Once upon a time in ONIDA

Once upon a time in ONIDA

I had always believed that everyone serves a purpose in your life, weather you acknowledge it or not!! Today my blog is not a blog, its  a small story, it’s a real story of 7 people working in ONIDA.

Vikas, Jitu, Pooja, Sameer, Lalit, Amrisha and Sudhir.

Some time in mid feb of 2006, I got to know that I was selected for ONIDA, I had mixed emotions, I didn’t knew, how to react, it was my first job, I hadn’t worked before.

14^th April, 2006 was my first day in office, corporate headquarters of ONIDA ( seemed like its army headquarters), People were looking at me with weirdness as if I have sent proposal to marry their daughters.

But to my luck and their disappointment, it was not the case, As I saw my appointment letter again some bold letters shouted “ Executive-SCM”….. I checked it again, it was the same, I thought why I am being put in SCM being MBA in marketing, then I cursed my engineering background, I had made up my mind, I will leave the organization soon or I will demand right role for me.

The solider ( me!!) went to HR and asked” I want to get role in marketing” , with a gabbar smile and political correctedness , HR replied “ it will be done in sometime”

Luckily that “Sometime” lasted for 15 days , and I was put in Strategic Marketing Project “ On Idea”

I was on top of the world  , the animals that we read in the classrooms with one eyes on girls in classroom were coming true.

Branding, market share, presentations, these words entered my world. I suddenly went into my dreamy world of becoming VP Marketing in just 3 weeks of joining.

It was declared that a girl named “ Pooja”  will also be there in the project, I met her don’t know when, A very simple girl from Chandigarh ( my dream city then).

Queen of Pjs ( read Pjs raised to power of n) were her strength, you could expect anything from her, sometime I used to wonder is it a talent or natural characteristic?

An example which I will never forget in my lifetime is when I asked her “ Chalen” ……she replied “ Chane to main khaa kar aayi hun…… I was speechless on the reply….it haunted me till ages in my dreams …..how can somebody repliy this……..

Then I was able see the other side of this amazing girl, the understanding, caring part ….and also what I liked was the authority with which she used to deal with me……I had found a very good friend in her……we went together to many trips to Bangalore, did researches together, without any blink of an eye, she was matching with my pace.

She knew astrology, which always has fascinated me , not the curiosity of knowing future, but science itself, I always requested her to see my palm and tell, and she always used to do the same. I used to witness the changing structure of lines on my palm, like a kid I used to run and ask her “ what does this mean now” and with smile I used to get the answer.

Now too, whenever accidently  I see my palm, I remember her.

Time was running like a horse, I don’t know when a group was formed, a bunch of different people with different backgrounds,

Vikas, Jitu, Pooja, Sameer, Lalit, Amrisha and Sudhir.

While I knew Lalit and Amrisha from my college time as we were batch mates, Jitu ,Sameer and sudhir were new animals to me.

Jitu was the kinds I observed was most helping guy I have met, with these helping characteristics he was father figure in the group, his verdict used to be final, if he declared that we will go to this place in the eve, nobody used to vindicate his lines. i learnt power of politeness from him, and art of loving people, no matter what other thought…

He was always right, liked, loved ( among females too but due to his fatherly status, every girl looked at him as good friend, so all hopes of flirting would go in vain even if he wanted to try). Wish had I grown up more than him at that time, I would have pleaded to any girl he liked to become his girlfriend.

With the hopes that that he will lose his elderly skills and wishing that he will go to a pub and request the bartender “ a drink for a lady sitting next to me “ but it didn’t happen …I wanted him to be shahrukh but he was happy being Sanjeev kumar.

Then there was guy “ Sameer” ……as light as air, in lunch time, he used to come in and used to sit next to my seat for a while before leaving for his building as he was sitting under different roof.

A day dreamer ( and night dreamer also), fun loving, easily adjustable person, a talent to understand quick humor was there in him, he had two agendas in life

1.       To leave onida as soon as possible

2.       Telling Point no 1 to each and everyone in the group thousand of times.

A emotional, true hearted guy with lots of unclear dreams ( still not abt any girl!!) , a go getter with lots of laziness, I always knew he will be good fun when drunk.

Then there was silent and invisible man “ Sudhir”……I really used to like him ( not that way!, I had clear cut interest in girls who were exciting, fun loving) ……..i was amazed at his soft spoken nature…he was clear it seemed to me ……one thing I really liked about him “ his choice of days when he will drink and when he will not” and with whom.

I always knew he had hidden characteristics, very deep and shy.

Lalit and amrisha were from my college, lalit was younger brother to elderly jitu, next to father figure, always thinking what will happen next, but very planned, calculative emotional good guy to hang out with, he was the one who introduced alcohol to me in college time, then after showing me the path of wisdom , he took another path.

I always used to tease him” yaar teri biwi bahut sunder hogi” …..and he used to repel and I used to wonder why “ achi baat hi to bol raha hun”

He taught me meaning of planned savings, calling multiple times at home.

Amrisha ke bare mein jitna kam kaha jaaye utna jada hai, a deep understanding figure, only few could understood her laughter! Chirpiness was her strength.

As camera of life was rolling on we had our won differences in the group with all taking their own misconceptions for a longer duration.

We had stopped facing each other!

Even summer trainee “ kajal” could help us talk beyond a point, me and Sameer were faking astrology to kajal that she has split personality, she looked serious ….and then we laughed, but we had a message that don’t look sad, share your life with us ,I still have sher written by her with me on a paper

“ Maloom hai mujhe nahi mumkin tera mujhe milna, phir bhi har ghadi mujhe tera intezaar rehta hai”

We all parted in sometime in our destiny, Pooja left ONIDA , I didn’t like it as I was so used to her, then I left and then all I don’t remember.

I was always accused to not calling, I got busy in my own life, with longer durations, I used to fear what will they think if I call them ( this is for Pooja and lalit)

I was very much in touch with jitu and Sameer!

I was part of many great people in my journey of life then but this one group remained special.

I am sure sometime we just require a hug to forget all bad memories and revive new relationship with same people, A big Hug to you all, lots of love

Rest in my next

Vikas sachdeva

Live in relationship

Live- in relationships, what a cool term it is! Boy and girl living together without marriage in the same apartment, sharing food, expenses, togetherness,, emotions, coziness!! And above all greatest part “NO COMMITMENT”

I witnessed this in my college time, when two dearest friends of mine eventually started living together, I was amazed, coming from a small town, where even shaking hand with stranger girl being looked at, interrogated and declared your girlfriend!! (Don’t remember how many GFs I had by that standards!!)

I can’t experience Live in relationships now and that’s why I decided to Pen it down! (Shit! Shit Shit!)

People have different opinion about “Live in”. Old school of thought says it’s a big No No, how can two unmarried people stay together (as if marriage is the Punch card designed by them to enter the house)

And people of my generation say it’s a big yes, who bloody who want to miss out the benefits of staying together yet no commitment (No, I didn’t mean sex only but all needs without paying big price!)

I am seeing this trend of “Live ins” will grow in india and it will grow multifold.

The rate at which students/working people are leaving their hometowns for better job is phenomenal. They live in suitcases travelling city by city.

Here are few points why I thought they will grow:

Sense of comfort with opposite sex

Girls have more male friends these days vs their own type ( weird type). They see more sense of comfort with opposite sex as they fulfill their needs of pampering, spending, emotional support, non jealousness part time physical needs ( don’t underestimate power of part time physical needs like hugging, kissing, cozying etc, it’s the major draw when two are attracted towards each other, Power of touch as per my earlier blog u see!!)

Similarly Males love to have more girls in their groups (and in private too!!); it gives them chance to display their emotional side, stability, no competition who will take away that particular girl and yes sense of comfort.

Both leading to acknowledge they can stay together.

No parents watching…shhhshhh

We youth (I am included in youth, just because I am writing this blog doesn’t mean otherwise, huh)

 When being watched upon, hate it man hate it, since childhood, we have been directed to do things as per parents wish We people wating for the right time( soldiers wating to fire,dhikchoon) ( when we will leave for study/work we will do this and that and most dream about booze, smoke only)

So when we get a chance to fly (I mean out of home) , our to do things list flashes. First comes to mind is freedom, if some home broker tells you that there is no house available at your budget and in case u want to live in good flat, you have to share it with a girl/guy( you will have seprate room) beyond a point, u will say ok ( its not easy, but trends are increasing)

Trying Dummy marriage

Most of us like to try things out, so why not “live ins’ . If one gets opportunity to try dummy marriage (this is the excuse given by most to get in to Live ins)

·         You have to share expenses so no chic chic with another girl

·         You have to handle minor version of expectations of fulfilling all your responsibities as a roommate.

·         All cheap works like bills payment, electricity, getting appliances corrected will be done asap

·         Occasional cooking will be done by the girl with complete ground work done by the guy.

Some needs fulfilled

When a boy and girl start living together ( in Live ins) Unintentionally they satisfy some needs of each other, sense of belongingness, care, responsibities, equality, protectiveness for a girl, stability for a guy, and  a different relationship starts building which doesn’t have boundaries, expectations, freedom , experimentations, bonding.

Future is fast paced, with aspirations rising high and high, convenience becoming priority, and more and more emotional support required by the males and females, This trend will grow and will find acceptance in society.

And inspite of being away from home from last 12 years, I was not able to experience this relationship, I am sad L

Rest in my next blog

Vikas sachdeva

Changing Movie watching experience

I was just going from Mumbai to Pune on some weekend, sitting by the window seat in a AC Volvo bus, I was feeling comfortable thinking how I will spend next 4 hours.

Wishing that next seat should be occupied a sexy girl and we strike conversations on love, romance and end up meeting every week, my dream was shattered when a cool looking hunk sat next to me with iPod in his ear and then he started opening his bag and took out a small media player double the size of our mobile phone.

Looking at his richness, I alarmed myself not to get into any inferiority complex as I had always believed that girls really like simple, genuine guys (like me!!) than hunks for the long term.

Working on self laid philosophy, I was about to enter my dreamy world and then I witnessed that guy sitting next to me was watching a Hollywood movie on his gadget.

Then I did what I do very rarely, I started thinking:

In 80’s we had B/W TV with two gates on its screen giving it a royal opening, After power button was pressed, This TV demanded lot of attention being the only source of entertainment, so acting pricey, B/W TV use to take lot of time to fill the area on the screen with voice cords followed later.

DD-1 being the only one performing at that time, there were limited programs like Chitrahar, Rangoli and the best part “Hindi feature films without commercials”

Remote hadn’t taken birth by then, so manual tuning was only done to get the clarity in picture, and if not satisfied, then we used to go to top to change the position of antenna with changing its directions like giving signals on the border that we will not leave the war!

Then the era changed, with the salaries increasing, there came introduction of “Color TVs”, rest antenna at home roof being constantly guiding!

The homes which didn’t had color tvs were being looked at with pity as with the assumption that they can’t afford the New animal “Color TV”

Rangoli, Chitrahar became more popular, people were able to recognize their fav actors clothes, they started relating to them , People started following actors, their dressing sense, styling.

Then came the era of cable TV, now this monster had changed lives of many, more options, more channels, people were able to see many programs, movies basis their preference.

With more programs, People started expressing their emotional side via characters in the programs, emotions like love, and romance found elaborations in young hearts.

Being living in conservative society, still youngsters were not able to view the programs (read adult programs) as there used be one TV and that too be watched with the family.

That led to invention of VCR, a era of private viewing, so people could watch movies of their choice, mainly VCR was available on rent model, (Many choose to buy that device so as they could see all the love making scences and tell the world that they are the ones who need most love by opposite sex.)

VCRs got replaced by CDs, More compact, handy CD players helped movie watching experience to a great level.

Single screen cinemas used to co exist struggling to find their place as people used to watch movies at home saving lot of money by not going to theater.  (here I am not talking about young couples, married and unmarried, who used to book boxes in these cinema halls and watching movie was not at all given importance in hall but something else!)

With the more no of movies releasing per year, there was need to make multi screen cinemas to give people choice of movies and convenience of choosing the subject.( like I always like romantic flicks and other people liked action, comedy, horror etc and I had no problems with that!!)

Back home Color TV was feeling all alone, then in anger he decided to change himself, he was new rajnikant who will kill all the boredom from people’s life, he started praying, lord shiva got happy and converted him into LCDs, LEDs.

He had now great picture clarity, sound, he was status symbol, he broke the barriers on getting himself confined to a cabinet, he now clings to the wall like Jesus, the god.

With TV being inventing himself, multi screen cinema halls, personal viewing need is increasing now, ipads, ipods and don’t know many more will come to fulfill this need. (thanks to Maslow, hadn’t he told us about our need structure, we would have been happy in closed room only)

Laptops, desktops are more used for viewing movies than computing work.

Aundh, Aundh,the conductor shouted, the bus had reached pune.

I was wondering where I will watch my next movie, PVR, laptop or DVD??

And yes, one day, seat next to me there will be sexy girl!

Rest in my next blog,

Vikas sachdeva

Something!

Something!

Sometimes from the outset , when we see everything  as a outsider, Things look really shining, everything picture perfect and believe me it’s actually great to be in that state!

But sometimes some days you miss something! When somebody asks you what is missing, you don’t have answer!

One of the part is when you share this people around, they think something wrong has happened with this guy, or he is sad or he is thinking too much but actually it may not be the case. You can miss that something even you are at your happiest page since you don’t know what you are missing.

I am missing the following at the moment:

1.  A long laughter which has got a shadow now these days

2. A month long holidays of school when I used to finish homework in first 10 days and then play for 20 days.

3. A bunch of different friend groups in engineering which I was part of from morning walk friends to late night sms friends.

4. Lot of positive energy

5. Unnecessary spending in the mall

6. My bollywood spoofs which I use to write and act

7. Sleep till 9.30 in the morning everyday

8. Two foreigner friends (one girl and one boy)

9.  Self Belief that I can do

10.  Bike driving to lonavala with a bunch of friends

11. A midnight coffee at chandni chowk,Pune

12. Sitting next to NDA gate at 1 am

I am sure I will get all I mentioned above all over again!

Vikas sachdeva