The Mountains of Sohra..

Another beautiful experience...another place… (Maybe I should just call this whole blog my experiences with Nature… as all I seem to write about is its magic.

Anyway, this time it’s a place called Cherrapunjee. Yes, the place which holds the position for having the highest rainfall in the whole world. Actually, the position toggles between Cherrapunjee and a place in its vicinity, Mausynram and I’m not really sure which is currently occupying the top rank. Locally the place is called Sohra, from which the name Cherrapunjee had been derived years ago.

Anyway, since I’ve lived in Shillong which is just about one and a half hrs away from Cherrapunjee, I had been there previously.

People always ask me, ‘Is is always raining there?? Is it all wet and damp there’. And I always tell them that its not like that. I don’t think it has ever been. Until two years, it did rain plenty, but since then, even the rain has decreased. Little known to many people, Cherrapunjee is also known as a Wet Desert. It might be blessed with rain showers, but it is not able to retain the water.

The soil is of a rocky nature because of the presence of lime (I guess), extremely impervious to water. Also due to the heavy rain, the top soil is eroded and with it, so is the capacity to soak the water. You would see hills with no vegetation except a layer of grass and some bushes. No pine trees, or for that matter, trees of any kind. It might rain a lot, but all the water drains away, the soil not being able to soak it. Most of the time, there is an acute water shortage there. Strange isn’t it? But you have to see it to believe it.

Anyway, that day, we left in the morning, hoping to catch a sunny day there, because the last time I’d been there it had been a foggy trip. Because it was a large group we had had fun, but we were not really able to enjoy Mother Nature’s visual extravaganza. Fog had so engulfed the entire area that we had even had to slow down the car as visibility on the roads was extremely low.

Anyway, back to this trip – We were lucky regarding the weather. A clear blue sky with tiny patches of snow white promised a great day of sightseeing. The road to Cherrapunjee is, in itself, a treat for the eyes. For the first half, one comes across almost empty countryside with miles and miles of green interspersed with a few houses here and there. And the road is good (most of the time) - a smooth ride. Halfway through, the countryside is replaced by gorges and cliffs - a single road meandering across kilometers and kilometers of immediate nothingness on the left, and a single wall on the right. The view is breathtaking. On the left, just across the deep gorge is another mountain of almost the same height, which has a road which leads to the border town of Dawki. On the right, it’s not a cliff exactly, more like vertical hills with vegetation.

I usually get a little nauseous on such hilly trips, but this once I decided that I wasn’t going to miss any of the scenery and I’m glad I was able to keep my eyes open without feeling sick.

Our first destination in Cherrapunjee was not, as expected anything natural. It was the Ramakrishna Mission. Established in the earlier part of the century, this institution is a part of much larger organization which has centres all over the country (world even). Apart from the shrine dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, it has a school complete with boarding facilities, workshops for Weaving, and other handicrafts, the whole atmosphere within the portals of the place is one of discipline and peace.

Next we headed for the Nohkalikai falls. There’s a rather morbid folk tale (which was told by my mother that evening after we’d returned home) associated with this majestic waterfalls. One can’t really judge the credibility or truth of the tale but I’ll share it nevertheless. Why should I be the only one grossed out by the story?

"Once upon a time a widow and her daughter lived in a small hut on the mountain from where the waterfall emerges. The one day, a man came into the life of the widow and she decided to re-marry. As in all such cases, the step-father disliked the daughter intensely and the mother was always worried about the safety of her daughter and so never left her side. One day, due to some urgent reason, the mother had to go to the village nearby. As her husband was not there at home that time, she decided it was safe to leave her daughter there and went away. After some hours, when she came back, she found that her husband had returned and was cooking. He seemed very happy. On looking around, she found her daughter missing and upon enquiring, he told that she had left to roam around in the forest and would return later. Dreading the worst, she decided to go searching for her daughter, when he said that she could search after eating the meal. She reluctantly agreed. He served the meal; rice, meat etc."

Here the story gets a little hazy…I’m not sure how it was that the widow found out…. Maybe
the husband told her, ecstatic in the success of
his gross maneuver, or she deduced it..

What maneuver, you ask? Well, he had obviously killed the daughter, and then….had cooked her up and had served her as lunch to the very person who had borne her.

Yea I know. Sick

The story goes that the mother was so shattered, she could not want her own life to continue…. So, she jumped off the waterfalls - a very watery end to her existence.

I don’t know whether the falls was named after her or her daughter or if the name is at all related to the story. Nevertheless....

[24th July,2007 :
Its been a while since i posted this, but recently a fellow Shillongite commented on the blog and gave a new version to the Nohkalikai folk tale... here goes..

"....and the story is quite similar, except that she found the fingers and toes of the child in the 'kwai' box and I think the falls only formed after she jumped from the cliff - hence the name Noh(dive/jump) ka likai (the dive/jump point of likai). Anyway, such is the case with folktales eh---they're always changing yet nevertheless survive the changing times.."]

Anyway, the Nohkalikai falls emerges from a cliff which is a body of rock connecting 2 parallel mountains; Very much like the road on which we traveled, here also there are 2 mountains separated by a smaller distance, facing each other. So, one can’t actually go to the place where the waterfalls drops, one can only view it from strategically placed viewpoints on one of the mountains. Because of the distance and height, from the viewpoints, the falls looks much smaller than the massive body of water it actually is. However, the intensity of the sound of rushing water, even at such a distance never lets anyone forget the royal splendour of the haunting falls..;

Localites say that the Nohkalikai commands patience from the people who come to see it. The reason being an almost perennial envelop of fog hovering over the valley where the waterfalls is located. That day too, everything was sunny when we reached Cherrapunjee, however as we neared the viewpoints, by some extraordinary coincidence, the weather partially became foggy.

Amazingly, on the road we were on, on one side was bright sunshine, on the other (the side where the waterfalls was), sparse clouds seemed to float around, creating a semi-opaque environment. By the time we reached the viewpoint, the fog had completely enveloped the mountain and the valley
below, which meant that all we got to see when we overlooked the viewpoint, was a white screen - sometimes thinning with the wind...sometimes thickening. As the last time I had been there was a long time ago, I had completely forgotten how the falls was - as in, amongst all the endless white, I couldn’t at all visualize the falls… whether it was near or far, whether the falls was dropping from the mountain where we standing or the next, whether the water flow was high or low… not a clue.... The only feel we could get, that a massive water body was crashing in the vicinity, was the constant sound of gushing water. It’s a powerful sound… haunting and melodious at the same time.

Some people were already waiting at the viewpoints, hoping that the fog would clear soon. To stand there, with nothing but an envelop of white and grey to entertain you, is indeed trying. Especially when you know there are other beautiful falls where you can go...For the first few minutes, the fog showed no sign of thinning; the weather got cloudier. At that point, my father (who is a singularly restless person) thought we should move ahead. I persisted, ‘a few minutes more’, ‘a few minutes more’…; we also joined the crowd. The first 10-15 minutes tried our patience because we could see just about nothing…. After that, if a wind blew in the right direction, the fog cleared for a few minutes,
revealing a little green with even smaller patches of brown, giving some indication of what lay beneath...

And then, again, within seconds, the wind, changing its mood would restore the whiteness of the scene, and we would all be left thirsting for a clearer picture. And then, magically, gradually, as if wanting to keep its spectators in suspense for as long as possible, the fog cleared.

At first, I could just see the lower portion of the
waterfall, i.e. the pool where the water flowed into.
Even in the slight fog, the sea green colour of the
water was magnificent. Amidst all that white, to
see such a brilliant shade of green in a pool of water was unexpected. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the wonderful vision unfolding in front of my eyes. Gradually, we could see the larger picture, the mountain at the other side, the valley below, the point at the cliff from where the water emerges, the green carpet of trees, the water trickling( from that distance it seemed to be trickling) down form the pool farther and farther away…

An amazing collage of white, green, brown and blue colours, all demanding our attention.

After that, actually speaking, we saw nothing as magnificent. The reality of the water problem hit
us when we saw cliffs, which previously had huge waterfalls emerging at regular distances, all dry. At the distance, one could see the different colour of the cliff at the points where waterfalls used to exist.. It was a distinctly lighter shade of brown as compared to the rock surface around it. On one stretch of cliff, where earlier there used to be 4 waterfalls racing to a rocky bottom, all but one had dried up. And the remaining one was of extremely low water volume… It was a saddening sight. My parents, who had been there many times more than me, were very disillusioned. It was like the beauty of Cherrapunjee, as they had known and seen, was vanishing. Decreased rainfall the last two years had seriously reduced the
natural beauty of the place.

Then, we went to the Maushmai caves. Made of
natural stalagmites and stalactites, these caves
have an exactly opposite effect on one; here comes in place the mystery and danger of nature. The last time I was there, there were no lights within the caves, and we’d taken candles and had entered the caves at one side and after getting past nooks and crevices (with the guidance of our tour guide), so small that it was almost unbelievable that we went through them. This time, although there were lights arranged inside, it was nevertheless more eerie.

Inside actually there are supposedly two ways to go.. one way exits about 150 metres, and
another supposedly leads to Bangladesh.. It is
said that previously the second path was used by traffickers to smuggle goods across and so now that path is blocked. Anyway, after walking for some metres and feeling the cold and clammy rocks, I reached a place from where a small opening which was the only way to proceed further. I decided it was time to face the sunshine once again.

The next place was a waterfalls with the same name as the caves.. Maushmai falls.. probably because they’re located pretty near to each other.. As in most of the sights in Cherrapunjee, you can’t actually be at the falls; you can only view it from a distance. There too our disillusionment
was ongoing –the huge water body had dwindled
into a thread of white from the distance. The
viewpoint is spread over a large area on top of a mountain, complete with a restaurant and all. From there, the plains of Bangladesh are visible. They look very near. Its pretty awesome actually; a range of mountains drastically ending, diminishing into total plains - one can even make out the rivers, fields….

I suppose the Bangladesh border area we saw is totally rural. Hence, there was no sign of civilization from that distance. But the total effect of the nature’s contrary creations; plains and heights- side by side looks really unreal.

A better and slightly nearer view of the Bangladesh plains was obtained at the next place we visited; out last stop in Cherrapunjee. It is
actually a man-made park designed on top of yet another mountain. The highlight of the park is its panoramic view of Bangladesh as well as yet another waterfall which falls further down the road we came through -Kynrem Falls. The falls is such that it pours just next to the road (the road leads to Shella - a small town/village situated in the valley among the mountains). Since it’s much farther down the road, people usually don’t go all the way. A photograph of the falls, which my father had taken years ago from the road and which is now enlarged and framed in our drawing room, shows just how beautiful the falls looks from down below.

We too didn’t go. From there, we directly started
the return journey back to Shillong. If while going, I couldn’t take our eyes off the picturesque terrain, while returning I couldn’t stop glancing at the clouds. When we were on the part of the road with the gorges…I could see proper clouds (I say proper because you can’t mistake these clouds for thick fog) rising up from below, to the surface of the mountain tops, to finally merge into the heavenly skies. It was an unearthly sight… cottony masses gradually rising as if they belonged there…on the terra firma.

Further away as the late afternoon transformed into dusk, my fascination with sunsets was rewarded. I couldn’t precisely see the sunset, but the resplendent havoc created by the sunrays and the clouds amongst the greenery was more than enough. Red and gold mixed in different proportions, painting each shade present in the glorious portrait of the sky.

I sighed. The trip had come to an end…
One day….so much of beauty…
Unforgettable.

Deleted Orkut Profile..

A lot of ideas,
Too less of time,
A lot of plans,
Too less of energy,
A lot of hopes,
Too less of effort,
A lot of friends,
Too less true ones,
A lot of practicality,
Too less of emotions,
A lot of opportunities,
Too less courage,
A lot of sarcasm,
Too less of tact,
A lot of loyalty,
Too less of expression,
A lot of caution,
Too less of spontaneity,
A lot of mistakes,
Too less perfections..
That's a lot of what I am,
There's also a lot more to decipher...

Some disappointments,
Some long-lasting friendships,
Some broken relationships,
Some memorable occasions,
Some beautiful places,
Some ground realities,
Some caring people,
Some illogical fears,
Some terrible nighmares,
Some unforgettable journeys,
Some ecstatic moments,
Some difficult times,
That's a lot of how my voyage has been till now,
There's also a lot more to experience..

Changing lifestyles,
Facing realities,
Taking control,
Correcting mistakes,
Expanding horizons,
Shaping the future,
Searching for tranquility,
That's a lot of what I'm trying to do,
There's also a lot more that needs to be done..
And that's all there is to it........

Anonymous Musings...

I generally don't like inspirational stuff.. but this this something I really liked....

Life
~anonymous~

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person
that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will.

You will have your heart broken probably more than once
and it's harder every time.

You'll break hearts too,
so remember how it felt when yours was broken.

You'll fight with your best friend.

You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.

You'll cry because time is passing too fast,
and you'll eventually lose someone you love.

So take too many pictures, laugh too much,
and love like you've never been hurt
because every sixty seconds you spend upset
is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin.

Remnants of a Red and Gold Sky..

I was about to post a photo blog of some pictures of my home …. Then I got so caught up in nostalgia that I could not resist jotting down some of those wonderful moments…

I have always been amazed by the sky. As a child, when I first learnt about the stars, planets and the Universe, the wonder that hit me then, that the millions of glistening dots were actually huge bodies , more massive than I could imagine, never left my consciousness. Like very other child, I too once had had aspirations to becoming an astronaut or scientist… to learn about those celestial entities, so far yet so awe-inspiring. With time, those aspirations ceased, yet my wonderment regarding the sky never ceased.

I was fortunate enough to have been born and brought up in a place where the sky was not one faded grey blanket of city lights, dust and pollution where the stars were dull spots, and the moon lost in the mass of grey smoke. For the first 18 years of my life, I have lived in a hill-station, on the slope of a hill with nothing immediately in front of our house. Below our house, after some space, on the hill was another house, and further below, another. There ended the hill, and started another, this time upward. So basically, the moment we opened our doors and stepped into the verandah, there were no buildings or obstacles to keep away the fresh breezes.

Like every other hill-station, the houses were not so near, with the spaces in between occupied by pine trees, and other kinds of vegetation. About a kilometer away, right in front, was a house at exactly our level, and further away, of course, there were valleys and other hills. The most tangible physical feature was a range of mountains pretty far away which occupied most of our western sky view. Our house faces the Northern and Western sky, and hence every evening, we could witness the sunset, provided the weather was in a happy mood.

In the evenings, my mother used to love to walk in the verandah (she still does), watching the sky create its magical spectacle of sun rays, clouds and stars. I must have gotten that from her - love of nature, a feeling of being so small in this vast universe, a feeling of contentment and good fortune that I could see such heavenly beauty almost everyday.

When I was small, my mother had once floated in a superstition in my mind – that in the evening, if one sees a single star and enters the house (without seeing a second star), one is bound to be part of a fight. That fear, coupled with not wanting to miss any part of the glorious sunsets, had made me a permanent occupant of the verandah, right until the sky was dark, and all but a few patches of red and orange had disappeared.

When I was a little older, my Mother told me the reason behind the superstition, that perhaps way back, when the superstition was first told, the wise men must have thought that people should stay outside in the evenings, to breathe the fresh air, and had started this illogical rule. Anyway, by that time, I had become an irreversible fan of nature, and didn’t really mind the mild deception. In fact, deep inside, I was glad for it.

Those evenings will remain indelibly in my memory….

Apart from those evenings, my Mother and I shared the beauty of another glittery canvas… which happens so frequently that people forget to notice; The Night sky.

Sometimes, for absolutely no reason, we’d be in the verandah at night….especially if it was a really clear night, or it was slightly warmer than usual. The cool winds would rid us of all discomfort and I’d again start looking skywards. At home, like I said before, the sky was darker, and the stars more defined, as if each trying to show off its jeweled exterior. Besides the sky, all the mountains at the western and northern horizon had buildings, the lights of which shone from the distance. It was like another sky below the horizon; Sometimes, the sky and the land would all seem to merge into one… the tiny lights miles away and the majestic stars millions of light years looked alike.

On some rare nights, when there was a sudden power-cut in the whole area due to some electric fault somewhere, the darkness was enchanting.

If it was a moonless night, there was total darkness in whichever direction one looked, except heavenwards. And what a sight it was up there! Millions of diamonds engraved on one sheet of black…millions of possibilities waiting to be discovered..

If it was a moony night, then it seemed like a mild tube light had been turned on in the sky, bathing very object with its silvery rays. All the distant buildings, trees, lampposts would be coloured in shades of grey, with any surface of metal glimmering without any harsh intensity. It would look unearthly.

I often wished I could capture the vision somewhere, so as to never forget, and to always see…that was never to happen… no camera could capture the awe or the magnificence….that was only to experience..

And then, once power was restored, lights would be blinking in every direction, again creating the alternate sky. As my mother would be calling me inside, I would be torn between wishing power was gone again and being glad that it was back. (Why glad?? Well…there would be some TV serial that I would not have wanted to miss .. )

Even now, when I live in a different place, I often remember those halcyon evenings, those starry nights.

I can still feel the wind chilling my face, while I look westwards.
I can still hear the silence, a pressure cooker going off at a distant kitchen is the only tangible sound, besides the sound of crickets, far away cars,
I can still experience the peace of mind….

Back then, I had often wished I had a camera with me… so that I could store every beautiful sunset, every single ray… But I didn’t. Now when I do have one (a simple one on my cell-phone), I’m not in that place anymore…I go there once in a while, and the last time I went, I clicked to my heart’s content.

For me, the camera is my source of creativity….and I use it at the oddest of times…
----on the way back from office..
------from the terrace at 2 am in the morning…
--------on the road, stuck in traffic….

Any place..

It’s like maybe I’m trying to capture all the beautiful sights I see… to compensate for those lost skyscapes…..

Have a look..

A Reluctant Ode..

Things finally seem to have settled.. One year... its taken me that long to finally understand the dynamics of professional life and the changes in personal life that come along with it..Anyway, apart from a few falls and mishaps, the past one year has been a treasure of experiences, both pleasant and bitter.In retrospect, I really have very few regrets; just one or two stray decisions which I took due to coaxingly coercive misguided do-gooders...but that’s ok... taught me a thing or two about human psychology.

In my 23 years of mellow existence, (out of which I spent the first 5 years enjoying life, the next 10 years enjoying school life with an intensity only slightly lesser than the first 5 years, the next 7 years enjoying +2 college life and graduation, with as much voracity as previously, barely having time to philosophize about the moods and methods of the human mind), after traversing the past year, I have come to an unwelcome conclusion.

I say unwelcome because the conclusion is not conducive to my kind; my kind meaning the female kind.Since the last year, I’ve realized that I get along more with guys than girls. I seem to think more like them than like girls. I've even been euphemized as 'a good looking gal with a guy's brain'..Hmmmmm.. That’s a compliment I really liked :)..

Guys live in a totally alternate universe of mindsets; their thoughts, their methods, their strategies are all clear cut - straight and forward...no curves of artifice or cunning present to mar their direction of thinking. They don't believe in hiding their feelings - be it anger/frustration/annoyance/hurt. In a way its good.

Ever witnessed a fight between to guys who are friends?? Few words, one punch, one look of disbelief, another punch, a feeling of having vented out one's feelings, and voila! They are back to being friends again. Some call this caveman technique and label it as uncivilized. Well, I guess the cavemen must have been really happy if that’s the way they solved quarrels – I agree it could lead to injuries detrimental to the health of the parties involved but isn’t a little physical hurt much better than the endless mental disturbance of continuing a cold war? Having some things to the other person and yet not expressing them for the sake of appearances – that’s what we girls do (mostly).

(In the lines ahead, wherever I’ve said ‘we’ I’ve meant the female species in general)

It’s mostly about the ego…. If we have a problem, we expect that the person, who might in some way be responsible for the problem, should automatically understand and sense it and rectify the issue, or at least apologize. If the other person is a girl, well, then we’re at a universal deadlock…. By some il/logical reasoning she’ll conclude that she has done no wrong and if anything the other girl should say something to the effect of sorry… Herein starts the clash of egos… leading to cold war… and then if neither melt down…..to a final detachment. It might have been some very minor issue, which could have been resolved by a direct conversation bringing out whatever each one has against the other…. But no! That’s not how most of us do it.

Had it been a guy at the other end, well than maximum chances are, the problem would have been solved within the space of a week if not earlier. Why? Because, he’d notice something weird in her behaviour (which she would invariably portray, not trying in the least to hide her obvious displeasure), ask her directly. She’ll scream at him, speak about what wrongs he had (or maybe had not) done; he’ll soothe her with a few choice words of apology, and maybe a few flowers….and there the matter is closed.

I feel that the root of all differences is the fact that most of us are a little too touchy and overly sensitive sometimes. A major part of our miseries are caused by trivialities…
’She didn’t call me’,
‘He didn’t pay his share’,
‘She didn’t wish me on my anniversary of the day I was proposed to’,
‘I’m not going to her party; she called me at the last minute’,
‘I hate her – she always teases me about my clothes/dressing sense/makeup/shoes/etc./etc.’,
‘She’s way too friendly with my guy’,
‘I don’t like the way she acts as if she is the queen’,
……

Unfortunately I could go on…
But I don’t want too…

With guys, I think its more open and maybe a little too direct ….Being a female myself, I say ‘a little too direct’, because we are hardly ever capable of directness and so we count even a little frankness as ‘a little too direct’..
If a guy has a problem with another person (be it a male/female), 95 times out of 100, he’ll go and confront that person –
‘What is the matter’,
‘Why are you behaving differently?’
‘Is everything all right?’
‘Is there a problem?’
….. (These are probably the politest quotes that they use, in all probability, with a person of the female gender…
If it’s a guy, the quotes would have been somewhat different and spiced up with a vast vocabulary of profanities and abuse… and the best part is that the other guy would have answered in the same swearing dialect without the least hesitation – he wouldn’t have become outraged at the usage of such unmentionable words…. Hahaha….not that I advocate such language…)

Hmmmmmm, its not that guys have it good all the way….but right now.. I’ll leave it at this point..
Let the guys feel a little light… a little heady……
Praises showering for them…
Eventually, they will come back to earth , maybe after reading a subsequent post I’ll write….
Let that remain in the shadows for now.. because I, myself don’t know when I’ll write about the intricacies of the female kind…their thought process, their compassion, their essence which sets them a gender apart..
After all there’s so much to say about us….

Disturbing Thoughts.

Some things that really disturb me or leave me pondering:

People eating their meals alone,

People doing tedious jobs which are thankless and low-paying (the liftman, for example),

Small-time roadside vendors trying to sell their wares but hardly succeeding, (it’s actually the sight of seeing their forlorn and expectant faces while you cross their stalls/carts),

People walking barefoot on the roads,(they act as a reminder that while some of us don't think twice before buying shoes worth 2000 bucks, some consider shoes a luxury, not being able to spend their meagre funds on even a pair of chappals)

When someone’s persona is so defined by his uniform that when you see them out of uniform, you feel a sense of familiarity but cannot really place them. (Have you ever noticed the security guard at office when he’s not in uniform?? He might recognize you and smile or whatever, while you’re left trying to figure out where you’ve seen the guy before..)

There might be some more stuff too..but that’s all I could remember right now….

...Straight From the Heart..

Here’s a list of people who have influenced/ have been influencing my humdrum life in more ways than they know…

With the test of time and/or distance, some have faded into oblivion while some are as bright as before…It’s an assorted list so there’s no method or relevance attached to the order…

‘Mickey Mouse’:- My first crush….Hahaha…Now when I look back at those days, I wonder at my silliness. This guy used to live in the same colony as me and his house was on the way to the bus stand. I knew him long before I knew that I had a crush on him..
He was a few years my senior and his school bus would leave the stand about 5 minutes before I reached the stand. Sometimes, if I reached the stand a little earlier than usual, I would strain my eyes to find him among the array of students in a sea of Navy Blue and White.. And the day he stopped to smile at me or spoke a word or two of commonplace stuff, I’d be in the seventh heaven of delight – I’d rush home, wait for my brother to go for his daily dose of friends and Cricket, and then start scribbling all details in my diary. (I never dared to bring my diary within visual range of my (at that time) terrifying elder brother, who always threatened me about reading my diary – Hope he never did..) Anyway, this infatuation of mine persisted for quite some time and at that time I used to think that I’d never get over him. I guess all of us feel that way about our first crush.
And then one fine morning, while going to some relative’s house, I see that that house and its contents, people and furniture both, were moving out of our colony. On making some nonchalant enquiry, I found out that they were shifting to another colony in another locality. And so he shifted. After a few days, another family moved into that same house. Supposedly there was a girl of my age in that family. Unreasonably, without knowing her, I disliked her immensely. (Poor girl…it wasn’t her fault after all..)

'Tuki’:- Hmmm if you’re still feeling sorry for the girl I mentioned above, well she basically survived my initial prejudice, and now is a close friend of mine. How? That’s a mystery. We used to go the same tuition classes, and we clicked from the first day. I told her why I disliked her for no reason… she and I had a good laugh over it. The best part was, our tutor used to leave us free a lot of times, so we used to get a lot of time for idle chatter. It’s very easy talking to her; we come from very similar backgrounds. When it came to doing graduation after 12^th, we tried to somehow get through the same institute, but this girl from my college took the seat ‘Tuki’ was supposed to take.(Darn her!) However, time and distance never created a rift between the two of us – she even came down to my college for a short trip…The same thing happened when it came to jobs; The company she got selected in chose not to select me, while the company that selected me didn’t opt for her. It’s fortunate that we’re from the same region, state, city and colony even and eventually do meet up.

‘Anin’ :- This girl! She had taken my friend’s place while selecting Institutes for graduation. So, I obviously was not too happy with her. (Later, she told me once that she disliked me from college times itself – something to do with the attitudes of our entire gang of college friends).Nevertheless, since we were from the same college and going to the same institute, our parents decided to become friendly.
Coincidentally, when we were going for admission to the institute, we were in adjoining compartments in the train. While our parents talked and all, we mutually didn’t approach each other. However, when we reached the new city, the unfamiliar surroundings sort of made us talk to each other. We kept on cribbing about the place and felt homesick. This was the initial bond that joined us. With the start of classes, and the initial depression after the respective parents left, the bond strengthened what with the seniors commencing their ‘Fresher Initiation Program’ commonly known as ragging. She’s one of a kind, in her own world, not bothering about things like idle gossip. Boy! She loved to sleep, way back in 1^st year… she was (and still is) this treasure of reassurance and common sense. Although we’re in different places now, haven’t met in a year now, hardly ever keep contact through mail/phone, she remains special to me.

‘Ng’ :- This guy used to endlessly tease Anin in Group Get-togethers by saying he had a crush on her. Hahaha! All of us used to have a good laugh seeing her annoyed face when he unabashedly emoted about his feelings. I’ve known him properly for about 3 years now and well….he’s the one guy I can rely on to give an honest and frank opinion about anything I ask. Luckily he’s also working in the same city as I am and he’s helped me over the student to professional transition period. I blurt out all my endless complaints and problems in front of him, and sometimes even I don’t tell him if something is troubling me, he knows it and somehow manages to cheer me up. Basically he always puts a smile on my face..:)

‘Debo’ :- One of Ng’s closest friends, I got to know him somewhere during the beginning of the final year of Graduation. Now, we often look back and wonder wistfully as to why we never managed to come to anything close to acquaintance in the first 3 years of graduation. As he also comes from the same region as I, I met him on the train too, but neither of us found anything out of the ordinary in each other I guess. Different branches in colleges further allowed no contact. It is a fellow hostel mate that I need to thank for renewing my acquaintance with him which grew into the easy friendship that we have today. That hostel mate of mine used to chat with him frequently from my PC as hers had some problem. One day, he sent a message or something (… I don’t remember the exact circumstance), and she wasn’t in the hostel (or had gone home)..so I replied… we got to talking - from homesickness to movies to books to favourites to college to friends… - That’s how it started….

‘Poo’ :- She was also a fellow hostel mate. I talked to her on the 1^st day of class (during graduation) and that first chat brought on so many similarities….it was simply meant to be. She’s the same Sun sign as me, her hobbies are similar to mine, our attitudes were same, we just hit it off. Maybe I was so scared of losing the one person who seemed to understand me, that I never left her side. Or maybe it was the other way round, or maybe we just liked hanging out together. Five years of terrible fights, major misunderstandings, temper outbursts and although we’re not the same as we were five years ago, we still respect each other and try to stay in touch. Some past history might have changed how we are today, sometimes I wish that the ease of the early days come back, but then some changes are irreversible; and one needs to live with that.

‘Apra’:- Another girl who shares the same sun sign as me but we two are as different in some aspects as we are similar in some. Classmates since the 3^rd standard, we’ve shared a lot, experienced a lot, misunderstood a little, but at the end of it we share a common sense of belonging and understanding. Even now when we meet, maybe after a gap of a year, its like nothing has changed - there is no discomfort at all. We keep talking nineteen to the dozen, cribbing, complaining, laughing, consoling….assured that things are going to remain just the same if we meet up again after a day or after a year. Its amazing really, we hardly ever keep in touch; maybe only if we have some important work or one of us is traveling to the other’s city; and yet we feel so much at ease in each other’s company…

‘Ghoda’:- another guy who shares the same sun sign as Apra (and hence as me..:) . He’s the cutest….Tall, Dark, Handsome….always smiling.. playing his favourite upbeat tune on his mobile phone each time he felt a little down. Tirelessly hardworking, he and a couple of others shaped the look of our institute during cultural festivals. Like most of the others, we became friendly at the end of 3^rd year, but really got close in the final year. This guy, who got the title of Mr.Senti(mental), kept his emotions all closed up inside him, the day we were departing. While I was pouring out tears like an overflowing tap, he was the one who made me laugh …He never lost his cool and still doesn’t.. When it comes to keeping in touch , well he sometimes even calls from London..:) …Someday in the near future hopefully.. we’ll meet up..:)

‘Vikx’:- He’s one of the other guys, who along with Ghoda beautified the auditorium, etc. during ‘Culrav’ our annual festival. Brilliant in sketching, his art was(is) eye-catching and had(has) very much his singly unique style of grinning faces. He hated me in the 1^st year of graduation for some misguided reason which took another 2-3 years to finally become trifling enough to ignore. Moody in his typical Cancerian way, it was always a little dicey talking to him back then – you never knew how he’d react. Now, when he’s in a different city (Pune), learning a foreign language, his mood swings seem to have vanished, or maybe they aren’t so apparent from a distance. Anyway, I’m sure glad he got over whatever negative he felt about me and that has made all the difference..

‘Konka’:- She’s also currently in Pune, doing her MBA there. It’s been a friendship of about six years now, out of which we were in the same place for about two years, and the rest has been long distance. Erratically in touch, we’ve hardly met up in the last few years (when we were doing our graduation from separate institutes), and yet the initial years of feeling the same terror while going for tuition to the same brilliant (but a little strict) professor, have always bridged the rift created by distance. Occasional messages or mails keep reminding the both of us that the other still exists..:)J…

‘Mandy’:- He’s from a place called Akola which is close to Pune (I guess), and he’s the sweetest, yet the most impish guy I know..! He’s a colleague in office, and we joined in the same batch. I don’t precisely remember how we got to become so friendly; maybe there wasn’t any specific incident that brought us closer, but now, I’m happy to call him a very dear friend of mine. Sometimes he’s kiddish, sometimes he’s mature way beyond his 22 years of existence. He might always be teasing me, but when needed, he’s always there to help. No matter how hard he tries, he can never ACT serious (when he’s finding some situation exquisitely funny). A tiny movement lurks at the corners of his mouth; a half-smile just waiting to become a full fledged grin always gives him away.

‘Siddy’:- Unlike Mandy, he can always manage to act serious even if he’s brimming with laughter. In the process, he can discompose you, like when you start laughing at something which might be funny from one angle, he’ll start lecturing you on the lines,’ you’re laughing. This is not funny..’ even though he knows it is funny. Now that I know him better, I know when to take him seriously and when not to. Invariably frank, he can say almost anything at your face. He’s one person with whom I never need to make an effort to keep in touch coz he always make sure that he remains in contact with his friends. Despite his busy social schedule, he manages to make time for everybody. And, he’s a hardened flirt who starts up conversations with girls with the sympathetic line ‘had a hard day?’. Also, he’s merciless when it comes to teasing… but he’ll always make sure that the victim of his endless teasing isn’t feeling bad…

‘Pinky’:- Another guy who just couldn’t stay without teasing me (and a couple of other helpless people) was(is) ‘Pinky’. He got this feminine nickname due to some of the Pink shirts that occupied his wardrobe sometime in the 3^rd year. As usual, even though he’s from the same region as me, I got to know him much after we joined. It was due to some common friends that we started hanging out in the same group. And then, our friends’ circle participated in a Fashion show competition, and it was during the practice sessions of this show that we got chummier. He was paired with a classmate with whom he had hardly ever talked before, and I (and a few others) would keep on teasing him endlessly regarding her. (Maybe that’s why afterwards he took revenge for that .. ). Anyway now, I get news of him from the classmate with whom he was paired…(Hahaha! Guess we weren’t teasing him in vain, after all). Oh btw! Did I mention that once upon a time I had a crush on him, and even though he knew all about it, he forbore to tease me about it until the day we left college and that too in the most un-embarrassing manner possible.

‘Jhandu’:- This girl who was paired with Pinky – That’s her. Well, by a stroke of luck (bad luck for her), she got posted to the same place as me, and now we are room-mates. She’s one a kind – very clear about what she wants with her life and how she’s going to go about it. I know her and yet don’t know her. She’s very open and yet very reserved. Normal everyday things, movies, songs, places, books etc.- and she’s overflowing with thoughts. However, when it comes to her emotions (besides anger), feelings - you’ll never know when she’s hurting or depressed. That’s a part of her that she does not share…Hmmm…maybe time will change that….who knows?

‘Remo’:- She was my virtual roomie for quite some time in the last few months..:) A colleague in office, from the very first day, I felt a connection with her. Anyway that soon developed into a close friendship.. her confiding nature complimented my listening and sympathetic attitude. She always told me about her problems, and I would try helping her in some or the other. Likewise, when I suffered from my intermittent bouts of depression, she’d try her level best to bring me out of my blues. Since she stayed at a Paying Guest accommodation which she didn’t like, I used to invite her over to my place over the weekend, and that’s how she became my virtual roomie. Now, though we we’re in different offices, we still manage to meet up occasionally. Even when we don’t, we’re secure in the knowledge that the other is just a phone call away.

‘Annu’:- Another close friend from office, she was the first person I was acquainted with from our batch. We’d met via Orkut and she’d been the person I’d been in touch with before joining the company. Very practical in approach, she has a different life outside of office, with her friends from college. She’s mastered the art of balancing the two friends’ circles. She’ll not say much, but when she does say something, it will be something very witty..:). Like Remo, we hardly ever meet but still manage to keep in touch via e-mail forwards, phone calls or occasional meet-ups. She’s always ready to help, and on one instance when I was having trouble adjusting in Bangalore, she had un-hesitantly offered me her place to stay in. Always smiling, you’ll never see her get flustered or angry.:)

‘Rats’:- She’s the Crazy + Unique + so much more individual I mentioned in the post ‘A Taste of Belgium’. Now that she’s moved to Delhi, sometimes I feel like emotionally blackmailing her as to why she left us all and got a transfer to Delhi (not that it would help matters). She’s got a fabulous way with words, and now I finally managed to convince her to get out of her inertness and author a blog. She calls up regularly, especially when she misses Bangalore and us. Despite being in a different city, she still manages to find time to try to sort out problems of people here, me included..:) She plans to come to Bangalore once in the near future, lets hope that happens soon..:)

Daffy: This very different and affable guy is a very special friend of mine. Never had I expected to become so close to him. You know why, because I never really believed in the mode of acquaintance through which we met – Internet. It’s pretty ironic that I’ve lost touch with the common friend due to whom I met Daffy. Initially, whenever we met online, we talk about the same inane stuff, ‘how are you’, ‘so what do u do’, ‘ok’, ‘what else’, and we’d forget about the conversations. Somehow, on one fine day, due one of my previously frequent bouts of depression (one and only time when it resulted in something good), we came to talking on the phone. He called up, and somehow we connected. Since then, we’ve never looked back. Shifting to cities, switching jobs never interfered with the warm relationship we shared and still do. We’ve met up, and it wasn’t half as weird as one would have expected. He was the same as he had seemed online and I was glad.. Am still glad to have him as such a good friend..

‘Janvi’:- Another girl who’s unique in her very own way. From the first day in college, we’ve been friends. With time, the friendship grew. Even now, in the midst of busy office schedules, late hours, she always manages to make that quick call, ‘how are you? How’ve you been?’. She’s my agony aunt – for all the past years I’ve known her, she’s been the one person I’ve been telling all my problems with all other people. Non-judgmental by nature, she believes in ‘Live and Let Live’. You’ll never catch her saying un-complimentary stuff about others; as in she always gives people the benefit of doubt. An absolute sweetheart, I’m sure glad that she got transferred to the same place as me.:)

Hmmmmm, at the end, here are some lines I've borrowed...

"See you and me have a better time than most can dream of, better than the best, so we can pull on through, whatever tears at us, whatever holds us down, and if nothing can be done, we'll make the best of what's around."

"I'll lean on you and you lean on me and we'll be okay."

- Dave Matthews Band

Speechless Eloquence...

There is something haunting about the eyes – it’s always the eyes. It’s said that ‘Eyes are the Mirror to the Soul’ and on reflecting upon the statement, I cannot agree more.

See the eyes of small children, lost in their fantasy world of dolls, toys and imaginary friends – the shine is almost unbelievable. The feeling that one experiences, when seeing such illuminant eyes, can easily be killed by glancing at the eyes of, say, a construction worker, returning home after a tiring day of thankless and low-paying work, in the later part of an otherwise beautiful evening. The exhaustion and disillusionment is almost contagious. You might have had a relatively easy time at work, but one look at those tired eyes – and you’re almost as tired as that person. And this, I say from experience.

I’ve often wondered about the relation between an individual and his work. What is work to a person generally?

Is it just a means to a living?

Or is it a way of giving meaning to one’s life?

Many people spend their whole lives doing something they do not like because they never tried doing anything else. Maybe they took a job (which they did not like) as a temporary relief from economic problem, but later they didn’t make the effort to try to do something they actually like doing.

Many people spend their whole lives looking for the perfect job – they switch from one field to another, trying to become a success but never having the perseverance to confidence to last somewhere.

Some are fortunate enough to find their destination pretty early in their life and they strive and struggle until they achieve their goal. After they do that, they set new goals.

Some know what they want to do, but do not find the courage or strength to follow their dreams; they live their entire lives thinking ‘what if?’.

Its sad that ‘work’ – the thing we do for the major part of our life, we don’t put much thought into the substance of it ; whether we enjoy what we are doing, whether it is path towards fulfilling our dreams… we just go on doing it.. every day; until we get used to it.

Anyway returning back to what I was saying - about the eyes;

How is it that eyes can be so expressive? Leave out tears, or the blinking, or winking or the furrowing of eyebrows; just an eyeball (usually Black), moving in a fluid-like mass of white – that’s enough to exhibit your present mood, and sometimes even the past.

Why is it that besides the eyes, none of the other facial features are endowed with such expressive capacity? Although maybe the eyes are sufficient to do that job. Any other facial feature also expressing your emotions - and your soul will be shown on your face.

It’s pretty easy to mask one’s facial expressions – smile when you are unhappy, be straight-faced when you’re furious, but if the other person looks closely, the eyes always give you away – the eyes are one’s conscience.

Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise that, not everyone can glance at another’s eyes and gauge the true sentiments; otherwise, all our emotions would be public property with nothing personal or private to call your own. And it’s not that those who can glimpse into the souls of others are very fortunately privileged – they experience the hurt, torment and sadness within each one of us, which we are permanently trying to hide. They are a burdened lot, for they always know the harsh reality.

The most precious gift we have, in the context of experiencing the world, is our eyes. The power of vision is indeed amazing. To feel the cool breeze on your face, while you are seeing the most heavenly beautiful sunset you have ever seen; red and golden rays turning the sky into a glorious spectacle of colours – that is the magic of vision. However, those who have it do not appreciate it, neither do they utilize it. Sometimes we look but never actually see. It is only the fortunate few who have regained vision after blindness who fully appreciate this precious gift.

Maybe it is time we started looking at the beauty around us, be it just a tiny flower, a puddle of water, a lone palm tree swaying with the breeze, or even the eyes of another—one can find beauty in almost everything around us. All we have to do is try and see…

The Metaphor for Howard Roark.

There is something about a tree standing alone which always catches my eye. I don’t know why, but that particular vision always fascinates me. For some unfathomable reason, I associate such an image with human nature.

A lone tree, standing tall and facing strong winds, reminds me of people who never budge from their principles, irrespective of the ramifications of taking their chosen path. Their decision might leave them all alone, facing the adversities ahead without any support to fall back on. It might even lead to their destruction but they remain staunch in upholding what they believe in.
This may sound really weird.. but take a look at this picture and try to imagine what I’m trying to say….

Although it’s a virtue to stand by one’s beliefs, one cannot be sure whether the action of staying rigid will be rewarded by good outcomes or penalized by harsh effects. However for such an individual, the outcomes hardly matter, the penalties hardly affect him. Till the end, he is contented with the fact that he did not let any external circumstance compromise his ideals.
The one individual who fits perfectly into the metaphor of a lone tree and an idealistic man is not a real life person. He is a character (of a novel) who encompasses the whole concept of individualism. People who have a reading habit might have already guessed who I’m talking about.

Howard Roark – the man who does not understand other people but knows what he wants to do in his life; the main protagonist of the brilliant novel by Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead. Although it is difficult to describe his character without explaining the storyline of the book, the following excerpt from a character analysis I found on the internet comes close.

“Roark is fiercely independent. He believes in the merit of his revolutionary designs and has the courage to stand for them in the face of an antagonistic society. He is presented as the author’s version of an ideal man—one who embodies the virtues of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy. Roark is the antithesis of contemporary belief that an individual is molded by social forces. He is not the product of his upbringing, his economic class, his family, his religious training, or his social background. He is a product of the choices he has made. Roark is an example of free will—the theory that an individual has the power, by virtue of the choices he makes, to control the outcome of his own life. A man’s thinking and values are not controlled by God or the fates or society or any external factor—but solely by his own choice. Others may choose to submit, but Roark will not. He is his own man.

Because Roark is his own man from the beginning, there is no change in the essence of Roark’s character. He learns a significant amount over the course of the story but his fundamental convictions remain untouched. The essence of his character is an unswerving devotion to his own thinking and judgment. Roark is like this from the first moment of the story to the last—and, most likely, he has been this way since early childhood. An independent man like Roark learns a great deal of content in his life—indeed, because of his commitment to the fullest use of his own mind; he is the only type of person who can. But his method of functioning, his devotion to autonomous thinking, does not change.
His first-handed method is also the principle that explains Roark’s integrity. Integrity, according to Ayn Rand, is commitment in action to one’s own best thinking, to one’s own mind. Integrity is the “practice what you preach” virtue—the principles that you must put into practical action the ideas you hold. But first, of course, you must hold ideas. Integrity requires a man to be a thinker. Howard Roark meets both of these requirements. He is a brilliant thinker and he acts on his thinking. He is not a hypocrite.

Further, Roark is a selfish man, in the positive sense that Ayn Rand means this. He is true to his values, to his convictions, to his thinking, to his mind, to his self. To be true to his self, a man must first have a self. He must think independently, he must judge, he must form values and he must act in pursuit of those values. He must never sacrifice them. This is exactly what Roark does: The integrity of his design is far more important to him than the money or recognition that will accrue from the commission. In remaining true to his values and judgment, Roark is true to the deepest core of his self. This is selfishness in its highest and best sense.”

For more of this , log on to : http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-111,pageNum-47.html

According to me, the shortest conversation that depicts Roark's personality most powerfully is the following:-

Ellsworth Toohey: We're alone. Why don't you tell me what you think of me.
Howard Roark: But I don't think of you.

(For people who have not read the book and yet are interested to know : Ellsworth Toohey is the guy who effectively destroyed Roark's career because he felt that Roark's individualism and refusal to bend down were a threat to his(Toohey's) power of swerving the crowd's opinion.)

The existence of a real life individual resembling the character of Howard Roark is almost impossible in today’s society. I say ‘almost’ because a little glimmer of hope still remains in my mind, trying to keep alive the possibility that people with such singularly focused thought processes may still find acceptance in today’s world.

Hmmm..I moved from botanic images to literary reviews. That’s either because of a vast spectrum of thoughts or a really messed up brain which cannot remain focused on a single topic.
How does it matter?

Depressing Nostalgia?

Been a while since I penned down my thoughts…

Things like Work got in the way….

It’s amazing really… just a few months ago (is it just a few..? more than six I guess) I had shared my initial corporate experiences in the IT industry….
Now, those experiences seem like a distant dream….
Gone are the days of training, sessions of team building and movies and dumb charades…

Time does change everything…

Many friends have left … for greener pastures maybe,
Work locations are different,
Deadlines eat away most of the time,
Endless meetings occupy the remaining time,
Weekends are spent in sleeping,
Savings are non-existent,
Expenditures are sky-rocketing,
Irritation of nerves is a frequent occurrence,

I don’t seem to be getting along with the life here..

It’s mysterious really… its been quite a few years since I have been living away from home, (although, at the college hostel, during the last few months, we had come to calling that our second home. In retrospect, maybe that was all the emotion speaking). Anyway what I mean is it was never this tough. By the time I left college I felt I was well equipped with all kinds of un/pleasant experiences to help me adjust to any environment. At that time, life in Bangalore with a couple of college friends (with whom I had spent the last 4 years) seemed like a piece of cake.

Now, when I look back, I realize how easy we had it back in college…
Admittedly,
– the food was tasteless most of the time
– there was a perennial problem with electricity
– there was a constant water supply problem (which sort of got resolved in the final year)
– the weather was indescribably extreme ( Temperatures ranging from 5 degrees Centigrade to 40 degrees Centigrade)
– the local populace wasn’t very polite
– there weren’t too many places to hang out in
– ……
However,
- At least there was no daily tension as to ‘what is to be eaten for dinner today’
- At least we didn’t have to think about the electricity/water bill
- No excuse for the weather ; we’d actually gotten used to it by the end
- Same goes for the locals
- At least we had the comfort of a friends’ circle;

We hung out at the weirdest of places :–
-the steps of the college auditorium from where we could see trains running through (ever seen a train running at night from a not-so-well-lit area?? Looks really amazing—small rectangles of light swiftly passing your vision while you try to decipher the passengers from the train),
-the railings and sidewalks of a newly built cable-stayed bridge (just found out about the ‘cable-stayed’ part from Google) on the river Yamuna ,
-sitting on the Ghats of the river Yamuna at different parts of the city,
-an ice cream parlour which was the centre of the main marketplace of the city,
-a confectionery store just a few minutes away (where six of us had once managed to build up a bill of 500 bucks for breakfast; the salesperson there must have thought we were a bunch of students who did not get to eat in their hostels),
-a newly made café which was built on the lines of Barista ,
-a Photostat shop across the gate of college which also sold ice creams and patties (the shop owner had gotten so friendly with us by the end that he used to join us in our stupid games like ‘Movie name Antakshari’ ,
-a Chaat shop adjoining to the Photostat shop which just about sold the best Chaat in that area for the lowest prices imaginable,
-a localite friend’s place (a few of us had made it our 3rd home)…..

The hostel was like a heaven by the end of our stay …the courtyard within the walls of the hostel was our very own playground- be it Ludo (at one point of time ---we were all addicted to the game), badminton or some weird game invented by a fellow hostel mate. Single rooms for each girl were an added advantage-you always had one place which you could call your personal den(although in hostel, one gets so used to all the noise, music, screams caused by a wandering lizard/mongoose/grasshopper/cockroach/unknown insect,and laughter, that one very rarely needs alone-time). By the time I had reached final year, we all had finally learnt the ropes of that place; we ruled that place – it was our very personal kingdom. Four years of togetherness had taught us how to survive in the most adverse of conditions, laughing together, cribbing together…..

* sigh * nostalgia is catching up with me.. so I better stop right here.

Anyway what I’m trying to say we didn’t how good we had it until we lost it; at least it’s true for me….

Now, we’re all supposedly Professionals; grown up, mature, career conscious, financially wise, with worries about the future, etc. etc.

In my case, I seemed to have lost touch with most of my classmates. The most ironic thing of all is that even though the people who had mattered the most in college are, fortunately, in the same place as me, we hardly ever meet. And people who were not so close back then continue to remain in touch even from places far apart.

Now, looking back at the good old days, I only feel a warm nostalgia, reminiscing about the good times, forgetting the bad. I try not to focus on what could have been and think about what I have today – a few good friends (who’ve outlasted the college-corporate metamorphosis) who are always there by my side and many new ones... some close,some not so much.

To an extent, I have also changed. The erstwhile friends’ circle has shrunk to a select few. I guess different people react differently to change; I took a long time to really understand that and that had caused me to face some unexpected disillusionments when i joined here initially. Now, I no longer take to heart small things which, once upon a time, would have really hurt me. According to me, the secret to adjustment in this new adult life is aloofness. You need to realize that the happy-go-lucky college life is finally over and things are no longer going to be as cozy as before.

If you can master the art of drawing the line between aloofness and intimacy, you’re ready to blossom in this new promising environment. You’re good to go.

I hope, soon I can say that for myself.

A Taste of Belgium..

De Lekkerbek – The Exclusive Belgian Café. Sounds like a posh Restaurant with exotic food and even more exotic prices, doesn’t it?
Well if you are in Bangalore, then I‘ve got news for you – It’s not any of the above (well except the food part).:)
This is one quaint little café situated in the heart of Koramangala , so nondescript that its not a surprise that having lived in that area for about 5 months now, I myself had not noticed it all this while. It was only because of a Crazy+Unique+Different+Whimsical and Dear friend of mine that I chanced upon its premises.

This friend of mine is the cutest… she’s not afraid of doing different things that are not commonplace. She went ahead and joined a Child Help organization ‘Asha’, and then took the responsibility of organizing a painting competition for the kids…she had no qualms. However, by the time she was done with all the organizing, she had gone half crazy, talking to the ‘n’ people, sponsors, asking people to help, finding judges, etc etc etc. She never complained. And the most ironic thing was that at that very competition, she lost her wallet complete with cash and credit cards. She is the one person who pulls us all to the weirdest of places….A flower show in a far away Park, a play in a far away Theatre, a weird movie in a nearby (Thank God for that!) theatre, are a few. I was lucky enough to escape some of her whacky ideas. (If you’re reading this…R…I mean ALL of this in a GOOD way..:))
As usual I’m wavering from the point. What I’m trying to say is that maybe the one place she recommended and I really, really, really liked is this quaint little café set on the 1st floor of a 3-storeyed building , which I have been seeing almost everyday these last few months , but never noticed.
Last Friday, my room-mate and I were at home, trying to pass our time looking at wax melting in the candles, during one of the sudden power cuts that have started to plague our locality off late. We decide to go out and then as usual started wandering as to where we could while away the Friday evening. I remembered what my friend had recommended and the fact that the place is situated just 5 minutes from our place. So, we decided, why not give it a try? We got nothing to lose except our time ..:) and we didn’t mind that in the least.

As we entered the place, we were pretty sure that the place was closed (at least for that evening) - the place was that empty. A forlorn looking guy looked at us from the counter and we asked, very hesitantly, if it was open. Luckily for us, he said Yes.
The place is actually very, very small for a restaurant. About 6 tables were set, 2 counters at 2 sides, one whose shelves had absolutely nothing, the other had some stuff I guess. Another smaller guy was sitting behind the counter, doing nothing.



We sat at a table near to the wall. It was really nice - the way the wall was decorated; Tasteful posters of Belgium (the one name i remember is Gent) and some ads of Belgian chocolates gave colour to the off-white wall. Overlooking the street via which we had come, was a glass screen. So, we could see outside, and hanging on the wall were colourful lights which lit up in some rhythmic pattern. On each table was a vase with pink flowers. The forlorn waiter/manager/cook came up to us with menus which were actually Xerox copies of a printout I guess. Along with the usual stuff that cafes have, (all those varieties of

coffees and juices) the menu included Belgian Waffles, Pancakes and some Belgian specialties whose names I can’t remember. Thankfully these food items had descriptions at the side, so we selected a name which was described something like, ‘Buttered toast with Chicken salad…..’ the rest is kind of foggy in my mind. While we were waiting there, they played some English music…light and lively tunes. One song went on and on….’ I’m not English; I’m not French……. I’m Belgian….’. That was like the final touch to the ambience of a very English (Belgian actually) restaurant.


All the time we were discussing as to whether this place even did enough business to stay afloat. Considering the fact that the 45 minutes to 1 hour we were there, not a single soul entered its portals, we were pretty sure, it didn’t (and still doesn’t) .
Then we felt a little low that such a cozy and nice café was going unnoticed and might just close down.
Then we felt sorry for the two people who were working there.
Then we cheered ourselves up that at least they would be getting their salaries, even though the place didn’t run.
Then we felt sorry for the owner of the place who had had such a hare brained idea to open such a place in such locality, thus ensuring that it would not run.
Then we again cheered ourselves up that there was no other explanation for the café to be still running , except that the owner must be an eccentric who had loads of wealth to squander , and who had some beautiful memories of Belgium which s/he wanted to keep alive in this small corner of Bangalore.

By the time we had come to the end of all these meandering musings, our food was served. We’d also ordered Cold Coffee and some Mint Lemon drink (my room-mate isn’t all that non-crazy either). The food was actually good - toast with butter dripping from all over, filled with chicken and cheese ,and crisp salted potato wafers, served with slices of tomato , cucumber and a fruit (which I think was FIG.. not sure though). We were still struggling with our tall glasses of drinks by the time we were done with the sandwich/whatever it was actually called.

When were finally done (i.e. after my friend was done sipping on the never-ending melting ice in her Lemon drink), we paid up and left…hoping that the forlorn waiter would be a little happier having (what could have been) his very first (and probably last) customers of the day.

As, we walked back, all I said was, ‘An agreeable nice experience’. She totally agreed.

Product of a Devil's Workshop..

Hmmmmm..

I’ve got nothing to do..
So then I started looking at blog pages..
& guess what? People write absolutely anything...
The smallest things create large impressions in minds,
It's amazing isn't it? How big things are built from seemingly inconsequential ideas..
As usual I’m going off track (not that there is a well defined track but anyways)…What I was trying to say is that if people can write all of the smallest incidents.. why shouldn’t I?

So I decided to increase the number of posts on my blog site.
Before reading ahead... be warned… this post will have absolutely nothing relevant, mind blowing or important to say. So if you’re expecting to read something hard-hitting and thought provoking, stop reading n wasting your time.

Hahaha I have absolutely no idea as to what I’m rambling on an on about...
Here I am, sitting at my desk… after a heavy lunch of Chicken Biriyani... listening to this one song 'Lamha Lamha; from the recent movie Gangster which is repeating again and again on my Media Player, wondering what is it that I should do..

Should I do something productive as all our TLs & PMs say, 'it’s not a bad thing that you have a lot of free time; utilize it. Don’t just sit there and chat and check emails. Read up, increase your knowledge base....' (Hahaha whoever says all that should be told once and for all that freshers are too habituated to the Study All Night or Fail situation (where we learn only when the only thing that keeps us glued to our books is the threat of having to stay back in the college an extra year) to learn something when there is no pressure,
Or
Should I start a chain mail or something?
Or
Should I just continue writing this crap?
Or
Should I call up some unfortunate entity and bore him/her so that I can pass on my boredom?
Or
Should I chat with someone?
Or
Should I just continue writing this crap?
Or
Should I open all my email accounts and start organizing the stuff into folders and all?
Or
Should I search for nice wallpapers on the net?
Or
Should I just continue writing this crap?
Or
Should I change the song list?
Or
Should I just continue writing this crap?

Chalo I’ll settle for this crap.

You know (silly me! How would u know?), the guy who sits in the cubicle next to me .. Either he’s on bench or he’s doing his dummy project (project done during training period)....he’s mostly ALWAYS sleeping. Everyday he'll come, religiously open some PDF document, read and highlight some lines (all the time listening to music with his RED Kingfisher headphones), then just put his head down in front of the monitor and doze off. No worries at all. Sometimes, some others come to his desk, sometimes these others also look at the same PDF (or maybe different.. how would I know?) document and do some cut-copy-paste operation. And imagine this - while this other person is assumedly doing this perennially sleeping guy’s work, the dozing guy sleeps off (sitting just next to the worker)...
Hahaha it’s a sight to see.
Right now, I look back and what do I see? Wonders of wonders....
He’s not dozing! He’s actually working on some PowerPoint presentation. So I guess he’s preparing for the dummy project presentation.
Did he see me write all this about him?? Is that why he started working so prodigiously?
Aaaaaaaaahh.. What am I thinking?
Of course not.
Right?
Am I asking too many questions? You don’t seem to b answering even a single one..
Darn...I’m still bored.
Should I go to the Cafeteria?? Aarghh! With whom? Everybody seems to be busy… Nobody actually has any work but they still seem to be doing something – chatting, downloading crappy songs (from sites which somehow were missed out from being blocked by our dear old WebSense. Probably the IT people thought, ‘Such crappy songs! Who would even listen to such songs?’. But no wait! Turns out there are a lot of such people.
Seriously what is this Hip Hop & Rap all about? Just people speaking unintelligibly, no melody, no tune - just words interrupted by a lot of percussion instruments. People who like it say that it’s all about the lyrics - u should listen to the lyrics. They even try to coerce you to listen and appreciate that kind of 'music'. What I think is that if I cared so much for lyrics, wouldn’t I just listen to poetry instead? That’s also all about the meaning right? And by the by, I hate poetry. I feel it’s just a very innovative way by which really, really, really lazy people earn money.
Pen down something that makes no sense whatsoever, then attach some abstract meaning to it, use a lot of similes and metaphors, compare the weirdest of objects to another set of even weirder objects, talk about some long lost love that never existed…. and Voila! you have poetry...!
Then, 100 years down the line, another set of totally workless people re-read the same supposed masterpieces and interpret an entire deeper meaning - something that not even the poet would have envisaged while writing. Then, these poems are published into textbooks for unfortunate children who have to mug them up or understand their supposed inner meaning, and in the process, lose their logical sanity.
All of this why? Just because some long gone poet couldn’t find anything else to do....a victim of Boredom.

Hmmm looks like I could become another of those victims....

But wait! No I won’t..
I’m no longer bored. I’ve written this masterpiece of meaningless prattle.
And since I’m in the electronic age, I used a keyboard. So I have a lot of typo errors.
Now, I’m going to correct all of those and then publish this post (provided I’m able to solve the problem that is ongoing in my blog site (due to which my latest blog is not being displayed...Not this Silly!)

Hence, the words of wisdom that you have gained after reading this very creative piece of nothing are that.......

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An idle mind is not a devil's Workshop.... it is a Poet's workshop.

Hahaha..
Smiling? Or wanting to tear your hair out? Or Mine??

A Drive to Remember..

God's Own Country.......That’s what they say about Kerala right..? Well, I can't really claim to have seen the entire State, but from the very little that I've seen of its magnificent beauty, I'd say God put this place on Earth by mistake. This place should have been right up there in that place called Heaven.

I'd been to Trivandrum about ten years ago and yet I still remember the tranquility and peace I'd felt on the sands of Covalam (or is it Kovalam?) beach... clean, unpolluted, and serene, that’s how it was. Although I’ve heard that now it has become pretty commercialized, there are a lot of other places to choose from.

I've just been to Munnar, a tiny hill station in Kerala, based primarily on tea estates. From Bangalore, it’s a 15 hour trip by bus. Leave at about 8:30 pm in the evening, reach a place called something I don't remember (in Tamil Nadu) where they change buses at about 7 a.m in the morning. From there its a four hour journey through very pretty countryside ...in the beginning, mostly palm trees and lush green fields and the roads are literally through villages....so when you look out of the window , all you see is greenery interspersed with houses after infrequent intervals.

As you go farther from that place whose name I can't recall... you leave the plains and after that its all hilly terrain; you climb up a hill in spirals...you climb up a road and then after a few minutes, you can see the same road just below. For a person like me who suffers from nausea during road journeys, it’s a Catch-22 situation. I get very queasy when traveling in curvy hilly terrain. It’s a pretty funny condition I have; if I close my eyes and not see outside, I generally don’t feel anything. As soon as I see the bus going around curves beyond which roads don't seem to continue, I feel like I'm going to throw up.

Anyway, going back to what I was saying, Catch 22 situation; as in, its such a beautiful ride...with such plush vegetation, it would be a shame if one didn’t see it - I would be missing something really wonderful.. BUT ... the moment I see outside, and see that the road the bus is on is so narrow that it’s a mystery as to how the bus is not falling from the sides, I regret opening my eyes and immediately go back to my colorless world of shut eyes.

The closer we got to Munnar, the climate got cooler, the vegetation got different and the view even more fantastic...hills with a carpet of tea plantations layered all over like a protective sheet, lakes in the valleys reflecting the blue glory of a clear sky.....the cool breeze imbuing a new life in our tired selves...soon palm trees were replaced by tall Eucalyptus trees, majestic in their white splendor.

As a kid, I used to wonder at the amount of hard work that people go to just to paint the branches of a tree white; I also used to be amazed thapeople would even go to all the thinnest branches and paint them. There used to be this tall Eucalyptus tree on the way to school, (in Shillong) and almost everyday I used to gaze in wonderment at this tree. I would think....'when do they paint its branches? Must be at night because I never see any one climbing the tree during the day……….’, it was years till I got to know the actual artist at work (Nature i.e. if you’re also under the misconception).

Though we were dead tired, that four-hour journey felt like a joyride through a wonderland. :):) Thus we reached Munnar, a place which I'll not describe because I’ll get carried away...and this post will end after a long, long, long time. All I can say is that if you’re frustrated with the fast, polluted and noisy city life, Munnar is the place to go to refresh your soul.

Beyond Reasonable Doubt..

10 REASONS WHY NOT TO COMMENT ON A BLOG/POST YOU LIKED..

#1 You will have to think.
(Do you even need to read any more after readin #1?)

#2 You will have to think something meaningful
(Heheh thought you'd get away by thinking any stupid crap?? Anybody who has given those 'n' semester exams of theory, where everybody writes pages and pages but nobody actually writes anything significant, knows how tough it is.)

#3 You will have to type all that meaningful stuff .
(Yea yea I know how annoying it must be to use your fingers to type stuff which is not as official as your personal e-mail/chat/fowawrds..:D)

#4 You will have to use your valuable 'office' resources (internet and computer)
(After all we all are conscientious employees of our respective companies, and we NEVER misuse resources.. never use the company cab to go home late whn we cud hv left at 6.. never call friends from our respective extensions....never raid the stationery room for stuff we will never use/need)

#5 You are so busy at work that you did not even get time to read that blog.
(Wht makes me think you would actually have the time to post a comment.How workless do i think you are ? (Rather.. how much do I know.?))

#6 Your TL/PM sits behind/next to you .
(You can't risk opening the blogspot page as then all your TL's suspicions would be confirmed that your a worthless fresher who does nothin but surf idiotic stuff on the net)

#7 You don't have an account in blogspot and are too lazy to make one.
(Even if it's for the doubtful pleasure of making someone else(me)happy).

#8 You think all this blog/post stuff is a wastage of your time.
(Even if, previous to reading my post, you were creating a new yahoo id so tht you could forward all the 57 forwarded mails you receive and read each day to a single account).

#9 You don't want me to be happy.
( I.e you dont like other people's happiness.. i.e you like seeing other people unhappy. i.e You are a sadist.)

#10 You don't like me.
(Please God! let it not be this reason ..:( *sniff)


So which reason is it?? For all those people who are going to read this post....and not comment..please please am beggin you here..(:D) kuch to likh do..


:D:):)

Extracts from a Clueless Mind..

Its been six months into a corporate life and life can't get better than this.. or do I mean life can't get worse than this.???

These six months have been a mixed bag of good stuff and not-so-good stuff.Feelings of all kinds have raged in my heart-ranging from depression due to homesickness to gladness of holding your very own paycheque:), ranging from nostalgia of college days to the freshness of new environments, ranging from missing old friends to the anticipation of knowing new ones..

Hmm..btw who says we are working people now?? who works in the software industry anyway..?HahahaThe standard lines a fresher hears are, ' you are just a fresher now.. the client wants only experienced people', 'Now is a good time to build your knowledge base'(just a better way to say tht the work we can give you is to study',' we're puttin you into this competency building project where you will know how things are done' (again another way to say you are goin to do nothing for the next few months).

Not tht we have a problem with that. I mean atleast not me.I've thoroughly enjoyed my 6 months of 'WORK'. i.e about one month of classroom training(more like college), followed by about two months of dummy project, finally put into live project, all interspersed with more days of mail checking , chatting, music searching, and basically doing nothing. What about the days of fests, team building sessions, and so much more recreational activities...? now thats somehting we used to look forward to and thoroughly enjoyed..:)....in the process were created friendships that are carrying on inspite of our 'HECTIC' schedules...

Birthday celebrations ,
Birthday bumps,
cakes,
treats,
paper ball fights,
water throwing fights,
paper balls-dipped-in-water/tea/coffee fights,
bets to throw water at somebody,
somebody challenging another to throw an open knife at him and the other person willingly complying,
trips to hospitals,
searching for new eating joints other than the cafetaria food,
romances floating in the air but never really materializing ,
dramas,
gossip,
salsa dances,
Hindi dances,
never-ending group mails,
group trips,
listening to songs from the other cubicle by puttin the head phone on full volume and transferring it to this side ,
complaints from HR abt sound levels,
guys and girls runnin after/admiring ladies and men (respectively of course)from other departments,
bitter truths about people (one has a major crush on) already being married,
a couple going out for a lone date and then teased forever after tht,
a guy perennialy dedicated to annoying the rest of the batch,
statewise insults...especially about the EAST,
giving HI-Fives,
threatening to hit ppl where they are already hurt,
Birthday surprises right at home,
sharing songs,
christening people with names related to Fairy Tales, State, size and sexuality,
revenge,
forwarding stupid mails just to annoy someone,
....hahaha...
a guy dedicated to starting clubs who got so frustrated at the low membership that he got a transfer and left the city,
people attending birthday treats the night before CAT exam,
watching movies in the training room,
sleeping in lectures all day and waking up only during breaks,
reading novels in class while nodding(as if understanding every single word),
people getting angry at small things,
'Filmi' dialogues,
playing dumb charades,
sitting in the lawn and wondering why is that we have cubicles,
playing basketball and dislocating an arm,
playing volleyball inspite of a permanently damaged right foot,
playing TT till its 9 pm so tht one can catch the 9pm cab,
doing nothing all day,
starting to work at 4:30 pm and leaving at 10pm to show the company people how dedicated they are,
using G-Talk to talk overseas,
being all day on the phone,
writing stupid stuff as this........................

:)Too much hard work...isn't it?

Maybe we should ask for a raise or something...?

Whatsay?