Skip to main content

3 ladies and a free bag

Ok, junta, I am back from Scotland now... and I am in good old amchi Mumbai. Two or three more posts are coming up on the Scotland visit... but first things first!

I don't know if you have this, but I have an innate should-not-get-mugged feeling whenever I step into a big place where I know little around. On Friday, I dropped into Kolkata to attend USEFI's Pre-departure Orientation programme --- a small seminar which was supposed to arm us well for the big journey to the far side of the world! I have been in Kolkata a number of times... almost know all the main routes and stuff, but connecting routes and trying to figure out how to go to any other place outside the ones I know is not something I trust myself with. So, as per directions from a lady who is a true Kalkatte-waali, I took a cab and reached the American centre on time.

You know, it always feels good to see a familiar face smiling at you when you reach these places. This good lady was standing there, all bright and sparkling. [Ok, since she reads this blog, no more tareef!]. However, as I was saying, the feeling of goodness increased when she introduced me to two of her friends who had also come for the seminar. "Yaay", I thought, "I must have done something good in my life" :)

Anyway, the day progressed well. The initial seminars were all from advertisers, right from American Express to Centurion Bank to some STIC student cards. And the funny part was the realisation how much your presentation skills matter. Some had outright hilarious reasons why students should go for their products: like a phone card company who said that everybody from Yash Raj Productions used their card whenever they travelled abroad to keep in touch with family (yeah, never mind the rates or as if you will automatically be considered as a candidate for the next film)! One set of presenters was hurried through the presentation due to shortage of time and so the poor fellow just read the slides aloud (yeah, not a word more, not a word less); and the Bank fellow started a virtual debate on why one should not take the Amex TCs and should opt for their drafts instead, after the AmEx guy had pulverised bank drafts earlier in the day! :))

Anyway, the real fun was happening at the benches where I was seated. You know, two females on either side who are ready to laugh and giggle at the whispering comments you can make while the presenters are at it make the worst conferences seem like they should go on forever. Typical of me, when one of the gals told me she was sleepy, I suggested that she should poke the guy sitting in front in his ribs, or maybe make a sudden dash for the loo while everyone else was trying to follow the read-aloud guy's accent. Interestingly, the names of all three ladies started with a "Dev", so I think I had the divine influence of "Teen deviyan" that day :). So much so that during a tea break the aforementioned good lady actually asked us to switch places and sat between me and the other two! :(

However, the second part of the seminar was useful. Two former students who had went through USEFI at some time to the US gave a lot of practical tips to the junta. We had a group discussion kind-of activity where we were given to analyse and comment on some dummy handouts of course descriptions. I just volunteered myself to be the group leader *ahem-ahem* in our group of four after the ladies started a "aap baniye", "nahi aap baniye" session. Yeah, it always feels good to order people around in an officious tone! :D And there was a lucky draw going on to give out 2 free huge-sized Reebok bags to two lucky people from among the 80 odd people attending the seminar. Yes, dear reader, although Sudipta anagrams into 'A STUPID' and even though most people mistake this for a gal's name, yours truly bagged the first bag all fair and square in a singular stroke of lucky-day pot luck! :D And I also got to meet one of my blog's readers who identified me from my pictures!! Man, I was flattered... just too much luck happening in one day!

Finally, much free food and soft drinks later (umm... not free, had to pay 200 bucks for it)... we walked out of the seminar all happy and waving. That concluded the lucky part of the day. And I spent a day with 3 ladies and a free bag! :)

Comments

  1. Not all people are so lucky to have the benediction of teen deviyan. After all, every "A STUPID" has his day. BTW I have a hunch that you'd get more lucky if you could arrange to fly to the US with one of the Devis, or at least meet her once in a month. And nothing better if one of the devis got a "real" diamond ring from you.

    You must have gotten real lucky that day since your blog fans got to identify you. I'd love to be in your shoes (sans your stinking socks)and accidentally come up across someone who'd identify me and exclaim, "Oh ma'am I know you. You are that famous blogger, ain't you? Umm.. could I have your autograph and click a pic with you?"

    BTW, just a little bit of advice. The bags do come free sometimes. Not the ladies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sunshine, wokkay! See, as I told you, it seems that anything related to America and me always involves some devi-s and a good load of luck. But yes I could do with some more of each! :D

    Yeah well, about the popularity thingie... you know I am *ahem-ahem* a prodigy. So even if you had to stoop to smell my socks, it might have well been worth it. Be around... aap bhi kuchh seekh jaaogi :D

    And, dear lady, nothing in the world comes for free. All it takes is some great luck and a name that says, umm... STUPID :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! :-) what else a guy can ask for? That too in a single day. :-) Wishing you more and more days like this to you. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOL@Teen Deviyan. You should have introduced yourself as "Dev" Anand :)

    You should also get a T-shirt that says "I survived Culcutta" :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alka, you are the greatest, the sweetest! May you have an even luckier day!!

    Twisted DNA, welcome onboard! Wow, now thats a suggestion --- Dev Anand. But know what, was called Amjad Khan by one of them! :) :(

    P.S.- Is this T-shirt also free? :D

    Will see your place now

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ad, Thanks a lot, sire... and you too have a blogger profile! So there must be a blog. I'll see.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maa khuh chihal a panjam hastam

The hit counter on my blog reached 20074 today. Why you may ask, is that news, and why hadn't I cheered myself up when it was at 20,000 for example? Well, it is news because 20074 has been a very special number for me during my entire college life: it was my admission number, and my system-wide unique identity. It is strange, and surprising, how these numbers become a part of our identity. The social security number, the passport number, the id number in the college, or even your roll number somehow becomes an almost innate part of the day-to-day life. As soon as I see the same number somewhere else: maybe on a telephone, on a hitcounter, maybe somewhere else... a thousand memories are triggered. As my eyes struck the hitcounter showing 20074 right now, I was thrown back to memories of filling up exam answer sheets, hostel admission forms, library recall requests, and so much more! I believe that number was present on almost every official form which I filled in college: even when

Swami Vivekananda and the Indian Renaissance

The following is an article I sent to my mother based on which she presented at one of her conferences. Do read. =======================================  The common perception of Swami Vivekananda as the religious leader who preached Hinduism to the West and established the Ramakrishna Mission in India is a very limited definition of the impact he had on the collective psyche of the common Indian. Besides his direct impact in adding steam to the Indian Renaissance, a large part of his thoughts and writings also affected the other stalwarts of the movement. While fathoming the entirety of his impact on the Indian Renaissance would be impossible, we will briefly explore some aspects of his influence in the following pages. Raja Ram Mohan Roy is generally credited with ushering in the revolution. His numerous ventures that contradicted the prevailing religious opinion of right and wrong broke the stranglehold of the prevalent quasi-religion, the norms of society and its sole autocrati

Tips and tricks for the GRE

Hello everybody, First of all, I thank all of you for the good wishes and congratulations that you have sent... either as mails, PMs, or anyhow. I have also been getting a lot of mails from people asking for tips and tricks and how I made it to the 800 in quants and 700 on the verbal. So if you are prepared for a lot of gyaan (which I love shelling out), here you go: 1. How long does it take to prepare? A: There is no definite time frame. But about 2-3 dedicated hours a day, for about two-and-a-half months is enough. Then, again, it is dependent on your level. To find that out, I'd suggest that you should take one paper-based test that is there in the front of the book (Barron's, Kaplan, anything... or even the Big Book). If you score about 750 on the quants, and about 500 on the verbal (no cheatings, etc) then the time frame I've said should be enough. If you scored more, great... you should try to get to around 1550!! But if less... well, spruce up depending on how