The Radhachura tree

I remember reading somewher that there are more than a thousand types of gulmohor flower available. I may get the number wrong though. Among all these types of gulmohor the one that still has been fascinating me since the age of two years is the thick yellow flowers with coffe coloured stems and seeds, which we call Radhachura.

I remember we were in Hailakandi then. We used to stay in the house, the last property that my grandfather had built just after they moved there from Hobiganj after India got its independence at the cost of partition, which not only cost my grandfather two houses and some acres of fertile land but also his life.

There were two gulmohor trees at the two sides of the huge gate guarding the house with two lawns and two ponds. One of them was a Krishnachura tree which used to beautify itself with big red flowers. That's the most common pattern of gulmohor avialbale I think. The other was the Radhachura tree. The nature must be the greatest fashion designer. It releases such great colour combinations that it becomes the biggest trend later. The combination of thick yellow and coffee colour is one such example.

Ours was a joined family. As our mother and aunts used to be busy in kitchen all day, me and my sister used to play all day under those trees. There used to be a mild fragrance in the air. It was so mild and faint that I never acknowledged it until last week when I went to the SBI branch near my house in Bangalore and a familiar fragrance automatically drew my face upward. It was the same Radhachura tree, I was standing under whose shaded area. It was as familiar as of a loving relative and such was its fragrance. For a second I forgot that I was thousands miles away from a house that exists no more and that more than two decades have passed since that playful time. But Radhachura is still there never ceasing to adorn itself with beautiful flowers and mild fragrance.

Some Unfulfilled Dreams

It's true that I don't like Delhi but I used to like the India Gate and the surrounding area a lot. Otherwise very harsh and intolerable Delhi climate turns to be a very nice one only twice a year - February-March and October-November. I always used to wish to spend a full evening in India Gate and its surrounding areas during those four months. But it never happened.

February-March is the time when Delhi roads are the prettiest due to blooming gulmohor trees arrayed on either sides of the roads. When I used to come home from office, I used to take office bus or cab, I used see those windy roads in Dwarka and used to dream that one day I would walk down the road and count the trees and take lots of images. I still sometimes dream those roads that I could never walk.

Winters is the fair time in Delhi. There happens one fair after another during that time. One such fair is Trade Fair. Probably there is not a single person left in the city who has not visited Trade Fair, except for me of course :) I used to hear a lot of stories about people's experiences in the Trade Fair and I used to dream that I would also go there one day, but it never happened. Same was with the Surajkund Fair. Even before going to Delhi I heard people talking a lot about it, but I never happened to visit that place. Though I used to see my friends and colleagues in office using various stuff bought from Surajkund Fair, I never had the chance to go there.

Delhi rains used to be marvelous. I always dreamt of going to India Gate and Mehrauli-Gurgaon road during rains. But I never had the chance to do so.

I may not return to Delhi anymore. But I am hopeful that I'll fulfill my dreams in Bangalore. The wish that tops the chart is visiting Ulsoor lake :)

Where do they go?

I have a confession to make. I have a fetish. Whenever I travel and come across a road diversion or flyover diversion, I yearn to see where the roads that I have not taken go!

This happens the most when I take the regular route everyday. Generally I go by the same route and I keep wishing that the bus had taken wrong diversion. But it happens never!

The Taste does matter

I am not very stylish, neither do I spend a lot on branded garments. But I make sure that I dress decently. After all, the clothes are reflections of our minds. My mother says that when you see anyone wearing tattered, torn, unclean and worn-out dresses (even though that person has enough money to buy decent clothes), you'll understand that that person possesses 'tama guna', which is the worst type of character a person can posses according to Hindu shastras. The complete list of all guna in descending order of virtue is : Satya, Raja, Tama.

Anyway, back to me. I always prefer to wear clean cotton dresses. Though I am not a brand freak, but when it comes to buy readymade dresses, I prefer to buy it from a good shop. Earlier I used to like to shop from Fabindia but I have stopped it ever since their revised price has reached sky. Now I pick dresses from any good showroom.

But I have always been appreciated for my taste for dresses, bags, shoes and other accessories. Recently I had bought a handbag. It cost me Rs. 350. Next day when I went to office, a colleague of mine liked it so much that she insisted me to get the same bag for her. I got one for her. The next day when I reached office with two bags, one in my use and the other for my colleague, another colleague of us insisted me to get the same bag for his wife. So the next day I got another bag again! Later when I checked other places, I came to know that the minimum price that bag is available elsewhere is Rs. 800!

So, that's how I shop. I don't buy expensive branded stuff. But I buy decent things and for that I need to pick the stuff of my choice from a place of my choice. And of course my mobile phone. It's still a rage among my friends and colleagues. I never liked any Micromax or Corby mobile. I know what I like and I want to go for the stuff I like. I have bought Nokia X5-01 and I still relish the moment when people appreciate it with raised eyebrows.

There was a time in my life when I was not allowed to buy anything - forget about buying a thing of my choice. I had to wear something which used to loathe. On top of that I used be accused of possessing a bad taste by the same people who used to compel me from buying stuff of my choice! What an irony! Thank god I am out of that dirty well now.

A devotee or a nastik?

Swami Vivekananda once said that the person who doesn't believe himself is the greatest nastik.

I know a person who demands himself to be the greatest devotee of god because he bows down before god innumerable times a day; before leaving home (even if he is going to grocery shop in the neighbourhood) his prayers to god are unending, he takes innumerable dips in the river Ganga in Haridwar as he believes that more number of dips he takes the more punya he earns and also when he takes such a dip, he makes sure that he stays under water for maximum time possible as he believes that the longer dips he takes, the more punya he earns.

Now the person has other interesting characteristics also when it comes to trusting himself. He cannot take any decision himself. From the smallest to the biggest decisions, he has to ask his mother to help him. If his friend invites him over for lunch or dinner, he will ask his mother what he should reply. Everytime he has gone to the vegetable market, he will call his mother at least for 5-7 times to ask what vegetable he should get; he would also narrate to his mother what vegetables he can see infront of him and they are of what colour and what quality. This he does everytime he goes to the vegetable markeet. If he goes to buy cloth for himself or somebody else, he will call his mother and narrate the types of designs and colours he can see in fromt him. He also asks the shop keeper that he would come back if necessary to change the cloth if his mother doesn't like the dress even if he has just bought a shirt for himself. While having lunch or dinner, if the peerson who is serving the food is not his mother and in the middle of the meal if that person asks him if he would like to have some more rice or dal, he would ask his mother if he should have more. By the way, the person I am talking about here is 36 years old. Also, if there is anyone in his office who is giving him trouble or there is some new opportunity in his company, he would ask his mother what to do even if his mother has no understanding about corporate culture.

What should we call that person: a devotee or a nastik? One good thing is that he would not really bother what Swami Vivekananda said since his mother doesn't approve of anything said by Ramakrishna Mission or people associated with it :)

It's quite clear that this person's mother is the decision maker in the house and she has made him a bonsai in order to have the control in her hand. But shouldn't the son be capable of taking his own decision? Shouldn't the son have fiesta in his life? Shouldn't the boy also rise?

Congratulations to me

Finally I have joined the company which I wanted to join for so many years.

Congratulations to me :)

We are world champions!!!

Finally we are world champions after a long wait of 28 years.

At a moment when it seemed to be an imposible task, Gambhir, Kohli and Dhoni made us believe on miracles that nothing is unacievable. Hats off to team India :)