The first thing that comes to my mind is the author's grip on me and the second stark reality about this novel was the pace at which I read it, in flat two days !!! Well there were many contributing factors to it, like my Vellapan, Boredom and above all the Sexy, Saucy and Raunchy Narration by the author.
The novel is set against the deadly backdrop of Latin America and the deadliest among all, in Colombia, where the major export (and its major cash crop) of this country to the world is Cocaine apart from Coffee, the famous Coffee Arabica. The protagonist of the novel is an American Lady, going by the name of Nash Novak, a successful business woman and master strategist, who runs a successful coffee shop in US of A who inherits a coffee plantation in none other than deadly Colombia !!! She comes to claim her inheritance, left to her by her father, a genius coffee grower hoping that it will bail her out of her financial troubles back home, unknowingly drawn in by the Colombian Drug Cartel. The moment she lands up in Colombia, she is drawn into the deadliest battle against the Villian, a Colombian Drug Mafioso, Don Pablo Escobar who wants to use that place as a laboratory for Cocaine. From Colombia she lands up in China to sell her produce (Coffee re... whats on your mind ???) but again get entangled with Chinese Triad, again a Chinese underworld gang and running for her life she comes back to Colombia and start the ultimate fight with the billionaire mafia with the help of none other than our Hero (no need to say he is an American too) !!! Finally she wins the battle, despite being abducted, raped and thrashed with the help of our Hero, the American agencies like DEA, CIA, FBI, NSA and blah blah blah and what not ???
The moral of the story, there is always a Happy Ending, Come What May !!! The best part of the novel is the pace at which it is set........ A fast moving and taut storyline with lots of Crimson, lots of steamy sex escapades (truly Robinson type !!! I still cant forget his Novel The Betsy), lots of brutality and finally a palatable end. A good time pass for the weekend.
The novel has left me enriched with the History, Geography and Culture of Colombia and ya yes of course with deep insight of the world's favourite drink, the Coffee or Cafe and the world's famous smoke, the Cocaine. Otherwise I just knew the types of coffee on the menu card of Baristas, CCDs, Mochas. Well to share with you coffee is of two types, one is the famous Arabica and another is the inferior one Robusta. Furthermore not to forget the great deal of information on Cocaine and the Date Rape Drug, Scopalamine !!!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
The Quintessential MBA: Pregnant with Ideas
The last week has been so tumultuous with such ups and downs that it seems my life has become a roller coaster ride of Walt Disney World. Fresh from a B-School, harbouring a full rainbow spectrum of Dreams (or shall I say Day Dreams), with all those vigour, passion, energy and above all Pregnant with Ideas type, joined a reputed organization with a plum profile or at least it seemed so in my initial days at the organization but suddenly as expected my life took full circle just like a roller coaster ride and I landed up in another famous vertical or notoriously infamous vertical, The Collections Department, infamously known as Recoveries section of the organization.
The transition from a plum profile to a rather low key profile was not that easy for me but let me be honest I enjoyed the second Honeymoon even more !!! because again there was a lull period in between the transition from one vertical to another vertical. Honeymoon as usual was a great time again and I was lucky that I got to go for a second Honeymoon in just Six Months of Time, which shows the Irony that in just six months you are thrown from one profile to another, on the contrary I was just starting to get the feel of the first profile and lo ! there came the dictum that your department has been merged and you have to move on !!!!!
The Unfortunate me was thrown to Collections, it was a sea change for me and yes of course was a shattering experience, just like the Mirror Breaking Scene of Hindi Cinema; "Is Dil ke tukde hazaar hue, koi yahaan gira koi vahaan gira". Well after all the desperate attempts to move into some relevant department and the developments thereupon, i.e. the imbroglio with super bosses and all, I finally gave up and joined my new assignment, new Boss - new people, I knew I had to start afresh !!! Furthermore no need to mention that all the work, I did in my previous profile got washed away and literally went down the drain.
It was a new day, a new dawn for me again, I joined despite repeated admonitions from my friends and colleagues. Initial two days were good as I was trying to adjust and relocate from one location to another, was in the process of getting a hint on what exactly am I supposed to do ??? My real ordeal started when I was asked to start the work and set roaring on full throttle !!! at this moment I came to understand that what actually I have to do. My JD (Job Description, not Jack Daniels re.... you tippler !!!) involves Calling up people and reminding them that they have to pay back the money they have taken (a shattering experience, just was thinking a MBA doing this calling thing, Naaaaaahh !!!), sending legal notices to them (am I a Law Graduate, I am the Quintessential MBA with Rainbow coloured Dreams, Naaaaaahh !!!) and lastly comes the Recovery part, visiting people's house and demanding the payback !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like a typical recoveries agent as portrayed by our Fourth Pillar (which now desperately needs another pillar to support themselves, the TRPs) the same fearsome, ghoulish guy, who can involve in any type of skull drudgery to whip out money or your skin (the choice is yours type !!!). My current assignment is to call up people and remind them about the payback, as I have not graduated to that level where I become the spine chilling, fear inducing recoveries man, but even this is a task which I don't consider a MBA should be doing because my dreams are different and very colourful on top of that !!! I am the one who passed out from a mediocre B-School and cherish the dreams of becoming a CEO, one day; so I feel Calling is not my Cuppo' Tea. Treading and steering ahead on my path, some day I will reach the third level and graduate to become the recoveries man.
A passing thought crossed my mind that I will be the first person to go and watch the new Sanju Baba movie "EMI"; who else can connect to the movie in much better way than me !!!!
With so much things happening at one go, and the Helpless and Hapless me feels that I have to comply and compromise with the situations and again struggle for a new beginning; be it the new profile or the search for a new nest, means a new organization !!!
Today, sitting at home I feel there is a stark difference between Real life and the Utopian world in which we lived in our college days !!!!!!
Well today is X-MAS and I am enjoying it by lazying around in Home
MERRY X-MAS !!!!!!!!!!!
The transition from a plum profile to a rather low key profile was not that easy for me but let me be honest I enjoyed the second Honeymoon even more !!! because again there was a lull period in between the transition from one vertical to another vertical. Honeymoon as usual was a great time again and I was lucky that I got to go for a second Honeymoon in just Six Months of Time, which shows the Irony that in just six months you are thrown from one profile to another, on the contrary I was just starting to get the feel of the first profile and lo ! there came the dictum that your department has been merged and you have to move on !!!!!
The Unfortunate me was thrown to Collections, it was a sea change for me and yes of course was a shattering experience, just like the Mirror Breaking Scene of Hindi Cinema; "Is Dil ke tukde hazaar hue, koi yahaan gira koi vahaan gira". Well after all the desperate attempts to move into some relevant department and the developments thereupon, i.e. the imbroglio with super bosses and all, I finally gave up and joined my new assignment, new Boss - new people, I knew I had to start afresh !!! Furthermore no need to mention that all the work, I did in my previous profile got washed away and literally went down the drain.
It was a new day, a new dawn for me again, I joined despite repeated admonitions from my friends and colleagues. Initial two days were good as I was trying to adjust and relocate from one location to another, was in the process of getting a hint on what exactly am I supposed to do ??? My real ordeal started when I was asked to start the work and set roaring on full throttle !!! at this moment I came to understand that what actually I have to do. My JD (Job Description, not Jack Daniels re.... you tippler !!!) involves Calling up people and reminding them that they have to pay back the money they have taken (a shattering experience, just was thinking a MBA doing this calling thing, Naaaaaahh !!!), sending legal notices to them (am I a Law Graduate, I am the Quintessential MBA with Rainbow coloured Dreams, Naaaaaahh !!!) and lastly comes the Recovery part, visiting people's house and demanding the payback !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like a typical recoveries agent as portrayed by our Fourth Pillar (which now desperately needs another pillar to support themselves, the TRPs) the same fearsome, ghoulish guy, who can involve in any type of skull drudgery to whip out money or your skin (the choice is yours type !!!). My current assignment is to call up people and remind them about the payback, as I have not graduated to that level where I become the spine chilling, fear inducing recoveries man, but even this is a task which I don't consider a MBA should be doing because my dreams are different and very colourful on top of that !!! I am the one who passed out from a mediocre B-School and cherish the dreams of becoming a CEO, one day; so I feel Calling is not my Cuppo' Tea. Treading and steering ahead on my path, some day I will reach the third level and graduate to become the recoveries man.
A passing thought crossed my mind that I will be the first person to go and watch the new Sanju Baba movie "EMI"; who else can connect to the movie in much better way than me !!!!
With so much things happening at one go, and the Helpless and Hapless me feels that I have to comply and compromise with the situations and again struggle for a new beginning; be it the new profile or the search for a new nest, means a new organization !!!
Today, sitting at home I feel there is a stark difference between Real life and the Utopian world in which we lived in our college days !!!!!!
Well today is X-MAS and I am enjoying it by lazying around in Home
MERRY X-MAS !!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Being Single: Is it a Boon or a Bane for a Trained Underdog ???
The festive season has just started and the world is going ga-ga over their latesht fantansies for partyin around and painting the town red. Party circuit is buzzing, the swanky watering holes of the city is pouring their heart out, in terms of spirits and also in terms of letting their own holy spirit out !!! Everybody out there is set to make the most of their time and enjoy in the best possible way, be it the Hot(everytime i don't have to explain you the underlying terms) Beaches of Goa or be it the SoBo or Zenzy or Poison or the good old Enigma and God knows how many more such places.
Theres a basic rule in this city or I would like to call it the "Maximum City" (I love the name given to this city by Suketu Mehta), the rule of being SINGLE !!!!! If you are single in this city then you are as good as non existent, all the privileges all the beautifully hot places are not for you beacause they say you are a STAG, I can't tell you how many times I have come across this word in my life in this city. The moment I come across this word I feel we have again gone back to some Jungle era or the least set back by some 100-200 years. We are the inhabitants of the country's most advanced city, the so called Mumbaikars we talk a lot on gender equality, equal opportunity and blah blah blah but still we observe a bias against the darker sex (if they are the fairer sex then somebody ought to be darker so as to make the comparison happen) and this latest bias is often seen in nightclubs pubs discs. With the growing popularity of this biasness we, the lesser mortals are bereaved of the finesse of this max city !!!!! Its time when the people of Mumbai should understand that now with changing times our countrymen are understanding how to behave in such circuits and even if something unpleasant erupts out then every place has got their own herd of beefy bouncers to straighten up the issue so why don't they let us in or else how the quintessential stag of this city will survive in such a fast life ????
On top of it being single is a Bad Omen sorts as you are the trained underdog and you are at your level best in this psyche and feel proud of it. Being single invites the undesired attention of your boss and along comes the orders for working for a few hours on a holiday which eventually turns out to be a full fledged hectic day. Tell me honestly how many times have you heard the common phrase "Arey yaar tum to chhadey ho, kya karoge ghar pe ??" This same situation happened with me yesterday, my boss asked me to come for an hour or so on an holiday and as expected by observing little resistance from my side ordered me to come for an hour on the day of my festival but the subservient me nodded in an abiding manner like an school kid taking instructions from his Principal fearing the cane in his mighty hands !!!!! The next morning albeit unwillingly called up the boss to enquire about whether he is coming or not or rather should I say that I asked wheher I should go or not ??? Hurrayyyyyyy comes the surprise, boss says go enjoy your day theres no need to come to office today , go enjoy your festival just like legendry Amrish Puri thundering "Jaa Simran ja, Jee le apni Zindgi". The surpise and excitement in me even didn't fade up and lo!!! I was sorrounded by deep bitter feeling of being fooled and cajoled by allowing a day's leave and fucking up my trip back to home as a two day leave would have made the holiday package of five great days.
Here I am sitting here expressing my ire in words and posting it so as to let out my pent up anger and anguish !!!!
Well I think this is life !!! and we have to move on and search for Alternatives...... . . . . . . . . .
Theres a basic rule in this city or I would like to call it the "Maximum City" (I love the name given to this city by Suketu Mehta), the rule of being SINGLE !!!!! If you are single in this city then you are as good as non existent, all the privileges all the beautifully hot places are not for you beacause they say you are a STAG, I can't tell you how many times I have come across this word in my life in this city. The moment I come across this word I feel we have again gone back to some Jungle era or the least set back by some 100-200 years. We are the inhabitants of the country's most advanced city, the so called Mumbaikars we talk a lot on gender equality, equal opportunity and blah blah blah but still we observe a bias against the darker sex (if they are the fairer sex then somebody ought to be darker so as to make the comparison happen) and this latest bias is often seen in nightclubs pubs discs. With the growing popularity of this biasness we, the lesser mortals are bereaved of the finesse of this max city !!!!! Its time when the people of Mumbai should understand that now with changing times our countrymen are understanding how to behave in such circuits and even if something unpleasant erupts out then every place has got their own herd of beefy bouncers to straighten up the issue so why don't they let us in or else how the quintessential stag of this city will survive in such a fast life ????
On top of it being single is a Bad Omen sorts as you are the trained underdog and you are at your level best in this psyche and feel proud of it. Being single invites the undesired attention of your boss and along comes the orders for working for a few hours on a holiday which eventually turns out to be a full fledged hectic day. Tell me honestly how many times have you heard the common phrase "Arey yaar tum to chhadey ho, kya karoge ghar pe ??" This same situation happened with me yesterday, my boss asked me to come for an hour or so on an holiday and as expected by observing little resistance from my side ordered me to come for an hour on the day of my festival but the subservient me nodded in an abiding manner like an school kid taking instructions from his Principal fearing the cane in his mighty hands !!!!! The next morning albeit unwillingly called up the boss to enquire about whether he is coming or not or rather should I say that I asked wheher I should go or not ??? Hurrayyyyyyy comes the surprise, boss says go enjoy your day theres no need to come to office today , go enjoy your festival just like legendry Amrish Puri thundering "Jaa Simran ja, Jee le apni Zindgi". The surpise and excitement in me even didn't fade up and lo!!! I was sorrounded by deep bitter feeling of being fooled and cajoled by allowing a day's leave and fucking up my trip back to home as a two day leave would have made the holiday package of five great days.
Here I am sitting here expressing my ire in words and posting it so as to let out my pent up anger and anguish !!!!
Well I think this is life !!! and we have to move on and search for Alternatives...... . . . . . . . . .
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