A bus full of Engineers

I told you before that my daily journey to and from office is an adventure. Today I had a new one worth mentioning. The buses get very crowded during my journey back home. So it's a tough job boarding one and then keeping to one's feet for the entire journey. If you are lucky and powerful enough you might get a sit, though. Mostly I'm a lucky guy in this matter :D.

As usual I boarded a CTC (Calcutta Transport Corp) bus today. They are my choice because even they don't look nice and sound even terrible, they are faster and cheaper. But the evening had a surprise in store for me. After a couple miles there is a vast empty space where no vehicle stops. And our bus suddenly got stuck there. When people started shouting at the conductor, it was revealed that the accelerator of the bus was disconnected. So some people started getting down and trying stop something or anything that moves. Some, specially those who had cut the tickets already, were siting/standing with a confused look on their faces.

Meanwhile, there were quite a few IT engineers in the bus (I think almost 50% of the crowd). They started cooperating with the driver to fix the engine. And a very raw fix came up with a piece of rope, a cardboard and a few newspaper scraps. The accelerator pedal was attached to the engine. And to everyone's surprise the bus started moving! Of-course there was a price to pay. The engine was lying open and heating up the already hot environment. We traveled a bit slow but reached the destination safe.

Well, this happens only in India!

The Cinnamon tree

দারুচিনি কথাটার মধ্যে যে কত রহস্য আর সৌন্দর্য লুকিয়ে আছে সেটা প্রথম বুঝতে পেরেছিলাম ১১ বছর বয়েসে |
দারুচিনি দ্বীপ, দারুচিনি দ্বীপের মেয়ে, তার গায়ে দারুচিনি গন্ধ !

(The word 'Cinnamon' hides a lot of mystery and beauty in it, which I first found out at 11. Cinnamon island, a girl from cinnamon island, her body smelt like cinnamon )

When I was a kid I often would go to our ancestral home in a village around 6 miles from our small town. There in the yard of one of our neighbors' house, was a tree. A cinnamon tree to be precise. A tree vastly different from others, in which we took a deep interest was the fact that we could just scalp her barks to eat, literally. It was fun back then.

When life got busy, I forgot all about that tree. Then one dreamy afternoon, after a decade, I visited that house only to find an empty yard. The tree was at the center, with she gone, The mystic beauty of that house was also gone. And I realized that my childhood was also gone, long long ago.


Still in my dreams, in a dreamy late autumn afternoon, when the sun rays are pale and golden, I see that tree - standing lonely in the middle of a big yard. Her leaves are fluttering in the mild evening breeze. Children playing around her.Shouting, laughing, jumping with joy abound. A little boy suddenly stops and touches the tree, only to find she is gone!

The feeling of Max Payne

This post is for all those who are familiar with the character known as Max Payne. And for all those are not so fortunate enough to come closer to this person (!!) please click here to know more. Though I guarantee you that you will never know the truth until you have played the game as if you the Max Payne.

I first heard of him when I was in school. It was an award winning game. My primitive PC was hardly able to run it. But yet we played. We became the NYPD detective, searching through the dark alleys of New York City for someone unknown, with revenge in our heart. Each chapter took us forward to becoming more like him. Getting more share of the pain in his heart. Getting relief with every shot of the gun in my hand and dying every second.

The music that stills lets a chill run through my spine. I played the second part in College. By then I could feel him more in me. With every stage a pack of cigarette would burn out. With every passing hour of the night I would move deeper in him, until I become the Max Payne.

And how could I forget Mona. The story is so incomplete without her. The lady who kept the hopes alive and set a fire of burning desire in our hearts.

The feeling still lingers deep in my heart. Hope to hear from those that loved this game at least once in their life.

A daily adventure

Going to office for me has turned into an adventure. An adventure that happens daily! Twice !!

Since I moved from Chinar Park to Belghoria, the daily traveling time and complexity has increased three folds. I've become so called DP (Daily Passenger) in train and bus. In spite of the complexity and time consumed I seldom grow tired of it. May be because of the variety of people I meet on the way, or the variety of route I take each day (There are three different major routes that I can take), or because it's still only a couple of months I'm in the business. Whatever, it doesn't really matter.

Well at first I never thought it to be an adventure. But each day I'd see something interesting on my way and relate it to my colleagues in office. After a couple of weeks one said,
"Samarjit's journey to office is becoming an adventure!"
Then I thought, "Oh it really is !"

Well I'm still thinking. Each day I talk to at least one stranger on my way. Try  to help out people with, who might need it. Notice the variety of people I live among. And I really really wish to continue doing so till my strength lasts.

Sometimes I think I'd write it all down. Those little things; but what I think can do most justice to this daily adventure is not a travelogue. It is a picture gallery. So things will be off to the other blog of mine for a while. In fact sometimes I really wish to merge them together. Is that a good idea?