Falsa (Grewia asiatica) - The Summer Superfruit

Falsa(s) fruit, served chilled with slight sprinkle of salt or spices - photo clicked by Author

    Summer months, particularly May and June but also April, provide us with refreshing purple berries known as Falsa or Phalsa. They form part of childhood memories for many children and elderlies alike. The sour-sweet and tangy taste has a lasting impression. These seasonal berries are native to South Asia, particularly grown in India and Pakistan.  

    Scientifically named as Grewia asiatica, these berries are grown primarily in Indian subcontinent. These bushes or small trees are grown in India and Pakistan at large scale particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal and in Himalayan foothills.

Old Kent Road

Leisure Weekends! #games #fun #design #colours #monopoly #home

A post shared by Manik Doomra (@manikdoomra) on May 3, 2015 at 12:29am PDT

Do you know the difference between a beautiful woman and a charming one? A beauty is a woman you notice, a charmer is one who notices you.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/adlaieste114102.html?src=t_beautiful

Do you know the difference between a beautiful woman and a charming one? A beauty is a woman you notice, a charmer is one who notices you.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/adlaieste114102.html?src=t_beautiful

If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads. - Anatole France

The cheapest property on a standard Monopoly board is incidentally the most practical one. It often is available for free and it yields good returns. It is an easy and workable investment, low-maintenance and promises good and safe growth. It might very well enrich your pockets.

The life lesson it gives is that while the high price and desire for Mayfair and Park Lane are attractive and charming, being over-invested in these lofty goals beyond reasonable risks is not worth the pursuit. The chase is addictive and might turn tumultuous, irrational as most passions.

Measuring pros and cons is very business-like; unemotional. But, so is most modern life. It is but bland and high ideals are often butt of jokes. You seek and chase the big dreams, often ignoring numerous small and benign opportunities.

Old Kent Road is the escape you seek and the bargain is, often, not bad, but essentially heart-breaking. The beginnings are often humble. And the high prizes come in due course... So is the never-dying hope for Mayfair...

With Love To The Monopoly Board (metaphorical and philosophical one)...

Lahore

Tangible Intangible #spiritual #Delhi #diwali

A photo posted by Manik Doomra (@manikdoomra) on Nov 25, 2016 at 10:34am PST

Old man pours him milk, breadcrumbs dipped in it. Early morning pedigree.. 7:20 am north-bound mail just departed 15 minutes ago. Peeling oranges, he instructs Chotu to arrange bread on display and sprinkle water to settle the dust on the street. A red Coca-Cola truck parks in front, laden with bottles - black, orange, green and white. Marigolds plucked fresh being sewn into garlands...

An hour later, sun has risen up in the sky. Old wrinkly hands carefully oil his young body, working oil deep in his skin. Sun has started burning their skin, but towering old figure commands him to finish the exercises. Flesh of his young bony figure yearns for touch of water. Burnished he sweats hard - the regular Sunday routine. It is now that he doesn't mind those silent moments of being drowned into water, mornings that he would wake up underwater. The magic touch of water comes in due course, followed religiously by buttered Paranthas.

By afternoon, the old man is dwelling on a bed, clad in his trademark white attire - a shirt and a lungi. His moustache glorious and charming. Turban sitting pretty on his perennially bald head. Young lad adores the crisp touch of his white shirt and bony body, looking forward to the stories from eternity. Stories of Mughals, Marathas, Rajputs, but mostly stories from Lahore, stories from lost Punjab and stories of adoring English masters.

He would hear of classrooms full of Musalmans and Sikhs, reading Urdu and Sanskrit, together. Sikh villages surrounded by Muslim populations and vice-versa. Memories of a rickety truck distributing ice in Lahore and 20 miles around, leaving dust trails along the Grand Trunk Road. He would tell him, "Musalman aurataan dudh vargiyan chittiya si" (Muslim women were white as milk). Long tales of his pursuits and how he managed to please Maulwis (teachers in Madrasa) with intellect unusual of a Jatt. The boy was particularly amazed to hear of Mughal lineage, stories of Harems and how Aurangzeb taxed Hindus and imprisoned his own father, viciously with a clear view of Taj. These were not stories from text books, these were oral stories generations told each other.

Out of curiosity, he would ask him to write "Delhi" in Urdu. The result was pure art, a calligraphic imprint. Sifar, he learnt, was how zero is called in Urdu. So much more seductive than any pronunciation in any other language. Amazingly, he didn't hear much negative about English, people or language, from old man's Punjabi mouth. Cheerful mentions of English madam wishing to take him to England and tears she had when India was being left behind. Little guy had often wondered how England would have been... While English dream was never fulfilled, Fortunes and toils left behind in the land of Five Waters. But, little could anyone complain, it was but shared fate of everyone they knew.

Delhi to begin was a refugee camp. Societies having little choice, but to flourish. Coming together in honeycombs spread across city, the beginnings were needy and benign. Fortunes were founded on qualities of perseverance, collaboration, spirit and vigour. We could say it was a Phoenix...

Bye Bye 2009! Happy New Year.

Image courtesy : jurvetson on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

This would be a boring post, though I have tried my best to make it readable. But at the best it just accounts my whole year of 2009.

January
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1) Jan 5 - Back to college, after long winter break! We all love that slow journey on Indian railways.
2) We had cards sessions in Shashi's room, while his roomies exercised to guitar's tunes! Tried for 2 days, after that my abs were extinct. And I was not able to keep track of my losses! Time is spent setting things up!
3) Jan 14 - Guddu's birthday! :O Hardly matters, I am busy flying kites in the sky!
3) Jan 23 - Got my laptop. Love it, exclusive purple matte finish for me only. Shall I say this? But nice to find Shrey and Nilabh welcome you at home along with your family, late at night. Boosts na!
3) Jan 26 - Back to Jaipur. A fantastic journey, will never forget! Forgot Foo's birthday! Movies and a truly effortless laugh-riot.

February
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1) Feb 6-8 - Blitzschlag days! Funny times. Nice outings.
2) Feb (end-week) - Pune visit, met Debz, Mumbai-Pune expressway journey! Mumbai was dull experience, kill you Foo I think you could manage flunking an exam!
3) In true sense it was dumbest month of the year!

March
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1) Mar 19 - A distinct birthday, can't be more thankful for the fun and surprises you provided.
2) Mar 22 - fabulous scooty ride with Abhinav.
3) Newly acquired Nokia slider (miss you buddy) made me click happy!

April
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1) Blogging month of the year, not actual blogging but management stuff, networking, socialising!

May
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1) Vacations begin! Lazy times! Did nothing, just eat, sleep, friends and Mafia wars.

June
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1) A month of communications. Internet networking comes into play.
2) Phone livens up again.
3) Evening cricket matches and socialising did things great.
4) Jun 29, a college reunion.

July
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1) July 1 and 3 - Outings with college friends!
2) July 8 - Agra visit. Hotel was a sucker. Enlightening train journey, poor kiddos still in my mind. Piyush, Nilabh, Gaurav and Me! Monuments were just nice.
3) July 9 - Return from Agra, still remember that we didn't try to convince Spaniards to join us on the bus journey! The leaking roof of bus was fun. Nilabh and Piyush must be able remember my most jolly and outrageously ecstatic moods in the beginning of journey. One of most crazy adventures of life, after long time did something so out-of-mind, ran away without paying auto-rickshaw, got caught resulting in a 2 month long cold war with Nilabh!
4) Colleges reopen in end week - Probably the busiest day of the year was registration for the 3rd semester. Totally exhausted after moving into new room.
6) Enjoyed long late night strolls to Gandhi Nagar station with Abhinav.

August
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1) As a general trend it was an ecstatic beginning to the semester, it at least to me was enthralling to discuss designs with Kalpana madam and have those climatology lectures.
2) Aug 2 - A nice friendship day. Thanks Tanvi and Kriti.
3) Oh! Mr. Siddharth got new really fantastic approach! A legalised way of bunking classes, mail me assignments! Not being sarcastic, I in reality like this approach, saves time.
4) Jantar Mantar! Shaily, Kriti, me and Abhinav. Tell me guys if it was fun or not?
5) Jumped into ANDC thing! Learned a lot from this thing, but now-a-days I cease to be appreciative of everything and I really shall repent getting into this endeavour, and for the first time I am ready to accept I was not firm in my approach, it was just an outlook. Talk more, do less attitude of every single person in the team and every group and even from my side made me go haywire and I acted out a moron in later parts of months. But this fiasco taught me some of the nicest chapters! (What the fuck! Why am I even yelling????)

September
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1) Partially realised my errors, made amends in first week, roped in Himanshu (Oh! Manik Doomra is an asshole and considers himself the in-charge of some big projects!). Love you friend, my first Photoshop tutor (I will never need another). Salute, to everyone who was a partner...
2) Ran to Delhi, don't now but now I consider myself lucky to have been through a 65 km long jam which made Jaipur-Delhi travel last 14 hours!
3) All submissions delayed by at least one week, aftershocks I guess! With no reasons to give I made my own joke in class-rooms!
4) Dusshera celebrated with a ride (tripling), Pawan, me and Abhinav. Crossword and Dhabas!


October
--------------------------------------------
1) Started revival, got organised.
2) Great I was exercising for a change! (Happens when you want to drain out that extra energy!)
3) Diwai breaks! Abhishek and me are jolly doing something common (...silly he made me think it as of a mutual thing, it was a distinct case with me!) Social I was becoming, sickening even to think I hosted family members with courtesy! :O
4) Back in college, had a plan (Like most things involving more than one person failed miserably! Avneet dear sorry, I can't keep the bet!)
5) Now I was bunking with an excellent degree of precision, but now I was careful not to misuse this time!
6) Got friendly and frank with room-mates and visiting friends! Bike rides are back in scene, Oct 26 - Zip Zap Zoom - V! Since Diwali break, everyone was asking where Himanshu boss has vanished.
7) Got back to reading habits, 2 states and City of Djinns (yukk, its real bore stuff!) Sidney Sheldon (couldn't read more than 50 pages, not because of boredom or heavy lingo, but my lazy nature (killed it anyhow) . Senuti's recommendations!)

November
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1) I love this month. Exams, movies, magazines, thadi nights, cricket matches, strolls...
2) Room-mates, me and few new found acquaintances (Shri Krishna Meena, Mani and xyz), that's life.
3) Madam Foo is there on the other end of the fan. Guddu and Mom are among other regular callers! These people are punctual. Must tell you, am a sucker. If these guys can be so good despite their hectic and busy lives, why the hell I do fail?
4) Everything was Photoshopped! Exams were fun (for last time I guess, expecting a dip in scores!)
5) Later in the month, I was getting ecstatic as well as hasty to leave for Delhi. Plans were set and abuzz on net as well as phone!)

December
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1) Blog is the new life. Shri Krishna challenges me to post once daily! And I do accept and here you see results.  I write poems and social stuff!
2) Dec 4 - Blown by jury, totally injured state of mind! We are back in Delhi, nobody knows my whereabouts for next 3 days.
3) Contacted friends one after another. Even tried to make a plan of excursion with few college friends (frankly a half-hearted attempt, and essentially a half-hearted response!)
4) Mumbai and Chennai both were turned down! Thankful to myself for the decision, loved to be with friends and family in the city only.
5) Daily morning it was a walk, basketball, badminton or cricket, sweet-corn, bread-butter, fog and sunshine, dipping temperatures are fun!
6) A girl comes back and makes space to linger in my mind and I tell you she does no bad any more. And I like to dance (edit, go on long strolls, vo hand-in-hand wali walks, head on shoulder wali talks, banayengey buildings saath-saath with her (in my dream world) as 95 FM and MP3 buzz in my ear-plugs. :)
7) I try to complete some works and take time (...ajeeb dastan hain, vacations mein
busy college days mein ye ladka free hai) to not annoy family people by joining them to various places. (I actually don't want to deny this thing, it is true that I can spend hours sitting on floor of that District Centre Wordsworth book shop if Guddu gets along with me. And madam don't dare tease me for this confession as you know I still have that option in mind, though she thinks me as no option ;) )

Chalo! Account closed! New Year, probably a new Manik, the experiment continues!!! :D Perfect nahi milega, item yeh pango se bhara hai!!! :D :P :$ :O

This was a summary of my 2009, complete to best of my knowledge! Though I do not guarantee not missing some things. An excellent year passes by! No regrets. Happy New Year to everyone. Make sure you all make 2010 even more successful and fun.

Enigma : A Journey From School Days

Image courtesy : joaquinuy on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

Bus treads rapidly on National Highway 58 enroute Mussorie form Delhi. It is a dark night and guys (and gals) are having nice time in the back rows of the bus - chattering, pranking, giggling, tricking and yup for some it is nothing but looking out in the dark to sight any possible trace of light. Others enjoy toying around with their newly acquired gadgets - mp3s, walkmans, discmans, handheld gaming devices and more means of amusement, which certainly are objects of begrudge from many.

A very fond topic of discussion earlier that night had been Mallika Sherawat of newly released Murder fame. Nishant would brag telling "x times I have seen that movie including y times with parents accompanying me". As the discussion heats up and more guys come with their inputs it becomes ravishingly entertaining to listen to all these stories, most of which can easily be judged innocent fibs, with the added effect of the yellow overhead lights (...this is certain that during journeys most good things happen in yellow light or total dark, and I wonder how beautiful that bus would have looked from one of the fields in the western UP with light errupting from square windows of a moving rectangular box...)

About three hours up Red Fort, Delhi (the place where probably Prime Minister, yes certainly he only gives speech to the whole country on an appointment which is universal in nature yet not so ordinary) across Ghaziabad, Hindon and several adjoining dingy and exceptionally disgraceful townships, which to most do not mean anything but termite-hills harboring swarms of drone labour forces which find substitute in keeping the movement of the industrial work-horse running in one of most urbanized region of world's largest democracy, the bus breaks its movement to let its riders have a break and fill their bellies or gulp down a few bottles of world's favourite soft drinks. Still some are blessed enough to find better and more demanding activities, one or two of which essentially goes against centrally propogated agenda of gender-equity. Going by my reccommendations you must not think at all and have a look around to find a few white-birds falling over each other, while crude folk music (...there is certain something with women echoeing musculine baritones and bold attitudes while flutes and more such aboriginal and native add-ons accompany them in their endeavours...) plays on the cashier's blackbox of probably 1980s.

Back in the bus I sit exactly in the middle of backseat, having a clear view of all the black figures, hands and legs falling out of the seats' defined boundaries, and the road ahead. Yet it is so boring until I barter Sankalp's walkman for the seat that I occupy. It is a win-win situation as I get to stand in the bus, a nice excuse to eye every secret crush of yours. Not long you enjoy the whole thing that you are told that a front seat is unoccupied, and even with that disgrunted thought and look it is a bliss when you press the play button and a distant but extremely pleasing, feminine and very mystic voice asks you to close your eyes and prepare for a meditation trip. You don't think much as you actually don't have anything to care for and the lovely voice and drum's mild beatings are hypnotizing and you are drawn to the instructions being communicated to you (...wonder if it is some sort of brain wash...). This being my first introduction to ENIGMA, one of the most celebrated electronic music enterprise. I can not remeber if it was 'Mea Culpa' or 'Sadness' that made me an ardent follower.

A large part of remaining journey is spent in cabin with Chetan and few others while driver and helper maneovure bus on very busy stretches of this 2 lane highway up the haunted district of Meerut towards Roorkee, Haridwar and then the Doon valley. We continue to devour that diesel smell that certainly acted anaesthetic to me and I just remember waking up next to Sargam or may be Aakash but certainly at the left most window corner of the full last seat. Between Dehradun and Mussorie most of us feel nauseated as the bus zig-zags on the roads engulfing lower Shivaliks, very close to the edge as if considering a homicide to ultimately make it to the headlines, like a concrete Anaconda. Feeling difficult to control I just puke, like many others, just about 2km from the final destination. Bus's engine grunts, pained by the load it carries while I sympathize with it feeling embarassed on my own act of vomitting, but certainly enjoying the toffies that came to me to supress more of it...

Another Term ...

Image courtesy : Benimoto on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

So another semester closes and I must say it was one enjoyed with full zest. Had its troubles and things, but made you learn a lot. A classic one at that. With little roaming a lot of things to work on, this semester made me a student again. Never toiled this much to complete works, actually never cared! :D

Leave work aside this semester made me closer to my room-mates, but as always I can never be relied upon so they better be careful! ;) Found new places in campus to have fun, I was mistaken that I have explored every inch and new places include - Dean Gate, Football Ground and yup Thadi! :)

Did not explore much of Jaipur in this semester and could not be consistent on many of my projects. Ways of communication have changed a bit. Facebook is the social network, no more loyalty to Google and yup Twitter rocks.

Three semester down still it looks as if only yesterday I joined the college, lest I strain a bit and every second seems to stretched like years. Surely I love my life, this place and everything around! :*

Another spell of vacations begin!

Journeys In Memory - I

Image courtesy : pablo72 on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

Its evening around 5, Sameer is supposed to call me to pick him up from Hari Nagar Clock Tower bus stand as we have to catch 6’0 clock train to Jaipur from Delhi Cantt railway station. Since he has not called yet I call him up and he hangs up saying that he will call back on reaching the location. Around 5:30 and he calls me, I rush to pick him up and we reach my home to take my luggage. We get a rickshaw to the station and reach there well in time. At station Shaily is waiting, with her parents, for us to join her. We share hellos and talks as our parents are busy talking and engrossing us in their discussions and advices for forthcoming winter season in Jaipur. As the train comes we hurrily board it, grab our reserved seats and arrange our luggage. We have to pick up Tanvi from Gurgaon station. The journey till Gurgaon passes sharing random talks and looking out for lights in the darkness spread around the tracks in western out-reaches of city of Delhi.

At Gurgaon station I, rather we, lookout for lovely, chirpy Tan. Didn’t want her to be left behind as I suppose it will be a boring journey without her. Even get ready to call her as am not able to make her out in the crowd outside. Suddenly she emerges from the crowd with her father helping her with the luggage. Train moves even before Tan is able to arrange her luggage or any of us helped her with the stint? As soon as things settle we are busy talking endlessly, topics being airports, stations, refineries or whatever was visible outside the window and random discussions on some very vague topics and events of vacations. Many co-passengers come and go and we even have to share our reserved seats many times. As we enjoy the journey train has hustle-bustle mainly because of people asking for stations to come and their talks among themselves. We miss some games we could play in case we had cards with us and have to be with the fact that phones will no longer play FM and may not be in network coverage.

Meanwhile I had to get to the end of the compartment just one cabin beside ours’ to ask two guys there to put off their cigarettes as I and Tan were disturbed because of the smoke but she was reluctant to tell the problem. But looking at the expressions on her face and somewhat forced efforts to control breath to avoid that allergic air I could make out that she was not comfortable and even it was getting on my nerves too. So I was able to make my mind and talk to these people and they suggested me to open the train door and thankfully this did the trick as the fast blowing wind jets could easily clear the air and we could breathe easy now.

The later part of journey was quite silent as we were falling short of words to share a lot with us and were even tired of talking endlessly. At Jaipur station we look out for way out as we struggle with our luggage. Outside the station we are pleased to find an auto at nominal charges as 12:30 is quite late in the night with all the luggage around. I talk almost zero as the auto moves towards the institute and am pretty busy matching the roads with my memories of past about 2 months, generally because of rides around several Jaipur stretches with this guy called Akash Burania.

Back in hostel I put my bag and since am not feeling sleepy, make a move to Sameer’s room in hostel 6. We pass time talking to each other, Sameer’s room-mates and Mridul and I also reply to Tan’s SMS before she takes leave to sleep. As all are exhausted and want to sleep I too go to my room and try to sleep but thoughts from journey and time spent Guddu and Shivani at Bangla Sahib Gurudwara earlier that evening and even the image of moon in black star studded sky that my eyes just caught in the mess courtyard while going to fill my water bottle continue to revolve in my mind ...

The day in best probability was Oct 12' 2008. Though it is immaterial!

Let Me Share A Story

Image Courtesy : mattwi1s0n on Flickr, check usage terms before using image.

An old memory is repeatedly clicking in my mind, let me share it with you all out there and may be we will be able to recognize the fact- "What is told to us amd situations we go through have determinal effect in shaping our views..."
Summers of 2004 I had joined ICCAM summer camp for the first time, which that year was hosted at Youth Hostel, Mussouri, a Himalyan hill station. our group comprised of 22 students of class IX-XII. The second night of 9 day stay in Mussouri and there were huge rains and a characteristic power cut. The vehicle movement on highway passing in front of hostel had diminished because of late night and bad weather. Most of the group was fast asleep thanks to hectic schedule everyone had, but Ashish and his group was not in mood to sleep and was busy chatting, majorly jokes and teasers. Everything was usual till Bhandari got a glimpse of two red eyes glaring at him and his group from widespread dark outside the window. He was left dumbfallen and was too much horrified to speak anything. He didn't utter a single word till his friends shook him by hands. He in a confused tone asked them to keep quiet to avoid attention from spirit outside the window.The laughs and whispers of friends were replaced by deep silence.All of the four were highly teriffied to think anything meaningful and were perspiring in their beddings on that cold night.No one made any move, expect fearful shiverings, for next 15 minutes when a car zipped through the highway, precariously paved through the great lower Himalyas, flashing its lights on the trees in front of hostel room's window and thus revealing the ghost, which was nothing but a monkey who had taken shelter on trees to avoid heavy rains. Every one in the group heaved a sigh of releif and soon fell asleep. The next morning as they shared their story with everyone in the room, there were debates and disccussions on the existence of ghosts, exchange of personal experiences etc.
While some just enjoyed it as entertainment, others were more serious and some like me were busy seeking views of people and inviting others to share some thrilling stories of unearthly experiences!