Disclaimer: This is gonna be a helluva long post!!!
December 26th 2007 was a day in my life that I'll never forget. Words cannot describe what I went through on that fateful winter night.
Before questions start hovering in your minds, let me take you back to Friday the 21st December 2007. I had planned to spend my Christmas in Italy. No, I am not one of those privileged souls who spend their holidays abroad, I was in France last winter, so I thought of paying my Italian friends a visit for Christmas.
Before I bore you with my story, you will need to be familiar with the names of a few French and German Cities/Towns.
Orbey, France - Home and office in this small village
Colmar, France - Nearest town, and Railway station
Strasbourg, France - The Nearest city.
After the office hours on Friday, I went to Colmar with a colleague and spent the night at his apartment. Got up at 6 in morning to catch the first train to Strasbourg. Reached Starsbourg in about an hour, and waited for an hour for the Lufthansa Bus to Frankfurt. After a 2 hr bus ride, through thickest fog ever, and with a 10 min stop at the Franco-German border, I reached Frankfurt Airport. I was happy as I had 4 hours before my flight to Italy. But as my luck would have it nobody knew from which terminal RyanAir (the Air-Deccan of Europe) flew. As it turned out, it didnt fly from Frankfurt Main Airport at all and that it flew from an unheard-of airport called Frankfurt Hahn. To make matters worse, that friggin Hahn airport was 150 Kms from the main airport. From that point my adventure began.
I managed to find the bus to Hahn airport. Boarded it and let out a sigh of relief. I thanked god that people in Germany were conversant in english. And I thanked god for one more thing, I had a Brazilian beauty for company all this while and some more time. Beauty is an understatement, Bombshell is the right word ;).
What followed after that short-lived scare was the awesomest time of my life. Met all the people I knew in Italy at a party. Those guys had arranged a trip for me to a near-by city called Ferrara. Then I stayed with some Indian guys whom I had made friends with in my last trip and played cricket with them. Had a rocking time in all. Four days went by in a blink of an eye.
But what was to follow this was nothing short of an ordeal. From here on, me catching every flight or bus was touch and go. The flight back to Frankfurt got delayed. Reached Frankfurt friggin Hahn at 8:25 PM. Rushed out to catch an 8:30 PM bus to Frankfurt Main (this was the last bus by the way). Had to reach Frankfurt main by 10:30PM at any cost so as to avoid spending the night at the airport. To make proceedings interesting, there was a traffic jam on the freeway. The bus stood there for what seemed like an eternity. Reached Frankfurt main at 10:28 PM. I dont know how, but the driver spotted me running towards the bus and stopped it, I boarded it and dozed off.
I was to reach Starbourg at 1:00 AM. I didnt have any issues with that as I already had booked a hotel and the bus was to drop me at the doorstep of the hotel. But when I am involved, how can things go perfectly?? I reached Starsbourg at 1:00 AM, I went to the hotel reception and to my horror, the hotel was full and the receptionist didn't budge. So there I was, on a Snowy december
night, all alone on the streets of Starsbourg, no where to go. I had to find a place to spend the night as I had to catch a train to Colmar in the morning. Unlike in India, train stations in Europe dont operate at night.
I roamed and roamed on the deserted streets of Strasbourg till the wee-hours of the morning seaching for a hotel and to top it off, it was snowing cats and dogs!!! I finally found a hotel at 3:30 AM, I went to the room and crashed. Got up at 6AM took the train to Colmar, met the colleague at the station (had tied-up with him) and he took me straight to the office. So much for going to the office.
To sum up the experience, I felt like a contestant on the Amazing Race. Only difference being the winner of the Race gets a million dollars. And considering the fun I had in Italy, I already had won my prize.... :)
Friday, December 26, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Bitter Sweet November
Here I am after a month long hiatus. It was not a planned one though. Just that I was a wee bit lazy to blog.
November month came and went by. The month that started in anticipation and excitement. Everything was going good on the work front, had a couple of marriages to attend, had a long holiday trip to Bangalore planned, and last but not the least India was doing bloody well in cricket. An unplanned/unexpected thing happened too, and it made me pretty happy. No no i didnt find a girl, but I got a mid-year hike :D. Man, what a month it was going to be!!!
After ages I went on a trip with my whole family. My cousin was getting married in Bangalore. Had the 2nd most awesome train journey of my life ;). Well the most awesome was when I was coming back from Bangalore 5 years ago and had this gorgeous girl for company. Coming back to the present, train journeys are always fun provided you have the right company. Here we were 5 guys and we had loads of fun. Laughing aloud at stupidest things, playing cards, singing and what not.
We all landed up in a place in Andhra called Anantapur for the groom's side gathering. There we had an all boys outing. Before your imagination runs wild, let me tell you that we went to the Anantapur Club and played snooker. I cannot recollect the last time I laughed so much. In the process, me and my bro got named as Steve and Mark, after the famous Australian Waugh Twins. :)
This marriage was one of the best ones I had attended. After all the closest cousin of mine was getting married, it HAD to be fun!!!
Post marriage, my family with very close family friends drove down to Tirupati. What a wonderful trip it was. Catching up with those family friends after about 15 years was like going back to childhood all over again.
These 10 days were the best 10 days in a long long time.
As not everything that starts well ends in the same fashion. The last week of November saw something that India had never seen before. 10 armed guys wrecked havoc in Mumbai. I am so sad about whatever happened there that I dont even feel like writing about it.
Just as any sweet stuff leaves a bitter aftertaste, so too did November 2008.
November month came and went by. The month that started in anticipation and excitement. Everything was going good on the work front, had a couple of marriages to attend, had a long holiday trip to Bangalore planned, and last but not the least India was doing bloody well in cricket. An unplanned/unexpected thing happened too, and it made me pretty happy. No no i didnt find a girl, but I got a mid-year hike :D. Man, what a month it was going to be!!!
After ages I went on a trip with my whole family. My cousin was getting married in Bangalore. Had the 2nd most awesome train journey of my life ;). Well the most awesome was when I was coming back from Bangalore 5 years ago and had this gorgeous girl for company. Coming back to the present, train journeys are always fun provided you have the right company. Here we were 5 guys and we had loads of fun. Laughing aloud at stupidest things, playing cards, singing and what not.
We all landed up in a place in Andhra called Anantapur for the groom's side gathering. There we had an all boys outing. Before your imagination runs wild, let me tell you that we went to the Anantapur Club and played snooker. I cannot recollect the last time I laughed so much. In the process, me and my bro got named as Steve and Mark, after the famous Australian Waugh Twins. :)
This marriage was one of the best ones I had attended. After all the closest cousin of mine was getting married, it HAD to be fun!!!
Post marriage, my family with very close family friends drove down to Tirupati. What a wonderful trip it was. Catching up with those family friends after about 15 years was like going back to childhood all over again.
These 10 days were the best 10 days in a long long time.
As not everything that starts well ends in the same fashion. The last week of November saw something that India had never seen before. 10 armed guys wrecked havoc in Mumbai. I am so sad about whatever happened there that I dont even feel like writing about it.
Just as any sweet stuff leaves a bitter aftertaste, so too did November 2008.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Marley and Me....
....a book that made me laugh (out loud, that is) and cry. Yeah, I admit that I was teary eyed and the throat was all choke-y by the time I finished reading it. I had never imagined a book could bring out so many emotions in me. I must say, all the people who love dogs, or let me just broaden the group a bit, all those who can read, must read this book.
Marley and me is about a Dog which, according to the author, John Grogan, is the World's Worst Dog. The kind of humour the author has incorporated and the kind of emotions he has weaved into the story, its hard not to get totally involved with the proceedings in the book. The book is not a work of fiction, it is a personal account and experience of the author with his dog, written in first person by the author (of course). The book journeys from the time Marley is a little puppy to his death. The best part about this book is that I knew what was going to happen in the end, but I still ended up teary eyed.
And now am excited about the movie that is being made on this book. The trailers are out and they look good. Owen Wilson is playing John Grogan and Jennifer Aniston, his wife Jenny. Heard it'll be out this Christmas. Cant wait to watch it!!!
I have never been a fan of autobiographies till now but this book has changed that opinion of mine. I recommend this one to everyone. Read it and you'll not regret.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
What a Weekend!!!!
So many things have happened over the weekend (have taken the liberty to include friday as well), that this blog post was inevitable.
First of all, SACHIN TENDULKAR finally (can't stress this word enough) became the leading run scorer in test cricket. Every single human being who has even an iota of knowledge about cricket can assert the fact that this is THE most significant achievement any cricketer can aspire to achieve in his career. The highest number of centuries in both forms, maximum runs in One-Day Cricket (limited overs crickets - according to the new terminology), a few 100 wickets, catches, sixes et al just fade in front of the latest feather in the Master Blaster's Cap. Hail Tendulkar.. You have brought back the record to India.. !!!
Next in is Dada or Dadi as he is lovably called by his team mates. Just imagine the situation of a man who has put in his papers and still earns the best employer award, due to his sheer determination, knowing the fact that this was his last job and promotions and appraisals will be things of the past in a few days. That is exactly what Saurav Ganguly did, when he scored a century in the 2nd test of his Final series. This time he wasnt fighting for a place in the side or answering his critics. He was playing for his own self. A poster in the audience said, " Dada, you will never retire from our hearts" and I second that..
Am not even touching upon Dhoni and his Captaincy part. He has given the term "leading from the front" a whole new definition.
Away from cricket now.
I went to Jaipur last Saturday. A completely un-planned trip. Maybe I could define it as sitting-over-a-coffee-discussing-n-hey-lets-go-somewhere trip :). What a trip it was!! Had loads of fun. Am not an early morning person, getting up early in the morning is like pain in the places I cannot mention here :P. But getting up for this trip was worth every minute is spent being awake (made up for the lost sleep in the cab though). The best part about highway getaways is the Dhaba food and not to mention, a trip with friends is always fun.
Life has a strange way of balancing the good with the bad. The weekend also saw the now infamous Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) goons attacking people from UP and Bihar, in Thane, and wrecking havoc. These people had come for their railway services examination, knowing little about the other examination that Mr Thackeray was planning for them. A news said today that one man perished due to the attack. In my opinion, people like Raj Thackeray should be sent to an isolated island far away from any signs of human habitation. Or maybe tying him to Chandrayaan, which is going to be launched tomorrow, will not be a bad idea.
To sum it up, it has been an eventful weekend. A few occassions that gave me happiness and a few that made me sad.
First of all, SACHIN TENDULKAR finally (can't stress this word enough) became the leading run scorer in test cricket. Every single human being who has even an iota of knowledge about cricket can assert the fact that this is THE most significant achievement any cricketer can aspire to achieve in his career. The highest number of centuries in both forms, maximum runs in One-Day Cricket (limited overs crickets - according to the new terminology), a few 100 wickets, catches, sixes et al just fade in front of the latest feather in the Master Blaster's Cap. Hail Tendulkar.. You have brought back the record to India.. !!!
Next in is Dada or Dadi as he is lovably called by his team mates. Just imagine the situation of a man who has put in his papers and still earns the best employer award, due to his sheer determination, knowing the fact that this was his last job and promotions and appraisals will be things of the past in a few days. That is exactly what Saurav Ganguly did, when he scored a century in the 2nd test of his Final series. This time he wasnt fighting for a place in the side or answering his critics. He was playing for his own self. A poster in the audience said, " Dada, you will never retire from our hearts" and I second that..
Am not even touching upon Dhoni and his Captaincy part. He has given the term "leading from the front" a whole new definition.
Away from cricket now.
I went to Jaipur last Saturday. A completely un-planned trip. Maybe I could define it as sitting-over-a-coffee-discussing-n-hey-lets-go-somewhere trip :). What a trip it was!! Had loads of fun. Am not an early morning person, getting up early in the morning is like pain in the places I cannot mention here :P. But getting up for this trip was worth every minute is spent being awake (made up for the lost sleep in the cab though). The best part about highway getaways is the Dhaba food and not to mention, a trip with friends is always fun.
Life has a strange way of balancing the good with the bad. The weekend also saw the now infamous Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) goons attacking people from UP and Bihar, in Thane, and wrecking havoc. These people had come for their railway services examination, knowing little about the other examination that Mr Thackeray was planning for them. A news said today that one man perished due to the attack. In my opinion, people like Raj Thackeray should be sent to an isolated island far away from any signs of human habitation. Or maybe tying him to Chandrayaan, which is going to be launched tomorrow, will not be a bad idea.
To sum it up, it has been an eventful weekend. A few occassions that gave me happiness and a few that made me sad.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Joys or Sorrows of Net Banking
Internet has made our life so easy, especially when it comes to banking. Having to stand in long queues in the bank is the last thing one looks forward to. I am sure everyone will agree with me on this.
Last week while I was transferring some money (infact it was quite a lot of money) from my HDFC account to my ICICI account, I realised that, the account which I was tranferring to, was not mine. And then the revelation dawned on me, as to why I didn't get any intimation when I had transferred the money the last time. That was back in July. I had transferred about 5000 bucks and forgot to check my account then and conviniently forgot the whole matter.
After a flurry of frantic calls to the Customer Care of both the banks and listening to your-call-will-be-answered-in-3-minutes crap for close to an hour, in my opinion Customer Care Service should be called as "We-Dont-Give-a-Damn-about-the-Customers" Care.
But then having a friend working for a bank always helps. I called her up and gave her the account number to which I had tranferred the amount. She spoke to the guy, and luckily for me, the guy was generous enough to return the money. Apparently he stays so busy with work that he seldom has time for all the worldly stuff like Banks, money etc.
But getting back the money required me to go to the ICICI bank a couple of times. I was reminded of the foregone days of manual banking. A few calls and e-mails between ICICI and the generous guy, the manager told me that I am extemely lucky (am I?? I don't agree Mr Manager) coz the account holder whom you gave the money lives in Noida. Saying this he asked me to get the guy's signature on the print of the e-mail that was exchanged between the branch manager and the account holder.
I went to meet this Mr Generous in his office last sunday. He works as a Sr Producer with India TV and he happily told me that he was responsible for whatever we watch on India TV. No wonder he is super busy!!! And man, am I lucky or what, to meet the MAN behind all the breaking news shit ;). I joked* saying that I won't be surprised to see a breaking news on TV which says, "Anjaan bank account se 5000 Rs credit hue" dekhiye yeh sach theek 7:30 baje!!!
Producerji, if you happen to read this blog and are offended by the preceding paragraph, I apologise for saying what is true. But what matters to me most is that I got my MONEY back and am indebted to you (pun unintended)!!!
* with due credit to Rajat Singhvi (No i am not confused abt the 2nd name of Rajat Sharma, the chairman of India TV)
Last week while I was transferring some money (infact it was quite a lot of money) from my HDFC account to my ICICI account, I realised that, the account which I was tranferring to, was not mine. And then the revelation dawned on me, as to why I didn't get any intimation when I had transferred the money the last time. That was back in July. I had transferred about 5000 bucks and forgot to check my account then and conviniently forgot the whole matter.
After a flurry of frantic calls to the Customer Care of both the banks and listening to your-call-will-be-answered-in-3-minutes crap for close to an hour, in my opinion Customer Care Service should be called as "We-Dont-Give-a-Damn-about-the-Customers" Care.
But then having a friend working for a bank always helps. I called her up and gave her the account number to which I had tranferred the amount. She spoke to the guy, and luckily for me, the guy was generous enough to return the money. Apparently he stays so busy with work that he seldom has time for all the worldly stuff like Banks, money etc.
But getting back the money required me to go to the ICICI bank a couple of times. I was reminded of the foregone days of manual banking. A few calls and e-mails between ICICI and the generous guy, the manager told me that I am extemely lucky (am I?? I don't agree Mr Manager) coz the account holder whom you gave the money lives in Noida. Saying this he asked me to get the guy's signature on the print of the e-mail that was exchanged between the branch manager and the account holder.
I went to meet this Mr Generous in his office last sunday. He works as a Sr Producer with India TV and he happily told me that he was responsible for whatever we watch on India TV. No wonder he is super busy!!! And man, am I lucky or what, to meet the MAN behind all the breaking news shit ;). I joked* saying that I won't be surprised to see a breaking news on TV which says, "Anjaan bank account se 5000 Rs credit hue" dekhiye yeh sach theek 7:30 baje!!!
Producerji, if you happen to read this blog and are offended by the preceding paragraph, I apologise for saying what is true. But what matters to me most is that I got my MONEY back and am indebted to you (pun unintended)!!!
* with due credit to Rajat Singhvi (No i am not confused abt the 2nd name of Rajat Sharma, the chairman of India TV)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Mom!!! I can cook...
When I was busy a couple of months ago, with a lot of things happening on a lot of fronts in life, I had so many ideas and topics to write about. Now that I am relatively free (read not many things playing on my mind now), I can't think of anything to write..
These days there is not much work happening in the office, so I get a lot of time to think. After racking my brain and delving deep into my past (well not so distant past), I came up with the following story.
Last year I had an opportunity to travel to Italy. This was my first overseas travel. On one hand I was excited and looking forward to the 3 months I was gonna get to spend in a foreign country, but on the other I was a bit apprehensive and wee bit worried about what lied ahead for me. I had never been away from home before, always had been lucky that way, be it college or job. And here I was all set and raring to go.
Being a vegetarian is the last thing you want when you are travelling abroad. So food stuff occupied most of my luggage space. I carried rice, spices n all kinds of Dal. I am sure the airport security-check guys must've been thinking, "yeh restaurant kholne jaa raha hai kya??".
Before this trip, I couldnt cook even if my life depended on it. But then, I was surprised, and pleasantly at that, at my culinary skills :). In the beginning it was all about being careful while adding even salt but towards the end of the stay I could cook blind-folded. I could now call myself a decent cook if not an expert at cooking. All this self appreciation and boasting lead to, me falling in a trap. Fed up of my going gaga over my trysts with cooking, a colleague (poor guy, working on the same project as me, was my only listening board), one day decided to call me to his home. His invite was as follows,
Italian (speaking english in italian) : Hey Kartik, there is a party in my house this weekend and I'd like you to come.
Me (happy at the fact that i'll get to eat authentic, home cooked italian food): Thanks, that's so nice of you. I would love to come. What's on the menu??
Italian: Well, I am planning to have Indian Food.
Me (uh..oh, i see where this is going): So where are you going to order the food from?
Italian: No no, you got it wrong. You are going to cook!!!!
Me: #é'@\^**$$!!!
But then, it went off really well. That was the first time I had cooked for someone else (there were 10 people that night). I thought my mom would be so proud. :)
If the trip to Italy was about learning to cook, the trip to France that followed was all about experimentation. I learned to make Chappatis, used to make Aloo Ka Parantha on weekends and made a whole lot of other stuff as well. Even had the French colleagues over for dinner and cooked a variety of dishes.
My mom was worried about my eating while I was away from home. But now, my critical analysis of food that she makes at home, annoys her no end. :D
These days there is not much work happening in the office, so I get a lot of time to think. After racking my brain and delving deep into my past (well not so distant past), I came up with the following story.
Last year I had an opportunity to travel to Italy. This was my first overseas travel. On one hand I was excited and looking forward to the 3 months I was gonna get to spend in a foreign country, but on the other I was a bit apprehensive and wee bit worried about what lied ahead for me. I had never been away from home before, always had been lucky that way, be it college or job. And here I was all set and raring to go.
Being a vegetarian is the last thing you want when you are travelling abroad. So food stuff occupied most of my luggage space. I carried rice, spices n all kinds of Dal. I am sure the airport security-check guys must've been thinking, "yeh restaurant kholne jaa raha hai kya??".
Before this trip, I couldnt cook even if my life depended on it. But then, I was surprised, and pleasantly at that, at my culinary skills :). In the beginning it was all about being careful while adding even salt but towards the end of the stay I could cook blind-folded. I could now call myself a decent cook if not an expert at cooking. All this self appreciation and boasting lead to, me falling in a trap. Fed up of my going gaga over my trysts with cooking, a colleague (poor guy, working on the same project as me, was my only listening board), one day decided to call me to his home. His invite was as follows,
Italian (speaking english in italian) : Hey Kartik, there is a party in my house this weekend and I'd like you to come.
Me (happy at the fact that i'll get to eat authentic, home cooked italian food): Thanks, that's so nice of you. I would love to come. What's on the menu??
Italian: Well, I am planning to have Indian Food.
Me (uh..oh, i see where this is going): So where are you going to order the food from?
Italian: No no, you got it wrong. You are going to cook!!!!
Me: #é'@\^**$$!!!
But then, it went off really well. That was the first time I had cooked for someone else (there were 10 people that night). I thought my mom would be so proud. :)
If the trip to Italy was about learning to cook, the trip to France that followed was all about experimentation. I learned to make Chappatis, used to make Aloo Ka Parantha on weekends and made a whole lot of other stuff as well. Even had the French colleagues over for dinner and cooked a variety of dishes.
My mom was worried about my eating while I was away from home. But now, my critical analysis of food that she makes at home, annoys her no end. :D
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
HEROES : Season 3
Heroes is gonna start again!!!!! Yay!!!!
Volume 1 : Genesis
What a beginning it was.. One helluva show.. Got me completely hooked...
Volume 2 : Generations
A season that started on a damp note but by the end of the 11th episode (post which the show ended abruptly - due to the writer's strike), the show had reached the peak. The episode ended on such a high that I could hardly wait for the season 3 to start.
Volume 3 : Villians
Remains to be seen. The rushes hint at an awesome journey ahead.
Why am I going ga ga over this?? Its the only show i follow religiously, plus it was my only solace while living in the remote village in France. I would watch episode after episode till wee hours of the morning and would end up going to office all groggy eyed :P
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