Tuesday, July 12, 2011
It happens a trandom...
I take a left turn and now I am onto the highway and should concentrate on the road…but who cares…this is my daily travelled path…I know it…and it knows me…so let’s dig a bit deeper. What do we look for when we pick up to read something…love story…well I must share this at this very point that I was in Ajmer this weekend and at the Railway station Wheeler’s stall was looking for something that can be finished in 6 hrs. I am not that frequent a follower of books and journals so I asked the owner for some latest bestsellers. He said bhaiya sau rupaye wali dikhau ya fir fiction me…initially I thought what could be in that category if not fiction and guess what…love stories by Indian writers…like Chetan Bhagat, Tushar Raheja etc. fiction of course and there were fifteen of them. Though I am fond of reading love stories but not such cheap ones which come at the price of sau rupaya and at the rate of one every weekend. I want quality so this is what I should produce as well. Now what is good quality and what is not? Is it the use of rarest of rare words or the use of right figure of speech? Or the thought, the subject, the emotion or the sense of humor? Well it’s a blend of all. A prose is not written at one go. Many revisions and editions are done before something is actually ready. And I know so little literature that I can’t even think of reaching within 100 yard radius of the epicenter of conclusion.
I am in the office parking lot, reached just in time which is very rare of me, as I am fond of getting late…because this way I save some extra time from getting wasted. Overall what I believe is that there is uniqueness in my perception of things and I want them to flow through the minds of as many as possible…see you later.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Being Scolded
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Riders on the road #2--Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Dehradun-Mussourie-Delhi
Our first halt…at 9:00 hrs in Muzaffar Nagar where we took our breakfast. Life had started its daily routine and people were on the road now. Temperature started raising hence the air density decreased which reduced the fluid friction and we accelerated from Muzaffar Nagar to Roorkee. We went on to touch Haridwar at 11:30 hrs. There we took a dip in The Ganges at Hari-ki-Paidi…the occasion being Mahakumbh. When you are stripping at a public place it is always embarrassing but once you go through it and get inside the water…oh God!!! It was chilling…you cannot feel anything else but heaven…specially when your brain…which was covered with a 4kg helmet throughout the journey…is boiling. KK had a strange reason not to join us in the thrill…according to his story nobody in his family can take bath in The Ganges for 6 months after the marriage of a family member…can you imagine? Anyways thanks KK for looking after our stuff when we were relaxing in the holy water. All the tiredness dissolved into the river and we were recharged.
Then we started for Rishikesh. Taking Shikanji and Ganne ka rass at intervals to beat the heat and traffic. Next project was to find a place to stay.
We had to cross the river for that and the path was through Ram Jhula. Nice experience of riding through the iron suspension bridge made in 1939…it was shaking under the influence of anabatic wind…the displacement being negotiated by the quad-directional suspensions.
We took a non ac room for Rs.1100 which is much more expensive than usual but we had no choice as it was the cheapest available and we had no prior bookings. Then we had our lunch in half a century old Choti Wala Restaurant. The food was awesome because we were much more than starving by then. The clock tower had the hour hand at 5…and I didn’t even bother to look at the rest…coz we needed rest.
We woke up at 19:30 hrs unfortunately missing the Aarti of the Swargashram…. I took out my maiden Capri, Ankur in his bum chums, Nuts(Abhishek) in pajamas and KK in jeans…none topless…went to the ghat and relaxed for sometime enjoying the cool. KK again trying to be as far from water as he could. We took some snaps and came back to the market.
Firangis are absolutely sanki people. We saw a lady sitting beside a beggar and asking him to train her how to beg. That poor fellow overwhelmed by her mere presence so close to him was shaking…though it might have been the happiest moment of his professional life. Well we went on not bothering whether he could transfer the expertise or not. Then another strange thing…a man with a collection of antique coins on sale had a 20 paise coin which he was selling for Rs.5 only.
Next morning was devoted for rafting. Got up early, had poori bhaji at Choti Wala and crossed Ram Jhula for the pick-up. Yogender who was going to be our raft captain came to take us. He had to pick some more people from his camp after which we moved on to Marine drive…our starting point for rafting. Got ourselves into the rafting gear…listened to the ultra important instructions…took some snaps…and took off.
It was a moderate stretch so we practiced for some time. We were instructed to follow commands like forward, right back-left forward and vice versa, fall in-go back, join T etc…to pull someone into the raft and how to float in water with head upside. Only I and nuts had done rafting before so it took others some time to synchronize…Ankur has always been a quick learner but KK was the clumsy one. We were 8+1…the captain.
The command was ‘Forward’ and we rowed into “Good Morning” the first rapid. Rowing my friends is not so easy…it challenges the arms and back…do eat well before going for rafting. Then came “Black Money” another mild rapid. Mainly the command during a rapid is to row forward. “Cross fire” was the first splashy rapid. By now our rowing was synchronized. There were around 20 rafts moving together as a team…one after the other maintaining a distance so that we don’t crash into each other during a rapid. In still water we usually came closer. Splashing water…passing comments and having fun with strangers. Sun was bright and shiny so it was getting hot…so why let it be so…down I went in the river…nuts followed…then Ankur and guess who is the next one…KK…breaking all promises and not bothering about any rituals he was down inside
The Ganges living life to the fullest. “Three Blind Mice” coming ahead…we were pulled back by the other guys who were sharing the raft with us. First mice…rowing forward with full power…nasty river hitting from all directions…yet crossed it easily. Second mice again the same behavior…this time we lost and the mice won and splashed us twice. We were exhausted but had a plan for the Third mice…we dodged it rowing with less power and letting it push us out…well we didn’t do anything but it happened so. The next rapid was the most interesting one for me…”Body Surfing”.
Captain said u can jump in water away from the raft and swim through the rapid…nuts asked are u going?…I said yes and jumped…swimming in a fast moving river is so effortless but u must have life jacket on because there are numerous whirlpools in the rapids which can engulf you in and squeeze life out. I was floating towards and away from the raft to maintain an average distance… locomotion was provided by the current. I never went into the raft for the next twenty minutes…others joined in and we had a photo session.
On one side Ankur with one rope in hand…me and Nuts on the other side holding the other belt and rowing was not required anymore. We were simply pulling the raft along. There are patches of sand at the river banks at regular intervals. On one such patch there were some people taking sunbath and our eyes lost their virginity…Firangis again. We took a halt half a km ahead of the exhibition for relaxing our enervated (ciliary) muscles.
After Shivpuri a series of grade iii rapids laid waiting. “Return to Sender”…and we were ordered to row hard…there was a curb in the flow towards left with an elbow on the right. One of the rafts got stuck in the elbow because they were not rowing hard enough and were returned to the sender. Then came “Roller Coaster”…grade iii…up and down…left and right…water splashing from all sides…this is what was happening to the raft ahead of us…what happened to us I don’t know…as we entered into the rapid all I remember was that my captain shouting ‘forward’…and we screaming ‘cummon…yess…aaja…iskiiiiiiiiiii’ rest is censored. Somehow we crossed it. “Golf Course” was a similar experience and then “Club House” in which we didn’t have enough power to even shout. We arrived at the camp of the other four members of our raft…dropping them we rowed on.
For the next half hour we were all in the water including the captain this time…only KK was left on the raft. He was making videos and taking snaps. Then came the most daring rapid of all…the anonymous rapid…it seemed to be a very mild rapid but there is a hindi saying ‘Savdhani hati, durghatna ghati’…and so it happened. Ankur couldn’t entrap his leg in the raft for some reason. We were rowing forward…with him sitting on my left…suddenly…he was not there…he had accidentally misbalanced and fell down…and within seconds floated away from our raft…it still seemed ok because he was heading towards the other raft but he missed it and couldn’t catch it…he didn’t get any help because there was only the captain on that raft who was sitting on the opposite side…Ankur drowned…1…2…3...where did he go? Why isn’t he coming back up?...4…5 seconds over and he emerged out…sigh of relief. The rapid was over by then and he was easily pulled in. He was actually trapped in a whirlpool but the life jacket saved him. No rapids from there…slowly we moved forward…but the anabatic wind was hitting hard on the exhausted raft of ours…so we quit half km before our destination and bid goodbye to our captain Yogender.
Suddenly there was screaming somewhere around…and a lifeguard emerged out saving somebody. We were busy making a Shivling which we had to leave in an almost complete state because the police walas forced us to leave the bank.We took lunch and went back to the hotel…changed our clothes…took our bags and left for Dehradun. The meandering highway…green on both sides and the high trees didn’t allow the sun to torture us.
On the way we stopped to take some sugarcane energy and also some water but we couldn’t find the later…strange isn’t it?
Then we cruised on to stop at Lachhi Wala.
It’s an artificial stream flowing with different levels of deepness. Inside water again…and that too with a bed full of pebbles hurting the toe…too much now…so we left the place at 18:30 hrs and decided to go to Mussourie. Hilly road…dawn over…with no street lights…it was adventurous…and adventure is always risky. Ankur was riding, he followed an Alto…then I took over and followed the same…the Alto left us mid-way and we were on our own…then came an Ambassador and guided us through to Mussourie. At the starting of Maal road we met an agent who helped us get the room…much cheaper this time…just for 500 bucks. We took dinner with loads of chicken and slept concluding one long and memorable day.
Next morning we checked out the hotel at 10:00 hrs…had breakfast…and then climbed to the site seeing point by the trolley. It was cool there so we spent some time.We returned back to the hotel after having number of sessions of photography. Then we started the long journey back home. From Mussourie to Roorkee non-stop. At Roorkee we took lunch in a dhaba and drank lots of water. Relaxed for some time and even took a half bath under the hand pump. Then started again and kept on moving till we reached Ghaziabad. I could feel all my bones and nerves and so did they.
We were in a position that every km took a lifetime to pass…and the increasing traffic tested our patience. Left Ankur at Shipra and then moved on from Sector 62 to 37 and Amity Chowk with Nuts…then he diverged to Greater Noida and left me on my own from there to Malviya Nagar. At home when I first saw my face in the mirror it seemed as if I am coming from a coal mine. I took a long long bath and light dinner after which I had a deep deep sleep…I was actually floating in The Ganges again.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Engineering Lessons Part 3--The Secret
I never knew all this…its only a nexus between what I thought and what I got. Had I known the secret I could have been anything and everything which I can imagine myself as…and only knowing the secret isn’t enough…you have to practice it…which my friends is far from possible to some people and impossible to others(most of them)…its completely your choice what you believe in now onwards…just remember that far from possible is still achievable…and I am just trying to believe in this fact…that is why I have related it with my story…and I want you all to believe in it and may good things happen to you as well.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Engineering lessons Part 2—Living alone is hell.
Its an all time fact that marriage in our country is mandatory for every citizen…not because its in the law but because it’s a social compulsion. But why is it so…? Why is everybody so eager to sentence life imprisonment to two approximately innocent souls before they commit the crime of ruining each other’s life…first get punished and then get crooked…harsh. But the saying is still very true…”Shadi ka laddoo…jo khaye wo bhi pachhtaye, jo na khaye wo bhi pachhtaye”.
It was the end of first year and I had screwed up everything. First year results…shameful, physical exercise…nil, diet…improper. I was living with an unhealthy mind in an unhealthy body hence an unhealthy decision was taken…of leaving the college hostel. I was not the only one to leave the hostel but since the decision was late I had no partner to share a flat with. So I began searching for a reasonable PG and I got one. Rs. 2500/- for a room and 3 daily meals per month. Good enough…Get, Set and Go.
“Living alone is going to be so productive for me…studies, exercise and guitar, everything with no one around to disturb or get disturbed…I am going to make the most out of myself for the first time in my life.” Such was my mindset when I started living alone. I was excited…getting up early in the morning, get ready, take breakfast, go to college, come back, take snacks and tea, go to the room, take some rest, do some strumming, take dinner, study and go to bed. There was no problem with this routine but I could continue it only for a week, all the enthusiasm started fading, I started skipping my breakfast due to laziness, getting late for college, reach back really tired and sleep for too long…no more music in life, open the book but studying wasn’t necessary anymore…wondering why? I could not have discovered the actual reason if I had not taken that unhealthy decision. There was no one to appreciate, no one to motivate, no one to compete with and no one to compare. Life is meaningless without relativity. If you achieve the ultimate in something you will lose interest in it because there is nothing else to work upon. If you are running alone in the race, why would you run? Hence you will start slowing down, start declining and eventually get destroyed. Well practically its not that facile…you will definitely start living again before you die. And the solution is…you should find a partner.
Man is the only social animal…strength or weakness? It’s both because every coin has two faces. Being social man can extract magnificence out of dust…that’s strength but man can’t live alone…that’s weakness. One must have somebody to take care of…no matter how much that person irritates you or how much you hate him/her…if you are spending your life with that person you can’t stop yourself falling in love with him/her…its human nature…there should be some shoulder to rely upon, somebody who would get worried for you, who would long for you if you are not around, who would listen to you, who would understand, who would irritate as well, somebody whose cute activity would make you giggle, somebody whom you can fight with, in front of whom you can cry and not feel embarrassed, somebody with whom you can be YOU.
Whatever your taste may be straight or non-straight you have to find a partner for yourself. Right now I am living with my friends but its not going to be this way for too long, everybody will get settled down and have their own families. I know that I can’t live alone so very soon I need to find somebody who can tolerate me for the rest of my life…and whom I would also happily tolerate. The search is on…
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Try
All through our school life we learn then we move on to pursue a degree…academic or a sport or some art and we learn more but as we grow older we find it difficult to learn new things. We don’t see our parents…who are in their 50s now…use even half the functions of a normal mobile phone or sit on the desktop and open a WordPad…what excuse do we hear for things like such?...”I am afraid I might damage the machine”…’damage’ opening a WordPad…ha…don’t be afraid…come on…at least give it a TRY. Even after hours or days of motivation and even if you demonstrate them the procedure and even make them practice it they will not be able to repeat the same thing all by themselves the next time. They really don’t require it…why exercise the rusted grey matter when things are going fine?
Learning is a habit and believe me there is no age limit for it…the only limit is us…as long as we find the need of learning we keep on…and as soon as we get settled in our lives we start avoiding to learn new things. As time flies by we start forgetting the process of learning and even if we make an attempt to start something new we get frustrated too early and stop making efforts…and we accept the universal excuse…’its not the age to learn such a thing’.
Many of you may be wondering what the ‘Process of learning’ is. People learn so much in life but they don’t learn how to learn. It’s a fact…and only a few may accept it. Well…try, try and try again till you succeed is the tagline…and it goes with all age groups…it only demands more time and trials from the oldies as compared to the youngsters. When you start something new…you definitely won’t be able to do it at one go…you break it into pieces of exercise and start from the most basic…practice continuously…and try and reach to the next level every time you feel confident about the things learnt so far. Don’t get frustrated…try and enjoy your mistakes…laugh it out…and do it again…the brain never refuses to learn…it only needs some time, some more attempts, some motivation of course and the most important…some margin of error for the initial phase. Every time you stumble…repeat the drill and keep on repeating until your mind starts getting stressed. When under stress…entertain your mind and try to gain confidence…or take a break. It won’t take more than ten days to learn the most difficult piece if practiced continuously…or even if it takes fifteen days it’s not bad…just don’t leave practicing. The path is hard but the destination is harmonic.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Anticipatory Anxiety
I don’t know if any of you do or ever did it but I used to waste my time and spoil my health doing it, it was my habit and guess what? …. I didn’t know that.
Thanks to Dr. Gupta…a biochemist who was recommended to me by my cousin brother who made me realize it. I used to think a lot….about what happened throughout the day…about what may happen tomorrow…about what could have been better…about how can tomorrow be a better day for me and for my frenz. Why did I think that way…may be because of lack of satisfaction or contentment…may be because I wanted to be something more than what I was…somebody more happening…somebody more lively…but where was the life…partly in yesterday and rest in tomorrow…today being pissed off.
It was the time when I used to prepare for competitions and healthy and regular studies was more than crucial to me. Yet I was unable to avoid wasting time. Whenever I used to sit taking a target of 2 hours continuous studies…oh I am so much afraid of even remembering that time…I would get so lost in my own virtual life that I would even forget blinking my eye lids. The book is open, my eyes right on top of it, my hands around it…my concentration at its peak…but my brain is playing a jig-saw puzzle with the neurons making pictures of all possible circumstances, proceedings, situations, occurrences, developments, changes, junctures, actions and conclusions…all far from real life. And thus I wasted two most decisive years of my life.
When I first met Dr. Gupta I was really irritated coz I had to wait too much long…and all the time I was obviously …thinking…and I had completely exhausted my brains out…there was nothing else left to be sorry about…but when he opened his mouth I found another thing to be sorry about…why…”why the hell did I come here?” Wasted three complete hours to hear that shit…first thing the doc said after examining my tongue was…”Dude you are absolutely normal…the only problem with you is anticipatory anxiety…”
“What?”…I said.
“Yeah…i.e. you have a habit of living in the future, trying all permutations and combinations of the way events can happen in near future or trying to re-live the past.”
I said—“I do not understand what you are saying.”
He continued…”Look son…answer me honestly…don’t you think a lot? Don’t you keep on asking yourself that I should have not done this, I should have not done that, should not have said a particular thing and should have said something else instead…maybe I hurt person X, maybe I would have entertained person Y more and stuff like that?”
I was completely puzzled to what he said and could not accept it as truth…it was loathsome…it was annoying…yet another reason for being sad and worried. It was easy to decide…I am not going to that place again to waste a single minute to listen to a moron like him…but a far corner of my mind believed in it…what if it was all true? I gave it a chance…a thought…and guess what? A miracle did happen…he was right…word by word. I was losing my health because my thoughts were too unhealthy…which created anxiety and troubles for my stomach machinery to work properly. That was the diagnosis not the treatment.
Very slowly and very gradually I could get rid of this disease…I had to tame my brain otherwise…I had to first make myself realize and accept this whole thing and then get out of this habit…it was like quitting smoking.