GURGAON TIMES

If one ever wanted to see a live example of disparity in India, or, as they call, “the great urban-rural divide”, look no further than Gurgaon. I am not one who would like to start blog posts on a negative note, given that this is actually a humour post, as you shall see below, but I have hardly warmed up to Gurgaon, what with its culture (or rather, a lack of it), infra problems, electricity and water problems, crazy traffic and pollution etc.

Three types of people inhabit Gurgaon:

1) The ones who work in the myriad DLF offices in Gurgaon, and for whom concerns merely involve managing traffic jams in their cars (NOTE: Motorcycles and Autorickshaws in Gurgaon are myths, which people may have used to lead you into a false sense of security. Don’t believe it).

2) The ones who have gained through land holdings at this place, and who have become HNIs as a result. They are not “very” gifted intellectually, though.

3) The original Gurgaon inhabitants, who look in awe at category 1 people and their lifestyle. Compare Type 1 and Type 3 people and you get what I am talking about.

Anyways, some anecdotes from this place:

1) My Office cab driver, Deshraj, is an extremely jovial and punctual chap. In fact, I have till date never beaten him to the pick-up point. One quirk, though, is his choice of music, which can be summed up as a mix of Haryanvi lyrics set to the Punjabi dholak. And no, they are not even songs I have heard of. No mean feat, considering the fare dished out during trips on Haryana Roadways buses from Pilani to Delhi and vice versa. Then, along comes a nice song from Karthik calling Karthik, and he changes the song. I ask him to stay on with that song, but pat comes his reply: “Are nahi bhaiyaa, bakwaas gaana hai” (Add Haryanvi accent).

2) My first experience of bowling at Blu-O, supposedly the best bowling station in India. Bad start you may say, from the scores, as given: (0-0, 0-8, 0-0, 0-8, 0-2, 1-5, 0-3, 2-0), till round 8. Then, enter Round 9, and a strike, followed by a 7-2. Talk about a comeback.

3) I am staying here with my batchmate from BITS, Challa Abhishek. BITSians know about him, but for non-BITSians, he is a saint-turned-movie freak-turned-raw material planner (present) and will graduate to being an economist and civil engineer, followed by head of state (keeping in mind his astute political skills), philosopher and then the saint again. The fun part of being in Gurgaon has been Challa, and discussions with him, whether while walking, cooking together, or just dining outside have been fun. Almost every discussion is an anecdote in itself, and I plan to write a book about it in a decade, titled : “Conversations with a saint”.

Given that He doesn’t believe in facebook and orkut, I hereby convey to the world that St. Challa is doing well, and offers his blessings to all those who seek, along with any guidance on worldly issues, if asked.

(NOTE: Point 3 is not an anecdote, it is a tribute).

PS: To the gang, Challa is now “Lassi adikara Challa”, given that the extreme heat doesn’t allow him to drink tea anymore.

4) As mentioned earlier, Gurgaon does have a water crisis, and, on a personal level, it has aggravated over the past week. This has necessitated jumping like Tarzan over three tanks just to get a bucket of water for the morning ablutions.

More interesting anecdotes will follow soon.

On a parting note, I thought I had my share of 4 Pilani-style desert summers, when I bade goodbye to BITS last year. Little did I know..............