I am writing this in the morning so this might not get completed. Please dont read yet.
Hordes of people standing, looking in one direction with total concentration. Some dreading its arrival, others planning what to do next. Then it voices its entry with a triumph slow march, while people barge on it with full intensity. This is not the description of some battle, its description of the local train on the harbour line.
It takes special skill to get on the trains in mumbai. You see so many enstranged bewildered outsiders looking here and there at kurla station at the crowd. The best way to know a outsider in mumbai is the person who is looking everywhere but the road, is out of the line and is walking at slow pace. In mumbai, time is money and money; doesnt come when you waste it.
All the travellers have a common dream, which is to sit in the window seat in the direction of the ongoing train. Getting a seat at the window can be compared to getting a seat next to the king! The lucky person is surrounded by envious stares from everyone around. Specially from those sitting to opposite to him. Its very difficult to digest those stares so they prefer to sleep or read a book or stare outside the window. The grilled window gives a jails impression to the train. Though the one at the window is closest to the outer world.
The train buzzes on at a high speed, slowing and speeding in different period of time. It pauses for a few seconds for the people and goods to scamper around and then goes of at its wild pace. Harbour line doesnt have fast trains because there are not enough tracks for the same. Crossing the vashi bridge forms one of the most interesting expereinces. I remember walking it down once, Staring at the sea from a thin railing from the wide bridge, while the train rushes behind you forms a wonderful experience.
It takes two and the half hours to cross the bridge from mankhurd to vashi on foot and only 10 to 15 minutes by train. This gives you ample idea of what the speed must be like. The drivers call their steering stick the dead man's stick because their are 5 to 8 deaths daily on the tracks. Crossing the tracks is another ennerving experience which takes will of iron as you clutch your life in your hand and your legs, trying to take care of the goods and your life in that run between the trains.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
aasmaan
chahat main jaise udd chale, pavan ki chao main,
kahin jo jhuki palake, udd pade kuch armaan nigahon main,
jab aa pahucha woh kshitij, bikhar ke hamari panahon main,
tab badh chale kadam, koi dusre lakshya ki raahon main.
kahin jo jhuki palake, udd pade kuch armaan nigahon main,
jab aa pahucha woh kshitij, bikhar ke hamari panahon main,
tab badh chale kadam, koi dusre lakshya ki raahon main.
From 06:30 to 07:00 pm....
I work at an architecture firm. The job is from 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening. My fellow lady colleagues leave at 06:30 itself and this gives me enough time to write my blog. A few months back when i started writing this blog, i had thought when would i get the time to write something if i would be so busy with my work and life, but then as the secret itself has given me the chance to write. I prefer this to unnecessary chatting or gossiping. I am not a gossiper, but destiny rewards me with all the secrets of people around me. I can understand how joey must be feeling when he is the keeper of everyone else's secrets and doesnt have the permission to tell anyone else. After all they are all his friends.
Speaking of friends, i feel i make friends very quickly. People might find me to be too open or extra friendly at times which makes many people question my intentions but then thats okay. I really dont care much about what people think or do. I know i am on the right track and know that i would always be.
I am lucky to be in this office. People are friendly and adoptive. They are open to new ideas and atleast show that they are ready to adjust. I feel that in any relation, whether private or personal, it takes time for people to show their true colors. I hope they are bright and colorful and not dull and piercing as some people have at other places.
This is actually becoming a pointless mail. I am sorry for making you waste your valuable time. But then i have decided that i would write everyday. I want to stay in touch with this side of me. The writer in me should never die. He should live forever for he hasnt completed his purpose. One day i will write a book and it will be a best seller. Thats a promise from me to myself. I hope its fulfilled soon!
Speaking of friends, i feel i make friends very quickly. People might find me to be too open or extra friendly at times which makes many people question my intentions but then thats okay. I really dont care much about what people think or do. I know i am on the right track and know that i would always be.
I am lucky to be in this office. People are friendly and adoptive. They are open to new ideas and atleast show that they are ready to adjust. I feel that in any relation, whether private or personal, it takes time for people to show their true colors. I hope they are bright and colorful and not dull and piercing as some people have at other places.
This is actually becoming a pointless mail. I am sorry for making you waste your valuable time. But then i have decided that i would write everyday. I want to stay in touch with this side of me. The writer in me should never die. He should live forever for he hasnt completed his purpose. One day i will write a book and it will be a best seller. Thats a promise from me to myself. I hope its fulfilled soon!
tanha
kal tha na yakeen
aankhain band kar chal raha tha
yu hi apni tanhai main
kuch khoye pal palat raha tha
dekhe the kuch manzar
koi mast nigahon main
kadam tab badh chale the
apni chaah ki rahon main
raahain kuch mili tumse
kuch milkar bhi bichad gayi
badh chale hum kuch na bole
bas nigahain kuch keh gayi
yakeen hai hume utna
ki tumne woh suna hoga
aakhir tumhare dil ke kagaz par humne
kuch toh likh rakha hoga
aankhain band kar chal raha tha
yu hi apni tanhai main
kuch khoye pal palat raha tha
dekhe the kuch manzar
koi mast nigahon main
kadam tab badh chale the
apni chaah ki rahon main
raahain kuch mili tumse
kuch milkar bhi bichad gayi
badh chale hum kuch na bole
bas nigahain kuch keh gayi
yakeen hai hume utna
ki tumne woh suna hoga
aakhir tumhare dil ke kagaz par humne
kuch toh likh rakha hoga
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Astro-Logical Confusion....
I got into astrology in my 9th grade. It was fascinating because it gave me an insight into the people which were around me. We face so many people in our life, least bothering what might be their sign and how they are. We just take it on our experience, judging by being with them and observing them. Astrology opened my mind to all sorts of people.
Every person is unique. They have their own traits and a way of thinking or reacting. They have their inbuilt beliefs and judgement about different circumstances. For eg. seeing fog on the road, a arian may just jump into it and then understand what he has fallen into. Being an arian myself i would further add that we do jump and might land on our heads but it takes very less time for us to get up, dust our clothes and get on with it! I am not being biased but that is how we are. Biased would be Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker, who for some reasons has put no song for the arian female. I did get sick of the songs by the end of the movie but i still feel that we deserved atleast a song!
A cancer wont like to be on a road with fog on it. They would rather be home! If by chance they do find themselves in there, they will probably tread in a zig zag manner and make their way through it. A sagitarian might not cross it at all and just sit on the side until his mood changes. Then their is no stoping those animals! (After all they have horse power!) If they set their mind to something, they would achieve it no matter what. The piscean might pray to god first. Then pray again, and again. Then finally they would make their way. Strangely this sign usually has god with them. They fall in a pit very few times!
Every sunsign has its own characterstic. Moonsign play an important role too. A human is affected by every small thing around him and thus has a wide range to study upon. Thus i resign from this topic for now.
btw. this is juz a small trial to a bigger version. That will follow wen i am more relaxed!
Every person is unique. They have their own traits and a way of thinking or reacting. They have their inbuilt beliefs and judgement about different circumstances. For eg. seeing fog on the road, a arian may just jump into it and then understand what he has fallen into. Being an arian myself i would further add that we do jump and might land on our heads but it takes very less time for us to get up, dust our clothes and get on with it! I am not being biased but that is how we are. Biased would be Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker, who for some reasons has put no song for the arian female. I did get sick of the songs by the end of the movie but i still feel that we deserved atleast a song!
A cancer wont like to be on a road with fog on it. They would rather be home! If by chance they do find themselves in there, they will probably tread in a zig zag manner and make their way through it. A sagitarian might not cross it at all and just sit on the side until his mood changes. Then their is no stoping those animals! (After all they have horse power!) If they set their mind to something, they would achieve it no matter what. The piscean might pray to god first. Then pray again, and again. Then finally they would make their way. Strangely this sign usually has god with them. They fall in a pit very few times!
Every sunsign has its own characterstic. Moonsign play an important role too. A human is affected by every small thing around him and thus has a wide range to study upon. Thus i resign from this topic for now.
btw. this is juz a small trial to a bigger version. That will follow wen i am more relaxed!
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Ride....
I sweated as i made my way through the crowd on some unidentified street in Jabalpur. The yellow of the whitewash and the sultry sun scorched the eyes and made me more aware of the heat around. The formal shirt didnt help a lot, though it did help in stopping me from tanning me. I hate to wear shades at such times. Once you remove them you just have two circles around your eyes and the rest of the face is dark. Almost makes you look like a human panda!
The streets were broad and the traffic was steady. A few hand rickshaws and scooters frolicked here and there. Coming straight from Mumbai, this felt as if i had stepped in a place still living its past. You could see the top of all the shops as they flashed their tacky signboards of some dull colors. The only bright ones were of the hotels, which were plenty. No wonder here everyone seemed short and stout. Eating jalebi and kachori's doesnt exactly make you a very thin person. People stood in groups of two or three chatting away and smirking. They didn't think twice about whiling away their time. If you had to walk through such groups it would be as difficult as Teju (http://jaswandi.blogspot.com/)must have felt while walking in thane. People scowl at you as if you are crossing their territory. I could see the dust on the road flying around. It circled around taking people and their dhoti's in its grasp, playing shamelessly. People didn't care. In a town of dhoti's and pyjama's, i felt like an outsider!
Someone told me that internet cafe was at the other side of the town. Actually they meant the place where you have lot of computers. No one knew what a internet cafe is. They knew that there was something called a computer. But cafe, internet and email seemed alien to them. The sun would shift its course by hiding behind the clouds sometimes. Then after hiding it would surprise you by suddenly showing up. I looked around for a hand rickshaw.
Sitting in a hand rickshaw is a unique experience. It doesn't go fast, not to slow. You cant get down from it when it is moving. Another advantage is that you can see everything in detail happening around you. My rickshaw wallah was a old man. He must be in his fifties but the cords on his back and his muscles denied that. I could hear him huffing and puffing to keep his mechanical beast in control as it sped along on slopes. Then he would continue with his huffing while going up the slope. I realised about the slope after i sat in the rickshaw.
The breeze swept through my hair gently and the scene around me showed a plethora of events going around and away from me. Like scenes from a movie. I was suddenly one of the high status people who could take the pleasure ride. I wondered what would happen if the people around ever saw a Lamborghini or Chevrolet passing through. Probably they wont know how to react. Probably they would ignore it with their egoistic ignorance. I finally reached the computer shop which turned out to be the one which sold computers. I could see the owner pleading through his expressions, requesting me to come in and at least look around. I denied him the pleasure.
I took the same rickshaw back, the man seemed happy to be chosen by a seth. I didnt get what i wanted but i was happy for that joy ride itself. The man finally stopped near the place where i had started my journey and i gave him thirty rupees. Thirty Ruppes for a half an hour ride, of sitting comfortably and looking around. I started making my way back to where i was staying. I was lost in my thoughts when the old man came after me. "Babu, bahut bhuk lagi hai, kuch khila doge toh meherbaani hogi..." I looked around and saw a fruit shop and bought him bananas. I wondered when he had last eaten. The sun was again on my head, the roads again dusty and the walls parched yellow. The old man was enjoying his banana's in a corner as i made my way back to my house.
The streets were broad and the traffic was steady. A few hand rickshaws and scooters frolicked here and there. Coming straight from Mumbai, this felt as if i had stepped in a place still living its past. You could see the top of all the shops as they flashed their tacky signboards of some dull colors. The only bright ones were of the hotels, which were plenty. No wonder here everyone seemed short and stout. Eating jalebi and kachori's doesnt exactly make you a very thin person. People stood in groups of two or three chatting away and smirking. They didn't think twice about whiling away their time. If you had to walk through such groups it would be as difficult as Teju (http://jaswandi.blogspot.com/)must have felt while walking in thane. People scowl at you as if you are crossing their territory. I could see the dust on the road flying around. It circled around taking people and their dhoti's in its grasp, playing shamelessly. People didn't care. In a town of dhoti's and pyjama's, i felt like an outsider!
Someone told me that internet cafe was at the other side of the town. Actually they meant the place where you have lot of computers. No one knew what a internet cafe is. They knew that there was something called a computer. But cafe, internet and email seemed alien to them. The sun would shift its course by hiding behind the clouds sometimes. Then after hiding it would surprise you by suddenly showing up. I looked around for a hand rickshaw.
Sitting in a hand rickshaw is a unique experience. It doesn't go fast, not to slow. You cant get down from it when it is moving. Another advantage is that you can see everything in detail happening around you. My rickshaw wallah was a old man. He must be in his fifties but the cords on his back and his muscles denied that. I could hear him huffing and puffing to keep his mechanical beast in control as it sped along on slopes. Then he would continue with his huffing while going up the slope. I realised about the slope after i sat in the rickshaw.
The breeze swept through my hair gently and the scene around me showed a plethora of events going around and away from me. Like scenes from a movie. I was suddenly one of the high status people who could take the pleasure ride. I wondered what would happen if the people around ever saw a Lamborghini or Chevrolet passing through. Probably they wont know how to react. Probably they would ignore it with their egoistic ignorance. I finally reached the computer shop which turned out to be the one which sold computers. I could see the owner pleading through his expressions, requesting me to come in and at least look around. I denied him the pleasure.
I took the same rickshaw back, the man seemed happy to be chosen by a seth. I didnt get what i wanted but i was happy for that joy ride itself. The man finally stopped near the place where i had started my journey and i gave him thirty rupees. Thirty Ruppes for a half an hour ride, of sitting comfortably and looking around. I started making my way back to where i was staying. I was lost in my thoughts when the old man came after me. "Babu, bahut bhuk lagi hai, kuch khila doge toh meherbaani hogi..." I looked around and saw a fruit shop and bought him bananas. I wondered when he had last eaten. The sun was again on my head, the roads again dusty and the walls parched yellow. The old man was enjoying his banana's in a corner as i made my way back to my house.
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