Good Luck Mr Gorsky :-)

Today while marking down the 40th anniv. of the moon landing experience, there is still a big buzz (google's search number 3 related to moon landing) whether that whole thing was staged or not. Unbelievable. No matter what..I guess this thing will go and on.

But what amazes me is the few accessories of this still ongoing debate...which though not as preposterous as the original one, but are certainly of great amusing nature....I guess the conspiracy theorists need some backup to keep the ball rolling....and yes..successful they are.

Neil Armstrong’s first sentence on the moon: “Good Luck Mr Gorsky” and not the "small step, giant step one..."

Neil Armstrong hearing the Azaan on Moon and then later converting to Islam. Wao!

--
PS: pic courtesy, bing. It was shocking to see that Google's home page forgot to ack the event till noon....bing certainly scored a good point today!

Jabalpur haunts back...

JABALPUR:

Probably it is the most discussed city in our "close" friend circle with few hailing from there and some spending their significant 4 years of life. So though I never stayed there, but hearing the legendary stories of the city and its natives....there was always something spcl about it, and to me it still carries that mystical aura around.

And now..when Gurudev is back there... the discussion had to resume!

Few words about Gurudev first. When "Gurudev" became Gurudev, I cant recollect, but why he became Gurudev the select six of us know very well. Gurudev possesses a magical power (ie if he speaks ill for somebody for real or even in joke) that poor soul would experience it within 24 hrs..guranteed (like fracture, high fever, accident, exam failed etc) ..and I am told by KT few days back only, that power still exists, but more about that in another post. I remember during the final days of college I obtained an Abhaydan from him (which he cant ever revoke in future and no fine prints...it was clarified) in exchange I think I had to prepare his final semester lab notes.

Anyways with that Abhaydan still very much in place, I just cant stop myself from "reproducing" few of the recent emails from him on Jabalpur as I think these e-mails are too valuable to stay in Inbox and then get deleted unceremoniously one fine day, when inbox quota is just near full.

So here it is...Jabalpur once again, from Gurudev's perspective (generally after a 6 pack) and who for past 16 years stayed in the enclaves of Gurgaon/Bangalore, a short stint in Japan and Chennai...and now suddenly finding himself in the core heartland of Bundelkhand! And enjoying to the core.

I am in jabalpur - "snip - aaj kal US / europe mein kaafi lagi padi hai, so as of this hafta I have my job thanks to --snip, with a "quarter" (not the "hich hic quarter" -but a 3 BHK one! - me currently focussing on the --snip-- assignment)

--snip--

I opted for jabalpur (among the choices of Bhoipal, Indore and JBP) - Hills, Narmada, Kanha and Bandhavgarh etc etc - and for KT, Narsinghpur also comes under my "consulting" program.

15 days - and some genuine real samosas, and a gujrati bhojnalay thali, simple and yet great food, nice environment, the summer is unforgiving though - 43 deg - not good for someone someone spoilt by bangalore by getting used to 20 deg in summer - but should be ok by another week -

But great to see those gothic kind of bungalows - probably built during the british raj - not one, not two - but hundreds! "khapre" ka bungalow with half an acre surrounding - and though some in destroyed condition and many in excellent condition - and this is the case wherever you look -

language nuances - like - got to hear "Apan" jaayenge na sir" from the autowallah (Autos are more in number than rickshaws, for a change)

and "Aaloo Chaap and Gol Gappe" thelas - than the dilli "Aaloo tikki and paani puris"

though dilli made me accustomed to get hearing to BC and "Maa ki" etc, the "Maadar..." is more prevalent in this place!

The music still is predominatly the Mukesh / Rafi stuff, with an occasional Brian silas working the piano on the melodies of the 50's and 60's!

AR Rahman , Shankar Loy Ehsaan and Farhan Akhtar yet to gain some ground!

Have an option to be here and enjoy peace - or to chase that elusive dollar in the west with no identified use as of yet - dekhte hain - got a couple of months to decide on that!
--snip---

But I feel at home now and here in this place - Jabalpur! yeh jagah lagta hai still hasnt changed (43 Deg C !)- I mean, I haven't (hadn't) seen so many scooters in the last 10 years as I have seen in the last 10 days - bikkat saare "Luna"s bhee nazar aaya - nothing to do with selective nostalgia!

- and the sad part as well - 60 + elders pulling rickshaws - kind of dilemma - help with / or deprive them of the expected ten odd Rs - Cruel -

Ok - some lighter things,relatively so to speak

- So much ki TV mein bhee wohi "Dil ki girah Khol" vaale gaana chal raha hai - in "Zee Classic" - yeh channel to Bangalore mein to aata bhee nahin (playing "Chin Chin Choo" as I type this one) - its all Sonam Kapoor and Katrina there -

and you still get a "thali" here for 15 Rs - with daal, chawal, roti and sabji, with pyaz and achar -

and for a bit more, you get the taste of "dubraaj" - unlike the omnipresent and overused "basmati" - wow! I love being here!

KT (a veteran on anything related to Jabalpur) remarks:

You are walking down the crowded street.
Scooterwala peechhe se aakar tumhe thok dega aur bolega...
"KAYE DEKH KE NAHI CHALO KA!!"

--
Once I was watching film Justice Chaudhary (Jitendra, Sridevi, music by bappi da).
Jitendra & sridevi are talking about their wedding.
Jitu asks "honeymoon ke liye kahan chalna hai?"
Before Sridevi could answer, lower class se ek buland si awaz aayi......"Gwari Ghat!!!!!"
---
Did you notice, people call Narabda instead of Narmada there.
And density of "Hanuman-Bhakts" is max in Jabalpur area.

Jai Narabda maiya ki!!!

From Khandwa (another JBPLR specialist)!
I heard this conversation once, while coming out of a theater after watching Baazigar

kisi nay apney dost se poocha " Badde picture kaisi rahi".
His frnd : Woi..Sajan ki saheli jaisi.
Dost : Kyon.? Dono filme to bilkul hi alag type ki hai.
His frnd: Wame bhi chate rahe aur yame bhi chate.

--
This weekend I watched movie "Luck by Chance"
Usame Hero ki movie hit hoti hai, to khabar aati hai ki saare hindustaan me movie super hit ho gayee hai. Aur abhi abhi khabar aayee hai ki Jabalpur me ticket line me ek aadmi ka khoon ho gaya..
What a right selection of city !! It has to be Sanskardhani Jabalpur.
--

The Jabalpur saga (and our addiction to it) will continue.....


Courtesy: With presumed approvals from Gurudev/KT/Khandu.

Stockholm Syndrome

"Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which they have been placed"

It is now around 5 years that I am with this same auto-insurance company who every year around this time sends their renewal letter and each time bumping up the price by a narrow margin. Maybe in the past I didn't ever notice the difference, or probably it was insignificant increase, but this year they crossed all the limits and without any REASON the premium was increased by a whopping $100! When I called them up the "official" excuse they came up with (cause now I drive more miles to work than past years) didn't even convince the agent...but she was simply passing the information...I cant blame her.

After deciding that it is time to switch to those much advertised companies who claim they can reduce the premium by 20% or more, I got all the paperwork ready and was all set to activate from today ie July 1st. And then it happened. The inevitable. Two weeks back, on a friday evening while searching for a friend's house in an unknown territory, I bumped my car into the curbside and one of the door got significant damage.

Since then everything went so smooth..from calling the insurance company, setting up with the body shopper, driving a rental Pontiac G6 for a week, and getting back the fixed car with a minor deductible and signing off a significant bill (which is more than the annual premimum I pay) to the insurance company and then receiving a letter from them asking me to rate their service.

This morning I renewed my Auto-Insurance with the same company. I am sure it is not their great customer service, it is not my guilt conscience and it is nothing else...but me showing symptom of Stockholm Syndrome!