Wednesday, April 25, 2007

When the Mountains Called - I

This weekend me and my ex roomie took off for Mt. Abu after planning it for almost a year now. We had always been very good at planning trips but execution somehow was never our forte`:). We flew to Ahmedabad by the much delayed SpiceJet flight and finally slept at 3.30 in the morning hoping to wake up at 9.00 am.


We finally woke at 10 and after rushing through the basic chores left house at 11.00 for some breakfast. There was a bakery right in front of the apartment. Now Ahmedabad is a much vegetarian place and just to see the expression on the shopkeeper’s face I asked for a ‘chicken pattie’. The look on his face was as if I had committed blasphemy. I enjoyed it thoroughly :). Finally we settled for a veg pattie. The guy smashed the pattie and put some red chutney in it as if he were preparing ‘aloo chat’.


Around 11.30 we took off in the ‘Alto’ which I found a bit too cramped after being so much used to the Santro. As we drove, I couldn’t stop admiring the infrastructure in Gujarat. Broad roads perfect for driving, trees planted by the pathway across the entire stretch of the highway, no potholes, construction activity in full swing. Explains well why Gujarat is becoming the most favoured investment destination. Narendra Modi, for all the media may paint him to be, has done a lot of good for Gujarat and people swear by him. Another thing which I noticed was the temples. Most of them are built on identical architecture similar to the image below. And all of them are huge.
Driving was fun & we stopped at an abandoned shop, which had a cot outside under a thatched roof, just for fun. Stretching on the cot puffing on the cigarette reminded me of the hostel days. Again the drive started. After an hours drive we came to the end of Gujarat and entered Rajasthan. The unmistakable wine shop was present right thereJ. Then after another hour we could see the outlines of the hills faraway. The destination was not far! We reached Abu Road & then the foothill of the Aravalis. The treacherous terrain of Mt Abu had begun.

The Long & Winding Road

All of 18 kms it was an amazing drive. Flanked by the mountains on both sides, we could feel the air pressure decreasing as our eardrums started throbbing. The wild life protection signposts were put up on both sides. We switched off the AC since the weather had become very pleasant. Have to admit, the entire path has been wonderfully maintained. Finally at 1600 hours we reached our hotel, “The Hillock”. The ambience at the hotel was good being one of the better hotels in that place. The hospitality was admirable. I remembered that Rajasthan is famous for its hospitality. We had driven non stop not stopping for lunch too. Once we had checked into our rooms we went down to the coffee shop for the much required beer and lunch.

The Evening

Tired from the long drive and with the beer taking its effect, we overslept. When we got up it was 1900 hours already. We rushed and were out with our car and reached the first destination, “Nakki Jheel”. Pleasant surrounding although boating stops at 6 in the evening. The lake wasn’t anything out of the world but what made it attractive was the garden with a fountain at the periphery.


Then started our shopping. Amazed at my bargaining skills and the variety of choices my friend commented that “Looks like you are shopping too much with women” :). Brought quite a few handicrafts, hand carved decoratives, kurtas, a saree for mom and most of it from the government owned Rajasthan emporium.
By the time we returned to the hotel it was almost midnight and the restaurant was closing down. We ordered our drinks and dinner to be delivered to our room.
We enjoyed the drink watching Brian Lara play his final one-day match. A win would have been just the perfect farewell for this wonderful player. By the time we went to bed it was 3 in the morning. A day well spent. Tomorrow awaited for more of Mt Abu.

Will write more on the sight seeing, Guru Shikhar and Delwara Temples in part 2.

Friday, April 20, 2007

A hard day's night !!!

Driving in second gear he lets out expletives and curses aloud.
Honk honk!
Damn the rickshaw fellow & theres one following his car too. He brakes hard but the guy behind has been slow in his reflexes.
Thud! came the sound!
Muttering more curses he get out of the car to check the damage done but instead heads straight for the guy and pulls him out of the rick.
Thap!
The sound could not be dimmed by all the honking around. The guy is standing with his hands folded anticipating another one. He remembers to check his car. No damage done. That cools him a bit.
Cant you'll drive carefully, he shouts. And then back to his car.

He has been considered as the 'patient one'. Never losing his cool in the most adverse of circumstances. But the events in his life seem to be taking its toll on him.

Comfortably numb!!!

He sat back reflecting on the month gone by. Hopes, aspirations, dreams all have come to nought. Why do sensible people like me listen to the heart, he wondered. The pain is agonisingly unbearable for him. And despite people thinking that he has everything in life he knows that "if you don't have love in you life then no matter whatever else you have, its never enough". But its been like this for him always. And now pain is his companion. It does not hurt anymore. Its a sign that he's also become 'comfortably numb'!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

My Hidden Talent :)

Your Hidden Talent
Your natural talent is interpersonal relations and dealing with people.You communicate well and are able to bring disparate groups together.Your calming presence helps everything go more smoothly.People crave your praise and complements.

Is the Youth Disturbed!

Shocking!!! is how I would react to yesterdays killing at the Virginia University. 33 dead including a professor of Indian origin, an Indian student and still counting. This is not the first incident of its kind in the US. Leaves me thinking, whether the so called developed world is really developed after all!

This wasn't the first incident of a gunman going berserk. Its happened before in the same country. There are some other incidents which come to my mind.

1. Online chatters in a suicide chat room encouraging a man to commit suicide live. That such
chat rooms exist, is reason enough to believe that theres something seriously wrong.
2. Paedophiles exchanging views & snaps & graphic description on the chat.
3. Incest chat rooms discussing sex with close relatives, parents, siblings. They're even talking
about a legislation making incest no longer a crime.
4. Date rapes. Websites promoting date rape drugs.

Where is the youth headed? While we have never really experienced shooting rampages, like the one at Virginia, in India, its no reason to believe that it will not happen in the near future. We already have suicides happening on the IIT campuses.

- Why do children spend more time on video games than on cricket,soccer,badminton?
- Why does the youth believe in making friends online than going out & meeting people?
- If US is a developed country, why do citizens require guns? And why are firearms so easy to
get there?
- Why do parents spend more time at work than with children?
- Why do children never get to hear a no from parents

These are just a few questions which come to my mind. But the point I'm trying to make here is that the society is changing. Our value system is undergoing a huge change. Adultery, pre-marital sex, infidelity, divorce considered alien 30 years back is rampant nowadays. Are these really a sign of a progress? Or the side effects of economic development? They say that economic prosperity shakes the value fabric of the society.

Till the time we realise the value of sustained growth, till the time we realise the importance of social values, till the time we realise the significance of family bonding such incidents will continue to happen.

Who knows that the next incident of a student going on a shooting spree in the campus may be at one of the IITS? Hope not!

Friday, April 13, 2007

A few good reasons to drink!

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink
I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think
about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes
and dreams If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out
of work and their dreams would be shattered.
Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this wine and let their
dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
~ Jack Handy
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell
happened to your ……….

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"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they
wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're
going to feel all day. "
~Frank Sinatra

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."
~ Henny Youngman

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

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"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not."
~ Stephen Wright

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.

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"When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk,
we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all
get drunk and go to heaven!"
~ Brian O'Rourke

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
~ Benjamin Franklin

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a retard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Without question, the greatest invention in the
history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the
wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does
not go nearly as well with pizza."
~ Dave Barry

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To some! it's a six-pack, to me it's a Support Group. Salvation in a can!
~ Dave Howell

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers.
One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm.
Here's how it went:

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not

Another Birthday flew by!

Another year went by. Another year got added to my life. Well I definitely like to think that April 11 is the greatest day in the world since I graced the earth on this day. My mom tells me that even while entering the world I gave her a shock by not breathing for the first 3 minutes. Wow! now that is something. At that age or infact no age at all I came with my yoga lessons perfected :)

Yes it feels good to be pampered by all on your birthday. The wishes, the gifts, the love and ofcourse the cake. My team left no efforts to make it memorable for me. The decoration was awesome. Mom, as always, had the wonderful dinner ready. And to top it the 'payesh' or 'kheer' as we say in Hindi. The bouquets & chocolates sent by my special friend made it even better. My neighbours 5 year old doll gifted a wonderful, self made painting for her 'Chachu'.

In between all this, I got a voicemail on my office landline from Ms Anonymous wishing me and telling me that she'll wait for my call. Am still wondering who that could be?

But also realised, as someone said, "Never make someone a priority in ur life when you are just an option for them". Despite the day being wonderful there still was a void. The call I was expecting from someone never came.

But no complaints thanks to all my friends, my office colleagues & definitely Mom.

Below are the images of how my desk looked like.



Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Some Practical Jokes

The other day I went to KFC for a takeaway. The guy standing in front of me asked the person at the counter for a "Rava Dosa". I tried hard to suppress a laughter while the guy at the counter very patiently told him that KFC does not sell dosas and certainly not a 'rava dosa'. As the guy left we both broke into huge peals of laughter.......

Then there was this guy at the pub who was probably a first timer and didn't booze. Very innocently,while his friends ordered their drinks, asked for a, hold your breath, "Malai Lassi". Well that was it. Everyone who heard it including his own friends burst out laughing.Poor guy...Always see the menu before you order something :)

Some years back, one of the days it was raining hard in the morning. I was waiting for the rain to subside when one of the guys offered me a lift in his, ahem, Sonata to the bus stop. You should have seen the expression of the people at the bus stop as I got down from the Sonata and effortlessly walked into the BEST bus.

We do come across so many such incidents which gives us a reason to laugh while taking away the stress and tensions which engulf our lives.

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