The Big Trip... :)

(a mix of writing in the diary and typing on the cell phone and now typing here…)

An Introduction:

1. Anant aka Papaji (the wall… vacation means rest! :)
   
2. Dhaval aka Pillu (the silent one who had to give his attendance time and again! :)
   
3. Jeet aka Baba (his girlfriend kept us melodious company… his guitar! :) and she always manages to soothe my soul!)
4. MITE (Mitesh aka Master Fang) – The Mighty Manager! Hail the Manager! And the Grand Daddy and the wake up call every every every morning! And as I have said before on this blog.. a gem of a person! :)
   
5. Mitesh aka Barwala (bottomless pit with the cutest smile ever! :)
   
6. Pavan (no aka here.. just beautifully footloose and fancy-free :)
   
7. Smriti aka the Washer Woman (need I say more!! :D)
8. & Yours Truly aka Motee aka Hidimba (jisse sabne thank you n sorry kehne pe bahut maar khaayi!!) :)
   

Day 1: In the train..

The women freaked out over the ‘Femina’ that she was carrying and the men just dozed the afternoon away after a scrumptious lunch of Biryani…!

The sun had begun to set and she was in her favorite place… in the doorway of the train compartment! The scene outside: calm grey, burnt brown, pacifying green… It’s like the whole landscape was trying to give her a message…and the song that began to play…’Superfantastic… everything is beautiful!’ (It sure was…!) She called her playlist ‘porcupine’s parody’ ‘coz that’s the way she was feeling.. all her senses spiked and awake… living breathing every beautiful moment… Track changes to ‘And the wheels just keep on turning.. The drummer begins to drum.. I don’t know which way I’m going.. I don’t know which way I’ve come’

The train slows.. the wind turns to a soft breeze.. as it crosses over a canal she thinks she caught a twinkle in her eyes even in those muddy waters..

Day 2: Vengurla

The train pulled up to Kudal station… its quaint smallness attracted her almost instantaneously…! Dawn breaking and 8 backpackers rubbing their eyes to slowly sense the sights and sounds around them. Finally a dog barks… (finally it is! One of Barwala’s first thoughts happened to be ‘are there no dogs here?’ :D) The ricks reached hotel ‘Bumbooo’ (pronounced that way in the local accent and thereon the way we pronounced any kind of Bamboo!) but it so happened that it was too early for anyone to be around… Found another li’l place right by the ocean and made that home for the day!

Morning tea (dubbed Irish Tea for its light brown shade), Poha and then finally Omlettes for breakfast….! And then Mission Beer! The refrains of Beer and Feni of especially the two motivated men (Baba and Barwala… who else re?!) had to be put to an end! Smriti, Dhaval and yours truly walked to their pathetic refrains of “There were two men, so tall and thin and lazy, their hair their hair were just like the color of blackberry and they were on a mission to find some Smirnoff blackberry!”

Well.. whaddya expect?! Mission obviously successful! And then these wandering souls went onto search for a ‘shady’ spot (pun intended) on the beach! It was their lucky day.. their lil alcove… the rocks and soft pure sand… an inlet of the sea close by… and the shade of beautiful light green leaves on white tree trunks… Lazybum Nirvana had been attained yet again! :) Cheers to us… to life!

After rollicking around and spending time in the water… losing a pair of glasses and breaking a pair of sunglasses… jumping on the tree branches… cutting ourselves up on the rocks in the water (they just happened to be sharp and we happened to be high!)… they trudged along back to their rooms…. Tired and sleepy.. dreamland was instant! As evening sets in and she began to stir awake her first thought was a biii…..g bear hug to all of ‘em! Don’t ask why..but they had all been complete sweethearts! Next up… Smriti aka fairy GodMa says there’s food for you darling! And she happily locates some spoons and digs in!!

A post dinner walk in the cool evening breeze with the sound of waves in the background and Baba’s guitar in the foreground… soft and rippling giving way to faraway rumblings of the sea… Fishermen’s boats lined up for the night with lights twinkling away and the ripples and reflections slowly swinging to the strumming of the guitar.. The moment: Ethereal! So much so that Barwala says it best when he says, ‘The only difference between heaven and earth is that heaven has no mosquitoes!’

And they talked… talked of almost everything under the sun… rather the moon! From their own personal li’l dragons to the genetic modification of the anopheles mosquito to the marijuana Dragon! (stop rolling your eyes now!)

And they slowly drift off to the jetty… the waves seeping into every lil nook and cranny… To imagine a life that waves along on the sea.. to and fro.. up and down.. experiencing all the travails of the sea and listening to its heartbeat day in and day out!

Her hair had developed a soul of their own flying in every direction… flying with every dance of the wind… as if wanting to experience every lil thing.. every lil moment all at once and pure and complete! And they turn in to bed… somewhere in the wee hours of the morning she wakes up and almost scares Pavan completely with her hair flying all over her head… (jus got up to turn the lights out!). She spooked her ‘coz of the spooky woman they had seen in the evening and then Barwala and Papaji had started off with u’ll open urn eyes and she’ll be there right next to urn bed etc etc! The stuff that ghost stories are made of!! :) Sorry sweetheart! Biiii…..g hug!

Day 3 Destination 1: Killeneuti

As her hair are still flying around following their own soul she settles down to write about the day at the back bench of a station platform! (yahan bhi back bench.. :D). Most of em call it the ‘Misadventure’ but it was an adventure nonetheless! She woke up to the sun waking up with her… Rising with the Sun! :) A bumpy bus ride later they found themselves at what was supposed to be a bust stop but hardly looked the part save for a black and yellow board which announced ‘Killeneuti – Last Stop’. Yup, that was the name of the place! Barely inhabited red soil zone.. and thus began a trek to unknown lands to find just about anything.. (it eventually began to feel like what she calls a journey to the center of the earth! :) ) An uphill trek later you can imagine the Motee’s state! But the trek had its own sweet rewards.. The view: The ruins of an old old fort… black stone walls falling apart gradually as time decided to find breathing holes through them.. On one side water breaking on jagged rocks and on the other a moment of serendipity! A virgin beach.. blue water.. white sand and green palms with a lonely boat rotting… a vast expanse of clear blue pure white… the wind blowing as if calling.. restless and impatient! All of it stark in itself but mesmerizing in their quiet, eternal symphony…

The call was answered and there they were running, swimming, playing like kindergarten kids in their lunch break! Even the waves decided to play with them by taking away their slippers but only so far as to be salvaged again! This bunch of kids, the manager successfully got of water in time and thereon began trek 2! (:D shrek 2!!) This one had her on ‘economy mode’ for breath by the end of it and Barwala singing ‘over the rainbow!’ but then… har aagaaz ka koi na koi anjaam zaroor hota hai… is agaaz ka anjaam: The sight of a gazillion white birds on the periphery of a rectangular mass of sand in the middle of the ocean! Waves on a trip of their own.. Riding on the waves in the deep blue ocean you peak and you go low.. never falling… always just flowing… is this what ‘equilibrium’ is all about?

Well… after reveling in the glory of the sights and the sounds and doing some pet puja on the goodies of the ‘food bag’ (which was bits n pieces all of them had put together) and a local orange drink they were back in the bus to explore territories unknown! :) They had a train to catch but the hungry souls decided to feast on some yummy ‘usal pav’ at a local chai ki dukaan and then of course… Beer, Pink Floyd and Baba’s girlfriend were company for the evening!

Another day.. another way… Another trek to the center of the earth…?!

Day 3 Destination 2: Karwar

As I write even the pen has gathered sand and I’m cleaning the nib on my already unclean clothes!! Mess and sand had become an inevitable part of the game and as Baba puts it, ‘There was sand in every pore’! They landed at Karwar dog-tired… but then they needed their sutta and mera to kya hi hai! I happily tagged along! 12:30 in the night Baba, Barwala, Washer Woman and Yours Truly ventured out and tried everything from talking in sign language to trying to break in to a shop! :P Managed to make their way to a semi open desi daaru ka dukaan! Lucky break… it’s here that they got directions and an almost fast asleep rick wale bhaiya was rocked from dreamland to take them to suttaland! The mosquito coil hanging from a white thread near the backseat in his rick almost burnt Smriti’s pants and then was dutifully held in her hands to avoid further mishaps! By Barwala’s calculations now, each sutta amounted to Rs 7.5!!!! The victorious warriors trudged back to their rooms to boozeland…! Vodka and kokam! Awwsum combination trust me! After boozeland it was snoozeland! (The situations created are to overwhelming to capture in words.. everytime she thinks of it she breaks into a helpless giggle!!!)

Day 4: Karwar

Lazed around till late afternoon and then was given a 15 minute ultimatum to get ready for lunch! The ultimatum had the washer woman worried about her clothes!! :D Now lunch with so many foodies around was serious business.. and turned out to be a grand feast! On the menu:

Fresh lime soda

Red Red wine! (reminds you of the song right?! :) )

Beer for some

Garlic Butter Squid

Masala Crab

Chilli Prawns

King Fish (roasted par excellence)

Chicken Amrut Special!

Amrut was the name of the place we ate at and the foooooooooooooooooooo…………………………………………..d was superfantabulously amazingly awsumly yummy!! Some of us discovered our affinities and our allergies for the newfound food! The evening found them at the Rabindranath Tagore beach… MITE with his balls (sand ones re!), Smriti with her sand home and she with her so-called sand castle!! Rollicking and playing in the water… and burying the Baba under a mound of sand! The wetness of the wine and the sea beckoned and they willfully answered… Master Fang suddenly decided to stuff her face first with wine which she gluged down her throat rather happily! (that was her prize for finding in the bag the last 3 wines for the 3 thirsty sea monsters!! :D) and then stuffed her face with sand! (nature’s own face scrub she calls it!) :D

Tonight’s poison was an Old Monk Gold! Yes it has been drilled into each and every brain cell by none other than the bottomless pit with the sweet smile that Gold means it’s 12 years old only to be called 20 yrs old by him again later! :P The Barwala was tortured enough by two of the women when while relishing on a glass of his ‘Old Monk Gold’ he was made to listen to the refrains of ‘Bewafa Bar Mein…’ :D The Baba was waiting for the women to try it on him only to torture them in return.. but hey! Smart women! :D

Day 5: Karwar + The Great Outdoors!

The men had started to rant by then that give women a clean room and they never want to come out! The bathroom was just the break that our washer woman needed and then she set out on her mission! Somewhere in the afternoon the ‘women’ (as blamed by the lazybum ‘men’) decided to get moving and all of ‘em found themselves on a boat that took them to the island of ‘The Great Outdoors!’ Yes she said boat and she said Island! :) The boat was a fisherman’s boat… the sea spray hit their faces and the moment of shrieking joy were the ‘dolphins!’ Prancing about with a permanent smile… :) They then reached the isle and it was tents and hammocks galore! It was definitely THE GREAT OUTDOORS! They had their first whim of an uphill, mountain top beach! Laugh away… from the pier to the beach was a very scenic trek, which went uphill and only uphill for quite sometime! :D The beach was a wonderful mix of rocks and sand… Yup they (the women that is!) even went rock climbing! (:P just a huge mass of rock that we clambered over actually!!) The water was floaters heaven! Lie on your back and let the waves take control as you float… blue blue sky… the sun shone on one side and the moon becoming more and more translucent on the other…! Smriti says it best when she says, ‘It’s like the sea just doesn’t get tired of flowing!’ :) After drifting all they wanted with Master Fang and discussing the ‘Art of Tai Chi and Helen doin cabre’ they trekked back to find Baba a piece of ‘Bumboooo’ which he vehemently denied was not ‘Bumbooo..!’ :D With the Bumboo came a discussion on how to create a ‘Marijuana Hukkah!’ They also had a taste of some funny, green berries…! Nope no Marijuana! :P

Her thoughts: ‘Zindagi inhi do chaar lamho ka naam hai jinhe hum yun hi chalte chalte bune jaate hain… unko rango me apni muskan ko siye jaate hain aur unke dard me apne pal chhin ko dhoonde jaate hain…!’

Beach bitten that they were… ek beach se inka kya hota?? They were back at Karwar beach as the sun began to set… But this time she just set out for a walk… The moon blazing her trail with the moonshine not jus lighting up but also leading every footstep with its benign reflection in the wet sands!

Day 6 Destination 1: Karwar + The Devbagh Beach Resort

It had been planned as an early morning… After doing a lot of ‘marham-patti’ to all the wounded soldiers (wounded on rocks at vengurla) and being christened ‘Dr Death’ for her blatant use of the knife on sand filled, almost pussed wounds they set out on their way to Devbagh Island! Yeah baby… another beautiful day, another beautiful island!

The ‘Sand Bike’ as she calls it was their first attraction! Smriti Singh Verma with her sweet smile n rants of ‘please bhaiya please bhaiya’ got her a chance to ride it! :D And the men were seriously contemplating waxing and batting their eyelids with their muskaans for want of ‘the easy way!’ :P Dr. Death was enjoying her moment meanwhile of putting pictures of hot wax and hair being pulled into Barwala’s head which he was desperately trying to fight by giving her images of a dusty, filthy, stinking Barwala! (and now she asks – ‘Isn’t that the way he always is?? :P)

Single-minded purpose in life – ‘Beer!’ The wounded soldiers and she had decided to keep out of the water for the day at least! Beer was their respite! Each unto his own they had become… Master Fang aka MITE went for a walk and got some rocks and shells in myriad colors and shapes… and he let her have them! :) Barwala pulled up his beach chair closer to the water and decided to pen down a few thoughts… a reading of it ended up in a discussion of the times they have written, how and yes even why! She and the Baba sat peacefully on their beach chairs, Beer in hand, under the shade! Their view was a shipwreck on one side, an island with a lighthouse on the other, a sprinkling of isles in between and waves rumbling across to create white sprays! The other four had gone snorkeling! :)

Food began to call… a sumptuous vegetarian meal (:D stop lookin so shocked! The great Barwala remembered it was Ram Navmi… only to forget by dinner time and consume fish!) later complete with rasam and a sweet bread dessert course some walked over back to the beach chairs, some to the water and some to the hammocks…! Guess where she went! :D Bliss is a very tiny emotion to describe her state as she slowly rocked herself on the hammock and went Zzzzz….! She was fast asleep when she was gently rocked awake by the Baba standing by her side… only to doze off again! A few soft conifers from the trees above and around fell like a ‘romantic movie with a happy ending and the credits rolling to a soft song in the background’ on her face and she slowly stirred awake.. (yeah I know you noticed how everything is kinda slomo! :) ). They walked their way to the beach chairs only to discover that Master Fang and his camera had captured their snooze and they didn’t even know! Amazing na?

After relishing in the mysteries of the shells and trying to figure out the stories they had to tell they walked back to catch the last boat to mainland! En route to the pier the Baba acquired the role of the ‘Charvaha’ and she was the so called, ‘Motee Bhains’! The Bhains of course would not stand the charvaha’s nonsense with the sota.. (actually it barely even qualified as a sutiya) Nonetheless she charged at the charvaha… more so with her hidimbic laughter! :D

The boat ride back was calming and serene… in line with the day’s slowmo! They met ‘Annie’ – a naturalist doing her research in marine biology on turtles! And the ‘washer woman’s’ latest calling in life was to be scuba instructor kind of something! She kept finding vague callings… :) !

Day 6 Destination 2: Turtle Bay

The day of laze gave way to an evening of travel… Turtle Bay! (the name in itself elicits such beautiful images na?!) Well… sitting in the doorway of a general dabba and staring out at the vast expanse of fast passing by scenic beauty with a wish to gleefully step down at each river that passed under they reached Bhatkal where a cab with Himesh Reshammiya remixed tunes playing full on was waiting for them! :D The Baba and Barwala resorted to their mp3 players for peace… Baba’s peace eluded him with the ipod showing ‘zero battery’ and ‘laundry woman’ and yours truly doing karaoke in his ears!!! :D We dint last long under the evil glare of the Baba and eventually shut up to stare in awe at the lightning… Women shrieking ‘I saw it! I saw it!’ and the men wither indifferent or drawn to it in their own quiet ways! The following thoughts crept through her head as she looked at the sky above to see a translucent cloud in the shape of a giant hand from behind which the moon was visibly shining through as if something somewhere was guiding their way…

‘There’s a light that shines through all of us.. A spark sometimes.. other times a glow.. A few times it’s even like a lamp-post and you lean on it in its glow… It’s a streak, a dot.. your eyes chase the myriad glints here and there and then when you find your flame… you have fund your peace.. All you can do is to let the glow curve up your lips in a soft smile..’

As the SUV turned into Turtle Bay and sand touched their feet, she dumped her stuff in the dorm and let the sand creep into her pores and the wind prance around with her hair as they went for a long long walk on the beach trying to explore it’s end… only stopping at the point where it turned and stood in mesmerized awestruck silence looking on in reverence at the miracle called ‘Nature’ with the waves lapping at their feet, the moonshine all around and even glistening on rocks placed here and there by ‘Mommy Nature’ herself for you to sit down relax and revel in her glory! :)

The night found them in a dorm with red ants and a flying cockroach! :D

Day 7: Turtle Bay ++..!

Early Early morning and a breakfast of omlettes and ‘JAM’ (the Barwala actually freaks out on something oh so vegetarian with the glint of a 3 year old kid in eyes!) we were racing along to Murudeshwar… The view was a Mecca of sorts with the sea one side and a river serenely gurgling by on the other side of the road..! Miraculous! Their first sight as they entered Murudeshwar was a gigantic idol of ‘Shiv Ji’. Located on a hill top… it was visible from almost 360 degrees! Jus looking at it made you believe in the ‘powers within and without..!’ But Murud was not their destination… thus began an 18 km boat ride into the ocean to ‘Nethrani Island’ for snorkeling… The snorkelers this time were the wounded soldiers, the washer woman again and yours truly! (To think that mommy dearest had said, ‘paani me mat jana’ when she set out for her trip! :D) They were handed over the snorkels after being explained how to breathe in and out of it and a lil practice later they were all sorta ok with the idea of breathing through a plastic pipe rather than the wind pipe! :D A lil sea sickness and discussions of omlettes floating in the ocean later they were cruising around the island with the instructor and the boatman (Jafar bhai) showing them the caves 2/3rds under water and a lot of the endangered ‘white breasted sea eagles’ which have a wingspan of 4-5 ft!!! Their flight was simply breath taking! Jafar bhai also pointed out a bomb-shell stuck in the rocks… It so happens that the Indian Navy uses the island a place for bombing practice despite it being inhabited with endangered species and exquisite marine life surrounding it…

And then it began… Life jackets were secured tightly around them and they slipped into flippers… (yup flippers!! The gear was quite exciting!) and then jumped into the water… feeling their way around a lil and getting comfortable in the new environment the snorkelers slowly started to discover marine life! Excited screams of ‘did you see this?, ‘hey see this..!’, ‘wow!!!!!’ resounded! It was truly a whole world of its own with rocks and corals and clams and green patches of the ocean ground and crackling sounds of lobsters and crabs in the salty waters! Schools of fish that they naughtily kept breaking into, big fish, small fish, yellow fish, blue fish, black fish, brown fish, green fish, parrot fish… all kinds of fish fish fish!!!! A zillion life forms… all with their own habits and quirks… some marking their territory, some feeding, some swimming around in peace and some just resting! Black fish with electric blue lines and white encircled tails, yellow fish with blue lines and pink-purple fins, the nemo kinda fish, schools of yellow fish with blue lines…. It just kinda left you speechless! Thoughts: ‘How the ocean is so healing! It not just gives life and nurses it but also allows for it to be tapped of energy and then serenely heals… it just relaxes your mind, body, heart and soul and brings into them a certain beautiful incomparable symphony…!’

Tip: Sniffing on orange peels is good for sea sickness! :D And they reached back to the shore spent and sunburnt but rejuvenated nonetheless! They slept like babies on the drive back!

The evening found them all fresh and light… The last walk on the beach…! (yes the next day’s sunrise would find them packing their bags to leave..) Here’s what she saw…

‘The li’l brown white bird was afraid of the waves.. They would approach and he would approach and he would run.. The waves were persistent.. They touched his tiny webbed feet and he was curious.. He maybe liked the feeling.. He began to explore and was slowly more accepting of the wetness.. Even tasted it..! Having overcome his latent anxiety he waited for the waves to come at him again and this time.. he ran toward them.. embracing and exploring! And there he was now.. racing with the waves and flying!’

Afterthought: Haven’t most of us felt jus like the li’l brown birdie at some point in our lives? I know I have… I know of someone else too… :)

The night was lit in the cool moonshine and the warm campfire! Baba’s guitar creating waves of her own and the waves playing up their symphony… Beer and playful chatter! And slowly… one by one.. they drifted off to their dreamlands dozing off to the sounds of the waves…!

Thoughts that wandered in her li’l head while looking at the campfire… “And so she burns.. her tiny flame finding way through the smoke clouds… burning blasphemously only to turn to ashes.. but… to be resurrected or buried under the ocean sands?”

Day 8: Back Tracking… 1444 kms!

They were up before sunrise… pittering and pattering with their stuff and getting ready to head back to where they came from… (to maybe our states of mind… or to new niches we created… to the physical confines of IM-NU for a last few days… or just to the city we all call Ahmedabad…)

All of them were quiet… some meditating, some wandering in their hearts and heads, some weighing their options… and some jus plain hungover..! But all with a faraway glaze in their eyes… And then the sun began to rise like a mass of coagulated volcanic matter from behind the crater like hills as they drove through the twisted terrain!

A lull seemed to prevail… every step was slow.. the bags seemed heavier (or were they really with the shells, stones and wet clothes?! :) ).. deliberate movements… a ring on a faraway bicycle seemed to crackle the atmosphere… if only for a few seconds… and they waited for their train under the lil shack like structure on the platform!

All loaded… the train began to chug out and she found her place at the door of S9 and made herself comfortable for the day… sometimes with the Baba.. sometimes looking on in solitary silence… she just looked on and on…

A river down under as usual made her smile… fishermen on boats waved up to her and she smiled and waved back! Rivers meandering endlessly… through hills along the track… One even found it’s way to the sea as she looked on speechless! Huts and homes… palms and groves… mountains on fire? Nay.. jus smokey for the fields being rejuvenated underneath!

Tunnels and tunnels… cool dark respite away from the harsh afternoon sun… and a particularly sparkling sight of the darkness of the tunnel giving way to the shimmer of a waterfall as the train chugged out… (Total count of tunnels: 94!!)

< The confused evening sun slowly began to set behind the hills only to pop out again as the train turned on it’s track… It’s happy childlike flaming orange reflection in the river traveling by slowly turning serene and it sets behind a dark faraway hill leaving behind a warm tinted sky and the water glistening in it’s afterglow!

The night gave way to meandering tracks as well… from her middle bogie the sight of both the front and tail ends of the train curving up like a crescent embracing the evening star were quite a sight! A brilliant curve where the engine and the end are both indicating safety to each other with a green light and she’s letting the wind play havoc with her hair as a smile creeps onto her face and the twinkle of the star is reflected in her eyes too…

And that ladies and gentlemen was ‘The Big Trip!’ A huge bundle of thanx to madhukar for suggesting the most amazing places to us and Three Cheers for our Manager! You rock!! :)

And cheers to all of us! to life! May such beautiful moments keep happening time and again and the bomds that have been created live on in our hearts forever! :)

And the song in her head since the time they’ve come back:

(yeah yeah… smile on all of you! I can see a very victorious glint in Barwala’s eyes! :D)

somewhere-over-the...

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Dreams really do come true
Someday I'll wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me

Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops thats where you'll find me oh
Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly
And the dream that you dare to,why, oh why can't I?

Well I see trees of green and
Red roses too,
I'll watch them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Well I see skies of blue and I see clouds of white
And the brightness of day
I like the dark and I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people passing by
I see friends shaking hands
Saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying, I...I love you
I hear babies cry and I watch them grow,
They'll learn much more
Than we'll know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Someday I'll wish upon a star,
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney top that's where you'll find me
Oh, Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I?

Baroda-Bhopal-Baroda!

:D yeah yeah.. like Kota says...'You have wheels on ur feet... rather you have wheels only instead of feet!' ~giggles!

En route from Baroda to Bhopal (a scribble in diary being copy pasted as such!):

The train and her auto reach together at the platform and Dad's the one who's actually tense even though he's been tellin her to relax every 5 mins that he calls her to ask, 'pahunchi ki nahi? relax relax!' :D Settled in.. inot her corner with her book n pod.. she calls up Mom! mom's constant refrain these days is, 'Ur an MBA! I'm old now!!!!' She's lying... Mom's the one Mom who could never get old! She sometimes has to remind Ma, 'Hey Bhagwan!! Aaap Ma ho!' :D The situation is so crazy that Mom keeps wishing urs truly wears mini nskirts, and urs truly keeps dodging her about it! Size to theek thaak hone ka maangta na! Theek hia, I'm in shape and round is a shape but that's like not the right shape for such sexy clothes!!! :P

Well... call's over and she's enjoying her moment... when she suddenly realizes she's all blue.. (kurta, jeans, earrings, clutcher and even the chappals! and - don't scream.. even the diary she's writing in!!) but her aura happens to be a soft lavender! And the pen happens to be purple too! (call it a coincidence of sorts if you will...!) :)

Well... a few hours into the journey and Dear Darling Di calls up just when she's eneters the loo! Sone pe suahaga:
YT (yours truly): Hiiiii!
Di: Kya kar rahi hai??!!!
YT (mann hi mann!): kya javaab de koi ab??!!!!!!! :P

Well... as is usual... the world around her started their usual rant of 'Madam light off kar dengi aap please!' (somehow she's always travelling with oldies!!! some twist of fate! serisously!!) So she switches off the lights.. walks to the door.. opens and and lets the breeze play with her hair while she listens to a friend strumming the guitar on her pod! :)

Adventures with Mommy:

Tea, Papdi chaat, Ma aur beti!!! :D Kisse kahani's of college... Pics from Dad's China trip (bahut ghoomte hain ye bhi - so its kinda hereditary Kota!! :D) and plans for the convo! :)

You know how she welcomed me home? An amazing bunch of white gladiolous and pink carnations!!! And a card that says:

'Welcome home My MBA
Little prayers for special things
fly heavenward on little wings...
And there is not one thought or word,
that goes unanswered or unheard.
As you step into your home,
may you realize this fact in every way,
that our prayers and blessings were with you,
each and every moment when you were away!
You were Really Missed!'

I jus hugged her so tight! :)

A special evening with Mom - went to the handicraft mela... and sat down to listen to the ghazals... both of 'em were softly humming the tunes... Luv ya Ma! We need to do this more often!

The night! This is crazy! And i swear, 'Meri koi galti nahi hai for the way i am! It's all in my genes!!!' Ma's starting this new venture of hers for which we needed to distribute pamphlets... the local newspaper wala was given a tonne of those and the regular stuff was done.. but khuraafaat kiye bina hum thode hi maanenge!! Mother and daughter in their most silent pair of skippers with a load of pamphlets in their hands at 11:30 in the night go for a walk in their colony and 2 meighbouring ones... putting pamphlets silently in every house!!! Koi dekh le to conveneintly walk straight and the expression, 'humne kahan kuch kiya?!!' :D giggling, laughing, whispering!!! They covered 300 houses that night in an hour! Efficient for amateurs on foot right?!! :D Haalat ye this ki apne ghar pahunch ke bhi whispering!
YT: 'Hamar hi ghar hai..!
Ma: 'Arrey haan!'
(major outburst of laughter!!!!!!)

En route from Bhopal to Baroda:

It's a crazy kind of feeling in her head... a purple grey aura.. (she doesn't like grey.. it makes her numb! it's thankfully softly been blown away... :) ) And thence, she's sitting there with a funny grin on her face, the world around her could shatter and she'd say, 'Yeah baby! bring it on!'

Travelling 2nd AC! Don't start wowing! 3rd AC is heaven! This is overpriced and what you get are rats and cockroaches as bedfellows!! And to keep you company are some dity curtains and as is usual with me... old uncles snoring away to glory! My poison: Mom's parathas, a rumball and some mountain dew! And of course the doorway and music! :)

A messgae: From Shekhar aka Nirma Mommy!! He's gettin a tattoo! (permanent)!! on his arm of course!! :D it's the Third Eye! Loads o lectures from me to him.. (role reversal... ;-) ) He sent me a pic of it n now i call him, 'Macho Mommmmyyy!' :D In between... a chit chat with Kota.. debbie's refrain the background and CT, the crush of my life giving me my biggest heart attack! He sez he'll hang up his shoes and leave basketball 3rd April! I literally had tears in my eyes! The sweetheart that he is, said 'achcha theek hai.. i'll try it for another month!' (She: Temporarily pacified!)

Thoughts: Past and Future!
'Rememebrance is the only paradise from which you cannot be driven away!' and 'Don't be afraid to dream for out of these fragile things come Miracles!' :)

___________________________________________________________________
Parallel Thoughts:

Steam Engines: She has no idea how this wandered into her head! She travelled in it once and all she remebers of it is a a lot of coal in her hair and everything had a blackish tint!!! :D The next thing that comes to mind is the story of the engine that looked at this big hill and chugged, 'I think I can, i think I can' and then after havin crossed it merrily sang, 'I thought i could!' :) A li'l faith can work Miracles right?!

Next thought: The evolution of man as is illustrated here....


Finally: the kid in the next berth! Her eyes actually... innocent, wandering, curious.... wanting to explore but somehow.. restricted! (That's a heavy statement I know.. it could well launch us into a discourse of the what's n hows of society etc.. !) Phew!

Stay happy and stay sweet! For the next week or 10 days! Yup, thoughts of a trip with buddies happily float in my head right now! :) cya!

The art of clumsy!!!

Hadh paar ho chuki hai! The day started with her fumbling out of bed, tousled hair, slept on her arm, crazy feelin in the head kinda moment! THAT was supposed to be a 'good morning!' with Dad having placed the tea just on the edge of the bed rest... precarious.. more so in my state!!

The day progressed crazily enough! Before leaving Dad casually says 'Packing kar lena!' and she gives him the most lost look that she can probabaly ever manage... He figures she's out of sorts and says, 'Ur gng tonite remember?!' Of course she didn't remember! How could she? She was told 18th!! And somehow even in that pathetic state of hers she just knew twas not the 18th today! Then he comes out with it....'Arrey! Mom dint tell u? I'm busy tonite... so u go tonite to Mom! kya karegi akeli na?! Packin kar lena... will send u the rick at 8:15' She was fuming on the insides... she'd planned a special dinner for him.. she was disappointed! But she couldn't really do anythin... she jus hugged him n said, 'have a good day!'

And she made her way to the washing machine... kept tryin to switch it on somehow... when 'thankfully!!!' she remembered that it doesn't come on till the bulb is switched on! (talk about maddening devices!!) 3 rounds of the machine... and it's still running!! :D Hostel se aaya hua bachcha na! :D That wasn't the end of it though.. the machine thing decided to develop a life of its own and is literallly dancing on the floor with every spin it does! She's given up... she needs to get those closed washed.. dance or not!

Breakfast time... cold coffee fiasco! Don't even ask about this one! Coffee going waste always depresses her!! She did manage to make an omlette with cheese layers and green tea though! (expect it by now: zyada strong chai!! over$^%&$brewed!!)

Next up... open fridge and egg splats to the floor! For no fault of hers... It's currently covered with flour for want of a messy but easy clean up!! I shall eventually get around to that!!

No.. it doesn't end there... she burnt her forehead!! Question: How on earth can someone do that?? Well simple: with a hair straightner that you decide to use without going through the instruction booklet! Result: a mini line shaped blister on her forehead!!

Yes there is more - the head bath and the BURNING hot water coming out of a tap set on 'oh so cold!!!!' Minor implied detail: water heats up in the sun n dopahar ko nahayegi to kya hi hoga!! 'Par itna kitna garam?????'

You are expectin a lastly by now right?? Dream on! The zip of the strolley she was packin her stuff in has malfunctioned! (thankfully this one was repairable by just a wax rub!! Phew!)

N now lastly: (This is royal!) A microwave that started sending out smoke fumes while chicken biryani was on a reheat! The plug's gone! She hopes its nothing more! daddy dearest is trying hard to be sweet about it.. "Don't worry doll.. it was on its way out anyway!!"

Any comments??

Ans she left too.... :(

She's kind of foxed right now as to what to write... words aren't flowing really... there's a bulbous something in her head and she's been writing stuff and hitting backspace... She's rambling right now for want of converting that crazy amoeba like form and making it flow through her fingers as the words of her soul...

Her heart wrenched as she walked up the stairs one last time to get her luggage down... something tugged at her heartstrings when she when the BAAP left... it was as if a one of the permamnent fixtures of her life went away... no more 'aoe anyone' or 'fifa anyone' or 'join cs'...... then Pinchester went... it almost freaked her out when they hugged! Then people kept leaving... she jus kinda closed up into herself... and finally managed to drag Baba for lunch to Rajhasthan (apna wala dhaba!) Crazy as she was feelin... i guess people could sense it! Even Dada... he actually went up, changed into the shirt she'd got for him and then modelled it around happily! (he does say he wore it after having a bath!) :D

Her last words.. 'Kota cut ur nails!' and all of em started laughing! :) Anant on his own said, 'kar lunga shave!' :D and just as she hit sexy Sam in the paunch he almost apologetically said, 'Convo tak I'll definitly loose some of it..!' :) Mommy dearest n adopted son were there to bid her farewell... she was sent off like a 'dulhan ki doli' - her son and Baba were pushin the auto!

Her last view... a beautiful sunset and a flock of birds returning home looking back intermittently..


Profound words uttered by Rathore Saab as quoted by Baba:
"this is the end.... my beautiful friend... the end.
and though its a new beginning... this is the end.

let us rejoice these tears... because no matter how hard life will hit us in times to come... when we look back at these memories... all we'll find is not a sorrow of missing those times... but a resilience to hit back at now :)"

These words say it all... she was quiet for a long moment after that!

Wantonly....

"zindagi mehfuz si to nahi... ek kagaar si pe khadi hai...
ummedon ka badal to hai... aur yaadon ka ek khushnaseeb saya!"
- Aneesha

hmmm.... i knw.. kinda heavy! she's been eating extra since morning and thats like the first sign that she's upset! She need rite now some puchka's (aka golgappe) and a dark chcocolate melt in ur mouth kind of pastry! Her eyes are glistening... so many ppl went today... her roomie, very dear friends, nity...

She just spent her whole day at the 'benches' and on the grass.... cherishing the moments and the conversations.. from oh so frivolous to heart wrenching!

but u knw when she felt it most? When bade bhaiya was leaving....! It freaked her out on the insides... and when they hugged it tugged at her heart to see him go!

but then... in the end... 'every place.. every moment... everything in its own time!' (that line i came up with while chatting with a friend and it kinda rang so true... haina?)

n yes i am going to have the puchkas!! :D

Me and The Class of 2007, IMNU

A whole era kind of like draws to a close... (she feels like writing this post the 'I' way... ya ya go ahead.. heave a sigh of relief!! :D)

Well... Just got over with the last term's end term examination... and MBA is over! The song on her pod.. 'Roobaroo... Dil Chahta Hai.'

"aye saala
abhi abhi huaa yakeen
ki aag hai mujh mein kahi
hui subaah main chal gaya
suraj ko main nigal gaya
roobaroo roshni

jo gumshuda-sa khwaab tha
voh mil gaya
voh khil gaya
woh loha tha pighal gaya
kichhaa kichhaa machal gaya
sitaar mein badal gaya
roobaroo roshni

dhuaan chhataa khula gagan mera
nayi dagar naya safar mera
jo ban sake tu hamsafar mera
nazar mila zara

aandhiyon se jaghad rahi hai lau meri
ab mashaalon si bhad rahi hai lau meri
naamo nishaan
rahe na rahe
ye kaaravaan
rahe na rahe
ujaale main pi gaya
roshan hua ji gaya
kyon sehte rahe
roobaroo roshni

dhuaan chhataa khula gagan mera
nayi dagar naya safar mera
jo ban sake tu hamsafar mera
nazar mila zara
roobaroo roshni aye saala!"

The lyrics are here coz the words actually hold significance today... :-)

This blog started while I have been in Nirma... loving every bit of being here and loving every bit of writing my days... This post will have quite a few references to previous posts... don't be lazy.. click away!!! :)

I remember that day in the basketball field before registration day... It was just that then it was, 'a basketball court'! Today it is a mass of memories.. (yes of that day too.. :)) Sitting in a circle... trying hard to break the ice with each other... trying to figure out the kind of people we'll be spending our days with... nervous anticipation?! Today.. shouts, screams, sounds of the basketball and CT! That's like an automatic association! When any dyNIMite thinks of basketball.. CT is an automatic, the man, the champ! Of course.. follows like this vivid image of the whole team in red 'sports shorts!!!' I clearly recall that match with the IIM guys... sabki 'fati padi thi' looking at the size of their players and the girls instead of cheering the home team were swooning over the guys!! :D And then, hamara apna CT - mid match takes control of the ball... and starts barking out startegy and order... everybody stands glued to their spots before they realize again, 'hey! ye kya tha??!!!' Lots of matches and injuries have happened on that court... It's a court I've often looked onto from the ledge of her balcony at night and am still kinda mesmerized... (jabse we've been caged it's kinda safe to sit on the ledge and the world keeps thinkin she's tryin to commit suicide! Chillax re!! N try it.. it's an amazing place to be.. elevated and removed from the world!) Here's the caged reference: Jailbirds (CT - u've been like this pillar I have off loaded on whenever... u've always found the time to listen... and your 'bol na...' has always made it easy.. Thanx buddy!)

My next thought is of NCL.. Nirma Champions League! She won a silver medal and a bronze medal! Haan kaafi log behosh hoke gir gaye the when she won the silver for the 100 m flat race!! Motee jeet gayi race!!! :D NCL was where we all bonded... The dirt, the chants, the spirit, the games.... all exhilirating! NCL brings to mind Anant... An awsum buddy! Everybody should have a friend like this vishalkaya praani! Jhonny to the boys and scary to the girls! :D He's actually 'anant.. - no end!' Apni dhun me chale hain... for the luv of food! I think that's how we bonded...! Apart from the fact that for the first few days our roll numbers demanded we sit together and I would invariably sleep through EVERY damn lecture!!! The expression on his face: 'Kuch to sharam kar le yaar!!!!' Her reaction, 'Ab neend aa rahi hai to kya karoon???' :D We've always been there for each other when either of us has wanted to talk and he totally luvs the back massages he gets from yours truly...! It was kinda cute when he told me about Pavan... yes, the woman of his dreams... :-) And since that day they've been this totally cute couple! Kudos to 'em... N Pavan's title of 'Mrs Golden Boot' had Anant properly blushing! :D (I'll get kicked for writing all this!!!) talking of titles, yours truly got called, 'Iron Lady!' Yeah yeah.. go ahead, smirk all you want!!

Ab class aur neend tak pahunch hi gaye hain to the other guy who used to sit beside her was Anubhav...'apne Chachaa!' The quietest, decentest guy types feeling you'd get when you r around him... well lets just say, some people take time to flower! He used to hate playin tic-tac-toe with me 'coz even a terrible player like me would win from him! Dada aur meri conversations k beech me kaafi fas type k jaate the chachaa... Dada!!! Ah! The first thing that comes to mind is, 'Hungry India! Poor India!' And the next one is 'this conversation' (click the link) that I had with him one day... He's been this amazing person I've just rambled up to and we've had some of the most amazing converastions from life to girls to guys to relationships to jus conjusring up visions of food! I will always remeber that totally on the spur of moment kinda trip till Gota to buy oranges and grapes.. kyn? Kynki dhoop me baith k khaane the!! :D Vo alag baat hai ki as Dada saw the cricket team comin his only reaction was, 'arrey chhupa lo yaar! ye log sab kuch kha jayega!' :DD Dada you still owe me a chocolate!! :) n whenever life gives me the chance I will most certainly ramble up to you and eat your head!!

Dada se yaad aata hai 78 mm... 78mm k teen log - Baba and Bhasin and Barwala (all B's)! Bhasin calls Baba n me 'nark (bole to hell) k farishtey!' N Baba calls him 'biiiiiii......tch!' Bhasin saab hain hamare wounded soldier... stylebhai true n complete, curly hair, thin frame, gora chitta dilli da munda! :D Bechare ne mujhse bahut maar khaayi hai! But he's a sweetheart all the same... hamesha dhamkaata hai 'ek din na maar dunga tujhe' Mera reaction, 'maar le!' Janaab ka khauf, 'arrey nahi yaar.. !' :D

Baba - Friend, philosopher, guide! He's the one person who can figure out the abstractedness of my head... Try calling him sweet and all hell shall break loose upon you... But I somehow manage to get away with it! (not everytime though! :D) Hidimbaa is what I was named for my 'rakshasi hansi' and Motee to khair main hoon hi! The walks on this campus that I've taken with him sometimes in complete silence, sometimes talking his head off and bugging him completely I will always cherish! And then again, the love of food applies here too! :D Here are some earlier ramblings... click here and then here!

Barwala! Talk of couch potatoes and he's Mr Potatohead!! I will not say more excpet for pointing out that I have no idea how he got the inclination to get dressed in formals on our last formal Monday... but the slippers say it all! :D

Baba n Barwala se yaad aata hai MITE and the Rock idols concert we attended (karo is link ko click!)! MITE aur uski daadhi, MITE and his kine, MITE and his folded jeans, MITE and his ajeeb si but bahut hi sweet si chaal and MITE and me forever goin, 'I totally luv the shirt ur wearin' everyday!!!!! :D All i will say about this guy is, 'He' got a heart of gold!' and that's a rare find! :) (whoppee! lucky me!)

Then of course there's the rest of 78mm... Jagrit, Rao, Rathore and Uncle! Jagrit (or Mundu as I call him) was sadly caught one day by yours truly walking with a sweet lil girl holding her frilly, lavender colored umbrella! I haven't let him live it down since then!! Rathore - ek hi shabd: "Charsi!" :D Aur fir hamare pyare Uncle! a 30 year old guy... (haan uncle bhi ladkibaazi karte hain) philosophy aur accents k alava koi kaam na hai inhe!! Struggler as he likes to call himself... But will always remain Uncle to me! :)

Ab yahan se hamari kahani jaati hai TP ki aur n TP queen ka naam na aaye aisa ho nahi sakta! She's just started readin this blog and I love her for lovin it!! :))) We've had our highs and lows and we've bonded slowly over time... All parties she's worn my clothes! (n i've loved every bit of givin em to her! ) and i've been the earring supplier for both her n Nity! This angel positively glows in the presence of her 'Knight in shining armour' and is fun to be with! (The rest of our memories are girls hostel classified!! :D) Nity aka Neetika - 'fairy Godma!' aur koi naam ho hi nahi sakta! saari duniya ka bokh apne kandhe pe liye ghoomti hai... We bonded properly properly when madam had her fracture... I can never forget balancing her and makin her walk a lile everyday.. sitiing down together for chai n gappe! :-) The bond we share.. when I think about it... I can only smile coz seriously my heart lights up! I can walk up to her any time any moment and we can talk of anythin! She blames me for her mutapa... technically Ma ki galti hai! the nariyal k laddoo and the cakes!!! Check this out!!

The three of us had this most amazing time in Abu... yup just 3 girls!!! (The details are here) Girl bonding!! :) Neetika is getting engaged on the 25th of this month... (yes to that one guy who she can't even dream of livin without and who keeps thinking she'll run away!!) :D Congrats darling!! And as I write this the sun shines brightly on me... Even the skies are happy!

Nity (Neetika), Mannu (Manvika), Paanchat (Ruchi), Cherry (Jyotika), Ma (Sneha) and Ani (Meee!)! The padhai ki toli! We would start our song of books and padhai a week before the exams and the whole hostel was first shushed by us, 'dheere bolo! we r studyn ya!' and then rocked by our combined laughter over some pathetic joke!! :D That's us!! Mar mar k kuch karke padhai kar hi lete the.... masti khori bhi itni ki u can't even imagine! Cherry the hitler had the job of colecting us all together and making us study and yours truly holds the record of teaching them a chapter from sales and distribution in 4 n half minutes flat!! :D Khaana, peena, ladna, marna, hasna padhan! We've dun it all!!! (eventually we let up studyin a week before and started jus a day before and then a night before! and then it grew more and more difficult 'coz of the perpetual gales of laughter! (Here's on of the best days I had with Paanchat and Nity!)

Ruchi - She's the one who's been carried around by me (against her wishes) maximum number of times!! Kabhi gol gol ghumaya bhi hai! The others who have been victims are Pavan, Smriti, DDT, Bipasha and Cherry! Movie buff and and always there to listen... and to hug inspite of the fear of getting crushed in my bear hug! :) Princess Sensitivus! Luv ya stupid... keep smilin hamesha (its a very cute smile)!!!

Pavan Smriti and DDT - or Charlies Angels!! :) They stay diagonal to my room... and have all been beaten up or glared at for saying sorry and thank you! My fondest memory of them is the lizardventure! (yes click again!) And of course... they are part of my foodie message list! Now ur wonderin what that is?? All the people who come down when yours truly comes back from home with a cake to pakka and the other goodies that Mommy dearest packs in!!

Mommy se yaad aayi mujhe meri nirma ki Mommyyyyy!! Shekhar Ruparelia! :D (I know i will get kicked for this... i just know it) But he's serisouly got this comforting motherly aura about him and whenever I come from home and go to the Mess... my only cry is 'Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyy' and he is somehow always around to hear it!!! :D You what comes to mind when Shekhar comes to mind?? Now you'll say Shekhar! Ha ha very funny!! Bournvita Quiz Contests title track - 'Books books booka, ba ba loba la, books books books.... the questions come, they chase each other, its the one place where my search can end....' :) Inspite of his frame he managed to strangle me.... n the pic is proof enuff! Buddy... you are the kind of friedn I know I can call up at 3 in the morning even after work starts and you will listen to me... :) N as usual all i've got to say is this... >---------:)---------< href="http://naughtyspark.blogspot.com/2007/03/mini-n-ani.html"> [yes tht's a whole post dedicated to her] and then here) has always troubled him and teased him with words like, 'meri roomie ne mujhe chocolate di... abhi hum chocolate sticks kha rahe hain... nariyal k ladoo... barfi.... etc etc!' and his cries have always been, 'seekh kuch shekhar! seekh!!!' :DD

Well yahan se hum chalte hain to Debbie.... he's the one person who had it in him give me a true opinion of my painting!! I love his sarcasm and hate him for it!! :D The comment is here...

Ab boys hostel ka safar - the first mention will obviously be Baap! Neeraj aka Baap! Inka jeevan - Gameso devaya namah!! :D Fooooodie!!!!! (yeah yeah yeah - bol lo ab, 'kitna khaati hai!!!') Awwsum buddy and another creature with a goldened heart! (call me lucky if u will) Major movie buff... I can never ever forget the image of him, Dhaval and paanchat on his antiquated scooter, bina headlight ka - going to RWorld andhere me!!!!! :DDD Toatlly sweeeet!

Next up: Dalal! Baap ka ex-roomie!! (oops.. forgot to tell ya about Baap's sleepiness.... khelna, khana aur sona hai iski lifecycle.. kabhi kabhi galti se aankhen malta malta class bhi pahunch jaata hai! :D) Aaaj kal naya naam - Ganja! Kaafi sehensheel hai! Mujhe jhel leta hai!!! His long nails can rival any girls! Inka title hona chahiye, 'Dedicated Boyfriend' He's so sweetly in luv.. it's amazing!

Luv se yaad aate hain hamare Bade Bhaiya! Inki ada hi narali hai! Typical metrosexual male... a atyle and class all his own.. calls me Chhoti and I totally luv it! :) Luv se kyn yaad aaye? His long conversations with his Princess are known to all! IT champ as many call him - he's another gem of a person!!

Inke bina ye post adhoora hai (haan haan I know it's quite long already!) :D RDX as they call him... Kaaaal as he is better known! Sweet in his own wierd ways! Doston ka dost! (n now guess why im smilin) and dushmano ki to khair nahi!!! :))) Somehow yahan se mujhe Kota yaad aata hai! (Raj will kill me for this... n now Kota for this! :D) Like I was saying to Kota just today... he needs this babe of a wife who'll keep him straight all his life!! (umm... pun not intended! gayi main aaj to!!) You got it - that's Kota n me!! Bahut taang kheenchi hai maine iski!! :D

Aur fir Vaidi! He used to hate us callling him by that name but eventually got used to it! :) He's like the Grandpa variety.. caring and lecturing!! :D Isko mujhse bhi kaafi lectures pade hain!! aur maar bhi!!!!!!!!!! :D He's happily in luv... God bless em both! We've had sum fun times together! Nity me n him! The Euphoria concert, upper crust, the wild kinetic rides! All of it! I can never forget... Vaidi on his bike n Nity n me on the kine.. suddenly Nity looks at the watch n says abhi to 10 hi baja hai!!! Fir kya tha... yours truly suddenly changed course at Thaltej chaukdi. 1 road goes staright on to college and 1 turns in to the city - guess which one we took??!! :D

N how can I ever forget Sexy Sam!! (lots of GH classified stuff on him!) :D But now sexy sam with a paunch that sticks out under his t-shrts!!! Sexy nonethless as some would say! :D

Mai apne bete ko kaise bhool sakti hoon??? Kaandu! Mera adopted beta! TCS ka interview.. ghabraya hus ek bachcha aur ek naari neeli sari me bachche ko saantvana deti hui! Thus started the mother-son relationship! I've taken his case for the innumerable sutas he smokes every living day... ! :))

Placements! Aaah! The days of our lives!! the days that made us, broke us, brought us together!!! (Click here - Placements beyond! ab kar bhi lo click!) These are those days that are so clearly pasted in all our minds!!!! Cheers to the Class of 2007!

Coming back to the girls hostel - the Girls dance parties are quite a hit! And Damini rocks!! From that first image of a snooty 3 pointer... she's now a dear friend! Extremes me masti - bole to Damini! That one session of Dumb charades and taboo (at which Bipasha rocks!! :D I still remember the day you did my tarot lady... n yes.. most of it has come true!) is quite a memory too! (Click here for a brief account! :D) Hamari benches! Many a moment has been happily spent sitting there gappoing... doin assignments et al!

Assignments bring to mind the lectures - it took me a whole term to learn not to sleep in class! I still plonk off a lot of times though! (sheepish grin!) :D PK Yadav and Aneesha Gulati and the look of the year contest! I was nodding my head, pretending that mujhe to sab samajh aa raha hai! Reality: She was fast asleep and had no idea of what's goin out! the prof had that figured out and that's why she was looking at him with a zombified expression that said, 'me??? you talkin to me??!!' The whole class roared!!! :D

Class, batch, Black Day!!! A fight for our freedom of speech! 'They' were trying to ban cellphones on campus!!!!! :) We fought, stood by each other and won! (the thought kinda still brings goosebumps!) Point to ponder: Is it a coincidence that our sweatshirts are black too???

The pups on campus, the dogs too! Someone asked her, 'ye kutte girls hostel k saamne hi kyn rehte hain?' Somewone answered o n their own, 'haam vaise... yahan khana milta hai! pyar milta hai! vahan to laat hi padegi!' Many a girl has crossed the doorstep of the girls hostel only to go back in to wash her hands... Those darlings are way too cute to avoid pamperin em! :) (and ya.. i still dream of a drak grey apso called "Corny" with the pinkest of paws! My roomie's promised to gift him to me!!! :))) )

Some of her other moments that this blog has captured:
Bliss!
Just us! (a totally unforgettable moment!)
My Bithday! :)

and then more memories of new year clebrations, bonfires and holi! (Brilliant rollercoaster ride!) Can't capture the moments of making maggi... ubalaoin doodh and forgetting all about it only to be screamin aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa till it falls! Of sittin on the stairs and sharing our lives.... of the long long nights which lasted till twilight! Of Nike and his camera and the many beautiful images... of the IP wars and of the tapri mixture and chai! Of the cry of food at somewhere around 10 in the night when the mess closes only to find ourselves at Rajhasthan! Of the midnight feats, of the mathri and achaar! Of... of... of... EVERYTHING!!!!

Myriad memories of the many moments with a batch of 123! (who came to inhabit the vast green lanes and grey buldings of the Institute of Management, nirma University through a CAT that had 123 questions!) (Credit: Ananat for remembering)

These are the lives that really touched her in these two years... that's not to say others did'nt! She was just kinda more close to them! She's loved every moment she's spent with everyone!! Serious!! :)) (ya I know it's rare!) And this all she has to say, 'Don't be afraid to dream for out of these fragile things come Miracles!' :)

Well, here's to the survival guide we all call an MBA! Cheers people! You all rock! You've made a difference to me in your own special ways... Thanx guys! (Don't hit me na please!)

"Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.
It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.
It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life."
- Green Day!

Serenity..!

An upsurge...

A finality...

Tears you would suggest... a smile she says...

Ashes for the phoenix never to be resurrected again... ashes drained with water....

An illustration:
Yes... serenity!

__________________________________________________________________
My camera has a habit of showing the wrong date... the pic was taken a week ago....!

Mini n Ani!

The song in her head: Aicha by Outlandish...

The words she totally loves:
'She moves, she moves like a breeze
I swear I can't get her out of my dreams
To have her shining here by my side
I'd sacrifice all them tears in my eyes'

(by the way.... aicha means 'life' Credit:roomie!)

Her vision:
'Crimson lights
and starry nights'

Her heart: Dancing! She knows now that she needs to eat lunch coz thats the way she's happiest!! Serisous!!! The last 10 days or so (maybe even more) she's been living on just dinner... Mom n everybody around her tell her, 'Mausam ka asar..! Chill!' She chillaxed! But her roomie went into overdrive and finally dragged her out to this most amazing lunch of salads, soup, garlic bread and choclate brownies! :) She ate... as she ate she got hungrier and ate more... she's still so stuffed that she can't think of dinner but the grin on her face is unwipable!!! :D For at least half hour after the meal she was completely high! how high! Oh my! (yeah.... still kinda tipsy - in a dry state on woman's day in a vegetarian restaurant and her expression is sheer bliss!) Credit yahan bhi - roomie! Totally loved the expression on her face when she looked at me in that happy state after stuffing my tummy and said, 'mera aaj ka din safal ho gaya!' :-)

Her roomie: Has been pampering her lately! We've been playing balloons and gappoig till late in the night with a song or two in a loop on her laptop...! Late night trips to the coke man! (The pantry guy) The poor fella has been wondering wats wrong with these two females... at 3 in the morning they want coke!!!!!!! :D Such are the beautiful moments of hostel life! The birthday streamers still hang from her fan..... We went out the other day and had this most amazing time... I coxed her into getting a manicure done and now she's looking amazing! Since then she's taken on the onus of making yours truly look nice... Every evening that she has to go out, a skirt gets pulled out from her wardrobe and she's made to look nice... so much so that heads have turned and she's been called, 'Glamorous!' (thanx Bips! :) ) All Credit: dear darling roomie!

Ah yes... that trip to the dentist! Dear Darling roomie had a toothache and was dragged to the dentist... pehle to drama, 'nahi mai theek hoon...!' (that was dentist fear getting the better of the toothache!) Uske baad... 'Maar dala... Maar dala...!' Dentist k haath ko hi maar diya.. ek baar nahi kai baar! Yours truly was then standing there olding her hands in olace while the dentist decided to set the tooth right! Bechare Dr. Zinzuwadia! (yup... that's his name!! :-D)

Talking of roomies - this one's a darling! All of us here know her as 'Mini'. Even her birthday cake carries that name.. for want of space!! :) Footloose and Fancyfree! Those are the words made for her! 'Laptop Jeevanai Namah!' 'Cellphone Liflineai Namah!' :-D She can chat non stop for hours on end! (and all of you think i talk a lot!! Haan beta... wait till u meet her!!! ) Maggi bin jeena nahi... sona hamesha ulte time pe!!! But she's amazing... she'll instinctively know that something's wrong with me.. More than that she'll know when I wanna talk n when I wanna hibernate! (Now isn't that amazing!) Meri harkato se kaafi pareshan rehti hai aur is post pe to pata nahi kya hi reaction hoga! (I luv ya princess!)

Their room: Rock you like a hurricane baby! My days of keeping the room clean are over... and hers never ever started! (That rare day when it got clean... I would need dark glasses to keep out the glare of cleanliness) The result - The room has become a hungry monster of sorts.. its eaten God Knows how many clutchers, pens, pencils, t-shirts even and slippers as well! The theory of 'what tiny thing falls to the floor ahll be gobbled up by it forever' has been modified to 'whatever enters this room shall mysteriously disappear!' (till hopefully i start packin up!)

Packin up - yeah! MBA draws to a close... the last exams of her life begin saturday and end tuesday! But lets not get into that just yet! :)

Lat few days Resoultion: Sleep early, morning walk and breakfast! It dint even last 7 seconds!!! :D That's them together!

On her pod right now: Punjabi gaane!!! :)

Happy Women's Day!

Well... Good Morning! Yeah morning at 1 in the afternoon... she's just managed to open her eyes and her first itch was to write somethin... So here she is.. (Has it passed? Umm.... dunno... might just relapse all over again.. can't really say!)

First up: A very 'Happy Women's Day' to all us beautiful women out there.. Yes we are all beautiful! Its crazy the amount of women who automatically count themselves out when the word 'beautiful' is attached as a qualifier! C'mon sweethearts.... Loreal says it best, 'Because you're worth it!'

Well here's the reason it's celebrated: "It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries. In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their sympathy and love to the women around them - somewhat similar to Western Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. Men and women attended rallies calling for women to be allowed to vote, hold public office, and enjoy equal opportunities in the workforce. Today, IWD rallies, lectures and sporting events will take place all over the world. In some countries, today is the beginning of International Women's Week; in the US, it kicks off International Women's Month." (Source: Answers and Wiki)

And then her cell phone rings and the first message of the day is Mommy Dearest - "Life laughs at you when you are unhappy... Life smiles at you when you are happy... Life salutes you when you make others happy. Cheers to us women! We light up a lot of lives! Happy Women's day!" (Isn't she the best?)

And then "Sure God created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece." :-)

Here's a feel good link for all us women! Click Here!
And enjoy your moment!

quiescence...

this shall also pass...!

Holi hai...?!! :-D

Holi Hai!! You would expect those to be the first cries in her ears this morning! Nopes... not so! She slept after sunrise and then Mommy dearest rings in to say, 'Good morning Doll!' at 11 in the morning! She's feeling so stoned (only for want of sleep - dry state dry state!!) that even Mommy dearest jus sweetly sed, 'happy Holi n go to sleep princess!' She snuggled right back into her pillow but not for long! The sounds of dhols playing got her out of bed and into the neighbouring balcony to see the so called, 'Holi ka nazara!' The nazara gradually deterioated as full grown, professional MBA men decided to tear each others shirts and the sight was fat, paunchy, topless men hugging and dancing with each other!! (Totally totally gross!!!!)

That was that... she retired back to her laptop where she found loads of people who wanted to chat her up... and eventually in sometime in the evening she decided its time she had a bath!! :-D (full aish day!... chill maarne ka ekdum!)

Here begin her travails... her efforts to do a manicure and a pedicure...! Invariably the day she treats herself to a pedicure is the day her feet decide to get their dirtiest!! It was not her... It was a kinetic that became the bane of her life... dheere karo to gaadi band..!! N band is ok... but the incessant kick starts to no avail with and without the choke were quite irritating!! Well... the worst ride of her life! (yeah 'ride' and not 'drive' as dear old dada corrected her!)

In between... her dear roomie insisted she wear a skirt and add to that some high heels!! End result... They say she was lookin nice... She jus smiles! :-) (but high heels and a kinetic running on a real bad kick start...! She could kill!!)

That was that.... ! N now... She's trying in vain... but sleep still evades her!!
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Addendum: Her dear roomie insists on playing catch-n-catch with her n the bday balloons!!! The remark she gets - 'It's feelin like ur the mom n i'm the kid troublin you wen ur tryn to work hard on sumthn!!' To ab mai ma bhi ban chuki hoon... n she being the said mother and grandmother of 2 kids around here I now happen to have become a great grandmum!!! (Don't scratch ur head... its ok! Bade bade desho me aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain!!) :-D N yes... sleep still evades her!

Girls rock!

Ok Warning: Girl territory! Tread carefully!

Well... last few days n hostel life has become well... uhh..! Interesting!!!!

Girls nites out!! A pajama cum dance party the other night! Roaring success! Details - ummm... classified stuff!! Tonite - total femaley kitty party kind of scene! I guess its in the female blood! Yours truly won a full house in Tambola! Uske baad kya tha... party at the pantry! tea, Biscuits and lays!!!! And of course... gappe! The poor pantry guy dint know what him at 3 in the morning!! Lizards and screaming women! Cries of mujhe chai n mujhe coffee sounding like 'mera wala pink' n 'mera wala cream!'

What followed...? Dumb charades... mann ichcha ki movies ban ne lagi thi ab to!!!! But sab bond! Guessed all!!! And then a game of tabooooo!!!! A cutsey game... tedious to get into the rules! Jus know that we won!! :-D coz urs truly missed a turn! (I'm horrible at the game!!!!!)

Loads o laughter! Pink Pajamas...blue and white too! :-)

Gang of girls!!!!!!!!

Motee...!!

The benefits of being Motee...

1. U get spared the birthday bumps!! (now why the sudden thought you might ask!! Well.. it so happens that my roomie celebrated her 25th birthday last night! Ritual - roomate gets the bday bumps! Ritual reloaded - ex roomie got em coz yours truly is more than just a bit difficult to lift!)
2. U can glide through the world at your own pace and no one really asks you to hurry up! (this has happened so many times - infact when you actually start to run they say 'hey! chill! we don't want an earthquake here!)
3. Elbow room - it's automatically more!!
4. Foooood! (U can eat as much as you want and maybe b a lil greedy n no one takes offence - it all gets attributed to ur size!)
5. There's more of you to love and hug! :-)

Now why in the world people suffer from anorexia with such amazing benefits I will never know!! Anyways... its a tospy turvy world out there and then you suddenly find yourself on cruise control… a sailing away kinda feeling, taking it all as it comes, unfazed, infact only happy!! There’s a sparkle in her eyes that’s difficult to explain and yes an insane feeling of serendipity! (how these last lines are relevant to the rest of the stuff typed in here - don't ask me!) :-D

Ah.. a Celebration!

'Naughtyspark' is a year old today! Yup... i've been rambling for a whole year now!

Happy Birthday to My Ramblings!

Fragments of her mind... (her spirit...?)

Imagine this: a vast open sky... a dark cloud.... the sun hidden behind it... sun rays breathing out in all directions.... a whitish silver line to the cloud... and two eagles... wing on wing... floating, gliding, sailing right in the center of the cloud...!

The emotion: it's something that swirls up inside... is about to overflow n then quietly settles and leaves u smiling!!

The moment: serene yet surreal!

A lot of people have been telling her she's changed... some say its difficult to recognize her from afar physically! ( a darling said yeah must be ur weight.. u have lost some! :)) And someone said it's her spirit... something changed there...! When asked to decribe it the only answer she recieved was that it was too beautiful to trap it in words! She has been feelin it... its kinda restless, kinda peaceful, kinda happy, kinda jinxed!! The words of a song by Alanis Morisette ring in her ears....

(a few fragments....)
I'm broke but I'm happy...
I'm high but I'm grounded...
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed...
I'm lost but I'm hopeful...

I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five

I feel drunk but I'm sober...

I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette

And what it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet

I'm brave but I'm chickenshit...
I'm sick but I'm pretty baby...

And what it all comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is hailing a taxi cab



.....

Shh.. say no more!

"She Walks in Beauty, Like the Night"
by: Lord Byron

SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent;
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.

Finally the whole sonnet and not just an excerpt...! 'coz she's feelin somewhat like that! Yes.. she walks in beauty like the night... a turmoil of questions in her head... slowly silenced by the flame tonight!!