Strings Of Life

Finally back after a long break. It was so much fun. Drove car for more than 1500 kms, visited college, had good time with friends. And all those nostalgic feelings.
It is strange that:
“When I was driving the car, I yelled at people walking down the street.
When I was walking on the street, I yelled at people driving the cars.”

Fast driving is so much fun, isn’t it?. It’s adrenaline rush, and the feeling of weightlessness? -it’s awesome. Driving at a high speed I wrongly overtook one car. By the time I realized my mistake, the car was left far behind. All that adrenaline rush feeling was over and I brought my car to a normal speed.

After a few minutes, the same car sped past me and stopped right in front of my car. My gut feeling said that the things are going wrong. I was all alone and the road was empty too. Fear struck my heart and my stomach had that feeling -the one you get before an interview or a viva. A man double my size stepped out of the car and asked me to step out too. Things definitely were going wrong, mustering courage I stepped out.
I could sense anger in that man’s eyes. But when I went near he asked politely(Maybe by my getup I appear an innocent person. Thanks to the Sarkari Naukari, now I hate formals no more): “Sir, your fast driving could have killed me”. I apologized, and since that day my speedometer hasn’t read more than 45km/h. After all, more than myself I don’t want to risk somebody else's life.

Image curtsy: loritingey

Happy Diwali to all my friends.

May this Diwali bring happiness infinite to you. And also:


» May your blog get huge popularity

» May your posts get 1000's of comments

» May your blog get loads of backlinks

» May your blog get listed on the first page of Google search

» May your blog get featured in the Time magazine

» May you get featured in the every "Top Bloggers" list

» May you start a blog - if you don't have one!

And above all
May you ever stay a happy & nice blogger, as you already are.

Happy Diwali!

The cop whistled at the black Alto and asked to stop.
Knock, knock. "Roll down the windows you freak."
The cop: License Please!
Sorry sir, I don't have one.

Cop: What?, Show the registration.
Sorry Sir, but this is not my car.

Cop: Fine!, Do you know what's the penalty for not carrying the papers?, 500 Bucks!.
Sorry Sir, I'm a government servant, and have not got salary this month.

Cop: OK then, pay me 200, without receipt.
Sorry Sir, forgot my wallet at home.

Cop: What the F***!, go off you bastard.
Thank You Sir. But Sir.
Cop: NOW WHAT?
Sir I need your help.
Cop: FOR WHAT?
Sir, the car is running out of gas, could you please lend me 500 bucks?

Thank You Aditi for the award. I'm honored.
And also Thank You for the interesting TAG.
Statutory Warning: This article is unnecessarily long and contains lots of personal uninteresting stuff, read at your own risk.

1. What is your current obsession?
My Chevrolet Spark, Nikon D40 & Apple MacBook.


2. What are you wearing today?
Blue Jeans & Light brown T-Shirt.


3. What's for Dinner?
No idea.


5. What are you listening to right now?
Fiqrana from the movie Blue, music by A.R.Rehman. Amazing song.


6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
There are rare people who follow their heart, those who chase their passions. Aditi is one of them. With such a great attitude, she's definitely going places.

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Sundernagar, as the name suggests is a beautiful place in Himachal, I always dreamed of building a house there someday. Now my dream house is already under construction and I'm too excited about it.

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Nothing!, Because if summers make my complexion dark, winters are gonna make it white. So whether it's summer or winter, I enjoy both. :P

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Sainik School Balachadi, where I've spent the most beautiful years of my childhood.

10. Which language do you want to learn?
Sanskrit

11. What's your favorite quote?
"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

12. Who do you want to meet right now?
My younger brother.

13. What's your favorite colour?
Navy Blue.


14. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your closet?
Formal black pant & a sky blue shirt.


15. What is your dream job?
Own a bookstore so that I get to read a lot of stuff for Free.


16. What's your favorite magazine?
Reader's Digest.


17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Tripod & a 55-200mm lens for my Nikon D40. With the leftover I'll buy books.


18. What do you consider as fashion faux pas?
I think fashion itself is a faux pas.

19. Who according to you is the most over-rated style icon?
S.R.K, I don't understand why people adore him so much.


20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?
Formal


21. What are you going to do after this?
Continue with "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga

22. What are your favorite movies?
Hindi:
Yeh Mera India, Anand, Ab tak chappan, Swadesh, Hungama, Hera Pheri.
English:
American Beauty, Crash, Adventureland, Braveheart, A beautiful mind, Toy Story 1 & 2, Shrek Series, Lion King, Finding Nemo.
Korean:
My Sassy Girl, Classic.


23. What are three cosmetic/ makeup/perfume products that you can't live without?
Water, Water, Water. Rest all is marketing gimmick.

24. What inspires you?
Honesty & Simplicity.


25. Give us three styling tips that always work for you:
Bath everyday, Avoid onions in the lunch, Smile as much as you can, coz it improves your health & also the frequent movement of lips keeps your teeth clean & shining :D.


27. Coffee or tea?
Coffee


28. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Put on some music and play "Age of Umpire" (In the EASY mode).


29. Which other blogs do you love visiting?
Genuine blogs. Check out my favorite blogs in the blogroll.


30. Favorite Dessert/ Sweet?
Ice-cream.

31. Favorite Season?
Spring


32. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?
If it's your first time, I'll take you to the nearest decent hotel. If you are a frequent visitor, well i'll check the refrigerator (for the raw vegetable obviously) :D.

33. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?
I'll give them more opportunities to hurt me, until they get bored with it.

34. What are you afraid of the most?
What if my wife doesn't like cooking?. :D

35. My question: Funniest one-liner you've ever heard?
I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.

Rules for those who are tagged: Respond and rework – answer these questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own, and add one more question to the list. Then tag as many people as you like.

I would love to pass on the tag and award:
Yogesh, Shas and Solilo.

As a little kid I longed to be a football hero. I wanted to kick the ball like the big guys. At the age of ten, when I was sent to the hostel, I volunteered to join the class football team. We were a bunch of kids just excited about the game. Every evening I would excitedly put on my sneakers and run to the playing ground.

For days I kept chasing the ball without getting a single chance to hit it. Every time the ball was passed on to me, my mind went blank and failed to make any decision. By the time my mind worked out something, some other guy would be handling the ball.
Due to my inability to take quick decisions my team members lost faith in my game. At times they would shout names and make faces at me. Dejection set in, and a feeling of failure captured my heart. And I decided not to play the game ever again. Whenever asked, I termed football as a mere time waste.

Now as a grown up I hardly find any leisure time but I still wish to kick the ball like those big guys someday. Encouragement is a big factor in a child's life, we all know this. But still, how many of us really encourage the kids around?.

I'm the Spider-man. I can fly past heavy buildings with the help of a rope. Whoa, I can climb huge buildings in a fraction of a second. But wait wait, Why have I turned so powerful?. Just because a spider bit me unknowingly?. This can't be true!.

With the vermilion mark on my forehead and a short pony tale, I'm the Desi version of the spider-man. I have a wife too, and two kids. But they are perfectly normal. Maybe they are not lucky enough to be bitten by a spider. Yes, this is the shortcut to success; go to the nearby jungle, get bitten by the deadliest spider and get the celebrity status overnight.
My eyes were close, and my back felt painful, maybe due to the war I just had with the goons. But wait, where is my wife? and the kids are missing too.

I opened my eyes and a spider was dancing on my bed. I stretched my eyes in order to let more light pass through them. And two more little monsters were mocking me from the ceiling. I grabbed my missiles (water bottle, mug, shoes) and bullets (pen, pencils and the other stuff kept on the table) and smacked down those monsters.
Yes!, I won the war, I'm the strongest. 

Oh, I should sleep again now. This time peacefully, with no such wacky dream.

Image Curtsey: Spyndle

Background:
Chitkul is a remote village in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. It is the last village on the Indo -Tibet trade route and the road ends here. After Chitkul the journey is to be made on foot.
It's a small and beautiful village with a population of not more than 700 people. Climate is cold throughout the year. And it's located on the right bank of the Baspa River.

The Trip:
After returning from the night shift, I along with three other friends (namely Yatish Kumar Singh, Sumit Awasthi & Vinod Birdi) started our journey at 8'O Clock in the morning. Chitkul is nearly 120 Kms from our place. After traveling for one and half hours we had our breakfast (Paranthas and Chole alongwith India's national drink (hot tea)) at Tapri - a small station on the right bank of Satluj river. Here we stuffed our cab with plenty of eatables and a large bottle of Coke which we were unable to drink.

After traveling for another hour or so we reached the famous Sangla Valley. Located on the banks of the Baspa river, Sangla valley is a delight for the nature lovers. Especially the stretch after Raksham and right up to the Chitkul. The valley is extremely beautiful, on the left bank of the Baspa river are the snow cladded mountains and on the right bank the whole terrain is full of apple orchids and wooden houses. We stopped at a place called Bhateshwari and ventured into the nearby orchid to have a photo session. There the owner of the orchid - an old man gifted us fresh apples from his orchid, and we enjoyed them as if we have never had apples in our entire life.

After this we headed towards our final destination - The Chitkul.
At Chitkul we tracked for nearly three kilometers and then climbed down to reach the river.

The things which amazed me about the Chitkul are:
Baspa River: Chitkul would not be so beautiful without the Baspa River. I just fell in love with the serene blue water.
Wooden houses and temples: Most of the houses here are wooden and have an unique aroma which still haunts my mind.
Bhoj Patra: Bhoj patra is the bark of a special tree found in the Himalayan belt. The bark is easily removable and resembles the pages of a diary. The Ancient people used it for writing scripts and keeping records. Even today it finds its use for the religious purposes.
Potatoes: Yes, potatoes are grown on a large scale over here and they are the costliest in India. They are known for their sweet taste and heat producing effects.

After a lot of fun we settled at the nearby hotel and enjoyed the delicious lunch. And when the sun disappeared we started our return journey. With a promise that someday we'll again visit this heaven on earth.

PS: For more interesting pics, check out my Flickr stream.

In the retrospect I desired to be a famous cartoonist. My dreams got shattered the day my drawing teacher asked us to draw an elephant. I gave it my best shot. After putting much pressure on his right brain my drawing teacher named my sketch as Buffalo. I happily accepted the award of two beatings for the masterpiece. For I thought he named my cute elephant as Buffalo because my sketch was Untitled. It was my friend cum roommate who made me aware of the actual fact. Maybe it happened coz I never saw an real elephant. Or maybe I ignored the fact that an animal could have such a massive pipe like structure in place of the nose?.
Well that was that.
Recently I happened to stumble upon this great site named ToonDoo. It's an online tool for creating cartoons and animation. And here is my experiment (Though the joke is not my original).
Tim Asks:

RamAvatar a local electrician was to enact as Lord Hanuman in the village Ramleela. Though a man of weak physique, he did not settle for any other role. Everyone in the village, be it children or the ladies made fun of him and this was his only chance to prove something.
His role for the first day of Ramleela was simple, he was to enter the stage with a dummy mountain in his hands and speak out "Jai Shree Ram"- his only dialogue for the day.
But RamAvatar was a cleaver man, he thought, why not use some creativity and impress the villagers?.
In the afternoon, he took a metallic plate and decorated it with electrical bulbs and wires, giving it the shape of a mountain, and placed it on the branch of a tree right above the Ramleela stage. He also tied a long rope to the branch. Upon his turn in the evening, he would light up the bulbs, hold the dummy mountain in one hand and the rope in the other and would climb down right into the middle of the stage and speak out his dialogue.
Some guys from the village came to know about his plans for the day and they thought of fooling him. So they climbed the tree and short circuited his electrical decoration.


In the evening when the villagers gathered for the Ramleela, RamAvatar climbed the tree and eagerly waited for his turn. The right moment came. He switched on the circuit and as soon as he lifted the dummy mountain he got a heavy electric shock and fell right in to the middle of the stage. Gathering courage he got up and screamed out loud: "Who the bloody hell did that?". And the entire audience broke into laughter.

On the second day everyone was astonished, for some other man was portrayed as Hanuman. What about RamAvatar? Where was he?.
The entire audience again broke into laughter when RamAvatar entered the stage as Goddess Sita.

Aaiye Sahab, Aaiye. Welcome to BookTroniks, we are one of the best book stores in Dilli. Myself Mr.Mishra, you can ask for any kind of book.
That's interesting, I interrupted. Do you have a copy of "One hundred years of solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez?
Arey Sahab, Kya baat kar di aapne? Mere hote hue aapko foreign author ki book padhni pade?
And he immediately handed me a copy of "My Spouse" by Dobha De.
I was scanning through the pages and the chatter box started: Sahab, Dobha Ji kya likhti hain!. You won't get a better book on male-female relationship than this one.
Upon this I asked: But Mishra Ji, I have heard that she had some problem with her first husband and she got divorced?
Arey Sahab, Aap bhi kamaal karte hain? If she is a divorcee, that means she is quite experienced in this field?.
Valid point. But I declined to go for it and asked,
Mishra Ji, can you suggest me a good book?
Mishra Ji to his helper: Arey chotu, go and get a copy of  "Kamasutra" from the top shelf.
Me: Arey nahi nahin Mishra ji, you got me wrong. All I'm asking you is to recommend me a popular book. I mean a book which is much in demand.
Mishra Ji: Arey Sahab, this book is never out of demand and you know we have only three copies left?.
Me: Mishra Ji, try to understand, I'm not yet qualified enough to contribute to the India's population.
Mishra Ji: Kya Sahab? When I was about your age, my third child was in the first standard.

Mishra Ji was about to speak more but a lady entered the book stall and asked for a copy of "The monk who sold his TATA Safari".
She was going through the index page and I interrupted, Excuse me madam, If you like fiction then I think there are much better options than this one. This book is more of a self help kind of stuff.
The lady agreed and asked the shop owner: Mishra Ji, can you suggest me a Good Book?
With the copy of "Kaamasutra" still in hands, Mishra Ji glanced towards me.
And I immediately left the book store.......