Now I have seen everything !!!!!

This is the pic i clicked when I was in Bhubaneshwar....
Crazy but true...!!

A cycle ride to remember..

Aahaa, the Freshness of the morning.. Birds chirping.. Theres’ dew on the grass sparkling as the gentle sunlight falls on it. There are familiar faces all around.. Some energized, some in a huff…dressed in white trousers and white shirts.. with Green belts around their waists.. The one that says “Service Before Self”.. Yes, Iam talking about my school days in Delhi Public School, NTPC Korba. Aaah the golden days of my life… Iam standing on the assembly ground with my friends encircled around me, waiting for the Assembly to start. I feel a little warmness in my legs muscles, that’s because of the 2 km cycle ride that brought me here.

Lets Re-live the Cycle ride, that I took everyday to reach my School..
I would eat my breakfast; drink a glass of milk, get dressed in the white uniform, put on my shoes, which I had polished the night before, take my tiffin. Carefully put my bag on the carrier of my Hero Ranger Bicycle.

Now putting your bag on the carrier of the bicycle was a tricky job. Kids’ dropping their bags all over the roads was a common sight while going to the school. And believe me it was not a good sight. It required delicacy as well as sturdiness.. You have to carefully fix it in such a way that none of our things inside the bag gets distorted and you are able to make it all the way to the school gate without dropping it.

I would then take off, waving goodbye to my Mom and stop to pick my friend and classmate , Abhishek better known as “PATTU”, who lives just one house away from mine..

I would call his name, ”Hey Pattu, c’mon we’re gonna be late man…”

Introducing Pattu--
Pattu would come out of his front door, munching on his sandwhich, with uncombed hair, water still falling off them, shirt half tuck in, one sock on his foot and one in hand. He would smile sheepishly and somehow make a sign with his preoccupied hands to wait and would go inside.

Now don’t judge him by the sloppiness he has just shown. He’s a bloody genious. He’s the guy who’s as good in studies as he’s in doing bakar, maybe he’s more efficient in doing bakar.
(Bakar : meaning : making a great deal out of stupid banal things, discussing such topics, to such an extent that they appear not less than topic of National interest !!).

A cute-chubby guy, who is a big fan of Movies and a bigger fan of Cricket. Calls himself an All-rounder on the field, having the potential of batting at any order, bowling stupendously fast and awfully slow at the same time. But rest of the guys from my team disagree on this.

Getting back to going school for now..
After some five minutes Pattu would emerge from his door. His hair still messy, but he has his Specs on. You know Pattu’s ready when he has his specs on. He takes out his Bicycle, puts his bag on his back. His cycle’s carrier doesn’t hold his bag.. Poor guy learnt this the hard way !! J And we are off to school.

His first question would be, “Did u see the way I batted last evening? I have been practicing a lot on my strokes.” I said, “Ya right dude..I have been watching you from my room’s window and you have been doing a lot of DEFENCE practice lately, and that’s what you did on the match yesterday, when Pratick was bowling all fiercely from the Krishna Vihar end. And that costed us our match..” “Oh, You are just jealous, because you got out on 2 balls” he replied. What can I say to that… “Well atleast I bowled well !!” I thought. Soon our topic would change to gossip about people who we would pass on our way to school, like some weird-nerdy seniors, or some Shaane-juniors even our Teachers. We spared no one from our mockery…

During school time the streets would be full of Dpsites from class 5th to class 12th, riding their cycles in small groups. So more the people more the gossip for us.. more the gossip, more the jokes between me and Pattu.. and sooner we would reach Yamuna Vihar, which is were my Friend Aditya lives.

Introducing Aditya —
Aditya, better known as Addu, is my best friend, we know each other from before Kindergarten. He’s my partner-in-crime, My G.I Joe mate and a serious competitor in computer games. A jolly-rolly-polly guy, who’s always in a good mood. The first thing you’ll notice about him is his curly hairs. He has a carefree attitude and loves music. He lives his life in a fixed routine, unlike my friend Pattu here :)

Well by the time Addu joins us on his Hero Ranger Max, several of my classmates have also joined us. What started with me and Pattu was now a group of 4-5 kids. We dominated the road and would only move if a car or bus came and honked behind us.

Addu would straight away maneuver his cycle beside mine and say, “Did u listen to the new Backstreet Boys song?? Its awesome.. Iam also planning to buy the latest NOW 4 cassette.” We would then discuss some cartoons that were to be aired that afternoon, the discussion would gently shift into girls.. and would hang there till we reach our school gate. During this time, Pattu would be busy chatting and doing bakar with the most Unusual of people there are, getting all the weird information out of them. He apparently has an undying hunger for information- all sorts of information.

What follows after we reach our school gate is another story.. story of pranks, studies, punishments, crushes, rivalries, all the chalk fights, the test marks, report cards needing parents signatures, history teachers, recess, careers etc

Now that I recall this wonderful time sitting here in my office after riding my Bike, all alone, for 15 km on Nation Highway 8 of Gurgaon, my heart is filled with ecstasy and bliss. What we unknowingly did in those little cycle rides, is that we created some fine memories for ourselves.

Who wouldn’t want a Start for a Day like that??? Taking a hike on your bicycle with all your best friends, the first thing in the morning. Mom waving back as you leave your home. Getting all the latest and masaledar news about people and superheroes and not just the TOI headlines or blarring Aaj Tak Market news. Reaching to work, not worrying about the mails in your Inbox, but how to dodge the Sanskrit teacher for not completing the Homework. And looking forward to the cricket sessions in the evening…

By the way… Are you guys curious about what happened to Pattu and Addu???

Pattu is currently doing his MBA from SP Jain, after completing his Engg from DAIICT. (I told you, he’s a bloody genious !!!). But I thought he would definitely make a career in BAKAR.. or maybe I spoke too soon..
You can catch him on : http://beingdesh.blogspot.com

As for Addu, he’s also doing his MBA from IMI Delhi, after completing Engg from Bhilai. His interest in Music has gone over the top.. I think he should be a Music Critic though. Catch what’s’ happening in his life over here: http://headonfunda.blogspot.com

View from my Balcony...

Guys enjoy the view from my balcony... Not much happening here, but its' the type of view that you would like to see after a hectic day at work..I enjoy it more with a cup of tea in the evening...

By the way, these pics pretty much sums up Gurgaon.. Lets see what all we can deduce from the two pics...

1. Too many cars. The actual no of cars can be seen in the Night View pic.

By seeing the number of cars in my street you can imagine how many would be there in whole of Gurgaon.. And now-a-days, its a simple relation--

No. of Cars is directly proportional to the amount of time you spend stuck in a JAM. Double this figure for Fridays and Saturdays... You can even triple this, if you are getting late :)

2. Lots and lots of Multi's, apartments like the ones in the background.

There are soo many huge multi's and apartments here, unlike any other city that I've been to. Plus the pace with which buildings are built here in Gurgaon is awesome. These multi were no where to be seen 8-9 months from today.

3. If u'll notice no one is seen in the street in both the pics.

Corporate junta is the major class of people here. There are no prominent engineering or medical colleges in Gurgaon. So either u'll see lil school kids or Call center dudes and dudettes or the Suits and Ties.. Chances are that u'll see only suits and ties...

Well Gurgaon is not all that bad..there are "The Malls", with all the brands you can think of. We have all kinds of Malls here, Wedding mall, Jewelry Mall..the latest addition being the AMBIENCE mall, which proudly boasts of 1 Km of shopping on every floor, and there are 6 floors in it. Most malls have either a Mcdonalds or Pizza hut at the entrance, Ambience Mall has a BMW showroom !!

Then there's the National Highway 8, where you can feed your Need For Speed (safely offcourse..).

Lets not forget the ever-so-popular NIGHT LIFE of Gurgaon. It is less to write about and more to experience......

And then there's always ME.... :)))

So plan your trip to Gurgaon soon... Cos now you know who's waiting for you, counting the Cars ,with cup of tea in his hand !!!

How I Met My GUITAR....

Present Day--
“Finally the time has come to meet “The One”… “The One” who will be mine and only mine, the one who’ll accompany me in my moments of solitude and my moments of ecstasy…I have been waiting my whole life for u my dear...” These were my thoughts as I walked into the Guitar Shop called JINGLE BELLS to buy my guitar and what follows is a sweet love story of me and my guitar…

It was my elder brother who first said that, it’s time that u get one. But I was hesitant. I thought I was not ready or was I?? May be time has come, its’ now or never…

Flashback--
There is this music shop in Apollo “Jingle bells”, which I have been visiting since god knows when. It was like a ritual for me to pay a visit to this amazing shop every time we went to Apollo. I would just drool over all the gorgeous guitars just hanging inside…all the dreadnaughts, the f-cuts, the metallics and the evergreen Spanish. There was this Black-Signature Jumbo that I had my eyes on for quiet some time now. I would just stand there and daydream how it would feel to hold one in my hands. I would picture myself humming along with it in my room, then maybe performing it live in front of screaming crowd. I would be recognized like the “the Dude with the guitar..” but all my dreams would shatter with voice of my girlfriend, Payal, or my friends, whom I had smartly brought along with me, and who apparently had no interest in guitars what-so-ever, to get going. They all would say the same thing, “Why don’t you buy one if you like it so much…” And I would ask myself, “Why don’t I??” I have been practicing on an old guitar, which my cousin gave to me. I never took any guitar lessons from a tutor, but I played well, not Rockstar-stuff, but yeah m getting there. Then why don’t I buy one for me?? Maybe I was just afraid to take the BIG step of actually buying the ONE!!

Flash-er Back--
In every summer vacation we would visit Indore and sometimes Ratlam to my masi and cousins. It was my cousin, whom I call Bhaishab who first inspired me to play the guitar. He would play the guitar for me and my brother in the evening. One memory that I have in my mind, is of him playing the guitar, sitting on the “JHULA” in his front yard. There was this bulbul in their garden that sang with him. It was very nice and I wished then, if I could play like that someday.


Time Travel to 2001--
Iam in Indore, studying in 11th, when my Bhaishab gave the same old Spanish guitar to me. It was in a dreadful state.. Strings broken, neck bend, but it had the potential. How we got that guitar working again is a totally another story. Will blog it separately, may be some of you guys could make use of it. But after painting and denting it was all good and in no time I was playing the guitar. Learned to play the ever-so-famous tune of DDLJ. I had sore fingers from playing.. but it felt good.. Soon I bought some books on guitar, searched the net for tutorials and guitar tabs. And was able to play decently.

Present Day--
My elder brother just put his foot down this time that I should buy one for me now.. He was probably aware of the desperation for a guitar inside me. So we, me, my bhiaya and my girlfriend Payal, who by the way is my lucky charm, went to Jingle Bells in Apollo. I clearly remember that evening my brother was in a hurry to get back to home, as the finals for Indian Idol season 1 were due that night. Abhijeet sawant and Amit sana were fighting it out, with all their soberness intact, to win the First Indian Idol ever..

When we reached the shop, my heart was pounding like anything. One more thing-- we had to remove our shoes outside, before entering the shop, which made the place seem more heavenly to me.. :) But my joy was short lived as the Black-signature guitar that I had been eying for so many years was gone!! Why god why??? The shopkeeper bought another piece similar to the black one..but it was not Black.. it was BLUE.. Carbon Blue to be precise. It was love at first sight !!

BIT OF GYAAN FOR U GUYS – Never go for a looks of a guitar !! As they say a guitar must not look good but sound good. And if you have a guitar that looks as good as it sounds then you are one lucky chap man.

The shopkeeper brought the owner of the shop. The Shop owner or as I Call him “Sir” has played for several music directors/orchestra groups in Bollywood, I deduced this from all the Pics hanging all over the shop. He told us to sit down and brought few of his good models and told me not to be fascinated by the Blue guitar but listen to several other guitars then make my mind. He played few songs on few other guitars, but the BLUE one was still lingering over me all this time. He then, gave me a Brown guitar to play. I played few songs..seemed alright. Then I asked for the BLUE one. I sat down with it, played few songs on it.. Few chords.. The sound was like angels playing their harps in my ears..

Then Sir told me to try another one.. as soon as I tried putting the blue guitar down, its strings got stuck in the button of my sleeve..clinging on to me..unwilling to let go.. Like the scene in the movie Om Shanti Om, where Deepika’s dupatta gets stuck in SRK’s button during the premier and the song goes “aankhon mein teri…” Ya somewhat like that.. This was the moment when I realized this is the one for me!! Even Sir said “The guitar doesn’t want to leave you!!” There were smiles all over, I had found “THE ONE”!! Finally.. Sir took it from me and started playing chords of “Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko” on it and asked us to sing. Me being a bad singer, have never sang in public before, my bro too was hesitant, and Payal was already red. But my guitar had other plans. It made me sing to it and I sounded good too. After singing one verse, I was pretty sure of my decision. My brother made the payment, it was a gift for me..my lucky day and I happily brought it home.

Its been 4 years now and I have been faithful to my guitar (never eyed on another guitar after that.. I even stopped thinking of the BLACK one too..), taking good care of him and he is returning the love back by giving me company even here in Gurgaon.

And this is how I met My guitar..
Hope you guys liked it our love story ..

MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE...

26 Nov 2007.. 4:45 AM...Its not that this date will make a significant impact on my life, but its still something that i will remember and speak about in the years to come,Cos this was my first experience of an Earthquake and i hope remains the only one...!!

I finished my share of MAGGIE (as our tiffin-wala did not come, and we were in no mood to go out to some fancy rest or a cheap dhaba even...) finished off "DIL DOSTI ETC"...a truly fantastic movie, capturing the state of young-confused-Indians. Then got inside my cosy blanket , preparing myself, with a very heavy heart for the dreadful long week ahead and even worse MONDAY that was about to come in a few hours..

Around 4:45 my whole bed was shaking tremendously, at first i did not understand what was happening,may be some dirty lil trick was being played by my roomies.. but they were too lazy to do that in the middle of the night, then i heard howls and growls of all the animals.. the bed was still shaking by the way.. And till the time it sync in on me that it was an EARTHQUAKE...the home-made vibrations by mother nature have passed by..

I survived it !!! My first earthquake !!!

I rushed outside to see how my roomies where....but i found them sound asleep..i went outside..and people were all out on the streets, "Earthquake" and "Bhukamp" were the only words i could make up, and they were enough for me to understand that it was not a dream and that I really faced an earthquake !! Now i was in a position to wake all my roomies up and tell them about the event with "Namak Mirch"..

Now i have to survive the after-effects and point by point analysis that ppl do after any major incident in India.. I think the heavy discussions,debates and the predictions are more heavy for me than the actual earthquake..

After all said and done.. and lil analysis and predictions done by my roomies.. I knew more of this was to follow, when i wake up in the morning..I again went to sleep..fearing if it would occur again..will it strike again??? Will it be more severe this time?? What if the roof falls on me?? How fast can i reach the door??? What if i die??? SHITT i should have bought that iPOD NANO man !!! DAMN.. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz......

Woke up the next morning with the loud sound of AAJ TAK stating it was a 4.3 Richter scale earthquake. I felt proud that i survived a not-so-little-but-not-so-major earthquake !! AAJ TAK ppl also said all the major earthquakes occur on 8 or 26..coincidence or some deep mystery i dunno..

Reached office.. Life was all pretty normal on Monday..DAMN my Office towers was still standing tall..lol.. I was just thinking man how only a few Richter scales that would have made the difference.. Difference in people's thinking, attitude towards life, respecting mother nature.. but a 4.3 on a Richter scale is just not enough for people to understand some simple things in life..

Well , so now earthquake is cut off from my-must -experience-before-u-die list..... Looking forward to more simpler and heart warming experiences... Like getting my next salary hike maybe...

Till then...CHOW
keep smiling