The Memorable Shillong Trip, Part-1

Time seemed to have passed like a rocket, as we were already in our 8th semester. One night, we were simply enjoying our typical  and regular kind of hostel parties and suddenly someone said "Hey! Tunga. Next week is your birthday, so how you are going to treat us?"

Tunga was on a cracking mood that night and he said he would give a damn good party and even promised to treat our entire batch. But he had put forward a condition that he would give a party, only if we guys would have agreed to go to Shillong, for a weekend trip. Tunga was very much interested for the trip that moment and he said "Come on! It’s our final semester, let’s have some fun and make it memorable, as it could be our last trip, while we are in hostel.  I will bear all kind of fluid expenses"

Tunga’s proposal was quite tempting, but the problem was, after few pegs, many of us usually used to discuss similar kind of things and in the very next morning, no one actually used to bother much to discuss on the same topic again. But that time, it was little different, as the guys used to discuss about the Shillong trip for the next few days. Later, one late night, Tunga and some of our friends decided that we would go to Shillong the next morning and would start at 7 AM from hostel. After staying in hostel for almost 4 years, most of us usually used to ignore such decisions taken late night under the influence of the holy fluid.

Next early morning at 6 AM, Arpan knocked our door. As soon as we opened the door, I and Nair were little amused to see Arpan, well dressed along with his backpack. He looked pretty well prepared for the trip and he started to shout at us “WTF man! You guys are still sleeping? We have to move fast”

I and Nair were so delighted to see Arpan’s excitement, but we were under serious doubt whether it's really going to happen? Arpan waited in our room for almost an hour but no one else came, actually our room was just near the hostel main gate. Ultimately Arpan got frustrated and went back to his room and we also went to sleep. I had no idea how it happened but after another couple of hours, a huge gang was just outside our room and everyone was shouting "You idiots, get ready soon"

So, finally it actually happened and we were around 15-20 guys of our batch, ready to conquer Shillong. We left hostel at around 9 AM and we went near Paltan Bazar by our college bus. In order to go to Shillong from Guwahati, one can either go by bus or by cabs and they would usually start from Paltan Bazar, near Railway Station. Shillong is at a distance of 100 KM from Guwahati and it’s a breathtaking drive. Shillong is situated at an average altitude of 4,908 feet above sea level and is damn beautiful. The British used to call it as the Scotland of the East. 

It was peak summer that time and summer in Guwahati is capable enough to irritate anyone quite easily, not only with the temperature but also with the perspiration. As soon as we entered Meghalaya, Tunga brought all our stuffs and we already started to upload them on the spot. Meghalaya Govt is very generous in collecting tax on the heavenly fluids, as compared to other states. As our cab moved up the slope, gradually we felt some kind of relief in temperature and after one hour, as we reached Barapani (Umiam Lake), it was almost like heaven. The temperature dropped instantly and what a lovely sight it was.

Umiam Lake is located on the way to Shillong. It was created by damming the Umiam river in the early 1960s. After going little further,  we noticed the beautiful Pine trees all over the place, which are typical to that part of the region.

It's a 2 hours drive from the Guwahati-Meghalaya border to Shillong and one could practically feel the decrease in temperature after every 10 minutes, specially in peak summer.

Image courtesy: google images


The Memorable Shillong Trip, Part-2

Aman and Kishore

My good old friend Ratul, met Kishore through some common friends in Bangalore and I think, later they even shared the same house for few months, along with some other friends. Kishore was very shy kind of guy and usually used to talk on special occasions. He was still single that time and he was in that phase of life, when people are usually well prepared to literally screw up their life and ready to tie the knot. During those days our school friend Aman, was in town and she joined a software company as a technical writer. One day Ratul thought to meet Aman and he took Kishore along with him.

From that day onward  Kishore was a changed guy and he started to give little more time and attention to Ratul. Few times he even discussed about Aman and every time he talked about her, he had a lovingly praise for her. Being a high level expert in the concerned field, Ratul immediately realized that Kishore in fact, was a "Chupa Rustam", kind of hidden warrior. He was sure that Kishore had developed a soft corner for Aman. As Ratul knew both the parties quite well, he thought they might be a perfect match for each other or he might have smelled 2 "Bakras" :)

So, Ratul created few more opportunities, so that Kishore and Aman could meet each other. As expected, Ratul always used to praise Kishore when he's with Aman and used to praise Aman when he's with Kishore.  After a couple of months Kishore proposed Aman for marriage, but Aman wanted some more time to decide.  Kishore was much tensed that time and his anxiety simply climbed the ladder. Ratul was also little disturbed, as he seriously wanted that relationship to amplify. One night Ratul noticed that Kishore looked little different and he had an unusual kind of smile on his face. Kishore said to Ratul that Aman accepted his marriage proposal. Ratul felt very happy that moment and congratulated Kishore for his new relationship. Being a childhood friend, Ratul expected Aman to give him the good news, but she didn't call.

Ratul wanted to call her, but thought it would be better to wait for her call, instead. Two days passed and Ratul didn’t receive any call from Aman. Finally on 3rd day, Ratul received a call from her and before coming to the point, she simply chatted with him for a while. After a couple of minutes she started to talk about Kishore. 

Ratul immediately interrupted and said "Please don’t talk about Kishore"

Aman was little shocked and asked "Why? What happened?"

Ratul replied "He is the most shellfish guy I ever met"

Aman was silent for a while and didn’t know what to say. She simply said "But you only said that Kishore is a very nice guy"

Ratul said "Yeah, but I was wrong. He is actually an ass hole and a very mean kind of guy"

Aman asked "What happened? Please tell me in detail. Why you are saying such things about Kishore?"

Ratul said "Forget it, I just don't want to talk about him"

Aman was speechless and Ratul could hear her deep and nervous breath over the phone. Ratul realized that he had enough fun and the mobile phones came alive with Ratul’s blustering laughs. Aman also started to laugh and said to him that she was almost killed by his sense of humor.

Aman and Kishore are now enjoying their life, along with their beautiful four year old sweetheart, Tia. 

Fake Experience, Part-2

Fake Experience, Part-1

I knew one HR quite well, through a common friend and he worked for a reputed software company that time. One weekend, we were simply enjoying the evening and at some  point, someone started a similar kind of topic and he asked the HR guy, how they usually deal with guys who used to show fake experience? He said that they don't verify much, other than some telephonic verification. From telephonic verification I remember one incident, this time it’s about a different friend and he had to show some fake experience in order to get his first job. Come on… it’s not that terrible thing, it's just like showing fake medical bills or fake HRA. For the first time when my friend visited one agency which provided fake experience, he was quite surprised to see how they managed such tremendous things from a tiny room, with 2 desktop computers and two land-line phones. There was one smart and attractive lady out there, who looked like a receptionist, but she was also the HR for the outside world. On the first visit itself, my friend was very much impressed with that lady, as he noticed how smartly she handled the verification calls. 

Now, the HR person I was talking about, played a simple but quite effective trick, on candidates who had experience from some unknown and doubtful companies. Just before typing the offer letter, he usually used to call them and casually used to ask "Actually, everything is finalized and in fact, I can send you the offer letter right now. But the requirement is very urgent and we need someone who could join immediately, within a week. If you can join within a week, just give me a call, latest by tomorrow and I would send you the offer letter"

That was an extremely difficult, tricky and emotional kind of situation for all such guys, kind of "Dharam Sankaat". Even though few of the candidates, might have doubted the HR's trick, but eventually most of them broke down and used to call him to confirm that they could join in a week’s time. The HR guy was very sure that  it's almost impossible for a genuinely experienced candidate to get relieved in a week’s time and he usually used to reject such candidates.

After struggling for a few months, my friend got a job in a company and they outsourced him to a well known company, but in a different city. He joined that company and initially he was not very confident but within a few days, he managed it quite well. After a couple of years he switched his job and joined a different company. Days passed by and after about a year, one day a new guy joined their team. My friend was one of the senior team members that time and he introduced himself to the new guy and asked him about his experience. My friend was totally amused to hear that the guy had 2 years of experience from a company which not only sounded familiar to him, but in fact, the name knocked bang on his head. 

My friend asked "Is your company in Bangalore?"

The guy replied "Yes, in Bangalore"

My friend: "Is it in Koramangala?"

The guy: "Yes, it’s in Koramangala"

My friend "Is it near one abandoned park?"

The guy looked little nervous and replied "Yes, Sir"

My friend: "Is the lady out there …"

The guy interrupted in between. He was extremely nervous, but still managed a sweet smile on his face and said "Please sir, please don’t ask me all these questions"

My friend understood his feelings and in fact, he could easily relate to that guy. He didn’t bother him any further and simply said "work hard dude and you need to perform well out here"