August 17, 2006

Party Games

I am supposed to work in Bangalore. Every once in a while I am led to believe that I will actually be departing soon to this city, so a farewell party is held in my honour. At one of these exclusive events, an interesting Korean party game was played.

3-6-9 Clap

Everyone sits in a circle and in a clockwise direction takes turns saying a number or clapping beginning from number 1. The object of the game is to say the number when it does not include a 3, 6, or 9 and clap otherwise (ie. 1, 2, clap, 4, 5, clap, ...). You must also clap the number of times that a number contains these three digits (ie. 35 is one clap, but 36 is two claps). The game continues until someone messes up the sequence. They are subsequently punished in a humiliating fashion. In the non-alcoholic version of the game, the victim must lie on his back while everyone else beats him for a short period.

To make the game even more difficult, there is a variation where the word "Asa" must be said in place of every number that can be divided by 5.

August 06, 2006

Doggy Bag

Korean guy on seeing dead dog laying on street: "Someone wasted food."

August 03, 2006

Follies

One fine day I was awakened by a maiden from another flat. She told me to get ready in 10 minutes, as a car would be coming to pick me up. I inquired as to why. She informed me that I had an interview in half an hour. I had no time to shave the ARNABeard, but was able to get ready apart from that. This was the first time I had heard about it. The interview went decently and six weeks later I am waiting to start that job.

*****

Late at night in a drunken stupor, my Brazilian roommate couldn't find his toothpaste. To his relief, he stumbled upon a tube that had a picture of a smiling family on it and the words "Safe" and "Effective" on it. He began to brush his teeth but noticed the paste had a strange taste. He had in fact found my lost bottle of Odomos mosquito repellant.

*****

A five year old Indian boy by the name of Prince fell into a 50 foot deep hole. By the time he was rescued he was six years old. It took the Indian Army around 50 hours to save him. When asked of his emotional state while stuck in the hole in the ground, Prince replied that he was feeling low.

July 10, 2006

Mumbai Monsoons

A while back, 3 Koreans, a guy from Montreal, and I visited Mumbai. It was a 16 hour train ride from Hyderabad. During the night I was awakened by two police officers. They told me to close the windows and go to sleep in the top bunk, as we would be crossing a danger zone for the next two hours and they had to sit in the bottom bunk for security purposes. I kept my eye on them and they left when they said they would. Once we arrived at Mumbai, we took a taxi to the Gateway of India. Next we visited the Taj Mahal Hotel, India's finest, before settling for a less expensive option nearby in Colaba. Random strangers offered to sell me musical instruments, umbrellas, balloons, and drugs. Being the consummate gentlemen, I politely declined.

Once the other interns departed for Hyderabad, I made my way via local commuter train to visit my relatives in the suburb of Guragaon. This same train line would be the target of terrorist attacks a week later. Males and females stand in different compartments, with approximately 40 people per square meter. The train stops for 5 seconds at each stop. During this brief moment of time, hundreds of people simultaneously board and disembark the train. It is suggested that you start making your way towards the exit about 2-3 stops beforehand. That way the tide of humanity will automatically force you out by the time you reach your intended destination. I escaped with only a few cuts, bruises, and missing clumps of hair.

The next two days I was stranded in my relative's apartment, with the monsoon hitting hard and flooding the greater Mumbai region with knee to waist deep water. Roads were closed and trains were delayed or cancelled, so I took a morning flight out of Mumbai back to Hyderabad.

Mumbai Public Service Announcement:

DUE TO HEAVY RAIN AND AS RAIN IS GOING FOLL CONTIOUSLY 48 HOURS BE REQUEST TO PEOPLE OF MUMBAI IT IS NOT VERY IMPONTENT TO COME OUT OF THE HOUSES MAY PLEASE AVOID COMMING OUT

July 08, 2006

Satyam: ID

I finally received my Satyam ID card. Arnar Sen is now a proud member of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. Unfortunately, I still do not know when I will be moving for Bangalore. Apparently the Satyam offices in Bangalore are relocating. Once everything settles down I will be given an official start date and place of residence.

Search Status for Arnabombshell: Still Cold (Thanda)

So far I have not frequented any establishments including the offices of a large multinational software company headquartered in India, art classes, university campuses, beauty salons, or fairs in my search for Mrs. Arnab. The target population has been restricted to fellow interns met at social events. As suggested by faithful readers, perhaps the search is cold because I am not looking in the right places.