Of Places Where I Have Been

Of Hitec City and of Marine drive,
of India Gate and of Gateway of India,
of Ooty and Kodaikanal,
of Mukteshwar and of Jammu,
of Nilgiris and of Tirupati,
of Nagarajuna Sagar and of Juhu Beach,
of Charminar and of Bengaluru streets,
of Madanpalle and of Chandni chowk,
of Alibagh and of Irani Chai,
of Badli and of Mussorie,
of Dehradun and of Mansoori,
of Ahmedabad and of Baroda,
of Chennai and of Pune,
of NDCS, SKV, DPS and DCE,

of Pittsburgh and Carnegie,

of Places I have been!

While I was getting bored and analyzing as usual - 'How in the world can somebody, who has been presented with everything supposedly required or needed to be happy on a platter, still be miserable at times?' I tried deviating my mind by reading old forwarded mails and then status messages of people in my Gtalk list. Trust me, it is an awesome time pass.  That was when I saw people referring to places with :) and :( and I started walking back my memory lane
to have a flash back of what places have meant to me. And there were a rush of images racing past my mind, bright and beautiful, euphoric and enigmatic, cheery and chaotic and lively and long lasting!


The first place to come to mind, believe it or not, was the 'Cyber Towers' of Hitec City, Hyderabad. The times I had ran past it, getting late for office or sneaking out early in the evening. The awesome road side snacks I savored and the pani puri I cherished. People I frequented this place with - Tassu, Shikha, Meena, Shweta, Sarvesh, Shobhit, Anurag, Akshat and Pavithra. The brilliant feeling of being on my own, of some worth and of my first steps to a life beyond my comfort zone. And I can't forget those few but unforgetful days when a bunch of my college friends were here too, training with TCS - Swati, Prachi, Abhishek, Nischal.. Our awesome maggi, coke and cards night out!
I am going back there, at least once, I owe it to that huge circular dome people named - Cyber Towers!

Next stop in my film is 'Marine Drive', which thanks to Ankit's status message, was my inspiration to this post! I can't think of words to describe this awesome place. The night time sky, the stars, the moon, the ocean and me on one side, separated by the bright city on the other. The guzzling water and fluttering winds, twinkling eyes and clasped hands, excited apprehension and the feeling - of being on the top of the world! I am dying to tell all my first encounter with the queen's necklace - but some things are better untold!This place deserves a spot in my future stops! I owe you 'O Marine Drive', a favor to return!

India Gate - remembered by two distinct nights - the one of the MAMC fest, the other, a few months back, driving back with mum, dad and bhai from Noida! I missed the ice-cream at midnight and I am definitely going back there - My Delhi - You Rock! And this time, my darling sis is going to be with me. A promise to keep - made to myself, and to India Gate! Strangely, it is at this place, where I also left so many people, probably never to be seen again, ICC folks - this was where I was bragging about being a Delhiiite! Trust me Hari and Arch, we are gonna shop till we drop, following the paths leading from here, to CP, Janpath and then back to British Council - to hopefully see Mrs. Anu and Rajni Ma'am once again! Oh I miss the camps so much! Could I be there again?


Gateway of India - Taj on one side and Elephanta caves on the other, Alibagh and the beach! The fish jumping to catch 'Kurkure', the flip flops and the sand, a cup of hot steaming tea, a hat and rocks and caves and sculptures. Who said daily life is not adventurous and beautiful? The charm of this place and this city is endless. Come to think of it, the architecture of the place, branded stuff in miniscule shops, awesome food on the streets and the possibility of enjoying it all without being bothered by the limits of time, oh dear... I am falling in love with the place all over again! Mumbai, I would be back, soon!

Ooty and Kodaikanal, Nilgiris, Mukteshwar, Vizag - Thank You British Council! Thank you TERI! I will never forget these paid study camps cum adventure trips which not only made me see a whole new side of environment, but gave me friends I would never forget. 'Family - Family' of Bharadwaj or 'Dedication of Shruti', 'Butterfly craze of Sohini' or 'philosophy of Sundeep' And I can't help but mention the mini farm steps away from Godwin's house. Oh and the awesome trip to 'Vizag' - the beautiful raging storming waves seen from my window are adorning my profile till now! You are the reason I am 3000 miles away from home - studying environment - and what the heck, I am not complaining! It was meant to be. Don't know where all can I go back, given the uncertainty of a mortal human life and endless tasks in its 'To Do' - but these places are etched in my memory forever.

Jammu & Tirupati- I am so relived and happy to finally believe that I have had my share of togetherness and bonding with my family. The LTC trips sponsored by Indian Govt. made me enjoy the awesome train journeys, to deity mountains as my granny would call it! Six of us enjoying the meticulously packed train food and cracking jokes all the way. Oh I miss being the little girl in my daddy's lap - asking him question after question about this plant and that, this hill and that tree, our speed and the fact that trees were running backwards faster than the train. And I really do want to thank papa for all the times he just kept listening to our endless demands for snacks, soda and candy. Love you papa! You gave me all that I could ever dream of, much before I could ask. And ma - the support and trust, you have had... I wish I had inherited this awesome emotional strength and tolerance of yours! Sapna - the best sister in the whole world! And my cute bhai (probably I shouldn't use it now, he is a grown up). I remember you coming along with me, no matter what stupid path I took to climb up, irrespective of how much we could have been scolded later. Love you all!

And I am back to Hyd.. or atleast my memories are. Thanks Sarvesh for organizing that trip to Nagarajuna Sagar. Athni, Veena, Shikha, Jayant, Hardeep, Golu, Akshat, Subbu my PPP :P, Sridevi, Sneha, Kripal, Kalyani if everyone had colleagues like you, work would never cease to be fun! Add to it the likes of Pavithra - and you have enough motivation to be doing something worthwhile in life! Pavithra - you have not ceased to amaze me yet - Teach for India - and we would have some more better people in the world!

Ah Dehradun! 2K4/ ENE - Supposedly a surveying trip. M not gonna list you all, lest someone should start at the order again :P (Thanks to Nischal and Mayank, I am more conscious now :P) but I am thankful to all of you, c ozI have learnt  something or the other from all of you at some point in those four years we called college life. Can anyone forget height sickness and interrupted parties, the hype of seeing snowfall and Maggi which was cooled in 5 seconds? The Kempty fall!!! The games that lasted till wee hours of the morning, the terrace we all went up to knowing fully well it was locked to keep us out!  The jeep ride - I don't know if I am ever going to ride on top of a jeep like I did then, but I know for sure, that if I do... I will miss you all. Oh man, this place just secured a spot in my 'To visit at least once more' list!

Lastly, Ahmedabad - A trip to IIM-A which changed a lot! I can't end my movie without mentioning the directorial work I did in the play we prepared on the train, where we did not even have tickets reserved except for Saroj Bala Ma'am,  to be performed in front of echelons. Damn, I miss drama! I wasn't given the 'Ms. Nautanki' for no reason at all!! And remembering pratibimb is not complete without missing my three awesomest performers, Ayush, Chirag, Ashish. Miss you guys! Anuradha, Abhishek, Vijeta, Pallavi, Sayan - wish we had some more time together. I wish Madhur could write us a few more scripts. I wish we could go back to NIFT and be busy seeing there Fash-P instead of practicing for our plays. I wish we had better calls when shouting at Jantar Mantar in those weird costumes.

Life has been bright and colorful most of the times, dark and sloppy at other. But with so many people and places, it has mostly been a roller coaster ride. Now in Pittsburgh, at 2:37 AM, thinking of the Type 5 and SNH, Hyderabad and Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, I have realized, how beautiful and great the world has been to me, and I know this roller coaster would stop at many more places which would cover some more space sometime in the future when I would add to the list 'of Places where I have been!'

Five Point Something!

This is not plagiarism of 'Five Point Someone' :)

Here is an account of being what I am - delivered as a speech, Hope you enjoy it!

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Once upon a time, with clouds thundering and making the dark night darker with the stark contrast of lightning, a loud shriek broke the silence of the house where everyone was awaiting a miracle. That precious sound was of a girl born on the same day as gorgeous Shilpa Shetty and genius Scott Adams. It was 22 years, 1 month, 10 days, 17 hours and some minutes ago. The reason I am not so sure about the minutes is because, when asked about her time of birth, her mom said, “That I don’t know, what I remember is that DD2 was telecasting another episode of ‘Buniyaad’, which I had to miss!”

That was when – a story – 5 point something was born.

The newborn was a cute little weirdo or so her dad says. She started growing like any other kid her age till Somatotropin and DNA stopped working in her favor some 12 years later. That was when she realized that being in school Basketball team required more than just talent, being first one in the school assembly line was not so pleasant anymore and tiptoeing to see what’s written on the board ceased being fun.

Let’s hop down the time line a little. It is her first Public Exam. She walks into the centre & the guard says “Junior School Exam timings are 8-11 baby”. She feels like giving him a shot but exam saves the guy.

She runs in with time and ‘Whoa’, it’s College. All friends come by metro. She decides to try it once. One of the daily commuters says, “Good idea, it will be free too. Kids below 3 feet don’t need a ticket.” Exasperated she tries to ride a bike, realizes that her feet can’t reach the ground, she can’t balance it. A minute here, a turn there and boom!! Wait a minute, why there is no sound? That is because; the bike has landed straight into – Pleasant to the eyes, fragrant to the nose, a big huge heap of garbage. Oh the tragedy of not being able to hold on to bike and press the brakes together. To deviate, she turns to basketball court – I have to do well, I am nervous, I am nervous. Oh my God, a giant of coach comes and says – “Why don’t you try throw ball kiddo?” Nevertheless, she practices and gets to captain her team. Ok fine, just for a day and that day the team gets a walk over but who cares?

Four years of engineering done, first day at work. She walks in with a friend.

Security Guard (to the friend): “Ma’am your younger sister can’t come in without a visitor’s Pass”

I- Cards are a true savior in such cases.

Pleased at it all, she goes out with a few friends. Smart black top, skin fit jeans folded a bit to fit (alteration was expensive, people). One guy in the group says – “Did capries go out of fashion or 5/4 th is the new in thing.” After a round of laughter, they are all out in the garden. Three of them sit on 3 swings. 2 are asked immediately by the guard to get up as the swing is meant for kids but she is allowed for obvious reasons. Red faced with embarrassment, she moves to the swimming pool for some change. A small boy, who seems to be sunbathing instead of swimming as he hasn’t moved even once in all the time she has been there, is staring at her. Remember the smart black top and skin fit jeans; she is looking cute and hot. He comes up finally and asks – “Which Class?”

Rewind the story – dark night, clouds, and lightning – blah blah blah – yeah right there. Now fast forward to 22 years. Obviously, her parents are eager to have her married. The oh-so-typical mother to her neighbor – “Mrs. Chaddha – look for some guys for my chitti”. Her son – “Are you kidding me? Who wants to be taken in for child marriage? Oh wait – they may actually give a second thought – she is a great hand rest man!!”

Visibly upset – she goes to her psychiatrist and says “everyone makes fun of me”. He looks deep into her eyes and says, “Don’t be ridiculous, not everyone has met you yet.”

She thinks wistfully – Oh, to be tall!!

To walk down the street and be able to see where you are going!

To be able to see your face in the mirror in the women’s room!

To be able to look men in the eye, there are men her height, but who wants to see them?!

To have her feet reach the ground when sits on a chair!

To be able to accelerate a bike and change the gears at the same time!

That girl, exactly 149 centimeters tall, who when asked by anyone or needs to write down on a form, always, always, always gives a second thought of writing in front of height column – Five Point Something.

That Five Point Something is standing right here, right now in front of you all.

Wait, wait, wait – the story is not yet over.

There are good things about being Five Point Something. All you Five Points something here, let me list out a few advantages of being short, oh I am so sorry, being vertically challenged- as we are called now- which I googled out and felt happy about:

We rarely have to bend down to speak

We rarely bang our head

It’s easier for us to squeeze through the crowd

We don't have our feet hanging over the bed when we are asleep

No one bothers us to get things off top shelves (not that we can use them ourselves)

We don’t have to change light bulbs

And dear friends: think about it: No one ever wrote a book on “God of Tall Things”

And if all these don’t suffice, I am reminded of a short sweet sentence that a friend of mine wrote on my farewell celebrating what we popularly call as scribbling day:

Choti, Life is tough but you will always stand tall!!

Oh by the way, for all those inquisitive souls, wondering what that something is in my Five Point Something – It is ‘0’.

एक दिन

 Here is something I wrote long back... I found it hilarious at that time... Now, not sure.. let me know if you like it :)
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एक दिन


एक दिन हमनें सोचा, चलो कुछ अलग किया जाए,

जब सुने सबके विचार, तो सर चकराए,

एक दिन की बात हम क्यों तुम्हे बताएँ?

न न, कुछ नहीं है इसमें शरारत, आप न घबरायें.

खैर, छोड़िये इन बातों को, आइये किस्सा आगे बढाएँ

तो उस एक दिन हमने क्या किया?

कुछ नहीं जनाब, जैसे ही हमने कुछ सोचने की हिमाकत की,

कुछ मच्छरों ने हमारा खून पिया,

हमने गलती से, एक को छेड़ दिया

उसके बाद तो उन्होंने blood donation कैंप शुरू किया

जैसे तैसे जान बचाकर,

कुछ एक बूंदे लहू की बहाकर,

जब हम रण से भाग चले,

अभी तक तो मच्छर थे,

अब कुछ अति विचित्र पशु हमारे पीछे पड़े

हमने जैसे ही सर घुमाया

और उन विचित्र जानवरों को पाया,

उनके पीछे आने का कारण जानकार,

अति शीघ्र अपना लाल झोला उठाया,

उठाया और भाग चले ऐसे,

olympic जीतने का विचार हो जैसे

सड़क को खतरनाक जानकर

मित्रों का कहा मानकर

हमने एक कमरे में सभा जमाई

घर हमारा था, कमरा हमारा

मित्रों ने अपना ही जानकर, बाहर की दुकान से soft drink मँगवाई

हमने बिना ये जाने, के जेबें साफ़ किसकी होंगी,

जैसे ही पेय की और हाथ बढ़ाये,

दुकानदार का लड़का आकर बोला,

बिल कौन देगा भैया, पहले ये बतलाएं

मित्रगणों की ऊँगली अपनी और उठी देखकर,

हमने जेब पर हाथ फिराए

और हर बार की तरह निराश होने के बाद, कुछ बहाने बनाये

हमने कहा - Pepsi , cola या हो thumbs up , सबमे है pesticide ,

हमे अभी बिताना है एक दिन, नहीं करनी suicide .

मित्रों ने तर्क वितर्क किया,

जाने कौन प्रस्ताव पास, कौन सा फेल किया,

अंत में सुनाया अपना decision,

अगर result में आ गयी III division,

तो गोलियों का खर्चा बचेगा,

इसलिए अब soft drink पीने का अभियान चलेगा

हमने जाने किस किस कोने को कमरे में टटोला,

bychance हाथ में आ गया एक बड़ा सा झोला

जाने कब से पड़े उसमे कुछ सिक्के थे

हाँ थे सभी सिक्के, नोट इक्के दुक्के थे

हमने बिल तपो चुकाया, पर गला soft drink निगल न पाया

फिर से चर्चा शुरू हुई - एक दिन कैसे बिताया जाए?

सभी ने एक दुसरे के प्रस्ताव, सुने और सुनाये

अंत में तय हुआ की चलो reporters का वेश धरे, और parliament चले.

फ्री का entertainment होगा, जब वहां सब फाड़ेंगे गले.

और हम सभी तैयार हुए, एक बस में सवार हुए

जैसे ही gate पर पहुंचे, दरबान से दो चार हुए

अंत में थकहार कर

दरबान की मनुहार कर,

फिर भी अन्दर न जाने पाए

वापस आये मुँह लटकाए

सब एक साथ बोले - लौट के बुद्धू घर को आये

हमे रोना आया, हमने जोर से चिल्लाया

माँ ने जगाया, मन ने सुकून पाया

मैं केवल इतना ही कहने पाया - कभी न आये ये एक दिन...

रचना

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