Was it the End or..

"In The Eeend, It doesnt even matttter.." Linkin Park was playin a little too loud in background, I picked up my cell to lessen the volume a bit, "Oye Saale!!Sun le gana, gaiyo baad me jab main chala jaunga tab.." and my fingers just stopped on the volume keys without pressing them.

'Doesn't it really matter?', I thought. When I went to college, I initially missed my school days. But, I started loving college and school memories faded gradually. I really never thought about being seperated from those friends which i had made for a lifetime there and I wondered it was exactly how I used to feel about my friends in highschool.

But, let's face the truth..How many friends from my school time I visit now? 2, hardly 3. And now, when I am busy with my career how much time do I take out for my college friends? Friends!! In fact How much time, do i take out for my Family? Naah.. Crap! I am in touch with many of those through FB, mails etc. n we do talk on phone at times.

'Yes, I am a good Man. I keep in touch with my friends.', The thought gave me a slight relief.

'But, What did we talk about? Our careers, our future plans, memories of our past time spent together!! That's it? Do we really connect now, the way we used to? Is being in touch has just become a formality? Expressions have got limited to 'Like' button of Fb only, I guess. Have all of us become great actors to fake friendhip or Love for that matter or have we just accepted the fact that nothing or noone is there to stay in our lives permanently.' I was lost in the thoughts and a pat from my friend on my shoulder suddenly brought me back from my trans. "Chal Yaar! See ya, Shaadi me aa rha hai tu.. Koi bahna nahi chalega.". I nodded, well aware of the fact that other than his marriage this might be the last time I am seeing this guy. Gave him a tight hug, a tear rolled out from my eye n bade him goodbye.

It hurt. Getting seperated from a friend definitely hurts. Well, it was the end of a chapter for me, indeed a very wonderful one and I won't say it doesn't matter and in fact it isn't the end of our relation either.. The cell was now playing "Emptiness" in the background..

Who Am I ??

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Hey Jokers! You bunked the lecture again?! Yeah.. And look who's talking, sahil replied pointing towards me. You are showing your face post lunch, that too at Kaki's and you are asking us whether we have bunked the lectures.
Kaki, 3 cutting and one kings.. i shouted ignoring sahil's remarks. What happened? why so serious? I asked Rakesh, who was sitting silently for quite some time now and was continuously staring at an ant working hard to save some food till the sun's shining.
He just sniffed. Bapu ne dose diya kya fir se?!! teased Sahil.

Don't you have anything else to discuss, replied rakesh with an I-am-pissed-off look. Yesterday was the last date for getting 'Dahej' from the college, and I missed the date..
As usual!! I and Sahil said unanimously. Rakesh just shrugged his shoulders in agreement.
You are such a pig!! Every time you take your dahej after the stipulated date, free ki cheezo ki koi kadra hi nahi hai.. Supreme Category has it's own advantages, Rakesh smirked at me with his signature mischievous smile.

Excuse me!! What Supreme Category are you talking about?.. a not-so-gentle-man jumped into our conversation. Even I belong to the same category, but my father's earning well and I chose not to opt for this begging. I think most of us do not need this, but we just love to misuse the system. Isn't it? It's you people, who get the free seat; who get the free stationery and over that you are so negligent, that you din't even go to collect it.It's because of people like you that our category is nowhere respected. He pointed towards Rakesh. I and sahil were staring at each other, wondering and recalling whether we have hurt the sentiments of this guy-with-irritating-voice. Rakesh was speechless rather dumb stuck.

I am from the same category, but I have come to this institute on accounts of my hard work. I refused the seat I was getting under the reserved quota and I chose the seat which i was getting through General quota, while I could have easily got the better branch under reservation.

Just a minute mister!!.. Now, it was Sahil's turn. I still don't know whether his last sentence provoked sahil to say this or he just took his friend's side, but he just couldn't agree more. It was your choice of not taking the free stationery. It was your choice of not going for a better branch under reserved category.. You must be very proud of yourself, but actually you stink buddy. You stink big time!!
I will explain you why am I saying so.. coz the moment you accepted a general seat over reserved seat, you denied a more deserving candidate the chance to get an admission here..
And secondly, what I can see is.. you are not proud of your achievement, but you have opted for the general seat coz you are ashamed of being tagged by your category. You are ashamed of your own roots moreover you are ashamed of yourself my dear friend.. And there is no stain in this society which is filthier than you, who is ashamed of his own identity!!

I had seen this form of Sahil for the first time.. Though I have been hating reservations on basis of caste throughout, though I have had some very good friends who belong to these categories.. But, in the end.. It's always, "who you are" that matters and not "What you are".

Kaki, Chai cancel.. do ganne ke ras la dio, badi garmi ho gayi hai yahan!!
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- It's A work of Fiction, Not meant to hurt anyone's sentiments.

For the Heaven's Sake...

One is never very happy when things are just not happening or the things which happened were not at all in his favor. With a job offer in hand but, to wait for the date of joining is not something which one really wants to do... I think, so far you have guessed who this person is. Yes, Me Obviously. But, as they say, the things do not always remain the same...after a long period of waiting, one day the Doj came and that too at such stage, when I had started losing hope. Anyway, better late then never. I was Happy...

Each and Every person who used to tease me or increase my frustration with the most pinching question,"Kab Jaa raha hai??", was now asking the same with curiosity and then before I could reply he/she would just add a tag after it.."Jannat hai tumhara campus to" or "Masoori is a place equivalent to heaven" and I just used to pass a smile and say "Not masoori, it's Mysore", although these questions used to annoy me to a great extent but still increased my anxiousness towards reaching the campus as soon as possible.

The day I reached here, after some really time taking and irritating formalities, we came to know that now there's no accommodation left in the hostels and we are being made to stay at a hotel (some good 15kms away from the campus) and we can not come to the campus even if we have ample amount of free time. "Hotel Paradise" the board outside read and I thought ...Ok!! Heaven or Paradise, one and the same thing. Campus me to jana hi hai, city ghoom lete hain. We used to go to our workplace by company bus, which used to take us and the pleasant smell of fresh new formals used to rejoice the mind.

After a couple of days we were moved to the campus hostels and in the urge of discovering the surroundings I took a walk inside the campus and it is really Awesome. Greenery everywhere, cleanliness, fountains good roads and what not... People who used to say that it's heaven were True, I thought. Now after some initial induction, the big day had arrived, the day when our Training started. The educator greeted us with warm Good Morning and Said,” Welcome to the Heaven" and I thought that, he is referring to the place. But, after having a look at the studies and the daily assignments, I became sure that I was wrong and then only I realized his literal meaning which was,” Morons!! You are dead now."

The frequency and level of tests squeezed out the remaining life from within and in between these ups and downs rather Downs and more downs, weekends bring some time to breathe...feww. The campus is heaven, true but the sentence is incomplete. It should be like.. The Campus is Heaven but, they make Life hell.

Oops...

"When college is over, friends fall apart" is one of the very common sayings and it is true to some extent...

Sunday 31st Aug.
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Me and some of my very good friends during college days came together, all in a mood to party as we all are busy now in our own worlds and this get together was more like a fresh breeze in the day to day struggles. 9 craziest people of us met each other after a long time... 4 of which are already occupied with their jobs, i m going in the next week and 2 are scheduled to leave after another week... rest r busy with their PG planning and classes and... Somethings are better, if unsaid.

Well, let me tell you the names of ppl so that it will be easier from here to carry on... Me, Girish, Shaggy, Sahil, Samit, Jitendra, Prince Sir, Ajay Sir and Meet. Meet being the odd one out has alwayz been a soft target to hit for everyone, and even he knows that. In the middle of a spooky environment(Lots of smoke and dim lights...lol) and some uncounted rounds of alcohol many of the inner feelings and hidden stories were coming out from everyone. With the last glass being slammed on the table and after a unanimous surrendering shout,"Packed!!!"..... did I say unanimous? Read it as Majority. We decided to move to a restaurant for dinner as it was only 10 in the clock. Meet being pissed off, left from there as he had a valid excuse of early morning classes next day...(I don't know, when did he started attending classes).

Now we were 8 left on three bikes and were headed to the restaurant(a popular one in the middle of the city)... for which we had to cross almost half of the city and DAMN... What a tight fielding arrangement??? Three slips, gully, point, Short 3rd man and we were on the edge... "It seems, ye sare pandu aaj month end ka target complete karne ko khade hain", said Samit and before we cud react, we were caught.....

Girish and Prince sir safely escaped through, but rest of us were not that lucky."Ae Roko, Roko, teen baith ke jaa rahe ho!!" Now as Ajay sir and Sahil were riding the bikes, they were being interrogated and were asked to show the papers. Luckily papers were complete, but they wanted another paper with Gandhiji's photo. Usually people lift their foot back if accidentally put in the shit, but we are of the other kind. We put our other foot intentionally into the shit as well rather Bull shit and you never know it may pull you into some Deep Shit. I don't understand we are a group of careless, irresponsible, fun loving people or a bunch of adventure freak idiots? Over smartness jhaadne ki aadat jo hai, wo kahan jayegi??

Now, for the sake of time pass, I took the Digicam and started taking pictures of the cops and all culprits in front of their vehicles. One of the newly appointed cop (I suspect) asked me, “Which paper?” and again If someone hits an axe in his foot, I aim it for my head. God has gifted me a Big mouth, to maine bhi faad diya. “Pratidin Prabhakar” (A popular news daily in the circle), I said and to my surprise he started giving me poses and Samit was suggesting some funny gestures to him, so that he could look good in the photographs…lol, “Kal dekhna, City edition me front page pe” said Samit. All of a sudden came a senior mamu and snatched the digicam from my hands, “PRESS wala hai tu, chal card dikha tera, card dikha tera..!!”. “Aaj nahi laya”, I replied. Till now Ajay sir and Sahil have came and all of us started pleading in a defensive mode. “Chal reel nikal tere camera ka, reel nikal..”, “Sir, this is a digicam”. “Haan, jo bhi hai reel nikal iska”, He retaliated. “Ye memory card lagta hai isme, nikal diya. Sare photo kharaab ho gaye sir, hamare bhi.” I said innocently. “Shana smajhta hai, chal tere ko to andar dalta hu”, “Baabuji zara dheere chalo..” sang sahil’s phone as girish and Prince sir were waiting for us as they didn’t even know, what we were upto. “Kaat”, shouted the senior cop. I could imagine myself just two steps away from becoming the Ranjhor ka Rathore, but Jitendra who haven’t spoken a word so far said, “Iske papa PRESS me hain” and it seemed that so far he was just thinking about how to make the police do our Happy B’day, and all of us were staring at him with Killer looks and he said, “Haan, inko aise hi chamkana chahiye.”

But, our luck smiled on us and there came an angel, farishta… “Kya naam hai tera??”, “Tu marathi aahes??, Baba kay kartaat??, Tu kay karto??” and I was answering each of his questions seriously. “Are you all drunk??”, “Nahi…hi hi hi, thodi si”. “Oh god!! Already drunk, caught three on bikes red handed and you were taking photographs of the cops and you said you are press guys. Phans jaate tum sab bahut bure tarike se, Bacha liya maine, Majhya communitycha asun asa kartos..” Now Ajay sir was getting impatient, “Sorry sir, we’ll take care ki aisa fir nahi hoga, jaayen hum??”

We moved ahead from the spot and not even half a mile ahead we stopped our bikes and we were literally lying down on the road with huge laughter outbursts, "Yaar!! Bacha liya, thik hai thank you. Farishta hai, farishta reh, papa kyo ban raha hai??"(Ehsaanfaramosh)…and Sahil revealed that, in all this mess the cop forgot to take the challan penalty from him and now the laughter riot got uncontrollable. Now we had our dinner and in between the talks of our veergatha.

Then as we had the challan receipts, we were the kings of the road now. After leaving everyone to their homes or nearby places; I, Girish and sahil returned to our homes…When I was in the way back to my home, I received the texts from Girish and Sahil which read, “Reached home safely, parents asleep” and I was hoping for the same. But no one can do anything, if the destiny decides to screw him. I reached home safely (Adhi jung fateh ) but as I was moving toward the door with thief steps… suddenly the door opened and papa came into the picture “Welcome son !!” ….

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* Fictious story including embellishment of a small incidence.

My first Driving Lesson

The board read, “Full to Final Driving School”. I entered, “Hello Sir”, “You!! I’ve seen you somewhere. Where, I don’t remember. Yes, You are the one, who used to follow our car with your bike, when that, what her name was…”, “Simran??” Oh fish, this reflex action screws me every time. “Yes, when that Simran was taking driving lessons.” Now I was on back foot, “Amm… Sir, that was not me. Actually my grandma used to tell me that, there are seven people with similar faces in this world, you have some misunderstanding.”

“OK!! So you want to learn to drive a car, hmm.” “Yes sir”, I said cheerfully, but I didn’t know that this is for the last time in the day when I am smiling. “Get into the car”, he ordered, I saw here and there and saw a Kandam Maruti 800, ‘so this is what he calls a car’, I thought. The moment I got in it, I started feeling claustrophobic.

He showed me the Steering wheel, (A) Escalator (Accelerator), (B) Birek (Brake), (C) Kiluch (Clutch) and Giyar (Gear). Then he said “Ok, today I’m gonna give you only A and B but, neither C nor Giyar and you have to operate the steering wheel as well.” All of a sudden he seemed to be the bride’s father of a cheap Hindi movie cribbing for the over demanded dowry and saying, “I’ll give you T.V. not fridge, Bed not dressing table, Scooter not Car and bla bla bla…”.

We started off well on that self accelerated vehicle (It seemed to me on first day), “Mod par horan (Horn) bajayengay, mudte samay haath dikhayengay…”, ‘so much emphasize on the gay while ending the sentence hun…??’, I thought.

Well, this real time driving experience in Indore gives you great confidence and judgment of the road which no simulator can teach you, I bet. How?? Through the narrow lanes, when you try to speed up, suddenly a cow which was standing on the footpath comes in front of you and shakes its tail, a dog sleeping in the mid of the road on listening to your horn’s sound stares at you and dozes, some bikers cross you waving with high speeds, some sabzi wala walks in front of you with his thelaagaadi and gives you such a look, and if not anything then the pedestrians walking amidst the lane with mobile phones or an auto rikshaw coming wrong side suddenly forces you to stand up on the brake pedal… and if the luck is on your side and you have an empty road to drive, then though you need to be skilled enough to miss the open man holes (Chambers) and to keep your car on the partial road available.

In between he was continuously telling me not to shake the steering wheel unnecessarily as I had seen actors doing in movies and suddenly he shook it vigorously and the car turned into a roller coaster for a while and a biker in left and a scooterist in right behind us lost their tracks completely. But, I should admit that, the instructor was as cool as an ice cube; coz he wasn’t moved by an inch at instances when I tried to give him heart attacks, such as taking the car so close to the divider or giving the pigs run for their lives and what not. Even once when I pressed the accelerator to an extreme he just gave me a dead cold look and said,"Shoemaker nahi banna hai apne ko.", "You mean Schumacher??", I confirmed.

Well! That was the first day, but after 4 days, now I am one of his quickest learners and so I can say that, “sometimes things are not that tough which you think them of being…”

City under Threat - Demystified

Asia Cup cricket final- A disgusting Rameez was laughing at the pathetic batting display of Indian Tigers on a FLAT TRACK. Even Bush won't get this much excited after catching Laden, alive. "I need some fresh air.", I said and went for a night walk. I don't know what I was thinking about rather whom, suddenly a zooming sound attracted my attention and I turned around just to find a car rushing towards me in full speed. The driver hardly managed to miss me and lost his control and hit a tree guard on the footpath.

A constable appeared from nowhere and he along with me pulled the car back and helped the driver let out of that car. "Don't you people know it's illegal to wander in curfew zone?? You youngsters don't understand anything, you people just do anything for the sake of adventure. " said the constable in a frustrated manner. I showed him my ID proof, while the driver, Ali, told him that he was coming from railway station after dropping his grandma and was speeding towards home to avoid the problems due to curfew and gave him his platform ticket as a proof.
The constable was now staring at us. At this point we were in a kashmakash and he was having kash pe kash and as his partner was sleeping big time, he was in a mood to chat and we were not in a hurry either..."Do you think that this communal conflict in indore has to do anything with the allotment of land of Amarnath Shrine board??" but, Baaltis don't answer, I and Ali were just looking towards each other. "No, obviously not", he broke the silence and continued," These are the preplanned political stints, the dirty vote bank politics."

"Two small groups, political parties which have some problems in between them are always eyed towards such occasions, just to take their personal revenge and give these disputes the colour of communal disputes, otherwise who the hell keeps krates full of stones in mosques or temples or their houses?? No one does.". We were shaking our heads, as we've learnt in MBA preparatory institutes that How to nod while listening.

"These people are genius by birth, one of the groups holds orange flags and the other green flags. One group's equipped with swords, knives while the other with small explosives and they set a display in which some buildings, shops, houses are burnt, a few people lose their lives, some get injured just for the satisfaction of egos of these party heads, but who suffers in all this??" Me and Ali had big question marks in our eyes. "The common man." He replied," and off course we do. Do you think that, we enjoy laathi charge?? No!! we don't. In a city like Indore, where Collector, SP, DGP everyone's newly came in, it becomes a really tough task to be carried out to bring things to normal while the third party tries to catch the attention by their statements regarding entropy in the city during their counterparts' rule. What's wrong in that if the some Police authority says that, even god can not handle these situations."

The conversation was getting hotter and hotter but, the electronic media brought some light moments for a change as he said," These 24*7 news reporters are no less than comedians, they go to an old lady, who's already in a very big problem that how would she reach her home as there's no public conveyance and ask her, 'Mataji aap curfew me fas gayi hain,kaisa lag raha hai aapko??', They go to some lodge where people haven't had any meal for 2 days due to bandh and all, and ask them, 'Bhaaisab kaisa lag raha hai aapko, aapne 2 din se kuchh nahi khaya hai, bahar nahi nikle hain?? Paani to aata hai na anadar?', Boss you have the press card, Help them. No, 'Ye rajwada bada soona lag raha hai, dekhiye ise'; bloody jokers, curfew me log yahan party manane aayenge kya? " Suddenly his eyes became moist and said "Jo batana hai wo to batate nahi hain ye, that a Hindu family gave shelter to a Muslim in their home during these riots. 2 Jainees were taken through the sensitive area safely in a muslim's car. No these news aren't permitted by their fathers as they don't want to show the real bonding between people here."

Suddenly Ali's phone rang..."Haan abbu, aa raha hu.",He said and then the constable said, "Yes, you both should leave now, as it' already too late and our headsaab will be on a round any time. Take care."

Both of us went on our own ways... Through out the way I was thinking, that Why, Why people don't understand this very basic thing that they are just being used, while the big players play the dirty game and yet safely travel through their VIP cars and still not bothering about the people but their votes, not about the actual number of casualties but the figures to be quoted in their speeches and not... what Rafa beat Fedrer, Ohh fish, how's that possible ?? Well, life doesn't stop, it carries on...

Goodbye Childhood...

Looking towards the sunset, I wish to be a child again;
I want that time back, when there were no barriers.

No barriers to my dreams, no barriers to joy;
No responsibilities to restrict my forwarded steps.

I miss those crayons,
with which I used to paint the rainbow;
I miss those sleepers,
wearing which I danced in the rain.














I miss that bicycle,
whose bell I used to ring throughout the way;
I miss that guava tree,
which never let me feel the sun in summer.

I miss that colorful kite,
for which I ran on the roads recklessly;
I miss that school dress,
which witnessed many oil and ink stains.

I miss that excitement of getting small things;
when losing big things even didn't bother me.

I miss that innocent heart,
which allowed me to make friends;
non diplomatic attitude,
when castes and cream didn't matter.

I miss those child like excuses,
which made others giggle on my childish deeds;
I miss those scoldings from elders,
which always made me feel,'let me grow up n I'll show you'.

I miss those moments,
but I know they'll never come again;
I can just cherish those memories,
which bring some crying smiles n laughing tears.

What I can do is only,
learn from the mistakes of childhood;
I say goodbye to the setting sun,
and hope to see a brighter sunrise of life...

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Inspired from the ad jingle- "Bachpan ke din khel le, kal to fir bada hai banna".
Dedicated to- our good ol childhood.