Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Perfect Delivery.

A few weeks…on a Saturday evening my neighbor who works in the same office as mine dropped by home…This guy was my ex-roommate and now happily married and stays in an apartment in the same complex. So he drops by home occasionally to figure out how bachelors still live and to check out my beef fry since he says that it tastes just like how we get in the Bar!! :-P

So we were standing at the house balcony and I was sipping my wine…Our friendship is actually quite formal and hence our talk often centers around restricted small-talk topics like what’s happening in office...or is there something special in town…and he sometimes say the market is going up or down to which I agree nodding….Since this guy works in the same office as mine I would say we talk more office matter …So that Saturday this is how the conversation went along…

A sullen faced roommate arrives at the balcony..

J: “it’s too much man…too much…!”
Me: “what …what happened?”
J: “I saw this delivery video…it was bad!!”

Working in a place where aircrafts are made and supplied to customers it’s often a gala event… Special deliveries are often marked with quite a lot of glitz and glamour…And the previous day there was a delivery for Air France.

Me: “Really!! I can’t believe it”
Me (thinking): “wow...this guy is so passionate about his work and bothering to check out the videos too...impressive!!”

J: “yeah...it was not as I thought…it’s quite a scene!!”
Me: “yeah…you are right… I was there for the last one…and it was awesome!!”
J (his face has now changed drastically): “awesome??”
Me: “ofcoz!!…they even gave us a T shirt….btw…where did you watch it? ”
J: “in youtube…but man…I couldn’t bear watching it!!”
Me: “hmm…I understand…sometimes it get a bit boring...with all the people!!”
J: “I mean its not boring…but its kind off gory!”
Me: “I don’t think so…c’mon…if you saw it ...the Emirates one... they pulled a fine job and now you are saying that they did not do the same with Air France...eh…hard to believe it.!! I think for em all customers are alike….am sure they must have made the whole thing spectacular”
J:”spectacular!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?”
Me: “Oh yes….SPECTACULAR!!”

*silence*

*still silence*

Me (mocking) : “Now what…you agree…isn’t!!”

*silence*

J turns and walks away…..

And then it dawns on me...

J is expecting to be a dad soon…Apparently the fathers do take part in the delivery procedure out here… he was curious to check out a baby delivery video in youtube….and I was happy thinking about more important things in life like whether I should buy a Reserva or a Bordeaux wine for the weekend….

And I couldn’t help a parting shot now that I realized…

“J…you know what…the pilot gets to cut the cord when the aircraft is delivered!!!”

And he walked away with a grin on his face…

Saturday, November 14, 2009

A game plan !

Mike and Gill went up the hill…
To fetch a completed stadium
Mike fell down and screwed his plan…
And Gill came tumbling after…

Now Mike did laugh and Gill did cry
But his tears soon abate;
Then Gill did say that they should play
At see-saw across the New Delhi gate.


~ excerpt from a nursery rhyme yet to be published.

Some time ago we saw our Prathibhajee doing a Patel pose at the courtyards of Buckingham palace with Elizabeth rajnee in what was arguably a very antique pair of national leaders holding the commonwealth games baton...Though we all wished the queen had given us back the Kohinoor diamond as a token of appreciation, she excused herself and instead offered us kidney pies and a free tour of the palace in a horse carriage which was lying unused at the Windsor stables…And as the ceremony took place we all saw Kalmadiji looking visibly tense pondering over the pace of construction back home…Damn the media for being critical of him!! Losers!! He was later seen shouting furiously over the phone to the bhai at the apparent lacksidal pace at which his villa in Pune was getting in shape. A concerned man indeed!!

Amidst all fennell seeds of distrust which seems to haunt Kalmadiji, we think the games are right on track…After all this is a event to showcase the rising India…Now the commonwealth games is actually a pretty serious event where we have to fight for medals with countries of fine sporting traditions like Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Samoa and of course the dark horse Tokelau. Though the first guffaw is already out when a athlete from Samoa was send a email by a sleepy games official confirming his participation…which went like …”It’s our honor to welcome an athlete from our ally Kingdom of Samosa…” Apparently the clergy is also up on their toes after news gained prominence that India would be welcoming three saints during the event…Special evening prayers are already in place in anticipation of the blessed arrival of St Helena, St Kitts, St Lucia and ofcoz not to mention Saint Vincent and his Grenadines…Personally am looking forward to athletes from Niue, Jersey and Isle of Man as I am not yet convinced that they are not fictional places from Lord of the Rings. But seriously to be fair, isn’t the whole games a huge ragging exercise where big countries like Australia, India, Canada and England invite tiny speck of islands which look more like cinnamon sprinkling on top of coffee. I mean isn’t it cruel to expect a country like Norfolk Island or Niue whose entire population might be less than the support staff of the Indian archery team to put a decent fight!!

However overconfident we are, we face intense competition from countries like Jamaica. Rather small as our spies figured out from a unused Atlas at the RAW office , Usain Bolt and Air Jamaica do share the only runway in that country in turns…It not just in athletics we face threat in our quest for medals…After all Pakistan has become virtually unbeatable in shooting events and Bindra dude can well kiss goodbye…Intensive training camps at Swat and Warzistan have left other competitors aimless and looking down the barrel. Our lone hope in this event apparently in quick gun murugan who might be able to thrown in a few surprises.

The inaugural showpiece ceremony as insiders say would be a bollywood affair with lot of daredevil stunts expected to be performed... Akshay Kumar would be swimming all the way from Caribbean’s wading his way through the shark infested Atlantic Ocean and Pazhassi raja might just drop in to showcase his sword skills… There is already a lot of debate happening over who else should take part in the ceremony. Reddy brothers have claimed the support of 64 IOA members and yet to figure out what they will do with the support. Close Reddy confidantes promises us a mine blowing show…With Kareena Kapoor romped in as a brand ambassador there are already fears expressed in media circles. 15 enormous weightlifters, the pride of our nation who were fed round the clock over the past few years with generous quantities of chickens, paneer, lassi and mutton soup by sports mantralaya inspite of the looming drought in the country have suddenly become frail .Doctors are still trying to ‘zero’ down the cause!!

Well any games doesn’t begin with its own share of controversy… A Mauritius swimmer was forced to swim all the way back home after he was chased by a welcome committee stationed at a western city in India...Apparently his desire to have Bombay duck was not taken too lightly!! The swimmer becomes the first person ever to swim across the India ocean and has wholeheartedly thanked the “Reconstruction Army” for make him realize his true potential…In a unfortunate turn of events the hockey sticks kit sanctioned for the Indian team was stolen from Thyagaraja stadium when visiting grey haired games officials mistook it for walking sticks. The authorities are trying to retrace it back.

To look at the positive side, the games village canteen is expected to satisfy all athletes from various countries. The chief chef promised that the menu was tailor made for each discipline. The games committee was not surprised to see a famous archer munching over arrowroot biscuits apparently trying to figure out the root cause of his loss of form. However coaching manuals leave a lot to be desired after one tennis player arrived at the hockey stadium coz his coach repeatedly told him ‘dhyan se kelo…dhyan se kelo’. He had to go back disappointed without any aces smashed down the court.

The event also promises improved language skills as intensive spoken English courses have started showing results… A recent event pointed out gives us a ray of hope…

Phoren tourist showing the map: “hey maan…I cannot find the place…”
Trained rickshaw driver: “I find Connaught place for you….
Phoren tourist:”okay…thank you…you can find the place...good”
Phoren tourist:”OK…. Lets go Teenmurti”
Trained rickshaw driver:”No sir...I am Narayana Murthy...I take you to Connaught place”
Phoren tourist:” uh!! “

Meanwhile as we speak and the phoren tourist is roaming lost in Connaught place I know deep down in my heart that we were having fun with the British by holding a games long held ago in their honor… And what could be a better tribute in current times than making a movie called London Dreams and hopefully make the queen watch it in Wembley….


P.S. Sorry folks for this post..i know you guys will understand...after all just the other day I saw london dreams.......

Listening to cheap tricks..

Monday, November 02, 2009

just some thoughts..

Friends…
Strength and comfort shall we seek...
Hugs and kisses exchanged in bonhomie…
Happiness and love we would crave…
Poems written and frescoes painted in pursuit…
Fear and anger we bump into in this ride…
Leaving us abandoned… in thoughts sometimes…
Leaving memories strewn… in a canvas called mind...
Some which got etched without asking us…
And we scrubbed hard hoping they fade...
Though the cobbler had warned… it only shines brighter…
And we move on…with dollops of myriad thoughts…
And we move on… looking ahead…
Hoping to touch that island of hope…and fresh starts…
Which seems so far away and yet…
We wished were close by!


Probably it’s the autumn which doesn’t help me write anything these days…I would like to share a quote meanwhile I saw in a email signature recently…

"If a drop of water falls in lake there is no identity, But if it falls on a leaf of lotus it shines like a pearl. So choose the best place where you would shine...."

I wish everyone of you the same!!

P.S. Today I finished 4 years in blogworld..Thanks a lot for the wonderful people out here who have given me company!!