A Few Things That Touched Me :)

I was doing my own thing, busy in my own world, and suddenly this thing happens and I am like wow :) that is nice!


It happens to me sometimes. Just out of nowhere something takes place that leaves me touched. It could be a movie scene, someone I spoke to, someone I saw...one of life's tiny little gifts! Some of these moments fill me with a sense of peace! (Hence the picture, one of the moments when I was truly calm!)


A few days ago, I went to GK with Aruna. I saw this little kid who was asking for money. I dont give them money. I wanted to buy the boy a packet of chips. I did so. Went after him and gave it to him. I just left without looking at him. He came back and smiled at me in a way that no one has ever smiled at me. I mean that. That was the most genuine smile I have ever seen.


Funnily, I thought I had become really practical and I knew how to keep myself detached when I wanted to. A few days ago, a girl told me about how she bravely fought a bunch of bastards all by herself and how her cowardly "special friend" refused to get in touch with her after that. I was consumed with pride for being this girl's friend and I found myself crying at the thought that she had to bear all of it alone and that she had wasted her feelings on an asshole. Honestly, I surprised myself because I did not think I was capable of such emotion anymore.


I wrote a mail to Akshay and Rash, two of my close friends abt missing them a little. Akshay who has off-late been rather reticent about anything remotely mush, wrote saying "You better miss me more than a little buddy!" And like a  soppy fool, I got teary eyed. :P


There was this friend called Cheeru whom i got to know through someone. We spoke a few times over the phone, not enough to develop a friendship. With time, and due to circumstances, we lost touch. I got to know of his marriage and I left him a message on Orkut to which he replied. That was my last communication with him, exactly two years ago. Suddenly, yesterday, he pinged me and we spoke as if the past two years had never been there. He is not even a friend, or so I thought, and he very sweetly asked me to come to Jodhpur, his hometown, so that his wife and he could play perfect hosts. Its a silly thing, but this courteous gesture reaffirmed my faith in genuine and true feelings. I had no idea that an instant messenger conversation could lift my heart in such a way.


We were going to attend a wedding...there was an old kishore kumar song that started playing on the radio....and papa who by the way is not blessed with the most melodious voice around...started singing...:P I think that was one of the most special moments of my life!


I think we spend so much time finding meaning in things that don't exist or should not matter that we forget to    let seemingly insignificant things affect us in a great and beautiful way!  

Hmm?

I thought in the past few years I had gone through such a metamorphosis that I could understand/explain almost anything I encountered…I realize that I gave in to smugness yet again…

There are so many things that completely stump you and you are left speechless…

Does that happen to you? Do you fumble for words when somebody asks you a question and you don’t know the answers?

Been happening a lot to me lately…I am yet to find answers to these questions :)


Found a few answers...so writing them down!

What is your ambition in life? To find a dream to live for and then fulfill that dream!

Who knows all your secrets? 


जो होता है वो अच्चे के लिए होता है? You alone can make that happen, if you want to!

What is your best friend’s name? (:P Don’t get me wrong! I have a few very close friends I can count on…but best friend…dunno)

What are the names of the governors of Delhi and MP? Delhi's Lt. Governor: Tejender Khanna

What do you often dream about? 

What is your favorite (food, book, actor/actress? Honestly, I can ever tell for sure)

Do you think I have lost weight? (hehehe…yeah I don’t want to lie and how can I tell if you have…a drop from the ocean does not make that much of a difference :P)

Have you ever been in love? No

Whose side are you on? (Get involved in this ugly choice making pretty often these days!)

What are you thinking? (Usually, I am thinking about a thousand things at the same time…they are all inter-related and not related at all…so what do I say?)

Those are just a few things that I can recall right now...

This blog is my journey...a journey of self discovery..maybe finding answers to some of these questions will reveal a new facet of my personality to me. :)

I’ll find out the answer to the question about the governors’ names pronto :)

Truck/Auto Shayari

Consider this: You are stuck in traffic jams that you cant seem to get out of? You are already running late, it is scorchingly hot---you have already begun using the choicest hindi abuses for everyone within sight, definitely including the horny middle-aged pervert ogling you; you have begun cursing life; blaming people; you are convinced that god is unkind; life is unfair...just then, there comes a glimmer of hope...everything is alright, life is fine...


Who or what is this godsend? It is an auto rickshaw or a truck that you have spotted with absolutely
out-of-this-world shayari! Sounds familiar? I bet you have experienced this if you are a Delhiite. I love the originality of our autowallahs and truck wallahs. The sheer nonchalance with which these people exhibit their HORRIBLE sense of humor always leaves me laughing out loud! I mean that! The cheesiness of the "poetry" is what ends up making it funny :P 


Very recently, I spotted this hilarious sample of an auto wallah's creativity: a self composed couplet that seemed like a passionate declaration of love:


"बिन फेरे हम तेरे!" :)


Here are a couple of more examples of absolute genius that I have found over time. 


1) मै चली तो तेरी क्यों जली!


2) Voh aaye hamaaree qabr peh, diyaa bujha kar chaley gaye, Baaqi jo teyl tha deevey mein, sar peh laga chaley gaye!


I would love it if you shared some of the ones that you have come across. 

Diwali: The Festival of Lights

I love this time of the year. The festive season has just begun. Everyone is in such great spirits, people seem to leave their worries behind and make a genuine effort to be warm to each other, to be happy, to absorb the brightness around them.

Diwali in particular is one festival that stands for conquering the darkness within and without with everything bright and beautiful. The gentle fire is truly symbolic of spreading warmth in your life.

For me, this time of the year is really special. There is always something life altering that is waiting to happen for me post navratras. This year was no exception. In fact, I think it was this year, that I did not just see the proverbial cloud with the silver lining after a really dark night and bla bla bla...there was a pretty good explosion of light that left me well and truly awake :) This year, it seemed as if the powers that be took it upon themselves to not just show me the path but literally drag me out of a hopelessly misleading mirage to a road with very clear directions to move on to "what are in reality greener pastures" :)

Preachy? So what, i refuse to be apologetic! ;)

So, anyway, the festive season has so far succeeded in doing what its meant to do at least for me!

Its woken me up from my drunken stupor, its filled me with hope and determination,. its brought warmth, cheer, and clarity into my life.

I hope its done the same for you. Wish u a very happy and prosperous festive season.

PS: You know beginner's luck favored me thoroughly this year. I learned flash for the first time from my "juari" cousins and ended up winning all the stakes :P I was taking hopeless chances and all of them paid off. When I lost, I could fall back on the reserve I had, when there wasn't any, money was arranged for me.

So may be, that is what you should do in life too. Take risks, not always calculative, and sometimes just hopeless chances. If they don't pay off, you will still manage. You will come up with an alternative...trust yourself, trust God :)

My Life!

*“I started my journey from frustration and curiosity and I have traversed over my fear of starting something new. Along the way I also crossed finding something new and I have reached losing something new…along the way…managed to meet pride…”

Years ago when I was in school, my teacher asked our class which animal each of us identified ourselves with. I replied a squirrel coz it minds its own business and keeps out of others’ way. Although that would not be my answer now, but its amazing how I chanced upon a book about a squirrel that managed to teach me quite a bit about my own life. The quote above is from the same book, Zapp: The squirrel who wanted to fly.

I am ending this post here...I know its abrupt...but life's like that...there is no beginning and no end...it is a series of nows...

Second Chances

I have read a lot of Paulo Coelho books lately...so chasing dreams, taking seemingly hopeless chances that always pay off, holding on to faith and hope is something that I seem to have absorbed. :)


I think most of us can make the fatal error of holding on to an illusion or a fantasy as chasing a dream. I know I did that. I guess there is no way of knowing the difference till you have learned the hard way...But guess what, at the end of the day, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you held the fort...till the very last minute.


I am like a sponge. When I begin reading something or watching something, I completely soak myself in it. What I am trying to say is that since I have read books in the similar vein, I have been obsessively trying to find the "hidden message" in my day to day life! Luckily for me, the foolishness is paying rich dividends...especially in terms of optimism.


A few days ago, I was watching Farah Khan's chat show. They featured a braveheart who had been paralyzed from waist down. The doctors gave up on him...he did not! He fought back because he said he does not know what defeat is. His name is now in the world record for having driven to the highest motorable pass without a break.


To say I was inspired would of course be meaningless and a cliche. His courage speaks for itself. What I thought was that he grabbed a second chance from life. It wasn't handed to him on a silver platter.


I looked closer home. Several years ago, my father suffered from sciatica. Its a condition due to which my father who is my superhero was in unbearable pain from his waist below. He could not move and had to depend on my mom to even go to the washroom. I saw my father battle that phase of his life like a warrior. He would smile when others would have shed tears. That for me was the biggest inspiration ever. We had a doctor who was a godsend. He told my father that god could not cure him. The only person, the only treatment for him was his will power. My father is the richest  man in that department. 


Being the magician that he is, Papa performed the miracle. He forced God to give him what was his...the kind of life he wanted to lead.


I know that I will fight tooth and nail for my second chance. I won't give in and I won't give up...its not in my blood :D

Eavesdropping: 1

Have you ever noticed how sometimes we cant keep ourselves from eavesdroping...Thanks to my supposedly "holier-than-thou" nature, I keep reminding myself that eavesdroppers never get to hear anything good abt themsleves or something that they want to hear.

However, today, that was not the case. I "unintentionally" eavesdropped on a conversation that left a smile on my face and an assurance within me through the day.

The following is the snippet of a conversation between a senior colleague (SC) and my workstation neighbour (WN):

SC: Koi nahi hota hai. Life goes on.

WN: What is this about?

SC: Ye din bhi chale jayenge.

WN: Kaunse din?

SC: Bure din. Jaise ache din nahi rahe bure din bhi nahi rahenge.

WN: Are...aaj aise kaise?

SC: I read somewhere that the skin of our palm peels itself every six months. Hum apne palm ko dekhte hai and tell ourselves ki ye to mera hath hai. Six months later the skin sheds and its not the samer palm anymore. Jab apka hath apka nahi to fir...

I was hooked. :) I mean what a thing to have said yaar. Have been chanting that bit of conversation all day and cant describe to you how it affected me...

My Tryst with Reiki

I had been thinking about learning reiki for a long time. One of my cousins is a professional reiki healer. Whenever she asked me to give ia shot, I sniggered thinking that it was something only "strange and weird" people did. To use my mother's terminology, "normal" people do not take these things up!

In fact, a friend of mine who is obviously a lot more well read than my mom, responded with this when she got to know that I was learning reiki "Jadu karegi kya?"

With these misconceptions, I finally took the plunge when I felt the need to cleanse myself of negativity. I want to share my exerience to at least try and explain what reiki actually means..at least what it has done for me :)

I dont know how to meditate. I knew nothing about reiki. Just went because I thought it would help me and I wanted to do everything to help me :)

There was another lady who had come to learn reiki with me. She was a sixty year old braveheart who was blessed with a beautiful marriage but was battling cancer. Her loving husband had insisted that she undergo reiki to attract all teh positive energy that she could to heal herself. :)

I will not disclose the issues that we discussed there but I want to share teh process.

After talking to each other about the issues that we wanted to resolve, we shared our beliefs with each other. Our instructor told us how reiki could help us.

She then told us about the seven chakras in our body that could be visualized as seven different colors of the rainbow...VIBGYOR. These seven chakras are responsible for our life functions.

I will write another post about the proces in detail. I only want to focus on the experience for now.

Reiki is all about positive thinking. It is thanking God for everything that you "HAVE" in your life. It does not mean turning your eyes away from what is bad or negative...but the power to change that negative into positive.

The basic philosophy of reiki is that love is god, that it is god who is the guiding force in your life. God manifests in your life through love. This is love for yourself, for your near and dear ones. It says you are a magnet and if you give love you will sttract love and if you do not, you will repell love.

I guess that explains the bible verse "love thy neighbour ;P" haha...but on a serious note, it empahasizes the need to love yourself unconditionally, to accept yourself truly and to feel joyous for your existence. It is about focusing on happiness.

Ever since I came back from the session I feel a sort of change in my day. Its like a series of good things happened. They happened because I thought about them. And so I was in charge of my happiness.

This is the simplest truth in life. We all know this. But we forget it often. Reiki just reinforces that.

I am glad I decided to learn more about something that can empower me to alter my life the way I want to :)

Rakhi this year...

Like always, I was looking forward to Rakhi...knew my bank balance would increase considerably...was not disappointed...

Had the customary snapping session with my brother Akshat, we were clicked with morose faces with our parents taking a dig at us! Was followed by a silent lunch together...and a few hours later we were back to our normal selves :P Its becoming a sort of tradition now...

What I had not expected was to have another brother so late in my life...dont get me wrong my mom hasn't added to the roost...i tied rakhi to ayush so... :D

i know the concept of rakhi brothers is sort of dying and before yesterday I would have sniggered at anyone who would suggest a thing like that. But, I felt really nice.

That moron called me early in the morning and said he wanted to meet. :) I just took a rakhi with me on the spur of the moment...all dressed up and all haan!

Tied the rakhi for him and it felt great...I mean u know one of those tender moments you never want to confess to :) but im feeling courageous today! so, admitting...in fact, I even had the %$*** to message him and tell him how I felt :P imagine told Ayush that! I think the guy's completely changed now...completely lost his sting...so told me in as unlike a manner as possible for him...I felt great too :D

Kind of a sweet experience...will cherish it...!

This thing called status message!

This colleague had a fight with her boyfriend and changed her gtalk status to "Tired fo this thing called Life" hehehe i mean I am sorry but I could not stop feeling amused at such a public declaration of your feelings...Her boyfriend promptly changed his status to "When you are unhappy you just wallow in pain, when you are angry you bring about a change!"

What profound words....

A friend of mine often uses some title tracks of mushy hindi songs as her status message, changing it frequently depending on her mood. The lady in question had recently got engaged and used the status "teri or teri or" from singh is king...I forgot to ask her what exactly the message implied and she threw a fit...said i should ask her what prompted her to change the message...a few days later it turned out that her fiance was a creep who deserved to be thrown down the highest cliff...and i would have done so gladly..but could not! anyway, after the break up I expected her to change the status message to something like "tainu ghodi kisne chadaya bhootni ke" but it never did come...would have been fun though!

How easy people find it to wear their hearts on their sleeves...Another aquaintance often changes her gtalk status according to her mornings spent with her husband..the tagline changes from naughty to censor material to soppy...its a lil embarassing too at times!

There is also a certain group of people (including yours truly) who change their social networking site's status message frequently to spread some "precious" pearls of wisdom...

Frankly, i hate it when people do that...i know I admitted i do so too...but I mean gimme a break...what makes you think you can force a "thought for the day" down someone's throat like that!

:D my favorite status message is "TGIF" which I promptly use every single friday...and I've decided that on teh first of each month, it shall be "Meetha hai khana aaj pehli tareekh hai" DO send in more funny taglines please! These at least make you smile!

TO sign off...a really funny tagline comes to mind...and it stayed with me coz it was such in your face humor!

...Byron's epitaph read "To all you virgins, thanks for nothing!" :P

Why I love Farhan Akhtar

Because he is cute

Because he always talks about following his dreams: Dil Chahta Hai...Lakshya...Rock On...

Because he is cute

Because I lovvvvvvvvvvvvve the way he sings "Tum ho to" and all the other songs in the movie, even "saaso ki zarurat ho jaise"

Because he is cute

Because he has a sexy smile with perfect big wide teeth

Because he is cute

Because he comes across as really naughty in his interviews

Because he is oh so cute :D

Dreams and Wishes do Come True!

I have met so many people who stop believing in their dreams...who for various reasons stop wishing. Sometimes, their closest dreams are shattered and on other times unfulfilled wishes leave them disillusioned...I try very hard to not find myself amongst that group. I try very hard to stay away...I have been there, I sometimes find myself approaching them...but thankfully, with the support of my near and dear ones and with sheer determination, I manage to hold myself back.

At the outset, let me share my motto in life with you..."Thoda aur wish karo!" I know its as cheesy as it can be...and on top of that its a tacky line from a tackier advertisement...

But, its my philosophy in life. I think the one thing that makes a person truly happy is a dream to live for. Unfortunately for me, I have not been able to find a "theme for my dream." Before you label me "filmy", please read on...just a little more.

I am a very laid-back person. I don't remember ever pursuing anything with burning passion, with a couple of exceptions, at the most. I am not extremely ambitious, so my dream is not to reach the top of the corporate ladder. I have been blessed with a reasonably well-off family, and can afford the luxury to not be crazy about minting money. I haven't honed any skills in particular (blame it on my laid-back attitude) and so do not dream of perfecting my art. I am not very comfortable in big groups and keep to a certain group of people so I dont dream about absolute power or immense popularity. 

Now, what does that leave me with? Precious little na? For this reason, I set a goal for myself on a daily basis-to make a wish or see a dream-sometimes random things-nothing path-breaking,  normal stuff that most of us take for granted. And sometimes incredible things like world peace, protection for women and children, and a couple of other things, which fall in the realm of conjecture.

I just wanted each one of you to realize (while I reaffirm my belief) that no matter what your wishes and dreams, if you wish really hard, it comes true. I know another cliche from the Alchemist, Jab we met, et al. But, ok suggest something better!

Let me share with you some of the most inane things that I wished for/dreamt and they came true over the past month!

I was sitting at home for almost 4 mnths. I had been dying to get back to NIIT, my first ever office. I got a call from them.

I dreamt of chole bhature. The next day, my mom took me to Kamla Nagar and we had the very famous Chacha's chole bhature.

I wished to see an old aquaintance in NIIT. I had no idea she would still be there as it had been 3 years since I heard anythng about her. And she walked up to me at NIIT.

I was dying to talk to a friend. Rashmi called up.

I wanted to look great at a party where I was all dressed up. I got lots and lots of compliments.

I was feeling lonely. Ashu called up.

I wanted to have samosa. My father got me samosas without my having to tell him.

I wanted to go to Big Chill. My friend Poonam suggested we go spontaneously. I had the yummiest dessert in the world just what I had wished for.

I was missing my friend. Ayush called up to say he was returning to Delhi.

I wanted to meet my niece. My cousin came home for a stay with my niece without my calling her.

I wanted my mom to be perfectly alright and her pain gone. The pain in her leg decreased considerably.

I wanted a course I was constructing to receive good client feedback. I received a sign off with good feedback.

I wanted to go to Big Chill again today. Poonam agreed and we went. 

There are so many things that go unnoticed in teh course of the day, thngs that you wish for or forget to wish for. 

Just remember, wishes come true. Dreams turn into reality. 

So, the next time you wish, be very careful what you wish for.

:)  

 

A nice surprise :)

On Friday Poonam very sweetly took me to my most favorite place in the world (after jammu that is) Big Chill!

It was so spontaneous...she just said lets go if you want! we walked down quite a bit...and she hates walking...i was too excited about the whole thing to mind her cribbing! 

ANd then we were at Khan market...i love this place...something draws me to it...what else Big Chill!

And then i was at BIg Chill...could not wait to order all the goodies...but settled for my favoritest dessert...their chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce and coffee ice cream...i think poonam was talking, I did not listen...was too busy relishing my dessert! one bite and mmmmmmmm...

wish could explain what a feeling it was...the right word may not be suitable for a public platform like blogger! But, I use it often to describe great sumptuous ravishing food :D

It felt great being at Big Chill that evening...And to top it all, we went to CP after that, nothng could be a better end to the evening.

Thanks once again for the lovely evening Poonam!

Perfection to me is...

I wanted to just pen down my definition of perfection...Realized the list was rather rambling!

Perfect food: egg roll at vasundhara

Perfect drink: ginger cardamom chai

Perfect sweet: Brownie with coffee ice cream and chocolate sauce at Big Chill

Perfect pastime: Gazing at nothing in particular

Perfect grouse: Being asked to work when all I want to do is gaze L

Perfect word: Awesome

Perfect Abuse: Sala/Sali

Perfect mood lifter: sms from Swati Mathur

Perfect phone pal: Ayush Tripathi

Perfecttravel companion: Asha Malik

Perfect romantic couple: My parents

Perfect beauties: Paakhi and Aishani

Perfect peeve: Not having my way

Perfect project: Infosys@FCS

Perfect Success: Being admitted to LSR (so far)

Perfect Recipe: My chocolate cake…people will vouch

Perfect combination of good looking face, cute butt, and sexy eyes: Ashton Kutcher

Perfect feel goodie goodie factor: conversation with Rashmi Sharma Iyer

Perfect beautiful eyes: Rashmi Sharma Iyer

Perfect weirdly large Garfield eyes: Ayush Tripathi

Perfect dose of assurance: single sentence from Shikha Bhatnagar

Perfect Diva: noone actually…

Perfect confidante: Shikha Bhatnagar

Perfect read: Harry Potter…the entire series

Perfect movie scene: A lot like love…where Ashton Kutcher sings to Amanda Peet

Perfect Restaurant: Big Chill

Perfect twinkling eyes: Paakhi’s

Perfect brat: Aishani

Perfect beautiful smile: on a baby's face

Perfect favorite place in the world: Vaishno Devi

Perfect reaffirm your faith place: Vaishno Devi

Perfect Hang out: CP and Dilli Haat

Perfect vacation: Rishikesh trip

Perfect miracle: Too many to count

Perfect travel agent: mom…sends on guilt trips frequently L

Perfect source of inspiration/motivation: The Nescafe “open up” song

Perfect Excuse: Was/am really busy

Perfect accomplice: Vacant spot. Call fast J

Perfect horror story: Traveling 57 kms per way to work at Greater Noida everyday

Asha Malik, The Drama Queen

This post is dedicated to Miss Asha Malik. The post attempts to capture a few funny and weird incidents that come as a package with this bag of surprises christened Asha! By the way, you have my word that what I have written in this post is nothing but the truth and the whole truth!

It was upon our return from Vaishno Devi when Miss Malik was in her elements. We spotted a woman who had done loud make up and had worn bright golden tights and had teamed it with a matching hat…She was quite a picture to behold! I wondered aloud where she had managed to find such a breathtaking outfit from. Lo and behold…Miss Malik walked up to the supermodel and put on her most innocent expression when she said, “Excuse me, aapki tights bahut sundar hai. Aap humein batayengi aapne kaha se li.”  I swear, I am not exaggerating— it seemed as if the woman with golden tights would die of sheer happiness…It was as if the reason she had taken the pilgrimage had come true. The woman replied “Kalyan Market, Mumbai se.” Ashu continued in the same innocent way, “Hum soch rahe the ki hum is par kadai karwa le aur ise party dress bana le.” The supermodel parted with some fashion tips and said “nahi ye to simple acha lagta hai!” It was one of the most hilarious sights I have had the fortune of witnessing. I was rolling with laughter. I bowed down to Miss Nautanki, Asha Malik. J

  

As if one such incident in the day was not enough, madam had to spring another surprise act on us! This time I was more mortified than amused!

 

Preeti normally walks at the pace of a marathon runner. Surprisingly, the 30 plus Km journey on foot did not alter that. On our way back from Vaishno Devi to Katra, she just galloped ahead. Ashu due to her broken foot and me out of concern for Ashu and not for any other reason were plodding along. At this point, Asha madam decided that she wanted to have sugarcane juice. Trouble was that she and I had run out of money and Preeti carried the rest of the money. I heard her say “Pracs mujhe to pina hai!” and I knew that I was in for a very unusual and an absolutely unexpected experience whether I wanted it or not. Being immensely sensible, infinitely wise and exceptionally mature, I  decided to use my most chocolate-coated andpatience-dripping tone of voice to try and pacify the little brat, but to no avail. L Ashu just had to have what she had set her heart on…Ganne ka juice! I tried another tack and told her that there was one more “ganne ke juice ki” shop further and that Preeti would surely be waiting for us there. Convincing her was pretty much like moving a mountain…so my happiness knew no bounds when I succeeded! Alas, my happiness was short-lived! We reached the wretched shop in the next five minutes with no Preeti in sight. L

 

I saw the hitherto asleep monster stirring awake in Ashu’s twinkling eyes when she suddenly gave me a very very sly smile. She announced extremely nonchalantly that she would request the first good looking guy she spotted to buy her a drink…a glass of ganne ka juice! Imagine! In Vaishno devi….this was sacrilege…paap! Mata and of course I, the humble guard of piety and sanctity would have none of this in Mata’s holy abode…I announced that she only had 5 minutes to carry out the horrific deed, if she must! She stood her ground right in the middle of the rasta, forgetting all about her aching foot and began searching for Mr. good looking. I was of course praying as hard as I could invoking the powers that be to stop them from sending any guy at all at least for five minutes. Wrong prayer. I should have known that Ashu would inevitably renege on her promise to me. The woman possessed stopped a poor unassuming uncle right in his tracks…The following dialogue took place between them:

 

Ashu (in an exaggeratedly polite tone): Uncle

Uncle (thinking to himself ‘uncle mat kaho na’): Haan bete?

Ashu: Kya aap humein 20 rs de sakte hai?( To say that I was embarrassed would be the grossest understatement of the year…I wished the ground would open and just swallow me. I tried to walk away on the sly…but how could Miss Malik allow that to happen. It seemed like an eternity before the man seemed to open his mouth again. I mean how often does one spot English speaking, jeans clad, good looking beggar women…)

Uncle: Uh…Wo…Kyu?

Ashu (thinking to herself ‘ye to fasa’): Humein ganne ka juice peena hai. Jinke paas hamare paise hai wo kaafi door nikal gaye hai. (I was way past thinking anything or feeling anything. I did my best impersonation of my “mai kaun hu, mai kaha hu, ye aunty kaun hai” look.)

Uncle (looking very reluctant and seemingly wondering ‘Mujhse kyu?’): Achcha

Ashu (eager to ease the man’s pain): Hum apko paise wapis de denge. Humein aage milna aap.

Uncle (looking as reluctant as humanly possible with a look that said ‘mere 20 rs to gaye’): Ab agar miloge to de dena…nahi to…theek hi hai…Hum intezaar nahi karenge.

 

He stuck out the hand with a 20 rupee note, held on to it with dear life. Ashu ofcourse pretty much snatched it out of the poor guy’s hand. She gave her mega watt smile in return and said“Chal Pracs…ganne ka juice awaits.”  Let me take this opportunity to thank you for what I hope was the most embarrassing moment of my entire life Ashu. I really do hope that no other embarrassing situation has the potential to put this one to shame ever!

 

We of course never found the uncle and could not return his money. We suffered momentary guilt pangs which were dispelled when Preeti amidst peals of laughter assured us that we were actually sent by Vaishno Mata as her avatars so that the man could have fed us. Who were we to argue with “What was written!”

 

As for Ganne ka juice, it was everything it was supposed to be…refreshing, yum, and the source that added the much needed fizz to our otherwise sweet trip. 

 

This is how our trip to Vaishno Devi came to an end…and the trip to Nattha Top began…It was also the beginning of a great tragic love story of unrequited love…a triangle actually, starring our driver Miku Singh, Asha Malik, and Preeti Bansal. In fact, I would say it was a remake of Raja Hindustani.

 

Please check out the teaser above. Our poor lovelorn driver was bitten by the love bug the moment Ashu charmed our driver by her innocence. Hua yu ki the driver told Ashu that a tourist spot called Shivpuri was some 25 kms away from Jammu. Madam racked her brains and said "ye wo hi Shivpuri hai na Haridwar wala jahaan riverrafting hoti hai?" While Preeti and I were busy taking potshots at Ashu's geographical accuracy, the smitten driver was busy losing his heart to our Einstein. He adjusted the mirror in such a manner that her lovely face would be visible to at all times. Looking at her often in the rear view mirror, he would smile at her and she would look away. 

Forgive me for sounding like a "K soaps wali vamp," but I was determined to save my dear friend from becoming Rani Hindustani. Little did I know, that my sister Preeti had also found a special place in the driver's heart. I wanted to put an end to the trip asap. It was at this moment when I saw Ashu climbing the snow-capped mountain at Nattha top holding Miku SIngh's hand. Preeti was not to be left behind. She caught up witht them soon enough and ensured that she also received equal attention if not more from Mr Miku.

I had to act fast here. I cut the trip short and announced we were leaving. By now, the sheher ki ladkis had forgotten all about the gaon ka chora.  While the teary-eyed Romeo bid adieu to both these ladies, it seemed as if the song "Paldesi Paldesi jana nahi mujhe chod ke" played in the background. As a last minute effort to hold on to his angels, the man looked at them and said "Hum SMS karte rahenge ek doosre ko..." All three of us looked at each otehr because we were sure we would start laughing any moment. The two cold-hearted ladies left behind a very broken heart when they gave away their wrong numbers to the poor soul...

Such is life :(  

 

       

 

 

            

 

 

 

 

 

The Trip to Vaishno Devi

Day 1: The journey begins….Three ladies, two elderly men in the cabin, and one empty berth thanks to Rajiv…Hardly the beginning we had envisaged! As the train trudged along, Ashu recalled “Jab we Met” and conjured up someone as cute looking as Shahid Kapoor losing his way into our cabin!  I thought of the old Lakme ad where a guy boards a plane and a good looking woman comes and says “Shayad aap meri seat par hai!” There had to be a teeny weeny chance of a role reversal here. There had to be a reason God stopped Rajiv accompanying us :D

 

One hour into the journey and we had made ourselves a little too comfortable in the train. It took a little cajoling before Asha madam agreed to share our lower berths with the other poor souls who had tickets for the upper berths. She wanted that Rajiv’s berth be occupied by our luggage rather than the poor gentlemen!

 

Post our little photo shoot and delicious paratha session, the cabin didn't look as clean as it did when the journey had begun. We had taken it upon ourselves to make the place seem a little more “lived in.” I have no idea why the two men in the coach seemed bothered while the ladies chatted prettily and talked about issues of world importance like movies and songs and basically everything under the sun. It wasn’t even 11 when the men decided they wanted to sleep! Needless to say, the chattering continued unabated well into the wee hours of the morning. J

 

Day 2: Early morning…still in the train—I love the way how effortlessly women just take up from where they left when it comes to an interruption in talking. It seemed as if the few hours of sleep which had deterred the generous word flow had simbly not occurred…the incessant pearls of wisdom flew unaided in the morning. Why the men in the coach kept looking at all three of us incredulously, I have no idea.

 

Oh by the way, we had not booked our return tickets. In the drama that preceded the trip, the parents had extracted a promise of sorts that we would not go to Patni Top and would return to Delhi after the darshan in Vaishno Devi. Of course, that would not happen! We mutually decided that we had to do our bit to promote tourism in the poverty-stricken state of J & K. For this reason, we called the parents from the Jammu station to tell them that the return ticket was available only on Sunday night, which left us with one full day to —you guessed it, tour Patni Top.

 

Upon reaching Katra, we checked into a hotel after haggling with the reception staff over the price to our hearts’ content….Ashu’s half bania blood was doing its bit you see! Started the chadai at about 5 PM. Poor Ashu  hurt her foot and she really did miss a strong dependable knight in shining armor. I mean a lot of pitthus were willing to come to her rescue! As light as she is, I think anybody could have lifted her…but I wanted to remain alive till the darshan so I kept my mouth shut about the pitthu…

 

 

Day 3: Midnight…We reached Bhavan, took a shower in the freezing cold ghat, did spectacular darshan, felt an amazing sense of joy and peace. We promised ourselves that we would wake up at 5 in the morning the following day to see the arti…We eventually got up at 9 AM and checked out of the hotel ten minutes after the scheduled check out time!

 

We started the chadai for bahiro baba, did the darshan and started climbing down. Ashu’s foot was hurting a lot. It is to her credit that in spite of the pain, she chose to smile and made the trip so amazing for the others around her. J Like I said, she merits another post…so the rest of the events in the next post J

 

Sequence of Events that Precede the Trip

 

They say “Jiska bulawa aata ahi wahi Vaishno Devi jata hai!” Well, how do I say this but apparently Mata consented to send the much awaited bulawa very very reluctantly. But persistence pays!

 

A trip that was initially planned to have taken place in December 2008 finally took place on February 19, 2009, not without lots of drama though…

 

There were going to be four pious devotees who were supposed to have taken the pilgrimage—Rajiv, Preeti, Asha, and yours truly. However, in the end, Mr Rajiv chickened out of this moment that would well have been the highlight of his single life; the man was going to accompany three single and at the risk of sounding immodest very attractive young ladies…alone! Alas, it was not meant to be.

 

Kahani poori filmi hai. The plot unfolds below…

 

Rajiv told his parents rather proudly that he was going to be a knight in shining armor to not one, not two, but three ladies. I don’t think his parents reacted to the news as enthusiastically as he had imagined. For effect, let me add this was the proverbial ‘silence before the storm’…or in this case ‘the tornado.’

 

Preeti told her very anxious parents that a strong, dependable, man was “chaperoning” the three damsels to save them from any potential distress ;) Her parents gave permission rather unwillingly.

 

I sort of remembered to forget to mention that somebody called Rajiv was also accompanying us to the trip when my slightly conservative, a tad over protective, and a little over imaginative father enquired about my companions. My ever hopeful father agreed to let us take the pilgrimage in the hope that it may bring about the desired result of finding a suitable son-in-law for his only daughter!

 

This is where the famed Divine Intervention occurs!

 

One day before the departure of the train, Rajiv’s parents expressed their indignation at the thought of their son accompanying three women. All hell broke loose…and the poor guy decided that he could not go…L

 

Preeti, my cousin gave her parents this piece of news exactly two hours before the train to Jammu was scheduled to leave. Her parents could not bring themselves to agree to send their little girl (quite literally) to go out alone in the concrete jungle called Jammu without you guessed it-a strong guy who’d fight the big bad wolves for the delicate ladies.

 

Preeti’s mom came and expressed her fear of letting the girls go unescorted in front of my parents. My father had no clue what she was talking about when she said that the three girls will be going alone. He said but that had been the case all along…and then my aunt dropped the bomb…she told my father that the guy who was supposed to accompany us would not be coming along. And because it was really unsafe for us without him, Preeti would also not go. One look at my father and I was sure that the explosion would occur any moment. What would be the punishment for a tiny slip like that after all? I was racking my brains silently for any plausible story that I could tell…

 

In the end, I came up with a story that puts me to shame…quite literally…I’ve always believed that I am a great story teller…and my creativity just betrayed me at that moment. I told my father, that guy was never going to come. He told us he may come. And my father bought it…I mean what was happening here. J

 

But unfortunately, with my cousin backing out, my father was positive that his delicate darling daughter could not manage with just another tiny tot for company…well you can’t blame him…I mean he doesn’t know what a dynamite that little package is!

 

Everything had blown apart. Asha had left for the railway station by then. I dreaded calling her to tell her that the trip was off. Have you met her? Hell hath no fury like Asha scorned! Well, I mustered the courage and finally called her. As expected, she declared she was going to go ahead by herself. What was I thinking….I told my father that…Surprise surprise he was still listening to me. J My father still clung to the hope of his son-in-law and was worried that Asha may carry out her threat. He told my uncle (Preeti’s father) that he was going to drop me at the station after all.

 

Preeti lay in a pool of tears because her parents refused to give her permission to go. Preeti threw a temper tantrum infront of her parents to show them how wronged she felt by pulling out all her clothes from the travel bag.

 

Amidst all this drama, the clock showed that it was 45 minutes before the train to Jammu left. It takes about 35 minutes to reach the railway station from my place. Upon seeing us leave and tired of Preeti’s tragedy queen act, my uncle told my father that even Preeti could go.

 

As soon as she heard that, she spent only a few more moments to sob one final time for effect…and then went about pushing everything into her travel bag. 35 minutes left for the train to leave…We made a dash…My father made it to the railway station in record time (The tana maroing he subjected Preeti and me to seemed to help him drive faster.)

 

At 9:35 the train finally left for jammu. Oh by the way, my father double actually triple- checked that there was no guy like creature in our vicinity! Also, he stayed at the station till the train left, just to be sure you see!