The Newport University..

In Bangalore I am staying at the company's guest house.. There is a Senior Designer who has recently joined Newport.. The guy is amazing in designs and fashion sense... Very nice and great friend.. Few days back he asked me to write few lines as a synopsis for the brand... Felt like sharing it here... Here it goes

The New phase in life which every youth waits to enter. The life which starts with nervousness on the first day. New place, new friends, new style.
The place where there is less of restrictions and more of responsibilities. The phase where needs are more but supply is limited.

The phase which is the stepping stone for the future.The phase which gives the confidence to face the entire world with roughness and elegance at the same time. The phase where he is a rebel and is also a responsible youth.

The youth which is out there to make his own style statement. The statement which will be unique to him and would speak his attitude.The statement which is driven by what he wears. The attire which defines his style. The style which is iconic and yet manageable by his pocket.

The brand which can offer him the confidence, style, energy and elegance.
The brand which is all about his confidence .What better than Newport.

Time-Machine....

When I joined the company for winters, the client which was being discussed was one of the Gaming Chain owner. I was not able to believe that people go to these places and spend money to play the games..How foolish can one be not to go out for a family outing..catching movies...n spend money on every weekend on the silly games..
My previous experience was the Gaming outlet in HN where too I used to do bowling. I had never tried my hands at any of these games.

During the discussion I came to know that my Manager, Abhay himself was a big gaming freak. On talking to him came to know that there were many people who use to hang out at these places and try their hands. He narrated his experience of these stores. How there is an old man who comes and wins loads of chocolates though he distributes them all among the kids in the stores. How a Mom and her son spend hours on weekends.

I was not able to believe these as I haven't seen any such store. Even the HN store I use to visit on Saturdays had crowd coming there for bowling. Then finally I landed up in a gaming zone in Phoenix Mills on a Friday night with my team. The time was past 10 and we had planned to go bowling. I could find very few people in the store at that time.

The store was really huge in size and loads of games. There were close to 12 tracks for bowling. 2 Pool tables.. and other games..As I could not find many people playing games I still was of the same opinion...
The next day AN invited me for a trip to the Mill again. There were Brijesh, Killi, Vivek, Satman, AN and me. There was also an FLSL employee with whom AN was doing his internship. The company has tied up with different outlets in Phoenix Mill for good discounts. I again landed up in the same gaming zone.
But this time the scene was entirely different. The place was crowded and there was a waiting of 30 mins for a bowling track. Me n iyer grabbed a beer and decided to wait and enjoy the beauties in the store. In the meanwhile, AN got us a table for pool.
Around afternoon we got to the gaming section to grab a bowling track and I was astonished to see the place. There were people ranging from kids of Age 4 to uncle and aunties of mid-40s trying their hands at different games and winning coupons. The expression on the faces of the parents playing the games told me that they were concentrating hard and not just playing the games for their kids.

I still was unsure.. Then Me and AN decided to try our hands at a shooting game..more like a stress buster.. But the moment I took the gun in my hands, I returned to my days where I use to play Contra on my Samurai..the kid in me has returned and I was competing hard to survive the game long... We were shouting at each other like schoolboys guiding each other to survive..building strategy that we should reload the guns alternatively...

The game lasted for 20 mins and we both were smiling after the game.. That was my first tryst with the Gaming Zone but it was still not addictive..

After that life has been busy with work and didn't get much chance...

This Sunday, me, Rajat and Johry were sitting in my place and watching a movie..too tired to go anywhere..Finally, Rajat said lets all go out and we decided to go bowling at Amoeba near Brigade Road..

We landed there to find to our disappointment that the waiting was 2 hours..we were about to leave when Johry said that we should atleast check out the 2nd floor..I was keen on trying my hands at shooting again so we went upstairs.. Rajat was not much of a gaming freak but he had no other option..

Here the environment was more electrifying with humans from all age-group...from school kids to college goers..from mummies to grannies.. all were playing and winning tickets..
Johry was a NFS fan so we decided to try a track.. A refill card of 200 was bought.. We all sat on the set, geared up for the battle... The race lasted 5 minutes when Johry won the race...

Since the refill still had some money left, we went for Basketball...The game was so addictive that we played almost 4 rounds and won some coupons.. We decided to take some goodies with the coupons but the number was worth nothing..

We could see around grannies, mummies all of having rolls of tickets.. We decided to hide our tickets in our pockets to avoid being a laughing stock...Our skills were so bad!!!

I took another card refill of 200 and decided to play few more games.. I could see the childhood returning to us..all excited and ready to compete to get more coupons.. We tried our hand a few more games..Rajat and me payed Air Hockey..The way we played the game we would have put the schoolkids to shame...

We won loads of tickets this time and the way Rajat had put in efforts, I could not belive he was the same Rajat who was not ready to enter the 2nd floor...

After exhausting the refill, we decided to return...Only then we realised that its been 2.5 hours of gaming...We all were cursing each other that we should have booked a track....
It was an amazing evening and we decided to return again next weekend for a Game of Bowling!!!! I guess am getting addicted to the Bowling now...

Looking forward to next Saturday...

Those were the days......Chapter IV(153/180)

Well.. The much awaited holidays have arrived for us... All were ready to go back home for the first time and share their experience with their parents and siblings..
Now that they have landed on the first step towards a promising career.. moms were waiting to pamper their child... but again the ghost of ragging was haunting on us..and this time there was no college authority to save us.. but this was also the time to know your seniors in a better way.. Luckily or unluckily there was no senior on the route to Bangalore.. It was going to be a long journey of 40 hours all alone..

I boarded the train and waited for the day I will be meeting my parents after months...There was no direct train to Bangalore from Ranchi so there was going to be a gap of 2 hours at Chennai.. The journey was not eventful and I finally landed at Bangalore Cantt Station.

I was surprised not to find my parents and my sis at the station.. I waited for 10 mins and called home. Luckily my mom was at home and she picked up the call.. On asking I came to know that Dad n sis have gone to the Bangalore Central station... Such a big goof up!!!!! And I was going to miss those expressions on my Dad's face after seeing me...

Mom sent the other car to pick me up and informed Dad that I was at Cantt.. Finally I landed home.. the delight and happiness on the faces of he families were the true Kodak moments...

I was going to be there for a week and mom has already planned the week long menu.. Also I was to go shopping for my formals and necessities for college.. It was going to be an eventful week... The coming days were spent in shopping, meeting friends, partying and enjoying Bangalore...
Meeting with friends and families and seeing their positive response to BIT cleared my doubts about my decision to join BIT and gave me a fresh energy and enthusiasm. I was looking forward to college now...
Finally the day came and I was to leave for the college... I have hardly touched any books and there were mid-sems planned post dusshera.
I was shit scared but was confident as I was regular with my studies.Finally I boarded the train with a heavy heart....

This time I have landed with an emergency light which has a cassette player and radio as well.
This became a source of entertainment for the next 2 modules..Batchmates from Delhi shared their experiences of ragging which ranged from they singing in train.. selling tea... going and asking names of random girls...

After settling down we all were geared up for the mid-sems.. The format in BIT was a bit different.
The mid-term was suppose to be of 30 marks. There will be questions of 36 marks out of which 24 will be from assignments given by the profs. A student can attempt the paper of 36 marks and score max..At first the concept looked pretty neat and favouring students but after the first mid-sem we realised what it was.

I scored 153/180 in my first sem...Was very satisfying...

so far you all will be wondering why there is no masala in the story.. there is nothing happening before 3rd Sem...I'll try to start that semester in the next chapter...

Till then enjoy..

Missing Mumbai Traffic...

Its been while that i scribbled here. Blame it to the IPL or the work schedule but the monotonous routine of life has taken a toll on my interests as well.There are 3 books which are waiting to be touched by me. There are movies in my laptop which I had downloaded from DC++.

The new life is really different. Though there are not many interesting things happening, apart from interactions with the industry people adding to the knowledge
base, still life is on a roller coaster ride.

After finishing my final presentation at NITIE I have moved my base to Bangalore. Though my reporting office is in Mumbai, I haven't yet rented a flat there.

This assignment is going to be for a month and I don't know how I'll be surviving here. Mumbai and Bangalore are poles apart.

Even if you are stuck in office till 9 in Mumbai, you can still go out and party late. But if you are in Bangalore, the city goes to sleep by 8.30!!!! There is just no night life in bangalore.

There are pubs where even stag entry is not allowed.!!

I guess this is the same reason because of which the night charges for autos start at 8.00 in bangalore. Added to that the rickshawpullers will never agree to go by meter. Even if you are hungry and want to buy grocery or some medicine, you will not find a single shop opened after 8.30. Language problem is there anyways. The Bus service also is not as advanced as in Mumbai.

The traffic is worse than Mumbai!!!

There are just malls for you to hang-out in Bangalore and on a weekend you will find the malls as crowded as a CST local on a Monday morning. But the difference will be that the people will have no reason to hang out at these malls.

If you have decided to go out for a dinner and you land up in a local restaurant, there is a high probability of you eating a Paneer Makhani cooked in coconut oil. Its always better to eat in malls or McDs or Subways. Though like Mumbai Vada-Pavs, you can eat Idlis at the same price and survive.

The good thing about the city is the climate. The pollution is trying to change that as well. Also the shopping opportunities are huge but nothing comes cheap these days in Bangalore.

Somehow I am feeling home sick and missing Mumbai.. How I wish I was getting drenched in Mumbai rains at this moment...

Those were the days... Chapter III (The semester of new friendships..)

Readers wanted masala in the Chapter 2 but I can't add any for the readers.Chapter 2 was more about how I made up my mind to land up in BIT.. I don't think there will be masala in this chapter either.. but there will be masala in chapters to come..

There I was standing in the mess...met Bose and we found another thing in common.. The Key Chain..both of us had the same key chain..well after the tea and hot pakoras, Bose introduced me to Gaurav, Mishra and Ayush.. so to say the Delhi gang.. spent some time in the evening with them..discussing branches, schools etc.. Of these only two of them stand-by me till now.. cassi and kundan ( he comes later in the story).. There also is Momo (met him after dusshera)...
Then it came to the dreaded topic of freshers in college...

"Ragging".. there were tales and stories which people had heard from others.."Seniors make you strip"...'No, They can't do that. they can't go physical".. "they make you kiss each other".. etc etc...though the College authorities had provided adequate security. Anyone from outside had to make an entry and no senior was allowed in the hostel. but we all knew it was inevitable. Me n Bose were scared the most as our room (6D) was the corner most room and anyone could enter anytime.

But there was an added advantage of the room. It was the room facing the insti and while sitting in the room you could see everyone going and leaving the main building. The whole gang use to sit there and wait for the girls to pass-by in the morning, afternoon and evening.. it had become the hub of activities

Then there were places like telephone booths where you couldn't avoid seniors. It really was a terrifying thought. We decided to hang out together, follow the instructions of wearing formals and lay low. We all use to go together to attend or make calls... It was really funny.. If we have to leave hostel anytime, we were supposed to wear full formals with shoes. We were not allowed to visit the canteen..Once Bose and Mishra tried after getting fed up with the food and landed up in the senior's hostel playing ping-pong with the balls....

The favourite pass-time was playing UNO at night and cricket in the evening. This was the time when I met the Cricket gang of Dhaka in the college.I was immediately recognised as the lefty fast bowler and was always given the first over. Those matches used to be real fun.
I vaguely remember an incident that scared the gang. We were sitting in my room playing UNO (Kundan has been introduced as Ayush's roomie and Ishan too has joined the college). Suddenly power failure.

Few of them had gone to get the candles and the door was open. Suddenly a guy with long hair and beard enters the room with 2 others.(later we realised that was true to LEO Clubs image) We were shit scared and terrified.. (Beta aaj tho gaye.. ragging tho hogi hi and seeing them you can't imagine what thoughts went in our heads)..

Senior1 : "You guys are playing card. Don' you know you aren't allowed"
Bose : "No bhaiya, we are not playing cards. Its UNO"
Senior2: "Bhaiya?? You don't know how to address your senior!! What UNO?? All are cardgames"
Us : "Sorry Sir. Won't repeat it again"
Senior2 : "What sorry!!...."
Senior1 (interrupting) : "Jaane de yaar. Now we are in final year. leave it for 2nd year. Givethem the poster"

They handed us the poster and asked us to put it in Hostel Mess.We were also asked to come for the party. We did attend the party (Senior1 turned out to be the President of Leo club) and it was real fun though the turnout in LEO party was very low as compared to Rotract.That was our first encounter to any club in the college...

All the guys went through the ragging.. Bose, Cassi, Kundan, Mishra.. Doing the chawani-aathani dance, playing TT, acting as couples on honeymoon, etc..somehow i managed to escape it in the first semester..

From there on we used to have different clubs coming to hostels and talk about what they do and why should we join them. Rotract and Leo had their rivalry going on. With Rotract known as the hep and delhi gang while Leo having the image of "Bhaiya club" and lower class. There were IEEEs, IEEs, UNESCO, ACM SPICMACAY.. none seemed to excite me in the first semester. Mishra had zeroed on IEEE and ACM. Ayush was impressed with Photo Soc.. Bose was into Fine Arts.. Kundan was another losser like me..

I was more busy with studies and crying over my decision to join BIT and also all of the clubs asked a certain membership fee which I couldn't afford as my this stay wasn't planned. I still remember the names given to me in the first sem..Daanu, Salim were the favourites and I carried a rough image.

Another incident which makes me laugh till now was Me and Majumdar catching Kyunki in the TV Room. Both of us used to watch that serial. The series had just started and we were kinda hooked on to Tulsi.No matter what we use to catch the series and both of us had gone famous for that.. batchmates use to never argue and leave the room.. I can't believe that I used to do that.

A famous story doing the round was that our hostel was built over a kabristan and that a student had committed suicide in the hostel and it was haunted. It had scared the shit out of us. Around the same time people had started seeing figures in their lobbies.. At nights me and bose use to go to the loo together or in a gang. There were many pranks played in the hostel with people seeing some random figures dressed in white.. It really had turned a haunted land..

Well Dusshera break had arrived and we were all going back home.. It was a time we all were waiting for... I was more than desperate because for last one month I had been wearing the same trouser....

Those were the days...Chapter II(Destiny Won!!!)

Time : 9:00 a.m.
Place : Front Lawn, BIT

An atmosphere full of tension where students and parents all are waiting for the results. The results are already an hour late. In small groups, the parents and students are discussing about the different branches,the future plan for their kid. I was talking to Shivas, a guy at my Interview panel.

Finally the result arrived. Everyone rushes to the board.

I started searching my name..
From Polymer to Civil..Mechanical...Electrical..ECE...Yippee my name was not there..
But!!!

There it was, my name 3rd from top in Computer Science..My throat choked as if I just missed a beat..

I wanted to shout, "This is unfair..You can't do this to me!!!". Was it a nightmare!!!

I rushed to the nearest telephone booth. I wanted to call mom and speak to her. But the telephone lines were down as the Telephone Dept across India has gone on a strike.

Why?? Why was it happening with me!!!

There I was, helpless, standing alone with my dad. I didn't know what to do. I knew Dad will be hurt if i missed this opportunity, though he would never mention it. Blood was rushing in my mind. Those were the seconds which never seemed to pass.. Each second was like a ages..Me and Dad were both silent while returning to the main building and this silence was killing me.

The secene had entirely changed. There were two separate lines.

I saw Shivas coming from the main entrance...

Shivas :"What branch did you get?"
Me : "Comp Sc, What about you?"
Shivas : "Great. Congrats. I got Mechanical."
Me : "What are the two lines for?"
Shivas : "One for submitting fee and the other for collecting back the certificates who haven't got
admission or don't want to take admission"
Me : "Ok"

Shivas left in a hurry towards the line to submit his fee..I guess somehow Dad has realised what was going in my mind.
He finally broke the silence.

Dad : "Manu. Lets go and get your certificates back or else we will miss the train"
Me : "No Dad, lets go and submit the fee"

I dunno what happened to me at that millisecond and why I said that. Even Dad was shocked to hear what I said.

He couldn't believe what I said but we moved to the line.
There Dad met an uncle. The uncle was even more surprised to see me there. I dunno why was he surprised!!!

Uncle : "Hi. How come you are here?"
Dad : "He has decided to take admission. I am still not sure when he'll change his mind"
Uncle : " Which branch?"
Dad : "Comp Sc"
Uncle : "Great. Even my son is in Comp Sc. We can take the same room for them"
Dad : "If my son sticks with his decision to take admission."

I was wondering to how many of them Dad has spoken about my reluctance to join BIT.

That is when I first met Bose..Arijit Bose. (A roomie for 2 years..over years he played an important role in my BIT life..but this would be discussed later)

After submitting fee, Dad left to get the reservations cancelled and get booking for the next day. I was to stay back as classes were starting in 2 days.

Finally we finished the admissions and got the room. Me and Bose shared the same room and even our roll numbers were 144 and 146...So much in common you think....

Well Destiny won and I knew that you should never try to outsmart Destiny. You can't change things to happen..

After that I left for the guest house with dad.. Next day was shopping the basics.. bulb, mattress, bedsheet, pillow, soaps..etc..

Considering that I dint even bring a single formal trouser, I have no other option but to take Dad's trouser..

With the complete shopping I landed in the hostel and arranged my room.. Bose was in the Mess.. I entered the mess and there I saw entire bunch of students enjoying their snacks.. Is this going to be my life for coming 4 years..

With the complete shopping I landed in the hostel and arranged my room.. Bose was in the Mess.. I entered the mess and there I saw entire bunch of students enjoying their snacks.. Is this going to be my life for coming 4 years..

Those were the days...Chapter I(Playing with Destiny)

I recently saw a blog where my friend has captured his Engineering College days.

Going through his blog brought back the memories of my AlmaMeter..The days when I was learning how to face the world.. the days when everyone transforms from a teenager into an adult and learns to shoulder responsibilities..The days which everyone cherishes and give you friends which become a part of your family..

The days when u would have fallen in love for the first time..when you would have had your first drink or the first fag("CAUTION : CIGARETTE SMOKING IS INJURIOUS TO HEALTH)..the night outs..the movies.. the days when we prepared just a week before exam..the days when there was no one to restrict you from doing anything...all in all the days when one learns to grow independent..

Well for me landing in BIT was not an experience I was waiting for.. I had already taken an admission in RVCE, Bangalore and was happy with the fact that I'll be able to stay at home and enjoy life.. but there was the day when BIT's Interview shortlist was out. I still remember the day.

I had gone to the Internet cafe to check the result. I had got a call but dint bother to inform parents as I was sure to join RVCE.. over breakfast, dad informed that the results are out and I casually said, "Yes. I have seen and have a shortlist." He was surprised and asked, "Why dint you inform. We need to get the reservations done".
I was shocked. Am I going to that dreaded state of Bihar and study!!! The state known across the world for all the wrong reasons.

Over the next few days parents, friends and even dad's colleagues tried to convince me how great BIT is and how it features in the league of Best Engineering colleges in the country.

Even with so many people trying to convince me, I was hell-bound that I want to study in RVCE.

Finally they persuaded me to at least go and give the interview. Only if I was to get a seat in Comp Sc & Engg, I can join. I calculated my odds. I vaguely remember that considering theSC/ST quotas, state quota and NRI n others, just 10 odd seats remained for General Candidates(and they say, we are the majority!!!!). So I knew it will be just destiny if I still landed in BIT.

Finally reached Ranchi. We were suppose to immediately join college if we got through. But I hadn't brought anything with me, not even formal trousers. Well I stayed in Ranchi Cantt.

That is the place where I saw a blue CBZee, it was love at first sight. I decided that my first vehicle from my salary will be a CBZ.

Well the day of interview arrived and there I was, wearing jeans and sports shoes and going to face those profs of BIT. I hadn't prepared anything for my interview. (I thought that could make my chances near to nil).

I was the second candidate to enter the panel. I entered the room. My first interview of life. 4 professors all ready to pounce on me like a hungry Mohit(a freak who is part of my extended family) on food.I was given a form to fill asking why Engineering and the stream?etc etc. I just remember one of the lines I wrote, "S/W industry is the sunshine sector of India and will bring the turnaround India has always been waiting for".

After that there were firing questions in all the areas of Maths(Trigno..my fav area), Physics(Gravity), Organic Chemistry(something about Methane..I answered this though it was my weakest area).. after facing all the doosaras and leg spins and googlies..I was waiting for the straight one where Ganguly goes down the pitch and clears the ropes.. there the question was.

Faculty : "You want to join NCC or Sports?"

Me : "Sports, Sir "

Faculty : "Why, NCC doesn't interest you?"

Me : "Not that sir. My father has worked with Army and I know the importance of discipline that NCC can bring in an individual. I was also part of Cubs in my school days. But in addition to that I was part of School's Cricket team and have also played Badminton at State Level and thus feel that I can be better in Sports."

I felt that was an answer which sealed it all...There could be nothing better and convincing answer..Though I still landed in NCC. I till date feel that NCC was a better option because it was much more relaxing (considering the sports faculty make you to go through all the drills) and you get better marks.

I dint realise that I could have messed up my interview..but till date I dunno why I dint do that.. MAY BE THATS WHAT WAS DESTINY!!!!

The results were to be declared the next day. We returned to the guest house and enjoyed the evening.. All were waiting for the results...I could not take a proper nap.....something was bothering me..

As if I was aware of what Destiny had decided for me!!