On the move ... for the first time.

I joined hll somedays back and i had gone on a travel to chennai and calcutta already. With a weeks learning behind me, i set out for my first proper business travel all alone into south. I was supposed to go to Tanjore(40 kms from my native town of kumbakonam) and trissur. I left my office at 5:15 PM to catch the train at 7 PM.

• SVCE thought me to live life without getting busy at any point.
• CTS thought me to look busy when u are doing nothing.
• XL thought me to keep myself busy even if it meant doing useless things.
• HLL though me how to be really busy even if nothing comes out of it.

These days, I always reached place on time. I began being overly puntual. I wish i could also getting into a running flight just like i used to board a bus(reminded of the erstwhile VijayKanth Movie). On that day too, I reached the platform at 7 PM, on time for the train's departure. But, there was no train in the platform. My heart started beating faster. "Did i miss the train ?", I had mumbled to myself. I approached one fellow who was around and asked " Has the train left ?". The guy gave me a puzzled look and began talking in kannada.

I stopped him and told him, "Saar! no kannada, only english talk". He was happy that my english was understandable. "train coming, laetu 10 mins". I calmed down and had a deep breath accompanied with a lovely coffee. Tat is what i like abt the south, U get the best coffees here. I was reminded of chitto, who used to gimme coffee in Jam. Even if it was bad, i had no choice. I was very tired after a hectic days work at office and hence slept off immediately after i had got into the train. I got down in tanjore at 5 AM in the morning. I had arranged for my stay and car only late in the evening and i dint confirm any plans. So, I was wondering what if nothing had been arranged.

There was guy standing there with a HLL placard and some weird name written on it. I spoke to him for a while and confirmed if that car had actually come to pick me up. I headed to my hotel and crashed on bed for a nap again. After having seen some temples after a bath, I was taken to the households where i am supposed to do a research, by an elderly lady from some HLL's associate MR firm. I went around with my laptop to all these places and had a 20 minutes conversation with every house-wife i could find. It was proper BOP place and the houses were very small huts. It was a humbling experiance. I spoke with ladies for whom, spending even Rs. 50 was a fight.

I was moved emotionally when a lady told me that she was using complan and horlicks some years back and switched to tea when her husband's business incurred losses. Apart from Branding 3 Roses Tea, I also had some key learning from the trip :

• What we think, is not always the reality.
• Life extends beyond A/C rooms.
• CQ and B-skool does no role in bulding a manager.
• Purchasing decision is not depended on price or product. Customers life and history also has a say.
• There is nothing satisfying than reaching out to the people and satisfying their needs.
• Life is too complex, even when things look abvious.

It was a great trip to begin my career with. Looking forward for the next 2 months at HLL .....

Cheers

JK

Had been there; Had seen it ...

Violence has been such a common thing in our lives off late that we don’t even care to acknowledge it these days. We have mastered the art of living with all these things around. At times, we do realise that the violence that prevails in the society is absolutely unwarranted, but none of us stand up against it for the obvious reasons.

I am not the one who shies away when lives of my close ones or myself are put to question. It’s all about numbers. I can fight with one man, may be even handle a couple of them. But when I am pitted against 5 or more men, I would quietly try to leave that place to save my skin. Not just me ... Its the case with many of we Indians who have the heart to stand up but lack the number to move forward.

Violence is all about blood and tears. Every glass broken seizes hard earned money from someone’s pocket. Every man who get injured or killed in the process represents the hope with which a family survives in some corner of the world. Never does a man involved in violence think of this dimension. It’s the sheer thirst for adventure, blood and unwillingness to visualize these consequences.

I was in bangalore yesterday when this "yet another so-called superstar" Rajkumar passed away peacefully letting the rest of the city pay for his death not with tears but with frustration. Minutes after his death, the whole city lost its normal way of life. A gang of this man's fan(atic)s wrecked havoc all around the otherwise lovely city. Glasses were broken, innocent men and women were hit and injured, cars were burnt and all shops were closed.

I was just a day into Bengaluru. That morning, I had joined HLL for my summer internship. I had to go to a place called "brookefields" which was around 25 Kms from Malleswaram (where i had stayed). I was busy with some documents and movie clips thrown at me for research and kept ignoring the phone, which was ringing in the next desk. Frustrated with repeated clamouring, I lazily moved my chair and answered the call. It was from HR coordinator who inducted us in the morning. There was a clear sense of fear and panic in her voice. She asked me to leave the office with the other interns ASAP as Rajkumar has passed away and things were not normal in the city. I incidentally had some work and was busy for an hour before i was ready to leave. I waited outside HLL for 20 mins and dint get even an auto. I began to realise the seriousness of the incident. I somehow changed autos, busses and landed near Richmond circle in about one hour. There again, were no busses and autos available for commutation. I had to walk all the way to Hudson circle and finally managed to squeeze into a footboard of a bus. I hanged in the bus all the way to Majestic and finally managed to reach home safe after 2 hours of a very challenging physical and mental trauma.

What moved me were some incidents that I saw while i was fighting my way back home. While I was hanging in the bus to majestic, there was a group of people who were shouting slogans and roaming violently with hockey sticks. A worker from an IT company's bus peeped out thro the window to see the situation outside. The protestors wasted no time in gracing his head with a heavy blow. The poor fellow's head was bleeding. Policemen were peacefully walking behind the entire crowd as if nothing had happened (They wud also be beaten had they interfered).There were some men who got out of the company's bus to fight this foolish act, but the bus driver pleaded with the protestors in kannada and got these men back into the bus. What is the connection between this guy who was injured and the man who has died? It is the same case with all the men who had unnecessarily shed their blood.

Who is he? Why should I unnecessarily be put to so much of a torture for someone who i have nothing to do with? I am not able to answer any of these questions. But the memories of seeing blood shed in front of my eyes haunt me.

Not a long time ago, i saw similar things in front of me a few days back in Jamshedpur, when i was caught in the frenziness of RamNavami celbration with a friend of mine. I was stunned at the way a Ram Navami Procession was done in Jamshedpur. It was as bad as what i saw today. People were brutal and violent and were calling themselves incarnation of Hanuman for all the stupid things that they did.

This is not a safe land to live in. Banglore which is a land of 40% of all the educated IT workers in India. It has an IIM, an IISc, HAL, etc.. It is otherwise a hopeless piece of land on earth where the Fuckin' government does not even have the nerves to control all these brutalities. An ordinary hero's death cannot deprive people of normal humanistic services like food, water and petrol. This is just another Jharkhand or Bihar. I had always viewed bangalore as one of the places where I wud settle down. Perhaps, I was wrong and should rethink.

A close pal of mine always used to remind me, “ U chennai-ites are hopeless and you can never be as sophisticated as men from Bangalore. Chennai SUXS" ....... Perhaps, she was right. We are not blood thirsty and foolish either. We are human beings after all. Chennai is always chennai and i am proud for what we are.

When would this madness come to an end? Hope people are more responsible and government is more accountable?

A disturbed mind ....