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कुत्ते कि दूम…

डिस्कवरी चैनल पर आप लोगों को जंगल और जंगली जानवरों पर तो कई वृत्तचित्र देखने को मिल जाते हैं| लेकिन शहर और उसके जानवरों को इन अंग्रेजो खासा अनदेखा करा हुआ है| ख़ैर गलती उनकी भी नहीं है उनके तो शहरों में जानवर होते ही नहीं है तो बेचारे उनके बारे में सोचे तो सोचे कैसे| पर हम भारतीयों को तो इस विषय में सोचना चाहिए| तो चलिए यह काम भी आज कर लेते है| भारत के शहरों में कई प्रजाति के जानवर पाए जाते हैं| नामवर – गाय, भैस, बैल,साँड़, बकरी, सूअर, बंदर आदि इत्यादी| मगर इन सब में सबसे आगे और सबसे उभर कर आता है एक नाम और वो है, कुत्तों का|

जी हाँ, सड़क का कुत्ता एक ऐसा जीव है जो आपको भारत के छोटे से छोटे गाँव और बड़े से बड़े शहर में भी मिल जाएगा| भारत को अनेकता में एकता की मिसाल बनाने में कुत्तों का भी बड़ा हाथ है| प्राय भूरे या काले रंग में पाया जाने वाला यह प्राणी अधिकतर झुण्ड में रहना पसंद करता है| इनके हर झुण्ड का इलाका तय होता है| अगर भूले से किसी दूसरे इलाके का कुत्ता इनके इलाके में आ गया, तो समझो आज तो उसकी मौत ही हुई| अपनी “भौंको” की बौछार से यह घुसपैठिये कुत्ते का हाल विपक्ष द्वारा घिरे मनमोहन सिंग की तरह कर देते हैं| यह देख कर आभास होता है की शायद असुरक्षा की भावना महिलाओं के बाद अगर किसी प्राणी में सबसे ज्यादा होती है तो वो है कुत्ता|

और इनके भौकने का तो क्या कहना, अगर सॉफ्टवेर की भाषा में कहूँ तो इनका भौकना एक ऐसे लूप का execution है, जिसमे break statement नहीं है| एक बार शुरू हुआ तो फिर सिस्टम हेंग होने पर ही रुकेगा| अनवरत घंटो तक यह यूँ भौकते रहते है मानो यह भौकना चालू करके भूल चुके हैं| जिस तरह हमारे लिए सांस लेना एक सहज क्रिया है, कुत्तों के लिए भौकना है|

कुत्तों की दिनचर्या पर अगर नज़र डालें तो आप पाएंगे कि कुत्ते मुख्यतः निशाचर होते हैं| दिन में इन्हें किसी गाडी या पेड़ की छांव में सुस्ताते हुए देखा जा सकता है| मगर रात होते ही यह पुरे इलाके में मुस्तैदी से फैल जाते हैं| इलाके की चौकीदारी के प्रति इनके समर्पण को देख कर लगता है कि शायद जब सृष्टि कि रचना के समय चौकीदारी का टेंडर निकला था तो इनका ही पास हुआ होगा| और शायद सृष्टि के अंत तक यह जीव इसी प्रकार रातों को जाग कर चौकीदारी करता हुआ पाया जाएगा|

कुत्तों के सोने के इस उलटे पैटर्न ने बचपन में मुझे बड़ी मुसीबत में भी दाल दिया था| संस्कृत कि कक्षा में एक श्लोक पढाया जा रहा था जिसमे बताया गया था कि विधार्थी की नींद कुत्ते की तरह होने चाहिए| मैं अकस्मात ही शिक्षिका से पूछ बैठा कि क्या हमे भी दिन में सोना और रात में जागना चाहिए| जवाब सुने नहीं दिया सीधे गाल पर महसूस हुआ|

ख़ैर, कुत्तों कि बाकी गतिविधियों पर अगर ध्यान दें तो पाएँगे कि कुत्ते गाडियों का पीछा करने के बड़े शौक़ीन होते है| यह इनका राष्ट्रीय खेल है| हो सकता है कुछ समय में इसे ओल्य्म्पिक में शामिल करने कि मांग उठाई जाए| इस खेल के शौक में कई कुत्ते रोज शहीद भी हो जाते है, मगर शौक बड़ी चीज़ है|

वैसे, यह जीव जितना निकम्मा दिखता है उतना है नहीं| कहा जाता है कुत्तों को साक्षात् यमदूतों के दर्शन होते है| और ऐसा होने पर यह रोने लगते है| तो अगली बार जब आप आस पास किसी कुत्ते को रोता हुआ सुने तो पहली फुर्सत में सफ़ेद कुरता पायजामा निकल लीजिए| मोहल्ले में किसी शवयात्रा में शरीक होना पड़ सकता है| इस तरह कुत्ते आपको पहले से तैयार रहने में मदद करते है| अपनी इसी काबिलियत के चलते कुत्तों को तंत्र विद्या में उच्च स्थान प्राप्त है|

कुत्तों का योगदान केवल ऐसी उच्च कोटि की विद्याओं तक सीमित नहीं है| लोकप्रिय संस्कृति यानि कि पोपुलर कल्चर में भी कुत्तों ने कई अमूल्य योगदान दिए हैं| सोचिए कि अगर कुत्ते न होते तो “कुत्ते मैं तेरा खून पी जाऊंगा” और “बलवंत राय के कुत्तों!” जैसे अजेय संवाद हमे कहाँ मिल पाते| साहित्य में भी कुत्तों का एक बड़ा योगदान रहा है, “धोबी का कुत्ता न घर का न घाट का” “कुत्ते कि दूम टेढ़ी कि टेढ़ी” “दूम दबा के भागना” और न जाने इन जैसे कितने मुहावरे, लोकोंक्तियाँ हैं जिनकी कल्पना कुत्तों के बिना असंभव है|

महिलाओं को खासकर के कुत्तों का आभारी होना चाहिए क्यूंकि कुत्तों ने इस विश्व में अवतार ले कर महिलाओं को पुरुषों के लिए एक उपयुक्त और सम्पुर्ण उपमा दी है| जिसका उपयोग हर महिला गाहे-बगाहे करती ही है(“Men are dog/मर्द कुत्ते हैं”)|

इसके अलावा कुत्ते मनोरंजन का भी एक साधन होते हैं| इनके रोज के गैंगवार टाइमपास का एक अच्छा जरिया हैं| गली के बच्चो के लिए कुत्तों कि कुछ क्रियाएँ (जिन्हें यहाँ लिखना उचित नहीं होगा) मनोरंजन का प्रमुख स्त्रोत्र होती हैं|

अब तक तो आप समझ ही गए होंगे कि एक लेख में इस महान जीव को कैप्चर करना असंभव है| इसलिए मैं अब अपनी कलम को विराम देता हूँ| बहार कुत्तों का गैंगवार फिर शुरू हो चूका है|

आशा करता हूँ कि इस लेख को पढ़ कर कुत्तों के महान और जनकल्याणकारी जीवन के बारे में आपको काफी ज्ञान मिला होगा| अगर आपको लगता है कि मैंने कुछ मिस कर दिया है, तो बेहिचक अपनी टिप्पडी मेरे ब्लॉग पर करें| और समस्त पाठकों का ज्ञान वर्धन करें|

Weekend Engagement

Weekend, what can you do in a weekend? There can be a million answers for this question. Lots of people would have done lots of prolific things during the span of the two days that we call a weekend. I am going to tell you a story of one such weekend.

Friday, 23rd April 2010 6:15 PM

I am sitting in the office cafeteria at my office in Pune with two of my colleagues, Sakshi and Poulome. We are having snacks and I tell them I have to catch a bus at 7:30.

Sakshi : How are you supposed to reach ruby hall by 7:30? (She asked this because of the distance I had to go to catch the bus from Ruby Hall)

Me: By auto… (Gesturing the handle of an autorikshaw). I have done that in past, last time I started at 5:30 to catch a bus at 6:30.

Sakshi : You see, there is a difference between 5:30 and 6:30. You will see.

Me : I am done with the sandwich.

Sakshi : I think you should leave.

Me : Bye… (half walking half running)

I get out of the office, catch the first shared auto to reach the Hinjewadi chowk. It takes me 10 mins and 10,000 words to convince a rickshaw driver to drop me at the bus stop for mere (!) price of Rs. 280. This comes with an added condition; he will also take up fares all along the way.

During the whole journey he keeps screaming ‘Teshon’ (‘Station’ in local lingo). Thanks to him we stop at atleast 5 palces on the way and I get accompanied by a fat and stout Girl going to meet her boyfriend, a cool and sexy girl who is going for a movie and an insurance agent going for a call. Now don’t ask how I came to know about what they were going for.

I reach the bus stop and manage to catch the last bus leaving for Indore. As I am so late to get the ticket the only seat left was the upper berth at the end of the bus. Those who are not familiar with the sleeper busses that ply in all parts of India don’t get surprised by the mention of the word ‘berth’. The sleeper busses are an amalgamation of the Chassis of a bus and the layout of a train. Search Google for picture of these busses, which will give you a visual feel of the interior.

Travelling with your berth at the rear end of bus is what you call pain in ass, head, back …actually each and every part of your body. The ride is so bumpy that during the sleep (whatever I was able to get) I dream of travelling on moon. I bang my head atleast twelve times after which I stopp counting.  At an early hour of morning my cellular communication device informs me of a text message. It says

‘Dear Customer, your outgoing facility has been barred due to negative verification of your documents. Please submit correct documents to continue uninterrupted service.’

Now that’s what you call an insult to injury.

Saturday, 24^th  April 2010 9:00 AM

With very little sleep and lots of body ache I manage to reach Indore. As usual the city that I love the most welcomes me with a shower of dust and blow of hot air. I see development work going on all along the way to my place. As I reach home, Mommy – Papa and Anand Mama (Chunnu Mama) are waiting anxiously for me. They think my phone died due to low battery.  A plate of Poha is served in front of me along with a glass of Pana (Green mango squash). Man! I love Indore. As always a plate of Poha is never enough for an Indori.

Chunnu Mama is in Indore as he had to leave for some remote place near Mandla for a training camp for 15 days. The place is so far flanged that he has to walk 1.5 kms and climb a hillock to make a phone call.  (He is still there as I write this).

All during the day I complete various important jobs pending to be done. I present you the list

–        Visit to doctor, as a part of my monthly check up.

–        Get my glasses repaired, which got damaged in my back-of-the-bus journey.

–        Catch up on lost sleep.

–        Lunch

–        Visit to a friend’s place to collect a parcel which I was supposed to deliver to him in Pune

–        Visit to Bhua’s place

–        Then paid a visit to one of my cousin who had recently run into a 75 yr old man. The old guy was now in coma, had broken both his knees and my cousin was held responsible for this. (I never felt so as the old guy was driving a Royal Enfield Bullet and my cousin a TVS Scooty. How can a boy on scooty injure a man on Bullet so lethally).

–        Book a ticket for return journey to Pune.

Meanwhile these things are happening I am constantly planning with my friends for the next day. Sunday is going to be the biggest day in life of one of my friend, Ashish Sharma aka Mathura aka Bhata aka Haapshish aka …..(Sorry cannot produce the whole list; it is bigger than the bible).

He is getting engaged after all.

Sunday, 25^th April 2010 5:30 AM

I wake up listening to the alarm. I had to get ready by 6:00 AM as Nilesh sir is going to arrive and we would start for our journey.

Nilesh Sir

Nilesh Singh Chandel, he was our senior in engineering college. ‘Berang’ , ‘Bindass’ and ‘Berang Bindass’ are his word whiskers, but with some meaning attached to them. I have provided the possible meaning for them.

Word	Meaning
Berang	Literal meaning – Without any colour. He uses it when he intends to say that a particular job was done without any fear. It is more like the just-do-it.
Bindass	Literal meaning – Without any inhibitions He uses it to denote the carefree nature of things
Berang Bindass	He uses it to denote the combination of above two characteristics.

 

Although a senior of ours he became quite a close friend in the later part of our college years. The bond was strengthened by the mutual exchange of favours among us, especially with Ashish. On Saturday we had decided to go to Sihore for Ashish’s engagement on his bike as I had come back to catch a bus at 7:00 PM for Pune.

While I am bathing, I could hear that Nilesh sir has arrived and is talking to my Mom. I quickly come out and get dressed up. It was 6:30 by the time we leave. We refuel the bike at a petrol station just near the city limits before hitting the highway.

The road from Indore to Bhopal (On which falls the town of Sihore, at a distance of 160 Kms from Indore) is named State Highway 18. Now in the part of world where I live, even national highways are not expected to be in a very good condition, leave alone the state highway. But what we come across was much more than a surprise. The road is unexpectedly smooth and broad. The median is as wide as the roads and there are trees all along the way. We are so taken aback by the quality of the road present in front of us that we go almost a kilometer before we realized we are on the wrong way, near Dewas. At this point we check our phones for the time elapsed (as none of us had watches), it is already 7:45 and we are supposed to reach Sihore at 9 o’clock. We have to travel  116 kms in less than 90 mins. Now that is impossible we both know.

None of us spoke a word for the next one hour which we took to reach Astha, a town 40 kms from Sihore. We had to have a stop here because our bums are so hurting that I start believing that I would not be able to return by same means. A refreshing cup of tea and a plate of Poha brings back life into us. It is still cool and sun is not up to its full glory. We gear up for the last leg of our travel.  All through the journey it never happens that due to the quality of the road we had to shift to a lower gear.

Sunday, 25^th April 2010 9:30 AM

At 9:30 we reach the venue, as soon as we entered the marriage garden where the engagement is supposed to happen, an SUV also enters with us. Out come four boys, Aanil Pandey, Davendra Raikwar, Vaibhav Gupta, Vipul Gupta.

Aanil Pandey

Anil Pandey, he is Ashish’s school  friend. His voice is so heavy that a you could crush a can of cola under it. Presently in Delhi he is famous among the friends as ‘the confiscator’. He gets hold of whatever belonging he likes of his friends and is reluctant to return that. He is also famous for his love for black coloured clothing.  Ashish attributes his mischievous nature most to Aanil, who influced Ashish a lot in their school days. Pandey now seems to be grown old as considerable amount of his hair is grey and he has grown thin.  

Davendra Raikwar

Davendra Raikwar, He is among the people on whom I can go about writing a book. But will wind it up in short. Anna, is how we address him. He has absolutely unpredictable temper. He can make anybody go mad with his annoyance if he wills. One of my favorite partner when it comes to nag somebody. Both of us combined have produced many disastrous incidents where people got very hurt, which can be recalled by lots of our friends (angry friends, rather). He is very parsimonious when it comes to talking and keeps most of things to himself.  Presently working for Delhi Metro, he holds the most prestigious job among us, as majority of us are software engineers. You need to be his friend for a long time before you understand what he really means when he remains quite. During our college times he used to hate the silly text messages on friendship, love and etc. But now he is the one who sends all such messages and the one who sends them the most.

Vaibhav Gupta

Vaibhav Gupta, again a figure who can be a subject of a book. He is the favorite prey for Davendra and me and he also very well appreciates this. Kaka is how somebody from us will address him. The reason behind this is that he used to play the role of famous ‘Ramu kaka’ from Sholay in the skits we staged during our college. He is also known as ‘the altruist’ due to his helping nature. Very few people know that he lives a dual life. For those who see him from a distance don’t know this. And even no one from us know exactly what his other life is like but all of us know discrete bits and pieces. Below is the list of certain things that define him.

1. Loves listening to songs.
2. You will find him always chewing cinnamons.
3. When it rains it is out of his control to not get drenched.
4. He cannot help helping others, especially if the other is a girl.
5. Needs Dal-baati at least once a week.
6. Loves philosophies of Osho, Sri Sri Ravishankar and anybody who can profess.
7. Visit places with only some of his selected friends, especially by bunking classes.
8. Occasionally sleeps at night.

Presently at IIT Roorke, I hear that he had created a fan base there with his altruism and stories he narrates to everybody. I think that is enough to give an idea about him.

Vipul Gupta

Vipul Gupta, Vaibhav’s younger brother. If I consider all the siblings of my friends he is the one we are friendliest with. Our relationships with him have reached such a level that Vaibhav doesn’t matter when it comes to rapport between any of us and Vipul. Monu, as he is fondly called, is a humble and happy-go-lucky creature. Although I have heard incidents of his stubbornness from his mother but I have just heard them. He always comes across smiling. He is always ready on his toes to respond to orders of his elder brother. A Charted Accountant in making he is a dream of an older brother.

Before me and Nilesh sir finish catching up with these four guys, Ashish, Pavan, Deepak and Anil Upadhyay along with some other friends of Ashish come to us.

Ashish Sharma

Ashish Sharma, already you all are aware of his various names. The most popular and catchy one is Mathura. Now I am not going to tell you about the story behind this name. Mathura, as everybody calls him is a weird character. An ardent gym devotee, he always believes in doing what he wills. He can talk to a stranger for a whole day, till the stranger is no more a stranger. He loves photography but only if the one who is posing is he. He can sleep for days and remain awake for more days. When we were in college he was a terror among the juniors and was the most dedicated junior to all the seniors. Pavan Rungrecha holds the key to Ashish. Nobody save Pavan came make Ashish agree to certain point. One more striking aspect about Ashish is his Bike. A black Yahama Libero is the one possessed by him. He is famous (or rather infamous) for his trademark U-Turns on a busy road. He has achieved various accomplishments with his bike, the latest and the most daring one is a bike ride from Ujjain to Mumbai (nearly 700 Kms) in 16 hours. Now I won’t go boasting about him. He is the one getting engaged and we all have travelled from different parts of the country for him. As I have mentioned earlier about some of my friends on whom I can go about writing a book, the book on Ashish would be the most massive one. Presently, he works for a software company in Mumbai.

Pavan Rungrecha

Pavan Rungrecha, a plump shaped, preoccupied, self conscious guy who wants to look fit without any effort. Genda aka mama aka pakoda … he too, just like Ashish has wide variety of names. He is always bothered about his appearance. During the college time he used to get smitten by every passing girl. He very skillfully pretends to be the most responsible, the most mature and the most thoughtful guy among us, and is very successful in doing so (although we know the truth). If you tell him the symptoms of a disease he is sure to catch that within few hours. He thinks he is the leader of all the mankind and is the one who should speak on everybody’s behalf. Now I should refrain from writing much about him as it will be harmful for him as well as me. Presntly, just like me he is working for a Software company in Mumbai

Deepak Sisodiya

Deepak Sisodiya, a smart looking guy (he just looks smart) from Mandsaur (along with Pavan and Davendra). Pavan calls him Lala and so do some of us. He always keeps smiling and laughs out loud at every joke. You never know when he actually understands the joke and when it’s a dumb laugh. He is one of the few people who actually enjoy listening to incidents narrated by me(this is what he tells).  Apart from Davendra he is the one who sends a message per day. But his are more comic rather than dull sentimental messages. Presently he handles his family run business and manages a sari shop.

Anil Upadhyay

Anil Upadhyay, another character who hails from Ujjain and is Ashish’s childhood friend. He is one of the most astonishing characters I have ever seen. Some of his deeds are so prolific that if I cannot think of doing those. His friends fondly recall his famous suicide attempt. During the college time he seldom prepared for the exams but often passed the exams. Sometimes we knew how he did that and sometimes not. He was managing all the activities for Ashish’s engagement.   Presently he teaches in an Engineering college.

Ashish: BAWA, BAWA, BAWA, BAWA, BAWA, BAWA, BAWA!!! (That’s our trademark greeting. Bawa pronounced loudly 7 times in a rhythm, with your hands up like you are held by a cop. We even have a community for that on Okut!) Abe to bike se kaise aa gaya? (He asks to me).

Me: Kyun, main bike se nahi aa sakta? Koi problem hai kya bikes ko?

Ashish: Nahi be, main is liye aisa pooch raha hoon ki tu itni der bike pe baitha kaise?

Me: Ab teri sagai me aana tha to tere tarike se hi aa gaya….

Soon Naushad, Amit, Pravin and Ritu (Sharma) arrive. Everybody is talking to each other. 

Naushad Ghori

Naushad Ghori, tall, fair and handsome (argh…) male (?). I don’t know it is his habit or he does that intentionally but he can never be serious. Back in college he was an integral part of our team that staged skits in which we spoofed the Hindi film industry. And it was during the times of cultural activities that the two of us interacted the most. He used to play Sanjeev Kumar aka Thakur Baldev Singh from Sholay and Vaibhav Gupta was Ramu kaka (Hence he came to be known as kaka). He is one of the most irritating creature I have come across, there were times when during the rehearsals I used to shout like anything at him and Shikar (I won’t describe this creature here). He always tries to impress girls with his greasy talks. Every time you will find him loitering around girls. During our training days in Kerala he still remained the femalephillic organism. We both were put in the same group for preparing a mock project.  There were instances where he did something which could be called as productive for the mock project, but those are very few. I feel I have wasted enough space on this good-for-nothing rascal.

Amit Hasija

Amit Hasija, slim, tall, fair brown-eyed guy. Amongst all these people he is the one whom I had known for the longest. Both of us went to the same coaching class in high school. He and Naushad are schoolmates. Ashish, Amit and Naushad are flatmates. Ashish, Naushad and me are classmates from college. It is interesting to see how the net of friends interconnects two nodes through different paths. So coming back to Amit. To be honest, during our college times I had minimal interaction with Amit. It was only during our training days in Kerala that we got to spend some time together. He used to come and stay at the hotel in which we were staying, even though he was allotted a different accommodation (God knows why).  Presently he is working for the same IT firm as I am and lives in Mumbai.

Praveen Kaushal

Praveen Kaushale aka chupchap, a dark, reserved guy. He also is one of the flatmates of Ashish. He and I used to travel in the same bus during our college times. There is an interesting story about how he came to be known as Chupchap. Once when we were in second year of college there was an event organized by a local newspaper in our college. Somebody from Praveen’s branch knew one of the reporters. They decided to do one piece for the local supplement of the paper where senseless bits of information and meaningless college news are published (Usually the last page on the city supplement). In that article a picture of group of friends was published (Praveen was also a part of it) and there was a small description of every member in it. Praveen was named as chupchap by his other friends and it was written ‘ab mileye Praveen se jinko inke dost pyaar se chupchap bulate hai….’  And some other shit. Next morning he came out in the bus flaunting that his picture has been published in the paper. When Abhishek (another of my friend) and I read out the matter we couldn’t help needling Praveen. It was so hackneyed and so chutiyatic (sorry for the slang). Even Praveen was embarrassed with that, he never mentioned that article again. Presently he is chupchaply living in Mumbai and exploring new boundaries.

Ritu Sharma

Ritu Sharma, a cute, lovable and what-is-happening sort of girl. Hers was roll number 48 just before mine. She has been the victim of my wrath during the practical session in the college. I was always concerned with finishing the experiment as early as possible and she and Ritu Kapse were the two other member in our practical group. I used to tell them to sit quietly and not utter a word till I have done the practical. It was only after I had finished that they touched the apparatus. Presently she is teaching at an engineering college. When I asked her what subjects are you teaching she replied that, who actually teaches at an engineering college, with a chirp.  

And our talks continue till we go into bath. The bathroom doors has slits on the top. Somebody starts taking pictures of the ones bathing inside and that turns into rage with each one bullying another. Now I am not going to describe the intricate details of it. After getting ready we sit below a tree which is very soothing as heat starts mounting. While we were bathing Sandhya(Ashish’s fiancé) had  arrived.  Soon two other creatures had arrived namely Kapil Saluja and Banakdeep Singh Saluja

Kapil Saluja

Kapil Saluja, a smart, young and stubborn guy. He is the younger brother of our dear friend Rishi. As Rishi is in Chandigarh and could not come to attend Ashish’s engagement Kapil came. He would’ve come even if Rishi was there. Kapil considers Ashish as his guru. Both share traits as far as thinking goes. He is also famous for his stubborn nature. I had heard incidents of his beating up a policeman even before I first met him. Presently he is studying in Indore.

Banakdeep Singh Saluja

Banakdeep Singh Saluja, a slim, fair Sikh with genuine turban. He is Kapil’s friend and flatmate. I have met him only on certain instances but the impression I got about his is he is an amiable and cool tempered person. It was during Ashish’s engagement that I came to know about the meaning of his name, Banak means Honey. Although we had a very less interaction there have memorable incidents one of them being his bike being taken away by traffic police. At that time he had even lost all the papers for the bike and his license too. He is also presently studying along with Kapil.

The ritual requires the presence of the girl for most of the time. Hence we are with Ashish in a room where he was getting ready while the rituals are being performed. He will only have to make a presence for exchanging the rings and some trivial rituals. But that is also delayed as he had forgotten a special tika that is worn by the Boy at the time of engagement (Anil Upadhyay is held responsible for this). Two of his friends are dispatched to bring that from the local market. As they aren’t aware of where to get it from, it takes them time to find it out. Meanwhile, everybody starts thinking that we have held up Ashish as a sign of the groom’s ego. People from family keep saying that it is not a marriage let him go, and we have to explain them the real problem.

Just before the auspicious time is about to pass, they arrive with the tika and out comes Ashish dressed in Purplish blue Kurta payjama.  He goes straight to where Sandhya was sitting and also the priest. All through this time, Pavan is taking snaps of the happenings. He thinks he is some world class photographer and expects us to feel privileged to get his services.

 It is very crowded as everyone wanted to see the exchange of rings. Davendra, Deepak and me slip back and as soon as ceremony is over we signaled the Dholi(Drummer) to start his act(actually he was already into it) and then we start dancing. For next 10 minutes what happens I don’t know. It is so hot and the dancing resulted in sweating and perspiration. I am dehydrated; I go and drink from whiSchever water body comes to me at first. Despite of doctor’s warnings of drinking only distilled water I gulp 4 glasses of water from a drum kept just outside the hall where we were dancing.

After all this we take time to calm ourselves and retire to the same tree. As many of us meet each other after a long, long time we couldn’t get enough of catching up. Naushad, has a bleeding nose due to the heat. Poor guy couldn’t enjoy the whole function. Soon the lunch is served and we the groom’s friends with the entire attitude enjoy the first serving.

Sunday, 25^th April 2010 2:30 PM

After lunch we go back to our temporary lounge(The tree shade) and keep chatting. Nilesh Sir points out that it was nearing 2:30 the time we had decided to leave SIhore. We start bidding goodbye to all and it is not before 3:15 that we could actually leave.

This time the heat is on. We cover ourselves with white cotton cloths one of which I had brought with me and one each was given from Sandhya’s family as an acknowledgement of appearance in the function to us. We are now aware of the route and the time we would take to get back hence we are more confident. But certainly the conditions are different, it is almost 41^o C and the highway is going to be hotter than this.

Nilesh sir rides the bike for the first leg of 60 Kms till the MP Tourism highway retreat. Then I take over and it is never a time in the journey that we have to pull down the speed due to the poor quality of the road. It takes us just within 3 hours to reach my place. We cover more than 160 Kms in 3 hours.

Sunday, 25^th April 2010 6:15 PM

I reach home, took a bath while mommy prepares a cup of tea. I realize that I am having a headache. Papa gives me a painkiller. I quickly pack my bags and leave for the bus stop. When I reach the bus stop, the bus is already there.

Before I could arrange my belongings the bus has left the limits of the city. And here I am wondering about this adventurous weekend that I had. If I see it in retrospect I could’ve never agreed to the idea of riding a bike all the way to Sihore and coming back in one day. But sometimes you do most unusual things for the people whom you love. At no cost I could’ve missed Ashish’s engagement. At no cost I could’ve missed meeting so many friends at one place. Soon I fall asleep.

Monday, 26^th April 2010 12:00 PM

I am sitting in my office and it seems as if nothing has happened. Although I have travelled more than 1700 kms by road in just a span of 2 days including 320 kms on bike in one day it makes no difference. I have loads of calls and issues. The usual life has resumed……

The GHPS Chronicles

The Secret Cult

 

So, I am back with another funny incident to tell you from my school. It comes from the time when I was in class 10^th. There were six of us- Ankur (Gaur), Arvind, Gauraw, Pradumn, Me, Sandeep and Vishal (also called as Mama). We used to hang around together as we thought we were the sanest people in the class. Others consisted of characters such as, Some transport company owner’s sons who were least concerned about studies and the thing that mattered most for them were there looks, A mad guy who nobody knows why was always bullying students as well as teachers, Some guys who had an established business and were going to carry on with it after school and were just passing the time nowhere but in the school and Girls don’t need a mentioning (no offence intended).

During the time for lunch all the students were to go out on the ground; nobody should remain in the building. We all were forced out from the classes. Everybody ate their lunch on the ground and spent their time there only. But it’s not fun being everybody, so we always wanted a departure from the regular thing. We found a place that hardly anybody knew or visited. It was our secret place. The layout of our school is difficult to explain but what I can tell you is there are 4 halls made in front of the main building which can be used for different activities and the first of the halls and the main building both touched the boundary of the ground. From behind the first hall was a half built swimming pool, which was in that condition since time immemorial. The pool counted for length of one hall and after that, behind the hall there was an empty space which was not used. Mango trees grew there and there were stairs made on the backside of halls for entry on the stage in times of some function. These stairs served as our dining place and everyday we used to go there and have our lunch in peace and serenity away from all the chaos and ruckus that went on the ground.

In those days when you are young you are captivated by such things as a secret society or a thing that is just between you and your friends, especially in your adolescence. The secret lunch place proved to be the bonding for our undeclared secret society. Although nobody said it but it was there, all of us were a member of this group which had its headquarters behind the halls and met everyday at lunch. This was our place, I being the most enthusiastic about such things (thanks to my addiction for Hollywood movies and adventure novels), thought that there has to be one thing that unites us. One thing that differentiated our identities and would always be there to make us feel belonged.

 

This was achieved by a slogan which was coined after the brand of a water tank. Yes, a water tank. It was iconic because we also had a secret place to drink water after having our lunch, where a plastic water tank was placed with a water purifier attached to it. The school had a separate primary section for kids studying in classes of nursery, LKG and UKG. It was situated adjoining the halls, but no one from higher classes was permitted to go there. At the main entrance of the primary section a guard was always there to stop students of higher classes going there. But we found a back entry into the primary section which went through our dinning place (We also had a secret way to enter into the school building during the lunch time). After finishing the lunch we all went to the primary section through the secret way and there we drank water from the water tank in which water purifier was attached (we did this because apart from this one we trusted no other water purifier in the school which were broken most of the time). The brand of the plastic water tank was ‘Sarita’ nobody among us had ever heard that brand before. Because of the peculiarity of the brand name that place became to be known as ‘Sarita ki tanki’. It was another thing which was limited to our access only and symbolized us. So one day while drinking water from there I suddenly had an illumination.

“You know what, it is very unique” I said

“What is unique?” asked Ankur

“The name of the manufacturer. Sarita. Have you ever heard a water tank brand with that name?” I questioned them.

“Yeah we know that. What’s new in it? What is there that you find it that amazing?” asked Vishal.

“No we must do something with this, like make a ritual of some sort. What I propose every time before drinking water from here we will say Yo Sarita” I made my suggestion. I know it will sound weird and silly but it was a figment of my fantasy at that time. Initially the proposal was not received very well. Rest of them laughed and made fun but gradually it sank in. Sometime just for fun somebody would say Yo Sarita before drinking water and then everybody laughed, I was also making fun my silliness that brought about this slogan. Slowly but surely we started using it. Sarita ki tanki slowly became a regular spot.

During my school time, especially till class 10^th, I had a flare for being on leave. Hardly went a week when I came to the school on all 6 days. My average per week was 4 days of school and 2 days of leave. It was another day when I was on leave. My friends had finished their lunch and went to Sarita ki tanki. After quenching the thirst they were coming back. On the way back one of our seniors Manpreet Singh Sond was sitting there with his girlfriend in a corner of the passage between the halls. Vishal was shouting something and suddenly he cried out the slogan, the water ritual Yo Sarita, as they were passing by Sond. You may say it coincidence or you may say it a bad luck, the name of his girlfriend was also SARITA.

Manpreet Singh Sond had a reputation of a crack head. He was a prominent figure in the school and everybody was intimidated with him. He was the DADA of the school. As soon as he heard that he got up in fury (I wished I was there) and came up to Vishal.

“What? You think you are very smart? Haan?” he asked angrily. “You know with whom you are messing?” he was boiling. Vishal and rest of the guys were clueless what had happened. “Why were you shouting my girlfriend’s name like this? You think you will get away?” He asked Vishal. Now things started to clear up a bit, his girlfriend was also Sarita and so was the water tank. Somebody from the guys tried to clear up the confusion but he was not buying it. As I was not there, so I cannot surely tell, but what everybody else said that Vishal was beaten up by Sond. Although Vishal refused that he was beaten up and maintained the statement that he only held Vishal’s hand and twisted it. Anyways fortunately or unfortunately lunch was over and Sond left Vishal for the next day asking him to meet him on the ground.

Next day I came to school unaware of the happenings of the previous day. Vishal was not there. “Where is Vishal?” I asked. “He will not come” answered Arvind in a strange manner. “Why?” I inquired as it was only me who went on a leave without any reason. “Sarita” answered Pradumn “Sarita?” I was confused. “Yes, because of our Sarita ki tanki” added Ankur. They explained me the whole incident and we all were laughing for the whole day. That day during the lunch time Sond did come with his friends on the ground. We tried to explain him the whole situation and tried to clarify, this time he was bit calm and took in what we said. We had to take him to the spot to prove that there is a brand of water tank named Sarita. For next three days Vishal didn’t come to school and nobody ever mentioned the name Sarita, at least not when we had other guys around.

The GHPS Chronicles

The Gift

I completed my high school from Guru Harkishan Public School, Indore. As with everyone, high school accounts for lots of interesting and memorable events. Some of those moments remain with you for a life time and when ever you meet your old pals those are the things that you remember and laugh about. This is one such narration.

 

It was another day in the school. We were in Class 11^th. As always we had to go for the morning assembly, which was long and seemed boring (now even that boring assembly seems dear to you). Anyhow we tried to skip it. This year in school was different. My friend Arvind Kothari was the Vice head boy of the school. One of his duties was to go into each classroom and ask the monitor to take the students to the assembly and also checking no one remains behind in the classes. This meant he must skip assembly so that he can make sure nobody stays back. I being a close friend always helped him and this was the duty anyone would like to share. Although I was nowhere in the school parliament that year but I accompanied him in his morning duty and every other duty that needed an absence from the class.

 

Arvind was (still is) an influential figure in the school. Never went an year when he didn’t top the class and no body, not even the principal questioned his supremacy. Everyone was sure that he will do something big and so he did. Presently in IIT-K he is in final year of his M.Tech (Integrated) and has done numerous activities, some of which I am aware and some of not, in the IIT. So, he was my best pal in the school. Apart from being a brainy he had a lighter side to too. He was always good at playing pranks and what we call in Hindi Mazze lene me he was brilliant (But he was never good at the receiving end of the pranks and still isn’t. although he may not admit this and go on disagreeing).

 

So it was assembly time and we stayed back as usual. We were waiting for Gauraw Paliwal. He was the third one, completed the trio. He had came a year or so ago from the town of Kharguan.  He is the kind of a person who never thinks a thing bad. He is absolutely guileless. There is no vice at all in him, any one can come and take undue advantage of him. He is like a hermit, and followed the three principles of Gandhi (I don’t think they need a mention here). And surprisingly his birthday is on december 25th. He used to come late as he stayed at Gitabahvan which was far from the school.

That morning Arvind and me were sitting in the class as he entered. He had an interesting incident to tell from the last night. It was about Ankur Mathur. Ankur mathur another figure in the class. I am sure most of the classmates wouldn’t even noticed his existence (except girls). He was very varying in his character. You can call him wishy-washy. He was found of girls, all boys are, but his was a different case. All the time he used to roam around the girls wagging his tail. Girls were clever they knew he would do what ever they ask for. So, they used him as a servant. He used to bring them the reagents in chemistry lab, used to perform experiments in physics lab and sometimes even carry their bags. He was also in Biology stream and so was Gauraw.

So, last night he came to Gauraw’s house, he lived near by, to give Gauraw something. Ankur was not coming to school the next day and it was birthday of a classmate (a girl), whom Ankur wanted to give a gift. Let’s call her Rewa (changed name). Ankur was not coming because he had to go somewhere with his father. He considered Rewa a good friend, although the case was not same with her. She was a Punjabi Girl in section A of class and was also in biology stream. She was what I think, a bit conservative and most girls are, especially in school. Ankur came up to Gauraw and gave him a small box wrapped in beautiful pink and purple gift paper to give it Rewa. As I have written earlier Gauraw was a noble soul. He never saw any wrong in anything. Without thinking he agreed to do the job. He talked rarely to girls and that also was limited to studies. On asking, whether she knows about Ankur sending a gift for her, Ankur had told Gauraw that he has talked to Rewa about the gift and there will be no problem. In morning when the whole school was out for assembly the three of us were sitting and discussing what to do with the gift.

 

As soon as the assembly finished the students started coming back. Rewa also came she was happy as it was her birthday. Everyone was greeting her and then went Gauraw. Smelling some goof up me and Arvind were standing right there to see how he does it.

“Happy birthday Rewa” he said. “Oh thank you” she replied smiling. “Oh I have the gift with me” said Gauraw “Which gift?” asked Rewa with astonishment.

“The one that Ankur sent” Gauraw explained. “Didn’t he tell you about it?” he was also puzzled. “No please Gauraw, I am not interested in this.” She was agitated. She was angry and went away without listening to a word.

Arvind and I burst into laughter as Gauraw was misunderstood. He was baffled and was not expecting to be misunderstood to this extent. He was confused. “I knew something of this sort will happen” I said. “Oh thank you then why didn’t you tell me in the first place” Gauraw asked angrily “We would’ve missed the fun” I said with unsuccessful attempts to conceal my laugh. “You don’t have any brains? Why did you accept to do it?” asked Arvind. “I thought he and Rewa were good friends and she would have no problems” Gauraw clarified. “Firstly, if that was the case why didn’t you tell her that it is from Ankur” I inquired “You were there, you think she gave me time for that?” Gauraw retaliated “OK but don’t you know Ankur’s reputation among girls and what girls think of him. How on earth did you think that they were good friends” Arvind added. “I wonder what’s in that box.” I showed my curiosity. “Don’t even think of opening that box” said Gauraw snatching the box from my hands. He knew my intentions

“OK now what to do with the gift?” I asked. There was a mischief playing around in my mind. “What? Give it back to mathur” suggested Arvind. “OK, else we can just take it and keep it in Rewa’s bag. I mean why bother it’s her and Ankur’s matter. He asked Gauraw to give the gift and she refused, we can just put it there and when she will see it she will know that Ankur, not Gauraw has sent it.”  I tried to put my point. “I mean if we don’t give her the gift she will be in a wrong impression that Gauraw was maroing  chance on her.” I reinforced myself. It took Gauraw sometime to decide but Arvind agreed readily. He smelled the same scent that I smelled.

So it was final that we were going to keep that cursed packet in her bag as soon as we get a chance. She was in section A and we were in section B, so neither of us had slightest idea of her bag. But we had contacts. Amit and Akshat, the inseparables. When ever you see one of them be sure the other one is going to be around, never was a time that they went different ways. These days they were accompanied by Arvind’s cousin Akhilesh who had joined the school the same year. We had a great rapport with them, so I explained the situation and asked them to just signal which bag is hers, when the right time comes.

The most important thing was that we had to figure out the right time when she was not around. As the assembly had just ended, chaos ruled the school. Juniors stormed the corridors shouting, seniors stood outside the classes some talking with their friends others checking out the girls. This was the right time; Rewa was out with her friends. We entered the class, Amit signaled us where her bag was kept and before anyone could see I slide the gift inside her bag. Our job was done, Gauraw was happy that the box was gone. We came back and school went on as always.

Now as Gauraw was in Biology (and so was Rewa), he had to go to other classroom to attend Bio classes and we stayed back for math classes. Immediately after the class we had lunch. So, at lunch Gauraw came looking very depressed, sad and puzzled. “What happened” I asked. He looked up to me with an angry glare and then took out his lunch box. “c’mon tell us…” Arvind tried to share his grief “….who else will you tell” he said. “This, this rascal, scoundrel Rohan, all because of him” Gauraw shouted. I somewhat understood what had happened. But this was a direct attack on me “What? What have I done? Tell me” I retaliated with fury. “One thing is sure from now on I will never subscribe to his slippery schemes. You know what happened?” Now he was addressing Arvind “When I reached the lab (Biology lab, for classes) Modi madam (The Bio Teacher) was sitting there with the gift on the table, immediately I knew it was my biggest mistake to agree to his scheme” He said pointing at me. “She asked me what is this Gauraw? We thought you were a sincere student and came here to study. Did you come to school to do this? You have disappointed us. When she refused to take it you kept it in her bag! How shameless you are? My god.. And Blah blah… I even said that it was sent by Ankur…” He stopped in between and shook his head looking down at the ground “What happened then?” I asked as I was gaining more and more interest in the incident as it neared the climax. Gauraw looked angrily at me “What do you expect?” he was furious “She said if it was from Ankur then why did you put it in her bag? You should’ve kept it and given it back to Ankur. Now I had no answers to this….” He was devastated as his reputation was the biggest thing for him. He was rebuked in front of the whole batch. “But you told us that this has to reach Rewa. And that is what I did.” I clarified my position. “I never said that” Gauraw went ballistic. Arvind was bursting into laughter and I couldn’t control it for long. It were 10 sec or so and Gauraw was into it too. “You know Modi Madam didn’t talk to me for the whole session” Gauraw said with a innocence of a child who comes complaining about his friends. “Don’t worry she will soon forget” I assured Gauraw. “We will clarify the whole thing with Rewa and ask her to tell this to Modi madam, she knows that it was from Mathur.” Suggested Arvind. And the same happened we had to make the situation clear to Rewa and then to Modi madam but in the end the matter was resolved.

And now whenever the three of us meet this is one incident nobody misses to mention

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बारिश

आज बारिश हो रही है|  मैं दफ्तर के अंदर बैठ के देख रहा हूँ, और सोच रहा हूँ की क्या मेरे शहर में भी बारिश हो रही होगी| खुद को काफी देर रोकने के बाद बरसात के रुकते ही आखिरकार मैं बाहर आ ही गया|  बारिश के बाद मिट्टी से आने वाली खुशबु आज भी उतनी सुहानी लगती है जैसी की बचपन में लगती थी| बरसात के मौसम में शहर का रूप अलग ही हो जाया करता था| कीचड के कारण सड़क  पर चलना दूभर  हो जाया करता था|  सड़क के दोनों ओर मिट्टी पर नयी घास  उग आया करती थी| बारिश में हर चीज़ नयी होती थी नयी किताबें,  नए कपडे, नए जूते और कभी कभी नए दोस्त भी| और उस नए नए संसार में मन उल्लास से भर जाता था| 
                                                                           मुझे आज भी याद है जुलाई की नम सुबह को जब माँ जल्दी उठा कर, तैयार कर, टिफिन दे के स्कूल भेजती थी तो लगती था की कब मैं बड़ा होऊँगा और कब स्कूल से पीछा छुटेगा| आज भी हवा में वही नमी, वही खुशबु को महसूस करता हूँ, मगर अब सुबह न माँ उठती है न टिफिन मिलता है| ऑटो वाले भैया के आने का समय होता था तो लगता था की भगवान आज बारिश इतनी तेज़ हो की ऑटो आ ही न पाए|  और जब ऑटो आ जाता था तो मन यही कहता था की आज बरसात के कारण स्कूल की छुट्टी हो जाये| ऐसा नहीं था कि मुझे स्कूल जाना ज़रूरी था| मेरा चेहरा देख के माँ पूछ लिया करती थी कि आज जाना है या नहीं|  मैं मना कर दूं तो माँ मान जाती थी मगर मना करना मन को अच्छा नहीं लगता था|  और अब जब ऑफिस आने का समय नजदीक आता है तो जान सूख जाती है| बरसात के कारण दफ्तर की छुट्टी हो ऐसा तो असंभव ही है| जुलाई के महीने के दिनों में जब सुबह सुबह बादल नीले आसमान को घना काला और मटमैला बना देते थे तो क्लास में क्या चल रहा है यह तो ध्यान  ही नहीं रहता था, बस मन खिड़की से बाहर आसमान की और भटकता रहता था|
                                                                                                                                                                                                 हवा चलते ही आस पास लगे नीलगिरी बादल पेड़ झुमने लगे और कुछ देर के लिए मैं वापस वर्तमान में लौट आया|  बचपन में भी स्कूल में लगे यही पेड़ हवा के साथ ऐसे ही झूम जाया करते थे, और मैं खिड़की के पास बैठा इनका अक्स अपने चश्मों में देखा करता था| खाने की छुट्टी में स्कूल के आते में पुरानी पड़ी लकडियों पर उग आये कुकुरमुत्तो को इकठ्ठा करा करते थे और उन्ही लकडियों पर रहने वाले घोंगो को पकड़ कर उनकी दौड़ कराया करते थे| आज तो उन्ही कुकुरमुत्तो की बनी सब्जी ऑफिस के  कैंटीन में खाते हैं|
                                                                                                                         आसमान में एक बार बादल डेरा दाल दे तो समझो कई दिनों तक सूर्य देवता दर्शन नहीं देंगे| दिन भर बादल उमड़ घुमड़ कर गरजते रहते थे, मनो डरते हो की अब बरसे कि तब बरसे| ऐसे में स्कूल से वापस आ कर भी बाहर खेलने जाने कि इजाज़त तो मिलती ही नहीं थी| दादी हमेशा गर्म कपडे पहनने को बोलती रहती थी और मैं यहाँ वहाँ भागा करता था| शाम को अगर बारिश हो गयी तो पापा कि फरमाइश पर गर्मागर्म भजिये बन जाया करते थे| आगे वाले कमरे मैं खिड़की दिन पास बैठ कर गिरती बारिश को देखा करता था, धंटो तक| आँगन में पतरों पर से गिरने वाला पानी छोटे छोटे गड्ढ़े बना दिया करता था| उस गिरते पानी में अनगिनत कहानियाँ मन में बुन लेता था| आँगन में बहने वाला पानी नदी बन जाता था और पतंगे, चींटियाँ, मकोडे और कई कीडे उन कहानियों के किरदार|
                                                                                                                              बारिश के रुकते ही आँगन और पीछे के बाड़े  में दीवारों पर उग आये तरह तरह के पौधों को देखने निकल जाया करता था| उन पौधों में एक फली वाला पौधा हुआ करता था जिसकी फली पानी लगते ही ‘पट्ट’ कि आवाज़ से फुट जाती थी| उसे फोड़ने में जो मज़ा आता था वो आज ना किसी डिस्को में आता है, न किसी पब में| अगर बारिश अँधेरा होने तक नहीं थमती और मन फिर यही प्रार्थना करने लगता था कि भगवान् करे कि बारिश रात भर न थमे और सुबह स्कूल न जाना पड़े, यही सोचते सोचते नींद लग जाती थी| अगले दिन उठ कर फिर स्कूल और वही क्लास|
                                                                                                    लेकिन आज बारिश का होना न होना एक जैसा ही| एयर कन्डिंशन्ड ऑफिस में बैठ कर कंप्यूटर पर उंगलियाँ चलाने का बसात से क्या सम्बन्ध| हल्की हल्की बूंदा-बंदी फिर से शुरू हो गयी है| और अन्दर दफ्तर में मेरा काम इंतजार कर रहा है| यहाँ तो कोई नहीं पूछेगा कि आज काम करना है या नहीं| अन्दर आते आते मैं सोचने लगा कि क्या मेरे शहर में आज भी वैसी ही बारिश होती होगी?  शायद……..|

Mahajan sir

This is a brand new never before seen video of mr. mahajan u need to hear it too.(poor voice quality)

Love, actually

(This might seem a bit filmy and dramatic but its a real incident from my life.)

 

You missed your bus yet again, but how does it matters you are in the last semester of your engineering. It will not matter even if you don’t attend your classes. This was exactly what you were doing since last week. Today is a different day you are experiencing a strong urge to go to the college. You can take the second trip bus, which comes in after an hour or so. However, you decide to go by public transport. Immediately you take a city van to reach Rajendra nagar from where you would get the bus for your college. You are waiting there and as usual, there is a lot of crowd. It is almost crunch time here. You realize you will have to go hanging and balancing in several poses all along the way.

                        The first bus that arrives is overfilled so much so that it seems to spill. You have a theory about busses: – the bus that follows an overcrowded one would be less crowded than the first. Therefore, you decide to wait for the second bus. Soon it arrives and stops exactly where you were standing. As you look into the bus, your heart misses a beat then a second and a third. You feel like having a stroke. No signal from your brain. No it’s not the crowd that is bothering you. It is the girl sitting in the front seat. She someone you know from your school. Both of you were in same class. Now even the college is same but the streams are different. You are in love with her since high school. She was a good friend but now she ignores you as if you do not exist, as if you are invisible. You still love her. People say she has a boyfriend, you still love her. She has acted many times as if she hates you. You still love her. As you see her, she also sees you. She immediately looks away, into a book she is reading. Soon you realize you have to hop onto the bus else, you would miss it too.

            It is January, pretty cold. You are wearing a pair of jeans teamed with a white cotton shirt along with your college blazer, which you are wearing just to recover the money you have (over)paid for it. You get inside and you see that although this bus is less crowded but still there is no room inside so you have to stand at the gate, right in front of her. Fortunately or unfortunately.

                                                                                                            You two are not on talking terms since second year of your college. You start thinking that it is so unusual that you took the public transport first time in the semester and you banged into her. You remember how you were in engineering college in Hyderabad and you quit there and came back to Indore for counseling. The moment you entered the counseling hall the name being announced was hers. You were totally unaware of the fact that she was also having counseling the same day as you. And unknowingly you two took the same college. You thought, at that time, that this was your destiny and your belief in your love towards her became stronger. Like it happens all the time in movies, only in movies. Now your misconceptions are corrected.

                                    The radio is on in the bus. They start playing a song from the movie ‘Jab we met’ it is “Naa hai yeh paana …” now your emotional turmoil starts to heat up. You remember how good friends you two stated to be in the school. You remember the first day of your college. When due to some incident you were apprehensive about talking to her and you remember how she came to you and relaxed you. You start thinking why you to have stopped talking? But you don’t find an answer. She is still reading the book. It is Ayn rynd’s ‘fountainhead’. She is not looking up at all. You know why, because if she looks up she would have to see you. She does it all the time, ignores you.

                        Bus is moving on the full swing. Conductor-cum-cleaner-cum-usher-cum-ticket clerk comes at you “Where to?” he asks. But you don’t answer. “Hey where to?” he asks again, you still don’t answer. “Have you consumed bhang?” he snaps his fingers at you. Your trance finally breaks. “Oh Medicaps” you give him five rupees. You realize that lots of noise and ruckus is going around you and even after that, you got lost in your thoughts. “Bheed me khamoshi hai thodi si behoshi hai…” the song goes on.

                                    She ignores you. She doesn’t want to talk to you or even see you but you still love her. You are obsessed with her she is on your mind almost every time and this has been so since last 5 years. You need to forget her, for that, you must ignore her as she does. You have tried it but you know ignoring is not going to do the trick. You are not able to ignore her. You need something more drastic, more severe, and more effective. Hate her, you must try to hate her, after all what she does to you isn’t right. You try to do that but not unlike ignoring hating is also unyielding. You can’t hate her no matter how bad she treats you. You realize your feeling you start thinking what went wrong? You weren’t that bad a choice. You almost cry, but you cannot. This is the irony of being a guy, you have to act strong and even if a tear rolls down your cheek you have to blame it on the strong wind blowing in or something that struck in your eye.

                        You decide to try hating her once again, for the last time. “Medicaps” shouts somebody. Both of you get out of the bus. She starts towards the college walking on the uphill road. You stay back and walk behind her, even if you can go ahead. Just because you can see her for few minutes more. You know you can’t hate her. Now you understand this is what they call love, actually.

 

Rahul, me & Amit

 

It was a hot Sunday of March 2007. Sunday was really proving to be a ‘sun’ day; it was hot, very hot. My friend Amit agrawal and I went to the city looking for some project kit for our minor project. We were on his white scooty. Suddenly I got an idea (I wish I would not have).

 

Me: Amit, could you just spare some time?

 

Amit: yes. Why?

 

Me: Let us go to the mall I want to look for a camera.

 

Amit: O K

 

We went to the mall. And when we were returning, in the parking lot…

 

Amit: hey, Rahul.

 

He spotted Rahul gupta (along with some others). Rahul was a good friend of both of us. He was there to watch a movie, and was returning too. He lived nearby so all three of us took the same root back. Suddenly near collectorate (for those who know Indore), Amit’s scooty dried up. It was out of petrol. We were near a petrol pump, about a half KM away. One thing we could have done was to drag the scooty to the pump but we chose the other one. I brought an empty bottle of oil from a mechanic and Rahul and I went to bring the petrol leaving Amit there all alone.

                                                Amit is a very nice person but then he never seemed to grow up. He was a very naïve and childlike guy. He didn’t understand the guiles of the outer world.

                                        So, we came back, to where we left Amit, with the fuel but he was gone. Amit along with his scooty was nowhere to be found.

 

Me: call him, Rahul. (I still do not have a cell phone)

 

Rahul called him    

 

Rahul: no response the phone is ringing.

 

We called him another four-five times but no response. We asked the shopkeeper around but nobody knew where he went. He just disappeared without a clue.

 

Me: If he dragged the scooty to the pump (which was least possible), we would have met him in the way. Did you see him?

 

Rahul: no. lets check one more time.

 

We went back to the pump and asked the guys there but they saw nobody with a white scooty there.

 

Rahul: maybe he would’ve moved to someplace near by for hiding from the sunshine.

Me: Let us go back and see. Now the heat was getting me, I felt exhausted it was 3 pm, which is the hottest time of the day. This time we looked at every possible place he could have gone. He was on feet and had a vehicle to drag and that even in this kind of heat. Where could he possibly go? I asked to myself.

 

Me: Rahul where could have he gone he is on feet and we are on bike.

 

Rahul: how far he would have gone? What do you think happened?

 

Me: what do we do now?

 

Rahul: Let us try out one more time at the pump maybe now we could find him.

 

We again went to the pump the answer was the same.

 

Me: Rahul I need some water, something liquid. Let us buy some soft drinks first.

We bought a bottle of sprite and sat on the stairs of the shop, which was inside the pump.

 

Rahul: I think we should call him once again.

 

He called Amit.

 

Rahul: his phone is switched off.

 

Me: his phone is switched off and earlier there was no response. Do you know that his father is at a high position in the electricity board? So it is possible that maybe he is being…

 

Rahul:kidnapped? along with the scooty? How?

 

Me: look it is possible what else do you think happened?

 

Rahul: you think we should call his family?

 

Me: we could but then what if he is not kidnapped? They would panic.

 

We were in a state of ambiguity. We did not know what to do we did not know where he went. The bottle was now empty and so were our minds. We were totally out of options.

                                    And then the most shocking thing happened. Mr. Amit agrawal came ridding his white scooty and stopped in front of us. I was experiencing an outburst of anger, jubilation and questions. I am sure so was Rahul.

Us (me and Rahul): so where did you get petrol from?

 

Amit: I went to the pump.

 

Rahul: lie, we checked here twice you have just arrived.

 

Amit: no no. not from this one, I went to the Mhow naka pump (which was 5 kms away)

 

Me: you dragged the scooty that far?

 

Amit: no. there was some petrol left in it. I kicked it and then it started so I went to that pump. I waited for you and then I remembered that there was a petrol pump here also and you must have came here so I came here looking for you.  

 

I felt like slapping him.

 

Rahul: why did not you pick up the phone?

 

Amit: oh. There is some problem in the vibrator it is not working. Look it even has discharged now.

 

I felt like being laughed at. Therefore, our day with Amit ended.