Mine would be the arrival lounge at the airport. Isn’t there something magical about all the expectant faces, the excited screams of kids and the thankful hearts? Where else can us humans, spread our joy to others, in such a spontaneous and effortless way? And the best part, you don’t have to plan a vacation or spend loads of money to get there, no matter where in the world you are!! Sounds weird, I know, but just felt like sharing.

Let me know yours.

Nishant

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Posted from WordPress for Android

So you think your love life is absolute movie material, the villanous parents, the cruel society, the longing, the yearning and in contemporary terms, the ‘emotional atyachaar’ which just doesnt end? Dont worry, help is here. Make a note of the following plan:

1. Buy return tickets to Mangalore to be able to stay there on 14th.

2. Walk out, hand-in-hand with your should-be, on the streets. TIP: Carry a bunch of roses or a stuffed toy, a little bit of PDA could be advised as well.

If one were to believe the words of the saviors of my Indian traditions, you would be married off duly at a registrar’s office !! And the best part, the marriage would be legal, regardless of your respective religions or castes !! I wonder why these noble men are then being ridiculed by the intelligentsia of our society. The vent to their frustrated lives is actually a boon to hundreds, if channeled cleverly !!

Well, on a serious note, who decides what’s in my culture and what’s not? Who re-wrote the basic tenets of the Hindu faith i.e freedom of belief and expresion? I refuse to believe that a religion which can worship gods who drink soma (exclusive wines) and make merriment to the sight of dancing ‘apsaras’, can allow some self proclaimed guardians to exhibit their machismo by assaulting an innocent pub-hopping girl in public.

Anyone who has bothered, even as much as, to pick up a few Hindu texts would know that there’s no stagnant sets of rules which have defined  it forever. And that precisely, is the beauty of it. The beauty which makes, even a person like me, of agnostic tendencies, feel proud of it. The 330 millions gods we worship are 330 million different expressions of faith. It’s a culture where a Meera can flout all social norms and still be regarded in history as the epitome of devotion. A culture where a social worker from Shirdi, of unknown religous origins can be revered as an incarnation by millions, no questions asked. A culture where a Public Display of Affection (Raasa leela) by the lord himself is adored and re-told in millions of temples everyday!!!!

We tought the world the art of kamasutra. We gave the world the temples adorned with erotic sculptures. And despite all the supposed traditions and taboos, we still managed to give to the world around 17% of it’s population !!!! What then, are these poor-misguided guardians of my culture trying to protect us from??

Not everyone will, so let me tell you that God is not really so insecure of being invaded by foreign traditions. Actually you see, nothing is foreign to my God in the first place.

Happy Valentine’s day !!

I look up to the sky and wonder, why did man evolve the intellect to imagine things beyond the stars in the skies. What would the world be like, if we hadn’t imagined that the skies contained within them, powers much greater than the heat of the sun, or the gentleness of the moon and the charms of the twinkling stars. How can a supreme being, who never bothers to represent himself beyond stories and folklores become more important than my fellow brethren who inspire faith in me through their lives everyday.

“Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya

Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha,

Abhyuthanam Adharmaysya

Tadatmanam Srijami Aham’.

<– “Whenever there is decay

of righteousness O! Bharatha

And a rise of unrighteousness

then I manifest Myself!” –>

Have we ever wondered why it doesnt say… “yada yada hi hindu dharmasya ….”

or “yada yada hi islam dharmasya ….”

It seems, our forefathers learned the secret to coexistence centuries ago, and left it to us as their inheritance. We, the shameless inheritors, have let them down, yet again today.

People came and went. Some say, he came and went. The change was the routine of his life. And his destiny was like a child, who would not let the sand settle in a jar of water. Shaking up his world even before he could make it his own. Keeping up the beacon of hope was not easy. It was not easy to keep himself going, filled with hopes of achieving a travelogue which would be worthy of a proud final rest.

His creator had stamped him with his own indelible mark. That the stamp made every creation of his as special as the rest, was commonly rumored. However it didn’t take long for him to realize that more than all the valuable reflections of his creator’s identity, it was something else which was really of value to the world. Some called it his worth, some called it a number and many others would just make up new adjectives to describe it. And strangely, his entire self, which glowed with the impartiality of his creator, was marred by one attribute which was not the same as all others. He had heard that his kind was not the only one cursed with such attributes. Religion, color, caste and creed, although unheard among his kinds, were very much a reality for men. The fact that they were separated from their own brethren by one unnecessary attribute, gave him a feeling of bonding with mankind.

And then, in the countless days that made his journey, came a day which made it the journey. He never forgot that tender touch, the fragrance of excitement in those hands and the radiance of hope in that smile. He realized, for the first time, the distinctness didn’t matter. To this person, he meant all the worth in the world. And for the first time, someone called him his own. That longing, that bonding which had always been missing in his rest-stops, had finally been found in this person. And for the first time after his creator, someone marked him, without soiling him. Shall he call this the purpose? Is this what his creator wanted him to provide to this machinery of existence. He would like to believe that, because he knew his journey was over. Although he was soiled from his travels but the long wait for a proud final rest had been rewarded.

Life, no-one told him, is the most exciting of all lovers. She comforts you when you are in discomfort. She wakes you up to pleasant mornings after a well deserved night of rest. She surprises you with charms un-imaginable. She makes you work hard, lest you get complacent about her assured presence. She rewards you with brief spells of love, to lure you into the effort that the relationship is. And just when you feel like you are home, she moves on, leaving you alone with an unfinished fate which will never be completed by anyone else. Just like that, when he thought he was home at last, he was on the road again. Those hardworking hands, let go of him, exchanging for something which promised more.

I began my morning oblivious to the presence of ‘the lone traveler’. As I reached into my wallet and pulled out the worth of my breakfast, my eyes caught the mark on the lone traveler. Instantly my hand retracted from the reach of the cashier. I took a close look at him and something within told me, this traveler would not be moving on for my breakfast. Pocketing him instantly, I reached back into my wallet and pulled out another traveler and handed him over to the cashier. As I stepped aside from the anxious queue behind me, I stopped and pulled him out of my pocket and read the mark left by that bond which changed him forever. I tried decoding the botched English and Hindi words, and read this “My first Salary. – Culcatta – Hamara naam Chandramani Singh – Kalkada”

A gush of memories is stronger than a broken dam which washes out entire villages. The lone traveler brought back a gush, mixed with longing and fondness for that lost mate whom I had once entrusted with my own ‘lone traveler’. I longed to see that mark which I left on my traveler and the enormousness of emotions behind those tiny marks of ink, which no-one else saw. Whether or not those emotions are rewarded, I know my traveler deserved to be rewarded, for sacrificing himself so I could participate in an important exchange of emotions with my lost mate.

I knew when life forced the Bengali to part ways with his own traveler; he left the mark so that someone, who could afford it, would give him the much deserved rest. And as a symbol of my respect for their un-acknowledged efforts, I promised this lone traveler, “You are resting with me, till I can afford it!! Because somewhere on some unknown streets, my own traveler would be waiting for his unfinished fate to be fulfilled, may be on the streets of Culcatta…”

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Wondering what triggered this randomgiri ?? .. here it is …

Ever rushed through life and suddenly realized, you got it all wrong!! Have you ever wished, if you could just reach back into that sleeve and pull the other end and reverse everything with a swift effortless motion? That’s what HG Wells was talking about!! No matter how far back that fond memory is, no matter all that went wrong in between, no matter how unfair life was, just reach into that sleeve and pull that other end, that fond memory, inside out!!

Today was one of those days… again. Don’t know how, this song has been on my mind since evening, it goes like this ‘Yeh waqt na thehra hai ….’. It’s not a movie song, so stop whacking your brains!! Back in those days when we were innocent enough to stand in queues during the School’s Morning Assembly but old enough to think it was lame, we used to sing this song. Somehow today, this song has so much meaning!! My school music teacher would be very proud!! So basically I reached inside the sleeve to catch hold of the other end, this song, and after 30 minutes of googling finally managed to pull it out!!

Here’s how the song goes (I’ve translated it to English, for everyone’s sake)

….

Yeh waqt na thehra hai, yeh waqt na thehrega

(Time never stopped in the past, nor will it stop in the future)

Yun hi guzar jayega, ghabrana kaisa

(It will pass you by just like that, so why be afraid?)

Himmat sey kaam lengey, ghabrana kaisa

(Let’s be brave about it, Why be afraid?)

….

Sukh dukh toh jeevan mein, aatey aur jaatey hain

(Happiness and Sadness come and go in life)

Dukh pehley aa jaye toh, ghabrana kaisa

(So what If sadness came first?.. Why be afraid?)

Himmat sey kaam lengey, ghabrana kaisa

(Let’s be brave about it, Why be afraid?)

….

Jo aaya duniya mein, usko jaana hi hai

(Who came to this world, Has to go back too)

Apney bhi chaley jaayein toh ghabrana kaisa

(So what if some one you loved had to go, why be afraid?)

Himmat sey kaam lengey, ghabrana kaisa

(Let’s be brave about it, Why be afraid?)

….

Jab Kadam badaya hai, Manzil mil jaayegi

(If we’ve dared to take the first steps, we’ll find the destination too)

Hai raah zara mushkil toh, ghabrana kaisa

(So what if the journey is a bit difficult, Why be afraid?)

Himmat sey kaam lengey, ghabrana kaisa

(Let’s be brave about it, Why be afraid?)

….

Hum, yug sainanee hain, himmat sey kaam lengey

(We are fighters of this era, and we’ll be brave)

Manzil pey nazar hogee, guruvar ka naam lengey

(Let’s keep our eyes on the destination and remember our teachers and their teachings)

Vipreet dishaon sey fir, ghabrana kaisa

(Then why be afraid of all the opposite directions we may choose)

Himmat sey kaam lengey, ghabrana kaisa

(Let’s be brave about it, Why be afraid?)

Yeh waqt na thehra hai, Yeh waqt na thehrega ….

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Yeah, I know, we can’t really pull the sleeve inside out, but this is good enough, I’m good to go!!

PS: If you wanna listen to the song click here: http://www.awgp.org/audio/songs/jaguthabharat/jaguthabharat_ye_waqt_na_thahra_hai.mp3

For more of those old, school assembly songs click here: http://www.awgp.org/gamma/AudioSongs

Now, flash forward a few years. Imagine your big-bro still running after you, while you pedal the bicycle, just in case you went off-balance after hitting something on the road. Imagine swimming with your life jacket on, all the time. Doesn’t sound much fun, does it? Well, sometime back a friend provoked this thought in me and I asked myself, isn’t a life-jacket actually the worst thing to happen to an aspiring swimmer. If they were never invented, we would all just learn to swim better, because we would know, we are on our own. It would be entirely up to the swimmer to make every possible effort and take every possible precaution to make sure his/her head stays above the water.

Isn’t that what life is also about. Learning to keep your head above the water? We meet people, make friends, fall in love and basically at some level, we are accumulating life-jackets, to fall back on, to keep us afloat when we screw up. Isn’t, by that logic, your life-jacket actually your worst enemy? An enemy who assures you that it’s okay to screw up, because it’s there, for you, always. It sure does save you, but it never teaches you how to keep your head above the water. It basically rewards your weaknesses and mistakes.

Have you ever feared what if you go through an entire life-time, accumulating life-jackets and never really learning to swim on your own? People say life is an adventure. Is an adventure really adventurous, when you know you can not drown or get hurt?

Okay, why stop here; let’s take this a step further. Haven’t we been taught since child-hood, ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’? I asked the same friend who started this chain of thoughts. Isn’t it wrong at a basic level? If your friends are always there, to catch you falling, you will never learn how not to fall over. Let me present my dilemma. If I always strive to be there, when a friend needs me, unconditionally … always. And after some time I realize that my being un-conditionally available as a fall back is actually the reason my friend goes ahead and recklessly screws everything up again and again. Am I being the life-jacket which is rewarding my friend for failing to learn from his/her mistakes and stay afloat on his/her own? I know the thought is very unilateral and unrounded, but still worth a thought, isn’t it?

Let me stretch your patience a little further and ask you, What If thousands of years ago, the giraffes had monkey friends who would climb up the tree and throw leaves and fruits down for them to eat? Give it a thought!!

PS: Blessed are those who have life-jackets which never fail and big-bros who never stop running besides them !!

My little sister, Srishti, left us, for her onward journey to heavens this month. She was 24. She possessed the purest of hearts, was the most generous in her actions, always thought for others and loved everyone unconditionally. Everyone who had ever been touched with her friendship or love would know how grave the loss is and how time would never be able to heal what fate has inflicted.

Srishti was different. She would donate blood without telling people. She would give away her lunch box if she found someone else who needed it. She would never be tired of caring for the old or pampering the kids. She never stopped from loving someone because they were strangers. Everyone got much more than just benefit of doubt.

Life moves on. But what if for once, you don’t want it to move on? What if you want it to standstill and acknowledge that the world is never going to be the same again. The normalcy is sickening. You want to hate everything which is normal. You want to hate the people who still keep cribbing about their petty worries, you want to hate the traffic which keeps racing and killing people as usual, you want to hate the hunger and thirst which you still feel as usual, you want to hate everything that survived and moved on. You want to hate yourself.

Whenever I would pack bags while leaving home after a holiday, Srishti would keep telling me to take all sort of things, her books, her pens, her notepads and what not. I would tell her, I don’t need them, but she just couldn’t stop. She wanted to make sure I never fall short of anything I might ever need. In her short life, she has packed enough love and memories for each of us to last a life time. She knew we’ll need them.

“Dying, is a part of life”, said the wise-man’s mom. I don’t know about death, but Srishti is, and will always be.

–

For those of you who share the loss, I would also like to share these precious memories of her.

PS: We lost Srishti to a motorcycle rider who was trying to save a 100 meter distance by driving on the wrong side. Observing traffic safety at all times is important and it starts with you. Please observe traffic safety at all times.

Frank, my Chinese roommate every now and then asks us (me and Chaitanya, the indians), what the people in those songs are singing. Everytime I answer him, it’s a re-discovery. It’s like going out for a morning jog (or a late night drive). The same places, the same signboards, the same streets, but totally different sights.

It started off with a song which had been stuck in Frank’s mind since years. Yes, it’s a hindi song!! The legendary ‘Awara hoon…’. Frank can only hum it, vaguely. And it took us a long time to decode which song he was humming. Instantly, Frank asked us “What does it mean?”. Here’s what I attempted.

“I’m a nomad, I’m a nomad. Or maybe I’m just a star from the sky, going through a rough time”.

“Wow!!!!” Isn’t it? Something which I’ve been humming since childhood, presented to me in a totally different avatar. Totally touched me, in a way it never did earlier.

Take 2: Chait, Frank and Me driving off to work. Song on the car stereo: “ Allah key bandey” by Kailash Kher. Frank pops the question!! This is what I attempted.

“A bird broke, and it broke such that it never got together again. Who robbed him? And robbed him such that it never flew again.

He fell all the way down on this earth, but in his eyes, there were clouds still. And he kept saying this,

Oh god’s child, please smile. Oh god’s child, please smile.. because whatever it is (that you lost) will come again tomorrow.

That’s when he learnt to fly, when he lost his wings. And he has to keep travelling with the sadness, because the pain is gonna be useful in the future”

Wow!!! Let’s just leave it at that and say no more.

Take 3: Chait, Frank and Me, pulling into the parking outside our appt, back from work. Song on stereo: “Dil kabootar-khana hai” from the movie ‘Bollywood Hollywood’.

Here’s my version as narrated to Frank.

“My heart is like a pigeon hole (the thing people put outside their homes where birds can come and feed as they wish to)”

“My heart is like a pigeon hole, and anyone comes and goes as they wish”

Smart isn’t it. A while later I told Chait, “isn’t it funny that we never thought that song actually had a meaning” !!!

I mostly dismissed this song as junk lyrics, unlike the earlier ones which I always held in high regard, except that they never hit me like they did when I tried translating them. We told Frank later next morning about the re-discovery of the meaningful lyrics. Frank popped back the question instantly. The song in the car this time was ‘Dil ney yeh kaha hai dil sey’ from Dhadkan. The female is asking the hero, ‘kaisey aankhein chaar kar loon??’ and I attempt translating this to Frank. I tell him, in hindi lyrics we often use this phrase ‘how can I make my eyes four, from two’… sounds funny..isnt it? Hold on, I tell Frank this is the literal meaning, what ‘Aankhein chaar karna’ (Making your eyes four)really implies is, to look into the eyes of your beloved and get lost in them such that, they are no longer two different pairs of eyes !!!!

Needless to say, I was amazed with myself!! And this phrase, ‘Aankhein chaar karna’ which has been such a trivial part of our jibes and conversations since, forever. I never thought it can be translated to such a beautiful implied meaning.

A few seconds later, Chait and Me are taken by surprise when Frank sings out ‘Kaisey aankhein chaar kar loon’, In pucca bollywood tone and accent!! He’s practicing, so he can woo his wife allover again with a Hindi song. She herself, happens to be a big fan of ‘Awara hoon’. Frank tells us that the movie Awara is a big favourite among the Chinese.

Being the smart guy that Frank is, he’s ready with the next question. “Are most Indians always into this kind of love?”

I tell him, yea. Most of the Indian movies would be like this, dreamy love stories, far away from realty, just the way Indians like it !!!

Isn’t it funny? How somethings, which are out there, long forgotten, present themselves to you and you realized how much you have missed because you didn’t pause and spend time with them. Just 5 minutes of effort spent trying to translate these songs for Frank, made me feel sorry for, why I didn’t try doing it earlier. And even funnier is how someone alien to these masterpieces is the reason why I feel closer to them once more, more than ever before.

PS: Another example of re-discovery. After almost two weeks of food experiments we had Maggi for dinner today!!! The 2-minute re-discovery !!!!!!!!

Anyways, enjoy these pics for now.

The first set is from our trip to Coorg (Madikeri).

The second set is from Panambur beach, Mangalore.

PS: The quality of pics is slightly bad on main page due to resizing. Click to see them in original (better) quality.

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The Troupe (without Durga)

The Troupe (with Durga)

The source of all controversy: Talakaveri, the origin point of river Cauvery

Atop Brahmagiri hills (Talakaveri)

Lots-a-Blue: Atop Brahmagiri hills (Talakaveri)

Living on the edge: Peaceful grazing at Karnataka-Kerala border atop Brahmagiri hills

Picking Fights: Throwing stones at neighbors (Kerala). Kerala got it’s revenge too, our cell-phones picked up Kerala roaming signals immediately

Abbey falls: Peace and Tranquility, Coz I cut the crowds out of the picture !!!

Business Plans ka Baap: Paying 300 bucks to bathe an elephant, some genius must have hatched this business.

The elephant kept cursing us for doing this to him on a Sunday morning !!!!

Getting Personal !!!!

I broke it’s other tooth… foto key liye maan hi nahin raha tha !!!!

Mangalore life @ Panambur beach

Another shot: Panambur Beach

Moments with self: Panambur beach

Games @ Panambur beach

Two Boats @ Panambur beach !!!!

Picture perfect: Sunset @ Panambur beach.