Fun with a Schoolmate, College Mates and in the Air :)

I went on a trip to Bangalore and Goa to meet an old school friend and slightly newer college friends - my last outing outside of Delhi before I fly to LA to commence my MS.. And it was every bit as memorable as I had hoped with even the flights to Bangalore and back to Delhi being wonderful as well :)

It didnt start too well - my flight to Banagalore was delayed by 90 mins and then by another 40 mins as I was on my way there in the metro. The second delay turned out to a blessing in disguise as I needed those 40 mins to get to the airport on time because I had no idea that I would need to take a shuttle from metro station to my airport terminal :p And not just that, the delay allowed me the company of a complete stranger whom I later found was supposed to fly at a flight 2 hrs later than mine. Agar woh flight delay nahi hoti toh itni amazing conversation miss ho jati meri :)

The stranger was a Sardarni about my age and as I found out - extremely aggressive and feisty even more so than my former cab-mate (never thought I could ever say that :p).. We started talking after she saw my book (Agatha Christie's Unfinished Portrait) and asked if I had another. I gave her that one only as I was getting bored anyway :p In less than 5 mins she was also bored and we started talking :p She told of her life experiences - which have been plentiful despite her being an year younger to me..

One incident she told that kind of seemed typical of her was when she, and a friend following her lead, slapped the driver a van full of ruffians at a red light in Delhi. She said that everyone weighted as the light turned green and then red again even as she kept letting it rip, verbally this time :p, at the people in the van. And no one blew their horn - which is amazing for Delhi..

She was going to Bangalore to visit her boyfriend, no no, fiancé as she corrected herself :p - who, I was surprised to learn was eight years elder to her. And this wasn´t the only difference in them - their paring seemed to personify opposites attract - her being brash and him being sedate..

I guess the thing I liked best is when she said she always thought it would be great when she would walk next-to-next with a Turban-clad Sikh - Gave me hope :D Though I think I should take it with a pinch of salt as the boy she is marrying, although a Sikh, is not Turban- clad - Hopes belied :P

After a lot more chatter,  she even guided me to the bus shuttle service, once we landed at Begaluru, that I needed to take to reach my friend - Hoping we meet again on another flight :) The airport reminded me of the one in Chennai..

And that friend is the next fun part of the trip - my schoolmate Sanjay whom I was meeting after 5 years.. Had a great time with him - he had a nice place with a wonderful terrace full of plants and greenery.. I also came to know that Bengaluru had such great weather because of its altitude - all the roads were inclined as well. The traffic was pretty bad though - as bad as rush hour traffic in Delhi :p and that too on a Saturday morning :p Amongst the things I liked abt Begaluru was the wonderful, and much cheaper, non-vegetarian food.. Food really was awesome :D

We ended the day with an hour long gupshup at a park - watching kids enjoy their swings.. In the meantime he got a call from his gf and when he told her that he was sitting in the park with a Jaspreet - I needed to make myself heard and let her know that I was a guy :D

In the night, I bid him goodbye and boarded the bus to Goa - I was joined on the bus by college mate Karan and we had a great time chatting up in the bus before we slept - had a real heart-to-heart over topics not to be discussed in a public domain :p

Green Goa :)

It was a long time before we reached Goa and even longer before we reached our other college friends at the Viva Baga in North Goa.. I had been to Goa last year in the same season as part of office trip so at every step there was a comparison to that :p

Last time the ride across Goa to go to a tourist destination had been enjoying the company of amazing people, whom I am still great friends with despite having left office. This time it was about enjoying the place - which was frankly beautiful with all the monsoon-induced greenery :)

We went to Colva Beach near Madgaon and stopped at several places in between to enjoy the scenery.. The Beach was beautiful - with wonderful white sand and some great shells as well - some of which made their to our hotel room through a couple of my friends´ shorts :P

On the way back we missed a cut and decided to take a ferry and then ride across Old Goa with no street lights to get back to the hotel - that was fun :) Later that night me and two others hit the Baga Beach at 130 in the night - The sound of the waves was just wonderful :)

Next day we went to a really old Church - beautiful place :) And then it rained - powerfully, beautifully and spread greenery all around :)

A Delightful Sight En-route to Aguada

 It made the drive to Aguada Fort simply superb - once we got there we had to get the camera out even though it was raining cats and dogs :P

Aguada Fort

The flight back was equally enjoyable - saw Zabaan Sambhal Ke on in-flight entertainment and captured the sunset on camera from above the clouds :) I had been disappointed to miss out on the sunset at the beach due to clouds but no such problems when you are miles above the earth and can see above the clouds :)

Up in the air

It was a great trip - a kind of farewell India tour that I will remember for a long time.. Just 5 days are left before I fly away to LA but somehow I am feeling like a tourist - maybe that´s because I want to come back in December - and I will :) AM a little scared about my ability to cope after 2 years away from studies and more importantly from my field.. The magnitude of MS hasnt sunk in yet. But till then I will feel happy about the fun I had in Goa and Bengaluru.. and while I was in the air :)

Of Going Away and Memorable Clicks :)

It has been a very hectic last 10 days or so and the coming 10 days are unlikely to be any different.. The reason? It has finally hit me that I am going to LA for an MS in Computer Science, and it has felt weird :/ Right from picking up my visa-stamped passport on July 7 I have been in a mad rush to get things done.. I have also blown a lot of money to buy stuff -- clothes, books, specs and stationary - MS is already a costly affair and it hasn't even started :p

More than all this, however, it was during my farewell trip to Ludhiana to meet my Naani that it really sunk in that I was going to go away now.. My Naani lives with my Maasi and at their place also saw my other two maasis for possibly the last time in a long time.. The late night gupshup was enlivened with old black and white photographs that were passed around.. It really is amazing that in these days of DSLRs and Digicams those 2x2 prints from film rolls of now dead cameras produced photos far more wonderful than I can describe.. There was a photo of my dad which was sent to mom´s family to arrange the marriage :p; there were photographs from my maasi´s wedding; and there were pics of my mom, my maasis and their cousins in various stages of childhood.. It was one such picture that really caught my eye - my maasi and my mom dancing and singing on stage in their pre-teen years (I am hoping to get hands on that gem pretty soon :) )...

Another thing that caught my eye was the wedding card of my maasi - it said clearly - "Outstation guests are requested to bring their beddings" :D I was told all marriages of that time had such a message as ppl typically stayed for a week atleast to be a part of a family wedding and they were too many to manage by the hosts alone :p

In the past week I also clicked a couple of photos that a few years down the line would bring a smile to my face or those of my descendants :D - there is one of my cousin´s daughter - Jia (christened chawani by her daadi despite being born in US :p) (who was born in March)..

Jia

and there was my photo with kids of my distant cousins (mere mausa jee ke bade bhai ke ladke :p) ..

Uncle J is quite popular with the kids :p

 The little girl in the pic here, Harsha, maybe only 4 years old but the run through she gave of her Mom's touchscreen phone would put big salespersons to shame :p ..

I think kids are the most wonderful subjects for a photographer - their being in a photo makes it amazing :) While we are talking about kids lets not forget my niece who was born in February last year - Surilli - I came to know that she can now speak (sadly haven't heard her myself yet :( ) - I have taken more solo pics of her alone than all my  friends combined from my erstwhile office (and that is saying something :p) ... As the first kid of a close relation of my generation she will be always be extra special...

Surili

Coming back to the feeling of going away - I guess I have too much preparatory work to do to have the time to be dreading the going away.. It would be fair to say, though, that I am looking forward to the new beginning in my life and am really excited about it .. And oh yeah, I also made a foray into the kitchen on Sunday and cooked up an awesome Chicken dish with gravy (to be honest I was only assisting my mother :p) .. It was a confidence booster and I hope to do well in the kitchen in the near and the not-so-near future :)

Main bhi cook :D

Of Bhailog :)

First of all, Happy Birthday Anoop Bhai :) This blog came up after something you said to me a little over an year ago - As I look back at the wonderful times we've all had at your place and look forward to being your roommate in a month's time - I thought I'll take this opportunity to finally write the blogpost that's been a draft for,well, nearly an year...

This is about that first game of football the four of us (Jeb, Lamba,Anoop and me) played together outside of school - at Anoop's place. It was the Christmas Carnival at school and we're in 11th or 12thstandard and bored too hell having been to so many carnivals before that :p So we left early and started a game of football at the cemented parking area inside Railways' society near school where Anoop lived. One guy kept goal, one delivered the cross and the two in the middle sometimes collaborated to score and sometimes fought against each other for the ball. There was this house right next to the goal marked wall - the owner was away but there was a servant there...countless times the ball went it - sometimes the servant retrieved it and sometimes we jumped fence :p

That little game was the start of truckload of more such days - we graduated to playing in the Railways Eco Park nearby and retrieving balls from the railway track way below :p - We played multiplayer FIFA and ek doosre ki behisaab khili udai :p (Trashtalk Rules :D) Still remember how we used to look for occasions when all 4 of us would be in same city :)

Anoop moved from Railways colony to Safdarjung to Gurgaon (still remember walking under Metro track for half an hour trying to find your home and describing my location through a pillar number :p ) and we continue to meet :) And now he is in LA and for the first time in 2 years all four of us will be in the same country together - It is fair to say ke Anoop has the been nothing short of a glue finding us four together over all these years (more than half a dozen since we left school) - Here's hoping for more of the same :)

Happy Birthday Anoop Bhai - cant wait to be your roomie :)

Of Rains and Feeling Sad :(

Fair to say this post left me feeling, well, a little low to say the least :( Looking back at that day I read this post, I'd been enjoying the early monsoon rains from my balcony and quite frankly, loving it :)
After I read this post I started feeling sad and the same rain now came to symbolize the heavens crying with me :( Isnt it weird that the same rain which can offer the most enjoyable expression

can also symbolise the crying in someone's memory who isn't around you anymore.

Its a dichotomy of irony I guess - the rather apt title of my friend's blog to which this post is a reaction.. I would say even Bollywood movies have brought this out - there are countless songs exhibiting a plethora of ideas associated with water and rains - from the overjoyed (Paani re paani tera rang kaisa..) to the sad (Lagi aaj saawan ki phir wo jhadi hai..) to the soulful (Paani paani re..) I guess its our characteristic as humans we feel how we want feel - the external environment can rarely change our innermost emotions - they just blend in and add to the joys or sorrows of our being..

PS> This post is undoubtedly incomplete without this song: