The Czar and his Quarter

This post is just something that I had promised to do a long time ago when a friend tagged me in a silly facebook game. A person will write facts about himself and tag his friends on it. Every friend who is tagged will have to write facts about himself adding an extra fact to the number of facts given in the post he was originally tagged in. Silly game, I know, but at times you like taking a break from the usual and doing something completely new, maybe I am doing this for the very same purpose.

 The following is the break-up of the 25 facts I will tell you about myself:

General Facts:

1. Family, Friends, Bikes and Career, these are the most important things in my life, beyond this there are very few things which I like thinking about.

2. Love collecting motorsport merchandise and Die-Cast models of cars and bikes. It helps me stay in touch with the kid inside me.

3. Love every aspect of technology, how it affects us, how it helps us and how it can bring about a change in our future.

4. I like my coffee without milk and sugar, toast with lots of butter and chocolate with tons of nuts and caramel.

5. Always wear a scapular with Mother Mary on one side and Lord Jesus on the other, makes me feel as if I have a personal angel guarding me from all evil.

6. I am a big time mumma’s boy, I like sleeping on my mother’s lap, walking around with her handbag when we go shopping and crying in front of her when I am not in the best state of mind.

7. I respect everyone who mentored me and made me what I am today, it’s their love, support and values which has made me capable of doing what I am doing today.

8. Travelling is a full time passion and I see life through the Lens of my Camera.

9. If given a chance, I would love to trade my life with a nomad. Something about being free which gets me.

10. A day without technology and gadgets is the longest day of that year for me.

Superstitions: 

11. Whenever I am going out for a long/interstate bike ride, I always look at a picture of a female who is close to me before starting. Till now, it has mostly been mom with my ex/fling being the picture (and reality) on a couple of occasions.

12. Like stepping out of the house with my right feet when I leave for office in the morning. Don’t know why and how but always try doing that.

13. If anything strange happens when I am doing something, like a fall or hit on the body, I pray to god thanking him that something bigger was avoided.

14. Always wear a Black Livestrong band which I feel keeps me in touch with my past and reminds me of my inner strength.

Emotional Facts:

15. Love holding onto memories in the form of gifts, cards, letters, photographs, t-shirt etc. I still have all the cards that any of my friends have given me in the past 6 years, old gifts from ex girlfriends and photographs from school, college and outings etc.

16. Hate people who lie to me and hate people who don’t have a backbone to own up to things they have done.

17. If I have made a promise to you, I will make sure that I respect it. Even if that means abstaining from something I really like.

18. Break my trust; I will give you a second chance. Break my trust again; you won’t even come to know when I moved out of your life.

19. Forgive and forget or Forgive and remember, I am still confused, which one do I choose??

The Really Personal Facts:

20. My first proper experience of love was on the dance floor of a Kolkata discotheque. My wingman just happened to click a picture of the moment I was completely lost in her eyes and vice versa, a picture which I still treasure.

21. I had to get my chest waxed for a play because I was supposed to wear a low neck shirt, unfortunately, director changed my costume and I was left with a slick chest for no reason.

22. Hate looking at my past laurels, I believe if you did something great yesterday, you were good yesterday, today is a whole new ball game.

23. I am a responsible son, an indulgent brother, a friend of friends and a great guy if you know me but just in case you don’t, I would suggest don’t try using your attitude while getting to know me. I don’t react too well to people who have a snobbish air about themselves; I will verbally rape you and then take a leak on your sorry carcass.

24. I am a very possessive person, so if you have space issues, please define what’s your space and I will not encroach it. I am also a person who hates people getting in his personal space so I respect the individual space the people have for themselves.

25. Last but not the least, I make a crazy first impression, works well with some, doesn’t work well with some, but if I like you, you will come to know instantly, the opposite is also true.

With that one, I have done my bit of promise keeping, yes it was late but I did it. This blog-post has been a welcome change from my usual blogs where I am generally writing about my experiences. Hopefully you will see more fun blog-posts in the near future.Cheers!!

A Believer's Prayer

Lord Jesus, it is you who wakes me up everyday
And I am forever grateful for your love, this is why I pray.
You let me touch so many people and it is all for the good
And influence so many children, I never thought that I would.

I couldn't take the credit for the love they gave,
because it all comes from you, Lord; I am just the one who is given it.

When it seems like the pressure gets to be too much,
I take time out and pray and ask that you be my crutch.
Lord, I am not perfect by a long shot,I confess to you daily,
but I work hard everyday and hope that you hear me.

In my heart I mean well, but if you help me to grow,
then what I have in my heart begin to show.

And When I get going, I am not looking back for nothing,
for you are the guide to show where I am heading.
I don't deserve what you have given me, but you never took it from me
For that I am grateful

If what you want from me is to bring your children to you,
then the only regret is I have only one life to do so.

Amen!

The Circus, Lady Dada & The Return of Disco Biker

Every end is the beginning of something new, it’s only after you have experienced the highs and lows of life do you realize that life is all about having a great time and enjoying every moment of everything you do. The past year has been a roller-coaster ride for me and it has also been one of the most educating years of my life as an individual. It started on a rather sad note, but like the dialogue of The Dark Knight goes – “the night is darkest before dawn”. After starting the year with no aim, no hope and no love, I actually went learn the most important lesson in life. You should be the epicenter of your life. Some friends will betray you, Love will betray you but you will never betray yourself.

When the heart and mind think alike, great decisions are made. In my case, I never had my heart and mind agreeing on anything but thankfully a certain aunt & niece team made the best decision of my life for me (No, she wasn’t my aunt or niece). As funny as it sounds it wasn’t funny for me at that point of time but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

The funny thing about being in a relationship (read fling, in my partner's case) is that, you are spending so much time worrying about your partner that you don’t realize what you are missing out on. Once you are out of it, in true ‘How I Met Your Mother Style’ you grow a break-up beard (to get the feel) and one fine day you start paying attention to all the people who were paying attention to you all the time while you were busy paying attention to people who didn’t care (or took it for granted). That, my friend, is the beginning of your new and improved life. It was a similar case with me. After my post break-up ‘Devdas’ period was done, I started a new life. A life where your friends are closer to you, a life where you don’t have to keep anyone happy or be someone’s punching bag, a life where new friends keep coming and adding to your ever growing social circle and a life where you suddenly become a socialite in a city you weren’t born in. When you have such a freedom, you try experimenting with a lot of things, especially your no-alcohol rule. I did it too and by god was it a crazy night. After having some 12 neat shots of vodka and 8 beers, I probably became the most emotional person on planet earth. Since that night, I made a rule of following my no-alcohol rule again. I still, somehow, feel that it was worth it, my wing-man claims I hugged, cried and thanked everyone who made my life in Kolkata fun, something I wouldn’t have been able to do it in my senses.

If you are at peace with yourself, it is because of the support system you have, in my case it was my family, my wingman - Sanjit ‘The Great One’ Singh and close friends Paridhi 'Conventee' Agarwal, Ankita ‘G.I Joe’ Jajodia, Reechal ‘Miss Delhi’ Vardhan, Swati ‘ Cutest’ Khanna, Neha ‘Random Plans’ Mangal, Shreya ‘Butterfly’ Das, Chitra ‘Awesomest Sister’ Gupta, Devika ‘Chendga's Killer’ Bedia, Anubhav ‘Big Brother’Agarwal, Gaurav ‘ Mr. PWC’ Daga, Siddhant ‘Chengda’ Jain, Ray ‘Shorty’ Stephanos, Akash ‘ Thakur’ Bhotika, Saket ‘ Playboy’ Gupta and Chirag ‘ Good Guy’ Jain. They were the people who were with me during my most testing times and also happened to be the fun element in my life. I don’t think 2011 would have been as much fun without them being around. I really had a hard time leaving Kolkata and I miss them like crazy even today.

2011 began on a low so the only direction left to go was UP and it did go that way. After 1 month of ‘Devdas’, it was 2 months of ‘Barney Stinson’ for me, a phase which proved I had become way more awesome from my last flirting stint in December 2009. As much fun as it was, it wasn’t me, so then it was return to the Biker-boy phase. Played lots of quality cricket, handled Insignia, the exams came and went, college ended and my world changed yet again. Thankfully, I was prepared for this one. Leaving Kolkata showed me how much I was loved by my friends. Yet, I wasn’t exactly thinking about them when leaving, reason being a crazy stomach ache (or so I thought). My first day (and the next 4 days) back in my lovely Jamshedpur was spent in an air-conditioned cabin on the 5th floor of Tata Main Hospital; doctors were examining my kidney stones (which is still beyond my belief, coz I chug atleast 7 liters of water a day). I was like, WTF! Why did I have to come back, I was better off partying in Kolkata. Once I was back, for the next 20 days it was me & Eleanor (That’s the name of my car) restarting our love story which had been put to a halt because of my fling. The 20 days also had me receiving 5 offers for my upcoming life A.K.A job. On 28th May I got a call from my-then future boss - Nakul Patel. “Hi, Sushant. Congratulations, you have been selected, I just spoke to Naina and you have to join the team in 7 days”.

God must be really happy with me, I thought as I went to sleep that night. Next 5 days were spent in shopping, packing, catching up with friends and making plans for my future home, Bengaluru (funny that Bengal stayed with me somehow :P ). There was happiness all around me, my family was happy and my friends were happy as well for my future.

All my happiness dissolved when the news of a batch-mate’s accident made its way to facebook. Not a very close friend but a gem of a person and a truly awesome sportsperson. Some people have such clean hearts that God loves having them around him earlier compared to us sinners. It was rather hard to deal with, I personally didn’t think it would affect me much, but it did. It made me realize, we have a time-bomb inside us and it’s constantly ticking towards zero. Why spend the little time we have on planet earth hating and killing each other. It made me realize that we need to make a difference, however small it is. For me, my small way of making a difference was giving pep talk to friends, family and any other person who thought he was an underdog or an underachiever.

Moving to a new city was a little tough because of the events that had happened just before I left Kolkata for Bengaluru, but the transition somehow happened and soon I had my own workspace and was a part of a crazy team which spent most of their time travelling and doing crazy events which were one of a kind in South Asia. Working for one’s mentor is every protégé’s dream. I had my dream fulfilled. Working was never taxing as long as you had Nakul Bhaiya around to have fun with; our team lived out of a suitcase for 2 months in 2011. It was one of a kind experience and I travelled a total of 13 cities and about 4000 kilometers in that period. Not just that, there were also amazing road trips. Road trips which were absolutely crazy with the entire set of crazy things my crazy team did. An added plus point was the fact that my work (or should I say play) also paid me enough to get things which people say makes a gentleman (I am talking about all the expensive bullshit, shallow people use to gauge your tastes and class)

For a guy like me, this was like the epitome of fun and enjoyment one could have but I was wrong. December 2011 was the craziest month of them all. It started with a visit to my good old homes, Kolkata and Jamshedpur. When I was in Kolkata, I met my friends after what seemed to be an eternity and raised hell like a college guy once again (it was so much fun to get out of the formals and back to the torn jeans and tees) . I also visited some of the places which were a last minute plan or places I didn’t imagine I would visit ever (only the 1st one), such as:

1. Modern High School: This school and I have had a history, my friend Neha (who also happens to be an ex-student of this very school), took me along to watch Sarod Maestro Amaan Ali Khan enthrall the crowd. The visit makes a great story, will put it up on the blog sometime.

2. Chandni Chowk Market: As crowded it may seem, it’s still the best place to get great electronic brands, at wholesale rates and 100% original stuff.

3. South City Mall: I have visited this place so much that I promised that I won’t visit it this time around but god had other plans and this was the most visited place during the Kolkata vacation.

4. Harshita’s Party: A day before I landed in Kolkata, I was invited to a close friend’s party. Although it was tight on my schedule but I made it. It was a fun party where I met quite a few old friends and made a few new ones.

5. Blue Poppy Restaurant: I have always loved momos, but I least expected it to have it here. I am more of the Tibetian Delight- road side eating types, and somehow having momos in an air-conditioned place feels strange.

After 5 days in Kolkata, I was off to my small town, Jamshedpur. I was in town to see the youngest of all the Georges make a statement at her last school sports day and oh she made a statement, in a big way, be it bearing her squad flag or winning medals in all her events.

It had been a long time since people saw me so everyone came to catch up. I had awesome family dinners, social gatherings and also a short fling with my baby Kaira. It was so cool to meet Bitsy, Mansi and Srijonee after such a long time. Plus this trip had so many magical things happening, Bitsy and me planned to start a venture together, my friendship with Srijonee suddenly evolved (it was like the most surprising thing to happen considering the love-hate friendship we have had) and not to forget, I took my family out for a dinner at my expense (wow moment of the year#1 ; such a proud moment when I gave my card to pay the bill, my parents were like, “looks like our little boy has grown up”)

I was back in Kolkata to catch my flight back to Bengaluru after 8 days of home-time. Before leaving, I had just enough time to catch up with people who mattered once again but the dinner with Anubhav Bhaiya was definitely the best. I talked about how this year has evolved me and he told me how I have my smile back, the true biker one. His assurance gave confidence to acknowledge the fact that I was over all the bull-shit of the ‘Devdas’ period.

Return to Bengaluru was rather chilled out and the only thing worth mentioning was the awesome weather when I touched down. As soon as I got back to office, I was happily reintroduced to a new team and given additional responsibilities (which I loved). A week into my work, I was finally given my new business cards (wow moment of the year#2), when I put up a status about it on facebook, Richie, a close friend, asked me if I would like to get married to her (on the condition, I give her 2 diamond rings :P) which I happily agreed to (considering, one bird in hand is better than 2 birds in bush) and I am sure she will beat me up (she is a hatti-katti punjaban) when she reads this. After all of the above mentioned thing, the toping on the cake was, on the last day of this year, my aunt, Sr. Elizabeth George, was appointed the as the Provincial of her order of nuns (yes, it might not seem like it but I am a very religious guy because of my family’s religious connections)

2011 changed me like every other year, I have matured a little more, I have a little more experience, I have a little more friends (maybe enemies too) and I have a little more confidence that I will make something really good out of myself in the future. It’s really funny that it all started with a decision taken by an aunt & niece duo which totally crushed me yet was the driving force behind the changes in me that happened in 2011. After everything said and done, everything does happen for the best. No matter how random things might look, the Boss who sits up there has a special plan in store for you.

Here’s wishing all of you a very Happy New Year. Make moments with people, enjoy 2012 to the fullest, make a change which is worth making and most importantly, don't feel bad when you are low because God is busy making a plan for you.

To 2012 & You, my friend!! Cheers!!!!