Too much sentimental stuff was shared in the last post and I am not sure I am up for something similar again. So I have decided to go in for something more materialistic, yet at the same time is extremely close to my heart.So,this post is about my bike, my beloved Hunk!
I was in class X, when dad taught me how to ride a scooter. And I absolutely loved it. For the first time, going somewhere wasn't a pain anymore. I mean don't get me wrong, I love cycling, but sometimes you do long for a machine which would take you places without any physical efforts whatsoever. And somehow I had this notion that chicks dig dudes who have a motorized vehicle.I still remember how in class IX, I had borrowed a neighboring Didi's gearless moped and had zoomed it at a Hayabusian speed of 20 kmph to our play ground to show it off to my friends and the girls who used to hang out there. Imagine my disappointment,when no one turned up! There were only a couple of toddlers who were rolling in the dust much to the anguish of their weary mothers.Ten minutes later, my own mom crossed our playground,(she was on her evening walk)and realized what had happened. There,right in front of her eyes, was her stud of a son, on a girl's scooty, alone in the playground, waiting for girls to check him out.I so wish the ground had swallowed me then and there! Ahh...the fallacies of teenage hood, we would believe just about anything they showed on TV. Luckily, I had a set of parents who knew when and how to put me straight, so the idea of having my own personalized bike/scooter never really caught up with me. Plus, all my friends were like totally middle class kids, whose only aim was to study well and get into the best of colleges.So I had to shelf my plans for my dream bike for the time being.
So, I thought,"Ok, let me get into college and then I will pester dad for a bike.Everyone has a bike in films, so I should have one too." My reasoning seemed sound in logic, so I was happy thinking that my bike was just round the corner.
I think God was listening to my prayers, but in the opposite sense I guess. For he decided to put me in a college, where even the professors used cycles to come to class. Motorized wheelers were banned in our campus and almost everyone preferred those two wheelered nuisances that they mass produce in the downtown factories of Ludhiana.And to top it off, I was in a five year course, so the wait just got longer and longer.
So, for the next 4 years, I didn't even bother finding out which bike was hot in the market. But when finally, I landed with a job, I realized my dream was near. Another 6 months,and I would be out of that god forsaken place. I would kick my old bicycle away for good and never mount on another one for the rest of my life.I was going to Bangalore, where my childhood friends were presently working.(as software engineers, what else do you expect???). More importantly, my girl friend(eehh..I am blushing as I am writing this) was also in Bangalore, so once again, the thought of us together on a super bike, riding out to the sunset, seemed like a luring possibility. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get onto my flight to Bangalore.
p.s. I later realized that instead of becoming the cool dude who rode on his cool bike with his gf to all the cool hotspots in Bangalore, I was now more of a glorified chauffeur, who took his mistress to all the malls and bazaars and tailor shops which appealed to the whims of her Royal Highness.But more of that in a later post!!
So, now that only a few months were left, I started googling for the hottest Indian bikes. I already knew that I wasn't go for anything less than a 150 cc bike. The price range seemed right too. The 150 cc ones started from Rs 65k and the bigger models(225 ccs) ended at Rs 100k.After a lot of analysis, reviews and fundas from the internet and from friends, I had zeroed in on the Hunk and Karizma from Hero Honda, P 220 from Bajaj, FZ 16 from Yamaha,Unicorn from Honda and the Apache RTR from TVS.
The Hero Honda bikes were good looking, reliable, sturdy vehicles which came at a pocket friendly price tag. I loved the Hunk's muscular looks and the fact that it was a very heavy bike, which meant that it would remain stable in high speed conditions was a major plus point for me. Also it had the reliable Honda 149.6 cc engine embedded beneath it's giant body, so it made for a very good choice indeed.
The Karizma was a beast of a bike, a true blood sports bike, which would make one's heart go thumping at the start of it's engine. Being a 225 cc bike, it wouldn't be fuel efficient, but I was ready for that. If, mileage was an actual concern for me, I would have gone a CD 100.
The P220 was a bike in a similar league to Karizma's. In fact it is the fastest bike in India, and it's majestic wolf like looks had dudes swooning all over it. I didn't consider the P150/180 for 2 major reasons: (a). they are too common on Indian roads and I wanted a more exclusive bike. (b). The reliability of Bajaj bikes is a major concern and I had heard too many cases of Pulsars breaking down within an year or two of purchase. There were similar quality issues with the P220, but so fascinated was I with this bike, that I was willing to take the risk.
The FZ 16 from Yamaha was a new entrant in the Indian biking terrain. And it was absolutely smashing. Having riden this machine, I can vouch for it to be having the most refined engine, the smoothest gear box and the best power transmission from any other comparable bike.It's looks were also radical and made heads turn at every traffic signal. But the bike was over priced, nearly 7-8k more than other bikes in the same league. Also its fuel efficiency was pretty low. Still, I was willing to forego all these drawbacks. I was sure that the FZ was the bike for me...until I discovered that FZ doesn't have a kick start! It only came in auto start, which meant total dependence on the bike's battery and I certainly didn't want to be left with a plausible situation that one fine day when I am hundreds of km from the nearest bike service shop, my battery gives way and I then have to drag my bike all the way till I reach civilization. Then and there, the FZ was out of my list, and consequently the Karizma and P220 were also out as they do have the same auto start issue.
The Honda Unicorn was the last bike in my list. Its the perfect bike. Simple yet elegsant looks, good fuel efficiency, a superb engine and Honda's legendary reliability tag made me realize that the Unicorn could very well possibly be the bike for me. I tried the Apache RTR,but didn't like it one bit. It's a race bike where tall people need to crouch to ride it. Also its a bike for thrills, and I doubt you would get much of it in the busy lanes of Bangalore. Lastly, I heard about some quality issues with the bike's spare parts, so very soon the Apache was kicked out of my list.
Thus it was now a 2 way race between the Hunk and Unicorn.
But before I finally zeroed in on my favored bike, something else happened with me. I got a mail from my new employees that since the world is in the middle of recession, there will be a massive pay cut from our promised salaries. Also there will be a delayed joining for all of us, the extent of which was unknown even to them. The world came crashing down on me.All my dreams of settling in Bangalore in the very near future was gone, and awaiting me now was an uncertain tomorrow.
However, God was looking over me all this while. By a stroke of luck, he got me an offer with another company in Bangalore. The pay wasn't much but at least I had work now. My salary didn't afford me a bike, so I initially commuted to office by public buses. But in Bangalore,even that is expensive. So I settled on the next best thing. Believe it or not, I bought a 2nd hand cycle for 500 bucks!! Imagine my anguish when instead of a brand new Honda at my doorsteps, I had a 2nd hand cycle waiting for me. I bet God must have been dancing on the latest Himesh Reshammiya's songs at that moment. But nothing could be done, and exactly 2 months after I had sworn I would never get on a cycle again, I was back on the damn thing again.The memories of Kgp had come back to haunt me.
So my life continued in this way for the next 5 months. Each day I swore at my cycle and prayed for my agony to end. On the roads, I made jealous glances towards the other bike wallahs and consoled myself that at least I was saving precious money on fuel this way. The consolation didn't help much though.
But one fine day, I got a call from my original company that they were ready to take me on board within a fortnight. Life seemed sweet again. I had also saved a sizeable amount by then and since my new office was about 15 km from my flat, I had to buy a bike...ASAP! So once again it was back to inquiries and opinions from friends, office colleagues and almost anyone who had a bike and could speak in Hindi or English.After satisfying myself that the Hunk and the Unicorn were still the best options for me, I got a couple of my friends to accompany me to Honda showrooms.I still couldn't decide which bike I wanted. Everyone gave me a different opinion. My gf wanted the Hunk because it looked cool, my flatmate wanted me to go for the Unicorn as it was more fuel efficient, and others were still confused. So, I decided that I will buy the bike which will be available immediately and I wouldn't have to wait for it. Since the Honda show room was closer to my house, we went in there first. The black Unicorn was priced at Rs.68k, but it had a waiting period of 2 weeks. Disheartened, I headed to the Hero Honda Showroom. Sure enough they had 10 black models on display. Within half an hour, I was the proud owner of my very own Hunk.
That night,I couldn't sleep. Every half hour I would keep going down to admire my beast's looks. My dream was realized and I was a happy boy once more. Till date it has clocked 3800 km in 3 months, with 2 servicings done. Zero issues upto now and I dont have a single regret with my choice.
Next bike: A Kawasaki Ninja 250(most probably after I am done with my MBA.)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Dad
So now that I am four posts old, I feel like a veteran already. Before going onto the next phase of my life, I feel compelled to write a few words on some of the people who have impacted me in some way or other.
Starting off with my dad...Well he somehow scares people. I dont know how he does that, but there is a great aura about him. All my cousins are terrified of him and keep on empathizing with me about how I manage to survive in the same house. But to tell you the truth, I was always more afraid of mom than him. With dad, you could work things out. I mean if he is angry, he will show it. When I was a kid, I did stuff that forced dad to beat the crap out of me. And everytime he used to say the same thing,"Babu! Aaj toh mein tere ko hospitalize karke hi rahunga..aur tera ilaaj sirf tera baap hi kar payega!!" I think he sometimes forgot that not only was he my "Baap", but he was also a doctor, so in case of any injuries, he would be the only to actually treat me!I also remember one of his favourite dialogues,before he commenced operation Babu, "Open your specs!! If it breaks, tera baap khareedke dega tere ko naya??"
But I actually looked forwards to the beatings. For one,I never felt that physically hurt, and secondly, by evening he would be guilt ridden and would come home loaded with chocolates, ice creams and chicken. Ahh..who wouldn't want a beating then!!
But he is always some one I look for approval.Whatever I did, I kept him in mind whether he would be proud of me or not. When I failed to crack IIT the first time, I was more sorry for him than me. The one year break that I took for preps, the only thought that kept coming in my mind was how he would be coping with the whole thing.People will keep on asking him how is your son doing and where is he studying, and I always dreaded to imagine his face then.One of the most striking memories, I have of him, was when he came to drop me off at Kota. After a few days, when I had settled in, he decided to leave and return home. The day he went back, he got up very early in the morning and left without awaking me. I was actually awake the whole time, but I had tears in my eyes, I didn't want him to see me that way, so I didn't dare to get up. Once he was ready, he came to me once,patted my hair, looked up at the blank vacant space and just left. I actually wanted to run after him and hug him, but I was a "man" now and I didn't dare show my vulnerability.
An year later, when he dropped me off at my campus at Kharagpur, I could see pride in his eyes. We hardly speak to each other,but we do connect a lot. And mom says that he is very proud of me. When I went abroad for the first time, she said he couldn't stop bragging about me to everyone. That was the only incentive I needed.
Come 2009, when the whole world was in recession, getting a job was pretty difficult. I was among the unlucky ones who actually had to find one, and my major concern was what will dad think if I end up jobless. But all the time, he kept telling me it was alright and itsn't my fault and if nothing works out, then both of us will go to Jaunpur and look after our cows together. Thank God, that didn't happen!
Still, I sometimes wonder if he is really satisfied with me or not...
He is also a very funny man. When I was small, I remember him shaving in front of the wash basin, singing to himself,"Meine toh nahin, haaan...meine to nahin.."For the life of me, I couldnt fathom how that song ended. Also now that he holds an important profile in his company , he has to attend a lot of official parties. So many in fact that it's a surprise to me if someday he doesn't have a party to attend. And he loves his non veg food. So everytime he comes back, I ask him what he had, and everytime, he would answer with the straightest of faces,"Oh, I had nothing, just a little daal and some rice and 1 piece of chicken." And he would conveniently forget to tell us that infact he had already gorged to his heart's content on all the kebabs and tandoors served during snacks.Confront him with that and he will say,"But you asked only about dinner, how am I supposed to know you meant snacks too!!"
He is also a bit absent minded. Once he met an aunty and her daughter in front of the gynecology ward. Aunty's husband was actually having a major operation, and she was on her way to meet him when she met dad. Seeing dad, she wept her case to him, searching for some sympathies. My dad, who was too busy to hear, assumed that since she is with her daughter(who was actually a bit fat), and near the gynae area, assumed that the daughter was pregnant and congratulated her with all his heart."Khub bhalo! Khub bhalo..keep it up!"
I can only imagine the lady's shocked face..
Dad you are a real dude!
Starting off with my dad...Well he somehow scares people. I dont know how he does that, but there is a great aura about him. All my cousins are terrified of him and keep on empathizing with me about how I manage to survive in the same house. But to tell you the truth, I was always more afraid of mom than him. With dad, you could work things out. I mean if he is angry, he will show it. When I was a kid, I did stuff that forced dad to beat the crap out of me. And everytime he used to say the same thing,"Babu! Aaj toh mein tere ko hospitalize karke hi rahunga..aur tera ilaaj sirf tera baap hi kar payega!!" I think he sometimes forgot that not only was he my "Baap", but he was also a doctor, so in case of any injuries, he would be the only to actually treat me!I also remember one of his favourite dialogues,before he commenced operation Babu, "Open your specs!! If it breaks, tera baap khareedke dega tere ko naya??"
But I actually looked forwards to the beatings. For one,I never felt that physically hurt, and secondly, by evening he would be guilt ridden and would come home loaded with chocolates, ice creams and chicken. Ahh..who wouldn't want a beating then!!
But he is always some one I look for approval.Whatever I did, I kept him in mind whether he would be proud of me or not. When I failed to crack IIT the first time, I was more sorry for him than me. The one year break that I took for preps, the only thought that kept coming in my mind was how he would be coping with the whole thing.People will keep on asking him how is your son doing and where is he studying, and I always dreaded to imagine his face then.One of the most striking memories, I have of him, was when he came to drop me off at Kota. After a few days, when I had settled in, he decided to leave and return home. The day he went back, he got up very early in the morning and left without awaking me. I was actually awake the whole time, but I had tears in my eyes, I didn't want him to see me that way, so I didn't dare to get up. Once he was ready, he came to me once,patted my hair, looked up at the blank vacant space and just left. I actually wanted to run after him and hug him, but I was a "man" now and I didn't dare show my vulnerability.
An year later, when he dropped me off at my campus at Kharagpur, I could see pride in his eyes. We hardly speak to each other,but we do connect a lot. And mom says that he is very proud of me. When I went abroad for the first time, she said he couldn't stop bragging about me to everyone. That was the only incentive I needed.
Come 2009, when the whole world was in recession, getting a job was pretty difficult. I was among the unlucky ones who actually had to find one, and my major concern was what will dad think if I end up jobless. But all the time, he kept telling me it was alright and itsn't my fault and if nothing works out, then both of us will go to Jaunpur and look after our cows together. Thank God, that didn't happen!
Still, I sometimes wonder if he is really satisfied with me or not...
He is also a very funny man. When I was small, I remember him shaving in front of the wash basin, singing to himself,"Meine toh nahin, haaan...meine to nahin.."For the life of me, I couldnt fathom how that song ended. Also now that he holds an important profile in his company , he has to attend a lot of official parties. So many in fact that it's a surprise to me if someday he doesn't have a party to attend. And he loves his non veg food. So everytime he comes back, I ask him what he had, and everytime, he would answer with the straightest of faces,"Oh, I had nothing, just a little daal and some rice and 1 piece of chicken." And he would conveniently forget to tell us that infact he had already gorged to his heart's content on all the kebabs and tandoors served during snacks.Confront him with that and he will say,"But you asked only about dinner, how am I supposed to know you meant snacks too!!"
He is also a bit absent minded. Once he met an aunty and her daughter in front of the gynecology ward. Aunty's husband was actually having a major operation, and she was on her way to meet him when she met dad. Seeing dad, she wept her case to him, searching for some sympathies. My dad, who was too busy to hear, assumed that since she is with her daughter(who was actually a bit fat), and near the gynae area, assumed that the daughter was pregnant and congratulated her with all his heart."Khub bhalo! Khub bhalo..keep it up!"
I can only imagine the lady's shocked face..
Dad you are a real dude!
I am famous (continued...)
So there we were, superstars in our right, giving advice and inspiration to all those who came asking for it. Life couldn't have been better. I was all charged up for the Finals, even more so when I realized that we were having a very special celebrity guest on our show. She was the former Miss Universe, Sushmita Sen herself! The year was 1997 and she was famous then.People were still making the mistake of comparing her with Aishwarya Rai, and so it was quite a big deal when she walked into the studios.I was happy too.
In my QF, I had Abey Kuruvilla as the special guest and T.N. Seshan in the semis.For the ignorant person,Abey's claim to fame is that he is India's tallest medium pace bowler(fast would be an aberration), who played one series in West Indies, and had Lara effectively reduce his ego to Lilliputian standards. Nevertheless, I was glad to meet him; I had indirectly met God himself. The reasoning being that Abey must have interacted a lot with Sachin during his playing days, and now I was doing the same with Abey.
Get the connection??
There were many more celebrities we met. There was Baichung Bhutia who was gracious enough to have breakfast with us at the hotel. Dravid too, but he had just started,so people weren't paying him too much attention. Dalip Tahil(remember Sirjee from Kaho Na Pyar Hai?), Remo Fernandes and Shiamak Davar. It was a nice company to be in and we were loving it.
Unfortunately,the Finals didn't turn out the way I had imagined. We made some major goof ups and by the end of the show were tied with Naval Public School,Bombay for the first position. There could be only 1 winner, so there was going to be a tie breaker.My partner had gone eerily quiet by then and I had started praying to as many Gods whose names I could remember. When the tie breaker question was finally asked, I didn't hear it. My partner still had a case of the freeze up and before I realized what was happening, it was all over. Naval Public had won and our fairy tale story had come to an end.
Surprisingly, my partner took the loss rather well. He had recovered from his speech impairment and was busy mingling with everyone, shaking hands and congratulating all and sundry. I, on the other hand, couldn't get my ass off my chair. It still hadn't sunken in that we hadn't won. Success is a wicked thing, it makes you greedy. And when your greed isn't satisfied, it literally kills you. I couldn't speak, I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Talking to anyone seemed like a pain. It really felt like someone had poked in a thousand needles into my heart and was pulling them in and out at will.
When we returned to Durgapur, we were accorded a hero's welcome by our friends. Our exploits had reached far and wide, and almost every day,I had people coming up to me, wishing me and sympathizing with our loss. Buses, hospitals, markets, wherever I went people looked at me and smiled.Many wanted to talk too. In my school, I guess apart from a few disgruntled teachers (with whom I had a long and chequered history) and perhaps Fr Jerome (I guess he was still angry at our extra long holiday),we were treated like royalty.
One good pay off was that we were discussed even in the neighboring Carmel Convent Girl's High school. Suddenly species from another planet whom I had only heard about but had never spoken to, were discussing me and a couple of brave ones even approached me to know more about my experiences.The pompous fool that I am, I was loving every moment of it. I was getting missed calls and prank calls from the girls all the time and my ego was at all time inflated high. Of course my father couldn't quite understand these side effects of stardom, and his patience was slowly weaning out. I couldn't care less though. I was making sure that I spent a couple of minutes extra combing my gelled hair,(actually, it wasn't gel, but water)had my best pair of jeans at all times and wore the Old Spice cologne, which a medical company had kindly bestowed my father with, at all times. Life was beautiful and I was hell bent on enjoying it as long as it lasted.
Anyways, things went back to normal within 6 months. My identification went back to the mundane "Dr Singh's son", a big fall from the once exuberant "BQC Kid". But life moves on, and I was lucky to have experienced something that very few people in their life time have ever gone through.I thank the Lord for that.
p.s. The tie breaker q. we were asked in the Finals was "Rearrange the word "POLES" to get a word, which implies the side of a mountain."
Adios!
In my QF, I had Abey Kuruvilla as the special guest and T.N. Seshan in the semis.For the ignorant person,Abey's claim to fame is that he is India's tallest medium pace bowler(fast would be an aberration), who played one series in West Indies, and had Lara effectively reduce his ego to Lilliputian standards. Nevertheless, I was glad to meet him; I had indirectly met God himself. The reasoning being that Abey must have interacted a lot with Sachin during his playing days, and now I was doing the same with Abey.
Get the connection??
There were many more celebrities we met. There was Baichung Bhutia who was gracious enough to have breakfast with us at the hotel. Dravid too, but he had just started,so people weren't paying him too much attention. Dalip Tahil(remember Sirjee from Kaho Na Pyar Hai?), Remo Fernandes and Shiamak Davar. It was a nice company to be in and we were loving it.
Unfortunately,the Finals didn't turn out the way I had imagined. We made some major goof ups and by the end of the show were tied with Naval Public School,Bombay for the first position. There could be only 1 winner, so there was going to be a tie breaker.My partner had gone eerily quiet by then and I had started praying to as many Gods whose names I could remember. When the tie breaker question was finally asked, I didn't hear it. My partner still had a case of the freeze up and before I realized what was happening, it was all over. Naval Public had won and our fairy tale story had come to an end.
Surprisingly, my partner took the loss rather well. He had recovered from his speech impairment and was busy mingling with everyone, shaking hands and congratulating all and sundry. I, on the other hand, couldn't get my ass off my chair. It still hadn't sunken in that we hadn't won. Success is a wicked thing, it makes you greedy. And when your greed isn't satisfied, it literally kills you. I couldn't speak, I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Talking to anyone seemed like a pain. It really felt like someone had poked in a thousand needles into my heart and was pulling them in and out at will.
When we returned to Durgapur, we were accorded a hero's welcome by our friends. Our exploits had reached far and wide, and almost every day,I had people coming up to me, wishing me and sympathizing with our loss. Buses, hospitals, markets, wherever I went people looked at me and smiled.Many wanted to talk too. In my school, I guess apart from a few disgruntled teachers (with whom I had a long and chequered history) and perhaps Fr Jerome (I guess he was still angry at our extra long holiday),we were treated like royalty.
One good pay off was that we were discussed even in the neighboring Carmel Convent Girl's High school. Suddenly species from another planet whom I had only heard about but had never spoken to, were discussing me and a couple of brave ones even approached me to know more about my experiences.The pompous fool that I am, I was loving every moment of it. I was getting missed calls and prank calls from the girls all the time and my ego was at all time inflated high. Of course my father couldn't quite understand these side effects of stardom, and his patience was slowly weaning out. I couldn't care less though. I was making sure that I spent a couple of minutes extra combing my gelled hair,(actually, it wasn't gel, but water)had my best pair of jeans at all times and wore the Old Spice cologne, which a medical company had kindly bestowed my father with, at all times. Life was beautiful and I was hell bent on enjoying it as long as it lasted.
Anyways, things went back to normal within 6 months. My identification went back to the mundane "Dr Singh's son", a big fall from the once exuberant "BQC Kid". But life moves on, and I was lucky to have experienced something that very few people in their life time have ever gone through.I thank the Lord for that.
p.s. The tie breaker q. we were asked in the Finals was "Rearrange the word "POLES" to get a word, which implies the side of a mountain."
Adios!
I am famous!
In class 8, something really big happened to me. At that time, there was this very famous quiz show that used to come on TV, "Bournvita Quiz Contest" and it was hosted by Derek O'Brian. I got a chance to participate in this show and my life changed after that.(for a couple of months only, btw). My partner was a bright chap from Class 7,(he is a doctor now) and I had my mom accompanying us as the school representative. That turned out to be both a blessing and a curse, hehe! Our's is a small school, from a small town, which no one had ever heard about.So people, including our beloved Principal, didn't have much confidence in our abilities. I didn't care though, because I was gonna come on TV and I was ready to brag about it for the rest of my life.
So there we were in Mumbai(it was Bombay then,..with no apologies to RT and his band of merry men), being put up in the posh Juhu Centaur hotel with a room overlooking the Arabian Sea. I was going absolute nuts and since food was complimentary, was busy hogging away on all the dishes that I could pronounce from the menu card.
After a couple of days of rest and sightseeing, we had our shooting lined up. The schedule was such that, both our quarter final and semi final rounds(if we made that far) were to be shot on the same day. The shooting was at the famous Nanavati studios, and I could barely contain myself. We were powdered and pampered in the green room and soon enough we were in the studio sets. Derek was waiting for us and seeing a team from Bengal, winked and wished us best of luck! We were ready to rumble..
The QF round had 2 teams from Bombay and one from Bangalore.Our measly Durgapur team looked completely out of sync in there. I just prayed we didn't finish last. As luck would have it, we were 3rd before the final speed round. For those unaware, one has to answer 15 q.s in 1 minute and could score a maximum of 75 points. So, if we aced it, we could finish as toppers. Maybe God was with us that day, we did exactly that, I don't remember any of the q.s save the last one, which was "Spell renaissance".
I doubt I could spell that now.
The euphoria of winning the QF was quickly submerged in the preparation for the SF round which was due to start within one hour. After a few hugs from my over excited mom, we were back in the green room, with a double layer of smelly stuff pasted over our "pretty" faces. The teams we were facing were now Bombay Scottish, who were last year champions,DPS RK Puram from Delhi and Little Flowers from Jamshedpur. But we weren't intimidated any more. St Xavier's from the steel city of Durgapur, were in the finals of the All Asia BQC, and we had already made history in our town!!!
I couldn't stop jumping up and down after it was all over. Some teams had gone into shock, after all big names had been toppled and we were the ones responsible for it. That night, we were the toast of the hotel. Everyone was congratulating us and teams were looking at us in awe. I think that was the first time in my life, that a girl ( a fellow participant) actually walked up to me and wished me and wanted to be friends with me. I still remember her name....Sonal from Christ School, Guwahati.For a thirteen year old, who is on the verge of major hormonal upheavals, it was quite a landmark!
All night, I was getting congratulatory calls from friends and relatives. But the best one was from our Principal, dear Father Jerome.We called him up and said that we were through to the finals..instead of the expected "Well done lads", what we got was "Ahh, so you guys are through, hmm..well that means you would want one more week off, I am telling you that is going to affect your grades. And now, I need to cancel your return train tickets for tomorrow and book them again for a week later. Do you think these TV people are going to refund the cancellation charges too?? Ahh too much work for me, anyways talk to them and let me know soon. Don't delay your stay more than required. Good night!"
more later....
So there we were in Mumbai(it was Bombay then,..with no apologies to RT and his band of merry men), being put up in the posh Juhu Centaur hotel with a room overlooking the Arabian Sea. I was going absolute nuts and since food was complimentary, was busy hogging away on all the dishes that I could pronounce from the menu card.
After a couple of days of rest and sightseeing, we had our shooting lined up. The schedule was such that, both our quarter final and semi final rounds(if we made that far) were to be shot on the same day. The shooting was at the famous Nanavati studios, and I could barely contain myself. We were powdered and pampered in the green room and soon enough we were in the studio sets. Derek was waiting for us and seeing a team from Bengal, winked and wished us best of luck! We were ready to rumble..
The QF round had 2 teams from Bombay and one from Bangalore.Our measly Durgapur team looked completely out of sync in there. I just prayed we didn't finish last. As luck would have it, we were 3rd before the final speed round. For those unaware, one has to answer 15 q.s in 1 minute and could score a maximum of 75 points. So, if we aced it, we could finish as toppers. Maybe God was with us that day, we did exactly that, I don't remember any of the q.s save the last one, which was "Spell renaissance".
I doubt I could spell that now.
The euphoria of winning the QF was quickly submerged in the preparation for the SF round which was due to start within one hour. After a few hugs from my over excited mom, we were back in the green room, with a double layer of smelly stuff pasted over our "pretty" faces. The teams we were facing were now Bombay Scottish, who were last year champions,DPS RK Puram from Delhi and Little Flowers from Jamshedpur. But we weren't intimidated any more. St Xavier's from the steel city of Durgapur, were in the finals of the All Asia BQC, and we had already made history in our town!!!
I couldn't stop jumping up and down after it was all over. Some teams had gone into shock, after all big names had been toppled and we were the ones responsible for it. That night, we were the toast of the hotel. Everyone was congratulating us and teams were looking at us in awe. I think that was the first time in my life, that a girl ( a fellow participant) actually walked up to me and wished me and wanted to be friends with me. I still remember her name....Sonal from Christ School, Guwahati.For a thirteen year old, who is on the verge of major hormonal upheavals, it was quite a landmark!
All night, I was getting congratulatory calls from friends and relatives. But the best one was from our Principal, dear Father Jerome.We called him up and said that we were through to the finals..instead of the expected "Well done lads", what we got was "Ahh, so you guys are through, hmm..well that means you would want one more week off, I am telling you that is going to affect your grades. And now, I need to cancel your return train tickets for tomorrow and book them again for a week later. Do you think these TV people are going to refund the cancellation charges too?? Ahh too much work for me, anyways talk to them and let me know soon. Don't delay your stay more than required. Good night!"
more later....
The early days
Being brought up in an industrial town can be a bit taxing for a 15 year old boy. For once, his career is already decided, not by him or by his parents,but by his society.
In a town full of engineers, the only 2 respectable professions that are considered suitable for a boy is "Engineering" or "Medicine". To even think of Commerce or Arts was sacrilege. The common comments we heard were that those subjects are for weak students and no self respecting boy will go for them. The girls had freedom to go for whatever the heck they liked, but for us it was like an open and shut case. Even my father had succumbed to the notion. I remember once , when I had come home after getting a pathetic 42/100 in Chemistry in class IX, and he thundered," Babu!! If you don't get 90+ in your X Boards and are hence unable to secure admission in DAV , I am not going to waste my time and money on any other school, and will pack you off straight to Jaunpur, where you will look after the cows and report to me daily the volume of milk and ghee,we get out of them!"
Ohh boy!! what a start to teenage life...
In a town full of engineers, the only 2 respectable professions that are considered suitable for a boy is "Engineering" or "Medicine". To even think of Commerce or Arts was sacrilege. The common comments we heard were that those subjects are for weak students and no self respecting boy will go for them. The girls had freedom to go for whatever the heck they liked, but for us it was like an open and shut case. Even my father had succumbed to the notion. I remember once , when I had come home after getting a pathetic 42/100 in Chemistry in class IX, and he thundered," Babu!! If you don't get 90+ in your X Boards and are hence unable to secure admission in DAV , I am not going to waste my time and money on any other school, and will pack you off straight to Jaunpur, where you will look after the cows and report to me daily the volume of milk and ghee,we get out of them!"
Ohh boy!! what a start to teenage life...
My first blog
I am joining the club...5 years ago, if some one had asked me,"Hey dude! do you blog?", I would have given him the crazy look and would have recommended him to some psycho doc. Me and writing!! wow...seems a strange marriage..I hated writing so much, that once I got a C in my Economics subject at college because I just couldn't get myself to fill 10 pages of the answer booklet.(p.s. it was also due to the fact that I couldn't for the world fathom what Keynesian theory is all about :P).The point is, I never imagined that one day, I will willingly sit down and pen down my thoughts and reminiscence of the good old days.
Here is to my new muse then!
Here is to my new muse then!
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