Chill Killlll(s)- Snow is best when served coldddd.

Chill Killlll(s)- Snow is best when served coldddd.

I m not very sure how I m going to retain any reader for the entire length of this blog cos I ve no clue how narrating a fun trip can b made enthralling and riveting that too when writing about what I saw and experienced easily requires a level of proficiency in the usage of adjectives that I don possess.

I guess sectioning the blog should help readers land at the right ‘next’ place inside this blog if they find the present section they r in boring. :-)

Throughout this blog I ll b repeatedly using ‘v’ or ‘we’. So, I think I ll take an extra line to explain ‘we’.
We->Srinath(myself),Raju,Chaitanya,Thiru and Rams(given as in the snap below frm left to right). ( All proud EMPTYs (MTs) of BBY. (read the very first blog entry for details abt these acronyms) )

b4 proceeding further u need to know this:
For reaching Shimla from New Delhi, one needs to go via Kalka, a place 15 km from Chandigarh.



1. New Delhi to Kalka--> Pain generally precedes pleasure.

Before I actually get on to the Shimla story, a small goof up is worth mentioning. Being a big time fan of the E ticket bookings introduced in almost all modes of travel across India, using internet stood out as the easiest option for lazy people like us to plan our itinerary. Googling a bit helped us come across a site where v could book all our bus tickets online. Booking tickets in that site (http://himachalhotels.in) involved numerous security measures and v had to go thro’ the painful routine of entering date of birth, name, place, animal thing… etc… for each ticket. V were convinced that it was going to b a hi tech bus that ll ensure a luxurious and safe ride cos I think the website also asked for credit card details, educational qualifications, Social Security Number, Ration card expiry date, PAN card number,10 std board exam roll number, 11 std marksheet No., provisional degree certificate etc.
BUT
When v reached the bus stand what was waiting for us was more than a HARD punch right on the septum of our noses. The bus that v had to travel in was not worth being called a bus at all. Oh ya.. it had 5-6 wheels and a roof and many seat like structures which were fitted with no intentions of providing comfort but still v refuse to admit that it was a bus. The bus conductor had no clue of what an e ticket meant. He stared at the print out (e ticket)v showed him for QUITE sumtime and let us in hesitantly. I still doubt if he even knew English and if he actually understood wat v so enthusiastically showed him. The miasma inside our bus was most likely a mixture of gases that were released by long decaying vomit that generally is never cleaned in the off-season due to financial constraints of Himachal Tourism. Finally v also came to understand that whatever the driver did to the accelerator pedal the bus refused stubbornly to cross 60km/hr and believe me 60 is insanely slow on the Chandigarh-Delhi highway. All v could think of was …. “ is it for this that v did all this e commerce..” and v were laughing pathetically at how v got fooled. Doesn the snap below make that clearrr ;-) ?

To summarise: The Bus ride from Delhi to Kalka taught me never to get carried away by E ticket bookings. It also made me confident that I was above the average level in withstanding death due to asphyxiation and that I ll not die easily for want of oxygen.




2. Kalka bus Stand to Kalka Railway Station-> INTENSE Pain precedes pleasure

The reason y I m giving this under a separate title is cos this in itself was a very different adventure. The ‘bus’ was supposed to reach Kalka at 3 am and our train was at 5 30 am. It was raining cats and dogs throughout the journey( which became snow as v climbed the Shivalik ranges :-) :-) ) and the rain made it freeeeezzzing cold….
V were almost thrown out of the ‘bus’ at around 3 30 am with our luggage, in some place where two 10 feet roads met. That was considered the closest point to the railway station. Gathering our luggage v managed to find shelter in a place not very far away from what seemed and smelled like the main sewage line of Kalka. Then one of us went in search of a taxi. V could only manage a Taxi that DEMANDED Rs 200 for a distance of less than 1 km between the station and that so called shelter. The taxi was not very spacious either and I remember sharing my lap painfully with a dear friend.

IMAGINE: A heavy guy with wet pants(rain-wet) sittin on ur already wet lap.. !!

But the whole thing was fun and we were only laughing throughout, admiring wat all v ll b able to boast about when v finally return. Enjoyed every bit of this (mis)adventure.


(2 b cntd…..)

Traffic Signal- Stop, look but don proceed [to the theatre].

Traffic Signal- Stop, look but don proceed [to the theatre].

Storyline(damn hard to identify one):
A direct insight into how traffic signals actually are huge markets where large money transactions define and differentiate the lives of hundreds of destitutes across a city like Mumbai.
______________________________

When a movie seems realistic, its greatly appreciated. However, when it shows reality to an extent where u suddenly wonder whether u r in a theatre at all, it fails to create an impact on its audience cos they don get the feel of even havin watched a movie when it ends. Thats Traffic Signal......

Madhur Bhandarkar's marvellous attempt in making the film seem so natural must be applauded but did he go too far ? Exposing in a film how each one of us become a customer at different traffic signals and explaining the business philosophy behind this highly organised and structured market is defintely not an easy job. The movie literally teleports the life of slums to the screen so vivdly. The film gives an idea of how these slums look when seen thro' a businessman's eyes.
BUT
An attempt to express the innermost feelings of prostitues and their genuine affairs though a nice opportunity was wasted I feel. The two three short side stories about a supposedly cruel female using alimony from divorce to get rich, who later gets "free" enuf to ve sex with a guy from the streets and an old man who tries his best to ve pleasure in its cheapest form by paying alms for rubbing his hands over a poor woman coming to his car door seem totally irrelevant. The former was supposed to be humorous and the latter emotional. I feel both were ridiculously unnecessary.
The movie is also a perfect example of how its tough to define a climax for a film stuffed ONLY with day to day happenings. Never would u ve seen a climax so pathetically handled. When u finally sit straight, exercise ur back, rub ur eyes and get all anxious to know what might happen next, the movie actually ends !!!

It sumtimes might make u wonder as to how many such movies u saw as u jus drove to the theatre.

Being a MT in a reputed firm (read my first blog) I was so much able to identify myself with the hero who looks as good(or bad) as I (or u) do, who reports to a senior manager(chota dadha) who inturn reports to a CEO(underworld don) who runs a business with a mission statement suggesting atleast 18 crore has to be collected from all traffic signals across the city. Man !! evn DDY doesn earn that much in an year :-(


When you walk out of the theatre u might feel as if all along u were just driving and stoppin at different traffic signals.......

BottomLine: A must see for MBA aspirants and entreprenuers ;-) !!