Our trip to Los Angeles Part II

Since Mariott does not have an Indian menu, arrangements were made for our meals from indian restaurants like India's Tandoori , Gill's Indian Restaurant and Tanzore (Beverly Hills). On the first day, we were pleasantly surprised by the saag ( north indian dish) in the dinner delivered to us from India's Tandoori. When we went for lunch the next day to the restaurant, I complimented the restaurant owner, Gurmeet Multani for the 'pleasant surprise'.

We were booked for the Studio Tour of the Sony Pictures Studio starting at 10:00 AM but due to the traffic we got late by a few minutes and were told to take the 2:00 PM tour instead. To make the best use of the time at hand, we decided to hit Beverly Hills, the up market shopping place in hollywood. Unlike other shopping places in the US, Beverly Hills is one place where price tags on the items is on request.

In the studio tour we were conducted around the entire Sony Corporation including Columbia Pictures, MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayer) and explained the nitty gritties of film making. Infact it was only when we entered the building of the Columbia Pictures that I came to know that Oscar Awards is just another name for the Academy Awards. The awards are neatly showcased in the main lobby of the building and the indian presence in the awards is in the form of film 'Gandhi'.

The success in the production of a film depends on three factors - location,budget and time bound completion of the project. To overcome the constraint of shooting on different locations, Sony has made improvisations in it's premises. Post 9/11, shootings at airports across the US have been banned. As an improvisation, Sony has made an airport like building as its office.

Fauji Diary - Keeping in touch

Sometime back I had created a group on the internet for all my army coursemates to remain in touch with each other. It was'nt very long ago when we used to write letters, send greeting cards on new year, raising days or send first day covers (release of special stamps in the army to commemorate a special occassion) but with the advent of mobiles and internet, the world suddenly seems like shrinking with no need to 'keep in touch'. Social networking utilities have further made the task easier. Among all these new age activities, some special bonds continue to stimulate and delight you even with their age old charm, 'happy hour calling' being one of them.A few days back, I received a 'happy hour' e-mail from one of my friends. The e-mail brought back memories which had almost faded in my memory.

A few years back,while myself and my friend (writer of the e-mail) we were on board 'Goa Express', sharing a berth both being in RAC. Our common destination was Belgaum, where we were heading to attend the Commando course. In the evening, while the dinner was being served, one of the waiters stumbled and the dinner plates fell on our seat. Expecting a cleanup, we waited for sometime.Since the waiter wanted to complete his assignment of serving the dinner first, his priority to the cleanup was low. My friend went to the Pantry Car to look for the waiter who was busy cooking with the turner (palta). Infuriated at his callousness, my friend tried to take the turner (palta) from him. To his bad luck, the turner accidentally hit the waiter and a pool of blood filled the forehead of the waiter.

The staff of the Pantry Car made an issue of the entire episode and halted the train at Pune station, some of them even lay on the track in protest. Goa Express is the chariot of the students studying in Maharashtra and 'donation colleges' of the south. The presence of so many youngsters in the train further aggravated the situation. Without bothering to find out the reason, some of the students again bashed up the pantrycarwallahs. It was commotion all around till the matter was solved in a fauji style by one of the army Major who was also travelling in the train. He just said that since the pantry-car men are not letting the train to move, officers please take out your guns from the trunks to ensure that the train starts off from the station.

The Pantry car wallahs quitely sat in the train and the journey could be resumed.

Welcome to Thiruvananthapuram - Part 1

Taking off from my earlier post 'The day I received my transfer orders', which was written in August last year. The transfer order disappointed me for the place of transfer was more than 3200 kms from my house. At some level I also felt victimised for eversince the start of operations in the Bank's office at Thiruvananthapuram, no officer from such far off place had been posted there. The air connectivity is there but no low cost carriers. The fastest train 'Rajdhani' takes three days to hit Delhi. My wife was also visibly upset for the logistics as her father just had a kidney transplant not very long ago. I had already exhausted my resources for seeking a change of place of posting.

Among all these we had gone to the Naveen market in the city. I was rather quiet and uncommunicative that day. As I entered the Hindustan Store, the owner of the store gave us a very warm welcome. He was very happy to recieve us and conducted us well. While coming out she said that this is what you have earned from this city, the respect and admiration from the people. From businessmen to salesmen, from vegetable vendors to paani poori waala, you are the one point representation of your Bank. During the course of discharging my official duties, these were the people I came across; more so during the coin crises in the city, I intend writing about it in another post for it is classical example of failure of systems in our country.

The next day I booked myself on a connecting Kingfisher flight to Thiruvananthapuram as it reaches before the Indian Airlines flight. On landing at Bangalore where I was to change the plane, the heavy rain had caused some disruption in airport activities. By the time I took the next flight which was an ATR, I was sick of the ' ooh la la la' which is the signature tune of the airline.

धूर्त समागम

धूर्त समागम is a classical Sanskrit play written by Jyotirishwar Thakur. The hindi adaptation of the play was staged in our college in which yours truly played the role of the leading protagonist Sanatak (Duracara in the Sanskrit play). The play was directed by Prahlad Agarwal who is a well known personality in theater circles. The play had all male cast and was staged in 'स्वांग शैली' , an art form used by the people in UP and Bihar. The play had erotic undertones which was probably the reason of jam packed halls whenever it was staged. The play revolves around Ganika ( Ananagsena in the Sanskrit play) who floors everyone including Snatak and his guru by her charm. She keeps every man in a state of limbo. The play is a gripping narration and never looses its momemtum due to its contemporary theme.

Receiving the 'Best Actor' prize in the Youth festival from Rani Balbir Kaur. Also in the frame is Dr Attar Singh, Principal of the college.

Taking the INSCRIPT exam

The Rajbhasha department under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India conducts proficiency examinations for skill in INSCRIPT typing in Hindi. INSCRIPT (meaning INDIAN SCRIPT) keyboard empowers you to type in any of the indian languages provided you are aware of the phonetics used in the particular language. Though there are many sites through which you can type in vernacular like Quillpad and Lipikaar, INSCRIPT helps to fine tune your skills. This January I had appeared for this examination which was conducted at Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram and qualified the exam with 91% marks.

Fauji diary - A Salute to Capt Omkar Nath Rao

Omkar Nath Rao was a second generation soldier and the only son of his parents. We met at the Officers Training Academy, Madras (now Chennai) where we were coursemates. I don't remember how and when we became good friends. I have known Omkar from close quarters, we continued to remain in touch even after leaving the academy, did the young officers course together at MHOW in 1997. He was always looking for a meaningful contribution to the uniformed life so he opted for a tenure at Siachen glaciar. By the time he completed his tenure at Siachen, his battalion was in a field area. He chose to be with his battalion in the Uri sector.

the days at Academy

young officers course at MHOW'Dil chahta hai'- at the Mandu fort
Brother in Arms

Capt Omkar Nath Rao was lost to his family and friends in a exchange of fire at the Indo-Pak border on 11 March 2000. He was given 'Sena Medal' for gallantry (posthomously).Homage can be paid to Capt Omkar Nath Rao by clicking here.

The Valentine boy turns Five

Our son Aryaman turned five on 14 February. This smile was captured while he bought the cake to me.