To live your dreams: 2012

Sunday 7 October 2012

Kolaveri Di wala "D"

There was nothing worth mentioning about the flight and I was as usual very sleepy. Sitting diagonally opposite to me was a well-dressed gentleman with earphones plugged in his ears. His well ironed three fourths, tucked in t-shirt, shining white socks and sport shoes clearly displayed his meticulous behavior. I was noticing him and imagining how the life of his subordinates would have been. He looked like a boss who would not accept a mistake even as small as that of a full stop or a comma in his documents.

I was wondering if I were seated next to him, how pretentious I may have had to act. Suddenly I came out of my thoughts, with not so polite voices from my back.

"Kaunsa D hain humara seat"??

"Kolaveri dee wala D".

followed by a boisterous laugh after that…

God save the gentleman with the two new entrees in flight. I was always taught in my childhood that "D is for Dog" but Kolaveri Dee was a new one for me. This not so funny joke made them laugh out loud. Both of them were sitting on either side of the aisle and their voice ensured that each person in the flight was well aware of their presence and positioning. They were sitting exactly behind my seat and were initially annoying. I was left with two options. Either I could read my book, scold them in my mind and feel irritated for the next couple of hours OR I could just try to enjoy their conversation and I may actually end up having some fun!

I chose the latter and eventually they entertained me for the rest of my journey.

Both the not-so-gentlemen were belly dancers. I mean I am pretty sure their huge paunchies would dance and swing around in their walks and talks. They were wearing a typical khakhi political shirt, which was body fit only on their stomach.

As per rules of transit flights, AC was switched off for the refueling. Both of them pressed the attendant buttons to enquire about the AC.

"Yeh Call girl sunta hi nahi hain! Pehle bataya hota toh shirt bhi uske hisaab se apan pehen ke aate. Hahaha!!"

Oops! This apan word was an alarm to me. These guys could have been my very own Indoris.

The flight was ready to take off and the status notifications from them (for each stage of motion of the flight) also started.

"Uda Nahi…"

"Runway pe hain…"

"Kya ab tak chala nahi…"

"Yeh hila toh aap badal pe hain.."

"Yeh Dugdugi ki tarah kyu chal rahi hain..."

“Yeh ubad khabad hain."

And the best one was…

" Yeh gaya latak..""

I was pretty sure many people might have got irritated but it was so hilarious for me to listen to their conversation.

"Sunoh! Ek gandi cheez khaoge kya?"

The voice travelled to the other side of the aisle to which the reply was "Kya??"

The obvious question could have had a simple answer but I guess the fellows wanted to prove their prestigious sense of humor and the answer came with a big laugh "Kaaju!"

Not sure what was "ganda" and hilarious in this poor kaaju but this was again an ignite to their hysterical laughs.

"Tum kitna samaan dho ke chal rahe ho?"

"Kuch samaan zindagi bhar dho ke chalna padta hain”.

Oops! This sentence made me ponder for sometime but it was only for few moments that my philosophical bulb was switched on.

"Kuch khilayenge kya yeh log?"

"Tray toh lagi hain... kuch toh khilana chahiye!! Apan Thailand gaye toh khilaya tha apan ko. "

My eyes could see an airhostess sitting straight infront of me and my ears could hear some unsuccessful attempts of whispers.

"Yeh baithi hain na humein kuch khilane ke liye"

As soon as she stood from her seat, he added, "Abhi ek brake lagega toh peeche ja giregi.. Hahaha!!"

They were discussing about a destination named Ashok Vatika. He asked in extremely serious tone "Kya yeh sirf ek garden hain?" to which the other guy stared at him, paused and replied "Toh aur kya chahiye?? "

They shared the moment of silence and laughed their hearts out. One of them passed his mobile to other one to show some pictures. "Dekh lo different views hain garden ke is site pe.. Thak jaao toh bata dena!"

This was again followed by giggles. How could someone be tired of browsing a website?Huh!

The conversation continued throughout the journey and kept many of us entertained. The final destination of both the flight and the fellows was Chennai.

On landing in Hyderabad…

" Hussain Sagar mein dupki maarni hain kya!! "

The laughs continued and still echoes in my ears. To my surprise, no one complained and the journey ended safely and happily. Each one has his own way of cherishing small moments of life. It’s just that one has to find his own.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Morya Re Bappa Morya Re..!!

My conscious was absolutely aware of the festival but my inner soul was not ready to take any action. Staying away from my family was one of the reasons of not having the enthusiasm to celebrate.

It was an ordinary lazy holiday for me until I went out on the streets to have brunch with my friends. The streets displayed various hues and shades of people. Everyone was indulged in some or the other thing but all the activities displayed a common underlying feeling of devotion; devotion towards Lord Ganesha.

On the one hand are those for whom Ganpati is the highlight of the year. The festival brings a reason to celebrate and spend lakhs on the community celebrations, dance in the processions until their energy generating system supports them and play music with mainly Bollywood numbers on the playlist. There are few people who have their private pujas at home in a hope to have Ganpati fulfills their wishes including lots of moolah, promotions and good health throughout the year.

But on the other hand there are people like him and me who have different reasons of not being part of the celebrations.

He is the person who plays a very important role in my life. People who know me closely can understand it better. He is the person who can bring a clone of my key to this world in just half and hour.

As we reached the place to have brunch, I met him to get my key duplicated. This time I had not lost it but to avoid the issue in future, I thought of taking some risk management steps by having a duplicate in prior. (Being an IT Professional, I tired to implement fundas of a risks and issues, which I have learnt at my job)

He started the work of duplication. I was standing beside him but to save time I thought of leaving the key with him and pick it later after the completion of my brunch. I asked him if he was okay with this approach and he smiled and said he is fine. Being an adherent fan of crime patrol, my mind told me to ensure he doesn't run with my key.

I asked him till what time his shop would be open. Since it was a festival day, I was expecting him to reply "in few hours", so he could close the shop in half day.

He was doing his work with full concentration with his eyes drilled into the keys. After listening to my question he paused, lifted his face towards me with a smile and said in English “Till Evening”. His smile clearly showed that the question was of no use to him and it is mandatory for him to work irrespective of the day and date.

He immediately resumed his work and I left from his shop towards the hotel where my friends were waiting for me.

I was just left with some unanswered and helpless thoughts. Though it is wrong to use the adjective helpless, as in my life I do not have any hindrance, which can block me from my actions except the lack of guts, and my materialistic wishes which often tend to drive my actions.

The underlying question was ”Why is this difference in Celebrations for each of us??”

As stated in Sunday’s The Hindu newspaper, Mumbai’s richest Ganpati the GSB Seva Mandal’s received Rs 5.75 crore in cash and the ornaments worth Rs 15 crore last year. It has sought an insurance cover of Rs224 crore this year. The numbers are going to be similar across all the cities (except for Mumbai which is going to be sky high!).

I am sure Lord Ganesha must be watching from up there! He would be happy to see his various moods personifying idols but would be worried too! His plans would definitely include to have a financial analyst sent to our country who could have this amount equally distributed to the needy verticals based on their requirements. I believe it is the commercialization and the display of some people’s power than their faith, which worried me. For few cities, the Ganesh festival has become a big political circus that is expanding dangerously. These parties have found the means of acquiring votes and flaunting their money power.

From daily wages workers to multi millionaires; everyone have their own way of celebrating the festival. Each one is trying to increase the size of their pocket to have the best idol in their home. The vendors are sitting in a hope to have the maximum sale of their idols to yet again have the best idol in their home. The wish to have best idol is a hope to bring best life and solution to all the worries.

I am no one to comment and stop people from spending their money on these grand celebrations because I also have a very long list which many may find as complete waste of money. J I just hope that our not so corrupted leaders understand the fact that we Indians have strong faith in power of almighty but we do not wish to be cheated and fooled by his name.

Lord Vinayaka, Ganeshji, Ganpatiji, Vinayakar is the darling of the masses. Ganesh Chaturthi intends to brings people of all religion, caste and creed together and I hope the motive remains the same for years to come…

Sunday 16 September 2012

Kabhi toh bees ya tees bhi nahi hota..

As usual I was running late and the fear of being caught in the messed up traffic was making me go nervous. I was almost done with my packing and to save time I had asked the watchman to get an auto 10 mins before the estimated time of completion of my work. Being part of this extraordinary girls community, I had to dump a lot of 'might need' things in my bag pack (just for a weekend), which I carried on my back and went downstairs. After the yester week's crack up of my plan to meet my dearest friend, I was being too cautious by avoiding any foot dragging.

Mercedes had not yet arrived to pick the royal queen, which was making her go panic. Huh! And that goes obvious the queen is I and my Merc is the non-bargainable autos of Hyderabad. Finally after doing several follow-ups with the main security, my chauffer had arrived.

 He was not too anxious to go to the traffic filled roads but I convinced him with some of my tried and tested pleading statements. With some rounds of bargains and my sindhi blood instincts, I managed to bring both of us on the same table.

 All three of us; me, him and the auto; started towards the destination. On the way many random thoughts were running in my mind about plans of the following days in Mumbai. Suddenly, I realized that auto swirled to completely an alien direction. The area looked more horrifying than Ramsay Brothers horror movie. I did not want him to notice my knit brows, which would have given him that confidence boost up for his master plan. So I decided to stay calm as if I did not care and faked a call to my friend and deliberately talked loud and clear in hindi.

"I am on my way to the station. Yes, I had messaged you the auto number to your cell. Ya! GPS is also switched on. Don't worry ".

The last two words were reiteration of the movie dialogue "All is Well" to myself.

I sat confidently and tried to ignore the cryptic night and the opaque stones around me. After going for a few kilometers, there came the ray of hope and I could finally see some people in some parochial hustling market.
--"Which market are we in? "
- " Musapet"
The name of this remote but heard place made me so happy.

After few minutes he asked me in Hyderabadi Hindi if I know the place and have come there before. Since, I was now confident, my usual talkative instincts were ignited and I replied to him that it was my first visit.
He said I was the first one not to ask about the not so straight route. That was again a moral booster and after hiding my initial fear I replied to him
" Why to get scared? Tum toh township ka auto wala hain "
Now township word ignited his talkative instincts and then he started his story. Though it was tough for me to understand his Hindi, I managed after repetitive doubt clearing sessions and a few fake affirmations of understandings. I asked him some questions to which there were many answers.

" I have been working in this area since 5 years and I know each and every person of this township. I start early at 6:00 and try to reach by 9:00pm back to my house. My wife used to work but after birth of my kid she has to stay back home. (I remember his extremely cute smile when I asked him if the kid was a boy or a girl.)
I stay 10 kilometers away from township but I like working from here. There are many people from my locality who come to work. I pick up my people and charge them minimal to get the exact amount of money of fuel spent. In my area people do not earn much and for them Rs5 is too much to spend on commutation.
Mera toh ek din ka chaar sau (Rs.400) hota hain toh bas hain nahi toh kabhi kabhi toh bees (20) ya tees (30) bhi nahi hota toh bohot praablem ho jati hain...
I reach home early on weekends and play with my daughter. My wife prepares mutton and chicken biryani and I drink beer ( "beer" instead of "bɪər") .I feel pukish if I drink whisky and I do not drink more than one beer. When my daughter will grow I will send her to school and ... "

He was talking for a while but somehow I got lost in his words and was wondering the ways in which these hard working people find their own happiness. I sometimes get too finicky about my not so successful sprints and my unfulfilled dreams inspite of all the hard work, which I put in. But after talking to him it made me realize something that I can’t write but can only feel.

It may sound strange, but as my habit goes, we exchanged numbers and I told him to contact me if he needs any help for his daughter's education. After reaching the station I gave him the agreed money and some extra money for Sandhya.

He clinched the share for Sandhya in his fist and moved towards his forehead and thanked again with a huge grin "Thank You Madam"
I thanked Ramcharan and moved towards the station…