A trip to a nearby Resort.....

A month had gone by since my arrival here at Burass and I had started to fit into a rural lifestyle. But, one day my Manager called and handed over to me an Invitation for "all expenses paid 2 weeks stay" at a nearby Resort. Though I had been making plans for a trip to Gurgaon for the same purpose yet it didn't matter much as I had been waiting for such opportunity to relax and enjoy the company of other such tourists. So on the 9th of January, I packed my Bags and headed towards the State Bank of Patiala Infotech Academy. I was amongst the first few people to arrive and so got the luxury of getting a two-sharing room. Here I must add that I earned that right of luxury as I struggled for almost 10 mins fighting with the lock. For a moment, I started to question my abilities. "Ayan tu ek taala nahi khol sakta toh aage toh....", well I mean life throws at us lots of major challenges and we cannot afford to surrender to such trivial issues. Just as I opened the door, my roommate also came. I greeted him and thought that someone had said it correctly.."Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity"- someone prepares and someone else gets the opportunity. Nevertheless, atleast I had met someone of my age after a while even though our thoughts and actions were totally opposite. Newton's Law doesn't apply here though and thank God for that. 

Being a sports freak, I headed towards the Badminton Court but found no one interested in a game or two. Rest of the Gang were busy socializing with each other and I started socializing with the Security Guards in their Cabin. For a couple of days, people viewed me as some sort of Alien I guess and a few of them still do I suppose. All work and no play had made Ayan a dull boy. But, gradually people started flocking to the Badminton Court and after a point it became difficult to even manage two consecutive games for the demand had outstripped the supply. Cricket was something I had been looking forward to playing and soon I discovered that a few other people shared similar sentiments. Classes...oops ....ok let me make it clear that the Resort was a Training Centre and we had gathered for our our induction training. But the facilities made it look like as if we were on vacation in some Resort. Do read between the lines as I said this keeping in mind the hardships being faced by some of us at our current place of posting.

Classes were going one well especially things were fine as I could gather sitting in the last row. I don't mean that I was sleeping. Infact I spoke, I used the ink and I clicked on the mouse as well. On a serious note, we had some good learning sessions with the faculty.

Lohri was also celebrated in the campus. Dance is such an integral part of Punjabi culture and it was in its full glory here as some of them showed their best moves. I, as usual, applauded from sidelines. Everybody dances then there won't be anyone to appreciate. Actually, I had my feet rooted to the ground.

Food was good. I have head much worse than that. Infact, I must say that the Canteen Guys took decent care of us. Not everyone can be pleased and so no complaints. There would be people who even wondered at the quantity that I carried on my plate.Yes, I was hungry Guys.

Internet Cafe was initially out of order but then was made available for us to work on our projects. There was lot of research work done at www.facebook.com for this purpose. Library was either not accessible or was not accessed by us. I am not too sure what was the actual reason. As for me, I don't enter Libraries as I am at my loudest best there. My friends from the College days would vouch for that.

Talking about the project, well yeah we were divided into groups and were asked to present on various topics. I was the leader for one of the groups. It was amusing to note the kind of seriousness with which teams were preparing. Fair enough, most of them had not been involved in such occasions before in their life. So the formal announcement made them a bit jittery. Some of us had been part of such exercises a zillion times in our Management institutes and so we took it easy. Yeah, the important differentiating factor is the group camaraderie as here we hardly knew each other. So the practice sessions were necessary. Those sessions were also helpful to break the ice though in few cases the hammer broke but not the ice. The formal presentations were made. We fought over it, we laughed over it BUT most importantly, we ENJOYED each other's company. I got nostalgic while doing the Report for the project as we used to work similarly at College. But, blogging has helped my thought-process as I compiled the report like a blog. The words just flowed. My teammates would have resorted to a Coup if I had failed to get the report ready on time. (We were just an hour late.) The presentation of our Group was well appreciated but the winners were the worthy winners.

Everyone left but I remained as I had an important business at Dhobi Ghat to be taken care of. One of my colleagues, Pranati also stayed back for the same. We had a good time at Omaxe. He departed in the evening leaving me with the TV. Monday morning, I had to leave for the fear of being thrown out.

Lots of moments were captured on camera(nothing indecent), lots of friend requests were made and lots of numbers were exchanged. Hopefully, the new Network remains Strong and Healthy.

PUNJAB FOR DUMMIES...

One month of my stay in Punjab has really given me some interesting insights which I would like to share with you Guys. Prior to that Punjab has always been a part of our conversations rather jokes. The last one I heard is as follows:

One day a Sardarji goes to a Punjabi Scholar with a question which had been troubling him for quite a while….

Sardarji: “Scholar Ji aap toh itne educated hain phir yeh bataaaiyen na ki saare jokes hum Punjabi o pe hi kyun banta hain??”

…..now the Scholar was at a loss of words and so he said that he would ask the same to Pesident Bush as the Americans know all.

The Scholar asked the same question to the President who in turn asked a question to the Scholar…”In my House, three of us live….my wife, my child and can you tell me who is the third????”

The Scholar couldn’t answer and so President said- “Its Simple, the third person is Me”.

The Scholar came back and met the same Sardarji. He then asked the same question-

….”In my House, three of us live….my wife, my child and can you tell me who is the third????”

Now, the Sardarji was clueless and so he asked for the solution. The Scholar very confidently answered…”Its Simple, the third person is Bush of course!!!!”.

Just to make my intentions clear, I do not intend to offend any of my Punjabi friends and I am sure they will take it positively for Punjabis are the most simple and fun-loving people. I have utmost respect for them and their feelings.

There are a few elements inherent to this place which are very amusing and interesting from my point of view.

Its far more easier to remember people here by name than by their faces. Because, one just needs to add a “Singh” to the first name if the person happens to be a Male or a “Kaur” if female. Believe me you will not go wrong in almost 80% cases. But the same funda would fail you in Bengal where there is a Chatterjee, a Banerjee, a Mukherjee, a Bhattacharjee, then a Chakraborty followed by thousand other surnames. Faces in Punjab are pretty confusing especially of the older lot. All seem alike. If Moustache rules South than the Beard certainly rules Punjab. I have still not paid last month’s rent as I am not able to find the landlord who is around 85 years old. I don’t find time to go to his house and seem to miss him in the crowd. Kindly note that the total population of the village would comprise of 40% Senior Citizens and another 10% who look like Senior Citizens. By the way, my Landlord’s name is Milkha Singh. He has not been to any Olympics but somehow manages to open the big gate from outside even though I keep it bolted from inside and appear at the door to start a conversation. In the last 36 days, he has sent his son to the US five times already, has built this house thrice and hosted a minister twice. I try to avoid him so that his son doesn’t get affected by acute jetlag and he himself doesn’t get broke given the inflationary pressure on the economy. That is the story of every house here. One son is in the States and he sends enough dollars back home so as to build a fortune based on the Exchange Rate. Ancestral Land has always been there and so has been the monetary benefits of the Dowry system. Besides, Power and Water are being given as freebies by the Government here.

I have been pretty bad with languages I must say. I failed to learn Khasi in 22 years and Telegu in 5 years but amazingly, I find myself at ease with this language. I have already picked up the most prominent part of the colloquial Punjabi and that happens to be a single word…”Bh@*&%$#”. The rest is just a mix of Hindi (which I already know) and authentic Punjabi. So it won’t take much time I guess. For now I just nod my head and show my teeth as a definite cover for my ignorance and definitely a false display of my understanding.

Another important thing to know about Punjab and Punjabis is the obsession with “Ji” so much so that they tend to take it as an insult if you don’t use a “Ji” at least ten times in a sentence. For them, “Raja Ji Bh@*&%$# hain” is fine BUT “ Raja Bhagwan hain” is not. I am trying to squeeze in as many JIs as possible. May be this as a practice is more prominent here in the village but still its also existent in the urban settlements nevertheless.

Coming to food, Punjab is known as much for its “Makke Di Roti n Sarson Da Saag” as also for its “Shudh Dudh n Ghee”. Have tried some Ghee but have not dared to try milk for 100% purity is hazardous to a stomach which has over the years got accustomed to all sorts of crap. Sarson Da Saag is wonderful but I cannot say the same for Makke Di Roti though. Its just plain OK. I have been to Ludhiana, Amritsar and Chandigarh and have tried non-vegetarian at quite a few places. Mutton hasn’t been that great, Chicken was Ok, Biryani was DISMAL and yet to find decent Chinese though the Chinese food at Chopsticks in Chandigarh was comparatively the best value for money experience that I had in Punjab in terms of non-vegetarian cuisine.

My weekend trips to the three cities along the under-repair Grand Trunk Road allows me to put in a word or two about these places. One interesting fact is that every major city in Punjab has a road called as “Mall Road” and predominantly that happens to be the most upscale commercial hub. Firstly, Amritsar is historically the most important city in Punjab. It has lot to offer to a tourist- Wagah Border, Golden Temple, Jalliwanwala Bagh, Ram Tirth and Vaishno Devi Temple. Most importantly, its less expensive. The kind of room for which I paid just Rs.250 cost me Rs.1200 in Chandigarh. Amritsar is trying hard to upgrade its look into a more upscale one but at this stage it has a long way to go. Next, Ludhiana is the industrial hub and expectedly full of dust and dirt. It should be renamed as “Dhuliana”. There is nothing to see here unless someone enjoys “industrial tourism”. Lastly, Chandigarh, as everyone knows, is a planned city but accolades must be given to somebody (will explain the cause of confusion) for keeping the City clean and well maintained. Here, I cannot help but draw a parallel between Chandigarh and Babri Masjid site. The Logic???....well both of these are existing in confusion. Whereas the confusion is more in case of Chandigarh, the complications are far greater in case of Babri Masjid site. Babri Masjid is disputed while Chadigarh is free of any such dispute. But just think of it- Chandigarh is the Capital of Punjab; Chandigarh is the Capital of Haryana and Chandigarh is also an Union Territory. However, Chandigarh is the most vibrant city in Punjab and is full of Youth and Beauty. I wonder why the Guys there have a major problem finding matrimonial alliance. I guess the reason would be that the Beautiful Girls are looking for a better match like….