The Butterfly Effect

Bihar: In Laloo land.....

Bihar: In Laloo land….

Well my first training stint in Saharanpur is done. Had a lot of things to learn, wont bore you guys will all that though. We had a review, and we have been told that our review bombed L. So after the review and after a day at the Hotel Marriot, Delhi I reached Kolkata enroute to Munger, Bihar. Met some of my wingies, felt simply great, we had a great time at Pizza Hut. Jadda dear sent me a bottle of Skyvy Vodka, he had bought from the US, amazing bottle, couldn’t taste the Vodka in it tough L, will get back to more on this. Prithvi got me a lucky charm cat from Japan.

We didn’t have confirmed Third AC tickets for the night train. But we had the HR getting some Shakeel Bhai to call up the T.T and within half an hour we had 5 confirmed third A.C tickets. We got on to the train, only to be told that some bridge on the way is broken down so we will reach Munger 5 hours late!!! We reached Munger around 12:30, checked out the main market to get our mobiles recharged. Must tell you this place surely was rich 50 years ago, and then it seems time decided to hold on, and we have what we have today.

Well reached my Quarter, Poolside (its by the swimming pool) around 1:00. We had a class at 2:00, so we rushed to the class. In the mean time, I put my lovely bottle of Vodka into the Fridge in the kitchen. But to my luck, when we returned at 7 in the evening, it was gone!!! My wingies gift was stolen!! I got freaked out, called up the HR, the house keeping guys informed everyone, the next day morning when we met the Branch Manger, also told him about my lost bottle of Vodka!!! The next day, they found three guys who were sent to clean up and polish our quarter, and these guys accepted that the the bottle was there before they came in, and was missing when they left. That meant one of them was the thief. Of the three, 2 were young guys, and one was an old man, as expected the young guys paired up against the old guys, and put the blame on this guy that he stole it, and that he was the only guy who worked in the kitchen, and so he must have stolen it. But then, our Guest House staff, and more so our butler, Hari International (more on him later) told me that the old guy worked with them previously and he could not have stolen it, and that he doesn’t drink. Now that meant the young lads had all my vodka. I decided I had enough and decided to formally put my complaint in. Then I asked Hari International, what action would be taken. He said “They will be fired and the contractor who employed them will also be fired” I was shocked. Two things occurred to me. Firstly that I would have rendered four guys jobless, and then something totally different struck me - In case these guys are really fired, how long will I last in Munger!!!!! Will I survive my stint, given the passion for Vengeance that people here are supposed to have. I decided not to file a complaint, and decided to forget about Jadda’s bottle of Vodka. I guess, what use is a bottle of Vodka, if I am not there to have it!!! All this happened in my first 24 hours of arrival in Munger. Total piss off!!

In the evening, we decided to relax a little, went to play tennis, its simply great, we have ball boys and flood lit courts here, trust me, ITC pampers you! Played Tennis till 7:30, then went to the gym for 10 – 15 mintues, and then we went swimming. By 8:30 had a bath, and went to have grub and slept. And my evenings have been more or less like this. Now coming to Dearest Hari International, well he is the cook of the guest house, and I must tell you I haven’t had food like this even at Sonar Bangla, or the Marriot. Chicken daily, low on oil, simply great Veggie stuff, Chola batura’s, Malai Kofta’s, Barbeque Chicken, name it this guy can make anything and too top it off, one glass of Sweet Lassi every night. To put it simply “I’m Lovin it!” I need no McD! So every one in ITC calls this guy, Hari International, for his world class food. He calls the guest house as “Aao Khaye Jao.” That’s about the grub.

Well, I have another KGPian here, Carlton (VGSOM, first year, HP - 05, SDS block), he is doing his training, in the Printing Factory here. Have been having a great time together. We went to the club, the day before yesterday, White Mischief is Rs 7.00 a peg, served chilled with Lemon Cordial and ice!!! Got drunk a little, had a great time, and again to top it off we had Hari International making some amazing stuff for us.

Yesterday after dinner, we happened to take a walk around the Park, as the residential area is called. Tell you what, this place is more like a resort man. Beautiful! Its like KGP, there is a loop (2.2 kind), we have a huge ground (About the size of Jnan Ghosh) and some of the houses in the centre. On the outer side of the loop we have the rest of the houses. Every house has a nice garden, amazing greenery, all kinds of plants, flowers, insects. Simply beautiful!

But then there is also a flip side to all this, the area outside. The boundary of the Park, is a really high wall, with a barbed wire top, the kind you will see in jails. Just inside the wall, after abound 5 – 6 feet is another barbed wire fence. And we have dogs patrolling here. I have been told there are at least 5 Doberman’s on the patrol at any point of time. At every corner in the Park, you have armed guards, some with walkie – talkies, saying “All clear, All clear” every few minutes. It’s something like a fort it seems!!!

Will post pictures of this place which I think I will call “Heaven, right inside Hell” in the next post. For now, I m off to Hyderabad for my cousins marriage, will return on the Thurday.

posted by aneesh @ 6:12 AM