Star Trek

Having so many thoughts running down ur mind, literally trekking inside my brain, its much more difficult to gather the memories and ‘blog’ them here. Saturday, 01 Aug 2009 will always remain a memorable day, one that has taught me so much,given me so many experiences, some tiring, some scary, some exhausting, but most pleasing !!

Subah Ho Gayi Mamu….
I had to board the bus at Huma Adlabs,Kanjur @ 6:10 AM, a time im not accustomed to wakingup with my long log-like sleeping routine after work. But saturday was different, my body clockwoke me up not much to my surprise, because the anticipation of what kind of day lay ahead had me pumped up early morning. All dressed up & packed, having debated the need for carrying an umbrella with mom (cuz i wanted to get drenched if at all it rained), i left from home @ 5 just to make sure i dont leave the bus waiting (though the mails sent the day before mentioned that it wouldnt ).

‘Bus’ Chalte Jaana….
Once the bus was full of the trekkers, entertainment was bound to happen!! From singing with everyone during Antakshari (undoubtedly the all time fav activity during a bus journey) to playing Dumb Charades where during my turn i had to enact a C-grade movie to jokes & everything that one could imagine. Everyone participated whole heartedly & the competition was healthy and fun !! as everyone sang in chorus.

Lakshya ko paana hai…
The first few minutes were great, unknown to what lay ahead, the walk was good till it was time to turn monkey & climb. Nikh’s constant “only 15 mintues more” to base stretched to well over 2 hours, maybe more. The energy that was there till now began to sap as dehydration started to show up. It was a test of character & determination to make it to the top, and the path that led to the top made sure it would do everything it can to churn out every quality that one would show during hard times. I started to climb trying to keep pace with the few that were ahead, stopping once in a while to catch a breath. Cramps were kicking in and my feet started to stiffen, refusing to budge, toes locking themselves inside my shoes as though they had united against my will to climb. But as time went by, everyone who passed by & climbed together with egged each other on, there was no lack of motivation, humour making the ascent easy at times as you could hear some (frankly, including me) say how achy it was getting. Im thankful to each & every one who got me up top to realise what i would have missed had i given up early.

Trek abhi baaki hai mere dost
If the ascent was by any means difficult, the descent was more daunting. Having to watch ur step every minute, making twice sure that the rock beneath ur feet wont roll over leaving u in a position you dont want to, at times holding hands and helping the others get down on stable patches just like u were guided onto stabled footholds was a great bonding exercise. Adrenaline began to rush in & at times decision making as to which path to take was on pure instinct. I would never forget crossing the ledge with the help of few local boys after having realised that oops, the path down was off way !! The rocks seemed small now & with the occasional slips and falls, one slip in particular where i misjudged landing my left foot only to trip over a buried branch and give Mads a scare nothing short of a heartattack( sorry about that ), the descent was nothing but awesome !! Even though groups of people began to vanish and at one point of time Raks, Saur’s  & I came down with noone ahead or behind us. However voices began to echo as people made their way and we were once again united. Towards the end, we encountered a we came across a stream where without hesitation, people including myself took of their shoes to sit in the middle of the stream, cooling our heels, quite literally

Aa ab laut chalein
Back in the bus, we headed to a restaurant for a hot cup of elaichi flavoured chai & after that, we headed to our destination. Im damn sure, that all of us were satisfied with what we had done. Kudos to Nikh’s,  Sun’s & all those who organised the trek & Sunny & also to Kave’s for the food during the entire time. Special mention to all females who climbed up, my respect for their courage & will has increased a 1000 fold. Looking back to that day the excitement fills me up. The memories are more than i can blog about. There’s a lot that i havent mentioned but rest assured that you will get to know all about what happened from those who trekked. It was one awesome Star Trek Experience.

Star Trek

Did You Smile Today?

This incident happened moments before i went to watch Transformers-2. I was waiting at the railway platform waiting for my friend to arrive when i walked up to a snack stall to ask for directions which unfortunately i didnt get. As i began to walk away a little girl probably about 5 years old walked around the stall and looked at me. There was nothing unusual about her, her clothes were worn down to rags, dirt in her hair, dark in appearance chewing her left thumb. I had seen such kids before on the street begging for pennies, sometimes following me a certain distance only to give up after i would return a stern look back.

On a closer look i noticed that this girl was chewing on the wrapper of a mint. The mint wasnt there but she continued to lick the remnants of the mint off the insides of the wrapper. She walked up closer to me and when i looked at her again she pointed out to the snack bunch that were laid out on the sides of the stall. Looking at her appearance i thought she wanted the local brand of peppy that were sealed in transparent packets. I walked towards the stall and pointed out to one of those packets. She returned a NO with a nod from side to side and pointed closer to one of the better marketed, yet local brand of lemon flavored potato wafers. This girl definitely had better taste than the kids i had seen on previous occasions eat the peppy stuff. I asked the guy at the stall the cost of the packet and as he told me it only cost Rs 5. I paid the amount and tore one packet of wafers separate from the rest and handed it to her.
Then the most amazing thing happened as the lil girl smiled at me as she frolicked away with the wafer packet in her hand. At that moment i realized that from the time i saw her till the time she walked away, not a word was spoken yet it was her smile that caught my attention, it was unusual. It felt like The Almighty had appeared in her, to see if i would return a kind hearted gesture. I know of people ( including myself ) who at times despise having beggars walk up to them with a sad face only to reflect the misery and helplessness that exists between billions of people unable to afford a basic lifestyle, deprived of their needs, needs that everyone has a right to.

This lil girl, carefree of what her circumstances are, smiling at me taught me that no matter how difficult things can get, yet a smile can make such a difference to us as well as others. I remember complaining to myself about the rain that began pouring just as i had left home making it difficult to board transport and even more difficult to walk around in muck, when only a few months ago i longed for rain to fall down to cool down the summer heat. Her smile made me feel ‘foolish‘, and reminded me that i hadnt smiled since morning. A smile is all it takes to brighten up someone’s day, like she did to mine.

Smile at people you know, but smile specially at people you dont know. In this grief stricken, always busy, hard and harsh life that we live for years, you may never know that u smiled at someone who is having a bad day or probably has things worrying them just like you, relieving them, even if for an instant from the misery that we all go through. As you go through your day, ask yourself this question, ” Did I Smile Today? “

Dakshina – The bribe.

I wish my first blog would be about something pleasant, but its not to be.

I woke up early today as usual to attend my driving lessons. Little did i know that i would be in for a surprise. I reached the training school and began driving the Indica. After about 2 mins into the drive my instructor seated to my left opened the door on his side to spit out the gutkha he was chewing. It was odd for him to do so, because for the last 5 days he preferred keeping the gutkha in his mouth the entire duration of my driving lesson which rendered his instructions 75% useless as i couldnt understand what he was trying to say, much to my dislike.

Today was different, he started by telling me that the Indica had been brought back from the servicing centre having fixed its shaky steering. For the next few minutes he asked me if everything felt right and i told him that the car responded well after its servicing had been done. He added,

” Kuch takleef ho to humko batau “

I nodded a ‘yes’ in response, my eyes fixed on the traffic ahead, careful not to bump into any vehicle. Then he smiled and said,

“Kuch dakshina vakshina leke aao, to mast gaadi chalana sikhayen…“

For the first time i heard his entire sentence clearly, i politely smiled back wondering why he said what he did. Im sure he felt that i thought he was joking, so just to make his point clear he added,

” Andar (the office) jo paisa bhara hai, usse kuch matlab nahi hai, samjhe? Ab jo bhi karna hai woh humko karna hai…“

Inadvertently, i turned towards him still trying to understand what he meant by

“Andar jo paisa bhara hai…“

as i had paid Rs.2300 to be exact, for the License & lessons. He looked at me as though it was a routine request while it was more like a bomb dropped for me as i never before had anyone directly ask me extra cash for the service i requested. I knew such things existed & happened for decades now, and though i didnt like it, i got my first experience. I just let the words exit from my ears and i looked back onto the road driving the remaining road stretch careful not to kill any sleeping dogs on the road as i had the habit of accelerating at the sight of an empty road…!

Towards the end i parked the car near the start point where the next student in line would take his turn. As i exited the vehicle he gave me a reminder once again, to get the ‘dakshina‘ that he thinks he deserves when i would rather be happy to print my fist on his face than handover a smiling bapu to him. Money talks, they say, but i know that i want my money to stay shut in my wallet until i need to take it out for a proper purpose, not as dakshina. I also know that im not the first one he’s asked for cash and im certainly not going to be the last. This cash reward scheme is one that goes on everywhere and even though at times the amount given is small, it still goes down as unethical & against the morals of truth and justice and everything that makes up the law of the country… What may have started as a habit has now become a disease. I just want to do my bit to eradicate this disease as i know the value of money ever since i had my parents spend their hard earned money on me only reminding me that they want to see me achieve my goal by abiding to truthful ways to get there. Tomorrow as i go again to my ‘guru‘ i plan to give him a piece of my mind as dakshina, how much i succeed in doing so, i dont know, but i’ll take the effort to hopefully stand out as someone who refused to pay a petty amount. I hope i never have to go against my will and give dakshina (this word has started to irritate me now.. X-(  ) to anybody for any purpose whatsoever. Im confident that my refusal will not result in any undesirable consequences on the day of my driving test at RTO.

P.E.A.C.E