Universal Blog

Coffee Shop- the perfect pit stop.

2011-11-17T01:08:00.000-08:00

In the day when one literally runs to meet customers - in the vast city of Mumbai - in a rickety auto or a dusty cab, a much needed break is got in the form of visiting coffee shops.

I picked up this habit on a truncated work day in 2009. I had so many things running in my head, that I packed up stuff from my office and drove around in the streets of Chennai. I landed in this Coffee World, in Cenotaph Road, Alwarpet.

The place is well laid out. Spacious, nice air-conditioning. Mild music that is non-intrusive. Smiling lads form the coffee-crew. Menu card is kept and the lad disappears into the background, wishing you good day. I unpack. There is a power point nearby; I plug the laptop charger, and switch on the laptop.

‘There is wi-fi available, sir’ the lad interjects politely. I say 'thanks, I have a datacard'.   I start work.   After sometime, I walk to the counter, and order an ice-tea and honey-waffles, my favorites.

I get into my work, personal and official. Some phone calls. All like a nice work spot.   The guy polite serves the order on the table, smiles and leaves.   The work continues. Time stands still - till the ice tea and the waffles disappear.

Another scenario - same place, another time. I want to meet a person, well let us keep the trivia out. We walk in, make ourselves comfortable in the cozy chair and place the order.   The guy and the music are non-intrusive and pleasant.   The air-conditioning is just perfect.   We talk and the order is served.   Time flies. Finally, we leave.   Our job is done.

Since my first discovery, Coffee Shops - Coffee World, Cafe Coffee day, Coffee Bean etc are my typical pitstops. Between two customer calls. In the middle of the work-day, when you don't want to be in office or home - the hiding closet. A place to wait for somebody.   Time killer.   Rendezous spot.   As they say, a lot can happen over coffee.

In Mumbai, it is more of about reaching a place early and work out the waiting period. Like today, when I am waiting for somebody to join. I can see my neighbouring seats - youngsters catching up - taking pictures, apparently for Facebook, investment bankers meeting customers, colleagues bitching about office life, a loner like me immersed into a book - the common thing is the the ubiquitous coffee cup.

As I wait, my coffee is served. And some time later, my friend walks in. Coffee shop - a perfect pit stop.

- The One

Pic courtesy The One...

38 hours...

2011-11-11T22:55:00.000-08:00

I was happy... eager to get off at the next stop ... and run into the small lane next to the railway track that leads to my house.

I was carrying some 9000 Rupees of Diwali Bakshish, and new clothes for my maa, bhai, bhabhi and nieces - I can imagine them being so happy!

There would be soon shrieks of my nieces, the quite smile of my bhai, who was paralysed when he was young, and the warm mumble of welcome by bhabhi.

My maa will caress me with her caloused fingers and say 'kitna din ho gayaa - thu abhi maath jaa'.   Everytime she would repeat the same thing, knowing very well that, I will leave by the next weekend.

Then I would be offered small cup of tea and be asked to take bath in the water from the baalti in the backyard, and then would be asked to join for dinner.   Thava roti and aalu sabji - the routine menu for my dinner, but it is the best thing in the world for a hungry man, longing to have home-made food.

I tried my hand in repairing motor cycles, assisted my bhapu till he died.   After that there was no one with the skill to run the motor cycle shop, so I was again without work.  One week - I tried assisting in one of the restaurants, but the amount was too measly to feed 5 mouths.

My bhai would cry every night - his inability to stand up as the man of the family, after my father died, made him cringe with guilt.

One of my uncles works as a taxi driver in Mumbai. He would tell stories about the 'Mahanagari - the super city' where people come and have made it big.

This is the city of stars, lights and money.   Mahalaxmi - the giver of wealth, and Siddhivinayak - the destroyers of all evils, blessers of the citizens.

I took the train to this city- made of huts and tall buildings side by side, about 4 years ago.   I went to my uncle's house, who stays in Damu nagar basti. He got me connected with the local friends, who do almost everything - ek aur dho numbari for a living.

My uncle warned - be honest and don't cheat.   Do what you can.   I found a group- who lives of the tall buildings. They would do anything - electrical work, plumbing, occasional masonry, sometimes help people shift - those people in the high rises.

I know that these people in the tall buildings can help me live and save. But, there were too many of us here - there is competition for each job that comes out.   I finally found one.   Clean cars.   Saahibs and Madams would drive their cars out in the morning, and they would want them to look swanky new.

I charge about 400 rupees a month, and they are happy to pay.   I have 11 cars now - to shine!   I eat in the nearby shanty - naastha - dal chaaval, or roti sabzhi ' would cost about 40 Rs per day. I give about 300 Rs for a raajai and a mosquito coil everynight. Then add my kaini and paan, which keeps me going, I still save about 2000 rupees every month.

Our partner log or uncles go to our village - about 30 km from Agra in Uttar Pradesh, and my family runs in this money. My maa makes papads and achaar and that gives some money.   My two nieces study in a small village school, where I studied till 4th, and then I had to work in my father's motor cycle factory.

I can feel it now, going to meet my family after 4 years. The journey has taken 38 hours ...another 15 minutes, the Delhi-Agra passenger will slow down - somebody would pull the chain, as always is the routine. And we jump, run across the track to small lane.

I lean across the window and already see my happy nieces in the dark... it is pitch dark...but lights are at a distance... something whistles towards me in the dark... and hits me ... suddenly everything goes dark... I could hear shrieks ... then darkness.

I wake up ... I can't see - I can see murky shapes moving on my right, my left side is dark. I panic, I try to speak... my throat is dry - somebody is shouting - Hosh aa gayaa!' . I see my friends Munna and Kunal, and my bhabhi faintly.

I feel numb and empty -the pain is white, I can tell you that...

I don't hear the shrieks of my nieces or the mumbling welcome of my bhabhi or the noisy breath of my maa, I can't see the quiet smile of my bhai or smell the aroma of the aalu sabzhi that awaits me...

I smell phenoyl and medicine ... see green curtains and white-dressed humans... After 38 hours I boarded the train - I feel empty!!!

- The One

Pics courtesy Internet...

( This blog is based on a boy in our neighbourhood whose left eye was damaged by a stone throw when he was about to alight from his train - let us pray for his recovery)

Vertigo - Momentus Horribilis

2011-11-09T02:25:00.000-08:00

This happens when you drive. I experienced it in a traffic signal.

These days, companies employ large buses of demonic proportions to carry sleepy and tired employees across one end of the city to another. These buses are painted plush white - well mostly, fitted with air brakes, large mirrors, air conditioned interiors, dark glasses and intimidating side mirrors.

My car was a basic hatchback and I was happy driving it - it was my world. It could squeeze through traffic like an ant moving on the snake's back, and was easy to park.   Of the tall-boy type, it also gave great road visibility.   So one had to just whistle, hold the steering and drive - it was fun.

On this particular day,almost 6 years ago, I was waiting in this signal, - a busy one, in Velachery, Chennai.   The signal waiting period is one of the longest in Chennai, almost for three minutes.   The road was empty and it was all music inside the car.   Slowly, one of those demonic buses appeared on one side; and within ten seconds, another appeared on the other side.

Within seconds, it was like two white walls on both sides, and I was stuck. I felt nauseating and claustrophobic ( am generally claustrophobic, when windows are shut and all, but this was a new situation)- and already some sort of discomfort had set in.

Then it happened.   Both the buses started moving.

I could not see the signal,and apparently it had turned green.   One was cutting left and the other too. I was paralyzed. It was like I was going back at a great speed suddenly - but actually I was stationary.

Suddenly, the buses had gone, and the view become clear. But my panic was there for some 30 seconds further. Persistent honks from vehicles behind my car woke me from this paralytic jamboree.

What a horrible moment it was! I have experienced similar situations since then - very occasionally though. And I learnt it was a kind of vertigo.

Then on, I am keen to avoid these white giants as my neighbors at a signal.

Please share your experiences on vertigo - but am sure, the reader, if one has experienced, is a momentus horribilis.

- The One

Pics Courtesy Internet

Stone Henges of the Mind...

2011-10-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

How often would you want to put the cart before the horse? You want success before hardwork.

Well, I can give you one good reason. When you are in penury, especially as a result of your own making. The fall from repute and the financial chokehold is too much for the lung to bear. Breathing is shallow, heart beats faster, and mind is desperate for ideas. 'Impatience under pressure' is the operating word.

Is it good to get through this tunnel of torrid times? Is there a proverbial light at the end? How to escape this self-made warp of space and time? Is this a LIFE changing moment?

This tunnel ain't new though. Have been through it in 2003, 2006, 2009, and now, 2011. Everytime, have made the tunnel longer and narrower. So this time, it is tougher to navigate through. All I want to right now is to come out of this warp.

But, unlike the Maya, which makes people forget such times, this SHOULD be etched in my otherwise fickle memory?

Hope now the experience stays and there are no more tunnels in the future. Let this piece of prose be etched in the Stone Henges of the Mind.

-The One

Pics courtesy Internet

Wrong side of the bed...

2011-10-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

These days, it may not be wrong to say that I always wake up on the wrong side of the bed, almost everyday.

Refer to my earlier blog http://universal-ashok.blogspot.com/2011/10/inner-voice.html, the inner voice wakes me up early with a fresh mind - without the regular caffeine - so it is like a wakeup more meta-physical than physical.

For the inner calling, the side of the bed does not matter. I just prance about, drink a glass of water, hit the pot and then blink at the distant lights of the tall buildings and the silhoutte of the hill nearby. Finally, I hang up with a shut eye.

Cut to couple of hours later - this time, with some sense of accomplishment, I wake up with the sun already up in the sky, and the day begins. I try to do that thing the inner voice says - it seems an OK day - till I realize that something I did was wrong, very wrong... I start to wonder - which side of the bed did I get out?

-The One

Picture courtesy - Internet

Inner voice

2011-10-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

Last two months have been tough... it started about 8 weeks ago -what happened doesn't matter.   But what caused it was social networking naivity, and some fiscal mismanagement.

Apparently, did not realize that both can get entangled, and give me a triple whammy - set my clock back by almost a year, in alien territory, walking almost naked, well in terms of repute - which will require a monumental effort to build.   Add to this some health woes - this is a quadriplegic emergency of all one can think - health, wealth, body and mind.

To think of a constant endeavor with travesty of a banal kind, but that can wreck unspeakable damage to repute, and to live with it, smiling but untie the knot slowly is going to be the rest of the journey of this phase perhaps.

Not sure, what one does in this situation will work, or when this will all end, is not known.   But sleepless nights, staring out at the distant lights just before dawn, has been somewhat a trend these days.

Then, the inner voice speaks. It alerts, of the possible danger behind that bush... and what I got to do for the day... keep smiling, lie low, but watch out for this - anticipate. that ... and do that act of the day. That voice has been speaking for one week now ...

Well, dont know what it is, and what will happen... the ship was out to sail and now it is stuck in a tempest... can see the rogue wave coming, and another... the voice says - watch out, work the sail ...

The shore is yet to be seen, the tempest continues... the inner voice just spoke again...

Pictures courtesy Internet.

What is on the moon?

2011-08-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

Take 1: Man creates the aeroplane, flies above the clouds -discovers clouds are water vapour and dust particles.

Take 2:Man climbs the Hindukush, Everest, Annapoorna and K2 - and Mt. Kailash - the Lord was not to be seen.

Take 3: Munnabhai MBBS - The Dean says - ' when you operate you dont think that it is a person- it is flesh and sinew- and that is what makes my hand steady while holding the scalpel'.

Take 4: Neil Armstrong lands on the moon

Three takes - so what? Heard of these stories that we were told as kids - and many more built around these...

Story 1: Heavens are above the clouds

Story 2: Lord Shiva lives in Mount Kailash

Story 3: Your heart 'contains' dreams, hopes, love, hatred...

Story 4: Cow jumped over the moon, Angels live on the moon...

Compare Take 1 with Story 1, so on and so forth ...

... so is each story a myth?

Man has checked on the clouds, there is no heaven. Man has climbed the Mountains of the Himalayas so many times, Lord Shiva is missing. And so many cardiac operations have happened, nobody has dug out a 'hope' ' love' 'hate' or 'dream' from the heart.

What is above the clouds? What lies atop of Himalayas? What lies beneath the blood and tissue? What is on the moon?

Niel Armstrong found craters, rocks et al on the surface of the moon. Chandrayaan discovered water later.

May be we have found water in the Moon and Mars. May be microbes. May be life. With life, may be hope and dreams. And our grandparents will repeat the stories. Stories seed dreams. Dreams lead to discovery. And the cycle goes on.

So believe me, there are angels on that moon!!!

-The One

Photo courtesy the Internet

Facebook - never the inner circle...

2011-08-22T05:17:00.000-07:00

After sometime into Social networking esp., facebook, I have made more than 500 friends.

Most of my friends are either family, or friends who have common interests with me. Then there are few friends, whose profiles either Facebook suggests, or I like, so I got connected.

When one posts a status, note or blog, less than 1% of friends actually react. Of course, everybody is not expected to react to everything. But most of these friends are good to have around.

You change cities; you change jobs - some of these friends disappear. But facebook connects you and somehow keeps you still available to your friends.

Cut - now to real life. You have your family, work and 'real' friends who you meet / interact on a personal basis. The 'flesh and blood' aspect is real. Your private moments are with them.

Some of my friends go off facebook once in a while to actually spend time with their family and friends. Either because they find facebook too crowded, or because facebook is not part of the inner circle. Anyways, one is too busy to care - when any of the facebook friends miss you.

May be facebook is a good tool to stay in touch.

Couple of my friends are in a relationship - 'engaged' to be precise, and facebook keeps them connected. They chat on facebook, like each others' status more often than not - always near online. But once they get married, the facebook relationship changes, as is obvious. Their presence will dwindle, and facebook becomes a thing- outside the relationship. Perspectives, same tool, different time.

Can we conclude that facebook relationship is a measure of distance? Either you are closer in relationship, but away from each other, or you may be in the same city, but a distant acquaintance?

In a sense, the world is more round than flat - a tool is a tool - but never an element of the inner circle of one's life in 'flesh and blood'.

-The One

Picture courtesies Internet.

The incurable disease of Laziness and the missing T...

2011-08-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Suffering from laziness on this Sunday morning ... a 'bean bag' mood. From the traditional south Indian 'kaapi' to the modern 'cappucinos', have been a childhood coffee fan. Even now, I still go for that one time day starter.

But, office habits or not, have become a tea-monger for quite some time now. Tea has become more than an occupational hazard - for more than a decade. One peaceful sip brings in nice memories.

One cup of it without milk, with a dash of lemon and mild sugarine... the all-time drink. One sip - that and the eternal laziness continues ...

-The One...