in morning manju spoke to me about ananta and her past antics / actually i have a different POV / they both are so worked up because she talks a lot on phone / but there is no problem if she does / she is at home and is on phone / some how they have taken it so badly that they make it sound a bad habit to be on phone for long at night / after all she is with friends and not planning something bad/ i would think they spoiled the scene unnecessarily.
i went through so many 'janam patris' / i also found the 'ravan sanhita' from deoriya near gorakhpur / i remember as soon as a sat there the pandit read out 'this man will come to me at 18 years age and will be very disturbed / i cound not really understand rest of it / it was in sanskrit / but nothing of much significance was there to give me any idea about my current situation in life / i also found many of daddy's ancient hand written pages / there was some horoscopes plotted in his hand / there was an essay / and a list of food stuff to be purchased for some massive party / i felt it might be to celebrate my birth, sadly it was not dated / i went with ananta to xerox some of these papers / i also bought a magnifying glass, my older one had vanished long back.
in late afternoon we all went to 'radha-govind dev' temple / i had been there before on 2 occasions, once with daddy too / this time i got a different feeling in the temple / it relaxed me totally / i felt so comfortable in that premise / later i told munna about it / he said govind dev ji is jaipur's presiding deity / i shot videos here too / enjoyed thoroughly.
after this we went to 'kale hanuman' temple / the idol of hanuman ji is in black here / they said this temple too has lot of power / and many people believe in its powers / we just were there only for darshan / there was no noise related to temples like aartis, people milling, queue for prasad etc / today it was strangely quiet / there were 2 queues o sitting men and women / one by one they were moving toward the pundit who was doing 'jhada' for them with a peacock feather broom / sushila had called around 8pm.
we went inside jaipur lanes where they make lacquer bangles / manju bought some for sushila and kalika / shot more videos, though my camera was giving me trouble / i can see i am getting used to its attitude now. / aftert this we returned home / ana made teekha bhel / had some of it / she likes it that way / she is enthu about making something for snacks in evenings / i made black tea /
at 9 pm we went to bhati's restaurant near home for dinner / we ordered dal and malai kofta with rotis/ slept in daddy's room along with munna / he snores, had problem getting sleep.
woke up at 6am / went for a walk with munna towards right of the road, then walked in a small garden / munna plucked some 'bel patra' for manju's pooja / we came back before an hour / it had been drizzling through out, but i didn't panic / decided to do some gardening / their entrance is quite messy due to unruly money plants growing all over / i asked for a scissor from cheena and we both started off to work / i had to work hard / i trimmed every out grown flower pot having money plant / they were climbing on the iron staircase. there were strings tied to help them climb / i cleared everything / cut off all strings, wires etc and left plants only above the ground / wrapped them in a newspaper and dumped them in the opposite plot / then i took the pipe and cleaned the mud with a broom / it was looking much neater now / they had cut off the Jamun tree / but kept the bark in the hall as the kids were unhappy about the tree being chopped / munna and manju had gone to doctor for her medicines.
4.30 pm we all left for visiting temple of 'khole ke hanuman' / got there in about 30 min / i found it beautiful / the entire place has been developed so well / it is covers a huge area / lot of old style construction has been done for people to enjoy and rest / there are many kitchens that do/make 'sava mani' / it is a custom in rajsthan 'sava mani is organise as a mannat for the poor or for their own family / they call it 'sava mani' because one and a quarter mund or old way of measurement / one mund = 64 seers / i shot lot of videos of the place and family / i shut my camera off thinking camera will not be allowed inside / i asked some pandit if i could shoot pictures, he said of course do anything anywhere you like / i was so impressed by the attitude of the authority / many people were shooting / i went all out and shot in gayatri, ram seeta, ganesh ,every temple / around 7.30 it became dark / i still kept shooting until we all sat in the car to retur / i think it was one my best picnic places, neat and clean / it gave me
very good vibes too / they the murti here was discovered when a
mountain was being dug (opened or khola in Hindi) hundreds of years
back / so it was named after word 'khole' / it is suppoed to be
powerful too / many people do mannats here for a house, family,
children etc / there was ample proof of it on the side of the road /
there were houses made of stone bits in every shape and size.
we stopped at 'kanhaiya' restaurant for dinner / it is basically is snack place, but very neat, organised and efficient /
i oredered chilla remembering jhansi days, two people ordered chhole bhature, a dosa and idli / i got cheena cold coffee with ice cream / we all shared each others dishes / good fun / today was a very productive day for me, i cleaned up the garden, manju was saying that she has heard when money plants grow, money reduces / so i thought let me kill two birds with one stone / khole ke hanuman was very enjoyable / and lastly the dinner at 'kanhaiya'.
it became cold late at night / i covered with the blanket, later it became hot then i threw it off / it was 4.45am when i went to the toilet / slept again till 6.15 / then came down and sat on my seat / the rain and soaking fields were still there / at 6.45 it was bright outside, but cloudy, water filled landscape / it seems it has rained in the entire country / i m at Kurlasi, a very small station / slowly everyone is waking up / thankfully mother n son are still asleep / 7am raining hard, mother is up / i have been sitting up for 45 min now / feel like taking a walk and stretch on some station / 7.06 terrain suddenly turns hilly and more green / hills are covered with lush green trees, looks like way to lonavala / raining here too / train is slowing, may be a big station is approaching / kid has got and started crying / train has stopped to give pass to other train / its been 30 min / nobody has come with b'fast / we move, i get off at Kota at 8am / i get tea and cream-roll, then batata wada 10 for 3 / i eat roll; but throw away 2 wadas / we move and stop again at Kapren, another pass / rain drops are streaking diagonally on the window glass
I go back to sleep at 9.40, to kill time / through out the journey there has been no sun, only rain and water logged fields / many people are listening to music on their cells / some are hearing bhajans, others romantic duets, sentimental songs by mukesh... the mix is just so unusual, i don't know if it is irritating / i guess i was fine with it / i did not make friends with anyone in this journey / i could have spoken a few words to the mother or the man who was talking to the kid a lot / i said only yes or no with anyone / 9.43am sawai madhopur / from here the train runs in the reverse towards jaipur, which is about 1.30 hrs from here / stopped again for a pass for 15 min / finally it moved and reached durgapura at 12 / i called munna he said he is close and will each in 5 min / we were on our way to his home soon / it was drizzling lightly here too / after dropping me he went back to his office / at night i slept in hall on the Diwan, munna on a mattress on carpet.
woke up at 7am / between 7.30-8.15 sat doing nothing (osho - just sit and grass keep growing)
b'fast at 8.45 / prateek leaves without b'fast / bath 10.30 / 11.30 started running washing machine, as my uniform was dirty and it would be staying that way for next 6 days. my class will be on the wednesday, I arrive / i wanted to leave for bandra terminus at 2pm to get my train, traffic would be unpredictable due to rains / washing done at 2.10pm, packed the machine / changed, put my shoes and said bye to sushila and prateek, kalika left for office without thinking that i would be gone when she returns
walked to taxi stand / driver sleeping in lone taxi / he asked for 200 / i walked off / got in an auto / told him i have to reach bandra terminus at 3.15 (for train at 3.45) / regular long jam at juhu link road / i told driver i was in a hurry / he said you can leave and take next auto after the signal / paid him and walked to jvpd depot / got an elderly auto driver and told him my schedule, he said it is difficult / i was upset, any way i had told him time much earlier / he took juhu galli and came to andheri bridge, high way...
i was at station 30 min early, i reached the platform and was told the train is expected soon / a coolie told the train that comes only will go back / train reached at its departure time / they did not make any announcement on PA system, not they put it on view / very careless, i must say / now the train had it had to be cleaned and stocked, it departed full 1 hour late at 4.45 / to make matter worse for me it also stopped at andheri / some years back i would have kicked myself for such a situation...
someone sitting on the other side offered me a biscuit / i was drinking tea, i took 2 bites of it and found it stale / suddenly i got alarmed about accepting eatables in journey / casually i got up from my seat, went to the sink, spat out, washed my mouth thoroughly and gargled / threw other half of it / after a few minutes, returned to my seat / the man offered another one, but i declined, saying one is enough / train stopped at borivali for long time and left at 5.50 / at 6pm train is speeding, there is a very irritating 2 year old and his young mother / they were the most talkative mom-child / train was rather empty / been reading 'techniques of screenplay writing' by eugene vale / i have a very small cup of tea costing 5, thankfully tea was good and made up for the quantity / @ 6.08 i m hungry, no snack vendor have passed / my seat is B-1/56 / i am sitting with my back to engine / landscape is full of rain water / irritating kid is sucking his fingers, sign of sleep / mother covers him with a sheet / TC arrives at 6.10, i show him ticket and the PAN card / kid is up again / piped music is playing in train speakers / staff says train will cover up extra delay and will reach 1 hr late finally / kid is talking a lot and screaming too / i always get troublesome kids during journeys / 6.35pm raining heavily, water drops slide diagonally on the window, saphala / 6.40 thought of an old navketan joke ; 'having tea due to frustration' ha ha / 6.50 palghar got off to find something to eat, asked for a wada pav at a tea stall, the train moved / ran back in / someone took order for dinner / i asked for snack man - he will come soon, i m told nth time / no one has come so far / 7.04pm Boisar, so it is that far, even beyond palghar! sushila was thinking of booking a house in a Tata housing scheme / don't know why train has stopped here / rajdhani to delhi speeds past / so this was the reason / my train will go on getting late now, poor me / 7.30 i finally get a bhel in train, not bad, especially when i am hungry / feeling better in my tummy.
7.45 its dark and still cloudy outside / in sanjan, gujrat now, so says scroll on my phone / kid has got up, i m scared of his tantrums / 7.55 feeling a bit cold / cover with a sheet / then i go and stand in non/ac part outside / temperature readings on the panel, summer: 23-25C, winter: 19-21C / 8pm vapi, why here? what kind of 'superfast' train is this? / valsad at 8.26 / dinner arrives @ 8.35, man asks promptly for rs 60, stupid guy / he seems a bengali, i mentally connect him to mamta didi / i open the foil and realise all the 4 'rotis' are raw, kachcha / he claimed them to be 'butter rotis' / i show it to him all seem raw flour / he was in a obvious denial mode / i told this to the TC too / he supported my views / anyways i had paid him already, i put the rotis aside and had only the fat rice with all other average dishes / 9.25, i m on my top birth after making my bed / train slows, someone says surat is coming / kid is irritating me again / go down to the loo, brush my teeth and go to sleep before it is 10pm
Last profile of 29 Dec 08, was not too bad but could be improved. i had spoken to Chetan about it and asked him that i did not want to get into the trip of 'medication for life'. he said then i should raise my exercises, eat more sensibly and stay calm. so i had decided to step up on it and take next blood test, 6 months later. this is how it compares:--
26 June 09:
Cholesterol, serum = 217.0 / desirable<200mg/dl, borderline-high 200-239mg/dl, high>=240mg/dl
Triglycerides, serum = 122.3 / Normal < 150mg/dl, borderline-high 150-499mg/dl, very high>=500mg/dl
HDL Cholesterol (Direct), Serum = 46.4 / desirable>60mg/dl, borderline-high 40-60mg/dl, Low(high risk)<40mg/dl
LDL Cholesterol (Direct), Serum = 146.1 Optimal<100mg/dl, near
optimal 100-129mg/dl, borderline high=130-159mg/dlHigh 160-189mg/dl,
very high >= 190mg/dl
VLDL Cholesterol = 24.5 Normal = 5-30mg/dl
Chol/HDL Chol RATIO = 4.7 Normal = 0-4.5
LDL Chol / HDL Chol RATIO = 3.7 Normal= 0-3.5
(3 bad out of 7 readings)
29 Dec 08: (Suburban daignostics, 40274527, 26323178)
Cholesterol, serum = 236.0, desirable<200mg/dl, borderline-high 200-239mg/dl, high>=240mg/dl
Triglycerides, serum = 197.9, Normal < 150mg/dl, borderline-high 150-499mg/dl, very high>=500mg/dl
HDL Cholesterol (Direct), Serum = 42.1, desirable>60mg/dl, borderline-high 40-60mg/dl, Low(high risk)<40mg/dl
LDL Cholesterol (Direct), Serum = 154.3, Optimal<100mg/dl, near optimal 100-129mg/dl, borderline high=130-159mg/dlHigh 160-189mg/dl, very high >= 190mg/dl
VLDL Cholesterol = 39.06, Normal = 5-30mg/dl
Chol/HDL Chol RATIO = 5.6, Normal = 0-4.5
LDL Chol / HDL Chol RATIO = 3.7, Normal= 0-3.5
(6 bad out of 7 readings)
I am happy that I did manage to change my life style in a way that helped me get very close to Normal results and pushed those tablets away.
one week has gone by and chandru has not responded to my CV mail. i had smsed him too; he responded promptly at 13.09 on 7 July, 2009 saying "Yes Arun ji I go it and I will let you know soon which one is fine or needs any changes"; but again no further step for a whole week. just a few minutes back i called him. he did not take the call.
it is just 2 days before i leave for Jaipur. i thought if the CV could be finalized i could send the right one and go peacefully. and some decision could be taken by them based on it and hopefully i could get my real interview call after i am back to bombay. but wishful thinking is one thing and course of life is entirely another. it will happen when; 'it happens'. ok - till then relax, some more. because if i don't do that i will be much more in trouble than the problems of being joblessness. not relaxing will start mental and physical health issues, such as tensions and headaches. that will result in stomach ulcers or even cholesterol etc.
so i am going to listen to some more music and stay physical for fitness.
MET had predicted heavy to very heavy rain in last 24-48 hours. as per its record - it did not rain at all yesterday. let me see what happens today.
yesterday gazala returned my call. she said she will drop by today sometime.
it is 10.50 am. prateek and kalika have left for work. kalika was talking about a DD that she has to make and send to her online ID college in pune. she wants to make it from SBI.
too many clothes to wash are piled up in the machine. i will run it today after nanda goes off.
yesterday i made pudina dosa. they did not come out very exciting. result: pudina as a sole spice cannot carry dosa on its own, like onions can.
i m home alone. whole day is in front. i have to follow up with chandru at Sony. he has not responded to my CV mail. i am listening to old songs at world space.
today is the first day of 'paid entry' on the BW sea link bridge.
roger federer won the wimbledon yesterday by a whisker against andy roddick in 5 sets - "5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14" and overtook pete sampras's record of 14 grand slams. there were so many celebrities in the wimbledon audience watching this final; russel crowe, manuel santana, bjorn borg, rod laver (only man to have won all 4 grand slams in one calender year- '62 & '69), borris becker, billie jean king richard branson, henry kissinger... vijay amritraj was going on naming people as soon as their close ups appeared on screen.
federer was not as smart in speaking and was looking for words, since he was in a daze and said his head was understandably spinning! but one thing that he said made sense:-
'It's not one of those goals you set as a little boy but it's been quite a career and quite a month...'
list of grand players:-
GRAND SLAM TITLES
sunday. today sushila and dharam left for pune. she had to carry things for packing to munnu's house and he has got a work shop at the ftii for 3 days. so they will be back around thursday perhaps. she has cooked a lot of food for us. fridge is full of it.
i went for my karate class today after my little brush with flu last week. i felt real weak due to antibiotics that i took for 2 days. so i was a little scared about the class today. but because i very smartly stopped the erithrocins that were making me very sick, i am better off. class was quite tough. when sensei was not looking in my direction, i kicked softly and did not do a round of bunny hop. rest all i did and did pretty well. there was some thai conditioning too. it was hard; but went off well.
in the morning prateek said he got his first cheque from balaji (movie). he will deposit it later. i went out to buy mithai after ages. i also got print outs for my jaiur trip this month and chennai trip in october. i also made pudina dosa today in afternoon.
right now Wimbledon men's final is on between Federer and Roddick. match is balanced right now.
my plans to try and see the enlighten movie or go to prithvi after karate did not happen. i was tired and had no will to go anywhere.
Ravi came in the day and is here. in the evening his friend Tonmoy dropped in for dinner.
have not been too well for the past few days. and due to throat congestion i have been waking up very early in morning, 4-5 am types. first time i got up at 4am i thought of Kishu. it would have been 3.30pm for her and good time to call her. but then i did not do it. next day too i felt if i speak people here will get disturbed. on the 3rd day too i woke up at 5. quietly shut the doors and called her. she picked up and told me that they were driving down to the airport on their way to Las Vegas! Vow i thought, Rupesh is a fun loving guy. good for both of them. we spoke for about 4 mins. she said thet had driven down to LA also few days back. it was 6-7 hours drive. i knew that since rajat had done it when we had flown for Lakshmi's work.
any ways she spoke very sweetly and coolly. some how i still feel a bit ODD calling her in US. don't know why. may be also there you have to pay for recieving a call and SMS. 2ndly she is in a different surrounding to which i am not used to. and also an outsider... :((
July 2, 2009. I am a little relaxed and thought of asking Chandru one last time for a meeting; of course, 'softly'.
...as mentioned earlier i have been chasing a meeting with chandru of Sony since about 45 days. finally on July 2 @ 15.50 i SMSed him; "Shall we see if a meeting can b fixed one last time? Arun".
he replied: "Yes Arun ji, I am in office today utleast till 8 PM tonight. We can meet for a while in office."
my reply July 2@ 16.43pm: "Good, let us fix it for 5.30-6pm. Office is near Inrbit mall? Plz give me name of building. Thnx"
chandru replied @ 16.45: "MULTI SCREEN MEDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, Interface, Bldg No. 7, Off, Malad Link Road, Behind Palmcourt Bldgs & Goregaon Sports Club, Malad West, Mumbai 64"
i replied@ 16.47: "Great thnx"
i have also not been too well. but today it is a bit better. even if it was not; i was going to jump into an auto and head for this meeting. i got out at 5pm, took an auto right in front of my house. it was drizzling softly. so a yellow umbrella is with me. i find a UP rickshaw wallah. he is a nice, helpful and sober guy. after i told him where exactly i was headed, he tells me where it will be, "ahead of Inorbit", he said.
it took some 40mins to reach the swanky complex. it must have been about 5 km or more. after a bit of struggle i reached SET India office spread on 3 floors. on 2nd floor chandru emerged from the glass door. he smiled widely, shook hands and we sat on a sofa. after pleasanteries, he asked me "what was I looking for." i told him "I want to join this place in some acceptable capacity, preferably NOT SOUND." he sounded totally agreeable. i told him i have now done everything in SOUND and would like to settle down in a stable environment that will reduce my physically running around. he agreed. coffee arrived and after that he said Hemant is here. i said it would good to meet him.
so after a minutes, we got inside the office space, and that turned out to be a very large area, beautifully & brightly set up. it was quiet. i met many of my ex-plus colleagues. they all seemed happy to meet me after such a long time. i realized i HAD earned a lot of respect from my colleaguge.
he took me to meet a recordist working on promos on Pro Tools. i spoke to him for a few mins and saw the current work on screen.
then we moved to Hemant's room 11. chandru had told him on phone that he was in 'sound room' and a Guru from Plus is here. hemant said he guessed that it would be ME. any ways chandru and hemant too discussed 'what should i be doing in Sony, after i got in' and they thought 'some work like creative supervision' will be suitable for me. i felt also it was good idea. chandru said there is a lot of money in reality show sound. but then there is a lot of blankness after it is over. also i felt 'let me not get sucked in SOUND all over again'. they agreed. chandru offered me his card and asked to mail my CV to him. he also said Tweek the CV to more "art, direction and production design" angle. i agreed.
after our meeting hemant wanted me to come to his house and meet his wife Ritu. so i bid bye to chandru and hemant took mehome in hia Esteem car. I was shocked when Ritu saw me and addressed me 'Arun ji' ! I was impressed. we have met after Rucha got married in Aurangabd. i fact i did not remember that she was with us too.
we had adrak ki chai and paratha. she was happy to see me. ditto for me. hemant's parents SN Dubey and his wife had left for Hyderabad that day only. hemant phoned them and Dubey ji said 'sorry today only we came here and could not meet you'. i felt he shouldn't be saying sorry to me because he has gone out.
well in about 30 mins i left and reached back home, feeling good about a most positive & productive day i have had in ages...
yesterday i worked on my CV, as per requirement and mailed it to chandru. i have 2 types of CV. i had told him about it. so i called him and said to decide which is more 'suitable'. i wrote in my mail i do not want to lose this chance of working with them because of a wrongly balanced CV. so i called him too and informed him about it. it was fine finally...
