After acute laziness and an amazing amount of cribbing about how unfair is life, I've decided to come back to this medium which serves best as a drawing board for my thoughts. The comeback has been triggered by a Seema Goswami article, a 15 days leave from office and Dr.Alban's insistence that "It's my life".
2009 is coming to an end and let's see how it has set the tone for the next decade, So here it is in words.
1) Two of my closest friends have gotten married this year and 3 more will pretty soon in the next year, thus making me ever so conscious about my single status, hey so which one is a better site shaadi.com or indiamatrimony.com, aaah!!! who cares ! ? I wish them the best and all my single friends I suggest we start a new facebook or orkut community called "Single and loving it".
2) It's a been year of travel, starting with Rishikesh, Mussori, Jaipur,Manali and then Chael, The random trips have helped me make a number of keen observations on travel, tourism and group dynamics. It's been an experience travelling with the kind of people I have, The GPS Dude, Reporter Chick, Joey, MetalHead, Actor Boy,Prodigy Freak and The 377 Sisters, all of them have been intense. I hope more names get added to both the lists of places and people. So where to people, beaches this time ??
3) Returning to my roots, this year I've made it a point to take time out to visit IIC more frequently, It's been my temple of Inspiration and an evergreen tree for me. Looks like it will remain to be so.
4) A karmic lesson of patience and practicality has been thrust upon me throughout the year, for someone who has always believed that efforts brings result, it's been a year of waiting for me. Patience has been my lesson and I hope to use it best in the time to come. I've realized that in any success story, patience is undermined and a lot is attributed to determination, ambition etc. However patience holds the key, A blacksmiths patience is what is required at times to bend the iron of life into what you want. So strike I shall when the time is right.
5) I started this blog this year and I hope that I write more and better with every effort !!!!!
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Friday, 13 November 2009
Morality - The Wall behind which we hide
"But she's committed to someone else and here she is..."
Last week has thrown some very interesting incidents at me and I've been forced to question the very foundation of our social construct. I haven't ever been a staunch believer of social conformity however as a man wanting to enjoy rain I've never been hesitant of a few splashes of mud. No matter how much you want to pave your own way and have your own set of beliefs, social conformance always catches up. I've tolerated people who preach exploitation and manipulation in the name of social conformance and morality only so that everyone rots in the same stagnancy in which they themselves rot. I tolerated some of them only because they were born that way and some because you need to have an alternative before you try to replace an existing system.
In a random social gathering I came face to face the very people who personify the "Indian Crab Mentality", they stated "morality" as their cause much like the RSS that vandalizes couples and various outlets on Valentine's Day. I could see them pointing fingers at other people who had made their choices, at people who chose not to hide behind the self-contradictory virtues of our society, people who had a smile on their face knowing that atleast they are being true to themselves, people who had tears for they knew that these bastards preaching morality are just selfish rats who are grinding their axe because they want their pound of flesh.
They questioned around "is this right ? why should they ? we don't approve so why should they ? we don't think it's right!". I could see it in their eyes, sense it in their words, they used a thousand words however were scared to ask the real question in the simplest of words "why him ? why not us ? why do you still want him, we offer you everything our righteousness, our virtues, our honesty. Then why him ?". They simply didn't have the courage to ask the question which would put them in the "hot seat" so the answer they found was "they are corrupt, amoral, wrong".
These people preached morality, called themselves friends and forgot that they own a closet full of skeletons which hasn't been preached morality yet. I couldn't make up my mind whether they were parasites trying hide their true nature behind the veils of morality or are imbeciles desperately seeking social conformance. For a second I felt pity for their judgemental handicap, incapable of deciding what's right or wrong they turned to social preaching to live their lives. With time my pity had turned into outrage, I felt disgusted at the realization that these were people who were the real corruption. They were the ones who were amoral not because they hid themselve from the world but because they hid their own nature from themselves.
I saw them running with knives to butcher people, people like me, who define morality by actions and not merely by words. They dragged innocent bystanders into the whole blood bath, bystanders who simply knew that the truth is stranger than fiction and supported only as much they could. The morality preachers who sleep with prostitutes and visit strip clubs created the messiest of carngage in the name of "what's right", they speak of morality however they will deny their conscience the realization that they are creatures of lust and greed as well.
Going by the social definition of morality, I am not a moral person.
I am not a selfless person, With great pride I declare that I am a selfish person, My love for someone or something is driven by my passion and this passion is an unstoppable force, no preachers, no social construct and no human can stop it. I don't make sacrifices for others, I make them for myself because only a person who's selfish and strong has the power of choice.
I will support similar people around me only because they have the guts to live in reality rather than walk through their lives on quoting euphisms and moral lectures like brain washed zombies.
"I make my choices by being true to myself and I will not blame others for my mistakes", for me this is morality.
For all the preachers out there...
You go preach morality to the skeletons in your closet, I'd rather be the man who sold the world.
Last week has thrown some very interesting incidents at me and I've been forced to question the very foundation of our social construct. I haven't ever been a staunch believer of social conformity however as a man wanting to enjoy rain I've never been hesitant of a few splashes of mud. No matter how much you want to pave your own way and have your own set of beliefs, social conformance always catches up. I've tolerated people who preach exploitation and manipulation in the name of social conformance and morality only so that everyone rots in the same stagnancy in which they themselves rot. I tolerated some of them only because they were born that way and some because you need to have an alternative before you try to replace an existing system.
In a random social gathering I came face to face the very people who personify the "Indian Crab Mentality", they stated "morality" as their cause much like the RSS that vandalizes couples and various outlets on Valentine's Day. I could see them pointing fingers at other people who had made their choices, at people who chose not to hide behind the self-contradictory virtues of our society, people who had a smile on their face knowing that atleast they are being true to themselves, people who had tears for they knew that these bastards preaching morality are just selfish rats who are grinding their axe because they want their pound of flesh.
They questioned around "is this right ? why should they ? we don't approve so why should they ? we don't think it's right!". I could see it in their eyes, sense it in their words, they used a thousand words however were scared to ask the real question in the simplest of words "why him ? why not us ? why do you still want him, we offer you everything our righteousness, our virtues, our honesty. Then why him ?". They simply didn't have the courage to ask the question which would put them in the "hot seat" so the answer they found was "they are corrupt, amoral, wrong".
These people preached morality, called themselves friends and forgot that they own a closet full of skeletons which hasn't been preached morality yet. I couldn't make up my mind whether they were parasites trying hide their true nature behind the veils of morality or are imbeciles desperately seeking social conformance. For a second I felt pity for their judgemental handicap, incapable of deciding what's right or wrong they turned to social preaching to live their lives. With time my pity had turned into outrage, I felt disgusted at the realization that these were people who were the real corruption. They were the ones who were amoral not because they hid themselve from the world but because they hid their own nature from themselves.
I saw them running with knives to butcher people, people like me, who define morality by actions and not merely by words. They dragged innocent bystanders into the whole blood bath, bystanders who simply knew that the truth is stranger than fiction and supported only as much they could. The morality preachers who sleep with prostitutes and visit strip clubs created the messiest of carngage in the name of "what's right", they speak of morality however they will deny their conscience the realization that they are creatures of lust and greed as well.
Going by the social definition of morality, I am not a moral person.
I am not a selfless person, With great pride I declare that I am a selfish person, My love for someone or something is driven by my passion and this passion is an unstoppable force, no preachers, no social construct and no human can stop it. I don't make sacrifices for others, I make them for myself because only a person who's selfish and strong has the power of choice.
I will support similar people around me only because they have the guts to live in reality rather than walk through their lives on quoting euphisms and moral lectures like brain washed zombies.
"I make my choices by being true to myself and I will not blame others for my mistakes", for me this is morality.
For all the preachers out there...
You go preach morality to the skeletons in your closet, I'd rather be the man who sold the world.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Quantum of Shoelace - IV
"Chocolate, Convent, Coffee"
"Oh well all of them are gifts, to uh well, uhhh to my girlfriends", Mammoth is trying hard to make sure it exactly comes the out way it is not supposed to. Pink Laces parsing logic has got all the topics to choose from, she ventures forth, " Uh gifts ? then what are they doing here ??"
"Hmm, well she, umm they couldn't take it home immediately so they left it in my car."
"They ?"
A loud sigh,"Oh well, the bunny belongs to my first girl friend ever, the muffler to the second one and the showpiece and chocolate belongs to the current one.", Wow what an answer ! Any semblance of chance that Mammoth had with this chick is just being burried alive by mr.smooth operator. Shouldn't be too long now MAMC is pretty close by, this torturous "do it yourself - screw your chances tutorial" session should be over any minute. However I don't blame Mammoth for this,must be in his DNA or something. Let's take a moment and go back a decade.
It's high school, 6th standard Mammoth had just entered his preteens and already Chubby Cheeks Betty had taken a fancy to him. She had already dropped him "THE" line, "Do you mind if I sit with you, my partner is absent today and I don't want to sit alone", back then that was the high school equivalent of a pick up line. The request was made for a single day, however Mammoth had the female for company every single day. Till of course our genius boy screwed himself over when he literally coaxed Chubby Cheeks into tieing him a rakhi on rakhi day, that too in school and infront of the whole class. No, Obviously he didn't have incestuous intentions, the boy simply was too innocent for his own good. Still can't forget the look on Betty's face, at times childhood heartbreaks can be harder than being jilted at the altar!
Okay fast foward five more years,Eleventh standard, Mammoth is coming home from his maths tuitions. He has Convent Cool Madonna for company and is walking her home like a chivalrious knight. She drops "THE" line, "Thats my place over there, do you want to come up, maybe talk or something ?", Okay now there is a bit of a story to this.
Madonna had already described a tear jerker situation during the class about how her grand dad was having a surgery and how the mood was really serious at her place. However she still drops the line CCMadonna wants to check Mammoth's cool quotient and also whether he was listening or not. You can't really blame Madonna here after all the were seventeen, the age when girls start using their brains to get a guy and the guys start using testosterone for everything.
"Yes, sure", Mammoth replies like the insensitive going-gaga-over-new-girl male.
"Ok, but I think it's a bit of a serious mood at my place, maybe sometime later ?", Madonna has him figured out already and out the back door exit!
Once again I think it's DNA and nothing else, fast forward a few more years, and Pink Laces is putting up with the worst show of testorsterone dosage gone wrong.
"So, like if they belong to your ex-girlfriends, will they ever get them ?", Pink Laces wants to have her fun.
"Not really."
"Then why keep them ?"
"Haven't got a chance to throw them away."
"What about the one for your current girl friend ?"
"Well, she'll take it when she gets an opportunity."
"Hope that's before she becomes an ex," Pink laces cracks an obvious insensitive joke, aren't they just made for each other.
"That's possible under one condition only and might just happen pretty soon," Mammoth in action, boy oh boy.
"Really and what is that ?"
"Your college is here, Would you be interested in sharing the possibility over a cup of coffee sometime ?" MAMC is here and Mammoth has timed this one to perfection, the kid has got some talent after all.
"I'm sorry but I'm engaged, thanks for the ride" Pink Laces exits left of stage and disappears through her college gate.
Reverse Gear, First gear, Zero to Sixty in under a minute, Mammoth prepares to audition for "Fast and the Furious 5: The Jilted & The Challaned"
"Hmm, well she, umm they couldn't take it home immediately so they left it in my car."
"They ?"
A loud sigh,"Oh well, the bunny belongs to my first girl friend ever, the muffler to the second one and the showpiece and chocolate belongs to the current one.", Wow what an answer ! Any semblance of chance that Mammoth had with this chick is just being burried alive by mr.smooth operator. Shouldn't be too long now MAMC is pretty close by, this torturous "do it yourself - screw your chances tutorial" session should be over any minute. However I don't blame Mammoth for this,must be in his DNA or something. Let's take a moment and go back a decade.
It's high school, 6th standard Mammoth had just entered his preteens and already Chubby Cheeks Betty had taken a fancy to him. She had already dropped him "THE" line, "Do you mind if I sit with you, my partner is absent today and I don't want to sit alone", back then that was the high school equivalent of a pick up line. The request was made for a single day, however Mammoth had the female for company every single day. Till of course our genius boy screwed himself over when he literally coaxed Chubby Cheeks into tieing him a rakhi on rakhi day, that too in school and infront of the whole class. No, Obviously he didn't have incestuous intentions, the boy simply was too innocent for his own good. Still can't forget the look on Betty's face, at times childhood heartbreaks can be harder than being jilted at the altar!
Okay fast foward five more years,Eleventh standard, Mammoth is coming home from his maths tuitions. He has Convent Cool Madonna for company and is walking her home like a chivalrious knight. She drops "THE" line, "Thats my place over there, do you want to come up, maybe talk or something ?", Okay now there is a bit of a story to this.
Madonna had already described a tear jerker situation during the class about how her grand dad was having a surgery and how the mood was really serious at her place. However she still drops the line CCMadonna wants to check Mammoth's cool quotient and also whether he was listening or not. You can't really blame Madonna here after all the were seventeen, the age when girls start using their brains to get a guy and the guys start using testosterone for everything.
"Yes, sure", Mammoth replies like the insensitive going-gaga-over-new-girl male.
"Ok, but I think it's a bit of a serious mood at my place, maybe sometime later ?", Madonna has him figured out already and out the back door exit!
Once again I think it's DNA and nothing else, fast forward a few more years, and Pink Laces is putting up with the worst show of testorsterone dosage gone wrong.
"So, like if they belong to your ex-girlfriends, will they ever get them ?", Pink Laces wants to have her fun.
"Not really."
"Then why keep them ?"
"Haven't got a chance to throw them away."
"What about the one for your current girl friend ?"
"Well, she'll take it when she gets an opportunity."
"Hope that's before she becomes an ex," Pink laces cracks an obvious insensitive joke, aren't they just made for each other.
"That's possible under one condition only and might just happen pretty soon," Mammoth in action, boy oh boy.
"Really and what is that ?"
"Your college is here, Would you be interested in sharing the possibility over a cup of coffee sometime ?" MAMC is here and Mammoth has timed this one to perfection, the kid has got some talent after all.
"I'm sorry but I'm engaged, thanks for the ride" Pink Laces exits left of stage and disappears through her college gate.
Reverse Gear, First gear, Zero to Sixty in under a minute, Mammoth prepares to audition for "Fast and the Furious 5: The Jilted & The Challaned"
Saturday, 24 October 2009
The Climb
The mountains in front had started asking questions, the three peaks seemed impossible at first and stood there as if they knew they controlled my destiny. As my hands struck the first of the rocks and my feet dug into the smallest of crevices, I began my ascent to what seemed the first of my fears to be conquered. After the first few hard breaths, I found my voice, a smile was forcing its way to my lips, i was starting to enjoy it, I could hear myself answering the questions these rocks posed to me. Minutes away from the summit I could feel the peaks smiling back at me, telling me that you are earning it, you are earning it one step at a time. On reaching the summit I was greeted by the prettiest of smiles, there she stood the pretty village girl, pointing to the final climb to the highest peak she uttered in the sweetest tone, "There's more to do, only when the time right, for now you can rest...".
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Quantum of Shoelace - III
"License,Permit, Stamp"
Dusty's grin says it all, Mammoth is headed towards his car knowing only pink laces and an old ravaged piece of paper lying somewhere in the car can save him now. "Do you hold a drivers license ?", Mammoth's tone is random as the question itself, the look on her face is random.
"Yes I do, but what's the matter ?"
"There's a piece of paper in this car somewhere and it needs to be found right now! Else you can kiss your college function good bye !!". Mammoth obviously is inspired by Gene Hackman's character from "Crimson Tide" and believes creating more chaos during existing chaos results in the best output. Damn! Pink laces is shedding tears like a man peeing on the road side, damn ! there is a man peeing on the road side as well.
"Stop crying !", genius boy and cry girl are now rummaging through his car, it seems like a real collection of memories, he really means it when he says that the car is like a second home, rather I think its more like his closet of skeletons. Oh there's a bag full of used clothes, new unused tennis racket, car insurance, spare tyre, the bunny he gifted, the glass showpiece he gifted, the muffler he gifted, cards from birthdays, stale bouquet from valentines day, bag of liquefied chocolates, office documents used for origami, bihari style shades, american style shades, terrible shades, broken head lights from his first accident, front guard from his second accident, insurance claim receipt from his third one, cancellation letter from the insurance company, credit card bill, broadband bill, phone bill, handwritten letters to girlfriend, tissue paper with funny initials, dried up box of wet wipes, empty car perfume bottle,empty room freshner can, incense sticks and oh crumpled paper could be the thing he's looking for, his smile surely says so !
"God what junk!", Pink laces obviously is aghast at such cleanliness, pity she doesn't value the rawness of neanderthal mans free style of living. "Ok now i'll tell chalaan master over there that i'm a learner and you are the licensed driver who's supposed to accompany me, now walk with me", genius boy has really dusted his brain to come up with this, hasn't he ! Looks like pink laces is going to play along, both standing next to Dusty Shoes now.
"Sir actually I've a learners permit", here goes mammoth's grand gamble.
"A licensewala driver is supposed to sit on side with you", dusty is using the best of his worst english or the worst of his best english.
"Yes sir, I have a driving license", Pink laces is right on cue as she hands over her license.
Dusty looks a bit disgusted at the slowly vanishing bottle of Royal Challenge, in frustation he comes down to haryanvi hindi,"Can't see a thing on your learners permit, looks a like blank ballot paper to me". "No sir, there you can see the stamp on it and there is my name", some deft handling from genius boy.
"What!? the girl is only 20, she has got a license and you... you look like you have a kid but you are roaming around with a learner permit, bloody you think i'm a fool ?" Dusty shoe and Genius boy are now head to head in manipulating the situation to win. The challan will only be a 100 bucks if Mammoth wins but if Dusty wins mammoth will be fined a bottle of whisky.
"No sir it's all valid, stamped permit, stamped license, do you mean to say that stamps papers don't hold for anything". Dusty is up against it, the Indian DNA of believeing anything stamped is "Sarkari" now over-riding all logic. "Ok,Ok, hundred rupees challan for jumping light", Dusty has given in as he writes down the challan in hebrew and latin symbols he describes as english.
Mammoth borrows a 100 rupee not from pinky, it all happens in one swift motionb, A kid watching from the sides darts between Dusty and Mammoth, snatching the 100 rupee note.
The scene is straight out of a recent movie about how dogs become millionaires in slums. Mammoth has the challan, license and permit in his hand, Dusty only has blue ink from the abused ball pen and runs after the young income tax officer cum vijay dina naath chauhan in the making.
Pinky & Mammoth dart back to the car, keys in the ignition, pinky flashes an asha parekh like smile, mammoth brinks the dead engine back to life, next stop MAMC. "So what are all the bunnies, mufflers, showpieces and molten chocolate about ?", Pinky questions and mammoth switches to forth gear, time for a trip down memory lane!
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Evil Empowered
A twitch, a pulse,
like fire on ice,
a surge suffice,
power through veins,
a flood during rains,
flowing free tears of god
as evil reigns.
Villains coming alive,
drinking drops of darkness,
tasting fear with a crooked smile,
the feared now frown,
drops of sweat on their forehead,
like jewels in a crown.
Darkness to come,
storm brews with clouds alive,
the sky a purple blue,
as the wind turns to a shrill,
like an untamed shrew.
Shining eyes of a tiger,
a screaming banshee,
the saint basked in glory,
arose as the messiah of doom.
Born atop a bed of roses,
around mountains of despair,
with everyone gasping for air,
followed he shall be for he’s
not god, neither human,
nor evil, always unfair.
like fire on ice,
a surge suffice,
power through veins,
a flood during rains,
flowing free tears of god
as evil reigns.
Villains coming alive,
drinking drops of darkness,
tasting fear with a crooked smile,
the feared now frown,
drops of sweat on their forehead,
like jewels in a crown.
Darkness to come,
storm brews with clouds alive,
the sky a purple blue,
as the wind turns to a shrill,
like an untamed shrew.
Shining eyes of a tiger,
a screaming banshee,
the saint basked in glory,
arose as the messiah of doom.
Born atop a bed of roses,
around mountains of despair,
with everyone gasping for air,
followed he shall be for he’s
not god, neither human,
nor evil, always unfair.
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Quantum of Shoelace - II
"Classic Ride, Dusty Shoes"
Pink laces is mammoth's child hood obsession here, school tuitions, holi milan, diwali mela, new year parties, hardly has an occasion gone by when mammoth hasn't eyed her and flirted with her.Our tongue tied jurassic hero replies with a simple hello and invites her inside, "Oh, Actually I was wondering if you could give me a lift instead ?", she replies. Now mammoth here has situational disruption of motor nerves, specially around pretty girls who have a sweet voice. Pink laces observes the forrest gump like reaction and rambles on non-stop, "Actually my friend was supposed to pick me up for an event at my college this evening, however he couldn't make it because his car broke down in between so I was wondering if you could do me this favor, it's really a huge event and seems like an emergency, so... can you take me there right now !?
"Actually my friend, pick me up, do me, it's really huge, take me right now !", These are the only words the testosterone pumped genius heard, the way his feet are sweating something tells me the fella is in hormonal overdrive. He darts inside, the tracks are off in 3 seconds, jeans on in 5, the essential black tee to hide those tyres is on in 2, brushes his hair twice, socks & sneakers(my free ride) on in 10. He's ready in 20 Seconds, it's a new world record for lazy bone.
"Let's go !", Pink laces and mammoth head for his forsaken Maruti 800, the car is an antique piece however mammoth here wants to win formula one in this and handle her with baby gloves. She gingerly slides into the front seat, scared it might just fall apart if she brushes the sides. Minutes of unnerving silence pass between them as the car does an impersonation of a heavy metal rock band while starting up, "it's a classic" genius boy explains to the damned damsel in distress who will need to de-stress pretty soon. Fifteen minutes later they are on the main road, Now pinky(let's just call her that) studies at Maulana Azad Medical College, somewhere genius boy last went to when he had to attend a rock fest. The way he's clutching and braking, it's really making me dizzy, the moron should ask her for directions instead of switching lanes at every traffic light, or is that because sleaze ball is eyeing her even now, that too while driving !
"So do I take a left from here ?", Mammoth breaks the silence but with a poor choice of words. "Oh, sorry I thought you knew the way, it's easy, take a left from the next light, then a free left turn, from the roundabout we got straight, take the left from the flyover, then right from the roundabout and we will be there". It's interesting how the female of this species can actually talk non-stop without even breathing, if it was a under-water breathing contest right now, pinky could beat "free willy" hands down. Talking of contests, Mammoth here is winning the "staring at her" contest and in celebration jumps the red light.
Judging from how he's braking and how pinky's sneakers are coming together in a hug, I would say the traffic policeman has waltzed right in front of the car. "Stay in the car", machismo reeks from his words as pinky nods silently. "License ! ?" grumbles Dusty Shoes, his paunch marking the territory around him for maybe half a meter. Mammoth's hands slips into this back pockets, and after five minutes of measuring there depth comes out empty. Obviously he's forgotten his wallet and his license with it. Paunch with a head measures up the situation in true TP like fashion then shoots, "RC ?", Dusty shoes smiles as he smells a bottle of Royal Challenge Whisky from Mammoths sweat trickling down his brows. Damn Mammoth and his stupid motor nerves!
Beyond Closed Eyes
A drop of inspiration beyond closed eyes,
lost beyond the thoughts of my mind.
It’s the world we live with, I ask to inspire.
A few words from it, is that too much we ask ?
Pain from a soul touches me today,
Far away from me,
She wanders the desert free,
An oasis of tears and her darkest fears,
Reading through her thoughts,
Her beautiful wand of words,
Touches my mind.
A language common to the souls,
I understand from one and I see it in all,
She hides her own and tells me to be gone,
To wander, to search, to love, to lust,
till the day I find another to fill my thirst..
She wishes only darkness from the sun,
Of the sky and ocean to be one,
Put an end to a dream dreamt,
Before the night had begun.
Is it not fair that she breath the air we do,
Is it not fair that she be amongst the stars,
With us here,
Not without us in a desert far.
The world without you is not to end,
A wound so deep, without you it will not mend.
The scent of you, untouched, unaware, it flies,
Like a drop of inspiration beyond closed eyes.
lost beyond the thoughts of my mind.
It’s the world we live with, I ask to inspire.
A few words from it, is that too much we ask ?
Pain from a soul touches me today,
Far away from me,
She wanders the desert free,
An oasis of tears and her darkest fears,
Reading through her thoughts,
Her beautiful wand of words,
Touches my mind.
A language common to the souls,
I understand from one and I see it in all,
She hides her own and tells me to be gone,
To wander, to search, to love, to lust,
till the day I find another to fill my thirst..
She wishes only darkness from the sun,
Of the sky and ocean to be one,
Put an end to a dream dreamt,
Before the night had begun.
Is it not fair that she breath the air we do,
Is it not fair that she be amongst the stars,
With us here,
Not without us in a desert far.
The world without you is not to end,
A wound so deep, without you it will not mend.
The scent of you, untouched, unaware, it flies,
Like a drop of inspiration beyond closed eyes.
Friday, 4 September 2009
Quantum of Shoelace
“Mammoth, Bastard, Toe Ring, Pink Laces.”
Mammoth has been dragging his feet all day, God how much of self pity does this guy want to wallow in, ever since he got into an argument with that girl with a toe ring he’s been sulking and sulking. Get off that chair you lard bucket and hit the gym, then maybe she’ll think you are the man of her life or better you might just find a new one.
Hi there, for those who are wondering, I’m Mammoth’s shoelace, just thought I would give an interesting perspective of mammoth’s life since I see things right from the bottom up(pun intended). I’ve been a part of life since childhood, still remember the first time he tripped by me on stage and how that started his whole self esteem problem.
Enough about that though, let’s come back to today. The dude grumbles and mumbles to himself that how he’s a man some girls would be lucky to have, yes of course however the point is they want to be luckier and not just lucky, right? He moves onto tinker with his computer while listening to “born to be wild”, shakes his head as if he’s the wildest thing in town, had half a mind to strangle him but then again “26 year old accidentally strangles himself with a shoe lace” would be too much to digest for everyone. Anyhow the self proclaimed IT geek bangs away at the keyboard for 15 minutes so intensely you would think he was making the next supercomputer.
Mammoth’s done now after 15 minutes of doing nothing on the black box, genius boy obviously couldn’t focus because of all the self pity. He’s calling up his child hood friend the Bong Bastard(BB) now, poor fella doesn’t have any idea about the kind of rambling he’s in for, the mammoth starts with recession and how he wants to leave this city and get a new life, should try leaving his own house first maybe. After wandering a bit genius boy gets down to bitching toe ring out, BB offers useless advice the kind divorce lawyers offer before stating their fees, then suggests getting a new girl. However it hardly helps, lard bucket over here is a single tyre organism, basically you take out the human DNA and you’ve got a ball of fat that keeps on whining and rolling till it runs you over.
BB hangs up after a bit, due to desperation and a much needed loo break, you would think after bitching her out so much, mammoth would take a break. Hell, he calls up toe ring immediately and starts with immediately bitching about BB, boy can he bitch or what, after an hour last month’s phone bill flashes across his eyes. Genius calculates he could have paid the maid for months using the money spent on phone bills, hmm so the maid’s cheaper than four months of love talk but no sex, Shiney did have a point. Toe Ring girl is just happy that the focus is off her and now onto BB’s shortcomings.
Mammoth is now yawning, she must be yapping about her new boss, god what’s wrong with this female so she has got a new boss, doesn’t matter! Woman just kiss butt, if he’s cute sleep with him and then tell tales to get him fired for harassment, if he’s a she then get her to sleep with someone else, get her fired, get a new boss, now repeat cycle till you get a boss you could rollover with a pencil. Finally Mammoth hangs up as the door bell rings, oh it’s that cute neighbor from downstairs, Long legs, nice sneakers from nike, those pink laces, shivers up my thread baby, hubba hubba !
Hi there, for those who are wondering, I’m Mammoth’s shoelace, just thought I would give an interesting perspective of mammoth’s life since I see things right from the bottom up(pun intended). I’ve been a part of life since childhood, still remember the first time he tripped by me on stage and how that started his whole self esteem problem.
Enough about that though, let’s come back to today. The dude grumbles and mumbles to himself that how he’s a man some girls would be lucky to have, yes of course however the point is they want to be luckier and not just lucky, right? He moves onto tinker with his computer while listening to “born to be wild”, shakes his head as if he’s the wildest thing in town, had half a mind to strangle him but then again “26 year old accidentally strangles himself with a shoe lace” would be too much to digest for everyone. Anyhow the self proclaimed IT geek bangs away at the keyboard for 15 minutes so intensely you would think he was making the next supercomputer.
Mammoth’s done now after 15 minutes of doing nothing on the black box, genius boy obviously couldn’t focus because of all the self pity. He’s calling up his child hood friend the Bong Bastard(BB) now, poor fella doesn’t have any idea about the kind of rambling he’s in for, the mammoth starts with recession and how he wants to leave this city and get a new life, should try leaving his own house first maybe. After wandering a bit genius boy gets down to bitching toe ring out, BB offers useless advice the kind divorce lawyers offer before stating their fees, then suggests getting a new girl. However it hardly helps, lard bucket over here is a single tyre organism, basically you take out the human DNA and you’ve got a ball of fat that keeps on whining and rolling till it runs you over.
BB hangs up after a bit, due to desperation and a much needed loo break, you would think after bitching her out so much, mammoth would take a break. Hell, he calls up toe ring immediately and starts with immediately bitching about BB, boy can he bitch or what, after an hour last month’s phone bill flashes across his eyes. Genius calculates he could have paid the maid for months using the money spent on phone bills, hmm so the maid’s cheaper than four months of love talk but no sex, Shiney did have a point. Toe Ring girl is just happy that the focus is off her and now onto BB’s shortcomings.
Mammoth is now yawning, she must be yapping about her new boss, god what’s wrong with this female so she has got a new boss, doesn’t matter! Woman just kiss butt, if he’s cute sleep with him and then tell tales to get him fired for harassment, if he’s a she then get her to sleep with someone else, get her fired, get a new boss, now repeat cycle till you get a boss you could rollover with a pencil. Finally Mammoth hangs up as the door bell rings, oh it’s that cute neighbor from downstairs, Long legs, nice sneakers from nike, those pink laces, shivers up my thread baby, hubba hubba !
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Manali Day II - E L E V A T I O N
The swiss girls had left once we had fallen asleep for our early morning deadline, they were cute specially the tall one, we definitely missed them. I got up and Verma was sure he had a heard a leopard or two just when he woke up, however Rohtang awaited, I had been there before as a child only to remember everything in bits and pieces. It was 7 and we were as ready as we could ever be cigarettes, tripod, backpacks,cameras & binoculars all set !
The driver picked us up from the old manali bridge and we were off on a whirlwind trip through the mountains, starting from old manali, the view throughout was breathtaking, after you cross old manali there are a number of small villages with apple orchards and a clean riverside, I am sure each one in the group was at that point tempted to stop and enjoy that pristine river side, however rohtang was the agenda. The driver was taking a different route from the general one to beat the traffic and the drive through the small,quaint villages was something which reminded of the Italian country side shown in the movie 'Godfather'.
We crossed the villages amongst the hills and entered the steeper mountain roads, the road quality had started deteriorating and greenery around intensifying. Punter was multitasking non-stop between his phone and camera, definitely not one of his more peaceful talks I would say. Our usual banter was on non-stop as well when the driver came to halt in front of a store on a desolate curve. I contemplated whether we will be robbed naked or the driver will stop at money and valuables, the driver told us to get fur coats and gum boots for the snow at rohtang adding that the weather is turning bad at the top. The store owner (his brother most probably) also suggested the same, "Customer ko galat thodi na batayenge", the cheesy driver added in the most professional tone possible. Paying no heed to the warning of the two great all knowing weather experts we decided against getting anything here and moved on.
After an hour of swinging through the mountain roads we came to a valley full of make shift stores renting out fur coats, gum boots etc. and a couple of places to eat. We went through our breakfast of omelette and parantha cracking jokes about the restaurant owner,he was a funny fellow who took orders in a military fashion and charged like a three star hotel with a swagger of a five star owner.
I rented gum boots to go along with my own alpine jacket, Avnish and Verma got furr coats to go with their gum boots, Punter skipped it all since he was busy taking photos and talking on the phone while taking a breath or two of air in between. Tummys full and shoulders fashionably decked with genuine fur we moved on to the final stretch going through lengths of roads with frozen ice similar to a popular 'Jab We Met' song.
After another 45 minutes, Our sumo came to a halt face to face with a traffic conundrum. A guy who seemed to know the driver walked up to his side, a pahadi exchange followed with the guy flashing two fingers at our Mr.professional in the end. Apparently a couple of cars had plunged from these heights and so all the vehicles had been stopped.
We hopped out of the sumo and were bombarded with a barrage of people screaming "danda le lo","tattu karlo","chai". Rohtang Pass a.k.a Zero Point was 7.5 kilometers by road, the other choice we had was verticle trek through a mixture of mud, snow and irritating tourists(the average indian middle class family). Punter traded in his costly shoes for gum boots before starting and we purchased a few walking sticks to make the trek easier.
We took our first few steps to stop after a couple of minutes, covering hardly any distance, snow(as we had discovered) provides resistance far higher compared to its normal temperature counter part while walking on slopes. This was going to be a tough one, as we climbed further the slope became steeper, the snow deeper, my fear of heights caught up with me , one look back and I gripped my walking stick tighter and dug it deeper into the snow. The weather was rainy and cold with dark clouds, yet I was sweating due to the whole effort and of course the height we were at(real scared). We stopped in between to enjoy aloo bhujiya with nimbu (courtesy Avnish) while watching many a tourists enjoy the dirty snow and then head back thinking this is all that is there to Rohtang, mountain side full of snow & tattu's you know what.
We trekked further, stopping for tea breaks in between and then moving on again till we reached a sort of snow entertainment park, with people telling us to buy 'shillajeet' & 'kesar'. It was a sea full of tourist with skiing, sledging, dhaba's, yak rides, photographers and more tourists straight from the heart of lajpat nagar market. We were disgusted at being in rohtang's version of crossriver mall, rohini thus we asked a few people about zero point and were directed towards a temple about 5 minutes of distance but 30 minutes on snow. I relied on the walking stick heavily to keep going but now realize that it slowed me down even more as the stick was 1//4 th my size and I had to keep bending to stick it in the snow and that was why I felt so exhausted(obviously my weight had nothing to do about it).
Others walked to the temple as I ambled behind them, wondering if it's possible to have a heart attack while walking through snow, but of course I had this particular tattu waala to keep my spirits high, he shared his expert opinion with me in good faith "tattu karlo sir, high altitude pe saans ki problem hoti hai, aur aapko to zaroor hogi", I assume he pointed me out because of my height, after all my nose was 6 feet 1 inch above rohtang pass, I was definitely getting less air as compared to my companions and the tattus(obviously my weight had nothing to do about it).
We reached the snow covered temple in 15 minutes thumping the snow and walking amidst the clouds refreshing us with the cool water mist carried along. The temple seemed to have a snow covered idol inside a stone igloo, I noticed a board emphasizing "Aagey jaana mana hai". I felt a bit happy thinking this means no more walking, everybody happily ignored the board and started suggesting walking to zero point. I planted my butt down and suggested people to go ahead without me, everyone said yes however kept standing. I realized that sometimes being the weakest in the gang makes you feel helpless however that is the one and only opportunity to overcome that weakness. After a few breaths my juices kicked in, I asked a sledge owner about zero point he said "bahut door hai, ek ghanta door hai". Not willing to buckle down I asked a chai waala, "5 minute door hai" pat came the reply.
We were off again, Verma and Avnish up ahead, me and punter behind, after 1 minute of walking punter and me were resting again, Verma's stamina training had paid off and Avnish gave him good company initially. However Verma surged ahead later with Avnish slowing down he realized that he knew he had to reach zero point ASAP before the gang gives up. He reached zero point in a minutes walk more and signaled to us, whatever it was Verma's enthusiasm or the very rush of being at zero point, we got going. Avnish, Me & Punter eventually reached Zero Point half-breathed but full on the rush.
Zero point had almost nil tourists, only a group or two helped by the Govt. of india tag on their vehicles. This was the real Rohtang, mountains covered with blankets of clean white snow, a hill to the left, a hill to the right, a frozen lake amidst snow covered mountains. It was hard to imagine that such a place exists, beautiful and white, quite and serene. The sun shining through clouds at times, the air was cool but fresh, people few. As a I saw a couple walk up a snow covered hill, I realized that I missed her, "now" would have been beautiful with her, the forlorn beauty amidst this gloriously white snow.
In the background was snow covered peaks which filled my heart with a strange awe, there was a mystery in those peaks, that frozen lake asked a few questions. Frequently we hear phrases "heart of nature", here it was, I was face to face with the very heart of nature here. My hearted wanted to be amongst those peaks, I knew why I was in awe, the mountains stood like gods, touching those clouds in the clean blue sky majestically, they symbolized eternity, immortality, thousands of years have passed and these gods have withstood all time,seasons,everything.
It was slightly scary to be in company of such awesome power almost monstrous and yet so peaceful. After a couple of hours, we sledged back to the tapri at cross river mall, Rohtang. Feasting on pakodas, maggi, omelettes and sipping on tea at the tapri seemed heavenly after "andha trekking". We headed back down now, this time on tattus as the heavy trek through snow had tired us down a bit. As the tattus tip toed down the 7.5 km road, the weather cleared up, the sun shined and realization dawned upon all of us, the whole thing was like a well managed mafia. Taxi's intentionally dropped the tourists so far down so that the tattu people along with stick and sledge pushers can benefit from the whole thing, people who drive up personally are generally forcefully stopped and given reasons like bad road etc. whereas the road and weather seemed fine. Probably the profits are shared at the top most level between the taxi owners and tattu owners. Tourists exploited in the most organized way, aah the splendors of india, the magical feeling of being amongst mountains followed by the realization of being duped.
Our taxi picked us up from the same point and we were back in Manali by evening, the trip had left us hungry, Punter and me started our search for lamb stew and rumali roti. What followed was the most funniest experience, none of the eating joints opened up before seven in the evening. After searching a bit more we decidedly dined at a place called "Mom's Kitchen". The reverse racism became ever so obvious when we ordered for lamb and the owner told us,"Foreigners don't like lamb because it stink thus we don't keep it in stock, everywhere you will get chicken but not lamb, foreigners don't like to eat it". This was india at its best for me, food stocked for europeans but not for indians. Our dinner was followed by a walk back to the hotel and then a marathon discussion about racism,cross cultural differences, our own overseas experiences along with beer and cigarettes. It was a grown up version of our discussions at IIC, a real kickback to our college days, only better.
The driver picked us up from the old manali bridge and we were off on a whirlwind trip through the mountains, starting from old manali, the view throughout was breathtaking, after you cross old manali there are a number of small villages with apple orchards and a clean riverside, I am sure each one in the group was at that point tempted to stop and enjoy that pristine river side, however rohtang was the agenda. The driver was taking a different route from the general one to beat the traffic and the drive through the small,quaint villages was something which reminded of the Italian country side shown in the movie 'Godfather'.
We crossed the villages amongst the hills and entered the steeper mountain roads, the road quality had started deteriorating and greenery around intensifying. Punter was multitasking non-stop between his phone and camera, definitely not one of his more peaceful talks I would say. Our usual banter was on non-stop as well when the driver came to halt in front of a store on a desolate curve. I contemplated whether we will be robbed naked or the driver will stop at money and valuables, the driver told us to get fur coats and gum boots for the snow at rohtang adding that the weather is turning bad at the top. The store owner (his brother most probably) also suggested the same, "Customer ko galat thodi na batayenge", the cheesy driver added in the most professional tone possible. Paying no heed to the warning of the two great all knowing weather experts we decided against getting anything here and moved on.
After an hour of swinging through the mountain roads we came to a valley full of make shift stores renting out fur coats, gum boots etc. and a couple of places to eat. We went through our breakfast of omelette and parantha cracking jokes about the restaurant owner,he was a funny fellow who took orders in a military fashion and charged like a three star hotel with a swagger of a five star owner.
I rented gum boots to go along with my own alpine jacket, Avnish and Verma got furr coats to go with their gum boots, Punter skipped it all since he was busy taking photos and talking on the phone while taking a breath or two of air in between. Tummys full and shoulders fashionably decked with genuine fur we moved on to the final stretch going through lengths of roads with frozen ice similar to a popular 'Jab We Met' song.
After another 45 minutes, Our sumo came to a halt face to face with a traffic conundrum. A guy who seemed to know the driver walked up to his side, a pahadi exchange followed with the guy flashing two fingers at our Mr.professional in the end. Apparently a couple of cars had plunged from these heights and so all the vehicles had been stopped.
We hopped out of the sumo and were bombarded with a barrage of people screaming "danda le lo","tattu karlo","chai". Rohtang Pass a.k.a Zero Point was 7.5 kilometers by road, the other choice we had was verticle trek through a mixture of mud, snow and irritating tourists(the average indian middle class family). Punter traded in his costly shoes for gum boots before starting and we purchased a few walking sticks to make the trek easier.
We took our first few steps to stop after a couple of minutes, covering hardly any distance, snow(as we had discovered) provides resistance far higher compared to its normal temperature counter part while walking on slopes. This was going to be a tough one, as we climbed further the slope became steeper, the snow deeper, my fear of heights caught up with me , one look back and I gripped my walking stick tighter and dug it deeper into the snow. The weather was rainy and cold with dark clouds, yet I was sweating due to the whole effort and of course the height we were at(real scared). We stopped in between to enjoy aloo bhujiya with nimbu (courtesy Avnish) while watching many a tourists enjoy the dirty snow and then head back thinking this is all that is there to Rohtang, mountain side full of snow & tattu's you know what.
We trekked further, stopping for tea breaks in between and then moving on again till we reached a sort of snow entertainment park, with people telling us to buy 'shillajeet' & 'kesar'. It was a sea full of tourist with skiing, sledging, dhaba's, yak rides, photographers and more tourists straight from the heart of lajpat nagar market. We were disgusted at being in rohtang's version of crossriver mall, rohini thus we asked a few people about zero point and were directed towards a temple about 5 minutes of distance but 30 minutes on snow. I relied on the walking stick heavily to keep going but now realize that it slowed me down even more as the stick was 1//4 th my size and I had to keep bending to stick it in the snow and that was why I felt so exhausted(obviously my weight had nothing to do about it).
Others walked to the temple as I ambled behind them, wondering if it's possible to have a heart attack while walking through snow, but of course I had this particular tattu waala to keep my spirits high, he shared his expert opinion with me in good faith "tattu karlo sir, high altitude pe saans ki problem hoti hai, aur aapko to zaroor hogi", I assume he pointed me out because of my height, after all my nose was 6 feet 1 inch above rohtang pass, I was definitely getting less air as compared to my companions and the tattus(obviously my weight had nothing to do about it).
We reached the snow covered temple in 15 minutes thumping the snow and walking amidst the clouds refreshing us with the cool water mist carried along. The temple seemed to have a snow covered idol inside a stone igloo, I noticed a board emphasizing "Aagey jaana mana hai". I felt a bit happy thinking this means no more walking, everybody happily ignored the board and started suggesting walking to zero point. I planted my butt down and suggested people to go ahead without me, everyone said yes however kept standing. I realized that sometimes being the weakest in the gang makes you feel helpless however that is the one and only opportunity to overcome that weakness. After a few breaths my juices kicked in, I asked a sledge owner about zero point he said "bahut door hai, ek ghanta door hai". Not willing to buckle down I asked a chai waala, "5 minute door hai" pat came the reply.
We were off again, Verma and Avnish up ahead, me and punter behind, after 1 minute of walking punter and me were resting again, Verma's stamina training had paid off and Avnish gave him good company initially. However Verma surged ahead later with Avnish slowing down he realized that he knew he had to reach zero point ASAP before the gang gives up. He reached zero point in a minutes walk more and signaled to us, whatever it was Verma's enthusiasm or the very rush of being at zero point, we got going. Avnish, Me & Punter eventually reached Zero Point half-breathed but full on the rush.
Zero point had almost nil tourists, only a group or two helped by the Govt. of india tag on their vehicles. This was the real Rohtang, mountains covered with blankets of clean white snow, a hill to the left, a hill to the right, a frozen lake amidst snow covered mountains. It was hard to imagine that such a place exists, beautiful and white, quite and serene. The sun shining through clouds at times, the air was cool but fresh, people few. As a I saw a couple walk up a snow covered hill, I realized that I missed her, "now" would have been beautiful with her, the forlorn beauty amidst this gloriously white snow.
In the background was snow covered peaks which filled my heart with a strange awe, there was a mystery in those peaks, that frozen lake asked a few questions. Frequently we hear phrases "heart of nature", here it was, I was face to face with the very heart of nature here. My hearted wanted to be amongst those peaks, I knew why I was in awe, the mountains stood like gods, touching those clouds in the clean blue sky majestically, they symbolized eternity, immortality, thousands of years have passed and these gods have withstood all time,seasons,everything.
It was slightly scary to be in company of such awesome power almost monstrous and yet so peaceful. After a couple of hours, we sledged back to the tapri at cross river mall, Rohtang. Feasting on pakodas, maggi, omelettes and sipping on tea at the tapri seemed heavenly after "andha trekking". We headed back down now, this time on tattus as the heavy trek through snow had tired us down a bit. As the tattus tip toed down the 7.5 km road, the weather cleared up, the sun shined and realization dawned upon all of us, the whole thing was like a well managed mafia. Taxi's intentionally dropped the tourists so far down so that the tattu people along with stick and sledge pushers can benefit from the whole thing, people who drive up personally are generally forcefully stopped and given reasons like bad road etc. whereas the road and weather seemed fine. Probably the profits are shared at the top most level between the taxi owners and tattu owners. Tourists exploited in the most organized way, aah the splendors of india, the magical feeling of being amongst mountains followed by the realization of being duped.
Our taxi picked us up from the same point and we were back in Manali by evening, the trip had left us hungry, Punter and me started our search for lamb stew and rumali roti. What followed was the most funniest experience, none of the eating joints opened up before seven in the evening. After searching a bit more we decidedly dined at a place called "Mom's Kitchen". The reverse racism became ever so obvious when we ordered for lamb and the owner told us,"Foreigners don't like lamb because it stink thus we don't keep it in stock, everywhere you will get chicken but not lamb, foreigners don't like to eat it". This was india at its best for me, food stocked for europeans but not for indians. Our dinner was followed by a walk back to the hotel and then a marathon discussion about racism,cross cultural differences, our own overseas experiences along with beer and cigarettes. It was a grown up version of our discussions at IIC, a real kickback to our college days, only better.
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Manali Day I
The hotel was situated right in the middle of old manali atop a small hill which required a small 5 minutes climb, which rather seemed like Everest at that point of time after the 14 hour volvo ride. Surrounded by the old manali market below, the place at the top was quite quaint, peaceful and relaxing to the soul and the market below seemed like the place to roam.. The rooms simply had a bed and a loo, 400 bucks sasta tikaao, awesome view of the mountains and a bit of green around to add that li’l bit of nature real value for money. Perfect place to laze around and dope whole day as was obvious, we took to the place easy but left the doping up to the firangis as we already had our gudang garam plus chai to get high.
We set out ready with beer cans and cameras packed, after exploring old manali a bit we reached the river side, the ice cool water was enough to chill our beers and bones to ice.
Sitting on that river side, drinking beer, feeling the cool splashes along with the few drops of slow rain relaxed us after the night long journey. Puneet decided to try a few antics and Avnish did a few river side dances while Verma and me quietly contemplated at what lies beneath these sheets of water clear like slides of glass and cold as ice. The fresh air had got us hungry and we headed for mall road trekking through the nature park
The nature park was a peaceful experience, a quite walk through a forest with only wild dogs and birds, the place was something out of a love song shot in a jungle for some hindi movie. The walk was filled with funny photos and scary stories about man eating trees along with punters explanation on how he wants to use his gifted knife to pull of a Man vs Wild(ala Bear Grylls) and how he hasn’t even cut a lemon with it till now.
Upon reaching Mall road we chose chinese as our poison and chopsticks as our weapon of choice at CHOPSTICKS. Post our hogging we booked ourselves a taxi to rohtang and roamed the market for some intense minutes.
One thing was consistent over all the places be it old manali or new, racism. The place was full of Israelis, Swiss, Europeans & Americans i.e Foreigners and were treated mostly like a sardar would be treated in Punjab. These guys form the steady income flow for the people of manali and therefore they had become people of manali themselves. Wherever we went the local shopkeepers and restaurant owner showed least interest because we were Indians, the irony of reverse racism left me dwelling as we headed back to Raju’s hotel through the nature park for a hot cup of tea along with cigarette and an early sleep in for next morning 6 o’clock trip to Rohtang.
We unpacked and loitered a bit, while having our kaam chalaoo chowmein & omlette breakfast we asked Raju about ladakh, keylong and rohtang. After hearing the distance and time ratio for ladakh & keylong we decided to stick to rohtang as the main course along with river side beer guzzling as the side dish for our trip. To our surprise Raju turned out to be the owner of the place along with the regular dope supplier for the Firangis buzzing around at the place. A number of maalishwala’s eyed us trying to sell their handy work, Along with the sadhus with chillum and jataas we had our rehearsal of hare rama hare krishna all set.
We set out ready with beer cans and cameras packed, after exploring old manali a bit we reached the river side, the ice cool water was enough to chill our beers and bones to ice.
Sitting on that river side, drinking beer, feeling the cool splashes along with the few drops of slow rain relaxed us after the night long journey. Puneet decided to try a few antics and Avnish did a few river side dances while Verma and me quietly contemplated at what lies beneath these sheets of water clear like slides of glass and cold as ice. The fresh air had got us hungry and we headed for mall road trekking through the nature park
The nature park was a peaceful experience, a quite walk through a forest with only wild dogs and birds, the place was something out of a love song shot in a jungle for some hindi movie. The walk was filled with funny photos and scary stories about man eating trees along with punters explanation on how he wants to use his gifted knife to pull of a Man vs Wild(ala Bear Grylls) and how he hasn’t even cut a lemon with it till now.
Upon reaching Mall road we chose chinese as our poison and chopsticks as our weapon of choice at CHOPSTICKS. Post our hogging we booked ourselves a taxi to rohtang and roamed the market for some intense minutes.
One thing was consistent over all the places be it old manali or new, racism. The place was full of Israelis, Swiss, Europeans & Americans i.e Foreigners and were treated mostly like a sardar would be treated in Punjab. These guys form the steady income flow for the people of manali and therefore they had become people of manali themselves. Wherever we went the local shopkeepers and restaurant owner showed least interest because we were Indians, the irony of reverse racism left me dwelling as we headed back to Raju’s hotel through the nature park for a hot cup of tea along with cigarette and an early sleep in for next morning 6 o’clock trip to Rohtang.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Enroute to Manali - II
The hand on my shoulders bothered me but what really woke me up was his words, "Driver behosh ho gaya hai.", 1:00 A.M in the morning the bus driver had fainted, now the conductor wanted to know whether any of us could drive. Being the young guns we are Punter and Verma volunteered to drive in turns while me and Avnish figured out the route.
We stopped at some small dhaba in the morning for tea and sandwiches and thus a welcome break from the warrior's assault, we really stared him down with the dirtiest looks. As the bus started rolling again with an hour and a half to go for Manali we were greeted with huge pot holes in the road, swiveling and bumping through road rapids really got us cracking mad jokes caught on with the driver. The view from the window was breath taking, the river pristine and clear like crystal and the river side looked like something from a movie. We started talking about sitting at a river side while guzzling on chilled beer and cooling off, ah ! how that would be the ultimate bliss. The cool wind welcomed us as our bus rolled into the manali bus station. We got off,with our luggage on our backs we headed for the bus station exit gate when we were interrupted by "Hotel chahiye ?", on further correspondence we were told "Raju bhaiyya ka hotel sabse saaf". Then let's go, we all decided.
To be continued...
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Enroute to Manali - I
"Saaley ye to saarey uncle aunty types hai", the shock in my voice mirrored avnish's intense frown at the bus full of uncle,aunty & buntys. We had boarded the bus to manali with a crowd full of people on the way to their summer treats, looking at this lovely collection of delhi reminded me of the movie "300". I could picture these people screaming, luggage in one hand, bunty on the other shoulder, "We are DDDEEELLLHHHIIII, and we are going to MMMAAANNNNAAALLLIIII".
I stared at people settling down, shady fellows going nudge nudge wink wink with the conductor and typical foreigner types wondering why catching a bus seems like an enactment of an indian version of the movie "Ten Commandments", hoards of people everywhere following Moses(the conductor), this was going to be an intense trip for sure. The smell of grilled sandwiches brought me back, Punter wanted to attack the grilled sandwiches & the paranthas Verma had got from home, all four of us had some of it, gulping it down with sips of coke and sprite.
We were now refuelled, as the bus started the shady fellows had taken their seats right next to the exit door, Initially the seats had been occupied by an european couple(I can only guess) however some fellows had complained to the conductor "inko sabse peeche bitha, saamne baithke gand falayenge". I cringed at the racist comment, some stupid moron I figured. The conductor told the two that their seats are at the back and then the shady fellows replaced them happily at the front seat.
Driver, Conductor, Shady Fellows, Firangis, Young Guns(US :D), Uncle, Aunty and most importantly Bunty, finally the bus growled to life. Amongst A.C complains, Shady fellows purchasing tickets worth 900 by paying only 500, Cracking jokes, Punter's belly full laughter and discussions that hot chicks travel in groups only on buses(in our dreams!) with ticket worth 500 bucks as they are cheaper, we reached the borders of the city.
Almost on cue we heard "bhai zara side mein rok lena, bachche ko toilet jaana hai", these seemingly insignificant words started the great 2009 migration of "people who need to go", the infinite number of buntys in the bus had consumed half of india's water supply, thus the great water crisis of 2009 and Avnish's "bhai itna laatey kahan se hai, ye to andha piss kar rahe hain". Once the buntys were happy watering the road side, the bus driver(surprisingly disgusted) told the bunty owners to hold it in till the end of eternity else he'll run them over while they are pissing.
As daylight gave into the darkness of the night, shady fellows uncorked their bottle of whisky, bribing the conductor and driver with packets of cool water they had bought there license to booze. The bihari couple next to us was excitedly staring at the t.v. playing "Aloo Chaat"(Aa mera dimaag chat !). The slapstick brainless comedy gave four of us enough ammunition to crack the most lethal jokes and laugh like maniacs. Our little Cannes festival was interrupted by the stop for dinner at a road side dhaba. It must have been around 11:00, the air was cool, the dhaba decent, loading up on Punter & Avnish's home cooked puri sabzi while sipping on tea, the whole situation made us all easy in our skins, felt like a welcome break from the daily late nights at office. We were off again in 15 minutes, hour down the line bihari couple has a tiff about "seat aagey peeche and aap batameezi(by moving the seat at all) kar rahe hain" with drunk shady fellow, shady fellows make a valid point offers them their own seats, bihari husband just wants to show that he could have been tom cruise if not for his accent.
Tiffs over, Aloo Chat over, The bus starts swivelling through the mountain roads, I decide to talk to her once before I die in a mountain accident. Verma and Avnish are asleep, Punter and Me stare at the windows checking out the dark silhouettes of mountains passing by, the curves, dives and climbs and the mysterious darkness puts us to sleep only to wake up at around 1:00 a.m....
To be continued...
I stared at people settling down, shady fellows going nudge nudge wink wink with the conductor and typical foreigner types wondering why catching a bus seems like an enactment of an indian version of the movie "Ten Commandments", hoards of people everywhere following Moses(the conductor), this was going to be an intense trip for sure. The smell of grilled sandwiches brought me back, Punter wanted to attack the grilled sandwiches & the paranthas Verma had got from home, all four of us had some of it, gulping it down with sips of coke and sprite.
We were now refuelled, as the bus started the shady fellows had taken their seats right next to the exit door, Initially the seats had been occupied by an european couple(I can only guess) however some fellows had complained to the conductor "inko sabse peeche bitha, saamne baithke gand falayenge". I cringed at the racist comment, some stupid moron I figured. The conductor told the two that their seats are at the back and then the shady fellows replaced them happily at the front seat.
Driver, Conductor, Shady Fellows, Firangis, Young Guns(US :D), Uncle, Aunty and most importantly Bunty, finally the bus growled to life. Amongst A.C complains, Shady fellows purchasing tickets worth 900 by paying only 500, Cracking jokes, Punter's belly full laughter and discussions that hot chicks travel in groups only on buses(in our dreams!) with ticket worth 500 bucks as they are cheaper, we reached the borders of the city.
Almost on cue we heard "bhai zara side mein rok lena, bachche ko toilet jaana hai", these seemingly insignificant words started the great 2009 migration of "people who need to go", the infinite number of buntys in the bus had consumed half of india's water supply, thus the great water crisis of 2009 and Avnish's "bhai itna laatey kahan se hai, ye to andha piss kar rahe hain". Once the buntys were happy watering the road side, the bus driver(surprisingly disgusted) told the bunty owners to hold it in till the end of eternity else he'll run them over while they are pissing.
As daylight gave into the darkness of the night, shady fellows uncorked their bottle of whisky, bribing the conductor and driver with packets of cool water they had bought there license to booze. The bihari couple next to us was excitedly staring at the t.v. playing "Aloo Chaat"(Aa mera dimaag chat !). The slapstick brainless comedy gave four of us enough ammunition to crack the most lethal jokes and laugh like maniacs. Our little Cannes festival was interrupted by the stop for dinner at a road side dhaba. It must have been around 11:00, the air was cool, the dhaba decent, loading up on Punter & Avnish's home cooked puri sabzi while sipping on tea, the whole situation made us all easy in our skins, felt like a welcome break from the daily late nights at office. We were off again in 15 minutes, hour down the line bihari couple has a tiff about "seat aagey peeche and aap batameezi(by moving the seat at all) kar rahe hain" with drunk shady fellow, shady fellows make a valid point offers them their own seats, bihari husband just wants to show that he could have been tom cruise if not for his accent.
Tiffs over, Aloo Chat over, The bus starts swivelling through the mountain roads, I decide to talk to her once before I die in a mountain accident. Verma and Avnish are asleep, Punter and Me stare at the windows checking out the dark silhouettes of mountains passing by, the curves, dives and climbs and the mysterious darkness puts us to sleep only to wake up at around 1:00 a.m....
To be continued...
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Destination Manali - The Build Up.
"Let's plan a trip to manali, joshi's bday waaley weekend ke liye!", the mail from avnish was a casual suggestion born out of either office boredom or a gruelling schedule, the reason varies from time to time dependening on the so called "IT" industry. A chain of mails followed suggesting postponement till next weekend and "count me out/in" mails. The idea it seemed was heading towards the predictable "abhi nahi, us mahine ke us weekend pe karte hai".
In the next few days to come the Punter had come up with travel charges and places to visit, we had heard words like Keylong, Leh, Rohtang, Lauhaul & Spiti. Punter had his tail up and Avnish was in his elements as well with "pahar pe kissi gaon mein jaakar chai piyenge, visit buddhist monastaries",the unpredictablity however was still there leave approvals, deadlines and of course recession fears.
Verma was not too convinced about the plan, I had my doubts about travelling so much of distance to Keylong, Punter & Avnish had strong beliefs about that Keylong was do-able and i was convinced that somehow travelling 15 hours in a volvo will take more than just a strong resolve it takes strong gut muscles as well as we were to find from the ulti-mate warrior later on.
Monday 25th May,
We started putting our plans into action, I had started tapping aways at Verma's recession fears, Punter had started convincing me about Keylong, Avnish had got us into "koi jaye na jaye, hum to zaroor ja rahe hain" mode. I negotiated leaves from my TL, told mom it's a trip with my pals from IIC & created my packing list. Verma was still undeciced however I decided the timing of my tap had to be perfect ala day before IMT Ghaziabad, 2008. Checked out keylong, etc. on the net, had a discussion with Punter about keylong feasibility, we have GO at "we'll see when we get to manali", we contemplate getting girls on board for the trip and then realize it's too much of a task, What about booze, we'll get it when we get there, what about the 15 hours in a volvo, oh heck we'll do it yarr, let's just bloody go already !
Tuesday 26th May,
Action day today, thursday evening we are supposed to leave, Punter needs to book the tickets, It's get on or get off for Verma, timing is ripe, i needed to shoot "THE E-MAIL", I figured that this one was due from me and already knew that verma, punter and avnish were expecting it.
It's as corny as they come, "one day of your life, one leave, lifetime eternity memories blah blah blah.", I could almost hear Verma saying "darn it this ass always comes up with some shit !", Game Over, Verma is IN !
Wednesday 27th May,
Sync up time, Punter emails us the bus tickets for manali. We try one last hook at Joshi to get him aboard, joey declines and wishes us the best. We make our plans about how we can travel, what all to get and when to get back sunday, monday or do we go to leh and never come back(tempting).
D-Day, Thursday 28th May,
Hiker bag packed sitting at office, feet tapping ready to exit when clock strikes 4, Some dude asks whether i am going on a trekking trip, my grin tells the story, snow filled rohtang makes me feel cooler already. Discussion on how to reach the bus stop, everyone wants to go back to home from office except for Punter and Me !, Avnish and me hook up for a cab, Swati(from office) is all set to handle my part of the work load,food menu has been discussed, money withdrawn.
16:00 Hours - Out of office set, Grilled sandwiches packed, Money withdrawn, Bags on shoulder, Strikeforce exits right of stage !
To be continued...
In the next few days to come the Punter had come up with travel charges and places to visit, we had heard words like Keylong, Leh, Rohtang, Lauhaul & Spiti. Punter had his tail up and Avnish was in his elements as well with "pahar pe kissi gaon mein jaakar chai piyenge, visit buddhist monastaries",the unpredictablity however was still there leave approvals, deadlines and of course recession fears.
Verma was not too convinced about the plan, I had my doubts about travelling so much of distance to Keylong, Punter & Avnish had strong beliefs about that Keylong was do-able and i was convinced that somehow travelling 15 hours in a volvo will take more than just a strong resolve it takes strong gut muscles as well as we were to find from the ulti-mate warrior later on.
Monday 25th May,
We started putting our plans into action, I had started tapping aways at Verma's recession fears, Punter had started convincing me about Keylong, Avnish had got us into "koi jaye na jaye, hum to zaroor ja rahe hain" mode. I negotiated leaves from my TL, told mom it's a trip with my pals from IIC & created my packing list. Verma was still undeciced however I decided the timing of my tap had to be perfect ala day before IMT Ghaziabad, 2008. Checked out keylong, etc. on the net, had a discussion with Punter about keylong feasibility, we have GO at "we'll see when we get to manali", we contemplate getting girls on board for the trip and then realize it's too much of a task, What about booze, we'll get it when we get there, what about the 15 hours in a volvo, oh heck we'll do it yarr, let's just bloody go already !
Tuesday 26th May,
Action day today, thursday evening we are supposed to leave, Punter needs to book the tickets, It's get on or get off for Verma, timing is ripe, i needed to shoot "THE E-MAIL", I figured that this one was due from me and already knew that verma, punter and avnish were expecting it.
It's as corny as they come, "one day of your life, one leave, lifetime eternity memories blah blah blah.", I could almost hear Verma saying "darn it this ass always comes up with some shit !", Game Over, Verma is IN !
Wednesday 27th May,
Sync up time, Punter emails us the bus tickets for manali. We try one last hook at Joshi to get him aboard, joey declines and wishes us the best. We make our plans about how we can travel, what all to get and when to get back sunday, monday or do we go to leh and never come back(tempting).
D-Day, Thursday 28th May,
Hiker bag packed sitting at office, feet tapping ready to exit when clock strikes 4, Some dude asks whether i am going on a trekking trip, my grin tells the story, snow filled rohtang makes me feel cooler already. Discussion on how to reach the bus stop, everyone wants to go back to home from office except for Punter and Me !, Avnish and me hook up for a cab, Swati(from office) is all set to handle my part of the work load,food menu has been discussed, money withdrawn.
16:00 Hours - Out of office set, Grilled sandwiches packed, Money withdrawn, Bags on shoulder, Strikeforce exits right of stage !
To be continued...
Deal me another one
It always starts with that shiver down your spine, one that you feel on the brink of an important change. A change I had contemplated years before, every moment passed between then and now seems like an ethereal wisp of life that never touched me and yet left the most strongest of impressions on me. A friend recently said "we are not impressionable any more", a thought that left me pondering over the nature of our minds and the turmoils we subject it to.
Turning over a new leaf is something that i have pondered and contemplated for a long time, only to postpone it because the "it" had not come. A subconscious attempt to find the right time the right place, change is something life imposes on us and as some say one can resist it however one can't stop it. That being said, the reality is that we are the change and it happens only through us, the trick is to time yourself, you absorb the change only when you chose to play the cards that destiny deals and destiny deals only when the "it" has come.
So be it, I say deal me another one.
Turning over a new leaf is something that i have pondered and contemplated for a long time, only to postpone it because the "it" had not come. A subconscious attempt to find the right time the right place, change is something life imposes on us and as some say one can resist it however one can't stop it. That being said, the reality is that we are the change and it happens only through us, the trick is to time yourself, you absorb the change only when you chose to play the cards that destiny deals and destiny deals only when the "it" has come.
So be it, I say deal me another one.
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