Seat or Pride?

Assume you are the first person to get into a bus, from its origin. Where would you prefer to sit? Window? Aisle? Middle? Front? Back? Just behind the driver? On the last row? Beside the conductor?

Well, I’ll probably choose the one beside the conductor – the window seat. May be because that gives me a sense of pseudo authority. Conductor will not be at his seat during half the duration, which means the seat remains empty. Not many would bother to sit down on the conductor’s seat, due to the fear of losing out the pleasure of a (relatively) permanent seat. Only trouble is clueless prospective passengers checking with me if the bus would take them to some certain place or not. But that is fine with me. So my ideal bus journey would be the one when I am traveling by a window seat beside the conductor. That said, my joy couldn’t be explained when I found the above seat free when I boarded the bus from Sreekaryam to East Fort. Ha! Rejoice dear me, because I am on my favorite seat observing Trivandrum on the move. I settled, with my backpack now on my lap and waiting for the conductor to issue me my ticket. The bus crossed another major stop and all other seats were occupied by the time the conductor approached me demanding for the ticket. Shock !!

The bus had a female conductor!

I began to sweat. Big fat confusion doomed upon me. Should I stand up, or should I continue to hold the seat? I have to remain standing if I leave the seat and for sure others would stare at me. Some other might still stare at me if I did not stand. I was worried that if I did not get up would that amount to misconduct from my part? Would I be dragged to police station for ‘accidentally’ touching a female (albeit a bus conductor). Damn I forgot my hand kerchief as well, which I could use to cover my face from the eyes of media. Or may be the conductor is used to a male sitting next to her? What if she asks me to vacate the seat? I had to make a choice between my favourite seat and my pride. Seat or pride? Seat or pride? Pride took precedence. I was just about to get down at the next stop, and continue my journey in another bus. At the right moment my savior appeared in the form of an old man. He was asked to sit beside me – for the rest of the journey. Phew! I remained on my seat, proudly.

PS : Made up incident for the blog post.

Out of body experience

What would it be like to get into the skin of another person and think and act like he is, for a short period of time. Yes people, I am talking about impersonating, harmless though.

I have once done it. It was something like I have to lie more to sustain the previous lies – like a Fibonacci series.

The plot : circa 2006. I was traveling from Trivandrum Central to Kuzhithurai West on a sleepy Saturday early morning passenger train. The compartment was almost free as always, and I wanted to read for sometime and may be catch up on my lost sleep too. I wish. I started to take out a magazine and a person occupied a seat opposite me. I ignored him, and opened the magazine to read. I obviously didn’t want to be distrurbed, but this fellow wanted to strike a conversation with me. Some small talks – like no rain this year, very hot, trains are full in evenings and free in the mornings  - I nodded in agreement and went back to reading after every nod, but the fellow was probably not a good body-language reader, and he came back with his blah blahs.

I understood that my trip was ruined and thought to play along. He wanted to know about me – my name, my job etc. I said my name was ‘Prakash’ and I am a security guard working with an agency at Technopark. He seemed to be more comfortable probably because he felt that I was one like him. He asked more questions about what money I make, if I am married, what other avenues of income I had etc. Now I had to link all the statements I said earlier and then connect it to my next reply. That was fun and a challenge as well. I pulled along and enjoyed this mental exercise.

He then narrated his story – that he was in some section of Indian Army and after voluntary retirement he was a security guard himself and how he earns very little etc. He spoke about how dangerous these jobs were; the rifles the robbers possess, compared to a guard with a lathi or a heavy double barreled shot gun, which is often no more than a show piece. He also explained how his biological clock went haywire, on account of his roster. More importantly he sounded out his mental agony when he has no one to talk to during his duty. He then asked me not to count ‘my’ security guard job as a means of living; he advised me to get a degree, amidst my ‘difficulties’ and try for a government job.

I felt a pang of regret, but I did not want to reveal my actual identity. I felt happy because he could talk to me and atleast for few minutes he could be his true self.

He could be anywhere – the one who guards the entrance, the one at the ATM door or the one at the parking lot.

Alas! I do not remember his face. May be if ever I meet and recognize him, I would tell him that, yes I earned a degree and that now I got a good job. I just want to see him smile when he hears that.

I wish.

My two nights with Sofiya

Ok, now that I have grabbed the attention, let me clarify, before your thoughts go wild. Sofiya is the name of the AC VOLVO bus plying from Bangalore to Trivandrum and back. I usually take this bus for my travel because of few reasons. It starts at 6.30 pm, which mean I need not have to apply for a half day leave to catch the bus. They give free water and food and a pillow. The bus pass through Sreekariyam, so that I can get down at Sreekariyam, once I board the bus from Madiwala. They show Mallu movies (comedy, most of the time) and play beautiful songs.
First Night:
This weekend, the movie was Robinhood – although it was not a comedy movie when originally released, it turned out to be a comedy movie. First ROFL event was when Jayasurya appeared as the Asst Police Commissioner. Oh ! It was hilarious. Whenever I see Jayasurya, I can only relate him as a ‘mandabuddhi’ - no offence meant, I feel I can appreciate his acting skills when he does ‘mandabuddhi’ type of roles. For such person the police dress did not suit at all in the first place, and when portrayed as ACP, it was too much to control. I get pissed off when someone uses wrong words or grammar. Twice in the move (the well educated) Prithviraj used the words ‘mediums’ and ‘medias’ – both are wrong. The character of Samvritha Sunil was unnecessary, and the producer could have saved some money eliminating her from the movie. The way the electromagnetic signals transmit from the ATM to the small ‘chiratta’ like dish antenna, placed inside a cab was hilarious. Prithviraj is shown as the Entrance Coaching Centre tutor, but he lives in a posh apartment which in Kochi and by today’s standards do have a minimum monthly rent of Rs 20000. Wonder which is that coaching center which pays him that much.
Ok, now for the most funny part. The ATM did not have camera, until Narein (the detective) comes up with the brilliant idea that placing a camera would be helpful in identifying the robber. Reminds me of the scene in ‘Pattana Pravesam’ where Sreenivasan asks the police if they have a photograph of the person who did the crime, so that it would be easier for them to identify the criminal. Narein played his role well as a detective, but his portrayal of being a ‘vaayunokki’, didn’t suit him. All said and done, I couldn’t help but appreciate Biju Menon’s character in the movie. He was an excellent choice for the character – otherwise usually done by Rizabava or Siddique. Biju Menon looked a tailor made fit for the role and played it very well, with all the proud and pomp it demands. Appreciate the choice and the outcome.
Movie was interrupted at some place when we halted for dinner. The guys in the bus would hand over a Rs 50 food coupon in exchange of which we could have dinner. Now, that is a nice gesture. A guy who was having a ‘Masala Dosa’ along with me was wondering does one masala dosa cost Rs 50. I said ‘No, the coupon is worth Rs 50 and you can have anything as long as it is within Rs 50’. They guy ordered for another plate of Masala Dosa. :)
Somewhere the bus got delayed, blame it on the road condition or occasional drizzle, the bus reached Sreekariyam only at about 8.30 am
Second Night:
Boarded the bus from Kazhakuttom. They played beautiful songs
‘ Aathamaavil mutti vilichathu pole..’
‘Olichirikkan Vallikudil..’
and few other nostalgic melodies. It was so good, especially for a person like me who always board the bus with a heavy heart. The movie this time was ‘Thommanum Makkalum’. I remember watching this movie at some theater in Kochi on the same day when India was playing against Australia in a one day cricket match at a stadium nearby. The movie is a good watch especially while on the move. The dinner was at a place called Ootupura at Haripad. The waiters were running around to fetch orders and the food was tasty too.
Sofiya then went on non-stop, to reach Bangalore on the dot which was promised. I got down at Silk Board when it was 6 AM. Did I say, PERFECT !!
Thank you Sofiya, for giving me two memorable nights with you. I enjoyed, although you were a bit costly ;-)

Let the game begin!

Ajay was bashing the media for not reporting the inauguration of the Technocity with the importance it deserves. I echo him completely. I checked the websites of the Malayalam dailies and hardly found any news item on Technocity inauguration. This is a major phase in the IT world of Kerala, and has the potential to change the image of Trivandrum, not to mention the revenue it brings in and the job market it opens up. Well..on second thoughts may be all is for good, because most of the projects which were hyped up have not moved an inch further, post inauguration.

When the first phase is getting ready, the think tanks need to device a clear strategy of marketing the project to get the buildings occupied.

Let the game begin !