Category: personal

Some time back i andrane(friend from bhilai and iitb also known as Devendra Rane) had a chat..and we got into some roleplaying. I played my mom’s role and he, his mom’s.  It would be good to know that our homes are queit nearby in bhilai, and our parents are also friends. With pardons and excuses in advance to our mom’s if we are crossing our limits.
Here goes:

Rane’s mom: namaste ji…. kaha jaa rahe ho ?

kaa’s mom:ji mein toh somvaar ko bamleshwari devi ke mandir jati hai..vahin se aa rahi hoon
aap ?
Rane’s mom: bharat ko school chhod kar aa rahi hu….

Rane’s mom: aacha…. anand kaisa hai ? gajju bata raha tha ki vo dilli chala gaya hai naukri karne ?

kaa’s mom: arey haan usko bol bol ke hum log thhak gaye thhe.. ki ye freelancing veelancing chhod..

kaa’s mom: naukri mein ji ..har maheene tankhva milti hai.. freelancing mein kabhi kaam mila kabhi nahi mila..

Rane’s mom: haan…. gajju bol raha tha ki usko bhi naurki karne ki koi iccha nahin hai…. bol raha tha ki vo bore ho raha hai

kaa’s mom: achha..

Rane’s mom: bol raha tha ki naukri karne ka koi fayda nahin hota hai

kaa’s mom: arey kya faayda .. aajkal ke bachhe na..

Rane’s mom: yeh aaj kaal ke bacho ko pata nahin kya ho gaya hai….

kaa’s mom: haan ..chalo anand naukri le liya …iske papa bahut khush hain aajkal..

Rane’s mom: vo bolta hai ki agar aabhi naukri karte raha to phir naukri hi karte rahega…. uske papa to kuch bolte bhi nahin hai…..
kaa’s mom: iske bhi papa kahan kuch bolte hain.. mein hi bolti thi..meri sunta thode na hai vo..
Rane’s mom: aapan log middle class wale log hai…. koi bijness to hai nahin…. phir yeh saab ulti seedhi baatein karta rehata hai vo

kaa’s mom: ab nahi padh pata ..bevkoof nikalta toh ..soch lete kismat hai.. par padh likh ke bolte hain ki naukri nahi karengey..

Rane’s mom: haan….. mai bhi wahin bolti hu ji…. aab IIT mein jaane ke baad naukri ki koi kaami hai kya…. phie bhi naukri nahin karni hai….. jo milta hai usme khush nahin hai yeh aaj kaal ke ladke

kaa’s mom: haan ji.. aapki toh dono betiyon ki shadi ho gayee.. ab toh gajju ki hi bari hai

Rane’s mom: aarey shaadi ki to baat bhi nahin kijiye usse…. vo kehata hai ki anand aur uske baaki dost bhi shaadi nahin kar rahe hai jaldi…. isliye vo bhi nahin karega 2-3 saal…. aab to shaadi ka naam lete hi phone rakh deta hai….

kaa’s mom: hum logon mein thoda late hi hota hai ji shadi.. vaise anand ke bhi roomie ki shadi ho gayee..

Rane’s mom: haan….. par yeh ladko ki shaadi jaldi kar do to aacha hai…. nahin to isi tarah naurki chodenge aur settle nahin honge kabhi….

kaa’s mom: haan..sahi bole ji aap

Rane’s mom: gajju bhi aapne doston ki shaadi mein jata rehata hai…..

kaa’s mom: shadi karva do toh jimmedari aayegi..

Rane’s mom: aur poocho ki tu shaadi kyu nahin kar leta…. to bolta hai ki unlogo ki girlferend thi IIT se…. isliye itni jaldi kar rahe hai

kaa’s mom: anand toh kabhi aisa kuch bolta nahi..

Rane’s mom: haan…. jimmedari ki to koi parvah hi nahin hai in logo ko….

kaa’s mom: pata nahi uski bhi koi girlfriend toh nahi..

Rane’s mom: pata nahin…. yeh log ka to bhagwan hi jaane, kuch batate bhi nahin hai ji…..

kaa’s mom: haan ji ..ye kitne kismat vale hain ..inke papa ne apne sari behnon ki shadi karvayi,..,..ghar paise bhejte rahe..

Rane’s mom: haan….. aur gajju ko to koi jimmedaari ki samajh bhi nahin hai….

kaa’s mom: ye sab toh inko karna hi nahi hai.. mast kamaao khao …aur thoda bachao ….apne khushi se raho..

Rane’s mom: haan….. aarey saving ke baare mein to yeh aapne papa se hamesha dant khata hai…. pata nahin itne paiso ka kya karta hai yeh….

kaa’s mom: mein bhi hamesha fone pe bolti hoon bachane..ke liye..

Rane’s mom: aab bol raha hai ki naurki chhod dega aur kuch project karega….

kaa’s mom: kya project ….padhai karega?

Rane’s mom: pata nahin…. kuch to project bolta rehata hai …. bolta hai ki naukri se aacha hai yeh saab karna….. padhai nahin karna hai usko…. bolta hai ki uska iit ka professor usko kuch kaam de dega kaam karne ke liye

kaa’s mom: achha…
vaise padhai kar raha hai toh karne deejiye na..
hamara anand toh na jane kya freelancing kar raha thha

Rane’s mom: pata nahin ji…. kya karega yeh…. bachchpan se hi kabhi koi jimmedaari nahin di….. thoda samajhdaar ho gaya hai, lekin phir bhi kehata hai ki naurki karne se jindagi mein aur kuch nahin kar payega…. par aacha hai ji…. anand aab naurki kar to raha hai…. ise to pata nahin kya ho gaya hai…. aachi khasi naurki chodd raha hai….

kaa’s mom: nahi ji …usey samjhaiye.. is umr mein ye sab nahi karna chahiye.. abhi paise bachane ka mauka hai.. ek baar shadi ho jaayegi toh kharche badh jaayenge

Rane’s mom: iske papa kuch bole to yeh shayad sun le…. meri to sunta hi nahin hai ji

kaa’s mom: iske papa ke davaai ka time ho gaya …mujhe jana chahiye..

Rane’s mom: aacha ji….mai bhi chalti hu….. iske papa aane wale honge office se….

I stumbled upon this question, with Miranda July’s short film with the same name. I had seen her, ‘You and me and everyone we know’ and absolutely loved it. It was mayank who had the awesome idea of searching this short film on youtube. and here it is …

And this is a ideal film which describes how powerful a short film can be. A simple question, which many wouldn’t even have thought about, but who do so when they here it. And the question itself is so powerful. Let’s assume that every person on earth has one such favorite person. Even though many wouldn’t have thought about it, they may vote for one, when asked this question. And only one person could be the favorite. So in the ideal case, if everyone was the favorite of just one person, then that means everyone has got one personal fan. Now obviously there are some people, who are so charming, that they are favorites of more then just one. So the direct implication is, there would be many, who are nobody’s favorite.

Yesterday, was like most working days. Only difference was a supershot of serendipity. I was standing at Sarvapriya vihar bus stop, waiting for my bus, twiddling my thumbs.
When I saw these two batchmates of mine, from IITb, walk towards me. For a sec I thougt, am I dreaming? Ravish Tiwari and Sushanto, ravish who I knew to be studying in Oxford and Sushanto who worked in Bangalore.
Meeting people who we know in a big city like delhi is like, a very rare incident. Anyway caught with them in the evening after work. Ravish who did his MTech in Metallurgy, is now a journalist in Indian Express and Sushanto (same degree) is in Investment Banking.
Then had a lengthy beer headed chat on the education system in India, with these words coming often, ‘population’, ‘demand’, ‘supply’, ‘reservation’, ‘aristotle’, ‘coaching’ etc. coming in.
Also got some views on the issue from a JEE aspirant, who between mouthfuls of parathha, vented his anger on this years easy JEE paper.
Anyway, keep an eye out for Ravish’s articles in the express. He writes about politics, poverty and policies.

Finally i have bought my own. Canon S3 IS and 2Gb memory.

Its been a while since i have been thinking about getting a camera. Since our family got first point and shoot camera, fixed focus camera some 10 years back, I have been the photographer of our family, our relatives and any function, party,etc. On my uncle’s (mamaji’s) marriage the photographer ditched us at the final moment. Everyone looked at me. That was the most strenous day for me as a photographer. Working on a camera which did’nt have a battery. So it worked on a fixed shutter speed. So i had to calculate the aperture for every situation keeping that speed in mind. Anyway around 75% of the pics i took were ok. And most were pleased. Though some of those gossipy aunties thought i had missed them on purpose :).

That camera belonged to one of my other uncles. It was a yashica electro. A very popular model once, now there are so many of them, even vintage camera collectors are wary of them. My uncle wanted me to get the battery from mumbai. I took the camera along with me to mumbai to make sure i got the right model of the battery.
Once when I was in VT, i remembered i had the dead battery with me. So I went to the lane which began from the station towards the Gateway. The camera shops which lined the whole left side. I asked one or two who pointed me towards a inner lane. From one pointed finger to another, I found myself in quite a inner lane. There the shop owner told me he did have the battery. He sent his helper to somewhere who brought the battery after around after 10 mins. Just to be sure, i asked him to check it with a voltmeter. He did that, and the voltage was ok. I paid him and left.

When i reached my room, took the camera and put the battery. There is a button which checks the battery. When you press that button and the battery is working there is small green light which lights up. That green light remained silent.
I took out the battery and examined it properly. The base of the battery didn’t seem all right. All i had to do was twist the base, and the whole base opened up, like a bisleri cap. And inside where 4 button cells. The ones you can get for a ruppee.

Anyway i continued to use that sturdy camera, throughout my college stay. It was with me on treks, cycling treks. And meanwhile 4 years had passed, and my kind uncle had willingly forgotten about his camera. I will present him a digital camera soon.

Meanwhile, I got another camera a vintage leica. And this one literally fell into my hands. I was walking towards my room in hostel, when I found a guy breaking a lock. And to my utter suprise he was using a camera as a hammer. I snatched the camera from him. Broke the lock for him. He was from orissa. One of his friends father had given him this camera to get it repaired in mumbai. He did’nt have the enthusiasm to do that. So the camera had laid around in his room for quite some time. And he had found it quite useful as a hammer. He was quite glad i valued that camera so much and gave it to me.

This camera is quite famous in vintage camera circles. But I don’t want to sell it. But with it’s unusable features (there are two viewfinders, one for focus and other for layout), i would rather not use it as well. If I get someone passionate enough I will give it away.

Then came the era of digital camera. Since many of my friends had one, there was no dearth of one. So i spent my days phtographing with borrowed cameras. Once I went to Goa with anmol’s camera. I was climbing a hillock near anjuna beach. With all the beauty around I, a moment of carelessness, and the camera came tumbling out of its bag. Flying down some 6 feets, it landed on solid granite, bouncing once it came to rest inches from a puddle. With my heart in my mouth, i found that the lcd had cracked and the buttons beneath the lcd were not working. Other than that the camera was working. I knew what doctors must feel like when they have to tell a family about there dying member. Anyway anmol was quite cool about it. He repaired it himself (he’s a microelectronics MTech :), i just had to pay him the 5k for the new LCD.

Recently after coming to delhi, vinod’s friend divyanshu, who is a great photographer himself became my photography partner. Once we went to tuglakabad fort at around 11:30 at night. We parked the bike, and were busy shooting the fort in the yellow light with late slow speeds, using a tripod. Suddenly we could here a police siren, from a gypsy which was standing near our bike. We went towards him. The inspector was a punjabi.
“kya kar rahe ho itne raat mein?”
Divyanshu:”jee photo kheech rahen hain”
“yahi time mila hai?”
Divyanshu:”raat mein hi monuments ke photo achhe aate hain na”
“ye ilaka theek nahi hai…jaldi niklo yahan se..kuch ho jaaye tumhe toh sabhi dilli police ko bolenge, aur ye bike tumhari hai? koi le jaata isey toh?”
Divyanshu:”chabi toh mere paas hai :)”
“sirf chabi hi rah jaati”
We left 5 mins after that warning :).

I need more adventures like that :).
And i have made a slideshow, with some basic fundaes for people who are planning to buy a camera.

To every person who is having a pre/post/whatever mid-life crisis regarding their jobs, here is the answer.

If some people can find truth sitting under a banyan tree,
while others can sitting in -5 mountain tops,
you can too sitting in a cubicle in front of a computer screen.

‘World’s Best Presentation Contest’ is on at slideshare.net/contests. If you made your way through your college projects without actually doing anything, but only thorough well made presentations, then this is for you. There are both people’s choice prizes and judge prizes. The judges are the who’s who of presentation gurujis.
Here is an entry with anish’s haikus.

Caught this strand of conversation in the morning, in front of our office.
“ammaji, aaj toh chhod do…vaise hi keechad ho raha hai, baarish mein.” Said the young watchman to the old sweeping lady.
She replies,”baarish mein khhana toh nahi chhodte na.”

This is the last post of that chat. You may want to read the first, second, third and fourth posts, if you already haven’t.

”
Am i bombarding you with too much information. You work in IT right, …are you in sales. Good that you are not. Your body language tells me you are bored. :)..You know for every person the total amount of talk during a time interval is always about equal. I mean the amount of talk that I talk during a day is constant for me. Likewise it can be broken into smaller chunks. i.e. Mein har ek ghante mein kareeb kareeb utni hi baatein karta hoon. So if I felt you were’nt paying me that much attention, you would have eaten and left, then i would have to speak to the next person who came around. I can’t help it. Mujhe apne ek ghante ka quota khatm karna hai :).”
Yeah..and may we meet again.

This is the fourth post of that chat. You may want to read the first, second and third posts, if you already haven’t.

“I come here 3-4 times a week. Here i can eat a lot of variety, for a very cheap rate. …I live alone. My family is in chandigarh. I have been posted here. Mumbai is better than delhi. Even though i am originally from delhi only…but still mumbai is better, i can say. In fact, living in any metro is bad. Once i was transferred to jabalpur for a year. I felt so relaxed there. I used to call my children and puckaartha thha unhe. Unhe lagta hoga budhha paagal ho gaya hai. Metros mein toh ghar se office mein ghante aur vaapas isi mein chakallas hota hai.

….nahi chandigarh bhi nahi achha..chandigarh hi achha hai. My son he used to study in one of the best convent schools in jabalpur. Ab sarkaari employee bus ek hi cheez kar sakta hai apne bache ke liye. Padha sakta hai. 5 lakh ki dukaan vo daalega nahi …aur 50 lakh ki daal nahi sakta. But even koi sarkaari school chandigarh mein us school ka baap hota. Chandigarh mein toh har pathhar ke neeche ek ek school hain. Aur saare achhe …jo sabse bekaar hongey vo bhi baahar ke achhe schools se toh achhe hi hongey.”

The next post will be the last.

This is the third post about that conversation. Please read first and second if you wish, before reading this.

“So you eat outside daily. Oh sometimes you and your roomies cook too. Eating at home is the best. For me, my family is in chandigarh, while i have been posted here. That’s why come here, because here you can eat a large variety for less money. What was that i last had..yeah beans. Now i am having baingan. There is so much in nature, you should always have a variety. In daals there are so many varities. But still the quality you get is not so good. It’s all bio engineered. When i was young, we had toovar daal which took 14 months to ripen. Nowadays the variety they grow, its takes 4 months from sowing to reaping. That toovar tasted sweet. But now it is really difficult to get. Even if some farmer grows, he does only for his own consumption.
Even this rotis are all made of maida. You know there is one thing you should do. You know raisins, …yeah kishmish. You should have 30 grains of it daily. That will counteract on all the bad effects. But then you should have more water otherwise it will some bad side effects ..haa hAA haa.”