Private no more

Pretty much a routine I today IT world is the phenomenon of hired cabs taking on the public transportation role.
In this era of fast paced everything it comes as no surprise when a person is out to make a quick buck on the company. This is a daily scenario in the life of every commuter who waits in bus stops. Well it certainly helps the public in getting from point a to point b with absolutely no hassle sans the jostle in the cab itself, but come to think of the company which pays the driver to come back to the company at the earliest. The plight of its employees is in the hands of the cab driver who is infact busy making an easy buck on the side. Well not that the person goes out of his way to transport the public but still isn’t it the companies valuable time out that is taken advantage of?
Coming to a scene I happened to witness the other day. A friend and I was standing outside a pastry shop which happened to be just beside a bus stop, a stop where people were crowding waiting for a bus to come. Then all of a sudden some of them started rushing to a mini van which had halted where a bus should have. The amount of people in that got in the van would have easily crossed his daily bata( money given to the driver per day). The van was a satyam cab. As the van pulled away in its place stood a HAL bus, followed by one of Infosys, TCS and to top it all a tanker lorry. Whew it makes you wonder ain’t there a thing called private? Another thing one wonders is where is the government run buses and how do they fare in between this stiff competition.

Decibel Demons

Riding back from my aunt’s place early this morning, the music playing a soothing tune spoiled only by the steady humdrum of my bikes engine dreaming about how my day is going to turn out I would never have thought that it would lead me to seriously think about such a topic.
Getting back to the thought that lead to this blog is me being sandwiched in between three auto-rickshaws (small, three wheeled, rear engine vehicles). Now imagine a scene where you have a walkman ear plug in your ear with a decently loud soothing music and riding atop a royal Enfield bullet. It is bound to make a ruckus no doubt. Well all this noise was suddenly drowned out in the sandwich I was stuck in… the ricks emitted an ear splitting unpleasant noise absolutely alien to any of the other states or in-fact cities/metros. My o my it was certainly a relief to the ear once I overtook the ricks.
This incident immediately jogged my mind to the previous day when a friend and I was sitting beside the road watching the world go by at a busy intersection. Here out of the hundreds of cars that passed by the traffic light the only noises emitted came from the ricks that were buzzing past shuttling passengers from one point to another. The sound was so overpowering, that the sound, after some time came to symbolize the traffic flowing smoothly at the intersection.
After coming back home I happened to glance at an old newspaper lying around and guess what staring back at me out of the newspaper was an article on the street I was sitting only a few hours earlier being judged as the loudest street in the whole city. The article even went to the extent of quoting a few shopkeepers on the sound levels of the street with the traffic and that they need to switch on to a/c mode to beat the heat. For once even the businessmen were thanking the government for passing the law that prohibited the entry of auto-rickshaws into the street.
Well the mentions of an auto-rickshaw always draws out a linguistic dialogue that is never pleasant to the ear. Never grateful ever frightful an auto driver and his ride. No one ever cares for this contraption but then why does it run, probably just to irritate the passers and make us be thankful for other means of transport.

A brawl. The perfect dessert.

Tummy full to the nostrils with a rich staple of ghee smothered rice and chutney, the cool night air gently enveloping you with its chillness and the moon peeping out of the clouds every now and then provides for the perfect setting after a good dinner.
This scene is suddenly interrupted by the hollering of two people shout some gibberish which I don’t think either of them understood. In a matter of seconds a huge crowd forms around the two people, using their fists to get the point across. After a few minutes the whole scene becomes quite clear to everyone gathered around. Apparently one among the two did something that actually offended the local and the local was beaten up really bad.
The local played upon the sentiments of an equally hot blooded local and together they start beating up the other person who incidentally happens to be a malayali. A malayali alone… not the case. Pretty soon his friends to join in and it becomes a drunken brawl. The malayalis flying is directions previously unheard off, thrown on parked bikes and pinned under bikes. Pleading for sympathy pretty hard to come by they get trashed left, right and center.
This brawl actually provided quite a number of passers by to actually vent their days frustrations on the unsuspecting youth who happened to hurt the sentiments of a local. Noticeable among the whole fight was this huge built person armed with his helmet belting the day light out of one of the youths.
Suddenly as if on cue the whole scene stands frozen in time. It takes a few second for the overseeing crowd to understand why these people have stopped. The scene relaxes with the blast from a police siren. One short burst and the whole area becomes civilized and one starts to wonder why he is actually standing there.
The police cruiser moves along and just as it turns around the corner one of the locals notice the main character of the malayali gang talking on the phone. This infuriates the local like a stone thrown at a beehive and the fighting continues with even more vigor.
Pretty soon the energy levels and the blood preassure of the participants drop several notches bring the whole scene becomes one of hugs and pardons.
Well having seen this whole scene and actually staying away watching the whole drama unfold was like taking the balcony ticket to an action scene from some movie. Now the scene getting boring by the minute has lost its charm to hold the attention of people, who were slowly filtering away going on to catch a bus, ride or drive on and walk back home.
This brawl provided for the perfect dessert to a whole some dinner. Now maybe this is what dinner with a show means.

HOW WEIRD CAN PEOPLE GET?

The other day as I was waiting for a colleague of mine to board the bus a couple of things came to mind. They had me thinking hard on what can only be termed as commercial success. Well both the incidents require a lot of visualizing…. Think over it and you will get the drift.

The first incident can only be aptly caption as a space ship on six wheels. We were standing by the footpath when out of the dark night comes this orangey red light with a touch of green.. Illuminating the night in this strange color is this mode of transportation something one is expected to sleep in. Drawing closer to the curb we get a closer look of the contraption often called as an airbus. Airbus or not well it was a proper sleeper, as in one where the upper part of the bus is transformed to beds for passengers and the lower areas for sitting….
On seeing this all you can think of is the poor passengers who can only fall asleep dizzy. Faint First Sleep Tight….

The above incident was immediately followed by the next…
This get funnier… after the initial colourful distraction comes the second joke of the day a bus laden with so much luggage one will probably think the bus is actually a lorry with an exceptionally large cabin, a cabin made for 70 people. The bus looked like it would break even on the trip even without the passengers… my this got me thinking how weird could people get….

FIRST DAY ON A NEW JOB…. REFLECTIONS

First day of work in a totally new environment was WHEW… thud thud thud …..The steady pounding of my feet on the footpath in a mad rush to catch the bus to work was all I could hear. Not the strum of the guitar coming off a country song playing off my mobile. Waiting for the bus turned out a futile effort simply due to the reason everything was written in kannada! One hurdle down a few more to go. The next thorn was the beeline for a rickshaw…. OOF caught one and only to see that the guy was intent on giving me a tour of the city… the tour did have one good turn to it. I got to know of an alternate route to the office, thank heavens for that as I had come in handy once in a while… With a a lot of shakes and rattles I finally get to the office and to the place I went for my interview. Got introduced and was led to the section where I was to work.
Like all first days my first day was no different. Apprehensive. Tense and a bit worried, I step into the office followed by the person who introduced me to the rest of the staff…. Comprising of a few counts more than thirty. I get to know a half this number first all who came from different backgrounds. The funny part was that you had to converse in around five different languages if you wanted to get heard or communicate.
Sitting around doing nothing wasn’t suiting me right I guess because I got to work within hours after the orientation. Got myself assigned a computer to get set on booking tickets…. My I said to myself what have I got myself into? But was this just the tip of the ice-berg.
But this like so many first days on a new job I left a bit confused, wondering what I am to do and how will I be able to help the organization in its plans for growth and prosperity. Hopefully I think this will change for the better and I play an important link in this chain.

Comprehending a change….

A new city…. A new job… A new environment… Apprehensive and tense but never-the-less adventurous.
But then as the saying goes ‘conditions improve with time’ – sounds really true. Once you begin to take in the culture of the city, be warned… they have absolutely none… the culture is kind of a mixture between a southern and a northern kind. Well to be honest the southern culture dominates over the original with the prominent one being Kerala, followed closely by Andhra and Tamil Nadu.
Another thing bound to hit you strong, is the influence of the Hindi language! You know Hindi well sit back and enjoy and for those who don’t better get out the old English to Hindi translators you have hidden up n the attic or find yourself a suitable company to teach you the basics, coz if not you are left with kannada. Believe me kannada is easy to an extent you kind of learn a couple of words and you are set for the customary greetings….. out of which ‘chenna idira’ and ‘oota ayitha’ being the most prominent. In kannada you basically have good morning good evening and good night all reduced to ‘oota ayitha’. Which by the way means, had food? By greeting standards this has got to be the ultimate.
Moving on from culture and language the next best thing you get in Bangalore is, believe me, is the climate. Whew there is a perpetual wind never ceasing ever blowing. At times on strong windy days you hear the chattering of teeth even with two over coats on you. But all said and done it’s a very good climate one you’ll absolutely fall in love with in seconds…
Speaking of the climate, I got into conversation with a couple of very aged but really cool people whose only regret with the improvements for the city is the traffic and the pollution. Well traffic is avoidable if you really put your mind into it but pollution is a totally different problem. What was pleasant weather eight years back is now reduced to smog (smoke + fog).
Although I came comprehending a change one this drastic yet funny in its own way is what life is all about….

IT we make IT happen

Reflecting back a few days, I remember a particular morning conversation that got me hooked no thinking hey that’s true…

Well have coffee with a couple of my colleagues, waiting for our anchor the conversation started on the very mundane things anyone would talk about over a cup of coffee. Conversations ranging from the very absurd facts of life to problems to be solved in the course of the day, costumes to dialogues and people to animals… over the course of this we started pondering over the usual commuting charge within the city. What do you know Bang all of a sudden we are zooming in on the various aspects of the rise in inflation in the city.

Over much reflection we zero in on the main industry that cause / caused this inflation. The IT industry. The IT industry is the main cause of the cities high cost of living. Imagine people making like 50Gs a month after all expenses… where does he go and spend this extra moolah in the city. This extra moolah has like kind of raised the bar on the common mans’ expenses. Well come to think of it IT has infact changed the face of the plight of numerous farmers. IT we make IT happen