Monday, June 25, 2007

is it heaven or hell?

T1: We have the location, Captain.
Captain: Let me have a look. Is it the blue one?
T1: Yes Captain. Looks like Ze himself created it.
Captain: Definitely one man's job. You know what happened to Tazo when three of the architects put their brains together. Its three times bigger than this blue gem and its a mess.
T1: Yes captain. This planet definitely has a theme.
Captain: What is that big mass circling it. If its a satellite, I haven't seen a bigger one.
T1: Yes captain. Its registered name is Mun. The story goes that Se asked Ze to make a Dual System. That was 1.2 billion years ago. Their respective motions have changed with time.
Captain: That just proves women have not changed in a billion years. They ask for anything. Anyways, I believe that's why this Moon thing is white, the colour of peace and love.
T1: Yes Captain. That was the idea. Ze was the best. Legends say that he created the blue planet as an image of heaven. However things went wrong when Se died. Ze made systemic changes to mitiage his trauma. He was the chief architect, after all.
Captain: Have we sent troopers down to see what is the exact situation at this blue planet.
T1: Yes. We tried but this planet has a thick biosphere. There is too much of oxygen in it's lethal form O3. Even if we manage to cross it, the biosphere has got pure oxygen.
Captain: What has Ze created?
T1: He didn't want anyone to find out, it seems.
Captain: Whats on the Sulometer? Any life form?
T1: That's the strangest part. Sulometer readings are remarkable. This planet is accounting for at least 1/200 of total synergy in the entire Milky Way.
Captain: Impossible! That's astronomical for a single planet.
T1: Yes Captain. However, this synergy is distributed in at least a trillion creatures.
Captain: What!!! Does that mean....????
T1: Yes Captain. We have finally found the Hell.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

vat du u vant?

Ze: Vat du u vant Sweethart? Vat vud mak u hapi?
Se: Cn u brng mi dremz tu realiti? Cn u kreate a reflection?
Ze: Of corz mi ladi! Tel mi. Vat kinda reflection?
Se: A reflection of soul n soulmate bound in mass? Is it posibl?
Ze: Soul, soulmate n reflection. It is posibl.
Se: Vil u mak one for mi?
Ze: I vil. A dual planet system. Souls frm one vil luk at the ozer n thy vil se their soulmate.
Se: Cal 'em earz n munz, vil ya?

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

my first night shift

I was working in the Dye Lab those days. One of our night shift Lab Assistants resigned and hence I was asked to replace him. I accepted the task because I had heard a lot about the night shifts in production floor. Ours was a continuous dyeing and finishing plant and extra-ordinary things was expected any time during the night in the absence of resources and HODs. Anyway, that night I took my bike and started from home at 11.10 pm. The night shift started from 12.

Arvind Mills Bottomweights Plant (Trousers Division) is located at Kalol, some 25 km from the Satellite area where I lived. One has to go through a forest area and few small villages to reach the factory. That night I crossed the forests, for the first time, in pitch darkness. It was some experience. My plant looked like a glittering palace from far away.

As I entered my plant and punched my card, some of my collegues welcomed me. They told me that its my 'Suhaagraat' and I should give a party. The 'party' consisted of snacks worth 15-20 rs bought from the vendor who supplied us the 2 am tea.

I took charge from the lab assistant of the second shift and completed my activities within 40 min. Vijay Bhai, my collegue, told me that now I am free to roam or sleep or whatever, till 7 am when we would have to wind-up and hand over the charge to first shift guys. That was a shock since in day shift, one had to improvise work so as to look busy in front of the Boss.

My boss, Smarita, was a strong lady and it amazed me even now that how she managed to remain deplomatically cordial with each of the other department heads. In any production unit, inter-department friction is unavoidable and even necessary. Being the only woman on the production floor, she had the guts to even challenge the operations people.

Coming back to that first night, as I walked to the Pad-batch dyeing area, I found some disturbance. The entire floor was filled with water as some pipe had leaked. The dye incharge assured me this is nothing new and I will get used to such scenes in next few days.

The major events in night shift were the tea at 2 am and 6 am and the relieving exercise at 5 am. We had a small lake at our disposal for this purpose. From 7 to 8 am, we had hectic hours when we prepared reports for the night and kept samples in place.

In later months, I worked in other departments and even handled an entire department. Yet the charm of night shift never ended. Sleeping on a comfortable sofa and writing this blog, I can't believe I have spent months of nights in the great school of Arvind Mills Ltd.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

separate circles of trust

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I made friends throughout my different stages of life. However, all were part of one friend circle or the other. For example, the St. Michael's group consisted of Ankur, Adi, Kishore and Tushar among others. I am still in touch with most of them. It is as if I picked up the gems and cherished them as a treasure.

Once I thought if it is possible to get different circles together. I tried and the consequences were disastrous. The reason was plainly described by her. Actually, we live different lives in different friend circles. My behaviour and status in my college group would be entirely different from that in high school. An event where friends from different circles come together would lead to ambivalence and hence discomfort.

For most of the people, friends are more important than anything. I believe the reason is the equal platform on which a friend exist, which is not possible for a father or brother. The circle of trust is more firmly created when you share a secret with an equivalent. Again, different friend circles contain a separate set of secrets and emotions. It is wise to keep them separate.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

..devoid of their king..

I would like to recount the visits to Jim Corbett (known for tigers) and Gir Forests (known for lions) since both were equally remarkable.


Jim Corbett


It was my idea to go for a safari at Jim Corbett. Gyanu was working in Kashipur. Ramnagar, the gate town to Jim Corbett, was an hour journey from his place. It was the month of December. Chu, Aman, Dabas and myself started from IIT Hostel for the Old Delhi railway station. We boarded the Jim Corbett Express, although without reservation. When we reached Kashipur at 4.30 am, some of our body parts were numb with cold. We moved to Gyanu's house like five ghosts of the dawn.

Gyanu's was a modest accommodation. We had Maggi for our breakfast. At 8 am we started for Ramnagar. Gyanu informed us that the cine-crazy public of Kashipur rejected Veer-Zara in a week while movies like Sexy 16, Reshma ki Jawani and Ganga Bai were enjoying silver and golden jubilee there.

Ramnagar is at the foothills of the large forest of which, Jim Corbett is a part. We booked a Safari and filled it with ample food and drinks. However, when we reached the forest gates, we were informed that the time for entry is over. Our safari-man told us that he knows another way which goes all the way from the other side of the forest. We had no other option and hence followed his suggestion.

Five friends, a sunny winter day, a safari and prospect of watching a free tiger are enough conditions for an out-and-out gossip. That was all we did because after scavenging the forests for hours, all we could find were deers and elephants.


Gir Forests


It was the last stage of what I remember as a perfect journey. Day before we were in Diu. Manoj, Vandana, Thakur, Pats, Naveen, Su and me. The isolated and calm island of Diu, forces you to feel that you own this world. Its a remarkable blend of old Portugese architecture and modern India. The next day we went to Somnath Temples, one of the twelve jyotirlingas, and enjoyed the huge waves of Veraval coast.

Sasan Gir was a two-and-half hour journey by bus from here. After reaching Sasan, we took a safari and moved inside the jungle. En route, we heard that a family of lions have just moved ahead and we tried to follow their trail. It was a waste of time. After searching the forests for 3 hours we were completely exhausted. So we settled down for the flora of Gir.

We had to come back to Veraval before 8 as we had already booked tickets for Ahmedabad by a sleeping coach. So we left Sasan at 5.30 by a local bus. We had our dinner at one of the stops and were fortunate enough to reach the city of Veraval on time.

I call this as a perfect journey because we started for Diu on Friday night and reached back to Ahmedabad on Monday morning. Every thing fell to its place on its own and hence we managed to have a perfect weekend.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

a night out to remember

It was Jeeves' idea to celebrate my birthday party by going to a disc. Being a clumsy fellow, I love to hate dancing. Hence that evening, when Jeeves asked me to come over to Gurgaon, I had no idea we would be following his original thoughts. So I wore my floaters, clothed a dull t-shirt and started for Gurgaon on my bike.

Heavy rain started pouring as I reached Mehrauli, half way to Gurgaon. When I reached Jeeves' office, I was drenched to my undies. As usual, Jeeves was in a jovial mood and made some light comments on my situation. I asked him which retaurant they have planned for my treat. He said we all are going to Deck, the disc at the top of Sahara Mall. 'No way', I said.

Yet they took me there and made me dance in floaters. We had fun. Even if I did not get a bean bag to sit, it was an ideal birthday party. Everyone paid for their share and celebrated my birthday. Thats what I call ideal friends. At 1 am Yogi joined us and the 'M team' was complete. That was the last time we were together. Vihag, Ruchi, Seemu, Sabiha, Jeeves, Yogi & me.

There are lots of things to talk about that night out. And there were lots of things I cannot talk about. Cutting a long story short, we ended the fun by going to Genpact at 5 in the morning and having a stomach full of food (can't say it was dinner or breakfast).