Day 1

Eversince I have been trapped into the moh-maya of school/college/competitive exams I too have developed a desire to wake up early and then study for a few hours and the go ahead with the rest of the things in life [as this happens to be the biggest traits of all successful people from the old times. Remember the adage - Early to bed, and Early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise]. Alas, this remains to be a dream to even now [I first decided to do this when I was in class 10], but I have never did this. I do not mind breaking the alarm clock for committing a suicidal mistake of waking me up early in the morning. And neither do I mind my moral and sensibility running down to the sink when I start that Gaali Galoz session if someone tries to wake me up.

Lekin! ... first day here in Korea was a surprisingly different experience as I woke up on my own and without much struggle (pata nahin kaise), I was stunned as if I got some electric shock when I saw the watch - it was 4am!!! Aisa kaise hua bhai? Kaise Uth gaya mai! Kisne Utha diyaa saala! Saalon kahin kisi chinki ne mujhe neend naa aane ki dawai to nahin de di hai!!!!!! With all those thoughts I did some calculation and I came to know that its 7:30am in local time zone and if I dont reach the office in next 30 mins then this could well become my last day. Yes! Back in Bangalore I was instructed to maintain the sanctity of the 'office hours', unlike of what I did in Bangalore. So I was all charged up for a turn-up well within 8am and impress everyone (and myself).

Got ready in a jiffy [ofcourse! without a bath, temperature was already low enough to scare the hell out of me.], and as soon as I stepped out of the guest hose my instant reaction - Abbe! ye kya ho gaya? Kiske itne saare kapde dhoye hain ki saara jhaag road pe aa gaya hai! Or for that matter kahin ye surf-excel ka road show advertisement to nahin hai!!!!!!! But then I controlled my emotions and started walking on the snow [Last time I had walked on snow was a few years back when I had visited Kashmir, and trust me those experiences are still intact in my mind, who can forget the numerous spine chilling aches all over the body after falling over and over again]. Thanks to my Kashmir experience, I knew how to escape the slippery snow........but I believe some of the people are not so lucky - They fall again and again, only to forget after 15 mins [Ghajini effect hai bhai!]. So it was an interesting sight to see chinkis falling over and over again.

Girls ko dekha..........kya beauty hai bhai.......and by the time you are done judging with the facial beauty, you drop your eyes and zip zap until you are reach their skirt! Boss kya chote chote skirt pehenti hain.........lekin snow mein itne chote chote skirt! Kyun behen? Khud se koi dushmani hai kya? Pata hai recession chal raha hai....lekin plz poore kapde to pehen lena tha na? Ya fir kuch aisa khaati ho jisse ki thndd ka koi asar hin nahin ho raha????? Whatever be the reason.......it was ironic to see such minimal skirts.....when the whole world is shivering in cold and begging for some livable temperature these girls were making mockery of the weather.

At one point it looked as if these girls have formed some group against the cold weather and they have a unique way of protesting. Seems like they discuss the following among their group:

1st Girl : aaj to temperature kuch khaas nahin hai, sirf -10 degrees, maza nahin aa raha hai.
2nd Girl : kal agar -15 ho jaaye to mai wo brown waali short skirt pehen ke aaungi
1st Girl : Haan yaar....maine bhi kaafi time se -15 nahin dekha hai, kal ho jaaye to maza hin aa jaayegaa
2nd Girl : Tu bhi kuch chote skirts pehna kar. Ye kya summer waale kapde pehen ke office aati hai.

Trust me, these girls can scare any outsider by their sheer acts of bravery against the chilling cold (which has clearly affected everyone else in this part of the world). Kahin bhi dekho.......everyone is shivering, and these girls are just not bothered about the cold.

Anyway, coming back to the Day 1........ I managed to reach office in time [FYI, its just 5 min walk from my Guest House], and then I saw two people at the security gate - bending almost 90 degrees to welcome people inside office, and they did same for me. While I was passing by the security gate the only thought which came into my mind was - Boss! din mein kitni baar 90 degrees bend kartey ho? [This question was more prominent in my mind when I realized that this particular office has more than 50 thousand employees, and even if only half of the employees are welcomed in the traditional fashion, then to watt lag jaayegi bhai! Life mein kabhi Korea mein Security Guard ki post accept nahin karni hai mujhe!!!!!!!]

HR welcomed me with a genuine smile and a discomforted and de-railed english, and if the HR's english was de-railed then imagine the english of the others, especially the one who are truly into technical aspects of the work. My worries of turning into an alien were becoming clear while I was in the lift and talking to the HR Lady en route to my destined seat on the 21st floor. [While I used the word de-railed I am reminded of Lalu Yadav.....Boss if Lalu starts speaking in English in front of these Koreans, then he would truley be considered as a champion of not only the Railways revival back in India but also the English language. Sach mein!]

Initial discussions and work plans were slightly horrifying.......more because they misplaced certain english words....and secondly because they don't believe in the eye-to-eye contact..........they talk shying away from you. God knows why. Anyway......to my deep amazement while discussing I came to know that "I have to Deliver in one month!" Gosh! I was wrongly thinking that they wanted a technical person for their kind of work! [Jokes apart, they really made it clear that the pressure would be too high and I have deliver in whatever circumstances].

I was shown the coffee vending machine, cafeteria, and some of the people - who could come to my rescue whenever I am deep into the shitty codes. There is a corner on each of the floors known as 'IdeaPoint', and the specialty of the IdeaPoint is that it gives an amazing view of the whole city. This IdeaPoint on the 21st Floor became my best friend in just a couple of days........indeed a place where I could generate ideas while sipping coffee and watching those ant-sized cars on roads.

While Day 1 had nothing unusual to offer, it did leave me with a question which needs to be answered, not only by me or someone else but the we need to find a collective answer to this question - A country whose area is nothing more than the area of Karnataka State, has population of 50 million and still stands tall in global fraternity. Whereas we Indians, who are 1.2 billion in numbers (and growing rapidly); area wise we are at least 20 times larger than this country, but still we are considered as a Third World country when it comes to the global standing. Whats that one thing which lacks in India, and is making India go at a sluggish pace.

Added Later......

Know the interesting facts about Suwon, the city where I was staying

See these 3 Koran Girls dancing to a popular english song

Happy Suwon

O! yes........the city I have finally reached after travelling for an hour or so from the Incheon

International Airport happens to be known as Suwon, and I dont know why it has been declared

as an officialy Happy City. I mean everywhere I see, its writte 'Happy Suwon'.

Happy Suwon reminds me of Happy Singh.....haan wohi...jo har hindi film mein hota hai....

..he drinks....he dances like a dog......and gets happy at each and every moment, and how should

we forget those emotional moments when he is even ready to cry for no reason. A true sardar...

straight from Bollywood!

Whatever be the reason behind this city being known as Happy Suwon, all I know is that I have

to sleep at the earliest so that I may wake up early tomorrow, as it happens to be my first day at

office tomorrow in this videshi (and chinki) land!

Good night!

PS : Sorry for an unusually short post, but then I am too tired to do anything but to sleep;

but you watch the video I have searched after reaching the guest house :)

in transit

Since the day I have told people that I am visiting Korea, the instant questions fired are one of these.......

- Are you OK with Non-Veg food? Wahan to suna hai ki kuch bhi khaa lete hain.

- South Korea ja raha hai ya North Korea?

- Chinki girls kaisi lagti hai tujhe?

- Kitne time ke liye ja raha hai bhai? (Bhai!!!!! aakhir kab tak?)
- Wahan to kutton ki tarah thandd padti hai.

and after the question on chinki girls question, thing start to get nasty.....and are better left for you guys to imagine.

{ But I must tell, that everyone was so much worried because I was going out of their sight and this almost made me realise my value in the lives of the others. O god! I suddenly feel so good about myself! :) }

Bollywood has almost spoiled the whole nation with the concept of beta going to videsh that even simple people like my parents (who would rarely watch movies) were emotionally traumatised about the fact that pata nahin unke bete ke saath kya kya hone waala hai........they had to actually come down to Bangalore to see me off.......and to add to their worries and fears.....saale terrorists has also warned the Govt of India that they will blow off all the important air-ports. So this emotional trauma and the security threat made my parents even more religious towards their 'see off' duty......as if they were to going to hand over some important nuclear device into the safe hands.....and then sign off saying - 'Delivery Done'.

It was actually an experience to see the difference between the various air-ports.........and all I can say is that BIAL by all international standards is a damn third class air-port......and just to highlight the level of catching up to be done.......Hong-Kong (HKIA) airport has 82 terminals (as compared to the 22 terminal at BIAL), and if this was not enough then Incheon airport has 120 terminals........there could be several reasons for such a huge air-ports, but then when I am reminded of the whole drama connected with the BIAL (in the recent past), I am actually surprised that why the hell did they always present as if they are going to give us a world-standard air-port.....when its actually not. Anyway....

Korea welcomed me with the mild snow-fall......and it felt instantly romantic and warm....just that person who had come to receive me was a lean and thin Tamilian....and he invited me by saying - 'Welcome saar..how was the flight-aa' .. I instantly crashed with the reality and the futility of getting those romantic thoughts.

Reached korea.......kal se nayi life......and ho sake to ek chinki wife :) .... god willing!

Haan...one more thing - On the window seat, next to mine........there was a chinki girl.......I tried talking to her.......(ab wo thode na try karegi...mujhe hin karna tha).....she talked to me 4 times......2 times while she wanted to step out of her seat.....and the rest 2 times when I was almost sleeping on her shoulder........badi cute thi yaar....

Added Later - Internation Airports I came across......

Bangalore International Airport

HongKong International Airport

Seoul Incheon International Airport

jaldi jaao yaar! Plz

Disclaimer : aaj mood thoda introspective hai. Might be a spoiler for many!

13 days into the new year and looks like nothing great is happening in this new year too [and I am not talking about the Satyam fall-down or the SENSEX not picking up or Kasab remaining to be an alien from a different planet/galaxy or the World Bank banning WIPRO too, instead I am talking only about myself].

By no means I am one of those who set resolutions on the new year eve, and then after the second week into the new year forget about all those resolutions and live life as it was always. {I personally believe that resolutions are more like 'wish-lists', we just wish them to come true, and that too without any effort. I have made all such wish-lists while I was in schools and colleges, but the lesson was taken then and there, Resolutions = Wish-lists, thats it!} Anyway, in past 13 days I did nothing new or constructive as such, neither did I do anything soulfully fulfilling. And this gives me a feeling of the last year.

While I looks back to my past 13 days, or for that matter looking back into the past hundreds of days, all I get back is a extreme sense of emptiness. Emptiness w.r.t. meaning, purpose, energy and drive. What I have been doing in all these days could be summed as below, and one could easily derive the consequences or after effects of the same.

if the day is a weekday & its not a public holiday:
get up.......feel pity on yourself about getting up early........curse the day for not being a saturday/sunday.........curse the whole office........get ready and leave for office........@ office, kill some time gathering information about what has to done.....set plans or work on the plans imposed on me..........have lunch...........surf the net...........chit-chat/dogging(insted of bitching).........kill the rest of office time either working or pretending to work.......the day gets over.........somehow reach home.......and then drink [if there is nothing to watch in the TV]...or do some aimless net-surfing again for hours.........do some unwelcome chatting.....have dinner...and the sleep. {unwelcome chatting's biggest characteristics are these few words used often by the person on the other side - 'aur batao', 'hmm','huh','haha','smily or smilies', and its expected that you only keep typing the messages (because u r an idiot by birth) and the person on the other end would have all the pleasure to sit and relax and if he is willing enough to respond then he/she will pass on those hmms and huhs or smilies! All those of u are Big time suckers!!}

on Friday evenings.........drink till I reach a mindless level.........and get emotional over issues dating back to years and even decades.........and then when the eyes reject the request to remain open and body cries for some rest and make me fail in your attempts to move out of the bed......I sleep!

Weekends give a sigh of relief that you did not miss your office today, and when I see the watch I get to realize that I have already killed a good amount of the weekend. And the the normal chores of life begins.............see missed calls, call them........explain that you miss him/her so much.......and the life continues............till I reach the Sunday evening.....when the feeling creeps into the mind that - For next 5 days I have no life, just a mindless wandering over some codes and keep spelling out unrelated and impractical words like project, dead-lines, commitment, client etc etc. And the weekend is over!

I am not sure this is the case only with me, but I fail to explain myself that this could have a meaning too [at least for so many people I know]. I tend to feel that my life has started to revolve around only the 5 days, rest 2 days goes only in sleeping and finding a purpose of this life.

I wonder how people keep themselves engaged and spirited to something for the whole of their life. How come people manage to keep the spark alive somewhere inside them. All this is something which puzzles me to an unimaginable extent.

I would not say that I am being over-worked and hence I am starting to show the signs of a cramp. Instead I have been lucky have got a right working environment always. I have been lucky to have got friends who could energize even a dead mass. I am lucky that I don't have any financial obligations to meet. Basically I am lucky on all accounts, if I see it in measurable terms.

But as soon as the matters shift their direction towards the abstract things, things start to change colour. I don't know why things do no excite me, like it used to do until college days came to an end. No challenge seems to be challenging enough to keep me on my toes and energized. No relation seems excites me to the limit which I had during my first relation. No one seems to be as convincing to me as convinced I was during my second affair.

I wonder why things have stopped kicking me and why life has stopped to offer a high. I was never like this. Until few years back I was someone who used to create challenges for himself and then surpass the same. But ab pata nahin kya ho raha hai.

I believe it was some very long time back during my school days I wrote a poem for the annual school magazine .........it actually didn't get published because the teacher felt that I have copied it from somewhere...........but the starting lines of that poem are my life-time best lines.....and somehow matches my sentiments at this point of time -

'Each day the man with-in me dies,
and tomorrow's death will be deeper than today's.

My Heart looks more like a cactus,
and each day I water it with jealousy, greed & blood'

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[I believe, no one would be interested in reading a class 8th standard guy's poem ]

{It was not that I could predict my present state back in my school days, instead I was writing about the growing inhumanity and insensitivity in the world, I was targetting the crime, dowry, war etc........and the name of the poem was 'The Death of the Man'....but it never got published ever.....but its still there with me in one my school diaries.......if anyone gets too emotional about the whole thing...then he/she can ask it from me.....I would feel oblized to hand-over my first ever poem into your name.}

I have some long history of self-imposed challenges..........and I did all that I could have done to meet those challenges.......
- once I got a self-doubt that I am not at all comparable to IITians........so.... to clear that doubt I spent some 3 months in two of the IITs and rubbed my shoulder with them. Once satisfied, I felt the challenge was not big enough.
- people said Microprocessors is such a tough subject, and ever tougher challenge is to handle Sukku (the prof). I did all under the sun to make this subject look like a fodder size in front of me, and sukku.....well my ECE batchmates would know better about that final viva-cum-lab exam. And the immdiate realization was that this Microprocessor issue was nothing more than the 'Bisleri packaged into Vodka bottle'.
- people said campus recruitments are easy to get, try getting a off-campus job. Yes sir, challenge accepted. I did get a couple of offers by my sole effort. This challenge would have provided much more resistance in the present circumstances. Saala time se pehle hin pass ho gaya!

MBA ka ek sapna tha...........wo bhi finally mil gaya...........and now sitting aimless.......much like a loaded gun waiting for a tiger in the city park :(

Some people said that all such things are a passing phase, I wish that its the same in my case too. My huge worry these days is that what would actually start to excite me again, and how to find that. Guys need your help again [and please don't ever suggest me about shaadi, that would be nothing less than a killing experience for me.]

[Many of you might feel that I am going through all these feeling just because I am too far from friends, and family right now. But trust me, eversince I have started working I am getting this feel about my world.]

And before I end this post, I must write that - I haven't forgot about the korea stories at all....infact they are already composed and new articles are getting added each week......but abhi post karne ka mood nahin ban raha hai :( , so guys kindly excuse me for the time being. Waiting for this phase to pass.

Hope this too shall pass soon........jaldi jaao yaar! Plz

*Edit 1: Read one energizing article 'Keep the Spark Alive' by Chetan Bhagat, delivered as a speech to Post Graduate college students @ Pune

*Edit 2: By sheer curiosity I typed the word 'introspection' in YouTube only to get a video by a spiritual guru of India who is talking on the topic in Hindi. Watch the video below. And do note the irony of this post......I started with being drunk, and ending with a total oxymoron :)