It was one of those weeks that just don’t seem to end. But it had finally ended and it was time to kick into action the plan that had been doing the rounds through surreptitious emails and clandestine text messages.
I fired up my Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 and quickly got into a video chat with Rahul and Neha, childhood friends and travel enthusiasts galore. It was funny how the tab had become an almost inseparable device in the two short weeks that I had had it.
“So all set? You’ll reach there on time, eh?”
A resounding ‘Yes’ came through a visibly excited Rahul, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’m just leaving office and I’ll be there a bit early. Woo hoo!”
Neha whispered back urgently, “Not that loud dummy, I’m in the middle of a meeting. I’ll be there, but I could be a bit late.” “You guys won’t go off without me, right?” she continued nervously.
“No, no of course not, Neha. We’ll wait for you and get the bus to wait as well”, Rahul quickly reassured her.
The problem with using a high end tab like the Samsung Galaxy tab is that the high resolution camera provides very high picture clarity to the viewer. “What are you smirking at Nitin?” said Neha, looking quizzically at me. I quickly hid my grin and mumbled a ‘Nothing, I’ll see you guys there then’ and disconnected the call.
Yes, sure Rahul would go without you Neha!
Rahul had been secretly in love with Neha ever since I knew him. And this trip was going to be the great revelation to Neha. Rahul and I had planned the whole trip so that he could finally tell her his feelings in the lap of the picturesque valleys of Kodaikanal.
I knew I was going to be a bit of a misfit in the trip but Neha would not have come on the trip if I hadn’t come as well. Ah well, the things we do for our friends!
But I had my Samsung Galaxy Tab and I knew that I would not get bored even when I give the two of them as much time alone as I could. I had a whole bunch of HD movies that I wanted to watch on the 10.1 inch LCD screen of my Tab. Add to that the surround sound speakers and I knew that the weekend could not go badly as long as I had my Tab with me.
So finally at about 10 o’clock we boarded the bus that would take me to Kodaikanal, and Rahul and Neha to a happy, blissful life together. As we boarded I moved back a little so Rahul and Neha could sit together. A quick thumbs up and a grin from Rahul and they were both sitting and talking excitedly about the weekend ahead. I found an empty aisle seat and settled down to a long sleepless trip (I find it very difficult to sleep in moving vehicles, especially in hill roads).
As the bus started, I checked my emails and updates on all social networking sites using the Social Hub on the Tab. Quick and convenient I updated the picture of the three of us leaving for the trip and within seconds I got a comment from Pallavi, my girlfriend, who knew about the hidden agenda of the trip. ‘Ram, Sita and Hanuman!’, she wrote tagging me as Hanuman! Funny girl, I tell you!
I pulled up the Reader Hub and immersed myself in the latest Amitav Ghosh book and it was some time after the bus started that I noticed that the person sitting next to me was also not sleeping as well. He seemed to be really excited about something and could barely hold back a huge grin.
“Trouble sleeping in buses, eh?” I grinned.
He turned around and smiled. “Not really, I normally sleep like a baby. Just can’t seem to sleep today. It’s the best day of my life, you see.”
That piqued my curiosity, “Really? That sounds interesting. Mind if I ask what happened.”
He went silent. It seemed that he was trying to put a great emotion into words.
“Have you ever felt that the kind of life we live just curtails our spirit? Like a demon waits for you in office every day and plucks out one feather a day from the wings of our dreams until one fine day we realise that we can never soar again?”
“Well, I’ve really heard someone put it in those words, but I can almost imagine my boss fitting the role of the demon perfectly.” I said.
“Well, I have seen it happen to me every day for the last five years and now I’ve finally had it. I just picked up my bag after coming back from work. I came to the bus stop and stepped into the first bus I saw. This is the journey when I search for myself. I am never going back.”
“Wow that does sound amazingly brave. But, what will you do about money?” I couldn’t help asking.
“You know Nitin, how much money does a person need? I’ve worked hard over the last five years; I have enough saved to give me a simple life for a few years. I have simple tastes and do not need any expensive things.”
I wanted to ask him some more about him when by Samsung Tab started buzzing. It was Pallavi calling me and connected my headphones and had my pre-sleep conversation with her. I told her about the guy sitting next to me and the brave step he’s taken. She was also quite impressed and asked me to wish him luck.
“So what do you intend to do now?” I asked. I can be quite intrusive when I’m curious. Not one of my most endearing qualities.
“Well, I haven’t really thought about it. I just picked the bus and frankly I don’t even know where Kodaikanal is”.
“Oh, that’s easy”, I said as I fired up Google Maps on my screen. I switched on my GPS too and showed him where we were and how long it would take us to reach our destination. I also used the inbuilt Google Maps Navigation to show him what other places he can reach from Kodaikanal.
“The display on your Tab is very clear and sharp.”
“Thanks. Yes, it is probably the best display available amongst all Tablets in the market today.”
I was still curious and I just had to ask him how his family and friends had reacted to the news.
“I haven’t really told them yet. I don’t think they’d quite appreciate it,” he grinned.
I smiled back, “I bet. But I think it’s really great that you’re doing this. We keep thinking about doing this but never actually get around to doing it. I guess our self-control is not that strong. Good luck with your effort, man”
By this time it was quite late and despite my insomnia I started feeling a bit sleepy. As I shut down my Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 he turned to me, “Listen, if you’re sleeping do you mind if I use your Tab. I saw that you have a movie I really want to watch. That is unless it would drain out its battery”
“Of course, it’s got enough more than enough battery life. You can probably keep watching movies all night and it would still be working perfectly in the morning.”
I must have been really tired as I fell asleep almost as soon as I handed over my Tab to him. I should really ask him his name was my last thought as I drifted into dreamland.
I woke with a jerk as the bus stopped in the Kodaikanal bus station. It was a pleasant day and I could see that the trip was going to be fun. I looked around and Rahul and Neha were also just waking up. They seemed to have slept very late after talking through most of the night. The signs were good for Rahul!
“Good morning!” my companion chirped.
“Oh hello, did you sleep well?” I asked.
“Not really. I was up all night. Watched a couple of movies and then was reading on the Reader Hub. You’ve got quite a good collection of e-books.”
“Thanks, and see here, the battery is still going strong. What did I tell you?” I exclaimed.
“Yes, it sure is. Thanks a lot for letting me use your Galaxy Tab.”
As he handed back my Tab I felt that he had returned it a bit reluctantly. In fact I had to pull it a bit to get it out of his grip.
“Well, all the very best!” and I was off with Rahul and Neha.
The two days went just as we had expected. The weather was brilliant and so were the smiles on all our faces when Rahul proposed and Neha accepted. It was an amazing moment and I was able to capture it on video on my Galaxy Tab. I will present the video to them on their wedding and I’m sure it’d be the best gift they receive. Of course, I had to spend most of my time alone, but then I knew what I was signing up for and my Galaxy Tab didn’t let me get bored at all.
So after a great two days we boarded the bus back to Bangalore. As I was walking in I saw a familiar face. The same person I had met on my way here. I may have been imagining it but when he saw me his face fell a bit and he sidled down a bit to try to hide.
“Hey, remember me? Nitin”
“Oh hi, how was the weekend”, he responded.
“It was excellent. What a great place. How was yours? And how come you’re going back to Bangalore? I thought you were planning to stay here for a while and then travel randomly for some time.”
He was silent for a minute.
“Well, the thing is, I just kept thinking about the Galaxy Tab all the time for the last two days. I’ll go back and work for one more month. Buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab 750, and then I’ll definitely leave everything and start my journey!”
This is my entry for the Indiblogger 'Samsung: It's Time to Tab!' contest. You can see the launch video of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 here
If you like the post, please go to Indibloggers and 'like' the post. The link is:
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Crystalline Nostalgia...
The year, was 1991.
A warm Saturday afternoon. Too hot to play outside.
A 10 year old boy walked into his friends home. The home that held the keys to a whole new magical world for him. These were the days when the boy had just heard phrases that seemed to send his classmates into raptures. Phrases like WWF, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the like.
Yes, this was the time when the boy only had Doordarshan in his house and had only heard stories about this magical thing called 'Cable TV', a veritable rabbit hole that led into a delightful wonderland.
And today he was going to experience it, first hand. He could barely hold back his excitement and while people were talking around him, he felt in a different zone all together. Every few seconds he would steal a quick glance at the TV in the living room. Looked just like the TV at his own house, except for a thick wire snaking in from the window. Finally, it happened. The kids settled down and the friend turned around and said, "There's this fun show we watch on Saturdays. Let's see it now."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was when I watched Crystal Maze for the first time. And boy, was it fun!
People rolling all over, climbing walls, running from one zone to another, cheering on, doing puzzles, solving mysteries!!! What else could be more entertaining? Of course, I didn't understand it too much initially. It was too much of an overload (I was used to Doordarshan guys)for my innocent little brain. But I really enjoyed it.
AK put up a post of Facebook with a link to the Crystal Maze. And it just brought back memories of all those wonderful wonderful summer days when we used to just prance around and have so much fun. The card games (court piece)with family (my granny always used to win), waiting for the sun to go down a bit so that we could rush out like prisoners who suddenly discover that the jailer had accidentally left the doors unlocked!
Ah, good good days. Good to remember them.
And now there is another black crystal that holds a certain significance :)
19292
A warm Saturday afternoon. Too hot to play outside.
A 10 year old boy walked into his friends home. The home that held the keys to a whole new magical world for him. These were the days when the boy had just heard phrases that seemed to send his classmates into raptures. Phrases like WWF, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the like.
Yes, this was the time when the boy only had Doordarshan in his house and had only heard stories about this magical thing called 'Cable TV', a veritable rabbit hole that led into a delightful wonderland.
And today he was going to experience it, first hand. He could barely hold back his excitement and while people were talking around him, he felt in a different zone all together. Every few seconds he would steal a quick glance at the TV in the living room. Looked just like the TV at his own house, except for a thick wire snaking in from the window. Finally, it happened. The kids settled down and the friend turned around and said, "There's this fun show we watch on Saturdays. Let's see it now."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was when I watched Crystal Maze for the first time. And boy, was it fun!
People rolling all over, climbing walls, running from one zone to another, cheering on, doing puzzles, solving mysteries!!! What else could be more entertaining? Of course, I didn't understand it too much initially. It was too much of an overload (I was used to Doordarshan guys)for my innocent little brain. But I really enjoyed it.
AK put up a post of Facebook with a link to the Crystal Maze. And it just brought back memories of all those wonderful wonderful summer days when we used to just prance around and have so much fun. The card games (court piece)with family (my granny always used to win), waiting for the sun to go down a bit so that we could rush out like prisoners who suddenly discover that the jailer had accidentally left the doors unlocked!
Ah, good good days. Good to remember them.
And now there is another black crystal that holds a certain significance :)
19292
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Is this the season to piss me off?
I am so pissed off.
No, I really am.
It seems that all so called 'Services' companies have decided that first they will provide me with atrocious services, and as if that was not enough, would proceed to try to cheat me as well!
First it was Airtel DTH TV services. They provided horrible service and after multiple useless interactions with their customer service I wrote this email to them on 6th April:
Fairly harsh, eh? Would a service that depends on customers take this seriously? Of course!
So I received four phone calls from different people and after a lot of hullabaloo, nothing happened.
So I wrote this on 23rd April:
Harsher, right? Action? None. Basically, it seems to me that they're just trying to cheat me out of the refund due to me when the set top box is removed.
Anyway, I've just sent them an email telling them to remove the box and pay up by tomorrow or I'll go to the consumer court, and by God I will!
In the meantime, does anyone know Sunil Bharti Mittal's email id? I want to forward this email chain to him.
And to add to this frustration, the next company trying to fleece me is the Tata Motors services station (Prerana Motors, Hosur Road)where I get my Palio serviced.
I gave my car for service yesterday, and was given an estimate of, lets say 'X'. Now, just to put into perspective, X is quite close to the monthly rent I give.
And today, I had to call them up to follow up on my car and they casually told me that they won't be able to give my car today, and oh, by the way, the service will cost me 1.5 times X!!
Now, because I was given an estimate of X I had asked them to replace some parts in the car. If I had known about 1.5 X I may have postponed it as I do not want to invest so much money on my (now) old car!
Does anyone have the Tata Motors CEO's email id? I really want to send him an official complaint. Please help!
19178
No, I really am.
It seems that all so called 'Services' companies have decided that first they will provide me with atrocious services, and as if that was not enough, would proceed to try to cheat me as well!
First it was Airtel DTH TV services. They provided horrible service and after multiple useless interactions with their customer service I wrote this email to them on 6th April:
Hi,
My name is Swapnil Bhatnagar (customer ID: 3000519148) and I have been a customer of Airtel TV for the last few months.
And I am extremely disappointed with the service that I have received.
i. Two weeks ago I had raised a service request to enable the Fox Crime channel. After requesting twice I was finally informed that the angle of the dish will have to be changed.
ii. After waiting for another week a couple of service engineers came to change the angle
iii. After changing the angle they asked for ‘service charge’
iv. When I had spoken to the call center they had specifically informed me that this is a regular service that is being done for all customers and there will be no charges for this
v. When I told them this, they asked me for ‘tea-coffee money’ instead. Now I’ve heard of postmen and other civil servants asking for bakshish, but has Airtel really gone so far down the drain that a private company’s employees will first try to fleece customer with an imaginary ‘service charge’ and having failed on that, beg for a tip?
vi. The worst part is that half the channels are not coming clearly on the TV since the angle was changed – I was told that this will automatically improve after 45 minutes. It’s been 2 days and nothing has happened. I think this is ‘payback’ for not having paid them ‘tea-coffee money’, and I really resent this pathetic, unprofessional behaviour
Please solve this issue by this weekend or else disconnect this ridiculous TV from my place. Frankly, I’d prefer the local cable guy rather than this kind of unprofessional, money-fleecing service. I also want an extension of the service for a week in lieu of the lack of clear channels I have been getting since those two so called service engineers came.
Fairly harsh, eh? Would a service that depends on customers take this seriously? Of course!
So I received four phone calls from different people and after a lot of hullabaloo, nothing happened.
So I wrote this on 23rd April:
Hi,
Unbelievable!
You guys are just unbelievable.
After this complaint I got 4 different calls from different people all asking me for details and promising me the world in terms of quick resolution of issues. One gentleman even convinced me to recharge my TV with 200 Rs!
And in the end your so called 'service' performed exactly as I expected. Nothing happened. No one sent engineers to solve the problem. No one took the people who asked me for a bribe to task. And I also got an sms saying that my complaint has been resolved!! It has definitely not been resolved. Absolutely useless services and grievance re-dressal wing.
I really don't want to get into an argument with you any further. It would just be a matter of banging my head against a wall. Please do the following and we will part ways without any friction:
1. Treat this email as a cancellation request. I am moving to another service and I want the useless Airtel TV box out of my house ASAP. Please do this fast and also provide me with the correct refund
2. I am cancelling the service - move me away from your sms/marketing lists. I don't want any of your smses in my phone from now on. I will never take another service from you and will actively stop other people from doing the same.
3. Refund the 200 rs recharge that I did based on discussion with your nodal officer. This was the last recharge I did based on the faith that the complaint will be addressed
Quick word of advice, this kind of service will not make you successful in this business. Treating customer complaints with such disdain is the first step in the collapse of your business.
I really don't want to interact with your useless complaint handlers, so please do the above immediately.
-Swapnil Bhatnagar
Harsher, right? Action? None. Basically, it seems to me that they're just trying to cheat me out of the refund due to me when the set top box is removed.
Anyway, I've just sent them an email telling them to remove the box and pay up by tomorrow or I'll go to the consumer court, and by God I will!
In the meantime, does anyone know Sunil Bharti Mittal's email id? I want to forward this email chain to him.
And to add to this frustration, the next company trying to fleece me is the Tata Motors services station (Prerana Motors, Hosur Road)where I get my Palio serviced.
I gave my car for service yesterday, and was given an estimate of, lets say 'X'. Now, just to put into perspective, X is quite close to the monthly rent I give.
And today, I had to call them up to follow up on my car and they casually told me that they won't be able to give my car today, and oh, by the way, the service will cost me 1.5 times X!!
Now, because I was given an estimate of X I had asked them to replace some parts in the car. If I had known about 1.5 X I may have postponed it as I do not want to invest so much money on my (now) old car!
Does anyone have the Tata Motors CEO's email id? I really want to send him an official complaint. Please help!
19178
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
and You Can't Pull me Down!!...
Yes, yes, I've been a bad boy (not that way, you pervs). Its just that I've slowly become the kind of person who I thought I never would (no, no, don't worry - I'm still ruggedly handsome, ladies). I'm letting work affect my blogging. There, I've said it. No excuses, no futile explanations - I have become one of those people.
And I want to change back.
But this post is no forced effort to come back and start writing again. I experienced something, and while I was doing that I had that urge to write about it. And now three days and 12 hours in a plane, I have finally got down to writing about it.
Background:
I was in London last week on some work. AS kindly deigned to show me around the city and led to the most exhilarating experience I've had in a long long time - I went to watch a musical in the Apollo Victoria Theatre (I think it can officially be called one of the West End theatres)
Here's the link to the show:
http://www.wickedthemusical.co.uk
And what an experience!!
Now I'm not the kind who denigrates things we get in India (In fact, I think I may have convinced an intern in our London office to consider working in India to really grow and develop his career!), but this musical performance was at a whole different level all together.
Picture this, an old, ornate theatre dating back to the last century, rows upon rows of seats (5-6 times the size of Rangashankara, for those who're from Bangalore), amazing musical score, the most amazing sets I've ever seen and the magical choreography of, hold your breath, the props!
Fascinating.
The story of the play/musicals takes off on the famous tale of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. It is the story of the so-called 'Wicked Witch of the West'. Great spin to the story of how a different, yet magical, girl is transformed through deceit into an epitome of evil-ness by the Wizard of Oz and his PR machinery. The story of Glinda, the 'Good Witch', who came across as a typical dumb blonde, but was driven enough by ambition to cause the downfall of her true friend Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. The story of the star crossed love of the Winkie prince and the quietly adoring Elphaba. And the story of the poor Wicked Witch of the East, Ness, and her reluctant lover Boq.
OK, ok I'll stop before I get too sappy. But trust me, you get a chance to watch this musical, - you GO watch it! It's absolutely brilliant.
And I shall now leave you with the song from the soundtrack that lends itself for the title of this post. (This is not from the current cast of Wicked. I mean these are not the performers I saw - this is probably the Broadway cast)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XwmA0jyWMk&feature=related
Added: You just have to watch this rendition of the song to listen to the powerful song. And watch it till the end - it is absolutely awesome!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxkXbfdPp80
(But, I must mention that the use of the lighting and the props in this entire show was brilliant. This song though, has the simplest props. But when Elphaba finally flies off (defying gravity), the stage with a single light on her as she is suspended at the dead centre of the stage with a huge black sheet obscuring everything else on the stage - raises goosebumps, I kid you not.
Couple of captured videos, keep a look out for how she rises in the air. Of course this is nothing like being there, but will give you a clue:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-HkZoVWdREPc/defying_gravity_rachel_tucker_video/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-a7STMZPL9jI/defying_gravity_rachel_tucker_nov_23_2010/ )
And I want to change back.
But this post is no forced effort to come back and start writing again. I experienced something, and while I was doing that I had that urge to write about it. And now three days and 12 hours in a plane, I have finally got down to writing about it.
Background:
I was in London last week on some work. AS kindly deigned to show me around the city and led to the most exhilarating experience I've had in a long long time - I went to watch a musical in the Apollo Victoria Theatre (I think it can officially be called one of the West End theatres)
Here's the link to the show:
http://www.wickedthemusical.co.uk
And what an experience!!
Now I'm not the kind who denigrates things we get in India (In fact, I think I may have convinced an intern in our London office to consider working in India to really grow and develop his career!), but this musical performance was at a whole different level all together.
Picture this, an old, ornate theatre dating back to the last century, rows upon rows of seats (5-6 times the size of Rangashankara, for those who're from Bangalore), amazing musical score, the most amazing sets I've ever seen and the magical choreography of, hold your breath, the props!
Fascinating.
The story of the play/musicals takes off on the famous tale of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. It is the story of the so-called 'Wicked Witch of the West'. Great spin to the story of how a different, yet magical, girl is transformed through deceit into an epitome of evil-ness by the Wizard of Oz and his PR machinery. The story of Glinda, the 'Good Witch', who came across as a typical dumb blonde, but was driven enough by ambition to cause the downfall of her true friend Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. The story of the star crossed love of the Winkie prince and the quietly adoring Elphaba. And the story of the poor Wicked Witch of the East, Ness, and her reluctant lover Boq.
OK, ok I'll stop before I get too sappy. But trust me, you get a chance to watch this musical, - you GO watch it! It's absolutely brilliant.
And I shall now leave you with the song from the soundtrack that lends itself for the title of this post. (This is not from the current cast of Wicked. I mean these are not the performers I saw - this is probably the Broadway cast)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XwmA0jyWMk&feature=related
Added: You just have to watch this rendition of the song to listen to the powerful song. And watch it till the end - it is absolutely awesome!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxkXbfdPp80
(But, I must mention that the use of the lighting and the props in this entire show was brilliant. This song though, has the simplest props. But when Elphaba finally flies off (defying gravity), the stage with a single light on her as she is suspended at the dead centre of the stage with a huge black sheet obscuring everything else on the stage - raises goosebumps, I kid you not.
Couple of captured videos, keep a look out for how she rises in the air. Of course this is nothing like being there, but will give you a clue:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-HkZoVWdREPc/defying_gravity_rachel_tucker_video/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-a7STMZPL9jI/defying_gravity_rachel_tucker_nov_23_2010/ )
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Economics of Two Timing!...
I heard this story yesterday (yes, the day India won the World Cup, YAYYYY!!!!) and I just have to share this. I visualize this in my head and I split up in guffaws!
So I'll narrate the story as it was narrated to me.
Before that, a background.
This story comes from the experiences of H, and this is an incident during his college days.
So H had a friend, lets call him A, who was one of those dark brooding kinds that women find fascinating. Throughout first year of college he focused so much on his brooding persona that he never seems to have even spoken to any girl in his college (or maybe he was just shy). And this 'air of mystery' that he developed around him seems to have worked as he was accosted (?) by one of his classmates, lets call her C (why not B, an observant observer may ask. Hang on, that's part of this story, the handsome and mysterious chronicler of this blog will reply). This lady was one of those cute, bubbly, gregarious ones. This coming together of two opposites seemed like a romantic-comedy cosmic inevitable serendipity.
That's what A thought.
C, on the other hand, was a bit of a player. She was totting up A on her scoreboard. A scoreboard which at any given time seemed to have at least two cosmic serendipitous liaisons happening.
Some friends of A tried to warn him (not H, he's more of a live and let live guy. Doesn't interfere too much in anyone's business). And this led to incidents like brawls in the streets with A defending the honour of his cosmic partner, smoke and talk free days between A and his well-meaning friends.
C was also a big gift giver. One of those 'cute' gift givers who always 'thought of you when I was shopping and got you this'. The kind that dark, mysterious brooders can never resist. I mean come on, everyone likes getting gifts, give us a break!
So A's house was getting filled with cute little gifts, a pink teddy bear (gulp, yes, pink. The depths a mysterious brooder falls) here, a little bookmark there. He was in heaven when something happened that pushed him even further up into seventh heaven. He received a letter, an actual handwritten letter, 36 pages long from C. Oh,the joy! This was it, he had found his soul mate!
But then somehow C started spending lesser time with him and seemed 'busy' on many occasions. The evil green monster started raising its ugly head as ominous warnings given by his (few remaining) friends started to seem a bit true.
And then (and things were unclear in the story here - i think some unethical hacking was resorted to out here), he 'accidentally' logged into her email account and discovered the presence of B in C's life! (I told you B would make an entry!)
Distraught and dejected he realized that C was not the perfect angel he believed. He saw that this was going on for a while and in a truly selfless act, he decided to warn B of the nefarious C.
So he wrote him an email and received an astounding response - 'How can you say such horrible things about the sweetest angel on this earth? You loser, I'm sure you tried your luck with her and you're just trying to malign her name after she rejected you. She obviously picked a better man (me). So stay out of her and my life... If you know what's good for you.'
This stunned A. And a harmless brooder decided that enough was enough and he'll show this guy.
So that evening saw H on his bike with A riding pillion with two huge bags of all the gifts that C had given him. And the Pièce de résistance, the 36 page letter! They were going to B's house to show him all this and to drill the truth about C in his head.
So A reaches the house and rings the bell. B opens the door.
(think of the Good, bad, ugly signature tune here)
After locking stares with B for a while, A gently glances around and what's the first thing he sees?
A teddy bear exactly like the one C had given him adorning the side table which also had a book that (presumably) B was reading - with the exact same bookmark that C had given him!
All the gifts that C had given him were replicated in B's house as well!
C used to buy her 'boyfriend' gifts in bulk!!
Now that's what I call economies of scale!
18400
The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh
So I'll narrate the story as it was narrated to me.
Before that, a background.
This story comes from the experiences of H, and this is an incident during his college days.
So H had a friend, lets call him A, who was one of those dark brooding kinds that women find fascinating. Throughout first year of college he focused so much on his brooding persona that he never seems to have even spoken to any girl in his college (or maybe he was just shy). And this 'air of mystery' that he developed around him seems to have worked as he was accosted (?) by one of his classmates, lets call her C (why not B, an observant observer may ask. Hang on, that's part of this story, the handsome and mysterious chronicler of this blog will reply). This lady was one of those cute, bubbly, gregarious ones. This coming together of two opposites seemed like a romantic-comedy cosmic inevitable serendipity.
That's what A thought.
C, on the other hand, was a bit of a player. She was totting up A on her scoreboard. A scoreboard which at any given time seemed to have at least two cosmic serendipitous liaisons happening.
Some friends of A tried to warn him (not H, he's more of a live and let live guy. Doesn't interfere too much in anyone's business). And this led to incidents like brawls in the streets with A defending the honour of his cosmic partner, smoke and talk free days between A and his well-meaning friends.
C was also a big gift giver. One of those 'cute' gift givers who always 'thought of you when I was shopping and got you this'. The kind that dark, mysterious brooders can never resist. I mean come on, everyone likes getting gifts, give us a break!
So A's house was getting filled with cute little gifts, a pink teddy bear (gulp, yes, pink. The depths a mysterious brooder falls) here, a little bookmark there. He was in heaven when something happened that pushed him even further up into seventh heaven. He received a letter, an actual handwritten letter, 36 pages long from C. Oh,the joy! This was it, he had found his soul mate!
But then somehow C started spending lesser time with him and seemed 'busy' on many occasions. The evil green monster started raising its ugly head as ominous warnings given by his (few remaining) friends started to seem a bit true.
And then (and things were unclear in the story here - i think some unethical hacking was resorted to out here), he 'accidentally' logged into her email account and discovered the presence of B in C's life! (I told you B would make an entry!)
Distraught and dejected he realized that C was not the perfect angel he believed. He saw that this was going on for a while and in a truly selfless act, he decided to warn B of the nefarious C.
So he wrote him an email and received an astounding response - 'How can you say such horrible things about the sweetest angel on this earth? You loser, I'm sure you tried your luck with her and you're just trying to malign her name after she rejected you. She obviously picked a better man (me). So stay out of her and my life... If you know what's good for you.'
This stunned A. And a harmless brooder decided that enough was enough and he'll show this guy.
So that evening saw H on his bike with A riding pillion with two huge bags of all the gifts that C had given him. And the Pièce de résistance, the 36 page letter! They were going to B's house to show him all this and to drill the truth about C in his head.
So A reaches the house and rings the bell. B opens the door.
(think of the Good, bad, ugly signature tune here)
After locking stares with B for a while, A gently glances around and what's the first thing he sees?
A teddy bear exactly like the one C had given him adorning the side table which also had a book that (presumably) B was reading - with the exact same bookmark that C had given him!
All the gifts that C had given him were replicated in B's house as well!
C used to buy her 'boyfriend' gifts in bulk!!
Now that's what I call economies of scale!
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The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh
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