Print this article“Sheel dear…lets take a break today!” I said to sheetal over the phone. And sheetal wondered why was I calling her sheel. “is romance in the air anand?” she asked, and I could imagine that mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she said this. “Come on sheel, lets make plans for the engagement, coming up next month!”
“Wow! So what does mr romantic suggest for the day? I am just getting ready for the office….”“Good, I called at the right time then…listen, a few hrs at the lakeside, at our usual spot, then lunch at copper coin, shopping comes next, want to buy a few things for u, and then maybe a movie, ‘betaab’ has just released, and am keen on seeing this tomboy called amrita singh. What say?”
“hmmm sounds interesting, see you at your place in half an hour, ok?”
“done! Come faaast okk?” That’s how the day had begun for us. Sheetal was my life, nothing less, and nothing else.
Later on, we did go to the lakeside, took our place at the same place where we had spent endless hours till now, a weather beaten, rustic, wooden bench, under a sprawling and massive gulmohar tree. Sheel looked resplendent in that peacock blue plain silk kurta, and a light blue denim jeans. Venus had been kind to her, she was endowed with everything that a woman could have asked for. And she didn’t use an iota of makeup, yet managed to look stunning every time, her curly golden brown hair tied loosely with a clip, she knew I liked it that way.
As she sat next to me on that bench, on that sunny, yet cold January morning, she rested her head on my right shoulder, and had closed her eyes. I was busy watching a few strands of her hair flutter over her head, occasionally smoothening them with my left hand. There was a gentle breeze blowing away, and the golden sun was extravagantly warm over mother earth today, trying to beat the winter chill, its rays playing hide n seek with us through the gulmohar leaves. The lake waters were calm, and shimmered and glistened once in a while, a lone duck paddled along merrily, exploring the expanses of its vast little world!
“What kind of engagement ceremony should we have sheel? Lavish, traditional, a small affair….”
“aaaaanand…this isn’t romance dear, I thought you are in a different mood, calling me sheel” she giggled, “lets leave it to the elders na….”
“hey sheel, planning the engagement is called systematic romance, you know that?”“get lost! Go and pick all the flowers that you see on the lakeside, including the wild ones, and make me a garland…jaao jaldi!”
“whaaaat? A garland??? You will look like someone from Polynesia, pretty woman!”
“ohhhh how do you know what a Polynesian woman looks like? Come on go!” saying this she almost pushed me…
memories… they are like smileys, constantly bobbing up and down in our mind, and bouncing against the walls of our heart, aren’t they sheel? Resurrecting every incident as if it happened just a few minutes back, rejuvenating and nourishing our lives no ends….Now now…don’t give me that look sheel! I know I have to get a fresh garland, have been putting up one on your photo frame every single day! Since last 24 infinite years…
FROM 9TH SEPT TO 13TH SEPT, I WILL BE IN BHUBANESWAR N ANGUL!
I am travelling from bangalore to mangalore by a night train. Came down last night, and was welcomed at the airport by some torrential showers. Bangalore in rains is always more pleasant, adds to the already cool weather.
After making 2 exhaustive client visits during the day, which lasted till late evening, we are now in the S-1 coach of mangalore express. its 2100 hrs, as the train rolls out of bangalore stn. Was a bit apprehensive not to get reservation in the 2/3 tier a/c coach, since we are carrying some demo equipment with us, but this journey has begun, with some typical Indian humour!
Since july, the Indian railways have added the dumbest of modifications. They have added a "middle" side berth, between the upper & lower side berths. GOD SAVE LALOO PRASAD FOR THIS..... In order to generate more revenues ofcourse, and also in order to harass the passengers more, and make their journey more than miserable. So now, instead of 72 berths in all, in a sleeper coach, we have 81 berths.
The fun just began as soon as the train rolled out of Bangalore station. After adding these extra berths, the railways removed all old berth numbers, and fixed new numbers, with rivets and all. However, it seems they haven't yet allotted these extra berths to passengers. So despite the additional 9 berths, there are still 72 tickets that are sold! So someone has once again written the old berth numbers with a red sketchpen.
So we have TWO sets of numbers. The passengers who have boarded the train assume they are 81 in all, and are following the new numbers.
While the TTE has just arrived and he has announced that the set of the sketchpen written numbers are to be followed. Now look at what a typical Indian passenger does when something like this happens.
A few passengers have started to run here and there unnecessarily creating a bit of a ruckus, taking their luggage huriedly, and trying to occupy the older 72 berth system. And all this is accompanied by quite a bit of shouting in the local language ofcourse, making it more difficult for me to understand, and also making me laugh more at the whole scene. As if the train will leave without them, or throw them out midway!
Last 15 mins have been blissful, me and my colleague are just sitting in one corner, relaxing, and enjoying the mini chaos…..LOL!
And for the Nth time, I say to myself…..this happens only India.
from tommorrow, i will be in mangalore and bangalore fora week.........................any bloggers out there?
last sunday we had been to pavnaa dam, a scenic spot about 50 kms frm pune. pics below. last snap is specially posted for umbrella22:)
i always wanted to travel thru the tamilnadu countryside, and by road. esp after living in the same flat for 5 years, in kuwait, with 7 colleagues belonging to this state. my dream was finally fulfilled 2 weeks back! and it was a wonderful trip, we traveled for 3 days and did chennai-sriperumbudur-ranipet-arcot.neyvelli-ariyalur-villupuram-perambalur-chennai! myself, jitesh, jayasekar, in a qualis! i managed to click lots of pics, sharing a few here. tamilnadu is fascinating, the food, the culture, the history, and ofcourse the people, and what i got was a very very timy glimpse...
thats the hotel where i put up, close to mount saint thomas road rly stn.
just infront of my hotel, this lady was gently swaying and swinging to some loud music playing nearby. water is scarce in this state, as can be seen from the pots she and her son are carrying.
first halt after we left chennai, just before sriperumbudur, for some delicious idli-vada. lying on this banana leaf are 2 synonyms for crispness and softness! accompanied by some yummy chutney n the everpresent sambaar:)
our first halt was at saint gobain glass, seen in front. notice the flowers on the road divider. signs of india shining, and developing and growing!
the rajiv gandhi memorial at sriperumbudur. this guy was a gem of a human being. this comes from a cabin crew of his indian airlines days, who is known to us. however, i had no regards for him as a PM.
just before we reached arcot, a tiny mishap on the road, a bike skidded.... and these ladies are all eyes on what had happened.
as soon as we reached arcot, i could smell chicken biriyani!!! wherever we asked, everyone guided us to this tiny eatery. insides were a bit crowded, so i decided to snap this place from outside.....close to the bus stand, it serves awesome biriyani, a must try, if you are visiting arcot.
womenfolk donning flowers in their hair is always a nice sight na? reminds me of my trip to mangalore years ago, as i was watching a flower stall near a bus stand, the lady who sold flowers took a gajra in her hands and asked me to buy, smiling as she said that, made me nervous, and i gently backed off. also reminds me of the lovely tamil song " senthura poove......"
the gingee fort in vilupuram district. also called as shingee or jinji, built in the 13th century, by chola kings, is seeped in history, was occupied by kings of vijaynagar, mughals, marathas, the french and lastly the british. i wish i had time to see it from close....
this old man got up from his rock-seat, and started to beg, as we were clicking the fort!
these above snaps are from amman restaurant, at perambalur, on the trichy-chennai highway. what i loved was the neatness, the place was spotless. and food was amazing, as can be seen. jitesh made me taste the lemon rice first, and i obliged ofcourse. look at a satisfied me n jayasekar, after a heavy lunch!
this vehicle was puzzling, something like atractor on the top, fixed on an excavator like thing, and a bike tied to its side! this happens only in india:)
cow travels pvt ltd! this also happens only in india....
a sunset on the outskirts of chennai, as we returned after a 3 day trip. i have more pics but it takes lots of time to post them............
proud to be an indian!
wish you all a happy independence day!!
jaihind!!!
from 18th aug, i am off to gujarat - kandla, ahmedabad, baroda and back!!!
A very tiny incident happened during my recent visit to Chennai, but it left me in tears, and I couldn’t sleep that night. i am too sensitive to such things, so I had a tough time coming to terms with what happened that afternoon, just outside INDIA CEMENTS plant at dalavoi, in perambalur district. We reached the plant around 3 pm in the afternoon, parked our qualis just outside the maingate, me and my colleague jitesh sat inside, while our dealer, mr jayasekhar, went to the security to get a gate pass for all of us.
Since it was a bit sultry then, we kept the A/C on, and closed the windows. An old lady, could be 80 plus, very frail, haggard, with trembling hands, stood on the side where jitesh was sitting, and went on speaking to herself, once in a while looking at us thru the window glass, gesticulating vigorously with her hands. After a while I got a bit curious as to what she was saying in tamil, as I could faintly hear the word “baajpai” being repeated many times over. Jitesh rolled down the window glass, and asked her what was it. And she went on and on rapidly, the only thing I could figure out were the names “baajpai”, “rajiv”, and “sanjay”! it made me more curious, finally jitesh got her story. She was saying that baajpai ( our ex PM vajpayee) had taken away everything that was hers, and she was very upset, felt helpless with no one to assist her, baajpai even took away rajiv and sanjay, and even sonia. And that she was now worried about rahul and priyanka.
I asked her thru jitesh, as to who she was. And she looked at me with her beady eyes shining, and blurted out “ Indira Gandhi”! and then she focused her attention on me and started to say something, I could make out nothing! On an instinct, I told jitesh to tell her that I was rahul gandhi’s friend. When jitesh said this to her, she was so excited, she looked at me, folded her hands suddenly, and the next moment, started to weep profusely, and refused to stop. I told jitesh to keep quiet, and not stop her, and let her cry her heart out. As she weeped, she went on saying something to me, her hands remained folded through out! Language has an amazing power, when accompanied with emotions. I could see that she wanted me to take care of rahul. I asked jitesh to tell her that I will take care of her grandson rahul Gandhi, and she shoud not worry about rahul at all, and also handed her a 10 rupee note. She was hesitant, but I literally forced the note into her hands, said a ‘namaste’to her, with folded hands.
And it was my turn to have tears in my eyes, when she gave me a big smile, a wide grin! She was so happy and relaxed to know that I would take care of rahul Gandhi. She reluctantly accepted the money, and slowly walked away, staring at me as if I was a saviour or something, blessing me in tamil, asking me to take care of rahul, saying that she wasn’t worried anymore.
As she slowly crossed the road, and walked away from me, she left me disturbed. I cant forget her wailing, will never forget her face!
All the credit for the pictures that you are seeing below, first goes to my canon A710IS, I am fortunate to get a terrific camera. And secondly lots of credit also goes to the tall, dusky and lissome air hostess, who wasn’t interested in me at all….LOLJ which made me look out of the window in the first place. There have been a few interesting flights, with some really interested, and interesting air hostesses, when I don’t have to look out of the window at all, and when I have felt that we should never ever land…… Life is all about matching interests isn’t it?
We all are blessed with 2 eyes, lets be thankful to the almighty. Lets all thank the creator for creating NATURE itself, isn’t it something amazing? A visual treat every second of our life? To be endlessly enjoyed with our eyes? I got this feeling intensely, after I saw the results of my efforts on saturday morning. I was on board an early morning spice jet flight from Chennai to pune. hardly 30 passengers. We took off at 5 am sharp from Chennai, and very soon were cruising at an altitude of 36,000 feet. On my right, thru the window, I could see shades of crimson breaking out in the sky. Within seconds I was ready with my digicam. For the next 30 minutes or so, I went on a clicking spree, capturing a unique sunrise at that height, something we rarely get to see. Nature creates millions of such rangolis every second, in the infinite sky. I was fortunate to have one tiny rangoli, on my camera, and share it with you all here, I hope you like this resplendent display of crimson, orange, and blue, in the sky. Enjoy the snaps friendsJ and yes, my personal favourite is the snap second from last!
hey all......next week i will be in bhilai, raipur n bokaro. any bloggers out there?
What a day it was! I mean yesterday! I met not one or two but 3 bloggers in Chennai! And in the end Shirley called… she is busy with her exams so cudnt make it this time. And yes, Shirley is dying to get back to ibibo, will be returning soon, so get ready for the Geees and the YOs friendsJ
Mr radhakrishnan iyer was kind enough to take the trouble to come all the way from tambaram to my hotel. It was nice meeting him, we had the baroda thread in common, as he has been there, and worked for a baroda based company earlier, and it turned out that his brother lives very close to our home in baroda!
I am a huge fan of shuvashree’s posts, just love the way she spins her tales, rivetting narration really. So it was a huge pleasure to meet and talk to her in person!
But the day belonged to Umbrella22! Or rather she was the star of the afternoon, despite being lateJ! yes she has already written a lot, I am absolutely stunned. And this lady kept silent for the major part of our meeting, as I went on and on and simply ON!
Contrary to her firebrand and fiery posts, not all but quite a few of them, U22, as I call her, is very very soft spoken, and in fact the gentlest of ladies I have met till now! and this compliment for her once again, she doesnt look a day over 32! The mischievous twinkle in her eyes shares her communication load to a large extent, no wonder she kept quiet, and we all know the reason now, her post is already out! We had a wonderful time, once again, giving me a high to meet a blogger in person for the 22nd time now….beginning to lose count.
U22, its time you share one more secret, LOL, you know what I mean now, don’t you? A standing invitation to you to be at my place in pune. most welcome! And I am now very curious to see my brother’s snap at least, till I meet him someday!
I just don’t believe all this sometimes, this platform has given me such amazing friends, and have always received so much love and affection from them all! Thanks to ibibo, I will continue to build and bond, as much as I can!
A huge huge thanks to u dear U22! your precious company made the delicious lunch at saravana bhavan really blissful!
Son: papa, may I ask a favor?
Father: of course son, go ahead, what is it?
Son: I want you to condemn me papa
Father: what??????????? But why???????
Son: cos I didn’t fare well in my first term exams, the results were out this morning
Father: so what beta? Work harder for the next exam, why should I condemn you for this?
Son: I mean just like the politicians in this country condemn every act of terrorism, and then do nothing, I thought once you condemn me; there won’t be any other punishment…
Father: ohhhhh….
Son: and papa… the Mumbai blast accused were convicted recently, after 15 years, the godhra accused are yet to be punished, now what will happen to varanasi, jaipur, Hyderabad, malegaon, Bangalore, Ahmedabad accused? Inka number kab aayega?
Father: I don’t really have an answer son
Son: by the time I grow up, maybe every city, and town in India will have blast accused. Papa…for a developing nation, isn’t this a feather in our crown? We couldn’t have water and electricity in every village in last 61 years, but we will have blast accused everywhere…
Father: well, I don’t know what to say beta…
Son: tell me papa, do you want me to become a responsible citizen or an irresponsible one?
Father: of course I want you to be a responsible person beta, but why ask this?
Son: then let me become a terrorist…
Father: what????????????????? But why????????
Son: look at it this way, the common man, and those who serve the nation, the politicians, are so irresponsible, that this country has gone to the dogs, am I right?
Father: ……………………………….
Son: and look at the terrorists, after every bomb blast, within minutes they take responsibility!!
Father:……………………………….
Son: papa…. Are we, as a nation suffering from some kind of a degenerative disorder?
Father: means?
Son: means degenerating from tilak, azad, patel, gandhi, to mulayam, karat, advani, sonia!!!
Father: it is sad but true beta……..
Son: and papa, I want you to become a politician
Father: what????????????? But why?????????
Son: see it this way papa, you are not able to answer any of my queries satisfactorily. Exactly like the politicians of this country. Most of them can’t answer questions when they appear on TV, and havent solved our problems too. So why not become one? At least OUR problems will be solved, and you don’t have to solve anyone’s problems
Father:…………………………………..
NEXT WHOLE WEEK I AM IN CHENNAI. ANY BLOGGERS OUT THERE? BLURB ME IF YOU ARE KEEN TO MEET ME....I WOULD LOVE TO SURE:)
She: heyyyy don’t push me na
He: me pushing you?? You are shoving me into a corner… I need more space
She: we all need more space, but for now this is all we have, so stop pushing!
He: okok, how long do we have to be here, jostling for space? I want to get out yaar…
She: even I want to…but we cant just go out, the 6th month is ON, didn’t you hear mom say this to someone over telephone? Its 9 months before we can be delivered to the outside world
He: delivered?? I thought we were supposed to be born!
She: uff dumbo!! We will be born, but babies are delivered by the doctor, its called delivery.
He: wowwww!!! Is it?? Then I know where we are going to be delivered…
She: where? Where?? And how do you know???
He: we will be born…I mean delivered here at home itself
She: at home?? How come?
He: last evening dad was on phone, while mom was knitting a sweater, and he said over phone about wanting a ‘free home delivery’
She: O MY GOD!!! One big stupid idiot you are!!! That was dad calling the pizza restaurant for a free home delivery; didn’t you see they were eating pizza for dinner later in the evening? It was THAT!
He: ohhh…so where will we be delivered?
She: in a hospital, I am so eager to be born, to go into the outside world and start living my life…I want to be graceful and beautiful like mom, have you seen her look into the mirror every morning, after she has her bath? She looks sooooo charming and exquisite na?
He: yes she does, and even our father is very handsome, I want to be like him, with a large moustache, heyyyy it will be fun living our own life na?
She: yes sure, but you will have to wait for a long time for the moutache haan…
He: you know something? We are going to have names, our own exclusive names; I heard mom and dad discussing names for us
She: you are really outdated brother; I have even selected a name for me!!!
He: what? And how did you manage to do that?
She: simple…dad mentioned a few names of his choice one by one… neha, sarayu, meeta…. The moment he said meeta, I kicked mom’s tummy from inside…and immediately heard her saying to dad …..”look she just kicked me when you said meeta, maybe she likes this name, shall we have ‘meeta’?”, and then dad replied “yes sweetheart, meeta it will be…..” so I already have a name you see!!
He: you are real sharp haan, after all you are my sister….he he he
She: yes I am…you know something bro? our parents already love us, I can feel it, I am waiting for them to shower their love on us, and love them back in return, I am so excited…
He: love??? Now what is this new thing…?
She: arre it’s an emotion! The entire world, and life itself, survives, and goes around this unique emotion! Its affection, care, sacrifice, togetherness, and so much more….
He: waitttttt…how do you know all this?
She: while you doze away the entire time sleepyhead, I keep awake, trying to follow what mom reads, so I already know a lot, we women are like that
He: and we men take care of, and protect you, am I right?
She: cool…..now you sound like a sweet brother….my brother! May I ask you a favor now?
He: go ahead dear, ask!
She: when the moment is near for us to be born, I would love you to go out first, that ok with you?
He: sure it is, so I get to be the elder brother…..but what’s special about being the younger child?
She: nothing….I just want to see dad’s face light up when he sees me appear after you, he longs and craves for a daughter do you know that?
He: hmmmm but do you think he will be there at the time of birth?
She: yes….my dad is a courageous man!
He: you mean ‘our’ dad…
She: yes……’our’ dad!
after savita's visit to my place a few days ago, it was our turn to meet sneha. yes, she is in town, on a vacation, and we decided to meet at the central mall near shivajinagar. rohan couldnt come as he was more keen on his soccer!
sneha came with her kids vrishabh n riya! and it was more than simply nice to meet up with her. like school kids, we excitedly recalled our interaction during the making of cindy's SHOLAY. her kids must be wondering what was happening.
and vrishabh said he was thinking of starting his own blog soon. sneha is a typical punjabi- relaxed, bindaas, and always cheerful! i told her i was beginning to lose count as to how many bloggers i have met in person.
we were together for half an hour i guess, we had to return home early as my father isnt keeping too well, and needs attention. next week in chennai, i could be meeting 2 more bloggers, its fun!
and thank you so much sneha, for that cute gift you got for us!
I WILL BE IN CHENNAI NEXT WEEK, STARTING 28TH JULY....LOOK FORWARD TO MEET RADHAKRISHNAN IYER, N UMBRELLA22:)