ARNABlog Fan Club!

Never one to praise myself, the legions of ARNABoys and ARNABettes have taken it upon themselves to compliment me. My writing has been compared to that of an English Literature student and my physical appearance to a work of art. With such a groundswell of support it was only a matter of time before the collective appreciation of all things Arnab would manifest itself on a larger platform. Facebook, which has often been referred to as the Arnab of the social networking world, would prove to be just that. Rishi, ardent fan and one time coordinator of the Satyam Crossover exchange program which I was a proud participant of, created the ARNABlog Fan Club as a Facebook group and invited me to join. For those of you on Facebook, I also extend the same opportunity:

Join the ARNABlog Fan Club

"Arnablog needs no words of eulogy and praise from me. In fact I can hardly find out sufficient and suitable words which can be used either to describe it or to praise it adequately from my poor vocabulary. The notes of Arnaboss are perhaps of greater emotional appeal to his innumerable fans (Arnabelievers) than his rare speech. Arnablog could really be called " all in one", " all in all", and "all and all" as it offers everything from Arnabiology to Arnabuzz." - Rishi raves about the ARNABlog

Gmail Grievances

In the early days of Gmail's existence, I was able to obtain an email address that corresponded to my name - Arnab Sen. My namesakes were not very pleased with this turn of events although they were good sports about it, as I recently received this message in my inbox:

Hi Arnab,


I thought you are a decent person. But you let me down completely. You should have considered my welfare before blocking arnab.sen[at]gmail.com for your personal use. I had a talk with other 'Arnab Sen' holding ' sen.arnab' Gmail id and he said that you deprived him of his preferred id too. Why did you do that Arnab, why? It's a crime on humanity and I have no words to despise this act. Now I have to carry the burden of a numerical one within my email id. It seems that I am thrown into eternal darkness with no way out.


Do reply,


Arnab Sen

Decision Time

With only a few weeks left on my current contract with Satyam, I now have to decide what to do next. Options include extending with Satyam, searching for a different job here in India, back in Canada, or somewhere else altogether, traveling, or pursuing further studies. No clear favourite has emerged as yet, although I am willing to continue my stay in India.

There is something special about this land and its people, that even with an exceptionally long list of interrelated problems and challenges to face, both man made (overpopulation, poverty, corruption, lack of infrastructure, communal violence, …) and otherwise (monsoon, heat waves, mosquitoes, …), I still have a desire to remain for some more time.

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Some nice sayings I have stumbled upon while pondering my future:

“What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.”
- W.H. Davies, from "Leisure"

"The true tragedy of a routinely spent life is that its wastefulness does not become apparent till it is too late." - Amitav Ghosh

“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as long as we live.” - Mortimer Adler

“In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”- Eric Hoffer

“80 percent of the problems in your life come from wanting what you don’t have. The other 20 percent come from getting it.” - Unknown

“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A child leaves the womb, his hometown, his country, each time gaining greater understanding, altering his actions to some degree based on these new experiences and insights, and perhaps becoming a transforming element of society around him.” - Dan Glass

A Tale of Two Cities

My yearlong odyssey has been split between Hyderabad (~5 months) and Bangalore (~7 months). Recently I returned to Hyderabad to sort out some paperwork issues, and this allowed me to reflect on the two cities that I have called home during the past year. Both cities have their pros and cons. If the best facets of each city were taken and combined to create a new fictional city, Hydralore, and the worst parts were used to create another, Bangabad, I wonder which real world cities they would most resemble.

Hyderalore

· Lots of events such as concerts, plays, etc (Bangalore)
· Rich cultural heritage with a blend of ancient and the modern (Hyderabad)
· Scenic hangouts (Hyderabad)
· Multicultural atmosphere (Bangalore)
· Salubrious climate (Bangalore)
· Thriving IT industry (Bangalore/Hyderabad)
· Varied shopping options (Bangalore)
· Multiple modes of public transportation (Hyderabad)
· Mixed accommodation (Hyderabad)

Bangabad

· Pollution and traffic congestion (Bangalore)
· Unscheduled but predictable power outages (Bangalore)
· Relatively high cost of living (Bangalore)
· Early closing times for commercial establishments (Hyderabad/Bangalore)
· Wild dogs prowling the street (Bangalore)
· Extreme heat (Hyderabad)
· Lack of infrastructure and unplanned urban sprawl (Bangalore)
· Riots (Bangalore)
· Explosions (Hyderabad)
· Unscrupulous auto rickshaw drivers (Bangalore)

The Bus Jump

At 7pm sharp each working day I leave my office and head towards the area where the Satyam busses are parked. This location changes occasionally to add an element of surprise. None of the company buses have dropping points near my residence, so I have resorted to taking the bus whose route comes nearest to the venue for my fine dining or other entertainment that I have planned for that night. As these are not on the official list of drop points, the bus drivers are reluctant to stop. Sometimes they slow down enough for me to elegantly leap of the bus and make a graceful landing on the surface of the road. Sometimes they only appear to be decelerating, before picking up the pace.

Such was the case, when I departed a bus in a section of town known as RT Nagar (named after the brilliant Rabindranath Tagore) to play a friendly game of pool with my eager colleague Kartik. Misjudging my angle and time of departure from the bus, I landed on the street knees first, lost my balance, fell, then revolved three times on the ground, before springing back up and striking a heroic pose to placate the souls of my female fans who were seated at the front of the bus and witnessed the whole spectacle with eyes wide and mouths open, concern for my well being clearly etched across their demure faces. Meters away the bus came to a halt and out jumped my coworker. Heroically, he came to my rescue, cleaning my wounds and nursing me back to health over the course of the next few hours.

“You’re a puff.” – British roommate upon examining the extent and severity of my injuries.