Hungry!

I am hungry :( The last time I had food was yesterday afternoon at around 1:40 PM and since then I havent had any thing excpet banana chips and a Real Juice. Its almost 25 hours since that!

Its Weekend :(

For most of us, Weekends are a time to enjoy. Most of the people around me wait for weekend. They have so much in plan, so much places to hit, so much things to do, so much to talk to their chosen ones :)
I am different! I hate weekends. This was not always the case. It started after something happened to me! I get bored like hell as I have nothing to do except wash clothes and do some weekly cleaning stuff in my room! After that its me and my vague thoughts. Those monsters who start pursuing me and haunt me to disturb the peace of mind, which I try to attain. Since I am all alone (virtually) here, that kills me more. The net connection in my flat sucks. I hardly manage to download some stuff now-a-days.

So what I did today? I woke up at 0730 and then got myself ready by 0900 hrs after the usual stuff. I rushed to the petrol pump (My last post) to get things done. I reached there at 0930 and talked to the guys there, they denied any such thing and showed me some documents (credit card bill receipts) and tried to prove that I hadn't paid twice. I showed them my ATM receipt and credit card receipt. But nothing happened and I had to leave from there! So I lost 785 finally! :(

I was confused as hell. I had to register myself for correspondence course at CL today. I parked my bike in parking (the place I always park) and started roaming here and there. I was confused and some vague thought had came to me that should I even go for an MBA? I looked at my watch. It was 10:15. I looked all around me ... all of the shops were closed. I was feeling hungry but since everything was closed, I had to forget that I am hungry :) I started walking towards CL center. I saw ICICI bank in my way and decided to look for my debit card, ( the grid based card, which no one knows where it is :) ) . I entered the bank and took the service slip and waited for my turn. As I was sitting there, someone called my name from behind. I turned around and saw Yuvraj smiling. I waved to him and went to his seat and sat beside him. After exchange of wishes, he told me that he had came to get this debit card. By the way, Yuvraj is my colleague and we are in same Team. his number came and he went to the desk. I kept sitting there. I looked around and there were few people around and the bank was looking cool n calm. It was a pleasant sight. Otherwise the scene is like a fishmarket! Yuvraj came back and said that he will have to call customer care and they will do the job. I wished him bye and he left. I was wating for my turn. After another 15 minutes, my request number was flashed on the monitor and I was supposed to go to counter 18. I went there and told the lady sitting there, my problem. She looked into her records and said that debit card of mine cant be tracked! She told me to wait and they will issue me an instant visa debit card. I waited for another 5 minutes and then I was asked to go to counter 16. I went there with my DL as an ID proof. The person sitting here got a xerox of that and handed me my new card. He said that the new card will be activated within 48 hrs. I left the bank and went to ATM look into my account. Then I again gave a thought to MBA thing. I remembered that I had to go to CL center and enquire about correspondence thing. I went to the center reluctantly and some lady told me about the details. I told her that I will come again today with cash :) I had lied. I was not in a mood to come again. Anyways I left the place and drove my bike and came home by 1100 hrs. I was feeling very hungry. I changed and then had the lunch! I switched on my PC and started the movie We are Marshall . It was a one time watch. Not interesting. Felt like am seeing a bad copy of Remember the Titans. I was feeling lonely and was missing her badly :( I called Saurabh instead. He was in office and I asked to meet me after he gets done with his work. He told that he will meet near 1800 hrs. I again started looking in my PC aimlessly :D
Around 1400 hrs, Saurabh called me and told me that he is coming now coz he was not feeling like working in office. I decided to wash my clothes by the time he comes. I washed all of them and hanged them for drying in my balcony. Saurabh came after a while. We talked and then I asked about her. He refused to tell me anything. I asked him that has she gone home? He dint told anything :( We started talking on diverse topics. I told him about the MBA thing and he said that I must go for it. Then we started talking about India, Indians and related stuff on developement. We compared India with other coutries and wondered why India still lags behind too much! Then he asked me about his discs. I hadnt burned them as of yet :P
I started showing him the movies I had on my PC and he told me to burn The Departed.I started the burn process and we started watching Saving Private Ryan. After the burn process was completed it was 1730 hrs and we decided to leave for Shipra Mall. We were feeling hungry and so we decided to have something before hanging around :D We went to Bite Inn and as we took chairs, Saurabh saw Priya and Aunty. We went to them and wished them. They asked us to join them. We agreed and went to order. After a lot of scouting we decided on Paneer Lababdar and Kadahi Paneer (Surprisingly no food joint had chhole-bhature that time, we wanted that!). By that time Priya and Aunty had finished their food. Priya wanted an Icecream and so I told her to have it donwstairs in McD and we will join her there. Our food came and we finished it and went downstairs. I decided to go for a Soft Serve Cone. Priya wasnt around. I called her up and she said that she was in Reliance Digital. Me n Saurabh decided to sit outside and we told her to join us there. She answered affirmative. Saurabh and I sat there and started talking. I was speaking and speaking and he was not answering me. I kept on. I felt very low, as her thoughts were hitting me :( I felt like crying and so I rushed to the washroom. I regained my composure and came back. Priya hasnt came yet. We kept talking on things. Actually I kept on saying and he kept on listening. After some time, Priya called me and said that she will be joining us in another 10 minutes as she was waiting for uncle to pick aunty. After 15-20 minutes she came. We talked on a lot of stuff..same governement stuff...inefiicient management...inefficient people..office stuff...n then career and related. She told about her elder sis. We wondered how true some dialogues of Swades were. That discussion will mcome in a separate blog :) Bakul called on Saurabh's cell and I said just a Hi to her. She talked to Saurabh and Priya. I didnt knew that she has reached home! It was a surprise to me when Priya had tolde me in Bite Inn that she had left for home. After the call, we again talked for another hour, I guess. Then Priya asked us to come over to her society as Vinay is waiting there. We decided to go there. Priya and Saurabh took an auto rickshaw and I got my bike.

I reached before them :D We decided to have some water in Priya's home and then come downstairs and sit in the park. We went upstairs and met uncle aunty there. We had watemelon after glass of water :). There I saw school magazine of Priya's school. I saw a photo of Priya and Bakul in their class group photo. It was of 2000 and they were in 10th. vinay had called Priya and so we ran down after finishing that yummy watermelon. Thanks Priya for that :D

Vinay was waiting there. I sat on the swing and moved myself slowly on that :) Priya was swinging in full speed :) We started the talk and we discussed old movies, Boobna, College days (We all missed them :( ), parties, people, Mithun's movies and his superhuman efforts :D. And yes, we discussed about Rajnikant and Shivaji :) And we remembered that song of Jitendra "Dhal gaya Din , Dhal gayi shaam". Hehe, such a funny song

I looked on my watch and it was 2230 and so I decided to leave with Saurabh. I came to my flat, took Saurabh's bag and dropped him till Camp. And then I came back, changed and switched on the PC and wrote this.

Now I am gonna sleep :)

Bye Bye and Good night.

They Duped me!

Yesternight, I rushed from office at 2125 hrs. I was working with Alok on a bug for the last 90 minutes and had finally cracked the reason, got the flow of the code and the intended functionality. I had modified the code and tested on small pieces of data. We were about to run it for a large set of data, when it flashed in my memory that my bike is running in reserve mode! I had to take fuel and it was almost 9:30. I take fuel from a fuel station in Mayur Vihar, Delhi. The pump is named Image Filling Station. I told Alok about the same and rushed to the pump station with two fears running in parallel mode inside me! One was that the station may be closed by the time I reach (its 15 minutes ride frmo my office); the other that I may run out of the remaining fuel en route!
However none of my fears came true and I reached the pump station well in time with fuel still in my tank. I always take a hichg Octane petrol for my bike. For some time, I am using Indian Oil's Xtra Premium, but before that I used to stick to Speed by Bharat Petroleum.
Anyways, I aksed the attendant to fill xtra premium. I will try to put in conversation mode:

Me: Xtra premium
Attendant: How much?
Me: Tank full
Attendant: I have 5 litres of petrol in a vessel which I had filled just now. Can i use that to fill your tank and then the rest I will give you from pump?
Me: No, I want it from the pump
Another attendant comes
Attendant 2: Sir, we ahve just now taken the fuel from pump and there's nothing wrong with it. Why dont you take that?
Me: I dont want that. Why dont you give me from the pump. Ask someone else.
I was getting annoyed
Attendant: Ok, See zero on the screen
Me: Ya, start filling it
Me: By what time this pump station is open?
Attendant: 2300 hrs
Me: I was rushing to the place as I thought that it might be open till 2200 hrs only.

I was looking onto the meter and it went to read 17.44 litres and cost was 785 ruppees. I clsoed the fueld lid and handed over my debit card to him.

Attendant: I have to charge 585. Isnt it?

I tried to be honest

Me: Its 785 and not 585. Do you wnat to give me a discount of 200!
Attendant: oh ya, its 785.

He swiped the card at a POS terminal lying there but nothing happened. I saw that mahcine from where I was sitting on my bike. It seemed to be unused. The enw attendant who had earlier appeared came over to the attendant and took the card from him and went towards another pump where there was another POS terminal which was active. I could see that it was active as that pump was for 4 wheelers and people were getting slips there. He went and then came back to me flagging the card.

Me: What happened?
Attendant 2: This is not working
Me: Not working! It didn't get charged?
Attendant 2: No

I was not having any cash with me and so I gave him my credit card. he took that and went again. I was amused that how come my debit card was not charged. However I didn't smelled any foul as I havent signed any receipt. I was under impression that unless you sign a receipt for debit card, you are in safe hands. I parked my bike beside the petrol tanker (it was standing there) and reached the place where that attendant 2 was standing

Me: What happened this time?
Attendant 2: This time its done.

He was holding the slips in his hand. I took them and signed and got my card n customer copy back. I came back to my bike. It was 2155 hrs. I started my bike and left. I reached home at around 2230 hrs.

I entered my room. Arjit n Pogo were not in the flat and Vikas's door was closed. I swittched on my PC and changed. I had dinner and by the time I finished it my cell beped. There was a SMS waiting for me. I wondered who may have sent me a SMS at this hour. I had changed my cell number last week and so was not expecting anything at this moment. My Heart thought that this SMS might be hers. I wondered how come whe got my new number? I picked my cell and the instantaneous elation in the heart vanished like anything. The SMS was from ICICI bank notifyin me that my debit card has been succesfully charged for 785 at Image Filling station! I was shocked. How come this happened? It took no time for understanding that I was forged at the station by the attendants. I immediately called on the number listed on debit card. The number was not working! I opened the website of ICICI bank and called on the customer care number. I went for option 4 wherein you can speak to some person on the phone. An automated voice came which notified me that this service is available only from 9 AM to 9 PM. I was helplessly getting frantic! I decided to shoot an email at once to customer care! I opened the site again and logged in my problem. After that, I switched off lights and decided to slip, knowing that nothing can be done now as it was a debit card and the amount in this case is credited at the instant in the other account! Suddenly I thought that the attendant might have given me the receipt for my debit card. I wished it to be true. I checked my wallet for the receipt. It was of my credit card :(
With a heavy heart, I inserted that back into my wallet and decide to call again in morning.

Today I reached office, finished with pending work on that bug I was working on last night. Then at 0945 hrs I called the customer care. The lady on the phone told me that nothing can be done from their side. I told her that I havent signed any receipt! She told me that, signing receipt is just a formality kind of thing for the bank. However, it is a certificate kind of thing for the shop owner that a purchase has been made and this much maount must be credited to his account. The amount is credited instantly! She asked me to fo the pump and argue with them! I was not in a mood to do that.

I am still thinking over that should I go once to the petrol pump and try to talk to the manager or who ever might be managing the pump. I will go in the evening after the office is over. I doubt if something will be done! I even doubt that some honest person will eb there to even listen to me!

I have left hope for the money. It is a lesson for me! Seen otherways, It is a price I paid for being honest in the first place. If I hadnt been honest I would have saved at least 200.

After 4 months

It has been almost 4 months! Its getting harder for me to pen down my thoughts regularly. I always feel that I should scribble something but the laziness drags me hard. I had decided that I will be regular in updating all of my blogs, but here I stand to that. And the testimony is this 4 months.
Anyways, there was a lot which missed out, which happened in these months. Life has changed for a whole lot of reasons! Things chnaged, people and places too. There's more noise around me and the people around me are few. The mob is till there around me but people I treasured have dwindled in their numbers. They left for their reasons and I left some for some connected reasons.

The last time I wrote, I discussed about a book. This time also the focus should be on another masterpiece I went through. However, these two are on pole's end in their content, intended audience and the feel. Neverthless, They are masterpieces of literary work. This time, I read Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I had heard a lot about this and had always wanted to read this. I had purchased this book in September 2006 and this was lying in my cupboard for more than 9 months. Finally this june I took it out and went through it non-stop. Its worth every penny you spend on purchasing an original copy frmo some bookstore. Its a book you will feel like underlining sentences and refer back to them at times. Worth reading and I will suggest every one to go through it.