Kaun ? - II

.... continued from here.

The striking of 10 coincided with Uncle opening the door.

At the door, lay a man, in his mid-thirties. Casual shirt, cotton trousers, shoes. He was panting and sweating heavily. Fresh blood was coming out of his forehead, perhaps he had hit a pole while running.

Aa jao.. andar aa jao jaldi.

Thanks a lot sir. Aapne bacha liya mujhe. Please lock the doors and windows, don't open them. Usne shayd mujhe yahan aate hue dekh liya hai.

Uncle obliged. Aunty brought a glass of water.

*gulp-gulp-gulp* Thoda aur milega?

Aunty obliged.

After some 90 seconds of absolute silence, with continual hushing of tired, anxious and scared breaths, Uncle spoke.

Naam kya hai tumhara.

Ji. Rohan Mittal. I work as a Senior Business Analyst in i-Demand, an IPR firm. Bangalore mein posted hoon aur yahan abhi sister se milne aaya tha. On my way back, yahan se kareeb 1 km dooor, I saw two people firing at a car. I don't think the man had survived. kareeb 25 goliyaan maari hongi. main to saans roke dekh raha tha., but then one of them saw me. Police siren sun ke one of the guys fled on the bike while the other ran after me firing all the way along. Aapne bhi gunshots sune honge. Kisi tarah jaan bacha ke bhaga hoon. Wo to aap jaise bhale log hain jinhone mujhe andar aane diya aur meri jaan bacha li. I don't know how to thank you people.
I owe my life to you.

He told them everything he could in one breath, or two may be. Aunty was still gasping.

Ye to humara farz hai beta. ye aajkal ke logon ko pata nahin kya ho gaya hai. Ek-doosre ke khoon ke pyaase hain. Insaan ki jaan ki to koi keemat hi nahin.

The montage of the gory images of the deadly riots was playing in Uncle's mind while he was speaking. The mere thought of those days sent shivers down the spine.

Khair, tum fikar mat karo. yahan tumhe koi khatra nahin hai. wo gunda chala gaya hoga ab. raat bahut ho chuki hai, tumhare liye guest room mein bed laga dete hain. Raat bhar aaraam ka....

Arre nahin uncle.... main chala jaunga abhi hi.... aapne itna kiya, isi ka ehsaan zindagi bhar rahega. main aaplog ko aur taqleef nahin doonga. Main chala jaunga. You people don't worry about me, my car is just a km away.

Itni raat ko kahan jaoge? Aunty spoke for the first time. So jao... subah chale jaana. Raat ka koi bharosa nahin hai.

Arre humaari chinta mat karo. ye ghar bahut bada hai. Jao, fresh ho jao. Bathroom udhar hai.

Uncle and Aunty, aaplog mere liye bhagwaan se kam nahin hain. Ye mera card rakh lijiye. Bangalore mein kabhi aaye to please give me a chance to at least try to pay off the debt, though I know I can't, forever in this life.

Arre... abhi kya zaroori hai. Subah de dena.

Nahin Uncle. I'll leave early and aaplog ko disturb nahin karoonga. Please take it and whenever you come to Bangalore, do call me.

Theek hai beta. The first smile took its time to come up. It was midnight by the time lights went off.

.........................................

4 days later ...... 169 kms away.....

76 year old Ramgopal Mallik had finished his dinner by 9:20 pm, folded the newspaper, kept it on the table while Mrs. Mallik cleaned the kitchen when their only son, Rohan called from Atlanta, USA. He had got a promotion and a free holiday package for family in Sydney.

Mr. Mallik had missed the small news in the lower right hand side of the 'Region' page of the newspaper, which went like :

"An elderly couple found dead in their home, 36/7 Adarsh Villa, Gurgaon. The deceased were Mr. Suresh Prasad Sharma, a retired Manager in State Bank of India and his wife Mrs. Rajeshwari Sharma, both shot at point blank range. Police have registered a case of double homicide and robbery. According to initial sources, apparently no signs of breaking in has been found, which have led the investigators to cast their doubts on the relatives and servants. Interrogations are still in the beginning stage. The murderer(s) had also robbed the house of most of its belongings. No signs of struggle were found implying that murders preceded the robbery. While the public and human rights organisations are demanding immediate arrests of the culprits, police is repeating its usual phrase 'Investigations are still on.' Further reports are awaited."

Mr. Mallik was in bathroom when he heard two gunshots.

-------------- X --------------

Kaun ?

Jaldi nahin chal sakte kya ???

Mrs. Sharma asked, actually taunted Mr. Sharma. This had now become a routine on their way back home from the Subhash Bose Park, their destination for evening walk. Being staunch followers of Ramdev Baba, the couple never missed a day. And at 70, they hardly looked more than 60, thanks to him. The couple had also appointed themselves as Brand Ambassadors of Ramdev Baba and didn't miss a single opportunity to tell people about him and his Shiksha and Aasans. Some accepted, some faked and most rejected. But they used to go on about their job religiously, just like they went about their evening walk.

So they eventually returned home by 7 pm. It was still 30 minutes before getting dark. After freshening up, Sharma uncle dug into the evening edition of Dainik Bhaskar as Aunty went to the kitchen to make tea.

Khaane mein kya banaun??

Jo hum bolegne wo to hoga nahin... phir kyun poochhti ho roz ? Jo sabzi jaldi kharaab hone waali hai wahi banta hai.... to wahi bana do.

Arre.. poochh lete hain nahin to padosiyon ko bolne lagoge ki hukum chalaati hai :)

They never changed, as fresh and romantic as ever, even after 42 years of courtship and 41 years of marriage. Behind all the nok-jhok, there was eternal love for each other. They had two sons, Akash and Prashant. Both are IT professionals working in top IT Firms and settled abroad with their respective families. Its not that the sons didn't love them. They were tied up by their respective careers and ambitions, and the old couple never ever asked them to stay with them, for it was too selfish of them.
The grandchildren visited in summers. Their home was a normal upper middle class home. A decent sized house, white and gray with azure linings, big glass but grilled windows and dark gray door. Almost every facility that they or the children needed was available. Uncle used the money from his Provident Fund to buy this house while the sons shared the amenities and household items.

It was a quiet neighborhood. In fact, VERY QUIET. In today's fast life, no one had the time for another. An occassional 'Hi' while crossing each other was more than enough to be a good neighbor. Everyone led his own life and was quite busy in it. Uncle and Aunty had only each other for company, support, fights.... literally for everything.

It was 9-30 pm by the time Aunty had cleaned up the kitchen. As they were preparing to go asleep, they heard some sounds outside. Uncle knew they were gunshots. Aunty, though very strong mentally, was beginning to shiver.

Arre kuchh nahin hoga. Aise hi koi pagal hoga.

Aajkal pagal log bandook le ke ghoomte hain !!!

Halla mat karo aur jaa ke so jao. Aur humko bhi sone do.

Uncle tried his best to hold himself as well as Aunty, praying that he be right.

Just then, there was a thunderous knocking on the door. Someone just collided with the door and then started beating it heavily.

Thak-thak-thak-thak-thak.........
Darwaza kholo.... please darwaza kholo. Wo mujhe maar daalega. Bhagwaan ke liye darwaza kholo. Koi hai..... arre koi to meri baat suno. Bhagwaan ke liye mujhe bacha lo... please..... wo mujhe maar daalega. Please.
............ thak-thak-thak-thak............

Mat kholna, Aunty said while managing to catch her breath.

Pagal ho kya, agar sach bol raha hoha to ? marne chhor dein usko ?

Kahin aur chala jayega.

Kahin jagah nahin milegi, ye tum bhi jaanti ho. Ye colony nahin jungle hai. yahan sab apna kaam karte hain. Samaaj, society... ye log nahin jaante. 2 taang par chalne waale praani hain ye sab, Insaan to is dinuya se kab ke khatam ho gaye.

Another gunshot.

Main jaa raha hoon.

Nahin.... ruko.

Another gunshot.

-------Thak-thak-thak-thak-thak.........
Darwaza kholo.... please darwa............

..... to be continued

Its not a game..

All those who haven't yet watched The Nike Indian Cricket Ad .. do watch it NOW ....
here it is : http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mpvuz8gg79Q

This excellent ad captures the essence of Cricket in India. No matter what... people will alwqays remain crazy about cricket. Its the passion for the game. Cricketers will come and go, some will be remembered.. but most will be forgotten in due course of time... BUT Cricket will live... forever in Indian hearts, no matter where they are.

The KODAK moment in the ad : The bowler(on top of a bus) hits the batsman (on the top of another bus) and appeals, not to the umpire..... but to the Idol of Banjrang Bali or Hanumaan. And the poor batsman is OUT as the 3rd and 4th hands of the Idol always point upwards. Simply great thinking on the part of the director.

Cricket is not a game in India, its a RELIGION. So what, if India has won only one world cup, that too 24 years back and a few championships, Indians are still the craziest fans of the game, or should I say, the craziest followers of the Religion.

We were heart-broken when India lost the semi-finals of 1987 & 1996 World Cup.
We couldn't believe India lost the finals of the ICC Knockout in 2000.
We were on top of our world when India won 8 consecutive games in the 2003 World Cup.
We were shocked when India lost to Bangladesh in 2007 World Cup.
We are proud of the fact that India has always defeated Pakistan in World Cups.
We talk about ending the 16 consecutive Test Match winning streak of Australia in Kolkata,2001 as our personal triumph.
We will always cherish the way Sachin single-handedly defeated Australia in Sharjah, 1998 or Sourav Ganguly winning the Sahara Cup for us against Pakistan in Toronto, 1997.
We eat cricket, We drink cricket, We worship cricket, We live cricket.
We are The Great Indian Cricket Fans.

I am missing Cricket in USA :(

Chak de INDIA !!!!

Hello INDIA and Indians all around the world..... A very very Happy Independence Day !!!!

This Independence Day is a lot different than all the previous ones. To begin with, for the first time, I am not in my INDIA. 15th august is just another calender day here. There's no playing of Deshbhakti Songs all around. Children are not going to their school early in the morning wearing all white. There are no functions ( I am very disappointed by the Association of Indian Students here).
Not that I used to hoist our National Flag in my IIT days, but somehow I used to get the feel of Independence Day. But not here, not now. Here I am, some 12,000 kms away from my homeland, wearing a Kurta, writing this post and wishing myself a Happy Independence Day.

I hope the celebrations back home are as usual or even on a larger scale than ever this time, for our country is pretty young, even at 60.

I felt never so proud wearing a kurta.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY !!!!

cya

Uncla Sam ka Aangan

Few known/unknown facts about U.S.A.

1. People drive and walk to the right.
2. Currency notes are called 'Bills'.
3. In 'safe' areas, people park their vehicles outside their house,on the streets if there's no parking space inside.
4. Every street, and I mean EVERY, has a name.
5. There's absolutely no dress code inside the University. You can see people in Shorts inside the univ.
6. You can traverse places very easily following the Maps. Today, on my 6th day in Campus, I showed a lady (who seemed to be American) the way to her destination. Not a bad job by any standards for a guy like me who had a terrible direction sense back in India. I am now quite adept at map-reading and finding the shortest paths.
7. None of the commodities bears the price. You have to know it from somewhere else, usually the tags on the respective racks in the supermarkets, or you have to learn to decode the Bar-code.
8. No auto-rickshaw and the likes are available. So you better have your own means of transport to take your stuff from the market to your place or be prepared to walk all the way along.
   
9. METROs and TRAMs are actually buses here (Metro is both bus and rail service).
   
10. Street names are written parallel to the streets. So if you are at a junction, the name that you are seeing in the front is NOT the street in front of you, but it is the street that you'll cross to go to the street in front of you.
11. The houses are Wood-based.
12. The Power sockets don't have switches. Just plug-in and use.
13. The switches are ON when UP, opposite of India.
14. Americans are extremely helpful. I really like this trait of theirs.
15. Bi-cycles are called 'Bikes', and they come in all kinds of weird types, specially the handles.
16. In absence of a traffic light, people stop their cars and let pedestrians cross the road first, even if you are waiting at the side, so very unlike India.
17. Everything is costlier than India. I am ruing many things that I could have brought from India. At the same time I am happy for the stuff that I managed to bring.

So much for now.... pics and more Gyaan about US in later posts.
c ya

Touchdown !!

Hello People........ Breaking news is that I have reached Los Angeles all safe and sound :)
The current days are passing by completing the formalities. I have some 10 days left before the Fall begins.

After leaving India and before landing in US.... I was in the air... in other words.... it was like.... "आज मैं ऊपर , आसमां नीचे " ........ literally. \
22 hrs of flight with one stopover can be quite boring and of course tiresome.

* The Procedure to board the plane (As per New Delhi Airport) :

1. Enter the airport after showing your passport and ticket. They will tell you the 'Row' where you'll get your Boarding Pass.
   
2. (optional)Wrap your luggage before security check. (Rs 150 per luggage)
3. Push your luggage (except cabin luggage) through the scanner. (DO NOT entertain any other worker other than the one operating the scanner)
4. Go to the appropriate Row. There are separate counters for the economy and business class, displayed on monitors.
   
5. You can tell the person there which seat do you want. The seats beside the emergency doors have more leg space but the windows are a bit far... so the view is restricted as well as obstructed. It's your choice. The luggages will be weighed and taken away. They are strict on the weight limits but generally allow 1-2 kg overshoot but not more. So Pack your luggage accordingly. You'll get a departure form at this counter.
   
6. Fill the form and go to the Immigration check-point. This is the point of no return. You can go outside the airport to bid goodbye to your loved ones before you cross this point, NOT after that. The officer will ask some regular questions and put a stamp beside your VISA. He'll also keep the departure form.
   
7. The Boarding Pass has your seat no. , the gate no. through which you'll board and the time of boarding. Just before the gate, there is another security check for the cabin luggage. No liquid is allowed, be it Ghee, Oily pickles,.... they all will be seized. So better not to take them. DO NOT keep vegetable knifes, peelers, etc in the cabin luggage.
8. Board the plane after showing your boarding pass. The Boarding pass is required throughout the journey, so keep it handy but safe.

* Inside the plane

1. Nothing much to know. They'll take care of everything.
2. Before Landing, they'll give you TWO forms to fill. They are very important forms. Keep them filled and safe.

* After Landing

1. They'll tell you the exit to the luggage claims. Remember the Carousal No. of your flight. Before you can claim your luggage, you'll be checked by immigration officer. There's nothing to worry, unless you are unsure why have you landed in US, or if you are not sure how will you meet your expenses if you are on a student VISA.
   
2. The Officer will put stamps beside your VISA and on your I-20. He'll return one form (the Customs one) and staple a part of the other form, which is a very very important form called the I-94, the immigration form. In my case the officer didn't staple it and I thought it to be a part of the formalities, only to realize its importance later. KEEP YOUR I-94 ALWAYS WITH YOUR PASSPORT. Staple it beside your VISA but NOT on your VISA.
3. Take your luggage and exit out of the airport. Before exiting, there are money machines, get some change from there as Quarter Dollar coins are required quite often in the US.
   

EXIT and WELCOME TO US !!!!

BTW.... HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY (belated) TO ALL OF YOU !!!

Its time to fly.....

So folks... the countdown has almost completed. I am leaving today for Delhi from where, 40 hours from now, I shall fly... into my dreamland .... into my Karmabhoomi .... chasing my dreams.
Everything's set. Everything's done. (Hopefully)
We had spent the last two days trying to arrange the stuff to be inside the 'baggage limits'..... adding something here... removing something from there.
Have bid good-bye to my relatives... friends... teachers and all.
At present I am not sure how am I feeling. I don't know if to feel happy that I am going where I dreamt of going someday..... OR...... to feel sad to leave my parents.... my friends... my home..... my country. I know I'll return to India after an year or so..... but I also know that things will never be the same again. The next time I will be in India.... I'll be 'visiting' India instead of 'living' in India. And let me tell you.... this is a very big difference.
I don't know how I'll react to USA or for that matter... how USA will react to me :P
As of now.... I am staring into a door... which is open now... with bright,white light ushering in. I am not able to see beyond the door but I am hoping everything's exactly like I have dreamt.

Alvida India.... will surely be back.

c ya from Los Angeles .....