Knock! Knock!

Anybody still there?
I know it's been too long.
I have been too negligent.
But there is another truth as well.
I have been very guilty of this as well.
I have felt miserable and frustrated.
And have tried for long, to come back and do what I love a lot.
And finally the blogger within me has taken the front seat.
And I am sure, I am capable enough to keep this going now.
I hope to see you all regularly again! :-)

Odds at each other's side!

Last week, I was travelling to my hometown by train. It made a halt at a place, I don't which station it was as it was really dark and I was inside a new "postered" Rajdhani Express. But I still could see clearly the train standing right next to ours. As we slowly swayed past the train, one stark reality hit me. There was a sparsely filled AC coach with people sleeping with all the leisures in the world. And right next to it was a general compartment, overflowing with people, people who don't know what leisure is, people who have to even fight for the little place to sit clumsily. This is the harsh reality of India. The great divide, with which every passing second is getting wider. Though its has always been present, in and around me, but don't know why it moved me that moment so much as to make me feel like crying.

Where will this end? Would those hard working souls just persih without being rewarded? I don't know. All I can see is a bleak future. How much ever the better becomes best, the true victory of a nation is tp lift the worse to atleast good!

So Long....

So long....so long I had stayed away from my camera...I don't know why and how it happened. But a refreshing break came to me in form of a pleasant surprise. One night I got a call from my uncle, to join them on a trip to Shravanbelgola. Oh, I just can't describe how I felt at that moment. I was like..."Finally my hands and my eyes will be put to some worth" :D .

But I was worried too, as I had not taken photographs for months. I didn't know that I did remember photography, or would it have evaporated out of me. But once my hands were on the shutter button and my eyes looking through the viewfinder, nothing was stopping me. And I so very enjoyed doing what I used to love a few months back. Here are just a few shots from the trip. Do tell me how you found them. I would be uploading the entire set soon on my Flickr. So, watch out.

She Blogs...

Ouch...! That really hurt. I heard these words and started wondering: am I really blogging? I used to take such pride in that some time ago (rather some years ago...sigh). Whom am I lying to, by saying that i blog? How can I betray me, myself and my blog? I have been making unfulfilled promises from long that I will get back to it. But I haven't. I can no longer be called in the category of bloggers (...sobs...). I feel so ashamed, angered on myself. How did I let this happen?

Is it my laziness or my indifference or just a stagnation of events in my life? I will have to sit and think about the right blend of reasons for this misfortune of mine. And this time I wont make promises, instead let the time tell what I finally made out of this mess.

Why are they doing this to me???

It was a beautiful evening, with clouds on top and a chilly breeze. I took my kinetic and started from my home, though for some work, but that was an excuse, what I really wanted was a speed ride in this climate, but but but... Why the hell do they have to spoil my speed ride???

They recently laid new roads in my entire area, beautiful roads...attracting and enticing and goading me to accelerate. But you suddenly realize that its all to just lure you and out of no where comes the monstrous, grizzly, huge and highly irritating speed breakers, aaaggggghhhhhh!!!!!

The road builders in Bangalore are really sadist, they lay beautifully good roads, but they just dont know how to make speed breakers. The speed breakers are narrow horizontally and rising to such heights that it really bogs you out of your mind to take your vehicle through them. Specially my poor little kinetic :(

And there goes my romantic, thrilling little speed ride! :(

Oiling the Rust!

Hello after a long time!
Well, lot of my friends have been asking me about my new updates at my blog. And even I have been trying to write something, but alas , I am not able to churn out anything good enough. I am finding my writing skills to be rusted, down to the position of making so much of fuss and noise but yet nothing fruitful out of it.

So here comes my debut post, sort of like an oil drop in the long rusted machine. You can ignore this! :D

And will try to update my blog atleast once a week! So keep dropping by! :-)

Tip Tip Tip Baarish

Just came back from a refreshing bath in the nature's shower :D.

It started raining some time back and I was sitting all alone in the house and wondering, what the hell am I doing? And that's it...went up to the terrace to have a good feel of the rain.

Its so long that I intentionally got drenched...And it was truly worth going up there.

Woh thandi thandi baarish ki boondein...
woh sansanaate patton ki awaaz...
woh gili farsh pe panv rakhna...
woh paani mein uchalna...
woh baadlon ka garazna...
aur woh jhoom ke gaane gaana...


Ohhh...It was so romantic...so magical...
It made me so happy...that I came down and started writing a post...after a long long time...

I wish each one of you who is reading this to have an unrestrained joy like this. :-)

Happy Monsoon to everyone!

Moral Dilemmas

Have you ever faced a situation where in you don't know which way to choose? A duvidha or dharamsankat, as called in Hindi.

For example, You are supposed to be at a contest and are the judge to find the best talent. One of your close relative is one of the contestant. There are two situations in this case. First, there is a better contestant who actually deserves the prize. You can make your relative win over him/her. The second situation is, your relative is the best. Now you start thinking that if I make my relative win, what will people think of me, that I practice favoritism. And you may deprive him/her of what he/she was worthy of. What will you do in these situations?

The above example was actually a milder version. Milder in the sense, it doesn't involve life and death. But there can be situations where a person's life or death is on stake. And you have to choose between life of someone who is close to you and life of many others. What good or what bad will you choose?

I have always had this thought in my mind, that what if I am in such a situation. God forbid, but what will I do? I still don't have a complete answer. Will I be able to think rationally and keeping my emotions behind the practical thought? Its very easy to think, when you are not under pressure. But, when in pressure, it depends on a person's mental stability and ability to think rationally and more importantly, unselfishly.

Here are few dilemmas which I found while surfing.

Of Special regard is the first one. Let me know what you think of it. Was the captain correct or was he unethical?

Encounters with Faces

Face, the most important element in a human's appearance. Its so intriguing, how a face plays with your mind and sets opnions. Your first impression of a person is strongly based on the face of the person. The face personifies the image of a person. Its so strange, that we can trust a person more if we have seen his/her face. Until we see someone, we always have a small doubt in the corner of our mind.

Doesnt matter that the face should only be beautiful. Faces can be not beautiful but still charming and luring. Some faces are more touching, some you can trust instantly. Some faces, you loathe at the first glance itself, and have a tough time dealing with that person. But one thing, again a strange fact, you tend to soften for a face, once you start seeing the face quiet often. You can actually start liking a face, even if you wanted to turn the other side on the first time.

Faces are mysterious. Some faces are expressive, telling you the unsaid too. Some faces are stoic, completely indifferent from what actually is. The worst is, some faces are deceitful; acting as a mask on the reality. I have become wary of faces, dont know they project the reality or are fraud. But still, faces play a very important role in my description of a human being (not just looks). I wonder, will I be able to get the niche of finding out whats behind a face. I think I almost have it. But somethings are so unpredictable that all your statistics go haywire; and faces fall into this category.

Faces will always perplex me, sometimes making me comfortable, sometimes making me despise, and sometimes leave me with lots of questions unanswered. But still it plays a major role in charaterization of people carrying these faces. So happy face reading everyone!

Here is an interesting article I found, once I started writing this.

Facial Prejudice: Face and Personality.

Clueless Scribble!

I have been trying to write something for a long time. Writing gives me a sense of satisfaction. So, I started to think...what should I write. Many things came to my mind, politics, corruption, media, communal riots, traffic blues, natural calamities, war and peace, etc. But, there is already lots written, read and ignored, stuff on these topics. Coz these are the usual masala that you can read tons of articles on. I had to think something different.

The other thing I could possible write was about my life. Now, there is another small problem to it. My life's story, if taken out my name, can be identified as story of so many people around me. That makes it non-unique. On that, a thought came to my mind. All of us are bound by so many things in life. We are bound by the society, by traditions, by the people we love, by our own narrow mindedness. Sometimes I feel, as if I am a captive in my own house. When I lie down on the bed, I feel that the ceiling binds me. It would have been so good, if I could ogle at the handsome Moon, and be envious of the beautiful stars. When I am on the roads, the traffic binds me. It would have been so good if it would be a muddy path that disappears into lush green woods with a magical mist around (almost a fairytale...right).

But I am bound, and I dont have the means to break this bound. I really adore those people who could divert themselves from the narrow line placed in front of them, and chase their dreams. I also dream, of freedom, of breaking free of traditions and follow my passions. I also want to hold the hands of life and walk towards the misty woods. I also want to whisper to the wind and fly with the clouds. But I am bound...but I am bound.

My New Mobile

I recently upgraded to a better handset than the basic model I was using. And its such a relief to switch to colored screen from the black and white screen :D. I suddenly have so many things to do with my phone :).

Have a look at the specs. And here are a few pictures of the phone:

Hanging in the middle...

I had a funny incident today. In the afternoon, as me and my friends started for the lunch. We took the second elevator for going upstairs to the 7th Floor. There were quiet many people inside, say about 10. The elevator was going at a steady pace and by the time it was about to reach the 7th floor...Boom...there was a huge sound and the elevator stopped. But the doors didnt open. My friend was standing next to the user panel, so she pushed the Open-Door button quiet a number of time but to no avail. Somebody yelled push 6th Floor button, we can go down. It didnt work. Somebody suggested to press any damn button. Nothing worked. So we just kept pressing the alarm button. Please somebody come and take us out. Another voice came, call the reception. A person tried from his cell...but damn the airtel network...there was no signal. Thankfully, my cell had FULL B-) network. So I called up the reception and told the receptionist that we all are stuck in the lift, send someone to rescue us :D. She said people are on their way and we will be out soon. Till that time, people started talking...I heard someone asking to call parents, some were worried about their insurance :D. And after gruesome 10 mins, the lights in the lift went out and the door opened a bit. We could clearly see that we were somewhere in the middle of the 6th and the 7th floor. And suddenly, the lights came on and the doors got closed and the lift started moving downwards. It didnt stop anywhere but directly on the 3rd floor. Everybody rushed out. It was such a relief to finally be out of the lift :D.

Changing the looks!!

Hello Everyone!!

Well I am trying to change the blog appearance, so kindly bear with the intermittent problems like the font color. I am in the process of changing it, but due to some problem I have lost the connection with blogger :-(.

Will be able to bring back the blog into a readable form by tommorrow :-).

Flying high in the sky...

I dont know why, but somehow I had never had any flying experience till now. But a few days ago, I finally made it to the sky. I had my first fligh experience. The experience was so overwhelming, I thought of writing a post on it. So here I am to share what I felt when I had wings :-).

My first flight's departure time was 8:45 P.M. and out of before-the-time habit I had reached the airport at around 7:30 itself. After doing the checkin and getting my first boarding pass ever in my hand, me and my friend looked out for a good place to sit and look around. By the way, I didnt like the bangalore airport at all. It was no match to what I had imagined the airport of the silicon valley of India to be, an utter disappointment.

Well we chattered away looking at people, thinking about the wedding we were going to attend in Delhi and Beep-Beep, I got a message. It was from a friend telling me "Its raining hard". 'Oh My God'. We both turned immediately towards the terminal gate nearest to us to have a look at whats going outside and indeed it was raining heavily :-(. And then we heard the announcements, due to bad weather the outgoing flights had been delayed. I was wondering, "Why this has to happen to me?". But cant help it, so we sat around for some more time. I thought of taking some snaps for my memories of the first experience of the airport. As I ducked into my handbag to fetch the camera I realized...oh Shucks...I left my batteries inside the baggage :-(. So with a heavy heart of missing on the oppurtunity to capture those moments I sat quietly listening to Radio Mirchi and counting each and every second to the departure.

Finally the call for the security check for IT208 was called out. Me and my friend jumped off from the seat and headed towards the security check. Once outside the terminal, we realized that it was still pouring heavily from the sky. Due to all the sudden rush, there were not enough coach vans to take us to the flight. So we had to wait till other coach vans were fetched. Slowly the van took us around airport and neared our flight. It was such a good thing to see all those huge manmade birds standing in and around the place. And with the rain it was all the more exciting :-).

We boarded the flight and I got the window seat :-). Was just peeping outside to see the rain and the other flights. Once all the passengers had boarded they started with the welcome-on-board and instructions to be followed during the flight duration. The instructions were shown by the very gorgeous Yana Gupta on the small TVs in the front. Waise....the airhostesses were also not less than Yana Gupta :D. Anyways, it was time for the take off...I was already loaded with so many instructions from my well-wishing friends about the effects of take-off, that I decided to take their advice and stuffed my ears with cotton wool. The engines running, the aircraft started to move...it took around 5 mins for the aircraft to reach the runway. It was simply an awesome sight. The aircraft started picking up speed and with a jerk the front tyres were off the tarmac and slowly the rear ones too. We were flying....yoooohoooo... :-). The aircraft was in a tilted position and moving steadily upwards. The TV monitor in front of me was telling me the altitude, speed and the outside temperature continuosly. I had some weird feelings in my stomach whiles the ascent upwards, but the scene outside the window was too good to worry about all that :D. I could see the banglore city in the darkness, it looked as a sky beneath with thousand bright yellow stars. Slowly the rain against my window had started to be completely horizontal and then drying off. I could see beneath the dark clouds that were showering over bangalore. In sometime the flight hit the altitude of around 10,500 m above the land, the speed was somewhere around 800 kmph and the outside temperature was around -40 degrees...whooooo..that made me feel cold inside :D.

The flight was meant for to be of two and half hours but due to air traffic near the Delhi airport, the flight was hovering over Agra and later over Delhi. Finally we were told that we are landing. All passengers sighed for relief of finally getting off the plane. The descent was also quiet an experience for my stomach and my ears...I felt as if my ears were closed out. But it was overall a good experience :-). We set foot on the tarmac at around 12:30 am..the scheduled arrival was 11:15 pm :D.Though I had experiences of delayed flight and all, the feel of flying in the air for the first time was too good :-).

My flight back was also an experience. It was ontime :D...he he he. But the best part was that it was a morning flight :-). So I could see the clear blue sky from my window and white cotton balls underneath. If I try and imagine heaven, it would have a similar flooring :D. Overall the experince in the air was too good :-).

City of My Dreams!!

This one is for all of my friends from school and college and yup for all those people who hail from the wonderful city called "Bhopal".

I was kind of away from the city for say three years. And when I got the chance to be their again...I just hopped on the train and headed for the city. I had anticipated many changes and was kind of apprehensive that this modernisation might have changed my Bhopal. So, when i reached Bhopal, I kinda stepped out of the train with wary steps but full with excitement :-). It was 1:00 A.M. , the city was silent but it still looked so beautiful, as a lady draped in darkness. I just couldnt wait for the dawn to break so that I could go around and see the brighter side of it.

The day was all the more thrilling, starting from Jawahar chowk...my last home...then down the New Market main road, Top N Town, Roshanpura naka, down the road to Ravindra Bhawan, off to Lake side, Bharat Bhawan, and then the most beautiful view I saw in days...our very own 'Bada Talaab'. Then off to Kamla Park, Gauhar Mahal and swiftly onto the VIP road. Wow, the ride was so good, the same road on which I drove almost daily for four years, so many memories. While coming back I saw the perfect sunset, Sun sinking into the water of the Lake. The day was mesmerizing, set in the city I love the most :-).

During my drive through the town I noticed some very good things. Firstly the roads, after driving on the roads...rather streets of bangalore, bhopal roads were like the haven :-). I wish I had a bike and could just fly on the roads of Bhopal :D. The other thing that caught my attention were the murals on the squares and the road side walls by tribal people. I liked the concept of keeping bad posters and advertisements from creeping-in on the road side walls :-). And it looked pretty neat and artistic :-). I came to know that Bhopal was actually promoting a lot of art from nearby villages and tribal areas.

Well, next day I started off early in the morning. And this time, I covered the other side of the city. Starting from my house, through newly built Platinum Plaza (must say...amazing to see such structures in bhopal), then from Nankay (my regular petrol bunk) to the Link road, crossing Mayur Park (my childhood favorite) and from Chinar Park (place for our very entertaining GMs :D) taking a turn towards 5 no stop, Subhash School (abhivyakti garba nights...ooohh), then Bitthan Market (one of the most happening places now), towards 10 no. stop. Gosh it was a long way down the memory lane. But truly the best moments of my life spent over here.

Bhopal has always been the city of my dreams, and if not for practical reasons, I would love to spend the entire of my life in this peaceful city, amidst the lush green gardens and placid blue lakes. For me its the pradise, the ultimate city to live in :).

A Long Laccha Making Seesion!!

Last night my dear friend vini came over my place for a night stay. We both were meeting alone after a long time, so thus started out laccha making session at 11:45 in the night. We started with a topic that took all sorts of twists and turns and finally we landed up discussing anything and everything under sun ;-). This laccha session ended with one of us ludhkofying at 4 in the morning :D.

But those four and a half hours were so refreshing. It reminded me of my college days, we used to have long laccha sessions, talking hours together for no reason. And the best part is you dont even feel tired and sleepy once you are in the 4th gear of laccha-gaddi :D. Though the next day will be completely sluggish and a complete waste. But I dont mind a day of sleepiness for those few tension-free hours of excitement and complete fun :-).

Thanx Vini for coming over and making that memorable :-).

Wedding Bells..Ding Dong...

No baba...am not getting married. But have noticed that so many people around me are getting married. The wedding bells are going on and on from all directions. There is a line up of marriages for me to attend ;-) (....means lotsa fun and masti for me :D).

But it seems as if all the hearts are pounding around me. Everyone is hit by the cupid. Everything is so mushy-mushy and sweet, I am worried that I might become diabetic :D.

It seems its the match-making season again :D and there are many hearts getting united. Now what shall I call this...a chain of "barbaadis" or a grand fete of good food and masti-masala for others :D. Whatever its good for me...so I am so happy about people getting "barbaad" :D.

Anyways...here is me wishing all the couples getting united, a very happy married and loveful life :-).

Kabhi Kabhi

Main aur meri Kine...
aksar ye baatein karte hain
road achi hoti toh aisa hota
flyovers hote toh waisa hota
potholes ke bina jhatke kitne kam hote
manholes ke bina sadak kitni chikni hoti


Main aur meri Kine...
aksar ye baatein karte hain
traffic na hota toh aisa hota
speedbreaker ke bina waisa hota
pollution ke bina hum khul ke saans lete
signal ke bina hum hawa se baatein karte

Main aur meri Kine...

Siskiyan

Tode saare khwaab maine,
bikheri saari khushiyan.
Maine hi chupaya chand ko,
gira diye saare taare asmaan se.
Mitaya maine hi indradhanush ko,
chura li phoolon ki khusboo.
Khud hi bichaye raaste pe kaantein,
bujha di jeevan se roshini.
Bhare maine hi aankhon mein aansoo,
cheen li labon ki hansi.
Choda maine hi zindagi ka aanchal,
chuta ummeed ka daaman.
Reh gaya mere dil mein dard,
aur meri aankhon mein Siskiyan.

Red Means Stop

I was really amazed at seeing "Red Means Stop" written on one of the signals in bangalore and started laughing that do this need to be taught to people. But lately it seems it is required. I guess many bangaloreans dont know the meaning of red in traffic signals or else they have become color blind.

Recently, I have seen this trend too many times in bangalore, people breaking the traffic signal rules and speeding across a Red Signal. With a woofing traffic on the roads, this habit is a very fatal one, not just for them but for everyone else who are driving on these roads. I have myself escaped quiet a few accidents because of others breaking the signal. And the worst part is, they dont even accept their mistakes. Say them something and they scoff at you. God, what kind of educated people are these?

I guess we need to spread this message around and have more stricter system to avoid this. Atleast teach people that "Red means stop".