Archive for November, 2011

Kaixo!!!

It was 6 pm. I felt like just another day, except it wasn’t. Though everything was same, the only thing that was not with me was time. I tried hard, did everything possible and for some moment, succeeded. I was feeling once again, like I used to feel in back days, in final year of my B Tech. Sitting in front of Ramu Gumti, surrounded by my Ramu-mates Vikas, Ankit, Chitaranjan, Chandan making an almost perfect circle with a chair-cum-table in the middle used for stretching our legs, talking non-sense and then for some moment life’s most important things. Yes, this was the things I used to do in my Final year and I felt like I lived yet another day of final year that day. This was the moment for which I had gone there and this was the moment that made me emotional, while returning back I cried silently.

I was on a trip to my college that is why I was absent from this place. And as I used to tell in previous posts that I want to write when I want to write from my heart. So, you should know that this is coming direct from heart. I met most of my close friends; we spent some quality time together. We remembered past, we talked, we laughed, we talked and we laughed. On one fine morning during this trip of mine I laughed continuously, literally from 11:10 to 1:15 pm all thanks to Akash and his friend Alok and not to forget pinks.

I had an absolutely amazing experience. I would like to thanks to all the friends who made my days awesome.

It was nice meeting you & Thanks for the memories.

Will be here soon

PS: I cannot write more about this topic, it’s unexplainable and it cannot be felt by words. I just cannot forget the 6pm moment and I will live all those moments again just after reading this.

BHUBANESWAR, IN

November 19, 2011

Kaixo!!!

Once again my train was late, it happens with me every time. Fortunately this time I didn’t have to wait for too long. My train was late by just an hour. But, aahhh…why do they invented this but word…there is always a but; my train, in fact Indian railway (I should better call it by this name) always do this, I mean they rarely reach on time. I don’t blame them either; it’s a very huge network. So, my train reached Bhubaneswar late, not a surprise, and my friend came to receive me. I am now sitting at my friend’s place.

I slept during my whole journey, almost. I woke up an hour before my destination. During my whole engineering period, I travelled through this route many times but I never found what I found today. I found a book (novel) vendor in train, of course he was selling Xerox copies and when I saw him, my eyes stuck on the books. I saw The Lost Symbol at the top and could not take my eyes off. I got down from the upper berth and asked him for John Grisham’s novel. He started his search campaign, fumbled through the stack of books and looked at me helplessly. He told me in Hindi mix Oriya that, perhaps the owner has removed the books of John Grisham from today’s lot. I had a doubt that whether he could even recognize or not. So, I went to his lot and searched. But there was no sign of John Grisham’s book (Ohh..by the way, John Grisham is my favourite author).

I tried to find some good ones and those that I hadn’t read. I selected The Lost Symbol at first and asked the price, he said 100 Rupees. Then I thought it’s a good chance, I can bargain and buy 3 copies for 250. I was looking for Five People you met in Heaven but it was not there. Then I selected The Kite Runner, A walk to remember and The Lost Symbol. He said 300 for 3 books, no bargain; he said the owner has instructed him for not selling any books for less than a hundred. I said 250. I knew 300 for 3 books, good books were less, but I tried. He said at once, 280 and not less than that. I thought he will come down to 250 and then I saw this author’s name Cecelia Ahern. I remembered PS I love you and I lifted that book, named Thanks for the Memories. The vendor said, second part of PS I love you, I smiled and tried to tell him, no it’s only the same author, it’s not the second part. But I thought, let it go. I asked again for the price, I said 3 for 250 he said no. I said, well I am going Bhubaneswar, I’ll buy there, and I was pretty sure that I won’t be getting these books at a price of 300.

I took my seat and he went away, I though he will ask for some other price, like we say, na mera na aapka chaliye 270 final (neither mine, nor yours lets finalize 270) but he didn’t and went away. I felt bad, and I though just for Rs 30 I am going to lose a good chance. I was expecting him back with an offer but he didn’t come back. I thought about his owner, I thought perhaps it’s not about his profits, maybe he is not allowed to lessen the rate. After waiting for 10 minutes I went to search him and found him after 2 coaches. I asked him, for those books. He gave me, this time I left A walk to Remember and took Thanks for the Memories and the other two, The Kite Runner and The Lost Symbol. A kid was looking at the books one by one but nothing seemed to attract him, finally he said, no pictures at all..huh… I took those three books and now I am reading Thanks for the Memories.

Will be here soon

Kaixo!!!

(Its a long post, but you should read this)

Yes, you read it right. I am going to tell you today, exactly why you don’t get your passport in 50 days. Don’t be amazed, ideally you should get your passport within 50 days, provided the Indian Post delivers the posts in not more than five days, which it does. I have been looking closely at the whole process since last one month. As I am here at home I am giving a closer look at the process, since I have applied for the same and I don’t have any other work right now. So, I go and check almost daily. So, here is how things should work.

Ideal Case:

Step 1: You submit the application for the passport at the relevant Passport office (dayCount=1 day).

Step 2: Within 2 days (dayCount= 1+2 = 3 days) it should dispatch the application to the Foreign Section of The Office of Superintendent of Police (FS-SP) of relevant zone enclosing a (CID) letter mentioning, “Respond with the identification verification report within 3 weeks”.

Step 3: Assume the speed post took 5 days (daysCount= 3+5= 8 days) to reach FS-SP. FS-SP writes a letter to the Special Branch (CID) to complete the identification verification process within 15 days and send a report back to FS-SP. Simultaneously FS-SP sends the form to the respective police station (PS) for the same verification report.

Step 5: FS-SP should get both the reports within 15 days, since it needs to report back to the passport office with the relevant reports within 3 weeks or 21 days (daysCount= 8+21= 29 days) .

Step 6: FS-SP sends the whole documents to the Passport Office through Speed Post (daysCount= 29+5 = 34 days).

Step 7: Let us assume it will take 7 (which is more than enough, remember everything is computerized) days to print the book with relevant information and the seal of the Passport officer (daysCount= 34+7 = 41 days).

Step 7: The Passport Office dispatches the passport to the relevant address (dayscount=41+5=46 days).

So, the variable daysCount has a final value of 46 days. Say 4 days for Sundays or any other vacation.

Final value of daysCount= 46+4 =50 days.

Now, let’s have look at what really happens which causes delay:

Cause 1: Generally the CID Special Branch sends the report on time but the Police Station does not. They (PS) keep the form/report for indefinite period of time, at least a month or two or even more than that.

Cause 2: In case you are defaulter for the residential address, I mean if you are not residing at the mentioned address since one year (which is required). You pay some handsome amount like 500-700 bucks to the officer and you sit back. You think you have done your part. Same happens in Police station too. The only difference is that in Police Station they take 1000-1500 bucks. But in most of the cases, even after they take money they send the correct report, mentioning you are defaulter. And after about 3- months you apply for re-enquiry and it takes 3-4 more months and after that you fulfill the 1 year criteria and this time they send the positive report. Yes, even if they take money they do not send reports favoring you, about this one of the most honest officer that I have met till now, says,

“wahan jo kandhe pe do tara laga ke baitha hai na, usko apne naukri ka dar hai, isliye wo paise kha ke bhi galat report nai bhejta aur next time jab fir se re-enquiry hota hai to bhi wo sahi report hi bhejta hai, lekin aap us samay aapke us address pe 1 sal ho jate hai”.

(English translation: The person sitting there who is having two stars on his shoulder, is having a fear of losing his job, so even if he takes money, he does send the correct report (does not manipulate) and at the time of re-enquiry he sends the correct report again, but this time you fulfill the condition of 1 year).

Cause 3: At the time of verification, you were not present at the given address, for a reason, say you were out of station enjoying your relative’s marriage . They come to your home, ask the people from the reference addresses (you mention in your form). Your neighbor tell them happily that you have gone to say Bangalore (or some place else) attend the marriage (or anything). They go back to their office and write a handsome report that the applicant was not found at the mentioned address and he/she is living in Bangalore (or some place else) at present time.

So, these three reasons mainly delay your passport from 50 days to 5-6 months. It happens almost in every case.

Regarding, the letters that Passport office sends to the FS-SP (3 week’s time) and the FS-SP sends to the Special Branch (CID) (15 days’ time), I have read them in FS-SP.

My Suggestion: If you can go and check at the relevant FS-SP then you should, after 5 days of the submission of your passport application or you can go to your area’s PS after 10 days, most people don’t get their police verification done before 2 month.

Will be here soon

PS: If you think that, I have not given much time to any of the offices, then you can deduct 2 days for speed post three times which adds to 6 more days. You must know that sped post takes at most 3 days (I have used it many times, so do you).

Kaixo!!!

Yes I don’t write these days much. I know, I am busy. I want to write. I have stories that are worthy of taking a place here, but I cannot concentrate in writing. Sometimes I feel like I need a break from this thing. But I cannot more than that I don’t want to. Few days back you would have read that I decided to write on three days of a week, like a routine. But I could not do that.

I have work at home, I am studying these days too. So, I feel very much tired. I keep myself away from laptop so that my study does not get affected. I have not received my joining date till now, so I do not feel like I am the happiest person either. In the meantime, something got stuck in my mind. My brother used to tell me and now I feel that. Perhaps something better than my present job is out there for me, so I got enough time to search for it. But the important thing is that I need to search. I just cannot sit back and wait for things to happen for me. I need to make things happen for me. Few days back one of my friend was going to join in other company, I messaged her that, “do not wait for things to happen for you, make them happen for you“. That’s when I got to know what can happen with me. So I am trying now. I have heard “better late than never” so I have started my endeavor.

Regarding blog, I don’t want to bore you people by writing anything crap which happens around me and may bore you. Because the most important thing about blog is, its content. So, I have decided that I will write only when I will feel like writing. I will write less, but I will write good things. Take it as a promise.

If you have not subscribed my blog, do it by clicking at the top or here so that you’ll know about any new post of mine.

will be here always and soon

Kaixo!!!

I WAS IN first semester, yes I remember. I was new in college, so do other students were, which obviously mean I did not have good friends. Our college had a total of three main buildings excluding some other small ones. The college wanted to show the whole college in first semester itself. That means we had classes at different places/rooms, depending on the subject/labs. But the one that was, I can call funniest, it was, yoga class.

THE FIRST DAY when we saw in schedule that we had yoga class, the venue written was, yoga center, but most of us did not know where it was. After asking some references few students got the idea and I followed the crowd. This is how we started yoga class. You may have a clear idea about what happened there. Nothing unusual happened there, just yoga.

BUT AS WE know there is always some twists in a story, I am going to provide one too. On this day our teacher asked us, how many of you believe in God. Honestly speaking no one had ever asked me this question so directly and I did not have any kind of thing about God in my mind. It is not that, I am a believer or a non-believer, I just had not thought about this part ever. It should come from inner-self, faith, but for me, at that moment it did not come. So, as I had to take one option, I missed can’t say, I chose to be on the side of non-believers. I don’t know what the reason was for other 5-6 people with whom I was sitting but the whole class was staring at us like we were in the court-room, having done the biggest crime in this world.

ANYWAYS, BEFORE SEPARATING us apart from the crowd, the teacher asked us to write a letter to God. I don’t remember the exact words but I had written this as I remember.

Dear God,

I don’t know where you are but I think you are alright. I am alright here too. This yoga madam has asked me to write you a letter. I have no idea what I should write to you, so if you are reading this please forgive me.

And more important than that, if you are there reading this please respond to this letter, so that I will be able to clear out things and perhaps I will write a much lengthier letter next time. It will be so nice of you.

Thanks and regard,

Jayendra

Will be here as always

PS: I am still waiting for the reply.

Dear Life,

WHY CAN’T YOU see me happy? Am I that bad person? If yes, then why didn’t you tell me this at the earliest? Why did you take so long, to make me realize that I am not a good person? And if no then why all the bad things happen with me? People say about you, that if I am getting failures then you have kept something very bright for me. Then why can’t you give it to me now? How much worse things you want for me before giving me that so-called bright thing. Or, do you even own it for me? I have started to doubt.

YOU KNOW I did want the best for her. You cannot complain now, you left me no choice. I did not love her, but she was my friend or say best friend. Why did you sent her away from me. She had asked me about how I feel about her, but she could not accept what I wanted. But still I managed to keep aside my feelings and stayed with her and after that accepted the relationship whatever she offered. You know why? Because, apart from love, like and even friends, there is a word called care. I cared for her, for her well being, for her success. But you can’t feel this way, because you don’t know what this care thing is. It is almost a stranger for you.

YOU KNOW WHAT you have ruin many people’s lives by feeding them this love therapy and telling them about this if-no-love-then-no-friends-or-like nonsense. You are a complete fool. I got over this. I learned to care and I got the same. I knew how beautiful it was. I knew how beautiful you feel, when someone cared about you. But you never tried to understand me, what do I want. You never tried to let me justify. I did not follow your rules and I made an unacceptable, for you, decision. And now when you are superior and you have chance you have thrown all your dice. You can be such cruel, I had not any idea about this.

I THINK YOU are selfish too. You wanted me to care for you most because you started to get to know how I feel and what this feeling is. And you could not share this thing with my friend and you sent her away from my life. It’s not her fault that she does not remember me now, but you made her to forget me. I hate you, and more than that, since you have done so much to me, no matter how bright future you have kept for me, I will never care about you, and perhaps I will never care about any person in this world.

I think you are happy now, I am like you now.

Yours sadly,

a broken heart.

PS: A fiction that came to my mind, for the first time, I wrote fiction. Tell me how it was and do tell me where I need to correct and crossed the line. Don’t hesitate to give feedback.

PPS: I am feeling a bit low these days, I am not available on twitter and on your blogs. I’ll be back for sure. Where else can I go?

Kaixo!!!

I WAS NOT in the mood of writing this post till this moment, even though for me it was the blog-day. I got this e-mail from a fellow blogger as a part of conversation we were having, and one line from that mail got stuck in my mind, since I was having a thought of writing a post about this, I have decided to write now. The line that I was talking about is the title of this post that you have already read.

MY PARENTS DECIDED for some reason that they will not give us two names. That means I don’t have any nick name, same for my brothers and a sister. I wonder about my reaction/expression that I would have used to give after hearing Jayendra at the age of 1 or 2. In fact when I understood, after I grew up, what they are calling me, I figured very few of them cared to pronounce my name, exactly what it should be. I don’t blame them, in fact it is tough (but there are few exceptions). In my school days, no one tried to do this, what my friends did in college days. My college friends gave me different names and that is what this post is all about.

TALKING ABOUT MY nick names. Friends have used for me, or they call me by following names (this list is sorted in order: from most popular to least),

Zafla, JS, Sharan, Jash, Jay-Z, Jayendra, Jain, Jemmy.

EACH AND EVERY name has its own story. But I would like to tell you about the most popular (for me) and the weirdest name that I have. It was the time of Sankalp, tech-fest of our college. I had the responsibility of Quiz competition and other thing (I am not here to praise myself so I am hiding the details, though I have two interesting memories about which I will talk in other posts). The theme for this fest was Roman, I don’t know why did they do that, why Roman? But my job was to complete the assigned task. Going not much into the details I am coming to the point in the following paragraph.

The name of the Quiz competition was the zeflemist. At that time I was having long hairs (after few days I started to make pony tails as you can see in this picture of mine). So, my beloved friends somehow connected my long hairs to the zeflemist and created this word for me, Zafla (I really am lucky for having such good friends ). They used to tell me that, tere baal Zafla ke tarah hai (you hairs are like Zafla). And thus Zafla came into existence, I mean Zafla word and I am pretty much happy with that, in fact I got this name printed on my tee-shirt when we made tee-shirts for our team.

So, what’s your story? What do you prefer being called?

Will be here always

PS: I am using 2.25” margin on all sides of my MS Word, it has a cool look while I type and it gives me a better approximation of length of post on my blog.

PPS: Special thanks to Ashwaty Nair (Dreaming in Metaphors) for being the inspiration of this post.

Kaixo!!!

Dear Indian Media,

I WILL START with complaining about the worst habit that you have, I don’t know from where you have learned this but it is ridiculous. Why do you keep popularizing the things which are not worth, or by keeping something in shadows. I have examples to prove. I want you to ask a simple question. Do you think you are the easiest and simplest tool available to make someone famous very famous even thought they do not deserve to be? And if someone tries to do that, why don’t you justify? Why do you behave like an immature child who wants that ice-cream no matter what may be the consequence, why do you notice only one side of the story? You cannot deny this fact, that the main thing that you want is the popularity. Do you telecast, leave some exceptional case which is general news, some controversial news with both aspects? No you don’t you never tried to see what’s behind the curtain and always showed the part which grows popular inadvertently.  Here are few examples in which you have failed to do so.

THE FIRST ONE had to come from Formula one. You kept telling news about Sahara Force India One (SFIO) and their drivers. Did you take even 1% care of Narain Karthikeyan with respect to SFIO? Does it matter what position Narain do have in F1, he is the first person from India who participated in F1. He made this country proud, by registering IND in that circuit. And don’t tell me that he hasn’t got any success yet, because neither SFIO has done it. SFIO has also failed to finish even in top 5. More than that; compare the publicity you gave to Sania Mirza with respect to this boy and Saina Nehwal. Why does the world no 4 (best ranking: world number 2) has just one Sunfeast ad while our very beloved Sania Mirza who has played hundreds of tournament and won not more than 5 singles events have loads of advertisement. I believe you are behind this. You did not care to talk about Narain Krthikeyan, neither did you about Saina Nehwal. I bet not even 10% people have knowledge about Saina and Narain when you’ll compare it with the numbers about Sania Mirza.

SECOND IS ABOUT our country’s pride Mr NR Narayan Murthy. He spoke some good and valuable, which is up to a large extent true. And then our young youth icon, Mr Chetan Bhagat, author of some bollywood masala mix novels, spoke some ridiculously insulting words to one of most honored person of India (read more here). And look what you did, you caught the thing that was thrown by NRN and organized a bunch of owner/faculty of some coaching institute and started a debate. I mean how on the earth those people will accept the truth. And to make your point stronger you gave a mic to Chetan Bhagat and sent him to a group of student on the road to discuss things. Though this was done by one of the news channels but almost all other news channels did same. No one cared about how insulting (personally) comment was made by Chetan Bhagat, rather they kept talking about what NRN said.

THIS IS LIST almost unending but I will finish with this one. It is about the controversy of Controversially Yours. Who didn’t know the fact that what Shoaib Akhtar said was wrong, there is no point of doubt about Sachin Tendulkar with respect to what Shoaib told. I know every other person in India was supporting Sachin. Does this fact stop you to telecast a good justified program of half an hour to tell the people that what Shoaib said was wrong? Did you even care about that, I mean you have lots of useless and worthless programs on TV, why didn’t you just made a show in which you could have done a good analysis. Instead you kept taking interviews of Shoaib and showing what crowd is doing out there to prove him wrong. What is your role? Is it to discuss about the topic as a responsible medium or just to ignore something and follow the crowd to get some good TRP?

ALMOST ALL THE news especially controversial ones that you show, you are responsible to tag them as controversial by making them one. While you have the ability to make something good out of bad, I mean you have all the resources, go do some good research and present what’s best for a responsible citizen. I think that is the meaning of media.

Yours truly,

A not-so-fan of the masala that you present