This post is going to be in an out-and-out criticism mode. I quit my corporate career, jeopardized my personal life, and handcuffed my self-worth just to get an entry into the most coveted service in India – Civil Services. Becoming a “Babu” was never on my schema, so I decided to opt for IPS; even if I get IAS (If only i.e.). Once I decided all of that, I started exploring all things existent in this cosmos even aloofly associated to the service. My own father, being a civil servant himself, helped the matter to a great extent.

I, very hesitantly & with a heavy heart, confess the fact that, the more I do study regarding this, more I feel detached from the service. There is only one trigger for this. Before proceeding forward, I must pronounce, I respect the ample amount of work the Civil servants, the Military & the Para-military forces do for the country. They should be given unsurpassed reverence for the sheer pressure they go through while carrying out their activities.

The sole hitch that still lies with them is their attitude; once people start recognizing & appreciating them. I mean, I am a strong believer of the fact that, if you accomplish something, you must make everyone acknowledge it.  People may mistake u as a bighead; but then this is a pure “personal” outlook. Since, these bureaucrats, diplomats, police & military officers achieve something great every now & then, they tend to be in the center of attraction throughout their service period. This actually forms a “superior-than-all” feeling in them & arrogance soon takes the place of generosity. All these are my firsthand experiences as a lot of friends are serving in the said fields.

I have heard senior IAS officers going over the board in boasting about their achievements. It would not be a concern for me as long as they don’t feel as if they are “the” Gods on earth. Corporates, PSUs, even their own subordinates become useless creatures for them. I have seen a newly recruited IAS officer being really sarcastic over the prevailing situation in his allotted cadre “on a public forum.” I mean is he not a part of the system? We, the “aam aadmi”, should complaint & you should take the responsibility of curing the disease. On my way back from Delhi to Bhubaneswar, I met a guy working in CRPF, who even went on to curse the other forces of the para-military. For him, CRPF is the only force that is able to prove its worth & influence in country’s law & order.

To conclude, I would like to say, we have immense respect for all these officers who risk their life for the safety of our society & country. What we, ask in return, is a bit of generosity & modesty.

Mumbai, City of Dreams, where everyone’s dream gets a shape

Was not as generous as to me & sort of did nothing but to ape.

May be because, I had dreams, which I was not strong enough to pursue

I waited long enough & all this time I kept myself in the queue.

Finally, when I realize what I am born for & what I am destined to do

All of a sudden, it does not seem to be such a hard nut to chew.

What, it though means, is Mumbai is done with me

Asking me to flee as I am through with my spree.

Now, when I sit alone on a cloudy night at my place all set to leave

Memories come flashing by forcing me for the one last time to relive

I am inscribing the twinkling & the souls that I would never be able to forget

As I leap into the dark poignant horizon & get dowsed with the cold sweat.

Those late night “Gyan” sessions by Sourav

Which I had to repeat before exams in the morning

Look on Naveen’s face after a golden duck each single time

And the passionate and demonstrative activity of mourning

Manish feeling like a champ

After those early morning football matches

Puneet grieving over his yoga exams

Trying to impress the teacher in anticipation of some patches.

Kanak trying to flaunt her long silky hairs

In an attempt to attain, I wonder, what

Long SMS chats with Shweta in the class

And the way she concluded it every time with the signature “Chal - Hatt”

Avinash getting jumpy with the speed of the fan at night

When he pretty well knew the regulator’s not even working.

Anand with his meaningless “Grohe” chit-chats

Once I see his work timings, bloody it feels I am the only one toiling.

Sanskrati with her prompt BBM replies

And the constant brooding about office given blackberry

Pratik’s ever so new experiments with his camera

And by Josh & Jashn trying to attain glory.

Special Mention : - Nitesh Maheshwari, Romit S. Sharma & Sumit Jalan

Guys, I am going to miss you all. Be in touch. My World will never be the same without you guys, and, please forgive me for the bad poetic sense of mine. 3 glasses of beer & some vodka shots & it seems like music to me. You guys are in sagacity; so read at your own discretion.

You know what’s the ONLY pleasant part of having a dislocated shoulder, 2 broken teeth, a seriously hit jawbone, ear & numerous scratches – You get to UPDATE your BLOG. 

I am sure each of the Chetan Bhagat’s fans was raring to go at his newest release – Revolution 2020 – Love. Corruption. Ambition. As an avid fan of his, I was no different though work kept me aloof from his book for quite some time. I got the chance to put my hands on the book last night,  it took me 3 hours to complete the 296 page novel at one go & here goes the expert review. 

I have just finished reading it and I must say that I am not impressed.

First things first – I really liked the “Pradhan” & “IAS” connection. Hope this Pradhan becomes an IAS someday as well. :)

Well I will have to admit the fact that, the story offers nothing new or extraordinary. It’s just another love triangle with not-so-many twists in it. The ending is clearly inspired by Bollywood stories where the protagonist has a change of heart.

Not a very engaging prologue to start with. It just does not have the substance to create that air of mystery which a “Five Point Someone” had. To a large extent he manages to keep the readers glued to the story, but I really believe he has got a bit carried away than my liking. Why should a guy who has only loved a woman through out his life give up on her so easily? And then he just vanishes away from her life.

He gets a bit carried away with the sensual (read “sexual”) scenes at the end of the story I guess. Though his earlier books also had similar things, somehow I did not feel this time it could match the flow of the story.

Here all the 3 protagonists lack the grit of their character. Gopal had done very little himself to have all the money and the fame. He seemed to be the most confused character among all. As usual, the female lead of a Chetan Bhagat story has a negative side attached to her. I swear I am unable to figure out her & validate or justify her actions no matter how much I give it a thought. Raghav, to me, does no better than a Tushar Kapur or a Zayed Khan in a multi-starrer Bollywood movie. The final “Kal Ho Na Ho” minus the hero dying act by Gopal was touching but got kind of humdrum.

But as someone who really appreciates his writing skills, I would like to write the following lines as well.

 The only thing that I feel works for Chetan Bhagat is some incidents that you can relate to and the way he paints extraordinary events for ordinary characters and you are left with the thought that yeah – this could have happened to me too. 

Some of my loved lines which I found exceptional & aptly fitting to the context are

• ·         She did not “love” me, She “owned” me.
• ·         All three of us used to be friends in our childhood. What happened? “Life! Life happened”.
• ·         Stupid people go to schools. Smart people own them.
• ·         “‘Fine’ means somewhere between ‘whatever’ and ‘go to hell’ in Girlese”

Besides these, I really liked some of the conversations between Gopal & Aarti which were sweet, tender & adorable.

The bottom line still remains the same though.

Revolution 2020 is not the best work of Chetan Bhagat.!!!

This is a TRUE story. Events of this story happened on a creepy night during the muggy summers of 2002.  Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. No similarity to any person either living or dead is intended or should be inferred.

“Wake up Mr. Sleeping Dracula. Abe uth be, chora ghara saara mahol baneiki nije soichu. Uthuchu na pani pakeibi (Get up. Whole family is celebrating thanks to you & you are sleeping? Get up soon or else I will flood you with water. ). This is the first thing that I heard that day, opened my eyes & the face made me go to sleep once again & this time into a sleep till eternity. Girl standing before me was someone who was supposedly in love with me (I would prefer calling it ANYTHING but love). 

“You have scored 96.67 % with topping the state in Maths, English & life science. Get up non sense”. She (Aakriti) said.

“What the f***”. I am sure, that was the first time I yelled the four-letter word at home. But who cares man. I am the third topper of the state. No doubt, I am the best. The otherwise so-so looking girl suddenly seemed as the elegant prettiest looking girl on earth.

It was 10.30 am on a bright Monday. I jumped off bed, went to the dining hall, hugged my mom & started dancing wildly. Then got a call from my father from his office landline congratulating me and there started the chain of phone calls from various local newspapers, TV channels, relatives, friends & even detractors. Well, to be honest I had time for none. Last one year, I have done nothing but studies. The only habits of mine that I have pursued are having heavy meals & sleeping for roughly 5 hours a day. Now, it’s time to live my life. I called up my friends, the best ones I had & could recall at that moment – Sarthak, Chinmaya, Niharika. Aakriti being present there only became an obvious (may be unwanted) guest.

I took the keys of the recently bought Maruti Suzuki Swift from the key holder, adjusted my hair a bit, put on a jeans, a red hot short shirt, my new Reebok shoes & went off to have a speedy drive to Puri (60 kms away approx.). Sarthak & Chinmaya had reached by then with packets of sweets with them. We celebrated for a bit (They both had scored more than 90 %.) & along with Aakriti, went ahead to pick Niharika up. Well let me tell you at the outset only that Niharika was one of those supremely stunning & unimaginably perfect girlfriend material. I had a huge crush on her from the first day I met her but like the typical bollywood story, she was committed to a stupid, brainless, horrible, absurd spoilt brat of some second line politician. We reached her home. She in her salwaar suit (Boy! Was not she looking just amazing in the red black attire) was already there at the gate waiting for us. Niharika joined Aakriti & Chinmaya on the back seat & there we were off on a speedy drive.

Carnival was on our minds & we started teasing each other. My car’s speedometer was around 120 on a straight national highway, when from the back seat I heard a voice.

“Hey Champ! How do you feel about Niharika? I mean I know she is committed & blah blah, but Dude, you guys make a good couple.” Chinmaya said.

Telling you honestly, my heart was pumping blood like anything then & had there been a speedometer attached, my heartbeat would have read more than the car’s speed.

“Hell! Chinmaya don’t drag Akash (her boyfriend) into this. He is a sweetheart.” Niharika said.

“Wait a second. I am not a sweetheart? Is that what you mean to say Niharika?” I said just to cover up my sudden explosion of emotions.

“I did not mean it that way. But he is he & you are you. You are a darling for sure but (with a pause). Stop it. What makes us talk about him on “our” day? Don’t you guys feel it should be us all the way?” Niharika explained.

“My gosh! You are avoiding your best friend (he meant me)”. Sarthak said looking back at them.

Before I could say something, I could here weeping sound from behind, looked back and damn, it was Aakriti. She had become really emotional after hearing about I & Niharika.

Little could I think then, looked back, tried to console & cheer her up by planting a kiss on her forehead when Sarthak screamed on the top of his voice “Careful.”

I, without a delay tried to press the breaks, but Alas! I got my foot on the accelerator. I corrected myself after my car bounced on the road twice & we came to a halt.

“Did we just run over someone?”Sarthak said after finally getting back to his senses.

“What, what are you saying? Did we?” it was Niharika’s turn to speak up then.

We got off the car & went a few steps backwards. To my utter shock, their lied a man completely drenched in blood. It was next to impossible to see his face even. I had a good look at his face though just to be sure. Niharika & Aakrti started crying & we were in no condition to calm them.

“Let’s run away. No one has seen us. Before it’s too late & someone turns up, let’s just run away from here, straight to home.” Chinmaya said.

“No way! This man will die. We can’t be murderers. We will take him to the hospital” Sarthak responded.

With two conflicting opinions & the two girls blubbering, I had to make a verdict. Both the alternatives were tough, I had to either be selfish, brutal & save myself or let a dying man reach a hospital & face the consequences. With no time to give it a serious thought I chose the first one. I asked Chinmaya to help Aakriti & Niharika get in the car. Before Sarthak could say anything I said “The man is dead. He needs no medication now. He had this much of life to live. Please don’t spoil ours. Let’s just go. Come on.” (Though deep down I thought he was still alive).

We got back in the car & driving even faster we got back to Bhubaneswar. They were shivering. I thought it was a bad idea to take them to my house, so dropped them at their places & got back to mine. I parked the car & went to sleep without much ado.

The man’s face kept on haunting me in my sleep that day. When I finally got up, unable to take any more sufferings & after hearing loud noises outside my room, I looked at the digital clock on my study table. It was Monday, 10.30 am. I was stunned. Aakriti was standing there right before me to congratulate. Before I could realize anything, I gave her a hug. Even she could not respond to my immediate unexpected hug. Both of us went to the hall where my father was with some vigorous, eager looking men with cameras & microphones with them.

“Here he is. This is my son, your third topper. I am so proud of him.” My father said looking at those people.

“Beta, these people are from Odisha TV, They are here to congratulate & take an interview of yours. Come here & sit by me.”

When I sat on the sofa alongside my father & looked at the person interviewing me, went into another state of shock”

Is not this the same man, I just ran over? This man is supposed to be dead. My holy god. What is happening over here? I looked at Aakriti. She seemed quite thrilled & gave me thumbs up.

Was it a dream? How can it be? If it was a dream, how have Niharika, Sarthak & Chinmaya got the same percentages of marks that I had dreamt of? How did I get up at the exact same time? Questions were many which I had no answers to. I thought of letting it go & started showing my oral skills to the interviewers.

I left all but one question unanswered that day.

“How could the interviewing person look the same as the man I ran over that day (whether in my dream or whatever)?”