Phoenix and Ashes

Monday, October 10, 2016

ରାଇମ ଦେଖିବି [Rhyme Dekhibi]

ମାମା ତା'ର ଅଫିସ କାମ ସାରି ଆସି ଘରେ କାମ ସାରି ଶୋଈବାକୁ ନେଲା ବେଳକୁ ଜୁ ଡିଆଁ କୁଦା ଆଉ ଖେଳ ପିଲାଟିର | ନ ପଚାରିଲେ ଭଲ | ଆଉ ମୁଁ ଯଦି ଘରେ ଅଛି ରାତିରେ ତ ଆହୁରି ଖେଳ | ଏମିତି ରେ ମାମା ତା'ର ଦିନେ ଶୋଇଲା ବେଳକୁ ଗୀତ ଲଗେଇ ଦେଲା କି ଦେଖିକି ଶୋ ମୋତେ ହଇରାଣ କରେନି | ସେ ରାତି ଟି ଚୋଟ ଧରିଲା ପରି ହେଲା ସାତ ରାତି | ଗୋଟେ ସପ୍ତାହ ରେ ହେଇ ଗଲା ଅଭ୍ୟାସ | ଏବେ ପ୍ରତିଦିନ କହୁଛି ଦେଖିକି ଶୋଇବି, ଯଦି ତୁମେ ତା ଖେଳ ବନ୍ଦ କରି ଶୁଆଇବାକୁ ନେଲ |

ସେ ଯାହା ହଉ, ଆଜି ପାପା କହିଲେ ତୁମେ ମାନେ ରାତି ଡେରି ଯାଏଁ ଚାହୁଁଚ | ତୁମକୁ ଦେଖି ସେ ବି ଆଇ. ଟି. ଢାଞ୍ଚା ରେ ପଡ଼ିଗଲାଣି | ଏଇ କଥା ଟା ଆଜି ପ୍ରଥମ ଥର ତ କହୁ ନାହାନ୍ତି, ପୂର୍ବରୁ ଅନେକ ଥର କହିଲେନି | ମୁଁ କହିଲି ହଉ, ମୋର ତ ଅଭ୍ୟାସ ଖରାପ ତୁମେ ଏବେ ଠୁ ଶୁଆଅ ପାଖେରେ | ତୁମେ ଦୁଇ ଜଣ ଜେଜେ ବାପା ଆଉ ନାତୁଣୀ ତ ଭଲ, ଦେଖିବା କେତେ ଜଲ୍ଦି ଶୋଇ ପଡ଼ୁଛ | ଏତିକି କହି ହସି ଦେଲି | ମୁଁ ବି ଜାଣିଛି ସେ ବି ଜାଣିଛନ୍ତି ଦୁଷ୍ଟ ଛୁଆ ଟା ଶୋଈ ବନି ଏତେ ଜଲ୍ଦି | କହିଲେ - ପ୍ରଥମରୁ ତ ଅଭ୍ୟାସ ଖରାପ କରି ଦେଇଛ! ମୁଁ କହିଲି ହଉ ହେଲା ଆଜି ଦଶହରା | ଆଜି ଠୁ ନୂଆ ଆରମ୍ଭ ଟିଏ କର ଦେଖିବା |

ପ୍ରଥମେ ବାପା-ମାଁ ଙ୍କ ଖଟ ଉପରକୁ ଯାଉ ଯାଉ କହିଲା "ରାଇମ ଦେଖିବି" | ତା ପରେ ଘଣ୍ଟେ ଯାଏଁ ଚାଲିଲା ବାପା ନାତୁଣୀଙ୍କର | ସେ ଗୀତ ଦେଖିବାକୁ, ବାପା ଫୋନଟିର ଆଲୋକ କମେଇଲା ବେଳକୁ ବି ହେଲାନି | ଏମିତି ଅନେକ ସମୟ ହେଲା ପରେ ମୁଁ ଧୀରେ କି ଯାଇ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ୱାଇ-ଫାଇ ଟିକି ବନ୍ଦ କରି ଦେଲି | ଭାବିଲି ଟିକେ କେଁ କାଁ ହବ ଶୋଇ ପଡ଼ିବ ତା ପରେ | କାନ୍ଦ ବି ହେଲା | ଜେଜେ ମା ବି ଉଠିକି କହିଲେ ମୋ ଫୋନ ରେ ଦେଖି ଦେ | ତାପରେ ବଡ଼ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପରି ବସି ପ୍ରାର୍ଥନା କଲା - "ପ୍ଲିଜ ଲାଇନ ପଳେଇ ଆସେ" | :)

ହୃଦୟ ଟି ମୋର ତରଳି ଗଲା | ଆହାଃ କି ସରଳତା | ନିଷ୍ପାପ ଶିଶୁଟିର ଦୁନିଆ ର ସବୁଠୁ ବଡ଼ ଚିନ୍ତା ଠିକ ସମୟରେ ଲାଇନ ଟା ପଳେଇଚି କେମିତି ଆସିବ |

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Pantha Nivas

Odisha Tourism hosts a chain of hotels called "Pantha Nivas" or "Yatri Nivas" across many of the tourist destinations in Odisha.
The hotels generally have very good staff & the food is generally yummy!! Infrastructure wise they vary, however the location is always Super :)

Modes of Booking -

1. Online Booking - http://www.visitodisha.org/
Need to book 3 days in advance. So if I am booking for Saturday, Need to book by Wednesday.
Checkin & Checkout time is around 12 PM.

2. Phone Booking - Call, Block & Pay. 0674 – 2430764
You can call and block the seats in any of the hotels & pay on the same day at any of the Panthanivas office counters.

3. Office Booking - You can drop by at any of the Panthanivas offices & book.
Central Reservation Counter -- Panthnivas (old block), Lewis Road, Bhubaneswar – 751014,Telelphone # 0674 – 2430764
Detailed list here.

Konark Dance & Sand Art Festival, Odisha

This time of the year draws curtain from various Dance and Art festivals in Konark.
The Konark Dance Festival organised by the Odisha Tourism department hosts a range of Classical Odissi, Bharathnatyam, Manipuri, Kathak and Chau dance performances.

Date - 1 to 5 December 2015
Time - 6.00 P.M. to 8.30 P.M
Venue - Open air auditorium, Natyamandir, near the Konark Temple.
Live Telecast - DD Bharati

Live Streaming - www.webcast.gov.in during the festival period from 6pm to 8.30pm.

Festival Details - http://www.odishatourism.gov.in/Festivals/SpecialFestivals/KonarkFestival.aspx
OTDC Package Details - Click here

Program Details -
01-Dec-15 Odissi Srijan, Sri Ratikant Mohapatra Bhubaneswar
Tuesday Manipuri Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy Manipur
02-Dec-15 Sattriya Sattriya Academy - Sri Jatin Goswami & Group Assam
Wednesday Odissi Aum Arts Dance Academy, Suprava Mishra & Group Ahmedabad
03-Dec-15 Odissi GKCM Odissi Research Center Bhubaneswar
Thursday Kuchipudi Shambhavi Dance Ensemble, Smt Vyjayanthi Kashi Bengaluru
04-Dec-15 Bharatnatyam Kalakshetra Foundation, Priyadarshini Govind Chennai
Friday Odissi Odissi Nrutya Mandal, Sri Ashis Kumar Das & Group Cuttack
05-Dec-15 Odissi Odisha Dance Academy, Smt Aruna Mohanty Bhubaneswar
Saturday Kathak Lashya Academy Dance Repertory, Guru Rajashree Shirke Mumbai

Image - Odisha Tourism

International Sand Art Festival
It is held to coincide with the five day Konark Festival.
Date - 1 to 5 December 2015
Time - 6.00 A.M. to 6.00 P.M
Venue - Chandrabhaga Beach, Konark.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

pinti-benguli-o-chadhei

ପିଣ୍ଟି, ବେଙ୍ଗୁଲି ଓ ଚଢ଼େଇ

So, was browsing through some of the famous local stores & online stores & couldnt find Odia story books for my 10-month old toddler. I mean English books are also fine, but my aim is to draw her interest towards reading without making any of our lives difficult (Be it the pain of translating it in the mind, or the pain of making the toddler understand a different language or the discomfort of my aunties/ Grandma - Aaee in reading the English text out loud to the Baby with whom they have been conversing in Odia).

So a short story not only for her, but to help out all of us in the family :)
Link to my website

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

A Day in Remote Rayagada - II

Continued From .... A Day in Remote Rayagada

So as we enter the training room, I realise its as good as any conference halls from the finest of cities! There are around 23 trainers who have come for this session. They have traveled from their (tribal dominated) villages, where they are presently conducting classes of ALP (Adult Literacy), thanks to Sparsh. So my work? To train the trainer - TOT. To make them comfortable with the TCS built software, which can make their lives easier along with making learning more structured, fun for the villagers and of course to introduce computers.

TCS has donated 10 computers after a long approval process and now the software and the training is a part of its own CSR :-). All thanks to the efforts of our CSR coordinator, Priya Mahapatra. As I start interacting with these trainers, their Simplicity & Innocence hits me. They are so soft spoken I cant hear them standing just next to them with my ears stretched! One moment I feel the despair, how am I going to finish the session and come out satisfied if I don't get any interaction? How would I know if the purpose was fulfilled? Will they be able to go back and use the computer software and teach?

Anyways giving up doesn't come that easily to me ;) . For the next 1 hour I keep shouting my lungs out, poking everyone, madly reaching out to each individual throughout the room! There are a few supervisors and officials from Sparsh who poke them along with me. That helps as well, as these girls are more familiar with them.

Going by the instinct, I call them up and ask them to help me with the software. Towards lunch time I get smiles, replies, reactions!! Now that the comfort level has been established, we have to rise to a new level!

I realise the trainers haven't operated a computer before and are getting confused with the mouse! I pass the mouse across to let them have a look and check the left and right clicks. Little patience and time works like magic :-). Some of them go pro with it exploring and helping others!!

The training goes down very nicely, much better than the expectations I had after entering the room :-). We have a small photo session outside the conference hall in our tea time. There are about 5 supervisors with us, I basically focus on for explaining the Reporting part! Although others are still there, I find it hard to expect them to learn mouse clicks & excel sheets the same day :-)

Eventful day almost closes with formal greetings, just the way it had started! We go back to Mr Rajguru's office n are treated with another round of lemon tea :-)! Seriously, after having 3 rounds of lemon tea the entire day, I started to like it :D They even take us to their CEO, again a nice gesture and we get some unexpected gifts! :-)

Next we are permitted to go see the paper industry with a guide and helmets. And wow! Starting from logging to chips to pressure cooking to labs to humongous rollers to packaging to the multi floored storage. Just wow! Felt as if I am standing inside an episode of Mega Factories, Nat Geo!!

After an Awe-inspiring tour of the factory we started out to a nearby village, Amalapatta to see the present ALP center running there. It was a small place filled with enthusiastic people, running out of a Anganwadi center, 7 to 9pm. Mansi & Ninoshka mingled with the ladies there and brought out their hidden talents. In a few secs someone was singing, few others were drawing!! A lady with two naughty children very enthusiastically shows me what all she's learned in the last week.

We return back to our guest house. Situ is also done with her program n has reached there (I had already called her to come there on Mr Ashutosh's request). We have a heavy dinner, at least I have ;)

Then it's time to start back. Having said our goodbyes to Mr Ashutosh, thanking him again for the hospitality and promising to have another visit after few months, we take leave to catch our 10:30 pm train from Rayagada. On the way back I share the latest Rangabati song with our recently-converted Odia volunteers from SBI YFI before waving them goodbye. Its been more than 12 hours and we are totally spent. Situ & me, we share a few stories of the trip & Situ snores in no time :P

I lie down and start with this blog & doze off in the train.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

A Day in Remote Rayagada

So after discovering the awesomeness of TCS made software for ALP (Adult Learning Program) -- the CBFL (Computer Based Functional Literacy) several thoughts cross my mind.Do we really have illiterate people in Odisha or is the concept as old as the initiative!!!Anyways if there are people in need, we can help them, so I leave it at that.

Next thing we know we get an email calling for volunteers for 2 training (train the trainer) at Rayagada - Sparsh, JK Paper Mills & Agragamee. Both Situ and I volunteer instantly and get ready for the assignment. Although excited, a hundred other things are running in my mind - the mosquitoes, malaria, remote region, accommodation, naxals and what not!! Anyways "darr k aage jeet hai ;) ". Only thought that's left is our 8 month old Rishika. She's never been without seeing her Mom for a night. And my Aaee (Granny), Aunty and Papa keep prodding - do you really have to go? Mom's cool. She knows! So, I cool down too :-)

I get back from Kolkata on Thursday night and wfh on Friday. Working till 6pm, I wind up to scoldings from Papa n Situ and hurry to pack for the 7:30 train - Hirakhand express to Rayagada.

We wake up around 5 am and wait for the station. It's dawn and the view is breathtaking!!! There are series of hill ranges!! Forest areas, eucalyptus plantations, Farmers tilling lands, bullocks, villagers. Just Wow!! Situ gets down at Rayagada and goes to Kashipur with the SRC officials to conduct training at Agragamee SRC. I get down at the next station, Singapuram Road. Meet 2 daredevil trainees, Ninoshka & Mansi who have travelled from Gajapati for this training. They come from diverse backgrounds and have opted for a 1 year fellowship helping rural communities. As part of SBI csr activities they form the youth for India group working with NGOs.

We have a car waiting at the station to take us to the guest house of JK Mills. It appears as if the area has been developed around the paper mill!! And it's amazing to see how an industry can change the landscape of a region :-).

We reach the guest house. It is way above my expectations, much better than what I had in mind :D Its still 7am! I call up Situ n check on her, inform back home and then fall flat on the bed for an hour :-). 8ish I get up n get ready for the day ahead and call up Mr Asutosh Das to check on the schedule for the day. Mr. Ashutosh looks after a lot of stuff along with the NGO Sparsh and has been in touch helping us with the details. The program would start by 10:30, so I still have time to explore the place and talk to him and others at the NGO.

Main Gate of JK Mills

The laptop and camera bags get picked and I go about admiring the beautifully maintained gardens and plants in the campus of the guest house, staff colonies! To my surprise the guest house officials say it is completely ok to leave the room unlocked :-)

Strolling, I walk upto the campus of the factory and they won't let me in without a helmet :-) (damn, I couldn't click that pic :P ). Went to the administration building n met Asutosh and his boss Mr Rajguru. Very nice, warm & hospitable people. After a series of intros and chit chats, I get up - its time to start the program.

To be continued..

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Its a Baby Girl !

So now that my wife, Situ has published her interpretation of my thoughts and the events around the birth of our Baby, I am left with no other option but to get my lazy self up and write about things I have been procrastinating since "God-knows-when"!!

Almost all of the 9 months we have had guesses, fights about would it be a baby boy or a girl... and what would we name it!! 1st I wished for a girl n then for a boy and at last decided not to be inclined towards any particular gender :) It was all a game and Little did we know how exactly it felt to be a parent!

So Situ is admitted for an operation to take place later in the evening...I come home for a short lunch break leaving her with both of our Moms and we get a call shortly after from them that the doc came in early and - "Its a baby girl!".

I rush to the hospital with Papa....numerous thoughts running through my mind..My first thought being its a girl... Living in "almost" a joint family, have never handled baby girls... its been boys always and that was one of the reasons we wanted one in the first place! Now that we have one am clueless... So much of love without even seeing her till now!!

I mean if it would have been a boy, may be we can throw him out one day or he will run away himself or stay back...who knows...Doesn't matter either ways... But she's a girl... You have to be careful... You have to raise her delicately with lots of love and care and one day you will have to give her away!!

I know its ridiculous and archaic... but that's the way Indian society works... and you need to have the courage to get over that.. At the 2nd moment I laugh myself off thinking who knows whats in store... May be she will be potent enough to face the world... May be she will find her calling and stand up for herself... May be she will keep in touch after all :-)

Lots of thoughts n we reach the hospital..Moms are unable to tell where did they take the baby for cleaning...Situ is still in the OT. Rest of the family also joins in, all waiting anxiously... Even Aaee (my Granny) has climbed the dreaded stairs to have a glimpse of Situ n the baby..Situ is brought out in a highly medicated state with saline n all n she is constantly mumbling about the pain she is in!!

I feel a tap on the shoulders & look back to see Papa whispering to me, "come if you want to see the baby". I am like-- What's with advocates & how do they have an eye for so much details! Impressed I follow him downstairs & he points to a small room with a single incubator.

Not knowing at all what to feel n think I move into that room and see a tiny baby moving her hands n legs under a bulb.. That very moment is rather overwhelming and inexplicable! From a state of "blank mind" to standing near a "live-playing-baby" that is yours!! Words fail & am all choked.. well as I said, inexplicable :)

Without facing Papa I quietly go upstairs to Situ's room.. Every one in the family is concerned about Situ & they are like are you crying for Situ!! Hehe... I am like no, "I saw it...it really is a baby.. a tiny one" :D

Aaee is all impatient to see the baby...She will be getting her 1st Great-Grandchild after all! They bring in the baby few moments later.. Now "another" first look at her and all my inhibitions and worries melt away... I instantly know she will be a fighter, born in a family of fighters where people are free to express, take their stand and do what matters!

Over the next 3 days we stay in the hospital with both our Moms taking turns to stay with us to help with the baby..Situ gains consciousness the next day & I hand her the baby with a kiss. Don't remember if I ever said thank you because those words would have been dwarfed by the Sacrifice, Pain and Tapasyaa (guess the nearest English term is extreme-meditation) she went through for all of us to be sitting here!! No wonder they write so many things on the greatness of a Mother!

1st night both my Mom n Situ are sleeping n snoring in their beds in the hospital room, while I am keeping watch on the sleeping baby :-) She cries n I go up n clean her 1st potty.... Never thought of it then... but now whenever Situ accuses me of not cleaning her up, I bring up the topic that I cleaned the very 1st time :D :D And yes I sometimes think if she will like me once she grows up, will she be able to relate n of course I have thought of many ways to keep her liking me :D

Fast forward and the baby completed her 6 months recently... She's been blessed with a wonderful family support... She's been staying with Aaee and our aunty while we go off to work... may be she loves them more than us now... may be she is loved more by the entire family (being the youngest and only girl)... may be she's been mumbling Bababa Papapapa but when she is stressed and cries, she calls out A ....Ma (grandmother) / ...Mamma (mother) :-) :-)

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Pet Lover's Paradise at Galiff Street, Kolkata

I have been thinking of visiting the Galiff Street in Kolkata since I got here 2 years back. Used to go home every weekend hence missed on this. Galiff street sits every sunday from early morning to evening & is like a Plant & Pet Lover's Paradise :-)

Took 215A bus from New Town to Shyam Bazar Metro & walked down from there.. The street starts with a huge section of vendors selling plants. Good to find a lot of plants at one place & dont need to go scouting different nurseries!! I got some of my favourites here including Kalanchoe verticillata :)

Lets a closer look at those rose plants

Around 10 am, the market had already crowded up!

With the terrestrial or land-Plants section phasing out, started the Aqua zone with fishes, Aquarium plants & snails :) :) That was actually my main purpose of visiting the place..

Was amazed to find so many of the blood worms & black worms as well :)

We just strayed further to check out the Cute Chicks, Puppies, Rabbits, Mice, Guinea Pigs, Birds :-)

We returned back to the start point combing the streets with what we missed.. Couldn't find a good deal for Shrimps / Prawns and could not find any Neon Tetras anywhere :(. However could lay hands on some Aquarose and ferns :)

And to my delight found a bonsai (Ficus microcarpa) for a great price around ₹ 500 for a 6 yr old!! Walked around for some nice Danios, Apple snails & a yellow hibiscus pot :). Took a taxi back home as we already exhausted!

Admiring the catch back at home :) :)

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Cheetah-Leopard-Jaguar

So this is a topic which generates confusion. What is the difference between

Cheetah
Leopard
Jaguar
Panther

Are they all different species or similar. Are they related?
Actually the Cheetah is smaller than the Leopard & the Jaguar.The last two are different species, both sturdy and built to climb trees.

And a Panther may be a black Leopard and/or Jaguar.

Topic	Cheetah	Leopard	Jaguar
Tear Lines	On the face	No	No
Black Spots	Evenly spaced Oval black spots	Complex Flower like black spots called Rosettes	Bigger Rosettes with spots in the centre.
Region	Parts of Africa & Asia	Parts of Africa & South Asia	Parts of South America.
Others	Small Head	Robust head & body Structure. Climbs on trees & Stalks prey	Robust head & body Structure. Climbs trees

Sunday, August 5, 2012

You can be what you want to be

It's funny how many times we hear this phrase "You can be what you want to be"....sounds like wishful thinking.....

I even get to hear "you live in an idealised world..wake up...get real." or "yeah..This sounds good in books....not in real life"...so on.

Where words fall short, actions come afront to dazzle us :)

Oscar Pistorius lives yet another of his days that infuses reality into idealism as he runs off to glory in the London Olympics 2012.

Known as the blade runner, this man from South Africa debuted yesterday in the able-bodied London Olympics after a long struggle & litigations that overturned the International Committee's decision (of blocking him from the events). He posted a second-place finish in a 400m heat guaranteeing a place in today's final race. He is the first double amputee to compete at the Olympics.

The athelete's legs were amputed below the knee before his first birthday & runs with the aid of carbon fibre artificial limbs. He has come up to win numerous medals in international events.

It is an honour to watch "the fastest man on no legs" sprint on the tracks of the greatest sporting event!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

And that's how it is done

Well, after being pretty much impressed by the Smoked-Flambe-Pasta at a pasta place, the cook in me was inspired to try it out..

”Food on fire”, “Smoked”, “Roasted”...I didn't have a clue what was it called....several google searches later, I finally found the word, “Flambe”...meaning “flamed” in French.

Ah, so there it was.... But I could not find a single page which would tell me the secret to replicate the flambe without alcohol :-/ I was like damn these firangs, puting alcohol in food as well :P

I was damn sure the pasta place did not use alcohol, nor do the awesome cooks in India.

So...

Some RnD later, I found out the secret... thought of sharing it with people who wanna try it :)

Steps:

Put the (thick) pan on high flame for about a min.
Pour in some cooking oil and some more flame.
Raise the pan and shake it while adding 2 spoons of the paste*

paste*= Giner-garlic paste, half a lemon, some sugar and some water (I used this)...

Well believe it or not, there was some awesome fire, even after putting the pasta toppings on it...

And the pasta was delicious....and by the way, the hand in the pics is mine :)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

A Walk-In-The-Rain-2!!

…Continued from here

Tiki Mausi gives concerned looks to my cover-up-smile & leaves for some work. She’s phrased it in words, Out-Loud, the question silently creeping in my mind & left me to deal with it.

TIP Foundations, an enterprise, a dream fermenting over last 8 years… All efforts to plan it out since last 2 years… An ambition to set things right in the country I love… An ambition to get my friends together… A dream to Live / Die for…

A MTech degree from an University, primarily to compliment TIP Foundations; to gather related expertise, knowledge, contacts & experiences…

A new job, promising a handsome salary & new venues to explore…

You quit your 1^st ever company, holding a nice position to pursue your dreams… You come home to realise all of your friends are too busy fighting their lives… You somehow try to make things happen, but your energy keeps falling short… Your application for the MTech & the hushed up Delhi tour… Your mausaji’s forcibly uploading of your resume on the internet, so that you could get back to the conventional path of earning… As you start getting calls for job interviews, your state of complete confusion… And to make things intense, your policy of not-objecting unless you’re sure of holding a strong, valid ground…

As you stand evaluating your options, your mind wanders off into a world of its own. May be it doesn’t want to do the hectic calculations & own the risk of taking a decision towards shaping your destiny. Seems it also knows the magnitude of variation each path would lead to.

As you stand staring at the open, green fields, lightning strikes & yeah there you are standing, feeling the “baaris k chhinte” (dash of raindrops brought in by the wind) of the 1^st rains of the season on your face J …. You see some teens playing football in the rains… Some voluntarily falling & wading through the small muddy puddles… You somehow have the urge to join them… doesn’t matter that you don’t know them… Somehow your mind says, “Yeah right!! You are 25 not 15 anymore!! :P” Before the argument in your head could possibly intensify, its twilight & with the setting sun, the boys end the party n head home…

The monsoon has a healing effect of its own… You are moved by a flashback… Those wonderful days of childhood…

The eager wait for heavy rains, hoping it forces your school management to declare a rainy-day-holiday J … The eager wait to wear your new raincoat to school… But somehow every time the lashing-heavy-rains managed to stop just at 9:30am, when you start for school and you are forced to spell out curses under your breath :P After all, when can you use your new raincoat if not in this season…

In the evening, when mummy comes home, your searching looks at her hands, to see if she’s bought some garam garam (hot-fried delicacies) Aloo-chop, Baraa, Singadaa, Piyaaji, Baigani for you & your delight to find either she or papa have them packed for you JJ

The mere thought makes your mouth water & you are smiling before you even realise it… You miss those days… Wish someone was there with you to enjoy the awesome climate… You sms a friend asking if she wants to join you & shoot off for a walk-in-the-rain!!

You somehow miss a combination… The 1^st rains, a long ride on the bike with her sitting behind (all scared!), with the hot-fried-delicacies & a cutting-chai on a halt on the way… You wish she was in the same city with you…

As you walk on, you see some people enjoying the 1^st rains, some trying to look as if they tried their best not to get wet… Bells ringing high with prayers in a small temple on the footpath… The large sewage swelling like a mini river beneath the bridge on the way… You pause on the bridge to wonder at the once-stagnant brine-sewage turned into a vibrant & lively-flow of brackish waters!! A guy standing on a bridge, getting soaked, looking at the flowing bottoms does attract some stare for obvious reasons ;) And you decide to turn your way back still happily enjoying the rains…

I somehow feel, you ought to be in India to enjoy the rains…

All my childhood days, I used to think, how cool it would be to enjoy the rains in a foreign country, where you can splash the roadside puddles (without thinking of all the dirt & cow dung it could have possible washed in), where roads are supposedly clean… And when in California, I couldn’t really enjoy the rains because of the chilling winds that accompany or may be because one is not exposed to the burning heat before the season of the rains :P … Whatever the reason be, it’s the monsoons in India this time and am loving it!!

After a long walk, when you head back & stroll inside the society roads; with the outside din of the traffic dying out, the din inside you rises in pitch for you to make a final call… Which path to take??

The rain slows down, you head back to the dry n warm comfort of home; to change n sit like a good boy before Tiki Mausi is back :P

As you reach home, you see a text reply from her, wishing she could join you. Again, a smile covers your lips… & this time it's not a cover-up-smile... You may not have found an answer to the boiling hot question, but you have been healed to stand up & face it!!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

A Walk-In-The-Rain!!

How easy / difficult is it to break one cycle of thoughts forever and start another?

Well, it may take an easy instant to snap or it can stretch to a very uneasy stretch on the timeline...

As my fav punch line goes: "It's all in the Mind".

Many thoughts have been circling my head since my last post on the “Must-Attend-Wedding”; May be because I had censored a lot of thoughts cutting it short…

After all, you’ve always been brave whenever there has been a need for it… The present requirement to-be-brave has been completed. :P Now neither is your support sought after, nor do you plan to seek any… So you Release all the unfinished thoughts, Decide to “End-the-Symbiosis” & stay away from potentially dangerous situations. ;) After all, if you are that good friends, you would certainly re-discover your friendship some day in the timeline!!

A rather heavy decision to take… But yeah it seems logically correct. And you somehow feel all light. Even before you know it, there you are smiling J

Ok one issue solved. What about the major one now?

Well, what’s the time?

Ohh it’s almost 3pm now. And you are reluctantly reminded of the couple of interviews scheduled at 4. You drag your ass back to the laptop, opening your CV & some of the training materials…trying to recollect what projects you worked on in the last 4 years… Although you don’t care about the interview, but still somehow your heartbeat manages to rise in anticipation of the approaching hour… This is your 1^st interview after say, about 5 years..

You get the call from the 1^st MNC at sharp 4pm… The interview has a lady at a high management post & a technical guy (You somehow feel more confident than him). About 40 mins…And BOOM goes your interview… I feel if you are enjoying a certain state, then it’s going right & great J

You get the 2^nd call from the 2^nd MNC at sharp 5pm. This time it is a technical guy, ready with his notes, questionnaire and answers to those :P … He starts asking all small, miniscule details of the tool that you handled last, hmmmm say 8-10 months ago. You laugh him off & in 2 minutes you mutually decide to call off the meeting :P :P

Now you get a call back from the 1^st company with their positive feedback, with a wish to send you off to their client location in Australia ASAP for about 6 months…

BANG!! The Big Issue hits you back…

You get off from the table... stroll about the house. Ah there you find a window & a lush green field in front of it. J

Some uncle carrying vegies for his home... A bunch of kids teasing each other, playing cricket… Some kid going about in circles, riding his new bicycle… Some guy going about in circles ;) talking on the phone, smiling… At a far off distance, a couple of kids returning from school, shirts out, bags still on, playing football as they approach their houses…You keep staring, lost in your own thoughts, biting your nails off :P

No. No. No! No Solution…

You again set off strolling about the house & stop in front of Tiki Mausi & narrate the interview details. She shouts back at you, “What the hell is going on? Do you REALLY want to join? What about the joining for MTech next month? What about TIP Foundations? What path do you want to take?”

Well, that’s THE big issue!!! A million dollar question: Which path to take? You wonder, “Is it only me? Or do others get confused as well?”

You smile back with your confused thoughts & questioning look… She calmly replies, “So the land of Kangaroos it is, is it?”

“Jaanini” (dunno), Is all you come up with…

…To Be Contd.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

A Must-Attend-Wedding!!

How do you deal with heartburns?

Oh, I move on...After all it is the way it should be..

But what happens if the gal, you liked once, is still one of your best friends & she insists you to be present on her wedding?

Well, since I have moved on, I dont mind being present to support her on her big day....

That's how the trip begins from Mumbai to Pune to Nagpur to Jabalpur admist the summer heat...Covering about 1200 km of Rail and Road ways. Thank God for the AC vehicles & hotels. The best part of the whole journey unfolds as each halt adds an additional member of your gang n by the time you reach the destination, you have become 5 people from 1 :o)

A get-together after almost 2 years, an anxious wait at the airport (waiting for 1 of us), a moonlight lit dinner at a roadside Dhaabaa, a 3-star hotel room to rest (arrangement for guests @ wedding ), a bottle of tequila specially brought from the duty free region while an onsite visit ;), ordering lemons from the hotel staff on pretext of the bride's mehendi, fighting over the spent lemon quarters, a special singing session to serve the after effects and a stroll near the swimming pool.....The next morning you get up smiling, suprisingly without a hangover and look at each of the faces and think: "Ohh, it's for real, was no dream" :o)

Couldn't ask for more, eh?

The next 2 days follow with the rituals for the wedding and all.

You keep seeing the bride in her yellow and red attires....looking her best... And you go like: DAMN!!

You expected her to look fat and ugly, so that you could think, "O yeah, Grapes are Sour" :P :P

Well, it's neither the-old-feeling-of-love rushing in, nor is it a new-found one.. The best word to explain the feeling is "Weird".

Somehow many thoughts rush in... The old days of your stupidity... Your Naive so-called-Proposal..and your denying it to be a proposal (I still deny it to be a proposal :P ).. The days of hoping that one day "May be She would give this a thought"...

All those nights of free calling (reduced rates)... Her endless blabberings over the phone... Her warnings of not trying to act smart or try to Woo her... Her un-proficiency (if it's a word) of understanding your poems... The first ever sketch sketched by you (of her ofcourse ;) )...

No. Your thoughts do not seem to stop....

Her stupid (Guess only gals can make & understand such reasons :P) stand of not adulterating friendship with love... Your burning of all the letters, records, related thoughts to wipe them away from the mind...

Thoughts still keep spamming you..

Many Negative thoughts keep hitting you... And you keep Hushing them n praying to God for forgiveness & to keep everything around happy n merry-going as they are...

You see people dancing, having fun. And you get confused...

You dont want to Be or look sad and be the spoilsport for others....

Your thoughts do not let you be happy at the turn of events..

Your Self ridicules you at the thought of enjoying at such an event...

And somehow your roomy's voice sings the song "Mubarakh ho tumko yeh shaadi tumhari" in your ears and you laugh out loud looking all stupid :D

Somehow you concentrate on the goodies of the occassion, the food ;), your gang (minus the busy bride ofcourse), the TV in the hotel room and the outings....praying for the MUST-ATTEND-WEDDING to end happily soon, RELEASING you off the gruesome memories....Back to your new world of Opportunities... :) :P

As you move back from Jabalpur to Mumbai, this time in a non-AC-literally burning and stinking train, with your friends besides you, Somehow you like the ambience more than the ac rooms of the 3-star hotel...Feeling happy to have left behind "those thoughts", "those Weird Feelings"; Releasing them off your Subconscious as you embark on a New Journey. :)

...I think my Experiences make the prices I pay for them worthwhile...

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

India: Re-Dividing or Re-Arranging

Telangana Issue...So much fuss over dividing regions...
When the world: Europe, North & South America, even Indian Subcontinent (SAARC) are moving to form United lands, States within India think otherwise.

It would be highly unfair to either support or not support divisions. Both sides have their own reasons. Lets take this opportunity to go to the roots of the issue.

Problem: As I see it, there are various issues:

Non-uniform levels of penetration of development to various areas..... Here development includes knowledge/education centers, employment, infrastructure.
The whole of the power being concentrated at the Capital city of a State. As a guy from Chattisgarh puts it, before division, people had to travel 14 hours to Bhopal for any high court case, counselling or any other major work...... But now after the formation of Chattisgarh, the capital, Raipur is 4 hours from different regions of the state.

Now, I must clarify, I am not in the favour of dividing regions, but in favour of finding effective solutions for the issues. Lets brainstorm some probabilities:

Maximum of the issues would get resolved if India's political & administrative structure take a cue from the corporate houses. If the MPs, MLAs, Municipalities, Panchayats do their job [ONLY requirement is they do their JOB]. This would eradicate a lot of non uniformities.
De-centralisation is the key. I agree that we have Panchayats to meet this. But we need more. We need to develop satellite towns and cities across the state, which can cater to the needs of the people across the length & breadth of the State. These cities can have shared networks, so that the burden is eased off the capital city.
A strong point to aid the points above is taking responsibility & rising to the occasion. A very strong factor is culture. People grow up to be what they are as per the way they are groomed. Political parties, Organisations, Corporates should develop a culture of inclusiveness, mixing local factors along with internationalisation.

As a common man, an individual, I am concerned with facilities reaching me at the end of the day. I want to see my "tax paying Rs" creating value for me & my family. Be it 1 state or 2 or 3 is immaterial when it comes to existence.

We do not live in a world of seclusion. There is high level of inter dependance between all sections, n that is a great factor fostering evolution & growth. So the solution lies in acceptance; In Enforcing present structure rather than creating new complexities.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Perfection!!

This is my nth attempt at starting a blog....

Every time i have been inspired to write something, I have stepped back doubting my proficiency at display of words!! What should I put down? How should it be put? Well let me think of something cool....hmmmmm….
Should it be a good poem? a nice story? a reaction to some event?
And in the thought process, I get bored and move to other modes of amusement ;)

Now that I have initiated the walk to my freedom letting my self-delusions & apprehensions to die out peacefully; Now that I no longer crave for an external feedback, I finally am successful in giving myself a little happiness in doing something I have wanted to since long…. :o)

Looking at it… It is simply amazing how hard we try to fall out of our natural frequency and to tune-into others’ frequencies….. The point beyond realization is that, all this is done to gain “Acceptance & Appreciation”, which is wrongly identified with love, fame-or-popularity & power-or-control!!

Again the truth is: it’s the damaged ego that “searches for” & “collects” the misnomers instead of the real ones. It is also true that it is difficult to actually achieve the “Ultimate” unless we discover back our natural frequencies…the Innocence, Love, the Un-adulterated, the Self…

So unless it's Perfection.... an Infinity or a Zero, we tend to shuttle & cycle between the analogues trying to round-off, trying to filter, trying to burn & trying to rise out of Ashes...