Colours of Thoughts

As most good things, the news of this assignment came through a week before I had to depart. And depart means B’Lore where I am currently placed to Chennai for a week and then to Pittsburgh (via Frankfurt and Washington DC). Chennai, after a month, was cool, liked every minute I spent there which included running across offices and buildings for various formalities before travelling. The day I left was most hectic I must say – since I got the Forex, my tickets and immigration papers only at 4 given my flight was at 1 that night. And i somehow have grown to like the last minute rushes given that they are part of the so called corporate life.

All done I was heading back home and the cab driver on the way home asked me: “What exactly you guys do?” and I explained it all to him using a simple bank as an example and his reply was: “You get paid to do this?” with a reaction that would be evoked when an old man from India in his hundreds hears that he has to pay $2 (=100 INR) for 300ml of ‘purified imported water’.

All done, thanks to Mom, Dad, Uncle and Aunt, all was set to go to the airport. The best thing about last minute rushes is that you do not have time to worry or get emotional or more importantly ‘cry’. Ok – boys do cry. And luckily the driver this time did not have any questions for me.

The Chennai airport was good, no much questions asked, a form to fill, and I am sitting waiting at the gate. In the hurry I missed carrying a book - a very good companion. There was a bookstore around and I thought ll buy one at the store in the airport. Went in and had a look at ’2 States’ and turned to the back cover to see that it costed 295INR, 200 more than the price I would have got it for outside. Sigh – no buying books.

First flight – Chennai to Frankfurt:

First things first – the air hostess incharge of my side of the plane was very pretty! She had this matured calm prettyness which is quite rare. My flight was scheduled to depart at 1.50 a.m. and so it did. I grabbed a Times of India and Financial Times at the gate only to leave it untouched under my seat. Dinner was served and I chose Asian Veg – customary I think. Then all I remember was staring out at the darkness outside my window and then waking up after sometime to find my seat reclined and a pillow supporting my neck. Sweet!

Breakfast time – Asian Veg again. Was edible but not delicious.

Landed in Frankfurt at 7 a.m. local time.

Frankfurt Airport:

Very huge! I got down and a staff from the gate gave me the gate no. for my next airline to Washington DC. Walked – Took a train (a small one) - Walked again to finally reach my gate at around 8. No one there except for an old couple playing cards. Frankfurt airport could be better renamed Lufthansa airport as that is the only name you find there everywhere from the displays showing flight statuses to the check in counters.

How long can a person be seated. Given that I had 2 hours for my flight to depart. I walked around peered into the duty free shops where everything was priced in Euros and all i had was Dollars and Rupees. Not that I would have bought something.

Then being the impatient me, I walked to a helpdesk to enquire about my flight, if I was at the right gate and all, only to hear the lady there tell me that my flight which was scheduled to depart at 10.30 am local time would be departing at 1.40 pm local time. Bad.

Slowly, the crowd at the gate started growing and a man who spoke a language I did not understand came over and asked me something showing his boarding pass. I just told him in gestures that this was the gate. Later learnt he was from Turkey – stole a glance at his passport cover.

Finally my flight arrived – United Airlines to Washington DC.

Second Flight – Frankfurt to Washington DC:

My first taste of America. The flight was full of Americans. I got a middle seat and luckily my neighbour did not want to travel leaving the aisle seat for me. The person sitting next to me started telling me couple of things to which I replied in monosyllables and gestures mainly to which he asked me if I spoke English.

Food time – my choices were Pasta or Chicken and I chose chicken not because I wanted it but because I did not want pasta but wanted to eat something. It was plain rice, a piece of chicken grilled, carrots and beans in a translucent liquid. All sweet, I just could not consume it completely. The only good part of the meal was the orange juice.

A nap later – reached Washington DC.

Washington – Dulles Airport:

Thanks to God, they did not push my connecting flight to Pittsburgh the next day. It was scheduled two hours later at 10. All I could see was people walking around in suits and ties. Hungry – had a cookie and water.

The airport looked old but was nicely maintained. Walked around a bit and finally my flight arrived.

Third Flight – Washington to Pittsburgh:

The aircraft was a small one and my seat was the last one in the last row. All tired I wanted a nap but before I could close my eyes we reached Pittsburgh. It was the quickest flight of the three.

Pittsburgh:

Finally. The airport was the most deserted given that it was close to 11 pm local time. Thanks to colleague I was put up at one of his friend’s apartment for the night.

P.S: Ok the 2$ thing – my first transaction in USD, I did it at the Washington airport more out of a need for change for a 20$ bill than thirst.

P.S: I just realised, the best part of writing a post is you are writing something and the bad part is typing your thoughts take a lot of time.

P.S: And in all this one of my old friends got married and I didn’t even give her a call.

Have seriously no clue on what has happened to me today. Feeling bored and weird aint a good feeling anyday and unfortunately it’s today! As always my blog’s here to hold my rants so that we can have a hearty laugh someday down the lane.

I decided I should write something with no clue on whatsoever to write, rather type.

I am not an economist to write about impact of recession,
I am not an political analyst to discuss elections,
I am not a cricket fan to crticise yesterday’s IPL game,
I am not an active investor/trader to explain the roller coaster rides in the markets,
I am not an astrologer to emphasise the importance of Akshaya Trithiya,
I am not a programmer to suggest nuances while writing code,
I am not a poet to give verse to my thoughts,
I am not a movie buff to discuss why Ramarajan has the choicest wardrobe.

All I am is a bored individual who knows he wants to do something interesting but has no clue on what to do and as a result goofs up even what he’s doing. In short a bored, frustrated guy with a worn out look – yeah that’s me for today.

Place: My Guest House

Time: 4.30 a.m

Oh no! Not so soon! – That was the first thought that came to my mind when my alarm buzzed. Yeah, I had to get up at 4.30 A.M (read aloud) that too on a SATURDAY (read louder). It was my third weekend in Kolkata, the land of rosogullas and pretty very pretty girls (all girls everywhere are pretty though) and co incidentally my project team had planned for an outing, an unofficial one, so on a saturday.

Initially I had no clue about this place. I could not even get the name right. The place’s called Bakkhali (pronounced: bho – kho – lee). Anyone who knows bengali and is reading this, please correct me if I am wrong. As a part of our plan, it was decided that 6 of us would meet at Karunamayee (pronounced: many versions guys, every one has his/her own way, can’t put them all up here) since we were from around that place. From there we would take a taxi (yeah, the yellow colored ones you see in films) to our next stop, where our whole team would meet up (team = 21).

Got ready by 5.30 and peeped out of the window only to find the rain Gods shower their blessings, not abundant though. Good start, i said to myself and stepped out to reach the nearest auto stand.
That reminds me, people in Bengal are really disciplined. Why? They stand in line at the auto stand waiting for their turn patiently, and believe me there is no policeman or anyone else monitoring the line and still i haven’t seen anyone break the line. That calls for a round of applause for them.

Coming back to the waiting, luck has it that there was no auto in sight (I can here you say people sleep at 5.30 and not go around in autos at that time). The rain Gods seemed to get happier by the minute now and me inpatient by the minute. What else, took a taxi to Karunamayee, which costed me 5 times what the auto guy would have charged me.

Next stop, waiting game again, this time for the other 5 people. Finally all of us got a taxi to our next stop.

Place: Sealdah Station

Time: 6.30 a.m

We were the last to reach the station. Once there, we found our train, rather they found, I followed. Thus started our trip, a 4 hour journey from Sealdah (pronounced: see – yal – dhah) to Namkhana (pronounced: naam – khana). The journey i must say was impressive. getting a glimpse of what bengal actually looks like. Imagine, paddy fields on either sides of the tracks, with infrequent patches of water, the sky in a bluish gray mood. the sun not too bright to overshadow the greenery and not too dark to hide them, the playful rain Gods causing an occasional drizzle – man, nature at her best! This train trip reminded me of Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’ though in black and white i could totally relate to Apu’s house and the surroundings. Occasionally, I could see kids playing in the patches of water unmindful of anything, in their own whole world (kids are meant to be like that anyway). Coming back to the train, just as any other train, there were vendors hopping in and out exhibiting their wares which ranged from fancy articles to eatables. They speak in Bengali which unfortunately I dont understand, but later learned from a friend that you could get well entertained by just listening to what the vendors have to say about their wares. Moving ahead, gazing past the window, our station arrived (in relative sense) which was the destination for the train too. There ends our four hour train journey.

Place: Namkhana Station

Time: 11.00 a.m

Honestly, this station had a ghost like look, looking around i could not see any sign of any sizeable population. The cloudy weather only tried making the place look beautiful. Our next mode of transport was err.. hmm.. how to describe.. yeah a picture would be better (pic below)…

Pic 1- The triwheel-carrier

Interesting isn’t it… I liked it… This triwheel-carrier took us to the next stop, which was a river bank engulfed by buildings. We had to cross the river in a boat, a motor boat, a blue motor boat, a little big blue motor boat which could carry around 20 people, a little big blue motor boat which could carry around 20 people and also their luggage, a little big blue motor boat which could carry around 20 people and also their luggage which could include a cycle. Guess how much the guy must have charged per head?? 25 ps (yes 25 paise), these days i havent seen those coins and he charges that per head, my head’s spining.

Pic 2- The Boat

Now on the other side of the river (The river crossing thing happened in a jiffy, so i dint have much time to savour that experience). We found a bus that could take us to Bakkhali from Namkhana. By this time the rain Gods had left their game and let the sun God rule the game. Or may be i was illusioned so because I was sitting in a stationary bus. (guess you can understand the ambience inside a stationary bus). The bus then started after a little coughing and chucking.

Wheez! went the bus on the road, the clouds and the sun fighting for their share of the ground (to play of course, remember, they were in a playful mood since morning). This trip was quite similar to the train trip. Greenery all around.. hey wait a second.. i see a windmill, no two, no three…. oh there are more than that… a couple of windmills. On reaching closer i found that there was a wind power genration station there. Interesting again! Going further the landscape primarily consisted of fields, huts and that’s all. Finally, after a 45 minute bus journey we were there. Bakkhali.

Place: Bakkhali Bus Stop

Time: 12.30 p.m

First impression – this doesn’t look like a place by the seashore! Ok, our next game was finding a place to put up for the day. Luckily we found a lodge with two rooms to spare for us. Quick, got in, got ready, left. We then walked to a hotel, a simple good one for lunch. Lunch, a typical bengali one, comprised of rice, dal, potato (i dont know wat that dish is called) and yeah fish.. slurp!. After lunch, we walked further down the same road. After sometime, i find the soil color changing from the normal brownish color to whitish! then i look up, THERE!, the sea.. the sand.. wow.. but wait… the sea…. the beach.. its flat… not as sloping as marina too..the water whitish again… and the crowd effectively nil… perfect place for a lonely weekend away from the rush of the office, the traffic, the sight of buildings and hoardings…

Pic 3 – The Beach!

I later got to know that there are a couple of places around.. like an island with only a temple… no one lives there… but we dint have time to visit all those places… Given the time crunch, we were had to start early. so came back to the lodge, washed ourselves got ready and got out…

Back to the bus stop, the bus ride to the river bank, the boat across the river, the triwheel-carrier ride to the railway station, on the train back to the city, and on the cab back to my Guest House completed the day.

On the whole – a trip memorable – a trip to Bakkhali!

Sayonara!

P.S: Thanks to Soumya and Mainak for the wonderful pics and for letting me use them!

Milinta has tagged me and here it goes. Thanks to her I finally am posting something in my long untouched blog….

Last movie seen in a theatre:

“Anjaathe”. This is one of the rare films that can be watched over again and again for the sheer intelligence in direction and cinematography.

What book are you reading?

“Atlas Shrugged” – the Ayn Rand Classic, “Snapshots from Hell” – by Peter Robinson (I stumbled upon this one in a pile of returned books in the library was jus gazin at its title when the librarian asked me “Want me issue it?” and as u guessed it, I said yes) and another old version of “Tinkle” (yeah u read it right) got it from the old book store near my house, still enjoy reading them, the only thing that fails to please me is that they last for not more than an hour!

Favourite board game:

Board Games! Wow! Nostalgia…. Snakes and Ladders ….

Favourite magazine:

I’d go with favorite articles rather…. these articles can be from any magazine… from CIO to India Today…. any article that interests me finds me reading it…

Favourite smells:

Smell… this has the power to change my mind….. Favorite smells include – the aroma of my mom’s cooking, Man vasanai, Coffee, Old Books with faded pages, Aftershave… that’s all I guess!

Favourite sound:

The sound of rain – this one literally makes me feel good however low I am…

Worst feeling in the world:

Feeling that I have nothing to do….. Or that I have lots to do… (lots means loooooooots… )

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

What is that I have to do today (A kinda To-Do list)

Favourite fast food place:

Keeps varying from time to time…. Nothin specific as of now… Any place with good food is fits this tag…

Future child’s name:

Oh Man! There’s still time na….. baad me soch leenge…

Finish this statement, “If I had a lot of money I’d…”

“If I had a lot of money I’d never believe it!!” J

Do you drive fast?

Well… Honestly I don’t know!

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

Nope! Pillow -at times…

Storms – Cool or Scary?

Cool.

There was this one time I was at Besant beach on a stormy day…. And man that feeling was great…

Do you eat the stems on broccoli?

Clueless…

If you could dye your hair any colour, what would be your choice?

I wouldn’t coz I love black and my hair is the same… J

Name all the different cities/towns you have lived in:

Secunderabad, Chennai…

Favourite sports to watch:

Basketball, Football…

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you:

Hmmm hmmm…. Cool, Fun loving… oh one thing right… I’d go with cool…

What’s under your bed?

Nothin guys…. jus a straw mat…

Would you like to be born as yourself again?

Of course, I love myself!

Morning person or night owl?

Night owl….

Over easy or sunny side up?

Sunny side up.

Favourite place to relax:

There’s this divan in my house jus in front of the tv… nothin beats that place…. Heaven….

Favourite ice cream flavour:

Vanilla with Chocoloate sauce….

You pass this tag to

Charanya… The rest of the guys I know have already been tagged!

Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?

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to begin with , this blog is to translate onto paper the various events that made me think….. it may be a movie , an incident , a book or a thought….