Hak se maango !!

It was a hot Friday afternoon when I was out for some sarkaari kaam kaaj . I had submitted the documents at the Lucknow secretariat (Hazratganj) by 2 pm and had around 3.5 hours to kill before collecting the documents from the same place. "What could be a better time-pass than watching a movie at PVR?", I thought when I was alone. So, I rode my bike, Bajaj CT-100 (which at times gives a feel and pickup better than a 200 cc Pulsar till I shift into the 3rd gear :D), to the Saharaganj mall. I actually wanted to watch Rajneeti but the show timings were not suitable. On the weekend before that when I watched Raavana, I had seen the trailer of "The A-Team" and that seemed to be a nice option as English movies also tend to be shorter in duration. I booked a ticket for the 3:10 pm show. Before booking, I evaluated the worst case scenario i.e. 3:10 pm plus 150 minutes makes it 5:40 pm, so I would be out of PVR in time to collect my documents from the secretariat before 6 pm, without missing any part of the movie. As I stood waiting for the door of Screen 2 to open, I realized I was very thirsty after running around the court for an affidavit and then around the secretariat office for de-lamination of my degree certificate, lack of fluid supply, you know. So I bought a Large Pepsi for myself :). I was happy sipping it and waiting for the door of Screen 2 to open. By the time I thought it was too late and had a look at my mobile, the time it showed was 3:25 pm , total 15 minutes late for a show !! I asked the the security guard standing outside the Screen 2 about the show and he said "Sir, do minute mein shuru ho jayega". I said "Ok". But I was not Ok at all. I had paid a sum of Rs 150/- for a show, and I wanted the show to start and end on time. I ran around to ask for the manager at PVR, as I wanted to register a complaint against this low quality service. Through some inquiry, I managed to reach to a box where feedback forms could be submitted. I wrote about my grievances and dropped a form with my contact number and mail id.

At last, the movie started at 3:35 pm, 25 minutes behind schedule. The move was really enjoyable with some nice characters, good action but it was longer than what I had expected and eventually I had to miss the climax. It was an agonizing experience to leave the hall when the movie was climaxing. I went to the secretariat, collected my documents and came back to campus (for those who don't know, I am studying at IIM Lucknow). After coming back, I again complained to PVR from their website through the feedback option.

A week had passed after this event when I received a call from PVR representative, for understanding the problem that I had faced, and he also tried to understand my demands. I demanded at least 2 tickets of any new release at PVR, rationalizing that by saying that it was a one-off incidents when I watched the movie alone, but next time I would certainly come with a friend. He said he would get back to me. A couple of days later he called back and offered me only one free ticket for any movie, any show at PVR and said we can't do more than this for you. Although I expressed disappointment, I was reasonably happy with the proposition. I am sure not many of us would have officially complained about such an issue. To all such people, I would say, when it comes to our rights and related compensation, when the desired service levels are not provided, "Hak se maango" !!

Aaal Iz Well

Aamir Khan churns out yet another great entertainer ! Yes, you have already guessed it, I am talking about "3 Idiots". The movie has a great start, if haven't seen the movie yet please DO NOT miss it. The start itself gets you interested so much that you ask the question "What next ?" Salient features of the movie :

• For those of you who don't know, the Imperial College of Engineering shown in the movie is actually IIM Bangalore (where my IIM K interview was held) and the rooms at IIMB are numbered in exactly the same way as shown in the movie ( D-26 ).
  
• The movie also gives a possible answer to a very common question of why was so much of money spent on R&D of a pen which could write in zero gravity instead of using a pencil.
• The shooting locations were great especially the song " .....tha woh" - Shimla and the last scene shot somewhere in Ladakh.
• Kareena looked different with a nose-ring.
• Great fun extracted of the cliche "gareeb parivaar, beemaar baap, unbyaahi bahan ....." situation.
  
• Good comedy (although some of the jokes were age-old), length could have been reduced by a few minutes.
• "Aaal Izz Well" is a copy of (or as they say - is inspired from :P) "Jaadu ki jhaappi" of Munnabhai MBBS.
  
• The message being given repetitively throughout the movie .... Do what you like and not what others say you should do ( as far as choosing a profession is concerned ).

Certainly a paisa-wasool movie although can't probably get anywhere close to Taare Zameen Par or Lagaan (although it's not right to compare any movie with these movies, just for Aamir Khan).

The day I met "the god"

It was 27th November 2009. I called up my usual Taxiwale Anil bhaiya (whose contact number was taken from Amit Supe) in the morning, and asked him to come to Hostel 4 by 5 pm so that I could comfortably catch the Kingfisher Red flight at 7:30 pm. Kingfisher Red has undergone a Malya-transformation, as in it's no more a cheapo-airline-next-door. These days they provide a reasonably good service, unlimited quantities of drinking water and nice, tasty food :) without any extra charge. So, it was a day with 2 classes of DWO (Designing Work Organizations), which is an interesting subject, but not "my cup of tea". But I had to attend those two dreaded lectures. I had two options a) remain half-asleep b) sleep completely. I was very close to the indifference point as far as choosing between the two was concerned. After a complete night-out wherein I wasted half the time and watched movies rest of the time, I chose the option (b) [:D] . So, after making sure that I have pocketed attendance for two precious lectures, I was ready to move on for one of the most wonderful experiences of my life at the Amausi airport of Lucknow.

I reached the airport by 6 pm, on the way the taxi had to overcome a number of bad-patches of road ( some half-prepared, some un-prepared) in between the smooth patches of newly built highway, interspersed with a huge number of diversion boards with 'Maya didi' posters. I wondered about - who would like to pay for and what is the need of - the paintings of 'Maya didi' on the diversion-indication-boards. Anyway she is known for a number of self-centered and self-promoting gimmicks in the past, this might as well be one of them. As I reached the airport, I had to part with my hard(ly)-earned Rs.400 but it was a nice comfortable journey. Suddenly I noticed there was some unrest at the airport, with an unusually high number of security personnel. Still I had no idea what the reason was.

I completed the formality of showing my ticket and the identity card ( my 2-wheeler and LMV driving licence) and entered the airport building. Again another formality of getting in queue, the company of beautiful, well dressed, and artificially smiling air-hostesses. I can easily make out the artificiality of the smile as their smile just doesn't persist beyond a very small time limit. Anyway who cares about the smile, passengers in general tend to find a lot of other things to ogle at, right? I asked for a window seat as usual since it was impossible for me to guess whatever was going to happen that evening. The air-hostess who gave me the boarding pass, also told that the flight was delayed by 45 minutes. Now that news was not easy to digest but I decided to take it in my stride and went to one of the chairs nearby, dropped the bag on the seat on the right and was thinking about a samosa or chaay or both. Suddenly, I saw a tall gentleman walking past the scanning machine. "Ohh, is that Shaz?", I said to myself. Ohh yes, that was Ravi Shastri ( I prefer calling him Shaz since the "Shaz and Waz Show" by him and Wasim Akram was first aired on ESPN-Star a few years back). Within seconds I had my camera out and took a couple of pictures of Shaz. Now, my brain started working, it gave me hints that the whole Indian cricket team which won the 2nd Test match against SriLanka, played at Green Park - Kanpur might be coming here (I have heard that there's no commercial airport in Kanpur). I went up to Shaz and asked for an autograph. He gave it without a smile, thats when I realized the importance of a smile, any smile for that matter, even the artificial one [:D].

Again, back to the place where I was sitting. I was just remembering the moments when I had met some current or former player/celebrity:

1) Sreesanth @ Bangalore airport
2) Charu Sharma @ Bangalore Central (near MG Road, Bangalore)
3) Pulela Gopichand and Saina Nehwal @ Hyderabad Airport
4) Now, Ravi Shastri ..... I felt "Wow, I am so lucky!"

Now, suddenly there was a rush in one corner of the waiting area. There was an alternative entrance to the hall. When I got up and saw in that direction, I noticed a couple of men in blue [:)]. Wow !! One of them was lanky Ishant Sharma, I ran in that direction shot a couple of pictures. I was not able to get his autograph as he went away to the special lounge. Then there was a period of lull. Lull before the storm? No. It was a lull before the blue blitzkrieg. A few minutes later the place was filled with men in blue followed by security guards followed by the crowding fans. The next one was the biggest star of Indian Cricket, THE GOD !!

You can also find Mr. Consistent on the extreme left below. Then came the others ......................
Gambhir, Mishra, Rahul (again)

VVS Sreesanth

When I boarded the flight, I was aware that I was going to travel with some of these stars of Indian cricket. It was also the birthday of Mr. Suresh Raina which was celebrated with a standing ovation and a song on the flight a few thousand metres above the Mean Sea Level.

All and all it was an awesome experience.

Thanks to my uncle - who arrived at the Mumbai airport at the same time - I was able to get pictures of some of these moments which I will cherish for a long time to come.(I had managed not to charge my camera's battery, so whatever stored electrical energy was left in it got exhausted at the Lucknow airport itself).Here's his photo with Yuvraj who was not at all enthusiastic and looked really tired and also somewhat pissed-off. I realized that even greats like Sachin and Rahul Dravid are very much down to earth and try their best not to hurt the feelings of the fans. On the other hand, during the flight Yuvraj requested the air-hostess to make sure that nobody disturbed him and hence avoided the interaction with the fans completely. I was able to interact with the newcomer Murali Vijay who is another strokeful opening batsman from Tamilnadu. I also managed to get the autograph of the Team coach Gary Kirsten.

Anyway, all these mundane things and people do not matter once you have met The God. Right ?