Just Read On

It was a lovely Sat eve. I was taking a walk along the beach, eating peanuts and commenting on the smart pants following us. Just when I was about to swear at the smart-pants, my cell phone rang. It was my mom. She sounded very hyper.

Me: Hi Mamma Darling

Mom: Where are you?

Me: In the beach. It’s a lovely weather. Dint feel like studying

Mom: Ya right! When did u ever feel like studying?

Me: Just 2 hours before the exam…he he

Mom: You are a useless creature. I guess we should just get you married off.

Me: What on earth is u talking? I will study well from now on. Will get 1^st rank in the class. Promise.

Mom: Pack your bags and be ready tomo by 6. Dad’s gonna come and pick you up. Something urgent at home. You need to be here.

Me: (All excited) Is it? Tell me what it is?

Mom: well…I don’t wanna spoil the surprise for you baby!

Me: Well…if you say so… C ya tomo

All excited, I reached home early after a quick dinner and started packing and hit the sack. The early next day, dad came to pick me up, and I reached home.

And what a shocker did I get there. The whole place was decorated as if for a wedding with the mandap and all. Millions of relatives all around began congratulating me. I ran inside to hunt for my mom. The moment I found her, I asked her what exactly is happening. And then she gave me that sly smile and said – teri shaadi. I thought she must be kidding. Just when I started arguing, 3 of my aunts came in and dragged me in the bollywood filmi ishtyle and started to dress me up for the upcoming events. I wailed and cried but to no avail.

Then towards the evening, I could hear the band baaja, and people hurrying out to see the dulhe raja entering the mandap. I still could not believe all this was happening! Now this mandap was a small little place between two walls where the bride and the broom..oops groom could just about fit in. The shaadi concluded at about the expected time, and then was the bidaai.

After the bidaai, my dear husband (lets call him Mr. G for now) was in such a hurry to rush for the honeymoon, supposedly in Goa. So off we went in a white maruti to the airport. Enroute we stopped at a mall to buy candles, apparently sold in huge vases. This mall was a freaky looking one. A narrow looking corridor without lights with hundreds of shops lined on both the sides. While Mr.G was busy paying the bills, I, for God-knows-what stumbled into my HOD from college. And I just could not stop the burst of tears at that time and started weeping with my head on her shoulder (it must be a crazy crazy nightmare to be doing this). She tried and consoled me by saying “ bade bade sehron mein aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hai” (the immortal dialog from DDLJ).

We then bid farewell to the HOD and then left in the Maruti. We drove on for quite sometime, with me wailing all through and him trying to ask me weird questions like, what do you think of me etc etc. We just about reached Goa and checked into the hotel when we heard a knock on the door.

Now please let not your imagination run wild. I am sure you must have guessed by this time that all this was a crazy dream. I was told later that the knocking on the door continued for about 45 mins when I finally woke up and that’s when I realized all this was a dream. And guess who that lucky groom was (No money for guessing, but well, its beyond any guesses too), it was GOVINDA, our very own bollywood actor Govinda. I am not sure if I am to call this entire situation a dream or a nightmare. Thankfully, the knock on the door came in at the right time!

Is this Life?

Is life unfair? Why should a person not get what he/she likes? Why are there to be so many meaningless compromises? And why should a person be forced to like whatever he gets?

Life is too complicated. And we complicate it further in our endeavors to understand life better. The process of understanding life is like chasing a mirage. The closer you think you are getting at unfurling the mystery, the more is the number of inexplicable things that lie in front of you.

But then, isn’t even looking for an answer to this question a complication in itself. Why even bother finding an answer instead of just living life as it comes.

Why do we keep imagining life to be whatever it is that we imagine it to be? Is it true that we are a figment of our own imagination? Is imagination a part of reality or is reality the eventuality of our own imagination?

The Amritsar Trip, Jun 12 -14, 2009

Well…I love road trips…and ones that are unplanned, all the more. I was happily lazing around after a hard day’s work (Phew!!), I blissfully forgot my mobile phone in the room. Later I saw a missed call from a friend. He said, chalti kya? and I said theek hai chal..! And thus was decided, our journey to Amritsar.

We started at about 11.30 in the night, and hit the GT road in around an hour's time. We stopped at a trukkawala dhaba for a quick dinner. The tandoori rotis that we had ther - amazing! I personally feel a lot of these dhabas actually serve better food than most of the high profile restaurants, and of course they are easy on the pocket. In around an hour's drive from there, we reached Ambala. In Ambala, it was time for the driver's to switch, and I also shifted to the front seat, to keep the driver awake!

The best part of the journey was the smooth ("makkhan" type as sreeni liked to call it) roads. And of course, less of the pedestrian and auto and suchlike traffic. But then, one thing that I observed was that none of the truck drivers or the bus drivers would give an indicator when they change directions, which is a pretty sad situation for any person in the drivers's seat.

The day dawned upon us at about 4-4.30 in the morning. The scenic beauty lay sprawled across acres and acres of Punjab. The effect of green revolution could be seen so clearly in the heartlands of Punjab, greenery everywhere. Though it was the harvesting season this time round the year, it still was a lot greener than anywhere else I had seen. The guys in the backseat also started waking up, and at around 6.30 in the morning, we reached Amritsar.

As it has to happen on all the trips, a little confusion. Having driven down all the way, we were prety tired, and so we decided that we go to the Golden Temple first, and then head to the guest house, have a good sleep for 3-4 hours and then go around a little in the city and then head straight to wagah border. And therefoe we reached The Golden Temple, and waited for another friend who was supposed to to join us. But then, the realization that we did not even freshen up started hitting us pretty bad. So we decided that it would be wiser to freshen up first and come to the temple rather than incur the wrath of the Gods.

The guest house that we were staying in was in the cantonement area, a very pretty English style place made of red bricks. It was beatiful with a whole big front yard, a cattle shed, a common dining area, and huge lawns, swimming pool, and a play area for the kids (supposedly). The rooms, the upholstery in the rooms, the lamposts, the bathrooms and the bath-tub, all transported me back to 19th century. The only 20th century thing in that room was the AC. There was no TV or a fridge or a telephone in the room, and a good thing that they dint have all that, because of the number of power cuts. One night, and there was no power for at least 3 hours.

At about 10,. we headed to the golden temple. Its a beautiful place, but looked a little smaller to me compared to the pictures that we see on TV and in the print media. The sarovar there was beautiful with hundreds of fishes, and goodnes,the size of the fishes, at least one and a half foot long. The best part of the day was the weather. It was drizzling sligthy and halfway in the que to the darshan, it started pouring. By the time we finished our darshan and came out, the rain did also stop and we then had a round of photo shoot covering all the possible angles of the temple. Later, we went to the Langar to have the free bhojan (mind you, we were starving till then, not a morsel of foor nor a drop of water) and devoured all the yummy food that was served. Punjabi khana rocks.

We then went to the jalianwala bagh memorial. Spent a few mins there, looking at the wierd people who were happily taking photographs at the small pyramid sorta structure with the inscription - "the canons were fired from here".

In an hours time from The golden temple, we reached "taran taaran". Its a gurudwara again, which is much bigger compared to the Golden temple. But unlike Amritsar, the weather was very extremely sunny and humid. The sarovar here was beautiful and the fishes, much bigger. After coming out we had a goli soda, and totapari aam, and then headed to Antar's aunty's place.

The initial half an hour or so in his aunt's place was very wierd. The entire family was catching up with the recent happenings in pure punjabi. And we 4 cartoons were sitting there looking at each other's face and also at Sreeni, for it was his brilliant idea that we were actually sitiing there, otherwise the junta was in a mood to go back to the guest house for a quick nap and then head to wagah border in the evening. But anyways, the intial discomfort settled down quite quickly, thanks to Antar's family, who were extremely hospitable and nice. They made us feel totally at home. The guys started their bakar, and aunty asked me to go to the other room and just lie down for some time, but thanks to the power cuts again, me, aunty and ammi (another frnd) started yapping. And then it was time for lunch.

And what a lunch it was. The hommade tandoori rotis (which is a very difficult process, its made in this cylindrical pot with the bottom open. The fire is lit with coal, the rotis are then spread out with the hand, not with a belan, and stuck to the sides of the tandoor. After they a little done, then its tossed onto the flame, and removed in an instant, and out it comes, perfectly done! A generous amount of ghee is then applied to the roti), the bhindi ki bhaji, the egg bhujia, the raitha, and salad. Now I understand why Punjabis look so well built and hatte - khatte, thanks to all the butter and the ghee. For desserts, we had ice cream, and musk melon, straight from the farm. The taste cannot be compared to anything that we get here in the cities. ummmmmmm :)

After a short nap, and a quick tea, the 4 of us then bade good byes to everyone. I was so touched when Antar's bua ji called me in, gave me a 100 bucks saying, pehli baar ladki ghar aayi hai humare, le le. Its very heart warming to see that the sanskriti and parampara and the riwaaz that all the soaps keep crying about all day long in the saas-bahu serials, is actually still alive.

We then hit the road, to the wagah border, an hour's drive from taran taaran. We reached a little late, the parade had already started. From the parking lot till the parade area, the border, we ran the entire KM, only to see the mad crowd there. We could not even catch a glimpse of the parade. The ingenious Yatish bought the CD covering the entire procession. After spending nearly 40-45 mins there, we headed back to the guest house in amritsar.

Though all of us were very tired, and loaded with the heavy luch, we felt that leaving Amritsar without having the famous Amritsari kulchha was a crime (courtesy - chandak and yatish), and thus, set out on foot, in search of a suitable place to have the kulchaa. We would have walked nearly 3 Kms, the first being in the cantonement area was nice, but when we entered the city again, the din of the traffic and the lights around made the walk less enjoyable. We finally reached a dhaba, had some kulchaas, which were not very great, and then headed back, this time in an auto. No more walking.

Back in the guest house, being the beautiful place that it was, we decided to spend some while in the swings. Me and chandak had a competition as to who will go higher up on the swing. And of course, I won, owing to my light weightedness. And then it was on another golchakkar type of things (I dunno what it is called), that we did a little time pass, and then back to the swing, and then doubles on the swing. After that, it was tata goodby and goodnight.

The plan was to wake up by 4 and hit the road by 5. But we managed to wake up only at 6.30 and left by around 7.30 types. The breakfast was the yummy musk melon. We were to reach a place called hamira and wait for ammi to join us. And thanks to antar that he sent lovely paranthas, and a trunk full of muskmelons and watermelons. And we resumed our journey again appreciating the beauty of "Punjab ki haryali". Stopped at a dhaba for a yet another yummy lunch, and then headed straight to delhi without any breaks. Reached Delhi by around 6, and thus ended our eventful trip.

Early days in Delhi – 7 months late to be talking about

Nov 2^nd- the day that I landed in Delhi. It was a pleasant Sunday morning. My aunt had come to pick me up and we went straight home. Had a very sumptuous breakfast and then started yapping with my aunt. I knew that she was one really cool person, but never knew that she was extremely cool. I kinda could see myself in her, aakhir aunty kiski hai J. The entire day was spent just gossiping and catching up etc.

My first day at work

The reason that I was called in 3 days ahead of my joining time was that, I, a fresher at the job, was expected to attend a conference, and also try and get some business leads. Though I was briefed about my profile, and the kinda responsibility that I was supposed to take, I was not quite ready for the conference and lead generation and nonsense. Can you believe that. It was like an acid test or something. The coneference on the 1st day was to start only at 6 in the evening, so I was at work, sitting peacefully at my desk, and wondering what exactly to do because the whole office was shifting from the 3^rd floor to the ground floor. In the chaos, out of nowhere, there was a lady who walked in to the office, and started yelling at a few people here, for someone in our office had blocked her parking space. I was just watching and enjoying the show. Little did I know that it was just the intermission, and the yelling was to resume again, though, by another person from the office itself. The yelling and the drama was all bout not getting a separate cabin, being the sr manager, and for being asked to share the cubicle with someone else. Anyway, the opening of the conference was to be at 6 in the eve, and I did not stay back for it because I had to get back home, all the way till gurgaon from Delhi. But then, I was introduced to the CFO who offered to give me a lift till gurgaon.

The 2^nd day at the conference, the session started at 9 in the morning, there, I made friends with an architect who was also attending the event alone, and we mostly tagged around together, except for when the director of our company was around, and he introduced me to a few people. The day went well, the same scene for the remaining days at the conference.

After the conference got over, I was again sitting at my desk, researching some info, and then all of a sudden, I hear yelling. And this time, it was the Chairman himself. Some major screw up happened in the accounts dept, and the boss lost his cool, and lo and behold, what all dint I get to hear. I will be banned from blogging if I type all that.

But anywyas, the next two days of the week passed very peacefully and then came the weekend. Just one week into work, and I felt as if I have been working all my life, and been in delhi all through. When I was in Chennai, or Bangalore, for studying, it took me a little while to get used to the feel of the city, Chennai took quite long though! But delhi never gave me the jitters! Felt very comfortable here, probably because I was not staying in a hostel and was at my aunt’s!

To be cotd…..!

Awakening the dead

Though the title might sound a little far fetched, and might have your imagination running wild, I am actually talking only about resuming blogging again, not digging through a grave and finding a long lost skeleton of a God knows what! In all the days that I think I should restart the blogo-mania, I keep wondering what do I write about. And I end up sleeping over it…literally, and then it is conveniently forgotten for a very long time, except for when I read some interesting blogs which gives me the rush to think of the forgotten blog again. I had a blogspot earlier; it was called kool-klub. The name sounded so mundane, and so boring, that I decided I will create a new blogspot once again. And this blogspot, I have called it myriad-thoughtz, and why not. A place to express thousands of my views here, if I please J

First I thought, may be I should write something about my first experience in Delhi. But then, laziness took over me and I was so excited about my new job that I forgot all about it. Added to that, I used to travel 35 Km one way from my aunt’s place in Gurgaon to my new workplace in def col, Delhi. By the time I used to get back, all that I wanted to was, eat and crash. And by the time I typed the title, I felt it’s a little too late to write about the early days in Delhi. But nevertheless, will write about that too, someday!

But since joining in the job, things changed overnight. Though I dint have a lot of work to do in the first few months, I was accounted for every hour spent in the office. Being an independent and a freedom lover all my life, this fact took a little while to sink in and getting used to. Things were very slow in the starting, and the division that I am working for, being a new division, was a total chaos, and still continues to be so, though a lot of things have finally settled down. But these days, thanks to my new boss, I am allowed all the freedom that I need. I do the job my way, hook or crook! J. It’s all about the end results!

I like my job for the sole reason that it is not monotonous. Every new day, there are several surprises at work. I just cannot predict what’s going to happen in the next hour, what kind of people I might be meeting, how the discussion might take off, who I might yell at, and who might fling a chair at me, I never know (it’s a possibility in this land, I swear). Jokes apart, people here are alright to work with, they are not great. Being in the city of high profile political drama, the effects of politics and politicizing has sunk in a way further into the offices than in any other city.

I am typing off this blog sitting in the office (It’s a Monday morning, and I am going through the routine Monday blues) and what a way to spend a Monday morning; guess I should make this a habit. But for now, I gotta get back to the excel sheets and the mailbox. :(

I am a Cook'er too :)

Hmmm....yummy....tasty....!!!!! This was the response I got when I made vegetable rice last night.

I usually am, or rather, was the kind of person who dint even know where the kitchen was in the house. The only real time kitchen experience I had till earlier was making maggi or a steaming cup of hot coffee. I could only cook as well as an aadivaasi. But recently I discovered the joy ofcooking. It feels great to see people enjoying the food u cook.

Once upon a time, long long ago, in my 9th or 10th grade, when I was still usnsure about which career path to take, I thought may be I should become a chef. So I tried making this stuff namely Mexican rice, but what ultimately it became was african rice. It was burnt black, and sadly the dustbin had to eat it. Several more dishes after that also ended up in disastrous shapes and colours. And there ended my idea of cooking to earn a living. After that episode, neither I nor anybody in my family entertained the idea of me entering the kitchen premises. In emergency cases, dad used to cook, and mind you, he is a great chef.

Sometime earlier, my mom had fallen ill, and being the eldest daughter,and according to a general opinion of all aunts and uncles in the family, being of an agreeable age to get married ( well., I dont quite agree though),I was shown the entry to the kitchen. Reluctantly, I opened the fridge, and the first veggie my eyes fell on was capsicum. So I googled for some capsicum recipie which my mom never tried, and came up with one. It took me nearly an hour and a half to finally finish cooking. And to my surpriseit tasted good. I gave some to my didi, and she came running to find out the recipie.

And from that day on my cooking expeditions started, made at least one dish everyday for a week since then. And thankfully all of them turned out to be good. So now my parents happily claim that at least I wont starve my future husband and kids :P