aditya kumar's weblog

A little more than 3 months ago, the company I worked for, had worked for since I started working, filed for bankruptcy. The organization was based in America and we had a setup in Bangalore which allowed us to work from here.

Sitting here in Bangalore, I was told, in a chat window, that the company had closed down. Everyone had resigned there. As I said, we had an arrangement with a company in Bangalore, a rather complicated one, though I could not care less about it at that time for I still could come to office. The new thing, of course, was that I had no work and no salary. With me, in the same boat was another friend. Our lives, as they say, were screwed up.

And so began a new test of our lives. A test that would go on for almost two months. We had no money. We had no savings, surprising since we were never the pub-going kinds. And its hard to ask cash from home once you start maintaining your own life. Movies came and went but we never visited the cinema. We spent our weekends at home. We delayed all our bill payments as much as we could and sometimes it got embarrassing. I had no money to pay for the hosting fees for this website. I did not pay my cell phone bill and I used to get those messages — the one which threaten disconnection with nice words (“The amount due is xxxx, we value your association”).

A few cheques got dishonored and so did I.

I could never imagine that all I had worked for would go down like that. Who would have thought that an association spanning more than a couple of years would be terminated in a chat window? And that one day it would be an unending source of embarrassment was unthinkable.

That was the hardest thing to swallow. Not the money, not the absence of work. It was what we got in return for our loyalty.

Some people who knew about it helped me with their soothing words at that time. They did not know the exact picture, they don’t know about it even now but they knew I was in deep trouble. That they were concerned about it was evident in their emails, their phone calls, their text messages. I want to thank all of them for that. To everyone who emailed, to everyone who paid for the coffee. They know who they are.

Things changed for the better after some time. But, for my vocation, it is yet to recover from this debacle. Maybe now, a part of it is my fault. Things are yet to be in total control but I think it would be okay in some time. This time, though, I stand alone.

This post, written on the 6th of June, posted tonight.

Now, to talk about Delhi.

First of all, I think a lot of people don’t know that I am from this city :P Though I have not stayed here much, I have done a substantial part of my schooling from Delhi (5 years) and have visited this city every year for the last 24 years. (Apart from a period while I lived here for 6 years, that is). So I, kind of, know this place.

I have seldom mentioned about my Delhi connections on my website.

I went ‘exploring’ the city today, all by myself. I went to Connaught Circus/Place and I must mention, that it is the only other place in India that reminds me so much of the fountain area in Bombay. The pavement book-sellers, the cloth merchants, the water-vendors, the snack-sellers, the list does not seem to end. Of course, this time around, there were a few surprises. In my 30 minutes walk around the place, I came across two McDonalds restaurants (or were they three?) and one KFC. Three American junk-food restaurants, packed to the maximum, within a radius of one kilometer. See, this is the kind of foreign invasion we are dealing with here. That is, of course, if you think of it as a foreign invasion.

New Delhi has changed. More for the better than for the worse. The better: The roads are wider, the city is flaunting its gleaming new metro rail, the new fly-overs keep welcoming the traffic. The worse: Delhi has less power, lesser water, as always. And yes, the people are ruder. Sorry guys, I think you really need a crash course in politeness.

Now that I have mentioned the ‘gleaming’ new Metro rail, more on it has to be impending. The Metro, I feel, could be termed as the capital’s pride. I liked the fact that its actually not running empty. It was full capacity during my short afternoon journey from “Rajiv Chowk” to “Chandni Chowk”. More than the fact that it is a top quality product, I think to complete the work schedule on time, cutting the red-tapism is in itself, is a bigger, better achievement. This is how plans should work. If you think about it, its a simple thing. It is nothing but a plan that has worked right on schedule. If this is what it can do for one city, the possibilities could be endless.

Evening, I watched “Da Vinci Code” at PVR Rivoli. Every old cinema hall nowadays has a “PVR” prefixed to its name. Put in good interiors, add a little polish, a little ‘garnish’ and sell the tickets for Rs.200. Coming back to the movie, what a waste. No, not just the money. I am talking about Tom Hanks. You don’t need Hanks to play the role of Langdon. How to play Robert Langdon? Just keep popping your eyes in curiosity, appear to think all the time, keep mumbling to yourself, say “code” most of the time and keep listening to Sophie. Heck, even Tom Cruise could do it!

The sign, in Hindi, in front of my seat in the airplane says, “mausam kharab ho toh kripya shishu ko fold karke rakhen“. Meaning, if the weather is bad, please fold, right, fold, the baby. Yes, the baby.

The same sign below, in English, says, if the weather is bad, please keep the baby wrapped in blankets.

This, my dear readers, denotes the state of our own language, in our own land.

I will be in New Delhi for a week, starting tomorrow. Unlike my other trips, I can’t say that I am ‘travelling’ since this is not the usual ‘Adventure_&_Explore’ trip. Also, no train travel this time around.

Air Deccan, this time, is my carrier of choice. I hope I get the ATR to fly in, since all the times I have travelled in Indian Airlines, I have only got to see the A-320s. (Thats more-or-less all that Indian Airlines has, right?).

Next post, from New Delhi.

I first watched “The Rainmaker” in Delhi, when it was released in 1997. It was the first english movie I saw and also the first time I went to a multiplex. In fact, they didn’t even call it a “Multiplex” at that time.

There was one more reason why I remember that movie. Karan Thapar was there, standing alone, waiting for the show to begin. I could not be sure at that time though, but it was confirmed when he mentioned his own movie experience in one of his columns for the Hindustan Times a couple of weeks later.

I liked the movie so much that I wanted to buy the book minutes after the show ended. I could not afford to buy that book at that time but I purchased it a few months later and went on to read all of John Grishams in the next two years.

I have seen the movie a few times and I love to see it because Rudy Baylor, a fresh law school graduate, the main character of the movie (played by an always impressive Matt Damon), is a hero of sorts. He is nothing less but the guy next door but as the story progresses so does the stature of his character. He doen’t know that you are supposed to ask the judge’s permission before you approach the witness but he does not repeat his mistakes again. He is imperfect, yes, and that’s the beauty of it. He is scared but not intimidated.

And Somewhere in the movie you realise he is telling you to be the same.

Watch it if you can. If you like good cinema, you will love it.

“It’s hard keeping my mind on Leo Drummond and his people.
They’ll be flying in first class, and after dinner, they’ll discuss my destruction.
When I check in to Motel Six, they’ll be sleeping soundly in their suites.
They’ll wake up fresh and rested and ready for war.
It’s my deposition, but it’s their turf.”

Have your cake and eat it too!

The magazine of todays Sunday Times of India carries an advertisement claiming Kerala to be a monsoon, honeymoon destination. It shows a young couple, in each others arms, under a tree, by a river as the rain is pouring in.

On the left side of the advertisement, a line says “Showers of passion”.

Now, I am nowhere near being in such a position, but I wonder if it were the case and if, impressed by this advertisement, I decide to goto Kerala, would they allow me to do that? Won’t the police come and hit me? Won’t the moral police condemn it? Hell, I could even be on National television. Afterall, in India, its almost criminal for a couple to even hold hands in public. So what if they are married.