Disclaimer : This is not supposed to be politicaly stained however if at times I do become politicaly tinted in my statements which might not tally with your viewpoint, request you to kindly ignore it.
Cars! Cars! Cars, young men's fantasy, flashy revving and everything related to sex appeal, (GIRLS STAY AWAY PLEASE),big monsters ripping the highway. Men just close your eyes and imagine zipping down the highway on a sports convertible say Lotus or a Lambo and you would start salivating. And India, for donkey's years has been flooded with Amby's and their innumerable varients and padminis, then the economy opened and we were having cute lil red bugs on the road...ahhh the 800, After several zens esteems, ikons optras and corolla's which were " specialy suited for Indian Road condition" , in reality severely underpowered and overpriced, Mr Ratan Tata decided to go "NANO"Hello! Indica had been very popular, however one drive and u would understand that TATA's competancy lies in the 407, however I dare to admit, its the most successful car of recent times. But "NANO", what is he planning to do anyways? A car in 1 Lac? There goes, my already decaying dream of 5 litre turbocharged 19 inch alloy with YOKO's, for a sudden cardiac arrest. The vision of these subatomic 4 seaters,made of plastic ( the thick bottomed pepsi 2 lit bottle) running on moped engines started giving me nightmares. But hell! I am one of those (privilaged) big boys who love their toys. What NANO gave was hope, to the millions,that yes "We Also Can".Then came another revelation " NANO" was going to be built in Bengal. HAHA, now there"s a ray of hope , that my nightmares might not materialise. Mr. Tata, have you completely lost it??? NANO? that too in Bengal? Arent you aware that we are bengali's whos progress is in the reverse mode, Dont you know that if theres a good cause, there will be somebody who will behemently oppose it, despite the fact its for the en-mass? Dont you know that we are the slaves who are destined to suffer as the rulling party and opposition fight it out. Taking about fights?? Oh yeah this is the best part! Ms.Mamata Banerjee, the livewire, fire breathing "Agnikanya" of Bengal taking up my cause of a NANO free world. I am with you , touching my heart, with a few thousands of your ardent followers.Thank you for hiding my laziness , proof .in the almost bi-monthly bandhs that we have in bengal,check my office registors u will find I have whole heartedly abstained from working ( I always say there might be problems during bandhs -hehe) and in those months when we are unlucky enough not to have a bandh I desperately pray to GOD for one cause, to agitate the rulling party or the opposition. Thank you for all the hollidays we enjoy, courtsey you Ms.Banerjee. Who says industrialisation is required when the world is going organic? No. we should take away all the lands given to indutrialists and utlilize them for organic farming, and who will do it???? Simple ....shut down all the B'Schools and IIT's and use them students for ploughing the land.The class xii fail ,can be used as a replacement OX for ploughing... just a thought. And of all the opportunity of honning our drama skills from you, how can I deny that??? Bengalis are artistic, rabindranath, Saratchandra, Bhibutibhushan, we have simple lost it in our quest for money, but you are there to remind us about the finer aspect of life like dramatics. Ahhh Huhhhh now I can realise why the "Buddhijibi's" are going gaga on you. Buddijibi in it verbatim interpretation means " Buddhi= Intelligence" and jibi= earning ones living, so people earning their living utlising their brains are the so called buddhijibi. Your are going to find this species occupiying your hard earned 2 hrs of TV viewing in almost all the Bengali News channels. Seriously talking crap, using flowery terms, with absolutely no idea whatsoever on the gravity of situation. They are the elites, the buddhijibis.They will be seriously commenting on politics or actions and debate on ressuraction of etopia (most of them cant even spell Che Guevara), and the next moment you would find them in some posh 5 star hotel with scotch on the right hand and a damsel on the left jiving away to glory.and us mortals? with BTech and IIM degree under our belt??? Seriously dont ask, I will start crying. Uhhh NANO.... got diverted..... NANO is having a NONO from the fire angel. The Durgapur expressway blocked for 4 days I receive this txt from my wife when I was going to my hotel from the airport at Jakarta. Absolutely, fuel is in crisis, and somebody has to stop the "unwated" use of fuel. Dont forget the trucks are TATA's. So what Kolkata might have food crisis, so what the patients in ambulance had to do a cross country rally to reach hospitals. Some fossil fuel have been saved. You win some , you loose some. Newspaper said some IT employees went to Singur for mediation, got threatened by another great leader and came back. Guys & the girl ,are you out of your brains? Neither you have unkept beard nor you are a buddhijibi , and u went to talk to the "agnikanya". Ki Sahosh!!!!!!!! Slaves dont talk, they work and pay taxes. Have you forgotten????By now everybody reading is thinking "Red is the color of my life". Hell nooooooooooo..........I am just sick of seeing my Bengal on a continuos reverse gear. It has happened in the past, problems, unions and red flags, were enough to make any aspiring businessman to sweat his life out. WHAT GOES COMES BACK. But in Bengal theres a twist. What Goes definitely comes back. Not the good only the bad.End of the day I support you MADAM, and if nobody understands I do that you also share a dream of Black n Red Buggatti voyron 8 lit quad-turbocharged 1001BHP 478kph monster. God Bless Bugatti's,Porche's, Ferrary's and Lambo's.NANO NANO------ NONO NONO
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Tanjung Bara... Journey to the Unknown
I think I should start with a disclaimer...." This is an attempt of a first time blogger, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors should be kindly overlooked"..... Now guilt free and happy that the kind readers atleast will have some respite from the devastating spellings, I can proceed. Do I call this a travelogue?? Or do I call it an Indian more so a Bengali in the world of unknown...Cant say as of now, so I will leave it for you guys to decide......
21st August 7:30pm am in the car park of my office and suddenly poor man's friend (mobile guys) starts "Smoke on the water". The name "TKC" starts flashing...a 58 year old straight forward, stark honest, humorous and technically solid gentleman who other than beeing a mentor happens to be a business associate. "Hello, Siddhartha. day after tomorrow we have to leave for Tanjungbara, I will email the details tomorrow-- ting........ ting". Tanjungbara???? whats that, wheres that or whos that??? I reach home meet my wife whos almost boiling, as I am supposed to be home an hour back....perils of marital life? Naaa, as of now, no I guess. Next morning I recieve the email with the Subject matter as TBCT "Tanjung Bara Coal Terminal" Sengatta Indonesia... Ahemmm... durgapur ok, delhi ok even Jakarta Ok but Tanjungbara was too much for me, a person who can digest maach bhaat and at time " kochi pathar jhol" ( with a dose of Famtac) to digest. Anyways the day passes by the tickets arrive... surprise 3 flt changes and then a 9 hour drive to the destination. Now thats what u call adventure. Kolkata-Singapore- Balipapan-Sengatta. Till balipapan it was ok.Managed to patao the japanese/chinese/singaporean/korean ( to us anybody from far east is a chinese)gentleman to move to a vacant isle seat. God all the 3 seats are mine.. I just forgot today's airlines are not at all bothered about 6 ft+ economical us, 3 shots of Viskey and managed to tuck in such a way that a pro contortionist would have kissed my feet. 2 hrs of slumber off and on with the over enthusiast hostesses hell bent on me having that chicken whatever for dinner. With a sore back bone and neck we managed to reach Jakarta and the three hours we spent loitering in the airport for "GARUDA' we managed to heckle with the lady selling "ROLLEX" and "TISOTT" from 1 million rupiya ( almost 100 USD) to 70k Rupiya ( 7 USD) Can u beat it? Fancy market guys would have run away....4:30 PM Balipappan, Straight to hotel."Le Grandeour" would be our home for tonite...Wake up at around 11 am the next day and behold our Australian associates are there in the hotel with the convoy of 3 cars, a Landcruiser Prado, a Nissan X trail and a Keijang Innova. TKC, Ari ( our Indonesian associate) and me da great park ourselves in the Prado. Off topic Cars make me drool and Landcruiser Prado was like heaven. Our journey starts, winding roads, lush green vegetation and dotted with small village, 24th was a sunday and India was celebrating Janmashtami, locals were also celebrating a greased pole in the middle with gift items at the top like mixers , even tv's and guys were forming circles and climbing on top of each others shoulder, scene looked familiar... oh yeah... holi and guys in mumbai reaching for the matka's. The scenary started changing, climbs were becoming steeper and the fields were giving way to jungles. Iwas evening around 5:30 we took a tea break, yeah a "TEA" break in a small shanty , along the "highway". Ryan the only blue blood amongst us read American was infact realy blue with the tossing and turning in the car which infact was more like roller coaster.Lots of In-Fact ehh??? and one more Infact good ol AVOMIN & AMRUTANJAN saved him.When we reached Sengatta it was almost 10:30, town looked like one of those hollywood thriller sets not a soul to be seen. Managed to find a local Mac Donalds copy, open, and 9 of us ravenous humans jumped inside, poor chap was like dumbstruck but managed to serve us Chicken fry and sticky rice, If my wife knew I had chicken and sticky rice for dinner, then I think I would be having chicken and sticky rice for the whatever left of my lifetime. Hearty meal over, after a series of check post manned by armed gaurds, body frisking and id checking we reached our camp. Camp???? oh yeah a almost 4 star resort in the middle of nothing with ammenities like jaccuzzi and pool bar and cell phone with full signal???? Am i dreaming? or this is reality? Then on it was meetings and meetings and more meetings. KPC guys somehow felt for us and very kindly offered us their chartered flight from Sengatta A/p to Balikpapan. I was THRILLED, chartered flight??? me the bengali, was on 8th heaven. 3-4 phone calls wife , in laws, friends "Man I coming by a chartered flight" Pride reinstated. I felt my head was on the sky and we reached airport and the first thing they did was put me with my laptop on a primitive weighing scale. Suddenly I became conscious "well fed" indian ,u know what I mean. Then the chartered craft read flying jallopy noisily landed forcing everyone to shove the free earplugs in their ear so far that an ENT specialist would be required later on. 1 more phone call to my wife almost about to spell out the investment details to her in case....... and i was inside seated with half my bum's hanging. God when these manufacturing guys will ever think of us.The aircraft roared and lumbered down the runway and in a blink of an eye was airbourne. The pilot was smart was flying following the coastline, and I was a little assured , as I was confident on my swimming capabilities. In the meantime the co pilot was using the tissue paper to desperately to swat a fly, that was taking a free ride. After around a litter of sweat and 50 minutes we touched down at Balikpapan and straight to hotel from the airstrip, u known privilages of a "Chartered Flight".... In the evening knocking down couple of Jack Daniels with coke and a solid dose of Hard rock we were walking down the beach. We saw the more "fleshier" side of Indonesia, girls were ready to jump in your arms for 20 USD's and we saw how blatantly the "Farangs" as the white skinnes or expats are known , flouting their night catch in their arms. A spotless sky dotted with millions of stars , emmulating an ultra romantic mood, and we spotted an Australian gentleman was having dinner and couple of tables away the indonesian fairy queen eyeing him... Suddenly TKC boomed in his ultra jovial voice " Should I do GHOTKALI????" Bangalis will be bengalis wherever we are whenevr we are.
Epilogue: (Hehe). TKC for being such a wonderful mentor and friend and ARI , ERIC ,Deddy,Arnie Ryan and Chetan for making this trip memomarble...
21st August 7:30pm am in the car park of my office and suddenly poor man's friend (mobile guys) starts "Smoke on the water". The name "TKC" starts flashing...a 58 year old straight forward, stark honest, humorous and technically solid gentleman who other than beeing a mentor happens to be a business associate. "Hello, Siddhartha. day after tomorrow we have to leave for Tanjungbara, I will email the details tomorrow-- ting........ ting". Tanjungbara???? whats that, wheres that or whos that??? I reach home meet my wife whos almost boiling, as I am supposed to be home an hour back....perils of marital life? Naaa, as of now, no I guess. Next morning I recieve the email with the Subject matter as TBCT "Tanjung Bara Coal Terminal" Sengatta Indonesia... Ahemmm... durgapur ok, delhi ok even Jakarta Ok but Tanjungbara was too much for me, a person who can digest maach bhaat and at time " kochi pathar jhol" ( with a dose of Famtac) to digest. Anyways the day passes by the tickets arrive... surprise 3 flt changes and then a 9 hour drive to the destination. Now thats what u call adventure. Kolkata-Singapore- Balipapan-Sengatta. Till balipapan it was ok.Managed to patao the japanese/chinese/singaporean/korean ( to us anybody from far east is a chinese)gentleman to move to a vacant isle seat. God all the 3 seats are mine.. I just forgot today's airlines are not at all bothered about 6 ft+ economical us, 3 shots of Viskey and managed to tuck in such a way that a pro contortionist would have kissed my feet. 2 hrs of slumber off and on with the over enthusiast hostesses hell bent on me having that chicken whatever for dinner. With a sore back bone and neck we managed to reach Jakarta and the three hours we spent loitering in the airport for "GARUDA' we managed to heckle with the lady selling "ROLLEX" and "TISOTT" from 1 million rupiya ( almost 100 USD) to 70k Rupiya ( 7 USD) Can u beat it? Fancy market guys would have run away....4:30 PM Balipappan, Straight to hotel."Le Grandeour" would be our home for tonite...Wake up at around 11 am the next day and behold our Australian associates are there in the hotel with the convoy of 3 cars, a Landcruiser Prado, a Nissan X trail and a Keijang Innova. TKC, Ari ( our Indonesian associate) and me da great park ourselves in the Prado. Off topic Cars make me drool and Landcruiser Prado was like heaven. Our journey starts, winding roads, lush green vegetation and dotted with small village, 24th was a sunday and India was celebrating Janmashtami, locals were also celebrating a greased pole in the middle with gift items at the top like mixers , even tv's and guys were forming circles and climbing on top of each others shoulder, scene looked familiar... oh yeah... holi and guys in mumbai reaching for the matka's. The scenary started changing, climbs were becoming steeper and the fields were giving way to jungles. Iwas evening around 5:30 we took a tea break, yeah a "TEA" break in a small shanty , along the "highway". Ryan the only blue blood amongst us read American was infact realy blue with the tossing and turning in the car which infact was more like roller coaster.Lots of In-Fact ehh??? and one more Infact good ol AVOMIN & AMRUTANJAN saved him.When we reached Sengatta it was almost 10:30, town looked like one of those hollywood thriller sets not a soul to be seen. Managed to find a local Mac Donalds copy, open, and 9 of us ravenous humans jumped inside, poor chap was like dumbstruck but managed to serve us Chicken fry and sticky rice, If my wife knew I had chicken and sticky rice for dinner, then I think I would be having chicken and sticky rice for the whatever left of my lifetime. Hearty meal over, after a series of check post manned by armed gaurds, body frisking and id checking we reached our camp. Camp???? oh yeah a almost 4 star resort in the middle of nothing with ammenities like jaccuzzi and pool bar and cell phone with full signal???? Am i dreaming? or this is reality? Then on it was meetings and meetings and more meetings. KPC guys somehow felt for us and very kindly offered us their chartered flight from Sengatta A/p to Balikpapan. I was THRILLED, chartered flight??? me the bengali, was on 8th heaven. 3-4 phone calls wife , in laws, friends "Man I coming by a chartered flight" Pride reinstated. I felt my head was on the sky and we reached airport and the first thing they did was put me with my laptop on a primitive weighing scale. Suddenly I became conscious "well fed" indian ,u know what I mean. Then the chartered craft read flying jallopy noisily landed forcing everyone to shove the free earplugs in their ear so far that an ENT specialist would be required later on. 1 more phone call to my wife almost about to spell out the investment details to her in case....... and i was inside seated with half my bum's hanging. God when these manufacturing guys will ever think of us.The aircraft roared and lumbered down the runway and in a blink of an eye was airbourne. The pilot was smart was flying following the coastline, and I was a little assured , as I was confident on my swimming capabilities. In the meantime the co pilot was using the tissue paper to desperately to swat a fly, that was taking a free ride. After around a litter of sweat and 50 minutes we touched down at Balikpapan and straight to hotel from the airstrip, u known privilages of a "Chartered Flight".... In the evening knocking down couple of Jack Daniels with coke and a solid dose of Hard rock we were walking down the beach. We saw the more "fleshier" side of Indonesia, girls were ready to jump in your arms for 20 USD's and we saw how blatantly the "Farangs" as the white skinnes or expats are known , flouting their night catch in their arms. A spotless sky dotted with millions of stars , emmulating an ultra romantic mood, and we spotted an Australian gentleman was having dinner and couple of tables away the indonesian fairy queen eyeing him... Suddenly TKC boomed in his ultra jovial voice " Should I do GHOTKALI????" Bangalis will be bengalis wherever we are whenevr we are.
Epilogue: (Hehe). TKC for being such a wonderful mentor and friend and ARI , ERIC ,Deddy,Arnie Ryan and Chetan for making this trip memomarble...
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