Cup of Love

Vidula was slogging her way to the cubicle, she knew what was ahead of her for the day... another boring day in office. She unlocked her workstation and opened her email, the first thing she did in office everyday. She drank water when the emails where being refreshed, the folder named “IMPORTANT” didn't have any unread emails, three years as an IT employee she knew her manager's emails were indeed “IMPORTANT” and required special attention. She was automatically logged into the office chat and status changed to “Available”, her task bar was already flashing with an instant message from Varesh Balachandren.

Varesh: “Hey Good Morning! What doing?”
Vidula: “hi.. GM! Just checking emails.. what news?”
Varesh: “Actually... one important matter...”
Vidula: “Hmmm... tell tell”
Varesh: “One girl...!”
Vidula: “Only one??? ”
Varesh: “hey mokka.. I m serious!”
Vidula: “O.K...tell!”
Varesh: “Saw a girl in cafeteria...”
Vidula: “when?”
Varesh: “Actually one week back... daily going to cafeteria to see her”
Vidula: “ whats her name?”
Varesh: “Don't know!”
Vidula: “Which project? ”
Varesh: “Don't know!”
Vidula: “Waste fellow... One week and you didn't find it out yet?? you call yourself a GUY! ”
Varesh: “Hey... actually only after you asked I realized it... till now I didn't feel like knowing all these details about her!”
Vidula: “hmmm hmmm ”

Vidula knew varesh from school days, they wen to same college and now working in same company. From what vidula knew about varesh, it never mattered to him if he had a girlfriend or not, he wasn't the desperate types, he looked but never went overboard for a girl, but now she felt may be this one was an exception.

Varesh: “First look made it all, I was not bothered on who might be around talking to her. All which mattered was the sight of her. Those expressive cute smile, hands of hers playing in air while she was busy expressing herself and with the breeze making her hair lift up from her shoulders. With a bag hanging from her left shoulders and a brown or maroon chudidhare she was wearing. I must be insanely stuck on the sight I even forgot to move from where I was standing upon. It was a ordinary evening, until this scene before me unfolded. I had no idea why I had gone to canteen that particular evening, which was not part of the general routine of mine. Colleague beside had to pat me, while I was awestruck, to help me come back to reality!! Actually, what I was seeing was a reality too, it was just a scene of a girl who didn't do anything out of ordinary, she was just having a simple conversation may be with her friend. Why is it that it felt like something special I was looking at? Not many guys in that place were looking at her either, which means she was not that great chick!”
Varesh: “r u ter?”
Vidula: “you have typed so much, let me finish reading it!!!!”
Varesh: “ok ok”
Vidula: “VARESH!!! r u in LOVE?? ”
Varesh: “I don't know... but listen... This clear scene made me go to canteen often, I had no other thought or I dint know anything about her. I have no idea what made me do it. But I did know with my meager skills of reading a mind that

• Here is a girl who speaks her mind out.
• She was not afraid of speaking what was on her mind to that person.
• Completely transparent mind which is one thing I thought of myself too.
• It then stuck me when a person is this very comfortable talking to other , she must be friendly enough.”

Vidula: “You don't know her NAME yet!! and who was she talking to??!!”
Varesh considered himself to be a smart guy, but the questions vidula was framing made him look stupid, he wondered, why isn't vidula interested in things I know about her!
Varesh: “I wasn’t feeling bad on not knowing anything about her. May be, things like this I have never seen or experienced before. All I knew was that I enjoyed watching that girl that I thought. This was more than enough to make me feel happy. I did not want to be blank like this again, today evening come to cafeteria I'll show her may be you can help me out!”
Vidula: “You know this is called LOVE at first sight! ”
Varesh: “May yes or may be no... I don't know... just come ok.. 4.30 cafeteria!”
Vidula: “yes yes sure!! but your treat! ”
Varesh: “we will decide it there... bye!”
Vidula: “Bye bye Lover boy!! ”

When she closed the chat window, she noticed an unread email in “IMPORTANT” folder. Work consumed vidula's entire noon, it was almost 2.30 when she finished her work and replied to that email. She was hungry and eating alone was even more boring, she scanned around for a company. She noticed Ananwika sitting two cubicles away lost in her work.

Ananwika was one year junior and Vidula had to force ananwika to join her for lunch. The girls occupied a table in the far corner of the canteen.
Vidula: “Hey don't work too much ok?”
Ananwika: “Nothing like that...!”
Vidula: “You okay? You don't look so good...”
Ananwika was about to reply but she paused and took a long breathe, her eyes became moist.
Vidula: “Ananwika... what's wrong?”
Ananwika tried to smile but she couldn't stop the tears rolling out of her eyes. “Why is it happening to me?”
Vidula didn't respond but was patiently waiting for Ananwika to continue.
Ananwika: “I fell in love with a guy in college, he was smart and intelligent, we loved each other a lot, he was everything to me..but..” her eyes were red, she burst into uncontrollable tears, Vidula could see intense pain in her eyes, she knew what was coming, all vidula could do was to hold Ananwika's hand. “we broke up after college, he went to do MS, we did stay in touch but not for long... after few months he said he didn't feel committed to me anymore...! My world came to a stand still...! But I couldn't let my world fall apart, I joined this company, started working hard... things were coming back to normal. But Fate wasn't done with me... Love hit me again in a unusual way again with a guy who I didn't even look upon once even though we worked on same project. Everything in my life was dull and gloomy, I was vulnerable, every decision I made I was not sure, that is when he came breezing in, he provided me the support, he was always there making sure I did it right. I had suffered once, I didn't let myself fall for his charm and smile, I knew what would happen if I failed, I didn't have the strength for it.

Ananwika's lips curled into a smile but her eyes told a different story: “But he proposed me, I was not in a position to agree his proposal but he persisted. I thought may be this is how I heal myself, all his action completed me, I felt happy... I didn't have to dream cause the reality was much sweeter and better than dreams... My cup of love was full again...! but fate had its own way of teaching you that dreams are better way to live... It plucked him away from me in the form of his parents... I was lost again, somewhere there is no life, no color, no hope, no path, no love... may be my soul is dead... I don't know... I went back into my shell , I didn't know who to trust... I immersed my self in work.. My parents are planning to get me married... I don't know if I can stand another failure...!”
Vidula was in loss of words, she didn't have slightest idea of what she should say to her...
Vidula: “Don't worry you will find love again!”
Ananwika smiled back at her, Vidula knew that smile had so much of pain and she understood what it meant, “Smile, even if it's a sad smile, because sadder than a sad smile is the sadness of not knowing how to smile.”

Vidula was back to her seat lost in work until Varesh pinged her.
Varesh: “Its almost time... meet you in cafeteria!”
Vidula: “ya ok!”
Varesh was waiting for Vidula in the cafeteria, he had chosen a table from where he could scan the entire crowd. He passed vidula a cup of coffee.
Varesh: “You ok? You look disturbed!”
Vidula: “Nothing... just stupid work! Leave that... are you planning to ask her out?”
Varesh: “You mean date?”
Vidula: “Ask her for a coffee first! ”
Varesh: “May be yes I'll... but you never know when I'll get lucky! ;)”
Vidula: “A guy on a date keeps wondering if he will get lucky or not but a girl always knows!”
Varesh: “haa haa ok Madam!!”

Varesh stopped drinking his coffee and nudged Vidula, he was pointing at a girl drinking juice. Vidula found it difficult to swallow the coffee, this is was the worst thing that could have happened... Varesh was pointing to Ananwika. Being his childhood friend, she had to tell him everything, may be she could save him from being hurt... Vidula told him why saw was disturbed before, she told varesh about Ananwika’s past.
Vidula: “She may not understand your love...! her scars won't heal varesh! she is devastated”
Vidula looked at Varesh, his face went blank, she couldn't read any expression or get any reaction from him.
Vidula: “Are you ok?”

Varesh heard vidula's question but he didn't know how he felt... his mind was not expecting this but now it was not responding to it either, varesh noticed vidula's fingers tap him on the arm, his senses were working yet brain didn't respond. Vidula didn't force him, she knew he must be in shock, so waited for him to respond, at last varesh did respond.
Varesh: “I am feeling totally powerless!”
Vidula didn't understand what he meant but didn't interrupt him “I am in a position where I can't blame anyone, couldn't react or respond.”
Vidula: “Varesh please... you don't even know her!” but he had left the table by then.
Vidula returned to her workstation, thinking about the day, which was supposed to be boring... now she would have preferred a boring day. She started working when she received an email from varesh.

Hey,
All I have to thank this girl who had me taught few feelings which I have not experienced before.

• Awestruck on seeing her all these days
• Making me appreciate something which is otherwise ordinary.
• Making me take a notice of a girl
• Filling almost all my thoughts about a girl all these days
• Making me enjoy the time when I was alone, when I would be thinking of her
• Making me comb my hair neatly often and keeping me neat most times
• Feeling of being elated
• After I came to know about the girl, I did realize I was hollow
• I did realize am sensible enough not to curse her or you
• I am good guy indeed
• I did experience the feeling of Total powerlessness
• I did realize there are few things which make me go crazy still it will not be mine
• I did realize its not her whom I should let go, but its my thoughts about her which I should really let go
• I did realize, I was happy by just seeing her from distance, why should I be down then?

She has been a great teacher, she taught me lot of things without talking or seen me or without even knowing such a soul existed.I experience love when my cup was empty,not when it was full. All I hope is she being happy throughout the life, no matter what. I am sure I will find my way out. Also I want to tell her that after this incident no one ever will influenced me this much or in such a way.Good luck to her.
Vidula finished reading the email, her heart felt heavy... She has read a lot about love but what she couldn't say, what was love… when cup was full or when the cup was empty...!

Read more!

Wild Kick

Year: 1995
Place: Trivandrum/Thiruvananthapuram

Dear Blog,

I was in III standard and went to school in van, but one day was very special which I will never forget in my life. My van came very late to pick me up from school, very very late, but I was happily playing with my friends, their bus was also late. Suddenly one of the attenders came and told us that “Hartal/Strike/Bandh” has been declared and there will be no bus services. I just couldn’t understand why would they declare a “Hartal” in the afternoon, if they had said it in yesterday’s news my parents would have noted and I would be happily sitting at home instead of coming to school. The attended took few of us in an auto to the “Attukal” campus, my sister’s school, my school has only till IV standard, and informed us that we will dropped home via auto or van once all the children's from our school van got there.

We reached my sister’s school, she was in VI standard, she doesn’t come via school bus, she takes the private or government bus to come to school. I found my sister, told her about the “Hartal”.


Sister: “Do you want to walk home? No body is sure when the next bus will come, some say after 6 PM the buses service might start, it is only 4 PM now.”

Me: “How long should we walk?”

Sister: “I think our house is 10 KM from here, I saw a board while coming to school the other day”

I did my mental calculations, 10… I know I comes after 9… I know ones place, ten’s place, hundred’s place, thousand’s place… teacher taught me thousand had three zero’s. But ten only had one zero, so 10 is less number. So should I walk? if I don’t walk I will be missing the cartoons…

Me: “10 sounds less… but what if we don’t know the route?”

Sister: “I come by bus daily so I know the route well… I even walked once home before… it will be adventures like the ‘JAI HIND’ movie”.

“JAI HIND” was one of the super cool movie I have seen as a kid, the hero goes on a amazing journey through forest, escaping many traps to catch the bad guys! I was a big time fan of the movie… I used to enact the movie with my cousins as if we are going on a big adventure in the forest. The word “Adventure” probably might be the biggest and coolest word I knew back then. My sister probably knew by mentioning the movie name I would agree for any “adventures” plan.

Sister: “I also have 20Rs with me, we can buy chocolates or ice cream and eat it on the way the home.” By now I was a sitting duck! agreed for the adventures walk home.

We started walking, being a responsible sister she held my one hand, on the other hand I was carrying my “Lunch bag”. We kept talking about the movie and the adventure we can have on the way home. I was happy that I decided to walk, I was not entirely sure about the way but I trusted my sister to take me home. We crossed another primary school, which was empty and locked. I was wondering how they went home so early, it would have been great if I had no school tomorrow also. Will they declare “Hartal” tomorrow also? I hated going to school. We crossed the school compound and reached a junction, my sister held my hand tight since we had to cross the road.

My eyes fell on a person crossing the road, on the first look I couldn’t make out if the person was a “he or she”. The person had long hair, wearing a “lungi" and a shirt which was very dirty and was on bare foot. And strangely the person a had perfect “Namam” on forehead, its a “V” shaped tilaka. I was wondering why would a person so dirty have a perfect “Namam”, the person crossed the road and was shouting at someone, my sister’s standing right next to me tightened her hold on my hand. I kept staring at the person who was inching close to me, out of no where, the person lifted the right leg and kicked me!! right on my heart!! It was such a powerful kick that my hand slipped out of my sister’s hold and I started stumbling, but luckily I didn’t fall.

I didn’t understand what was going on and because of the kick I was now few feet away from that person and my sister was now standing right next to that person now. That person had a murderous look, I heard my sister shout “Run… Run… Run…” I didn’t wait any longer, I turned and started running and immediately the person started following me. Just then I struck me, that person was probably “Mental” and that is why my sister held my hand tight. With lunch bag on one hand and bag on shoulder, I ran as fast as I could, all shops were closed, road was empty, I had to hide somewhere.

I heard the person shout: “nee aanu ende kochu ne konnathu…! Ninne kollathe vidu illada…!”(You killed my kid..! I’ll kill you!)

So the person was a “SHE”, her voice confirmed it and I have been kicked by a lady mental. But hiding was on the priority list now, I crossed the primary school which I saw on the way, the gate was locked, I stood there… If it was a hide and seek game, this was the most stupid place to hide, I wouldn’t even call this hiding, I was standing next to a wall in which the gate was welded in… “SHE” just had to move her eyes to the side to see me… I could hear her voice coming closer… My heart beating louder than “her” voice… If only I could find a better hiding place… If she found me here, another kick.. I am gone.. no where to run from here… I heard her voice again… I saw her… I held my breathe… she was looking straight… I prayed “don’t turn.. don’t turn..”. Any sane person would have noticed a boy standing with a lunch bag sticking to the wall like a lizard looking scared to death… but she was “insane”, so she kept walking straight and crossed me… I didn’t wait for a second, started running in the opposite direction towards my sister, I was afraid what if “she” turned around and chased me again, my sister was in the same position when I was kicked but she looked very pale…

Sister: “you okay?”

Me: “Yes…!”

We realized move quickly away from that place would be best for us, suddenly people appeared from no where and surrounded us… I was the STAR of the occasion! Everybody was asking me if I was fine… I kept nodding my head.

A person said to my sister: “aa prandhu chavatumpol ee kochu vizhatheathu naanaiyee… prandhukalgu abara shakthiya… ee kochu thhaalzhe vizhathaal prashnaam airikum keto…!” ( it is good that this kid didn’t fall down when that mental kicked… Insane people are very much stronger than normal people… if this kid had fallen down then things would have been very bad..!)

My sister looked at me hearing that, I was not sure if I should give her a proud boy face or strong boy face or start crying, but I just looked back her. People who gathered had managed to get us an auto back home… The entire journey back home we both spoke about how I didn’t realize that person was mental on the first look and how my sister who was standing next to that mental and screaming to me was untouched. I kept asking “Why me?” but I till now I don’t know the answer. Being a responsible sister, she instructed me to tell a revised version of the at home, a story which had no “JAI HIND” inspiration in it.

MORAL: If you see a mental, make sure you make WAY for them!

Read more!

Men are from Mars… And…?

The title is actually from a book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”, the book talks about men and women in different aspects of life. I am just listing few interesting ideology among men.

1. Color PINK : This is indeed an interesting topic, I have seen enough articles and TV serials which portrays wearing a pink color shirt/t-shirt is considered to be homosexual. If it was color for homosexuality then it should be global code right? I mean if white stands for peace,black stands for mourning, then pink should be made global homosexual color for both the sexes. Strangely, if you just Google about the topic, most of the people feel(including girls) that wearing pink is manly! to put it in their words “Real men wear PINK”. If that is so then why the controversy? Just cause almost 99.99% of the girl love “PINK”. I am just guessing “a girlfriend” said to “her boyfriend” don’t wear pink it is girly and the torch of wisdom was passed on
2. Shopping: Ok, when was the last time you heard a guy say “Dude, are you free on Sunday? can we go shopping for the whole day?” or a guy say “I just love shopping”. Or even you have heard a guy say it, I am sure a thought flashed in your mind “he is so girly!”. For guys, shopping just counts for an hour or two and it is just accompanied with the dialogue “I hate shopping!!”. Agreed, you don’t want to stand in the crowd, but aren’t we the one paying for it and getting a good product is fine right? Again which population loves shopping? I’ll leave the answer to you
3. CRYing: Men aren’t supposed to cry of course I might just be exaggerating but this is a common belief/saying. If you see a boy crying, you definitely hear his mother say “Men don’t cry!”. It is just unfair, men have same emotional factors/elements as women!

Now to be fair, women didn’t force men to do act like this, do/did they? these listed phenomenon exist for a long time now, so men don’t change? why they do it? But before that, I want to you people to see this video, it a piece from stand up comedian “Russell peters”.

Women are Thinkers ; start watching from 1:20

I strongly believe that men are capable of not thinking! I am not saying we are dumb or idiot but thing is that we tend to use our minds less for our own thoughts! You can say, men’s character is similar to a mirror. Men reflect thoughts and wishes of others most of the time. Be it a men or boy eventually, their thoughts are the thoughts of their girl friend or their moms. I don’t say it is bad but thats how men are. Men many a times likes to keep things simple, be it their wishes, their aims, their thoughts. If you take away a very strong belief in a man, he finds difficult to cope up unlike a women who adapt and cope up with changes quickly, don’t agree with me? how about a girl living in husband’s place after marriage and adjusting quickly?! Many say men are just open book, agreed, just cause the book is open doesn’t mean you have to leave the book unread. People regard women as more sacrificial and adjusting than men, totally true. But it is men who carry their thoughts, knowingly or unknowingly men carry more thoughts, thoughts which are not about him but about people who he loves. I would really like to see/conduct a survey about “Ten things men like/love in their life” and I am sure more than half the things in the list are what his loved one’s love!

Read more!

The Wall

I should have written a post about him much earlier but again I am happy that I am writing about him at last, Rahul Sharad Dravid. A man who has been playing for India for almost 15 years now. Ever since he burst into the cricketing world on 1996, he has been a greatest contributor to Indian Cricket.



People say he has been one of the pillars of Indian cricket, I would like to re-frame it, before that lets take the ODI squad when Dravid was part of it, lets say 2003 WC squad, of the biggest success India has had when Dravid was playing.

SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, SC Ganguly , M Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, D Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, J Srinath, A Nehra

I have removed Dravid’s name out of squad, lets analyze, we have the best opening pair no doubt, we have a good batsman in the name of Ganguly, remember this was India in 2003, the name which are in the middle order were termed “youngsters”. Of course no doubt on their abilities and capabilities but dependency? Remember openers can have the license to go after bowling only if the know they can depend on middle order. India heavily depended upon Rahul Dravid! and the whole world knows what a team player he is, even from his childhood he was a team player, he said "I loved team games. I was not particularly fascinated by cricket in the initial stages. In fact I used to play a lot of hockey. The important thing though was that I enjoyed being with other young boys and hence looked forward to team sport in any form. Of course a whole lot of kids in the area played cricket rather than anything else and I joined in the fun. The matches against the other teams in the neighboring streets or locality brought forth a lot of competitiveness." 
Many do argue his capabilities in an ODI game, but what they do not understand is:

1. Dravid is the third indian and sixth in the world to have crossed 10,000 ODI runs.
2. He was the top scorer in 1999 world cup.
3. Has the record of not being dismissed on duck for 120 consecutive ODI matches
4. The only batsman to have been involved in two ODI partnerships exceeding 300 runs.
5. 3rd Highest number of fifties – 82 , after Sachin and Inzamam.
6. He still holds the record for the second fastest 50 by an Indian in ODI!! Can’t believe in a team with Sehwag, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Pathan. Yes dravid holds the record for second fastest fifty and first place is held by Ajit Agarkar  

Here is another fun fact: During his captaincy the Indian team broke the record for most consecutive won matches in One-Day Internationals while batting second, 17 wins! As I said earlier his role was not a pillar of Indian cricket team but he was the basement, people rode and climbed to greatness with him supporting, they knew he was there to grind out the opposition when everything fails.

Moving on to Test, do I have to point out? Second highest run getter in world of test, holds the record of highest number of catches in test, First player to score a century against every Test playing nation away from home! Besides all these there more fun facts:

Dravid has scored nearly 23% of the total runs put up by India (with a batting average of 102.84) in the 21 Test matches won under Ganguly's captaincy. This is the highest percentage contribution by any batsman in Test cricket history in matches won under a single captain where the captain has won more than 20 Tests.

Since his Test debut on June 20, 1996, nobody has more Test runs than Dravid. Not even Tendulkar. Rahul dravid has scored 12,417 runs(including first test of the 2011 England tour) while Sachin Tendulkar has 12,243.

Lets test our memory a little, when was the last time you heard Rahul Dravid was injured and not playing for India? Interestingly he holds a record in that too! He holds the second longest streak of consecutive tests since his debut – 95 tests! How is that for fitness? India has lost only 3 test(including the two in 2011 England tour) when he has scored a century and he has 34 century to his name. And of course his innings at Kolkata, 180 runs, He was down with viral fever before the start of the Test. To come into a match in that physical state, and play such an important knock in a pressure situation only shows how mentally tough Rahul Dravid is!



Enough of the stats and records, you may find them in Google, what I love about dravid is his attitude. Rahul Dravid may not be a treat on the eyes like Sachin or Sehwag, but he is no less than them. Courage is one quality that always stands out; Dravid is about as courageous as any Indian cricketer might ever have been. His wrist work may not be as smooth as VVS, his cover drive might not be as elegant as Ganguly, his straight drive might not be as pleasing as Sachin’s, he is not gifted as others. But he was dedicated, hard working, patience has been his childhood friend, he hit the nets early, that is why even now when you see Dravid play a shot you hear the commentator saying “textbook shot”. He has shown to the younger generation that greatness can be achieved with dedication and hard work. Each game he had to increase his standards, set a new goal to himself and compete with level of others. He is an ordinary man with extra ordinary temperament and that is what separates the men from the boys.

Cricket as many other sport is an instinctive game but Dravid made it look like a game of chess. He ducks and weaves the balls bombarded at him, he mocks the bowler with intelligence, each time committing to memory of what he has practiced and defusing the bowler with his own superior ability. There is no waffling in his defense, mightier the enemy the more decisive will be his response and he seems to tell the bowler “Your move, please”. He is a perfectionist, be it the shot selection, the technique, even in choosing the right words. He’s not tempted by the glory of a few quick boundaries, or the dance down the wicket for the big six. He’s patient, and he wants the team to win, whether he needs to get a dozen or a hundred. Many teams regarded his wicket as the most crucial wicket, bowlers know that they will have to sweat and toil for his wicket. They will have to out think him, con him, get him with sheer genius. He will not just hand it to you. And yet people try to fit him into one of the stereotypes, ignoring the fact he has played extra ordinary innings in grounds which were termed difficult to play.

When you see Sachin scoring a century you stand up and go “YES”, but when Dravid score a century, you sit down have a smile and wait for heart to be filled with warmth. Though lack of acknowledgement never demotivated him! He has still maintained that selfless approach towards his love – Cricket! No matter the selectors pick him or drop him, he will continue making contributions in the Indian cricket, he plays Ranji trophy whenever he gets a chance! one thing which makes him superior over other players is his selfless, generous and unselfish approach towards the game! And this fact is enough to prove all those critics who babble about this icon. In this team, where we have all the politics running in the veins, players fighting to get slots, players blaming the schedule, we have one such player who thinks above all these aspects – he is Rahul Dravid! and very fittingly in Harsha Bhogle’s book “The winning way”, Dravid has written the afterward about what is it to play in a team. In a brutal arena, which cricket field can be sometimes, Rahul Dravid, nicknamed “THE WALL”, is a calm, sensible, and selfless fighter who has created histories after histories.

                            Dedicated to Rahul Dravid, a man who I admire!

Read more!

Gandhinagar

Ever travelled in a six lane road in bike and haven’t bothered about the lane or traffic or even riding straight? 
Ever got a preview show ticket at counter price just an hour before the movie starts?
May be I should reframe the question…
Have you been told by BSNL that we cannot cover the area or give connection to your home, when you are just 15 minutes away from the exchange? or
Ever been the only person in railway station to board the train?
Answer to all of the above questions is a place called GANDHINAGAR!

I had my posting in Gandhinagar and I stayed ahmedabad for one day. My first day in Ahmedabad was exciting, the city was bustling with people.But things changed as it always does, they told me and my friends that gandhinagar was 20km from ahmedabad. We decided to start around 4 pm to gandhinagar, but we got the bus only by 5! travelling for more than an hour and half in a crowded bus, the conductor pointed at me and said something, I could only make out one word “Infocity” the place my office is located. We got down and I was impressed by the six lane road, time was close to 7pm.I thought the bus might have left us in a highway outside city, all I could see was only trees, no light, hardly any vehicles on road and devoid of any human activity! My friend had a house broker number, we called him and he asked us to meet at a place near infocity. We did manage to get to that place and meet him near a tea shop, my HINDI knowledge was much better than my friends, so I spoke clearly and firmly… “Hume GANDHINAGAR mei ghar chahiye!”(we need a house in Gandhinagar) , he looked at me for few minutes and replied slowly “Yeh hai GANDHINAGAR” (This is gandhinagar). My heart broke in pieces, But I did live in that place for more than two and half years of my life! Things weren’t get much simpler for next few days, we were welcomed with words like “Welcome to the JUNGLE” “Welcome to *****Nagar!” “you didn’t get better place?”

Life wasn’t getting any better, working in a 24*7 project in a place which slept promptly by 8pm is very very difficult! Dinners were mostly tandoori roti with paneer or vegetables floating in oil, Lunch were plain roti with dal and we started forgetting breakfast ! But life took different turn, I have to thank my project for that. My project was a mini India, we had Bengali’s, Oriya, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Rajasthani…! Another than being INDIANS we had one more thing in common, we hated the place and which brought us much closer! And another important thing was we had no girls in the project in beginning, it was just us guys, bunch of bachelors, for whom most important things were food and girls and least bothered about the work! Luckily the bunch of people I met were all these types so it made life easier!

Time spent at office or I should reframe it as time spent drinking tea became much more enjoyable and memorable. The bunch I met were really up to anything, sometimes I wonder do they really hear what is being said or did they just put up their hand saying ‘I am IN’. Every Friday night we went to movies, not cause the movie was good just cause it was fun to hang out with these bunch! It became such a routine that we were never checked when we entered the theatre, the security just said “pehachan wale ko check nahi karenge sir!” Oh ya forgot, you don’t get bus services in Gandhinagar, so it is always beg, borrow and…no we didn’t steal, to make it to the theatre! And a word of advice, if you are on the back of the truck at mid night, just try not to take photos! Saturday’s were dedicated to playing carom at office and swimming in evening( yes there is a swimming pool in Gandhinagar). And Sunday’s were rest day don’t ask me rest from what! Even the work started becoming fun, we chatted non-sense all day and laughed our heads off and never stopped pulling each others leg! I read somewhere that where there is fun and laughter you will find true friendship there, I  didn’t doubt what I read!

It will be unfair if I don’t mention Gujju GIRLS and Friday’s are just AWESOME! after all what do you expect bunch of bachelors to talk about!
People have asked me how I feel about Gandhinagar, I could only explain it after moving out of Gandhinagar. Gandhinagar is place where you could freeze time, no I am serious about it, you start to feel 24 hours a day is too long! You get ample time to do what ever you want! Life doesn’t rush at you, there is a serenity about the place which is good for old age Being in gandhinagar is like being in a totally different world, a place not infected by pollution, traffic and the race to finish first! But if you are still young and ambitious then Gandhinagar might just eat your dreams!

Gandhinagar broke my heart on the first day and it is still broken, not cause I miss the place, cause of the people who made the place look better!

P.S: I’ll be doing injustice to myself if I don’t mention “Long life and Happy Friendship”, a phrase which brought happiness and sanity to our life in Gandhinagar

P.P.S: If it weren’t for Gandhinagar I wouldn’t have start to write blogs        

Read more!

Slitherers!!

Vidyut was walking back home from an evening show, the road was not made of tar, rather it was just sand and stones, time was well past 9 pm. Almost 3 weeks of his summer vacation was over, he used to like this village a lot when he was a child. His grand mother used to tell him a lot of stories, he used to play in the big backyard. But not any more, this was not a place for a teen. He missed his friends, the hangouts, the movie talks, the cricket, but his father insisted in taking him to the village down south on every vacation. He made up his mind to talk out of coming back here the next vacation. But he was happy, he was going back to the city tomorrow evening. Lost in the thought of the city, vidyut, didn’t notice the car speeding past him until he heard the brakes being slammed. It was a tourist vehicle,but only driver was on board, vidyut came close to the car to see why it stopped.

The driver rushed out, he was checking the tires, by the time vidyut came up to him. 
Vidyut: “Something wrong?”
Driver: “Something was crossing the road, I hit the brakes but I was sure I hit it, but…”
Vidyut bended down to see if there was anything underneath the car, but surprisingly nothing. He checked the roads, no sign of someone or something on the sand either.
Vidyut: “are you sure you saw something? because there is nothing here…!”
Driver: “I am very sure…! why would I be applying breaks so hard if there was nothing! It looked like a black dog or might have been a pig, it wasn’t a very big animal.”
In the mean time another man joined them, driver narrated the same story to him, all three of them started to check the surroundings. Vidyut was checking all the tires to see if they showed signs of running over something, when he was checking the rear tires, he noticed the new guy pocketing something from the front bumper. It looked like a chain. Vidyut started to walk up to him when he heard the driver.
Driver: “I guess what ever it was, must have escaped!”
New guy: “Yes possible!”
Saying this driver got into the car and started driving away.
New guy: “These drivers are never careful, look at the speed at which he is going! he is sure  to make an accident!”

Vidyut just nodded his head and started walking slowly towards home. He turned round to see the guy was walking in the other direction. Vidyut couldn’t contain his curiosity, he had to find out what it was he took from the bumper. He turned around and started walking in the guy’s direction, something told him that this is going to be an adventure he would narrate to his friends back at his city. How he single handedly caught a thief! The guy reached the motor room which was used to irrigate the paddy field near-by, vidyut hid well behind a tree, making sure that no one was around the guy entered the motor room. Vidyut was not sure what to do next, should he wait and see what he does next or go back home and bring people. But before doing that he must know what he stole, he didn’t want to make a fool of himself. He decided to get closer to the motor room, but as he was about the make a move. He noticed a black animal approaching  the motor room.
“Where the hell did that animal come from? was it the animal which the driver saw?” vidyut wondered.

This could be a setup, the man could be using the animal to setup a road accident. But he knew something was missing in the story which he framed. He saw the animal sneak inside the room, vidyut was undecided, whether to go and see what he took from the bumper or should he go back home forgetting this episode. It was a chance to be village hero!! he decided to wait and see what the man does next. after few minutes he noticed the door of the motor room open and a cloaked figure come out. Vidyut didn’t understand why the man had to wear a cloak, it was night, nobody saw him go into the motor room except him! The Cloak made the man look bulkier than he was before, his face was entirely covered by the cloak. This was getting mysterious than he thought. Vidyut decided to follow where the man was going, after all even if the man notices him he could run fast into the village, he knew many short cuts.

Vidyut heart  started beating faster as he started following the cloaked figure, it was eerie feeling to follow man at night. Fear started creeping into him, what if the man had a gun? what if he is meeting other friends of him? what if he gets into a vehicle and starts chasing him? His mind was raising arguments “you don’t have to be the hero, think about your family, they will miss you!” another voice said to him “think about how proud they will be if you caught the thief! you will be a celebrity for rest of your life!” the voices in his head kept arguing, but his legs kept walking the direction of the man. The man seemed to walk faster than he did, vidyut had to trot to keep him in sight. The man lead him to the village outskirts, close the forest near-by. he stopped near a well, looked around, he took something out of the cloak,it looked like a chain, even in the low light he could see the chain sparkling, this was what he took from the front bumper, vidyut guessed. The cloaked figure started descending down the well. “What is he doing?!” vidyut thought, that well was empty as long as he knew and his grand mother had advised him not go near the well because of bad omen, neither did any of the villagers. Seeing many movies did really help, vidyut realized that this was a perfect hide out for thieves, since none of the villagers came here they could use this as a hide out.

Vidyut made up his mind, he will take a look inside the well, to see if he is still there then run to the village and get the people here and be the HERO! he didn’t waste time started slowly walking towards the well, he made sure that there was no sound when he walked, he was about few inches away from the well, he held his breathe but his heart beat was beating at an alarming rate, he took deep breathes, very slowly he looked down at the well. His eyes took time to adjust to the darkness inside the well, there was plants growing inside the well. The well was deep but thanks to the full moon, he could see through, he strained his eyes to see if the guy was still inside, was there more of them? what will they do in the darkness? don’t they use lights? why is he so quiet? is he waiting for someone else to come? strangely there seems to be no activity inside the well, if the guy has just went down then plant which was growing should have been disturbed, they should be moving at least, but everything was still. Vidyut was very sure that he saw the guy go down the well, again the voices insides his head started talking “you should go inside the well and check, what if the man was not there and you make a fool of yourself when you bring people back, you should trap him so that you are not fooled!” another voice spoke in his mind “you don’t have to do this, there is no necessity for being a hero here! this is dangerous!” But Vidyut had already started descending down the well.

Vidyut knew he had to place his legs firmly on the small rocks which lead to the bottom, not only because it had plants growing out of them but also he knew that his knees were shivering with fear, if he doesn’t place his foot firmly he is bound to fall. Even without his knowledge his lips started chanting prayer, he reached the bottom of the well. To his surprise he saw no one there, there was lots of plants to the height of his hips, but there was no sign of the cloaked figure. Vidyut decided to search the walls anyway, there might be a trap door as in movies. As soon as he took a step ahead, he was sucked in, the fear gripped him, he tried to scream for help but his voice failed him!! he was sucked inside by the earth, his entire body was twisted and turned, he started to feel pain, he knew he might be dead soon, he will be deprived of oxygen beneath the earth. Tears ran down his cheeks, not sure if he cried because of the pain or cause of the fear or because of the death which he is going to meet soon. Vidyut’s entire body was swallowed by the earth, his eyes were closed, he was crushed by the weight of earth above him, his body was squeezed by the earth around him, the pain was unbearable, he wished he died sooner! he couldn’t hold his breath anymore, the moment he gives up he knew he might take in sand through his nostrils and fill his lungs with sand and die eventually, he tried to hold on. Suddenly out of nowhere he fell down to flat ground, he was in a circular room he looked up to see earth but the earth didn’t fall down, it held its place, for few minutes he couldn’t make out what was going on! how can the sand not fall down into the circular room? and why is there a circular room beneath the well?!

Vidyut started looking the room to see if there was a way to escape, there was a stairs which lead up to the earth above, he quickly climbed it and try to squeeze back through, but the earth was solid, rock solid! he started crying without making noise, he knew he shouldn’t panic now and try to find a way out but he couldn’t, all he wanted now was to get back home ALIVE! He took deep breaths and started looking around again, he noticed a small door in the room, he ran and opened it, it was a passage, he had no other option but to take it. The passage was lit by fire, he quickened his pace hoping that the passage would take to land above him. The sight at the end of the passage stunned him, it was nothing what he hoped to see. He was many miles below the earth how could this be possible? Am I hallucinating? This was the most beautiful place he had ever seen.
It looked like he was in different world, first thing vidyut noticed was how bright it was, how is possible for sun to reach here, everywhere he looked it seems to glitter! there was river which ran through and there were small trees which grew along the sides of river, vidyut knew he was below the earth and yet the temperature was normal in fact cooler than above, it was a description of paradise, calm and peaceful. There were many monadnock (small rocky hills) around, but he didn’t understand where the sun light came from. he started walking towards a monadnock, he took a closer look at the stones Vidyut jaws fell open he realized it was not sun which caused the light around this place but the place had so many jewels which lightened up the place. Where was this place? how can there be so many jewels in one place? vidyut started inspecting the monadnock closer, he noticed there were carvings in them, in fact three, with labels underneath them he noticed it was written in Sanskrit and read “Vasuki” “Shesha” and “Manasa”


Vidyut remember those names from the stories he heard from his grandmother they were the “Nagas” who ruled the underworld – Patala, the seven lower regions of the universe - which are located under the earth. Vidyut body started to shiver with fear, he thought the stories were myth, these places don’t exist. He heard voices, he hid himself behind the monadnock and looked. It was the cloaked figure, but it didn’t have cloak anymore, the sight alarmed him, he was half man half snake, he didn’t walk he slide across the earth and vidyut cursed himself for not noticing this! he was talking to another cloaked figure.

“Jai Takshaka!  General, this human stole my nagamani , I brought him here! he is unconscious”
Vidyut covered his mouth to prevent the scream, it was the man who took the chain from the bumper.
Naga General : “Jai Takshaka! Soldier did you make sure to wait for till the earth solidified in the well before coming?”
Naga Soldier:  “General, no one was following me!”
Naga General: “It is full moon we don’t take chances against Garudas you know that! very well, make sure not to lose your nagamani again! any one in possession of nagamani can find their way here! Be careful! and take bath once you kill him as it is full moon today!”
Naga Soldier: “Yes sir, will be careful!”

Saying this the Naga general left. The Naga soldier took the unconscious human body to the river. The Naga soldier closed his eyes and started chanting, he transformed into  a huge snake with four heads. Vidyut couldn’t believe what he was seeing, the snake then wrapped the human body in its tail and vidyut could hear the human bone crack and suddenly the man started screaming! it was a bloodcurdling, every cell in vidyut body was terrified wanted to run, but he knew if he make a move now, the Naga would kill him too. Vidyut held his breathe, afraid even the faintest of noise would give him away. Within seconds four heads of Naga feasted on the man, there was no evidence of a man being eaten. Vidyut waited, the Naga again transformed into half human half snake form, started changing again, he removed his nagamani and kept in the river side. The Naga moved deeper into the river to dip himself , ceasing the moment, vidyut ran to pick up the nagamani and ran towards the passage, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. he knew the minute Naga finds out that his nagamani is missing he would track his scent and kill him. He entered the circular room, climbed the stairs which lead to the earth above, the earth was solid, he plunged the chain into the earth half expecting to his hand to break but it didn’t the earth started sucking him in, but this time he didn’t feel pain or didn’t choke, within minutes he was at the bottom of the well. Vidyut didn’t waste time he climbed the rocks as fast he could, he reached the top wasting no time he threw the nagamani back into the well hoping it could reach the patala before the earth in the well solidifies.

Without looking back vidyut ran hard towards his home, he didn’t stop even to take a breathe, he reached home, his dad was waiting outside, seeing vidyut he asked
Dad: “what happened? are you alright? why do you have scratches all over your body?”
Vidyut: “I… I… I… fell down… saw a snake…afraid… ran…”
Dad sighed a relief, come everyone is waiting for you. vidyut knew if he tells the truth no one would believe him, neither did he have the nagamani to take them back to prove. forget hero he didn’t want to be called lunatic by everyone in village. He held his dad’s hand and went inside. Vidyut was restless during dinner, he couldn’t eat properly. That night he decided to sleep next to his dad that night, he kept glancing at the window, he was afraid Naga might find him, his eyes were heavy and closed. but the sudden noise made him wake up, he glanced at the window he saw the four hooded snake staring at him!
Vidyut woke up with a jump from his sleep, he was sweating and was breathing like he had ran for hours. Ten years after the incident, it still haunted him. Vidyut had moved to city after that and never went back to that village again. But every night he slept he dreamt about same thing,every night he woke up from dream of the four hooded snake. His life was never the same after that, vidyut lived in fear that he might be a victim of the Naga one day or the other.

Image courtesy: Google

Read more!

Relationships

Nadira, final year M.Sc., Psychology student, was looking at her evening coffee with great concentration and was trying to figure out a conclusion of her project. Three months of rigorous study and follow-up and yet she couldn’t decide on the conclusion. She was one of the bright students of the batch and thus the topic given to her by her guide was “Who is the crucial decision maker in a relationship(Love)?”. She took a full day to analyze the topic, because of the depth in it, relationship itself was intertwined subject and she has to decide on who is the crucial decision maker on that. She decided to study three different relationship cases and try to analyze the role of male and female in it. It was difficult to talk to people about their relationship considering if they haven’t succeed in it, but she did get few of them to talk. Of all the three cases, third one was the easiest because she had taken the case of her parents, a love marriage. And tomorrow she had to submit her project, she decided to walk through all the three cases once again.
Case 1:
This case is was in beginning stage of a relationship and most common, the guy loved the girl sincerely but the girl was not ready for the relationship even though she “liked” the guy and wants to be as friends. she didn’t want to go against her family and society. she had clearly put this across the guy but even then he is madly in love and wants a life with her.
Nadira, thought, of course it is the girl’s decision what she wants in life, no one can blame her for this. But being friends is not going to help the guy though! May be he is getting deeply involved cause she wants to be “friends”. And the guy is insane, the girl has said what is priority for her and he must have figured out a way to get over but not fall more deeply in it, I guess this why they call love is blind!
Case 2:
The guy and the girl were in relationship for few years, but they decided to part ways. The reason is that the chemistry between them fell apart, the spark they had in the beginning of their relationship didn’t continue. the girl said: “I loved the way he loved me, but I realized that I was wrong, I should be in a relationship with a person who I love unconditionally not for what the way he loves me.” the boy said: “one day she was talking about marriage, I felt I was not ready for it yet, I love her with all my heart but I am not ready for marriage,I have to achieve so many things in my career and she cannot wait that long I guess.”
Sipping her coffee, Nadira thought, this was a difficult case, an aspiring guy and a love seeking girl, neither to be blamed on what they have decided cause reasons are valid. The guy could have put on more thought about his career growth, after marriage or delayed the marriage few more years, after all it is not always you love someone so deeply. The girl’s statement was interesting one, she loved him for the way he loved her but when she realized that it was not what is ultimately needed in life she decided to not to proceed things, the decision and the reason is much better than the guy and very mature.
Case 3:
The guy sees the girl in college library for three weeks continuously and proposes her, the fourth week girl accepts his love. Guy promises to marry her, finishes college goes out of town to find job, he gets a job comes back to town and convinces his parents for marriage. The girl meanwhile talks to her parents, convinces her parents and relatives for the marriage. They are married and live happily with a girl child.
Nadira smiled to herself and thought, this was the script for so many films and yet it repeats itself. When she spoke to the guy,her father, “what made you propose her the third week? you don’t even properly know her!” her father smiled: “I had a feeling, I chose her to be my partner in life. When I made the decision I know it could go either way but I loved her without expectation. you know those three weeks it was like three years to be each day I saw her made me realize a new thing, I admired her, studied her, and was inspired from her. as paulo coelho said ’In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.’ I spoke to the girl as well, her mother, “when he proposed me I took my time, I did notice him in the library and I did like him. but being in a relationship was different I had to think about so many hurdles I had to face, family, society and relatives. what made me agree is the fact that we both loved each other for what we are, remember anyone can be loved if one changes one’s looks, personality and values and it is very very important to choose the right person.”
Nadira coffee was almost empty, she saw a kid playing with a puppy, the puppy kept running away when the kid tried to hug it, but the kid kept laughing chased the puppy again. She smiled at it, the kid seems to love the puppy even if the puppy doesn’t. She had a sudden realization took out her laptop and started typing in the conclusion of her topic.
In modern world if you mention the word “love” it always implies something between two people but in the real sense it is when you love a person without any expectation, there is no half measure, either you do it or you don’t, you don’t feel bad because you are not loved back. But the modern world is anti-love, people don’t fall love in love naturally but they think and make a decision and then fall in love!
Understanding a guy in relationship seems to fairly simple, A guy in relationship sees things as simple as dressing, all he needs is a shirt and pant, he doesn’t care if they match, if they are washed, if they are properly ironed, if they are fitting him properly. All he sees is he is dressed for going out. But a girl is the opposite of a guy in relationship, for her every minute details matter. On analyzing the cases, girls are much mature in a relationship than guys. To steer a ship you need to make sure that you don’t have a hole in ship just because you have the sail’s up  you cannot set it into the water. The girl may comply to all the decisions made by the guy in her life as well as his and make him feel the that he is in control. But if the decision is about their relationship, it is girls who makes the decision, it is fair to say 80% of the relationship decisions are made by the girls. If you are in relationship it is because the girl feels ship is safe to sail and if not then the girl has decided the ship is not safe!

Read more!