In Remembrance of Jagjit Singh

I have never written a note in remembrance of anybody. But I owe this one to Jagjit Sir, a master of Ghazal music in his own right. Whenever somebody asked me what kind of music I liked most and who my favourite singer was, I would say Ghazals and Jagjit Singh without thinking twice.

Many of us, including me, find music an immense source of solace and peace, especially during our happiest and most difficult of times. I remember the time when I was a teenager and had my first crush. "Hosh walon ko khabar kya" by Jagjit Sir always put a smile on my face, no matter how often I listened to it. And then the time in college when I was going through one of the most emotionally taxing phases of my life. "Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho" and "kahin door(adaptation by Jagjit Sir of the original number from Anand)" helped me find peace when it was most scarce. Even today, there is hardly a week that goes by without listening to his songs. In some ways, his music has helped shape part of who I am today.

Music is a source of inspiration in our lives. But it takes a gifted musician like Jagjit Sir to make one realize that. I always thought I would some day go to one of his live performances. But I cldn't for one reason or the other. Now, I would be lying if I say I am deeply saddened by his death. I didn't know him personally and so I will not dare to pretend that I am anywhere as sad as his family or friends are right now.

But I will certainly miss him. Rest in peace Jagjit Sir.

Stranger in Madison

It’s been a couple of weeks since I arrived in the United States, Madison, the capital of the state of Wisconsin and home to the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin, to be specific. I would be lying if I say that I did not know what to expect since I have already been to the US before, as a tourist. But it is very different being a resident; it feels different. As a tourist, I always had that sense of hurry in my steps, trying to maximize the “throughput” – the number of “touristy” places covered in a given amount of time. Being a resident brings a sense of calmness, that ability to walk along any random street not caring where it might lead you, well, at least as long as you have a GPS to accompany you.

The other day I was walking on the lakeshore path along lake Mendota, past the undergrad dorms and the UW hospitals until darkness had its way and I had to cut my journey short. I was intending to walk until the university housing – Eagle Heights. It was very beautiful, to say the least. Well, it might get too boring walking alone too often. But I plan to do it at least once a month. It offers a wonderful setting for self-introspection, something which I value very much. Most of my friends must be wondering why I haven’t uploaded pictures of the city yet. Well, it’s just that I don’t want to act like a tourist in my home; yes, this place might be my home for the next few years.

I find Americans quite friendly. Many of them greet me while walking on the streets, well, not in the University area, but at those random residential quarters I wander to every now and then. They may not really mean it, but it is a nice habit, makes one feel glad. I hope to be able to make some American friends in this city. It might take a while given my shy demeanor. But I will try.

There are some challenges ahead of me. The word “funding” might sum it up. All in all, I have had a great fortnight at Madison, something I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life.

Carrefour

Most of you must be wondering what the heck Carrefour means.....actually, even I have no idea.....but it’s the name of a chain of supermarkets in France....and now you must be wondering, “what in the name of crap is this guy doing blogging about a damn supermarket”.....well....I guess my boredom is the culprit....it’s making me blog about all and sundry that exists in the mess that my brain is.....

But, actually, to me it’s not such a weird thing to blog about.....I loved that place, the supermarket, for reasons that even I can’t make sense of.....I remember the first time I went to Carrefour.....it was late at night and was the last sunday before Christmas....guess that was the only reason it was open on a Sunday....somebody had suggested that we visit the place before Christmas, for there might be a sale out there.....did he really think Indians were cheap enough to not let any sale go by?.....so there we were, sitting on the bus to the supermarket.....

There was a tiny little glitch....we only had enquired about which bus to take, but forgot to ask where to get down....on the way, one of us suggested it might already have passed......we got down at the bus station “la village” and looked around....we might as well have got down at a crematorium, there wasn’t a soul to ask around....we then spotted a map of the bus which we had just de-embarked....a few stops ahead, actually the last stop, was a place called “centre commercial la vatine”.....I guessed it meant the commercial centre of a suburb called la vatine....so we waited for the next bus, and got down at la vatine....and VOILA ,there it was......CARREFOUR....

The car parking area of that place seemed to be bigger than the market itself..... I cursed this one fact, for we had to walk all the way to the entrance in the -7 degree temperature....damn it was freezing....the first thing I saw when I got inside was this huge SUV parked right at the entrance...I was like, I hope we came to the right place.....actually we did...it was indeed a supermarket, to be exact, a hypermarket.....they even had cars there for display......that place was one of the most beautiful things I had witnessed in the 7 days of my French sojourn...the Christmas decorations gave it a festive look and it was awesome...

I went to that place every week for the next six months.....every Friday evening, to be exact, with religious consistency.....but I never bought much there...it wasn’t as cheap as the other supermarket, E-leclerc at Saint Sever, where I went for my normal weekly shopping on saturdays.....well there wasn’t much difference between the two....I guess I saved two euros every week goin to E-leclerc instead of Carrefour....and two euros was, actually, a big deal for me :P.....another reason for going to E-leclerc was that it was located in the city centre and I could have a little walk through the centre ville on a nice sunny Saturday morning before I actually went shopping....my friends used to laugh at me going to Carrefour every Friday even when I had nothing to buy.....but that’s me, half the things I do don’t make sense to anybody else :P.....actually they don’t even make sense to myself....but who cares...I like spending hours at a supermarket looking at stuff I am never gonna buy....I like walking miles along the bus route even when I have an unlimited travel bus pass....

I remember one of the last few times I went to Carrefour.....it was just days before I was to come back to India.....a friend of mine had her birthday soon and I wanted to buy a little gift for her....she’s more like my baby sister....so I went to the kid’s section to get her something.....all it took to gear down my over enthusiasm was to look at the tiny little price tag stuck to one of the teddy bear’s neck....I then looked at other price tags...they might as well have stuck diamonds instead of eyes to the teddy bear.....I bid a final farewell to that section and went to the more traditional gift section of the market.....I found a cute pink diary with a dancing Disney princess printed on it.....obviously my eyes went to the price tag before they could be allowed to admire the princess.....cheap enough, cute enough, small enough, I thought.....and bought it....the whole process from deciding to buy a gift and actually buying it took more than one visit to Carrefour.....I guess it wasn’t really because I was being selective, it was actually more so because I kinda needed more reasons to visit the place on days other than Fridays :P......

There are so many stories, so much to write about my visits to Carrefour......but then this page would become more of a journal than a blog....but rest assured, you would get to read many more weird blogs about my experiences J

So until then..... Arrivederci !....

Days of my life: Residence Du Bois, Mont Saint Aignan

Right around this time last year, I had found a new place to waste myself at the end of every long, cold day....a place where I began each day of those six unforgettable months in Rouen......it was a student accomodation, actually a hostel, to put it in more Indian sounding terms.....whatever u do, wherever u go, at the end of the day, all u wld want, is to go crash on ur own sweet bed......and wake up at a place most familiar to you....to me, room B02 at Pavillon Poussin, Residence Du Bois was that place.....

My experiences at Du Bois are countless....some of them make me smile, some that make me angry and some which I can't, in my right mind, share in this blog :)......one of the most awesome things about the place was that it was co-ed...there isnt any boys hostel, girls hostel kind of fundas there...u got common showers, common kitchen, common recreational areas n everything.....n thats something I really admire about people in the west....they dont feel the need to keep guys n gals isolated from each other, the way we do here in India, for god knows what reason......anyway......

One of the most awesome things to happen was my room to be just next to the kitchen....that gave me an oppurtunity to befriend a lot of ppl there....I remember this girl...Justine....who I talked to a couple of times while we were cooking....u know I had this standard line made up whenever I wanted to strike up a conversation with anybody new who I met in the kitchen.....que'ce tu cuisine?...not sure i spelled it right, though it means what are u cooking......it was like really difficult to talk to her....when i asked her 'parler vous anglais' (do u speak english), she smiled and said NO...and then added, 'un peu' (a little).....she was nice and tried all the english she knew to strike up a decent conversation....I guess she was the only french who spoke less english than the amount of French I spoke :).....so it was me taking the initiative, and I tried to strike up a conversation in French!!!!....i sucked at french, but she sucked more at English.....damnnn it was so much fun having no choice but to speak in French......actually thats the best way to learn any foreign language, you must have no choice but to speak it...unfortunately we never had such good luck, as most people knew pretty good english....but then I soon exhausted all my french vocab and sentences with Justine...the next time onwards, all we did was smile and nod at each other, quitely cook our dinner, say bon appetite and go back to our rooms...it sucked, for I really wanted to talk to her, she was cute :)...but it wasnt possible, unless I had a pocket translator or somethin :)......if I had enough money to spare, I surely would have bought one.....

I also remember playing a game with some of the guys.....two ppl sit opposite to each other with an empty and open beer bottle in between with an upturned cap placed on top of it....and each of the two ppl had a full beer bottle with them and a lot of caps....so one had to take alternate chances to hit the cap placed on the bottle with another cap, and a miss meant a sip from ur beer.....a hit meant no sip...so the one who finished his/her bottle first was the loser :)....it was an awesome game, the only glitch being I almost vomitted the beer out on my very first sip.....it tasted horrible....alcohol always tasted eeeeewwwwww to me...I wonder why in the name of crap do people drink such an aweful tasting thing....watever....i moved out of the game and somebody else took my place....and it was no less fun just standing by and watching those guys gulping down beer after beer, getting wasted....ya it was fun.....at that time I remember seeing one girl coming out of the common showers and walking towards her room...she had a towel on her which covered most of her, thigh up....there was this guy who whistled at her and said she looked sexy....she smiled, gently slapped him on the cheek and went inside her room....in India, it wld pretty much amount to eve teasing I guess :)....but it was all cool there.....it wasnt big deal at all....and I realized that actually it wasnt a big deal......i think one of the most positive things in the western world is that their society isnt so desperate about categorizing everything as right or wrong...they give everybody their freedom....there is this 'what the hell, whats the big deal' kinda of attitude....and I realize its very important for any society.....

And then there were those awesome friday night parties that they used to have....around 10-20 ppl used to cramp themselves up in one of the 22 sqfeet rooms and drink and sing all night long....I remember the songs they used to sing, or rather shout....pi-pi-pi-pi-pi po-po-po-po-po....I cld hear their voices even with my door shut and my room being 2 floors below theirs :)......damn it was all such an awesome experience..... I also remember this girl, eloise, who used to live next door but never talked to us....while in the kitchen, her face had that 'I dont want to talk to u, so dont even try' kind of an expression....I dont know whether it was becoz she was shy and didnt like talking to foreigners....but she was one of the coldest ppl I knew in the hostel....once, almost at the end of my intern there, I did try to talk to her.....I was suprised that she actually smiled and said 'bon appetite'....I then realized that her problem was that her english was very poor, and she was a little shy.....and that was the reason why she never talked to us....there was also this guy, Paul...when he first told us his name, he pronounced it as Pearl...I was like, what the hell kinda of girly name is that......later I realized thats how u pronounce Paul in French :)......Last but not the least, I can never forget Nizar.....I need a whole new blog to write about him :)......which I ll surely do some other day.....

So until then... a bientôt.....

Days of my life: First Day at ESIGELEC

Its almost midnight on sunday and I ve got a whole week of work ahead of me.....but I feel wide awake...so instead of tryin to sleep and keep rolling on my bed, I thought I would rather do somethin else..and this is what my "something else" is :P.....

I wrote bout the first day in my last blog.......the next day was my first day at the college....lemme tell u that it was one of the most eventful and longest days of my soujorn in Rouen......so this blog is gonna be pretty huge :P.....I must say the most difficult part of that day, actually any winter day there in Rouen, was pulling myself out of the cozy blanket and walk upto the wash basin....really it was so cold that I used to spend a good 15-20 minutes sitting up on my bed with the blanket pulled over my head, rubbing my hands together, basically tryin to energize myself to start the day....its pretty analogous to warming up your car before u cld start it :P.....so there I was..... up and ready to go....with my three friends, to ESIGELEC....there was a bus stop outside the residence and as we were told by shehnaz, we had to take bus no 8 to "theatre des arts" bus stop in centre ville(the city centre of Rouen).....actually our residence was located in Mont Saint Aignan, a suburb around Rouen, and ESIGELEC was located at another suburb, "Saint Etienne Du Rouvray" at the other end of the city centre.....so it was a good 12-13 km from our residence...we got down at theatre des arts and looked around for the tram station...we had to take the tram headed towards "technopole" from there....just as we were looking for the tram station, we saw the TCAR office there...it was the office of the transport department...shehnaz had told us that we should make a monthly transport pass as soon as possible....the pass cost 26euros/month and entitled us to unlimited travel...thats pretty cheap consideing a 1hour valid ticket cost 1.4euros and we had to travel almost for 2hours everyday.....so u get the picture....we went inside and asked around bout the pass...we managed to find an english speaking employee there who handed us a form, which was in french, and asked us to fill it up, attach our passport copy and a couple of photos, and pay 33.6 euors......we obviously cldnt fill the form up....so we took it and headed for the college....

When we reached the technopole station, my first impression was....how the hell could some place be so lifeless....the whole suburb seemed too picture perfect....trees lined both sides of the tram track, followed by a single lane road on either side.....there was this beautiful park just before we reached technopole....but during the major part of my journey, I could actually find more people inside the train than outside......thats pretty weird for anybody coming for India I guess....anyway, we reached the college and asked around for Mme Helene Vincent, the international relations assistant, whom we were supposed to meet....we met her at her office and she told us that our profs werent available at the moment and she had to complete some formalities for us....so she took our passport copies, photos, etcetc and asked us to come back around lunch.....which was still 3hrs away....we were all very hungry and wondered where n more importantly, what to eat....the cafeteria at the college apparently was only operational for two hours at lunch time....so we decided to go back to the city centre (we had got our TCAR forms filled up by Mme Helene).....what followed was the most interesting n memorable part of the day :P......

We had run into a weird problem now....none of us had any change with us to pay for the tram...and on trams, unlike the buses, you cant buy tickets from the driver....u either need the TCAR pass or u need to buy tickets from the automatic vending machines located at each station....and the machines accepted only coins....and we didnt have enough of coins considering it was our first day and when u exchange currency, u never get coins..the minimum denomination u get is 5euro banknote.....so we decided that we wld walk along the tram line, find the nearest shop where we cld eat somethin or somehow get some change....and then buy tram tickets.....I think we had to walk three tram stops before we cld find a post office at "Ernest Renan" tram stop, where the employee gave me change for 5euros...he was very reluctant, but he did give me change...then when he saw that three of my other friends wanted it too, he rudely refused....well....it wasnt a very good first impression about the people in france...anyway....so the change I had got still wasnt enough to buy tickets for all four of us..so we walked on...we soon found a bakery shop...it was a boulangerie(thats what they call bakery shops in french)...we bought some croissants and I cld finally feel my stomach giving a sigh of relief.....i remember paying 2.4euros for those 4 croissants...I cant believe I still remember such minute details :P...

So we reached the city centre where my three friends completed all formalities to get their TCAR passes issued....I, unfortunately, had brought photographs just enough for the formalities at ESIGELEC....rest of the photos were in my room back at the residence....I wondered if I should pay 4euros to get new passport photos clicked and printed at the photo machine nearby......well it was just my first day and I didnt have the heart to spend so much money unnecessarily...so we went back to the college...we met our profs there....one of the profs, Monsieur Jeanne Ertaud, showed us our desks......I dont remember what his name spelled like exactly.....thats what's so weird bout the french language.....in english, you just have to know what some word or a name sounds like.....in french, what some word sounds like is sometimes absolutely different from what its spelled like...anyway....so then he offered to drop us at the residence in his car.....we told him that it would be better if he could drop us at centre ville....my friends wanted to roam around the city centre....meanwhile I had told Monsiuer Ertaud about my photograph problem....he said I shldnt think so much bout the money, it was just 4euros after all....while we were having this conversation, I think I may have said something inappropriate...for his attitude towards me suddenly seemed to have turned cold the next day onwards....I wondered for many days after that what I may have said that was so inappropriate...may be it was the way I said something..anyway, at least he wasnt the prof who was gonna supervise my project..I was glad bout that...

So he dropped us at the centre ville....now the mathematical part of me suddenly sprang alive...it was 5pm and the TCAR office would close around 6....if I had to get my pass that day itself, then I would have to go to my room and come back within an hour....the residence was around 25min by bus one way....and a single 1.4euro ticket wld give me an hour of unlimited travel...so I boarded bus no 8, bought a ticket, reached my residence, ran the hell out of myself from the bus stop to the room, took the photographs, took the bus back....and finally managed to get my TCAR pass just before the office closed......god it was such a great feeling when I finaly got that bus pass....actually every little thing that day seemed to be of such great importance.....now I cld roam about anywhere in the city without worrying bout fares or the 1hour validity shit.....it was dark by now and I wondered where my friends were.....

It was christmas, it was a beautiful tuesday evening, and it was Europe......I felt as if I cldnt ask anything more from life....those beautiful rennaisance buidings doting the centre ville....the notre dame church bells tonging...the seine river flowing right through the city centre...it was all so picture perfect, it was all sooooo Europe....it always had been a dream for me to walk through a European city......it was a wonderful feeling.....I stopped at a small shop and bought some croissants n some other stuff for dinner....

It wasnt even 5minutes after I reached my room that Aayush knocked on my door.....he was beaming, and he said they had managed to get a SIM card !!!.....you cant imagine how happy I felt...now I could talk to my parents!!....it was a great feeling....there was only 5euros talktime on the phone....and each minute of call to India was I think more than 1euro....so Aayush called his parents and told them to give this number to our parents.....

So that was about one of my longest n most memorable days in Rouen :)......I realize this blog is horribly huge.....it took me an hour to type this down.....just imagine how long that day must have been......

Days of my Life: First Day in Rouen

Its been almost an year since I had first arrived in France.....and I remember my first day there like yesterday.....its saturday and i guess its my joblessness thats making me write this blog :)

I, along with my three friends, arrived at the Charles de Gaulle(CDG) airport in Paris on the 15th of december at around 6 in the morning.......the institute where we were gonna do our intern had arranged for a cab to take us to Rouen, around 2-3hours by road....the cab driver knew absolutely no english, neither did we know any french beyond bonjour and bonsoir......it took a lot of gesturing for him to make us understand that the cab was parked on the ground level and we were on the first level.....he put us n our luggage in the elevator, pressed '0' and ran down the stairs, for there was no space left in the lift....I remember those initial few minutes when we had to walk out of the air conditioned airport and lodge ourselves in the cab.....damnnn it was cold....we threw the luggage and ourselves inside the cab as quick as we could and took off.....I can never forget that ride....excitement was searing through me like nothing I had experienced ever before...

We arrived at our residence, Residence du Bois, at around 9 or 10 am....there was this girl from the college who had come to receive us...her name was shehnaz....she was from morocco I think, if my memory is serving me right....she showed us our rooms, told us about having to change the bedsheets every two weeks at the laundry desk, what password to enter to open the main gate, how to operate the laundry machines, where to find drinking water, which bus to take the next day to reach college, blahblah....after she left we all took turns to call up our parents and inform them that we had reached......we only had one 300rs calling card that I had bought at the airtel desk just before boarding the airplane at Delhi Airport..... and there wasnt much talktime in it considering the rate was like almost 70-80 euro-cents/minute and 300rs doesnt count for so much when you divide it by 65.....

For lunch, we made ourselves a few maggi packets we had got from home, before heading for the bed.....we were all tired like hell after the long journey.....I remember feeling really homesick those initial few hours when I was sitting alone in my room....I was a stranger in a foreign land, and I didnt even speak the language.....the chilly cold outside was only making things worse.....I was really blueish those few hours........after, we realized we had to get something to eat for the night, and we had no idea where the nearest grocery shop was.....we had to ask around....my room was just next to the common kitchen and I heard some girls chatting away there.....feeling a little sheepish and shy, I went up to them and asked if they spoke english....there was a unisonous 'NO' from them which left me feeling foolish for a moment....then suddenly one of them said 'Yes I speak english, can I help you?'......I cant describe how happy and relieved I felt....her name was Marrie....she was studying agriculture at some university near the residence....ESITPA was the name I think.....(you must be wondering why I am stressing on specifics here...the thing is...I don't really wanna forget anything, even the specifics...so I am just blogging it down....)......we went to her room and she drew a map showing where we were and where exactly the grocery store was located.....she was my first friend there in France......I never really talked much to her after that.....I was shy...I shldnt have been....but anyway...we went out and bought ourselves some bread, eggs, milk and fruit juice....basically some stuff to keep us alive to see the morning light the next day :)....

The next day was our first day at the college, ESIGELEC, and it was no less exciting and memorable than the previous one :).......I ll write about it in my next blog.....

Au Revoir !!

A Week in Rouen

It’s been only 3 months since I came back from France, but it already seems so far in the past. It seems a whole world away from where I am now, in the silicon valley of India, Bangalore. It actually is a whole world away. A typical day there in France started with me struggling to let go of the blanket. Damn, it was cold. It took a lot of willpower to get out of those blankets. Then I used to cook stuff for breakfast, not ‘cooking’ in the real sense, just used to heat up some milk in the microwave and serve it with cornflakes, followed up with some fruits. Then, I used to have a wash and rush to the bus stop to catch the 8:17 am bus from right outside my residence at Mont Saint Aignan. I remember the time like it was just yesterday. After all, I spent six months trying to rush up stuff to meet that 8:17 deadline. Not that there were no more buses. Just that if I could take that bus, I generally could catch the connecting Tram from Rouen City Centre to my College, on the run. The travelling took around an hour but it was never boring. All it took to not get bored was to look out the window. France is Beautiful. Particularly, small towns like Rouen and its suburbs.

After spending the day at the institute, I used to come back to my room at around 7pm. This time, I actually did do some ‘cooking’. Rajma Chawal, Chole Chawal and Chicken Curry were a few of the delicacies we, Aayush and myself, tried our hands on. Sudarshan was a vegetarian, and we mostly cooked Chicken, so he used to do his own cooking. Sometimes it felt irritating having to cut the vegetables, chicken, heating up the oil and cook, but mostly it was fun. Our fourth Musketeer, Neogi, used to peek in and ask if we needed any help. Though mostly he appeared at a time when we were almost finished cooking and the only thing left for him to do was to serve himself the food. He maintained that time consistency throughout the six monthsJ. But still, he was the one who did the dish washing later. Then, we used to watch ‘Friends’ over the dinner. I guess I saw most of the ten seasons of Friends, during our dinner time. I will never forget those days.

Almost all weekdays went the same way, until Friday. Friday was the one day I eagerly waited for. It may sound a little stupid, but I loved to visit the Supermarket, Carrefour, on every Friday, with a religious consistency. I loved it out there. The fact that you could buy everything you can think of buying, under the same roof, amazed me. I used to travel from the College to Carrefour every Friday, and these two were the two extremes of the City Transportation Network. It took more than an hour to reach Carrefour. I just used to go around the place with such amazement in my eyes, though I never really had much money on me to buy anything. Carrefour was the place where I bought some food stuff, meant especially for the weekend, like strawberries, frozen and cooked chicken pieces which you just had to heat up in the microwave and eat. It was kind of costly, so I could do that only on weekends. Then, on Saturdays, I used to go to another supermarket, Saint Sever, in the city centre to buy food stuff for the next week. It was cheaper, not so exotic, and perfect for students like us, who were always looking for bargains. There was this particular brand called Eco+, which was the cheapest in the market. You could find Eco+ branded bread, jam, clothes, anything. The quality wasn’t so great, but it was good enough. The Seine River was on the way to Saint Sever. I used to get down the bus at Rouen Gare and instead of taking the tram to the supermarket; I used to walk to the market, through the city centre. I loved doing that, after all you can’t find so many people at the same place at the same time, anywhere and anytime else in the entire city. And on Sundays, everything in the city except the buses and trams was closed, so I did nothing much but eat and sleep. That was how I spent almost every week there in France. I really miss all that sometimes.