Taking the initiative

I began working last Monday.

Today, my boss asked me to find some data about a company. I started googling for the relevant info. But even after an hour of searching, I could not find anything very useful. I looked at hazaar websites, news reports, discussion boards, but came up empty-handed. This was the first time I had been asked to look for such specific info, and I obviously wanted to do the job well.

One thing I really find difficult is to call people to get some work done/find some information. I would rather walk for 20 min to get some information or buy something than call for it. I don't know why, but that is the way it is. But today I was desperate. Somewhere I found the phone number of the company's head office. Called them and asked if they would provide me that information. I expected that they would hang up on me instantly.

To my surprise, I was redirected twice and finally someone started asking me questions. "Who are you?", "Where are you calling from?" types. Finally he told me, "The information that you are looking for is all there at the company web-site." I was a bit stunned, but managed to ask, "But what is the address of the web-site?" He replied, a bit flummoxed at my stupidity, "It's [company-name].com!" I was really stunned. How did the site not show up in Google?

Nevertheless, I went to the site, and sure enough, all the data was there, neatly presented. A job well done! What a difference a little initiative (and desperation) makes!

Visit to Elephanta

On Tuesday I went to Elephanta Island. The caves on this island, a UNESCO World Heritage site, feature many 7-10^th century rock carvings of Shiva in various forms. I am amazed that I only ventured to the island now, despite living in Bombay all these years. Guess when one knows a place will be home for a considerable period of time, visiting the touristy places is not a priority. Haji Ali remains and I hope to tick it this year.

One reaches Elephanta by a ferry from the Gateway of India. I was really surprised that it takes about an hour and a half to reach the island. On the way, the entire eastern seaboard of Bombay comes into view. As compared to the western coast, which is lined with posh residential or commercial high-rises and lovely beaches, the eastern sea face presents a much more varied face. Many ships and cranes come into view soon after the Gateway – a reminder that Bombay remains one of India’s largest and busiest ports. Later one can view the tall chimney of what is presumably BPCL’s oil refinery near Chembur. Also visible is a white dome surrounded by green hills – BARC’s atomic facility, I think. The residential colonies are ubiquitous of course.

The island itself is very small. The cave temples are located on top of a little hillock (100-150 m high max). The carvings are huge, but quite badly damaged. Nevertheless, some are quite beautiful. I did not know that Shiva is depicted and worshipped in so many different forms, including feminine forms (Kamadeva, I think) and an androgynous form. But on the whole, I was not terribly impressed with the caves.

The views are a different matter. Bombay looks lovely from afar – especially the sky scrapers of the south. I took a snap of the city’s Bombay Central area, in which the sea is visible on both sides of the land. I love it!

On the other side, I could see the greener and less constructed New Bombay area (a friend who stays in Vashi told me later that I was looking at Uran). I don’t know if the proposed Nhava-Sewri bridge (connecting Bombay to New Bombay) will stand to the south of Elephanta or north, but either way, if it ever comes into being, the sight will be stunning.

Puppe Mann!

After finishing an anime called Basilisk, I started watching Angel on my computer again. For the uninitiated, Angel is a spinoff show of Buffy featuring many of the same characters who appeared there, led by Angel, the vampire with a soul whose love with Buffy was doomed. Like its mother show, Angel is characterised by extremely witty and funny dialogues, interesting storylines and characters to-die-for. It's darker and gloomier in its overall outlook though.

I watched the first four seasons of Angel on Star World in my four years of engineering. The fifth I missed because I was in WIMWI. So I bought that season on DVD in Cologne and currently watch the show in German with English subtitles :)

Joss Whedon has created another gem in the form of this show. The fifth (and final) season has been brilliant, the overall story arc moving slowly, but almost every episode featuring one or another idiosyncrasy. The episode I saw on Sunday ("Why We Fight") featured Angel (who is a 240 years old) being forced by the US government to help them in the Second World War by bringing back a U-Boat. The flashback scenes in Buffyverse are, almost without exception, visual treats. Also, learning more about the pasts of various characters is always delightful. The episode I saw today ("Smile-Time") depicted Angel being turned into a puppet (or Puppe in German). Puppet Angel is hilarious! His fight with Spike is too funny! So is the scene when Fred calls him cute and starts petting him :) Best of all though is the shot where the team walks along the corridors in slowmo, against a background of stern music - a fairly typical sequence, except that Angel is a puppet here!!! Expected, but still too funny!

The girl in the photo above is Fred, played by Amy Acker. Like Melissa Theuriau, she deserves a photo of her own on my blog :)


Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy, and is very, very pretty, should be featured here too. She will soon be :)