After weeks of procrastination (I actually have 4-5 post ideas written in my head :P), it finally came to a head today, and here I am at 4 AM, penning down a post with mahh poor hands shivering in the Delhi cold :).
Well, the week (i.e. the last one) started off pretty well, what with it being my last week on my 1st assignment and an eagerly-awaited evaluation at the end (my 1st BCG scorecard if you might call so), it turned out pretty okay, so Friday I left a happy man for Gurgaon, on 10 working days vacation (hehe, I actually am on leave till Feb 5th). The 1st mishap registered itself in the form of my newly-installed Airtel landline (as nascent as Jan 8th), and on calling the Airtel helpline, they couldn't figure out what the problem was (in the Man's own words, "I haven't seen anything like this evvah", well then you nevver had to deal with someone as ossumly luck-gifted as me :P).
Now, I have got a Indica, which as is expected, I am not great at driving. Basically, I need a lot of practice to get the confidence of driving around. So, my Dad and I managed to get hold of a Chacha-Bhatija trio who promised to drive for me on Weekends. So, come Saturday, I had plans to catch Guru with my friends at PVR Rivoli in CP, Delhi. The driver is expected to turn up at 9 AM, but as it happens, 11 PM went by with not a trace of the man anywhere. I called Bhatija #1 who told me his Chacha would be around in an hour. 12 noon, the story remained the same. I called B1 again, and this time he promised to send his brother in 1/2 an hour. 12.45, no improvement, I called again, and was duly told None can come today. Now, more than anything what pisses me off is when people don't respect my time, I reawwwllly get mad. So, I fired (for whatever it was worth) all the three guys on the spot, and I have promised myself to get my driving upto speed ASAP (please pull me on this whenever you can :D).
So, now to mishap #3. I decided to go and visit my Mamaji in Lucknow, and hence, with an upbringing steeped in thriftiness and frugality, I had Papa dearest buy me a railway ticket on Saryu Jamuna Express Monday night 9.15 PM. Well, but only. God had lots of plans for me in store to teach me a lesson for once and all. It started with the courier my dad used to post the ticket. Even though I was sure I was at home, the courier wallahs somehow managed to miss me and even though my fone num sitting smugly on the envelope top, it was put in the Return bin. But, with my Dad's ossum threats, they finally fetched the order and asked me to pick it up from their office, which is in Gurgaon. "In Gurgaon" might sound close, but really Ggn distances are huge. So, I took a rick in the sun and wasted around 2 hours to fetch the courier and the ephemeral ticket.
But, anyways all said and done, I left at 7 pm for the NDLS station, and again trying to save some bucks, I decided to catch a bus at Delhi. But, only yet again :). The buses in the evening are sooo choc-a-bloc, even the thought of boarding them (and that too with a suitcase and a latop) are absolutely rubbish. So, after waiting for 15-20 mins, and with no other recourse I finally hired a taxi for 400 bucks. As I was going, thanx to Mamaji, I got to know that the train was from Old Delhi and a mid-course correction was achieved. And then Papa called with the news that the train had been delayed by 5 + hours to 2.35 AM !!!! Anyways, with nothing to do, I dumped my bags in teh cloak room and went to CP to do my thing :-), i.e. watch a movie, something which never disowns me and respects my time (mebbe KANK din't), and ironically the reason for this respect might be Money and only money :-). So as it is , I watched Risk (Next post :P) and got out at 1 AM. Went back to the rly. stn. and had a Masala dosa and then retired to the Retiring room. And, then the train was delayed by another hour and a half. And, the true Impulsive me come to fore. I came down, cancelled my ticket (incidentally, for trains delayed more than 3 hours, you are refunded the whole amount), and then booked an Auto for 450 bucks back to Gurgaon. And by the time I landed, my jaw was half-frozen sputtering words like a Chinese trying to ape a Japanese. All of this for my money-saving antic, but its a lesson well-learned :), now nothing less than kingsize will do evvah :).
Ab I am gloved, capped and sleepy :)...and yea, I am not taking off my socks for any, anything at all. Hope this week only gets better !!
Ta-wa !
Ranjan
P.S. With my teeth chattering in the Auto, the only song which played in my head is this beautiful num from Anwar by Roopkumar Rathod;
Go figure :-).
Well, the week (i.e. the last one) started off pretty well, what with it being my last week on my 1st assignment and an eagerly-awaited evaluation at the end (my 1st BCG scorecard if you might call so), it turned out pretty okay, so Friday I left a happy man for Gurgaon, on 10 working days vacation (hehe, I actually am on leave till Feb 5th). The 1st mishap registered itself in the form of my newly-installed Airtel landline (as nascent as Jan 8th), and on calling the Airtel helpline, they couldn't figure out what the problem was (in the Man's own words, "I haven't seen anything like this evvah", well then you nevver had to deal with someone as ossumly luck-gifted as me :P).
Now, I have got a Indica, which as is expected, I am not great at driving. Basically, I need a lot of practice to get the confidence of driving around. So, my Dad and I managed to get hold of a Chacha-Bhatija trio who promised to drive for me on Weekends. So, come Saturday, I had plans to catch Guru with my friends at PVR Rivoli in CP, Delhi. The driver is expected to turn up at 9 AM, but as it happens, 11 PM went by with not a trace of the man anywhere. I called Bhatija #1 who told me his Chacha would be around in an hour. 12 noon, the story remained the same. I called B1 again, and this time he promised to send his brother in 1/2 an hour. 12.45, no improvement, I called again, and was duly told None can come today. Now, more than anything what pisses me off is when people don't respect my time, I reawwwllly get mad. So, I fired (for whatever it was worth) all the three guys on the spot, and I have promised myself to get my driving upto speed ASAP (please pull me on this whenever you can :D).
So, now to mishap #3. I decided to go and visit my Mamaji in Lucknow, and hence, with an upbringing steeped in thriftiness and frugality, I had Papa dearest buy me a railway ticket on Saryu Jamuna Express Monday night 9.15 PM. Well, but only. God had lots of plans for me in store to teach me a lesson for once and all. It started with the courier my dad used to post the ticket. Even though I was sure I was at home, the courier wallahs somehow managed to miss me and even though my fone num sitting smugly on the envelope top, it was put in the Return bin. But, with my Dad's ossum threats, they finally fetched the order and asked me to pick it up from their office, which is in Gurgaon. "In Gurgaon" might sound close, but really Ggn distances are huge. So, I took a rick in the sun and wasted around 2 hours to fetch the courier and the ephemeral ticket.
But, anyways all said and done, I left at 7 pm for the NDLS station, and again trying to save some bucks, I decided to catch a bus at Delhi. But, only yet again :). The buses in the evening are sooo choc-a-bloc, even the thought of boarding them (and that too with a suitcase and a latop) are absolutely rubbish. So, after waiting for 15-20 mins, and with no other recourse I finally hired a taxi for 400 bucks. As I was going, thanx to Mamaji, I got to know that the train was from Old Delhi and a mid-course correction was achieved. And then Papa called with the news that the train had been delayed by 5 + hours to 2.35 AM !!!! Anyways, with nothing to do, I dumped my bags in teh cloak room and went to CP to do my thing :-), i.e. watch a movie, something which never disowns me and respects my time (mebbe KANK din't), and ironically the reason for this respect might be Money and only money :-). So as it is , I watched Risk (Next post :P) and got out at 1 AM. Went back to the rly. stn. and had a Masala dosa and then retired to the Retiring room. And, then the train was delayed by another hour and a half. And, the true Impulsive me come to fore. I came down, cancelled my ticket (incidentally, for trains delayed more than 3 hours, you are refunded the whole amount), and then booked an Auto for 450 bucks back to Gurgaon. And by the time I landed, my jaw was half-frozen sputtering words like a Chinese trying to ape a Japanese. All of this for my money-saving antic, but its a lesson well-learned :), now nothing less than kingsize will do evvah :).
Ab I am gloved, capped and sleepy :)...and yea, I am not taking off my socks for any, anything at all. Hope this week only gets better !!
Ta-wa !
Ranjan
P.S. With my teeth chattering in the Auto, the only song which played in my head is this beautiful num from Anwar by Roopkumar Rathod;
//Maula Mere Maula Mere//
Aankhen terii, kitni haseen,
ki inka aashiq mein ban gaya hoon,
mujhe basa le inmein tu !
Aankhen terii, kitni haseen,
ki inka aashiq mein ban gaya hoon,
mujhe basa le inmein tu !
Go figure :-).
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