Life's Onward Journey...

One more long awaited journey is over. And I should stress on the fact that this was one of the best trips I have had in near future. Firstly, it was a friend's wedding. Secondly, the venue was my long-lost-land, the place of my birth and incidentally the city where I earned my first degree. Thirdly, accompanying me was my buddy and 3 other friends. Every moment was fun. One of the highlight of the trip was the train journey. The onward journey was really interesting with 'interesting co-passengers'. I think I will have to write a separate post dedicated to the Mumbai to Patna journey. What say buddy? :) The first sunset i managed to catch on my camera Buddy, clicking pictures from train I love railway tracks :) Never had i felt this kind of attachment to Patna. I was super-excited when we crossed my college. I showed my friends the usual hangouts around the college, the card gallery, the pastry-corner, the 'gunda-college'. We visited my grandparent's...

Goli maar bheje mein... ***Sparkle*** Hum aur Tum Ek tha thoonth Aaj khush to bahot hoge tum... K2 did you tell me about this? Guess who was there too... :)

An old friend is in town. I have been excited since the day I came to know that she will be visiting Bombay. It is always fun to be back with old friends. In the 7-8 hours that three of us spent together today, we did everything from sharing updates in our lives to exchanging gossip stories. Actually I didn't have any gossip stories, instead I was just listening most of the time. There are few friends who are both elder and wiser than me... This one fits that criteria :) After spending five and a half year at the same institute for finishing this degree, obviously I hardly have any of my seniors around. Even many of my batch mates have left the place. And currently I am one of the seniors in the department. So I am bound to be excited when one of my seniors is here. I have been jumping around and telling all that "Didi is here" :). After such a long time I am getting a chance to behave like a kid and now with her around I can even throw a tantrum. It is not that I don...

As I am getting older, the memories of childhood are becoming more and more dear to me. There are some bitter memories (which I am not interested in discussing) and there are many sweet memories. I have been reading "Kaghazi hai pairahan", an autobiography of Ismat Chughtai these days. In the current chapter she is visiting her phoophi ( father's sister ). The description of the home and the ambiance reminded me of my grand-father's home at Bhagalpur, Bihar. We used to visit there every year during our summer vacation. Two of my phoophis and chhote abbu (father's brother) used to stay there too. So, in all we were 7 kids. If the timing was good then 2 other cousins from Patna would join us. There were fights as well as fun. I remember once we organized a cultural evening with a short skit and some song and dance too. I don't remember my contribution though. Bhagalpur was a little (actually more than a little) short on electricity. And that compelled all of ...

Chappa chappa charkha chale Courtyard- Bapu's cottage Khus and a squirrel Sabarmati Ashram Bapu said... The entire group (with me behind the camera) Chalo re doli uthao kahaar... Framed Pair 1: Khus and me Pair 2: Sudarsan and me Pair 3: Kapil and me Pair 4: Binny and me Now, lets all pair up... Kathputliyan... Gujju Thaali...Khao khao Arey itna khaane ko kisne bola tha? To each his own... Vau-Adalaj Kidhar jaana hai bhai? Sarkhej Roza- The corridor ye kya jagah hain doston... Agle janam mohe bitiya hi keejo Who's that girl? Bachcha-log

Rockstar--Mumble-bee and his first fan DJ Hari Lal and DJ reading their fav column in Mumbai Mirror :) Hari and DJ: comparatively sober DJ and me Hari and me

Hari....sorry Dr. P. Hari Kumar, this post is dedicated to you. I know how long you must have been waiting for this day. Finally it's over and you can move to the next stage of your life. I am really happy for you. You know this happiness is much, much more than the pain of you leaving TIFR and all of us. Apart from my batchmates who joined the institute with me, you have been my longest if not the closest association here. The innumerable nights before my seminars when i used to get panic attacks, i remember Monika and you sitting with me. I remember the night before my project 2 seminar (which i flunked :)) when we were sitting in the library and discussing my project and the lack of clarity in it. For a presentation as petty as journal club I required Monika and you. I have learnt so much from you in the past 4 and a half years. It's going to be tough to stay in the department without you. Even if i was not the 'regular' gang member at east canteen, or mac...

My parents can vouch for the fact that as a child i was a quick learner (learning ability gradually declined though). They didnt have any problem in teaching me the first 3 alphabets. In my brother's case it was quite different. Cat (my brother) was an extremely lazy child (thereafter he improved exponentially). Since i can't compare myself to him today, i will stick to the good old days when i was the "padhaku bachcha" and he was the "shaitaan bachcha". I remember, one of those days when he had just started going to school, my father was sitting with him and trying to make him write "A-B-C" on a slate. First my father drew a big 'A' and asked him to try to copy it. Cat instead of drawing 'A' or anything near to it, just scribbled and said, "This is 'A'". I think this went on for another 10 times (cat was bold enough to try my father's patience). Abbu had already had enough of nonsense. He lifted my brother an...

I have been noticing that these days a wide range of external stimuli ellicit the same response in me. Any small thing reminds me of my childhood. It turns into a chain reaction, with one memory turning the key of another locked-up memory. Our father being an electronic engineer terms like voltage, resistance, capacitor were commonly used at home. My brother and i used to sit and gaze at our dad while he used to work on some electronic equipment. Many a times he used to ask us to get a specific screw-driver or a line-tester and both of us used to run and get it. A soldering iron used to arouse a lot of curiosity and fright in me. Abbu used to keep it in a corner and gave us strict instructions to stay away from it. I observed that a silver coloured wire (solder) melts when brought in contact with it and emanates a burning smell. I used to love that smell. One day after abbu finished his work i went and touched the soldering iron. It was warm. I guessed it must have been a lot more hott...