I 10

After a long wait of more than a year, I finally acquired my set of four wheels. I wanted to and following some pursuasion, I got to pick it up on 'Dhanteras'. This day is supposed to the most religious of days in the Hindu calendar. Driving a new car is far trickier than driving the standard govt Gypsy. The journey from the showroom took double the time it normally takes. I am now trying to hone my driving skills in the campus. 

This year Diwali was better organised and more colourful than last year. We had organised it in the stadium with fireworks, both market bought and 'govt issue.' Unlike last year, we were more of us in our 'sports colony'.     

Murphy's law

After returning, I discovered that a lot of things had gone haywire. My laptop was on the blink, the TV was behaving erratically, the cupboards smelt as if they had been soaked in water and left on their own to dry and most of the eatables had fungus all over them. The humid weather of Bengal had taken its toll. It took some effort to get the laptop running again. I had to format the Hard Drive. This resulted in my losing all data and most importantly, my pre-loaded OS. With a locally loaded OS, the machine was on its feet, but with crutches. Another hurdle remained – loading drivers. This was again a Herculean task. Somehow, I got it working enough to connect it to the ‘net. The search is now on for the right drivers and software to protect it for malware. Lesson learnt – sometimes, you have to just let things go their own way. Too much of caring might result in a catastrophe. I had decided to leave behind the machine to protect it from ‘human’ viruses and because I did not think I would require it for a physical training course. But then Murphy was right when he said – if something has to go wrong, it will.  

            The weather here is turning pleasant as the days progress. This time, I think the winter will be comparatively more severe than what it was last time. Last time, the cold was palpable on around January. This time there is a nip in the air in the mornings in October itself. In the foothills, it was cold in the mornings and evenings. I spent a week in Dudhiya, overseeing an official event. In such outings one gets to meet other people from the Force, listen to divergent views, experience the richness and at times the paucity of human resource, have discussions on anomalies of the recommendations Sixth CPC, of how our 2IC is more burdened than his equivalent in the Armed Forces. Our Force requires a synergy at all levels of we have to take it forward.           

Alls well that ends well

Surprising how time passes by speedily when the going is good. After the Training schedule came to an end on 27 Sep, we were still not sure when we would be given our movement orders to return. In fact, on the evening of the 26^th, there were suddenly rumours flying thick that the course had been extended by a week, that all the tests would be conducted again, that the world was finally coming to an end (that was what was going through the minds of virtually everyone) that martians would be landing near the 26 feet wall and would be duplicating it on Mars (I made up the last one!). Rumours have always had their way in this course. They have cleaved their way through truth and sanity. Everyday, we used to wake up to some zany report from ‘Abdul’, seconded by some tormented soul. Most of the times, the rumours remained just that. On other times they turned out to be true. Anyway, coming back to the 27^th, even in the afternoon we were unsure of what was happening. Would we be stuck here for another week? At around 1500h, we finally got the go-ahead. Within a matter of hours, the premises were bereft of any human activity. That was the night we drunk ourselves to oblivion (at least I don’t remember reaching the room). Returning to Siliguri on the 1^st  , the rains, the downcast skies and the same old atmosphere welcomed me. Now, when I look back, all in all, we had a good time, only due to the fact that all of us were together through thick and thin. If not for the underlying camaraderie, the story would have been scripted otherwise. I say underlying because it was not so apparent on the surface. But it was always there whether on the occasion when we were given a lift by a ranting and raving ‘Gopu’ or when we ran long distances goading each other on. The ‘twenty-twenty’ club will be coming up shortly. Invitations are being sent. Please do make it a point to participate.

Correct time

Through the past 8 weeks, this is one phrase which has troubled us all. In the morning, irrespective of what the preceding activity was, irrespective of how tired we were, irrespective of where the next destination was, the ‘correct’ time was 7.45. In the afternoon the ‘correct’ time was generally 3.00 and depending upon the largesse being felt, it was at times extended to 3.30. In the mornings, it was a race against time and in the afternoons, it was a struggle with sleep. What am I going to do when this is all over? I have got used to hurriedly having a bath, gulping down breakfast and rushing out to meet the 7.45 deadline. Likewise, the 3.00 correct time has hauled me out everyday into the sweltering heat. Where am I going to get this daily adrenaline fix? But, to be true to myself, I shall be glad when this is all over and I return back to my original serene, languid style of functioning. At this age and after these years of service, the human body and mind does not easily take to such frenzied activity. The various activities that we have gone through require the alertness, fitness and agility of a person in his twenties. But we have gone through most of them, even surpassing expectations. We have endured and pulled each other through on our own. It has been an revelation that training could be conducted from a distance. Barring the morning activity, at no time during the day have we been ‘trained’. Activity has mostly been ‘negative’. All efforts have been centred towards ensuring that we failed. But kudos to the tenacity of this group that we have remained intact.

२६ feet

A week later, a few feet closer to the elusive ‘window’, 26 feet up. Am I going to make it? Time will tell. But the destination of this 12 week journey is a glimpse of that window. A fortunate few have been going through it since they arrived. Some have been progressing through the past weeks and there is that handful (that includes me) who have yet to see what the inside of the window looks like.
It has been a sleepless night for Delhi and a tragedy for the near and dear ones of the innocent men and women yesterday, who lost their lives in the 5 bombs that went off through Delhi. The irony of it all was, there is always a lot of talk about terrorism, its future, likely targets, the philosophy of terrorism, and so on. Who would have guessed terror would come knocking so close? Are cowards like these men going to find acts like these so easy?

Training

It has been more than three months since the last post. Since when I returned from leave, I have been busy with work related and more often than not other activities. In particular, the past three months have kept me away from the net. But then, these three months have been spent in toning up the body with lots of physical activity. The mind has taken a back seat. Another three weeks to go before it (the mind) takes over and physicals take a back seat. I have come to realize the immense potential of the human body in terms of taking physical strain, irrespective of the age factor. Of course, the mind still plays an important part in convincing the body that what might seem insurmountable at first is achievable, after some hard work and lots of willpower. When I arrived at this place, I had absolutely no idea what was in store. The stories that I had heard of the fun we would be having while undergoing training remained just that – fairy tales. The bubble burst in the first week itself. It was like jumping onto a roller coaster that was already speeding. We did not get time to settle down before being shaken, thrown in all directions. However, most of us here have now started enjoying the ride. Speculations is rife as to how many will complete this roller coaster ride. It has been fun to meet old (pun intended!) friends and go through these rigours together.

Goa

It has been a long time since I last wrote. Although I have a lot of free time at my disposal with nothing much to do, I guess it takes some effort to actually get down to it. During my vacation, I finally decided to go to Goa. It has been a issue between the two of us with my wife telling me that she hasn’t even been to Lonavla. I decided to go for the ‘cake’ instead of the ‘bread’. We had a great time, exploring Goa on a scooter, which was readily available for hire. Exploring Old Goa, one felt privileged to see the remains of St Francis Xavier at the Cathedral of Bom Jesus. We were in the presence of a divine being. The festive atmosphere at the beaches, especially at Kolva and Calangute is very infectious. We went for all the sports, although we did experience a bit of a fright in the banana boat ride. They take you out a couple of hundred metres into the open sea on a banana boat and then tip you over a couple of times! It gets to you when the waves start pushing you around the moment you hit the water. The dolphins come up to see us during the ‘Dolphin Ride’ and not the other way around as the boatmen would want us to believe! They appear and submerge at will, give us glimpses of sleek, grey bodies effortlessly swimming through the water. Goa is incredibly clean, with neat roads and ample parking spaces. Goa has retained its old world Portuguese charm. To have a good time in Goa, three days at least are a must. A day for Old Goa and a couple of days for the beaches.

In an Indian Vineyard

On a trip to Nasik, I went to a place that at least I hadn't heard of till date. Around 30 Kms from Nasik is the Sula Vineries. Apart from producing premium wines (red and white) the vineyard is in a very picturesque setting. The owners have added a novelty to these settings by introducing a 'Tour & taste' programme. Visitors pay Rs 150 each for a tour in which the guide takes you through the process of wine making from the grape orchards to the crushing, storage and the bottling of the wines.Most of their wines are fresh apart from the 'Dindori' variety which is stored and matured for a year in Oak barrels and bottled with cork stoppers. This gives this particular wine a 'wood' and dry flavour.  Then they have you taste all the six varieties (30 Ml in case you thought they were to have us taste the whole bottle!) in the proper way- in wine glasses, held up by their stems, sniffing the wine for its aroma, taking a sip, swirling it around to get the flavour right and then downing it! There is also a resteranti (sic) where we ordered a whole bottle (in fact -two) and enjoyed wine like Indians - drink till you feel tipsy! Anyway, it was a unique experience. The restaurant is on a balcony overlooking the wineyards and the distant dam on the Godavari which supplies drinking water to Nasik.  

Fun times

A Great day in many ways - 19 Dec 2008. India recorded a historic win or rather, prevented the Aussies from writing history, riding on India's shoulders. Till the close of the day, it looked like tailenders were on the way towards taking Australia to a win, chasing the total of 413, a feat that had remained unparalled since 1948. Also, the Aussies were to be the only team to have won 17 test matches on a trot, if they would have won. Young talent like Ishaan Sharma need to be nurtured and developed. Can we now dare to think of taking on the rest of the world and winning more than 16 matches in one go?
Yesterday was also a first of sorts at work. We had a great in house party with just a couple of guests. Unlike the normal humdrum, boring 'sitting around having drinks and gossiping' parties, we had games, we danced and we had fun and spent the evening doing things that were way apart from the usual cribbing and whining! Our ladies too danced and played the party games with gusto. The spirit of the day permeated through our gathering. Here's wishing more such fine times for the nation and for us.

Tata Nano

The party on the 31st of December was pretty dull by standards that we once had a couple of years back. Now, what sort of a New Year Bash is one where everyone sits around playing tambola and GK! We could get started on the dance floor only at 1215 - 15 minutes into the New Year. Anyway, it was better than sitting at home. It was after we began to dance that we felt the warmth of the New Year.

The Tata Nano was launched a couple of days back. Much has been written about the threat that looms over the Indian firmament, about how this car is a threat to Indian roads, of how it would add to the pollution and to the congestion. But how many of us have given a thought to how it would satisfy the aspirations of the average indian middle class family? For people like us who don't come across much of congestion or pollution and who would certainly want to save on the cost of buying a car bigger than the Maruti 800, the Nano is most certainly welcome.