A New Beginning

Long time since I posted on the blog. In fact, my blog has ceased being a blog, and turned into a memory of past times. I haven’t made an entry since I left for Noida to join my TCS ILP (Initial Learning Program).
TCS does not exactly give its employees the freedom to access Google, Orkut, blogs etc. So my means of communicating and speaking to the world has been through my emails from my TCS mail id. However, the unwritten rule here is “Thou can do anything as long as thou shall not get caught.” Seeing my colleagues access various banned sites (the ban is enforced by means of a rule and not a firewall), I have decided to bring my blog out of its slumber.
So if any of you have not read anything in it till now, take your time. From now on everything I will send will be on this site. It’s the end of long mails which many of you have complained about.

aurevoir mumbai

well
almost at the end of my leave..and i noticed many things while i was down here
life never stopped moving on here in mumbai...everyone has their own work..someone has to write applications for universities in the goraland
others have their jobs...some have made progress in their love lives(rajesh)...still others are not even here for most of the time(infy,hsbc,amdocs)...
and to top it all i am missing kolkata...9 of us living in the same house and having fun
i do not get sleep here in mumbai...roll around for hours till 1 to sleep..moreover in mumbai the tickets for movies are too costly..140..its a rip off..
in kolkata the sunday matinee is 50 rs...60 rs in a mall...what can i say...i could not even see 'taare zameen par'...hope my friends wait here for me in kolkata to see..
the weather in mumbai i unusually hot for december..when my plane landed it was 29 degrees and it was 930pm..
but mumbai is mumbai....
and i find out my friends have not waited...they have seen taare..in kol and i have to see it here with mom and dad..awesome movie..gives a great workout to the lacrymal ducts..
i have to leave tomorrow..spent the entire day at my cousin's place..it was her bday and i was the official photographer...
10 days have flown by..and except for the slow nature of kolkata..i am kind of happy to return..i actually refer to it as home..
have not been able to meet all my friends..tht is the only regret..
nehow..until next time...

vids from kolkata

here are some videos which i thot ull might enjoy

haba-dhubi at home


mornings in kolkata

Kolkata update

Finally on leave in Mumbai... and the first thing I am doing is writing my blog... uploadig photos...have a lot to tell about kolkata...have been having fun recently.... last week there was a half yearly bash of my project...so took part in a skit there....just an extension of college... but now the real work will start..probably will be allocated ...others have started working properly...specially the SAP people....

neway..heres some snaps to look at..

Kolkata Through My Eyes

Setting up base....Kolkata

3 months since my last entry. And I am sitting and writing this one in a cybercafe with the guy next to me peeping into what I am writing.What has life come to? I am in a software company and sit on a computetr for the better part of the day but cannot update my blog. Such is the security in TCS. No gmail, no orkut, no yahoo etc.Either that or I have not found out the method to access it yet.

Kolkata.. what can I say, is the complete antethesis of Mumbai. If the latter is the city that never sleeps, then Kolkata sleeps all the time.For a person like me from Mumbai who is used to the rush hour traffic, the crowded streets, the late nights( I mean at home), it is something totally alien.Firstly, sunrise happens at 5am and sunset at 5pm. All shops close at 9pm. Which is funny given that they open at 8am and stay shut in the afternoon.

Apart from the slow life, the food is a big problem here. Vegetarian seems to be rare on a menu. 50 items and 3 of these will be veg. And there seems to be some obsession with Chinese.And their 'chowmin' is something out of this world. Wherever you go you will find roadside shops selling 'chowmin'. Also their spellings are funny. Mutter paneer is 'motor paneer' and pav bhaji is 'pao bhaji' and there is 'dahi bada' etc.Their chaat is not all that good and it is expensive. Mumbai chaat is better. Here they donot have the concept of meetha and teekha chutney. Just jhaal which is teekha masala.2 dishes I liked though, 'jhaal moodhi' and the famous 'puchka'. The sweets are amazing. Certainly living up to the expectations. Cheap too. Mishti doi comes at half the rate that it comes in Sweet Bengal(14/-).I have not had real authentic Bengali fish yet, but plan to soon.

Now, the more important part. Accomodation.We are 9 boys living in a PG bungalow. This may seem to you like it is cramped. But believe me when I say that space is not a problem. We have a Tv, DVD player, refrigerator and negotiations are on for gas and stove.2 attached bathrooms ensure there is no conflict in the morning.So, currently our life consists of going to office and watching TV, studying a bit and playing TT(table tennis). Those lucky to be in a project have training and I am the only one who has some little work. But it may start mounting soon.
Regular reports will keep coming. Keep checking.

One more thing, not all Bengali girls are Bipasha. I believe I make myself clear.