You don't cry alone

Cry and Cry until you sleep, Dream for a world, there's nothing to weep - I heard this crooning from a distance, it was the same mad guy.  Someone said he was a big-shot banker , someone said he was a jilted lover. People made stories and those stories made their way into our minds. Days went, night came , he kept singing monotonously.
"Everyone serves a purpose in life" my grandma had told me when i was a kid, i guess God makes a few exceptions.
Soon i got a bigger apartment in the same locality, another month and i got a TV, another and i got Playstation, another 2 months i got wine cabinet,  another month-i got a girl, another 2months - we were madly in love. Months passed like days, i was happy - a good job, a pretty girl, vintage wine and good times.
It was about November beginning - when she slapped her decision on my face- suddenly i was possessive, unsmart and ruffian. Her parents found her a match and before i could gulp it down, she had tied the knot. I blamed it on me, wine cabinet got stuffed with whisky, ashtrays overflowed, i started missing the morning cab, my clothes smelt bad, i looked sad and my performance took a backseat. My manager, gladly showed me the door and i did not care anymore. I emptyied more glasses. Days passed like months.
And then one night i did it, the ultimate devastation of self-control - i smashed the glass, it hit the TV, there was a huge bang and then a silence. I felt better but not at peace althogether.
I lay down in the balcony, the breeze was soothing my agony and then from a distance i heard it loud, again, after years maybe - Cry cry until you sleep.
A smile crossed my lips. Grandma was a genius.

Get used to surprises!

Remember the last phase of your college? Yeah the insane era, when you actually took a book and studied not just the technical stuff but even those withered, tattered principles of HR chemistry that the English teacher taught you while you were busy gawking at her hump.

On the day of the interview, you are the ‘sweaty-palm’ dressed in the borrowed, or even worse - stolen formals (yeah that happened, I swear)  bothered whether you shook the hands of the interviewer too hard or your eyes followed its usual trajectory because all you care about is getting the job.

Congratulations, Mr. X you got the job.

Brilliant, Excellent, roll on the road, dance, whistle, get drunk and do embarrassing things, yeah it’s your day. After 20some years of education you finally got the chance to put it all in use.

The first complain you have is Damn I don’t know shit about computers and now I would be writing codes. But my friend just when you thought this was the worst thing, you are not even prepared for the reality.

6months later (yeah that’s how long your joining could be deferred and it’s not the maximum)
You walk into the multi-million dollar enterprise, glass walls, fountains, vending machines, pretty people in uber clothes. After briefing through the policies, none of which you give a damn to learn, your ‘real’ training starts. But all you do here is extend your college life into the office campus and screw around, until the exams befall. Now, being 4 years into Engineering you always manage a narrow escape. Ditto.

But deep within, you know that you don’t still don’t know anything about C++ or JAVA or HTML or SAP or goddamn anything beyond SHIFT+DEL (if you know what I mean). But being the lazy toad, you wash down all these worries in RUM bought from the freshly minted stipend of your 1^st fruitless month. 

For full article : CLICK : This link will lead you to my full article on LinkedIn

We live just once, and once shall i die

The bitter aftertaste of your kiss, that lingers on my lips

Days after you left my side

Stepping on scattered vows

I cry not, nor repent nor forgive

Lament not nor let hold you back

Pray not nor let my eyes shimmer

For I don’t live to be mauled and marauded

I stepped not the piles to look behind

We live just once but death my dear

Is just for once and once will I die.  

(Life is quite often unforgiving but still we move on, only to realize in time that what it had in store for us was for our own good.
This poem is an inspiration from a person very close to me,whose sufferings and strength both made me realize that nothing is certain in life and nothing promises returns- but life is worth much more than just one thing or person. Its what we craft with our own hands thereon. )

ATM Sucks !! Money not disbursed yet debited from the account. Money returned after 7days !

Every now and then we have our bouts with technology and quite often it is intense. With Smartphones and all ultra smart gadgets we are flirting more and more with technology but the goddamn thing is a bloody infidel. 

Recently, i had one such encounter. 
I have an account in State Bank of India, Bangalore -Koramangla Branch. I tried to withdraw Rs.7500/- from a Karnatak Bank ATM in Madhapur, Hyderabad. The machine was a simple swipe and enter type. However, once i entered all my credentials and hit the button, the ATM went for a siesta. The goddamn thing did not buzz and i did not try to flirt with it. I waited patiently for almost 10 minutes. The machine was hung. 
There was no guard, no one around. Considering that the time was around 10.30PM i did not have a queue in my trail. I did not know what to do, so i rebooted the machine (Just Switch Off and On the Power Button behind) I don't know if that was smart but i guess that was the only viable option. 
After restarting the machine showed the message : Sorry for the Inconvenience- This ATM is not functional. 
With a heavy heart i rushed to the nearby ATM and checked the mini statement. It showed that the amount had been deducted. 
Now, under the circumstance i knew, the customer care is the best place to seek advice. 
My mind was ablaze. I was scurrying for the toll-free number of SBI. My friend made the prompt suggestion to check the ATM. Now, for people like me- Please keep a not of this.
I called them. Now, the customer care service of SBI could easily qualify to be the worst around the country. The guy who took my call- told me within seconds of declaring my problem and giving him my card number that the amount had been credited back. BEWARE : These assholes do that just to cut some slack. Your money cannot be credited back unless you have registered  complaint. DO NOT FORGET TO LODGE a COMPLAINT !!!
It was only after i had checked my internet Banking that i got to know the level of nonprofessional attitude the bank embraces. 
However, the second time i insisted and got a complaint registered. I was informed that the money would be credited back within 7days and that i could check with the bank on the number - 567676 by sending a message with the following : ATM . 
However, at the time of registering the complaint they will ask for your mobile number. Give the number that you are currently using(not necessarily the one provided for Internet Banking) because the details of the complaint as well as the status quo would be sent to that number. 
The shocker came within 48hours when i got a message saying : 
Dear Sir/Madam 
Your complaint ATxxxxxxxxxxx28 has been attended to and closed after resolution. However, i did not see my cash flow back even after 2 days since the message. 
I called the toll free number 1800 425 3800 again, but just got the taste of some more apathy. 
That's when i did some research. Here i give you all a power packed information. There is a facility called -Banking Ombudsman. This body is there to ensure your money comes straight back to your pockets. According to the RBI, if the bank is not able to resolve and credit the amount back to your account wihin 7 days then it will have to pay a compensation of Rs. 100/- for every passing day. You can google it up. 
However, i gulped my worries and decided to wait for the 7days to get over. 
3rd day - NIL
4th day- NIL
5th _ Naah
6th day - towards the late evening, there was a transaction made to my account. My moolah was back. A deep breather and then a bottles clinked. 
.
So use the tips and just relax. Your money won't go anywhere. 

The unsung sentinel !!

This post is a part of #Soldierforwomen in association with BlogAdda.com




In this age of internet and SnS, the crime against women is not restricted to the just physical abuse. Recently, a video clip of actress Mona Singh went viral on various networking sites. However, digital experts and cyber forensic professionals clarified that the actress' face was morphed in the video.

However, there have been so many cases where guys have abused the trust of their love mates. Even today when i read about some poor girl dragged through the muck for being betrayed by her partner, that night comes flashing to me.




Abhjeet and I have been friends since high-school. The fact that he was a wreckless bundle of nerves never allowed him to have many friends. There was nothing about him that was really reprehensible, i mean- the guy was tall, lean and fair. He was amongst the top 3 in class and most importantly he was born rich. Yet, he was the most underconfident guy i have ever met.

He was such a puddle that if a guy came and snatched his lunch he wouldn't even fight back, just cower and later crib to me about it. Most often, i wondered if this guy will ever stand up to the wrong.

"C'mon its no biggie" is what he would say.


##Fast Forward-2years##


I was a student in a private college while Abhijeet had secured a proud seat in Jadavpur university. Considering, the distance between our colleges i preferred to put up in a hostel. It was in those days that Abhijeet grew very close to his roomate Sayan. There was something about this guy that bothered me from the first day.

Being the chicken that Abhijeet was, he was badly abused by his seniors. At times i could feel the atrocity in his voice. Maybe his father did too. So, he booked him into a posh flat in Kalibagan. Since Abhijeet was scared of lonliness, he insisted Sayan to join him which he happily obliged.


It was strange to find the chalk and cheese fuse together. Sayan was a complete achiral image of Abhijeet. The guy was a whisky devotee, smoky chamber and self-declared casanova. He flirted at the drop of hat although he claimed to be in love with his girlfriend back in Shantiniketan. No doubt, he was an attractive guy but besides looks he was just a heap of dirty habits and filthy talks.

Kalibagan is a posh locality in Jadavpur, mostly inhabited by IT professionslas and their lonely housewives.

Mrs.Shyamali Sengupta was one such lady. She was drop dead gorgeous not more than 25 years old. We all had hots for her, including Abhijeet but only Sayan had the desire to express it.

Though Abhijeet had all the amenities to enjoy his youth, he was always engrossed in his books. The guy didn't even have a 'facebook' profile.

I visited him as often as possible but towards the end of second year the frequency had waned greatly.


##Fast Forward After Summer break 3rd year##


Abhijeet had just returned from his internship in Tata Motors, Jamshedpur. My mom had taken the pain to send some home-made ladoos through him and that gave me a reason to visit him after almost 5months. The guy had not changed a bit. Still the same wimpy kid who refused to grow. He insisted on my staying for a day. Since the next day was a Sunday, i agreed though i had an urgent resume to submit for GET in SAIL.

Abhijeet suggested me to use his laptop.

We talked for hours but then by 9.30 he dozed off. I started my work. With limited credentials it is really a pain in the ass to craft a resume.

By 12.30 i was pretty much done. I realized that it was after years that i was alone in a room with a laptop. Now, the next thing is nature. Since, Abhijeet was not much of a digital guy, his laptop was Sayan's property and hence i expected some good quality porn.

I searched the hard disk but to no avail. Then i clicked on the Search tab and checked the "video" and added "include hidden". Within seconds i had the whole screen populated with videos. Some configuration shit, some educational crap, a few hindi videos and couple of Enrique. I scrolled in desperation - Nothing.

I was about to close the tab when suddenly my eyes hit upon a thumbnail picture on a .avi file. I couldn't hold my excitement-Definitely porn. A guy can tell that from the thumbnail--guaranteed. The actress seemed familiar.

I pressed the mute button and double clicked the icon.

.

.

One, two,, three split seconds later, my mouth was hung, my eyes were gawking at something unbelievable. It was sex video no doubt but not a porn. It was Sayan on top of someone. She seemed to be drunk. The camera was static and from the image resolution i could estimate that the camera was at some distance. It was the same room, same bedsheet, same curtains...OMG he did it here. I jumped out of the couch.

It was disgusting. Clearly, the girl didn't have an idea about the hidden camera. What i saw next seemed to be borne out of a filthy fantasy.

It was not any random girl. It was Mrs.Sengupta.

I slammed the laptop shut and went to the balcony. My heart beat was racing. I had heard about infidelity but never expected to see it upfront. The whole world seemed satan. Wife cheats on husband for a guy who cheats on her to get a racy video. One click on the upload button and this lady could live a lifetime of shame. Who was to be blamed?

After almost 2 most uncomfortable hours, i couldn't hold it any longer. I woke Abhijeet and showed him the video. I don't know why i did that maybe i just wanted to explode.

Abhijeet didn't utter a word. What else did i expect from a coward ass who couldn't even defend his own tiffin? And what was it to us, what that prick did with the missus.

The following evening there was a knock on the door. I got it. My face twitched as Sayan threw his arms around me in a hug. Hardly had he swung away from me that i heard a loud thud and the next second Sayan was lying on the floor, whimpering and certainly taken aback. It was a hard, unexpected blow from Abhijeet.

The laptop was lying on the centre table. It didn't take him long to understand that his cat was out of the bag.

"Where else did you save it?" Abhijeet asked in a voice i had never heard before. It was loud, confident and definitely hurt.

"No copies" Sayan was able to murmur through an aching groin.

"Just grab your stuff and leave my house, now." he commanded. "And if i ever hear about this MMS again, i will make sure your life is ruined."

It was a moment that i will never forget. I saw Abhijeet in an avatar i never saw again.

A sentinel, a true, unsung hero. I don't know what inspired or instigated such action out of him. Whether he secretly grew fond of this sultry woman or was it plain, simple humanity. Well, the answer doesn't matter. What matters is he had the guts to raise his voice.

I never met Sayan again.

The next day I didn't feel like leaving Abhijeet all alone, but i had to go. Abhijeet insisted on coming to the bus stand to see me off. We had hardly walked a few steps when we heard a car honking at us. We peered. The window opened. It was Mrs.Sengupta with her husband.

"Need a drive?" she asked playfully as she always did.

That second, an embarrasing moment.

At the age of 20 i realized that heroes are born out of situations not wombs. I don't know and frankly don't care about Mrs. Sengupta and her affairs but that day my friend definitely stopped a life from being strangled.

World Survives, but humanity cremated.

The world might have survived but humanity was certainly cremated on 21stDec,2012. We are back to the uncivilized, barbaric era.

What happened to the 23year old med student on the night of Sunday was a painful kick in the groin of humanity. What has the world come to?
Not only the economy but even our morality is undergoing a steep recession.

Now, I have read innumerous editorials and heard scores of politicians who have ‘expressed grief’ and ‘condemned the act’, but  to tell you the truth they don’t give a damn or even if they do, it doesn’t mold into the action, we elect them for.
What else? Oh, yeah…India is the country where we worship goddesses…et al…. CRAP !! When it comes to criminals or likeminded…these words don’t click.  A devil fears another devil but never the God, and besides who knows…they could be atheists.

So what about justice?
The criminals have blatantly admitted that they committed the horrific crime. One of them has also pleaded to be hanged for his actions. Ram Singh, the prime accused- has finally broken down and admitted that he went berserk after the girl resisted and bit him. What else did he expect? The girl did whatever she could do to salvage her dignity.
They did not only strip her out of her clothes and dignity but also wounded her intentionally, so bad that the doctors had to remove her intestines. Attempt to murder, right?
Since, no kith and kin of politician is behind the bars we can expect justice, but the point is would lifetime sentence be appropriate for such heinous crime?
We all have our own opinions, but the two options that echo the most are -1) Hang till death and 2) castration. Though we all know, let me just remind you what we were taught in class 7^th Civics – Inida is a secular, democratic and sovereign country. That one line in the constitution has strangled justice and made it blind.
Fastrack courts are extraordinary idea but then in India ‘fast’ is a very relative term.
Even when the whole nation is outpouring their hatred, the Delhi police are trying hard to gain a few pats for their extraordinary agility. The politicians are framing pearls of words to fall into the right sentence.
When a New Zealand reporter called Sheila Dixit – ‘Dick Shit’, a prompt action was taken across borders. BJP's youth and women's wings took out a morcha and demanded an apology from Nirupam for his remarks against Smriti Irani, who is also a Member of Parliament. A comment and such furore. I wish they had done the same demanding justice for the one whose dignity has not been defamed but mutilated, but all they can do is -- express grief.

In Naseerudin Shah’s words from the movie ‘A Wednesday’ – I am just a common man, but I demand from the people who are not common, who are either state elected-good-for-nothings or glitzy superstars, why can’t they take up a cause and stir the nation.
Salman Khan- the brand ambassador of ‘Being Human’- could have at least cancelled a press-conference for promotion of Dabangg2 and focused on getting the nation motivated for a change.
Aamir Khan, cashed on the TRPs of ‘Satyameva Jayate’ and the whole India went teary-eyed, but when it comes to actually doing something…he is in lost in his ‘talaash’ .

Of course, we all want a change but no matter how bitter we feel, we have to do our day jobs. We all have responsibilities. We cannot be guarding our mothers, daughters, sisters and wives all the time. That’s why we have the police, we have the courts.
Some people have been preaching the ‘Sharia law’. I respect all religions but for people who know just an excerpt from the law, you need to read this: http://www.islamreview.com/articles/WOMEN_ARE_RESPONSIBLE.shtml

So, what conclusion do we come to? Hard to say…
 I know these people don’t deserve a quick, sudden death but in this demon friendly country, that is the only way. Castration is beyond question but hang till death is not. Maybe they can leak a video of the execution and we can make it viral through our PDAs and handhelds. That would instill some fear, and fear is what they need. This ain’t no Gotham and and there ain’t no Batman.

So for all those people participating in the candle light vigils and posting on their blogs and SNS, I request, please don’t let this agitation recede with time. Keep pushing, keep posting and get the law reformed till the day everyone can breathe free when his/her child/mom/daughter/sister/wife or even friend goes out of their sight.

Let’s stop this perpetual paranoia.
Amen !!

KRP DAM -Karnataka, Krishnagiri

The most beautiful places in the world lie not in the beckoning of the media and hullabaloo of the travel Sites. It lies in the serene calmness of solitude and distance from paparazzi.

The picture is that of a calm and undisturbed evening in KRP Dam-7kms from Krishnagiri- midway between Bangalore and Chennai.

Lack of conveyance, language barriers, risky after-dark- be prepared for these obvious hazards, but otherwise this place is a marvel to watch and a treasure to capture—of course with your lens !!

Enjoy madhi !! :)