Friday 16 November 2007

Meeting manionline1, courtesy Moneycontrol Message board

Pardon me for my forgetful nature… I don’t remember when it started.

Teledata Informatics was in my radar since I saw it go from 10 to 90 in a span of a few months… though I never invested in it. I was out of cash... as always. After that a lot of confusion happened among the investors and the scrip price crashed till 55… that’s when I took it up… and sold again with a slight profit; only to enter later at a higher price and quantity.

Moneycontrol messageboard [commonly known as MMB] was a helluva of a place where Teledata’s fate was decided daily…whether it deserved to be one of the best fundamental company or one of those hyped with no matter inside. Small boarders like me were at the mercy of giants like Kfactor, Ramge, mainonline1 to give us a true picture of the fundamentals of the company. Hopefully all three were in one side… TD will be a wealth creator… don’t track on a daily basis, fundamentals and so will profitability improve quarter on quarter… Hold it for long…

Like me there were a lot who were convinced about what the future held for TD and unlike me there were a lot who would post contrarian views on MMB that TD is one scrip that should be sold and not bought at all. Well, bulls and bears will always rule the market.

Those days there was a court case that was pending and needed a clearance. Manionline1 emerged as one of those boarders who would update all of us on when and what of the court proceedings. Moreover he had created a group of genuine boarders who were interested in the value that TD held and would refer to them in one of the messages in the board. I also wanted to be one of them… and hence I sent a “private message” [PM] to him. I was told that there is no plan to increase the people in the community and that I should let him know more about me before he decides whether I could find a place. I sent a PM describing myself… as I would do when I prepare a SOP [statement of purpose] for one of the B Schools… if at all that happens. A very distant possibility that is, as for now. I also sent a PM to Ramge to influence manionline1.

A couple of days later I got a call from someone in Mumbai. Expecting it to be my dad… I received... an unknown but friendly voice.

6th November 2007, at about 1830 hours I was in front of the door and could hear someone opening it. I was received by manionline1. I had a wonderful evening. Of course I had seen a few pics of manionline1 but he never appeared as tall as he was. Later in the evening I came to know that he paid for an accident with a tooth. As you read this if there is something we spoke least of, it was TD. Though we had spoken for quite a long time over the phone, meeting each other in person was something amazing. We both said that it started with MMB and finally ended in meeting in person.

We talked a lot about life and its fundas… as Appu mentioned when manionline1 was talking to me; being his sister, Appu knew manionline1 more than me. Manionline1’s 12 month old terror was out of town so I had to be contented with his video clips. Captured in screen were the initial steps that the kid had taken; to be shown to him when he takes giant steps in future, how humble and delicate was the beginning.

I never felt as if I was out of place…I was provided enough warmth at manionline1’s home. Being elder than me, he had seen enough ups and downs in his life to guide me better. I had anyways opened up my life and he was an excellent judge to the positives and negatives that were there. There are a lot of things that manionline1 told me that evening about life and what it really meant…. what family meant… what was happiness and what satisfaction implied… For the first time I felt I met someone like me… but more experienced. We both had a more or less similar history as far as personal life is concerned…

Rum’s arrival was followed by excellent tea and the sweets that manionline1’s mom had sent all the way from home. We then spoke of a lot of things ranging from writings, thoughts, home and least but not the last “Amanat”. My first question on hearing the name was… Who is this?

Rum had her hand on her head. I was informed about some music competition and “Amanat” coming out as the runner’s up. My second question was “Is it a he or a she?” If my first question took her hand to her head, the second would have got me a blow… luckily I was at the other end of the sitting area. Manionline1 and Appu were laughing away to glory… Amanat was supposed to be a good singer and Rum’s favourite… its seemed that Amanat was good looking… That was enough. The leg pulling that happened since then continued till the time I got out of his car. The moment we were informed that he’s good looking, manionline1’s next comment was “Oh... he can sing as well” manionline1 and I then let loose of our imagination and came up with all sorts of theories… we linked him to the undercover organizations… we linked Rum and her organization also to the thread. Even Bangalore was not safe since her organization has god a division there too. Manionline1’s home was equally too dangerous for us till then. If imagination were horses, we had reached Rome by then. All in all, I had an amazing time with them… simply superb.

Later the discussion took a somewhat serious turn; we had a small chat on what the color black implied to us… For Rum its negative emotions, manioniline1 viewed it as depth, intense… I viewed it as power. Give it anything it won’t change… sheer stubborn, immovable, deeply rooted. Again, manionline1 and I shared the same view; but a subtle difference in observation. I love the color black: my wallet, diary, bike, and pen, mobile...
We also spoke about ink pens… how infrequent it is now a day to see them… I still use one. Manionline1 also used to have a diary; I still have it, and I write with only my ink pen. Rum’s next question about what I write couldn’t have a better reply… “I don’t write about regular stuff, only special incidents, occasions which are valuable enough for me… like today”. That is what I’m doing now. On asking why ink pen and why not another, my reply was ready “Ball pen don’t capture your tears when you write… Ink pens do”. Rum liked it… I saw her nod in agreement. Moreover there’s this fear of ink being washed away which ball pen does not have. My answer was that, my creations are fragile… they need care. It’s not for them who’re not careful with my writings. So were my relations; I offered ample breathing space to my partner, let them be what they are and at times, take decisions for both of us. It was not me speaking; it was my soul speaking then.

Appu reminded that my tea had gone cold; I love cold tea

Dinner was graciously served by manionline1. Loved the parathas with the dum-aloo. Of course our brick batting on Amanat had not stopped. A few more minutes after lunch we started for the station. Manionline1 and Rum came to give me a drop. Rum was quite specific on a particular channel over the radio… manionline1 and I speculated whether she was receiving secret information… A few good songs were on the radio. Manionline1 would have qualified for F1 on Indian tracks. Zoom Zaap Zipp and we were quite close to the station. A minor jam and then came my destination. We bade good bye before I left. I turned back for one last time, manionline1 had just reversed his Zen and was on his way back home. Thane station was quite lonely that time and my train for Vashi was just 10 minutes away. Excellent timing.

Talking to manionline1 is always fun. I’d be amazed by the quantum of information he held... amazingly well spoken but so down to earth. The next day I got a call from manionline1 about how wonderful last evening had been. I agreed and I look forth for more such meetings. While I was to start for Bangalore, I gave a farewell call to him. “bhalo moton jaash”. [Bangal version of “Travel carefully”].

Of course TD was the one to bring us together…It’s still our discussion topic over the phone. Tomorrow onwards TD would be trading as a de-merged entity. Till today the bulls and bears are fighting… and it’ll continue.

Manionline1 is no more a friend for me... “Dada…” is how I refer to him. I guess he also doesn’t look at me any less than a younger brother.

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