People tend to recall things from their experiences, and this practice is very frequent with me. I have this habit of going into deep thinking about incidents that happened in my past and chuckle at the funny moments that went by. There was one such incident that I would write about in this post.
Those who know me say that things haven’t changed much, but what I feel is that I was much naughtier when I was younger. And add to that the God-gifted fooling power I had then.
When I was around 10, I used to go to play cricket in the playground nearby with friends from the neighbourhood. On one such day in the summers, all of us saw that a tree there was full of mangoes. So, everyone started trying to get one down the tree. When I saw people were enjoying so much doing that crazy thing, I too got interested in the act. Since I had never done it earlier, I picked up a big stone, so big that I could barely lift it, and took my aim. A fellow neighbour also took an aim at the same time. My stone reached around half the height and came down. But instead of falling on the ground, it fell on the other fellow’s head. He began to bleed and obviously started crying too.
I was really horrified as to what would happen to me. Who would save me from him, his parents and then my parents? Suddenly, an idea struck. I behaved as if it was his stone itself that had missed the aim and come down and hit him. And I gave the description in such a confident way that everyone there, including the guy himself, began to believe that it was he who had hit himself by mistake.
It was just my brother and me who knew that it was me who did it. Thank God the boy was alright in another couple of days!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Your Hollywood vs. My Bollywood
Finally I get time to write another beautiful piece of work here :P. I hope you have an idea as to how busy I am. Ok jokes apart, here I am to talk about something that interests almost half the world I suppose.
It was an early start to the weekend last Friday. After a 10-day long struggle of our HR manager to get all the employees to unanimously agree to a particular movie and to successfully get the tickets booked, we went for Die Hard 4. Courtesy the sincerity of the office staff here to work till the job is done and the Delhi traffic, we reached just in time for the show (and therefore missed the bird-watching-fun before the movie).
But this is not why I am writing this blog. Here is a point to be made, just what the topic of this blog suggests.
I had heard a lot about the movie and it was expected to be a wonderful experience. But I don’t understand what these Hollywood directors think - Put some action and a few kissing scenes and the job is done. What the hell!!! Bruce Willis plays some John McClane who is a member of the New York Police Department. They get to know about an Internet-based terrorist organization which is systematically shutting down the United States. McClane is quite old (has a daughter of marriageable age). Still he is given the job of setting these people right single-handedly.
Now begins the fun. He does some bold action scenes. So bold that they become too hard to digest. He gets hit so many times and so badly that someone of his age cannot bear anyhow, but this man is Bruce Willis. So he comes back harder every time. There is a scene that was completely unpalatable for me. He is driving a truck (or whatever that was) and someone is chasing him in a helicopter. He escapes somehow for some time and finally makes the truck run over a slant plank and therefore go like a projectile (me, the engineer :-)) to hit the helicopter in mid-air.....aaha....what beautiful action!!!
If a Sunny Deol does a Gadar, there are lakhs of people saying that Bollywood shows impossible things and is a highly dramatic stuff. I say at least ‘My Bollywood’ makes it look realistic, Hollywood doesn’t even do that. It just creates an impression that someone like Bruce Willis can do the impossible any day, any time.
In all these years that I have lived, I have come across innumerous people, got in good contact with thousands of them and have had talks on movies. Almost everyone says Hollywood is much better. But I have seen all kinds of people - some who don’t even understand the accent they use in English movies, some who laugh when people around them laugh, some who feel happy when there is some good action scene and some who just make an estimate of the story from what they see. They say they understand the movie completely, but if you ask them the basic theme of the movie, they have it all wrong. The basic thing is that they think they will be superior if they see and more-so-if -they-say-they-see English movies rather than those made in their national language.
I personally prefer watching the Indian cinema. I feel that at least you don’t have to make an effort understanding it. These days Bollywood is no more predictable. It is coming with entertaining and more importantly innovative stuff. See a ‘bheja-fry’ or a ‘shootout at lokhandwala’ and you would get to know that today’s Indian cinema is not predictable any more.
I am certainly not against all those who prefer watching Hollywood movies, but am also not comfortable if they say that Bollywood is crap. “Maine yeh nahin kaha ki Hollywood murdabaad hai, par mera Bollywood zindabaad tha, zindabaad hai, aur zindabaad rahega :-)”
It was an early start to the weekend last Friday. After a 10-day long struggle of our HR manager to get all the employees to unanimously agree to a particular movie and to successfully get the tickets booked, we went for Die Hard 4. Courtesy the sincerity of the office staff here to work till the job is done and the Delhi traffic, we reached just in time for the show (and therefore missed the bird-watching-fun before the movie).
But this is not why I am writing this blog. Here is a point to be made, just what the topic of this blog suggests.
I had heard a lot about the movie and it was expected to be a wonderful experience. But I don’t understand what these Hollywood directors think - Put some action and a few kissing scenes and the job is done. What the hell!!! Bruce Willis plays some John McClane who is a member of the New York Police Department. They get to know about an Internet-based terrorist organization which is systematically shutting down the United States. McClane is quite old (has a daughter of marriageable age). Still he is given the job of setting these people right single-handedly.
Now begins the fun. He does some bold action scenes. So bold that they become too hard to digest. He gets hit so many times and so badly that someone of his age cannot bear anyhow, but this man is Bruce Willis. So he comes back harder every time. There is a scene that was completely unpalatable for me. He is driving a truck (or whatever that was) and someone is chasing him in a helicopter. He escapes somehow for some time and finally makes the truck run over a slant plank and therefore go like a projectile (me, the engineer :-)) to hit the helicopter in mid-air.....aaha....what beautiful action!!!
If a Sunny Deol does a Gadar, there are lakhs of people saying that Bollywood shows impossible things and is a highly dramatic stuff. I say at least ‘My Bollywood’ makes it look realistic, Hollywood doesn’t even do that. It just creates an impression that someone like Bruce Willis can do the impossible any day, any time.
In all these years that I have lived, I have come across innumerous people, got in good contact with thousands of them and have had talks on movies. Almost everyone says Hollywood is much better. But I have seen all kinds of people - some who don’t even understand the accent they use in English movies, some who laugh when people around them laugh, some who feel happy when there is some good action scene and some who just make an estimate of the story from what they see. They say they understand the movie completely, but if you ask them the basic theme of the movie, they have it all wrong. The basic thing is that they think they will be superior if they see and more-so-if -they-say-they-see English movies rather than those made in their national language.
I personally prefer watching the Indian cinema. I feel that at least you don’t have to make an effort understanding it. These days Bollywood is no more predictable. It is coming with entertaining and more importantly innovative stuff. See a ‘bheja-fry’ or a ‘shootout at lokhandwala’ and you would get to know that today’s Indian cinema is not predictable any more.
I am certainly not against all those who prefer watching Hollywood movies, but am also not comfortable if they say that Bollywood is crap. “Maine yeh nahin kaha ki Hollywood murdabaad hai, par mera Bollywood zindabaad tha, zindabaad hai, aur zindabaad rahega :-)”
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
A beautiful line
There are some small things that sometimes have a deep impact on your mind. Something of that sort happened last week. It might not be very interesting for you, so read at your own risk!
We have in the Delhi office of Webaroo a small conference room which can accommodate no more than 4 people at a time. There are just 4 chairs, a table, a phone, a white board and an AC in that room. The room is used for conferences, small group meetings and for having lunch (that too in groups of 4, turn by turn :))
Last week, i was in a meeting with my immediate boss Sagar, the project manager Jatin (he has told me to call him Sir only if the queen of England knights him :) ) and another member of my team. So, the room was full. Now, the VP India Operations of the company, Mr. Chirag Jain entered the room and showed interest in participating in the discussion. He, at around 45, is the eldest person we have in the office here. So, as a mark of respect (or probably being new to the system), i got up from my chair to offer him a seat. Holding me from my shoulder, he pushed me down back on the seat and said "My dear, agar aise hi uthne lage to zindagi bhar khade hi reh jaaoge!". Saying this, he left the room.
He said this in a very normal way but since then i have thought about the line a lot many times. And this really applies in many situations, at least in my case it does!!! :)
We have in the Delhi office of Webaroo a small conference room which can accommodate no more than 4 people at a time. There are just 4 chairs, a table, a phone, a white board and an AC in that room. The room is used for conferences, small group meetings and for having lunch (that too in groups of 4, turn by turn :))
Last week, i was in a meeting with my immediate boss Sagar, the project manager Jatin (he has told me to call him Sir only if the queen of England knights him :) ) and another member of my team. So, the room was full. Now, the VP India Operations of the company, Mr. Chirag Jain entered the room and showed interest in participating in the discussion. He, at around 45, is the eldest person we have in the office here. So, as a mark of respect (or probably being new to the system), i got up from my chair to offer him a seat. Holding me from my shoulder, he pushed me down back on the seat and said "My dear, agar aise hi uthne lage to zindagi bhar khade hi reh jaaoge!". Saying this, he left the room.
He said this in a very normal way but since then i have thought about the line a lot many times. And this really applies in many situations, at least in my case it does!!! :)
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Company ki life aur Delhi mein masti
I had never ever thought that someone would say “Tu agla blog kab likhega?” And it happened :)
During the weekdays, I was a bit busy due to work and the weekend was just to have fun.
I had told about the starting 2-3 days of my internship in the previous post. Things changed quite well in the days that followed. I realized that these people have no regular internship program and so they are not accustomed to managing an intern. So, I thought of doing the needful myself. I started talking to everyone in the office myself and developed a friendly kind of a relation with my team members (3 employees of the company) on my own, so much so that I even referred to my boss as “O yaar” one day.
Due to the launch of a new product of the company last week (the product that I am working on… www.sms.webaroo.com ), there were a lot of meetings with the PM and a good presentation by the co-founder of the company. I even had to stay in office till 10 pm one day. But it was good to learn how these people plan their goals.
In these 3 years of studying engineering, I had never thought I will ever be doing fruitful long discussions with some project manager. But sometimes things turn out to be very different :)
The weekend was real fun. Saw two movies – bheja fry and cheeni kum (both were too good), and did lots of bird-watching. But we could not see even a single “single” girl. And one of my friends quite rightly questioned “Yeh ladkiyon ko aise hi ladke achchhe lagte hain kya?” to which none of us had an answer :)
Now a new week follows, and work begins again!!!
Next post will be coming very soon…tab tak tata
During the weekdays, I was a bit busy due to work and the weekend was just to have fun.
I had told about the starting 2-3 days of my internship in the previous post. Things changed quite well in the days that followed. I realized that these people have no regular internship program and so they are not accustomed to managing an intern. So, I thought of doing the needful myself. I started talking to everyone in the office myself and developed a friendly kind of a relation with my team members (3 employees of the company) on my own, so much so that I even referred to my boss as “O yaar” one day.
Due to the launch of a new product of the company last week (the product that I am working on… www.sms.webaroo.com ), there were a lot of meetings with the PM and a good presentation by the co-founder of the company. I even had to stay in office till 10 pm one day. But it was good to learn how these people plan their goals.
In these 3 years of studying engineering, I had never thought I will ever be doing fruitful long discussions with some project manager. But sometimes things turn out to be very different :)
The weekend was real fun. Saw two movies – bheja fry and cheeni kum (both were too good), and did lots of bird-watching. But we could not see even a single “single” girl. And one of my friends quite rightly questioned “Yeh ladkiyon ko aise hi ladke achchhe lagte hain kya?” to which none of us had an answer :)
Now a new week follows, and work begins again!!!
Next post will be coming very soon…tab tak tata
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The start of my summer internship
I had this post written for the last 2 days but had thought of posting it now as otherwise you people would have not gone through the previous one which was a welcome package for you.
For those of you who are not aware of this, I am doing my summer internship in a software company in Delhi, and staying at IIT Delhi. If the first week at work was an indication, these two months will see me work more than I have done in my entire life put together.
I had always heard from seniors and elders that internship is a time when people have masti and don’t get much work to do…….ab ya to inka masti ka funda kuchh alag hi hai ya main hi ajeeb fasa hoon :)
I would like to share the experience of my first few days in the company. I was told to join the company on the 15th of May. I was a bit late due to the accommodation thing at IITD and reached around 2 in the afternoon. I had informed them about the possibility of a delay, so that was not a problem. When I reached and told that I am so and so and have come for internship, the man there pointed towards my working table and said “That is your table”. Nobody in the world can expect such a warm welcome!!! In two minutes I was called to some other room by two huge men (laga tha beta late aane ki wajah se dhulaayi hone waali hai)….but soon I got to know they were from the same team that I was going to be a part of. They were my kind of bosses who had to explain things to me.
Bas ho gaye shuru….jaise apna saara kaam mere se hi karaane waale ho!!!
They have a board there on which they mention what has to be done in the day, and don’t move until they complete their respective jobs…..may god bless them (and me too for these two months at least).
I asked my senior about the timings and got to know that they work very less – UNLIMITED!!! Jab tak kaam khatam na ho, jaana nahin……kya funda hai. I asked when I can leave and he answered 7 at least. Ek toh wahaan koi ladki nahin (I am the only intern there), aur phir shaam bhi wahin bitaao…..kahaan ka insaaf hai mere jaise bachche ke saath…….ae khuda….tu sun raha hai?????
This is too much for now……it is only this much that I can write in one go, and possibly more than enough for you to read…….another post coming very soon too……on experiences in delhi :)
For those of you who are not aware of this, I am doing my summer internship in a software company in Delhi, and staying at IIT Delhi. If the first week at work was an indication, these two months will see me work more than I have done in my entire life put together.
I had always heard from seniors and elders that internship is a time when people have masti and don’t get much work to do…….ab ya to inka masti ka funda kuchh alag hi hai ya main hi ajeeb fasa hoon :)
I would like to share the experience of my first few days in the company. I was told to join the company on the 15th of May. I was a bit late due to the accommodation thing at IITD and reached around 2 in the afternoon. I had informed them about the possibility of a delay, so that was not a problem. When I reached and told that I am so and so and have come for internship, the man there pointed towards my working table and said “That is your table”. Nobody in the world can expect such a warm welcome!!! In two minutes I was called to some other room by two huge men (laga tha beta late aane ki wajah se dhulaayi hone waali hai)….but soon I got to know they were from the same team that I was going to be a part of. They were my kind of bosses who had to explain things to me.
Bas ho gaye shuru….jaise apna saara kaam mere se hi karaane waale ho!!!
They have a board there on which they mention what has to be done in the day, and don’t move until they complete their respective jobs…..may god bless them (and me too for these two months at least).
I asked my senior about the timings and got to know that they work very less – UNLIMITED!!! Jab tak kaam khatam na ho, jaana nahin……kya funda hai. I asked when I can leave and he answered 7 at least. Ek toh wahaan koi ladki nahin (I am the only intern there), aur phir shaam bhi wahin bitaao…..kahaan ka insaaf hai mere jaise bachche ke saath…….ae khuda….tu sun raha hai?????
This is too much for now……it is only this much that I can write in one go, and possibly more than enough for you to read…….another post coming very soon too……on experiences in delhi :)
Friday, May 18, 2007
Something about me!!!
Hey people…..fasten your seatbelts!!! Mayank Aggarwal is going to take you to a different world through his blog……This would have been the traditional way of starting a blog. But I want to make things clear right away……”desi banda, desi blog!” Yes, I am entering the world of bloggers. I don’t know where the inspiration to do this came from, since I am rarely into any activities related to books or long textual stuff.
Though I expect that only a select group of my friends and dear ones is going to be lucky enough to go through this fundoo piece of art, I would still introduce myself considering that some authors have got the readership they had never expected or targeted at.
I am lovingly (and now forcibly too) called ‘Gola’ by my friends in college……par kabhi kabhi hadd ho jaati hai, koi koi kudi bhi yehi naam bol deti hai. I say forcibly because some people don’t recall my real name when they see me. I love to be called ‘Aggarwal Sahab’, and when I don’t get to hear that from others, I call myself by that name :)
Enough of introduction thingy! There will be posts coming quite frequently. You are not forced to follow them, as obviously you wont be paid to do so :P
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