Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening!
Annual Picnic, a bi-annual affair, held once in 3 years and one that has seen participation rise with every such event being organized, was held this year, with much grandeur and élan at Saptorshi’ s wife’s son’s maternal grandmom’s husband’s place!
While it might take some time for immortal humans like you to understand the relation, let me begin this edition of your favorite update by wishing all auditors and secretaries a happy year ahead, Aditya Marodia a Happy Birthday and Ashish Bagri a Happy Saraswati Puja!
On the 21st of January, a Sunday, at 8 o clock in the morning, when the sun had just decided to proceed to work, 30 young enthusiastic energetic rejuvenated and charged up men and women were heading towards Russel Street. No, it was not on the call of Mamata di. This time it was our very own Meenakshi di! The occasion- Annual Picnic of the Internal Audit Department.
Everybody decided to ride the bus even though there was four chauffeur driven cars to be availed of. The reasons are plenty.
One, there were 32 seats in the bus so people like Pankaj and Sai could pretend to sit on only one seat whilst enjoying the luxury of close to 75% of the other seat as well!
Two, all the wafers and the chips had been inadvertently loaded onto the bus so people like Modi and Ashish could take the cue of traveling together whilst having a wholesome pre breakfast meal.
Three, there was a constant dose of Bhojpuri and Bihari songs playing in the background so Marodia and Vinay could dance away to glory. In typical Durga Puja Bhashaan ishtyle!
Four, ‘engaged’ Naresh, and ‘occupied’ Vikram were also on the bus singing aloud motivational and patriotic songs! For the uninitiated, Naresh is ‘engaged’ to a girl named Puja and Vikram has lately been only ‘occupied’ with planning, in advance, which future auditor should spend how much of the ITD’s hard earned money in his/her wash room expenses!
We reached the venue, our voices almost gone in the non-stop Antakshri during the bus ride, at about 9:20 am. Whilst all the children including Vinit headed straight to the cricket pitch, the distinguished and honorable men such as Sharmaji were more worried about their high cholesterol intake in the soon to be served breakfast!
Rahul decided to make a grand entry. After all, all VIPs drive in late. So what if Mr. Basu drove in, in a sedan and our very own Rahul chose an Indica! But for him to come from Delhi only for a day, attend this important event, and then ride a hand pulled rickshaw back to his hometown, Tribeni, is indeed very credible!
Smita is a rich woman with a lot of hidden treasures! For many of us, this picnic was an occasion wherein her actual wealth was there for everyone to see. I wonder how did she manage to hide them away from so many glaring eyes for such a long time. No. I am not talking about the invaluable Audit Reports that are in her safe custody in office. I am talking about her children!
Sidharth was looking stunning in his Ray ban shades and Nike sports shoes. How many of you knew you could get both of the above on hire for about Rs. 50/- per day each, from the local vendor in Burra Bazar?!
Immediately after breakfast, all the men and Dyutika were nowhere to be found. They were absent from the picnic venue for close to three hours! Playing cricket in the nearby open field- the grazing ground for Basanti and her family, Thakurpukur’s famous milky cows!
During the cricket match, suddenly someone noticed Abhishek Saraf lying on the grass and basking in the sun. Of course, he was looking exhausted and totally tired. But his pose reminded of the movie ‘Umrao Jaan’ with only the ‘gajra’ absent from his wrist!
The star of the cricket match was undoubtedly Amit. When he had started running into bowl, the batsman, Pankaj, was all set, having taken his guard. However, by the time Amit had finished running and reached the crease, about to bowl his heart out, with a shrill shriek, Pankaj suddenly realized there had been a big fat mosquito sitting happily on his thin neck and feeding into his juicy and sweet thick blood. Both Amit and Pankaj shouted thereafter. Pankaj in pain and Amit in agony!
Sumanto and Meenakshi had decided to be the sole entertainers of all children around. (This time, Vinit not being in the above list though!) Whilst Sumanto could be seen with different children in his lap every five minutes, Meenakshi was running around ten chairs, all of them kept in one straight line, and encouraging other amused children to follow suit!
What followed after lunch was hilarious dance and superb singing. Hilarious because there were dancers like Marodia and myself who continued with Bhangra steps even when Himesh, in his nasal best, was singing aloud, ‘Jhalak Dikhla Ja’…………..Superb because Sumanto da was confusing Naresh, Vikram and Modi with his heart belting Bengali Rabindra Sangeet!
If I carry on in this fashion, this ‘YDN’ edition will become longer than all editions put together! In any case, I have serious doubts how many would have read the entire issue!
Cheers!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
YDN-10
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This edition of ‘Your Daily News’ is dedicated to our friend, the one and only, G Satish.
I am very disappointed. Satish is leaving Internal Audit and there are no demonstrations. No self-immolations. Nothing. To top it, none of his colleagues who spoke/wrote about him, choked with emotion.
Before I start, let me warn you, this is meant to be an emotional write up. So, even if you do not feel like choking, try and swallow a chewing gum.
Satish will be really missed. You probably think how can somebody not miss someone as broad and well built as Satish...he has such ‘huge’ personality. Especially his million-dollar smile. That’s the only time when one can associate another skin colour with him!
For a person, who buys movie tickets one week in advance, to being asked to relocate to a new city in 4 days is like expecting Sachin to say, “Main, Vijay Deena Nath Chauhan” in typical Bachchan ‘Agneepath’ style!
I am sure he loved this place. No, it has got nothing to do with the soup/coffee/biscuits/ lunch/birthday cakes/evening snacks/internet connectivity....that was just office work that tragically got intertwined with this long list!
This is the place, where he taught me multi-tasking skills. I could chat, be on the phone and at the same time check those really funny forwarded mails. And of course work...
Now he will never be able to draft audit points at work.
Abhishek Saraf will no longer bother him with his excise queries. Neither will Satish get the luxury of being gifted with Cadbury’s Dairy Milk every time someone traveled from Guntur to Anaparti.
Rahul Banthia will stop calling him to advise him with his latest stock tips. Who will organize Chummery parties with him henceforth? Who will convince the ‘hardworking/home loving’ auditors to join the gang for a movie after work? Who will share his Dhania Dosas? Who will jump at the sweets in his lunch box, for a bite, and then not return them at all? Who will discuss audit observations with him as if it was a Hollywood movie?
Sai Prakash will only have Prabal Chandhok at his mercy for his long, difficult and sometimes boring Tamil conversations. Saurabh will not know who to shower his difficult English language on. Sidharth will wonder who else will give him the respect of an Englishman. Sharad will no longer be able to shower his warm (and at times alarmingly warm) brotherly feelings. Pankaj will not know who to discuss the next ‘person’ with. Meenakshi will now have to wait for another disc partner!
This guy is fun and nothing else. I have very rarely seen him serious in life. And those rare occasions have been when he urgently needed to attend his nature calls and the washroom was at vicinity.
The only talent that God mistakenly gave him was his voice. Not when he tries his level best to pronounce difficult English words without his Tamil accent. But when he sings. This man is a rebirth of Mohd Rafi. With his receeding hairline and his ever increasing waist line, he will surely go a long distance.
I hope and pray to God to please send on Earth more of such motley fools. Without people like him, all of us would be like characters of Ekta Kapoor's serials.
We will miss you Satish.
Best of Luck and God Bless.
Abhishek Gupta.
This edition of ‘Your Daily News’ is dedicated to our friend, the one and only, G Satish.
I am very disappointed. Satish is leaving Internal Audit and there are no demonstrations. No self-immolations. Nothing. To top it, none of his colleagues who spoke/wrote about him, choked with emotion.
Before I start, let me warn you, this is meant to be an emotional write up. So, even if you do not feel like choking, try and swallow a chewing gum.
Satish will be really missed. You probably think how can somebody not miss someone as broad and well built as Satish...he has such ‘huge’ personality. Especially his million-dollar smile. That’s the only time when one can associate another skin colour with him!
For a person, who buys movie tickets one week in advance, to being asked to relocate to a new city in 4 days is like expecting Sachin to say, “Main, Vijay Deena Nath Chauhan” in typical Bachchan ‘Agneepath’ style!
I am sure he loved this place. No, it has got nothing to do with the soup/coffee/biscuits/ lunch/birthday cakes/evening snacks/internet connectivity....that was just office work that tragically got intertwined with this long list!
This is the place, where he taught me multi-tasking skills. I could chat, be on the phone and at the same time check those really funny forwarded mails. And of course work...
Now he will never be able to draft audit points at work.
Abhishek Saraf will no longer bother him with his excise queries. Neither will Satish get the luxury of being gifted with Cadbury’s Dairy Milk every time someone traveled from Guntur to Anaparti.
Rahul Banthia will stop calling him to advise him with his latest stock tips. Who will organize Chummery parties with him henceforth? Who will convince the ‘hardworking/home loving’ auditors to join the gang for a movie after work? Who will share his Dhania Dosas? Who will jump at the sweets in his lunch box, for a bite, and then not return them at all? Who will discuss audit observations with him as if it was a Hollywood movie?
Sai Prakash will only have Prabal Chandhok at his mercy for his long, difficult and sometimes boring Tamil conversations. Saurabh will not know who to shower his difficult English language on. Sidharth will wonder who else will give him the respect of an Englishman. Sharad will no longer be able to shower his warm (and at times alarmingly warm) brotherly feelings. Pankaj will not know who to discuss the next ‘person’ with. Meenakshi will now have to wait for another disc partner!
This guy is fun and nothing else. I have very rarely seen him serious in life. And those rare occasions have been when he urgently needed to attend his nature calls and the washroom was at vicinity.
The only talent that God mistakenly gave him was his voice. Not when he tries his level best to pronounce difficult English words without his Tamil accent. But when he sings. This man is a rebirth of Mohd Rafi. With his receeding hairline and his ever increasing waist line, he will surely go a long distance.
I hope and pray to God to please send on Earth more of such motley fools. Without people like him, all of us would be like characters of Ekta Kapoor's serials.
We will miss you Satish.
Best of Luck and God Bless.
Abhishek Gupta.
YDN-9
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening! Congratulations for continuing to remain a member of the ever growing list of ‘honorable’ subscribers of ‘Your Daily News’. The interesting and the fascinating world of news, gossip, views, comments and stories that will not only help you enlarge your knowledge base, but will also help you digest better!
In the last one and a half months of our stay in Mumbai, I have encountered lots of experiences worth sharing with you, most important being the virtues of my friends, Triyog Pandya and Rahul Banthia.
Triyog is the reincarnation of Lord Rama. He is a non-smoker, a pure vegetarian, a non-drinker and a hundred percent pious Brahmin. Well, the same is also true for a couple of other auditors in our Department. No points for guessing who! But there is one difference between him and them. He is a man….... with a very high level of energy and enthusiasm.
So, on a Tuesday, after work, we decided to pay our respect to the Raja of Mumbai, Ganapati, at his residence, the Siddhi Vinayak, sharp at 9:30pm. But alas, little did we know the Raja does not have a drawing room. Neither does He entertain guests on a one is to one basis. He has a huge durbar, with hordes of visitors queuing up for a glimpse. In common parlance, this is called a ‘darshan’. But my friend just will not give up. Like he never has before in his life. He fought his way in. Amidst girls, ladies and women. Holding my hand tight, lest I should get lost in the pallus and the dupattas. Thankfully, all the sandals and the chappals had already been taken off!
On yet another day, he decided to show me the real Mumbai. The lifeline of all Mumbaikars. So we planned to take a joy ride of the local train from Churchgate to Andheri. It was a ride yes. But I am not sure if it was joyful. By the time we got off, the two of us looked at each other and laughed. Like mad men. Possessed of the powers of spirit and alcohol. We were all ruffled. Hair messed up and standing upright. As if we had been just been electrocuted. Shirts out of our trousers. The knuckle of the belt on our waists having turned 180 degrees, was now just above our backsides! No wonder wise men always encourage two layers of clothing. An under and an outer!
I will also have to give equal footage, if not more, to Rahul, in this edition. Mr. Banthia has a fancy for three things in life. Audit issues, audit observations and audit points. As all of you must have realized, there is one word common to all of the three mentioned above! The difference though is very subtle. So when he calls you at 7 in the morning, it is to discuss an issue. During normal office hours, he discusses observations. But, when he will wake you up at 11 in the night, with his never-ending phone calls, you can rest assure, our man has arrived!
My friend, I am told, also has a personal life. He takes time out for himself once in a while. These personal moments are the ones when he prefers staying to himself and not interacting with anyone. Its like a mini sanyaas. The time when he is totally secluded from the rest of the world. Meditating and praying to God. His only accompaniments then are the toothbrush, the toothpaste, bathing soap, the melody of incessant water flow and the towel.
God bless you my friends.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
Good evening! Congratulations for continuing to remain a member of the ever growing list of ‘honorable’ subscribers of ‘Your Daily News’. The interesting and the fascinating world of news, gossip, views, comments and stories that will not only help you enlarge your knowledge base, but will also help you digest better!
In the last one and a half months of our stay in Mumbai, I have encountered lots of experiences worth sharing with you, most important being the virtues of my friends, Triyog Pandya and Rahul Banthia.
Triyog is the reincarnation of Lord Rama. He is a non-smoker, a pure vegetarian, a non-drinker and a hundred percent pious Brahmin. Well, the same is also true for a couple of other auditors in our Department. No points for guessing who! But there is one difference between him and them. He is a man….... with a very high level of energy and enthusiasm.
So, on a Tuesday, after work, we decided to pay our respect to the Raja of Mumbai, Ganapati, at his residence, the Siddhi Vinayak, sharp at 9:30pm. But alas, little did we know the Raja does not have a drawing room. Neither does He entertain guests on a one is to one basis. He has a huge durbar, with hordes of visitors queuing up for a glimpse. In common parlance, this is called a ‘darshan’. But my friend just will not give up. Like he never has before in his life. He fought his way in. Amidst girls, ladies and women. Holding my hand tight, lest I should get lost in the pallus and the dupattas. Thankfully, all the sandals and the chappals had already been taken off!
On yet another day, he decided to show me the real Mumbai. The lifeline of all Mumbaikars. So we planned to take a joy ride of the local train from Churchgate to Andheri. It was a ride yes. But I am not sure if it was joyful. By the time we got off, the two of us looked at each other and laughed. Like mad men. Possessed of the powers of spirit and alcohol. We were all ruffled. Hair messed up and standing upright. As if we had been just been electrocuted. Shirts out of our trousers. The knuckle of the belt on our waists having turned 180 degrees, was now just above our backsides! No wonder wise men always encourage two layers of clothing. An under and an outer!
I will also have to give equal footage, if not more, to Rahul, in this edition. Mr. Banthia has a fancy for three things in life. Audit issues, audit observations and audit points. As all of you must have realized, there is one word common to all of the three mentioned above! The difference though is very subtle. So when he calls you at 7 in the morning, it is to discuss an issue. During normal office hours, he discusses observations. But, when he will wake you up at 11 in the night, with his never-ending phone calls, you can rest assure, our man has arrived!
My friend, I am told, also has a personal life. He takes time out for himself once in a while. These personal moments are the ones when he prefers staying to himself and not interacting with anyone. Its like a mini sanyaas. The time when he is totally secluded from the rest of the world. Meditating and praying to God. His only accompaniments then are the toothbrush, the toothpaste, bathing soap, the melody of incessant water flow and the towel.
God bless you my friends.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
YDN-8
Good Afternoon people,
Today I was escorted to office with two khaki clad gentlemen. No. They are not from the swadeshi jagran morcha. They are employees of the Kolkata police. I have started getting threatning calls ever since I stopped writing!
Yesterday, I was given a very important responsibility. I took on my slim shoulders the burden of all fellow colleagues' contributions. Investments in the SF Cell. I will now have to ensure that their children and grandchildern can live in eternal peace long after they have become photographs on the wall!
Today Vikram is very happy. He has recently been convinced by an astrologer that he is in for a lot of higher studies in life. Only, if the famous astrologer knew about Vikram's daily habits. Watching CNBC sitting on a high tool.
The Churan and the supari we got from Vardaan market is fast diminishing. Aditya is on a religous fast this week. He survives only on mouth freshners. His seniors will now not complain of his bad breath any more.
Rahul these days is no longer punctual to office. He is no more the sharp at 9 person. He has stopped taking the 8:54 am metro. Instead, you will find him waiting everyday outside the CESC office, in full sleeves and totally drenched with perspiration. He has started taking the 9:05 Santro. Courtesy Mr. Kumar.
6th floor this week is again abuzz with a lot of activity and enthusiasm. Lots of people around. Lots of work and running around. You will even find people in ties and their cleanest of clothes. They are all here for being interviewd.
My senior just called to remind me I have an important assignment at hand. I will have to wind up. And also ask Saru for gate passes for the two gentlemen with me these days.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
Today I was escorted to office with two khaki clad gentlemen. No. They are not from the swadeshi jagran morcha. They are employees of the Kolkata police. I have started getting threatning calls ever since I stopped writing!
Yesterday, I was given a very important responsibility. I took on my slim shoulders the burden of all fellow colleagues' contributions. Investments in the SF Cell. I will now have to ensure that their children and grandchildern can live in eternal peace long after they have become photographs on the wall!
Today Vikram is very happy. He has recently been convinced by an astrologer that he is in for a lot of higher studies in life. Only, if the famous astrologer knew about Vikram's daily habits. Watching CNBC sitting on a high tool.
The Churan and the supari we got from Vardaan market is fast diminishing. Aditya is on a religous fast this week. He survives only on mouth freshners. His seniors will now not complain of his bad breath any more.
Rahul these days is no longer punctual to office. He is no more the sharp at 9 person. He has stopped taking the 8:54 am metro. Instead, you will find him waiting everyday outside the CESC office, in full sleeves and totally drenched with perspiration. He has started taking the 9:05 Santro. Courtesy Mr. Kumar.
6th floor this week is again abuzz with a lot of activity and enthusiasm. Lots of people around. Lots of work and running around. You will even find people in ties and their cleanest of clothes. They are all here for being interviewd.
My senior just called to remind me I have an important assignment at hand. I will have to wind up. And also ask Saru for gate passes for the two gentlemen with me these days.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
YDN-7
Dear All,
Today is a pleasant day here in Kolkata. Lord Surya has decided to take an off day. Many of the urban and civilized crows are also indoors. They are closely following the RPL IPO.
Yesterday, we went for our usual daily ritual after lunch. Orange Juice with pan. One of us however decided to skip both. He has recently been told that water that is used for washing betel leaves and mixing in juices is not distilled and pure. From today, he insists he will ask Latif to provide office water to the juice and the pan vendors.
People really skipped a few heartbeats when I told them that I have replaced Sid on top and now Sid is below me. What I actually meant was the 7th and 6th floors respectively. However, Rahul only smiles and winks at the two of us these days.
For a change, I am indulging in things I am not used to....for example, inviting our own Mr. Banthia to contribute to this edition his lovely thoughts on genetically modified vegetables....
All yours Rahul.............
Our lunch has become a cause of great concern. Earlier it was only 15 minutes late. Courtesy or should I say discourtesy Little Gupta's (though he insists its not his) shop. Now as investigations of Mardia's stomach and "bad breath" shows the shop is also using GM vegetables. Only God and Little Gupta can save him now. God by his Graces. And Little Gupta with his Braces.
Looks like Little Gupta can take no more of this. I will have to take leave. Maybe someday I will be back. Astla Vista Babies .........
Thank You Rahul for insisting to all I am still little and need lots of affections and braces.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
Today is a pleasant day here in Kolkata. Lord Surya has decided to take an off day. Many of the urban and civilized crows are also indoors. They are closely following the RPL IPO.
Yesterday, we went for our usual daily ritual after lunch. Orange Juice with pan. One of us however decided to skip both. He has recently been told that water that is used for washing betel leaves and mixing in juices is not distilled and pure. From today, he insists he will ask Latif to provide office water to the juice and the pan vendors.
People really skipped a few heartbeats when I told them that I have replaced Sid on top and now Sid is below me. What I actually meant was the 7th and 6th floors respectively. However, Rahul only smiles and winks at the two of us these days.
For a change, I am indulging in things I am not used to....for example, inviting our own Mr. Banthia to contribute to this edition his lovely thoughts on genetically modified vegetables....
All yours Rahul.............
Our lunch has become a cause of great concern. Earlier it was only 15 minutes late. Courtesy or should I say discourtesy Little Gupta's (though he insists its not his) shop. Now as investigations of Mardia's stomach and "bad breath" shows the shop is also using GM vegetables. Only God and Little Gupta can save him now. God by his Graces. And Little Gupta with his Braces.
Looks like Little Gupta can take no more of this. I will have to take leave. Maybe someday I will be back. Astla Vista Babies .........
Thank You Rahul for insisting to all I am still little and need lots of affections and braces.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
YDN-6
Good Afternoon everyone,
It is a wonderful day today. The onset of a new and a promising year ahead. Happy Poila Baisakh 2006 to all!
To celebrate the ocassion, we decided to have a sumptous bengali lunch. At Oh! Calcutta. Oh! it was good...the prawns, the crab claws and the fish salad. For the vegetarians, there was good fried rice. With yellow dal.
I am sure Vikram used to be a chess player in his previous birth. He took 20 minutes to pass the salt!
One of our learned new recruits insists he and his wife were happy for 20 years. Then they met.
Today, Aditya is extremely restless...now, he cant stand any more. Just like a bicycle. Both are two tired.
Rahul was today forced to realise the importance and the value of time...one minute to be precise. He was on the other side of the bathroom door in the morning.
Mishra ji, the 70 year old durwaan at home has recently been convinced of the virtues of education for children. He has started teaching to his three year old child nursery rhymes. The Rajasthani version of Johny Johny yes papa.....
Kalu Kalu
Kae Bapu
jardho khayo
na bapu
jooth bolya
na bapu
mundo khol
thu thu thu....
Yesterday, our very own Sid could not get sleep at night. He decided to have a wireless communique with Lord Krishna. He asked him..."lord, have I done anything wrong in life till date?"....A voice tapered in and replied...."This is going to take more than one night."
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
It is a wonderful day today. The onset of a new and a promising year ahead. Happy Poila Baisakh 2006 to all!
To celebrate the ocassion, we decided to have a sumptous bengali lunch. At Oh! Calcutta. Oh! it was good...the prawns, the crab claws and the fish salad. For the vegetarians, there was good fried rice. With yellow dal.
I am sure Vikram used to be a chess player in his previous birth. He took 20 minutes to pass the salt!
One of our learned new recruits insists he and his wife were happy for 20 years. Then they met.
Today, Aditya is extremely restless...now, he cant stand any more. Just like a bicycle. Both are two tired.
Rahul was today forced to realise the importance and the value of time...one minute to be precise. He was on the other side of the bathroom door in the morning.
Mishra ji, the 70 year old durwaan at home has recently been convinced of the virtues of education for children. He has started teaching to his three year old child nursery rhymes. The Rajasthani version of Johny Johny yes papa.....
Kalu Kalu
Kae Bapu
jardho khayo
na bapu
jooth bolya
na bapu
mundo khol
thu thu thu....
Yesterday, our very own Sid could not get sleep at night. He decided to have a wireless communique with Lord Krishna. He asked him..."lord, have I done anything wrong in life till date?"....A voice tapered in and replied...."This is going to take more than one night."
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
YDN-5
Hi! Yes. I know there has been a time lag. Unforeseen, but not unfortunate. So, I have decided to compensate with a juicier, longer and a far more exciting edition of your favorite update "Your Daily News".
Friday night was very auspicious. I noticed everyone saying to each other Shubho Naba Varsha. I have coincidentally studied with Shubho Sengupta in school. And Naba Jana makes lovely Sandesh at uncle’s shop. I wonder who this girl Varsha is.
Aditya was over excited since morning. He had decided to skip his routine temple visit. Instead, he wanted to go to BED with Rahul. That’s Bars Entertainment and Dining. And nothing more, thankfully! He danced that night.like a man possessed. With the passion and fire of a wet matchstick.
Vikram these days is taking lessons. No. Please do not be surprised. It is not on financial derivatives or the like.He is learning the basics of Bengali. So, he learnt singing is ‘baaje’ and a girl is ‘meye’. Nowadays, whenever he hears Srimayee singing, he calls her a ‘baaje meye’.
Mr. Kumar is a gentleman. I look up to him for lots of inspiration and motivation in life. So, on the days when he religiously sends his ‘thought of the day’, I am almost in tears. But, surprisingly, he has also stopped being regular. I think his subscription to www.aao_gyan_baate.com must have expired.
Rahul these days is very keen to celebrate week ends. He has very recently read in a bill board advertisement ‘Drink Kolkata Dry’. He has just started.
The trainees in the Legal Department believe that Sid is the most decent, well mannered, polite and silent person, in our department. Just like an Englishman, who forms an orderly queue of one, even when he is alone.
I met with a serious tragedy yesterday. I cut my finger. What cheered me up though was when my neighbor, Sukhbir Singh fell into the open sewer and came out resembling Rajnikant.
Yesterday, Latif decided to bunk. And rightly so. The weather was just perfect. But Vikram and I really missed him. Specially in the evening. I had promised to treat him to chicken rolls. I felt so helpless?like a one legged man in a bum kicking competition.
I had the priviledge to work with Srimayee for as long as 78 hours. I think she was assigned the seniour auditor role. But what is most upseting is that these days she gets sleepless nights. Its her first marriage after all. She is understandably nervous. So, she decided to go shopping at a store that was offering? Buy one for the price of two and get the second one free? Let us all wish her a happy, fruitful and a long wedding....
Our friends from Chennai are back. Saraf ji and G Satish Ji. Both are wonderful human beings. Our department once again has a few macho men around. And people have once again started laughing...with saraf ji, and at satsh ji!
Friday night was very auspicious. I noticed everyone saying to each other Shubho Naba Varsha. I have coincidentally studied with Shubho Sengupta in school. And Naba Jana makes lovely Sandesh at uncle’s shop. I wonder who this girl Varsha is.
Aditya was over excited since morning. He had decided to skip his routine temple visit. Instead, he wanted to go to BED with Rahul. That’s Bars Entertainment and Dining. And nothing more, thankfully! He danced that night.like a man possessed. With the passion and fire of a wet matchstick.
Vikram these days is taking lessons. No. Please do not be surprised. It is not on financial derivatives or the like.He is learning the basics of Bengali. So, he learnt singing is ‘baaje’ and a girl is ‘meye’. Nowadays, whenever he hears Srimayee singing, he calls her a ‘baaje meye’.
Mr. Kumar is a gentleman. I look up to him for lots of inspiration and motivation in life. So, on the days when he religiously sends his ‘thought of the day’, I am almost in tears. But, surprisingly, he has also stopped being regular. I think his subscription to www.aao_gyan_baate.com must have expired.
Rahul these days is very keen to celebrate week ends. He has very recently read in a bill board advertisement ‘Drink Kolkata Dry’. He has just started.
The trainees in the Legal Department believe that Sid is the most decent, well mannered, polite and silent person, in our department. Just like an Englishman, who forms an orderly queue of one, even when he is alone.
I met with a serious tragedy yesterday. I cut my finger. What cheered me up though was when my neighbor, Sukhbir Singh fell into the open sewer and came out resembling Rajnikant.
Yesterday, Latif decided to bunk. And rightly so. The weather was just perfect. But Vikram and I really missed him. Specially in the evening. I had promised to treat him to chicken rolls. I felt so helpless?like a one legged man in a bum kicking competition.
I had the priviledge to work with Srimayee for as long as 78 hours. I think she was assigned the seniour auditor role. But what is most upseting is that these days she gets sleepless nights. Its her first marriage after all. She is understandably nervous. So, she decided to go shopping at a store that was offering? Buy one for the price of two and get the second one free? Let us all wish her a happy, fruitful and a long wedding....
Our friends from Chennai are back. Saraf ji and G Satish Ji. Both are wonderful human beings. Our department once again has a few macho men around. And people have once again started laughing...with saraf ji, and at satsh ji!
YDN-4
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon! A very ‘Happy Diwali 2006’ to all of you and your family members.
I will take this opportunity to enlighten everyone in the Department about the virtues of Social Development. It is indeed a thing to be proud of. For the Chairman, the directors, all employees, shareholders, beneficiaries, the NGOs involved and internal auditors- only that blessed lot who has had the privilege of actually being a part of the initiative.
On the 3rd of last month, three of us, handsome, smart, intelligent and fair (but one) young men checked in and managed to surpass the intense scrutiny of the airport security and metal detectors. The security guards were busy discussing their wives' puja expenses. The metal detectors forgot to beep. We had armed ourselves with plenty of arsenal and weapons to audit with. It was an important mission.
Satish (referred to earlier as 'but one') had the 'Madhya Pradesh Bhu Rajsyva Sanghita'. A document in Hindi/Sanskrit, which he till date has not been able to comprehend. He claims to have an audit point on non-compliance with the former. Aditya Modi very cleverly hid two digital cameras in the inner most pockets he could sport. Please do not ask me the locational details of these 'inner most' pockets. Prabal Chandhok had entrusted me with the important responsibility of bringing with me, his auditing skills. 'Skills' are usually interpreted as things that are intangible. However, in the case of my friend, it means his sports shoes!
We reached Bhopal. Prabal was waiting for us at the airport. With an Indica I presume would have been sufficient for him alone. We however somehow managed to squeeze in. One on top of another. The luggage that is! And reached Noor Us Subah. That very place where Mr. Rao had taken the ATI December 2005 batch for a tourist visit. After 50 minutes of a whirl wind tour of the heritage hotel, he decided, much to our relief, that we should also have dinner at the same place!
A couple of induction days in Bhopal helped us increase our arsenal with more probable concern areas to look into in depth. One of them being self help groups comprising of Rajasthani women.
With all this enthusiasm and the energy, we boarded the Inter city Bhopal- Ratlam express to get to the latter place. I unfortunately, had to bid goodbye to Modi and Satish and left for my actual battleground. It was meant to be Pratapgarh in Rajasthan. But I was put up in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. As if it was a journey from Ballygunge to Russel Street everyday.
The Tata Sumo given to help me reach, had a Sardar from Rajasthan at its wheels. This Sardar, nicknamed Pappu reminded me of the handsome Vinay Baheti without specks, with the big turban of Jasraj Singh Grewal on top. And he used to drive like Satish does. Frequently forgetting that every vehicle also has something called ‘brakes’.
On a field day, while we were visiting villages, it suddenly struck the NGO people that it was 4 in the evening and they had not yet offered to me anything edible. Other than tea full of milk and sugarcane juice! One such villager, Thakur Vijay Pratap Singh, happened to overhear our conversation. He immediately offered to help us and take us to his home for lunch. I readily agreed. (As if I had any other choice). I could see three women, briskly doing the rounds of the kitchen and the common sitting area (under the sun). All seemed to be in a hurry. But in the midst of all this chaos, they did not forget to ensure that their entire face was well covered with the pallus of their saris. Alas…….
The lunch offered to me was extremely homely, well cooked and served absolutely hot. I was given four ‘bajra’ rotis. Each one as thick as McDonalds Veggie burgers. And droplets of desi ghee falling off the edges of the rotis as if there was a leak in the terrace on a rainy day! With the rotis came another mouth watering dish. A pure vegetarian sabji that had in it green chillies and lots of masala for flavour. And the dressing given to the sabji was absolutely red in colour. Red Chili powder gently, but generously sprinkled on top! Don’t even ask me what happened to my early morning rituals for the next three days. All I can say is I was on liquid diet for the rest of my stay in Mandsaur!
The second NGO audit was relatively much better. In terms of accommodation, food and pin drop silence. Prabal had decided it was time for him to finally bid good bye to Munger. And join me in SDI! Munger has changed our friend to a considerable extent. He has learnt to respond to a hello as ‘Namaste’ and talk only when spoken to. In a yes or a no only. So, when you ask him ‘hungry kya?’, ….well you know what the answer will be, don’t you? There is a third compliment also that Prabal got from one of the villagers- ‘ a videshi who speaks and understands Hindi quite well’.
Folks, Triyog has promised to take care of my security from the second that this mail is shot to all you ‘esteemed subscribers’. For Prabal might have lost some weight, his punch remains as hard as ever!
Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
Good afternoon! A very ‘Happy Diwali 2006’ to all of you and your family members.
I will take this opportunity to enlighten everyone in the Department about the virtues of Social Development. It is indeed a thing to be proud of. For the Chairman, the directors, all employees, shareholders, beneficiaries, the NGOs involved and internal auditors- only that blessed lot who has had the privilege of actually being a part of the initiative.
On the 3rd of last month, three of us, handsome, smart, intelligent and fair (but one) young men checked in and managed to surpass the intense scrutiny of the airport security and metal detectors. The security guards were busy discussing their wives' puja expenses. The metal detectors forgot to beep. We had armed ourselves with plenty of arsenal and weapons to audit with. It was an important mission.
Satish (referred to earlier as 'but one') had the 'Madhya Pradesh Bhu Rajsyva Sanghita'. A document in Hindi/Sanskrit, which he till date has not been able to comprehend. He claims to have an audit point on non-compliance with the former. Aditya Modi very cleverly hid two digital cameras in the inner most pockets he could sport. Please do not ask me the locational details of these 'inner most' pockets. Prabal Chandhok had entrusted me with the important responsibility of bringing with me, his auditing skills. 'Skills' are usually interpreted as things that are intangible. However, in the case of my friend, it means his sports shoes!
We reached Bhopal. Prabal was waiting for us at the airport. With an Indica I presume would have been sufficient for him alone. We however somehow managed to squeeze in. One on top of another. The luggage that is! And reached Noor Us Subah. That very place where Mr. Rao had taken the ATI December 2005 batch for a tourist visit. After 50 minutes of a whirl wind tour of the heritage hotel, he decided, much to our relief, that we should also have dinner at the same place!
A couple of induction days in Bhopal helped us increase our arsenal with more probable concern areas to look into in depth. One of them being self help groups comprising of Rajasthani women.
With all this enthusiasm and the energy, we boarded the Inter city Bhopal- Ratlam express to get to the latter place. I unfortunately, had to bid goodbye to Modi and Satish and left for my actual battleground. It was meant to be Pratapgarh in Rajasthan. But I was put up in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. As if it was a journey from Ballygunge to Russel Street everyday.
The Tata Sumo given to help me reach, had a Sardar from Rajasthan at its wheels. This Sardar, nicknamed Pappu reminded me of the handsome Vinay Baheti without specks, with the big turban of Jasraj Singh Grewal on top. And he used to drive like Satish does. Frequently forgetting that every vehicle also has something called ‘brakes’.
On a field day, while we were visiting villages, it suddenly struck the NGO people that it was 4 in the evening and they had not yet offered to me anything edible. Other than tea full of milk and sugarcane juice! One such villager, Thakur Vijay Pratap Singh, happened to overhear our conversation. He immediately offered to help us and take us to his home for lunch. I readily agreed. (As if I had any other choice). I could see three women, briskly doing the rounds of the kitchen and the common sitting area (under the sun). All seemed to be in a hurry. But in the midst of all this chaos, they did not forget to ensure that their entire face was well covered with the pallus of their saris. Alas…….
The lunch offered to me was extremely homely, well cooked and served absolutely hot. I was given four ‘bajra’ rotis. Each one as thick as McDonalds Veggie burgers. And droplets of desi ghee falling off the edges of the rotis as if there was a leak in the terrace on a rainy day! With the rotis came another mouth watering dish. A pure vegetarian sabji that had in it green chillies and lots of masala for flavour. And the dressing given to the sabji was absolutely red in colour. Red Chili powder gently, but generously sprinkled on top! Don’t even ask me what happened to my early morning rituals for the next three days. All I can say is I was on liquid diet for the rest of my stay in Mandsaur!
The second NGO audit was relatively much better. In terms of accommodation, food and pin drop silence. Prabal had decided it was time for him to finally bid good bye to Munger. And join me in SDI! Munger has changed our friend to a considerable extent. He has learnt to respond to a hello as ‘Namaste’ and talk only when spoken to. In a yes or a no only. So, when you ask him ‘hungry kya?’, ….well you know what the answer will be, don’t you? There is a third compliment also that Prabal got from one of the villagers- ‘ a videshi who speaks and understands Hindi quite well’.
Folks, Triyog has promised to take care of my security from the second that this mail is shot to all you ‘esteemed subscribers’. For Prabal might have lost some weight, his punch remains as hard as ever!
Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
YDN- 3
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Morning!
At the outset, let me wish all of you and your family members "Shubho Bijoya 2006" and a prosperous future ahead. This year's pujas are over. But its memories will last long in the minds of atleast nine (plus one) in the Department for many years to come.
On saptami day, nine enthusiastic, young, excited and 'brave' men and women decided to leave office with a mission. To cover all the hip and happening puja pandals of South Calcutta. We set out accordingly and boarded a metro train for destination Kalighat. Only, when we got down, did we realised the (plus one) was missing.! Mr. Baheti, the modern and suave Prabhu Deva, had decided to head to a dandiaotsav instead! But we did not let his absence dent our spirits in any way. The train was full....with men, kids, girls, women and aunties. (By the way, the difference between the last three is very subtle. Girls talk a lot. Women talk more. Aunties only complain!). Thankfully, our group had only two girls. Meenakshi, does that make you feel good? Everyone on the train had brought something for their fellow passengers. No, it was not good wishes for the festive spirit. It was the lovely smell of ladies perfume and AXE deoderant mixed with the natural smell of human perspiration! In fact, a young girl in her teens also had to change her sitting place because our macho Satish was literally standing on her head. And holding the handle of the train!
The first mind blowing pandal of the evening was Badam Tala on Rashbehari Crossing. It was very unique, very different and very colourful. Just like the shirts Saurav wears to office these days. All of us were short of words. Not one proper adjective came to anyone's minds to explain its beauty and the sheer innovation. The only words Vinit and Sharad were using amongst themselves were ' wow' and ' bindaas'. But there was one guy amidst us who had just, all of a sudden become quiet. Rather speechless. Triyog had only decided to let his Nokia N Series do the difficult task of encapsulating the beauty of the Kolkata Pujo. To the extent that by the time, he had finished taking his pictures, he realised he was in the middle of nowhere and that his trusted comrades in command were all missing! Had it not been for the height of Vinit, the voice of Meenakshi and the double tyre of Satish, I am afraid, Triyog today would have been in some 'lost and found' department of the 'Sarbajannan Pujo Committee, 2006'.
Our next big target for the evening was Mudiali. We had decided to take two taxis from Kalighat after we were done with the visits of the nearby pujas of Rashbehari and Southern Avenue. But, thanks to our cheer leader and her deputy, we kept on walking. Till we bumped into one pandal after another. We thought the only way to remain cheerful and not become aunties (remember the definition?), we should sing aloud songs of motivation. And encourage others also to join in. I had initially thought these songs would either be Bengali Rabindra Sangeet or Hindi Bhajans. But my friend Satish had something else in his mind. He held my hand, counted 1...2....3.....4 and began aloud............tu hi meri shab hai jahan hai.........ooo....ooooooooooooooooooooooo......oooo........ooooooooooooooooooo
All of a sudden from nowhere, we were surrounded by old, dhoti clad men with the puja samity worker id cards hung around their necks. They were staring at us. Just like Shakti Kapoor does to his next teenage target. Even before anyone of us could exchange pleasantries with these men, one oldie started shouting at the top of his voice. Trembling, shivering and shaking all the while. But how Satish reacted could have won him many aunty hearts! He gently patted the back of the oldie shouting at him, wished him namaste and smiled. By now, things were under control and the volunteer had cooled down. All of us started applauding. Gandhigiri had worked! It took us only two more minutes to realise that the ' budha' had disappeared to get in some young blood for help. It was time to say 'Salaam Namaste' now and escape to better pastures!
For those of you in the department who were not a part of this gang, Triyog has promised to not let anyone miss out on the wonderful pictures he has taken. Including that of the Muri wala on Lake View Road using 'ITC Annual Report 2006' as his 'thongas'!
Cheers and God Bless!
Abhishek Gupta.
Good Morning!
At the outset, let me wish all of you and your family members "Shubho Bijoya 2006" and a prosperous future ahead. This year's pujas are over. But its memories will last long in the minds of atleast nine (plus one) in the Department for many years to come.
On saptami day, nine enthusiastic, young, excited and 'brave' men and women decided to leave office with a mission. To cover all the hip and happening puja pandals of South Calcutta. We set out accordingly and boarded a metro train for destination Kalighat. Only, when we got down, did we realised the (plus one) was missing.! Mr. Baheti, the modern and suave Prabhu Deva, had decided to head to a dandiaotsav instead! But we did not let his absence dent our spirits in any way. The train was full....with men, kids, girls, women and aunties. (By the way, the difference between the last three is very subtle. Girls talk a lot. Women talk more. Aunties only complain!). Thankfully, our group had only two girls. Meenakshi, does that make you feel good? Everyone on the train had brought something for their fellow passengers. No, it was not good wishes for the festive spirit. It was the lovely smell of ladies perfume and AXE deoderant mixed with the natural smell of human perspiration! In fact, a young girl in her teens also had to change her sitting place because our macho Satish was literally standing on her head. And holding the handle of the train!
The first mind blowing pandal of the evening was Badam Tala on Rashbehari Crossing. It was very unique, very different and very colourful. Just like the shirts Saurav wears to office these days. All of us were short of words. Not one proper adjective came to anyone's minds to explain its beauty and the sheer innovation. The only words Vinit and Sharad were using amongst themselves were ' wow' and ' bindaas'. But there was one guy amidst us who had just, all of a sudden become quiet. Rather speechless. Triyog had only decided to let his Nokia N Series do the difficult task of encapsulating the beauty of the Kolkata Pujo. To the extent that by the time, he had finished taking his pictures, he realised he was in the middle of nowhere and that his trusted comrades in command were all missing! Had it not been for the height of Vinit, the voice of Meenakshi and the double tyre of Satish, I am afraid, Triyog today would have been in some 'lost and found' department of the 'Sarbajannan Pujo Committee, 2006'.
Our next big target for the evening was Mudiali. We had decided to take two taxis from Kalighat after we were done with the visits of the nearby pujas of Rashbehari and Southern Avenue. But, thanks to our cheer leader and her deputy, we kept on walking. Till we bumped into one pandal after another. We thought the only way to remain cheerful and not become aunties (remember the definition?), we should sing aloud songs of motivation. And encourage others also to join in. I had initially thought these songs would either be Bengali Rabindra Sangeet or Hindi Bhajans. But my friend Satish had something else in his mind. He held my hand, counted 1...2....3.....4 and began aloud............tu hi meri shab hai jahan hai.........ooo....ooooooooooooooooooooooo......oooo........ooooooooooooooooooo
All of a sudden from nowhere, we were surrounded by old, dhoti clad men with the puja samity worker id cards hung around their necks. They were staring at us. Just like Shakti Kapoor does to his next teenage target. Even before anyone of us could exchange pleasantries with these men, one oldie started shouting at the top of his voice. Trembling, shivering and shaking all the while. But how Satish reacted could have won him many aunty hearts! He gently patted the back of the oldie shouting at him, wished him namaste and smiled. By now, things were under control and the volunteer had cooled down. All of us started applauding. Gandhigiri had worked! It took us only two more minutes to realise that the ' budha' had disappeared to get in some young blood for help. It was time to say 'Salaam Namaste' now and escape to better pastures!
For those of you in the department who were not a part of this gang, Triyog has promised to not let anyone miss out on the wonderful pictures he has taken. Including that of the Muri wala on Lake View Road using 'ITC Annual Report 2006' as his 'thongas'!
Cheers and God Bless!
Abhishek Gupta.
YDN-2
Hi! Today is Monday, the 10th of April, 2006. And it is a historic day. Read on....
It is 47 minutes past 2 in the afternoon. The sun is at 98 degrees towards the west. But it is still blazing away. The humidity is close to 88%. Temperature would be in the range of 28 degrees celsius. A 10 minutes walk in and around Virginia House will totally drench you.
Yet, 4 of us from the department today took a bold initiative. With strong determination and focussed resolve, we ventured out. Out in the sun. Out in this heat. Out in the humid, polluted, sticky and dusty air.
Nutan, Vikram, Aditya and I. Only for the common good and general well being of fellow auditors, managers, secretaries and Meenakshi.
Vikram was kind enough to be so considerate. He let his work wait, for him to come back ,for almost an hour. However, he was alert enough to send a lotus note to his seniors. This was an important mission. He took it seriously. And rightly so.
Aditya readily agreed to accompany the rest when he got to know that a Shiva mandir would fall on the way. However, to his disappointment, this time Lord Shiva had had a very heavy lunch. Puris with lots of Alu and Gobi. With Gulab Jamun as dessert. He was taking an afternoon nap.
I could hear lots of cars and even a milkman's bicycle screech to halt. None of the drivers however made faces or abused. Nutan was trying to cross the heavy traffic road.
We finally managed to return to office, sharp at 10 minutes past two in the afternoon. Our mission accomplished, we are all very satisfied now. Moreover the endless thanks and appreciation that we are being showered upon makes me feel very proud of myself.
In fact, Aditya vouches for the fact that he has only once felt better in life. That ocassion being when he was born.
So, folks, for the next 15 days atleast, no one in the department will be deprived of mouth freshners after a heavy lunch.
The four of us actually risked sun tan and viral fever from the heat to go to Vardaan Market and get supari and churan!
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
It is 47 minutes past 2 in the afternoon. The sun is at 98 degrees towards the west. But it is still blazing away. The humidity is close to 88%. Temperature would be in the range of 28 degrees celsius. A 10 minutes walk in and around Virginia House will totally drench you.
Yet, 4 of us from the department today took a bold initiative. With strong determination and focussed resolve, we ventured out. Out in the sun. Out in this heat. Out in the humid, polluted, sticky and dusty air.
Nutan, Vikram, Aditya and I. Only for the common good and general well being of fellow auditors, managers, secretaries and Meenakshi.
Vikram was kind enough to be so considerate. He let his work wait, for him to come back ,for almost an hour. However, he was alert enough to send a lotus note to his seniors. This was an important mission. He took it seriously. And rightly so.
Aditya readily agreed to accompany the rest when he got to know that a Shiva mandir would fall on the way. However, to his disappointment, this time Lord Shiva had had a very heavy lunch. Puris with lots of Alu and Gobi. With Gulab Jamun as dessert. He was taking an afternoon nap.
I could hear lots of cars and even a milkman's bicycle screech to halt. None of the drivers however made faces or abused. Nutan was trying to cross the heavy traffic road.
We finally managed to return to office, sharp at 10 minutes past two in the afternoon. Our mission accomplished, we are all very satisfied now. Moreover the endless thanks and appreciation that we are being showered upon makes me feel very proud of myself.
In fact, Aditya vouches for the fact that he has only once felt better in life. That ocassion being when he was born.
So, folks, for the next 15 days atleast, no one in the department will be deprived of mouth freshners after a heavy lunch.
The four of us actually risked sun tan and viral fever from the heat to go to Vardaan Market and get supari and churan!
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
YDN-1
Good Morning People,
On popular demand, I bring to you today's edition of ' Your Daily News'.
Please note, yesterday being Ramnavami, many of my reliable and credible sources of information did not report at all. So, you will have to put up only with some serious gossip. Apologies.
Elections in Calcutta are near. I got the entire front wall of my house painted for free. But the crooks wrote something in Bengali and fled.
Lunch these days is never coming on time. I have complained to the authorities. Unfortunately, my uncle was at the receiving end. He does not talk to me any more.
Yesterday, we had fun at the Chamri. Only, the host, Vikram was missing. We had to convince Bansi da to give us his share to eat for dinner. Vikram, I learnt later, ate muri with Uncle Chips.
Today, it is very hot outside. But we will still not give up on the juice and pan we have after lunch. Rahul has been kind enough to bring oranges and betel leaf from gariahat market.
Yesterday, Aditya made Lord Shiva wait patiently for almost an hour. He was hogging my share of Vikram's dinner.
Today, everybody in office is very quiet. Excitement or planning for the weekend, I do not know. But, when I stood up from the little ' Gupta Corner', I realised there were only three people around. One of which was Latif.
I happen to bump into colleagues these days mostly in the wash room. They call it coincidence. I think it is the strong air conditioning.
I am eagerly looking forward to some break from the serious stuff I indulge in these days. My manager read my mind. He is giving me my new assignment very soon.
Lastly, people, please take this mail very seriously. It will help you focus and concentrate better.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
On popular demand, I bring to you today's edition of ' Your Daily News'.
Please note, yesterday being Ramnavami, many of my reliable and credible sources of information did not report at all. So, you will have to put up only with some serious gossip. Apologies.
Elections in Calcutta are near. I got the entire front wall of my house painted for free. But the crooks wrote something in Bengali and fled.
Lunch these days is never coming on time. I have complained to the authorities. Unfortunately, my uncle was at the receiving end. He does not talk to me any more.
Yesterday, we had fun at the Chamri. Only, the host, Vikram was missing. We had to convince Bansi da to give us his share to eat for dinner. Vikram, I learnt later, ate muri with Uncle Chips.
Today, it is very hot outside. But we will still not give up on the juice and pan we have after lunch. Rahul has been kind enough to bring oranges and betel leaf from gariahat market.
Yesterday, Aditya made Lord Shiva wait patiently for almost an hour. He was hogging my share of Vikram's dinner.
Today, everybody in office is very quiet. Excitement or planning for the weekend, I do not know. But, when I stood up from the little ' Gupta Corner', I realised there were only three people around. One of which was Latif.
I happen to bump into colleagues these days mostly in the wash room. They call it coincidence. I think it is the strong air conditioning.
I am eagerly looking forward to some break from the serious stuff I indulge in these days. My manager read my mind. He is giving me my new assignment very soon.
Lastly, people, please take this mail very seriously. It will help you focus and concentrate better.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
Taking a chance on Healthy Living?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, I have set upon myself the crucial task of evaluating the pros and cons of taking a chance on healthy living.
Even before I begin, I must admit. The progression from the very ‘serious’ editions of ‘Your Daily News’, to a dossier on your should- be eating habits and fitness routine, will be very difficult for me. I will have to put myself in the shoes of the ‘health -freak elderly aunty’ who keeps on irritating most of us with her constant lectures on healthy eating and regular morning walks. Hence, I must warn you. Please read on only if you either need a break from drafting DAPS or feel that the forwards that hit your mail box these days do not tickle your funny bone any longer!
All of us, auditors in the Department, have one thing in common. That is if you leave aside the basic fundamentals of eating, sleeping and making sure your early morning rituals make you start feeling hungry again! All of you have had the wonderful opportunity to interact with the wise men of the Company. Yes, those same gentlemen who took your interview and decided you are best fit to understand ‘RISK’ and mitigate them!
Well, here is the common link. One of the most important aspects of living a healthy and prosperous life is understanding ‘risk’. Very few of us know how to understand and analyze situations in life that affect health. Being able to accurately weigh benefits and risks when making health decisions (such as when, what and most importantly, where to eat in an outstation audit location, or for that matter, simple decisions on what kind of filtered water you want the Stuart to serve you) is very important! We often tend to base our decisions on incomplete or inaccurate information and this is a huge mistake with significant consequences! I apologize in advance if I might sound like one of your Audit Managers during the Audit induction at Sonar Bangla! But here I go, “Assessing ‘risk’ is nothing more than collecting information, weighing the alternatives and then making appropriate decisions based on the information.”Some risks to our health are more "real" than others. For example, it is common knowledge that obesity is associated with a wide variety of health problems. Over the couple of years that I have been in the Department, I have noticed a common tendency amongst most male colleagues to put on weight. I am myself (or rather used to be till a little while ago) a living example. I appreciate the fact that being a loyal and a hard worker, the Company has decided that you deserve an extra amount of pampering. Your Hotel ‘Travel Expenditure’ claim eligibilities are ample evidence of that. But does it mean you start eating more? Or does it give you the liberty to eat the wrong food, at the wrong place? How many of us care to go for a short walk after that heavy meal? How many of us make sure we are drinking lots of water at regular intervals? Most importantly, do we even know whether the water we are drinking is filtered, is mineral water or just tap water from the wash basin sink of that highly rated restaurant? Have you ever calculated in your mind at what intervals of time are you having your meals-breakfast, lunch and dinner?
By now, this word document must have already started getting a lot of nasty stares with some people also trashing it and commanding it off to the recycle bin, as an utter waste of time! Trust me. I would have done quite the same if I was in the middle of an intense audit review, with the Audit Manager’s heavy voice on the other side of the phone making me go weak in my legs! But if you have still decided that it seems to be a good bed time story, read on.
I can safely claim to know the answers to all of the questions I asked above.
Very few of us actually eat more. However, what we invariably do not have the ‘time’ to do is the pursuit of some kind of a routine physical activity. It need not be in the nature of a regular visit to the gym or to the swimming pool. In any case, in an outstation location, trying to figure out where is the nearest public sanitation facility can itself be a daunting task! But what most of us can surely have the time, will and energy to do is to make sure we walk short distances, do a free arm exercise in the mornings before you hit the washroom, and do not skip breakfast!
With the kind of entitlements we are eligible for; only a moron would like to eat his daily supper at a road side dhaba. So, most of us, I assume, would also not eat at the wrong place.
However, there will still remain a couple of questions, the answers to which will not be very forthcoming. First, do we eat the correct food and supplement our high intakes of oil and cholesterol with adequate doses of fruits and green vegetables? And second, are we very strict with our supper timings and would like to maintain them come what may?
There are some health risks that are so remote we rarely think about them. On a practical level, eating highly processed foods and avoiding a daily dose of fresh fruits and vegetables is rarely considered serious. But, as I have recently discovered, the long range consequences of this practice are real and devastating.
These days, Food Bazaar, Subhiksha, Spenser’s and the likes are opening up stores all over the country, with the same fire and pace with which Mamata Banerjee decides to call her ‘Bengal Bandhs’. It should not be very difficult for any of you to shop for good quality, hygienic and fresh fruits. That too against a proper voucher for the same! Don’t you want to keep Mrs Gita Gupta of Corporate Accounts busy with your TE processing?
Accurately define your present situation and assess your health "risks". Are you eating a healthy diet? Are you getting enough exercise and good quality sleep? What are the consequences if you DON'T change? Weigh the benefits of healthier living vs. the potential risks of a medical ailment such as increased cost, inconvenience and discomfort.
The best method I can suggest you, to reduce your risk is by being smart! So if your ‘highly charged up’ audit team members insist that the only way to get hold of that extra audit point is by giving company to the contracted security staff personnel past midnight, keep those ‘Sunfeast’ packets handy. Make sure you are through with dinner at the correct time (even if it has to be laid out on the office table).
Get involved, be smart about how you play the game, come prepared for a few failures along the way, but don't QUIT. You will reap the benefits for your effort and live a happier and a healthier life.
You might think I am contesting for the post of the Health Minister of India. But for those of you who actually had the time to read the whole article, you must by now have been either convinced, or totally confused! Well, if it is the latter, please do not expect another set of ‘eye openers’ on health. I think I am best fit to continue being serious in my editions of ‘Your Daily News’!
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
Today, I have set upon myself the crucial task of evaluating the pros and cons of taking a chance on healthy living.
Even before I begin, I must admit. The progression from the very ‘serious’ editions of ‘Your Daily News’, to a dossier on your should- be eating habits and fitness routine, will be very difficult for me. I will have to put myself in the shoes of the ‘health -freak elderly aunty’ who keeps on irritating most of us with her constant lectures on healthy eating and regular morning walks. Hence, I must warn you. Please read on only if you either need a break from drafting DAPS or feel that the forwards that hit your mail box these days do not tickle your funny bone any longer!
All of us, auditors in the Department, have one thing in common. That is if you leave aside the basic fundamentals of eating, sleeping and making sure your early morning rituals make you start feeling hungry again! All of you have had the wonderful opportunity to interact with the wise men of the Company. Yes, those same gentlemen who took your interview and decided you are best fit to understand ‘RISK’ and mitigate them!
Well, here is the common link. One of the most important aspects of living a healthy and prosperous life is understanding ‘risk’. Very few of us know how to understand and analyze situations in life that affect health. Being able to accurately weigh benefits and risks when making health decisions (such as when, what and most importantly, where to eat in an outstation audit location, or for that matter, simple decisions on what kind of filtered water you want the Stuart to serve you) is very important! We often tend to base our decisions on incomplete or inaccurate information and this is a huge mistake with significant consequences! I apologize in advance if I might sound like one of your Audit Managers during the Audit induction at Sonar Bangla! But here I go, “Assessing ‘risk’ is nothing more than collecting information, weighing the alternatives and then making appropriate decisions based on the information.”Some risks to our health are more "real" than others. For example, it is common knowledge that obesity is associated with a wide variety of health problems. Over the couple of years that I have been in the Department, I have noticed a common tendency amongst most male colleagues to put on weight. I am myself (or rather used to be till a little while ago) a living example. I appreciate the fact that being a loyal and a hard worker, the Company has decided that you deserve an extra amount of pampering. Your Hotel ‘Travel Expenditure’ claim eligibilities are ample evidence of that. But does it mean you start eating more? Or does it give you the liberty to eat the wrong food, at the wrong place? How many of us care to go for a short walk after that heavy meal? How many of us make sure we are drinking lots of water at regular intervals? Most importantly, do we even know whether the water we are drinking is filtered, is mineral water or just tap water from the wash basin sink of that highly rated restaurant? Have you ever calculated in your mind at what intervals of time are you having your meals-breakfast, lunch and dinner?
By now, this word document must have already started getting a lot of nasty stares with some people also trashing it and commanding it off to the recycle bin, as an utter waste of time! Trust me. I would have done quite the same if I was in the middle of an intense audit review, with the Audit Manager’s heavy voice on the other side of the phone making me go weak in my legs! But if you have still decided that it seems to be a good bed time story, read on.
I can safely claim to know the answers to all of the questions I asked above.
Very few of us actually eat more. However, what we invariably do not have the ‘time’ to do is the pursuit of some kind of a routine physical activity. It need not be in the nature of a regular visit to the gym or to the swimming pool. In any case, in an outstation location, trying to figure out where is the nearest public sanitation facility can itself be a daunting task! But what most of us can surely have the time, will and energy to do is to make sure we walk short distances, do a free arm exercise in the mornings before you hit the washroom, and do not skip breakfast!
With the kind of entitlements we are eligible for; only a moron would like to eat his daily supper at a road side dhaba. So, most of us, I assume, would also not eat at the wrong place.
However, there will still remain a couple of questions, the answers to which will not be very forthcoming. First, do we eat the correct food and supplement our high intakes of oil and cholesterol with adequate doses of fruits and green vegetables? And second, are we very strict with our supper timings and would like to maintain them come what may?
There are some health risks that are so remote we rarely think about them. On a practical level, eating highly processed foods and avoiding a daily dose of fresh fruits and vegetables is rarely considered serious. But, as I have recently discovered, the long range consequences of this practice are real and devastating.
These days, Food Bazaar, Subhiksha, Spenser’s and the likes are opening up stores all over the country, with the same fire and pace with which Mamata Banerjee decides to call her ‘Bengal Bandhs’. It should not be very difficult for any of you to shop for good quality, hygienic and fresh fruits. That too against a proper voucher for the same! Don’t you want to keep Mrs Gita Gupta of Corporate Accounts busy with your TE processing?
Accurately define your present situation and assess your health "risks". Are you eating a healthy diet? Are you getting enough exercise and good quality sleep? What are the consequences if you DON'T change? Weigh the benefits of healthier living vs. the potential risks of a medical ailment such as increased cost, inconvenience and discomfort.
The best method I can suggest you, to reduce your risk is by being smart! So if your ‘highly charged up’ audit team members insist that the only way to get hold of that extra audit point is by giving company to the contracted security staff personnel past midnight, keep those ‘Sunfeast’ packets handy. Make sure you are through with dinner at the correct time (even if it has to be laid out on the office table).
Get involved, be smart about how you play the game, come prepared for a few failures along the way, but don't QUIT. You will reap the benefits for your effort and live a happier and a healthier life.
You might think I am contesting for the post of the Health Minister of India. But for those of you who actually had the time to read the whole article, you must by now have been either convinced, or totally confused! Well, if it is the latter, please do not expect another set of ‘eye openers’ on health. I think I am best fit to continue being serious in my editions of ‘Your Daily News’!
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
YDN-12
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Morning! Shubo Bijoya and a Happy Diwali in advance!
As I embark upon rediscovering my writing skills after a span of almost ten months, there were quite a few things on my mind.
I made sure the spelling and grammar check of MS Word was activated, the innumerable stories and comic events of these last few months were still fresh in my mind, the erstwhile warriors of our department were pending a befitting farewell speech, the new incumbents were due for a warm welcome and the secretaries had been unduly deprived of a very justified break from the routine and the mundane.
In short, welcome to the world of fun, laughter, gossip and entertainment. It’s been a while I wrote. But I will try and compensate the time lag with a fairly longer edition of your favorite update, ‘Your Daily News’. This name, ‘Your Daily News’ is indeed ironical. The last time I wrote was in January 07! This is like Pankaj Agarwal, claiming to be a regular diner at McDonald’s while staying in the holy town of Bhadrachalam!
The first four months of 2007 took me to cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Sonepat, Narela, Una, Ahmedabad and Saharanpur! I will not be surprised if Jha ji reminds me of a few names I might have missed out in that list. For the uninitiated, RK is the latest ‘hottie’ in the department (after the original style icon, Saurabh, was ceremoniously shunted away to Hyderabad). Not because he has an awesome sex appeal. But because he reminds me of the steaming hot Madhubani Samosas!
During the month of March, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet my long lost colleague G Satish in Chennai. The two of us were entrusted with the important responsibility of addressing an audience of young bright and energetic batch of freshly qualified Chartered Accountants, all eager and hell bent upon becoming Internal Auditors.
While Satish tried his level best not to look nervous, I could notice the tension on his legs. They were shaking vigorously and spilling the water kept in the glass in front of me.
He later took me to his bungalow in a beautiful town called Tiruvittuyur. (I apologize if I have spelt it incorrectly. MS Word fails to come up with suggestions for words that are associated with Satish!) The moment you step out of the car right in front of the bungalow, you face a huge board with even bigger names such as Thungabhadra and G Satish carved upon it. That surely does not suggest that the former is Satish’s wife! It is his big bungalow with three rooms, one kitchen, one washroom, one washing machine, one television, one bed, one chair and one picture of Lord Ganapati kept in the darkest corner of the ghost house. His maid, by the way, has generously gifted the last one to him!
For Vikram, the ‘Foods audit’ has truly been an extremely rewarding experience. He used to laugh like a mad man. Not only when the topic of the discussion was funny, but even otherwise. Is it a sign of fatigue, I often used to ask? But only later, I learnt he had made a huge windfall in one of his ‘not-known-to-everyone’ investments! To my amazement, I found out that for a good part of the month of April, he was deprived of his staple diet of doses from Economic Times and CNBC. Poor guy had to only contend with ‘Doordarshan’ in places like Chandauli and Varanasi!
‘Sharad Kumar Khaitan, the name inspires trust and confidence’. No, this is not the tagline for the new brand of TMT bars Jai Balaji Group is launching for Diwali. This is what his colleagues and his Audit Managers thought and felt for him for close to two years of his precious time he gave to the Department. Till the time he ran into a roadblock! Poor guy must have desperately tried to have a night of peaceful sleep adjacent to the tomb of Mumtaz in Agra! Good wishes to him in his future role on the fourth floor!
Exactly a month ago from today was Gandhi Jayanti. I noticed ‘Bapu’ looking down upon me from the misty clouds of the pale and gloomy Calcutta sky. And smiling. He probably thought I was singing ‘Raghupati Raghav’. Actually I was in the middle of a very interesting telephonic conversation with Rajaram! We were discussing the intricacies of Jaundice- SGPT, SGOT and Bilirubin (the chemical compositions and parameters that decide if your skin is yellow, does one need to consult Dr. Lal?) Yes. Rajaram is that same tall, dark and colorful man the secretaries of ‘ITC Center’ were going mad after from the day he got recruited. Till the time he decided to formally invite all his colleagues and bosses and present his charming and lovely wife before them!
During the month of July-September, our Audit Managers suddenly decided, one city needed to be raided simultaneously. With an army of 14 bright, enthusiastic and young (and some not so young-read Ashwin, Pankaj and Sai) bunch of pokers! (Also referred to as Internal Auditors in common parlance) The city of curd rice, sambar rice, rassam rice, besi billa bhaat, lemon rice, tamarind rice and ghee rice! No points for guessing this one now!
While Pankaj, Vidhu and Sharmaji were entrusted upon with the important responsibility of ensuring that Satish and his team of young AUTs were awake at work, Saurabh and Amita wanted to make sure the first ITC Hotel in the country had not lost its sheen!
But in today’s day and age of ‘compliance’ auditors, I happened to discover hidden talent! Satyajit Ghosh. For the first time I noticed someone auditing inherent skills, intuitive creativity and the art of conjuring up a hundred recipes in almost the same amount of time. No wonder all chefs of the Chola Sheraton not just tipped our dear friend on which spice ingredient to add in what quantity to which dish, but also on the best of local cuisine restaurants in town. Satya hence became the most sought after resource for us on weekends for his invaluable suggestions on which Chettinadi restaurant to go to!
Anisha and Venky made an awesome team. While the former thrived on her papad and naan (even though what she ate was one quarter of what she ordered for), our own sweet little Brahmin just loved his Sarvana Bhavan idlis and mug fulls of sambhar. How most of us ‘eating out’ animals would be jealous of Sidharth? The bugger will hardly have to spend anything when he will take Anisha out for dinner!
Early in the mornings, when the clock struck 9:30, some recurring chanting of a shrill female voice in an alien language, often broke Anisha’s intense concentration from Meenakshi’s funny forwards. Only later, she learnt, her pious and holy colleague was listening to Hanuman Chalisa in Tamil!
Vidhu Jain was a woman, who looked like a lady, giggled like a girl and ate her candies like a child. I am told her armory of weapons were always full. She dropped audit points on her auditees at free will and yet had the courage to laugh her way through. No. Please do not be mistaken. I am not writing her obituary speech! I am just trying to recollect what TVT was abuzz with during the month of September.
So when Vidhu and the gang of smarties from different audit teams, hired a Sumo to head to Mahabalipuram from Chennai on a nice cosy autumn morning, we thought we were in for a wonderful time. Hardly did anyone realize, that the incessant chirping of the not so sweet voice-overs of Miss Jain would constantly interrupt the melodies of Himesh and Sonu Nigam, over the car stereo! When she gets started, even the holiest Imam of the biggest masjid in the city of Hyderabad will have to use double speakers to make himself audible!
I guess she must have been very relieved to know I got married recently. Out of sheer happiness, she has started calling me ‘Bhaiya ji’ these days! I just hope and pray to God that people who overhear her do not misinterpret me to be a ‘doodhwala’ milking cows during the day and selling their wastes as organic manure during the night!
If I carry on in this fashion, this piece of literature will have to be renamed ‘Your never-ending news.’ I will not be surprised if more than half of you would have the time or the energy to read the full edition in any case.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
Good Morning! Shubo Bijoya and a Happy Diwali in advance!
As I embark upon rediscovering my writing skills after a span of almost ten months, there were quite a few things on my mind.
I made sure the spelling and grammar check of MS Word was activated, the innumerable stories and comic events of these last few months were still fresh in my mind, the erstwhile warriors of our department were pending a befitting farewell speech, the new incumbents were due for a warm welcome and the secretaries had been unduly deprived of a very justified break from the routine and the mundane.
In short, welcome to the world of fun, laughter, gossip and entertainment. It’s been a while I wrote. But I will try and compensate the time lag with a fairly longer edition of your favorite update, ‘Your Daily News’. This name, ‘Your Daily News’ is indeed ironical. The last time I wrote was in January 07! This is like Pankaj Agarwal, claiming to be a regular diner at McDonald’s while staying in the holy town of Bhadrachalam!
The first four months of 2007 took me to cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Sonepat, Narela, Una, Ahmedabad and Saharanpur! I will not be surprised if Jha ji reminds me of a few names I might have missed out in that list. For the uninitiated, RK is the latest ‘hottie’ in the department (after the original style icon, Saurabh, was ceremoniously shunted away to Hyderabad). Not because he has an awesome sex appeal. But because he reminds me of the steaming hot Madhubani Samosas!
During the month of March, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet my long lost colleague G Satish in Chennai. The two of us were entrusted with the important responsibility of addressing an audience of young bright and energetic batch of freshly qualified Chartered Accountants, all eager and hell bent upon becoming Internal Auditors.
While Satish tried his level best not to look nervous, I could notice the tension on his legs. They were shaking vigorously and spilling the water kept in the glass in front of me.
He later took me to his bungalow in a beautiful town called Tiruvittuyur. (I apologize if I have spelt it incorrectly. MS Word fails to come up with suggestions for words that are associated with Satish!) The moment you step out of the car right in front of the bungalow, you face a huge board with even bigger names such as Thungabhadra and G Satish carved upon it. That surely does not suggest that the former is Satish’s wife! It is his big bungalow with three rooms, one kitchen, one washroom, one washing machine, one television, one bed, one chair and one picture of Lord Ganapati kept in the darkest corner of the ghost house. His maid, by the way, has generously gifted the last one to him!
For Vikram, the ‘Foods audit’ has truly been an extremely rewarding experience. He used to laugh like a mad man. Not only when the topic of the discussion was funny, but even otherwise. Is it a sign of fatigue, I often used to ask? But only later, I learnt he had made a huge windfall in one of his ‘not-known-to-everyone’ investments! To my amazement, I found out that for a good part of the month of April, he was deprived of his staple diet of doses from Economic Times and CNBC. Poor guy had to only contend with ‘Doordarshan’ in places like Chandauli and Varanasi!
‘Sharad Kumar Khaitan, the name inspires trust and confidence’. No, this is not the tagline for the new brand of TMT bars Jai Balaji Group is launching for Diwali. This is what his colleagues and his Audit Managers thought and felt for him for close to two years of his precious time he gave to the Department. Till the time he ran into a roadblock! Poor guy must have desperately tried to have a night of peaceful sleep adjacent to the tomb of Mumtaz in Agra! Good wishes to him in his future role on the fourth floor!
Exactly a month ago from today was Gandhi Jayanti. I noticed ‘Bapu’ looking down upon me from the misty clouds of the pale and gloomy Calcutta sky. And smiling. He probably thought I was singing ‘Raghupati Raghav’. Actually I was in the middle of a very interesting telephonic conversation with Rajaram! We were discussing the intricacies of Jaundice- SGPT, SGOT and Bilirubin (the chemical compositions and parameters that decide if your skin is yellow, does one need to consult Dr. Lal?) Yes. Rajaram is that same tall, dark and colorful man the secretaries of ‘ITC Center’ were going mad after from the day he got recruited. Till the time he decided to formally invite all his colleagues and bosses and present his charming and lovely wife before them!
During the month of July-September, our Audit Managers suddenly decided, one city needed to be raided simultaneously. With an army of 14 bright, enthusiastic and young (and some not so young-read Ashwin, Pankaj and Sai) bunch of pokers! (Also referred to as Internal Auditors in common parlance) The city of curd rice, sambar rice, rassam rice, besi billa bhaat, lemon rice, tamarind rice and ghee rice! No points for guessing this one now!
While Pankaj, Vidhu and Sharmaji were entrusted upon with the important responsibility of ensuring that Satish and his team of young AUTs were awake at work, Saurabh and Amita wanted to make sure the first ITC Hotel in the country had not lost its sheen!
But in today’s day and age of ‘compliance’ auditors, I happened to discover hidden talent! Satyajit Ghosh. For the first time I noticed someone auditing inherent skills, intuitive creativity and the art of conjuring up a hundred recipes in almost the same amount of time. No wonder all chefs of the Chola Sheraton not just tipped our dear friend on which spice ingredient to add in what quantity to which dish, but also on the best of local cuisine restaurants in town. Satya hence became the most sought after resource for us on weekends for his invaluable suggestions on which Chettinadi restaurant to go to!
Anisha and Venky made an awesome team. While the former thrived on her papad and naan (even though what she ate was one quarter of what she ordered for), our own sweet little Brahmin just loved his Sarvana Bhavan idlis and mug fulls of sambhar. How most of us ‘eating out’ animals would be jealous of Sidharth? The bugger will hardly have to spend anything when he will take Anisha out for dinner!
Early in the mornings, when the clock struck 9:30, some recurring chanting of a shrill female voice in an alien language, often broke Anisha’s intense concentration from Meenakshi’s funny forwards. Only later, she learnt, her pious and holy colleague was listening to Hanuman Chalisa in Tamil!
Vidhu Jain was a woman, who looked like a lady, giggled like a girl and ate her candies like a child. I am told her armory of weapons were always full. She dropped audit points on her auditees at free will and yet had the courage to laugh her way through. No. Please do not be mistaken. I am not writing her obituary speech! I am just trying to recollect what TVT was abuzz with during the month of September.
So when Vidhu and the gang of smarties from different audit teams, hired a Sumo to head to Mahabalipuram from Chennai on a nice cosy autumn morning, we thought we were in for a wonderful time. Hardly did anyone realize, that the incessant chirping of the not so sweet voice-overs of Miss Jain would constantly interrupt the melodies of Himesh and Sonu Nigam, over the car stereo! When she gets started, even the holiest Imam of the biggest masjid in the city of Hyderabad will have to use double speakers to make himself audible!
I guess she must have been very relieved to know I got married recently. Out of sheer happiness, she has started calling me ‘Bhaiya ji’ these days! I just hope and pray to God that people who overhear her do not misinterpret me to be a ‘doodhwala’ milking cows during the day and selling their wastes as organic manure during the night!
If I carry on in this fashion, this piece of literature will have to be renamed ‘Your never-ending news.’ I will not be surprised if more than half of you would have the time or the energy to read the full edition in any case.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.
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