Ye meri kahani....

Heart Over Head

2010-09-12T20:58:00.009+05:30

"You have to come to sign for my court marriage as a witness ". She told me.

Court Marriage ...I had always thought of it as a joke and formed it as a part of many jokes.

I had never thought i will be part of one such marriage. Specially after I have successfully finished my own very well Arranged Marriage without anybody’s signature. After giving a huge thought
I gave a reply..." What’s the hurry....??"

" I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life."...came the answer ...reminding me of Kareena Kapoor of jab we met..

Since I was a friend for quite some time I was close to her family as well. I could see the Gabbar Singh (as always girls father) hitting me and me acting like rajpal yadav and "the mandir ka ghanta " scene for assisting them in the so called marriage.

So I tried to reason her out.

"Who is the boy"....I could muster the courage to ask her.

She gave a puzzled and angry look..

"Not that I don’t trust you ...But aint I suppose to know ... I mean ...aaa.. I mean legally I will be signing on some document...naaa... that I know him..Wont I ...I ...I don’t know actually..." I tried to pacify and clarify..

"Dint I tell You...He is studying abroad in an beautiful country Switzerland..What a wonderful place ..You know many movies of yashraj ki shooting wahi hui thi... . .and getting some degree..."

"What degreee...?" I asked
Again she gave a puzzled and angry look..

"No I mean ...doctor ...engineer...architect......No...Not that it matters. " .. I said...wanted to but dint add that my signature will remain same for all the three professions...

"Actually I think he is doing something related to medicine ...so must be a doctor...”. She replied for a change instead of puzzled and angry look.

The way she answered made me feel like she is least interested in anything other than the boy so I avoided questions about his roots..Families..Hometowns etc...Moreover my signature wasn’t going to change for any of the above factors.

"Is he an Indian...." Again a stupid question considering my signature is independent of the nationality of the groom.

Again the angry puzzled look and no words. I assumed that yes was the answer.

"No...No I mean I haven’t seen him ....not that I have any chance..Of going to Switzerland...but still my friend is going to marry him ...I am a bit curious just that much...that’s all...”

"Ok here take his number ...xxx-xxxxxxx call him whenever u find time...but make sure that he is awake that time and don’t disturb him...” She obliged more than was asked for.

I saw the number and something told me that I have seen this number…Somewhere
Arey It was similar number to one of my best friends ...in Austrailia.. Then why is this guy saying that he is from Switzerland.....I attributed this to the craze of Bollywood and Yashraj....and left it there.

Once she left with the threat that the guy is coming next week and you have to be there at the court .

I decided to call the number assuming that at least the guy must be knowing better than the girl …what is he coming to India for… and whether he knows about the girl and the marriage.

" Hi.." I wished him.
"Hi bhaiyaa.....Can I call You bhaiyaa…Mera koi bhai nahi hai naa.." He replied . I wondered whether he wishes that to everyone or I am something special...( Obviously he was expecting my call )

But his answer made me know that he is an Indian.(yes I was still doubtful)

"Of course ......you can ...What’s your name ... What do I call you then..Where in India are you from and where did you do your education from...What is that you are doing in Switzerland.."..I asked in one breath all my questions....which of course weren’t going to affect the signature but still somehow I could imagine myself sitting in front of a 3rd degree enquiry with the bulb hanging right over head and lights right on the eye and muscular men asking me who is this person you witnessed for in his marriage...how do you know him..And how many times you assisted him in smuggling weapons...

He replied he is from rishikesh...but studied coincidentally from my school and was my junior only. Both the places names struck some chord and there on our conversation clicked. I asked him since when did he knew the girl ...

Came filmy dialogue..

"Mile hue to 10-15 din hi hue hai but aisa lagta hai...jaise janmon se jaanta hoo usee.."..

That was first time the thought crossed my mind..."Am I that old to understand their love of 15 days ..hamne to 15 din mein kissi ladki se dosti bhi nahi kee Marriage...to never even crossed my mind..."..Then came back the spirit..Key farak painda hai ...miya biwi raazi to kya karega kaazi...and of course My signature will remain the same even if its 15 years old love...But yes he was well prepared and informed about who he was talking to and knew me well and I realized the Bhaiyaa thing may not for everyone

I thought of Dosti jab kisi se ke jaaye ....To dushmano ki bhi rai lee jaaye...kyonki ek baar Dosti ki hai to nibhaani to padegi bhi... hence as a part of dosti nibhana...

I tried to reason him out ..with some statements like ...

"Whats the hurry..??" ...No effect on him...

"Why Don't you take some time...."...No effect

"Marriage is a book of which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters in prose.. So chill out and take some time before you decide... and take my signature"….no effect

"Mom Dad ke baarey mein socho...".. No effect

"Think about your family your sisters...".. No effect

"Your life after marriage" No Effect

"Love marriage or arranged marriage "...No effect...

You could be thinking by now why was I trying so desperately...after all my signature will remain same.....Actually Yes but well again my imagination helped me create a scene where I am tied to a chair with both husband and wife hitting me with each chappals and saying " ham to bachche the par aap ko to samjhaana chahiye tha"..

But something in my mind told me that they are not bachchas and will see the light of sense. They have not yet had the chills and fever of love in full stream and they wanna settle down in 98.6 of marriage. I gave one last try...

"Good that you are marrying ...Everybody should marry. After all happiness is not the only thing..." I said.

"Why" he asked...For the first time I thought that my funny statement had evoked an effect on him...

I got the line....of Attack.

"Dude Life before marriage is the best ... In fact the moments you spend with your "to be” are the best and the most memorable moments in life...which you will never forget...and when u retire and age..And sit back in your house of dreams will remember those moments so why not expand and maximize the number of events by having the days as much as possible."

"Is it...” He asked ....phewwwww.. it was working...

"Actually Yes...These are and will be your best romantic moments ...take it from your elder brother..." I answered...For the first time in the whole conversation all the words came out directly from my heart...even the words Elder brother...

After a little more heart talk and convincing , to my surprise he agreed ....and decided that he will take time and may be go for the marriage next year ...I guess I should have used my heart than the brain...

Generally I use my heart only but guess since wherever I sign I use my mind and hence I was using my Mind only all through the conversation...

So I came out of the situation where I had sign without using my mind….

Let’s wait n watch till next year….May be families will join and My signature will not at all be required Till Then I will keep using my heart ahead of mind…

BE HAPPY, IT's ONE WAY OF BEING WISE!!!

2010-05-07T15:59:00.005+05:30

Yesterday, I was driving, and the FM radio went off for few seconds. I thought, I should have an iPod. Then suddenly I realized that I have not used my iPod in last 6 months. And then more things, Handy cam in last 2 years, Digital Camera in last 2 months, DVD player in last 1 month and many more. Now I can say that I bought that Handy cam just out of impulse, I have used it twice only in last 4 years.

So, what's wrong and where? When I look at myself or my friends I can see it everywhere. We are not happy with what we have but all are stressed and not happy for the things we don't have. You have a Santro, but you want City, You have a City, but you want Skoda. Just after buying a new phone, we need another one. Better laptop, bigger TV, faster car, bigger house, more money .I mean, these examples are endless. The point is, does it actually worth? Do we ever think if we actually need those things before we want them?

After this, I was forced to think what I need and what I dont. May be I didnt need this Handy cam or the iPod or that DVD player. When I see my father back at home. He has a simple BPL colour TV, he doesnt need 32'Sony LCD wall mount. He has a cell phone worth Rs 2,500. Whenever I ask him to change the phone, he always says Its a phone, I need this just for calls.And believe me; he is much happier in life than me with those limited resources and simple gadgets. The very basic reason why he is happy with so little is that he doesnt want things in life to make it luxurious, but he wants only those things which are making his life easier. Its a very fine line between these two, but after looking my fathers life style closely, I got the point. He needs a cell phone but not the iPhone. He needs a TV but not the 32" plasma. He needs a car but not an expensive one.

Initially I had lot of questions. I am earning good, still I am not happy why ? I have all luxuries, still I am stressed.... ....... why ? I had a great weekend, still I am feeling tired...... why? I met lot of people, I thought over it again and again, I still don't know if I got the answers, but certainly figured out few things. I realize that one thing which is keeping me stressed is the stay connected syndrome. I realized that, at home also I am logged in on messengers, checking mails, using social networks, and on the top of that, the windows mobile is not letting me disconnected. On the weekend itself, trying to avoid unwanted calls and that is keeping my mind always full of stress. I realized that I am spending far lesser money than what I earn, even then I am always worried about money and more money. I realized that I am saving enough money I would ever need, whenever needed. Still I am stressed about job and salary and spends.

May be, many people will call this approach not progressive attitude but I want my life back. Ultimately its a single life, a day gone is a day gone. I believe if I am not happy tonight, I'll never be happy tomorrow morning. I finally realized that meeting friends, spending quality time with your loved one's; spending time with yourself is the most important thing. If on Sunday you are alone and you don't have anybody to talk with, then all that luxuries life, all that money is wasted. May be cutting down your requirements, re-calculating your future goal in the light of today's happiness is a worthwhile thing to do. May be selling off your Santro and buying Honda City on EMIs is not a good idea. I believe putting your happiness ahead of money is the choice we need to make.

I think, a lot can be said and done but what we need the most is re-evaluation of the value of happiness and time we are giving to our life and people associated with it.

BE HAPPY, IT's ONE WAY OF BEING WISE!!!

Habits...

2010-03-20T16:01:00.000+05:30

Robin Sharma (of the monk who sold his Ferrari fame), wrote “if you follow a thing/ habit for 21 days, it becomes a necessity and you need another 21 days of determination to get out of that necessity” . Not that I am a big fan of Robin Sharma or I have followed the tips he gave, but yes it reminded me of some Miss Lucy of DDLJ...who said… “Aadatein agar jaldi badli na jaayein to wo jarooratein ban jaati hai...”

Well, I went to a hospital yesterday and saw something strange. A person lying on the bed and staring on the blank TV screen and shouting in between something incomprehensible, then again keeping quiet. The doctor told me this abnormality will continue up to 11 pm or even till 12 pm. He will get out of it soon. Don’t worry. We have about 50 similar patients sitting here and doing this. Some of them even not eating anything in dinner and some continuously asking popcorns and pepsi. I asked what the disorder is. He told me it’s “Life after IPL”.

I had a good laugh and came back from the place. I have this married friend who has a 2 yr old kid with an ability to refresh your mind. I went to his place for a tea and found the couple fighting. The fight was about who will make the dinner tonight. I was surprised as they had a pakka arrangement for alternate day of sacrifice, each helping other with dishes and cutting onions and vegetables. What’s the fight now?

It seems they had gone into that betting culture that with each supporting a different team and whoever wins the bet will enjoy the next day dinner without anything to do. NO Match No Bet ...dare I say No Dinner. They seem to have forgotten the earlier set up. May be another 21 days. Or they need to find another topic of betting. Like who will read the news on aajtak today Deepak or Vinod. What will be the colour of the sari of Tulsi...Blue or Green...?

People seem to have caught these diseases. They have left the old saas bahu sickness and picked up these. I thought its only families which are getting affected. So I went to a bachelor friend of mine. He was too depressed to even talk. I for a moment thought that he is the most affected. He is missing the matches and the drama. He said “Hell with IPL , its over and now I am free ...for full duration I watched it and enjoyed , but now I have forgotten it and want to go back to my normal life and meet my girl , but she is in no mood..” . Well, I wanted to tell him that it’s a revenge she is taking on you for not taking her out for a month but decided against it and kept quiet.

Nothing seems to have replaced IPL as of now. Families are looking for some old serials but it just doesn’t seem to fit in. Pets got a good game of jumping on every boundary or six , don’t feel like jumping on close ups of 'Mihir' or 'Baa' face being shown three times in a row without any reason . Wives who were worried in the beginning of IPL that they may loose track of the story line after one month are least bothered about the story of the serials now. Though I can tell you nothing much would have changed in these stories. It might take an IPL of 80 teams and a league of 4 matches each to let the stories of these move ahead.

Well it has its effect. You can see groups in the office/work place/home being formed based on their teams. People calling others as DD member or DC or RR or CSK. Some of them have got this habit of sending message to others “DD or RR?? "...not even mentioning in the sms the obvious part of the question which team are you with. Some shouting (presumably singing) “dhol bajane aaye hum” or “korbo ladbo jeetbo re..” on any achievement or moment of success. People have already started enquiring about marriage organizers for arranging cheerleaders in baarat or ladies sangeet. A request for a dug out for barathis will not be totally unacceptable.

Research conferences arranging opening ceremony with a bollywood star/dancer/singer/ being arranged will not be totally out of place. After each presentation some dancers dancing and cheering the public scientists. Some of them might even go to SRK or PZ for funding their presentation to start a club culture promoting science. Each bidding for the best presenter and may be a prize money for a few billions for the coveted ones.

Welcome to the World After IPL.

Which team are you with ?

2010-03-20T15:53:00.001+05:30

Sachin, Shahrukh, Symonds, Bhajji,Shilpa,Deepika Mallya, Ambani, Warne, Murli, Gilly, Veeru, Jaysurya all at one place. Fireworks are a must. Well not neccesarily. On the forefront it does seem it's the quality of players, teams and power of BCCI that made IPL a big success unlike ICL.

But if you go a little deep, you got to get impressed by the way IPL tournament was promoted and packaged first time around. Was difficult to get this league thing accepted in India, after all which team a common man will support? He likes Sachin, but he likes Sehwag too, he likes Yuvraj but also Dhoni. The Biggest challenge!!! Get this format accepted. But How...how to sell it ??

But then came the ads and promos.

Bollywood !!! It does sell cricket. A specially designed catchy promo was the "Kab aayega ranjan aur manu ka baap?" It was a typical ad that promoted the tried and tested bollywood masala, twins, father missing, mother taunted and teased by society…and finally coming the "Aaa gaya manu-ranjan(implying manoranjan) ka baap…DLF IPL CUP".

It was not that cute little ad that everyone watches and forgets even the name of the product...it did give the desired effect, created the curiosity with words...'kab aayega …kab aayega...ranjan aur manu ka baap' and then flats it out with a very comic ending. People criticized that advertisement a lot but the important thing is they discussed and that was the idea. To make it a topic for tea time discussion.

After all which team will he support and on what basis, what logic. No country, no state, nothing to identify with. Then again came the ads for the rescue.

The dentist asking the patient "which team are u with " and poor patient not knowing the team of dentist replies innocently Delhi Daredevils and then in a low voice doctor reveals that he supports Kolkata Riders. Nurse suggesting doctor to get one tooth removed of the patient. "Ek kyon paanch daant nikaliye...kaafi daring aaadmi hai...daredevils"...was the punch line. Then came a series of promos which created a curiosity and a support for different teams and in turn the tournament.

Some lady blaming a guy of teasing just because he was a Mumbai Indian supporter and she a Bangalore Royal Challenger supporter, another place a boy not giving a place to an aged fellow just because boy is a Chennai Super King's supporter and the aged guy is wearing a band of Deccan Charger.

"Which team are you with...?" was the buzz word....who are you supporting...No logic was required. These ads were conveying the idea, forget the logic, pick any team with emotions and support with passion.

90 % of the reason why I am watching IPL is these ads only and rest is obviously cricket. But saying that ads alone made the tournament a big success is too big a statement to be made in a society that is not used to be called easily influenced specially by cheap ads and therefore I will leave it at that.

Till the society starts accepting facts, keep enjoying the front foot of daredevils and dhol of Punjabi kings XI. And yes don't forget asking "Which team are you with...?"

Mumbai Trains

2009-11-30T16:37:00.002+05:30

The metropolis of Mumbai holds many a challenge for the 'rookie' who lands here unaware of the hurdles and challenges that he or she might have to face.I think you will enjoy this one. A recent incident saw one such hapless victim falling prey to the overenthusiastic nature of Bombay's local train commuters. Our Hero (you can take it to be me if you liked the rise after the fall) wanted to go to Matunga, but as luck and trains would have it, boarded a fast train not halting at his destination. He panicked on realising his mistake but by then the local had started moving. On seeing his plight, a sympathetic co-passenger decided to come to his rescue. It seemed that he had been commuting by that particular train (6:03 pm Kasara Fast) for the past 6 years and had noticed that the train always slowed down just before Matunga station and crawled at a snail's pace while passing through it!!. He told the man to jump out of the running train as it slowed down and that with a little bit of fleet-footedness, he would make it safely on terra firma. However, knowing the man's inexperience, he added some words of caution: "Keep running the moment you jump or you'll fall. Just keep running." He stressed the word "running" lest the man not know the laws of motion. The train did slow down just before Matunga station and at the prompting of his mentor, our hero jumped out of the train and started running as if all hell had broken loose. What he didn't realise, of course, was that he was running parallel to the train instead of running away from it. Meanwhile, the train slowed down further, so that the man was running faster than the train. In the process, he reached the door of the next compartment and the footboard commuters there pulled him in thinking he was trying to board the train! To ! his agony, the train picked up speed and sped past Matunga and his new co-passengers started to congratulate him on how lucky he had been, until he told them that they had actually undone what he had done with great difficulty. Those standing at the door of his "ex-compartment" had witnessed the whole drama and just couldn't stop laughing at the poor man's situation, while he grinned sheepishly.Thats Mumbai for you my friends.Isn't it?

Coorg and Shopping !!!!!

2009-07-17T08:34:00.007+05:30

Coorg( Madikere...) a small hill station in Karnataka. I had been there earlier as well...with THE DUDE...but this time around my family.(Parents and Wife) were accompanying me. I was more excited about the car than the place. My wife (as all the girls) was more interested in shopping than the place . My parents at least had some sympathy for the place.

First Place we went to was RAJA seat( though it was difficult to decipher why the name SEAT) .We reached right in the morning at 8.New Camera and New Car fascinated me more that the Seat . Both were put to some good use in the wonderful locations along with the family .

"You hold the mobile and the purse , I will have a look around for the shops.." ...She said. ( those who are still wondering who I am talking about...get ur brains checked up..its my wife)...

"Its a park ...You cant find a shop over here..." ...I shouted ...but she could hardly hear ...because by the time I said that ..she already had covered 100m. Sometimes I wonder how fast can she walk for a shop where she isnt going to buy anything. Yes she hardly buys anything. Its always window shopping.

But then I was left with the mobile and the purse which I kept in a bag and left for the park with my parents. Soon she also joined as there was only one shop open at the time.( out of the two).

I kept the bag on the Seat oF the Raja and clicked as many snaps...Sunrise and Mist ..Cloud...everything was there. After the general session of chit chat ...we left for the next place Abbey falls. It was about half an hr from the SEAT.Water fall is one thing which excites me more than anything. I love the sound of water falling and the splash generated. After spending about 2 hrs we reached back to madikere near the SEAT around 11 am.

"Look...he has antiques..such beautiful ones"...she said looking at a street side vendor...

"Damn..." ...again no prize for guessing whose response was that...

I will not give an account of what happened there with the vendor...for 15min...Finally vendor lost his patience and told a shop nearby for more collections . Another 15 min .And this time she for a change actually bought an antique...took us almost 30 min .(for beginners ..there are a lot of choices and bargaining that goes into this 30 min). 15 min to load that in our car( it was 2m long wooden decorative piece). Car should also not get damaged and so as the antique . All put together 1 hr 15 min without any exaggaration .I looked at my wife and then at the piece and wondered which is more antique. I was about to sit in the car to start when the call came..

" Hellooo...."....My mother in law...from chhatarpur
"Oh hello..."..I replied...expecting some formalities to be shared..
"Where is the other mobile..." She asked..

"It may be in silent mode ...or we may nt have listened...." I started clarifying...
" Nahi kisi ka phone aaya tha uske number se ...koi Raja Seat karke jagah se.." She hurried..

" .............................." was all I could manage.

" He said he will wait there for 10-15 min and then leave ..it seems she has left some bag there...with lots of things ...and mobiles..."...she dint knew It was me and not her..who had left

I disconnected the phone and jumped out of the car and ran towards the adjoining SEAT.
Security Stopped me and Asked Ticket...

"No ticket I left my bag in there." I muttered..and he allowed me..

I ran where I had left the bag ..right on the bench....Lo...There was no bag. And neither any one near the bench.

Now what . I thought I would call her(my wifes) number...It rang but nobody picked up. I called again, it was switched off this time.

" The number you are calling is switched off.."..with that my heart beat sank ..

" Has he taken out the sim...or ..battery gone.." I thought...

My all credit cards...ATM cards.. DL...PAN card..Purse...2 mobiles...everything was there in the bag...

Now how will I know him...or How will he know ...even if we see each other..
He might have given it to security... No Mother in Law told me...
"HE wont give it to security as it has many valuables and ..he dint trust anyone"
Is he the one I am seeing now...or Just my imagination..

Acting aur Amitabh ka keeda...
Let me bring a real horrified , worried and troubled expression and show everyone on the park I am the Most worried man on the earth.... CAN I PULL IT OFF...

believe me or not...

within a minute 1 person stopped me and asked

" Are You anand kumar.." ..
Anand Kumar....no I am amitabah not anand...I thought ....
"No I am Ankur"
"Oh yes...before I could pick up your phone the battery went off..."
You had left your bag and we saw the mobile and called the last dialled number saved as "mummy" and informed her.

I thanked him a hundred times and came back to the car and explained the whole story to everyone in the car.

"See my antique and shopping saved you a lot..." she said....

I couldnt reply a thing as actually she was right ...we would have been 1 hr 15 min away from that place but for her shopping.

I just kept quite and for the first time in life I thanked god for her shopping mania.

Hyundai I 10 Sportz ...

2009-06-16T09:12:00.004+05:30

Buying a car can be a difficult task.There will be so many opinions, your friends,your family, your colleagues , your relatives and of course YOU. Internet only increases the confusion , it just increases the number of opinions and recommendations and If you are married you have had it. The number of opinions double. After all its ...an add on wife..her friends, her colleagues,her family,her relatives and of course HER. I somehow came out of the confusion by a TOSS. Believe it or not yes it was a toss between Swift and Hyundai I10 1.2 L . I was with I10 and my wife with Swift.

" If its a head its gonna be a swift Vxi and if its a tail its gonna be I10.." she said...

" But lets make sure this will be the only toss ..aisa na ho ki ...after this you say one more toss or lets do it again...or best of 3 or best of 5 kinda stuff.." I replied...

"Oh sure......I m sure god is with me and I can be sure of swift.." she said...

"Ok then lets consider this as the voice of god..no more overruling for this" I knew this would ensure no more childish response if she looses...but deep down fearing what if its head...i cant play this childish tricks as well...

Well it turned out to be my spin...and in came the Hyundai I10 . She was pretty sad and disappointed and I had to really cheer her up saying color will be of your choice. She was as always a great bargainer and despite loosing ..she demanded Black and further bargained for Sportz model whereas I had thought of Magna. Haarkar jeetne waale ko baajigar kehte hai and jeetkar haarne waale ko Ankur Kehte hai I guess.And she would have definitely felt like a baazigar. For those of you reading this for review of the car here are my readings for Hyundai I10.

Looks..: 10 /10 I went in for a black sportz model 1.2 L Kappa Engine with Electric Red Interiors. I personally like the look both external and internal , and to be honest from the heart I find it the best. Even my wife agrees so after I bought it. She says.." Yea black I10 is better looking than any swift.." ..that coming from a staunch supporter of looks of swift was more than a compliment. Wonderful Interiors , Red Colored , Beige interiors ...display of the music system.. wonder internal dashboard lights.. oh how much I love it.

Engine : I m not a mechanical engineer or great with engines and all....I know that its 1200 cc engine generating good power and torque without making any noise( some times I check with accelerator whether engine is on or off...at signals..specially) . I took it to coorg within a week after I bought the car and it was zooming off those mountain curves with steep hikes without any problem. On the highway it touched 130-140 as well without any one realising any sound/ noise/ vibration. On the mountains of talacauvery a constant drive of about 40-60 km at 3-4 gear and any drop in speed I could pick up from 3rd gear itself..so sufficient power and pick up I believe.

Mileage : 10/10 Well this was something I never expected . When I left Bangalore I got it full tank with extra premium ( Speed ...may be..) petrol . I got the tank filled up again after 370 km and only 21 lts was all that was required. That was a mileage of 17.6 km/l . I was very very happy. AS the maximum they claimed was 15-16 km / lt . I thought may be Speed Petrol ...something to do with it. But slowly the facts dawned on me. I had switched on AC for almost 170 km ( heat in some places and some where for mist and rain ). I am a new driver so I don't go much on to 5th gear, My drive was mostly on 3rd and 4th gear . I drove for about 100 km.Rest was driven by my driver who drove mostly on 5th gear. Then drive from Coorg to Talacauvery was always ghats where my driver drove on 3-4th gear. Went and came back about 80 kms of ghats ( up and down) out of 370 km ..here is the break up

90 km of ghats ( 45 km Ac and 45 without AC )

250 kms of Highway ( 130 with AC and 120 without AC ( 100 driven by me and 20 by driver appx))

30 kms of City and traffic.(without AC)

Now despite all this I get a 17.6 mileage ...Its unbelievable for a one week old car. But I will get it checked up again on my next filling and come back on the corrected figure.

Other Features : AC works pretty well ,it cools immediately and like a chilled shimla.., Power windows too good, Music system very good. But we miss remote in the system.Nor is the USB slot directly available .Got to get some converter soon but CD player,radio and IPOD player were too good and sound quality also good throughout the car...4 speakers..I have. No space for a can,bottle,cup on the dash board,but its fine.I keep it in the middle below the gear but that's one disadvantage. I keep searching for putting my water bottle. Now the electronic central locking. It works fine but after such rains it has stopped making sounds...guess electronics you cant say anything ..even the back gear sound/alarm has gone down.Power steering is a bit weak when u compare it with swift ,estillo...etc. But still its a power steering.

Price : I got it for 4.2 On road with the annual tax option . Got a few accessories ..some basic ones.Car cover , central locking..sun film etc. (I am thinking of getting an under-chassis coating to be done after the first servicing). I thought it to be reasonable when u compare it with swift and similar cars.Price was one factor I was with I10 and not Swift after its my salary and not hers. :)

Overall : I feel that it had been a good bargain when compare it with swift . May be after six months or so I will have to add / change something but now I am happy as I have got what I had thought of when I bought the car.

Overall Hyundai I10 (I love to add KAPPA engine in the name) has been the dream come true kinda car for me..

And above all my wife agrees with me... :)

Lamhe.....Lazy Lamhe...

2008-11-29T09:55:00.004+05:30

I had just had my food. It never tasted so good , though it was just a plain pulao and chatni stuff but the taste was unlike ever before. In the process I ate more than i had to and then I started dozing off.
Lazy Lamhe....Lazy ..Lazy lamhe..
It was just after a 2 minutes nap that she spoke something which I could decipher as 'now come on ,drop me back to my house before it gets too late I wont even get an auto'. She generaly says that you dont listen to me at all .I heard her this time quite well though. Well to be very frank I am not sure whether this is what she said or is it something like that .

No choice I had to drop her back from the restaurant to her place. It was a cold night outside and I had to pick up the bike. Thought it would be just a good drive. Well I was soon going to be proved wrong. Since it was pretty cold I had put on double trousers and two jackets. Yes it was warm since I had a packed air tight helmet as well. The drive started..

chalte ..khissak khisak ke ...lazy lamhe.

I had never felt so sleepy on a drive before. But I was constantly kept awake by some talk she was doing from the back. I only listend once when she jolted me and asked me why arent you replying to anything. I told her its just that I m feeling sleepy . When we reached her place , she brought a water bottle and I washed my face and the coldness awakened me up.

I decided to take the water bottle along with me on my way back.

It was about a kilometer I had traveelled when i first dozzed off ..
I was driving at 60 when ..
vrooooooooooooooom...a horn..keeeeeeeeeeeeee awakened me.

It was a car coming from the opposite direction just whiffed past me. I was wide awake for a second. Then thought it was a close escape I should be careful now..Well after another 5 kms...

palkein ye bhaari bhaari ye lazy lamhe,

It was a flyover, I had to take my bike BELOW that and take a RIGHT turn.Well I did take a RIGHT turn but that was not BELOW the fly over ,it was ABOVE the flyover and unfortunately there was no right turn over there and i was about to bang a railing barrier.But somehow I had slowed down on instincts and was able to put up a break and then come down from the flyover. Though its quite clear but still for the sake of positive persons let me make it very clear..I had again dozzed of for a couple of seconds ..may be more on my bike...

Yes a doze on bike is very much possible..for details of such technology contact me.

...I decided its time now for a face wash. I took out the bottle and washed my face ,had a sip as well . Then started of the journey again. Yes it was soon turning out to be a journey. The wind was pretty pleasant,..weather nice and cold and the road full empty ...Pleasant drive.Well another 5 kms.....

letaa hai bagal mein mausam, thaam le zaraa…jaam de zaraa…
ye lazy… lazy… lamhe…
ye lazy… lazy… lamhe…

Now i was driving at 70 and at full speed thinking about the scene from movie I saw that day Spider Man. Where our Tobby macguire says......"hey I am baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackkkk...." .I was smiling at the scene when he says 'my back.....' when I suddenly realised I also have to say the same .."Myyyy Back...".but I was safe . It was just a pit on the road. those who travel in Bangalore know a pit in indian terminology is no less that a small well used for drinking water...and I had crossed the small well at the speed of 70 and jumped on the road. There was a bit of Jhatka on the back bone. I soon realised I wasnt thinking about spider man , I was dreaming about spider man. ..Again took out the water and washed the face. Pledged not to drive so late in the night again.

Finally just managed to reach the house about 100 m from my house confident enough that I have finally made my journey without any MAJOR hiccups before one final turn. I had reached I thought . I blinked for a second , at least I Thought it was a second ..I blinked for a second. May be it was a bit longer. In front of me was an arch about a meter off ..with me on about 50 kmph . Stone arch had enough space to allow my bike but my head would have been chopped off with Helmet intact on the head. So I decided to bang the bikes tyre on the pillar of the arch. At least my head will be safe.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnngggg....

MY EYES WIDE OPEN....I FELT DOWN. and bike on me.
morr de kamar, ke koi dil dhoond le… ( yes it was pretty bad...)

some bruices...
hothon ke kareeb manzil dhoond le…

head had hit the bike...
zulfon ke paas ikk ghar dhoond le…

Saw above a man having a tea in the night on his balcony on the nearby house.He smiled and asked in sign language whether I had enough drinks for the night or I need more. I smiled back. Thats all I could do....because I wasnt sure whether he used only sign language or he spoke as well but may be I coudlnt hear. I replied no was just sleeping...
" Why dont you get up ? Or are u so sleepy u wanna have a doze there only ..."..now I could hear him for sure...My ears are right...
dragged myself and got up..
chalte khisak khisak ke ye lazy lamhe,
Bike looked perfecly ok .I somehow reached my apartment.

Next morning I was perfectly ok but Bike had shown some serious signs of damage. Fork Bend etc...
No more Lazy lamhe...but still another song on from Lamhe...
ye lamhe, ye pal .....

hum barso yaad karenge.. ..

Gone are the days...

2008-08-28T10:10:00.006+05:30

Gone are the days...

When the school reopened in July,
And we settled in our new desks and benches.
When we queued up in book shops and tailors shop,
And got our new books and notes along with the new uniform.
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet
Managed to sit line up daily for the morning prayers.

We learnt writing with slates and pencils, and
Progressed To fountain pens and then ball pens .
We started calculating first with tables
and then advanced to calculators and computers.
When we chased one another in the corridors in Intervals,
and returned to the classrooms drenched in sweat.

When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,
Playgrounds, under the trees and even in cycle shed.
When all in the whites,
Decorated the campus on the Saturdays.
When a single 'games' period in the week's Time Table,
Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons.

When cricket was played with wooden patas as bats,
And stones and socks rolled into balls.
When few played "kabadi" and "Kho-Kho" in scorching sun,
While others simply played "book cricket" in the confines of classroom.
Of fights but no conspiracies,Of Competitions but seldom jealousy.

When we used to watch Live Cricket telecast,
In the opposite house of our friend after school.
When few rushed at 1:30 to "Conquer" window seats in our School bus.
While others played 'aiis paais' and 'gippdi fod'

Gone are the days Of Houses Day, and the annual School Day,
And the one-month long preparations for them.
Gone are the days Of the stressful Quarterly,Half Yearly and Annual Exams,
And the most enjoyed holidays after them.
Of tenth and twelfth standards,
when we Spent almost the whole year writing practise tests in tuitions.

We learnt, we enjoyed, we played, we won, we lost,
We laughed, we cried, we fought, we thought.
With so much fun in them, so many friends,
So much experience, all this and more.

Gone are the days when we used to talk for hours with our friends.
Now we don't have time to say a HI.

Gone are the days when we played games on the road.
Now we code on the road with laptop

Gone are the days when we sat to chat with friends on grounds.
Now we chat in chat rooms.....

Gone are the days where we had no money in our pockets and fun filled on our hearts
Now we have the atm as well as credit card but with an empty heart

Gone are the days where we got lectures from all.
Now we give lectures to all... like the one I'm doing now....

Gone are the days
But not the memories, which will be
Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and Ever and ever and Ever.....

Waqt nahi

2008-08-25T14:54:00.002+05:30

READ THIS ONE SOMEWHERE .LIKED IT SO MUCH THAT DECIDED TO HAVE IT ON MY BLOG

Har khushi Hai Logon Ke Daman Mein,
Par Ek Hansi Ke Liye Waqt Nahi.
Din Raat Daudti Duniya Mein,
Zindagi Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Maa Ki Lori Ka Ehsaas To Hai,
Par Maa Ko Maa Kehne Ka Waqt Nahi.
Saare Rishton Ko To Hum Maar Chuke,
Ab Unhe Dafnane Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.

Saare Naam Mobile Mein Hain,
Par Dosti Ke Liye Waqt Nahi.
Gairon Ki Kya Baat Karen,
Jab Apno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Aankhon Me Hai Neend Badee,
Par Sone Ka Waqt Nahi.
Dil Hai Gamon Se Bhara ,
Par Rone Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.

Paison ki Daud Me Aise Daude,
Ki Thakne ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.
Paraye Ehsason Ki Kya Kadr Karein,
Jab Apne Sapno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Tu Hi Bata E Zindagi,
Iss Zindagi Ka Kya Hoga,
Ki Har Pal Marne Walon Ko,
Jeene Ke Liye Bhi Waqt Nahi.........

Pyaar....Bhavnaayo ke Saath...

2008-08-05T16:04:00.004+05:30

Sometimes...Conversations can be very interesting. And sometimes very typical.
Thought I will pen down some of them for the interesting read. I would have loved to write the name of HE and SHE here but then avoided it to cause any insult , moreover it was so common that anybody could have fit in .He and She are supposed to be in love with each other.Here is how it goes.

Note: Conversation ke beech, within brackets jo hai, woh.. ladka apne aap se keh raha hai..

She Gives a missed call to him....and he calls her back..

She: Hello!

He: (are yaar...pata nahi aaj kya bore karegi ) Hi ...kya baat hai..?

She: kuch nahi...bas aise hi phone kiya...

He: ( Call kaha kiya?.. khali missed call to diya hai... ) oh...ok ..kya karrahi thi meri jaanu??

She: abhi abhi dinner khatam kiya...tum kya kar rahe the?

He: mera bhi abhi abhi dinner khatam hua.. ab...."Ladki Kyon Najaane Kyon"sun raha hu FM par....

She: nice song..(And then she hums a line from the song "Hum Tum")

He: ( Saala waha koi chipkali 'kich kich' kar rahi hai ya .... ) hey!!!! tumitni achchi gaati ho? mujhe pata hi nahi tha

She: *giggles*

He: Hey ek aur baar gaao na pls!

She: yaha sab so rahe hai...agar main gaaongi to sab uth jaaenge..

He: ( Correct...woh yeh samjhenge ki koi bhootni hai ... ) Come on! Please!

She: hat ...I don't sing that well

He: ( yeh to saari duniya ko pata hai... :-) ) It was really sweet. Pleasegaao na dear

She: mujhe kuch ajeeb sa lagta hai jaan

He: aisa kuch bhi nahi hai jaanu...gaao na

She: tumhi keh sakte ho...

He: ( mai? saala mere ko doosra raasta nahi hai....is liye bola ) abhi tumgaaogi ya nahi?

She: kyun pareshaan kar rahe ho?

He: Sigh! Ok

She: I don't have that great a voice

He: ( saala gadha bhi sharma jaaye teri awaaz sunke.. ) hmmmm

She: theek hai... jab itni zid kar rahe ho... sirf ek stanza gaaungi theekhai??

He: ( aur kya kya jhelna padega malum nahi.. ) Great!!!!

She: kaunsa gaana gaau ?

He: ( tum kuch bhi gaao...meri to aaj neend haraam hai.. )Hmmmm. 'Mahiya'from Awarapan?She: Nice song. But mujhe lyrics yaad nahi hai

He: ( Text book chodke tujhe aur kya pata hai bol... ) Dhoom Machale?

She: Nahi main wohi gaana gaaungi

He: ( Tum koi bhi gaana gaao....mere kaan to pakne waale hai ) Cool

(She clears her throat, hums a line and then)

She: Nahi jaan. I am feeling very shy!

He: Gaao na...pls gaao na....teri awaaz ki samundar me main doob jaanachahta hoon

She: dekho...ab tum mujhe naaraaz kar rahe ho

He: ( Maalum pada na ... phir..: ) )No no. Tum shy feel kar rahi hona....is liye... Trying to make u cool

She: Hmmm

He: please gaao na darling

She: main kal gaau?

He: ( Haaaaa...jaan bachi... Phut leta hoon... ) theek hai jaisi tumhaarimerzi

She: Hmmm

He: Good night

She: Good night

She: Sweet Dreams.. Take care...

He: Sweets dreams to u too...

After a while She calls Him (sorry...that never happens, she gives only amissed call),,,,

She: Hey..sogaye the kya?

He: ( nahi...current ka aavishkaar kar raha tha... ) nahi jaan.

She: kya kar rahe ho?

He: ( raat ko kya gili danda khelna hai... ) Match dekh raha tha

She: theek hai tum match dekho

He: ( us wakt se main kya bhajiya tal raha tha... ) Hey it's ok... puranimatch hai.

She: Did u feel bad I didn't sing?

(Since it is a tricky question, He thinks for a while)

He: (Bad ah? this was the luckiest day in my life, since you didn't sing:- ) Bad toh main nahi keh raha jaanu. But I want you to be comfortablefirst.... tumhi ne bola ki main kal gaaungi..... So, me waiting..(maine to socha tha ki aaj bachgaya....dhat teriki :-()

She sings 1 stanza from the song'Jiski aankhon me meri hi nami.....'

He: Wow. Too good!

She: jhoot....mujhe maloom hai ki meri awaaz itni achchi nahi hai

He: ( shukr hai self realization hai... :-)... ) nahi darling you really sing well.

She: nahi..mujhe maloom hai tum bas aise hi keh rahe ho

He: ( very good.. aakhir tumne pata laga hi liya..... ) Che! Che! teri voiceagar itni buri hoti to main ab tak na sun raha hota

She: Hmmmm...theek hai. good night.. ab tum bhi so jaao.

.He: ( tera gaana sunne ke baad neend kaise aayegi.. ) Good night!

She: Take care

He: You too

She: Hey....

He: ( are yaar..aaj ye nahi chodegi ,,, ) kya hai sweety? .

She: sach bataao honey..meri voice achchi hai ya nahi...

He: ( tu apni voice khud record karke sun kyon nahi leti ek baar )sachchi... Of course.

She: sirf jhoot

He: ( iski toh... agar ab mujhe sone nahi diya toh...... ) Not at all. You sing very well

She: Hmmm.... tum keh rahe ho to theek hi hoga. Good night.

He: Good Night!!

Story Making ...Art or Science !!! .

2008-07-14T08:59:00.006+05:30

It was the night before the Semester Exam . Those who have enjoyed the Engineering will know that you don't study the whole semester ( sem) and its only in the last night that you manage to enquire about the syllabus and if possible read a few hours to just some how get 35 out of 60 as passing marks.

So it was THE night before ME (Engineering Mechanics) paper. ME was the toughest considered paper not because of the equations and the formulas but because of the Prof being The Mogambo kinda character. "Jo Khush Hua" whenever we suffered. A sadist by approach.

Myself and Rajnish Singh were slogging it out at around 10 in the night when as usual Rajnish said
"kya hai yaaaaaar...kitne topics hai...chalo we will take a break..Lets go to Lanka on CBZ.." .

That break generally meant 3 hrs ..and with ME next day I wasn't ready.

But as always he convinced me. We went for a break of 4 hrs as he was more than his usual frustrated. Came back late ..tried to finish of some important questions..and then by 6 in the morning decide to have a doze off.

To our horror we never got up . Exam at 10 and we got up at 10.

Rajnish : "Lets bunk this one sem paper. We haven't prepared much by the way." It was a bold statement I thought but gelled well with his image.

I replied "yeah we will give re-exam..What's there". Sounding pretty fearless...but deep down fearing this may screw my career here.

Rajnish : "No...Lets go yaar...at least we will get passing marks..and no sem back..". Making pretty clear that the boldness in the previous statement was pretty much empty and he too was afraid of "Back Sem" .

That word "Back Sem" was now ringing loud and clear in my head like Hindi Film Temple bells.I hadn't feared of it ever since I always knew that I can manage my passing marks anywhere in any exam. But not giving any exam.Now that was new for me.

So we reached the dept by 10 : 30 but Lo!!! we were not allowed inside the department. Nobody except the Security fellow saw us.

There in lay my opportunity. No body seeing us coming late.

"What will hapen now...?? " Rajnish Asked ..a bit worried.

I consoled him .."Dont worry ...I will tell him some story ...and then lets see."

"He wont believe yaar..." His boldness seemed to have suddenly disappeared.

I thought its my turn to show some courage. "Story making is an Art ...buddy.."

I went alone to the prof after the exam and made up a story .
"Sir yesterday we went to get some notes photocopied...on Bike and we met with an accident. Rajnish was hit badly and his leg got fractured, I was with him this morning as nobody was there to look after him and hence we could not attend the exam . So sir is it possible for you to arrange a re-exam of sorts some time when he is OK and can come here."

I continued...

" Sir,I knew the importance of the exam sir...but there was nobody...near
the place and I had to take him to the doctor and get his X ray done and take him to Hospital and be there......Our career will get effected sir..If we fail in this semester sir we had prepared so well for the exam but unfortunately couldn't come sir but sir you tell sir how could I leave him there and come here...,blablablablablaaa.." .I kept going ...thinking the more I speak the more effective it will be.

"OK FINE.....When can he come to give the exam...?? and Mind you the paper will be only of 25 marks (not even passing marks) and question will be completely different and lot tougher..So be prepared well when you come next time for exam...and if You pass in that then there will be a Viva of the same of 15 marks." He said ...surprising me a lot...as I never expected him to readily agree.But still it was tough for us. Scoring 35 out of 40 to pass .

I agreed to tell prof the date soon after consulting the doctor (Rajnish ).
We came after 20 days to give a re-exam. 20 days was good enough time to prepare.
WE WERE STRATEGICALLY PLACED in different rooms so as to avoid us cheating.

Got the question paper.

Only One question was there.
Q. Which of the Rajnish's Leg Got Fractured ?

I sat there in the exam hall thinking Only one thing ...Was Story Making ...Art or Science ??.

The Fall......and the Rise...

2008-07-04T16:58:00.003+05:30

It started off one Tuesday evening about 11 years back when WE came out of one of the Tuition Classes from our teachers Place.

'We ' here includes my friends and classmates . Friends are the boys and When I say classmates I mean girls because in our school culture you are not supposed to be friends with them . At least you don't call them friends even if you are one.We were like India and Pakistan. You have to defeat the Pakistani at any cost .

So when We came out after a Dravidian lecture( innings of dravid 200 balls(Min's) faced and 10(problems) runs scored...) on similarity topic from our teachers Place , we were trying to relax our self , taking our vehicles out. When I looked towards to the main way , I saw one of our friends who had left the school a year ago waiting for us to come out. I was excited to meet him for one I was frustrated after the 2 hr lecture.

Back Then I used to come in one of the Luna Super..'Turrruu..." as we used to call it. It was so light frail and old that some times YOU had to carry IT rather than IT carrying YOU. 'Self Start ' and 'Kick Start' are the terms we had never heard in those days. It was always a drag start .....at least for my Turrruuu.That means you had to drag it at a real high speed to some distance manually before its engine used to start. Drag start or Dhakka Start..whatever you like you can call it.

That was about the luna , now few facts about me.I was a healthy boy.(yes i am trying to be moderate to myself here...those who know me from those days will say...A bulky fat elephant...) But then that would be other extreme and I was somewhere in between those two versions...moderate and extreme version.....I was wearing a jeans ....a black jeans...brand was Killer ...I remember it so well because it was my first jeans... ... and that was the first day I was wearing it. It was brand new .Add to that a real tight one...

Now the visualisation,(a bulky..........wearing a black killer....).sitting on the turru (light an Old...) and trying to drag start it by running along with it. Suddenly it started and I jumped onto it and sat . But somehow I lost the balance . Very Difficult to explain how I lost it ,since the light frail luna was supposed to carry a modest healthy boy easily. I fell on one side and Luna on the other side , my black killer turning dark brown with dirt .

Indian and Pakis seeing from behind.

Were They Seeing?? I wasn't sure... Any spectators.... I got up before I became a matter of shame to my Nation . Dint have the time to turn around.

Tried to make jeans look black again as quickly as possible by beating it and picked up the Turru .It happened all so fast that turru's engine was still on.Fearing it might switch off again I hurried further lest I have to run that much again...Dhakka start...Moreover I had to save the nations pride and may be ...just may be...my own pride. After all who would like to become a subject of dishonour.I was successful in my attempts .Yes I Was. I reached to my friend and wished him 'Hi' thinking he might be the only one who would have seen it. Even he dint notice it.His reaction told it. My lightening rescue act was too fast for anyone to notice.I was too good.

I was happy . I did it. What was the happiness about...Was it Meeting the old friend or.. getting out of the lecture ... Or Protection of honour of THE nation... I think it was the last. I saved myself from being a matter of entertainment.

Then...

A voice...

"Anything Happened....Are you OK ?"...Asked the first friend coming....

" What Boy....be careful..." asked the next one...

Few smiles ,giggles...and laughs from the Pakis as well.....some comments..

" Hmm that was quick....how did u do that.."

Soon my happiness went off with the whole batch coming one by one and smiling ,some laughing, commenting.The realisation came soon ...Everybody had seen it....

Later they told it wasn't me falling that made them laugh but me getting up so lightening fast that became the subject of their entertainment.I had lost it.. and some of them even remember the incident even today and ask me about the turru and some even about Killer.

AAMIR : A Beginning ??

2008-06-19T14:48:00.003+05:30

The Other Day I saw 'AAMIR' . A thought provoking film with powerful performances.

But what touched me most was how the director never even once got distracted from the main story plot.There was not even a hint of anything else other than the STORY.There lied the strength and dare I say there lay the weakness. It wouldn't be commercially successful because of that reason but it will be noticed because of that reason also.

The film starts with a common man being harassed at the airport just because his name is AAMIR and other man with name AMAR being left off easily . You just feel its gonna talk about the atrocities on the minority . But it goes along very beautifully telling how such a man can be dragged into things he doesn't believe in.

There could have been many endings possible .First One AAMIR running off the bus and leaving the box in the bus.Second One He might not have the courage to get out of the bus and died there only which was very rare.Third he leaves the bomb somewhere and goes to tell everything to Police which nobody would have allowed him to and he is killed there.But the director chose the best possible option , he dies and doesn't allow box to effect others.

Add to that the effect of title AAMIR , the leader into this situation.

Somehow you just cant help feeling more such movies with more such performances needs to be made in our industry.

A Journey To Remember

2008-06-14T10:05:00.002+05:30

A Cold night at Delhi in the end of November. Without any warm clothes and heart beat touching 100 so as the speed of the auto also. If it misses what else can I do..on the day it was the last one and none other for the day. I had to catch it if I plan to avoid the cold and reach in time to attend the marriage.

It was a train...at 10.30 pm I had to catch , my friend Ashraf waiting at the railway station near the train. Not for me...but for the train to leave...Thats what he was waiting for. May be even hoping that I never reach there. At least he will have some sleep. After all my resrvation was in the waiting list.What's there in MEMS and MAMS? Can't that be discussed any other time?

An hour back I was on a flight. My flight to Delhi was scheduled to land at 8.15 pm, but thanks to some wonderful planning by our Indian governments in giving licenses to so many private airlines and not constructing any airports, my poor plane was hovering over the Delhi airport for one hour for the lack of parking space.

Damn I could have pressed a space bar and created many spaces on my PC but on airport...things were not beneath my fingers...

"Hope it lands in time for me to catch the train". I prayed
Seeing my praying hands asked nearby passenger."Which train are u supposed to catch and from which station ?"
I ignored the first question and flatly answered the second as nizammuddin. "
Oh Nizaamuddin. ..that's 40 min from the airport terminal..max 1hr." bang came the reply.
Nervous enough to talk further and his replies not making things easier." thanks "I said...I thought that would close the matter.
But I was wrong he came again..." Had it been New Delhi it would take u about an hr and a half but Nizammuddin that's pretty near ".

What non sense...Can't you keep quiet I thought. Now I was looking for a delete button on my keyboard which could have deleted him from my adjoining seat. But as always I dint get any. My boss used to get them whenever he was going through my draft copies. I landed at 8.45pm. Another Hr and a half to go. I thought that was easy now..but then luggage came after a lifetime ….15 min ... looked a lifetime to me then....Well anyways I still had an hr and 15 min and if the adjoining irritating person in my flight is to be believed then I still had a lot of time.

Well Ashraf took on 50 min to cover the distance I had 75 min...So decided to go for a PRE-PAID taxi counter...paid some 120 bugs...but for another lifetime…15 min…could not catch any of the taxis...They were all very busy to run off strategically avoiding me...either taking the passenger next to me or before me...but always avoiding me as if they knew I m not going to pay them a penny more than I have already paid at the counter.

But at 9.30 I managed to outsmart one of them and entered and asked him to drive like anything to enable me to reach Nizammuddin. I considered to tell my driver what John Abraham told Nana patekar about the horse powers and speed's relation to the money and all but then decided against it.

Meanwhile I came to know from Ashraf that the train is on Platform No 11 the last one. I reached at 10.20 on the station...haah...Thank god…I made it ten minutes early...gave a tip to the taxi driver for driving fast...confident enough and thanking god for listening to my prayers... Climbed up and enquired about the platform no 11 and lo... there were only 7 platforms. How come? Called Ashraf again

"Which platform did u tell...?"
"11 yaar..Last one ...and the last bogie for that matter..so make it fast" Again some one's reply not making life easier for me..

I checked the ticket and lo...the train was scheduled to depart from New delhi and not from Nizammuddin.!!!!

I stood there on Nizammuddin speechless staring at the big board over the station which read
"Welcome to Hazrat Nizammuddin Railway Station ".

Dude Who screwed The Alto....

2008-06-14T09:58:00.003+05:30

When your mood is off, you tend to run away from the place which caused the switching off. That explains travelling as a wonderful refresher. I would not go into why mood was off but that day travelling was the most preferred thing after office. I came home and thought of biking and going to Mysore.

Called Rajneesh, my company in all the places I have been to after coming Bangalore.
"Shall we drive to mysore...Are You free and ready to go.." I enquired.

"Have I ever refused to go...I can go anywhere...provided you are there in the trip.." He replied..
That used to be my answer to all his queries before...I had this belief that it’s not the destination that I enjoy, it’s the journey and the company on the journey. Ignoring the sarcasm I asked him to come down my place and we can leave as early as possible .We wanted to catch the IPL Semifinals in Mysore after all. I had little interest left as the team I supported was out in the first semis. But still reaching Mysore in 2 hrs meant real fast driving and that I was game for.

Unfortunately it started raining. But fortunately our dude came on Car. I keep referring to him as dude for the obvious reasons. He was a Dude. I was lucky enough to start as around 6 30 pm and thought with car I may still reach by 8 the IPL time.

We packed the necessities and went off in the rain. The bets on the IPL matches and the girls in our life were the common topic these days. Dude as I said earlier was suggesting some psychology of girls when suddenly a tractor with a ploughing machine appeared out of nowhere in the dark. Actually little did we realize that we were going at 50 and the truck at 10. My physics relativity would have calculated the relative velocity in a second but even that calculation did not help as the tyres had stopped but we kept skidding and banged into the ploughs. Actually the rain had further spoiled as the brakes were literally ineffective . The driver of the tractor turned around and looked as if we had waked him up from the sleep. His glare made me to shout...

“Where are the backlights you idiot...”

The tractor drive smiled after listening to me as though saying...

"Forget my backlight...Check your headlight..."

Both of us had felt the jolt though the effect wasn’t great and the car kept moving without any hiccups with full lights glowing. We both consoled each other that it was just a small hit and nothing much has happened and never had the courage to stop and check. Rain and darkness dint help the cause either. So we continued driving but for a change stopped talking to each other for a while. Silence.
"Chala jaata hoo kissi ki dhun me..."...My mobile rang...that was the ring tone. So untimely and so very situational. It broke the silence and yes I could see it in dude’s eyes that the song hurt. Real Bad Hurt. I picked up the phone and on the other side of mobile call was Prashant.

"Well Punjab has lost 4 wickets for some paltry score of 34...”
I could almost see despite the distance being about 100 kms the wry smile on Prashant’s face. He knew I had my inclination towards Punjab if any...But that news brought back the smile on our Dudes face. He was a 'Dil Se' Supporter of Chennai.

But before he could say anything. I cautioned him..." Good that we dint try to reach by match 8 pm otherwise it could have been worse...though the accident is not that bad. But then who knows."
For the rest of the journey we were pretty much quite except the address searching part. After reaching Mysore we searched the sankranti circle after circling for one hour. Left....Right...Dead End...Straight....Take left...I don’t know how many we took turns. I think Mysore was too small a city for a dude from Bangalore. May be we were taking lefts and rights after 1 km whereas the actual turns were only after 50 m. Funny part was we reached our starting point after one hour. Match was almost over by then and we saw Chennai winning against Punjab. Poor Preity couldn’t give her famous hug to any of them that night. I would have loved to just be a part of that team to get a hug. But here I was searching the Sankranti circle. But finally some luck and Prashant helped us to reach the place and have some dinner.

We reached his home and before even he could start the chat session I was off to sleep. Some dreams of PZ I believe. Some calls and missed calls and SMS ...important ones..Who cares when you are in dreams of PZ...I slept like I had never before. Oh..By the way did I forget to mention about the Car. Well it had many dents and the ploughs had done the ploughing on the car at three places. It would be around 5-6 thousand..That was our estimate. I dint know a thing about it and was worried about the money owner might take and the banging he might give.

Next day we went to one of the most sought after campus in India. They say the best in the business, a training center of Infosys at Mysore. Well I don’t know what training they give over there but I could go through the swimming pools and Pool tables Multiplex, unique architectural buildings, Some cricket, Huge Library, Basketball grounds, Tennis fields...Etc.Surprising thing was there were too many visitors like us who had come to see the campus .Soon it will start giving competition as a tourist place to Mysore Palace.

As an outsider I felt thats what infoscians are getting trained in. Living life king size. But one could sense that this was only the Cup, Coffee was elsewhere and we didn’t know how it tasted. That was a topic of discussion as well amongst, Cup or Coffee which is more important. Nothing came out ...Only like Hen or egg which came first.

Then we started off back to Bangalore, again targeting the finals of IPL. This time we left early and I decided to try my hand at the already banged car. If I hit again what’s the fuss. Not much to increase the expense. Best chance to try out my hands.

I knew what gears brakes and steering could do, so only thing I lacked was what all three together can do. Experience started off with the initial hiccups while changing gears when the car swirled and so did the heart of Rajneesh. He was on the mobile and whenever I was changing the gears, he looked as he was on hot tin. But soon the anxiety died and he calmed. After about half an hour I could drive without dude jumping and even bothering to stop talking on mobile. Soon he forget in his chat with I don’t know who that I am driving for may be first time and I also gained in confidence. But since it was my first drive I was a bit slow and we lost time.

We got the Bonnet and bumper checked and came to know about the huge expenditure that further slowed down our dude’s spirits and his speed as well. But we did reach before the finals and saw RR win and poor Chennai loose. That further dampened the spirits. Shane Warne had literally chopped RR off...of course this time it was Rajneesh Rai and not Rajasthan Royal...It was a memorable trip and yet a dampening in physical , financial and spiritual sense. I can’t say my mood was better after the journey, as the bills are yet to be settled but I enjoyed the overall stay and journey to the max.

Welcome....!!!

2008-06-05T14:12:00.004+05:30

Everyone....
Primariliy this blog will share anything from everything under the sun that can be of interest to anyone. But to start with it will be a preview of my interesting life experiences.
But as I said ...I dont like any restrictions ...so there will be no limit on to what the post topic can be..from Personal..to technical ..to fiction...to poem..to anything.