chaikidukaan.com

Category: Personal

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    There are days and people reminding you of home, make you miss it like crazy, and then make sure that you don’t feel away from home as well !!!

    Had such days and people here in Milwaukee this weekend !!!

  • Kuarterly Kleaning !

    I dive when I want to… if pushed I may fall !

    I am going through my quarterly evaluation phase these days… for some reason every few months I start questioning myself on what am I upto and what are things around me all about…

    The ones that add value, Stay
    The ones that don’t, they go away

    Call it a 3 monthly cleaning of the mind ! Its a tricky situation to be in because I get into a very critical and analytical mode where I question myself a lot, and at times feel bad about doing certain things or not doing them ! However the end result is usually a “sunny spring” after a “cold winter” kind of a feeling !!!


    As as result of this quarter’s activity, the working out sessions at home have stopped and I have joined a gym which started well yesterday with about a mile of running and some free weights!

    There is a lot more going on the li’il brain of mine…. later maybe !

  • Go but never leave…

    I needed a break, had been working for a while…

    Got up

    and tried to open the door… but it took me some effort before the door opened…

    on my way back.. the door opened relatively much easier!

    I thought why, and realised something…

    • The flames are more stable near the wick…

    • The flags flutter least near the rope…

    • The door opens with the most effort if pushed from near the hinges…


    Strange thought but I need to write it here…

    Stability is more when you are closer to your roots… when you are closer to your base…

    The farther you wander away the more unstable you get…

    Now another point of view can be about the reach when you move away… Remember that geometry problem from school?
    What is the area in which the Cow can eat grass when she is tied to a pole with a rope which is 10 metres long?

    Increase the rope length and the cow has more to eat, more space to explore… but when it comes to taking a rest, the cow (At least that is something that I have seen in my village) would always come back near her pole and sit… and if they are out in the open, they will come back home in the evening… That’s where the word Godhuli comes from too.

    The essence of this post (and this is a note to myself) is to be aware of your roots, and stay connected while you explore the rest of the world… because your roots are where you get the most stability and the most peace !

  • A trip down the Memory Lane 🙂

    I was talking to Tunna a few days back she told me about something that she was thinking about… memories associated with long lost friends and they coming back with something that happens today… She even wrote something and sent it to me and wanted me to write about it…

    Here is what she had written :

    I am sure it must have happened with all of us….some things, some incidences…trigger our thoughts for someone…. The life seems to be moving fine….we all busy with chasing our dreams…but in midst of this madness how come thoughts of someone find its way… I was sharing these thoughts with one of my collegues…and the reply came..” are u unhappy” And i realised i have made the mistake of sharing my precious feelings with some idiot..i dnt have to be sad to be missing… I thnk ppl still dont realise someone can be missed with a smile…some moments wen run thru…jus leaves u wth smile.,..and only smile… this one is for all ( ths all is not the large…actually very few) my dear friends i have not been able to speak in a long time….i miss the time spend,.,..wth time i value u even more…
    __________________________


    I feel good friends are like old letters that over a period of time might hide under a pile of books or other things, but when you are cleaning up your mess, you are bound to reach that letter again, read it, sit back and relax, and think about the great times you two had together… even make an attempt to find out where they are and get in touch with them again… distances, times, circumstances suddenly do not matter in such cases….

    Good friends are also like the songs that you once loved and could listen over and over and over again, and then with time you moved on to listening some new numbers, new singers, etc, and suddenly that song plays back on the radio and you are reminded of how much you have loved, and missed that song too… just that you might not have realised it… and you just get back home and find the music you ‘love’ to love…

    There are people I associate with, who have been fantastic friends and probably they are today as well, but with time we lost touch… I am not sure where they are, what are they upto, and in some cases I am in touch with them as well,

    And all this while I make new memories everyday…


    Some of the people and my memories that have some space in one of the other corner of my head and heart …

    The walks with Nimisha and Taru, to bus stands other than our college stand so that we could miss the bus and spend more time talking and walking together,

    Me and Nimisha going to Taru’s place one morning and singing together throughout and even on our way back,

    A holi riot at Abhay’s place when we took out buckets of water from his bathroom and socked everyone wet in the room (God only knows how his mattresses and other stuff would have dried; must have taken ages; the entire house was a water hole),


    Me and Kapil bhai walking and discussing our scripts and singing Sa Re Ga Ma from Chupke chupke ( apparently we two used to sing it very well),

    My IIIrd standard fight with Sandeep when I had beaten him black and blue in the school bus and over years we turning to best pals EVER ( every evening we were sure to spend atleast 2 hours walking around the entire sector and talking whatever nonsense)


    The ice cream after getting off the school bus and dividing the payments between Sandeep, Neeraj and Me… the bugger Aakash never used to pay…

    The duplicate film roll that we bought from a shop on our Xth standard farewell and the messed up pictures that we go from it.. Neeraj you ass, I had asked you to buy the roll the previous day

    Working with Meghna in the street plays and spending so much time talking about everything under the sun

    Taking Himanshu’s bike for the interview at Spectramind.. the poor guy waiting for me till like 10 in the night in his college only because my interview formalities had not finished


    Narang always telling me that I was making a mistake when I was going around with Shikha in Hughes

    Adi, Me, Aro, Anmol, KB, Narang singing, “Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo…” before we used to start our shifts 😀 and anmol’s typical my name is arthurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, and me Aro and Narang adding the “teri maaaaaaaaaa kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii” in the same tone 😀


    Loads and loads of conversations with Aro and Tushar in the last 5 years !!!

    Haircut Trips to Ganga Shopping complex with Tushar…


    Ankur calling the Pangong Tso, Tso Moriri at Diskit 😀 and that too in a video and his dialogue about the stuck vehicles on our way to Pangong… Aaj to Phencho dekh kar hi jayenge !!! and that Saale firangi, this in India, yahan everything has a jugaad 😀


    And how can I forget the Up-32 at Khardungla 🙂

    Strange enough, I do not remember much about Ahlcon and those two years that I spent in that school, except the fact that I really liked and respected my physics teacher, Mrs. Archana Deepak!!!

    There are million memories more… Can write a book about them 🙂 there are some sad ones too, and even though I remember them, I choose to not talk about them here… no point !!! life is happy !!


    Have a happy weekend !!! God Bless 🙂

    Stills :
    Deepu and Aro with Ankur’s daughter Neitya at the gurudwara Nangal Sahib
    A lovely bunch of kids in Ambikapur, Chattisgarh
    Deepu, Kavita and Anjie at the south group of temples, Khajuraho
    Kids in Ambikapur, Chattisgarh
    Two friends at the Hauz Khas Monument, Delhi
    Bunch of kids in Moradabad
    Deepu, Anubhav, Me and Ankur at the North Pullu, Ladakh
    The Up-32 family at Khardungla pass, Ladakh 🙂
    Tushar and me near Ram Jhula in Rishikesh

  • of Love that is not that common, but IS !

    I was in college, and like most of the other college going lads would not leave an opportunity to show off my smartness at the drop of a hat !

    So I went to this marriage function and I saw her !!! She knew me and I knew her, we had met a few times previously, were introduced to each other too, but never got talking !!!

    It was her brother’s marriage, and she out of courtsey came and talked to me… and then the smartass mr. Prashant spoke, “आप अकेले अकेले chewing gum खा रही हो, मुझे नहीं दी !!!” (aap akele akele chewing gum kha rahi ho, mujhe nahin di)… and she simply takes her gum out of her mouth and offers it to me !!! I am stunned and She just laughs her ass off !!! and I still shocked ! Thankfully I am saved from any further embarrassment, and her friends come and take her away !! I am sure I was their laughing stock for the evening !!!

    However later in the evening, we met again and I took her number… I think she felt safe giving her number to a stupid guy… we cannot be much trouble, I guess !!!

    I did not call her for a while… weeks in fact, and after a month or so I gather enough courage and call her up, hoping that she picks up the phone… she does, and she says,” ओह, तो फ़ोन कर ही लिया आपने, मुझे तो लगा के फ़ोन नम्बर कॉल्लेक्ट करने का शौक है आपको “! (oh!, to phone kar hi liya aapne, mujhe to laga phone number collect karne ka shawk hai aapko) third encounter, second embarassing moment !!!

    That one phone call matured to a call a week and then, in not too long a time, our daily 1600 hrs 30 minute call… and then transformed into one of the most beautiful relationships of my life… It did not work out the way we wanted ( but that’s another story, and I rather not talk about it right now)

    Bhoomi and me went around for a good 4 years, and she, till date, is the only woman, who managed to pull my leg as often and leave me dumbstruck and in a state of shock like no one else… but her chuckle and more often than not a loud laughter at my state, made me happy…

    It was like I grew up with her, from college to masters, overdose of Theatre in Graduation, to loads of study and Basketball in Post Graduation, to the IT bubble burst and my hunt for jobs and the stress and struggle, and my first training/job and then the real fist job !!! I think it was THE perfect relationship… no point regretting now though…

    anyway, why was I talking about Bhoomi?

    because I was reminded of my second longest relationship ( yea yea, I have a few extra feathers in my cap, but so what!!!)

    Radha… another relationship that did not take much time to develop and only got stronger with time !!! My first and only “Love at first sight” as far as I can remember… here are a few pictures of her that I took on our first long drive together to Uttaranchal ( now uttarakhand).. More than 4 years now and her charm is still as strong as the day I first saw her !!!


    Some more pictures from the trip here and here. and if you are keen on reading about the trip click here.

  • Finally Denim

    Who says wemmen take a long time in buying things !!!! It took me about 2 years to get a second pair of jeans !!! but I finally did it !!!
    I don’t remember how many times I tried buying one but never really bought, I even got one but never wore it… my tummy was growing at a rate which the jeans could not take after that first trial attempt !!! However, this weekend, I finally got a pair that I can wear !!! and I am not surprised that its very very similar to what I was wearing so far !! almost the same pattern, almost the same blue !!!

    So two now !!! sahi !

  • Another one of (not so) random thoughts

    Mon, a dear friend, few days back wrote about how people change with time, how close friends grow apart and a few other things… Somehow that does not surprise me at all… People change, distances grow or reduce, and so on and so forth… with time I have learnt to accept that as a fact, however the good thing is that with time my faith in those handful of relationships that I guard like crazy and will do ANYTHING to save has also strengthened !!!

    What surprises me are those people who can be absolutely different like black and white at the same time ( and that includes me too at times)… The warmest souls to some, and the worst people on earth for someone else ! Saying something and being someone ELSE at the same time! Thankfully I cannot be someone else and claim to be a different person at the same time, but there are people who can. I can get into the tactical details here, but that would just mean talking more about a few people I know, which I am not sure is required !

    While I agree that this can happen with every one, every time I think about this, I am reminded of someone I knew who was a classic example of being two faces at the same time !!! Phew !!! Before that I never knew that such extremes are possible!

    I secretly hope that I do not bump into one of such amazing people in my life, but then I am not the one deciding the flow here 🙂 I am just rafting !!! let it come !!!

    Tushar bhai, I miss Rishikesh and our rafting trips !!!

  • I am connected ! Are you?

    🙂

    Tell me tell me !!!

    Are you connected too?

    We all can make a virtual network of sorts 🙂

    I changed my Wireless Network Name to BhagwanJi today… Now I can be reminded of my connection everytime I switch on my laptop 😛

  • Prasha – Cook(er)

    Third time in a row, cooking for myself did not disappoint me ! And I am nothing but extremely happy that the food has been great !

    I am also surprised that I did not mess up the salt or anything else either !!! But this is a pleasant surprise !

    And too bad there was no one to see the expressions on my face when I tasted food 🙂 :/

    I am getting there 🙂 slowly but surely !!!

    and celebrating with a nice banana split scoop is just the right thing !

    p.s. thanks Joy for the title 😀

  • 5 things you (might not) know !

    Random things are really not that random if you climb a few stairs up and them see them… It all seems to fall in perspective of the person.. but then for the sake of a tag, let me still call the following 5 Random Facts about me !!! (I think I am supposed to write 7, but I will pass with 5 :)

    So thanks to Vineeta or Nairvee, here we go ! 5 things about me, which you might or might not have known ! (I have been asking her to write something for Chai Ki Dukaan, and now I can be after her life to write it :P)

    1. I can never get over how beautiful mountains look… Every single time you see them, you can see something different, some more majestic and grand than every before…

    2. I can still not figure out what is my favorite element from the PanchTatva… The Fire, The Water, The Sky, The Wind or the Earth… Is my love for my village related to Earth, or The way I can keep looking at the sky for ages, represents my love for the Sky? or the fact that I feel Fire is one of the most exciting things to look at, proves that I love FIRE !!! not sure… But the fact is all of these elements can feel so delicate, so pure and harmless at one point of time, and at the other make you feel like a nothing in front of them !!!

    3. My love from photography comes from my love for people… I enjoy getting involved in conversations when I am travelling more than taking pictures, and these conversations make me click !!! the mood at a tea stall, the people in a bus, passengers at a railway station… are the people that I like to first, before taking a picture of them…

    4. Joy in my life comes from the small and simpler things ! talking to kids on the streets, walking around with a friend, getting a call from a friend i have been missing, doing something for someone i like, and so on a so forth…

    5. I don’t know how to react to surprises… Even if I am very happy, I cannot really express it if I am surprised at the same time.. the Irony is that I might look totally blank and speachless when a surprise is thrown at me !!

    Done Dana Done Done !!!

    Khush Vinnie the pooh?