I was channel surfing one lazy Sunday afternoon, and stumbled upon this Shah Rukh Khan movie “Chalte Chalte”. It took me two full rounds from channel 1 to 90 before I caught this movie, the reason being the ad break in that channel. Well actually more than half of the channels were playing ads as I was surfing past them. But that is another story altogether and for a later day.
Coming back to the movie, this was one Shah Rukh movie that I had not seen and so sat down to see what it was all about. This guy is a bundle of energy, even if his films are bad, he usually sparkles in his role – hamming away in his inimitable style and getting the best lines. This one also had him playing himself and not the character. But as the story was unfolding, I realized that this one also had SRK loving and wishing to marry a girl who is engaged to or about to get engaged to another man. I was struck by the fact that, most of his movies have had this theme running. Even as I am writing this, he is serenading the girl in a lovely foreign locale under the pretext of taking her to meet her would be husband. I say chaps, how more weird can u get??
While in DDLJ he traveled all the way from London to Punjab, in this movie he throws away everything and travels to Greece to win over the girl. How easy!!As one character says in the movie, he is going to Greece and not Ghatkopar, but being the hero he has everything ready made for himself like tickets, visa and doles of dough to finance everything. In kuch kuch hota hai he picked the girl right out of the marriage hall, while in Dil to pagal hai, the setting was a dance stage in front of a few thousand people. In veer zara he went one step further and wanted to marry a Pakistani girl engaged to a rich aristocrat Pakistani. He deservedly got 22 years in the prison for this, but what the heck; he did get the old preity zinta in the end.
Along the way he has been helped by some seriously fickle minded ladies, who, after a few songs, a few outrageously foolish acts in the name of love (like diving into a lake to retrieve a coin and throwing away an air force job to hop over to Pakistan) and a few sentimental dialogues by our hero, fall hook line and sinker for him. And not to mention a few chevalier gentlemen who so magnanimously sacrifice their girl for our hero. Plus the Anupam Kher type father /uncle/ whatever who egg on our hero in his mission “flick the female”.
Coming to think of it, it’s not just our SRK, but all the heroes have to get the heroines in the end. This is the norm for standard Indian cinema. After all who does not like a happy ending?
Alas, if only things were this easy in real life, u know, like falling in love after a couple of meetings, getting the girl to accept u, even if she accepts u; to get the relationship going for a long time, if the relationship does go on; then to stay committed for a long time, and after all this to face the parents and convince them. Gosh, this is a long and torturous path, aint it?? Am sure many would have failed or come to the brink of failure at any one of these stages.
The lucky ones would have braved them and gone ahead and who knows may enjoy these movies
The unlucky ones write blogs criticizing such movies.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Monday, February 14, 2005
V day - very bad day
Its valentine season and there is no way u can escape from it. Turn on the TV and every TV station worth its name has a v day special running. The music channels have evergreen love songs running all day long and of course boring you to death. The Movie channels have what they claim ‘all time great movie classics’ lined up as part of the valentine bouquet. Sadly, there is no Casablanca or Love story or at least Titanic in this bouquet. The news channels are no exception. There would be day long debates with all the usual suspects participating. One from the sangh parivar (RSS/BJP/Shiv sena) to talk about Indian culture, values and how Feb 14 is degrading it . One libertarian to defend the celebrations and one more to take a middle path and preach. God only knows when we will see a valentine s day without a debate about it in the news channels.
You want to escape from all this sham, turn the idiot box off and turn on the good old radio. Crash, boom, bang... the bombardment continues there as well. I tuned into a FM Station only to catch two TV starlets professing their undying love for each other and supposedly regaling us with the chronological history of their love story, which incidentally, is all of 6 months old. Another one had this innovative contest, it was something like this ... You love a girl and want to marry her. The normally opposing parents are all bally-ho about it. There is only one hitch; the girl comes with an excess baggage, in this case a dog. It’s a case of love me, love my dog. And your parents don’t want the damned dog. So the million dollar v day contest is... How will you convince your parents to let her bring the dog along with her? Good that Saint Valentine is dead, he would have committed suicide.
Now that the TV and the Radio have proved unbearable, it is with much trepidation that I open the newspaper. And my fears were not unfounded, every page has something or the other about the day, most of which are trite and boring and bringing a sense of déjà vu. The net is no different either, the pop ups fly at u with alarming regularity and selling everything from chocolates, flowers to candle light dinners.
Think I should join the shiv sena and join their valentine busting department. My target would not be the poor couples in public places, the other sainiks will take care of them, but all those radio andTV stations and newspaper columnists.
You want to escape from all this sham, turn the idiot box off and turn on the good old radio. Crash, boom, bang... the bombardment continues there as well. I tuned into a FM Station only to catch two TV starlets professing their undying love for each other and supposedly regaling us with the chronological history of their love story, which incidentally, is all of 6 months old. Another one had this innovative contest, it was something like this ... You love a girl and want to marry her. The normally opposing parents are all bally-ho about it. There is only one hitch; the girl comes with an excess baggage, in this case a dog. It’s a case of love me, love my dog. And your parents don’t want the damned dog. So the million dollar v day contest is... How will you convince your parents to let her bring the dog along with her? Good that Saint Valentine is dead, he would have committed suicide.
Now that the TV and the Radio have proved unbearable, it is with much trepidation that I open the newspaper. And my fears were not unfounded, every page has something or the other about the day, most of which are trite and boring and bringing a sense of déjà vu. The net is no different either, the pop ups fly at u with alarming regularity and selling everything from chocolates, flowers to candle light dinners.
Think I should join the shiv sena and join their valentine busting department. My target would not be the poor couples in public places, the other sainiks will take care of them, but all those radio andTV stations and newspaper columnists.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Sania Mania !!
An Indian woman sportsperson created history last fortnight. She made the headlines on the prime time news; she hogged the headlines in next morning’s news papers. The major magazines of the nation devoted more than a page to her. She was felicitated by among others the chief minister and governor of her state. Did Sania Mirza win the Australian Open?? Sania lost in the third round.
Agreed that reaching the third round was a first for an Indian woman tennis player and that, she more than gave a fight to the eventual champion Serena Williams. She is a talented player and may very well win more matches and bring more laurels. She has to be nurtured, given world class training, coaching and facilities and sponsors. This unprecedented third round performance has made her a celebrity overnight and if I am to believe the news reports she has received sponsorship endorsements worth 8 crores. Thank god, Mahesh Bhupathi was visionary enough to see her potential take her under his wings and sign her for his sports management firm.
While all this is welcome, I fear that amidst all this the tennis player in Sania may lose out to the celebrity Sania. She has already started appearing in advertisements and started speaking like a celebrity. Take this Quote “I want to be a youth icon, not a sex symbol”. You cannot blame her , she is all of 17 , and is seeing her photos splashed all across in the net , in Television and billboards where one clearly sees that the emphasis is more on her good looks. Every major satellite channel has aired an interview with her in the last 15 days. There is a grave danger of her getting bitten by the celebrity bug. Let her achieve some more, let she win a grand slam, then we can treat her like a queen... There is the example of Anna kournikova, who became a rage not for her tennis, but for her looks. She made one Wimbledon semi final appearance, no WTA titles, retired at 24 and now is known more as Enrique Inglesias’s girlfriend. She realized that she can make more money without playing Tennis.
She is treading on unknown path; we did not have Indian woman tennis celebrity before her. Her success can spawn much more such players. While there is no dearth of female tennis players in the senior junior, sub junior level etc not one of them have made big in the international stage. A successful Sania Mirza can inspire many more. Leander Paes won junior Wimbledon; he performed miracles in the Davis cup, won grand slam doubles. We as a nation were overjoyed and treated him like a Hero. While Leander deserved all this, if we had been more demanding from him maybe he would have excelled as a singles player as well. Similarly we must demand more from Sania. Give her sponsorships, but as a return do not make her to act in stupid commercials. Do not make her think that by doing commercials she can give back her due to her sponsors. Demand performance on the tennis court, not in front of the camera. Let she become a star , do not create one.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Temples of tragedy
Yet another tragedy at a place of worship and a huge death toll; nearly 350 and counting. I am referring to the stampede at Satara in Mahrarashtra. A short circuit resulted in a minor fire and set off panic among the thousands of devotees gathered. The melee not only led to the high death toll but also hampered whatever minor rescue efforts that the authorities initiated.
This is not the first time that a tragedy is occurring at a place of worship. A few days back in sabarimala many devotees were killed, a couple of years back at the same place nearly hundreds died in a stampede. The hajj pilgrimage in Mecca always has its share of mishaps, a fire killed 400 people some years back and a stampede there has become almost a ritual as the stoning of the Satan.
The problem is that many of our temples and places of worships are simply ill equipped and have poor infrastructure even during normal days and so when these places have their peak seasons, they simply burst at their seams leading to such tragedies. I fail to understand why temples also have peak seasons like as if they are a tourist spot. A hill station, a beach resort etc can have one... But why do temples?? . Is it that god will be more benevolent and magnanimous during such days and shower more blessings to his devotees. I wonder that when God is omnipresent, why the need to visit temples. For argument sake I accept that people require a medium and an idol to concentrate their spiritual feelings and so go to temples. People stand in queues for hours and day together to get a glimpse of the lord. I am not questioning the faith of such millions; one may choose to stand there for ages and get a second’s glimpse of the lord and be happy for the rest of his life. Perfectly fine. But why the manic rush during certain special days ,when pilgrims behave like ticket seekers trying to get hold of a few seats available for a sports event or a concert. God is always there, round the clock, 24/7 365 days a year or that is what my parents have taught me. He is not super bowl, nor is he the tulip flowers that bloom once a year. You don’t need special days and special passes to go see him..
Unless our places of worship have sound infrastructure, have proper facilities for housing , sanitation etc and are able to meet a huge rush of pilgrims they will continue to be graveyards for many..
This is not the first time that a tragedy is occurring at a place of worship. A few days back in sabarimala many devotees were killed, a couple of years back at the same place nearly hundreds died in a stampede. The hajj pilgrimage in Mecca always has its share of mishaps, a fire killed 400 people some years back and a stampede there has become almost a ritual as the stoning of the Satan.
The problem is that many of our temples and places of worships are simply ill equipped and have poor infrastructure even during normal days and so when these places have their peak seasons, they simply burst at their seams leading to such tragedies. I fail to understand why temples also have peak seasons like as if they are a tourist spot. A hill station, a beach resort etc can have one... But why do temples?? . Is it that god will be more benevolent and magnanimous during such days and shower more blessings to his devotees. I wonder that when God is omnipresent, why the need to visit temples. For argument sake I accept that people require a medium and an idol to concentrate their spiritual feelings and so go to temples. People stand in queues for hours and day together to get a glimpse of the lord. I am not questioning the faith of such millions; one may choose to stand there for ages and get a second’s glimpse of the lord and be happy for the rest of his life. Perfectly fine. But why the manic rush during certain special days ,when pilgrims behave like ticket seekers trying to get hold of a few seats available for a sports event or a concert. God is always there, round the clock, 24/7 365 days a year or that is what my parents have taught me. He is not super bowl, nor is he the tulip flowers that bloom once a year. You don’t need special days and special passes to go see him..
Unless our places of worship have sound infrastructure, have proper facilities for housing , sanitation etc and are able to meet a huge rush of pilgrims they will continue to be graveyards for many..
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Stop Hunting !!!! Save Humans !!!
Recently there was a huge hue and cry in Great Britain over the ban on fox hunting. The age old custom was considered by many as non- conforming to these modern times; it was a relic from the past. This ban angered the fox hunters, and there were unprecedented scenes of protest outside parliament and in the streets of London. One wise guy even managed to enter the House of Commons. This in a nutshell was the fracas over fox hunting
In India, there is a different kind of hunting going on. Well, actually not just one kind of hunting, but many. Consider this
The hunt for the Indian idol
The hunt for next best commentator
The hunt for the next super singer
The hunt for the best rock band
The hunt for the item bomb
If you are wondering what it is all about, well these are some of the TV shows currently playing in various channels. The hunting craze has taken over the TV stations. Each channel is trying to come with a new hunt, to keep all those channel surfers to pause and have a look.
Usually this jumping into the bandwagon thing happens only after a program of the same genre becomes a hit. Example, when the Indian version of who wants to be a millionaire became a hit, there was a wave of prime time quiz shows across the channels. But now surprisingly all these “hunt” events have started almost simultaneously. Everybody saw the success of American idol and wanted to ape it. And ended up clogging our TV screens with an overdose of such reality shows.
And it is not all that real; most of these reality shows have a script to follow. The lady who barged into the TV studio of Indian Idol and raised a ruckus over her daughter being not selected was actually a part time actor, and guess what; her so called daughter was also an actor. You can almost predict what is going to happen, there would be an absolutely hopeless singer, he would get screwed by the judges, and he would come out beaming to the cameras and say he participated for the fun of it. And there would be this girl, who would say that participating and winning the event was her lifetime ambition and now that she lost, she would cry and make a good sound bite. Wonder if these people are paid based on how good they act or is it a uniform wage across the board.
But the event that takes the cake for its sheer audacity and also stupidity is the hunt for the item bomb. “Item bomb” is not some thing of the RDX and Gelatin variety; it’s got to do more with skin, legs and cleavage. An item bomb is a skimpily clad woman who gyrates to a loud, unbearable song, called what else but an item song, in a movie to add to its saleable value. This item song used to be the forte of wannabe actor /models and also of actors past their prime and wanting to stay in the limelight of movies. But nowadays this has become a niche in itself with actors being branded item song specialists and commanding a huge fee for the same. So there was no wonder when a movie producer decided to give his movie some much needed publicity, by launching a hunt for the next item bomb. So you had all these young girls, from India and abroad, dancing to the most vulgar of steps and making everybody squirm. What was pitiable was having two top actors judging them based on oomph value, figure and what not. Despicable.
I wonder what weird hunts our intelligent TV channels would come up with next. Maybe the hunt for the next serial killer (pun intended), or the hunt for the next godman, how about the hunt for the next forest brigand, now that veerappan is dead.
Much like the ban on fox hunting, why can t somebody enforce a ban on such idiotic hunts and save us. Guess we have to be animals to have some benefactors.
And I heard that some channel abroad is launching a search for the couple that has sex in the best way. Are our channels listening?
In India, there is a different kind of hunting going on. Well, actually not just one kind of hunting, but many. Consider this
The hunt for the Indian idol
The hunt for next best commentator
The hunt for the next super singer
The hunt for the best rock band
The hunt for the item bomb
If you are wondering what it is all about, well these are some of the TV shows currently playing in various channels. The hunting craze has taken over the TV stations. Each channel is trying to come with a new hunt, to keep all those channel surfers to pause and have a look.
Usually this jumping into the bandwagon thing happens only after a program of the same genre becomes a hit. Example, when the Indian version of who wants to be a millionaire became a hit, there was a wave of prime time quiz shows across the channels. But now surprisingly all these “hunt” events have started almost simultaneously. Everybody saw the success of American idol and wanted to ape it. And ended up clogging our TV screens with an overdose of such reality shows.
And it is not all that real; most of these reality shows have a script to follow. The lady who barged into the TV studio of Indian Idol and raised a ruckus over her daughter being not selected was actually a part time actor, and guess what; her so called daughter was also an actor. You can almost predict what is going to happen, there would be an absolutely hopeless singer, he would get screwed by the judges, and he would come out beaming to the cameras and say he participated for the fun of it. And there would be this girl, who would say that participating and winning the event was her lifetime ambition and now that she lost, she would cry and make a good sound bite. Wonder if these people are paid based on how good they act or is it a uniform wage across the board.
But the event that takes the cake for its sheer audacity and also stupidity is the hunt for the item bomb. “Item bomb” is not some thing of the RDX and Gelatin variety; it’s got to do more with skin, legs and cleavage. An item bomb is a skimpily clad woman who gyrates to a loud, unbearable song, called what else but an item song, in a movie to add to its saleable value. This item song used to be the forte of wannabe actor /models and also of actors past their prime and wanting to stay in the limelight of movies. But nowadays this has become a niche in itself with actors being branded item song specialists and commanding a huge fee for the same. So there was no wonder when a movie producer decided to give his movie some much needed publicity, by launching a hunt for the next item bomb. So you had all these young girls, from India and abroad, dancing to the most vulgar of steps and making everybody squirm. What was pitiable was having two top actors judging them based on oomph value, figure and what not. Despicable.
I wonder what weird hunts our intelligent TV channels would come up with next. Maybe the hunt for the next serial killer (pun intended), or the hunt for the next godman, how about the hunt for the next forest brigand, now that veerappan is dead.
Much like the ban on fox hunting, why can t somebody enforce a ban on such idiotic hunts and save us. Guess we have to be animals to have some benefactors.
And I heard that some channel abroad is launching a search for the couple that has sex in the best way. Are our channels listening?
Friday, December 10, 2004
Should i change the blog title of should i change myself
With great enthusiasm and interest i created the blog and gave it this grandiose title " A BLOG A DAY KEEPS BOREDOM AWAY" ... any body would think that i would be a compulsive blogger and post a blog a day ...
The reason ive given for creating a blog is that ive gots lotsa free time in office but its been 4 days since the blog was up and i ve put in just a single posting . So is it that iam suddenly very busy ... sadly no .. i still as jobless as a bear hibernating through the winter ... or is it that i found other ways to kill time .. no .. .. so why is that i have free time and still don't post a message after having proclaimed a blog a day ..
the reason is that dirty four letter word -- lazy ---- that s what iam .... you know .. its been a mightily big effort to put this post up ...
so coming back to the title .. should i change the blog title or should i change myself .... guess i will maintain status quo .. why .. iam lazy to think about a new blog title..
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Module I - Sep 5 to 19 2004
Maersk Sealand, the company that I work for, has this program called Maersk International Shipping Education (MISE) where a select few employees are flown every 6 months to Copenhagen for a 2 week training session. I believe that the MISE trainees look forward to these sessions more than anything else … it’s a dream come true for most...
I of course was really excited when finally the date for my trip was announced. This is my first job, right out of college and like most young professionals have never flown abroad. So the excitement was greater. It is a strange fact that most of my friends’ first trip abroad was also courtesy their company, similar to my case.
I learnt that 3 of my colleagues would be flying with me as well. We were scheduled to take the Lufthansa flight out of Bombay in the early hours of September 5. I was and am an avid aero plane watcher. I still remember the thrill I got as a 14 year old when I managed to sight the tail of a Lufthansa parked in the Meenambakkam airport in Chennai. So now when I was actually going to fly in one of them, it was another dream come true. The plane was a 747-400, the size of which left me spellbound .I felt like a kid again. The flight was uneventful, but for the movie that they showed. Here I was inside a Lufthansa 747 and I look up and see Mallika Sherawat on the screen!!!Not quite what I expected. I felt like being inside a Volvo bus from Nashik to Bombay….. Beeghe hont and all that ….
Frankfurt airport beckoned us the next day morning in all its modern glory, the kid in me woke up again seeing the multitude of flying machines, and after a while I lost count of the number of flights parked in the terminal. The airport was choke a block with travelers from across the world crisscrossing the huge airport, I was amazed to see a rapid transit system within the airport to ferry people between the terminals. As the guy at the immigration desk pored over my passport for an uncomfortably long time, there was this sudden fear inside me that something was amiss and that I might be detained by the tall German. Thankfully my visa got stamped and there I was ready to board the next flight to Copenhagen.
While waiting to board the SAS flight to Copenhagen, my colleague Gauri forgot her passport, forex etc inside a rest room. She realized her folly after 15 minutes, and rushed back with tears streaming and all that, thankfully it was left untouched and a major crisis was averted. That was the first of the many such goof ups that Gauri did in the next fortnight.
The flight from Frankfurt to Copenhagen takes just an hour. The food that we got in the flight gave us a clue about the kind of food that we would get in Copenhagen – dry, cold and totally tasteless to my south Indian tongue.
Reached Copenhagen to find a sunny albeit cold weather welcoming us. We had to take a taxi to reach the module centre. I was taken aback when I saw a Mercedes Benz answering our call for a taxi. It was another dream come true (it was one of those “dreams coming true “days ) to travel in a merc, but to see a merc as a taxi was a shock as well. The Afghani driver tried his best to humour us with his knowledge of bollywood, but we were too busy looking out at the beautiful countryside.
We reached the module centre and settled in. The first program was the evening opening dinner. There you had 110 people, each one a stranger to the other and they were going to spend 2 weeks together. I tried to meet as many people and exchange introductions. I had a feeling that the module was going to be real fun...
The first day had us going to the company headquarters in Esplanaden. The chief executive officer addressed us and we were taken around the offices. Also we were taken to the seafront where you have the statue of perhaps the most famous symbol of Denmark – the little mermaid. It was sort of disappointing since the statue was too small compared to what I had imagined. But of course, as u have guessed it, it was a dream come true …
From the next day onwards we had class room sessions (which they called tuitions) for the whole day. People whom I have spoken to have all found me speaking very fast and my new friends were no exceptions. They also couldn’t follow me. The tuitions were good; most of it was not new to me. But for many others it was new, since most of them have only completed high school (no, they are not 16 year olds, its just that their education system is different) and do not as yet have a bachelor’s degree. so when I tell them that I ve done engineering as well a MBA and am all of 23 years, they mistook me for a genius.
When I looked around and saw people from countries like Dominican republic, Ghana, Vietnam etc as classmates I couldn’t help think about the strange progress of my education .In school I had people from my neighbouring suburbs, in college I had people from all over Tamil Nadu, in MBA people from all over India were my batch mates, now I was in a class with a worldwide representation. quite a unique record.
There were a few tongue twisters in the class. How in the world would you pronounce Wojicech Skrypinzki and Thulasizwe Buthelezi... They were also a handful of Chinese. They are perhaps the most humblest and hardworking lot. their lack of English fluency hampers them and the sad part is that they withdraw from the rest of the gang due to this reason. It must be said that many people went out of their way to help them and make them comfortable. once u get to know them, u realize how intelligent and clever they are. The Chinese finally shed their inhibitions when they threw a party to the rest of the world and needless to say it was a big hit.
The other side to the day long tuitions was the night long parties in the basement. That is the place where the Latinos and Europeans rule. We shy Indians think twice before stepping out to shake a leg, even if we are good dancers. and of course our bollywoodish dances and are quite a far cry from the salsa and tango that they prefer. So we remain in the sidelines sipping a beer or a coke and watching wistfully as the Spaniards, Danes, Americans and others make merry….
The best part of the first week was the culture day. The term culture day was actually a misnomer and named so that the trainees don’t have a clue of what is in store. The trainees were divided into groups and given 8 timed exercises to complete .the exercises really test your all around abilities; it requires physical stamina, metal skill and team work. the unique part about each of these tasks was that each one was based upon an A P Moller principle. At the end of the day as they explain to you why each task was designed the way it was, the principle behind it slowly unravels, and that is when u actually feel proud to be part of the company.
The next day we were taken to the Maersk terminal in Aarhus, some 3 and a half hours drive from our module centre. The sparkling new terminal had the AXEL MAERSK berthed in. This one is a giant of a ship – 6600 TEUs. We were taken around the ship including its engine room. The nature of my work has taken me inside a ship before, but for many it was a first time experience – pardon me for the repeated usage – it was a dream come true for them…
What I liked the most in the day was the ride on one of the straddle carriers, it’s a vehicle used to carry containers from the jetty to the yard. We got a ringside view of the operation of the straddle carrier.
The second week was full of classroom sessions, with more teamwork and presentations. I do like to make presentations but it was going a bit too far.
The time management class was very interesting and unique. The teacher pasted whatever he had written in the flip chart into the wall and also asked us to do the same, meaning, whatever group work we had done, we had put it up on the walls of the classroom. at the end of the day the class looked colorful. People were surrounded by their own work and it kind of gave out an energy which sustained them for the whole day.
The second Thursday night we had the business behaviour practice dinner. we were to put into practice all that we had learnt that day, like how to sit, how to use the fork and spoon, how to toast and all that. My date for the evening was Alice from Taiwan. The dinner took what felt like an eternity to get over; the interval between each course was too long.
Then came the closing dinner. The 2 weeks went away in a flash and for everybody it would be an unforgettable experience. I am sure not many people would have this opportunity of getting to interact with people from so many varied cultures. the closing dinner had speeches, toasts and went for more than 3 hours. After that was the final party of the module. This one stretched into the wee hours of the next day morning. It was also the time to say goodbye to many. I never imagined that in 2 weeks I would be such good friends with many people whom I would actually miss once the module was over.
Next day morning we vacated our rooms and got into the bus that took us to the airport. since my flight out was only a day later, I was planning to stay with a friend of mine. I met him in the Copenhagen central station and from there went to his apartment. He was a classmate of mine in Engineering college and I was meeting him for the first time after college. and never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would meet him in Copenhagen. It surely is a small world… We spent the day roaming around Copenhagen; we visited the Tivoli gardens, Radauspladen, and had dinner at the magnificent Indian restaurant – the Indian Taj. After that we hit a pub called Rosie McGees which had one of the best interior settings I have ever seen …All in all an amazing day to round off the 2 week trip
The flight back home was uneventful except that they gave u the feeling of a Volvo bus again by playing yet another stupid Hindi movie…
I was back home in my apartment in the early hours of sept 21. the trip was unlike anything I had experienced all my life. It has given me so many wonderful memories and am already looking forward to the second module 6 months hence …..
I of course was really excited when finally the date for my trip was announced. This is my first job, right out of college and like most young professionals have never flown abroad. So the excitement was greater. It is a strange fact that most of my friends’ first trip abroad was also courtesy their company, similar to my case.
I learnt that 3 of my colleagues would be flying with me as well. We were scheduled to take the Lufthansa flight out of Bombay in the early hours of September 5. I was and am an avid aero plane watcher. I still remember the thrill I got as a 14 year old when I managed to sight the tail of a Lufthansa parked in the Meenambakkam airport in Chennai. So now when I was actually going to fly in one of them, it was another dream come true. The plane was a 747-400, the size of which left me spellbound .I felt like a kid again. The flight was uneventful, but for the movie that they showed. Here I was inside a Lufthansa 747 and I look up and see Mallika Sherawat on the screen!!!Not quite what I expected. I felt like being inside a Volvo bus from Nashik to Bombay….. Beeghe hont and all that ….
Frankfurt airport beckoned us the next day morning in all its modern glory, the kid in me woke up again seeing the multitude of flying machines, and after a while I lost count of the number of flights parked in the terminal. The airport was choke a block with travelers from across the world crisscrossing the huge airport, I was amazed to see a rapid transit system within the airport to ferry people between the terminals. As the guy at the immigration desk pored over my passport for an uncomfortably long time, there was this sudden fear inside me that something was amiss and that I might be detained by the tall German. Thankfully my visa got stamped and there I was ready to board the next flight to Copenhagen.
While waiting to board the SAS flight to Copenhagen, my colleague Gauri forgot her passport, forex etc inside a rest room. She realized her folly after 15 minutes, and rushed back with tears streaming and all that, thankfully it was left untouched and a major crisis was averted. That was the first of the many such goof ups that Gauri did in the next fortnight.
The flight from Frankfurt to Copenhagen takes just an hour. The food that we got in the flight gave us a clue about the kind of food that we would get in Copenhagen – dry, cold and totally tasteless to my south Indian tongue.
Reached Copenhagen to find a sunny albeit cold weather welcoming us. We had to take a taxi to reach the module centre. I was taken aback when I saw a Mercedes Benz answering our call for a taxi. It was another dream come true (it was one of those “dreams coming true “days ) to travel in a merc, but to see a merc as a taxi was a shock as well. The Afghani driver tried his best to humour us with his knowledge of bollywood, but we were too busy looking out at the beautiful countryside.
We reached the module centre and settled in. The first program was the evening opening dinner. There you had 110 people, each one a stranger to the other and they were going to spend 2 weeks together. I tried to meet as many people and exchange introductions. I had a feeling that the module was going to be real fun...
The first day had us going to the company headquarters in Esplanaden. The chief executive officer addressed us and we were taken around the offices. Also we were taken to the seafront where you have the statue of perhaps the most famous symbol of Denmark – the little mermaid. It was sort of disappointing since the statue was too small compared to what I had imagined. But of course, as u have guessed it, it was a dream come true …
From the next day onwards we had class room sessions (which they called tuitions) for the whole day. People whom I have spoken to have all found me speaking very fast and my new friends were no exceptions. They also couldn’t follow me. The tuitions were good; most of it was not new to me. But for many others it was new, since most of them have only completed high school (no, they are not 16 year olds, its just that their education system is different) and do not as yet have a bachelor’s degree. so when I tell them that I ve done engineering as well a MBA and am all of 23 years, they mistook me for a genius.
When I looked around and saw people from countries like Dominican republic, Ghana, Vietnam etc as classmates I couldn’t help think about the strange progress of my education .In school I had people from my neighbouring suburbs, in college I had people from all over Tamil Nadu, in MBA people from all over India were my batch mates, now I was in a class with a worldwide representation. quite a unique record.
There were a few tongue twisters in the class. How in the world would you pronounce Wojicech Skrypinzki and Thulasizwe Buthelezi... They were also a handful of Chinese. They are perhaps the most humblest and hardworking lot. their lack of English fluency hampers them and the sad part is that they withdraw from the rest of the gang due to this reason. It must be said that many people went out of their way to help them and make them comfortable. once u get to know them, u realize how intelligent and clever they are. The Chinese finally shed their inhibitions when they threw a party to the rest of the world and needless to say it was a big hit.
The other side to the day long tuitions was the night long parties in the basement. That is the place where the Latinos and Europeans rule. We shy Indians think twice before stepping out to shake a leg, even if we are good dancers. and of course our bollywoodish dances and are quite a far cry from the salsa and tango that they prefer. So we remain in the sidelines sipping a beer or a coke and watching wistfully as the Spaniards, Danes, Americans and others make merry….
The best part of the first week was the culture day. The term culture day was actually a misnomer and named so that the trainees don’t have a clue of what is in store. The trainees were divided into groups and given 8 timed exercises to complete .the exercises really test your all around abilities; it requires physical stamina, metal skill and team work. the unique part about each of these tasks was that each one was based upon an A P Moller principle. At the end of the day as they explain to you why each task was designed the way it was, the principle behind it slowly unravels, and that is when u actually feel proud to be part of the company.
The next day we were taken to the Maersk terminal in Aarhus, some 3 and a half hours drive from our module centre. The sparkling new terminal had the AXEL MAERSK berthed in. This one is a giant of a ship – 6600 TEUs. We were taken around the ship including its engine room. The nature of my work has taken me inside a ship before, but for many it was a first time experience – pardon me for the repeated usage – it was a dream come true for them…
What I liked the most in the day was the ride on one of the straddle carriers, it’s a vehicle used to carry containers from the jetty to the yard. We got a ringside view of the operation of the straddle carrier.
The second week was full of classroom sessions, with more teamwork and presentations. I do like to make presentations but it was going a bit too far.
The time management class was very interesting and unique. The teacher pasted whatever he had written in the flip chart into the wall and also asked us to do the same, meaning, whatever group work we had done, we had put it up on the walls of the classroom. at the end of the day the class looked colorful. People were surrounded by their own work and it kind of gave out an energy which sustained them for the whole day.
The second Thursday night we had the business behaviour practice dinner. we were to put into practice all that we had learnt that day, like how to sit, how to use the fork and spoon, how to toast and all that. My date for the evening was Alice from Taiwan. The dinner took what felt like an eternity to get over; the interval between each course was too long.
Then came the closing dinner. The 2 weeks went away in a flash and for everybody it would be an unforgettable experience. I am sure not many people would have this opportunity of getting to interact with people from so many varied cultures. the closing dinner had speeches, toasts and went for more than 3 hours. After that was the final party of the module. This one stretched into the wee hours of the next day morning. It was also the time to say goodbye to many. I never imagined that in 2 weeks I would be such good friends with many people whom I would actually miss once the module was over.
Next day morning we vacated our rooms and got into the bus that took us to the airport. since my flight out was only a day later, I was planning to stay with a friend of mine. I met him in the Copenhagen central station and from there went to his apartment. He was a classmate of mine in Engineering college and I was meeting him for the first time after college. and never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would meet him in Copenhagen. It surely is a small world… We spent the day roaming around Copenhagen; we visited the Tivoli gardens, Radauspladen, and had dinner at the magnificent Indian restaurant – the Indian Taj. After that we hit a pub called Rosie McGees which had one of the best interior settings I have ever seen …All in all an amazing day to round off the 2 week trip
The flight back home was uneventful except that they gave u the feeling of a Volvo bus again by playing yet another stupid Hindi movie…
I was back home in my apartment in the early hours of sept 21. the trip was unlike anything I had experienced all my life. It has given me so many wonderful memories and am already looking forward to the second module 6 months hence …..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)