Two Drivers with Nothing in Common!

 

In present times it’s common to find the soothing slogan ‘help is just a call away’ at every step of life while in actuality it could be ‘help is just an eternity away’, particularly for elderly people whose perception of them being burdens on the booming younger community is so very tantalizingly turned into a reality by the latter! Of course, we cannot generalize because there are good souls—younger or older— still available on our tortured earth. Just the other day we encountered two app cab drivers that uphold and differential both the statements made above. 

We had to catch a late-night flight. As usual we, I and my wife, both elderly and I a senior citizen, had to somehow drag and carry our bags and heavy suitcases down the stairs round to the street corner where the cab was supposed to pick us up, because we didn’t want to wait for eternity for ‘help’, and we didn’t mind that at all out of experience! In that laborious process the cab driver called saying he was already on location and insisted that that was the right location despite my pointing out that the location was shown very clearly on the app. The driver’s tone was very casual, indifferent and bereft of human emotions. Anyway, he was at last persuaded to proceed to the location that we reached painstakingly.

 

The cab stopped beside us. The driver sat like a statue in his seat and the only movement he made was to open the boot for us. We really struggled to load the things inside the narrow boot. It was very hard for me as I had to lift the heaviest suitcase with both my hands and then adjust it inside. Well, I assured myself, the driver was just one of the multiplying ‘casual’ community and there was absolutely no point expecting help from him nor finding fault with him. Finally, getting ourselves installed inside he did the favor of driving us toward the destination; however, he did it casually and carelessly too, narrowly averting a bump into a vehicle in front on the way. Ditto was his behavior at the airport. In fact, he wanted to abandon us at the first gate he found even though the right gate was also recorded on the app. After delivering us at the right gate on my insistence he sat on like a statue, apart from opening the boot again. Fearing the driver would run away once I settle the fare then and there, I immediately alighted from the cab and looked for a trolley first. Then, again that laboriously process of unloading the boot and loading the trolley. After we finished doing that, I made the payment. All the time the driver sat in his driving seat.

 

Reaching the destination airport I again booked an app cab and waited in the allotted alley. Sighting the cab at a distance I motioned the driver to come up to the place where we stood which the driver did promptly. And then the driver not only opened the boot but also left his seat to help us load, to our hearts’ content and gratification. All the way he talked in a very friendly and homely way, informing us of the weather in the city and the changes that have been taking place of late. Arriving at our residence the driver again left his seat and helped us unload and carry the luggage up to the steps. He waited till we entered the building, and only then he drove away. I waved him a loving goodbye.

 

It’s indeed a solace that at the time when our Planet Earth seems to racing into the thick of a torrid and very uncertain future the good souls, indeed a raging minority, are still not drying up entirely.

(I was happy to find Blogger is taking the intended photos again when I checked out the last time. Hope it stays that way so that I get encouraged to be more regular with my posts. Nowadays without even photos, the videos are the buzzword, post are going to attract even a stray reader!)

The Refueling Conundrum!

 

I don’t really know why they do it. Perhaps they too adhere to the belief or the superstition that when one prepares too well for something, nothing really happens. The autorickshaw or the cab drivers may thus think that when they fill their tanks or cylinders with fuel first thing in the morning and wait for the customers none would come up or that it would take the best part of the day for the first customer. Therefore, they may accede to a ‘Let’s fill up only after I get a customer’ kind of behavioral psychology. I’ve often been the victim of such driver-psychology exploits in the city of Guwahati—called the gateway of the North East region. Let it be the autorickshaws or even the app cabs, the drivers thereof would invariably move the vehicle into a petrol pump on the way thus severely impinging on my allotted time for the ride and then for the possible meetings or appointments to keep. Annoyance pumped up by inconvenience and anger would always take full possession of my hapless state of being. I thought this psychology was limited to the somewhat lazy and laidback city/region as mentioned; but to my consternation I discovered it spreading to other parts of the country, and more worryingly, even in the most professional city of Mumbai. Mind you, I’m not jumping to conclusions or generalizations. I’m more or less certain because it was not a random incident where the driver could’ve genuinely missed the refueling due to technical issues, it happened twice in two successive days, and in both occasions the drivers did not look apologetic at all as if they were used to that by-now-normalized procedure. And they stuck to that stock answer in an expressionless tone, “The pumps were closed!”

In the first incident in Mumbai the driver of an app cab nearly made us miss an important meeting. The young driver looked okay and he was cruising the car nicely through a fairly dense traffic. But suddenly, midway, drove into a petrol pump on his left and joined a queue of around three-four vehicles. Completely taken by surprise as I never remembered a similar incident in the financial capital, I demanded him why. That stock answer came up promptly and I was agonized to find that he’d joined a queue for CNG filling which I know takes a long time. So I couldn’t help firing him right and left, but the young boy perfectly kept his composure, making me feel silly even in the midst of my great temper. My wife, trying to take control of the situation, prodded him softly as to why he didn’t inform at the time of booking. The boy avoided answering by informing that he’d already got his number and that it would not take much time now. After fifteen minutes that seemed to be the longest of waits in my entire life, I could bear it no longer and got out of the car banging the door shut. Pacing up to the road I started dialing the organizers trying to do some damage control as there were a few other participants in the meeting waiting. They agreed to a 30-minute window, and finally we reached around 35 minutes late, 25 of which was caused by the refueling googly.

In the second incident the very next day we got late at the house of a friend we reunited with after long years. When we finished our three-course supper, it was nearly midnight. The app cab drivers were not responding and the aggregators focused on increasing the fares by the second. Our responsible friend tried a new app on his mobile and finally the car he booked arrived. Again, the driver was a young boy, seemed hardly 20. However, he assured our friend that he’d take absolute care of us and would deposit us home safe and sound. We took off.

The streets were not exactly packed at that late hour, but the boy was driving at a snail’s pace. Unable to hide her curiosity my wife asked him why he was not picking up speed. And then only he dropped the bombshell: he was looking for a CNG filling station as his fuel was dwindling fast! Not only that! The car might run out of fuel anytime now and the responsible boy was very worried that his ‘uncle and aunty’ could get stranded in the middle of the night! This time I took a long sigh and just leaned back on the seat, as if surrendering to fate.

The young driver kept on stopping asking one and all, including the Zomato delivery boys, for the way to the nearest CNG filling pump. They all did indeed give very painstaking directions, but our lean and thin young gentleman couldn’t find any. And he constantly kept up our tension by mentioning that ‘getting stranded’ bit. Finally I intervened telling him to consult people of his ilk, that is to say, other drivers of autorickshaws or cabs or taxis. Luckily, he found an autorickshaw by the side of a road and accosted the driver: requesting him for the way in the most urgent manner possible, of course, by mentioning what fate his dearest ‘uncle and aunty’ could be heading for. I did my best to avoid meeting a supposedly sympathetic stare from the autorickshaw driver; but he gave solid directions to a gas station which was still some way off and nearer to our home. Fortunately, the car engine did not go phut and the eager driver found the pump and could finally satiate the urge of his cylinder, if not his.

We found it perplexing that the boy still did neither brighten up nor increase the speed of his vehicle. Again, my wife asked him why. In reply he asked her a very pertinent question, “Do you know your way to your home?” More in store for us! I thought bitterly. “Of course!” she replied. Then he disclosed that he was an absolute stranger in the area and so was driving slow, and particularly avoiding the flyovers, afraid where they’d eject him out.

For the rest of the journey I took absolute command of directing him: the turns to take and which flyovers to avoid and which ones to take. The young driver indeed delivered his ‘uncle and aunty’ home around 2 in the morning, delayed by at least an hour. I wanted to give some sound pieces of advice. But what the heck! I’d not rather have stock digitalized responses! Instead, I took the pledge of asking the driver if he was going to refuel on the way, every time I’d happen to book a transport in future anywhere and everywhere. However, we do fervently hope the refueling virus do not spread far and wide and someone resourceful check its possible progress. Or it still remains a conundrum!

Personally Speaking: A New Beginning!

I am happy to inform you all that in my journey as a writer I’ve made a new beginning just now! It’s about a new book I’ve got published through the traditional publisher, Ukiyoto Publishing, a first in my writing career. And then, it’s for the first time that I have adopted the form of a Novella to tell my story—a new beginning too in my future journey to writing full-length novels. Not only this, I have experimented with a new genre—Supernatural Thriller! I hope I’ll get new interested readers too for this new venture.

 

I am giving the links below where you can buy the book or take a look or read a sample. If the book gets you interested and immersed I’d be the happiest writer of the world!

On Amazon:

On Ukiyoto:

Thank you all!

IPL-2022: As We Bid Goodbye To MI And CSK The Bairstow-Livingstone Blasts Save PBKS From Us!

Putting ‘goodbye’ in the headline could have more significance than perhaps you can possibly imagine; of course, the very few who ‘read’ these pages must have understood. Yes, we’re referring to the Goodbye post a few days back. However, that apparently painful post did not contain any kind of commitment or decisive action on the part of the writer which is significant in light of some famed international cricketers saying quits to the game through public announcements and then coming back again as if nothing was the matter. Therefore, that ‘goodbye’ meant nothing to the public, even if it could’ve hurt this writer a lot since he’s been rather harassed four times in the last four months for the purportedly suspicious visitors to the site who never read, but don’t care to go on a sabotaging rampage. Out of a morbid fear I've stopped posting my links on the social media too. What a pity! But still, why should I care who read and not read but try to damage! This site is very dear to me and it’s not at all surprising that cricket has changed the ‘goodbye’ to ‘welcome again’! The last league match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) last night acted like a gamechanger for me, if not for IPL-2022 or cricket.

 

The MI, already thrown out of the IPL play-offs, started nonetheless with a vengeance igniting fiery spells by Daniel Sams taking two scalps in the very first over of the match, then going on to take his third in the fifth over and joined in by an equally lethal Jasprit Bumrah, a tad too late for his team, who took one, thus reducing CSK to a shaky 17/4 from the scary start of 5/3.

 

Why this vengeance? Well, perhaps it has everything to do with the reinstated CSK captain MS Dhoni or MSD who, in fact, literally threw MI out of contention reliving his role of the Finisher on 22^nd April, at a time when the ‘home’ franchise was desperately looking for its first win after losing six on the trot. CSK could never recover from this nightmare last night, getting all out for a pitiful 97 which is CSK’s second lowest score in IPL history. Although MI captain Rohit Sharma failed once again his team managed to win the match by 5 wickets. Most significantly, this MI win now threw MSD’s CSK out of contention for the play-offs. And therefore, we bid goodbye for the five-time Champs MI and the defending Champs CSK.

 

Gujarat Titans (GT), the titanic newbie, became the first team to seal a play-off spot with 18 points followed by the second newbie Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) with 16 points. With MI and CSK out of contention and LSG almost in needing to win one out of the remaining two matches, there are still six teams still in contention for at least two of the four play-off spots, and every one of them needing to win all their remaining matches to form probable locked-in situations with 16 or 14 points each when the net run-rate comes in as the decider. Of course, Rajasthan Royals has a better chance at 14 points with two matches to go. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) is the only team with 3 matches to go and at 10 points, losing all the last five matches on the trot after a resurgence. 

 

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had 14 points with two matches left and tonight they have faced the Punjab Kings (PBKS), still in contention at 10 points with three matches left, hoping to get the precious two points to virtually secure its spot. However, put into bat the PBKS’s opener Jonny Bairstow blasted away with incredible 7 sixes and 4 fours in his innings of 66 runs off just 29 balls (scored his fifty in 21 balls). The other Englishman in the team, Liam Livingstone, followed him religiously, blasting 70 runs in 44 balls with 5 fours and 4 mammoth sixes. The English duo thus ensured their team score beyond 200, and all others fought hard to finally score 209/9, setting a target 210 in 20 overs which looked beyond RCB despite du Plessis, Kohli, Glen Maxwell and Karthik. For RCB, fast-bowler Hazelwood suffered the most conceding 64 runs in his allotted 4 overs. Finally, PBKS won the match by 54 runs and joined the Delhi Capitals (DC) at 12 points each and two matches remaining for each. RCB has one last match and a tough one too against the No.1 GT on 19^th May to get to 16 points that could possibly give them a spot in the top four.

Book Review By Himakar Tata: The Cheerless Chauffeur And Other Tales!

In his book “THE CHEERLESS CHAUFFEUR…”, Chinmay Chakravarty captures the different facets of the lives of middle-class Indians through 34 short stories. The humorous title of each story is indicative of the subtle and wry humor characteristic of the writer. Each story is a throwback on issues dominant in the India of the 1980s and 1990s. During that period technology was transforming lives in metropolitan cities. However, the social norms continued to remain mired in the India of 1970s.

 

The stories “THE RAIN DRENCH”, “YOU ARE INVITED (1 & 2)” are reflective of the hesitancy that came in the way of free interaction between men and women in the public. The 1970s was also the period when you had “leaders discussing poverty with glasses of expensive wine in air-conditioned rooms”. Many of the avowed radicals during their student days “left the left” in the 1980s (“A CIVILIZATION”).

 

It was also the era of shortages with “dirty-rich people in dirty-costly apparels waiting for freebies”. “THE MUNCHING WAYS OF A MISER” is also elaborative of this syndrome of scrounging. The woes and insecurities of a middle-class tenant are highlighted in a humorous style in “THE SPIT- FIRE” & “MILORD-O’LANDLORD”

 

The stories echo the transition that the Indian society was going through in 1980s & 1990s. With traditional societal norms having not yet faded away completely, this was also a time when men were still caught in a “Hamlet like indecisiveness” with regard to their adulterous flings (“FRAMED”).

 

The practical wisdom of a housewife is very evident in “PINNED DOWN”. Unlike her husband, she does not get overwhelmed by the hush- hush technological secrecy behind a “PIN” (Personal Identification Number). She has the perspicacity not to lose sight of the utility of a simple pin. “THE BLUFF OF THE HAZARDOUS KIND” unveils the shrewd negotiating skills of a housewife in undoing the damage caused by the emotional outbursts of her husband. “OUT OF THE CLUE” & “THE DUEL” put the lady of the house in a commanding position cornering a man for his off the cuff remark & having the last word.

 

Chinmay is very current in updating us on the flip side of a family cooped together, 24x7, in their home during the lockdown periods of 2020 & 2021. “BANANA BREAKOUT” cautions you on the qualitative limitations of ordering bananas online (despite its logistic ease). It recommends that even a man with the greatest “virus phobia” should step out in the open to buy bananas. It would reward his wife with that much needed valuable 15 minute “personal space & own time”.

 

“THE VIRAL VETO” dwells on the great debate sparked off during the lockdown on eating outside. “AN ELABORATE CONCOCTION” reveals as to how to circumvent shopping queues during the relaxation of curfew hours. “TALES, TELLTALES & TAILSPIN” sends your head in a tizzy over paranoid Indian TV Channels creating storms in tea cups in their rat race for their TRP ratings. “DECIBELS OF DESPERATION” highlights the impact of pandemic restrictions on the deals and power structure within a middle-class housing society.

 

The restlessness and woes of rail travelers owing to late running of trains is depicted well in “THE CONNECTING TRAIN”. Ironically, in “A CURIOUS CASE FOR DELAYS” the author justifies the relaxation in the demanding norms for punctuality. He indulges in a “perfectly timed time killing” at the airport. “BECAUSE I NEEDED TO BUY” also reflects the unpredictable fastidiousness of a commuter in his choice of the trains despite alternative options being available. “LESS ORDER ON THE SUPERFAST EXPRESS” reflects the psychological triumph of a cynical rail traveler, who has developed a thick skin towards all the antics of the railways. He also has the chutzpah to treat a railway coach like his very bedroom with all the informality. “THE DISCERNING COMMUTER” dwells on the scramble for a senior citizen train seat of a commuter fast “approaching the life landmark” of senior citizenship.

 

The street smart tactics of ordinary men and the mind games played by them  are described in details in “WELL DONE SENOR” , “THE LONER”, “TWO STRANGERS AT IT”, “ THE HAUNTED PAJAMA”, “THE BURPY BLUES “ & “ A PUNCH IN THE LURCH”

 

The need for innate horse sense to provide most unlikely solutions is illustrated in “THE PECULIAR MYSTERY OF A PARCEL” & “THE CHEERLESS CHAUFFEUR”

 

“THE BLOATED MUSICIAN” unmasks the hollow pretentiousness in some men. “BROWN SUGAR AND THE OLDEN RAGE” shows how   hypersensitive men can be. “THE ROUGH CUT” convinces you that it is impossible for one to please everyone.

 

My favorite story is the “THE THAMES POND QUADRILOGY”. Its fast-paced conversations are realistically reflective of motor mouthed salespersons trying to intrude into our private finances and burn deeper holes in our pockets. In “CREDIT CONTROL ROOM” the fast-talking credit card salesperson ultimately has her own way by not giving any chance to customers to respond.

 

The sales talk in “THE COST OF CREDIT” brims with sweet assurances by the credit company that it would be a noble and wonderful thing for the card holder to die in order to leave “benefits” for one’s family! “CASH ON THE CARDS” unveils the slow ego massage given to the unsuspecting customer. In “THE VIRTUAL TRAVEL PACKAGE” it is the turn of the customer to outwit the salesman by reeling out the extra hidden social & hidden costs!!

 

All in all, the wry humor, delivered in a laidback manner by Chinmay Chakravarty, makes you shrug off your middle-class blues to look at the lighter side of life!!

 

Himakar Tata, a postgraduate from the Delhi School of Economics, has been the literal globe-trotter traveling extensively throughout his service career and after his voluntary retirement, always following up with his travel stories published across various newspapers, periodicals and his social media accounts. His stories are always enriched with exciting and beautiful photographs. He hails from Vizag and is a member of Ram Mohan Roy’s Brahmo Samaj. We thank him heartily for this review as our valued Guest Writer.

Top Comments As A Writer’s Dilemma Gets Resolved!

My recent posts reflected a dilemma building up in my innards as to should I go on writing and posting those on apparently a dead wall. I’ve never been a pursuer of ‘success’ in the modern context where it’s a relative term, meaning (in my point of view, similar to Swagata Dey) that ‘success’ does not necessarily match the most integral term ‘merit’, except for some glorious examples in world history. In modern times ‘success’ just happens, maybe due to elements of luck, coincidence, rabid self-promotion, vital links in the network and accidentally appealing stories or videos or whatever, and that success can come overnight or may not come in one’s full lifetime. As far as my work during my service career and my writings since my childhood days are concerned, I do consider myself a success, in my way.

 

Neutrality has been the defining feature all my life, both in my service career and writings, which gives me the freedom to air my views freely. Therefore, I tend to expect neutral or objective views about my work, primarily because English is not my mother tongue and guided by some praise and eulogies early in my life I made it a professional job, even daring to author two English books. However, except for a few positive feedback from my known readers I’ve not been getting feedback from the unknown ‘reading’ readers. As an add-on my neutrality earned me many powerful enemies in my service career! And, even after requesting quite a few writers/journalists/friends to write reviews of my book entirely objectively in their way I have got nothing, good or bad. This site presents my main writing platform, and an utter lack of responses or comments from the readers (if any, was my thought) since years created this dilemma.

 

Very satisfactorily indeed, after presenting my ‘writer’s dilemma’ here and the links in social media I’ve got blessed with a few extremely helpful and kind comments. Very few, but the knowing readers matter a lot still. I consider it my duty to do justice to their thoughts, and so I present their views for you all below:

Sanjit Narwekar Says

“I think you are judging yourself too harshly. I don't think you have failed as a writer just because much of your work has been journalistic in nature. You did a good job of editing the MIFF catalogues. That apart from your other work at Films Division. We can't all write great books but the work we do as writers and editors also provides the grease to make the system work ... And that is no mean contribution.”

Jagdish Jawaswal Says

“श्रीमान सरजी.... अपने कर्तव्य ऒर बॊद्धिक स्तरपर आप आजभी सतर्क ऒर चिरतरुण हो.... यहं हमारा अनुभव रहां हैं... हमने आप के मार्गदर्शन में जो काम कियां है....”

Manas Ranjan SenapatiSays

“Sir, please start your Autobiography.”

Swagata Dey Says  

“I only read a few blogs on the internet, and yours is one of them. It is very difficult to find someone with whom you find yourself in tune with. Your writing makes me feel that way. I respect your decision, but please don't hold it against yourself, sir. Success is frequently viewed as external validation and there are a few things over which we have no real control. Please continue to do what you enjoy and direct all your energy on to it.

PS - I used to read biographies of successful individuals. But I realized that luck plays a big role in every story of success; even a minor change in the story can turn a remarkable achievement into a mediocre outcome. Daniel Kahneman discussed the same in his book ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’. Later I discovered a video on YouTube that forever changed my mind and I've stopped reading success stories since then.

If you feel like watching the video, please look up these keywords on YouTube – ‘We Are All Made by Accidents Pursuit of Wonder’. It has something that will give some more meaning to your story.

Thank you very much for sharing your story with us, sir.”

 

Simanta Adhyapak Says  

“I guess like me there could be lot of followers who enjoy your writing. Feeling sad reading this and on the decision you've taken. I Shall still follow your posts/updates.”

There have been many other positive responses as well in the social media. Well, for a humble writer this is enough encouragement to move on. This is, of course, apart from the surge of renewable energy I got from the ‘telephone calls’ that was mentioned in my earlier story! Thanks a trillion, to all you!

(Note: The photo is only symbolic as a salute to whom all it may concern.)

And Then I Say Quits…!

I’m convinced finally that it’s time to put my pen down or rather stop clattering my fingers over the computer keys. Yes, I’ve decided to stop writing here or anywhere with immediate effect. Therefore, effectively, this is my last piece here and wherever it figures. I had already indicated my doubts earlier on this platform. Now, all the doubts are in the final process of getting doubly confirmed. The reasons are both personal and professional. The personal reasons I’ll avoid, because it might be interpreted as passing on the blame; I take the blame squarely on my shoulders and this is my very own decision. The professional reasons are more important and definitive in the emerging scenario of a ‘failed writer’ which is not at all uncommon across the world.

 

The basic professional reason is that nobody reads my writings, most of them just surfing or watching briefly or passing over accidentally. I have been trying very hard indeed to write across a range of subjects to make these interesting for my readers for many years, and since I always used to laugh a lot, I thought of writing more and more humorous and fun pieces. But as a professional writer (at least I thought like that) I failed miserably to grab the readers’ attention or interest; even for the funny stories I think I am the only person to find those funny. Of course, I have to make a few concessions to a few friends who may have given their good comments/reviews out of love and goodwill. 

Ditto for my two books on humorous stories that I consider now as my foolish, egoistic and wastefully expensive indulgences. Besides, although I was successful in monetizing this site perhaps due to the low-quality traffic or no ‘reading’ readers I could not cross the main stumbling block for months. So, I decided to remove the ads also from the site.

 

As I look over my life at this fading point, I think I have been a failure too in regard to doing justice to all my relationships—as a husband, as a son, as a brother, as a colleague/friend, as an in-law and so on—as far as taking the responsibility is concerned. Perhaps, God has spared me of more failed responsibilities by not giving us children. This makes me feel very sorry and guilty, particularly for my wife, and for all others some of whom have been an integral part of my existence. 

There is hardly any time to make amends now; but I’ll definitely give it a try in the days remaining. Also, I'll spend my remaining days devoting myself fully to domestic work, book-reading and watching movies. Rest assured, this is a decision, a painful one too, but not a depression of any kind. In the meantime, I’ll allow this blog to go on, because my wife has a lot to write about, and that it may perhaps still have some archival values. And it’s not going to cost me much either. Goodbye then! And thanks for everything!

(I apologize! The ads are still coming! It seems I have no control over them as anything else!) 

Law Of Mutuality Extended: Like For A Like Or Read For A Read…!

 

Why should I go on writing? This question has been haunting me for quite some time, and this led to an unintentional break in the first week of this month when, in a very unprofessional way, I left the phrase ‘Budget Tomorrow!’ in my last post in January unexplored and unwritten! Well, I am a humble being and never daydreamed about becoming a great writer what they call ‘bestselling’ and all that. Indeed, I had written quite a few ‘solicited’ articles/papers in both English and Assamese newspapers/periodicals over the decades. However, I discovered that in such ‘ventures’ the merit part gets thrown out of the window and only influences/contacts/references matter. Therefore, I had not been a great success in that line. As a writer you send something to a publication in high spirit and hope, thinking that your item had some merit thanks to opinions of a few of your learned friends, for at least a response, but eventually when it sinks in a bottomless well with not even a rejection letter you feel disillusioned. And as an inevitable consequence in my case, I opened this blog and started writing and publishing on whatever I wanted and loved. Now, the question mentioned above becomes rather an existential crisis as it concerns this platform too.

 

A writer is as normal a social animal as any other social animals inhabiting this planet. If s/he does something or writes something or sings a song or paints a picture or comment upon something a minimum of feedback or response is naturally expected by her/him. Like in my case, I’ve been writing on my site for nearly 14 years, quite regularly; but I hardly ever came across any feedback from my ‘readers’ which raised doubts in my mind about the nature of the ‘readers’. Are they genuine readers or casual surfers or just bots? I don’t know. I get a good number of hits daily, but no responses, forget about appreciation or interaction. Even known genuine friends or kin, barring of course a few sincere ones, just don’t bother to take even a look. Only for a brief period, years back, we constituted a group of like-minded bloggers/writers and made kind of a ‘deal’ to read and comment upon each other’s blogs. So, for a few months there had been a flurry of mutual commenting and appreciating.

 

That kind of a ‘deal’ brings us to the subject-matter of this piece: the Law of Mutuality. As explained in an earlier piece this law of mutuality used to influence only relationships; but now, this affects everything possible on planet earth: from the abysmally growing social media to all forums or groups or anything online.  Recently we discussed with a few musical buddies about the fact that the class of ‘innocent listeners’ has been gravely threatened by the mushrooming growth of ‘singers’ with almost everyone turning into a singer thanks to the social media and other platforms. Unfortunately, the same syndrome is appearing in the field of writing, perhaps any creative field for that matter, too, with almost all ‘innocent readers’ converting themselves into ‘writers/authors’ thanks, again, to the social media and also the mushrooming growth of self-publishing platforms. This has been an emerging conflict of providers vs receivers.

 

So then, it just amounts to the most needed action on your part: you must be hyperactive on the social media and other similar digital forums, donating away as many likes as possible on your friends’ creative works to generate some likes for you too. In both cases, however, it doesn’t really matter if you really go through the works in full. Most regrettably, in most of the writers’ forums too you must manufacture as many comments/reviews as possible on the writings of others to generate some comments/reviews for your items. To make it worse for a starter, the most successfully interactive stalwarts don’t even bother about your friend requests, and anyone would definitely like to expand one’s network after joining a platform. If you lie low, your works would die down slowly, finally forcing you to leave the site, utterly disappointed.

 

Honestly speaking, I don’t have the time to indulge in such digital exercises to create some artificial interest in my writings, even after I retired from my service two years back with the firm resolve to become a full-time writer. I devote my available time to thinking, writing, marketing-shopping for the household, kitchen help, some news viewing and limited socializing. That leaves me with no time to embark on a spree of mindless liking and commenting/reviewing on writings that I really like or not. So, I’ve indeed emerged as loser in this ‘digital race for attention’. I published my first book on humor while in service and then the second book in the same genre after retirement, and one of these books has already sunk in the bottomless well with the other steadily marching in the same direction.

 

But of course, genuine listeners or readers still exist in large numbers. Although the traditional book-reading or buying albums has declined the new generations have been doing reading-watching on mobile/tab/computer screens. As is very natural, they go for the works of the established ‘bestselling celebrities’ rather than turning any attention to less-than-mediocre cum digital-offenders like this writer. They are right. And I’m not complaining or bursting out in frustration either. This is the way modern times move, and it’d not change even if you are honestly unaware if you were a mediocre or poor or merit-less writer, because even you closest friends won’t tell you if your work is good or bad. The way out for you is go on a paying spree: pay for the self-publishing firms; pay for publicity; pay the emerging class of reviewers; pay for awards, in most cases; pay for participating in book fairs; pay for promoting your profile and writings in various forums; and so on. Even then you cannot be assured of attention unless you do indulge yourself fully in the ‘like for a like or read for a read’ competition.

 

I do, indeed, the most basic parts. Like after I publish something in my site, I share it on the very limited platforms that I still stick to for sheer survival, and the I do get the expected ‘views’, but no responses as usual. At times, I also share it in my friends’ groups; but, again, hardly any comments apart from some views that I can gather from my stats.

 

Therefore, all these ‘issues’ have contributed to the emergence of the question raised at the outset. My prolonged introspection on this tells me that I cannot possibly quit my writing as it’s been my passion since childhood days. It may get sparse or even rare, but I’ll go on. My argument also remains: I’m still giving you funny, thought-provoking, sports-related, political etc. pieces on a regular basis, totally free of cost. If you still prefer to not read or respond, it’s your problem, not mine. Right? Anyway, I’m sure this this piece too won’t earn any response! Ha! Ha! 

(PS: Of course, I've learnt from my limited digital experience to put my own photo to garner more attention!!)

Nominated For India Authors’ Award-2021 In Humor Category: But Is The NMCBI The Right Platform For Creative Writer-Authors?

The India Authors’ Conference and Awards-2021, a great initiative by the Navi Mumbai Chamber of Business and Industry (NMCBI) in collaboration with Great Human University, was held in Vashi, Navi Mumbai on 30^th November 2021, giving away the Awards to writers/authors/bloggers/poets in a range of categories. The full-day function was a dignified affair with the anchor Yesudas coming up with some humorous interludes at various stages to involve, entertain and enthuse the writers present there. The event was also available online for those who could not be physically present. All the Award winners and even the nominees were invited on stage to be felicitated—the winners getting an Oscar-like trophy and a certificate while the nominees were given a certificate of nomination along with a token gift—and to speak their minds. The Awards were presented by the Chairman of NMCBI, Dr. Dhirendra Gautam Mishra who has also been an author/researcher. 

This writer was present on this significant occasion and was also presented with a certificate of nomination as the Best Author-2021 in the category of ‘Humor and Entertainment’ for his books ‘Laugh and Let Laugh’ (2017) and ‘The Cheerless Chauffeur and Other Tales’ (2021), being felicitated on stage. The Award in this category was won by retired Lt. Commander of the Indian Navy who fought in the Kargil War and has been a passionate runner afterward, Bijay Nair, for his book of humorous anecdotes on the runners ‘B.H.A.G.H’ (2020).

 

The biggest highlight of the event has been the launch of the India Authors’ Federation (IAF) by the NMCBI to further their initiative to recognize the great efforts and contributions of the writer-authors. The IAF is to have a Governing Council with representation from all the states of India and the inclusion of the regional languages of India in the federation was also marked as a most important issue to be taken up in due course of time. The IAF promises to be a great platform for the writer-authors to interact with fellow writer-authors, showcase their books and to have mutual promotion campaigns to increase sales. All the nominated and awarded writers of the India Authors’ Conference and Awards-2021 are to be the founding members of the federation with Rahul Bansode from the NMCBI being the prime mover. The IAF also promises to hold frequent meets/events for authors including a Lit Fest in Delhi next year.

 

Notwithstanding all the moves in a definitely positive direction some questions and ‘ifs and buts’ do arise, mostly from the perspective of this writer’s experience. Firstly, about the objective of the NMCBI to take up this initiative for the first time (earlier they held events to award the coaches in various fields of activity) which is basically ‘to recognize the great efforts of writers/authors in empowering people (may also call readers)’. This phrase of ‘empowering people’ leads to various interpretations including the ‘business angle’ most prominently. And this leads to the second point.

 

Personally speaking, I never knew about this competition till a message came from the NMCBI through LinkedIn came to me informing that I was being shortlisted for Nomination for the Awards. As a low-profile writer like me who does not even manage to sell a lot of copies of his books, I was hugely excited and filled up the nomination process with zest—choosing naturally the ‘Humor and Entertainment’ category. However, I continued to have my reservations about the event thanks largely to the ‘empowering’ factor and that all the activities had been happening in the social media of LinkedIn which is always a natural platform for the business community. Although I have been having a LinkedIn account for several years now, I never felt that I belonged there, mainly because I never had any ‘business strategy’ behind my writing or my books, and my posts/articles never got any attention. At best, I used to get some telephone calls from the private life insurance companies offering me ‘jobs’!

 

Thirdly, even though I found the three-layer evaluation process adopted by the NMCBI transparent and good enough the same persistence on ‘purpose of my work or adding values to human lives’ kept on disturbing my mind. As the first step I had to send a video of mine talking about the event and my ‘purpose’. Next, I had to fill up a power-point presentation form, telling about myself, my book/books and the ‘purpose or adding values to fellow human beings’. The last step was an interaction with the Jury on Zoom. Even though it was for more than 10 minutes, quite liberal and friendly the questions or queries again concentrated mostly on the same things. The Jury for me was only two persons—the Chairman of the NMCBI who, I’m sure, never had time to read my work or for that matter any other contender’s work, and a lady Juror whose name was not announced to me and even now I don’t know her credentials, apart from the fact that most of the Jurors were CEOs or Business and Finance stalwarts. Anyway, the lady Juror said that she found some of the stories in my first book ‘funny’, a statement which was not at all convincing for me—strengthening my doubt that the ‘work’ they consider amounts to be about the ‘business or empowering’ part only, and never about reading the writings or the books competing with other books.

 

Lastly, even after being fully aware of what were the exact ‘requirements’ I, you can call it foolish, kept on with my views that ‘my only purpose is to make people laugh; I believe that laughter is the best medicine; that one should laugh from within rather than resorting to artificial means; that creating a merry and friendly atmosphere in workplaces increase efficiency and productivity of which I had first-hand experience; and so on. I could never say that my purpose is to motivate people to laugh, to act as a stress-buster in difficult times like the pandemic-age and making better persons of fellow human beings, because I had never undertaken the on-field businesses in various roles of a ‘motivator’ or an ‘educator’ or whatever in writing my books.

 

After the Jury interaction I was convinced that I could never make it to getting the award; but I wanted to attend the great event as basically it was for a very good purpose of promoting writers/authors giving them a platform to showcase and interact. My experience of the event was mixture of excitement and disappointment—exciting for the IAF and disappointed because the way of giving the awards more or less confirmed my suspicions. Most of the established ‘business-driven’ or else and writer/authors with celebrity status got most of the awards with a few given to the promising youngsters which is extremely necessary in the new age, as the Chairman himself said earlier in this introductory address that ‘digital-driven expert youngsters are much more valuable than the old-timer or retired writers/authors’.

 

Therefore, I raised the question. Is the NMCBI the right platform for genuinely creative fiction or non-fiction writers many of whom become bestselling authors just on the basis of their content, and not on any ‘empowering business strategy’ except for trying various ways of promoting their books? I don’t question the necessity of the businesses of ‘motivators’, ‘educators’, ‘self-help campaigners’, ‘coaching for both mental and physical wellbeing’, ‘personality transformers’ and so on. However, what about the writers having only good readable creative content with the absence any business strategy behind?  

 

This post is going to be my last one on LinkedIn where I never belonged, because I don’t have any business other than to love having more readers to my blog that I managed to monetize recently and my books, and of course, selling more copies—hoping against hope. I’ve already started the process deleting most of my previous posts from my timeline. I’d let the account go on though as I’m very keen to follow the updates on the proposed India Authors’ Federation and how it goes.

The Horribly Logged-In Kotak Experience Of My Life!

The calls started coming since more than year before my superannuation offering me part-time employment with a monthly salary. I was, naturally, elated getting job offers even before my retirement. The executives always told me I’d have to attend office only 3-4 days a week for only 4-5 hours a day in a managerial capacity, and my job would be to manage a team of young guys. It sounded good, but I told them that with my present employment I cannot have another job or income and so they’ll have to contact me after my retirement. As the month of superannuation neared the calls multiplied including calls from different other companies. I was a little surprised that most of the times the calls were from private life insurance companies—the Kotak Life Insurance (KLI) being the most consistent one. This fact put me a bit off, because I’d been having some kind of loathing all my life for life insurance companies from which you stand to benefit only after you die. However, that was not the case as was revealed to me later.

 

Within a month of retirement I’d been attending interviews in various companies. I rejected some that required me to sit at home and continue giving them references of prospective candidates who can cut life insurance policies with them, and I’ll get a measly monthly amount for that and some commission of the successful policies that occur from my references. One particular company nearly got me in, but I escaped in the last moment finding the company very unprofessional and even unethical. In all, my experience was not good as all of them wanted me to be a life insurance agent, and earn regular income from commissions. As I mentioned my loathing above I never had even an ounce of aptitude for that kind of business that requires you to approach/request/beg/cajole people to buy policies. I made it very clear to them and was slowly moving away from all of them.

 

Before I go further, I must clarify that ‘life insurance agency business’ is not bad at all and only I find it extremely unsuitable for me. Therefore, I must tell all prospective retirees from relatively good jobs that if they want to earn regular income from selling policies directly or through references to the company involved they can indeed go for it, but they must remember that they’ll have to make a sizeable investment in terms of buying policies at the beginning of this career. If you abhor the idea of being an agent then I must warn you to never respond to such calls. I understood the business-strategy of almost all of the private insurance companies very clearly indeed: they target the retiring people specifically, because most of them remain fit for work after the age of sixty; with their long career in relatively good positions they tend to have lots of friends/families/ex-colleagues and connections that may translate into references; and most importantly, they mostly carry home a good pension package. That ‘package’ is the primary target for the companies to tap as hard as possible like the vultures hunting for and pecking the corpses.

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I told my preferences to the executive of the KLI the same thing that I didn’t want it because I neither wanted to nor have the interest to function as an agent. The executive very cordially told me that I was being considered for a job in the research and recruitment capacity with a monthly salary and allowances. He repeated the same thing on my insistent queries. So, I decided to give it a try and went over to their office.

 

After an interview with an experienced associate working with them from outside and an objective test I was selected within two days. I was happy to find the whole of them very professional and friendly, and I thought I made quite a few very good friends in that short time. Another manager held a session with me and other candidates like me, both retired and young ones, explaining the ‘verticals’ and the stipends plus monthly salaries plus allowances associated with the offer. Then, contrary to my hope of getting an appointment letter they informed me that I’d have to appear in the examination held regularly for life insurance agents. I refused straightaway reminding them of my unwillingness to become an agent. They convinced me that to begin the job in a field one must know the basics and that all of the employees and outside agents/associates in the company had also to pass the exam compulsorily. So I finally decided to take the exam, took their training for five days and secured 82% in the exam which made them extremely happy.

 

Then came the big catch: I’ll have to buy some of the policies to get the offer and more number of policies to get a coveted membership of a company club that offered incremental incentives and the opportunity to attend an annual conference in a five-star resort for two days. They did the calculations for the annual premium for me which I found to be quite huge to afford being a pensioner, but they assured me that my monthly income plus increasing commissions would more than compensate for that, and further, that I had the option of surrendering the policies after three years if I so desired. But how since I cannot approach/request/beg/cajole other people? They gave me the way to buy those in my wife’s name who was still eligible as per age. I found all this okay and also discovered the huge benefits in terms of cashbacks/bonuses/savings in the policies of various types even if you continue to be alive which changed my concept about life insurance policies. Besides, almost all of the policies came with what they called ‘riders’ offering various extra benefits.

 

So I went ahead and cut or what they called ‘log-in’ a number of policies. From the month of February 2020 I started to attend their training program that continues for a year—starting with week initially and then once every month for which they give a monthly stipend. In March that year I was given the opportunity to be present while the experienced associate was interviewing someone for recruitment and that marked the start of my ‘supposed’ job. Later in March I had to visit Mumbai for a week, but got locked up in the house there due to the first lockdown in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The training became online and I attended till about the month of May after which I grew restless, because the whole of the training was about techniques of ‘how to sell policies’ which I never wanted. I told them so and demanded an appointment letter for the job offered for which I qualified fulfilling all their requirements, the promised stipend, the monthly salaries and the incremental allowances due to my club membership. Nothing came out of it and I stopped attending the training in protest.

 

They continued to keep in touch though and reminded me of the five-star conference in February 2021. Although we planned to go there before that it was not possible due to health reasons and I missed the conference, but their calls did continue. We returned to Kolkata in mid-March 2021 informing them of arrival the same day. Suddenly, the calls stopped. When I called up my recruiting manager telling him that I could not earn a single paisa so far apart from my commissions earned out of my own money he said that he was very busy for year-ending completions and would ideally arrange a meeting the next month for considering my benefits and the future course of my ‘job’. Nothing happened.

 

When I called him again in May he said most of them including him got the virus and some of them were in hospitals. This made me feel sorry, and I decided to wait during which I too got sick with acute gastric, the lockdowns also continued. The months of July, August and September passed without any response from them, even though offices were allowed to function by then. I knew now that I lost the so-called job and also understood the reason why. Well, they realized that I could no longer log-in policies on my own as my wife was past that cut-off age and that I had no children who can also be candidates to make policies in their names. In the meantime several calls from some ‘relationship’ managers from Mumbai came to me referring to my ‘inactivity’ to which I made them aware of my no-job-no-income story every time. Still nothing came out of it. But ‘business’ means strictly ‘business’ for them.

 

Finally, I decided to call it a day allowing the policies to lapse which amounted to a huge financial loss, but even if I pay for the third year I’ll get only get 30% of the paid premiums and that assured amount will be still less than the annual premium that has to be paid if I continue for the mandatory third year. The bank under the same Kotak umbrella, an account in which became mandatory once I reported as an agent or a part-time ‘employee’, also behaved funnily.

 

While in Mumbai they offered me a free credit card and when I told the lady executive that the card had to be couriered to my Mumbai address she said no problem noting down the address meticulously. Finally I came to know that the card was sent to my registered address and went back. The bank sent an executive to my home when we came back to Kolkata and he completed all the formalities. Yet the card never arrived this time too, even as they maintained my card details very lovingly in my net banking account. Then, a call came from an executive of the bank offering me more card benefits. ‘I beg your pardon! Where is the card?’ I responded. The executive was surprised in a profound way and promised to deliver it within a week. It never arrived till date.

 

Well, enough of this! I’m relieved that I’ve decided to be rid of them about whom I always had a very positively professional image—their company being fully India-born and one of the topmost earners of revenues/profits annually. Is all this due to the pandemic or the endemic or the epidemic? Anyone cares to explain please? Never ignore the advice of your wife! My wife did indeed warn me before the I took the plunge as I finally wanted her to benefit more.