Chak Diya India - The Fun Begins..

Having decided that we'd spend the better part of the day watching Chak De India, we quickly started to plan the details. 

The local newspaper provided us the theatre options and show timings - eventually, proximity to the guest house made us choose one of the two (yeah, that wasn't much of a decision !). 

The show was supposed to start at 5 pm. But we were free after 12. Having this much buffer time on our hands was also a new feeling. So we decided to recce the location, and thought, (basis our prior experience at Lucknow) that we'll buy tickets now, have lunch and come back for the movie. 

Aha, little did we realise that Destiny was in a jovial mood that day, with much of her mirth to be at our expense ! 

Having landed at the "theatre" - I forget the name now- we saw a closed ticket counter!

This was a first ever experience, as movie halls keep vending tickets for the day's show through the day itself. 

On inquiring, we were told to come back at 4 pm - one hour before the show started ! This was even stranger ! What if we didn't get the ticket ? The most anticipated plan for the day would be dashed ! But apparently, our source of information, who had a Zen like air of calm around him, was far removed from such worldly concerns. He reiterated that we'd have to come back at 4. 

By now, hunger had started to ring the lunch bell. We evaluated a nearby "hotel", had tea and french fries and some other junk, and tried our best to kill time. 

Finally, after a lot of fidgeting, the watch showed that it was time. 

I eagerly raced down to the ticket window, and was relieved to see only 2 persons ahead of me. I thanked god and hoped that I would get the prized "balcony" seat today! 

I poked my hand through the counter and confidently asked him for "3 tickets, balcony". 

I was more than taken aback at his reply, which went - "Kahan se aaye ho ?" (Where have you come here from ?).

And the following sequence ensued : 

Me : "What do you mean ?"

Ticket Window : "Arrey we don't have any balcony "

Me : "Then what do you have ?"

TW : "Rs 15, 25 and 35 tickets"

Me : thinking : Looks like we'll have to manage with 35/-. Let's buy it what the heck !

Me : " Give me 3"

TW : Hands over 3 tickets. 

I examined the tickets closely (city slicker habits die hard, you see) , and saw that they did not have any seat numbers on them.

Me: "Arrey what kind of tickets are these ? They don't have any seat numbers !!!" 

TW : "Arrey kahan se aaye ho ?? " 

Me : (Zapped ) - WTF !!! 

Me : "How am I supposed to find out where to sit ?? What do you mean kahan se aaye ho ?"

TW : "Go inside, you'll be told "

This was clearly not going too well, as far as I could make out...tickets sold one hour before the show, no seat numbers...the signs were ominous..but I had committed myself and two others, so there was no going back now.

In we marched, and thankfully, saw a familiar sight. A dude with a torch, telling people where to go..seemed like things would be okay after all..

Me - to usher - : "Where are these seats ?"

Usher - points to the last block of rows : "There"

Me : "Which ones to take ?"

Usher : "Sit anywhere you feel like" 

Me : !!! 

That sinking feeling returned...

Thankfully, since the Rs 35 tickets were the most expensive, the seats were not occupied.

We plonked ourselves on what seemed to give us the best view of the screen..and waited for the action to start..

Meanwhile, the hall was slowly heating up. The ventilation was provided by state of the art ceiling fans and large cooler type fans, blowing inwards. 

Clearly, we had an experience of our lives at hand....

Chak Diya India - More Adventures @ Rudrapur

5 years and much more experience later, I pick up the anecdotes from where I last left them..Rudrapur--

Rudrapur's claims to fame won't be a very long list - For many years, it was an agricultural trading centre -  a big anaaj mandi. Produce from the Terai plains was brought and sold here. It was a small, sleepy town, with a district hospital, and a sizeable Sikh population. The only other fun fact was its proximity to Nainital - the famous tourist destination, and Pantnagar, the University Town. 

Post the creation of the Uttarakhand state, things started to change rapidly there. 

SIDCUL - The State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal Ltd, was formed. This entity was tasked with creating a set of industrial parks, to rival the Baddis of Himachal, and generate revenue and jobs for the state. 

The Integrated Industrial Estate of Pantnagar was one of the first projects that went live under this plan, and Sector 9, Plot 14 B - was to be my "office" for 6 weeks.  

How I landed here was also an interesting story - cue to the start of the Factory Stint @ Manesar. 

Having just returned from wilderness, 3 of us were looking forward to spending some time in Gurgaon. 

Our project manager informed us that we'd have a draw of lots to decide the project of choice. 

No - I didn't pull out Rudrapur! I had got a googling project at Manesar, which was a comfortable assignment for all practical purposes. Rudrapur had been allotted to a Delhi based chap, who, quite naturally, was chuffed at being back home and was looking to spend time there. His hopes dashed when he saw the sheet in his hand. And well, I don't know what I was thinking - may be that my parents' were based in Bareilly which was 3 hours away and that I could meet them (idiot that I was, I could have met them from Delhi too !!), and that I really didn't feel challenged by the assignment (dumb ass!), and I felt bad for him - I offered to exchange projects.  If there was a moment when I could be considered for the Nobel Prize of Idiocy, that was it !

So back we went to the manager, and told him that we'd like to exchange projects. And 24 hours later, at 4 a.m, I had disembarked at Rudrapur railway station, and was on the way to the guest house. 

I quickly figured out a routine and started to get up to speed on my assignment - which was to build a spare parts management system. Since the plant was new and there were no vendors around, they had no way to know which part was critical, and how much of it to stock. So it was decided to examine all the lines in detail, classify the components into critical and non - critical and ensure enough stock availability for basis component criticality. 

Shifts were typically 8 hours, and there wasn't much to do after that. The lack of suitable booze options meant that those plans too went onto the back-burner. Evenings were usually spent in front of the TV and on phone calls to friends posted all over the country. 

It was amidst this hum drum, functional - operational scenario that 15th August dawned. 

A day off from work - a change in the daily routine !!  

Thrilled at this prospect, a couple of singletons and I decided to watch the newly released "Chak De India". 

What followed since..is quite a bit of history !

Aisle Bee Back Short Lee

Hmm..I had a good thing going here - so I'd like to believe...

So I will try my hand at it once again...

Let's get this show on the road !