Aamchi Mumbai - Part 1

6 months!! Whew that’s how long:

i) I have been out of my home sweet Coimbatore
ii) I haven't had regular access to parents' love or "cat love"
iii) I haven't seen my friends.
iv) I haven't eaten home food like idly, vada, dosha, etc
v) I HAVE BEEN IN MUMBAI!!!!

Well and since Mumbai has been my "hometown (temp)" for the past 6 months, I thought I should give it a small literary acknowledgement on my blog (plus get off my lazy butt and start writing!!!
:P)

Well I think I will start off with Mumbai: Part 1-----How I landed in Mumbai in the first Place!!!


On the 7th of May, 2010 ended my ever so sweet (which I now realize) college life. No more projects or periodicals or vivas or anything else which makes us crib (Yipeeeeee ) On the other hand, no more canteen trips with friends, no more “stealthy” hostel visits to see friends, no more sms-ing under the desks during class to the people sitting 5 feet away from you (SOOOOOOB). Well no more college – period. I had a job offer at hand and a few links which will lead me to modules and modules and more modules which would help me train myself to do my future job better. A job I knew I wasn’t good at (my friends don’t think so). I dint work hard and earn my silver medal and be the university topper in POLYMER ENGINEERING for a job in PROGRAMMING. But the pay was good and I made up my mind to do my Masters a few years down the lane. So started my initial days out of college.

May 12th, a Wednesday. Wednesdays have always been the luckiest day of the week for me. On this particular Wednesday, Dow Chemical International Private Limited was coming to our college to recruit a couple of graduates for a techno-commercial role. I was excited. Dow was an MNC and its history went way back and one of my seniors was in Dow and he encouraged me to do my best.

It was always my wish to give an interview in our college guest house. But never happened. Finally my wish was coming true. My interview with Dow was supposed to happen at the guest house. I dressed for the occasion –
*neutral colours – check
* tiny “almost invisible” accessories – check
*literature review – check
*mental preparation – NOOOO

I was scared out of my wits. I mean, I have attended interviews but my confidence just crumbles if I think of facing interviews. I steeled myself and sat for the pre-placement talk. The Dow team were 3 people – 2 gentlemen and a lady. They looked like they meant business. And so started the pre-placement talk. I was very impressed with what they were showing and I was really excited to be getting on board with them and I promised myself that I would try my level best and give the best interview I have ever given (out of the 2 :P)

I was to be the fourth person to give the interview and became a nervous wreck waiting for my turn. There were rumors flying all around about the level of difficulty, type of questions they were asking and what not.

My turn came and I went in – after a deep breath. I was standing in front of the two gentlemen. I offered my file with my resume and certificates but they dint take it cuz they had a copy of my resume and some forms in front of them. They started off by asking me to introduce myself, after which I was at ease. Some technical questions and we were done. They found my email id very interesting and asked me to explain, which I promptly did. They told me that the job would be based in Mumbai and there would be a lot of travelling and HINDI involved and I nodded my head along. DONE. Next came my HR interview and I was interviewed by the lady I had seen earlier and the questions that followed were what I could only conclude were routine questions. We were through. Then came the hard part – waiting for the results. I knew I had done pretty well and all but one cannot conclude what the other person has perceived or judged.

Days passed; my exam results were out and they were good. Me and dad decided to celebrate my grades with pizzas. On my way out, I got a call from a frend of mine who made one of the best sentences I have heard in my life – “You got into Dow and you are going to Mumbai.” Must have been one of my luckiest days :D I was ecstatic.

Then came the news which threw me off balance. Another rep from Dow got into touch with me a few days later and told me that I had to join on the 1st of June and I only had a handful of days left to savour my time at home. The next few just flew by like a blur. I went to Chennai to get a couple of pre-med tests done as required by the company, met a couple of my friends, did a whole bunch of shopping and bought my first ever flight ticket from CJB to BOM – Coimbatore to Mumbai.

The plan was to leave for Mumbai on the 31st of May and stay with my relative till I get settled in this hostel that I had found for myself. My dad was to accompany me and stay for 2 days.
And so the D day came and I had a whole load of luggage. The permitted luggage per person was 25 kgs per person and I think I had 50 kg – all weighed out :P. Good thing my dad was with me of course. And so I set out to the airport (after a whole lot of tears from my mom and a whole other lot of consolations from me). Surprisingly, I dint cry (no idea why). My wonderful friends; Hariish, SG, Vignesh, Karthi, Hariprasad ,to name a few, came all the way to the airport to see me off and the time came to board. I dint know when I would see my parents or friends next. I still dint shed a tear, very very weird. I got my bags checked in, my boarding pass done and moved to where my mom and bro and uncle were sitting. Bid them one last goodbye (still no tears) and proceeded to security check. All this was a fresh experience for me and my dad and after a few silly mistakes (hey! Nobody is perfect) we were all buckled up inside the Kingfisher Red flight.



I gotta say, you guys, travelling by flight is by far the most amazing feeling I have got in my life. The feeling lasts only for the first two times, after that it becomes like “oh sure, what else is new!!!” :P :P The bundles and bundles of clouds that you feel you can just jump onto, the way the river looks like a thread weaving across green plains and coming closer down you feel its like this huge blue blanket, the way buildings look like tiny coloured boxes, I could just go on and on. In short, it was great!!! :D

I reached Mumbai mid afternoon. The flight from Coimbatore to Mumbai takes about an hour and 45 minutes. The Mumbai airport has two terminals and I got down at 1A and it was huge considering the fact that I have only been to 2 airports in my life. My dad and I went out to meet my relative. The bags were put and we rolled the car out of the airport and the first thought that came into my mind was this “OH MY GOD!! Look at the crowd!!”. The place was bustling with activity and everything was either too small or too huge.


And just like Dumbledore tells Harry, I got myself prepared to step out and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure!!! :D

First day in College - My prize winning entry for short story writing. :)

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“Good days are to be gathered like grapes, to be trodden and bottled into wine and kept for age to sip at ease beside the fire. If the traveler has vintaged well, he need trouble to wander no longer; the ruby moments glow in his glass at will.” - Freya Stark

Passing out students from schools and colleges are always talking about how much they love their schools or colleges, a few days prior to their farewell. I have pondered and pondered, but have been unable to find an answer up until a couple of days back. Being blessed with a lot less homework, complemented by a natural ruminating tendency, can do wonders in greasing the so called “gears” in your brain – of course, in a situation devoid of entertaining-electronic-gadgets or what we call EEGs. Being final year students, and having experienced a few situations when EEGs eluded our schedule, we found ourselves going over those days when we were still cool in school (hey, that rhymes!!), those first few months in college when all we did was complain and crib about “how much we missed school” – to be brief, “days that go way back”. I hit jackpot during one of our discussions on our first day at college. The discussion was, as always, most entertaining. But it got me looking at my first day in college in a new light – in a more analytical (but enjoyable) sense of how I have come a long way from then.

For the sole benefits of entertainment and a couple of rib-tickling laughs, if not, sniggers – here’s how my first day in college went:

The date escapes my memory but it was mid – july when I started the next part of my “adventurous” life journey called College. I considered myself lucky getting into Amrita, what with those endless TNPCEE and new syllabus confusions, anybody in the 2006 – 2010 batch is lucky to be in amrita. One of the questions my “non-amritian” friends always haunt me with is “Why Amrita?” and I always say (still do) grown up stuff like, “excellent placement record, ambience, infrastructure, etc etc” and the very same question came when my friends called me up the day before college re-opened. And I knew then and there, Amrita was a place to fear. That drove me into having one of the many sleepless nights I have had, that night.

The next day dawned nice and bright, I remember because I couldn’t help wondering why God was being so cruel (haven’t we all?) – the weather was an exact opposite of my mood, cloudy with a chance of tears. My dad, very kindly, offered to drop me at college so many kilometers away and I realized this is how kids (including me), who start school anew, feel. But I was thankful that my dad was going to be there and I wouldn’t have to feel lost among new faces. I did have friends from my school coming to Amrita but they were in different departments and I dint feel any better.

The journey to college was quick or it was because I was distracted by all those gruesome images of myself at the end of the day popping into my head. I reached in time for the induction ceremony to be held at the Amriteshwari hall, waved my dad goodbye and was soon joined by my friends (felt a whole lot relieved). I felt so completely out of place in one of the most beautiful campuses I have ever seen. We settled into Amriteshwari hall a few minutes later, unfortunately we had to sit with our own departments and I grudgingly let out a “See you later” and sat down with my “friends-to-be”. Nobody spoke a word or even turned their heads when I sat. Apparently quite a few of them knew each other already and saw them chattering away, which made me even morose.

The induction began with the lighting of the lamp and speeches from the pro-chancellor – Swami Abhayamrita Chaitanya and some guests. The speeches included anecdotes and messages. A couple of anecdotes later, I felt warm, cheered and welcome. I am sure everybody did. The ceremony lasted 3 hours or so after which first years from every department were scheduled for tours around the college – to get to know our ways around the enormous campus. Assembling in front of the ever-famous Saraswathi statue gracing the campus, the non-initiated “grouping” of boys and girls presented itself. Being a born “chatterbox” and “socialite”, holding my tongue through the induction ceremony was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. A few minutes into the afore mentioned “grouping”, I found myself a friend and someone to talk to. God wasn’t so cruel after all, I concluded.

But my happiness was “ever so” short lived. We were giving tours in the alphabetical order. A-N was grouped into one and the rest were in another group. Being named “Vidya”, I was shipped into the latter. A grudging goodbye to my friend (her name starts with an ‘A’) later found me walking at the very end of the group, hoping that the tour would get over fast so that I could meet up with my friends. No sooner had the tour begun; I forgot that I was new to the place. The campus was amazing, I fused into the group naturally and as one we “ooed” and “aahed” at the buildings, the mountains, the peahens (in the workshop), the huge library (this one was my personal favourite) and everything else. We passed by other departments going through the tours and as luck would have it, I found some long lost friends of mine from school in the other departments. The day was getting better and better. Come lunch time and I found myself asking God for His forgiveness for having called Him cruel. The food in our plates was a feast fit for kings.

We were to be shown to our classrooms after lunch and we were asked to re-assemble at Sudhamani hall. I dragged (having had a heavy lunch) myself up the stairs to the venue. I found my friend and chattered away. A few minutes later, I was chattering away with almost all the girls in my class. Thanks to my good fortune, one of my classmates was also going to be my future bus mate, bus-stop mate and one of my friends with whom I would laugh with for years to come.

Feeling well-settled “we” started out to our class-to-be and at once decided that last bench it is, as has been my routine. Unfortunately, fate played its dirty game, yet again, through my so-called “friend”. I have never forgiven her for the fact that she made me sit in the very front of the class. After the tour and the seating arrangements with much grumbling and mumbling, we decided to push off to the canteen (was visibly brightened!!) as we had nothing better to do.

We replenished ourselves with a lip-smacking light snack. Deciding that the day couldn’t get any better, we lucky “day scholars” waved good bye to the “not so lucky” hostelites and went to our respective bus stops to catch a ride home in our college buses for the very first time (atleast for me). The ride home was tiring, having tramped all over the campus. The art of sleeping in bus was still unknown to us being newbies, so my friend and I spent the journey home getting to know each other better and sharing experiences. That was when we got our first dose of “advise” right then, right there. One of mine or her experiences, I forget which one, was hilarious and as is the habit for both of us, we laughed out loud. A little too loud, sadly. One of the teachers in the bus called us to his seat and for the whole bus to watch, “advised” us. Heights of embarrassment, we achieved that on the very first day of college. Something, we still recollect, share with our juniors in the bus now and laugh about. The rest of the journey, fortunately only a few minutes, was spent in silence.

We got down at our bus-stop, spent a few minutes chatting, as is usual with “girls”, waved a happy “good-bye” and went our ways. I remember going home, eating my heart out and flopping down on the bed after a brief account, complete with cribs and complaints, to my parents. And that was how my first day in college went.

If I were asked to give my juniors a one-line account of my first year, I would tell them that the first year of college is where you get settled in. And amidst all the chaos and confusion, the bonds we make remains then, now and forever. College is the place to be and the first year is too special to be spent complaining and cribbing. My fourth year at college is at the brink of completion and I never get tired of laughing over all the fun and stupid things we did way back in the beginning.

This piece is all about my first day at college – embarrassing, stupid, morose, ebullient and what not. But in the end, I felt settled in. And it’s all thanks to God, fate, my good fortunes, my ever so co-operative friends and of course, last but not the least, my ability to talk non-stop.

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

"What's the heading?" - Is this what you are thinking? You will get your question answered soon enuf. Patience my frenz.

"Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" is the name of this absolutely hilarious animation movie which I guarantee is a "must-watch". The movie reeks of imagination, creativity, humor, sarcasm, great script, awesome dialogues, out of the world animation, huge eyes, cute characters, very noticeable bloopers, you name it, the movie has it. :D Absolutely a family entertainer.

The title may suggest to those who "think a lot" that its something to do with the weather but in a weird sense. you are absolutely right, my thinking friends. It has everything to do with weather and yes, of course, in a very weird sense. :D Watch the movie to know what I am talkin about. Read more about the movie here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844471/

Trust me you guys, I was expecting just this very ordinary goody goody movie from Sony animation and what do I get? By the end of the movie: my side was in pain and the best part is - I wanted to have a go at it again!!!! :D

C ya guys!!! Watch it for all its worth. :D

1411

Did you know that there are only 1411 tigers left in our country? If you thought for one second that 1411 is still a big number, you are absolutely wrong and not an Indian to begin with. The striped beauty is the national animal of our country and to think there are only 1411 of our national animal left, its a shame and disgrace. To hell with those who call themselves hunters. Those money thirsty mongrels should seriously consider hanging themselves. Imagine how cold their hearts must be to diminish the once abundant striped beauties!!

Hats off to Aircel for spending money and booking leading celebrities like Dhoni and Surya for such a wonderful cause. The one with the cub reaches out to you in a way which brings tears to your eyes. Speak up my friends. Every little bit helps, you may never know. Spread the message and be aware. Its high time we stepped forward and voiced our opinions. Be an Indian.

Save the tigers!!!!

3 idiots

If you haven't heard of the controversies going on about the recently released movie '3 Idiots', the let me tell u somethin my frend - You are somewhere from out of this planet. Ugh! Any body who watched the movie AND has read '5 Point Someone' will be definitely intrigued by the claims and accusations that they fling at each other.

To talk about the movie: I loved it. It was one of the best college movies I ve seen after Dil Chahta Hai considering Bollywood. Aamir rocked as the ever so envied Rancho. Sharman and Maddy have done their roles to such a perfection that you might end up looking them up in your colleges too :) Since I dont like Bebo (never did), I felt someone else could have done a much better job. But all the same - 3 idiots has done balaatkar pe balatkaar - oops so sorry - Chamatkar pe chamatkar ;) everyone who hasn watched the movie - you are an idiot - so go watch the movie if you have a little bit of dignity left. :) just kidding you guys but do watch the movie. You will love it - nan guarantee!!!

And the controversies... well chetan wants credit for the story its based on. A very few important scenes from the book were connected to form the framework of the movie. The movie ppl gave him money and promised him credit but no sign of the latter according to Chetan's allegations. Aamir, his temper on the rise, told all kindsa crap about Chetan. Things turned ugly almost went to court. Then Chetan, the sweet person that he is, said he wanted to move on. That's how it is for now. The latest snippet is that Chetan has moved right opposite to Aamir's place - they sure wanna get close in real life :D I appreciate that.

As for me, I am unbiased. :) I loved the book and so did I love the movie.

Credit, schmedit. Arey bhaiya, Aal Izz well!!! :)