Date: 20th march'07. A thorough professional, me, with a smile on his face and confidence in his gait, walks into the den called THE AMERICAN EMBASSY.
From what i have gathered, B1 visa interview ia a cakewalk and i should face no problems.
After waiting in a line for about two hours it's finally my turn. I greet the a suspicious-looking official with a smile and a good-morning. The official in turn nods and says good morning to you too. How has been your day?
Well, thats a toughie? How has been my day... lets see, got up at 6 in the morning, had to shave to look formal, missed my breakfast because cook doesnt arrive till around 9 and i had to leave by 8 to reach on time for my 9:30 interview appointment. Then after reaching there, i am separated from my beloved mobile..two hours spent without her were like a torture.. then an agonizing wait for two hours in a line to appear before a person, going by whose looks you wont even feel like talking to him on any other day...
But anyways i suck all that and with a gracious smile i tell him that its been a good day so far.
He checks my papers, asks some banal questions and after around 5 minutes tell me, thank you sir...your interview is over...but i am sorry, i cant grant you a visa. Suddenly my face is all red and i am perspiring heavily. I ask for reasons and he tells me that he is not satisfied with my documents. I try and squeeze in some more information but he tells me coldly that the interview process is over and i can leave. I somehow manage a smile and greet him good afternoon (thinking not very deep inside, screw you asshole).
Date: 1July'08.A thorough professional, me, with a forced smile on his face and a dejavu feeling, walks into the den called THE AMERICAN EMBASSY.
Last interview is still fresh in mind. There are two windows for B1 visa interviews. Standing there in the queue waiting for my turn, i am trying to guess which of the two interviewers will i go to and with whom do i stand a better chance of getting a VISA this time. One of the guy looks very staunch and cold, lets called him Mr. X, while other looks very friendly and warm, Mr. Y.
Next turn will be mine. There is one person at each window. Person at Mr. X's window had left later. So i was kinda expecting and desperately praying that i be interviewed by Mr. Y. But then chair kills faster than a rope.
The interview at Mr. X's window was very short lived and going by that person's face color, result was easy to predict. And i was asked to cross the red line on the floor and proceed towards Mr. X's window.
A million thoughts were going through my mind. If god had granted me a wish at that time, i would have asked that please turn the red line into a lakshman rekha, so that i am not able to cross it till Mr Y is free for next round. But then it's me. Luck and i love screwing each other.
Same old fake smile, same old greetings, same old questions.....and guess what....same old result...and i am baffled?
WHAT DO THESE GUYS WANT FROM ME?
I ask for reasons and i am told that you are just a week old in your new organization , you have applied for an emergency visa(i had to travel within a week of joining, so had applied for an emergency visa) but you dont qualify for one...so effectively your company has mis-used the emergency visa procedure...also he was not convinced that as a new joinee its absolutely essential for me to travel to US for initial training and some meetings (project i was to work on was going on in 5 different countries for the same client and all the project people were meeting in US for a face-to-face interaction and discuss there understanding and learnings so far).
The verdict was given, i can appeal again (in the same court, probably against the same judge) 120 days later. But i think i am gonna pass.
VISA says in its add.."GO GET IT"
Please tell me how?
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Singh Is King
Akshay is king............ true beyond doubt. I no-plot, utter-nonsense movie made definitely-worth-a-watch by our very own Akshay...
But it would be wrong to ignore other performances that made this movie hilarious..
Mr. Udaas with his rib-tickling nostalgic incidents
Jave Jaffery a.k.a Pappi. His almost-blind performance and comic dialogues to hide his apparent inability are great. His dance with a statue at the start of the movie and later during the song SINGH IS KING (where he keeps pointing his finger towrads a wall) were hilarious. This guy seriously is one of the most under-rated actors in bollywood.
Sonu Sood a.k.a Lucky. Guy looks very handsome and post his temporary paralysis becomes a literal push-over...from King to a Ungli-baba. The scenes where he is used as a passing tray between other characters were really funny.
Om puri a.k.a Rangeela with his thed-punjabi accent gives a good performance.
Katrina Kaif is there with her curves and dance sequences. She is looking really hot in thsi movie.
And now to the King.....its amazing how this actor can turn a silly non-sensical scene into a hilarious one. He has become a pro at making people laugh with his gestures and comic timing. No wonder he is one of the top-paid actors currently. He carries the film single-handedly for the first 45-50 minutes, before others arive on the scene. Scenes of panchayat, wedding song are all amazing.
Film loses some grip in last 25-30 minutes as the wedding day arrives but a great first half and a good 25-30 minute run at the start of second half make up for most of it.
All in all a great movie... definitely the best bollywood comedy i ahve watched till date.
P.S: A sincere thanks to my beloved friend BD, who accompanied me to this movie. Two punjabis at a movie about Sikhs.... deadly combo. No wonder we had a hell of a time.
But it would be wrong to ignore other performances that made this movie hilarious..
Mr. Udaas with his rib-tickling nostalgic incidents
Jave Jaffery a.k.a Pappi. His almost-blind performance and comic dialogues to hide his apparent inability are great. His dance with a statue at the start of the movie and later during the song SINGH IS KING (where he keeps pointing his finger towrads a wall) were hilarious. This guy seriously is one of the most under-rated actors in bollywood.
Sonu Sood a.k.a Lucky. Guy looks very handsome and post his temporary paralysis becomes a literal push-over...from King to a Ungli-baba. The scenes where he is used as a passing tray between other characters were really funny.
Om puri a.k.a Rangeela with his thed-punjabi accent gives a good performance.
Katrina Kaif is there with her curves and dance sequences. She is looking really hot in thsi movie.
And now to the King.....its amazing how this actor can turn a silly non-sensical scene into a hilarious one. He has become a pro at making people laugh with his gestures and comic timing. No wonder he is one of the top-paid actors currently. He carries the film single-handedly for the first 45-50 minutes, before others arive on the scene. Scenes of panchayat, wedding song are all amazing.
Film loses some grip in last 25-30 minutes as the wedding day arrives but a great first half and a good 25-30 minute run at the start of second half make up for most of it.
All in all a great movie... definitely the best bollywood comedy i ahve watched till date.
P.S: A sincere thanks to my beloved friend BD, who accompanied me to this movie. Two punjabis at a movie about Sikhs.... deadly combo. No wonder we had a hell of a time.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The ubiquitous saree
I read this article in Hindustan Times' sunday magazine Brunch. It was about the way sarees are in fashion since almost 3000 years now. Some the figures there really caught my eye.
1.) According to a survey by textile industry, sarees account for more than one-third of total garment sales in india with an estimated value of about 53,459 crores.
2.) Only garment that has recorded a growth rate in sales of 8.8% from 1998 to 2006 when the sales for other garments had fluctuated.
No wonder sarees are considered "Evergreen"
1.) According to a survey by textile industry, sarees account for more than one-third of total garment sales in india with an estimated value of about 53,459 crores.
2.) Only garment that has recorded a growth rate in sales of 8.8% from 1998 to 2006 when the sales for other garments had fluctuated.
No wonder sarees are considered "Evergreen"
The Indifferent "Me"
It happened yesterday evening(arnd 6:50 P.M on 28th July'08). I was about to leave with my flatmate for gym. He was talking over phone and i was waiting close to our bike when i heard a lady shouting,"Arre roko koi. mera purse le ke bhag raha hai. Arre roko"
I was there on the pavement. This incident happened right in front of my eyes about 30 metres away. The son-of-a-bi*** purse-snatcher was coming towards me on his bike. I had all the time on this earth. I could have hit him down, could have noted his bike number..but i did nothing. Instead a minute later, when my flatmate put his phone down after hearing the hullabullo and asked me what had happened, i smiled at him and said "kuchh nahin yaar. koi banda aunti ka bag cheen kar bhag gaya".
My friend said,"Anurag, saaleya koi to reaction de. Tu to aise behave kar raha hai jaise kuchh hua hi nahin."
It was at that moment that i realised my indifferent attitude to surroundings. That lady,in late 40's was frantically crying, asking for help from everyone. Ladies had gathered around her to console her and there i was, a young and gym-attending healthy but in-different person,smiling and talking to my friend as if it was routine.
I dont know but i might have panicked, brain and body might have stopped co-ordinating for those few seconds. So i can tell myself that it's ok if i couldn't do anything. It could have happened to anyone. But what was really disturbing was my smiling and casual attitude after that. And i didn't even realise it on my own. My friend's comment made me realise it later.
This post isn't to showcase that my sense of guilt is killing me or that i feel really sorry for that lady. Its just another day at office for me with coffee cup and SAS. Its just to reflect on how i have been moulded in my attitude like so many others who only care for themselves. It's said that its in these kind of moments that a person's true character is revealed. These moments are a true reflection of one's self. Sadly i didn't get a very good feeling about myself.
I often hear the off-repeated saying,"every single person can make a difference and if it happens, this world will be a lot better place to live". Here i had a chance to do something, but sadly i didn't.
I often look at our politicians (some of them, not all) and hate them for their indifference to their constituency or people in general. I must have spoken this a million times,"In logon ko koi farak nahin padta." I wonder whether mujhe koi farak padta hai. If tomorrow i become a politician or for that matter a business leader, will i care for my people? Will i be willing to put society's welfare or organization's goals before my own?
Just hoping that i will be...........
I was there on the pavement. This incident happened right in front of my eyes about 30 metres away. The son-of-a-bi*** purse-snatcher was coming towards me on his bike. I had all the time on this earth. I could have hit him down, could have noted his bike number..but i did nothing. Instead a minute later, when my flatmate put his phone down after hearing the hullabullo and asked me what had happened, i smiled at him and said "kuchh nahin yaar. koi banda aunti ka bag cheen kar bhag gaya".
My friend said,"Anurag, saaleya koi to reaction de. Tu to aise behave kar raha hai jaise kuchh hua hi nahin."
It was at that moment that i realised my indifferent attitude to surroundings. That lady,in late 40's was frantically crying, asking for help from everyone. Ladies had gathered around her to console her and there i was, a young and gym-attending healthy but in-different person,smiling and talking to my friend as if it was routine.
I dont know but i might have panicked, brain and body might have stopped co-ordinating for those few seconds. So i can tell myself that it's ok if i couldn't do anything. It could have happened to anyone. But what was really disturbing was my smiling and casual attitude after that. And i didn't even realise it on my own. My friend's comment made me realise it later.
This post isn't to showcase that my sense of guilt is killing me or that i feel really sorry for that lady. Its just another day at office for me with coffee cup and SAS. Its just to reflect on how i have been moulded in my attitude like so many others who only care for themselves. It's said that its in these kind of moments that a person's true character is revealed. These moments are a true reflection of one's self. Sadly i didn't get a very good feeling about myself.
I often hear the off-repeated saying,"every single person can make a difference and if it happens, this world will be a lot better place to live". Here i had a chance to do something, but sadly i didn't.
I often look at our politicians (some of them, not all) and hate them for their indifference to their constituency or people in general. I must have spoken this a million times,"In logon ko koi farak nahin padta." I wonder whether mujhe koi farak padta hai. If tomorrow i become a politician or for that matter a business leader, will i care for my people? Will i be willing to put society's welfare or organization's goals before my own?
Just hoping that i will be...........
Monday, July 28, 2008
Retribution, thy name is orkut
Orkut has been a phenomenol success with its extensive use in social networking a.k.a trying on new girls with "i saw your profile and just wanted to be a friend. Would you like to be friend" or "Hey beautiful, wanna be a friend" or the cheesiest one " A look at your pic and i knew i wanted be your friend"....schucks.....grow-up guys....even the dead are rolling in their graves reading this..
But thing that i like the most about orkut is the testimonial part. Express your feelings about another person. Some are beautifully written, others the usual crap like a flower or some weird drawing made with "/" ,"\", "," , etc. God knows where do people get time to think of these designs.
Anyways, when its a BF/GF writing it about the other person, its a tough one. One of the reason being that there is so much you wanna write about the other person that 1024 characters is just too less a space(hence multi testimonials from same person). Then there is a danger of saying too much and thus being too obvious in your testimonial(in case both are not ready to shout at the top their voices that they are in L-O-V-E) . Hence lines like "you know what i mean" or "I hope u understand this :) " or "remember" and so on......
Both will go through them a million times telling the other person how much it means to him/her. That its really very close to heart and will always cherish it as a loveable gift of a lifetime. But then GOD is a funny guy. Few days,months or in some cases a few years and the reality bites.....BREAK-UP....we are on a break....
And then the same testimonial becomes a pain-in-a**. Reasons:
1.) Every time you open orkut and there it is, smiling you in-the-face....if you have difficulty picturizing that laugh then remember Nasiruddin Shah in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (when his son the "Ranjour Ka Rathore" comes back home all blue and black after a fight. So sarcastic).
2.) Emotions expressed in it are now just words which mean nothing.
and most importantly
3.) You dont want your new BF/GF to know about it or if he/she knows about it, then you dont want that poor soul to go through it over and over again and then give him/her constant explanations as to what did you mean when you had written all that. All those expressions "you know what i mean" or "I hope u understand this :) " or "remember" that you had written with so many giggles are now the bane of your existence. In every fight, every argument, they will invariably come up. None of your explanations "Yaar, i didn't mean anything", "Voh to aise hi likha tha", etc. will work. Finally a few tears or a day or two of "BREAK" might work. But then you wont be able to stop yourself from thinking" What the fu** was i thinking when i wrote that?".... ha ha ha
Way out, tried and tested one, delete it. Out of sight,out of mind. Next time argument ho to just say,"Mujhe nahin pata tum kis baare mein baat kar rahe ho, i cant remember" and just pray that the other person suffers from amnesia about the same.
So my conclusion, dont write testimonials if you later can't take a little pain-in-a**. Keep your feelings limited to messages, emails, love-letters,cards,etc. Because beta "Yeh Duniya Gol Hai" and "Is zindagi ke paapon ki sazaa isi zindagi mein milti hai".
Happy orkutting :)
But thing that i like the most about orkut is the testimonial part. Express your feelings about another person. Some are beautifully written, others the usual crap like a flower or some weird drawing made with "/" ,"\", "," , etc. God knows where do people get time to think of these designs.
Anyways, when its a BF/GF writing it about the other person, its a tough one. One of the reason being that there is so much you wanna write about the other person that 1024 characters is just too less a space(hence multi testimonials from same person). Then there is a danger of saying too much and thus being too obvious in your testimonial(in case both are not ready to shout at the top their voices that they are in L-O-V-E) . Hence lines like "you know what i mean" or "I hope u understand this :) " or "remember" and so on......
Both will go through them a million times telling the other person how much it means to him/her. That its really very close to heart and will always cherish it as a loveable gift of a lifetime. But then GOD is a funny guy. Few days,months or in some cases a few years and the reality bites.....BREAK-UP....we are on a break....
And then the same testimonial becomes a pain-in-a**. Reasons:
1.) Every time you open orkut and there it is, smiling you in-the-face....if you have difficulty picturizing that laugh then remember Nasiruddin Shah in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (when his son the "Ranjour Ka Rathore" comes back home all blue and black after a fight. So sarcastic).
2.) Emotions expressed in it are now just words which mean nothing.
and most importantly
3.) You dont want your new BF/GF to know about it or if he/she knows about it, then you dont want that poor soul to go through it over and over again and then give him/her constant explanations as to what did you mean when you had written all that. All those expressions "you know what i mean" or "I hope u understand this :) " or "remember" that you had written with so many giggles are now the bane of your existence. In every fight, every argument, they will invariably come up. None of your explanations "Yaar, i didn't mean anything", "Voh to aise hi likha tha", etc. will work. Finally a few tears or a day or two of "BREAK" might work. But then you wont be able to stop yourself from thinking" What the fu** was i thinking when i wrote that?".... ha ha ha
Way out, tried and tested one, delete it. Out of sight,out of mind. Next time argument ho to just say,"Mujhe nahin pata tum kis baare mein baat kar rahe ho, i cant remember" and just pray that the other person suffers from amnesia about the same.
So my conclusion, dont write testimonials if you later can't take a little pain-in-a**. Keep your feelings limited to messages, emails, love-letters,cards,etc. Because beta "Yeh Duniya Gol Hai" and "Is zindagi ke paapon ki sazaa isi zindagi mein milti hai".
Happy orkutting :)
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Good song, Bad song
"Kabhi kabhi aditi zindagi mein yun hi koi apna lagta hai"...song of the moment. Had heard a lot about this song. I heard it a few times but didn't really like it very much. Today was just surfing net. This song was playing in the background. I heard it once, repeated it..and then repeated it like a million times. I was enjoying it a lot.Song is so simple and it strikes a chord with every heart.
That is the best part about all the simple things in life, like a hug from a friend before a campus interview , late night card games, crouching around a bed and watching movies (every kind :) ), birthday bumps, silly arguments, lewd jokes, biking in rain, opposite sex talks and accompanying release of frustration, sachin's batting with Tony Greig as the commentator, etc...They instantly appeal to your emotions. You dont have to try hard to relate with them. We humans are born with all these innate emotions and when displayed well in a movie or a song, that thing becomes a classic. Think of the best movies that you have seen and you will be able to remember some parts of those movies, be it dialogues or scenes, that you could relate with and thats why you enjoyed them so much in the first place.
Now why didn't i like the song at first. Answer was not tough to find out. I heard and saw the complete song(along with the accompanying crying-girl and loving friend) for the first time while watching the movie itself. I knew it was a sweet love story. Amazing time spent in college, love for the other person in your words, eyes, actions, everything. Love in its purest form. And as the old saying goes,"Doodh ka jala chaach ko bhi phook-phook kar peeta hai".. Right from the start of the movie i was in a rejection mode. Just wanted to watch the movie, because everyone had recommended it, but didn't want to get involved. Any scene where i felt that there was a lump im my throat, i fast-forwarded it.
Today at this hour(it's past 12 at night),surfing the net and listening to the same song playing in the background,couldn't stop my mind from wandering. I can bet that every person who likes this song has at one point or other put himself / herself in the same setting and giggled at the prospect of dancing and singing in front of friends...with "aditi" being "the one" for whom you wanna do all this. You wanna make her smile when she is sad, you wanna wipe her tears and make them yours........
song says, "Rote hain hum bhi agar teri aankhon mein aansoon aate hain"....you think of moments when you were all in tears listening to her over phone or in person and she was telling you why she is sad...
The line that i wanted to hear over-and-over again,"Aditi voh jo bichadte hain voh ik din mil jaate hain"..Because i know that day onwards i will watch movies like Jaane tu ya jaane na and absolutely love them. I wont be stopping myself. I wanna enjoy every movie the way i enjoyed Partner.
"maana kabhi-kabhi saare jahan mein andhera hota hai,lekin raat ke baad hi to savera hota hai"
Its a good song.. :)
That is the best part about all the simple things in life, like a hug from a friend before a campus interview , late night card games, crouching around a bed and watching movies (every kind :) ), birthday bumps, silly arguments, lewd jokes, biking in rain, opposite sex talks and accompanying release of frustration, sachin's batting with Tony Greig as the commentator, etc...They instantly appeal to your emotions. You dont have to try hard to relate with them. We humans are born with all these innate emotions and when displayed well in a movie or a song, that thing becomes a classic. Think of the best movies that you have seen and you will be able to remember some parts of those movies, be it dialogues or scenes, that you could relate with and thats why you enjoyed them so much in the first place.
Now why didn't i like the song at first. Answer was not tough to find out. I heard and saw the complete song(along with the accompanying crying-girl and loving friend) for the first time while watching the movie itself. I knew it was a sweet love story. Amazing time spent in college, love for the other person in your words, eyes, actions, everything. Love in its purest form. And as the old saying goes,"Doodh ka jala chaach ko bhi phook-phook kar peeta hai".. Right from the start of the movie i was in a rejection mode. Just wanted to watch the movie, because everyone had recommended it, but didn't want to get involved. Any scene where i felt that there was a lump im my throat, i fast-forwarded it.
Today at this hour(it's past 12 at night),surfing the net and listening to the same song playing in the background,couldn't stop my mind from wandering. I can bet that every person who likes this song has at one point or other put himself / herself in the same setting and giggled at the prospect of dancing and singing in front of friends...with "aditi" being "the one" for whom you wanna do all this. You wanna make her smile when she is sad, you wanna wipe her tears and make them yours........
song says, "Rote hain hum bhi agar teri aankhon mein aansoon aate hain"....you think of moments when you were all in tears listening to her over phone or in person and she was telling you why she is sad...
The line that i wanted to hear over-and-over again,"Aditi voh jo bichadte hain voh ik din mil jaate hain"..Because i know that day onwards i will watch movies like Jaane tu ya jaane na and absolutely love them. I wont be stopping myself. I wanna enjoy every movie the way i enjoyed Partner.
"maana kabhi-kabhi saare jahan mein andhera hota hai,lekin raat ke baad hi to savera hota hai"
Its a good song.. :)
Friday, July 25, 2008
Human body is 1 cm. taller in the morning than in evening.
One of my friends Rishab Nanda during one of our bantering sessions told us that human body changes in height during the day very much like our weight and that human body on an average is 1 cm. taller in the morning than in evening.
Cant tell you how much fun we made of him ripping apart his stated fact with our illogical and sarcastic comments. Nanda as usual was at his sincere best,moving around his mundi trying to convince us and we were as usual making fun. At the end all he said was, "Maane ya na maano, but it's true".
Then today around 7:30 in the morning i get a call from him. "Haan chotu(he addresses me like that) , uth gaya hai". I had slept at two at night, reason being the usual extended period of "Friends" watching. Anyways i manage to say,"Haan uth gaya hun, bol". He says," TOI(Times Of India) ka Delhi Times section khol and go to page 4." Obediently i do that.
Sitting there at the bottom right is the usual section "Fact of Matter". It had,"Human body is 1 cm. taller in the morning than at night." After reading it only words i could utter were,"Then what". Then he reminded me of that unfortunate day he had to suffer our comments and become the subject of ridicule. I had totally forgotten about all that we said that night but that poor soul was still carrying it in his heart. Boy you should have heard him after he made me read that,"Kaha tha na tum logon ko us din. Maan hi nahin rahe the. Ab padh le khud."
Chalo i was happy that though i had a heavy head when i reached office, with sleep deprivation, atleast someone was feeling light with something very humiliating off his chest.
Good morning nande...have a great day ahead.
P.S: For those interested in facts of this can check the link http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_we_are_taller_in_morning_than_in_evening
Cant tell you how much fun we made of him ripping apart his stated fact with our illogical and sarcastic comments. Nanda as usual was at his sincere best,moving around his mundi trying to convince us and we were as usual making fun. At the end all he said was, "Maane ya na maano, but it's true".
Then today around 7:30 in the morning i get a call from him. "Haan chotu(he addresses me like that) , uth gaya hai". I had slept at two at night, reason being the usual extended period of "Friends" watching. Anyways i manage to say,"Haan uth gaya hun, bol". He says," TOI(Times Of India) ka Delhi Times section khol and go to page 4." Obediently i do that.
Sitting there at the bottom right is the usual section "Fact of Matter". It had,"Human body is 1 cm. taller in the morning than at night." After reading it only words i could utter were,"Then what". Then he reminded me of that unfortunate day he had to suffer our comments and become the subject of ridicule. I had totally forgotten about all that we said that night but that poor soul was still carrying it in his heart. Boy you should have heard him after he made me read that,"Kaha tha na tum logon ko us din. Maan hi nahin rahe the. Ab padh le khud."
Chalo i was happy that though i had a heavy head when i reached office, with sleep deprivation, atleast someone was feeling light with something very humiliating off his chest.
Good morning nande...have a great day ahead.
P.S: For those interested in facts of this can check the link http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_we_are_taller_in_morning_than_in_evening
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