Time 9.30 PM. The Phone call

When the cable television or the internet connection fails to diminish our boredom, We all turn to the phone. It is a ritual again. Every night same time. It has to be either Varun Gandhi or Rohan Verma.

Tring Tring..
Rohan : Hello Salil.
Salil : Sale (expletives again. Actually that is how we greet our friends on phone.)
Rohan : Are yaar kabhi to izzat se baat kar liya karo. I am hanging up
Salil : Are listen. Dont hang up. I've got something very important. Are pata hai Sachin has started taking turmeric milk.
Rohan : What crap ? Is this what you wanted to talk about? I'll hang up
Salil : Are when are you coming to Bhandup. I'll take you to Tembhi pada. It has the city's
most beautiful waterfall. I'll take you there. Just you and me. Dont tell anybody else.
Just you and me. Get a bed sheet, a flying disc and a rubber ball. We'll go on a picnic.

And guess what ? The poor guy actually did come once to visit the so called waterfall.

Conclusion : I really must find something to do. All this vella-ness is getting to my head. The worst part- I'm luvin it.

Time :- 6.00 PM. Back to home

Puppy and Binit enter. They see the TV remote lying idle. Both make a rush towards it. Puppy dives Matrix ishtyle and once again wins the race. That is one advantage of having a small frame.

Salil : Are where were you people? And where is my vada pav ? Binit you (expletives agin)
Binit : Where is my money you... (Binit returns the favor)
Puppy: Are yaar.. I forgot to buy a baltee.

Puppy has been the caretaker of the group since college. His area of expertise.. Buckets, Mug, Soap, Dhobi, et al. His efforts ensure that we were never out of soap or shaving cream.

Time 11.30 AM. Ok, Time 12.30 PM. Work time

Venue:- Vijay or Viraj's workstation. The place has the strategic importance of having mathematically the largest distance from the place where all supervisiors sit. Sameer and Katara too join in.

Sameer : Are aaj itna jaldi kaise ?
Salil : Are kya batoon. Mr Prateek had called up. I had to show him my face at least once.
compensate by leaving early.
Vijay : Watever .. To fir kya karna hai ? When do we leave ?
Samer : Are pata hai eight people from Accenture Banglore were fired for not putting in eight
hours of work.
Vijay : What reason will they give Salil before firing him? He has put in eight hours of hard work. In four months that is..
Katara : I am tired. Will be changing companies very soon.
Salil : Total crap..He has been saying that for that last three months, but hasn't even prepared a resume

The reason this group gets along so well is that, all of us are convinced that we are absolutely useless and often tend to be on the recieving end of the supervisor's wrath. Talk of crisis bringing people to gather.

Time:- 9.30 AM. Tring Tring..

I take a look at my phone. Oh no.. It says Prateek calling. For those unaware, Prateek happens to be my supervisor.

Prateek: Hello Salil. Where are you ?
Salil : Sir... Hello ? Hello (I take this time to formulate a response). Yes sir. Sir.. I am at
(M2B happens to largest office among all Accenture facilities at Mumbai.)
Prateek: What are you doing there ?
Salil : Sir i had just come to get some bank work done.
Prateek: Ok.. Ok. Catch the next shuttle to M1 (my office that is) and see me first thing.
Salil : Sure sir.

Some times i wonder if Mr Prateek is trying to get me married to his daughter. Without dowry..

P.S. Not a bad idea actually. I am quite looking to home made food again !!

One day at an asylum. Time :- 7.30 AM. Good Morning

I wake up rubbing my eyes. Stroll towards the bathroom hoping that it would be occupied so that i can give myself an excuse and catch up on five more minutes of sleep. My wish comes true. Binit's inside one of the bathrooms singing his favourite Reshamia number "Naaaaaa meri khataaaa... Naaa mera dosh hai ".

Salil : Binit. (A barrage of expletives) Have you slept inside ? (Another barrage of expletives)
Binit : (His turn of expletives.) If you are that interested in bathing, wake up early. (Resumes his singing. "Aapka nasha yoon madhosh hai"...)
I set off to catch up my five minutes of sleep.

Our neighbours are treated to this form of entertainment every weekday morning without fail. We give them a break every weekend. One thing's are for sure, if they were to be Marathi or for that matter speaking any language other than Hindi, they would have definitely mistaken our names with some hindi expletive or the other.

Will Smith's a winner. All the way ...

One of the movies that i recently watched happens to be the 2006 Will Smith starrer "The pursuit of happyness". Smith as the salesman-turned-stock breaker seems to be a classic example of Murphy's law. That is, anything that can go wrong, will.

Unable to sell, unable to pay for parking tickets ,deserted by wife , jailed for a day ,homeless with a little kid to take care of, Smith goes through it all. Several nights of riding buses and sleeping in subway restrooms , saddled with their meager belongings makes Chris (Will Smith) more determined to complete the intern program and become the sole trainee the firm will hire.

The movie has a predictable fairytale ending with Smith bagging the job and going on to do very well in life. Cliched ? Not quite.. Apart from the stellar performances of the father son duo who happen to be father and son in real life too, the USP of the movie lies in its honesty. In its outlines, it's nothing like the usual success story depicted onscreen, in which, after a reasonable interval of disappointment, success arrives wrapped in a ribbon and a bow. Instead, this success story follows the pattern most common in life - it chronicles a series of soul-sickening failures and defeats, missed opportunities, sure things that didn't quite happen, all of which are accompanied by barely perceptible victories that gradually amount to something. In other words, it all feels real...