A candid chat

The following chat took place between my brother & I. The lazy ass that I am, I was never gonna put these thoughts into words, so I thought of publishing it for my own good. The idea being, to expose my ideas to a bigger audience, and take in their advice, there views, to build up my thoughts and find strength to make some key decisions in my life.

So please be patient, read through my lengthy monologues, and drop in ur two pence as a charity to my case.

--

ahmed: khul gya net aakhir

18 tqk yqhin rahoge ya kahin aur ka bhi plan hai?

itni lambi chuutti kaise mili?

Aatif: nahin boracay too

obon hols hain yahan

ahmed: koi dhang ki jagah nahin milti tumhen....yeh kya hai

Aatif: festival hai

ahmed: hindustaan aao... yahaan rakshabandahn hai....

independenc day hai..

Aatif: babu 2 chhan rukiye

tabiyat se baat karte hain phir

ahmed: tabiyat durust karo aur aaghe ke bare main serious ho jaao

Aatif: ha ha ha

serious ho jaao

ahmed: life main decisin lene padte hain

Aatif: bilkul boliye seriously

kya batayein aapko

ahmed: i htink take step in the direction keeping larger things in persoective

perspective

Aatif: ok

wht larger things

ahmed: matlab future

Aatif: wht perspectives .. give me ur perspectives

ahmed: dekho sab log safety zone main rehna chahte hain

Aatif: arey yaar

give me ur opinion in clear words

lemme understand ur perspective

ahmed: TAKE CHANCE

Aatif: u never knw it might help

humm take chance

ahmed: GO AHEAD

Aatif: hold on yaar

mom se baat ke saath aapse baat fight ahi

ahmed: THEEK HAI MUMMY SE BAAT KAR LO...

Aatif: haan

\ab boliye

ho gayii mom se baat

now tell me abt the chances tht u were saying so seriously

ahmed: par abhi tum young age ke ho....stand up and carve a niche for yourself...

stagnancy is killing

Aatif: hummm .. carve a niche .. its nice .. but u knw the risks right

am in a the biggest consumer goods company

am considered an expert in my field

ahmed: arrey kitna bada risk hai

Aatif: an expert in less than 3 yrs

am slated for a promotion in next 6 months

ahmed: so what is your future here

Aatif: one of the quickest in the company\

hold on lisyten to me first

ahmed: to your expectations?

Aatif: my future is unparallel growth with excellent pay package in any place i choose

a company which respects its employee .. a work culture like non other

a company with high work ethics and regard for work life balance

thts the risk

ahmed: so what is the excite ment for u on the other side?

why did u take the exam?

Aatif: the excitement on the other side is rapid growth .. an uncharted waters where sky is the limit .. if everythings works for my then excellent job prospects in a field i have no expertise in ..

a chance to know the future leaders of tomorrow

and maybe be one of them

a chance for doing things which very few get there hands on

good pay scale .. excellent network .. a truly new beginning

thts whts on other side

ahmed: ..and you are worried b'c of the uncertainity... right

Aatif: my chances this year are ok .. they are not super good or anything

i have 70% chance of making it big

but if i fall in the other 30% side

i may have to move out of my current job

or else my growth will be stagnated

will lose the respect / confident that i have build

up

and will surely for go the chance of making it ot the top niche univs

ahmed: on what basis have u made this calculation?

Aatif: am still on the strting level in my job .. i have a 2.5 yrs work ex when i apply ..

thre are tonnes of people who are lining up for a shot

and thre are tonnes of stats which are already available to judge ur chances

ahmed: you have given me the good and the worse scenario...

what is your calling.... dil aur dimaag kya kehta hai?

Aatif: i have .. and my calling is wht am taking this vacation for

the problem is not only my decision

the problem is wht comes after my decisions

getting into the colleges i wish for is not just difficult its very time demanding ..

and not only mine .. but many others

if decide to shoot for it .. my deadlines are far too close

which wd mean i'll have to get into hyper gear

and this hyper gear is just the beginning of a very long journey

ahmed: and before that .... ur chances at your company seems to be good... what is the drawback here

Aatif: no drawbacks .. just that its mundane ..

its not challenging enough

ahmed: what do you expect from life?

Aatif: enuff money never to say no to do anything i wish

enuff time to enjoy each and every moment of life

do to wht i wish to at each moment ..i swht i expect from life

i enjoy doing challenging things .. i enjoy keeping my self busy .. i enjoy travelling .. i enjoy high profile interactions ..

ahmed: hmmm..

Aatif: look in simple words: the first problem is : should i leave such a cushiony job in which i am so comfortable and at peace .. and which am sure will always try to keep me happy for something which will be always turbulent and fast moving

well .. if you ask me .. am ok to op for turbulence over calm .. no doubt .. but its easier said than done

the fact tht at this point in time of my life am gonna make a decision which will require a tremendous investement and whose repayment will keep me busy for life..

might too busy to even consider the little things in life..

i am sure i'll be happy and satisfied maybe .. but i need to be convinced myslef to be ok to miss other thinsg which u might not even consider now ..

things like a visit in family emergency ..

coming home on time ..

having dinner at home all seven days of week ..

having a home to begin with

and the thingsis once i get into it .. i don wanna turn back .. and thre will be no turning back ..

i'll be so much into it tht i might not want to turn back .. and whts at the end of it ..

whts the long and short of it ..

wht do you gain from all this running and keeping busy at the end of life ..

will i at that time realise tht i lost on a lot of things .. because i was busy

how imp are these lil things in life .. how do u define happiness

if thre is anything like this

shd i even consider these in making my decision now .. are these even worthy of consideration

or shd i just keep on doing things .. because someone else has done it .. and am smart .. i shd "carve a niche" for myself

u knw .. i think its time i shd stop and realise why am i doing wht i am doing .. and if i shd do it or not ..

its better to realise them now thn to realise them 10 - 20 - 40 yrs from now

boss .. i seldom get serious because thre are many things to be serious about .. there are far lesser things to be happy abt to be jovial abt

anyway .. tht has been a long monologue .. i hope u get the gist of it .. i hope u understand that i am confused as of now .. tht i am scared .. and i hope tht u will have faitht tht wht i decide is wht i have decided after very careful consideration

--
So thats that. Next 7 days in my life, I have decided to chill it out in Cebu & Boracay and maybe make up my mind to the goals I want to achieve.

Wish me all the best!
--

Business @ 22!

Life is long and full of unexpected turns. Had u talked to the 10 yr old kid, he would have told you all about the nobel laureate of 2023 AD, though he migh not have been sure of the field you see. Had you talked to 15 yr teenager, he would have told you all about the next hunk in the making - maybe the next student of the year of DPS, RKP. The 20 yr old would have known tht the kid and the teenager were grossly wrong and would have had tough time telling where he would be ending up in next five years, leave alone 2023 AD! And now ask the 22 yr old almost TDH , and he might not be sure of 2023 AD, but he is sure that years don't matter no more. He is heading for big things.

I don't know if you would agree with me but sometimes nothing seems to be going right. The things you were most sure of, the people u trusted the most, the events that were a definite, they all go awry. Nothing seems to be right, no one seems to be trustful, nothing works and you start feeling that there is no hope. No hope for life, for friends, for family.... for future.



And then things change. You start getting hope, through unexpected things, unexpected friends and unexpected family. Maybe thats life. Maybe thats what makes life... life! I hope the turn of unexpecteds don't end just now. And i hope that they are for good! And I hope never quit hoping ..ever again!

An Introduction!!

This goes for the uninitiated and also to those unfortunate souls who were not present during my profile at valfi. The words have been crafted by Akshay Saxena and inputs have been from all my enemies . Well to find that out simply keep on reading!!

Syed Ahmed Misbah Misbahuddin Aatif Yunus

Aatif’s life has been a story of almost been there almost done that. He is almost TDH. He is tall and dark afterall. He was almost Lit Secy and then almost Cult Co and almost DGSec. Considering he’s a Bihari, his political career at IIT has been shocking.

In his freshie year, Aafat as he likes to call himself had aspirations of being the stereotypical H2 Lit stud. He could be seen everywhere paining people and showing enthu. Sadly it was his painu-tendencies that were taken note of and he received his first break as an actor in the freshie dram. It goes without saying that the judges found his portrayal of the painu house guest extremely lifelike. Aatif was almost a dram stud now. Yet it remained another unfulfilled dream. Sadly, in his next role as the lead actor in H2’s socials, Aatif was asked to dance. Our man was so gifted at shaking his leg that poor Anshul Sharan was made to wear a mask and act as his dance double.

Aatif however did manage to do a few things right. Somewhere in his second year he came to the conclusion that he should start applying the one talent God had given him; his intelligence. He plunged into tech and academics. Techfest 2003 was his defining moment. Yantriki, Chemsplash and Last straw, the cash began to flow in. In a bout of insanity the Techfest team made him Chemsplash Manager and apna Aatif finally stud ban gayaa.

This boost to his self confidence caused him to embark on a series of misadventures, with women. He tried hard. First with the love of his Jamshedpur life, Aditi Roy Ghatak. So impressed was she with his fighting spirit that she gave him a shirt that says “Impossible means I’m Possible.” Aatif’s worn that shirt so long an so often, we were almost sure he’d wear it to his valfi. He then tried pataoing babes through Tech. Cheeka in Chemsplash, Maal Hai in yantiki, the list is endless. Once again a bad move, par Aatif ko kaun chamkaye. Yes, phir kuch bhi ho na sakaa.

Aatif soon realized that since his charms didn’t seem to be working on women, he should go for the next best thing. Unsuspecting inhabitants of his wing! He resorted to wearing a close up smile on his face and nothing else. Many an unsuspecting wingie found himself wriggling out of his clutches ad odd hours in the night. An inkling of his sheer obscenity can be gained from the ‘Miss Obscene’ title he won in his freshie year. In a fit of madness, a few of his friends took him along to Goa. Aatif was right at home. Since he ran no risk of getting tanned any further, he decided to have a ball. We would elaborate further but this profile would then have an R rating. Lets just leave it at.. We’ll never ever do that again. His HOMO-sapien tendencies have been proven photographically, when he tried to "take advantage" of an unsuspecting friend at Nariman Point.

This seemingly philanthropic person, would be more than happy to give you a lift when you catch him after the class, but the effort goes to waste when you realize that -

1. His bike is parked at the main gate.

2. It has no petrol.

3. He has no Money.

4. You HAVE money.

5. He is hungry.

Never approach Aatif with money. It will disappear. He took his batchmates for a "treat" to Elephanta, which ended up being dutch. He was found selling an extra ticket for a Movie in black, that too AFTER he had watched the movie! He went to fashion street and bought bright girls t-shirts because they were 10 rupees cheaper. The worst part is that he attempted to lure his wingies towards him by wearing those shirts.

Luckily Aatif managed some success in his love life in his fourth year. Though this does not mean that ANYONE around his is safe, it is still some respite. ‘A Virus’ entered his life and turned things topsy turvy. Aatif became dangerous to be around. His phone got glued to his ear and in order to impress ‘A Virus’ this violently anti alcoholic tea-totaller took to the booze, but not without spilling and diluting his peg 10 times over - if you don't believe us, ask DEAN, who was in a totally sober state when he observed this phenomenon (sic). His mounting phone bills and a sudden affinity to alcohol turned him into a threat to wallets everywhere. “Yaar paise udhaar de de, main Japan se bhej doonga.” Yeah right Aatif we believe you. When Aatif's outgoing calls were blocked, he resorted to cajoling wing mates to walk all the way to the main gate for a ‘glass of juice’ only so that miyaan could ditch them and walk out for a lovey dovey phone call.

Footnote: Aatif and ‘A Virus’ are only "good friends, I can't even think of anything else, I've always been good friends with girls, I don't think It will happen.".

So, drunken this man has become, in love and in liquor, but then again, success has also not been far behind - from being involved in hostel and IIT activities, this tech stud has held the prestigious position of Insti Tech Nominee, and was there to receive the trophy from our DOSA, who sadly missed the opportunity to shake hands with him, because he was busy showing off his trophy. This Techfest manager, has landed a wonderful job in P&G Japan, and would soon be flying all the way from here to the island nation - Aatif, we wish you all the best in all your future endeavors, and will miss you like hell.

A Kalinga Tale: Day 2 onwards - Kalinga Conquered!

Sorry for such a late edition of the day 2. The problem was that bhai had read my accout of day one and he was not allowing me to release the sequel:). But now that he is out of my I am free again!.. so here it goes ...


Woke up at 7o'clock in the morning. We rushed to mom and dads room for a quick breakfast. The schedule for the day was tight and no slip in time could have been permitted. We had to visit few rels in Khurda road and from there take off to Chilka Lake. Had our lunch at Bushsho Khala's place. By noon we were heading towards the biggest inland lagoon in the world. It had drizzled when we started, making the climate just perfect for our rendezvous.

The road was awesome, going in and out of Mountains. The journey took us some 2 hours and we were in Panthaniwas, the Orissa Tourism Development Corporations guest house, by 5 o'clock. The plan was to check out the migratory birds at Chilka and then marvel at the Sunrise on the eastern coast of in India. Well, the migratory birds arrive at the birds sanctuary in winters and we woke up again at 7 o'clock. Anyways, we took a motor boat to Devi Kalijai's Temple, situted in a small island some 5 Kms off shore. We did see few Dolphins in the lagoon. The temple was really silent and serene. The dancing peacocks and the chanting priest added to the beauty of the temple. its a pity that I can't spend rest of my life in such tranquil places. Soon we were back on the shore and headed for Rambha Valley. On our way we saw some breath-taking scenes of the Chilka lake from a table top plateau.

After Rambha the next destination was Puri - The Holi city. After much begging I finally got the keys to car. The first thing to be done in my command was to put Dad in the back seat (refer Day 1). The problem with small family cars is that its difficult to adjust 3 people in the back seat, if you get what I mean! I could drive it for no more than 50 Kms before Bhai staged a coup and got me displaced from my postion of the driver. We took a bypass from Rameshwaran that was where Bhai took the wheels from me. But it seems fate is not without a touch of irony, the road from Rameshwaran to Puri was so hopeless that we covered the next 50 Kms in no less than 3 hrs.

We reached Puri in the evening, checked in the Panthaniwas in the quiet area of Puri. The beach resort was one of the best in Puri. We went out for a walk late in the evening. Well before I start giving in the details, I must impress upon you that Mom is a hydrophobiac, whereas I love water and Mom was with me for the walk. Do you really need any more details? To complete my description I must add that the people on the beach were ready to pay us for viewing the tussel between me and mom on the beach! I a grumpy mood for not touching the water even once we reached the chowpatti sort of bazaar on the beach few kms from our resort. I bought a kite there (THAT WAS FUN!!) It was an awsome kite, blimey! It was made of plastic, shaped as an aeroplane and it flew! Some 10 people asked me where to get it on our way back. Bhai shot a video too with me happily flyin the kite :-D!

Next day in the morning I made up for the last evening misfortune! Woke up early in the morning, slipped out of the room w/o waking up anybody and walked along the shore for some 5 kms enjoying the Dawn on the eastern shores. It was breathtaking. Soon Mom, Dad woke up too and there was an uproar that I am lost. Mom sent Dad immediately to look for me. He found me bathing in the water and take my word I have never seen him running any quicker! The crowd flocked again watching Dad pulling me out of the water and me tryin to free myself from his clutches. By the time I was out Dad was drenched too and I couldn't stop myself from rolling on the floor. The only problem was that in the tussel I lost my specs and the rest of the way had to see a spectacles less Aatif.

We left Puri at breakfast time for Konark. The Puri-Konark route is also called the Marine drive road. It goes along the shoreline and you cannot get a more beautiful road than that (FYI I was driving the car :-D). After several stop overs we atlast reached Konark. The magnificient sun temple tells the tales of age old riches. after spending some time in and out of the ruins we headed back for Bhubaneswar. There we made a night stop before leaving for home next day morning.

Our journey back was mostly uneventful. Dad drove most of the distance, I could get my hands on for some distance between Cuttack-Balasore Golden Quadrilateral highway and I enjoyed that bit :).. We all were too tired to enjoy anything else maybe, so by the time we reached home, all we could do was to pack ourselves for a really long sleep!

I don't know when we would head for such a trip again. With bhai's posting at different places all year round, me geeting only 14 days break every year, it would be great in itself if we can manage to even meet each other! I believe everything that happens in life teaches you something, and the lesson that I have picked here is that - Life is small and you don't get second chance. So get as much as you can from it!

Adios!!

A Kalinga Tale: Day 1 - The tell-tale trail!

Well this odyssey was always on the cards only the destination was not. But as Bhai's hunt for his match got hot, the dream changed into reality. "Orissa - A dream destination" ... Don't youthink that I am using a hyperbole here. With mom rejecting my Darjeeling dream, Dad trashing our Uttaranchal sojourn, Bhai against a south India tour, and Nature spilling water on all other tourist spots, the plan of a trip to Orissa looked surreal to me. The fact that we would be hitting the road for this trip took me off, but the icing on the cake was that I was promised my share of driving on the way (which btw came after a lot of protest from me).

The route had been chalked out, the stopovers highlighted, car checked, route rechecked. And finally with all the prayers in place we left. The plan was to leave home at 6 o'clock in the morning. We left at 0700 hrs (with an army captain on our back, this was a great achievement). The route took us through pot holes ridden Ghatshila, the never ending truck queue at Jamsola, the "Baba-da-Dhaba" at Baripada, the "Guess-where-is-the-road" highway near Balasore, the "diversion ahead" Bhadrak, the four lane golden rectangle to Cuttack and finally to Bhubaneswar-the temple City!

I could lay my hands on the wheel for some 125 Kms between Baripada and Bhadrak. Mind you this was my first hands-on the four legged monster and I tamed it well!! The only problem was that my share of the road included finding my way through the under-construction bypass to Balasore city. May the fact that there was no road to drive on will give you a clear picture. They say its not easy to concentrate in a noisy envioronment. With Mom praying aloud (with her shrieks on every giving a particular tune to it); Bhai giving tips on when to change to which gear and to drive at what speed and to give what signal in which direction and to .........; dad on the font seat clutching the seat belt tight, constantly trying to take the steering from me, jumping before the bumps, and making faces which can even scare the sh*t out of people with a nerve of steel; You might just get a feel of my plight.

To cut the long story short, we reached Bbsr at 1700 hrs in the evening, checked in the Bubaneswar Hotel. Mom Dad went to visit the girl of Bhai's dream , we had our dinner, watched a rerun of evergreen "Hum Panch", got the news of the land and then closed the day.

Here I am!

Lifes been dull.

I think thats sums it up pretty good as to how I have been spending my last 3 months at home! I should, to be politically correct, take out the 17 day excursion that I went about in the month of June.

Mom and Bhai say that friends don't last forever. And when I refute their claim, they say that am too immature to understand it. And it makes me think - "Is it really going to happen?!". Will I forget my friends in next 2-3 years when I get busy with my life? Will people who count the most to me now, won't be there to share the ups and downs of life?

Some how I cannot convince myself that answer to any of these doubts can ever be yes. But then again I had great many friends till 10th and then again I had the best group in my plus 2 days. But none of them are around. Infact at some point of time I myslef have not taken the needfull steps to maintain the contact.

I don't know where the life would take me but I sure hope my friends would always be there in my thick and thin. With Sur there at every step of my life; Gajju on fone everyother day; Chhotu and Adi giving fundaes at the drop of the hat; Soni-Mayu to cheer me up 24x7; Bedi already gearing up for my baaraat [thats another story :-)]; Sudama and Zi as parents; GP n Varoon for support; Ghaza and Vardan for just being there [at Toto's that is :)]; I don't think it would be too difficult.

I hope I can prove my mom and bhai wrong for atleast this one time!!