Today on the 1st of august, a day celebrated by the world as "Friendship Day" , i want to dedicate this post to my friends who made a lot of difference to my life, who shared my sorrows along with my good moments, with whom the entire childhood was pure fun, with whom the four year college was like one beautiful road trip and to the one person who stayed by my side no matter what.
Though friends and friendship is there 365 days a year and for a lifetime, i choose this one day along with the world to make you all known that you have all made this life of mine indeed very beautiful. You all mean a lot to me and all of you rock.
"If your my friend,walk with me and understand my pain...
Even if i'm right or wrong,your love for me should'nt change...
Don't stab me in the back,or look to do me harm...
Stay by my side,no matter how bad the storm...
When i'm feeling like no one loves me,just tell me everything will be cool...
It's something about your love,that changes my whole mood...
When my life is over,and everything is said and done...
My spirit will cherish our friendship,because you helped me move on..."
Friends forever.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
A child's mind.
It often happens that some day to day incidents that happen around us brings back some fond , some sad memories from our past back to us in a flash. Memories that you long flushed away from your mind. One such case happened to me today.
Well i was on my way to have a cup of tea in the evening. It was drizzling. While enjoying my cup of tea , my eyes suddenly fell on a boy who stood in the middle of the street swaying his head from one side to the other and then looking front again. I could understand that he wanted to go forward , however something seem to have confused or troubled him. There were other people looking at him too. I wanted to know what was troubling the little boy , when i saw two dogs resting ahead on the way infront of the boy. I immediatly understood what the boys concern of taking the path straight.The boy then took the most unexpected path to his way forward. There were a line of scooters and bikes on the side of the road. The boy struggled his way through the little space between these two wheelers and the wall lining the street. Sometimes over the front tyre and sometimes from between the space provided in the scooter , the boy finally was successful in crossing the stretch. What was most amazing was the little cheer that the boy gave to himself when he was on the other side of the dogs. This small incident really cheered me up. That little boy taught a very simple yet useful lesson.
"where there is a will , there's a way".
This simple lesson we forget when we are surrounded by problems and look around for help. There is nothing you cannot do.
(As to many of you who must be wondering as to why i said that such incidents brings back some old memories - In my childhood days i was twice bitten by dogs. Rest of childhood days i was really scared of being around any dog. Even i made desperate attempts to dodge a dog if i found any on my way.)
Well i was on my way to have a cup of tea in the evening. It was drizzling. While enjoying my cup of tea , my eyes suddenly fell on a boy who stood in the middle of the street swaying his head from one side to the other and then looking front again. I could understand that he wanted to go forward , however something seem to have confused or troubled him. There were other people looking at him too. I wanted to know what was troubling the little boy , when i saw two dogs resting ahead on the way infront of the boy. I immediatly understood what the boys concern of taking the path straight.The boy then took the most unexpected path to his way forward. There were a line of scooters and bikes on the side of the road. The boy struggled his way through the little space between these two wheelers and the wall lining the street. Sometimes over the front tyre and sometimes from between the space provided in the scooter , the boy finally was successful in crossing the stretch. What was most amazing was the little cheer that the boy gave to himself when he was on the other side of the dogs. This small incident really cheered me up. That little boy taught a very simple yet useful lesson.
"where there is a will , there's a way".
This simple lesson we forget when we are surrounded by problems and look around for help. There is nothing you cannot do.
(As to many of you who must be wondering as to why i said that such incidents brings back some old memories - In my childhood days i was twice bitten by dogs. Rest of childhood days i was really scared of being around any dog. Even i made desperate attempts to dodge a dog if i found any on my way.)
Saturday, May 8, 2010
An indian new in India
Last evening i was at Chatrapati Shivaji International airport, Mumbai to see off a friend of mine. Well even after my friend had checked-in , i waited outside. The reason was because i never trust an Indigo flight and so i waited outside for boarding to be announced. The flights are always delayed and on one occasion they had even refused to issue a boarding pass of the flight i was supposed to be in . Instead they gave me a boarding of a flight that was supposed to leave later in the day. Well i will spare you all this. While i was waiting outside , i was thoroughly amused by the auto rickshawala's and taxi driver who put in their all to coax a new arrived person with whatever tricks they have. They charged extraordinary prices for every destination and convinced the customers with such skill that made the travellers feel that travelling at that rate was a good bargain.
While i amused myself with all this i saw this man, maybe in his twenty's looking for a taxi. A lot of taxi driver mobbed him. Everybody was trying to convince him that they were charging him the least, considering the traffic and the distance(well that person had to go only from the domestic terminal to the international one). After a long commotion , i found him bargaining with just one. Well he was new to bombay from what i could understand however he tried his best not to make the taxi driver feel the same. Once in a while he kept on saying that he was not new to bombay , that he knew the places here. The driver assured him that 200 bucks is very cheap , considering the fact that the traffic they are going to face on the way and the distance. He kept bargaining for more saying that international terminus could not be more that 7 kms from there and he would not be paying more that 150.The taxi driver by now was convinced that the person was not from bombay because any person living in bombay will know that both the terminals are not more than 3kms distant apart. The taxi wala kept pressing him on the rate. When they both could not arrive on mutual agreement the person looked towards me. I jumped in and asked the taxi to take that person by metered charges which he constantly disagreed. I assured the person that the distance he had to travel was not much and he could always travel by an auto if that was not a problem. He looked a bit confused , but then he agreed. He thanked me and left. I was back to amusing myself with more of this well now with a relief that atleast one person was saved from this overly charging taxi wala's. Its quite a stupid post , however i had nothing much to write and i wanted to so i wrote it. Thanks for reading anyways.
While i amused myself with all this i saw this man, maybe in his twenty's looking for a taxi. A lot of taxi driver mobbed him. Everybody was trying to convince him that they were charging him the least, considering the traffic and the distance(well that person had to go only from the domestic terminal to the international one). After a long commotion , i found him bargaining with just one. Well he was new to bombay from what i could understand however he tried his best not to make the taxi driver feel the same. Once in a while he kept on saying that he was not new to bombay , that he knew the places here. The driver assured him that 200 bucks is very cheap , considering the fact that the traffic they are going to face on the way and the distance. He kept bargaining for more saying that international terminus could not be more that 7 kms from there and he would not be paying more that 150.The taxi driver by now was convinced that the person was not from bombay because any person living in bombay will know that both the terminals are not more than 3kms distant apart. The taxi wala kept pressing him on the rate. When they both could not arrive on mutual agreement the person looked towards me. I jumped in and asked the taxi to take that person by metered charges which he constantly disagreed. I assured the person that the distance he had to travel was not much and he could always travel by an auto if that was not a problem. He looked a bit confused , but then he agreed. He thanked me and left. I was back to amusing myself with more of this well now with a relief that atleast one person was saved from this overly charging taxi wala's. Its quite a stupid post , however i had nothing much to write and i wanted to so i wrote it. Thanks for reading anyways.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
A little heaven near Mumbai - MATHERAN
I had been planning since a long time of breaking my routined life in mumbai and going somewhere for a change , to rejuvenate myself. A lot of options were on my mind - lonavla , mahabaleshwar. However i decided on a place which a few people call a little heaven around mumbai , where you can be very close to mother nature . Matheran is a hill station in Karjat Tahsil and is also the smallest hill station in India. It is located on the Western Ghats range at an elevation of around 800 m (2,625 feet) above sea level.
I took an early train at 7:15 a.m. from Ghatkopar going to Neral. This took 1hr 15 mins. After which i had a choice of either going to matheran in a narrow gauge train which runs all the way up to matheran bazaar or in a taxi that takes 50 rupees for 1 ride and and stops 2 km from the bazaar or main matheran city.
I decided to take the taxi owing to the tight schedule which i had to maintain. Matheran is an eco-sensitive region. It is one of the few places in the world where vehicles are not allowed, which makes the place different from others. Matheran takes you over a hundred years back in time when there were no vehicles. From where the taxi left me , i had a option either to walk all the way to matheran city or take a horse ride all the way to the bazaar at a cost of 200 bucks. The ride on the horse was one of the most amazing one owing to the fact that it was my first one. It took 30 mins to reach the bazaar. The bazaar was very different from what we normally see. Plastics are strictly banned in matheran. Everywhere you turn you can see horses. The place is as close as you can get to mother nature. However what amazed me more was the fact that the place still had all modern amenities from swimming pools to billiard boards. I took my lunch after which i started to look for places i coulld go to look. There are around 38 designated look-out points in Matheran, including the Panorma Point that provides a 360 degree view of the surrounding area and also the Neral town. Well time did not permit me to go for all the 38 points , however i hired another horse which would take me to 12 such look out points. The sight seeing was to start at 3:30 and it was 1 then, so i decided to look around the market. Most shops there were of shoes,gifts,accessories,clothes. i decided on buying a pair of slippers for myself. There are an incredible number of hotels and resorts in matheran ranging from simple ones to 3-stars. The games that you normally find in melas were also there. I tried a hand at shooting balloons too which took me to my childhood days.
The few look out points which i remeber are -
Loisia point -
honeymoon point -
echo point -
lords point -
charlotte lake -
cecil point. The entire way runs through a dense jungle where trekking is not allowed after 7 p.m. My horse often scared me when it trotting its way through the uneven geography of that area.
The sunset from the louisa point was the most amazing one. After sunset we came back to the bazzar., after which i decided to leave for mumbai. I again took a horse ride back to the taxi point, after which i came back to neral in a taxi and then after a 1 hr wait at neral station got a train back to ghatkopar. The the trip was a short one , it felt real good to be in the heart of nature still so much in its natural form without much interference from modern human nature. All in all it was a good experience.
I took an early train at 7:15 a.m. from Ghatkopar going to Neral. This took 1hr 15 mins. After which i had a choice of either going to matheran in a narrow gauge train which runs all the way up to matheran bazaar or in a taxi that takes 50 rupees for 1 ride and and stops 2 km from the bazaar or main matheran city.
I decided to take the taxi owing to the tight schedule which i had to maintain. Matheran is an eco-sensitive region. It is one of the few places in the world where vehicles are not allowed, which makes the place different from others. Matheran takes you over a hundred years back in time when there were no vehicles. From where the taxi left me , i had a option either to walk all the way to matheran city or take a horse ride all the way to the bazaar at a cost of 200 bucks. The ride on the horse was one of the most amazing one owing to the fact that it was my first one. It took 30 mins to reach the bazaar. The bazaar was very different from what we normally see. Plastics are strictly banned in matheran. Everywhere you turn you can see horses. The place is as close as you can get to mother nature. However what amazed me more was the fact that the place still had all modern amenities from swimming pools to billiard boards. I took my lunch after which i started to look for places i coulld go to look. There are around 38 designated look-out points in Matheran, including the Panorma Point that provides a 360 degree view of the surrounding area and also the Neral town. Well time did not permit me to go for all the 38 points , however i hired another horse which would take me to 12 such look out points. The sight seeing was to start at 3:30 and it was 1 then, so i decided to look around the market. Most shops there were of shoes,gifts,accessories,clothes. i decided on buying a pair of slippers for myself. There are an incredible number of hotels and resorts in matheran ranging from simple ones to 3-stars. The games that you normally find in melas were also there. I tried a hand at shooting balloons too which took me to my childhood days.
The few look out points which i remeber are -
Loisia point -
honeymoon point -
echo point -
lords point -
charlotte lake -
cecil point. The entire way runs through a dense jungle where trekking is not allowed after 7 p.m. My horse often scared me when it trotting its way through the uneven geography of that area.
The sunset from the louisa point was the most amazing one. After sunset we came back to the bazzar., after which i decided to leave for mumbai. I again took a horse ride back to the taxi point, after which i came back to neral in a taxi and then after a 1 hr wait at neral station got a train back to ghatkopar. The the trip was a short one , it felt real good to be in the heart of nature still so much in its natural form without much interference from modern human nature. All in all it was a good experience.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
A tribute to the Master
20 years ago , a young boy aged 16, took guard along side an Indian team against one of the most prolific bowling attack of the time, Pakistan. Though he made just 15 runs then , nobody could even imagine that this boy, named Sachin Romesh Tendulkar will scale such great hieghts in his career which other can only dream about.
Two decades of undoubted brilliance, unquestioned passion and enthusiasm towards the game has brought Sachin to the pinnacle of the game , a place most suited for what he is - GOD of cricket.
After 442 ODI's , 166 Test Matches and with 13,447 runs in tests and 17,594 runs in ODI's this batting maestro has almost every batting records to his name. However what is phenomenal is that his hunger for runs never ceases. He goes out to the field every game with the same spirit as was 20 years ago , trying to make a mark, with blessing and prayers of millions of Indians with him. He plays with utmost passion , stamina giving his 100% to everything. His inning of 200 against South Africa stands out among all his performance, an achievement which no one in the 30 years of history of ODI had managed to achieve and that could have been achieved by no one else that the maestro himself.
When most people and critics voiced that his day were over, Sachin came back much strong , much more determined. He has had his share of bad patches and poor forms , but he let none of them affect him. He has painted many indian victories with his colours and after all this years of serving the nation with his brilliance , he is the only player for whom the people of India pray for getting them another big score. Such is his presence in the field that the entire teams gets inspiration from it. Such is his scare that his wicket is the most celebrated moment in the game for the opposition. Words can never be enough to describe this star. He stands for everything that the word means - LEGEND , WIZARD.
Two decades of undoubted brilliance, unquestioned passion and enthusiasm towards the game has brought Sachin to the pinnacle of the game , a place most suited for what he is - GOD of cricket.
After 442 ODI's , 166 Test Matches and with 13,447 runs in tests and 17,594 runs in ODI's this batting maestro has almost every batting records to his name. However what is phenomenal is that his hunger for runs never ceases. He goes out to the field every game with the same spirit as was 20 years ago , trying to make a mark, with blessing and prayers of millions of Indians with him. He plays with utmost passion , stamina giving his 100% to everything. His inning of 200 against South Africa stands out among all his performance, an achievement which no one in the 30 years of history of ODI had managed to achieve and that could have been achieved by no one else that the maestro himself.
When most people and critics voiced that his day were over, Sachin came back much strong , much more determined. He has had his share of bad patches and poor forms , but he let none of them affect him. He has painted many indian victories with his colours and after all this years of serving the nation with his brilliance , he is the only player for whom the people of India pray for getting them another big score. Such is his presence in the field that the entire teams gets inspiration from it. Such is his scare that his wicket is the most celebrated moment in the game for the opposition. Words can never be enough to describe this star. He stands for everything that the word means - LEGEND , WIZARD.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
City of dreams - MUMBAI
When anyone mentions "city of dreams" , the one city that comes to the mind is MUMBAI. Well i dont know if the city really holds to its name , whether dreams really turn to reality here or not. All i know is that i was posted here by my company in august,2009 , and ever since i have been trying to know this city.
To be true i had thought of many cities in India where i would love to be in , Mumbai was never among my best choices. I had a strange kind of fear of the city , possibly because of the horrible stories i have been hearing about it - traffic, Water logging , terrorist hot spot , expensive. Well i suppose GOD had certain other plans for me. He wanted me to test my fears for this city.
I reached Mumbai on 5th August,2009 from Bangalore . Well there was nothing great about most part of the journey. However as the train was approaching Mumbai , i admit i enjoyed every bit of it. The western ghats were at the best because of the monsoon showers. With a very light shower of rainfall, watching the hills was an absolute treat. The various tunnels with water dripping from them were fabulous too. Reaching the CST i had my first real interaction with mumbai. People talked very rough here. And in all the croud it was difficult even to locate the chauffeur. The very next moment one of my fear was facing me - the traffic. i was shocked to see that even at 11'o clock in the night there was that much traffic. I put up one month at the company's guest house meanwhile looking for a flat.
Looking for a good place to stay in mumbai is another daunting task. Firstly because of my being a bachelor and secondly because of the amount of rent and deposit here people ask for. To add to that there are brokers with a hefty amount of brokerage.
Now that i have been in Mumbai for 4 and a half months , i have started to like the city. I really admire the energy in this city , the energy in the people who fight for their places everywhere be it a job position, a place to stand in the bus , or to get inside and outside the local train( i was really scared of the local train the first time i boarded it). This city has a lot to explore from malls,bazaars,hills,beaches,historical monuments and ofcourse slums. I enjoy the challenge of getting a place to stand inside the local train. I enjoy the walk on the marine drive, i enjoy to see people imitate their favorite actor. This city has a lot to teach you , there are lessons learnt at every step.
Everyday a lot of people come into this already packed to capacity city, but this city absorbs them all. I love the absorbing capacity of this city. I admire the way it is growing. I think it lives upto its name - MAYANAGRI
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