Shopper's (dont) Stop

I bought an electric iron from Shopper's Stop recently...exactly...3 months back an it malfunctioned about a month back..Since then we were always planning to take it back to the dealer from which it was bought, in this case Shopper's Stop. When i did take it, they first urged me to take it instead to a Philips repair center...the closest being i dont know an hour away. I refused to do so, instead showing them that it was clearly mentioned that in case of any fault, one can take it back to the dealer from whom it was purchased. Grudgingly they accepted, then told me that it would take time for repairs...started by quoting 2-3 days and ending up with 7-1o all the while hoping i would change my mind an take the iron someplace else. I was stood determined. Then they came up with a novel way to refuse. They told me i required the bill in addition to the warranty card, something that was nowhere mentioned. Again i pointed it out, handing them a little white lie that even while purchasing i was told that only the warranty card needed to be handled with care. They held out for some time, initially refusing to get the transaction details from their database. After having tried all their power of persusion, they grudgingly got that piece of information as well. Then in a last ditch effort, they said that there might be a charge despite it being in the warranty period. I told them to call me up before getting it repaired in case there was a charge although i did not expect a charge as it was still in the warranty period. Now i expect a call anytime, telling me that there would be a charge so that they would be relieved of this task of getting the iron repaired. Well, i have learnt one important lesson from this and would like to advise all of you reaing this piece as well...If its an electronic item you wish to buy, dont shop at the Shopper's Stop.

Begging - Hyderabad's largest employer??

Begging...This word to me used to mean that the person resorting to begging is devoid of any resource required for survival. That the basic need of food and water is not being met an hence the person is resorting to begging. I looked up the meaning in the dictionary and this is what popped up....To ask earnestly for or of....Well here in Hyderabad, begging has taken a lot different meaning. Ive lived in diverse places such as Delhi, Calcutta and now Hyderabad. Ive also been o many other places. But Hyderabad deats them all in the sheer number of individuals one encounters while on a journey. Im confronted by beggars routinely and at all times of the day, even late at night. What came to my notice was the physical condition of the beggars. While beggars in Delhi were more or less disabled, which for me is a valid reason for begging(why...well thats for some other day), here in Hyderabad, ive hardly seen a beggar who has any physical disability. No wounds, nothing. People in worse conditions are working for a living. This makes these people all the more shameless. What i have observed is that there are some beggars who are like aboriginal to a place. And over a period of time, they keep changing. I can see one face comming up to beg for money every time i visit the nearby marketplace. For about one week this face remains the same. Then, inexplicably, someone else comes in his/her place. Its like a modus-operandi wherein a system of rotation is followed i believe. What could be the causes i pondered a few days back. Unemployment cannot be it. Work oppurtunities abound if one is seriously looking. Other reasons smilarly come to nought. The only discernible reason i can think of is that bgging is a lucrative money generating employment. The truth is out there and very much in sight for anyone to see. I was hit by a piece of fact by my friend a few days back. He said there are more than 2 lakh beggars in Hyderabad with a turnover i dont remember but i remember the per head figure i calculated that day which cae to something like 2000 rupees per month per beggar. Simply mindblowing. On one of my walks i took up a little silly exercise but which revealed a truth to me about begging. I started counting the number of footsteps it would take for me to come across a beggar. From the first beggar to the next it was about 357 footsteps an from the second to the third...about 381...shocking considering i was walking on a straight road. What this means is that begging is a very well managed "job" wherein the begging territories are chalked out beforehand by the "employees". So the next time you come across one of these beggars in Hyderabad, you should realise that you have just had a tryst with what is perhaps one of the largest organised industry in the state.....

Our early morning venture at IIT-Guwahati 

Having fun by the lakeside 

Im making a face true, but absolutely not saying "No" as alleged. 

No cameras allowed inside the temple, so this was the next best option. 

Our day out at India Gate 

Hmmmm

well...the day seems so long ago that i wrote the last piece, i still cant remember the time when i sat to jot it down. the wedding seems a evanescent memory, satyam is what i have joined and have gone through the rigours of training. i felt it was more of fun and enjoyment than studies really. but what i have felt often, maybe more than what i ever had felt in the last few years is loneliness. im surrounded by 126 batch mates every single day, yet i feel a sort of vaccuum that cannot be filled by them. every day seems to be such the same as the last one. i manage to find pleasure in whatever i do, god bless for that otherwise i dont really know how i would have ended up. im back home now, in the comforts and luxuries that had eluded me all the time in hyderabad, my workplace. no television no radio or any kind of music, and i used to crave for that all the time. here i have been for a couple of days and already i have felt that television does not hold for me the same value as it did when i did not have it. maybe i will not miss it too much when i go back this time around. but the biggest thing going for me these last few years was the fact that i used to strive to be away from home as much as possible. the reason that i used to explain to myself was freedom could not be something that i could really get at home. away from home im a free man. not that my parents would hold me back for anything, i fact i feel lucky that i have them as my parents, some other colleagues i have seen are so bound by this pressure that their parents put on them. mine have been very very unrestrictive and im thankful for that. but now that i am at home, i feel a sort of responsibility that i had not felt for a long time. maybe time has come when i should think about moving back to delhi, my home place. i cant bear for my parents to be alone all the time. papa is very tough but even he requires someone to take care of him, he cant do that all by himself. and that is where i feel i should fit in. to do the chores that my brother performed when he was here and that i should perform as i am here. maybe its time to rise above my own selfishness and start repaying the debt that i owe to my parents, the time and effort that they have devoted all these years to make my life this easy. ill think along these lines from now on, and grab the first oppurtunity that i get to come back home.

Another Day in Paradise

dated-sometime before july 2005

another day, and more time being spent on thinking bout ways of how to spend it. for my life has almost reached a full stop, and that almost is also because of the mba classes i attend at the end of the week. other than that, its back to the same routine, waking up early, going for a walk in the park, which in recent times has lost its allure, reading the newspapers, watching a crass movie on the tele, surfing the net on my ultra slow broadband connection(though that actually helps as it aids in whiling away time with the web pages taking an eternity to just open) , studying a little, sleeping in the afternoon and then maybe watch some more tele after which its time to call it a day. and yes not to forget, sometimes the phone calls from my friends helps break this monotony. august(when i get to join satyam computers) seems so far away, i just dread the in between time that is there. yes, there is a trip to calcutta, to give my final semester presentation at the end of the month and my cousin's marriage which is gonna be one hectic affair, the worst part about it being the fact that i hate going to marriage parties, and here im going to be involved. if that isnt bad enough already, all my friend have already started their jobs, already have started earning while im still at a stage where every week i have to spread arms before my parents for the petrol money and for everything i do, even if i have to go for a movie. my brother keeps busy in his friend circle(which i find a bit too high class to my liking) add to that my growing discomfort at not having my best friends here, and i have nobody to talk to and have to keep all my feelings bottled up. my weight's increasing due to all the inactivity, and im having a tough time trying to bring it under control. its hard enough to go on a diet(after all im at home and all the delicacies in the world that i missed at my hostel are very accessible). hmmm, im thinking can i add more shit on top of the already overgrown pile of problems. but hey, ive run out of time, the web page i opened at the start of this piece has finally loaded. bye then for now.

Math Joke

Destiny

What god has in store for me I don’t know. That he has something planned out for everyone is what I believe. My father was reading the palm of my hand and according to him, it has too many lines. As I now see it more carefully, it really does, tens of them cris-crossing my palm in every direction. He said that it means that the person is confused, not particularly about one subject but in general, in his outlook. He asked me at that time whether it was so, whether confusion was a part of my thinking. I kept quite at that time, maybe I shrugged. But I know his prediction was spot on. A few weeks ago, my cousin visited me. He is pursuing his MBA from Symbiosis. He met a IIM guy one time who asked him about his decision to join Symbiosis and not give IIM a crack once again. My brother told him that his desires of a larger pay packet would be met even with Symbiosis, and in keeping with this view, he had joined it. The IIM guy smiled wistfully and told him that he was sorry that my cousin had stopped thinking big. This was supposed to be just a little anecdote. But come to think of it, the one thing I have not lost in life as yet is to dream big. I still do that. How big I dream, I would never let anyone in on that, else I fear I would become the butt of many a joke. But will any of my dreams ever come true. I’m working towards making some of them a reality. Others I have left to destiny. Destiny. That is what I believe god has designed for everyone. What is in mine I have to just wait and watch.

The world through my eyes 

College My Utopia

As the seasons change
Spring takes over from fall
I look ahead to the future
With a sense of pall

As the ones near depart
The joy fades away
The memories of being together
And having fun hold sway

The time has been unkind
Why does it have to happen
The ties we made are snapped
Shows the face of gloom misshapen

What has life in store for us
Nobody knows for sure
But the years of college like heaven
Were an addiction without cure.

Tears stream down my face
As i return to the empty house
Filled with memories of yesteryears
In feelings of sadness i douse