An Open Letter to my Missing Laptop

Dear Inspi (as I lovingly used to call my Dell Inspiron 7000m),

This is to let you know, we all are missing you a lot at home & office. Mom-Dad have not taken the food (of their choice) for the last so many days. My office clerks have stopped doing the routine work-typing the office documents etc, attributing it to your absence (huh! Another excuse to avoid work in a typical sarkari office!). I know I have not lost you after you got dropped from the rear seat of my car... but, contrary to popular belief, you have somehow managed to run away. I still remember you were quite upset since the last few days while we were trying to forcibly load a pirated version of Windows Vista over your pre-loaded XP. I accept everybody is possessive about his old companions but never had I imagined you would be so stubborn and place that outdated version of XP over all of us! Now, in hindsight, I believe you had at least some reasons for being so inflexible… I now recall how you used to pop-up those technical jargon and messages expressing your inability to install Vista… at times those were genuine… many a times irrelevant… Since you always had a notorious history of such acts, this is probably the reason I never really believed what you popped-up and incessantly tried loading the pirated Windows Vista premium over a Dell Inspiron 700 M with 512 MB of DDR-II RAM having an Intel Centrino Mobile 1.7 GHz processor. I might have been brutal but you many a times gave me reasons to expect best from you. Hope you still remember that chilly mid-night of 28^th December at Indore when I tried and successfully loaded the pirated Photoshop CS2 over you... never to use it though. I was really impressed by the way you took it in your stride. Then, after initial reluctance, how you agreed to allow me to load 3d-Studio Max & Maya, further strengthened our bonding. I believe we really had a great camaraderie when you (after initial hiccups) used to run all those pirated VCDs & DVDs. Now that you are nowhere to be found, I often get up in the middle of the nights, gazing at the stars from the window of my flat at 4^th floor thinking how blessed I was to have you. With teary eyes and a heavy heart I often miss my personal collection of music, snaps, clips, videos, articles, documents, wall-papers et al, that you so very gracefully use to carry and unfold at the touch of my finger on your touch-pad. You were a real companion, a true friend - the way you used to absolutely hide all those x-rated pictures and videos under all those fake files and folders (and sometimes cunningly made difficult even for me to remember and retrieve). You were so moody, Inspi, and had your unique way of throwing tantrums, when you didn’t want to play an MP3 you used to throw irritating pop-ups – Disc not readable, No Data on the Disc etc, then I used to fool you by playing the same disc through another player (iTunes or Real Player). You often proved to be a nincompoop, when after installing and running all the ‘heavy’ software, you used to balk at opening an MS Word or Excel… that was really silly, friend!

I always used to take special pride with you in that black artificial-leather-bag over my shoulder. I still remember the envious gazes of fellow travelers while on flights or on train, silently looking at you (and me) and getting impressed by that 12.1 inch TFT screen. That probably used to be the only moment when I used to acknowledge that ‘size does matter’… the smaller the better!

I know I have not lost you, I know you have gone by yourself. I believe we will surely meet again after some months or years just like they get lost & meet again in Kumbh ka Melas as in inumerable Bollywood movies. By that time you may get a new ‘owner’ I may get a new ‘Notebook’ and might move on in life. As of now, I can only beg and say… पुरानी बातें भूल जाओ, जो हुआ सो हुआ, घर लौट आओ तुम्हें कोई कुछ नहीं कहेगा…॥

तुम्हारा अपना ही
Sammy (as u lovingly used to pop-up on your TFT)

A Fantasy called 'Lower Berth'

I don't know how many of us are able to observe or remember this but a 'Lower Berth' in any of the coaches of trains run by Indian Railways is a fantasy of every traveller. During my initial years of growing up, I used to idolise my Chachaji (who has been with Indian Railways ever since I can remember) not for his position, designation or profile but ONLY for the fact that he was working with Railways. I still have very fond memories of travelling with my mom & dad to Gwalior (my grand-parents' place) during summer vacations. I can remember how my Dad used to feel specially proud if we had 1 or 2 Lower Berths among our reserved berths. How all other Uncles & Aunties on facing berths used to envy us... and I remember how my Chachji used to say "I get only the lower berths reserved... if I don't get lower berths, I keep on preponing/ postponing the ticket till I get Lower berths"... and I used to feel like growing up immediately and joining Indian Railways... to get lower berths at will!!... I thought it was only our family who was so very fond of lower berths... but... as time passed by and I started booking railway tickets for myself or others, I realised that a Lower Berth commanded a lot of respect even among other (read almost all) travellers... I remember how the Booking Clerk at the Railway reservation window used to oblige... चलो एक लोअर बर्थ दे देता हूँ ... even Railways itself considers lower berth exclusive... the official railway-reservation website has options like "Book the ticket only if 1 or all the berths are lower berths"... the person who is not ticking this option some way carries a guilty feeling that he is going against the law of the nature???... travelling all these years, I find there is no decline in the affinity towards the lower berth... people will come up with all sorts of excuses to grab a lower berth... some of the interesting ones that I have come across are -I get down at every station or I like to have tea/ coffee at every station even during night... somebody said let me have the lower berth coz मेरा स्टेशन बहुत सुबह सुबह आएगा and when I reasoned that my station is same as yours... he justified ...कोई बात नहीं मैं आपको उठा दूँगा ???... another interesting excuse thrown in recently was - मुझे नीचे सोने दीजिये मेरी लम्बाई बहुत ज़्यादा है ... when I argued that length of both the berths is same whether its an upper berth or a lower berth (in II AC), I got a better 'shot' - "If I sleep on the upper berth, my hanging legs will hit everybody passing thru the gangway!"... I finally had to get convinced... another of strange excuses was from an old bureaucrat. The brevity of the reason left me speechless... बेटा मैं रिटायर्ड IAS हूँ... क्या मैं नीचे सो जाऊं .... (I am still figuring out the relation between the two!!)... a very common and interesting one is मुझे रात में बार-बार सु सु के लीये जाना पड़ता है... देख लो फिर आप को ही बार बार डिस्टर्ब होगा (अरे भैय्या ...पर आपकी सु सु से मुझे डिस्टर्ब क्यों??) ... these things yet again remind me how privileged my Chachaji was - how he used to 'donate' one of his lower berths to other 'under-privileged' travellers -by exchanging a lower berth reserved in the name of his 5-6 years old son with an upper berth of a 55-60 years old aunty - who in turn used to look at him blessingly ... the way beggars look at you, being obliged, on traffic signals in return for that 1 or 2 rupees coin... they some how control the rush of sentences like भगवान आपका भला करे ... आपके बाल बच्चे सलामत रहे etc... With a lower berth in your possession you feel and look exceptionally confident... remember ONLY a person having a lower berth can give a corner to sit to some short distance travellers who don't have a reservation... this genuinely feels like a king.. as if आप अपनी रियासत में से ज़मीन का एक छोटा सा टुकडा एक गरीब-मजलूम को बसने के लिये दे रहे हैं... I have always considered this as one of the supreme powers that one can have in this material world... sometimes I seriously fear that the world (of travellers) will finally get divided between the Haves and Have-nots i.e.; those who have a Lower Berth and those who don't have any ... I firmly believe that this 'Lower Berth' will continue to fascinate one and all as long as there are trains and people are travelling by them!

Monsoons... One of the things I thank God for!

Monsoons - the season I love. Its probably the only season, I thank God for. There are ample reasons to love (& hate) the season... but I love the season even for the reasons others hate it!

~ I love the season for hot pakoras and kadak chai in my balcony

~ I love the season for roasted corn-cobs (the famous Indian Bhuttas!)

~ I love the season for getting wet, with all the clothes on!

~ I love the season for local trains getting cancelled in Mumbai

~ I love the season for the winds on Marine Drive & the umbrellas getting 'Ulta' - making it awkward for all the 'Ladies & Gentlemen' having 'fun'!

~ I love the season for flooding of streets & reaching office with pants folded upwards

~ I love the season for all the mud-spots on one's back & bum. Remember its only here when you are completely responsible for your own mud-spots. The variety & number of spots is a testimony to how much & where all the person has traveled!

~ I love the season for standing at my window, observing the shapes, images & colours in the droplets which are continuously forming & dripping from the tip of the 'Peepal' leaves stemming from the wall of the flat opposite.

~ I love the season for the hot & steamy undergarments (they don't get dry & you have to invariably iron them next morning!)

~ I love the season for driving past the bystanders, splashing them with everything on the road & then watching their expressions by turning back!

~ I love the season for helping everyone get creative in the office with many age-old and some original & exclusive excuses - Like मेरी गाडी के सैलेंसर में पानी भर गया है, मेरा बच्चा फिसल गया, मेरी बीवी कल बारिश में भीग गई थी तो आज मुझे जुखाम हो गया है, सारे जूते गीले हो गए हैं ... और ... और.. सर इत्ने रोमांटिक मौसम में कोई ऑफिस आता है क्या?.... etc etc etc.... the list is endless.

~ I love the season for unscheduled Power-Cuts - for the respite from TV Channels & FM radio stations for some minutes!

~ I love the season for long drives and particularly long train journeys amidst a lot of greenery, water-falls, mist, washed roads, steaming hot food at road-side dhabas & vada-paavs at Igatpuri & Karjat Railway Stations.

I think these are enough reasons to love the season, however you can still add your own to the list. Hit on the 'comments' and submit.

Aamir ... the movie

Aamir is a new movie... and is currently painting the Movie Reviews sections of most websites & leading dailys. Let me say, there is nothing in particular to rave about BUT... as a whole the movie is compact and its where it scores over many (most) of the movies currently in theatres or that have been released in the recent past. A debut movie for the Director (Raj Kumar Gupta), lead actor (Rajeev Khandelwal), Music Director (some Amit Trivedi) and Cinematographer (Alphonse Roy). The movie is definitely on the arty side - be its length, Camera angles and most other things. The flow is gripping and keeps you on the edge of your seat... the concept might have been picked from any of the foreign movie (I dont know??) but the characters just fit in with quite a perfection. Rajeev Khandelwal as Aamir will certainly surprise everybody. I had personally written him off watching him in some of his TV Serials but he completely washes off that stigma. The best achievement of the movie is-it is LOUD nowhere. Almost everything is subtle and precise. This is the reason even the character artists don't obstruct the flow of the film. Background Music is another highlight. The music director hits the bull's eye with the climax track. Its a superb sufi stuff to end the movie. But... cinematography certainly scores over everything else. Its very on-the-spot. Going by the flow of the movie, the cinematographer doesn't let any moment go. The Camera angles accentuate everything else in almost all the scenes.

Its certainly a brave attempt and everybody associated needs to be acknowledged and applauded. Leave aside the message in the climax, the movie does let you come out feeling having enjoyed something freshly cooked with all the fresh ingredients.