What does one do when bored???

Strange question!! I am still thinking on it and have thought of a lot many things to do. But for some of these activities, you need a partner, a friend with whom you can enjoy.

The top on my priority list is traveling. I would love to travel within (or even outside of) UK, but going alone would not be as great as going with a group of close friends. Some of my fond memories of traveling have been while traveling in groups. Trips to places like Ooty, Bylakuppe(near Mysore), Shivanasamudram, Paris, Edinburgh and many others have been etched in memory with some unforgettable moments. Apart from giving you so much joy, it gives you the much needed energy and enthusiasm and the right sort of company will make the trip pleasant.

I had made a few trips from college, but some of them were not as memorable because some people were very restrained and I didnt find the same energy levels or the same frequency matching with other people. It was a pity that those trips though being good were not the best. There was a big gap of communication between guys and girls. That takes away some of the sheen and puts me off.

But to get away from it all, I remember the two Ooty trips made with my school and Infy friends. Both of them were amazing trips and will remain in my memory forever. One of the trips (the one which involved my school friends) will remain in memory because of two never ever forgetting incidents -
1. I developed a crush on one of my classmates (this is the first time I am saying this so openly)
2. The way I embarassed Raghu in front of Divya :-)

I would love to go into those details, but no! They are personal talk and would not be divulged here :-) he he he. So, if you would like to know more about them, then be a good friend of mine and I probably will tell you about it over a drink (I dont drink you see).

And the second trip to Ooty with my Infy friends was another exciting trip. This one was awesome because we had some of the best "PJ maaring" people on board. The laughter didnt stop for a minute. We had lost count of the number of PJs we had cracked and I am sure the driver would have had to undergo surgery for his ear after listening to us. I am sure he would have at least carried some cotton with him from the next trip onwards :-))

But it is not a sunny day always. There are cloudy days and then there are rainy days as well. All I am trying to say is that life is not the same always and you dont get such company all the time to travel. Like now! I am alone, and I dont know what to do in this place for the weekend. I am thinking of going to some place, but I have been so undecisive. On the one hand, I am thinking of going to a movie where as on the other, I am thinking of going to a tourist place.

Whatever it might be, I know it will be an impulsive decision tomorrow. Lets see what I would do to kill my time :-)

By the way Bungee Jumping is not a bad idea at all!!!

Or even sitting at home reading a novel... Or taking a walk across the Thames...Or going to my friends/ cousin's place ...UuurrghHH!!!

See you on Monday!!! I will tell you what I did finally :-)

Mazhab nahi sikhaata aapas mein bair rakhna

"As I fought away the pain and agony, an angel came up to me..."

I dont know if any movie/drama had this dialogue, but I would like to use it for something similar happened this evening as I was publishing my previous blog - "Zindagi bahut tez apni rukh badalti hai".

I had started off that blog on the note - "Life is highly unpredictable" and so it is. I had not expected a person to come up to me and talk to me and impress me the way this person did tonight. And why did he impress me? I would say - "for many reasons". I would give two reasons and keep the rest with me for there were many characteristics of this person which impressed me (for e.g. his openliness to people).

One - He was a Pakistani (I am an Indian by the way). Ohh my Gaawwd!!! Indians and Pakistanis have hatred for each other!!!

I would say that's highly untrue. I have met many Pakistanis in London and none of them seem to hate us. And why should they hate us (or we hate them)? I have done no harm to them and nor have they done to me. They are human beings leading their independent lives just as I do. We are all here to love and help each other. Borders, religions or any other differentiations do not matter - to believe this from the bottom of one's heart is one thing. To act in a befitting manner is another. And this Angel - Mr. Qurban Ali did that and I liked him instantly.

Two - He did not denigrade any religion or country. The purity with which he spoke good about everyone - not everyone is capable of that. It is just the mind which wanders between the good and the bad and makes its own choice. To meet such a gentleman and to spend some time, training my thoughts away from the routine sickness of life was one good experience.

The words still ring in my ears - "kisika mazhab bura nahi sikhaata, har mazhab mein acchhaai likhi hai. Us par aap kitna amal karte ho woh aap par hai" (No religion teahces bad. Every religion only preaches good. It is up to you - the individual to decide how much you keep up to those words).

I have gained a lot from this one meeting of ours and I hope to do so on a continual basis. And I am happy for life being so unpredictable ;-)

After all Chaos Theory works ... :-))

Zindagi bahut tez apni rukh badalti hai

Life is so unpredictable. While reading Jurassic Park (an awesome book by Michael Crichton), I came across a Chaos Theory which said that systems that seem so simple are really very complex and can have unpredictable behaviours which we may not even think about. I wonder by the truth in this theory (I dont know for sure if this is really a theory, but I have found it so close to reality) and can associate a lot of things with my life for e.g. I didn't know that I would miss a flight despite being early in the airport. Strange, but true. I did miss it due to a delay in transit. There are many more incidents with which I could go on and on, but first - some of my thoughts compiled in a poetic way in Hindi.



Zindagi badi ajeeb hai, bahut tez apni rukh badalti hai
kahin chhaaon to kahin gehri dhoop nikalti hai

socha thha maine ki apne zindagi ko ek aisa mod doonga
par kambakht yeh kisi ke haathon se nahi sambhalti hai

bachpan ke sapnon pe main, kal tak hansa karta thha
anhone khwaab aankhon mein liye ghooma karta thha

kaanton se bhari hui is duniya mein phoolon ki khoj kiya karta thha
nirashaaon ke daur mein bhi asha ki ummeed kiya karta thha

kaash main jaan sakta ki zindagi ki agli mod kya ho
kaash mere sapne sachhayi mein parivartit ho

sochta hoon ke main apna manchaaha kaam kar jaaun
phir chaahe jiyun ya chaahe mar jaaun

lekin mujhe pata hai aur yeh baat khatakti rehti hai
ki zindagi badi ajeeb hai, bahut tez apni rukh badalti hai

A tale of a thrilling trip to home

Dream Come True

I had a terrific time at home and I am still wondering as to where did the one week of my leave go? I just cant believe that the break got over so quickly. Never have I enjoyed an unplanned break more than this. As it was unexpected and things were uncertain till the very last moment, I was excited at the prospect of going back to India and stepping on the divine soil. So much so that I was nervous when the plane was landing in Bangalore and my heart skipped a few beats. My legs were trembling and I had to pinch myself to believe it. That was how good and happy I felt after a long time.

The homecoming

I was promptly met by Anuradha (my friend and ex-colleague) at the airport and I was thrilled to see her. She was as excited as me and was not ready for it. She just couldnt believe that I had come. A nice warm hug and a couple of mins of unstoppable laughter said it all. We were so happy. A little while later I was met by Madhavi (my cousin) and then after a long ride in an old Ambassador car, there I was - in the arms of my mother. Her eyes had waited anxiously for me for 8 months now and the relief could be seen as both my cheeks were planted with innumerous kisses. Dad was equally happy as he hugged me and a big glowing smile crept on his face. He was proud that his son had made it back home in so short a time! I felt like a king as I was welcomed duly by all my relatives who had turned up for the occasion.

I was tired and jet lagged as I had not slept from the excitement. It all showed as I fell asleep for a few moments during the Satyanarayana Puja. My parents had bought me a nice maroon coloured sherwaani and I felt good wearing it (all I have here in London are casuals or formals but no ethnic or traditional wear). I had already missed the "Gruhapravesham" part of the ritual as I was in Mumbai domestic airport at that time waiting for my connecting flight. But I was there when all friends and relatives had come to see our new house.

The House

The house itself is very nice and cozy. It is a duplex house with one bedroom in the ground floor and two bedrooms on the first floor. The house is spacious from the inside though it is a little cramped for space from the outside. But it is quite sufficient for a family of three people or more. Among my friends whom I had invited, very few turned up and I was a little disappointed. Anuradha, Pavana, Suhasini and Mayank were among those who turned up. We were happy to see each other. We had lunch the traditional way - sitting on the floor and eating on plantain leaves with many tasty South Indian dishes served. The day seemed to be too long as I was feeling very tired and I had to fight hard to prevent my eyelids from closing.

Guests Leave

Guests started leaving in the evening. Once they had all departed we had dinner and a tiring day had nearly come to an end. Mom n Dad had not slept for nearly two-three days in preparation for the ceremony. They were very tired and were just waiting for the day to end. But before that could happen, we got the news that my uncle (Madhavi's dad) could not come for the function that day as his flight landed in Hyderabad instead of in Bangalore. We were then glad to hear that he had made efforts to come by bus from Hyderabad to reach the next morning. Though we could spend only a couple of hours with him the next morning, we were very happy to see him. He is one of the closest members of our family and we were delighted to have him present. Sunday went by in cleaning up the house of the remains from the previous day's function. We went back to our old house that evening and retired early. My peddamma (Rajesh's mother) left late on Monday night and I had spent the day in helping her with some shopping.

Infy revisited

Tuesday was probably the day which I felt was most tiring as I ran from one building to another in Infy to meet my friends. I was so excited to go to Infy and do all that which I enjoyed doing when I was there. Eating in the food courts, chatting with people, meeting up for coffee/tea breaks and most of all - enjoying the day! The day started off early. I had worn the tie and the Infy ID tag after a long time and I felt so happy about it. Mayank had come to pick me up. The travel was one of the most disgusting. After having gotten used to travelling in noiseless trains and cars in the UK, I was suddenly reminded of the blaring horns and the careless driving by the Indian motorists. It took me an hour and a half to reach office and had it not been for the AC in Mayank's car, I would have been fried in the heat and pollution there! Way to go Bangalore. The city has not improved its roads or the local transport system. The traffic is not supportive either with people driving on the roads with utter disregard to their by travellers. I was glad to reach Infy and we soon made our way to Lotus food court. The time it took me to have my breakfast gave me an idea of what was in store for me for the rest of the day. I met many people whom I knew and it was Mayank who finally gave a missed call and called me to join him for breakfast.

The best part of the day was the lunch with our old lunch group. I had missed the excitement and happy times spent with our group at the lunch table. We met up in the new food court - "The Terminal" and had a good nice lunch while cracking PJs all the time (something which I miss in the UK). It was such a pleasant sight sitting there with old pals (and a few new ones as well) and enjoying the delicious Indian food. It made me wonder why I had to come this far - does money matter so much? Well, thoughts came back to the lunch table as Suhasini thanked me and said something in my ears - "Thanks Prashant. Tumhaare aur Raghu ke jaane ke baad pehli baar yeh table itne logon se bhara hua hai" and I could sense how happy they were as well. To be true, I became a little emotional at that statement. Everyone is waiting for those good old days. Priti, Suhasini, Shivani, Manisha, Mayank, Manan and some of their friends had graced the lunch table.

All this while I was thinking if I would bump in to Vidhya (my college senior) and I didnt. So, I went up to her cubicle after lunch and caught her just before a meeting. We were thrilled to see each other after a long gap. We later met up near Coffee Day and I even introduced her to Suhasini as she wanted to increase her friends circle from a present number of zero :-) In the meantime, I met friends in the Lotus food court and I had asked people to meet me in slots of 15 mins each. It seemed like some interview where I talked to a person for 15 mins and then bid him/her bye before meeting another person. The day wouldnt have gotten over even at that pace. I still missed meeting several people including Nanjappa and Richard. Though the day was coming to an end, I was reluctant to go home as I wanted to enjoy being in the campus for some more time. But time was not on my side then.

Dinner with best buddies

Wednesday was another day to spend with my best buddies. I met Anuradha, Rachna, Pavana, Mayank, Suhasini, Priti, Vinutha and Satish and we had a lovely dinner at Chandini Chowk in Koramangala. Earlier in the day I had enjoyed watching Iqbal (the movie by Nagesh Kukunoor) and had a pizza lunch with Anu in Pizza Corner. A little bit of shopping and roaming around in the streets of MG Road made up for a day worth remembering. And in a flash the day was over and when I looked back I had spent 5 days in Bangalore and I was cribbing for more time to spend. There's never enough time to spend with your buddies. And meeting them after such a long gap, there was lots to say but words didnt come out of my mouth. The day would also be remembered for a small incident which put me in tension for sometime. I had severe abdominal pains for a long time and I thought that I probably had appendicitis. But the pain receded with the day and I was fine by night. It must have been a stomach cramp (due to the excessive heat, which I am now not used to bearing).

Family time

As I was spending too much time with my friends, I felt guilty of not spending time with my family. A slight reproach from my mother as well told me how much she longed to spend time with me. So, Thursday and Friday were spent staying at home (or going shopping with my mother). Continuous phone calls had become so irritating that I was not allowed to pick a few of the calls or I put them off for a later time. But all in all the last two days were spent at home. Friday night we went out for dinner with our house owners (for the first time). As we are going to vacate our present house in a few days and shift to a new house, our owners wanted to dine with us. We were joined midway by Lachi (my college batchmate and one of my closest friends). He had come down from Mysore to meet me just in time. He looked so different without the beard that he used to shave once in a bluemoon while in his IAS preparation days.

Saturday was a different tale altogether. I was running around shopping and buying last minute goodies. I was busy till nearly 5pm in the evening. Anu had come to our house to see me before I left and she was left talking to my mother as I was running around places with Lachi. I showed Lachi our new house as well as the newly rented house. And finally the time had come forme to depart and come back to continue my routine chores on the shores of the English channel. Mom was emotional as tears rolled down her cheek. I too was sad coming back to the UK, but I remained calm and cool. Anuradha wore a deserted look on her face and Madhavi hid the sadness. Dad never shows up his emotions publicly and I know that he would have felt bad too. Why else would he take leave for two more days and come to see me off when he had taken one week off for the house warming ceremony. It was touching indeed. I felt like a king again. The flight to Mumbai was on time. And shortly afterwards, I was aboard IT 106 (Kingfisher Airlines) from Bangalore to Mumbai, immersed in looking at the gorgeous air hostesses hand picked by none other than Vijay Mallya himself. But the happiness of making it home in time when needed remained hidden in my heart and I still carry that happiness around with me! How I wish I could make many more of such exciting trips back home (okay, the cost involved should be less).