Arindam: - Oh! You people have already started practicing for the cultural program! What is it?
Sunny: - This is Synthesizer. You can produce almost any sound with this musical instrument.
Arindam: - Can you produce a trumpet sound or a whistling sound by using this instrument?
Sunny: - of course, why not? Here it is. Just listen to it.
Arindam: - Wow! Technology and science has improved the music also. That’s great.
Arnab: - Hey, John, are you going to play the drums?
John: - Yeah, I have always been a great drummer in our Don Bosco School. We had a fantastic school band.
Debraj: - Who is going to sing the songs?
Koustav: - Hey Debraj, I am singing the songs. Is there any problem?
Debraj: - Arrey, Koustav daa…can there be any problem, when you are going to rock the stage with your voice?
Angshuman: - Ha ha ha…well said, Debraj. Accha, Koustav, you people will be performing which songs?
Koustav: - There are 4 Kishore Kumar songs, 3 Kumar Sanu songs and 2 good songs from ‘Euphoria’ band.
Rathi: - Euphoria band? What is that? I am hearing the name of that band for the first time.
Agarwal: - Arrey, you have not heard those songs, ‘Yaar meri dhadkan naare’ and ‘Maaye ree’ .
Rathi: - Yeah, yeah…in one of those song videos, I have seen Rimi Sen of ‘Dhoom’ also.
Sunny: - Yeah, you are right, Rathi. Dr. Palash is the lead singer in ‘Euphoria’ band.
Koustav: - Mr. Palash is a doctor cum playback singer. The ‘Euphoria’ band performs in many college fests also.
Angshuman: - Ei, Sain, let them practice those songs. Come on, Himangshu and Deepak are waiting for us. Let us roam to some places outside this Sterling Resort.
*****************************************************
Arindam: - Let us walk through this road and see what is there? The sun has come out now. Since morning, the condition was overcast.
Angshuman: - Wow! Look at those lush green valleys all around this road. As the sun came out from behind the clouds, the sunshine was more than enough to brighten the greenish colors of those valleys. Some cows are grazing on those valleys. Farmers are working. I can also see some beautiful flowers including sunflowers.
Himangshu: - Boss, I don’t know what the hell is going to happen in this SAP Conference, but, for one thing, I am satisfied with ICFAI that they have selected a location like Ooty for their conference.
Deepak: - Sir, surely, Ooty is the Switzerland of South India. You will not be able to see these kinds of beautiful sceneries elsewhere in South India.
Arindam: - Is it not that place, where the shooting of the film ‘Raaz’ took place? There was a scene in the film ‘Raaz’, where the Ghost lady blocked the car of Dino Morea in front of a small bridge and there was a village on the left side of the road and a forest on the right side of the road. This is exactly that place, where we are standing. The song ‘Aap ki pyar mein’ has been filmed inside this forest only. I am damn sure about that.
Angshuman: - Well, I have not seen the film ‘Raaz’. I don’t know also whether the shooting of that film was done in Ooty or not. But, how are you sure about this place after seeing that movie only. Here, all the forests look same only. Anyway, let us proceed further. I can hear the sound of a train. There must be a train line nearby.
Deepak: - There it is. I have spotted the train. The train looks like a Toy Train running on steam engine. The train is coming towards that second bridge. Come on; let us go to that bridge.
*************************************************************
Himangshu: - accha, accha, now, I understand, where from this train line is coming? There is a train line from Ooty to Connoor. The toy train runs on a single track. The toy train journey from Ooty to Connoor is just fabulous. I have read about it in a travel book. There are many tunnels in that rail road and the sceneries are just awesome. I hope that we will surely ride the toy train in this tour.
Deepak: - the toy train is about to pass under this second bridge, on which we are standing. This is a very old train line. The toy train is also having the old-fashioned coaches like old horse-coaches of Queen Victoria of England.
Angshuman: - Ha ha ha…Who knows! Maybe, this toy train of Ooty started running under the British Rule only.
Arindam: - There is no mobile phone tower in this Fern Hill. My Tata Indicomm connection is not working here.
Deepak: - Tata Indicomm toh door ki baath hain…Even my BSNL mobile phone is not functioning here. Aah…I can see a small shop there, where it is written ‘STD/ISD/ Local Call’. There must be a landline phone. From there, we can make a call to our house.
Himangshu: - Arrey, you people could have made a call at your house by using the landline connection at the Sterling Resort reception hall only.
Arindam: - Sterling Resort charges 5 bucks per minute for STD calls, whereas in this public booth, the STD charges are 3 paisa per 1 second. So, why should I pay more for STD calls in Sterling Resort? Every day, I will make a call to my house from this public booth only.
Angshuman: - Ha ha ha…ei naa holey bangaalir seyana buddhi…he he he…go and make the call. Then, I will also make a call to my house at Durgapur.
***********************************************
Arindam: - So, Angshuman daa, your hometown is in Durgapur…hmm…You are staying here in Kolkata in a PG…hmm…what is your future plan? This job of a SAP Officer in ICFAI has no job security at all. Moreover, it is a marketing job. Once the market gets saturated, any marketing organization fails to increase their sales, unless, they launch new products in the market. So, Angshuman daa, you must be looking for other jobs also, side by side.
Angshuman: - No, I will not do any job after 2 months. I will resign from ICFAI in the April 2007 only. I have some other plans. I have a family business. My dad, uncles and nephews are all engaged in colliery transportation business in the outskirts of Durgarpur, Raniganj, Asansol and Dhanbad areas. We have all those vehicles, which is used to transport coals to the factories from the coal mines. You are laughing! But, many people don’t have any idea that how much profitable is this transport business. Coal companies like Coal India Limited pays handsome money to these transport companies. Only by doing this business, my dad earns at least 25,000 bucks per month. Even I don’t get that much amount as a salary. I have studied MBA, that’s why; I had an ego that I will not engage myself in that family business. But, after spending more than 3 years in Marketing industry, I am now realizing that if you are a MBA guy, then entrepreneurship is the best profession for you. My dad and uncles are not graduates also. But, still they are doing profitable business. I am a MBA guy. If I invest some portion of my money, which I have earned in my 3 years career as a Marketing person, then I am bound to maximize the profits of my family business.
Arindam: - Hmm…it sounds good, but, controlling a family business is not always easy. Moreover, you don’t need a MBA guy to control and look after a colliery transport business. Anyway, I am feeling hungry now. Let us now go and have our lunch.
*******************************************************
Debraj: - Dhaath…today, it’s a very chilly weather in Ooty. I wanted to have some rum or whisky, but, the sad thing is that this Sterling Resort does not sell whisky or rum bottle to their customers.
Arindam: - What are you saying? There is a bar at the right side of the Sterling Resort main building. Have you gone inside that bar?
Debraj: - Yeah, I went there. Inside that bar, it is written that you have to sit there only to drink alcohols. You cannot bring any alcoholic drink outside that bar.
Arindam: - Aah…when the right hand does not work, use your left hand, naah…come with me.
********************************************************
Bartender: - No, Sir, it will be very risky for my job. It is strictly prohibited. I cannot supply any whisky bottle in your bunglow, no matter how much you pay. If I get caught, then I will be fired. Please try to understand. You people sit inside the bar and drink, naah...
Arindam: - Arrey, it is very costly inside the bar. One small peg (30 ml) of ‘Blender’s Pride’ whisky costs 130 bucks. We have not dared to go through that Menu Card any further. Tell us the price of a small nip of ‘Blender’s Pride’ whisky, if we buy it from the backdoor.
Bartender: - Actually, the bar charges 460 bucks for it, but, if I am going to take the risk for taking it outside the bar, then I will take 550 bucks.
Debraj: - Arrey, you are a bartender or a dacoit? Ei, Arindam, I don’t want to drink tonight by spending so much money. Let us go from here.
Arindam: - Accha, there has to be some bars outside this Sterling Resort. Let us try it out.
Debraj: - But, it is dark everywhere. We also don’t know the roads which lead to the nearby villages. I have forgotten to bring the torch-light also.
Arindam: - Beside the main gate of this Sterling Resort, there is a parking area for all the buses and private cars of this Sterling Resort. We will ask one of the bus drivers or conductors about the local bars.
**************************************************
Bus Driver: - Saab, there are no bars in the nearby villages. Villagers of this place are so poor that they hardly have any money to buy alcohols. But, yes, in the villages, there are small shops, where you will get the local hard drinks prepared by fermenting rice.
Debraj: - Saala, yeh toh, pakka Cholai madh er katha bolche….We have not come to Ooty to drink Chullu of Tamil Nadu. Even we don’t drink the Cholai madh of Bengal also. Boss, we want to go to a shop, where we will get branded whisky or rum. Can you tell us, where we will get it?
Bus Driver: - Then, saab, you have to go down from this Fern Hills to reach to the Ooty Lake, which is around 5 Km from here. If you want, then I can take you there in one of my friend’s jeep. But, I will charge 80 bucks for that. The bar is just beside the Ooty Bus terminus. There you can buy any whisky bottle with some discounts if you bargain with bar owner. Now, it is 8.30 PM. Decide now, saab. After 9.30 PM, the outskirts of Sterling Resort are not at all safe. Sometimes, the wild boars attack local villagers at night.
Debraj: - Sain, ektu odike chal…katha achey…it will be a very risky to go to Ooty Lake now. What is the guarantee that this person will not take us to an unknown place in his jeep? And then, if he snatches all our valuables or money also, we can do nothing in this unknown area.
Arindam: - Yeah, I was also thinking the same thing. That’s why, I was not deciding anything. Just leave it. On every weekend, anyway, we are drinking hard drinks in our Opium bar. So, there is no point in drinking in Ooty by taking so much risk and spending unnecessary money. Let us go back to our bunglow.
Debraj: - Why to our bunglow? IBS Pune and IBS Noida students have lit up a fire in the eastern side of this Sterling Resort. They are all sitting around that fire to keep their body warm. They were all singing and gossiping while sitting there. Let us go there.
******************************************************
Jaidev: - Hi, I am Jaidev from IBS Pune and this is our team. Thanks for joining us here. Actually, we had a plan to do bon-fire. But, our Sir told us that we can only lit the fire and sit around it. The bon-fire will be very costly for us and it is not allowed in this resort also. What’s your name?
Debraj: - I am Debraj and he is Arindam. We are from IBS Kolkata. All our teammates are busy in practicing for the cultural programs and the corporate presentations. But, we are just roaming here and there.
Jaidev: - Ha ha ha…you people are doing the right thing. What’s the point in coming for a tour if you don’t roam here and there with your digital camera?
Arindam: - Hey, Debraj, come here. This is the last point of this resort. Beyond this point, there is nothing at all. Everywhere there is darkness. I can feel that I am standing on a hill top in this darkness. In the north-eastern direction from this point, I can see some fire-lights in that forest. Maybe, in that forest, there is a village.
Debraj: - from that forest, this Sterling resort is surely looking like a British Castle in the darkness. I am damn sure about that. Sain, humans always run away from darkness, but, many people don’t feel that darkness also has its own beauty which gives you motivation to demand for more lights. Come on; let us now go for dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment