Pink (city) se panga nahee lene kaa....

Its time for one more trip......this time we were off to jaipur......this was a 3-4 hr drive from delhi...so arnd 8 of us set off in a couple of cars...............this weekend was supposed to get exciting as we started off early in the morning....Delhi - Jaipur highway was a smooth going....as even gurgaon stretch was not chaotic as usually it would be.... considering it was early in the weekend.......

sooon we were entering rajasthan and it was breakfast time.....we stopped at a resort, where we were welcomed by a sight of a group of rajasthani singers and dancers giving shape to their artforms...scenic surroundings set apart the place and soon we were zoomin on our way again...............Jaipur beckoned us soon and we started off at amer fort..which housed asia's largest cannon....it was said it was used only once and the cannon ball fell some 35 kms away in a village.....the fort was amazing built.....to resist any sort of attack with its multilayered defences........on the outers it was tough and rugged looking whereas inside it was an architectural delight with aesthetic designs and structures. we could only wonder at the opulence of the maharajas who inhabited it....

after the fort we went into the interiors of jaipur .....where a heavy duty splash of pink greeted us......here every house building and shop are supposed to be painted only in pink, even shades are considered to be violations...we saw the hawa mahal...which supposedly built for the royal ladies to see processions goin on with out them being seen outside......we saw the jaipur gate, the Le meridian hotel at jaipur....the jal mahal which was in quite a dilapidated condition.........in the evening we went to the jaipur musuem...which was closed ...but we did bribe our way in....which helped us as we could enjoy the place in isolation.......this was another example of jaipur 's aesthetic beauty......but time kept ticking away and we had to move on...

next was Chouki daani..this was a village resort....which had simulated village settings of rajasthan with village people taking care of you with all graciousnessof a host....it had a entry fee..otherwise once inside it was as if you had stepped into a world of rustic rajasthan....it was a village fair with puppet shows, camel rides, gameson offer, palmists and fortune tellers, magicians, people sellin lot of accessory stuff, rajasthani dancers dancing away to glory........it was one heady cocktail of village vivaciousness....after tht it was time to have food.....food was real sumptous and they were really being the hosts, forcing us to have more and more of the food....we ate till we felt we would burst and till they left forcing us to have more...but food was really tasty with lots of ghee, butter and lots more healthy stuff......we whiled some more time enjoyin the rustic scenery of rajasthan and playin marbles and asking palmists and looking around the different facets of the village fair...

the next day it was wrappin up time as we made shortworkof other visual treats to be enjoyed......also we had rajasthani traditional sweets....which were really yummy and good.......and after munch time it was shoppin time and ladies were real excited.......and people splurged....and why would they not..with such beautiful items on sale.......and by the time they were done....it was time to leave.....the way back wasuneventful except th average speed went up by 20 kmph and we were reacing with different vehicles......and we made it back safe and sound....and it would be business as usual from tomorrow...but this was one experience to treasure.....

On the top of the world

Does possessiveness have a place in love???? i had this thought today that if u r really in love with some one you would not mind them being possessive about you. the best example would be a mother who would never complain that her child takes up all of her time and it does not like her leaving the child alone and go elsewhere. If this kind of love could come in a relationship then there would be no happier couple than them.

but how qualified am i to talk about love..... have i ever been in a relationship. but i have arrived at my idea of perfect love. lemme explain

When I would hold the f ace of my beloved in my hands, my hands should tremble because I will be feeling I am holding the most precious thing in the world in my hands. And face of my beloved should be at her relaxed best because she should feel that she is in the safest hands in the world. That for me would be Love.

Then I would be on the top of my world. :)

A trip to the Rocks...

This trip was something I was looking forward to. But it almost got cancelled due to variety of reasons that don’t need a mention here. But I am really happy that it finally happened.

We set out on a Innova at 10 pm on Friday zooming through on the highways on breakneck speed. The driver really had an penchant for speed. He went on a minimum of 60 even on hilly roads. He seemed to be taking a pride in all the accidents he had precipitated while he was driving a car, a bus, stories about which he related to us. With movies on the dvd player and endless talk we never knew how time flew and we were soon on the rocky terrains. Himalayas with their breathtaking ambience were before us. You can keep watching the view of mountains stretching out in the morning sun.

We reached the hill station Muktheswar. It was a really sleepy and relaxed town. People walked about with out any hurry. They were laidback in everything they did. Their manners were cordial and their patience seemed unlimited. I wished I could set up an technology park in that place and recruit these people and spoil and destroy all the calm and tranquility existing in that place. Put them in an deadline mode.

We checked into the resort. Well those people do deserve a special mention. They just fell over each other to care for the customers. There was a warmth in the way they behaved. They provided us with anything we asked for especially food and stuff with out sulking like the hotelier staff of the cities or putting up absurd rules to trouble the customer.

Soon we were ready for the adventure sports stuff. First we went to a place called chauthi jaali. Here a 500 ft cliff jutted out of 25000 ft mountain . So when u stand on the cliff and look down it is all empty down there u look straight into a valley thousands of feet deep. Quite scary imagining the possibilities. So it was near this place we were gonna indulge in our adventure sports.

First was Rappelling. This was about going down a rock .on the whole it was easy. But the first few steps do scare you heavily. U just have lean back going perpendicular to the rock with a rope for support with only air under you and depths of rocky cliff waiting for you below. So taking those initial steps when u shift from a vertical position to an horizontal position perpendicular to rocky slope is the toughest part. After that u will enjoy going down the rocks.

Next was rock climbing. This was tougher but was not as frightening as the first one. But when u are right in the middle of the climb it could get scary when you struggle for handgrips and footholds. But it sure is exciting. There are times when u have to remove your left foot from a foothold and put in your right foot there with only ur hands in small apertures in rock for support so in that moment when both ur feet are in air it does get exhilarating. This was great fun.

And towards the later part in the day we went on a night trek when it got dark. This place was absolutely dark when the sun went down. With the torch lights for direction we started out into the wild vegetation on the hills. There were places where it was greatly slippery and wet. It was imperative you don’t slip to your sides which were the sloppy hillsides. You could go rolling several feet down. But after doing this you cannot stop being excited. Then we reached the top. The view here was amazing. And the starry sky was a feast for the eyes. At that height the sky was much clearer the stars felt closer. But the best part was the Milky Way, which really looked like the highway to the heaven as described in the mythologies. This was amazing and you felt one with stars and amazed at your irrelevance in the vast universe.

And we came back to the resort and sat enjoying the view of sky in the cool confines. It really was a relaxing experience for the mind.

Next day all recharged we went for the River crossing on the rope. This was again exciting as you went your way tied to a rope and using the rope tied across the banks to cross a river, which gurgled past us from a waterfall. This was an exciting and zooming experience. Going across the rope as the river roared its way down hill was an experience to remember.

After that we spent the day on rocks as some of my friends spent the day going rappelling to greater depths. Then we had the view of sunset in the mountains which was an ethereal feeling also we watched the mountains of nandadevi, trishul and many more which left you wondering at the intricacies of the nature.

The next day we started for nainital. This place with its lake and mountains is a tourist destination. We enjoyed the boating especially the pedaling thing. The calm waters of the lake are so different from the seawaters I am used to. After that we wanted to go by a cable car to enjoy the view of the mountains and scenic beauty of nainital, but exigencies of time never left us with an option.

So after that great trip we were back on the journey back home. This was the only thing perhaps which left us tired. After the great experience and lots of photographic memories, which we managed to capture in the digicams, we were back to the daily routine of jobs and stuff and a mountain of work again awaits you. After this trip you sure are rejenuvated and raring to go for more and no mountains of work are gonna bog us down. Here we go.....

and if u wanna look at the photos here is the link....

The photos of the trip

Q & A Session

wel these are some of the questions i did wanna ask myself some day ....so lemme shoot...and lemme answer as it clicks onto my mind...this is as spontaneous as it gets..if at the end of it...it looks like crap...then iam deletin it......

• why am i bloggin??

thts a stupid question to start with..if i knew the answers..why would i be here..typing outall these cravings of ignoramus......

• wht makes me happy???

when iam happy..i get so lost in happiness tht i fail to realise wht is that exactly is making me happy...next time will try gettin to the exact reason......

• wht makes me sad??

i dont believe in remembering things that make me sad

• who is my best friend???

if only had i had an enemy life would have been interesting...damn i keep meeting so many good people that everyone becomes a friend and too much of a good thing could be dangerous ...since friends are good ...best friend is an dangerous concept tht i wish to steer clear off....

• who is my greatest enemy?

do u still need to ask this question dumbo......

• what is my aim??

aim aparatus theory and stuff should be confined to record books of perplexin experiments we did in our schools and colleges.....kal ka koi tikaana nahee..aim se kya karne kaa.....

• wht is the greatest evil stalkin the humankind?

all the evil was dead in the movie "evil dead" rt.....anything left was taken care in the sequels....aur kya evil bacha hain rey????

• wht next?

wht happened till now..tht i get worried about next.......

• whts the reason to party in life??

quotin someone( i dont know who).....life may not be the party we wanted to go..but now that we are here lets dance.....

• wht do u think u would do to make life exciting?

well i think i should learn guitar, i should learn salsa, i can also join an dramatics club...well thinking about this itself is exciting..since i have made life exciting by thinking alone..whts the need to do all tht???...ok lemme go and sleep..gdnt byebye..........

ok its done ...spontaneity stop...oh i feel lazy to read all the above stuff to check whether it is good or not.......iam just hitting the publish key.....enjoy the madness.................

mars and venus

they say men are from mars and women are from venus...............if its rt...did the earth belong to eunuchs????

anyways on a serious front.......are men and women so diametrically different.............logically speaking ............strippin out all the societal mores...both are human beings..........the differences if any should be as normal as between a guy and guy or a gal and gal........

but why does this gender divide comin..ok lets not get into women oppresion and differentiation and stuff now..it does not help complicating a complicated issue further .....rt.....

lets consider people from say upper middle class....people most likely to consider and bring up their kids equally in atleast most of the things...............and lets consider people who are in similar situations ..people working in say similar circumstances.............

after similarising so much..still differences do occur............well may be iam sounding too very ignorant.......but this is something to wonder about ...when people do react in alarming different ways...which can be generalised by only one logical explanation ...their gender...........

i thought when all the caricatures and stereotypes which we see in movies are exxaggerated generalisations...but imagine my alarm when i see them for real......u can guess that she will react in this manner and he will react in this way ...down to a T...........

thts wht is so boring about the whole thing.......gals never cease to surprise me..and iam bored by the surprises.......and few things are so obvious that u want to raise above them..and u just cant......

u will find that every gal likes choclates...every gal will be mighty pleased if u praise her(esp her beauty..existent or non -existent)...........lot many charecteristics..which everyone knows.....and so boring even to post here..............and every time i meantion this to a gal..she will invariably say...iam not like this...whereas she would be the same in 90 % of those things......some gal wud may be turn up at this blog.....and say the same thing..........

well iam not saying guys are good and great....we do have our idiosyncrasies.....cricket football or any sport will excite us more than anything else..........guys will think of adventure first sentiment later........guys may be more interested in gettin physical most of the times..........guys get most freaked ou after gadgets....................

but why are these generalisations.........why cant people be more varied , more interestin....it would be much more fun..if u meet some gal who cud atleast be different...good or bad is a later concern...........

but you see...iam thinkin just like all other guys do............damn these generalisations......

Mad race of the world......

Its funny how stereotypes are made...its funny how everyone gets after the stereotype of success.....

few days ago success meant goto USA get a green card .....come back marry a gal and goback ... settle there.....and it is still the same for some people...and these guys are in great demand when it comes to the marriage markets.............

but how times have changed.....the whole world is comin to india.........All the so-called benefits/attractions/advantages of USA or any other western country is now in india....that is ofcourse if u can afford it............

and it has happened silently.....and so very swiftly......... just like some one was moving the pieces separately , silently and suddenly the move is clear..the die is cast and the trap is clearly laidout in a game..............and everyone is partying now.........

and people who had no hopes in life are now making fast progress.........and at breakneck speeds.....

well well........ Iam not chronicling that here now..there are better books and authors who have done a better job of it........what i was wondering about was.......how have the stereotypes changed...i mean everyone does the same thing...as if its a golden laid out formula for success......

first u ought to be an engineer or doctor.......that is when u are into graduating.....once u r into engineering......u must be doin software courses irrespective of the branch u r in......once u r done with engg....u must write GRE/Gate...........i mean everyone is doin it..u ought to do it.......everyone who is worth his/her salt is advising you to do that.................

nowadays MBA is the buzz word.......with the media making a hype out of salarys of b-school grads...its the in -thing.....that is if u have crossed over the IT engineer thing...few days ago it was the most swanky thing...but now with every other guy whom you meet being a software engineer regardless of what where or how he studied...........it has become (or so it seems ) become passe..........

and we have number of people writing CAT tripling in 3 years............and fees for coaching institutes (offering you all and sundry type of CAT coaching) increasing by four times......and everyone wants to become an manager............and everyone wants to know the secret of cracking CAT..........iam not being dismissive....but people ought to know about themselves ......about wht they wanna do,....why they wanna do....about wht they want to do..before deciding on doing something.....they do it just because everyone is doin it........whatever..........whom do i wanna change....how many will i change....and why would i want to change them..................

these wry ways of world .....these are meant to be like this..........just because people are like this....people who make a difference...who are different ......are made to look special..and they deserve to be............kudos to those guys.....who have been different.....and who are responsible for India to be enjoyin these sunny days...........

IF NOT FOR THEM......wht would have these stereotypicalpeople done............hmmm......**sigh**...................

Rediscovering life

I am feeling fresh......i think i have got back something that i thought i had lost by a twist of fate. .........but it seems it was ordained that way. i have rediscovered my life. I was wilting away .....whiling away my time worrying over what i lost. but i cud not fathom what i was losing in the process. I was losing my life, perhaps the best days of my life.

I realise that life always need not be what we think is the best. after all......is not every life a script in itself, with no pre ordained formulas and ways to success. .........so what was i searching for???.............was i after a mirage...was i realising what was in my hands while i was searching the whole world for the "reason " of my happiness.

Why not enjoy life as it comes....and to be exactly precise....my life has not given me reasons to complain......let me not give my self reasons to fret over the lost time....iam enjoyin life after a long time..rather iam realising iam enjoyin it...and iam lovin it........

no regrets for what happened...it taught me so much about life and it gave me so many sweet moments to treasure and strong lessons to digest........and i did not lose anything relvant in the process and before i lose something lemme get over it and enjoy life ...and i have already started doing it................

I have rediscovered LIFE.

sleepy protest......

hey why dont people let me sleep even on a sunday ...gettin up at unholy hours on sundays and callin me and waking me up......now dont ask me whats that unholy hours meant to be.....it changes from week to week for me......

and i being the good boy.....try talkin to them .....and blabber lot of nonsense on the phone..............my jokes go real bad when iam sleepy.......but u just cant stop them........god help those who listen to them....:P

disturbed sleep means lot of dreams.......rather it means that u remember stuff u dream about.......and when u do that u feel restless.......dont even feel like u had a good sleep.....but dreams are funny sometimes, and scary at times....not in the horror movie kind of thing....but things u fear may happen do happen in our dreams and u wake up and realising its just a dream and u are at such an immense relief ..........some times u have sweet dreams and wake up dissapointed when u realise it was just a dream...........

its all that much better that u forget the dreams ..have a sound sleep.......no tensions and repurcussions in the morning............

anyways me feelin sleepy again.....should not waste this sunday...so here i doze off again.......hope no one calls me up to disturb my poor dear sleep...:(

ramblings......

well well...what to say.......weekends they seem to be so good........why do weekends end after all. ....but little do we realise that weeks total work is what makes weekend beautiful.....

today iam sorta retrospective........why not...lifes been eventful wonderful and bloody fool...thts for the rhyming effect.....from runnin after the college bus to taking on the traffic in delhi...life has come far.......joys and sorrows have changed......after all change is essence of life.....

thinking of change one thing that does not change is the effect of these traffic jams......oh wht a pain they are.....even as you are trying to figure out how to get out of the mess that lies ahead of you......comes the king behind you and starts honking as if u have been standin in his way on the wide highway with out being able to drive your bike........i feel like parkin my bike then and there and get down and slap that guy ......well my belief in my muscular abilities does keep me from taking that extreme step.........but what does he mean by honking the horn......is he the only one who has to go through the damn traffic ...everyone is at loss of ways to negotiate that messy stuff out there......

i keep talking alot to myself when drivin and its lot of fun......a lot of situational comedy does arise which keeps me happy while driving.......

there is a lot left to explore in my life.....and i need to do that.....no point in returnin to same things again and again especially when they seem to be movin nowhere........

and these days my bad moods are costin me a lot quite literally ...i read some where that when u r in a bad mood it is a good idea to pamper yourself...and pamper myself is becomin quite a costly affair.......i go shoppin to spruce up my moods and then instinct takes over and i end up buyin a lot........really i hate bad moods........

today was my friend's and room mate's birthday..........we had the usual rounds of celebrations.....this sweet guy deserves a lot more man.....such a nice guy......he is a really good human being .......nice to have him as my friend.......anyways this does make me realise that i have stopped making friends and started making acquaintances..people i thought of as friends ahd moved on with their lives, whereas i have had stopped doing so...defined my circle..and built up a wall around me........this does not quite work for me...........i need to reach out...have a good time..make people happy and be happy..after all thats what life's all about.......

thinking is again gettin on to my nerves.....i keep thinking too much.....much beyond the realm of possible .....explorin non existin possiblities which disturb me.........i need to stop this....after all ignorance is bliss........stop thinking and start livin......tension nahee lene kaa..bas dene ka......as munna bhai would have us believe.......

after a long time

hmmm iam back after a long time..on my blog.......lifes been quite busy....not much of time to blog even........lots of interestin things happenin in life......

life has not changed much as far as exact terms go....job has taken much of my time...and thats cornerin most of the mindspace also...so no point discussin work life....as nothin much novelty exists in that........

but missin my life at iit...those night outs...midnight coffee sessions at nescafe.....movie sessions lastin all the day.......sleepin at early morning and wakin up whenever i wish......its been really long since i went to sleep with out settin up an alarm........

how wish i cud dance my heart out..play cricket with intensity with which we used to play......all those things have taken a backseat......

one thing that has not changed is my source of utmost happiness.........my only enjoyment is caring for people who wont reciprocate........they actually dont need to.....its their choice.....but how long will i go on like this........does this have any meanin....if anything feelings are gettin stronger day by day as things are gettin hopeless on the other side.....where am i headed.....but if this is what makes me happy let that be......whatever is to happen let it happen..........i either come out of this stronger and a victor and as the happiest man on the earth....or let the flames engulf me all over.....this game will be played to finish...no steppin back now..............

Its fun or fanaa now........:)

A new journey

hey after a long time iam back writing a blog........lifes been wonderful in between.............joined a job...got busy..( not completely till now....to be precise .....)........and lifes settled into a routine....

In a way iam loving it....the point that iam makinga contribution, iam becomin useful....but life has become a routine..doin the same thing over and over again....its all in a time table.......i miss the variety of iit life..............

Weekends have become very special......life has not left much time for me to brood over things which make me sad.....and a positive attitude is the side effect......

Falling in love with my job is something that is happening slowly...and when iam fully into it..it should be exciting.......

Here i go with hopes aspirations and stuff like that..with lots of ambition..onto a new journey in my life......and

Im just lovinnnnnnnnnnnn it....:)))))

Is Life a Compromise?????????

Well i got this in a forward...the original author seems to have gone through a lot of anguish....and has poured it out through this.......whether I subscribe to his views is a different matter...but what he says seems to be something lot os people are identifying with.......well it is worth a debate......i would like comments on this........should life be an compromise like this???????????

She/He...And a love story

Friend: Happy birthday!
She : Haan...tha......nk yo....u...was just getting up from the bed.

Friend : Oh! That means I am the first to wish you!
She : Naa! He has already wished me at 12 in the night.

Friend : Who???
She : Come on, who else, Nitin.

Friend : Oh, ok. So, what's the plan for today?
She : Nitin told me that he has a surprise gift for me for my Birthday. And also we are going to Flower Show today. I am excited! I have never seen the flower show that happens in Lal Baug. Actually that itself is the most wonderful gift for me.

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Friend : "Did you go to Palace grounds all the way from Basavanagudi, to see Bryan Adam's show!!! Who accompanied you?"
She : Nitin

Friend : By the way, who referred your CV in SoCrates? I mean you don't know anyone there, right?
She : No, he forwarded my CV to one of his friends there.

Friend : I heard that the HR round interview went on till 8pm in the night. I think you faced difficulty in returning to your room.
She : No, he had come to pick me up. He came from his office, dropped me to my room and he returned to his room at around 11pm. He didn't have dinner also. I asked him to have at my room. Poor Nitin.

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Friend : If you are supposed to go home tomorrow itself then what about reservation?
She : I have told him, he will go to Majestic and would get it done, and he told he has some work in Majestic. That's why I am relaxed a bit.

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Friend : How was your written test in Philips?
She : I failed yaar. The day before the test I had prepared perfectly. Nitin had come to our room. He taught me the basics of embedded programming concepts. I was very confident only because of him. But something else was in store for me.

Friend : Then, what did you do on Sunday?
She : We had gone to see "Lakshya". He doesn't see Hindi movies. But as I was upset after failing in the Philips written test, he took me for movie. I was very happy and surprised that he himself decided for a Hindi movie, and he was very happy that I enjoyed the movie. And you know; we had dinner in Pizza hut. It was his belated B'day treat!

Friend : And, what was your belated gift ;-)
She : Gift!! I had given the gift on his B'day itself. I was the first to call him at 12 in the night, he was busy throughout the day, and somehow we could meet in the evening and I gifted him with a cute time piece with a nice quote on it. He doesn't have time sense, so my time piece must always remind him of this. That day he didn't give me any treat as he had to go back to office. Yesterday I had a fight over this, you know! Poor kid.

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Friend : Hello...what about our sari shopping program in Malleshwaram?
She : Listen, I will call you later.

Friend : You didn't call me back in the morning, so I called now.
She : Yeah, when you called I was in Koramangala, with Nitin. He was very upset in the morning. He had a fight with his elder brother. So, it wouldn't have been fair on my part to leave him alone. If I am with him in such situation very soon he comes back to normalcy. So I postponed the Malleshwaram program.

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Friend : Hey! What happened? You seem to be very happy today.
She : Why not? You know today is one of the most happiest days for me. Nitin got an onsite assignment in UK, for 6 months! That's why I am very happy. All of his hard work paid today. He had been waiting for this opportunity since long. He'll be leaving next month.

Friend : You will miss him.
She : Badly. I am so much dependent on him. I must thank Sanju, through him only I got to know Nitin. Without Nitin it would have been very difficult for me to stay in this alien city with no friends, relatives and on top of all, no job. He has been so caring friend all through my tough times in this city, he is so mature, so understanding, so trustworthy...a true friend.

Friend : He loves you yaar.
She : I know.

Friend : And you? Don't you love him?
She : I don't want to.

Friend : Don't tell me. You also feel for him.
She : I know yaar. He has everything that I expect in my dream-life-partner. I know I can never get a true life partner like him. But I don't want to commit.

Friend : What is stopping you? I really don't understand. When Miya-beevi are razi kya karega kazi?
She : Please...don't say like that. I never told him that I love him or something like that.

Friend : Is he a fool not to understand your feelings which are so clear from outside only? Poor fellow, don't leave him alone.
She : I have told him everything about my family. He knows how orthodox my parents are. They can never expect me marrying a guy from a different caste. They trust me. Come what may, I will not hurt my parent's feelings. I cannot imagine also. Now they are happily searching a guy for me in my native place.

Friend : Hmm, I don't understand at all.

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She : This Saturday I have to go home, a guy is coming to see me.
Friend : Oh! Is it? Good news yaar. Your first interview! Wish you all the best.

Friend : Any guesses, who is he?
She : Please yaar. I am least bothered and least interested. For the sake of my parents' happiness I have agreed for this.

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Friend : What about the interview, I was expecting your call actually?
She : Nothing so special. I didn't like the guy's attitude. I told my parents clearly. My parents are very understanding and so they too told me that they won't go ahead with this matter.

Friend : But still you should have analyzed properly.
She : I shared my views with Nitin. He had called me the next day. He didn't suggest me anything. He didn't tell me to say "yes" or "no", he didn't preach what is right or what is wrong. But after talking to him I was satisfied that whatever decision I took was right.

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Friend : Yesterday your mobile was engaged for more than half an hour. I kept trying, but I slept after 11pm.
She : Yeah, I was talking to Nitin. He is very much worried about my marriage. He is concerned whether I would get a guy of my choice or not, whether I would be happy with him or not. I was very sad to know this. But I am helpless. I pacified him and convinced that whatever my parents do, that will be the best for me, so no need to worry.

Friend : How Nitin will feel after you get married? Will he not be upset all the time?
She : Time will change everything. He will start living again. Was he not leading a normal life before I came into his life? It's all matter of time. Even I can't do anything other than pacifying him and myself with these philosophical statements.

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Finally " She" got engaged with a guy of her parent's choice (with her "yes" of course). She is in touch with both Nitin and the new "him" regularly through chatting in Yahoo Messenger.

Finally " She" got happily married to "him", very soon converting Nitin into memories, but deleting the memories was slow and almost impossible for Nitin.

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Why do girls do like this?

She needs him when she is new to the city.
She needs his help in finding out a PG or hostel for her
She makes him prepare a good-format-CV for her
She needs him to drop her to the venue of a walk-in interview
She expects him to collect all the consultants' mail ids
She needs him while preparing for the interviews
She needs his help in identifying HER skill sets, strengths and weakness!
She wants him to conduct a mock-interview for her!
She gives her yahoo mail id password so that he can forward her CV to consultants through internet in his office (in office hours!)
She needs him for boosting her confidence when she fails in the 1 ^st written test in her life
She wants him to take her to M.G Road , Brigade Road, Forum and Big bazaar
She needs his company while visiting all the temples in Malleshwaram on Vijayadashami, though he is not a believer of God.
She asks his opinions on importance of marriage
She wants him to be a shoulder to cry when her parents force her for marriage
She needs his help in preparing her mind for the first interview with a guy
She needs his help in deciding about the marriage proposal
She loves to share her happiness with him when she gets engaged
She expects him to attend her marriage (Come on guys, he is a true friend of her!)

The guy does all this honestly, without saying a single "No".

He loves her.
He cares for her.
Whatever he is today; it is only because of her entry in to his life.
He treats her as his life.
She changed him.
It is only because of her, he is smiling.
It is only because of her, he has forgotten the past bitter experiences.
She is the first person in his life to influence him so much.
He was the " bhatka hua musafir" and she came as his "manzil".
He threw the cigarette in the dust-bin because of her.
He has cultivated a positive attitude towards marriage and family because of her.
She is the perfect Indian woman he has ever seen.
He keeps a photo of Lord Krishna in his purse now; only because of her (also it is her favorite deity!).
Weekends come and go without his notice; it is only because of her.
He stopped going to office on Weekends; it is only because of her.
Onsite project was his dream; he puts all his efforts now, not to get an onsite assignment but to get a job for her in Bangalore.

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The girl depends on the guy as if she never lived and can never live without him. Guy behaves as if he has taken birth on this earth only to care for that lady. She treats him as a shoulder to cry and he treats her as a puppy in a rain storm. She loves to depend and he loves to take care, finally they fall in so called "love", ultimately adding an unnecessary trauma to life. Girls want a perfect life partner but they don't want to hurt their parents' feelings, guys know that they can't get her but still they want to care for her(because they want her to be happy wherever she is and with whoever she is).Great! Or shall I say crap!

Or I think no need to be so serious about it.

She gets engaged, life goes on...
Long lasting phone calls become short and sweet, life goes on...
A heart which was used to "Good morning" SMSs learns to be happy with just the "Happy weekend" SMSs, life goes on...
No more "Unread messages" in the yahoo mail, life goes on...
No one to share coffee at "Barista" at the end of a tiring working day, life goes on...
No more consultants' calls to be diverted and life goes on...
He starts smoking again, life goes on...
He is still living in flashback, and no looking back for her, but life goes on...
He gets promoted, he is a manager, she is mother of two kids, and life goes on...
He is in his late twenties, happily married to a beautiful, understanding, mature, caring, broad minded wife! Anyway life goes on...
He LOVED her....but MARRIED another....One became the WIFE,,,another became the PASSWORD,,,...Still LIFE goes on and on...

Who knows, among these "Nitin"s someone will come up as "Cheran" (ace Tamil film director)and make a wonderful movie "My autograph" telling us of his unsuccessful love stories, or someone will come up as "Sudeep"( Kannada film actor turned director) who goes to his flashback after seeing this movie and then decides remaking this movie in Kannada, giving common people an opportunity to relive their past love-life at least for 3 hours, that too with their spouses, without any problem! Because there is " She" in every wife and there is Nitin in every husband (most of the times!). There are dumb spectators like " Friend" who are puzzled to see the whole episode between "She" and Nitin and just ask themselves " WHAT IT IS???" .

The trip to Vaishnodevi - part-1

Its been a long time since I had gone out on tour like this…….

Aah what a trip it was…..i had never gone on a trip so very unplanned…… never had the guts to do so…..whenever I went on a tour it was chalked out to last detail. But this time it was all different. I was never sure whether I would go even half an hour before I started on the tour. Suddenly a presentation came up on the days on which we were supposed to be on tour and I was ready to drop out. But surprisingly my prof agreed to postpone the presentation for us. God factor at work.

So we were off……ahoy….we set sail…( not literally)…..but we hit the first road block. The buses were full. It was peak time. 3 days holidays , exams time had just finished and auspicious days of pournami etc had all conspired to come together and we had scores of people traveling to vaishno devi. Just when things looked bleak, we got a bus , a pretty rickety one with just the number of seats needed for us. So we were over another hurdle.

The journey was a literal pain. The bus was so very old and badly maintained that I could not get any sleep. Even as people around me were snoring away to glory, I was just sitting there lying awake exploring the possibilities of escape, just in case if the parts of the bus decided to get disentangled. But as I realized me lying awake was a boon in disguise. I would have missed such beauties of nature. As the bus winded through Haryana and Punjab, in the full moon the view of vast stretches of wheat fielded were such a scene to behold. The gentle and cool breeze hit my face, the moonlight was mesmeric and I was in love ….all over again…with nature.

But again disaster struck. The bus as I was fearing decided to give in and we had a breakdown. We were struck in village in Punjab. As people were cursing their luck I decided to look and explore around. It was a pretty stereotypical Punjabi village. But it seemed to be filled with damsels. Every girl was a pretty one and it seemed that the kind of “discovering damsels in villages” kinda stuff they show in the movies seemed to be true after all. Ah ..how I wished I had been in that Punjabi village. But as all good things come to n end, bus was put back in shape….at least that’s what the driver thought and we started on our journey again.

Soon we had entered Jammu and Kashmir. And mountains on the horizon welcomed us. Snow capped peaks in distance were really a sight to behold. But all around us were armed personnel. There were bunkers all around, a soldier was stationed at every few feet standing around shops and houses, a few were searching the fields and a lot more. But the funniest thing was how people seemed to be not minding them. Teenagers were sitting around and chatting just a little distance away from gunned men. Children were playing cricket and others were going on about their businesses. I realized whatever may happen life had to move on. And these people have learned that in a bitter way.

as i was exploring the sceneries around our bus had different ideas. it decided to break down again and this time the driver decided it was useless. he got us into a passing bus which looked like theone shahrukh took in swades. And passing through umpteen security checks we were at vaishno devi. We had reached more than 9 hours late. the bus had started at 9 pm the previous night and we reached katra, which is the footstep of vaisnodevi at 6 pm the next day.Soon we had refreshed ourselves and we were joined by our friends who had taken the train route. And we were ready to start the trek to top.

The trip to vaishnodevi- part 2

Now came the most fun part and most memorable part of our journey. This trek involved climbing by walk 6.5 km walk to Ard kuvaari which had the garb gufa. And then another 6.5 km walk to bhavan, where we had the main temple. And then we had to go to Bhairon temple another 1.5 km up with out which the trip was considered incomplete. So we were ready and raring to go. It was really fun trekking with friends and by the time we started from the room it was 12 in the night and by time we reached the footsteps and completed all the formalities it was 2 am and we started our climb.

Though I am making it sound all fun, there were people who were going barefooted, some people going on with out a break, some people going on rolling. Different manifestations of bhakthi. Old and infirm people were also walking braving their failing energies. Lot many people were using mules, horses and palanquins to carry them to the top. And there were people who were carrying others on their backs.

As we went climbing, the air got colder. We had great fun. Going with friends has this advantage. You don’t feel the tiredness of the trip. Soon it was dawn and as the first rays of sunlight came down, we were greeted by the breathtaking view of the mountains. They had edges like some one had cut them smoothly with a knife. And when we reached the top the view below was simply superb. The valley deep down seemed inviting. I felt jumping down and gliding like a bird, only it was not quite plausible. I felt like sitting there enjoying the breeze taking don the visual delight available out there. But we had to move and we did.

We reached the temple and we were in a shock. We took our tokens and realized that our turn was not due for another 14 to 15 hours. There were people who were waiting for so long for their turns. They were sleeping all along the halls and the pathways. This place was a great leveler. However rich, poor or powerful or desolate you may be. You had to wait for your turn. We had to find a way out otherwise our plans for way back would have to be seriously affected. One of our friends was son of a major general in army. Army people had a concession here. People with army passes had a special entrance which reduced the waiting time by quite some distance. So, due to our friend our passes were made and we were able to finish the whole thing in another couple of hours.

As we went in, it was a very minute fraction of the second that we were allowed to have a glimpse of God. After finishing darshan we went to bhairon temple and then we trekked back down to katra, that is down to the place where we started. So the trekking part ended there. Even though we were tired it was the most memorable trekof my life.

The adventure of the journey did not end there. As we came back to board the bus for which we had already booked, we realized that, the guy in travels had made a botch up and booked the same seats for more than couple of people. In the melee that followed it came down that we were left only a couple of sleeper berths. So 4 guys came back in a double sleeper and of course that ensured a almost sleepless night for me. By the next day we were back in IIT and it was “throw the bags aside and get to bed” time.

So this is the story of one of the most memorable trips of my life. As one of my friends quipped “ in our very small life, we had done a supposedly big thing, we had visited vaishnodevi…..”

Women's Day....

What a spectacle has this become…I am not a great believer in these "days"..they seem ornamental for me….not much of a purpose seem to be served by them….but nowadays some of the marketing regarding them makes me laugh…

Just consider valentines day and women’s day ..these are the”days” which are marketed the most…ya of course they ought to be …because they are the largest gullible markets waiting to be tapped eternally…..but look at this year’s innovations……channel v has had women’s day celebration having bimbettes and heroines perform “xclusive” dance numbers…I don’t know what kind of liberation are these scantily clad ladies bringing about…only something of the summer kind of liberation…..and MTV proved that they think better of women..they seem to have decided women need eye candy also…and we have hunks all the day long…….all the bollywood heartthrobs baring their muscles for “all the gals in the house” to drool about…..and ofcourse we have all the romeos givin their “distinguished” views about women….so much for women’s day…..and women’s lib…

Now don’t accuse me of not watching the so called “meaningful”channels having debates with “eminent personalities from all walks of life” discussing about women and their role in the society…lot of them talk and more of them listen…and then switch off the tv and go to sleep…that’s whts been happening every year and every time..unless until another “day” comes along…and the circus starts all over again……

life is beautiful: another short story.....

This is next in the line of stories.....after a few days of my first story i wrote this one..this was a reflection of many toughts that were disturbing me.....a lot many ideas which culminated into this short story...my 2nd creation....

Life is Beautiful:....
Life really seemed to be beautiful to me. I was waiting in USA Consulate in Chennai to get my visa processed. Wait, before we go further, let me introduce myself. My name is Amir Riaz. I hail from Visakhapatnam. I had finished my graduation and now I had obtained admission in a reputed university in United States of America for my MBA. All the procedural formalities had been completed. Money was never a problem for me. My father had earned enough for me and few more generations to come. All that remained was the issuing of visa and soon I would be flying to the land of my dreams. I was on the threshold of realizing my dream. A whole new world awaited me.

I was shaken out of my reverie by a shrill cry. I saw a masked man holding a gun to a young boy and ordering others not to move. For a few moments I could not fathom anything. Then I could make out that this was some sort of terrorist attack. This guy was holding the boy at gun point and was moving towards the main entrance. Everybody stood still not able to decide what to do. The security guards were shouting at the guy to drop the gun. They were hesitating to shoot due to concern of safety of the boy and other people. That masked man was moving along with boy towards the door.

As the guy passed me a sudden urge came upon me to do something. A voice inside told me to attack the guy. All the thinking modes in me snapped shut and I did not know what I was doing. I threw myself at the man. He let go a few bullets and they whizzed past me. I don’t know if it was my good luck or providence, but the bullets missed be just by centimeters. Soon that guy and me were rolling on the ground fighting for the gun. Then the sound of gunshots filled the room and our struggle stopped.

Soon I was a hero. All the news papers, TV channels and all sorts of media were feting me. In between the entire melee I had shot the guy. Later investigations had revealed that it was a part of a much planned attack. My action had foiled it and rest of them were shot dead and some of them were captured. A ghastly attack on the consulate had been prevented by my bravery. Many news papers and TV channels interviewed me and featured me prominently. I was invited to chat shows, news panels and all other sort of things. They even recommended my name for bravery awards.

All this celebration lasted for a month or so. Soon the media forgot me and moved on to new stories as usual. All the revelry died down. But one thing refused to die down. It was the feeling that I had a killed a human being. This kept on haunting me. I was the sort of person who abhorred violence. Even the violence depicted in the films used to put me off. So the fact that I had killed someone kept troubling me. I had acted on the spur of the moment. But now the incident kept coming back to haunt me. I had frightening dreams in which that terrorist kept appearing. I lost the peace of my mind. My friends and relatives tried consoling me saying that I had only killed someone who was going to do something evil. But that did not help my cause. I did not think that was any justification for my killing him. I had taken a human life and this feeling kept troubling and torturing me.

This entire hubbub had resulted in my visa being delayed and my trip to USA was postponed by a few months.. I had lost interest in all other things of life. Soon I had grown a beard and I wore a ragged look. My parents were worried about me. I decided I had to do something otherwise all these thoughts would drive me mad. I decided to put these ghosts to rest. I contacted the police department and gathered details about the person I had killed. I had seen his face after the incident in Chennai. He had a pretty innocent face of a teenager. He really was a teenager. He was nineteen years old. His name was Abdur Rehman. He hailed from Hyderabad. He had run away from his house few months back after the riots in Gujarat and had trained with the terrorists before he was sent on this mission. I took his address and started for Hyderabad. I decided not to shave myself so that the beard would help me hide my identity from his people. I took a large amount of money which I intended to give to his people. I did not know if that would help mitigate my feelings but I decided to give it anyway.

I reached Hyderabad and went in search of his house. It was quite a task searching for his house. Wherever I enquired about his address I was greeted with queer looks and suspicion. With great difficulty I managed to locate his house. It was quite a stereotype of a middle class house. When I knocked on the doors a middle aged lady opened the door. When I enquired whether it was Abdur Rehman’s house she gave me look which seemed to me like it had a mixture of anger and vexation. She looked pointedly at me and asked “Are you from the police? How many times will you people bother us? We had told you all that we know. What else do you want from us?” She was on the verge of breaking down. I explained to her that I was not from the police. I told her that I was Rehman’s friend and I had come to give them something he had wanted me to give them. On hearing this, the expression on her face changed to one of happiness and she welcomed me into the house.

The house was not much furnished. Barring a few chairs, there was not much furniture in the house. It was a pretty small house having a couple of rooms. The lady asked me to sit on a chair and she rushed in to fetch water for me. She shouted to someone inside the kitchen to cook lunch for me. She rushed hither and thither and served me some sweets. Then she started enquiring about her son, about what he had done all the days he had been away from home. I managed to make up some stories about him. She showed me his photos taken in his childhood. This guy had a very innocent look on his face. She showed me different medals and awards he had won since his childhood. This fellow had quite excelled in his academics. A very intelligent life had been cut short by me. This realization sent further spasms of pain in to my heart. She spoke lovingly of her son. She told me stories about his school, the way he used to talk, the way he used to sing songs. She said that she had stopped seeing daily soap operas now because her son did not like them and he used to scold them always. She told me that I was his first friend to come searching for him after his death. All others seemed to have thrown him out of their conscience. Only police came to question them about him. Soon she was crying and deploring why she could not stop her son from going the way of violence and to his death. I was unable to speak a word. A mother’s anguish at the loss of her son was too much for me to bear. The fact that I was the reason for that anguish did not make things easier for me. The lady got up and went into the kitchen crying. I sat there transfixed not knowing what to do. A delicate voice shook me out of my dilemma. It called out “Bhaiyya”. I looked at the direction of the voice. A teenaged girl in purdah was standing beside the door. She said “ Bhaiyya ,I am Rehman’s sister. Did he tell anything for me before he went away?” I was at the loss of words. “ Yes, Yes,” I stammered “ He told me to tell you that he loved you very much and he asked you to care of your mother and father after him”. She sighed and said “My brother used to be the most active person in our house. He always used to keep us in splits with his jokes. After he has gone all the happiness in our house is gone. Now only silence reigns in our house.” What she said seemed to be true. A pall of gloom hung about the house.

Then an elderly person walked into the house. He was very simply dressed. A sort of person you would very commonly come across on the road and you would perhaps not throw a second glance at him. “My father” the girl said and went inside the room. I got up and introduced myself to him. He greeted me affectionately. He had a very gentle voice and he spoke very steadily. He told that he worked as a clerk in a government department. He enquired about the purpose of my visit. When I gave him the money he looked at me suspiciously and said “If you are from the organization which made my son a terrorist and want to pay us this money for that you can leave my house right now” There was a firmness in his voice when he said that. I explained to him that I was not from any terrorist organization. I told him that his son had worked in my uncle’s shop before he went away. And my uncle had wanted to help Rehman’s family when he came to know of his fate. I had made up this story a short while ago. But he replied that he took pride in his work and he did not want to accept anyone’s charity. For all I could try I could not convince him to accept the money. By then the lady came and invited me to have lunch.

I had a very sumptuous lunch. It was a very simple serving but it was quite tasty. Their affection overwhelmed me. They treated me as one of their own. I was touched by the sincerity in their voices, the purity in the love they showered on me. When the lunch was over I chatted for a while with Rehman’s father. He spoke of how he had hoped that his son would do great things in life; how he had dreamt that his son would achieve great heights in pursuit of academic excellence. But now his death had put paid to all those hopes. Then it was time for me to leave. I took the blessings of the lady, bade the young girl goodbye and took leave of them. But the Rehman’s father insisted on accompanying me up to the station. We took a taxi and started for the station.

All the way I kept thinking about them. Rehman’s face kept flashing before my eyes. I had destroyed an object of a father’s hope, a mother’s love and a sister’s affection. I had destroyed hopes, dreams, and aspirations of a whole family. I had committed murder, not one but effectively three. My mind was in a state of turmoil. I realized the magnitude of the folly I had committed. I did not know what I could do. When we reached the station we got down and walked into the station. I decided that I had something to do before I left Hyderabad.

I walked up to Rehman’s father and looked into his eyes and told him the whole truth. I told him that I was the one who was killed his son. He looked at me benignly and said that he knew that. He also told me that everyone in his house knew that and it was in fact his wife who had first recognized him. This shocked me. I was dumbfounded at their kindness. I asked him “How could you people be so kind and affectionate to someone who had killed your son, someone who had destroyed your dreams, hopes, and aspirations? How could you forgive me?” The man looked at me with gentle smile and said “Who am I to forgive you? What folly have you committed for us to forgive you? It was not you who had killed my son. My son had died the day he took up the gun. The people who had propagated politics of hate for their selfish ends have killed my son. People who have killed fellow human beings just because they belong to another religion have killed my son. People who take advantage of the anger of downtrodden to fuel their agenda of destruction have killed my son. My son has met the fate of the person who chooses the wrong way. He had to die. You just did your duty. You saved the life of many people by your act of courage. I admire your bravery. I am proud of you, son.” This was the ultimate accolade I could get for my act on that fateful day. All the adulations and bravery awards did not matter to me. This was without parallel.

As I was coming back to Vizag on train, I realized that peace reigned in my mind. I had realized the real essence of beauty of life. My life was really beautiful.