Gap

A bus travelling through vast fields.
Courtesy: World Bank Photo Collection on Flickr | License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Late winter , air was still cold and dry. One would shiver given the harsh environment. They had begun gathering and load luggage in the bus. Meeting and greeting every new-comer. There are smiles and chatter all around but his is an anxious soul. He has made some plans for the trip but he could hardly include his fancies. As the night grows deeper, people start boarding the bus and taking up seats.

He is early to board and blocks two seats. As she enters the bus, he can do little to stop himself from wishing her to sit beside him. But as she takes a seat two rows away from him, not even recognizing his presence, he becomes a bit more sullen and decides to go to a lonely corner window seat in the back of the bus. He unconsciously wishes no one to be aside him and spontaneously, in his brain, decides to keep everyone away.

As the front seats in bus are no longer available, this damsel thin and clad quite candidly takes the seat beside him. Without being asked he tells her, "I am not closing the window, even when the bus is at full speed." She simply nodes and shrugs her shoulders and leans back in the seat while talking to a figure in bus's corridor. He keeps silence. Bus jostles and makes slow movement on city streets. The wind is hurting him, but he is adamant. He can still bear it as the city is still warm and his jacket is thick.

He is deep in thought. By now the bus is on city outskirts and moving swiftly as traffic has now dwindled down. The winds are coarse and blunt. He braves them in the face, keeping his pride intact. His back towards his co-passenger, he is not aware of the discomfort being caused to her. Suddenly, he feels a hand on his shoulder. He is suddenly mild and no more rigid, she whispers, "Please, close the window". Making no arguement, he just closes the window silently trying to plug the gaps that might leak wind to her. He is careful, yet aware not to let it be evident. Through the night he gazes at her, making just mild talk. His brittle surface giving into a warm interior.

By the day break, bus has reached its destination. The party is supposed to move to the train for their journey onwards. The hustle-bustle is back again. The night's silence lost. And the companions having moved as swiftly as they had come together just for a journey amongst hundreds of days. Train honks as the orange-red sun begins to warm the Earth on South-Eastern horizon...

Underdog

A Bungalow on Barakhamba Road, New Delhi.
Courtesy : linuskendall on Flickr.

Sunlight filters into the first floor balcony of this building of colonial standing. It somewhat perturbs but nonetheless is fun to get some tan on a winter noon. As he and his friend walk through an array of oil paintings, done meticulously on canvas, they are increasingly appreciative of artists' talents, craftsmanship and imagination.

At once she catches his attention. In black stilettos she stands tall, wrapped in her skin tight jeans, her long hair falling over her slender shoulders. He is reluctant to look away, though repeatedly being told how mean it is to stare. He is adamant and continues to gaze as she continues with her task, detailing potential buyers about the paintings, cost and stuff. She mesmerizes walking through the stacks, her heels clicking against the wooden floor. As his friend continues to be increasingly engrossed in details of artwork, he is more and more lost.

As he is not to relent, she now acknowledges his gaze - having caught him looking on numerous times. He is also able to catch her stealing glances and occasionally fixes her with his eyes. He is not to advance, as he enjoys this tranquil conversation. Though sure he will not be rebuffed, given the scenario and his intuition, he refrains from making talk; for he probably prefers being an underdog, away from luxuries and limelight while fancying them in every second of his thoughts...

Unresolved!

A bridge and a frozen river!
Courtesy: Irmeli Aro on Flickr | License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Dear Diary (sorry for the typos, happens frequently at this hour, humane!)

Four yellow-green lights blink in front of him, the only sounds being very infrequent taps on computer keyboard and constant humming of the ceiling fan. Yet its noisy in his head, even a hectic and corrosive day is unable to put him to sleep. He aches and several parts of his body pant for mercy, but the thoughts won't go. Bloodshot eyes pool tears, blurring vision. Still he evades sleep, for he fears the thoughts, the feelings that dwell deep within. On the surface he portrays normalcy, camouflaging the turmoils and conquests beneath the colourful mask. He sometimes hates himself for harbouring emotions, at others he fuels himself by the same. Having lost already, he wishes not to accept the fate. Adamant he fights, aimless, unguided and unresolved. He wishes not to perish, but he knows few ways to pursue. No adventure helps him much, his appetite for martyrdom betrays him thousand times a day. He wishes for a refuge, a certain cave; away from the haphazard, hidden from all the disdain...

Slang Bang

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

I chat a lot and I love using slangs! And the best thing is there are no universal slangs so everything works! Plain language is tasteless, so it is like adding spice to the lingo!

Some words that are mast include 'Bidu', 'Machak', 'Item', 'Jhakkas', 'Hakuna Matata' and more . Mixing of tongues, 'Hinglish', 'Punglish', 'Hinch' (I made this Hindi + French) is something that keeps the conversation going! Tongue twisters in Bihari and Punjabi are nice to laugh at. Mockingly adding a double meaning helps in creating that special spark! And once the frankness is lost the talk essentially will loose the purpose, it will then be just another meeting to discuss a deal of work. 'Bhasad', 'Thuss', 'Tadka', 'Masala', 'Spice', 'Chicklet' etc add to language slightly slapdash munches and slippery twists and you will surely tune in with any group, I usually fail or I usually don't want to! Need too much of openness and familiarity to communicate!

I would like to make a special mention of our own Toy Lingo, with its different variants, has a patterned set of words which include - 'Saax', 'Taax', 'Maax', 'Faax' and more such 'aax' stuff. While Jaipur version of it comes with more meaningful and intellectual things like 'Phantom', 'Farzi Phantom' and more.

I like updating such stuff on my Twitter feed, which in itself is a super sexy way of communication with all the short forms and new lexicon like 'Tweeps', 'Tweeple', 'Twooshes', '#tags', '@eds' and likes. 140 character limit make you go for innovation and this adds zing to what might be rather boring conversation! Twitter = SMS of the internet!

What more is - you always love to enjoy your time and the best movies I find in India, all have a regional slangish identity to them, be it Khosla Ka Ghosla, Rang De Basanti, Omkara, Bheja Fry, Dil Dosti Etc and many more...

Morning Star

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

06:15, MNIT Footlball Grounds

I just abruptly take a walk listening to some "different music." "Stroke 9" playing into my ears, I catch glimpse of thick black clouds flying past the Arravalis as sun redens the sky and the morning star (venus, yes it is venus) hangs high at the zenith giving competition to half pizza which is slightly to its left or probably right (now I know why a benchmark is necessary!). A group of guys gather for their morning play.

I observe this spectacular 360 degree panorama, simultaneously taking note of the whole beautiful feeling on my rather retro mobile, a 5 year old thing is retro when a new model is launched every week! Bryan Adams is still happy on "Cloud No. 9".

Chilling mid-november wind blows over my face and sleep-deprived eyes as I enjoy my slightly feverish body and muscles straining from last few days of exercise drives.
Occasionally gasping for breath.

Round one is over and its about 10 minutes, sky is more bright revealing alot to eyes. More colours have appeared on the canvas generally reds, pinks, purples and shades of black. Blinking red lights scare away airplanes taking off and on at nearby Sanganer airport.

Third round begins for me and now I can distinguish ashes of Oil Depot fire from the black clouds. Britney Spears does not wishes to be "Overprotected". More the light more truth is revealed. As the world has started its day, birds are heading away from their nestles, school bell rings as dogs sync their barking tone in this rather barren land.

And yup I have made my mind for another bunk, excusing myself of worthlessness of attending a 4 hour session just for the sake of a "P" marked on an obsolute paper sheet.

Meanwhile I learn it is good to wait and watch, before any action, as when their is light things are not that good. The part of hills in front of me is not that cool, it is barren and nude. Thanks Mr. Sun for teaching me a simple lesson. Round three is ending I wind up my morning walk, Bon Jovi screams aloud "Its My Life".

Back to hostel. Times Of India confirms its Jaipur after Pune in the race of H1N1 casualities. 52 more confirmed cases, 10 school shuts, CM holds meet as Shakira gets busy telling us "Whenever, Wherever..." and I no longer find words and thoughts to write more.

TATA C.U. :) :D Time to sleep! Probably!!!

The Tailor Guy

Image Courtesy : ell brown, on flickr. Check usage terms before using images.

Am taking bath in noon as this tailor guy comes to our home to discuss about the new curtains we wish to have, as we just got our home re-painted! Mom and Guddu are busy talking with this person, who wears a red shirt, grey trousers and brown polished shoes. the fat man is well versed with his work, so it seems.

Suddenly he receives a call from Dubai and to my amazement he has a lot of information about so many diverse fields. As per him “Tatlkal” is the best way to get a rail ticket booked. Vaishali Express is far better than Bihar Sampark Kranti and very importantly it is always better to shop in Delhi’s market and not Patna. He would tell my mom about prevailing situations in the Kuwait, the country got no good markets but only shambles after recent wars in Iraq and surrounding countries!

Once argued upon the cost of cloth, this person would get terribly angry as he is really a professional who would keep tab of cost of different materials and labour costs on his finger tips.

Meanwhile I act phone attendant as phone calls pour in every 10-15 minutes. His phone rings once again and I pray in my heart for the call to end soon. This time it is a nagging customer, whom he bats away quite efficiently, still taking his time and passing about 10 minutes before putting down the call.

Its past 12 and still I have not taken my brunch and to my dismay the sweet-corn in refrigerator is not in edible condition. Anyhow am not feeling that urge to run for food, but what matters is to find some time in peace in the backroom of my house as I switch off all the lights, put the fan on full on this early winter noon and take a passive nap…

Still Learning!

Day started at 3! A nice draft on autoCAD was fun, loved to plan out my home with some modifications of my choice. Completed design by 9. Joined 10’o clock with my draft and some discussion points in my mind. Sir turned up late and continued with a topic tat was quite interesting. Having woken up early in the morning I felt dizzy in the prolonged lecture, but couldn’t help it as sleeping was no option on second bench. Second half I went all prepared to the class but it turned into a disaster as I had to bear a scold from teachers and later evening walk was rather nice. It was nice walking the talk with Guddu as she scolded me for craps I did, and ya human only. Still learning! :)

Revival, Resurrection!

Image courtesy : Jon's pics on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

A face with wind blowing curls on it, two beady eyes play hide and seek as a jumbo takes off the tarmac in distance and a partially grounded fleet of Jet Airways and Indian is seen amidst variants of Antonovs, Boings and Airbuses. Sun is trying to dawn through clouds after about 5 days as vendors of books, travel manuals and other miniscule articles try to woo passengers in the bus. The guy got excellent communication skills acquired somewhat out of need and partially because at some level he is far more habitual of practicing marketing tactics. The bus has moved some 10 kms and now giant flyovers are providing shade from piercing sunlight.

I have grown more familiar to the face now and we are forming a sort of ‘short friendship’ which will last only till the end of this journey. The 3 feet creature has got nails painted, is wearing pink slippers, yellow lower and a white tee. It has tried once to come to my seat and sit beside me, but soon ran away and I don’t know why!

As the kid turns a bit dormant after having lunch and its father geting busy on calls, I look around and find 2 girls busy chatting and of course the small kid beats me easily when it comes to charming the chicks. You rock buddy! The firang on back seat, to my left is a rather aloof being and probably cares not at all that his luggage lies with the driver in cabin. Having eaten a mom-made Parantha, I am more aware of importance of these people in my life. And find need of expressing myself in more human and visible ways.

Had charged my laptop to enjoy a movie on way back, but the beautiful scenery, lovely wind and sunshine holds me back. Getting images of school picnic days when we would sit in bus seats and enjoy snacks and goodies friends brought, especially the one the girl who usually grabbed a seat before me shared with us.

The guys on seat behind me have started to play some dull Hindi music, which does not suit the environment right. At the same time another thought tells me that mixing different colours produces excellent paintings or some might like vanilla ice-cream in thumbs-up bottle!

Though am solo in the bus people still occupy my mind, what are they actually? Names, Facebook profiles or something that really matter! The kid has got refuge in it’s father’s lap and is busy playing with his glasses as I am taking time to keep some matters at bay and cope my ownself.

Last leg of journey, hilly climes of Amer are there. It is cool weather, but usual dumbness of evenings is profound. May be it is transition from fast paced Delhi life to extremely numb Jaipur one, that takes toll. Anyways kid has found another admirer in the firang, who is trying to amuse the kid, who seems extremely fond of standing in bus and is in hurry to reach Jaipur, impatient just like me! Having bunked for 2 consecutive weeks, classes seem alien to me and thoughts of pending submissions are rather scary. The developments of design and web-development front have been ego boosters. Have to put serious efforts to keep things in control and on track! Signing off. :D :) :/ :$

Journey Or Disaster

04:54, you wake up out of a 2 hour nap, and a rather unrealistic dream that you were fighting with co-passengers for single available charging port on the bus, to learn something not cool! You have actually ended up in something you wanted to avoid, 65 km from Delhi, somewhere in the state of Haryana. A traffic jam that all my imagination and logic told me was nothing short of remaining 65 km, bringing NH-8 to a halt and throwing life out of gear in major parts of NCR.

08:10, another 2 hours of nap, can’t do anything but dreaming and avoiding the views of caravans of trucks, coaches and cars. A marker tells me Delhi – 64 km, simple maths explains we travelled 1 km in some 3 hours on one of the best highway in country, the Golden Quadrilateral. Reason being 2 days of continuous rain in north-west. An infrastructural embarrassment, one can say!

10:54, the bus and traffic around is running down the DG Expressway, you expect to reach Dhaula Kuan in 15 minutes but more trouble is in store. Out of order traffic signals near Western Air Command and other military bases act as final trouble makers extending the travel time to harassing 2 hour. Meanwhile the moron on seat behind, keeps on updating his people about the disaster he was going through every 10 minutes.

A normal 6 hour journey turns in 12.5 hour disaster as the fate of road users is left on the mercy of rain-gods by civic authorities and work is not done perfectly.

Lost Paradise

Image Courtesy : emrank on Flickr, check usage terms.

As a child you would wake up early in the morning and join your father for an early morning stroll. The usual place would be the railway station just across that bridge. It would be fun to look at a locomotive shunting wagons up and down the yard as sun rose higher up in the sky transforming from a red tomato to a fireball, burning your skin. Mild breeze would cool off your sweaty skin and you will still remember the chirps of birds, specially green parrots or if you are lucky that of some peacocks repeating in your mind.

Walk back towards the home, you turn a bit selfish, bid adieu to dad, he ofcourse always has to leave for work, and would join grandpa on the shop, as he would be setting it up in the wee hours. Grandpa would supply you with early morning meals in the form of shakes, jams and sort of stuff and you would run up and down the place, occasionally asking the help at the shop of itsy-bitsy things and creating small messes. If grandpa was lucky I would help him with some stuff and would leave for home sooner, religiously informing anyone at the shop of my departure.

Fun were those days when, you would be happy playing with balloons in the courtyard, checking out Timon and Pumba, over a plate of Aloo-Poori. Nothing mattered more, just you were the world and world was you.

Just Another Fantasy…

Image Courtesy : http://www.flickr.com/photos/chefranden/436640711/ on Flickr, check usage terms and conditions

If it was possible, hardly anything else was needed for a good living. On a bright sunny and windy morning I would have called my dear friend to meet me, simply taking her by surprise, just somehow expecting her not to say no to a proposal of venturing out and spending a noon and evening with me! Once she agreed, it would have been fun to drive to pick her up from a place of her choice, hope its not very near to my place. On meeting her, would definitely greet her with chocolates, a smile, a sure “How are you?”, always miss it and yes finally will ask her to be in driver’s seat as I prefer sitting beside and simply laze. Once again assuming she agrees, I would love to sit in co-pilot seat and act navigator to her on calm and serene boulevards of my only constant love, Delhi. It would be nice to look around and her as melodies play on the stereo. Adding to the flavour we can surely binge upon some ice-creams or go to some low-profile canteens of not so “big-name” institutions and simply sit down at a table and talk just anything, expecting our order to never reach us! Why not take a stroll, along a not so busy street, not missing the car at all :) We could do a lot of things, including shopping, playing with smilies, rating boys and girls, planning eh let it be…

Enough of chemical dose of romantic hormones to brain, time to return to real world, pull up the socks as these illusionistic things are far from real world and not feasible as Shringi sir would definitely mind someone sitting idle in a restaurant and adding to the installation’s electric, land lease costs and other such economic considerations. ;) And yeah forgot cars gulp fuel and never ask mom-dad to fund your spoils!! :P

Rather it can be nice to ask her to join you at works and make money together, so as not feel bad spending the stuff like if it were only another piece of paper. :D

Unexpected

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

One fine evening you take an abrupt decision to leave for Jaipur after a short vacation in Delhi. It is just past 7, you reach Dhaula Kuan bus stand are annoyed by the regular polluted and dull evening environment, and suddenly good things begin happening.

After waiting for some time a Rajasthan roadways bus arrives, though you prefer Haryana ones not for quality of service but the excellent and speedy driving style. There are no passengers onboard the bus and you board it with few others. It soon starts rolling on Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and you forget everything and start enjoying the state-of-the-art infrastructure available and being developed alongside this stretch. You witness a long concrete ribbon across the horizon complete with dazzling crystal streetlights. Flowing streams of red and yellow lights of four wheelers pacing up and down the highway. A little further and you see the IGI tarmac, and if you are lucky you might see a touchdown. Its fun to checkout a 24 something lane wide and about half a kilometre long bumper to bumper traffic jam, given that you are travelling in opposite direction, at Asia’s largest toll plaza! Once inside Gurgaon, you experience one of the most extreme commercial landscape available in Indian sub-continent with multi-national giants jostling to show there corporate might by means of glass, concrete, steel and lightings used to extensive scales. Think of an MNC and you find its office there!

Cross this fancy showcase you find regular crude Indian industrial landscape with isolated traces of organized construction, this soon gives into traditional rural terrain followed by vast wildernesses having industrial and agricultural developments. You might get bored in this scenario, a movie on laptop, a few calls or SMSs may be good time-passers.

Night draws dark and bus is nearing Jaipur. For the first time driver doesn’t takes bypass and sticks to NH-8, which passes through city of Amer and you are lucky enough to catch views of Amer and Jaigarh forts under bright moonlight, increasing there glory manifold. Drivers manoeuvres the bus well along the narrow, hilly stretches of roads. You for the first time observe an Air Force Station on outskirts of Jaipur. Beautiful scenes of forts illuminated up above some hills and Lake Palace, before breaking into the Pink City region, which is surprisingly still abuzz with activity at around 12:45 in night, probably because of some festivity. Its nice to find a tastefully modified swift parked at Badi Chauper just beside Hawa Mahal.

You soon de-board at Sindhi Camp and wonder why journeys should be unplanned and somewhat unconscious too!

A Colourful Power Cut

00:54 IST, Aug 04’ 2009.

A power cut leaves whole of NIT Jaipur campus in dark. Wi-Fi routers go numb rendering 3.5 hours of battery backup of my laptop useless. I have no option but to look out for traditional means of entertainment  called Radio. In Jaipur the 5 odd stations are serving ill quality of music, mostly very low tone oldies. I plug-in my earphones and move out of hostel to have a stroll, while my friend asks to sit back in the lawn and share the ear-plugs.

Outside the hostel vast darkness spreads over whole of the campus, everything has turned greyscale bathing in bright white moonlight. You can catch nice views all around the campus as there are few things to obstruct the view. Under the star-studded sky you find red-lights flickering atop the newly built high-rises dotting the skyline of city all-around the NIT campus.
Walking on the roads in campus, you find a few solar battery powered streetlights working to not much use. You can find headlights of autos and cars serving to students leaving for their home cities. I meet a pack of guys, interested in knowing if am mad or drunk that am pacing up and down the campus at those unearthly hours! I bullshit them and walk my way down to hostel, where I find numerous faces glowing under lights from the LCDs of mobiles and PCs.
Back in my room as I wonder, how my roommate can sleep so easily in dark and humid room and ease myself on the cot, electric supply resumes. I access net for sometime and then sleep to wake up early, a habit now-a-days!

April 10 : Another Day Well Utilized

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

Well it is 9:40 and I must be there in the extra class at 10. Of course, I will be late as I have decided this in my mind, despite the fact that I have done quite good work and am satisfied with it. Leave for the class at 10:15 with Abhinav and Himanshu and accompany them in the 10 minute punishment session with few others. Enjoy the lame excuses they give to get out of it. Through the class I prefer to stay silent and communicate only with teacher and a few not so close friends! Work a bit and just get hold of all that matters to me. After class I straight away hurry to the hostel and pass sometime. A nap post lunch and small chat session before annual day function are the only activities I am indulged in. Enjoy the bath and music. The annual day function is usual formal time guzzler, could be done away with but is actually harmless. Well atleast people around me and ofcourse me too were happy poking comments at those old non-chalant responsible people enlightening us with their 'read-from-the-page' speeches. May were enjoying the meal, they say it was better than usual! A stroll till GT and I realise am quite on track when it comes to my aim of maintaining a balanced BMI, proper fit of jeans tells me so. Back in room Mahendra is hardly the one who would talk much after his dose of the day (in his words it was just 2 litre, he knows better!) and other two guys are missing, my lappy and mobile (with calls and SMSs deemed sins, no SMS in last 56 hours and hardly 2-3 outgoings!) are my buddies as I organize my stuff, everything in place! Clothes done! Room done! Sheets no immediate action needed! Hard to believe but am totally organized and a lot of time is with me and have nothing to bother but kill time chatting, watching movies, browsing net and such things. The only thing on my mind is preserving this attitude and try to focus on a short-listed pleothra of things so that some output is visible soon.

Not in a state of deeming anything good or bad these days and loving it as atleast am not confused in any case!

Careless And Free

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

Day was relatively dull and lethargic on Feb 14. Few friends urged me to make foray and have an excursion outside but I deny considerately. Was not in best of moods so didn't want to move out. But in the evening we head for some real nice fun in Chaura Rasta, some underground bizarre tech markets in heart of Jaipur city, quite similar to Palika in Delhi and the lovely avenues of the M.I. Road aka Mirza Ismail Road. The dazzling glow signboards, blurring headlights, several noises and a lot of activity made way for some cool thoughts and lovely thought chain. Rum and raisins flavor ice cream in Jal Mahal parlour was nice.

Feb 15 started as another dull and activity less day, but I was determined to cheer myself and not give in to the dullness that has built up around us for some time. The simple problem being unorganized and irresponsible ways of doing work. Leaving all the care aside I simply phoned Kriti and asked if we could move out in a group and pass some time lazing at some nice place in the city. Quite nicely the plan materialized and we (Abhinav, Shaily, Rini, Kriti and me) made headstart to Central Park. We played songs on my laptop, teased a few couples, talked a lot with short silent spans and such funny things. Kriti left for her house and we 4 came back to our hostel after a short visit to Saras Parlour outside the MNIT gate.

Feb 16 had a quite unusual start as we were there in class after quite a long break. Our presenatation was judged and marked and we had quite a nice dose of fun. Some informations during the lunch break rattled me. As I came back to hostel and we bunked another 4 hour session I tried to make myself aloof of all the things going on in this campus. Some SMSs were exchanged meanwhile but I was unable to control my anger and the frequent thought changes. Evening was passed taking a look at rehersals in central lawn and a walk the talk back to hostel.

Feb 17 simply a super fantastic magical day out of nowhere. Love Siddharth sir and Ashok Pareek sir for giving it a real nice shot. Siddharth sir salute your frankness and those hollywood gyan and ya great college day infos and familiarity you share. Frankly speaking quite on many occassions I was believed to think that nothing but these regular class schedules were something I was missing. A carefree class in the 9-10 session and a mind-blowing 10-12 session by Ashok Pareek sir made my day. Took all the notes on my laptop, got 6.5 of 10 in mid-terms and recieved a mild scold from sir for SMSing while sitting in the first row of the class. The single thought of not being judgemental changed all the perception. I was once again running to hostel for lunch until friends stopped me and we made way out of the campus keeping in mind plan of another 4 hour session bunk, love these 4 hour bunks nowadays, don't care about proxies neither about lectures, submissions or marks. It is simply addictive. We celebrate Rini's birthday in a nearby restaurant with Jai Maharahtra slogans loud, she hails from Mumbai so simple teasers. After the lunch we take auto-rickshaw to Albert Hall, simply because Pareek sir gave its example in morning session and we were suppossed to compare it with Vidhan Sabha, nice reason for bunking the class. The museum at Albert Hall is nice and other than artifacts we get to lay our eyes on some really nice looking beauties while talking with friends' about them. Soon we find ourselves resting in garden outside the place and simply talking on vague topics. A quick walk to nearby mall beside New Gate and we are all set to ride our way back to hostels.

Manik is back again in his form, carefree, aloof and aghast, not even giving things beyond his control a chance and taking time to make the amends. Looking forward to a silent Pune visit I promised to myself, full of show-off, simply aimed at self-satisfaction. Saurabh and Debz meet ya there.

Would like to close this quite long post with a few lines from Linkin Park's Breaking The Habit.

I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not alright
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight...

I'll paint it on the walls
'Cause I'm the one at fault
I'll never fight again
And this is how it ends...

Cricket, Brawl, Outing, Eyegrabbers...

Its 4:15 in the evening, I wake up after a 2 hour long nap in the noon. A notebook with some CSS code scribbled on it lies in front of me with a pen lying uncapped on it! I move to grab it, expecting to modify it a but, only to find Aman enter my house. We sit in the room sharing some talks HTML, analytics, adsense, hosting and all that crap. 15 minutes past it is Shrey joining us, with Divya Prakash following soon! Itsy-bitsy talks on vague issues like tracking mobiles, quantum physics, crime investigations and all that go on till 5:30, when we leave to play cricket in the field near my house. Teams are decided judging the "worth and reliability" of players! Field is set, umpire takes position. Five in a team and six overs to be bowled, everyone expecting his share of bowling. After two overs it is back to square one with a self-proclaimed bowler grabbing the ball to bowl his second spell! We still waiting for our turns with jaws-dropped! Another over and the ball still is out of our reach as the team must confine opponents in a defensible score. Well last over is gifted to one of the stragglers! And the other is convinced with a lollipop "first to bat" offer! First inning ends with a score of 44 in 6 overs, as the well experienced all-rounders toiled to keep the scores low! Innings two begins with a two defensive players on pitch! Ball 5 over one, for teams' sake a struggling batsman is declared "injured" and Sehwag of team walks down to the pitch and starts to script a "match-winning" performance! Wickets keep on falling and runs come in singles! Its last over and once again batting is "gifted" to "weak-links" of the team! Making the game a mockery, they expect a player to hit 19 off last 3 balls! Anyways result was expected! And off-course the poor soul, who was not allowed to ball as well as was declared injured was me only! Unable to control myself and not withstanding this stupid kind of dominance and bias, I called quit! The acts of some guys to control the whole team like puppets occurred to me real cheap. Uttering anger to myself and defending my decision I walk down the street to my home. Somehow I try to divert myself by thinking of an outing, but still anger and probably some jealousy is there! I reach my home and ask my sister to leave for an evening out, Bangla Sahib, District Centre (DC) or Cannaught Place (CP) come the suggestions. We decide to leave for DC, to check out some stuff in a book store and have some refreshments. I take a bath still not able to forget the cricket incident, looking the mirror I enquire myself, "What the hell do you think of yourself? You shit looking, lanky figure expect someone to give you ball and bat as a mercy. If you can not fight for your rights, why the hell you expect others to care for you? Better perform and fight or stay out of the field you are not fit into! But I did protest though it went unnoticed!" Soon we leave, firstly getting some money out of the ATM and then we take a ride to DC. At DC we straight go into the bookshop called "Wordsmith" and start shuffling from one to another books! That's a nice title lets check it out! Oh great cover. Yeah am an expert reader! Some titles, like "Why Men Like Bitches!", "A Girl's Guide To Kissing A Frog.", "Roads To Mussoorie.", were pretty interesting and caught attention. We selected 4 books and left the place! By now it is 8:45 and the place is bathed in lights! We decide to walk around the commercial centre and enjoy a little. Walking around dimly lit high-rises, notorious as "suicide point of west Delhi", checking out those neon lights of billboards and beautifully clad girls was a nice experience, though to my dismay most were with their boyfriends or family members! We wish not to leave but have to reach home soon! So we take our ride back and am back to my intovert self, talking to myself and thinking that "I am the in charge, everything is in my control" putting an end to week long conflicts with my own self that if am on the right track! Thanks my friends for pushing me back to those real life feelings of jealousy, angst, tension, competition, belief and the most important "Believe in yourself". I love you all! Thanks for such a nice evening, some time is now reserved for that Criminal Psychology novel I got!

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A Boring Start Of The Weekend

A much reformed day, with a very much normal routine. Weird dreams involving school fellas and teachers as lead characters brought me out of the sleep. For some time I kept on thinking about the recent good news I got through e-mail and then came my DCE role no. I was disappointed for the centre being very close to my home. Anyhow in the wake of early morning dreams I decided to reply to the recent scraps from old mates at school and coaching institute. Large part noon passed listening to the music and keeping an eye on the status of download that had troubled me through the week. Evening began with a stroll with a friend, talks hovering on things like what in and after next 20 days... That's quite usual for us to boggle our brains on such talks. The later part of stroll was marred by phone calls from his friends, none the less we decided to part ways to our houses. In the way kept on thinking about his comments on my looks and so decided to go for a make over. At home an hour went passed in checking out the latest Roadies episode, which was quite boring. Next I visited the hair saloon, an much monotonous hair style and over-grown stubble forced me to go for a clean-up act and here I was in here again after 7 months or only twice in last 13 months. This time I decided to go virtually bald and regretted it a little later on, but as to everything I managed to find a positive side with this new leaner look also. At home little criticism came to acknowledge my latest visit to the saloon , as if I had only came back from some pilgrimage. The IPL match provided some entertainment on this boring Saturday evening and the chemistry book did the trick by landing me in sleep, to wake up later only at 02:15. And here I am posting the remains of the day...

Signing off, hope tomorrow is better than today!

The King Khan

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Shah Rukh Khan, i.e. the SRK or the King Khan is the name of the mega personality that virtually rules the Bollywood . The guy rocks bollywood. He simply mesmerises by his acting skills. The diversity of roles he has played through his acting carrrer in last two decades simply leave us speechless. Innocent youngster in Chamatkaar (1992), an aspiring engineer in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992) showcasing problems and troubles , revengeful son in Baazigar (1993), simple young in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993), passionate lover in Darr (1993), sheer romantic in Dil Wale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), great romantic portrails in Dill To Pagal Hai (1997) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) an eternal lover in Devdaas (2002), superb performance in remake of Don (2006). Started career from TV shows like Fauji (1988) and is now ruling the Bollywood, The Delhi guy defines rules in his own ways, has an exclusive sense of humour and mind-blowing stage presence. He has managed to rule hearts while doing commercial cinema. Lately he started choosing roles according to his age and now his performances have striked chord with public. Last year Chak De India (2007) and Om Shanti Om (2007) were excellent performances. His performances of early years are breath-taking and leave you in pools of positive thoughts.

Just A Fling....

It is 8:15 pm, I am waiting for bus back to my house with 4 of my good pals. We were just out of an extra class we became a part of because of school's recommendation. Earlier in the day we had attended classes in school, went back to the house, had lunch and then came to join these extra classes. The optional classes were more of fun for me than any serious studies. We used to study Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics in that coaching institute. Biology class was sheer fun as it was hard to understand a single word, Chemistry was like "ya am getting what you mean to say my dear sir", Physics teacher was smart personality, and I guess all Physics teachers emphasize on looks and maintaining a good outlook, Mathematics classes held once in a week and we were pleased to be part of them as sometimes it proved to be fun to be part of a puzzle solving race. Later after the class was over we would run out of the institute often grabbing copy of the school edition of newspaper, which we had no claim over. After that we would run towards the bus stop and wait for the bus to come over while we would turn the leafs of newspaper and curse editors for not including magazine issues in school versions. In the meantime bus would arrive and we would jump to grab every bit of place left available in already over-crowded bus. In the bus we would have to bear the pesky smells rinsing out of the bodies of daily wagers. We would be enjoying the ride by pushing each other on fellow passengers, quite stealthily. While the breeze flowing through window would relieve us of the bad odours and smoke, meanwhile we would be pleased to imagine if that girl in the scooty ad in today's morning newspaper was here or if that hottie of school had agreed to join us in these extra classes. A friend would leave us after three or four stands, while we would still continue our pursuit for a seat. As the bus would move past jam-logged streets we would go down the memory lanes and laugh at the stupid but valid questions asked by an intelligent student during the Biology class today. As the bus would crawl out of the jam we would be pleased to have found some seat. Now the bus is pacing on Delhi's streets everything is calm and no one is talking, probably too much exhausted to utter or just ignoring the sheer waste we would rather be sharing. In about 20 minutes we would reach our destination, only two of us left now. We would walk down towards our house discussing the changing landscape of the city and next day's plans...

My Chemical Romance

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Spending a lot of my time preparing for my exams these days. Schedules are made regularly and stretched too. Chat sessions bring much needed relief and colour to life. I have started to love chemistry chapters for obvious reason that it fetches easy marks. One thing I like very much about chemistry is the colours we come across while playing with different compounds. During night study sessions many a time I remember of times when we took pride in ignoring our teacher's words and thought her to be a freak. But off late I myself am becoming a freak because my chemistry with chemical compounds has started to work and colours are all over my mind creating numerous virtual rainbows and washing away many unwanted past thoughts too.