The 3AM Call

There are certain days which you remember for the rest of your lives. Days which might have brought immense happiness, Days having brought a waterfall of tears or those that brought thunderous laughter! Nothing like that happened that day. Yes, he had been having a strange pain in his chest whenever he swallowed something. He first thought it to be early signs of a heart attack but some googling even took that chance away. So it could so easily have been a life defining day but sadly Gastroesophageal reflux disease is & was not considered life threatening. Infact, the situation worsened when the doctor recommended him to drink a pink coloured liquid. But still, It was a day Rohan would have found hard to place in his memory a month down the line.




Divya had always been a person who preferred the calm of home over flashlight adorning discos, even on a Saturday night. But, this was no ordinary night. Having spent the better part of the last 2 years working, she owed it to herself that the last night be different. She wasn’t a virgin as far as alcoholic beverages were concerned but her self-imposed limit didn’t allow her to go past 2 drinks on a single occasion and not more than 2 times a week. But today was to be the start of the “special occasion quota” as one of her friends had aptly named it.



Rohan had gone to bed unusually ahead of time. Not sleeping before 2 am had become an unwritten rule with him. But then, if you had to dedicate 2 hours to a movie, an hour to a book and still find half an hour to talk to your girlfriend, 2 am isn’t that bad a time to be sleeping. But with his girlfriend holidaying in Singapore and the entire Oscar nominee list completed, he couldn’t find an excuse to stay up so late.



Her definition of special quota would generally have meant a drink or 2 extra but since this was the first “special” occasion, her friends kept coercing and she kept gulping. She was happy! After a year of courtship, Divya was finally taking the plunge with Vishal. It had been a little tough staying apart all this while but they had scraped through. They had met through common friends during one of her trips back home to Delhi two years back. Vishal came from a family of bureaucrats but had found his own calling in journalism. Divya’s tough schedule working in the financial industry combined with Vishal’s jam-packed calendar thanks to a certain king in Delhi didn’t let the romance flourish. But then, some things are meant to be! Divya had never been in a happier place in life. It was a big decision for her, given how ambitious she was, to be moving back to Delhi but the fact that she didn’t have to think twice about it showed what this meant to her. So when two of her closest friends-Chaya & Fatima wanted to take her out for drinks, she couldn’t refuse. “Why shouldn’t I share my happiness?” she thought! And when Fatima kept pouring shot after shot, she didn’t want to say no. She wanted this night to be crazy. As crazy as how happy she was.

By the time they were done, Divya was way past the stage they call “Happy High!” She was what is known in urban parlance as sloshed! Chaya herself was not in a sober state. Had they known what was going around them, Divya & Chaya would have blessed Fatima for being a teetotaller. But alas!

Fatima had to work hard pushing Divya into a taxi, and then pulling her out, and then keeping her from falling down the stairs, and cursing the Lift for malfunctioning on that very day & then finally settling her into the bed. Chaya’s constant urge to vomit wasn’t helping the cause! Divya’s faint snores were probably the most comforting sound Fatima had heard in a long time. Satisfied, she moved to her next mission of taking Chaya to her pad.



As the sunlight crept through the tiny spaces left between adjoining curtains, Divya swiftly picked up a pillow to cover her face. She had her eyes shut as hard as she could. But her efforts at going back to sleep were being severely hampered by a wave of pain that she seemed to have felt all night, but somehow had instantaneously become unbearable. The pain was as excruciating as a pointed pin being constantly thrust into her head. Lying in the bed, she couldn’t help but think of the endless packing she had to start with. Knowing fully well that sleep would now be hard to come, she reluctantly got off the bed and helped herself with some medication for the head. Seeing the clock at 15 minutes past 11 made her realize it had almost been 12 hours since she had talked to Vishal, which would surely have left him paranoid. Seeing 4 missed calls at well spread times didn’t do much to lift her mood. Just as she was about to call Vishal, something caught her eye that perplexed her even more.

“Rohan, 3:12 AM” was one of the outgoing calls it showed. A Little confused, she then flipped through the list of unread messages from Vishal and the solitary one from Rohan, “You would always be my special one!” And she closed her eyes and it all started to come back.



Rohan was in a deep slumber, the kind which even dreams cant infiltrate. When you sleep for hours and don’t even realize a second having passed, that deep! Suddenly, in that zone, a faint voice had entered. A song that seemed very familiar to Rohan, a song he felt he heard on a daily basis. As the voice got louder, his slumber was finally broken. A bit dazed, he blankly looked around the dark room. As the sound restarted, he realised his phone had been ringing all this while.

“Divya, Calling” It said!

Rohan had his eyes fixed on the phone. He didn’t know what to feel. It had nearly been 4 months since they had last talked. Even the thought seemed weird to him. They had been the best of friends at a point in time, or at many consecutive points in time. They were what is often termed as “inseparable” but, life had taken its toll. They never had any fights, no arguments or atleast nothing serious or anything that is likely to dampen relationships. But still, they had grown apart.

He was little afraid, truth be told. Someone calling you at 3 in the night, after not having talked for months, can always bring negative thoughts. Worried, he received the call!

“Hey” He said with tension in his voice but before he could complete, Divya yelled out the longest Hi he had ever heard in his life “Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii”

And she continued, “Heyyyy Rohan...How are you!”

Her voice dripped happiness. Rohan was one worry short!

“I am good. How are you?” He managed, still a little bewildered.

“I am also good. I am getting married you know.Yayyyyyyyy!” She said in a wavy melancholy.

Rohan had, by now, figured out the reason for Divya to be talking like she was singing. He had had those days. What he didn’t know was what triggered this call. Surely not to inform him about her marriage!

“Shit, Marriage!” He thought

That had erased whatever little fragments of sleep that were remaining. He felt happy for her but still about two hundred fifty three thoughts were doing the rounds in his head at that moment. He realized she was expecting a response.

“Thats great” he said without knowing what he was saying and continued after a little pause “No actually. This is great. I am so happy for you!”

“Thank Youuuuuu” She said and the you somehow just wasn’t coming to an end.

“Who’s the lucky guy? Vishal?”

“Yeaa...Who else? I love him sooooooooooo much” She said and then took off on a flight of a child-like laughter before repeating “ I Love him so much!”

Rohan had never seen Divya drunk. He didn’t even know she drank, let alone this! They had been each other’s life lines during the days of innocence, or you can say theirs lasted a little longer.

Rohan had seen other female friends getting married. He knew the monologue on how wonderful a guy Vishal was soon to follow. This was irritating when most others girls did it but Divya was different. Rohan was just happy to be hearing her voice after so long. How he had missed her all this while. He had tried to maintain contact for sometime but she just kept drifting away. He too gave up sometime in between.

“I miss you Rohan...I miss you a lott”

This Rohan was not expecting though he felt great hearing it, “I miss you too!” He said, meaning it fully!

“Why did you leave me Rohan. Why didn’t you call me for so long? You are lying! You didn’t miss me!” Divya said, and it seemed she was on the verge of crying.

“Ok! Now this is too much” He thought. Rohan rechecked his memory as to whether he heard her correctly.

I LEFT HER! I DIDN’T CALL HER! I AM LYING! I DIDN’T MISS HER! SHE GOTTA BE KIDDING!!

He was a little angry by then, but he was still happy to hear her voice. He wanted to show his anger, but he was happy to hear her voice. He wanted to refresh her memory, but he was just happy to hear her voice!

“How can you say that? I kept calling but you never called back!” He managed, being angry with himself for not being angry at her!

“So, You couldn’t call again!”

“But....”

“Shut up..Don’t say anything. I will talk!” Divya snapped him in between as Rohan’s jaw dropped. He wanted to snap back and tell her not to tell him what he ought to do. But, it was Divya, and she owned him!

“You remember our times in Chandigarh? You remember how it was just the two of us! Or atleast for the first three years!” She said in a voice that brought together tears and smile.

Just a mention of this and Rohan was back into the memory lane, gliding through the streets of Chandigarh, the dampness of the classrooms they sat in, the walks they had walked together, the laughs they had laughed together, sounds of the songs they had sang together! She was right, it had been just the two of them!

“You remember how all the guys used to keep hitting on me. And how I used to brag about this in front of you? You would tease me by linking me up with the lamest guys. And how I used to get angry?”

Rohan was still. He could feel every single word she was speaking. He was reliving all those wonderful moments.

“How you would never let me miss any classes? So that you didn’t have to borrow notes from others! And then you would tell me about what you did while I attended classes and I used to be super pissed!”

Rohan was smiling now, with his cheeks wet and his eyes moist.

“And still I would do it the next time! I was often made fun of for being a nerd. You would always jump to my defence. Whenever we were caught talking in the class, you would take the blame for it. Remember the time when we had gone to Kasauli for a class trip. I had my hand on the railing of the bus and some jerk was constantly trying to touch me. I didn’t even notice this. You were busy playing with some guy friends at the back. You somehow noticed this, came & held my hand and looked straight into that random guy’s eyes. He was so embarrassed.”

Rohan had a lump in his throat now. He wanted to speak but he couldn’t. He didn’t even know what he wanted to speak. He had thought for so long that He will probably never talk to Divya ever again, or atleast in this fashion. He had been angry or disappointed or just sad.

“When you started dating Neha, you got so engrossed that we hardly talked for a month. I was so jealous of her. I almost hated myself for having introduced you to her. I actually started thinking that I was secretly in love with you. A secret even I was not aware of. But, I guess I was just so used to being the centre of all your attention. I liked Neha. I still do. By the way, Are you guys still together?”

“Ya” Rohan tried to respond but Divya didn’t even wait for the response.

“Ofcourse you are. You guys are so good together. I love you both! I was just silly or you can say I was just 21! But, Things were somehow never the same again. I think I never got used to the idea of someone being closer to you than me. I am a possessive b*tch you can say!”

Rohan was now getting some of his answers. Answers he had been wanting to know for the past few years. Answers to questions that had troubled his sleep! Rohan wanted to tell Divya that she had been wrong all along and that she was always special to him and will always be. But he knew where she was coming from. He knew he would have felt the same had he been single and she be involved with someone.

“Time just passed. College got over. You moved away. I moved away. I didn’t like it that you didn’t call me daily so I never called you. I was angry! You would say I was stupid. Which I probably was! Anyway, somewhere you too got angry I guess. Who wouldn’t? And, And here we are!”

Rohan just silently listened to what all she had said. He could have tried explaining Divya how she had been wrong. He could have tried telling her that they could make a fresh start. He could have reassured her how he had never been angry and still regarded her as a special friend. But he didn’t. He was just happy to hear her voice. And so was she, He knew!

“And here we are!”

.................................

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"Those" Punjabi songs

In January, 2006 came a punjabi singer by the name of Gurinder Kaur Kainth and she became a sensation named Miss Pooja. Her stardom reached a stage where songs in the same genre came to be known as the "miss pooja type songs" even if she was not one of the singers. Off late I have had extensive access to such songs thanks to my dad's chauffeur who aparently has a new CD of her songs every 3 months I go home. 1500 songs in 4 years, how else can you justify that? Because of this exposure, I have had a new look at this genre of songs and my views have changed significantly, and in a positive way. Judge me if you want to, but wait till you read it all.

The so called miss pooja songs have done something which no other singer or genre of songs could do before that-Bringing to light the comtemporary issues faced by the people in Punjab. When I say people, I am not talking about people like you and me but people who are staying in the interior towns and villages of punjab.

Babbu Mann might have sung "Mittran Di Chattri" to exemplify the "married off to Canada" concept but the shayari and nicely written lyrics might make a lot of sense but it really doesnt hit the problem of girls being married off against their will. But when one of "those" punjabi songs come up with the lyrics , "maape kende vihah k kudi torni caneda vicho munda aayuga", it makes a point. Its simple, its straight and hits the issue on the head. If we actually look at the problem and its roots, its more apparent at the lower/mid strata of the society and people from that strata can easily relate to such "desi" lyrics.

Another category of songs which are famous/infamous have been songs related to conversations of lovers and the problems arising from that. There have been innumerable songs where the girl is trying to explain why she can't talk while at home as her mother can listen to the conversation. A lot of us might not have faced this problem but in a society where the concept of girlfriends/boyfriends or rather just guy and female friends is not accepted, it is a genuine problem. When such people hear such songs, they easily relate to them and enjoy these songs at the same time. There also have been some songs where wives complain about the excessive drinking nature of their husbands. It is a big problem and is being addressed through this medium.

Another issue these songs have been able to address is the problems faced by the farmers of punjab. There was an entire series of songs named Jhona in which the songs specifically talked about rice growing in Punjab and problems related to it. This issue is of utmost importance in a state which is one of the highest rice and wheat producing states in the country.

Chandigarh is arguably one of the most overused word in punjabi music. I guess only Bullet & Mobile can compete with it. I often joke with my friends that there is not any other city about which so many songs have been written. But, Whats the reason for that? In marketing terms, I would say ASPIRATION. Chandigarh is an aspirational location for youth living in different parts of punjab and this aspiration is being targetted through the songs which, to me, makes perfect sense. In similar songs, the abuse of power in Punjab has also been well depicted like in one of the songs the protaganist sings " chandigarhon phone aaju wadde saab da, fer marde saloot vekhin sare." This is a very mocking take at the power of "approach" in Punjab.

In all, I think Miss Pooja and other fellow singers have played a major role in bringing forward such issues and at the same time making sure that the common man understands the idea. There are ofcourse non-sensical songs that come along but where not? Or How else do you justify the success of "Munni Badnam Hui" & "Sheila ki Jawani."

The Volvo Connection

It was a cold January night in Delhi with temperature having fallen to 2 degree Celsius. The rain was making it worse. He had just missed the 0030 Volvo by a whisker. The next Volvo was to leave at 0130 hours. He couldn’t even think of travelling 5 hours in a normal bus in this chilling cold. It being a Friday night meant that there was already a big queue at the ticket counter, which made him realise that even if he had reached on time he wouldn’t have got a ticket for the 12:30 bus. He was no. 10 in the queue which gave him a sense of relief as he was almost certain to get a ticket. It had been a year now since Ansh Arora had been regularly taking this Delhi-Chandigarh Volvo, that too on Friday nights in most cases, but he had still not got used to this mad rush and standing in queues for the bus. The sale of tickets had still not started as the bus was yet to reach the bus stand. The number of people behind Ansh was way beyond the number of seats in the bus. He never understood why people wasted so much time in the queue when they had no hopes of getting a ticket. All of a sudden there was a lot of commotion around the counter as the bus had come and the conductor had taken his seat at the ticket counter. Some people made an attempt to give money to others standing in the front of the queue so that they may buy a ticket for them, which always was accompanied by shouts and abuses from everyone at the back. Suddenly a girl came towards Ansh and said, “Hi Rahul, Here is what you asked for” and handed him a note which read:

Please do me a favour. Buy a ticket for me and I will pay you in the bus .If you don’t have enough money just call for me and ask for it.
Aamya

Ansh was surprised at first but after reading the note, his first reaction was “Nice Move.” He turned and looked at the girl. Her clothes were drenched with water and water was dripping from her hair. But she still had a certain class about her and her beauty was quite visible. She was wearing a red coloured jacket with blue jeans accompanied with a nice pair of footwear. Ansh had always believed in the philosophy he picked up from a story he had read in school-You can always judge a person by his/her footwear. The story had actually talked about just the colour, but Ansh made it more subjective and if the footwear were to his liking, he considered the person worth talking to. Since the girl passed the footwear test, wasn’t half as bad looking and was certainly pretty clever, he thought he is going to have a nice journey. He thought of making a move of his own and looked at her. She had now changed into a new set of clothes-A black cardigan to go with a new pair of jeans. He said, “Hey, Aamya. Why don’t you grab a couple of packets of chips?” and ended it with a wink. Aamya couldn’t help a smile.

As Ansh got out of the line with two tickets in hand, people had no idea how a 20 something Aamya Chauhan had got her ticket without getting into the trouble of standing in the queue and one person who was supposed to get that ticket would now have to go shivering in a normal roadways bus.

The bus was supposed to leave in about ten minutes and Ansh made a move towards his fellow passenger. Since he had asked for two tickets, it was understandable that they got adjoining seats. As he handed over the ticket to her, she took the ticket and said thanks. Ansh introduced himself, “By the way, Its Ansh. Rahul is too common” to which she replied, “ Mine will still be Aamya.” Both of them started to laugh.

Both of them took their seat in the bus as the bus started its engines. After the initial customaries, Aamya had not shown a lot of interest in Ansh and had got busy with her phone-A couple of phone calls and then some texts. The first thought that crossed his mind was what any single(or maybe not) young male in his early 20’s would have-Whether or not does she have a boyfriend?

Aamya was currently having this conversation with her best friend Tia.

A-What sort of a guy is he. There were 10 people in front of him in line, I could have approached anyone of them but I chose him. Isn’t that a signal enough that I am interested in him? Now does he expect me to bend over and kiss him?

T-I am sure he won’t mind that...lol...Maybe he is just showing attitude? Does he seem like that kind.

A- No, not at all. Hes just so sweet, I don’t think he is at all the attitude types. Already has a girlfriend maybe

T-But you said on the phone that you have not seen him talking on the phone or texting since you saw him

A-Not all couples are like that-talking all the time. Anyways, I am on roaming right now. Can’t message anymore. Will inform you if something happens. Catch ya in the morning. Gn. Tc

Ansh had never been diplomatic with his words so as soon as Aamya kept the phone in her bag, “Boyfriend?” he asked. Aamya just managed to control her laughter and managed to say, “ No, a friend.” This was enough of a signal for Aamya to understand that the guy is interested, maybe a bit shy. She decided to play the waiting card as she didn’t want to show him that she too was interested.

Almost forty five minutes had passed and the bus was about to leave Delhi, Aamya had fallen asleep and her head fell on Ansh’s shoulder. As soon as she noticed, Ansh kept on looking at her beautiful face slowing alongwith the orange lights across the city. He felt an urge to touch her soft cheeks or play with her hair but he knew he will have to control himself. The driver had to put instant brake as a cow turned up in front of the bus. Aamya woke up with the jerk and caught a glimpse of Ansh trying to turn his face, but he was just a bit late. Aamya felt a bit embarrassed but had a smile on her face because after long she had met a guy who was admiring her beauty and wasn’t being ridiculous at that. Most of the guys she met acted too smart and would try and flatter her with remarks about her face and beauty. She was liking the way Ansh was secretly looking at her so she decided to do away with the “never be the first mover” rule as she anyways had made the first move at the bus stand.
“Don’t like talking to girls?” She said

Ansh- Nothing like that. Just that you came and got busy with the phone so I thought you were just interested in the ticket and may think of me as some despo who starts to pester a girl just because he bought her a bus ticket.

Aamya-Well if someone helps me get into a bus which I had no hopes of getting into, I won’t consider him trying to talk as pestering. You think of me as some bitch-Just Interested in the ticket...huh

Having recently come out of a relationship having spanned a good two years, it wasn’t easy for Ansh to start a conversation with a girl or to “hit” on her so as to say. Flirting with some cheeky lines was one thing but actually being involved in a proper conversation was something different.

Ansh-I am sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.

Aamya- Its ok. I am just kidding. So what do you do?

Ansh-I am currently pursuing my MBA from IIM Indore.

Aamya-Oh. So an IIM guy! No matter you think it beyond your level to try and start conversations with girls

Ansh-Believe me IIM guys are the last people on earth who can have that arrogance.

Aamya-What makes you say so.

Ansh- You haven’t seen the kind of girls we have in our batch. We have a popular joke that girls at IIMs should be rather addressed as Non-Males. Even those who are decent looking have hoards of men after them as they are rare. Guys like Chetan Bhagat are rare as he himself has pointed out in his book.

Aamya-I am sure you are exaggerating. It can’t be that bad

Ansh-Well, ya maybe not that bad but if we mellow it down then girls like you won’t take pity on us and we may lose the chance of being considered by some good girls.

Aamya-I take this as a compliment, Thank you. And where were these plethora of words lost before I started this conversation. I was beginning to doubt myself.
Aamya laughed at her own flirtatiousness.

Ansh-Told you, didn’t want you to think of he as some mauke ka fayda uthane wala.

Aamya-Maine bhi to wahi kiya. Bura Kya hai!

Both started to laugh.

Ansh- What about you. What do you do?

Aamya- I just passed out of UIET, Panjab University last year. Currently working with TCS in Mumbai.

Ansh- Oh really. I passed out of DCET, a year prior to you I think.

Aamya thought for a while and asked, hoping she is wrong, “ Are you the Ansh Arora who was dating our senior Isha Singh?”

Ansh was not expecting this at all.

Ansh-Ya. I was the one.

Aamya read(or imagined) a certain reluctance in his voice

Aamya-You didn’t seem to like the question

Ansh-Ah, Not exactly. We broke up some time back. We are still friends but I don’t want my past to hamper any chances I may have in the future.

“Or in the present” she thought and almost smiled. But she had a doubt cropping in her mind-Was he over her, as they were known to be one of the most popular couples in college. People thought they may even go on and marry.

It had been more than an hour since they finally started talking but the last hour went before it came. They both knew there was a chemistry going on but both had some doubts. Will it end as just another crush or will something bloom from this chance meeting?

The Bus halted near Karnal for about 15 minutes. Some people got off the bus, others preferred to sleep inside the cosy atmosphere of the bus instead of the facing the teeth clenching chill. Ansh & Aamya were just sitting when Ansh asked, “Would you like to out on coffee with me?” Aamya was impressed by how Ansh always had a cheeky line for every moment. She had no option but to say yes, she was in awe of this guy from the moment she saw him and the feeling kept getting stronger from the moment he started to talk. But, she added, “ I thought you will never ask me out. And here of all places?”

Ansh was again swift with his reply, “ Can’t take the liberty of being late with everything. Can I?”

It was the most unique first date Aamya had ever had-Having coffee at a roadside joint which isn’t exactly a Barista! But then, nothing in this meeting had been the usual for her. A girl who was no stranger to guys hovering all around her felt strange falling for a guy at first sight. If that wasn’t enough, having to make the first move.

As they got back into the bus, they both felt a bit sleepy but both were trying to get rid of their sleep and the coffee had helped a bit in that regard. Soon they knew where both of them lived, what cars they drive, who were there best friends and all the details one might have thought of getting to know in the first meeting.
This time it was Ansh who slept on Aamya’s shoulder. But, what Aamya did was more or less what Ansh had done. She just kept looking at him. All doubts she had of whether or not he had forgotten Isha were gone but what about him? She could tell from the way he was looking at her throughout the journey that he also felt a connection but was he ready? She thought of calling Tia and consulting but she was afraid that he may get up and will certainly not like to hear whatever she felt like asking. She decided to go with her gut instinct.

As the bus reached Sector 35 , she reluctantly nudged Ansh to wake him up. Ansh had no idea that he had been asleep for almost an hour. She lived in Sector 37 so she generally got down at 35 but she gave it a miss this time. He got up and gave her a smile. She reciprocated. As the bus finally reached its final halt, they both got down . Aamya had decided that she will go whichever way he took her-If he wants to take it forward, she will be glad but if he feels he is not ready, she will just let it be.

Aamya-“So thats it”
Ansh-“Would it be alright if I dropped you home in an auto.”
Aamya’s apprehensions flew away
She just smiled, walked to him & held his hand.

Love Doesn't need time, it just needs a chance

This is my first short story. So your feedback will be highly appreciated and will go a long way in helping me improve in the future.

The City Beautiful

A place where life will always be colourful
The City Beautiful

We often Complain about the life at night
But in the day a "tota" is never out of sight

Be it Rendezvous, Silver or Score
Guys come with a hope to score

Roads that don't know what are jams
All thanks to Carbousier's plans

If you love Mercs n BMWs the city is a treat
Home to the elitest of the elite

Wondering why FR, DT n Centra are so small?
Just because 17 is so tall

Chandigarh, Panchkula or Mohali
Tricity is in a different shade till new year starting Diwali

Uphill is such a famous word
Morni & Kasauli complete our world

SOPU n PUSU always on the hunt
Sometimes brutal, sometimes just a stunt

PEC, DAV or University
Filled with students and diversity

Be it terrace,rock or rose
Of sheer bloom it is a dose

When it rains the city shines
With beauty Chandigarh rhymes

What I miss the most,Is it the lake?
Or those sector 10 shakes?

Those drives better known as geris
Or girls like the ones in fairies?

Coffee at CCD, barista & Java Daves
Or Nik's fruit punch I most crave?

I think it is just the city
And all its nitty gritties

Facts

*Words like "tota" and "geri" are trademark Chandigarh...In case you are unaware,
Tota- A good looking girl-Not derogatory, rather the biggest compliment
Geri-Drives in front of girls' colleges

*Nik Baker is a Chandigarh based bakery/coffee shop

*Kasauli & Morni are small hillstations near Chandigarh

*PEC & DAV are colleges

*SOPU & PUSU are the principal student parties in Panjab University

*FR,DT & Centra are the malls in Chandigarh

*Le Carbousier was the architect who designed Chandigarh

*Rendezvous, Silver n Score are all discs

More than meets the Eye

It was one of those rare sunday afternoons in January,2007 when the Sun came out.
Sahil and me had gone to some educational seminar in Sector 33. Ya you can say-What sorta guys go to such seminars but in my defence, that was my first and last time. Anyway, as we were looking for an auto to come back, we couldn't find one and came by foot to Sector 32 Government hospital where we finally got lucky. This journey from Sector 32 to Panjab University turned out to be the most outrageous auto ride I have ever had in life.

As soon as we reached the first of those "typically Chandigarh" round-abouts, our auto was about to hit another one when our auto-walla started to hurl all sorts of abuses in the typically bihari accent at his opposite number. This was something that always happens among auto-wallas but our man seemed to be of a different level altogether. Mother,sister, wife and what not; he didnt spare a single memeber of the poor fellow's family. As we moved on from there, another poor soul had the misfortune of crossing paths with us, this time on a rickshaw and he was greeted with similar greetings. During those 15 something minutes that we were in the auto, He made it a point that he spit his paan on the road every 10 seconds. A minute didn't go by when he didnt shout at one of the poor cycle, scooter,bike or car wallas who were unlucky enough to have crossed us on that journey. Me and Sahil were looking at each other time and again; sometimes laughing, sometimes bewilered-What is this guy?

As we reached the university, we were somewhat relaxed that it was over but somewhere we would have liked to contine as well-It was actually fun as long as we were not on the receiving end. We were supposed to give him a pre decided sum of Rs 60 but we were not carrying any change so he stopped the auto near the University market after a brief mention of how utterly stupid we were for not carrying change. I went to get the change and Sahil stayed back. But, I was in for a shock when I came back with the change. Sahil was involved in a deep conversation with the auto-walla, in English! As I kept on staring, looking at Sahil and then at the auto-walla. He looked at me, took out his hand and introduced himself as Mr X, Regional Manager for Whilpool.He said he started this auto-thing as a weekend time-pass and started to enjoy it and decided to continue. I was totally perplexed and didnt know what to say. He went on to tell us that his father was a doctor at Aligarh Medical College and his wife was a doctor at PGI. His auto was rented out to some "proper auto-walla" during weekdays. He said he generally doesnt reveal his identity but he thought of doing an exception when Sahil told him that both of us were also engineers like him. When we asked him about the abuses and the paan, He said, " If I don't do that stuff, people won't believe that I am actually an auto-walla."

As we started to walk towards the hostel, I think I was pinching myself to confirm if this actually happened.

Revealing Mr X's identity won't be good for his business i.e. if he still is driving autos on the roads of Chandigarh as weekend time-pass.

DCET v/s IIM Indore

Each place is unique
Change how you look at it and the perception will change



Having spent 4 years at Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Panjab University,Chandigarh & now a year at Indian Institute of Management, Indore has made me realise how each institute has its own unique characteristics. I am not playing one against the other though it may seem so from the title. Just pointing the differences



1. Chandigarh is Chandigarh, Indore is Indore. Need I say more

2. The first and the foremost difference(which i think the entire PU community can relate with) between the two institutes is the attendance criteria followed. Though OFFICIALLY we were supposed to have 75% attendance at DCET, I know how many times people sat for exams having attended about 10% classes. IIM Indore on the other hand makes me attend 100% classes, almost :) Believe me, it was no easy task shifting from 10% to 100%

3. Something that I found a bit amusing was the IOCL
placement! IOCL was a dream placement for anyone at DCET or so shall be the case with any chemical engineering institute across India but IOCL wont attract a lot of "interested" candidates at any good B-School and the same is the case with IIMI. Ofcourse MBA n Chemical Engineering are different ball games altogether, I am just talking about the irony.

4. An IIM has a lot of advantages but it just cant match the Panjab University elections. IIM Indore has its SAC elections but they are no where near what a SOPU vs PUSU is. Oh my, that was an experience in itself especially if you were so closely involved :)

5. Ok, DCET may not be in a position to claim that the best girls in campus are in DCET but believe me, it wasn't that bad either. Come here and your views may change a bit. I anyhow can't complain about DCET, I did find a gud one :) Anyways, StuC was always at a walking distance. No offence to the girls out here, IIMI girls "can claim" to be more intelligent just because they are here. I know a lot of fellows from IIMI will seriously contest this claim :)

6. I think there were just a handful of movies that I saw during day time at DCET. We made it a point to go for the last show there could be but now with the 11:30 curfew, no late night shows are possible :(

7. Though I myself was not quite regular in classes at PU but sometimes I did and that felt like the biggest mistake during summers as electricity was missing most of the times. Here on the other hand, I dont mind attending classes with the air conditioned classrooms. One can enjoy the "chaen ki neend" for those 75 mins

8. Though almost no one attended the classes, the department was our favourite hangout. We just killed time sitting in the parking. Here, despite attending all the classes, no one ever "hangs out" in the academic block

9. This one holds true for Chandigarh in general. The BMWs n Audis n Mercs always made you turn around and take notice, besides the ladies ofcourse. I cant remember having seen any of these cars in Indore. Indoris may be modest but who likes modest!

10. Last but not the least, at DCET, I was a junior to Puneet Rooprai, Abhishek Verma & Heramb Balvalli among others.But, a question to dese 3-How do you like the change of fortune PGP1's :)


A lot of friends have read this blog and given their valuable suggestions. Some of them I cant incorporate because some things are better left to experience and some better untold but the rest I will put down.Special mention to Nikhil Sharma, Abhishek Verma, Prateek Mahajan, Arjun Moudgill, Jaskirat Singh & Abhishek Upmanyu

11. Panjab University hostels were generally filled with echos of punjabi abuses whereas out here it is quite different. People abuse in dere own languages which we don't even understand but sadly our punjabi #@#%#$%@R@ have become so famous/infamous that we can't get away that easily.

12. Though I have already mentioned how Chandigarh just stands out but one thing that I just havent got used to till now is the stark difference in the roads of the two cities. Chandigarh on one hand is a driver's paradise, Indore on the other is a nightmare.

13. CCD, Barista, Bakes n Beans, Java Daves, KFC, Nik Bakers..... were regular hangouts as they were maybe a 5 minute drive from DCET but now living 25 kms from the city which anyway has only CCD n Barista from the above list is a huge let down.

14. Come 14 Feb and Panjab University becomes the place to be(not that it is otherwise not but 14 Feb is in a league of its own). Guys maroaing gedis with their cars decorated with baloons n what not, girls dressed to kill and the celebrations at StuC. It is aweeee-wait for it-some. I remember having anchored a Valentine's bash and don't know many messages from secret admirers I delivered. In IIM Indore, 216 guys 24 girls and read point 5 :)

P.S.- IIM Indore is a great place and has its own advantages which DCET cant match, which will require another blog I think :)

A tale of 3 cities

Over the last 3 weeks I have had the good fortune of spending one a piece in arguably the 3 most important cities of India-Mumbai, Delhi & Bangalore. All three have been the pillars of Indian economy over the last 50 years but beyond that, all three of them have a unique identity.

Mumbai, the city of dreams is a city which never sleeps. This was something I had just heard from people till I realised for myself when I visited Juhu beach at 2 am and found hundreds of people present there and enjoying the sea. Ofcourse the same thing has a downside, finding hundreds of people late at night means you will find thousands in the day. The city becomes a nightmare if you have to travel from one place to another between 7 in the morning and 10 in the night. You won't find place to drive your own vehicle and you won't find air to breathe in public transport. But then a walk at marine drive or sitting at the Bandra bandstand in the evening/night makes all the sufferings of the day worth it.

Dilwalon ki Dilli/Delhi has its own charm. Being a north indian myself, Delhi is much closer to my heart. A city which is the power centre of the country, a city which is of utmost historic importance to the nation is also a city where construction is an on going process which means dust and pollution make you sick. Delhi has that unique ability to look like the place to be and at the same time a place never to be at. Go to most of the localities in Old Delhi and you just want to get out but then driving through the Akbar roads of Delhi on a sunday morning is an experience in itself when one cant stop thinking-What do these ministers do in such big houses!

Moving down south to Bangalore was something I was circumspect about. I had never been into a southern indian city which worried me as to how I will cope up with the language barrier but Bangalore turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Bangalore seems like a bigger and a populous version of my own Chandigarh. A city which is undoubtedly the IT hub of the country has retained its Garden City status thorugh the years.Bangalore is a place where you can still breathe fresh air, something that is not very common these days. The rains and windy weather have been a fresh change after experiencing the heat in Delhi and Mumbai. Banglore has its own negatives ofcourse-the auto-wallahs are ready to drain your pockets the moment they realise you are not a local and would ask for money that would shock even a Dilli-wallah. Bangalore has its own traffic problems wherein you will be stuck in a jam and you won't move for a good 15 minutes unlike the traffic jams of a Delhi or a Mumbai where you keep crawling.Besides this, I don't have much to complain about this city as of now though spending more time might bring out a few more things to lament about.

So all you have to do to have a good time in any of these cities or for that matter any place in the world is to mend according to it because there was a reason when St. Ambrose said "When in Rome, do as the romans do."