Category: General

I am waiting for the girl of my dreams… till then… i live in reality !!!!

Of all the grey that I have, seems that I have more on my head than in my head.

back to delhi…. back to summers.. back to heat… this weekend seemed longer then it really was….

i jumped from a 22 feet high wall into the ganges….
i travelled in the lovely UP roadways and Uttranchal roadways buses for over 12 hours…
i slept most of the time during time mentioned above in just about 20% of the space that i usually need to sleep…
i waited at har ki pauri for the aarti to begin for over 2 hours…
i saw the friday sun setting in delhi…
saturday morning sun-rise in Rishikesh…
saturday morning sun-set in Haridwar…
and i slept the entire day on sunday….
not to forget that I got back my oldie goldie Maruti 800 after the grand work done on it….

too much to do for a weekend… here is how it all started….had planned for a rafting trip…. yes.. i went for one about a month ago… so what… second trip to the ganges was planned for the weekend of Friday the 13th…. left home around 2200 hrs with Waquar and Tushar and in about an hours time.. reached the ISBT only to realise that the next.. and last 2*2 push back deluxe bus to rishikesh was to leave the ISBT at 0000 hrs…. almost every bus was going to rishikesh.. and we three did not bother…. and to our unpleasent surprise that last bus did not turn up 🙁 and we were left with no option but to take a up roadways to rishikesh… fare just about 116 bucks to rishikesh.. comfort… none… we still planned our way towards the last seats of the bus and tried to lay down so that we could just pretend to be asleep when someone comes and we can continue that way till the end of our journey… but fate had something else in mind… that damn bus was full.. and I had to move from almost lying down to sitting on two seats… and continue that way till rishikesh…. trust me it was not the most comfortable way to travel…

we reached haridwar.. in the morning.. around 0530 hours… and it was a wonderful temprature there… saw the ganges when i woke up..and a cool breeze welcomed me as well… and this time i did not get back to sleep… was awake till rishikesh with my camera in front of my face so that i could take some good pics.. lets see what have i managed to capture when the fotos come….
in rishikesh around 0600 hrs.. with no shops open… asked a few rafting agents about the status.. and managed to get some place in a raft… from shiv puri to rishikesh..though i reeeeeally wanted to do that 27 km stretch.. but no space… so 450 bucks.. and shivpuri to rishikesh is what we had to settle for….

went to the river banks after we finalised everything… and stayed there for a good one hour… what a feeling that was.. really cool strong winds…. and the sound of water flowing in its full glory…. why is delhi not on the banks of ganga i was wondering….. and then realised that it would have the same fate as the yamuna… so i dropped the idea of doing something to get it closer to Delhi…

started for shivpuri at 0930 hours… and to give us company were two foreigners and one fella who was an indian but his accent highlighted his amount of conversation with the two UK based friends he had… Adams and Caroline.. and this guy was Charandeep….

this journey from rishikesh to shivpuri was interesting too.. as i was sitting at the back of a Tata 207 ( a small pickup truck) and it was fun standing there and enjoying the breeze hit my face while our driver was negotiating sharp turns on the hills and i working hard to hold on to the bars to save myself from falling 🙂

anyway… we reached the place from where we had to start… used a specially designed pump to inflate the lovely blue coloured raft !!! brand new bright red life jackets.. and smart looking yellow and blue paddles….

we were in the river at 1145 hours finally… first time for waquar and tushar.. and both of them were visibly excited… third time for me.. and i was looking forward to a great experience again… the water level was high.. and the current sharper.. but to my surprise the rapids were easier this time.. coz the raft was just gliding over them.. comparing the exp to the previous ones.. it was not as exciting… but the over experience was not any less then the ones i had before…
i managed to overcome my fear of height and water (combined) and managed to jump from a wall 22 feet high into water this time… i could feel my heart beating just before i jumped… but once i jumped.. i could do that again…. i probably would next season….

finished rafting by 1430 hours…. and were off to haridwar after having a light lunch at madhuban restaurant…. we were feeling very very sleepy… and had a good power nap… all three of us on our way to haridwar.. it was terribly hot…. and once in haridway we were only looking for a shade near the Har ki Pauri to rest… we managed to find a good place below one of the bridges.. and sat there for a good one hour.. before deciding to check out the local market and have lassi… (which was my idea) somehow i know all the good and inexpensive places to eat.. not only in delhi but outside too :)… anyway.. an hour later… me and tushar were back in water.. for a holi dip at the “har Ki pauri”. the flow of water was too high.. and i could barely manage to stand even though i was holding the safty chain tightly… anyway.. managed to kill some good time there and washed away a lot of my sins… before changing to fresh clothes… looking for a good place to sit and then enjoying the Evening Aarti !!!! What a lovely exp. that was….

starting back to delhi soon after that… and was back home at 0300 hrs early sunday morning…. so much for the second rafting and a religious trip to haridwar and rishikesh !!!!
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sunday evening spent in taking care of my old 800…. it was with the mechanic for about two weeks now.. where it was being restored… new paint… new interiors… an overhauled engine…. suspension and steering overhauled… its moving as good as new now… i decided to put in new tyres as well…. total cost of 5 tyres after the wheel balancing and alignment came to 5600 bucks… and the total expenditure onthe car about 30K INR… i think its worth it… and definitely better then going for a new car…

will post some pictures of the new car too… soon….

so much for now…. will write more… waiting for the fotos to be developed soon.. lets see how soon i can get them printed and scanned !!!!

Another day gone… and it ended giving me something that i was waiting for a very long time… my new EOS 3000v Date camera !!! got this baby bundled with the EF 28-90 lenses for a nice price of 11500 bucks…

for the last few days i was eating Gaurav’s head with all the seemingly stupid questions… though he being a professional fotographer for over 2 years now… was patient enough to listen to me and answer as many questions as he could…. we decided to go to Chandni Chawk to find out what the market was really like on saturday.. and see if i can find something that suits my level and pocket equally nicely….

there was no intention of a purchase… the idea was to do some research only… so there we were in one of the biggest photographers paradise at around 1030 hrs… not many shops had opened by then.. and we could talk to a few shops.. and one of the guys showed me 4 camers… the EOS 66, EOS Rebel K2, the EOS 3000V and the nikon f75. the first two under 10K, EOS 3Kv for 11500 and the F75 for about 14K…. nikon looked better in terms of the body quality… features not much different… canon better in terms of money.. and the one that i bought.. too cewl in terms of the feel good factor… and when i am to move up to digital SLRs in sometime.. it made sense to save money….

so we decide we want to buy that camera… did some price verification at a few more shops… did not realise that we had spent over 1 hour in that shop looking and talked about the various options that we had… anyway… we were hungry and did not want to loose the opportunity of treating our tummies especially when we were in chandni chaowk…. our first stop… “Gali Paranthe Wali”…. ummmm…. paneer parantha… mix parantha, dal besan parantha….. and curd made from cow milk…pet bhar gaya…. and now that we wanted to burn some calories after being filled with guilt and the fat.. we decided to walk to Fatehpuri…. and then have the famour rabri faluda at Giani’s…. umm… lovely stuff there… and we were too full and it was too hot to walk back to lal-quila.. so we took at rickshaw..who effortlessly drove in the middle of the road where rickshaws, cars, two-wheelers, autos, jeeps, and pedestrians beautifully coexistt…… we got down in front of the ICICI bank but the damn ATM was broken.. so i decided to give SBI some money.. 55 to be precise and take some money outta their ATM…. took out the money… bought a relay for the inverter which papa wanted…. and 10 CLF tubes… for 17 bucks each.. they usually cost anything between 25-40 bucks in noida… so money well saved….

our next stop.. the camera shop.. where i made the payment for the baby you see the foto of in this post…. fuji proplus pack of 5 for 220 bucks.. and a nova b/w roll for 37 bucks… and a UV filter for 25 bucks… did not like any of the bags… and so we fitted the camera in the bag that i was carrying and moved on to monestry.. where gaurav wanted to buy a jeans from…bought the jeans… walked around place…. and then back to the buss adda…. or ISBT as ppl know it… took at DTC back to ghar..

reached home happy 🙂 lets see how much i improve with time… there is a lot of things to learn….. life’s beautiful…. does that look equally cewl from the other side of the camera… TIME WILL TELL…..

Some family came to see me….
after all my parents want me to get married… the father and the brother of my may be to be came to meet ma parents and me..

I am asked a simmple question..

beta would you like to get married?
no, i like myself to be treated as someone who is willing to get married.. and then when everything finalises i elope with the person i choose for myself… for some reason that does not workout.. and i have to come back home to be displayed in front of another family…

do you know how to cook…
yup…. though that is not really appreciated by the ppl who eat what i cook…

do you know how to sing…
yes… i was one of the finalists in the African Idol….

what are your hobbies…
listening to music…cooking… and other ghar ke kaam…

and they say to my folks… hamein ye ladka pasand hai….

isn’t this wat most of the girls who get treated as objects when someone or the other comes to see them, would like to happen to a guy… why not for a change the guy is displayed at his place.. and someone asks him if he knows how to cook.. and if he can wash clothes.. and if he knows how to use the sewing machine… i am sure lotsa gurls out there would like to see this happening… unfortunately this is something not really happening !!!!

coming back to what is going on at my place….

beta is ladki ne MCA kiya hai.. and she is working in some MNC…..
beta us ladki ke papa kisi school mein princi hai… ladki ke baare mein abhi kuch pata nai hai….

this is getting really scary now… do i have to decide if i want to spend the rest of my life on this planet in one day… that one day when i would meet the gurl my folks probably would think is the best for me… actually they will not take any call before i decide what i really want to go ahead for.. but still the first level of filtering is being done by them…

i am thinking about the kinda gurl i would like to spend my life with.. reealy thinking now.. and also thinking about what kinda gurl can manage to spend her life with me…. oh boy !!! some brain needs to go into this…

i am shit scared… what is going to happen in the next few months and how i am going to live through it… upar wala jaanta hai !!!!

This is a mix of two fotos.. the one with the zen was clicked about an year and half ago.. when me, aro and Narang had gone to attend Jai’s wedding in D’doon…

incidently i was wearing the same clothes… and aro had the same t-shirt… we were standing on the exact same location.. in the middle of the Rajaji National Park…

some nostalgic moments these were !!!! missed you narang here 🙁

Radha in her full glory at Mama’s place !!!! Ain’t she an absolute beauty 🙂

Nazar na laga dena 😉

my net connection was down.. this post was supposed to be published on April 30, at 0000 hrs… par ka karen.. netwa nai na chal raha hai abhi.. baad mein postwa karenge… starting in english.. and then turned to hinglish… looks like ending up like a PJ… ehehhee… but i enjoyed writing it… lets see how many ppl enjoy reading it too 🙂

What a day this turned out to be… from not having my boss in the office.. to one very very important meeting not happening…to me attending the entire class of PM… to sending atleast 25 sms’ to Bharti and Anshu… to meeting Ajay and Alok… to dropping Waquar and Saba on the train *they were going on their honeymoon*

Ab samachaar vistaar se….

aaj subah hamare sootron se pata chala ke prashant ki boss office nai aa rahi hai… cycle-o-logically aisa hota hai ke boss office mein na ho to employee ko achcha achcha lagta hai.. prashant, jo ki noida ke niwasi hain unhe bhi aisa hi laga…. generally general feeling hoti hai !!!!
phir kuch vishwasniya sootron ne bataya ke ek zarorri cabinet meeting jisme ek aham faisla liya jaana thaa wo nahi ho rahi hai… is baat ko lekar kaafi vidhayako mein asantosh ki sthiti paida ho gayi hai.. shayad ab ye meeting somvaar ko ho 🙂

ab agli khabar… gaurtalab hai ke… office se late hone ke bawajood.. prashant ghar gaye.. khana khaya aur phir apni class mein pahuch gaye… wo bhi time se.. aisa kabhi nai hua hai… par aaj hua… ye prashant ne kaise kiya… iski exclusive story dekhiye aaj raat 11:30 par theek sasur bhi kabhi damaad the ke 6th repeat telecast ke baad 🙂

aayie ab aapko le chalte hain sms ki duniya mein.. ek aisa aavishkaar… jiska istemaal karke aap kabhi bhi kahin bhi kisi ko bhi 3-4 line ka sandesh bhej sakte hain… aaj noida ke prashant babu ne “limca book of world records in india only” mein aane ki koshish karte hue karib 25 sms bhej diye… apni do doston ko… anshu aur bharti…anshu unke school ke zamane ki bahut pyaari si dost hain.. aur bharti building banane ka kaam kaise karte hain wo seekh rahi hain…. wo bhi lagta hai kuch dino mein achchi dost ban jayengi… prashant babu ka ek exclusive interview aap pad sakte hain hamare akhbaar… “rozana wahi kabaaad”.. oops khabar ke agle hafte ke weekly edition mein…

*Breaking news* abhi abhi pata chala hai… ke prashant ne sms karte karte apne seedhe haath ke angoothe mein chot kha li hai… lagta hai wo ab kaafi dino tak sms nahi kar payenge.. par india cricket team ke physio unke saath hain… unka ilaaj karne ke liye… waise bhi unko koi aur achcha kaam to hai nai…

Karib 3 saal ya shayad 2 saal baad aaj ajay chopra aur alok gupta ki mulakaat prashant bhardwaj se ST Microelectronics ke noida office ke bahar hui… ye teeno dost ek doosre se milkar kaafi khush dikh rahe the… wahan se teeno radha ke saath Cafe Mocha mein gaye jahan par ajay bhai menu card se khud ki hawa karte rahe kyonki unko garmi lag rahi thi.. aur alok, aur prashant ke saath Mocha Shake ka anand bhi uthate rahe.. wahan se un logon ne lavanya naam ke ek dhabe ki taraf prasthaan kiya.. jahan par unhone masta khane ke saath live ghazals ka bhi maza liya….

ab din ki aakhri khabar…. Waquar aur unki patni Saba aaj raat ko Raanikhet express se Pithoragarh ki taraf rawana ho gaye… Prashant babu khud radha ke saath unhe purani dilli railway station chorne gaye the… waquar ki shaadi 27march ko unke hi gaon mein jo banaras ke paas hai bade dhoom dhaam se hui.. aur aaj se unke pehle honeymoon ki shuruwaat bhi ho gayi… aayiye hum sun dua karen ke unki is shaadi se hamare naujawano ko pyaar, ikraar, izhaar, intezaar, wagerah wagerah karne ki seekh mile.. hamari shubhkamnayen waquar bhai ke saath hain…

aur ab mausam ka haal…dilli mein dopahar ko garmi hogi.. aur shaam ko mausam achcha rahega….jahan burf giregi wahan thodi si thund hogi.. aur barish jahan hogi wahan par boondein girne ki sambhavna hai…

hamare news channel… roz wahi kabaad.. oops again… roz wahi khabar par khabron ka silsila zaari rahega… dekhte rahiye….

One of the fotos I like to like… the contrast between what is there in the front of the car and what i see in the rear view mirror….

Solid plain rocks vs. Mountains full of trees….

for some reason I have always been facinated by what i see in the rear view mirror of my car.. and i use that not only to see who is approaching me but also to find more about them… how ppl look in extreme heat.. and what are they doing when its a cool morning breeze splashing their faces… or when they are stuck in a traffic jam… there are so many shades of life that this rear view mirror shows me everyday… everytime i look into it… sometimes empty roads.. sometimes ppl rushing like mad…. sometimes strong sun… and sometimes (like today) RAIN *it was very beautiful today while coming back from office by the way*

Do i see some part of my life in this foto… i think i do…

Me and my Babe… somewhere between Chamba and Dhanaulti 🙂