The early days of survival

Every one and every time, when the new era begins.. so as the survival series begins. It happens every time one's leave the house and underlying shadow of parents or the loved one's. The time which is always quoted as experience time, when one's began to know what all world is build off, the kind of people lives around you, the way environment behaves with you, when even natures thunders with the heat sun and cloud rains and which get added up by the so called govt potholes and brilliant transportation activities.

I am from that everyone who even faced the crucial initial day of survival series in kolkata. It was utmost learning experience for me. It taught how to eat up the crude situations and one thing that there are kinds of people not just various people but variety of people who will do anything for money with two face enact, soft at face and killing at heart. Below how i faced my initial days with such cool peoples.

I step downed from the satabadi express at Howrah station at around 9:30PM, a step toward the newly upcoming so called professional life,with lots of hope and inspiration and hopes to face the future. Holding a big heavy bag, as i approached out on platform so many coolie's starting anting for the bag and the charges so high, my god i moved out with so little penny form home, i had just no idea that i had fallen in such a costlier place. So i decided to carry my bag all by self. Out sides hoping to get some route direction i asked the taxiwaal's, guess what they starting talking each other and the end result, we dont know but if you want to go there it will cost around 400Rs. Again shocked. I didn't had mobile that time so i wasn't able to call my friend. Some how i called my friend from phone booth, got the route and utterly bitterly i reached the friend's house and quest for survival began. Next day i did my joining in IBM ie on 16th june 2006 and after that some of our college mate decided to had a flat by 18th june i.e. sunday. And for that to happen the treasure hunt for the house should must begin on saturday and to be completed by the end of saturday ie 17th june 2006. As planned we all meet on saturday 17th june 2006 at some predefined place and quest for home began. With all our contact we tried to reach some flat but they didn't favored anyone's luck. I called up my friend prashant who used to work in IBM kolkata and he gave us some broker number but with precaution that it will charge us with one month rent in case of finalizing the house. Called up the broker and planned a meeting and went to see the room, the broker guy told that they will try to had it available under 10 to 12k as we were 6 guys, so thought 2k per head is not an bad idea. Well the broker was the first fellow of its kind who can screw up you as much as possible for his needs only. And we got screwed too. The second in the row was our first landlord, the so called wife of an IAS office in CJ block. The old lady's son and daughter might have left them, and she can only think of money. I still remember how she used to talk to us, like she is our grandmother, very calmly and happily. But the way she used to count every money, the greed was so vivid in her eyes. Her eyes used to widened up, let me give you synonyms condition: just watch a hungry dog tied to something and put a piece of roti just out of his reach and observer how the dog licks his tongue frequently. Every time i went to give her the money i felt the same. I never knew how she accrued to had so much of greed thou being the wife of an IAS officer. Well all in a hush the life began there with my friends.
Every morning we used to run for the Office to DLF for the training in the buses and the crowd was just the perfect for a well began. The Buses used to be so much crowed and tight packet that you never need to move once placed inside the bus . It used to be summers and the situation used to become worst with much crowd that by the time we reach to office, we were filled with full of sweat and it appears that we had just taken a shower.
After all day exhaustive training we used to be so tired that it was hard for us to walk as we had no proper dinner arrangement in those early days. The only option was for us to walk to karunamayee (saltlake) around 10 min - 15 min walking distance (at my speed) and everyday we used to eat roti and dalfry (the only good thing available.). If we tried to have something else it used to be complete messed up. One of my friend just eat Paneer roll for the dinner in a special way. He used to unroll it and eat like roti and panner dish.
This going to office with killing crowd and in the night same rumali roti (+normal roti) and dal fry wasn't enough to energize us as rest of things in their nearest location was out of our pocket budget range. Not only this there was no privacy in our flat as the money mingled landlord lady used to stay over our head, i mean over our flat and their worker used to access our rooms any time, none of us was liking the on going situation. Also when they used to have party we had to move out to one room (we had two room to use). It was irritating. So we planned to move out with a strategy thou it was costlier as well it failed 90%.

But before that the hunt for dinner directed us far far away form our flat. Its was so far it used to take around 30-35 min to reach there, wow everything we will do for a good food. We used to get good chapati (roti) and dishes, some time we used to eat up more than 10 roti's, well the food was really nice and good and at reasonable price. Dinner problem was solved but walking such a long distance was killing.

Before we leave the house we needed a new house. For that I and my friend rohit gave a complete search to colonies in DLF next to our office so that we can escape the long torturing crowed bus journey. We had word with every security guard thinking that we might get the room without the broker. We even got some ray of hope from the security guard from the building of Green wood park colony, that also because of he too was from bihar. But luck wasn't in our favor.Finally we got the broker the number from our team lead and we got to see the room and deal got finalized for the room and finally the time came to implement the plan to leave the room at CJ. Good luck or bad luck old landlord lady got some major health problem and got hospitalized and we moved out easily but the two month advance rental was going to stuck as we were in that house for just 1 and half month and we cannot get the money back with out giving the 2 month notice.

Finally We move out with our reasons and shifted to Green wood park (next to office) in the first week of aug 2006. Initially we had nothing specially next to building there was no shop or market. We had no aquaguard neither cooking arrangement. First few days we had our dinner at cafeteria or we used to go our usual place. After some time.. we came to know about the tiffin system and made our pact for dinner with tiffin system. For some days we liked the food. The best part of having the dinner in house with tiffin was that for water we used to go to office with bag filled with one or two empty bottles and used to return with filled filtered water. Well you got to do everything to survive. Things went like this for a while, then one day we got the leg of cockroach in the dinner tiffin. uhhhhhhaaa i didn't had my dinner that night and next day we fired the tiffin waala. But what next.

Things again moved back to zero, we had nothing, no proper drinking water,no dinner arrangement, no cooking ways. Time was to act then panic. So firstly we Implemented Aquaguard, for that i searched net for the aquaguard office, called up and we got the aquaguard guys next day at our house and within 2 days we had the aqugurad in our house- water problem solved. Ran for gas agency, asked some of our neighbors for help then called upon some of the gas agencies. Bad luck continued to rove around us but finally we made it. We got the gas so the basic fooding problem resolved. But we needed someone who can cook well and pretty for us. We even tried cooking even on our own, well that was very tough for us to coordinate and in the end it used to be a mess. Again took the help of the same security guard ( who once gave assurance of letting a flat without broker) and we finally got working maid at a reasonable price and problem for lunch and dinner was solved. Our luck shined and little market and one or 2 shop opened up and so the basic needs were easily patched up. Soon we had the TV and cable and thus the entertainment problem coped up as well.

Thus the life got back on track with more ease but not without a fight. Now we have almost everything for us and our friends. We can serve our friends and guest well enough. In all i forgot to add up about our new landlord, He is such a gentlemen, he treats so well and comfortably whenever we meet him. Well we are happy to have a gentleman landlord like him.

So in summary my life moved from tortured bus journey, greedy broker and old landlady, with roti and dal fry dinner or a miles walk for good dinner along with tiffin food with cockroach leg to now with every basic necessity to live a peaceful life atleast. Yup the requirement never saturates but yes they are under control.... as we are moving.. :)