Before I begin writing blog after some tumultuous months, let me make clear that “यह लेख सत्य घटनाओं और पात्रों पर आधारित है”. It all began with me deciding to stay at home for some time and commuting by cab and I meeting some interesting characters and despite of being little words being uttered from my side I started getting the same vibes as third floor A block wingmates BH1(Boys Hostel of my college, NSIT).

Let’s introduce the characters. Sadly, in a corporate world privacy is needed, unless I want to risk their friendship. Hence, truncation of names post randomizing. The characters themselves are smart enough to identify themselves and remaining characters.

The first name that can come to anyone’s mind when he thinks about X-Dday cab is Mr Z for he brings life to this cab. Always willing to help people especially with regards to cab related matters, spicy views on most of things and an unbelieving ability to say anything to anyone at anytime without any thought of repercussion is what describes this guy. By talking to him you can come to know that this guy very well read…. the Delhi Times of TOI. Everytime he asks me a question, I am left thinking ki is he ridiculing me or himself? His gyaan to me about sleeping more in life is really refreshing. His questions and my subsequent realization of  my ignorance about Big Boss in the first place and its second season remind me of Sundays. Sundays, when like most kids of my age I also loved watching TV..watching Mahabharat, duck tales, Super boy, Tom & Jerry, Chip and Dale-Rescue rangers but gone are those days. Now what IDIOT box has to offer is K(C)rappy  K-serials, or the news channels screaming “चैन से सोना है तो जाग जाओ”. Coming back to Mr Z he’s fond of picking school boy fights with Miss R, another Xday cabmate. It reminds me of my fights with someone in school. Mr Z’s talks reminds me of my inherent rawness before I went to hostel to realize that words being said are not meant. In fact he makes me almost forget the near futility of words as means of genuine expression. When he sits quite I quitely contemplate about the past from which I am not sure have evolved to a tougher version or degenerated to a ruthless android, or as Jack the ripper says me R2D2. Somehow I keep on “Knockin on heaven’s door” and fail to come to the conclusion. And it is these questions of him that make me think am I missing the life around me while being glued to online.wsj.com  or www.ft.com or rating others(read GCC clients) or even orkutting or am I enjoying the life without those dreams that I used to have when I slept for 6/7 hours. Or I wonder if my mom will still be worried that will I have the lunch that she made for me with great love and …..Enough of Mr Z. Lets keep rest of him for Next XDay.

Here’s Miss R. Honestly speaking I am afraid of writing about her forget taking a dig. Despite of me very generous and outright in giving genuine compliments to anyone coupled with a concurrence with Charles Dicken’s views on vanity of a woman in Picwick papers I couldnt muster the courage of complimenting her clinically with “Ravishing” when she came to the office party day before yesterday, for the fear of being misunderstood. She’s perfect example of humanization of HSBC mortgage services’ “Ring-Fencing” strategy to contain the spillover of one risky product’s over others by not mixing customers. It also included aggressive collection strategies for high risk customers (Now you know why this blog has been named delinquent). And this “Ring-Fencing” reminds me fondly of lines from Frost’s Mending Wall “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”. Initially motivated by “Spring is the mischief in me ” and “He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him” , from the same poem, I tried to talk to her in futility but the sound of her phone’s music was ostensibly too loud.May be she too remembers ’Good fences make good neighbors’. Loud-well Amex will certainly have new benchmarks post 2008 rim townhall. Its in my nature to take care of cards castle, respect ( ok with disregard) skyscrapers but crush the sand homes made on sea beach. And all I can say is her ringfencing can only command the same awe that marvels of human civilazation draw from anyone who cares to think about the efforts that have gone behind it or her. But thats not what makes Miss R the second most interesting character. As she herself admitted Xdays are jinxed for her. If Mr Z brings life to our cab the manifestations of that jinx make that spicy -real spicy. So folks one day she forgot her one very important official thing in cab. After getting home she called up Mr Z to check find that out. Trust me, no matter how much we teased Mr Z of being lax or doing that deliberately or whatever, he went far beyond what any chivalrous man would do. Our 2( i guess so)  Xdays passed teasing Mr Z of being rude or not right to Miss R. If that dose of humour was not enough to reveal the ligher side of employees of a very formal organization then the episode of she locking her mom in house from outside while taking the cab was the last nail in the coffin of all miplaced preconceived notions of formal colleagues–sans her. Her abashed voice when she made the phone call to her neighbour to open the door by saying “Aunty it’s a unique request and wont come again” always brings a smile to me. Why randomize her name to Miss R? Any guesses Ravishing? Ah Although wreckless I still carry the albatross of “Most decent guy” in HSBC analytics, Ringfencing? Huh leave it .you cannt do it. It’s for Radiance-meaning of her name. Truely Radiant. Fellow cabmates surely I have delineated her.

There comes Mr DM. Although, behaviour scorecards require 6 months of performance and we all have that but this guy deserves a waiver, for being a prominent character. His prominence belittles that of Mrs T. I like him not because he dragged me for RGV’s Phoonk but because this guy has passion about what he loves and his work that too after starting his career from HSBC and being at Amex. Something I find missing in most of the bright lads and Lasses around me. He’s well read and his knowledge of eco is great. Although he multiple times hit my anger triggers by not being punctual but in the end he is manifestation of what I call my “String theory of Humans” in which every human being is like a guitar and you have to hit the right position right string to get the desired note.

If Miss R brings fear then Mrs T can terrorise terror when she’s at her best.  Oh thats so cruel of me to introduce someone sweet and cute as her. My hunch is behind the smart stern appearance there lies a kind and caring person. Again String theory works and better it does in her case for she’s the one who’s gonna teach me Amex’s one of the most interesting contribution to the world of cards CMV. Well knowledge is one thing for which my <whatever you think> knows no bounds. Despite of having the highest vintage in cab or even Amex I am not able to write a lot about her, may be its the effect of the time(3.25 am to be precise) or may be she’s normal which is in itself not a normal thing. Sometimes I feel like asking her “How’s life”. I am sure she got the pun and fun both. But yes she’s seen my stubbornness and perseverence. I doubt she realizes that I did. The same way I softly I said to her “where’s your pistol”. I consider myself lucky that she doesnt remember that.

Although there are additions and deletions that keep on happening to our cab but these are most interesting characters. Did I miss someone? Oh Me ….didn’t you read through the lines? I am all here there …interspersed. A character of a kind. As I look at welkin above I am reminded of the glass walls that existed between us few hours ago, the twinkling lights on the golf course entry and the construction lights adjacent to that giving the appearence of a NASA’s newly born galaxy image my thoughts become more and more nebulous and the only image that emerges in my mind is where the path of neo was supposed to end in the Matrix reloaded. Blinding white light melting everything. The only sane thought that emerges at this moment from this conundrum is that when I came back with chocs worth many ROCs from US Xday cabmates were first to appear in the bcc mailing list that i sent. Remaining Chocs for guessing correctly who came to have chocs who got it from others and then came or got in the cab or who didn’t come at all. .No longer commuting from delhi at times I even think of going back on Xdays akin to my “BTech Project” (read Quake 3 Arena on LAN of A block third floor)  days in final year and going back home on Sunday evenings and coming back on Monday evenings missing classes on Monday while catching up for the sleep missed on “BTech Project”.

Miss you Xday cabmates. Hope to see ya all soon. Mr. Z or Z TV its 4.11 am. Good night. Although I tried my best not to hurt anyone’s feelings but if I did my unconditional and written apologies are right here. Your comments or even brickbats are more than welcome. Your version of the same story will be adored.