India Unbound : A book for every Indian

Book: India Unbound

Author: Gurcharan Das

Publisher: Penguin Books

India Unbound is an amazing book written by Gurcharan Das. Das has an interesting style of interweaving his personal experiences with the Indian economic scene. Though not autobiographical, the book delves in his growing up years and his tryst with Simla high society.

The book is on India's economic struggle and the liberation of our markets from the Nehruvian socialism. Das says that he has grown with India and has seen her rise in the global world. Starting his life with socialism and appreciating Nehru's ideologies, Das changes camp after the economic liberalization of 1991. In his words, India attained true freedom only after 1991. Das also talks about his personal experiences of selling "Vicks" to the common Indian people, where he learnt about marketing strategies and his future growth - seeds of which were sown when he joined the Mumbai (then Bombay) office.

India Unbound is a book full of facts. Not eating up words while criticizing Nehru's ideas and loading up all praise on the new democratic capitalism (nice term), introduced by Dr Manmohan Singh in 1991. Though Das also points out that there was little choice at the time since India's economy was in dire straits.

The book also has a new chapter added in its latest edition which talks about the new India and further rise of the economy. Das seems pretty optimistic about our growth and foresees democratic capitalism as the new way for major economies of the world. As the title of the blog says this is one book which every Indian should read. In a nutshell the book is on the economic history of India, which arouses your interest in economics.

अप्रमेय

खुशबू है,
स्वाद है
कुछ चीज़ें, पैमाने से परे हैं ।

सोच है -
किसी ने नापा नहीं
तौला नहीं
मूल नहीं पर अस्तित्व है,
अगाध नहीं, असंख्य नहीं
बस पैमाने से परे हैं ।

Dog-eared

I find it very difficult to categorize myself in terms of my reading habits. I can not be an avid reader, though initially when this affair with books had started I was under the impression that I can read any book under the sun. Then one day my friend L sent me a book on Istanbul.

I started the book with all gusto but then slowly, I believe, it was my lack of travel which caught up with me and I stopped after having read a few chapters of the book. This event changed the perspective of my reading habits. It was then that I thought about writing a new set of blogs under the label "Dog-eared". This label will have blogs dedicated to books I have read. In the recent past the books which have made great impression upon me are - India Unbound, The Difficulty of Being Good (both by Gurcharan Das) and iCon. So hopefully my next dog-eared labelled blogs would have renderings on these books.

I have two more books on my shelf (not a shelf per se but why would one talk about a shabby looking table top when a shelf would sound more neat), which look impressive. Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and "Start-up Nation" by Dan Stenor and Saul Singer. I guess I will start the books simultaneously. So long...

The Bet

A long queue for lunch is a common site in software industry in Bangalore (or shall I say chop shops as the US senator has so inadvertently pointed out).
And you do not expect much action in such a queue, what with pot-bellied people and equally innocuous other-gender species, moving as set pieces in the queue. Such a sight, at least gives you a sample of how seriously we take our health or appearance for that matter.

"So you are not a South Indian?", this was a query directed at me in that dreary queue.Well the queue is not as lifeless as I had mentioned earlier. And to top it all it was a girl who was asking me this. I replied back, "No".

"Yes, we had guessed it anyways". OK, thank you very much that at least by looks I don't look a South Indian. Some North Indian egoism in play here. And "We"!!! Who the hell are "we" and why are "we" discussing about my ethnicity?

"I am from Bihar", yes I could not control my eagerness to know why are people discussing me.

"Oh", yes the usual shock...am used to this.

"We had a bet and I lost". "We" again!!!!
And betting on me. What the $%^&!!! Do I look some kinda @#$%^&?

"Oh on me!!!", it was a sincere shock, no iota of overacting (which people say that I often do).

"It was nothing....just that Aasha was sure that you are not a South Indian...You had put 9XM yesterday and we were just trying to guess, which region you belonged to!!"

What a stupid bet...channel surfing, a credential to determine one's ethnicity!!! To cut a long story short, we have a TV in our cafeteria and that is the only source of our entertainment during lunch. (If you don't count the meaningless manager jokes people crack). And an airtel set-top box connected which very few people dare to touch. The reason being we don't have a remote and all channel surfing has to be done manually. And this I came to know recently that people dread to walk up to the set-top box and change channels. Why - try changing channels in full public glare and you'll know.

Now since I don't care about what people say and reviews in general, I am you can say the entertainment man of my cafeteria.

And next day I see Aasha in the lift. Excerpts:
"You"
"Yes am not a South Indian"
"Then"
"From Bihar"
"Oh"
"Won the bet anyways!!"
"Great"

And a very experienced colleague of mine (you can never doubt his analysis of married status of ladies), seeing all this said "Wow man!!! Even married women are talking about you these days. And what was that bet all about?"

"What!!!! They are married!!!!"
"We" are married - All charm, all effort gone down the drain...as 9XM jingle says - "Ban gaya mein Bheegi billi"!!!

दर्पण

स्वप्निल,
डूबे,
कहीं खोए हुए से ।

धुंधले,
संकीर्ण,
सुलझाते कोई उलझन ।

उल्लासित ,
झिलमिलाते,
जगे, खिले हुए ।

छुपाते,
सहमे हुए से
ढके हुए, खामोश ।

मन-दर्पण
आँखें ।

रोज़ाना

हाथ की नहीं
यूँ कहें की धड़कनों की दूरी है

छू जाती हैं
पर हवाओं को भी रुख़ बदलना होता है
करीबी अवरोध बन गयी हैं

इतने पास होते तो हम उनके भी न थे
शिक़वे होकर भी न हो सकते हैं

रोज़ मिल ही जाते हैं
कभी कुछ पूछते नहीं एक दूसरे से
शायद नियति है

सोच कर बस दम भर लेते हैं
अब तो सगी सी लगती है...बैंगलोर ट्रैफिक !

पुरानी जीन्स

मूंछों की पतली धार में
लहराती हुई उस चाल में
बातों के उस ग़ुबार में
वो अजीब सी मासूमियत
क्या ग़ज़ब का टशन

सहमते, लजाते हुए उनसे दो बात
झुकती आँखों की शर्म
"तेरी भाभी है" का भ्रम
दो बातों को बनाकर चार -
किस्से आसमानी
असल में एक तरफ़ा प्यार।

बेख़ौफ़, बेपरवाह से
हर कदम में जीत
हर ठोकर में दुनिया
हर जिरह में ज़िद
हर बात पर शर्त।

"देख लेंगे" था अभेद हथियार
"रुख़ बदल देंगे" था अकथ विश्वास।
बातें पिछले जनम की ?
या यादें धुंधली हो चली हैं।
शायद फ़र्क़ इतना है -
तब उम्र बीस की थी
अब तीस की हो चली है।  

हम, हमारी बुलबुल और वो...

सालों तक उस "डूग-डूग" आवाज़ का पीछा, महीनों तक निहारते रहने और कई सप्ताह के इंतज़ार के बाद हमने भी एक रॉयल एनफील्ड खरीद ही ली। और पहले ही दिन जब हम उनको शो रूम से लेकर निकले, दिल में बहुत कुछ हुआ (हाँ बहुत-कुछ, क्यूंकि कुछ-कुछ तो बस खान साब को होता है) । दिल हिचकोले खा रहा था और दिमाग दिल को समझा रहा था - "हाँ पगले, इसी को प्यार कहते हैं" । हमारे लिए ये शब्द नया नहीं है, क्यूंकि हमारे "फोसले"पन के किस्से चर्चा में रहते हैं। लेकिन उस दिन हमने जाना की सच्चा प्यार क्या होता है - सुना था जब प्यार होता है तो हवाएं चलने लगती है ज़िन्दगी स्लो मोशन में चलने लगती है...हमारे साथ यही हुआ था।

अब चूँकि आर्टिकल ३७७ को हमारे संविधान ने स्वीकृति दे दी है, इसलिए सारे भ्रम को दरकिनार कर हमने उनका नाम रखा "बुलबुल"। नामांकरण होना नहीं था की हमारी चाल में उछाल और आँखों में चमक आ गयी। और जब रस्ते पर लोग पलट पलट कर हमारी ही सवारी देखते थे - इस बात का तो हमें इल्म ही नहीं था की वो हमारी डील को देख हँसते थे और शिष्टता का प्रसार करते हुए बस आँखों से मुस्कुरा देते थे - तो हमारी तो जैसे बांछें खिल जाती थी।

पहले ही सप्ताह में एक ट्रैफिक सिग्नल पर हमसे एक महानुभाव ने पूछ लिया - "कितना पड़ा?" । हमने सीना चौड़ा करते हुए अपनी तर्जनी को उठा कर इशारा किया की १ लग गया। उनका चौंकना लाजमी था लेकिन फिर उनके अगले सवाल - "तेल कितना पीता है?" से हमारे तन बदन में आग लग गयी। मन तो हुआ की उनसे पूछें की साहब आप अपनी बीवी से ये पूछते हैं की वो कितना खाती है । लेकिन उनकी किस्मत अच्छी थी की सिग्नल हो गया और उनके दांपत्य जीवन की खिल्ली नहीं उड़ी।

फिर एक दिन हमारे एक दोस्त ने हमें दावत पर आमंत्रित किया (दोस्त क्या सुदूरवर्ती रिश्तेदार ही थे) । हम हमारी बुलबुल के साथ उनके यहाँ धमक गए। अब उनसे ये दृश्य शायद हज़म नहीं हुआ और उन्होंने वो सवाल पूछ लिया जिसको पूछने से दुनिया शर्माती थी - "संभाल लेते हो?"। झेंपते हुए हमने कहा हाँ हाँ बिलकुल। उनका अगला सवाल - "जिम ज्वाइन किया है क्या?"। हमारे तो जैसे सब्र का बाँध ही टूट जाता उस वक्त की महाशय हम इसे धक्का देकर नहीं चलाते, ये भी अन्य दो-पहियों की तरह इंजीन से ही चलता है। लेकिन फिर वही शिष्टता की बात आ गयी और बस किसी तरह बात को हमने रफा दफा कर दिया।

अब आये दिन ऐसी छोटी मोटी घटनाएं होती रहती हैं - जब कभी हमारा सीना चौड़ा हो जाता है और कभी हम शर्मसार होकर किसी तरह दिल को समझा लेते हैं। लेकिन प्यार मोहब्बत की जो पारस्परिक प्रथा है वो हमें अब जाकर समझ आयी है । इसमें कोई दो राय नहीं है की हमारी बुलबुल हम पर उतना ही जान छिड़कती है जितना हम उनपर!!!

शादी कब कर रहे हो?

"शादी कब कर रहे हो?" एक उमर ऐसी भी आती है जब ये सवाल आपसे हर कोई करता है - चाहे वो आपके बचपन का मित्र, जिसने शादी कर भी ली और उसके बाद ऑरकुट पर अपनी सुहाग रात को छोड़ सारी तस्वीरें लगा दीं , या आपके रिश्तेदार( भारत में रिश्तेदारों का ये मनपसंद आखेट होता है) , या वो राह चलता आदमी जो रुकता तो है आपसे समय पूछने को और पहुँच जाता है ऐसे सवाल तक। और हाँ कभी कभी तो लोग आपको फ़ोन करके आपको "हेल्लो" कहने से पहले यही पूछ बैठते हैं।

कुछ दिनों तक तो हमने इस सवाल को टाला, लेकिन जब एक दिन में २ राहगीरों ने इस सवाल को दोहराया , (दूसरे ने पारिभाषिक रूप से तो सवाल नही किया, मगर कभी कभी निगाहें भी पता नही कितना कुछ कह जाती हैं - इसके लिए कभी दूसरा ब्लॉग) तो ऐसा लगा की ज़िन्दगी में कुछ अचूक सवाल होते हैं जिनका कोई अचूक जवाब नही होता । और जब आप यूँ तनहा वीकेंड में घर पर पडे रहते हैं, या कहीं कूप अंधियारे में भटक रहे होते हैं तो ऐसे ही सवाल आपके मन में खटकते हैं ।

एक वीकेंड हम भी ऐसी ही अवस्था में थे - तनहा , फुर्सत में, तस्सवुर-ए-जाना किए हुए । वैसे हमने अपनी ज़िन्दगी में बहुत रेयरली ही किसी चीज़ के लिए लोड लिया है। इसकी कई वजह दे तो सकता हूँ पर आपने अगर हमारी माशा अल्लाह डील देखी है तो आप ख़ुद समझ जायेंगे। मगर उस नवम्बर महीने के मनहूस वीकेंड ने हमारी डील को अनदेखा कर हमें लोड लेने पर मजबूर कर दिया। हुआ यूँ की हमारे तीन मित्रों ने शादी कर ली थी और वही किया था जिसके बारे में हमने पहले परिच्छेद में लिखा है। खुशी तो बहुत हुई हमें लेकिन उसके असली प्रभाव ने हमारे जेहन में धीरे धीरे रंग पकड़ा ।

पीयर प्रेशर का सही अर्थ, अगर सच कहें तो हमें इस दिन समझ आया । अब ऐसा हो गया है की हमारे मित्रों में पौने लोंगो ने तो शादी कर ली है। खुशी तो बहुत होती है की जिनके साथ निक्कर पहन कर भटका करते थे उन्हें अब उस स्वरुप में कोई और ही देखेगा :D
हाँ बस डर इस बात का है की कहीं उनका कॉल न आए और उनका पहला सवाल ये न हो - "शादी कब कर रहे हो?"

मेरा सिटी बैंक क्रेडिट कार्ड: जय हो !!!

सन २००९, इतिहास में ऐसे साल के नाम से जाना जाना चाहिए, जिसमे हमारे घूमने की योजनायें तो बहुधा बनी लेकिन कार्यान्वित एक भी नही हुई। अब हुआ यूँ की हमने अपने भाइयों और कुछ दोस्तों के साथ लदाख देखने की योजना बनाई थी । शुरुआती जोश कहिये या कुछ और हमने ताबड़ तोड़ तय्यारी कर ली। एक रे-बैन का नया चश्मा, कुछ नए कपड़े (गर्म कपड़े) और एक नया बैग। इससे हमारे क्रेडिट कार्ड का बिल थोड़ा सर से ऊपर निकल गया। आजकल के नौजवान कहाँ चादर की फिक्र करते हैं। अब जब पैर लंबे हो जायें तो चादर ही बदल लेते हैं, फ़िर जितना पैर पसारना है पसारें । और जब सिटी बैंक का प्लैटिनम कार्ड हो तो उधार की चादर अनंत से भी लम्बी लगती है ।

और हुआ वही जिसका अंदेशा भी नही था - हमारे हिन्दी सफर की योजना अंग्रेज़ी सफर बन गयी। किसी कारणवश हम लदाख न जा सके और अगले २ महीने तक हमने उस बिल का भुगतान किया। जी हाँ दुनिया की क्रेडिट क्राइसिस में जो भी थोड़ी बहुत राहत दिखी है वो हमसे ही है।

इस बीच हमारी कंपनी ने भी हमे आयरलैंड भेजने की योजना बनाई । हमसे कहा गया था की एक दिन की नोटिस पर सफर के लिए तैयार रहे। अब ऐसे नोटिस अगर बीवी दे तो आपके हाथ पैर बंध जाते हैं (ऐसा सुना है, क्यूंकि भगवन की कृपा से हम अभी भी कुंवारे हैं ) और आप भीगी बिल्ली बन मोहतरमा की आज्ञा का इंतज़ार करते हैं। लेकिन अब ऐसी नोटिस कंपनी की हो और वो भी विदेश जाने की तो कुछ बाहर जाने का जोश और कुछ तो शौपिंग करने का बहाना आपको अपने क्रेडिट कार्ड से दूर नही रख सकता । हमने फ़िर ताबड़ तोड़ खरीदारी की और एक क्या आधे दिन के नोटिस पर जाने के लिए तैयार हो गया। पर कहते हैं न की किस्मत में हो "@#$%" तो कैसे मिलेंगे पकौड़े। जी हाँ ये योजना भी हमें और हमारी कार्ड को धता बता कर हवा हो गयी ।

फ़िर एक योजना बनाई पांडिचेरी देखने की। इस बार हमने अपने दोस्त का क्रेडिट अकाउंट का इस्तेमाल किया। बस उधारी के पैसों में पूरा शहर देखा। लौटते वक्त जैसे हमारी उधार की ज़िन्दगी का भार ऊपर वाले को ज़रा हल्का लगा और उन्होंने हमारे वाहनको मटिया मेट कर दिया। बस एक दुर्घटना - अब छोटी कहें या बड़ी, ये यहाँ पर कहना उचित नही होगा - और हमारी क्रेडिट की दुनिया में १-२ सितारे और जुड़ गए।

अब जब इतना कुछ हो जाना था तो गोवा का प्लान क्यूँ पीछे रहे? नवम्बर का महिना आया नही की हमने बड़ा दिन गोवा में मनाने का प्लान बनाया। सारे दोस्त फ़िर से तैयार और हम तो उनसे २ कदम आगे ही। उड्डयन उद्योग भी हम जैसे बेवकूफों के लिए आँखें बिछाए बैठा रहता है। तो हम क्यूँ अपने को कम आंकने दें - झटके में रिटर्न टिकट बुक कर लिया और गोवा के मनमोहक बीच के सपने देखने लगा। लेकिन चूँकि सन २००९ में सफर बस ख्यालों में लिखा था इसलिए हमारा गोवा का प्लान भी बस वहीँ भष्म हो गया। और हुज़ूर जब योजना भष्म हो गयी तो साथ में कुछ चढ़ावा तो लगना ही था। जी हाँ हमारे क्रेडिट कार्ड का बिल एक बार फ़िर अमर जवान ज्योति में सुलगते हुए लौ की मानीन्द दहक उठा। आज आलम ये है की हम महीने की तनखाह को देखते हैं और कभी अपने क्रेडिट कार्ड के बिल को। और कसम है हमे उस कार्ड दिलाने वाले की जो कभी कार्ड को बंद करवाने का ख्याल जेहन में आया हो ।

Rise or fall?

Ferocity in the veins
Puffing up the dust
Better than them all!!!

Crushing the bones
cracking it with
lil more vigor
With a speed quicker than them all

Attacking n retorting
in equal measure
with equal sighs of gasp n awe
Can't remain the same
Flattered by one's own power
For better or worse...
Lion among the wolves??

क्या बदला??

फ़िर से कहाँ बह चले ----
बहाव में विचार भी जैसे घिस गए ।
उन पुराने पन्नों में ---
वो मोड़ फ़िर दिखे,
जहाँ कभी हम टूट गए,
जहाँ मूल्य भी सब छूट गए ।
उस चमकदार रौशनी में
शायद हम ही भटक गए।
उन मोड़ पर क्या बदला ?
शायद हम या
शायद हालात बदल गए।

दुनिया

शूल बिछाया,
जाल फैलाया,
फुसलाया-धमकाया,
लालच भी रखा साथ में,
हैफ की ना आया वो हाथ में!!

खेले सारे दांव पे दांव,
कई इक्के,
कितने गुलाम;
आँखें बिछाए,
घुटने टिकाये
गिरा रहा बस सामने
हैफ की न आया वो हाथ में!!

व्यग्र जब न रह सके,
मूल अर्थ समझ,
पृथक पड़े;
दक्ष बन -
भीगते ज्ञान की बरसात में,
हैफ की अब क्यूँ आया हाथ में!!!

हैफ कि हम अनदेखों में रह गए

हैफ कि हम अनदेखों में रह गए

कभी उधर जाने का दिल ही नही था

कभी कुछ दूर चलकर मुड़ गए।

वो देखते पर्वत हैं

और कहते की पर्वत है ही नहीं ।

हमने रुख किया उधर

कुछ दूर चढ़े और नजारों के कायल हो गए।

सोज़ कहीं, तो

कहीं साज़ की कमी रह गयी ।

कभी कोशिश की रस में बह गए

हैफ कि हम अनदेखों में रह गए!!!

Close encounters of first kind!!

To start on a disappointing note for Spielperg fans this blog is not about aliens!!! But then what is it about...read on:

Some people have a way with the words. Our GM is one of them. He is bestowed with the lucidity of usage of words and the way he uses them seems to be directly picked out of some bestseller, the only difference being they are his words. But this blog is not about him either ;-)

This piece is about cultures and people. I recently had an encounter of first kind with some Irish people. This was my first instance of such a prolonged interaction with the people from the west. Though they are as human as we are, certain traits which they had were too funny to ignore and certainly needed a blog. Read this and no prizes for guessing which character is not Indian.

Instance 1:

"What the f#$k have you done to your machine?

Sorry?

I mean why did you restart the system? Where did you see that step?

Release notes...

Release notes!!Oh you must be kidding!!!Developers are God, do you think they care about release notes...that bloody doc is as old as me. Use the goddamn doc I gave you."

Instance 2:

"We use a lot of "ish" in Ireland for our timings. As in if we plan to meet someone at 9:30, we would say we will meet 9:30ish. But it is strange to see that Indians also have a very informal "ish" which though they do not mention is pretty evident from the way they turn up for formal trainings as well.

Hehehe...on this note we shall take a break for 10 minutes and should return back 11:15 iisssssssssssssss....hehehe"

Instance 3:

"She seems to have hollow legs!!

There is some problem with her legs??

No...I mean she can drink a lot and with all that alcohol not having any effect, we just deduced that she must be having hollow legs!!"

Instance 4:

"How urgent are top priority bugs?"

"Well critical bugs need to be resolved yesterday"

Instance 5:

"I tell you if you fix this I will buy you a beer"

"No I don't drink. Thank you"

Instance 6:

"Since most of the servers we have there are doing nothing but SFA...well you must have guessed it...just call it Sweet Fanny Adams ;-)"

मेह

नीर पिपासु धमनियों में
विद्युत का संचार हुआ,
धरती के वक्ष में जब
बारिश का प्रहार हुआ।

घटाओं के शोर में
हर्ष का प्रचार हुआ,
बूंदों के होड़ में
रंज का संहार हुआ।

सृष्टि जैसे धुल गयी
रंग नए भर गए,
प्रीत की ओट में
उष्ण भी लाचार हुआ।

मेह के बहाव में
दृश्य भी निखर गयी,
सुशुप्त चेतना हुई बेचैन
समग्र सीमाओं का विस्तार हुआ;
नीर रंजित बाण से
आर्द्र का प्रवाह हुआ॥

Love story and other conversations - 2

ACT -2: (Please refer last post for a short introduction of the characters and ignore Sr Engineer's grammar)

Sr Er: You studying in Bangalore?
Er: No I am working.
Sr Er: Which company?
Er: Oracle.
Sr Er: Oh! I am working in i-Trust technologies. So how long you been staying there at Bangalore?
Er: Close to 8 years now. I had done my engineering from Bangalore Institute of Technology and then got placed at Infosys.
Sr Er: But you said Oracle?
Er: Last September I left Infy and joined Oracle.
Sr Er: Hmmm...You know with time these things becomes pretty boring. Doing the same job again and again. I have people in my team who has been doing this for 7-8 years now. They remember most of the stuff and now we solve bugs in a matter of minutes. By the way, I am Parimal Dham.
Er: I am Vinayak Shukla. You are in a maintenance project?
Sr Er: Not exactly. We have development as well. We do it in Java which is like working with needle and haystack.
Er: Finding needle in haystack!!
Sr Er: Yeah!! Exactly. Working with Java is more finding the correct API which someone must has already written. Just google it and if you doesn't get it you are doomed.
Oracle has taken over Sun right?
Er: Yes for some 8 billion dollars I think.
Sr Er: What are they going to do with it?
Er: He he...nothing they can not anyway touch Java because it has become such a huge name now, needles and haystack notwithstanding.
Sr Er: He he!!
After a pause,
There is one department in IT industry which is redundant.
Er: HR??
Sr Er: Perfect guess!! See anyway they don't have any control over the annual assessment of employees since it is the engineer's boss who can override any comment which the HR provide. However there are people in my team who are trying maskofying these HR people. Strange!!
Er: And does it help?
Sr Er: Don't know. Because the people I am talking about have their own groups.
Er: You mean regional grouping?
Sr Er: Yes. They work together, as in I have seen they doing each other's work. Once we were talking about a design of a certain function. I ask one guy about it. He is clueless. Then I give him a hint, start with the number and type of input parameters. He is looking at me as I am talking French and the next day he gave me the complete code. I was appreciative initially but then when I try digging into it I see that he seem to have just copied it from somewhere or someone else have done it for him.
Er: Strange. How do such people survive in the industry?
Sr Er: Only such people survive and become your boss. Such boss has no idea how things are to be done. What they are concerned about is deadlines and meetings with clients.
Er: I had seen such species when I was working at Infosys.
Sr Er: There are hordes in such big companies. And what do these people talk in meetings?
Prasoon, you have not shaved. What is that you are wearing, Sheela? I want people to come in formals. What you guys wear is not formals but business casuals.
I had this business head who joined us from some manufacturing company. He used to talk such stuff since he has no idea about the software industry.
Er: He he...I know of this manager who talks to engineers about how girls are there just for encouragement and keep the guys in the team happy. Ridiculous!!
Sr Er: Ha ha...And I bet he did not know a thing about how exactly the work needs to be done.
Er: Yes. He used to call his sub-ordinates to the meetings with clients to give updates regarding the project.
Sr Er: There are such people in Oracle as well!!
Er: No I was talking about my experience at Infosys.
Sr Er: Which project you were working on?
Er: I was in the telecom project and was working for Nortel.
Sr Er: And this manager you are talking about. What was his name?
Er: Shyamal Dham!!
Silence,
I mean the guy was good.........
End of conversation.

Love story and other conversations-1

Let me first attract every one's attention. There is a universal law, which any bachelor who has travelled on a train, or any public mode of transport for that matter, would vouch for. The law has been termed by yours truly as "Universal law of Beauty and the Berth", which states that:
"Probability of a girl occupying a berth next to you on a train is inversely proportional to her beauty".

Now that I have your attention let me tell the reader that this blog is a frail attempt at writing a play (not the Shakespearean style, laden with various figures of speech but pretty normal without anything about the characters mindset).

The characters:
Engineer(Er): A traveller and a SW engineer.

High School Teacher (HST): Teacher and the lover.

Sr Engineer(SEr): Another senior SW engineer who has seen all and still clinging on.
Housewives(Hw): There are at least three, with at least one being a Bengali.
An would-be engineer(Wb): All passionate about the big bad world and may be a little about engineering as well.

This is going to be just a series of dialogues hence the ambience and the costume is left to the imagination of the reader. Though the setting is essentially a typical Indian Rail compartment.

ACT 1:

HST: You must be my junior...let me tell you that the world is really tough. By the way which year did you do your 10th?
Er: 1997
HST: Oh that makes you my senior by an year. May be I have seen world better than you.
Er: How old are you?
HST: I am 26 and work as a High School Teacher. I had gone on an election duty to a place called Akhripur.
Er: Where is the place?
HST: 25 kms before Jasidih. The place was amazing, surrounded by hills and hardly any living being around.
Er: Naxal belt?
HST: Yes. Thankfully I experienced all this before my marriage.
Er: Yes it would have been tough for your wife to stay at such a place.
HST: No the government doesn't provide accomodation for spouse. Besides it was just a 2-day duty.
Er: So your folks are thinking of your engagement now?
HST: God knows what they are thinking. They are seeing a few girls but not exactly keen on one which I like.
After a pause,
The thing is I like the girl and whoever has seen her photo has told me she is the best one for me. She is very beautiful but my parents are asking for a dowry of 4 lacs. Her folks have very limted means and I don't think they can arrange for it.
Er: Oh!!
HST: Anyway I talk to her on phone and try consoling her.
Er: What is your name?
HST: I am Rajeev Kumar Bhardwaj.
Er: I am Vinayak Shukla.
HST: Brahmin?
Er: Yes.
HST: Have you ever heard a story which starts as "Once upon a time lived a poor Rajput", it is always "Once upon a time lived a poor Brahmin".
Er: Hehe...True.
HST: Once she had called me to Deoghar and asked me to meet her near that Naulakha Mandir. Since she has not seen me she has that urge. You know what, in cases of marriage only if the girl's side has money you can make demands that you want to see the guy before proceeding with other formalities.
Er: So did you go?
HST: No I didn't. You see it could have been bad for both her and me. If someone from her end had seen me it would have created some problem for my family and if her friends or relatives had come to know about it her character would have been maligned. There is another family who is ready to give me 5 lacs and a bike but am not interested in that girl. But my family seems to be more than interested.
Er: So what are you thinking now?
HST: I seldom call her now thinking that we might end up getting a bad name for our respective families.
After a long pause,
However in my last call I have told her to be ready. I would take her away to some place and we will marry.
Er: Gandharva vivah!!

पाखंडों की दुनिया में हम
द्वेश्दर्शी बन गए,
हाथ में लेकर परचम
बडबडाते चल दिए।

ना कूदेंगे मैदान में हम
श्रेष्ठता सिर मौर लिए,
वाक्-योधा बन के हम
दूर से ही हंस लिए।

आपके ही मौन से
ये बिलखता कौन है?
आँखें ऊपर को टिका
वर्तमान कुचलते चल दिए।

चलना उस पथ हैं नही
दिशाओं के अर्थ गुल किए,
टिप्पणियों की वर्षा से फ़क़त
मुद्दा ही हल्का कर गए।

Gulaal -- Khushki ke rang!!

Anurag Kashyap - the maverick!!! This is another amazing movie from him and is perfect release after Dev D...Kind of complements Dev D.
Like his last movie, Anurag Kashyap's Gulaal is colorful but political!!
Few scenes which remained with me even after the movie:

1) "Motorcycle hai aur kya hai...gaadi hai, bangla hai....mere paas ma hai!!", and a desi katta makes an appearance. This is the best spoof of the hackneyed "Mere paas ma hai" jokes I remember.
2) Piyush Mishra ( I read he was in contention to play Salman Khan's character in Maine Pyaar Kiya) singing:
"Oh re Bismil kaash aate aaj tum Hindustaan ..Dekhte ki mulk saara kya tashan, kya chill mein hai ...Aaj ka launda yeh kehta hum to bismil thak gaye ...Apni aazaadi to bhaiya laundiya ke til mein hai...Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna ab humaarey dil main hai"
-- Cynicism thy name is Piyush Mishra!!!
3) Ransa driving his bullet with army wala helmet -- Too Good!!!

Anurag Kashyap has given a regal twist to political movies (Haasil was the last one, on the same wavelength, that I remember). Rananjay's entry in the movie is another scene which etches its own space in your psyche. His character enters with a bang and its end is equally intriguing but the impact is perfect.

You can never miss Prithvi bana (Piyush Mishra) and his cynical songs. In his world even John Lennon is a Rajput, with a moustache to complete the look.
The movie can be described as one with a serious message: Anger needs a direction and an anger on detour is the best weapon in politics!!

Aarambh is the theme song of the movie and has an earthy feel to it. Loud musical words with that Dinkarish touch in it. Probably Piyush Mishra's words are the perfect match for Anurag Kashyap's madness. The duo if stick around for long can give us some real wonderful movies and I would give my right hand to watch this gathjod shine.