the philosophy of bargain

delhi is a shopper's paradise. it is an experience. you never know what is the right price. nor the right place. or the right time to stop, or the vendor might even choose to ignore you!

before heading back home in the next few days (i leave tomorrow, n my friends leave in the days following), a few of us went shopping. janpath. karol bagh. missed out on darya ganj. still regretting. however, the title of the post has nothing to do with the stuff we bought (very less) and the stuff we bargained for (a lot). it has to do with the final leg of our journey back to hostel. after shopping , that is. half an hour in hostel, n we again left for dinner.

Standing at the Junction A, my friend d (not the one with whom i went to manali) and i, started waving autorickshaws and asking if they would take us to Junction B (the names of places changed, obviously, for privacy's sake. don't try to find out if we paid extra in the end!) the first guy said, "150". we said, "OK sir, aap chaliye."

the next guy said, "120". again, we repeated our refrain.
the third guy went back to 150.

since we were in no hurry, and almost tired of bargaining, we asked them no further, and they went ahead in certainty that there would be people ready to travel in their autos, at any exorbitant rates they ask, or argue with them and finally reach a decision after minutes of negotiation. that's what we've been doing the entire day except when in metro or in nirula's. but i could see that they were disappointed that we didn't argue. a nice argument and more money- payoffs from any trip. not for us. at least, this day.

then came our lucky break. when asked, this guy told us the rate to be 90. and we got in happily. no more arguments. that's when this thought struck me- had we argued, we would have to go by 70 or 80! which means, we're giving this guy 10-20 rs extra, not that we are in dire need for those 10 or 20. then another though struck me- now, the driver would be thinking, 'oh man, i should have told 120 or so, and these ppl would have agreed!'

so that is the final result of a no-bargain situation. both the players feel cheated out. we just chose not to bargain, and we stole the feeling of satisfaction from that auto-driver. at the same time, when we buy stuff from janpath market or karol bagh, without a bargain, we feel cheated out. 'only if i had walked down a few more shops, i would have got it cheaper!'

but it is fun. that is a type of fun i never could have where i came from. the only thing that i ever bargained for in kerala has been for extending of assignment submission dates. n strangely, that kind of things don't happen here!

is november romantic?

i am a cheat. i had made half an entry last month, titled 'is october romantic?' now am just changing the title, and making a few modifications. at least, that was my intention. but i realised november is very different from october. even 1st week of november is different from the days now. and it's hot, at 10.30 at night at delhi. don't be surprised. i'm in the reading hall. it is strangely stuffy and hot. not warm n cozy, hot and stuffy. outside is cold.

'not as cold as it is going to be in december and january', my delhiite friends say. 'it will get colder than this.'
'but will it snow?'
'no.. not really. n u kno it very well!'

snow. my only confrontation with snow was two weeks ago. rohtang. that far away point on the map of India. three of us left to manali as it was the diwali break. n rohtang, too. the backbreaking roads led to breathtaking sceneries. stopping at marhi for tea, snacks and clothes to wear in snow, was like stopping at a final outpost before heading out into wilderness. that was the most wildest place i've ever been to, except perhaps in my dreams. (i won't take back the double superlative. shakespeare didn't, so y shud i?)

nyways, rohtang changed some part of me. i know now how remote remote can be. n whenever now i feel alone, i think of all those vendors who commute the dreary path from manali to rohtang daily, wid hopes of earning a life by selling coffee, tea and roasted corn there. i can never be as lonely as them, at some corner of this great nation that India is. i too hail from a corner of the nation, but life there is so different, so easy when compared to that.

the white expanse that shifts and changes in size with months might remind ppl of the change and the cycle that life is. goodness follows badness follows goodness. that is what life is.

back to the topic... ( a new usage that i got, thanx to multitude of gd's!) november is romantic. there is a not-so-distant prospect of going back to everything familiar. there is gonna b action. in fact, there already is. in the form of assignments and termpapers. more to come in the form of major exams. there could be humour, as my life always has been. n music? what else have i plugged in my ears? not cotton, certainly!

altogether, it is a well-balanced bollywood movie.

does the hero win at the end? he has to, bcoz there is no option left!

change: is it really refreshing?

i'm shifting from capital to capital. i was born in the capital of kerala, my fav vacation spots these last years have been the capitals of kerala's neighbouring states and i did my college at the cultural capital of kerala. now, i'm at the national capital of India- Delhi. and am learning all about different types of capitals n how to use them, among other stuff. yo. am doing an mba. i didn't dare to think beyond iims, but i had to! so am here in delhi, doing my mba.

truly, after the cat debacle, and also the interviews n gd's that i attended, i never expected me to join for an mba this year. but fate had other plans for me. it didn't want to give me any rest or leisure, so here am i, after having cleared the waitlists of a good b-school, and toiling at a place far different from what i had thought of even in the wildest of my dreams. n i dream a lot.

it's not just the cultural shock that leaves me bedazzled- it is a shock from every side. if i tell you the name of the institute wr i'm studyin and that it sucks, u ll say that i'm the first person to say so! but here, nothing is different from other colleges. there is a huge shortage of hostel rooms. there are water problems. n to add to it, it's hot, n at least, it's hotter than trivandrum under similar levels of humidity. gosh! sometimes i feel sooooo tired!

leave the cribbing part now. though i do crib, i grow tired of cribbing, as fast as others do of listenin to me doin tat. it's an entirely new experience, be in a place where ppl who don't know your place, your language or ur way of life, are in a majority. there is no problem, in fact. n it's not strange or unexpected. what else can a mallu except in delhi? food, though i'm no stranger to the northie stuff, has become almost too monotonous now. i miss those "going-out for dinner" evenings that we used to have at thrissur. here, you don't ve time or inclination to go out. outside is like a far away place, at least now, n i hope it changes. i just don't know how i'll survive just on hostel food!

i know this blog reads like the manifestation of a chaotic mind, n that's exactly what my mind is, rt now. chaotic. they ve allotted me a room that stinks, n i need to find some way to change it!

so till i blog next time....

my final study leave for b.tech...

maybe i should withdraw my statement about not missing my college. now that it has almost come to an end, i miss the stuff we used to have at college. late night card games, roaming out for dinner, lack of all restrictions, n dinner at 2 in the morning... these are what i'll remember my hostel the most for. my college, among other things, i'll remember for all those busy and funfilled days that i had, as in charge of something, or something un-academic, not the classes and labs...

that's what this college has been to me. made me realize how less classes have to do, in education. with so less classes, i routinely get above 80% attendance. my friends at home will realize what a miracle that is, since they see that i'm at trivandrum almost every other week. but those at my college- they too are the same way, so it's not much of a miracle for us...

now i'll be out of the place i'm used to, much the same way i was, after my class 12. but then, i had something sure- i was sure of what i was going to do, only i didnt know where i would be. but right now, i don't know what i'm going to do after next month, leave alone where. and one of the options that i have will take me to a position i've never been before- getting paid for the work i do.

there's hardly a coupla months more in this college where i've been for almost the last four years. yet another separation is certain. yet again, i say, changes are inevitable. so the best thing is, to salute it and to enjoy it. now i'm sure i'll miss the college, the hostel, my travels home and back and most importantly, there's a great chance i'll miss my student's life. i earnestly hope i don't...

my old cat died... will i have a new one?

isn't it really bad that i neglected my blog for 5 long months? it's not just because my cat died. also, i was busy wid a lot of stupid things like exams and interviews... now, finally most of them are over, and ironically, i just want to be out of the college. usually nobody wants that, but maybe that's what my college and my university has done to me. maybe, once i'm out of college, i would crave to belong to it, once again, but i've never had this kinda fed-up feeling wid my school!

now this is just a stop gap blog, am not really in a mood to do it, but still...

so cya.
may blog again later.
it's 5.30 pm at thrissur on this hot day...