It had rained that day. I was coming back home. As my bus left Shivaji Nagar stand, I smelled a fragrance that was very familiar. I could recognize that, but I was surprized to have it here. I had it in Ranikhet!
This was the smell of wet leaves, wet flowers and wet trees; the smell of wet earth and wet sky also mingled to that. It was unbelievable. The excitement to have that and also recognize that almsot stopped my breath. For a second those quaint windy roads and nature's majesty just flashed in front of eyes. I almost forgot that I was sitting in a bus thousand miles away from the place.
Then it hit me. And it hit me bad. Very bad indeed. I wish I had not gone there!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
It's Raining
Bheegi bheegi bheegi jadubhari
Lamhon ki yeh ratein
Dekho karni lagi hoon main
Boondo se baatein :)
Yes, it was raining in Bangalore :) And I came home full drenched yesterday :D
Lamhon ki yeh ratein
Dekho karni lagi hoon main
Boondo se baatein :)
Yes, it was raining in Bangalore :) And I came home full drenched yesterday :D
Sleep Sleep Sleep
There are people who are very much fond of sleeping. I remember I had a friend in school who used to love sleeping so much that she used to sleep on the floor under the bed so that no one could catch her! My sister is also very fond of sleeping. But nowadays, due to her office timing she doesn’t get to sleep as much she likes. She is not complaining though.
Two days back I had an experience regarding sleep which I think is historical in my life. Last week I came back after one week trip to Silchar. The flight I took from Kolkata was scheduled to reach at 8:30pm to Bangalore but it got late and it reached around 9:30pm here. I reached home after 11pm that day. Next day being Monday my normal routine started. It hit me Tuesday evening. I was feeling extremely tired and fatigued. First I didn’t really bother and then I realized that I was not having full sleep. That day after coming back from office I cooked fast, had meal early and rushed to bed….all I remember is that I was pulling my blanket towards me….the next thing I remember that I woke up at 5:30am alarm.....I actually slept within 2-3 seconds I hit the bed and that also with lights on! What a sleep I had!
Another deep sleep experience I had some years back in Delhi. Then I was 2-3 months old in the city. I was in my first job. I used to have roster off then. That was a weekday and I had gone to Delhi university with a friend to check for the MA program in English. Then we used to stay in Govindpuri. While I was coming back I got a direct bus till my house. I was feeling very sleepy and was falling asleep again and again in the bus. Being new to the city, I didn’t know the routes well then. I got scared thinking what will happen if I miss my stop! I was trying hard to keep myself awake but nothing was of any help. As I was nearing Nehru Place (which comes 5-6 stops before my stop), I decided to get down from the bus and walk a little to get rid of the sleep. I was planning to walk to my house so that I don’t fall asleep again. But then I got a shuttle auto and went home. This experience I can never forget J
The funniest among all sleeping incidents happened when I was in a hostel in Kolkata. That was a private hostel. The bathroom that we used to use was inside another room. So, the girls of that room had fixed the timing to close the door at night time. So all of us who used to stay in other rooms had to go to bathroom before they close the door. Otherwise we had to go to the dirty bathroom downstairs L. That day I was feeling very sleepy. I had asked a roommate to call me before they close the door so that I can go to bathroom before going for sleep. After instructing her I fell asleep. I opened my eyes next morning. Immediately then I realized that she had not called me to go to bathroom and I felt very cheated L so I asked her ‘why didn’t you call me last night to go to bathroom?’She looked very surprised. She said ‘But we had called you and you went to bathroom also and then came back and slept!’.................I was blank.............I couldn’t remember a thing...................
Two days back I had an experience regarding sleep which I think is historical in my life. Last week I came back after one week trip to Silchar. The flight I took from Kolkata was scheduled to reach at 8:30pm to Bangalore but it got late and it reached around 9:30pm here. I reached home after 11pm that day. Next day being Monday my normal routine started. It hit me Tuesday evening. I was feeling extremely tired and fatigued. First I didn’t really bother and then I realized that I was not having full sleep. That day after coming back from office I cooked fast, had meal early and rushed to bed….all I remember is that I was pulling my blanket towards me….the next thing I remember that I woke up at 5:30am alarm.....I actually slept within 2-3 seconds I hit the bed and that also with lights on! What a sleep I had!
Another deep sleep experience I had some years back in Delhi. Then I was 2-3 months old in the city. I was in my first job. I used to have roster off then. That was a weekday and I had gone to Delhi university with a friend to check for the MA program in English. Then we used to stay in Govindpuri. While I was coming back I got a direct bus till my house. I was feeling very sleepy and was falling asleep again and again in the bus. Being new to the city, I didn’t know the routes well then. I got scared thinking what will happen if I miss my stop! I was trying hard to keep myself awake but nothing was of any help. As I was nearing Nehru Place (which comes 5-6 stops before my stop), I decided to get down from the bus and walk a little to get rid of the sleep. I was planning to walk to my house so that I don’t fall asleep again. But then I got a shuttle auto and went home. This experience I can never forget J
The funniest among all sleeping incidents happened when I was in a hostel in Kolkata. That was a private hostel. The bathroom that we used to use was inside another room. So, the girls of that room had fixed the timing to close the door at night time. So all of us who used to stay in other rooms had to go to bathroom before they close the door. Otherwise we had to go to the dirty bathroom downstairs L. That day I was feeling very sleepy. I had asked a roommate to call me before they close the door so that I can go to bathroom before going for sleep. After instructing her I fell asleep. I opened my eyes next morning. Immediately then I realized that she had not called me to go to bathroom and I felt very cheated L so I asked her ‘why didn’t you call me last night to go to bathroom?’She looked very surprised. She said ‘But we had called you and you went to bathroom also and then came back and slept!’.................I was blank.............I couldn’t remember a thing...................
A Conversation
One fine day when Karan was done with his day's quota for discussing ladies and gentlemen he met in last night's party to his friends, he suddenly realized that he had nothing to do.
His mom was also out of town so he couldn't plan to go for shopping also. He tried to pass some time watching TV serials. He loves watching serials especially those which involves stories about rich families where the heroine falls prey to kitchen politics. Karan just loves kitchen politics. He doesn’t understand why people make such hue and cry demanding that these saas-bahu serials are of low art value...he just loves the big houses, the dresses and jewellery characters wear and how the storyline changes every fortnight. The best part about these serials are that there is always some festival or wedding or anniversary going on. You never feel bored. But it's sadly true that he has to criticize his favorite serials in front of others to maintain his 'cool' image.
His TV serial is over. He is feeling bored again. There is this problem with him since childhood...he gets bored very soon. So he thought of checking out some books, which he usually never does. He just can’t stand those people who talk about books, award winning movies, world literature and most irritating topic-the politics. He loves politics but only if it is kitchen politics or politics that his 'love of his life' plays.
He got one book laying on the table. It was 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' by Mark Haddon. He found the title of the book very unusual and he couldn't really remember if he ever heard of it anywhere. He took up the book and came to know that this novel won Whitbread Book award in 2003. Though he had no idea about the award or the writer, he thought he would read it and could win some brownie points over those nerds in the next party.
He started reading it. It was about Christopher, who was suffering from autism. As he went ahead of the book, only thing he could think of was making a film out of that book. And the only person he could think of doing the role was ‘love of his life’ – Shahrukh. But Shahrukh is 45 and Christopher is 15. As his head was not able to think anymore (This is another problem with him, he just can’t think original), he thought to call Shahrukh and take his help.
Shahrukh comes and there starts a discussion between them.
Karan: Hey, I have just come across an interesting storyline. I think you should act in this movie and all your critics will shut up forever.
Shahrukh: Really? What’s that?
Karan: This is a story of an autistic boy. He is 15 years old and he is very smart. The novel is about how he travels alone from Swindon to London. We’ll also make a film. We’ll develop your character just like this boy. You will also be very smart in studies, you’ll also have problem with the color yellow, you’ll also have problem in crowded places especially when there is noise, you’ll also tell the truth always. But I am facing some difficulty to develop the story. I need your help.
Shahrukh: Yes, tell me. The storyline seems interesting.
Karan: (greening with joy)Thanks. The problem is that this is the story of 15 year-old-boy and you are 45. What should we do?
Shahrukh: Oh Karan! Sometime you speak so stupid! What happened if the story is about 15 year-old boy. We’ll make it the story of 25 year-old man.
Karan: But! (looking confused!) But you’re not 25 either!!
Shahrukh: (frowning) so what? Haven’t you heard of ‘on screen grafting’? That’s how they make Rajnikath looking 30 years old when he is 60 years old. We’ll also do that.
Karan: Oh Shahrukh! You are so smart!
Shahrukh: Thanks thanks J
Karan: Then there is another problem! Here they show that the boy is going to London to meet his mother. What will we show? Indian audience wont like if you go to Delhi looking for your mother. What should we do?
Shahrukh: Oh Karan! First of all let me tell you, think big. Don’t just be confined in India and think of a storyline of going to Delhi from Mumbai. Think bigger. Imagine the story in the USA! Imagine I’m going to Washington!
Karan: But what should be your purpose for travelling?
Shahrukh: That we may decide later. Let’s decide on the locations, heroine and other things.
Karan: Ok. I want Kajol. Can you manage?
Shahrukh: Done.
Karan: I want to shoot in San Francisco….no, in Los Angeles……no, in some remote village in America. I’m confused!
Sharukh: Don’t worry! We’ll have all of those cities and villages in the film. What else do you want?
Karan: Can we have awards?
Shahrukh: Of course! See, first I’ll manage the media to project the film as a classy hit film. So, even before the release, people will know that it’s a hit film. I anyway have good market outside India. Let’s make this movie on some Islamic issue. Then we’ll have more audience. By the end of the year when there will be award time, we’ll sweep all awards. Tell me how many you want?
Karan: I want Best Actor for you (gigglig)
Shahrukh: So sweet of you! Done! What else?
Karan: I want Best Actress. Long time Kajol hasn’t won any award. Then I want Best Film, Best Director, Best Music, Best Male Playback, Best Female playback, Best Cinematography, Best Story, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Dialogue and Best Editing. Ohh…also Best Sound Recording. Yes, that’s all.
Shahrukh: Look Karan, you have to be smart in picking up the awards. You can’t have all the awards. This will make everyone understand that we have actually bought them. Listen to my plan. Let’s have the Best Actress award. Good choice. This will help us convince Kajol to do the role. Leave all those technical awards. We don’t need them. We’re big. We’ll distribute them to other films. This will make people believe in the awards. We’ll take the big ones only. We can have the Best Story also. Let me see what I can do. Now tell me which one do you want among Best Film and Best Director? I think you should go for Best Director. This will give credit to you only.
Karan: (Looking a little lost!) Ok. And Best Film?
Shahrukh: We’ll give that to the actual biggest hit of the year. Alright?
Karan: What if these new breed of directors like Dibakar Banerjee, Imtiaz Ali, Vishal Bharadwaj, Anurag Kashyap or Anurag Basu come up with great movies? I am scared from them. They are so talented. Thanks to God that their fathers are not producers!
Shahrukh: Don’t worry. I’ll manage. Now let’s sit to create a rough storyline that fits to all of our requirements and the sentiment of people.
Karan: OK.
.................????.......!!!
...........????...........!!!!!!.........
!!!!.................????..............
His mom was also out of town so he couldn't plan to go for shopping also. He tried to pass some time watching TV serials. He loves watching serials especially those which involves stories about rich families where the heroine falls prey to kitchen politics. Karan just loves kitchen politics. He doesn’t understand why people make such hue and cry demanding that these saas-bahu serials are of low art value...he just loves the big houses, the dresses and jewellery characters wear and how the storyline changes every fortnight. The best part about these serials are that there is always some festival or wedding or anniversary going on. You never feel bored. But it's sadly true that he has to criticize his favorite serials in front of others to maintain his 'cool' image.
His TV serial is over. He is feeling bored again. There is this problem with him since childhood...he gets bored very soon. So he thought of checking out some books, which he usually never does. He just can’t stand those people who talk about books, award winning movies, world literature and most irritating topic-the politics. He loves politics but only if it is kitchen politics or politics that his 'love of his life' plays.
He got one book laying on the table. It was 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' by Mark Haddon. He found the title of the book very unusual and he couldn't really remember if he ever heard of it anywhere. He took up the book and came to know that this novel won Whitbread Book award in 2003. Though he had no idea about the award or the writer, he thought he would read it and could win some brownie points over those nerds in the next party.
He started reading it. It was about Christopher, who was suffering from autism. As he went ahead of the book, only thing he could think of was making a film out of that book. And the only person he could think of doing the role was ‘love of his life’ – Shahrukh. But Shahrukh is 45 and Christopher is 15. As his head was not able to think anymore (This is another problem with him, he just can’t think original), he thought to call Shahrukh and take his help.
Shahrukh comes and there starts a discussion between them.
Karan: Hey, I have just come across an interesting storyline. I think you should act in this movie and all your critics will shut up forever.
Shahrukh: Really? What’s that?
Karan: This is a story of an autistic boy. He is 15 years old and he is very smart. The novel is about how he travels alone from Swindon to London. We’ll also make a film. We’ll develop your character just like this boy. You will also be very smart in studies, you’ll also have problem with the color yellow, you’ll also have problem in crowded places especially when there is noise, you’ll also tell the truth always. But I am facing some difficulty to develop the story. I need your help.
Shahrukh: Yes, tell me. The storyline seems interesting.
Karan: (greening with joy)Thanks. The problem is that this is the story of 15 year-old-boy and you are 45. What should we do?
Shahrukh: Oh Karan! Sometime you speak so stupid! What happened if the story is about 15 year-old boy. We’ll make it the story of 25 year-old man.
Karan: But! (looking confused!) But you’re not 25 either!!
Shahrukh: (frowning) so what? Haven’t you heard of ‘on screen grafting’? That’s how they make Rajnikath looking 30 years old when he is 60 years old. We’ll also do that.
Karan: Oh Shahrukh! You are so smart!
Shahrukh: Thanks thanks J
Karan: Then there is another problem! Here they show that the boy is going to London to meet his mother. What will we show? Indian audience wont like if you go to Delhi looking for your mother. What should we do?
Shahrukh: Oh Karan! First of all let me tell you, think big. Don’t just be confined in India and think of a storyline of going to Delhi from Mumbai. Think bigger. Imagine the story in the USA! Imagine I’m going to Washington!
Karan: But what should be your purpose for travelling?
Shahrukh: That we may decide later. Let’s decide on the locations, heroine and other things.
Karan: Ok. I want Kajol. Can you manage?
Shahrukh: Done.
Karan: I want to shoot in San Francisco….no, in Los Angeles……no, in some remote village in America. I’m confused!
Sharukh: Don’t worry! We’ll have all of those cities and villages in the film. What else do you want?
Karan: Can we have awards?
Shahrukh: Of course! See, first I’ll manage the media to project the film as a classy hit film. So, even before the release, people will know that it’s a hit film. I anyway have good market outside India. Let’s make this movie on some Islamic issue. Then we’ll have more audience. By the end of the year when there will be award time, we’ll sweep all awards. Tell me how many you want?
Karan: I want Best Actor for you (gigglig)
Shahrukh: So sweet of you! Done! What else?
Karan: I want Best Actress. Long time Kajol hasn’t won any award. Then I want Best Film, Best Director, Best Music, Best Male Playback, Best Female playback, Best Cinematography, Best Story, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Dialogue and Best Editing. Ohh…also Best Sound Recording. Yes, that’s all.
Shahrukh: Look Karan, you have to be smart in picking up the awards. You can’t have all the awards. This will make everyone understand that we have actually bought them. Listen to my plan. Let’s have the Best Actress award. Good choice. This will help us convince Kajol to do the role. Leave all those technical awards. We don’t need them. We’re big. We’ll distribute them to other films. This will make people believe in the awards. We’ll take the big ones only. We can have the Best Story also. Let me see what I can do. Now tell me which one do you want among Best Film and Best Director? I think you should go for Best Director. This will give credit to you only.
Karan: (Looking a little lost!) Ok. And Best Film?
Shahrukh: We’ll give that to the actual biggest hit of the year. Alright?
Karan: What if these new breed of directors like Dibakar Banerjee, Imtiaz Ali, Vishal Bharadwaj, Anurag Kashyap or Anurag Basu come up with great movies? I am scared from them. They are so talented. Thanks to God that their fathers are not producers!
Shahrukh: Don’t worry. I’ll manage. Now let’s sit to create a rough storyline that fits to all of our requirements and the sentiment of people.
Karan: OK.
.................????.......!!!
...........????...........!!!!!!.........
!!!!.................????..............
Bhangra in Kannada
I was coming by bus. They were playing local FM channels in the bus. I was listening and not listening also. I was reading my book. There was one song that caught my attention. There was something unusual about the song! This was a bhangra song sung by Daler Mehendi. But the surprising part was that the song was in Kannada. It was really something new and different to try out that. I felt like I was having Paneer Tikka Masala with Sambar :)
Monday, February 21, 2011
Early is good
Last week when we went to Silchar and I reached Bangalore airport, I realized that I was too early. The reason was the Aero Show in Bangalore. Because of this Aero Show, which takes place at a Air Force ground just few kilometers before the airport, a lot of traffic jam was happening. So everyone kind of pushed me to start early and I obliged and I reached the airport even before 4pm while my flight was scheduled to leave at 6:20pm!
As I was crossing the Aero Show venue, I saw four fighter planes doing somersault in the sky! I was almost jumping with excitement as I was watching such a thing ‘live’ in front of me for the first time in life.
As I crossed the security checking gate, to my pleasant surprise, I found one Crossword book store there. I was jumping with excitement again. I asked for the book ‘Simoquin Prophecies’ by Samit Basu at the counter but they ran out of stock. What to do, I started checking other books. Suddenly something at the bottom most rack in a corner caught my notice. There were some books with familiar cover page. Those books were having cover pages similar to those of old Bishwabharati books. I got curious and sat down to check them properly. To my surprise, I found that those were English translations for the novels/stories of some famous Indian authors. There were translation works for Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Roy, Premchand and more. Since I have read almost all of Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Roy and most of Premchand’s work in the original languages, I wasn’t really interested to check them out. But there was another book, standing quietly, next to Satyajit Roy’s collection; it was ‘Quilt’. I saw the name and something clicked in my mind and in that fraction second as I was looking down for the author’s name, I knew who was that celebrated author before even seeing the name. It was Ismat Chghtai. The book was nothing but the translation for her most famous work ‘Lihaaf’. I was holding the book stunned as I hardly could believe the sheer discovery as I didn’t know that Lihaaf got translated and that it was available in stores! I grabbed it immediately. To my more surprise, there was the translation of Toba Tek Singh by Sadat Hasan Manto lying next! I was flabbergasted! What was happening! I had no idea of Toba Tek Singh ever getting translated either! I grabbed that too!
As I was coming out of the shop jumping with joy, I didn’t know that there were more pleasant surprises waiting for me in the journey ahead :)
As I was crossing the Aero Show venue, I saw four fighter planes doing somersault in the sky! I was almost jumping with excitement as I was watching such a thing ‘live’ in front of me for the first time in life.
As I crossed the security checking gate, to my pleasant surprise, I found one Crossword book store there. I was jumping with excitement again. I asked for the book ‘Simoquin Prophecies’ by Samit Basu at the counter but they ran out of stock. What to do, I started checking other books. Suddenly something at the bottom most rack in a corner caught my notice. There were some books with familiar cover page. Those books were having cover pages similar to those of old Bishwabharati books. I got curious and sat down to check them properly. To my surprise, I found that those were English translations for the novels/stories of some famous Indian authors. There were translation works for Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Roy, Premchand and more. Since I have read almost all of Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Roy and most of Premchand’s work in the original languages, I wasn’t really interested to check them out. But there was another book, standing quietly, next to Satyajit Roy’s collection; it was ‘Quilt’. I saw the name and something clicked in my mind and in that fraction second as I was looking down for the author’s name, I knew who was that celebrated author before even seeing the name. It was Ismat Chghtai. The book was nothing but the translation for her most famous work ‘Lihaaf’. I was holding the book stunned as I hardly could believe the sheer discovery as I didn’t know that Lihaaf got translated and that it was available in stores! I grabbed it immediately. To my more surprise, there was the translation of Toba Tek Singh by Sadat Hasan Manto lying next! I was flabbergasted! What was happening! I had no idea of Toba Tek Singh ever getting translated either! I grabbed that too!
As I was coming out of the shop jumping with joy, I didn’t know that there were more pleasant surprises waiting for me in the journey ahead :)
Cities of Show-Off
Every city has its own unique characteristic. The cities develop these characteristics mainly from the type of people they accommodate. Interestingly, every city has its own style of show-off too. I have lived in four different cities and based on my observation and understanding
Delhi is the city of the hardworking Punjabis and harsh jaths. Here you will see the show-off of money and power. For example, the Punjabis are so fond of showing off their fort-like gates painted in golden or copper colour, huge cars and expensive garments and jewelleries that now people have started using ‘punjabi show-off’ as a phrase. This speaks enough for itself.
Kolkata is the city of culture. Here people show-off their intellectuality. You will find people discussing about Pablo Neruda, Orhan Pamuk and Amitabha Ghosh in crowded buses, trains, metros and other crowded places. You may also find some heated discussion on 'How Obama's economic policies affecting the lifestyle of the people of Anguilla" or "How the ideology of Che Guevara would have helped the party workers in Singur" or "How the new satellite launched by NASA will actually worsen the lives of Pinta Island Tortoise in the Galapagos Islands" and so on... In Kolkata people also show-off the fact that they are actually not showing off colourful and flashy clothes and expensive items.
Bangalore is the IT hub where IT stands for Information Technology. Huge offices of the multinational companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Infosys, TCS, GE, etc are here. Here people love to show-off the name of the company they are working in. And how do they do it? They wear their office identity cards and go for shopping and movies on weekends :). Sometime they also wear T-shirts with their company names embossed on it and go to vegetable market, fish market and sometime to outstation also. Quite smart!
Mumbai is only city where I haven’t seen people showing off grossly. There are people who show-off their looks, status, education, etc. but it’s there everywhere. My brother when used to go to office, he used to take the local train. He used travel in first class. He used to find crorepatis sitting next to him in plain clothes showing off nothing. I don’t know the reason why people in Mumbai are so polite. But one reason may be that there are too many rich industrialists, too many celebrities, too many highly educated and too many powerful people staying in the city. May be that’s why general people don’t feel like showing off as they are no match to them.
Delhi is the city of the hardworking Punjabis and harsh jaths. Here you will see the show-off of money and power. For example, the Punjabis are so fond of showing off their fort-like gates painted in golden or copper colour, huge cars and expensive garments and jewelleries that now people have started using ‘punjabi show-off’ as a phrase. This speaks enough for itself.
Kolkata is the city of culture. Here people show-off their intellectuality. You will find people discussing about Pablo Neruda, Orhan Pamuk and Amitabha Ghosh in crowded buses, trains, metros and other crowded places. You may also find some heated discussion on 'How Obama's economic policies affecting the lifestyle of the people of Anguilla" or "How the ideology of Che Guevara would have helped the party workers in Singur" or "How the new satellite launched by NASA will actually worsen the lives of Pinta Island Tortoise in the Galapagos Islands" and so on... In Kolkata people also show-off the fact that they are actually not showing off colourful and flashy clothes and expensive items.
Bangalore is the IT hub where IT stands for Information Technology. Huge offices of the multinational companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Infosys, TCS, GE, etc are here. Here people love to show-off the name of the company they are working in. And how do they do it? They wear their office identity cards and go for shopping and movies on weekends :). Sometime they also wear T-shirts with their company names embossed on it and go to vegetable market, fish market and sometime to outstation also. Quite smart!
Mumbai is only city where I haven’t seen people showing off grossly. There are people who show-off their looks, status, education, etc. but it’s there everywhere. My brother when used to go to office, he used to take the local train. He used travel in first class. He used to find crorepatis sitting next to him in plain clothes showing off nothing. I don’t know the reason why people in Mumbai are so polite. But one reason may be that there are too many rich industrialists, too many celebrities, too many highly educated and too many powerful people staying in the city. May be that’s why general people don’t feel like showing off as they are no match to them.
Mekhla
I always wanted to buy a nice mekhla for myself. I had set two conditions for buying a mekhla. None of them fulfilled so I actually dropped the idea of buying it.
Then finally I bought it. It was very adamant and courageous step from my side. For last one and half years I have not bought anything which I wished. Not that I have bought nothing, but I have purchased only things of necessity. It’s true that I don’t really spend much but I have always bought things which I really wished and which is not really ‘necessary’ to have. But now when I go to malls and markets, I just find ‘nothing’ to buy. I see things that once I used to wish to buy. But I don’t buy them anymore even though I have money and freedom to buy that.
So, buying this mekhla was a big step for me. May be I am coming out of the shadow and slowly turning to real ‘me’, what I used to be before.
This mekhla is not a muga mekhla. Muga mekhlas cost 4-6 thousand rupees. I did not go for such expensive stuff. It’s a Rs 700 nice and very beautiful mekhla :)
Then finally I bought it. It was very adamant and courageous step from my side. For last one and half years I have not bought anything which I wished. Not that I have bought nothing, but I have purchased only things of necessity. It’s true that I don’t really spend much but I have always bought things which I really wished and which is not really ‘necessary’ to have. But now when I go to malls and markets, I just find ‘nothing’ to buy. I see things that once I used to wish to buy. But I don’t buy them anymore even though I have money and freedom to buy that.
So, buying this mekhla was a big step for me. May be I am coming out of the shadow and slowly turning to real ‘me’, what I used to be before.
This mekhla is not a muga mekhla. Muga mekhlas cost 4-6 thousand rupees. I did not go for such expensive stuff. It’s a Rs 700 nice and very beautiful mekhla :)
Aditya Roy Kapoor
I remember I saw this boy in London Dreams. Even though I liked him, that small role of him didn’t leave much impact on me. But I really liked him in Action Replay. I just adored him. Apart from acting skill, good looks and fitness, the one thing that I liked most about him was his dubbing skill. I liked him in Guzaarish too. I just hope he does get good work and shines even brighter.
After Konkona Sen Sharma, Vidya Balan, Amir Khan, Abhoy Deol and Ranvir Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapoor is another actor who is in my list whose movies I’ll wait for.
After Konkona Sen Sharma, Vidya Balan, Amir Khan, Abhoy Deol and Ranvir Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapoor is another actor who is in my list whose movies I’ll wait for.
Boleshwar river is no more there…
Last week when we went to Silchar, we made it a point to go to Jellalpur at least for one day. After a long, tiring and enthusiastic ride, when we reached there, I couldn’t remember when was the last time I had visited that place. Jellalpur is still my dream destination. And literally saying, almost every day I dream about its winding and quaint roads. The village hasn’t changed much except for the new road bridge that’s constructed over the river at the bus stop, which is no more a bus stop now. The buses and innumerable Sumo and Ambassador shuttle cars now park themselves further beyond nutan bazzar, somewhere just below the hospital hill. No wonder that the old bus stand and the nutan bazzar have lost their days of glory. This new road bridge though has made communication to Jellapur much easier but it has stolen my childhood memory of river-crossing journey in a ferry, which used to be filled with excitement, fear, suspense and intense curiosity. The bridge was a welcoming change to the people of Jellapur and more to our family since after spending years for getting a grant for the bridge, my grandfather had received the confirmation letter from the government just one week before his death. Though my grandfather is not acknowledged for his tremendous effort, the letters that he had sent to the local MLAs and MPs arguing reasons for a need of bridge for the village are still there.
In spite of the missing river-crossing adventure, I could sense the arrival of Jellalpur just by its smell. It’s weird but the smell of Jellapur is unlike anything. It has the combination of earthen dust, the odour of rice plant hay, the odour of the smoke coming out from the earthen chulha of my grandfather’s house and my grandfather’s mouth odour, which always used to smell of tamak that he used to take from hukkah. The smell was there and also there was the sound. Jellapur has its unique sound too. This sound is the combination of the chirping of numerous unknown birds, the sound of people talking afar, the sound of hand pumps and some unknown sounds.
Since the crop time was just over, the fields were barren and grey. The people we knew also turned old and weak and looked withered. This time Jellapur was more grey than green. But the real shocking fact was the absence of Boleshwar river. Since this is winter time, we knew that there wouldn’t be much water in the river. During winters we used to cross the river and climb the hillocks and go to the tea gardens on the other side of the river. This was the most exciting action we used to do for which we used to die for going to Jellalpur. But this time there was no river at all. On the place where our favourite river used to flow before, there were some pits here and there filled with muddy water! Unlike previous visits, this time we were carrying mobile phones with 5 MP camera. We were very excited to catch images of our favorite spots so that we can see them later. But this time the spots were vanished! Disheartened and disappointed, me and my sister when talked about the matter to elders, then we came to know that the reason behind this destruction was the quarry or the stone pit that’s constructed on the upper side of the river. Though this quarry has brought employment for many local people especially at this time when the tea garden is at the verge of closing down, it has spoilt my childhood fascination – the Boleshwar river.
In spite of the missing river-crossing adventure, I could sense the arrival of Jellalpur just by its smell. It’s weird but the smell of Jellapur is unlike anything. It has the combination of earthen dust, the odour of rice plant hay, the odour of the smoke coming out from the earthen chulha of my grandfather’s house and my grandfather’s mouth odour, which always used to smell of tamak that he used to take from hukkah. The smell was there and also there was the sound. Jellapur has its unique sound too. This sound is the combination of the chirping of numerous unknown birds, the sound of people talking afar, the sound of hand pumps and some unknown sounds.
Since the crop time was just over, the fields were barren and grey. The people we knew also turned old and weak and looked withered. This time Jellapur was more grey than green. But the real shocking fact was the absence of Boleshwar river. Since this is winter time, we knew that there wouldn’t be much water in the river. During winters we used to cross the river and climb the hillocks and go to the tea gardens on the other side of the river. This was the most exciting action we used to do for which we used to die for going to Jellalpur. But this time there was no river at all. On the place where our favourite river used to flow before, there were some pits here and there filled with muddy water! Unlike previous visits, this time we were carrying mobile phones with 5 MP camera. We were very excited to catch images of our favorite spots so that we can see them later. But this time the spots were vanished! Disheartened and disappointed, me and my sister when talked about the matter to elders, then we came to know that the reason behind this destruction was the quarry or the stone pit that’s constructed on the upper side of the river. Though this quarry has brought employment for many local people especially at this time when the tea garden is at the verge of closing down, it has spoilt my childhood fascination – the Boleshwar river.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Pest Control - Not very difficult
Finally finally finally....I have got my house pest controlled!
It was easy....not as difficult as I had assumed it to be.
I had called Just Dial for the phone numbers of a pest control company. They had given me quite a few phone numbers. I had called one of them and asked them to come at 9 o'clock on Saturday. I wanted it to be done on Saturday as I would be there at home on the next day also to do any cleaning, if needed. I must have sounded very demanding to them, that the guy actually came at 9 o'clock in the morning.
Then he took out his medicine, which was a paste like thing....and started putting drops at different places...while I pointed out some of the extra sensitive zones. I didn’t need to ‘evacuate’ the kitchen.
As he was done, we paid him and then started the real picture. Cockroaches started to come out and dying here and there. So both the Saturday and Sunday I spent cleaning the house.
But there is one problem for which the house is not a pest free house yet; there are some still left though the count has come down drastically. The reason is the microwave oven. There are quite a few pests inside it and unless we get it cleaned, the house can't be pest free actually. So, our next step is to send the microwave oven to LG service center for pest cleaning. Once that is done, we may have to get our house pest-controlled one more time to get rid of them.
But the situation is really good at home :)
It was easy....not as difficult as I had assumed it to be.
I had called Just Dial for the phone numbers of a pest control company. They had given me quite a few phone numbers. I had called one of them and asked them to come at 9 o'clock on Saturday. I wanted it to be done on Saturday as I would be there at home on the next day also to do any cleaning, if needed. I must have sounded very demanding to them, that the guy actually came at 9 o'clock in the morning.
Then he took out his medicine, which was a paste like thing....and started putting drops at different places...while I pointed out some of the extra sensitive zones. I didn’t need to ‘evacuate’ the kitchen.
As he was done, we paid him and then started the real picture. Cockroaches started to come out and dying here and there. So both the Saturday and Sunday I spent cleaning the house.
But there is one problem for which the house is not a pest free house yet; there are some still left though the count has come down drastically. The reason is the microwave oven. There are quite a few pests inside it and unless we get it cleaned, the house can't be pest free actually. So, our next step is to send the microwave oven to LG service center for pest cleaning. Once that is done, we may have to get our house pest-controlled one more time to get rid of them.
But the situation is really good at home :)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A Donkey's Life
If you don't have a vehicle of your own and your company also doesn't provide buses/cabs, then surely you are leading a donkey's life.
That's exactly what I am doing now.
That's exactly what I am doing now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)