Life and times in Gurgaon...
My first job landed me in what people call the Singapore of India.. aahh, such was the allure of the place when I was gearing up to begin my corporate life. "The crowd is rocking, machan!" someone said. "It is a very happening place, dude" said another. So, I landed in Delhi airport on the night of 14th of May with much anticipation.. A gush of hot air caught me unawares as I left the plane.. I checked the time just in case.. 10 pm. The mid-summer night's "breeze" had just given me a welcoming embrace..
The early days were spent staying at the hotel and mostly attending business and technical trainings at the workplace, where enthusiastic females would put arbit cp ("class participation" for the uninitiated) and take every word of the presenter very very seriously.. and I had thought all this would end with IIM B. Anyways, the presentations were indeed interesting but there was no reason to prolong the proceedings by asking unneccesary questions. Some people just don't learn. I remember how glad I was with my work timings. From Mon-Wed it would be 2pm-10.30pm, on Thur there was a choice between 8.30 am -5pm or 11 am-7.30pm, and finally, Fri was 8.30 am-5 pm. I would sleep late, generally watching some movie or a football match and wake up late. The thick drapes ensured no sunlight could possible enter the room and the AC was always on full blast. Life was good.
The first few weekends were dedicated for house hunting. And that was when I got a clear picture of where I had gotten myself into. Miles and miles of waste land, dotted with under-construction concrete structures, that is Gurgaon for you. Then they didn't feel like these sad projections from the Earth's surface breaking the clear terrain looking like giant size ledgers.. then, I had just thought about finding an accomodation.. "Sushant Lok mein bachelors ke liye ghar milna mushkil hai sahab", the broker said. "aap chahe toh mai aapko apke company ke pass dilwa sakta hoon". My office was at the extreme end of Gurgaon on the Delhi-Jaipur highway with nothing but some industrial plants in the vicinity. "Yahan power cut bahut hote hai bhaiya, mujhe power back-up waale apartment he chahiye, aur ghar ke aas pass kuch dukan bhi" I told him. That was too much to ask for. I was shown apartments almost in every sector of gurgaon and this went on for a month. Finally, thanks to one of my friends we did manage to find a place suiting our needs - Sushant Estate, Tower 5, 14th floor, a 2 BHK flat.
Now that we were settled, it was time to hit the malls. The population of Gurgaon converges on to the 4 malls (a dozen are under construction) on the weekends. Movie theatres, Restaurants, Pubs, Discs, Bowling Alleys, Shoppers Stop, Life Style... you name it, they got them all. What more can one ask for? Cash inflows have to be matched with cash outflows, ain't it? Simple logic. The folks at DLF and Unitech simply added business sense to that. They first acquired the lands all over the place from hapless farmers. Made buildings in brick and glass. MNCs opened their back-end offices. Then they realized people need to go back home after work. So up came the residential towers one after the other. They didn't consider themselves responsible for drainage systems, public transport, roads and shops(well, OK there is one shopping arcade for every 5 square miles on an average) etc.. And for the prices, well, 50 bucks for a Dosa is quite affordable, don't you think? The Krishna Kafe guy in Bangalore was such an idiot to provide unlimited meals for the same price.
So thats how life goes on, in cycle-rickshaws and shared autos (seat 10 or more only), in the company of crazy drivers during the bumpy rides to and from the office, often, hoping to reach the destination in one piece, in the malls either shopping or watching movies, guzzling Absolut with Sprite or Margaritas in the pubs, in the apartment glued to the TV or laptop, listening to the eerie sounds of the dust storms, of waking up at 8 and going about like a zombie till the cab arrives for office, and of course, working.
It was aroud this time that VeeKay came to pay me a visit. He is such a cheerful chap, this VeeKay. No issues in life, no ambitions if you want to restrict them only to the professional sphere. All he liked to do was travel and read. Watch movies and play games. A being of simple pleasures, he was. He came into existence because my dreams spilled over into my surreal existance, aided by bouts of insomnia. And he was curious to know why I wasn't able to sleep, why I wasn't eating regulary ? He was really concerned. But I had no answers. "I don't know VeeKay, I don't know what I am missing" I told him, "But, I am glad you are here, there is so much we can talk about".
The early days were spent staying at the hotel and mostly attending business and technical trainings at the workplace, where enthusiastic females would put arbit cp ("class participation" for the uninitiated) and take every word of the presenter very very seriously.. and I had thought all this would end with IIM B. Anyways, the presentations were indeed interesting but there was no reason to prolong the proceedings by asking unneccesary questions. Some people just don't learn. I remember how glad I was with my work timings. From Mon-Wed it would be 2pm-10.30pm, on Thur there was a choice between 8.30 am -5pm or 11 am-7.30pm, and finally, Fri was 8.30 am-5 pm. I would sleep late, generally watching some movie or a football match and wake up late. The thick drapes ensured no sunlight could possible enter the room and the AC was always on full blast. Life was good.
The first few weekends were dedicated for house hunting. And that was when I got a clear picture of where I had gotten myself into. Miles and miles of waste land, dotted with under-construction concrete structures, that is Gurgaon for you. Then they didn't feel like these sad projections from the Earth's surface breaking the clear terrain looking like giant size ledgers.. then, I had just thought about finding an accomodation.. "Sushant Lok mein bachelors ke liye ghar milna mushkil hai sahab", the broker said. "aap chahe toh mai aapko apke company ke pass dilwa sakta hoon". My office was at the extreme end of Gurgaon on the Delhi-Jaipur highway with nothing but some industrial plants in the vicinity. "Yahan power cut bahut hote hai bhaiya, mujhe power back-up waale apartment he chahiye, aur ghar ke aas pass kuch dukan bhi" I told him. That was too much to ask for. I was shown apartments almost in every sector of gurgaon and this went on for a month. Finally, thanks to one of my friends we did manage to find a place suiting our needs - Sushant Estate, Tower 5, 14th floor, a 2 BHK flat.
Now that we were settled, it was time to hit the malls. The population of Gurgaon converges on to the 4 malls (a dozen are under construction) on the weekends. Movie theatres, Restaurants, Pubs, Discs, Bowling Alleys, Shoppers Stop, Life Style... you name it, they got them all. What more can one ask for? Cash inflows have to be matched with cash outflows, ain't it? Simple logic. The folks at DLF and Unitech simply added business sense to that. They first acquired the lands all over the place from hapless farmers. Made buildings in brick and glass. MNCs opened their back-end offices. Then they realized people need to go back home after work. So up came the residential towers one after the other. They didn't consider themselves responsible for drainage systems, public transport, roads and shops(well, OK there is one shopping arcade for every 5 square miles on an average) etc.. And for the prices, well, 50 bucks for a Dosa is quite affordable, don't you think? The Krishna Kafe guy in Bangalore was such an idiot to provide unlimited meals for the same price.
So thats how life goes on, in cycle-rickshaws and shared autos (seat 10 or more only), in the company of crazy drivers during the bumpy rides to and from the office, often, hoping to reach the destination in one piece, in the malls either shopping or watching movies, guzzling Absolut with Sprite or Margaritas in the pubs, in the apartment glued to the TV or laptop, listening to the eerie sounds of the dust storms, of waking up at 8 and going about like a zombie till the cab arrives for office, and of course, working.
It was aroud this time that VeeKay came to pay me a visit. He is such a cheerful chap, this VeeKay. No issues in life, no ambitions if you want to restrict them only to the professional sphere. All he liked to do was travel and read. Watch movies and play games. A being of simple pleasures, he was. He came into existence because my dreams spilled over into my surreal existance, aided by bouts of insomnia. And he was curious to know why I wasn't able to sleep, why I wasn't eating regulary ? He was really concerned. But I had no answers. "I don't know VeeKay, I don't know what I am missing" I told him, "But, I am glad you are here, there is so much we can talk about".
posted by VK @ 11:48 PM
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