in labs/universities and will take years for it to come to industry.
When asked the prof. about my surprise he mentioned now a days these guys spend hours hi speed surfing at library and are well aware with the latest and greatest in the industry. It is NOT like when our interface to the world was only thru big volume books of library and some old version of trade magazines.
Advertisements:
My personal belief that indian admen are one of the best still holds intact. Some of the ads and phrases are so catchy. For example Parle Glucose Biscuits..remember...it is now tagged as "Buddhi Builder".
There were exception too like Ajay Devgan+Kajol's Tata Indicom ads.. very noisy and irritating as I found that.
AB(bacchan) is there in 6 out of 10 ads. Somewhere I read he is so popular because he caters to three generations (our parents/us/and the next).
"Oye Bubbly" seemed one of the most popular phrase...promoted by Pepsi.
Coke's answer to that "Piyo...Sir Uthakey".
And last one clip..Surf Excels detergen powders "kids in the mud" ad, where a cute little girl's dress gets dirty because of a patch of mud while she and her cute little boyfriend (if you will) are coming home from school. The boy gets angry and usi waqt jammen par letkar he fights furiously with that mud patch. After a while as if his enemy surendered, with his white shirt all blackened smilingly he stands up wipes off his face and says to the girl " Sorry Bolta Hai".
Talking about AB...there was a big NEWS when he got admitted in the hospital. But the fact which I noted is he was in the 11th floor of the hospital, got discharged at 11 hrs and 11 min and 11 seconds from Lilavati and drove to his mother in an 11 car caravan who had given birth to him on the 11th day of October 1942.
Ramdev Baba & Lalu Prasad
In my later part of the stay he also came in the news. Ramdev baba is very popular with his Yoga lectures and I think nearly all households possess his yoga cassettes and VCDs.
So it was very genuine when there was a huge public outrage against CPM which alleged that Ramdev Baba's ayurvedic medicines have animal and human bones in it.
The other camp alleged that it is because CPM is not able to push trade union to Haridwar's Ayurved pharmaceutical industry. Anyway what I liked about it most is in a nightly news Lalu Prasad said
"Ab halla machaney ka kya hai. Jiska haddi milay woh to shikayat nahee na kar raha hai. Agar marney key baad kisi kay kaam a gaya to..Acchaa baat hai...Koi big deal nahee hai".
Finally few One liners; kuchh Garam kuch Thanda:
Foreword:
This was our first trip after Ritwik was born and traveling with him we were extra careful. Thats a huge checklist which I can share if any one needs it :-)
Luckily our tickets were purchased long time back and we were allowed the old liberal rule of 70lbs each, total 4 suitcases..and mind you we used that to full extent. This time not with gift items but with his stuff only. At the time of leaving home we had 11 pcs of luggage (including stroller/diaper bag etc.). Learnt a good lesson and while returning had only 8 pcs!
Couple of months back DFW opened a new international terminal and one needs to see it to believe it...I can only say it is indeed world class.
Lufthansa experience was good, Frankfurt airport was really disappointing. In severe cold and windy weather, we had to get down from the Plane and Take a bus for the terminal. The whole airport is full of Cigarrete SMOKE. Previously I saw that type of smoking in Narita Airport. Too much of passive smoking there!
The next segment of flight was comfortable but who cares for comfort when in couple of hours you will be in Delhi.
Entering India: 10th Dec @ 2AM
Airport very much looks the same. The immigration officer is still very "boring" and "non-smiling"and looked tired.
Our next flight was at 5AM to Raipur so we were in hurry. Prepaid took 600 INR for IGI to Palam using a Toyota Qualis. Also divested off around 200 Rs to the guy who helped me bringing the suitcases from belt to taxi. Tried a little bit haggling but...NO not our cup of tea anymore!
The Indian EXPERIENCE had already started...
Private Airlines:
This was the first thing noted at Palam....2 years back it was Jet and IA mainly..... Well now right there you see counters and staff (and quite impressive ones) of Spice Jet, Kingfisher, AirDecan, Sahara and so many others. For that matter now Raipur is connected to Calcutta via AirDecan and you know the fare..it is just 2300 Rs which
is comparable to 2nd AC. If booked early then it can be as low as 500Rs! So air travel is NOT a luxury anymore and all the flights are heavily booked.
Media:
There is INDEED a drastic change in this field. I am talking mainly TV. Print media no significant changes. But plethora of TV news channels.
And it seems if any channel is NOT doing a sting operation ..then they cant survive there for much long. They news hungry channels need to have breaking news every day or so...
Within short span of 4 weeks I came across Breaking News like every other day...which can range from "Parliament Evacuated because of Bomb Threat, Kiran More ka Putla Jalaya or even Patna Passenger Train Derailed: No injuries Reported".
Once indian audience was stuck with Serials or Movie Songs only..but now there are more Channels for News and Current Events.
And this investigative journalism at its peak. Operation Chakravyuh, Dronacharya, Operation Majnoo (Meeruth SP/Collector got transfered because of this..as police openly harrased couples in a Park), all happened within couple of weeks.The leading among these are "India TV" and Aaajtak.s. And there are clones of these channels which cater to state and city also. Like ETV MP or Raj TV of Bhopal.
NDTV still maintains its eliteness.
All these "in-the-place" reporters style are very much same..."abhi aap dekh rahey hai...., kya aisa uchit hai? Turant SMS bhejiye at 7575 with A if u agree N if u dont". Very typical but public has gone crazy after them!
These reporters are so common moving around ..the other day when I tried to take a snap of my old favorite cinema hall (now in rubbles) a passing rickshaw-wala asked me "saab, aap kis channel sey ho?"
The other new thing which I witnessed is be it a game show or music contest or some "sansani khej news" every other channels are trying their best for audience participation. Its a boom for these wireless companies and BSNL too as well as channel itself. Through out 24 hrs there will be tickers requesting you to send SMS indicating your opinion or vote. And people are sending too.
Guess BSNL or HUTCH making how much money if after one episode of Sa-Re-Ga-Ma there are 7 to 10 lakh of sms/calls made. The bounty is shared by the Producer as well.
I cant close this section without mentioning about one more stuff. The standup comedy has finally arrived. While I was there ..I think it was Sahara which was having this contest called "Great Laughter Challenge" I must mention Navjot Sidhu...remember the cricketer.
He is big TV personality now and was surprised to see his command over Hindi as well as English. His specialty : He adds an idiom at every other sentence. And it is really true. Whether it is commentary at the end of a Test Cricket or as Judge of
this challenge show. You may see this cassette at a local store..worth a watch. Especially watch out for Mr. Ehsaan Quereshi. I believe he became the champion..he is fantastic!
Cell Phones
I think by now we all agree that model of Cell Phones and popularity is much more than we see here. Guess what I heard one afternoon when I visited the paan dukan behind our house. Their the owner of the shop was gladly showing his instrument to his friends. And I did see a wide screen Nokia handset in which they were watching some video..and they were discussing if it has a "bluetooth" in it, streaming video
capability/ if real player is installed.....I was shocked listening their lingo.
Technology has finally reached to the mass..where it is being appreciated most and used in daily life.
Wireless Providers
The Wireless providers are having a busy time too. With the services offered and the competitive price..it is keeping customers happy. Within a week alone in December, Reliance, Idea and Airtel offered LIFETIME scheme where you get a mobile number for life by paying around Rs 990 only. Receiving calls/sms free for the rest of the life. Then in first week of January Tata Indicom and BSNL too joined the bandwagon. Just one move is needed by one provider...at the end customer is the KING.
BSNL is still the cheapest but has a very bad name regarding its service, It is nicknamed as "Bheetar Sey Nahee Lagega" (ie you cant get signal inside the room)
Goyal Saria
Remember Dr Shahani. Whose famous (or infamous) ads appeared through out northern and central India (mainly over the building walls besides railway lines entering a big city...a cheap but very effective way of advertising). But now Dr Sahani has been taken over by Goyal Saria , Rathi Sariya and like others (atleast for Raipur/Bhopal area). It took me a while to get what this "Sariya" is.
And then someone told me it is the iron beams. That made sense as I did see massive constructions going on this central part of country. Be it roads/ houses/industries name anything.
Doctor Visits
Both mom and son were sick for the major portion of the trip. This gave me opportunity to visit many doctors/labs/pharmacies. A doctor's standard fees is around 150Rs. By default he or she gave atleast 5 or 6 medicines..yes even for an infant!. If not cured in next visit be prepared to add 2 or 3 more. There were few exceptions too I must admit.
The diagnostic labs (in fact all of them) require to open shoes before entering the facility. It is justified with so much dust around, but opening/tying shoes from one to another lab is painful sometimes.
One product caught my eye at pharmacy was Emamis "Fair and Handsome" . Emami launched this that year itself targetted to Men who want to look good. As is nearly all the salons now offer "Gents" Facials with Ayur or this above cream.
Travel: Train / Roads
As both were at home, sick, I did the most of the traveling in and around cities alone. For a trip to Dongargah (150kms from Raipur) for a change I decided to use a passenger local train and that too in general compartment. Spent around 8 hrs (to and fro) and did experience a lot for which I was not ready may be. Traveling in those
compartments I did see extreme poverty, half naked children in that severe winter, did see families migrating from one city to another with all their belongings in search of employment. It was really bad. Maybe with all so much GOOD and POSITIVE things happening in the country...this was a heartbreaker. Unfortunately their plight and their stories have been overshadowed by the record high index of Sensex, Forex reserves and FDIs.What I saw that day..even if 60% of country (and not that regular 80) is at that level... Vision 2020 can never become a Reality..for sure.
Saw laptop and cell phone chargers at the 2 tier AC compartments. 2 years back it wasnt there... But why 110V?
Moving to Roads. Inter City roads are wider than what they used to be... in many cases multi lanes. Many toll ways and bypasses. But who is ruling the roads over? and the prize goes to Tata Indica.
These cars have flooded the whole country. Be it private or transport operators.. seems this is number one choice currently. Very sturdy and reliable and "kifayati" with all features you get in an imported card is the answer I got from most of the drivers. It seems now Ratan Tata has promised and working on a car which will cost Rs. 1 lakh.
Atleast Dhyan Singh (driver with whom I traveled most) is eagerly waiting for it!
But Dhyan Singh and other drivers have a bad habit too. Now the seat belt rule is strictly applied even in cities like Raipur and Bhopal. But they think that is some sort of punishment. So they put it on only when they enter the main area of the city. As soon as as they leave city area and are in highways (with high speed) they will get it off. If there is some highway checking, they will park the car, put it on and pass the police barrier and put it off. I tried to convince them you need it more for high speed and not inside city when moving slow...they kept laughing!
Samrat Talkies, DVDs and Chholywood
Coming back to movies now. It was too disappointing to see that once my favorite movie hall Samrat Talkies which was near our railways quarter and where I saw many movies from Lav-Kush (with the knowledge of my parents) , to Tarzan (without the knowledge) in an extreme dilapidated condition. This was the hall which used to have 7 shows on select fridays starting from 6AM for hot new releases like Sahenshah and last show used to end at 3AM in the morning! This hall was like Big Railway Junctions... always busy, active and full of energy.
This was the theater which used to provide free bangles to al "mataon and bahano" watching Pyaar Jhukta Nahin. Now it is deserted, and up for sales since last couple of months. Owner is willing to sale if buyer plans a multiplex..but he is getting
offers for housing complex. Must be an old "emotional" movie buff trying hard to continue the show.
So who is the culprit? It is not a brainer to know the pirated CDs/DVDs are responsible. Two years back VCDs were at peak...now almost taken over by DVDs. Just mere 50Rs you get good quality of DVD with 3 movies. DVD players start at 2500Rs. So who will go and buy a ticket of 75 Rs to watch a movie...simple economics right. One can get latest Hollywood release like Charlie & Chocolate Factory or Friends/Sienfiled series at 80Rs. 90 to 100 song MP3s at Rs 60.
If you are a regular movie buff and dont want to build a collection then you will prefer to be a member of a local shop and buy a 90Rs Rewritable RW DVD and after watching the movie rewrite a new movie with Rs 20 again.
But there is one segment of movie industry which is still defying that... and that is Chattisgarhi Movie Industries. They are literally minting money. After the grand success of Mor Chaiyan Bhuiyan (my roof, my land) two years back the "chholywood" as it known currently has around 100 movies in production or just completed. While Devgan Starrer "Shikhar" was running with 50% capacity with discounted tickets the two other movies "Bhola Chattisgarhi" and "Lalu Kalu bar Chalu" were having houseful shows!
Dollar Cinema vs Rupee Cinema
Do you know what dollar cinema is. This I read in film critic section of a local daily. The author has a valid concern where he mentioned now a days all producers in Bollywood are going for dollar cinema.... ie movies which makes more money abroad and targetterd for them like Hum-Tim/Salam Namastey and Neal-N-Nikki.
Where as there are very few who are making Ruppe cinema like "Apharan" which became a success because audience can associate and mingle with characters. I found this comparison interesting!
Engg. College Visit.
This year our college was celebrating 50th anniv. Unfortunately I could not attend as I was leaving the day when it was starting ..but still I took sometime off and visited our department after 12 long years!
There was a huge change waiting to welcome me. The GEC Raipur has now become NIT Raipur and it is no more a state (Chattisgarh) engg. ' college. They will be opening one soon.
But the good part of becoming NIT was huge funding from Center and it was evident from the labs I visited, infrastructure they have now compared to our times. There are many departments newly added like biotech, IT, Computer Science, Masters in many programs etc. Department level collaboration with IITs. The HOD Khan sir (during our days he was also known as "can-sir" for his non stop somking! but very dynamic and authoritative) invited me to have talk with final year students which I gladly accepted.
Students were smart and I faced many good questions and for few of them I was not prepared..like when one student asked me how is the nano tubes going to affect the current chip industry or the design flow I described. I avoided my "non-preparedness" by saying that it is still in labs/universities and will take years for it to come to industry.
When asked the prof. about my surprise he mentioned now a days these guys spend hours hi speed surfing at library and are well aware with the latest and greatest in the industry. It is NOT like when our interface to the world was only thru big volume books of library and some old version of trade magazines.
Advertisements:
My personal belief that indian admen are one of the best still holds intact. Some of the ads and phrases are so catchy. For example Parle Glucose Biscuits..remember...it is now tagged as "Buddhi Builder".
There were exception too like Ajay Devgan+Kajol's Tata Indicom ads.. very noisy and irritating as I found that.
AB(bacchan) is there in 6 out of 10 ads. Somewhere I read he is so popular because he caters to three generations (our parents/us/and the next).
"Oye Bubbly" seemed one of the most popular phrase...promoted by Pepsi.
Coke's answer to that "Piyo...Sir Uthakey".
And last one clip..Surf Excels detergen powders "kids in the mud" ad, where a cute little girl's dress gets dirty because of a patch of mud while she and her cute little boyfriend (if you will) are coming home from school. The boy gets angry and usi waqt jammen par letkar he fights furiously with that mud patch. After a while as if his enemy surendered, with his white shirt all blackened smilingly he stands up wipes off his face and says to the girl " Sorry Bolta Hai".
Talking about AB...there was a big NEWS when he got admitted in the hospital. But the fact which I noted is he was in the 11th floor of the hospital, got discharged at 11 hrs and 11 min and 11 seconds from Lilavati and drove to his mother in an 11 car caravan who had given birth to him on the 11th day of October 1942.
Ramdev Baba & Lalu Prasad
In my later part of the stay he also came in the news. Ramdev baba is very popular with his Yoga lectures and I think nearly all households possess his yoga cassettes and VCDs.
So it was very genuine when there was a huge public outrage against CPM which alleged that Ramdev Baba's ayurvedic medicines have animal and human bones in it.
The other camp alleged that it is because CPM is not able to push trade union to Haridwar's Ayurved pharmaceutical industry. Anyway what I liked about it most is in a nightly news Lalu Prasad said
"Ab halla machaney ka kya hai. Jiska haddi milay woh to shikayat nahee na kar raha hai. Agar marney key baad kisi kay kaam a gaya to..Acchaa baat hai...Koi big deal nahee hai".
Finally few One liners; kuchh Garam kuch Thanda:
- Sania Mirza "nosering" is HOT. She and her "style" has reached the remotest parts of the country!
- Election commission is quite powerful. After Bihar's fate WB's CPM is too worried...no more fake voter list!
- Himesh Reshamiya and his "Aashiq Banaya Aaapney' the soofy style tytle song is a big hit.
- "I'm lovint it" McDonalds moved into Indore during Dec 2005.
- December as cold for bollyood too...Amitabh, John Abraham, Salman khan all were sick..affecting the industry. Salman was down with after effect of his "hair growing" treatment.
- Cafe CoffeDay a large chain..is a big hit. Even in a weekday afternoon it is jam packed with college students. "Place to be in". As they advertise. ICH (indian coffe house) days are gone.
- Power situation in MP atleast Bhopal/Indore much improved. Many have inverters anyway.
- Ajit Jogi still is in political scenario. Son Amit is behind bars though
- BJP is in bad shape...After Vajpayee and Advani there seems a vacum, no issues to fight against congress.
- Popat bhai of our local novelty/gift store was well aware with the "Return Gift" concept and gladly packed it for us with "hot" goodies.
- After Pune and Hydrabad..it is now turn of NAGPUR. This city is suddenly in limelight with amount of FDI it is getting.Its wider and cleaner roads, disciplinned traffic is well appreciated. Boeing has already promised a Huge Service Center for its fleet here.
- Kolkata is also getting its share of foreign investments. Many IT companies there. Mr Budhhadeb bhattacharya (CM) personally ensures that during "bandh" days that IT "workers" & offices of Saltlake and Rajarahat are NOT affected
- AIIMS is opening its centers in Raipur as well as Bhopal. It may be there in other cities too.
- India might soon get its first fab. SemIndia has roped in AMD to set up a chip plant here. The chief Mr. Agrawal was in Bhopal talking to CM about opening a related hi end chip manufacturing R&D center there...Bhopal is his native place after all!
Coming back to Bhopal, On 10th Jan 2006 it was time to leave.....Both the grandpas and grandmas were there at HabibGanz stn. to see off Ritwik and us. Three days back northen India broke 70 years winter record. So all three of us were totally prepared with "Thandee Mey Bhee Garmee Ka Ehsaas" ie Lux Thermal wears, gloves, monkey caps etc etc. We reached Nizamuddin travelling that same famous train..India's fisrt and only ISO9001 Bhopal Express. Spent few hours in old favorite city Delhi (South Ex area) and it was awesome!
Leaving India: IGI Airport 12th Jan @ 2AM
Before boarding the flight I went to the restroom (it was the other section of the terminal ie gate 10/11). There as I was trying to enter the lavatory a staff told me "sir dont go...we dont have water.". This guy was sitting there with his khaki uniform besides a bucket of water and a mug. His duty was to pour water if any one wants to wash his hand or face. UNBELIEVABLE..ISN'T IT..For an International Airport?
Two years back I had similar exp. when flush was not working...now it works but on that night there was no water on that part of building. Many people were writing complaints but I knew the final destination of those papers..so did not bother. Atleast I know coming Jan 31st all our 4 airports are going one step more towards privatization when the bids will be opened and hopefully in our next visit both flush and water will be there!
With that I think I have covered all the topics I was planning to share.
How can I end without sharing a final joke from Sunday Edition of
Dainik Bhaskar Raipur edition:
Mareej (operation key baad ankey kholtey huye): Doctor Saab , operation successful raha na?
Samney sey awaz aya: Mujhey Kya Pata? Main to Yamraj ka beta hoon.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
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