The journeys - The final one

I got bored of writing about my journeys. I don't want to fall into a boring pattern. Anyways since i promised, I would give you a very brief overview of my favourite journeys. I should have thought of it earlier. Anyways, Enjoy!!!


No.7 Pitalkhora: 25Th December'2007. The trip is special because it was the first trip with all the friends from office. It was a blast. Getting drenched, the caves and the photography. Getting god damn tired and coming back to office the next day.
The most special moment.... well i cant tell you my girlfriend will kick me for that.

No.6 Mahabaleshwar: Awww!! was the first word which I blurted out that morning. Bewda party, I mean ganda bewda party at Deepak's house last night. India not making to the second round of the world cup. Slept very late. Next thing I remember, a hard and well aimed kick from Deepak. "Nidhi called we are going to Mahabaleshwar, they are reaching in 20 min?" It was morning already? When was that planned? and in 20 min I was squeezed in a car between Deepak and Shweta di and actually was heading to Mahabaleshwar. The best part the awesome drive from Nilesh (on the road and on the boat), the strawberry shake, the dance at the table top.

No. 5 Puri: A pure family trip. I, Dad, Mom, Didi and Bhaiya. The beaches, the sweets. The temples. Above all the innocence at age 7. The best part, we almost missed the train to Puri. But we made sure that we didn't miss anything after that.

No. 4 Lonavala: The day was spent in Mahabaleshwar (as mentioned earlier), the dinner at Nidhi's house and plan to drink in the night. The heart said not the usual drink. Let's make it interesting. Let's go to Lonavala. Asked a cousin and asked a school friend. They both were game and here we go. 10:30 in the night we left. By 11:15 we were out of Pune. By 11:45 I and Ashesh(my cousin) were standing in the middle of nowhere and Deepak and Gagan(friend) were pushing closer to Lonavla on his mean machine (you got to see it to believe it). No phone signals. Suddenly our bike started and after a while we found Deepak and Gagan pushing the bike backward after about 15 min ride. Deepak would have killed me with his fury. Then at around 1:00 am all four of us were standing on a police booth trying to explain that Gagan is a relative and we are going to meet our sister in Lonavala. Bribed the officers and finally off to Bhusi dam (Deepak correct me if I am wrong). The place looked like a haunted mansion. It felt noone ever lived there and yet the whole place was intact. The eerie feeling was getting to our nerve. The ruffle of leaves would make our heart skip. Change of plans, no bhusi dam. The tiger valley is good to sit and chat and drink. After a while we heard the growling. Was it a tiger well they call it the tiger valley. The sound of dry leaves breaking as if someone is walking. Walking towards you. Eyes were searching for pair of dots shining in the dark. When Deepak kicked start his bike and gave it a full throttle, even the dinosaurs would have made a run for their life. Next stop a graveyard. I had enough for the night and convinced everyone to head straight to Pune. With the first rays we entered Pune with Deepak twice falling sleep and almost falling off the bike. Quite a journey. Just loved riding Deepak's bike and seeing him infuriated when I did something wrong.


No.3 Daulatabad A bunch of office going friends, fearing rain, left their homes to conquer a fort which has never been conquered. All of us were having a tough time. Daulatabad fort was a reflection of our worries and our fear. It needed to be conquered. The lesson which i learnt that day has kept me going till now. When you stand in front of the problem it seems big, huge and unconquerable. You feel very small and are afraid of the rain, the mud. But when you decide in your heart and when you see yourself standing atop of that problem, a different kind of energy takes over. After gruelling times, after tired limbs, after millions small steps. After everything bad which could happen, the best comes. You are at top of the fort. Yes! Yes! you have conquered, you have reached the destination. Now, its the time to enjoy the view. The whole world is at your feet. The journey is even more special when your girlfriend walks toe in toe with you. Supporting and asking support. The bonds which matters gets strong.

No. 2 Vasihno Devi - Kud A group of 8 people left from Hyderabad after completing their MBA, bagging a decent job, with lot of dreams and a pinch of pain of loosing each other in the maddening race. The destination was Vasihno Devi. Dead in the winter season. Not the wisest of choices but the best. The trip to Kud was a day earlier the trip to Vaishno Devi. Thanks to a very sweet friend, we were very well taken care off. The Kud had snow mountains. The chill, the snow, the sliding, the falling. Wow !!! It just rushed through my mind and I realized that was the best time of all the times. I even saved a friend's life. He he. The trip was special not only because of the white snow, the waterfalls or the mountains. It was special because we were celebrating friendship. We all were from different parts of the country. We spoke different languages. We met each other in different circumstances and each shared a unique relationship with each one of the gang. The only thing common between all of us that we never liked to loose or give up. The Vaishno Devi, well we sat almost for 5-10 minutes in front of the pinds. No one in front us or no one behind us. Then we left back for Jammu and then to Hyderabad. Next day in college canteen and all news channels were displaying "Due to extreme cold weather, the Vaishno Devi Yatra halted", "2 people die because of cold waves". Well! we were lucky aren't we??


No. 1 Delhi - Bokaro (Rajdhani Express) No temple, no historic places, no beautiful scenes, not the comfort of your family, no .... nothing. A simple Rajdhani Express and a simple journey from Delhi to Bokaro. It was special for reasons which I cannot share with you all. I cannot because I don't know how true love can be expressed in words. I cannot because i don't know any word which would do justice to her eyes. I cannot because the flow of hair still leaves me spellbound. I cannot because I promised. True love never needs word to thrive. The feeling is too strong to keep you grounded. I cannot forget her eyes. Her eyes which I came to know that night, were meant for me and yet i knew that this was the last time i would ever see myself in them.

The journey's - Part III

A bus full to Mysore

A mini bus full of relatives, old and young, successful and unsuccessful, shaky and determined. The destination: Mysore. Been to Mysore before and seen what needs to be seen. Reason why i like this journey was to see everyone together and having fun. The small differences, the usual worries everything bad seems to vanish amidst the smiles and wisecracks.

Always spend time with your relatives, they are much more than you think of them.

The Journeys - Part II

Devghar

Devghar is a very important place in Hindu religion. Lord Shiva (The Destroyer) is worshipped throughout the year. The city thrives on the tourists who visit the place. You will find head shaved (except for a small pony) pandas roaming, chatting, fooling around through out the city. Sometimes i wondered, whose population is more, the pandas or the tourists.

My earlier trips to this place have been a total disaster, i hated this place. The cramped up streets with vendors literally shouting in your ears to buy their products. The pandas, hovering around for any new face and attack them with their usual dialogues. The rubbish thrown on the ground, the religion on sale, everything. I just loathed that place until this trip.

I, dad and mom went to Devghar to thank god as he was kind enough to land me up with a job. A job which i was not thankful for. In such circumstances, you are screwed. You cant say no, there is not a chance. Not only you fall short of parents expectation but it is seen as an act of challenging the existence of God. Never ever go on those line of discussion with your mom.

After checking in, i and my dad went for a walk. He took me through the busy and narrow streets of Devghar. The smells of jalebi's .... hmmm. When that walk finally came to an end. We were near a lake and the darkness was taking over. For 23 years i dreamt about it and it happened. Dad and I had a heart to heart talk about various things. Sitting on the banks of the lake, the smell of sweets and the sound of evening aarti. I was getting cleansed, I was getting aware of how much my dad cares and how much he sacrificed. I wanted the time to freeze and the waters to be still. I lost track of time. I was trying to fight my tears and was about to give up when, we started walking back to the hotel room. I felt, he was feeling the same. The sleep that night was carefree, fearless and proud.

The next morning my dad woke us up all early. I mean 3:30am early. By 4 I was sleepwalking to temple. Cursing everything which came in my way. I assumed that it was my dad's big plan to cut out the crowd. Well actually it was but also, there is a special aarti which happens every morning. By the time, we reach temple, i was almost awake. I entered the doors and i saw heaven. There were 8-10 people in the vicinity. The temple was clean. Suddenly, i realized that no one is trying to make a living at this hour. The smell, i just loved it. The people singing the hymns and there was some kind of energy which moved me. I don't know what, where or how. There were tears rolling down my years. My head was bent in respect and in devotion. A question kept coming and going "Why cannot be it like this always?". Why ? Why do i had to see a old lady fall twice and get hurt before managing to enter the temple? Why do i have to see a very educated man in rags and doping and abusing the world and telling the harshest of truth? Why ? Why?

Why can't be a god's place be a god's place? Why is it needed to be invaded by human beings? Why? Why do we have to spoil the sanctity?

By the time we returned, I was a different man. Cleansed!!!

The Journeys, Part I

Thanks to my dad, i started exploring India at a very young age. He has been kind enough to take me too a host of places. Although i have believed that more than the destination, what matters is the journeys. There have been quite a few journeys in my life. Today, for some reason i want to write about some of my journeys. I am not a critique but i would like to list down my favorite journeys in descending order i.e. the best would come at last. Hope you enjoy it.


BOKARO - HYDERABAD
The trip happened after my 1st year when i was returning from Bokaro to Hyderabad. The reason why it was special because throughout the journey i never felt in control even once. The God/bad luck/devil whoever it was kept telling me 'I win', 'I win' throughout the journey. I left from Bokaro on 9Th October for Hyderabad. I remember the date cause two days later was my birthday. The journey plan was to go to reach Vishakapatnam and then catch a bus to Hyderabad. Easy isn't. Not even close!

The journey was planned two days b4 so got a wait list ticket. I was sure the tickets would get confirmed as the wait list was less than 10. Two days, the ticket got a RAC, didn't get confirmed. In a RAC ticket two people have to share a berth. My partner turned to be man with stinking feet. I was more than happy to leave the whole berth to himself. Forget sleeping, i chose to stand/sit whole night near the door. Finally, when train reached Vishakapatnam the clock was screaming 7:30 in the evening. I forgot to mention the train was late by almost three hours.

The best part starts now. I reached the bus stand, stood in a queue for the tickets. With some difficulty i was able to communicate what i want. The time of departure was closing by and i realized, i am not aware of the bus no. and ticket revealed nothing. The ticket was in a W language. The search begun, 45 min to departure, i asked a conducter standing by, 10min of conversation with him, animated body language, raised voices but the barrier of language was a big mountain to overcome. 30 min left and i started approaching shopkeepers, travellers, sweepers, anyone who would know even a bit of hindi or english. Sanskrit would have also done but it didn't strike me at that point of time. My eyes kept on scanning the tickets over and over again. Where is the god damn number. Looking at the buses coming and going to understand the mechanism of thier operations.

After a while, everything was getting blur, except for a new face, a number plate of a coming bus, the ticket and the watch. Will i be able to ever know which was the bus? 5 min left and among all the buses at the stand one of the bus was my destination. What should I do? I wondered. Can I stand at the exit and stop all the buses. Should i go and book a room in the hotel. In my thoughts i gave up the idea of catching the bus. I was planning what should be my plan next. Tring Tring and i recieve a call. Call from a friend who was a Hyderabad localite. The instant feeling was to ignore the call but nothing better to do, i took the call. He wished me happy birthday and asked me about my whereabouts and whether i will be in Hyderabad on my birthday. There was a mysterious smile on my face. I promised him that tomorrow morning I will reach Hyderabad and give him the biggest party of his life.

Yes, I reached Hyderabad next morning and I found out the bus. How? Well i am quite sure you would have worked that out by now.

The next journey in the next post. Gotta Go!!!

The Honeymoon Period

Almost 22 months back i stepped on A'bad soil for the first time. I was excited and joyous. Finally i have a job, i have a source of income, money will never be a constraint again. There were so many dreams to fulfil and so many mountains to conquer. It must have been the breeze which made me a bit nervous, full of confidence and extremely motivated. Never experienced that breeze again.

One month of induction, I and Guru came out as the best recruits. The coveted department of CMD was up for the grabs and we got it. Met Mr. Murli Mohan (my first boss, till now the best one), who became our guide, mentor and teacher. He took one whole day induction sitting inside a room. That was quite something (reason: well u have to be in our department to understand it). Then finally, we were introduced to our work. Nervousness turned into confidende and anticipation was replaced with an ambition.

However, on outside, girls were not that beautiful (well i came from Hyderabd via Bangalore and Pune), surprisingly a quality pub/bar was missing although people here can drink at any given point of time, the mall culture was abysmally low. The landscape however was mesmerizing, the rains were heavenly and people were very friendly. All the good qualities of a small town. Everything which feature in our post retirement list and well, i was starting my career.

Coming back to the office, I and Guru were enjoying every bit of it. We were a young group and very diverse people. We were the rocksters. It was some time. The heart says," Let's go back there", however the rationality cuts off the thought. The office was the best when our superboss was not around. To some people dismay we have played cricket in our office and I mean the actual cricket with a bat and ball.

The flat which was alloted to me came with three roommates. Guru, Ayaskanta and Kandarp. Only thing common in them was the fact that they were boys. Through the day we awaited for our dinner time when we had the maximum fun. We were the only group of guys who would go out and bring a parcel for dinner and eat at home. We seldomy started without one of them missing.

The rains dried up and the sun started beating down. Time took its on course. We were becoming professionals. Politics, attitude and bootlicking dimensions were being added to our personality. The basis of friendships were put to test every evening. Friends were seen as stepping stones to success. Emotions was just a tool to get things done. Surely, honeymoon period came to a halt. People started complaining and I ask them! Whom do you blame? The time, company, boss!!! It was there when you came and its still there yet you are the only one who is complaining? Why? Have one ever thought about it? To raise a finger is the simplest thing to do. Ain't it? Blame it on someone else?

I hope that people reading this blog would keep the office at office and everything else aloof from it. Dont loose people around you just because u are ambitious or any reason. Time to go!!!

Meet my friends

The incidents which took place over last few days have made me to realize that i am blessed with quite a great bunch of friends. They stood by when the sun was beating down. That is all which matters. Good times bring in a lot of people but few stand by you when sun dawns on you. Today i want to introduce all of you to my friends. Let's start.

• Deepak Kumar aka Kali: This guy is very concerned about his complextion (his skin is dark) but what he fails to realize is that its the heart which matters & his heart is where it should be. He would be the only guy who has contact no. of each of our batchmates in senior secondary. That is no less than an achievement. The first thing which you will notice about him is his smile and his smile stays on his face even when the darkest of adversities haunt him. I cannot post his photograph here cause all the photographs of his has his girlfriend in it. He is as good a rider (bikes, cars) as he is a person. He dreams of being a rally racer someday and i am pretty sure that he will achieve it. The best moment i had with him was when he took only 4 hrs to take me from A'bad to Pune. If you want to know more about him or his thoughts you can visit his blog at whimsicalacumen.blogspot.com
  
  
  
• Shweta Singh aka Deeds: The most dangerous yet one of the cutest girls i have ever met. She cooks the most amazing of chickens. In school all of us were very sure that deeds would be the first one to get married. Today, she has the largest number of degrees under her belt. Every rakhi i am reminded of her, although most of the times i dont call (quite a bad habit, need to express more). She is a kind of girl whom you can trust for any situation - good, bad and ugly. Yes ugly too. She has had a rough ride in her life but hats off to her for keep fighting. The best moment i had with her was all the fights which we had and she running away to ....... (let me keep that a secret). Keep rocking deeds.

• Karthik Subramniam aka bambiya: Ever since my brother narrated me life @ bombay i have a very uncanny feeling about that place. Not comfortable with anything which has a mumbai background. Karthik is an exception. His looks are quite deceptives. His exterior would trigger all kind of assumptions which he is not. In Hyderabad, during my MBA days, he was there with me in and out. We have watched 5 movies in a day. Have drank all night. Got into a fistfight with each other. Two of us have consumed a whole large pizza. We have dreamt together about the future. Boy! those were the days.
  
  
  
• Melvyn Sharpe aka rockstar: This guy gives you some serious complex man. He knows everything. Cooking, computers, painting, bikes, computer games, awesome drummer and guitarist. He not only knows them, he rules them. By now, you might be getting an impression that he has long locks, dopey - total cool. Nah! not even close, he is a devoted christian, proud father of two sweet kids and a husband. Yeah! now you start getting the complex. In all this his feets are still on the ground. A real gem of a person. The best time spent with him are all the dinners at his place. Chicken kept coming and coming and your heart never said that its enough.

• Sandeep Shelke aka dude: My best cigarette partner ever. Matured and wise at his age. If you are in a spot, spend sometime with him (of course with a ciggie) and you will have some solutions in hand. In A'bad he has been our lifeline. Helps in any god damn given situations. He is blessed with quite a good looks but alas have not met girl of his dreams. But then, his dream girl will be no short of perfect. He is the best pool player i have come across (although i have not come across many). The best moment with him are the cricket matches on Sunday.
  
  
• Kiran Agale aka jai shri ram: Mr. Kiran Agale is one of the most intresting charachters one would ever come across. My vocabulary falls too short to describe him. But one thing for sure he is blessed with a monumental patience and calm. You can toss him any god damn thing with words on it and this guy will read it. He is also the only person in department who keeps the printer busy. The best moment i had with him were making fun and bitching about Anoop Pathak. I hate him for arguing stupid things for me. By the way he has a question which i need to answer and well please help me if you can. Does a cockroach bites a bed bug? Please if you can. The refree is Kiran and the looser is Anoop.

• Anoop Pathak aka bakar#$^*: He is the biggest feku time has ever created. I mean ever. Shekh Chilli would have undergone training under him. He would never ever live upto his promises. Never. His excuses are drop dead hilarious. That is the best part, cause he is the one who makes us all laugh and smile. There are two things which everyone should learn from him. One - self discipline and second the attitude towards life. He is getting married pretty soon and right now is on a spree to save money. All the saturday night parties with him are quite memorable.

• Manoj Gaggad aka Mamu: He has a very serious problem, his stomach keeps on coming in way to attend any kind of social gathering. I would not have heard anyone make that excuse so many times. Mamu is blessed with a beautiful voice and he always let us have it. Sometimes in bus, one wakes up suddenly to his songs and sometimes in ur apartment you can hear his songs coming from the opposite building. As of now he is the hot property in his family and girls after girls after girls are waiting in line to tie the knot. Mamu is the senior member of the team but he never let us feel that in a bad sense. But he has been always there to support and guide you in any endevour. He goes into some serious thinking once in a while but you should see him when he is in a good mood.

• Amit Kumar Verma aka Verma saab: If someone from Volvo Bangalore is reading it then yes you are right, he is the one. He is the guy who gets crazy after drinking. I have faced it and i would warn it dont ever try that in public places. His acumen in numbers and formulaes are beyond any adjectives and his acumen with girls are equally on the negative side. Till he was with us in our department, the days here were the best. Now it has lost all its sheen. I hope for his sake he finds a girl soon who could take his madness and craziness.
  
  
• Gururaghunathan aka khatta: The southern spice of our group. My roomie at present. Only he can dare to live with me. He has a grace of doing things. Only the best will do for him. We shared a commom hobby of eating like a pig till i fell in love. The dinner at our room, after a hard day of office has been quite memorable.

• Rupali Malpani: She hated me when she first met me. I had all the attitude and false pride. Then i fell in love with her room mate and Rupali had to compromise for her roomies happiness. This is our story. Short and sweet. She is extremely selective with her food. She would eat a masala papad but without onion, hot and sour soup without mushroom. I wonder how the waiters keep a track of that. However she is a very sweet girl and means a lot to me. She always keep me updated on my girlfriends mood. Also, she is the only who understands me and i am the only one who understands her (he he he..... this is what we keep telling each other to pull my girlfriends leg). If someone special from pune is reading this blog, you are a very lucky man.
  


• Shivani Sharma: Delhi, Parontha, Chole Kulche, Rajma Chawla, Dilli Haat, Aloo Chat........... all the common theads between us. We both can spend weeks on just how good is the food at delhi and how much we miss them. She was on a recieving end of a prank. The prank labelled me as the guy not to be trusted. After my girlfriend she is the one who just relishes any dish prepared by me. She is few of the girls who are very frank.
  There is a whole big list of more but my hands and i hope ur eyes would be begging to stop. Each time i wrote a name and thought what to write, i felt blessed.

A million contradiction

Sometimes, I pray to Ram
Sometimes, I pray to Allah
Sometimes, I wear a turban
Sometimes, I wear a cross
Yet, I am an atheist

Sometimes, I eat steamy idli
Sometimes, I eat spicy chola
Sometimes, I eat sweet kheer
Sometimes, I eat thepla
Yet, I dont have any taste

Sometimes, I am the greenery of farms
Sometimes, I am the brown of the desert
Sometimes, I am the blue of the ocean
Sometimes, I am the white of the snow
Yet, I have no color

Sometimes, I despair in the crowd
Sometimes, I feast on the cosmic space
Sometimes, I have the company of few
Sometimes, I embrace a stranger
Yet, I have no family

Sometimes, I am orthodox
Sometimes, I am in vogue
Sometimes, I follow traditions
Sometimes, I break them
Yet, I have an identity

I wept when Mumbai burnt
I leaped when Dhoni lifted the cup
I hated when regionalism took its own course
I triumphed when Bindra hit the bulls eye
Yet, I am a common man

In this time of disgusting politics of regionalism and morality.
In this time of terrorism and corruption.
In this time of insecurity and desperation.
I AM PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN & A INDIAN ONLY!!

Milestone on milestone

Milestone on milestone,
I kept travelling,
Numerous faces haunt me,
Yet the destination seems farther and farther.

Each milestone seemed like an end,
Yet every milestone embarked a new journey
A Journey to unknown,
Hoping next milestone would be the last.

I see carcasses of unfinished journeys,
Footprints of many who travelled this path,
Yet i keep on walking
Walking in a hope to know my destination.

The sun made me thirsty,
Yet few offered me water,
My legs wobbled and bled,
Yet few offered me a lift.

New faces came to my life,
They loved, they pampered,
Yet i have to leave them with a promise,
As another milestone seemed an aswer to my questions

Milestone on milestone will pass
I will still be walking
Leaving my footprints
For others to follow.

Back to square one

Then,
I was alone,
I was confused,
I was afraid,
I was nervous,

And thus, I was blessed with friends,

Recent Past,
I had friends,
I was confident,
I was fearless,
I was in heaven,
I was short on cash,

And thus, I got a job,

Now,
I have my boss,
I am bored,
I am tired,
I am alone yet again.

And thus, I AM BACK TO SQUARE ONE.

It's been 25 years and I am still standing where i had started. Only the experience of the yesteryears gives me company. In the hope that process of re-building would provide an interesting story and thus, i decided to write a blog.