Sweet Hangovers!

Have you ever wondered why all good things must end? Why we miss certain tele series, why we still miss those game periods, those last days in the school, college, University... why waking up on the last day of the vacation at home is so difficult... Have you felt something about that certain someone when you know they are with you for a limited time, do you  still remember those silent prayers for some heavenly intervention so that you get a few more precious moments... No one forgets them, never... they just don't let us forget them... those sweet hangovers!

I often think about them. Sometimes I fear listening to a certain song, or to watch a certain movie, open the picture folder or even to visit a place. They are just not the same anymore. They "haunt" you and shout at you: "why the hell have you comeback alone, you have changed so much". No, I don't cry, I still smile at those moments. True, I miss them, real bad, but given a choice I would not go back in time and do a few things differently. They are all so perfect, even if they were short.

If we think a little harder, there are just too many of those moments. Some super small, some a little less interesting, some are still in the making, some almost made the cut, some we are just not too sure about but still "we do think about them". Remember fighting for that seat on the motorbike or in the family dining table, or on the regular school bus, or in the classroom or in your cubicle... well, it's not yours anymore or wait it still is, but you just won't care or do you? Would you trade your super comfy couch with that wooden bench in the last row of your class. Not sure, but hell that bench was "something" and you almost see a movie around that bench in your head.

The truth my friend is everything in this word has an expiry date. Look back, and you will realize, good or bad you still miss "everything". The whole life is an experience like no other. Through love, hate, pain and struggle we continuously build memories. Memories that make us who we are. Sweet hangovers, they never leave us!

My friend, it's time to realize why one should enjoy every moment. Every second you spend is similar to sipping a cocktail of drinks. A bit of whisky and a sip of rum, a little beer and some wine. Sip it- bottoms up. Let the glasses collude and say cheers to life. Don't slow down for you are not getting drunk, you are just making sure you have a long "sweet hangover" ie. whenever you WAKE up.

Old world charm!

As you know I love to travel. Some of the best travel stories happen during the journey and some quick ones while you are waiting at the stops.

Today I met a really old Swedish lady while I was waiting for the bus. She came to me, greeted me "Hello son" and started asking few questions in Swedish. I was really sorry and almost cursed myself for the usual "swedish illeya" thing. Then came the best part, probably the finest English words, coming from those shivering, wrinkled lips - Mesmerized, I was!

The connection was instant. She displayed her finest sense of humor, command over some of the most endangered species of words, immaculate sense of dressing & that famous Victorian aura - Polished gem of a lady. She then sang a dream to me, dream that was her past.... beautiful villas amidst lush green fields,  horse carts, giant ships, riders carrying letters & the magnificent church buildings...

She went on and on... carrying a newspaper, a book, a pocket watch (gold plated), a purse (small yet with an extraordinary royal design). Clearly she loved all of them. Then she spoke what a pain the Iphone, the credit card & the computer has become. She told me stories of how people poured their heart out in the letters they wrote, the power of the newspaper, the uniqueness of the pocket watch & the purse.  Although her children and grand children have dragged her into the modern society she had made up her mind to live in the era that is all but extint.

She mourned the loss of neighborhoods. The world has become increasingly closed in real lives and incredibly open in the virtual space. In her days the world never knew the intricate details of ones lives, only the gossip mongers would do that. She lamented Facebook is just one big "gossip lady" who never knows when to shut up, probably because she lacks in laws....what words, what humor! I was falling for her..

Then I looked at her more closely....she is beautiful, she reflected royalty, am sure she didnt use the best beauty creams or make up...she was pure and her beauty reflected through her un-waxed limbs & unpolished nails. I wanted to go back in time and pursue her! Where do you get a lady, these days, who would make you fall in love with her brain & etiquette - Full of substance.  

Her words were as powerful as affectionate. Her eyes had waters that were too deep for her sockets to carry. She often sang some beautiful phrases, which I never understood but they were cute enough for a baby to get a nap. She said she has a wish to visit India, to see the hermits in the Himalayas, who she thought were incredibly hot & sexy - for, to her they are the real Men, not the ones teaching yoga in the televisions. 

Then the bus came and how I hated that bus... She wished I board the bus first and announced "after you". Her final words were "Your country is way more beautiful than Sweden, for you are still few years behind us, which means you still have some real old world charm". We parted forever!

The old souls across the world are probably all the same. I so love their old words, songs, phrases - the way they describe the world they lived in, few words of wisdom & unconditional love to a total stranger... They for sure belong to the same planet as us but certainly it was way more gorgeous back then- They say Man is the reflection of his times!

I wish I grew up with them!!

The deadly wait!!

Has it ever happened to you, when you are waiting for something to happen? When you are so paranoid that you start to Google how to get rid of the paranoia. When you want to do something but you are helpless, all you can do is to wait. A strange shock hits you time and again & all you want to do is to explode. Nothing seems sweet. No matter how happy you want to be, a strange weight of expectation continuously pulls you down. Well then you are at the right place. I have been through all these and I have an answer to your queries.

More often this feeling hits you few days before the announcement of some results. The fear of failure combined with the expectation to succeed is a lethal mix indeed. You start dreaming of both scenarios. You start dreaming of a life after you succeed and suddenly another world from the failures era overshadows it. You feel restless. You just wish to know the outcome, even if its bad. The thought simply erodes you from within as if someone is itching your heart from inside. Aaarghh it hurts!

Sometimes there could be desperate moments. Situations when you think your life would depend on a single outcome. When you feel, if you don't succeed, you would be the loser in your own eyes. When you would have given yourself the "one last chance" to do what you have always wanted to do or may be when you realize your life will never be the same again.

You wish you could share it with someone but you aren't sure what you would talk about. You start praying and suddenly you get angry and shout "why me"? Everyone around keeps reminding you of the upcoming result and almost all of them make your life miserable. Some of them ll doubt your talent and question your success rate but frankly they are not the deadly ones. The deadly ones are those who simply walk by and say "don't worry, we are sure you 'll be fine". Oh My God he thinks I should clear it, what if I don't! Ouch! Do hell with you. When the hell this wait ll get over?

Now the question is how to deal with this? 

The first thing you must realize that this is a test in itself. This is the test of your resilience, test of your hunger to achieve what you have badly wanted to, test of your faith in yourself and in the Lord you pray. You need to talk to yourself. You need to speak silently in your ears " You ll be fine dude", "this too shall pass". These are passing phases and they often come only when you have done exceedingly well. Such thoughts are usually a precursor of a successful outcome. You hardly worry when you are sure you would fail. Hence you need to calm down. Trust me you have just given your best.

Yes, there could be failure at the other end too but then you have just seen how close you have been to the success you always dream t of. You have just been through one of the worst periods of your life, even after a splendid effort and you really are ready to face the next challenge. The road of hope never ends and you lose only when you accept failure. Remember "with every No, you Grow". Your life is precious!!, dont ever hurt yourself! If I win I 'll celebrate, If I dont who the hell cares! I am bloody ready to face the next challenge. I was pretty close and soon I ll nail it. People will doubt you, question you but you have to do a favor to yourself: Stand by yourself. This is the time when you need yourself the most. Be yourself! Be firm!

The waiting period is as much a test of patience as of character. Time slows down and you feel like you have a decade to catch up with everything & everyone you missed. Catch up with friends, go out, love the people around you, enjoy a movie, a lunch with an old friend, a childish game, buy some gifts for someone, hug someone, watch cartoons, attend a Puja, go to a carnival- Simply Go crazy! This is "your time to re-invent yourself", for if the outcome of the wait is a successful one, you 'll again get into a crazy web of a new world and if you lose, you would again gear up for the next challenge.

More often we lose ourselves in the mad rush of life. Everything is so fast these days, we hardly get time to stand and stare. In our quest to overdo, we often tend to miss the small happiness around us. Every moment is so unique: the smell in the air, the shape of the clouds, the weather, the flowers around us, the people and their moods. Its hard to remake any of the moments we missed. Life is not always about success and failure in a particular exam. Its a long journey, full of surprises!

PS: I thought of writing this because I have been through this feeling about 150 times in the last two years. I broke down occasionally, I gave up on myself at times but somehow I lifted myself time and again. Today I stand victorious. I have achieved something that eluded me 150 times. I am here because I stood by myself when I needed myself the most. Trust me when I say this: Whenever you have this "killer" feeling, you are close to be a "winner". Congratulations!

The making of a change!

It took me almost two years to come back to this page. Lost a fair bit of hair on my scalp and few among the  remaining have turned grey as well. Not sure why with experience the health of the tummy becomes inversely proportional to the health of the scalp...

Mid 20's are exciting times indeed. When you just start realizing that its actually not that difficult to survive outside the boundaries of college, without the home made food and with only a handful of friends! You do respect your dad all through your life but its only after you get your salary that you understand how great he has been. Its the time when you start to have a greater control over your hormones and you tend to start liking things that once you hated (or rather start hating things that you once loved!!). All of a sudden the girl next door seems to be just another girl and you understand that not all the girls out there are born just for you.

May be you are just being a part of the universal metamorphosis- the transformation of a bro to an uncle... from dude to sir... from hey to hello... from beedu to bhai sahab...from Yo to yes... More importantly you leave behind the remnants of that i-give-a-damn teenager attitude. The first time Being logical becomes more important than being practical....

True there are huge differences but I guess this is the time you start "living" your life truly. You start coming out of your innocence and teen whims. You tend to appreciate people instead of being jealous of them. You now understand that life is short and beautiful. That its time to grow out of the cocoon and fly around before your wings grow frail. To give back something to your parents for all that they sacrificed and to start working for the upcoming generation so that they wont have to face all that you did while growing up.

You have started training your heart to suck in more pressure without informing your eyes. You have now realized that dreams don't come true by just waking up, that they need to be pursued & it does take "something" to get them. You have started celebrating small happiness and you have started to learn "to give". You have started saying "sorry" and "Thank you" more often for you have realized that not every one out there does a favor without a reason.

You wish you could do something for the poor and needy. You start praying for others too. You start building your muscles but somewhere within you feel the volcano cooling off. You probably have never looked more handsome but still you have stopped wishing that a beautiful girl should come from nowhere and take a seat right next to you in the plane/train/bus. You sometimes stand and admire a laborer working in the hot sun and pause to think "do I really deserve to be paid more"?  You have now learnt the art of smiling at strangers.

Suddenly being rich is not what you desire, you wish to be successful, be respected and be wowed. You are now not worried about your future or the past. The present is so meaningful and there seems so much to be done and lived for. So many places waiting to be explored and dishes to be devoured. You have again stopped analyzing the quality of the movies and go out just to have some fun & forget the routine. When the Indian cricket team loses you realize they are just as Human as you are and that its OK to lose sometime.

You are no more angry on corrupt politicians and anti social elements, you just pity them.  We have a feeling that we are now approaching an equilibrium in everything : rich & poor, sick & healthy, just & corrupt, failure & success, anger & happiness. You have never been so confident about yourselves before. You now know that things will change thick and fast. Things will just go better. Change is now in the making.  For the boys have now just turned MEN. 

Certain scars are terrible than the wounds that caused them

4 years back: I was tired of failures, not 1 0r 2, I failed in every exam I appeared. I was heart broken and gave up on myself. Nothing in the world could get a smile on my face. I was surrounded with misery, a hopeless future and lots of questions or rather doubts.....I kept trying one thing or other to get out of this depressed state of mine. Alas! nothing worked until I came across this small pet shop. I saw numerous gentle creatures and really could find myself at peace.

I decided in taking a rabbit with me. They were 5 of them and all were in their own world except one naughty little one who was running around and trying to get a glimpse of me from the best possible angle, as if trying to say" please take me home". The connection was instant and I was at home with this new little friend of mine in another ten mins. He was so small that I got him in a packet meant to carry sweets.

When my mom curiously opened the sweet packet she found something much sweeter she had ever seen. Everyone at home fell in love with this naughty little idiot within seconds. Mom called him "Ruby" (His eyes were much beautiful than even a Ruby stone). Then followed a frantic curiosity.....what is he going to eat? where is he going to stay? where is he going to pee? is he gonna bath? and bla bla. We gave him everything from milk to carrots, he ate nothing. Finally when he got vegetables, he showed what a big time voracious eater he was!!!. His favorite cuisine was dough ( processed atta, used to make rotis). No roti could be made unless he ate his share of atta. He wont let anyone stay at the kitchen (climbing and scratching on everyone and looking with such innocent face and eyes thats pain to think of now). He liked Monaco biscuits,cauliflower leaves, bananas,apples, tulsi leaves and finally rice and dal (dal only made by my mom, else he could strangely identify the difference and wont eat it)

He came and all sorrows of my life evaporated. Not only mine but everyone's in my family. He became our lucky charm. Things changed like magic. Every thing that went wrong fell in place. His love, naughty stupid acts made everyone burst into laughter. He would jump when everyone was happy and play around as if saying "see I told u!!!, take me home!!". Every major decision in the family revolved around him. In return he wont allow any person or thing to get into the house without going through his ever suspecting nose. He wont allow any family member to leave the house and if you do so,he would keep crossing your path expressing his displeasure. He would stay awake all night sitting with me and my sis when we studied as if guarding us. He hated being lonely and would always crave for attention in his own ways (if nothing worked he would simply pee on the bed)

2 years down the line and he became the boss. He remained so until few hours before when he left us all in a state of despair and left without giving much of a reason. He closed his eyes without consulting, as if clearly stating his supreme authority for one last time .

He left but he taught me few lessons of life. He expressed his happiness by playing with us...he would shed tears when he was sad, but whatever it is he never complained. He didnt even had a voice. He came like an angel to solve all our problems and may be went somewhere (unannounced) where he was needed the most. I am sure he would have met his family by now.

@Ruby: Wherever you are, am sure you would be filling the place with loads of happiness. You will always be in our memories. You owe me a lot... and I will make sure, I get it(keep being lucky for me). Don't expect a thanks from me for whatever you did, it was your duty and keep in touch. Remember Dude...once a family, always a family!!!. We will meet again, till then take care and be brave (you were too scary dumbo, Grow up!!). We love you and now miss you a lot :( : (

The name is " Sutta"

Hello!! welcome back to Fata Dhol. Well finally I have decided to take a break from my train journey, am not gonna do any more favors to Indian Railways ;).

People join college to learn, to earn a degree, to get a job, to enjoy the best part of their lives, to grow up. I had a different reason altogether, to remain myself until the end of my 4 years. They say people get spoiled: get bad habits, since for most of them its the first time, getting away from the shadow of their parents. So thats what was my challenge to myself- "To be what I used to be".

I got the scare of my life when I entered my University. Different species of guys: long hairs, tattoos, jumpers, hunks, jazz, hippies, rockers, scars...you name it and u get them. Girls were no behind either: I better leave this part :P.....taboo u know!!!!. Anyways I was lucky enough to find my gang - guys who believed in maintaining a low profile and not get carried away with the wind. Introducing Sid, Garry, Ashu.

1st semester went off well. Enter 2nd semester: Guys started feeling that "life isn't very happening u know!!". That its just once in a lifetime we are in a college, why waste it??? We are gonna miss out all the fun once u graduate out. Then started the saga: Ipods to class, long hairs, tattoos, goaties and finally " SUTTA" : believed to be the ultimate personality enhancer.

Sutta is the local name for smoking. They started with once in a week....then once a day....the rest is history.True to my promise I strongly decided against it, however couldn't stop the rest of my gang. I loved every one out there and hence I felt a guilt not being able to stop my friends from doing something I considered wrong. Finally I told them what I felt but by then it was too late. U wanna hear the reasons:

1) Exams yaar...it helps us concentrate.

2) It helps forget my pain u know.... Life has been so cruel

3) Am not an addict dude...dont worry its just for few more days..then am gonna quit

4) U scored the highest in Env. Bio in CAM -1 bro, so its for your success party

5) It makes us a true MAN.

Among all Ashu was the one closest to me, being my room mate. I had a big influence on him. Believe me he is so thin u can blow him literally. One fine night he took a challenge and puffed more than he could take. He was down and out. I saw him shaking like a drug addict, unable to maintain his equilibrium.I had enough that day, I shouted and even man handled him. Finally I threatened him, " if you don't call it quits am gonna take it up with your parents". That was enough.... 1 down :). Although he still longed for it after few more days but couldn't dare to smoke again with me around.

But Ashu was the only success I had. The rest continued contributing to global warming. I had periodic fights with them but to no avail. Finally I called it quits. After all its there life. People don't even listen to their parents at this age why the hell will they listen to me? Why to be so nosy and interfere in their personal world, there is always a limit. By then other personality enhancers too had gained access to my once holy group.

I started off showing them videos labelled as:

1) Smoking helps lose weight!!!, it reduces your lungs!!

2) Girls feel safe in the company of guys who smoke... Smoking causes impotency!!

3) Sutta has 599 chemicals, good enough to kill you: see this

http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotineinhaler/a/cigingredients.htm

2 years later: Garry started coughing badly every day, as soon as he woke up. That was so bad, none in the corridor needed alarm to get up. He was even advised by the doctor to give up but nothing worked. Another interesting aspect of Garry is he was a strict vegetarian earlier but slowly had started tasting bits and pieces of Chicken (I am the culprit). One fine day all of us had a heated argument over his status: Whether he is a veggie or NV?? We made so much fun of him that he promised he wont ever taste chicken. He never did!!!. I was so impressed, it gave me a ray of hope if he can quit Chicken then why cant Sutta??? He seemed to be a man of words.

Yesterday morning (Yes u got it rite, yesterday) he again coughed like a TB patient. While I was passing by his room late at night I smelled smoke and entered his room to see the horror sight. I boiled with anger and just left without saying anything. Thoughts of good times flashed in my mind....times of laughter, dancing, parties, making fun of teachers, bird watching, fights, arguments, forcefully feeding him chicken and all of a sudden thoughts of an ailing Garry overshadowed all of it. Why the hell are you so keen on destroying yourself Garry?? You have not even started your life?? What is it that makes this s*** so cool? I whispered to myself.

I wrote a message " See garry!! we are friends, good or bad we are somehow very deeply attached with each other since last 4 years. Honestly I feel bad when I see you among smoke even after this condition. I know I have no right to interfere in your life but at the same time I can't be a silent observer any longer. I have decided strongly that I wont be a part of your destruction, hence from today I wont like to have any sort of contacts with you.All the best. Take care. CD" . I cried a bit, I dont know why, it just happened....and send him the message. I didnt received any reply for next 2 hours and thought he accepted it.

Two hours later he pinged me online. "What the hell was that dude?" I swear by "You" I will never touch Sutta from today..... were the next few lines from him. I got so scared..... I dont wanna die Garry!! please don't swear by me.... Don't make my unmarried wife a widow, was my reply. He assured " Its a word" I wont do it ever again.....I said I trust you. Yuppiieee 2 down.

Well they say one man can do a difference. Each one of us can.... Just give a tight hug and say people around you how much you love them, and that you don't wanna lose them to sutta. Do you think Government's idea of taking cigarette stores 100 meters away is doing any good? People who are addicted are always ready to walk that extra mile...in fact they are just getting healthier after a 200 meter walk. Good enough to live 2 more years and smoke 600 more packets and melt another 1 tonne of polar ice. Its we who can make a difference. Love all the smokers around you....I bet Love is a deadly addiction...nothing can beat it .... cheers :) CD

Fun in d run: Train again

Hello friends. Thanks for coming back. This one is a funny episode. I was travelling back home after my term end exams(20 days of torture for engineers once every 6 months). It was the same train as mentioned in my last blog and by the time I boarded, I was equally tired this time as well. I met 4 chirpy young students(2 boys+ 2 girls) brimming with energy and laughter who were a part of my compartment. Their lively spirits gave me an indication that am gonna have a great time with them during the journey. In order to enhance the description I have decided to make this conversation kinda small play. oops I forgot to tell their names Raj, Rahul, Sreya, Manisha [Name changed]. We all belonged to XYZ University ( me final year then and the rest 1st years ).

[Scene 1: we all entered the compartment and secured our belongings. I finished 1st and took the window seat even though I had the upper berth, others still busy arranging their luggage]

Raj: Finally we are heading back home. Out of that jail..... 9 '0' clock in time......and what not!!

Rahul: Yo buddy!!! ( they high five)

Sreya (irritated unable to adjust her luggage) to me: Hello, would you please move your legs a bit.

Me( busy in my own world enjoying the breeze, didnt realized that she is speaking to me): Just gave a questioning glance since I couldn't get hold of the situation.

Rahul (To sreya): Angreji nahi ati unhe kripaya Hindi me kahen.....( in a tune)

(All laugh....me too)

Sreya (to me): Bhai sahab, aap jara apke pair hataenge, mujhe saman rakhne me dikkat ho rahi he ( with a sarcastic smile ).

Me: Jaroor ( I raised my legs and she arranged her trolley beneath the lower berth).

Sreya: Dhanyawad

Me: Smile

Manisha: You know what, sleeper class has now turned to be a labour class. Just have a look what kinda people are travelling with us. Holy S***!! . Rahul, idiot I told you earlier to secure our berths in AC, its for you duffer, we are travelling with that ganwar ( pointing me with eye movements) in front of us.

Sreya: Exactly, If my Pa gets to know this he is gonna take me for a dip in the Nile ( Saying Ganga is too labour class).

( All break in to laughter: they thought me to be a daily wage earner owing to my red t-shirt, worn off jeans, slippers, slight beard which I nurtured during my exams and obvious dark circles)

Rahul: Sorry ya!! Even am feeling suffocated sharing breath with him. Anyways lets ask him to jump up to his upper berth and we can be ourselves. Raj!!!, tell him dude.

Raj(to me):Hey dude!! would you mind going up. Oh S*** ( suddenly realizing I don't follow English).

Rahul: Angreji nahi ati unhe kripaya Hindi me kahen.....( in a tune)

Raj: Yea yea... Bhaisahab, kripaya karke aap upar sone jaenge ( looking to all with a question whether his Hindi was spot on?? all give thumbs up)

Me: Thodi der me jaunga, abhi neend nahi arahi ( clearly enjoying all the attention). Aap logon ko sona he kya? agar sona he to bata dijiega. (Grin)

Sreya: Nah!!, its fine please be comfortable.

Rahul: Angreji nahi ati unhe kripaya Hindi me kahen.....

Sreya:OOPS!! Koi baat nahi....aap aaram se baithiye. (to all) you know what the railways should at least give us the names of the passengers so that we get to know earlier, with what kinda species we gonna share space .

Manisha: Common, how the hell u gonna get the name of a person and decide his class??

Sreya: Arey at least u get to know from which part of the country he belongs and then its only a stupid who cant guess their class.

Raj: Hey I heard these villagers sleep early, why then this folk isnt getting drowsy man? Its 11:00 PM already. Lets have some fun with him mates.... ( Grin)

Rahul: Bhaisahab aap UP se ho kya?

Me: (Bewildered for a moment) Ji haan.

Raj: Fir aap Bhubaneswar wali train me kya kar rahe hain?

Me: Hmm rishtedar se milne ja raha hun.

Sreya: No wonder. Is there any part of the country that they spared?

Manisha: (Giggles) I saw few of them getting bashed in Mumbai recently.

Rahul: Apko angrezi bilkul nahi ati?

Me: Ji nahi..... kam padhe likhe hain..sirf note k hisab samajh ate hain.

Me: To aap log bhai behen ho ? ( desperately trying to control my laughter)

Raj: Ji nahi hum classmates hein? Kya kehte hain yaar classmates ko Hindi me?

Sreya: Sehpathi hein hum.

Me: Acha ji... sahi he... badhiya he. Kaunsi saal me hein aap log?

Sreya: Pehli saal me.

Me: Acha!!! wese Kahan padhte hein aap log?

Rahul: Aap nahi jante honge us jagah ko. Rehne dijiye....

Raj: XYZ University ka naam suna he. Wahan se hein hum. Engineering karte hein. Abe Shreya, Hindi teacher, ye samjhao Engineering ko kya kehte hain Hindi me...I give up.

Me: Nahi hum samajte hein Engineering kya he.

All: Thank God... Cool

Me: wese aaj kal to kafi log Engineer ban rahe hein.

Manisha: Common, someone tell him please , we are from India's No 1 University according to @$% survey.

Rahul: Bhaiya ye jo hamari University he na wo desh ka ek sarwasresth University he. Koi match nahi he.

Me: Gajab he fir to. Me bhi soch raha hu k apne chote bhai ko wahan bhej dun. Kafi mehnati he.

Manisha: Not again. Please ask him to spare our University at least. Imagine we sitting with them in Nescafe.

Shreya: (High Fives with Sreya) shut up...u r being a racist now...

Manisha: Oh yeah....its your pa who was taking you to Nile isnt it??? and am a racist huh??

Raj: Bhaiya wahan dakhila lena bahut muskil he and paise bhi kafi lagte hain. Sabke bas ki baat nahi he.

Rahul: Bhaiya ab aap so jayie na kafi thake hue se lag rahe hain.

Me: Haan bhaiya hum to sone ja rahe hein ab. aap log maze kariye.

Manisha: Thanks a ton Rahul.

Sreya: ( shouts) Look he is dragging a VIP trolley with him, shame on you Raj you are still using that non branded piece of s****. Times are changing guys., grow up.

Manisha: Am sure 2012 prediction is gonna be true. The world is nearing its end for sure.

[ Well there were many moments when I was close to losing my temper, but somehow I didnt wanted to lose out the fun. Good or bad I was the center of their talks and some how it made me pass the time easily. I knew some of them might pee when they learn am their senior in fact super super senior and the fact I understood their Oriya, Hindi and English all together. I smiled to myself and climbed to the upper berth. I felt bad that you know we call ourselves a secular nation and seeds of the next generation garner such regional thoughts. Still without giving much of a thought I switched off my body amidst their loud pranks, songs and occasional reference to the UP wale bhai sahab]

[Scene 2: Its early morning, well 10 AM is early for me when am travelling :). The four of them were awake and busy playing Dumbsraj when I stepped down. They ceased their activities and started moving across the seats pushing each one to a place near which I might sit. None wanted to sit to my proximity. I just gave them a smile although it was a torture, since I had almost forgot the previous night talks. I opened my bag to get my brush and stuff]

Rahul: Abe dekho dabur lal Dant manjan niklega. ( All smile)

Me: Nahi bhaiya hum to pepsodent use karte hain . (This time it was only me who smiled)

Sreya: Grow up Rahul. Your predictions are not working.

Rahul: Yeah I wonder how many surprises more.....

Me ( to myself): The Atom Bomb is yet to explode Kido... have patience.

(I returned after 10 mins and again there was a small chaos on who is gonna sit near me)

Manisha: I hope he doesnt opens a cloth with dried roti with pickles in it. U know that Amitabh Bachan Movie types.... Mere pass ma he ( acting)....... ( All laugh)

Sreya: You know even worse, people even carry beaten rice as lunch and dinner in trains. I mean common!! if you can pay for a berth spend another 1/10 th of it for a pantry meal, if not for your stomach at least for the sake of your co passengers. (All nod in approval).

[Scene 3: TTE arrives]

TTE: tickets please guys

Rahul : Here is ours E-Ticket, we four... Rahul...Raj....Manisha and Sreya and here is my ID card of XYZ University.

TTE: Well you seem to be well educated still you dont know that Railways only accepts IDs isued by Government of India like Driving license, PAN card, Voter ID card or Passport.

Raj: Chill guys, I am carrying my Driving License. Here you go sir.....

TTE: (to me) What about you young man? Why didnt you booked your tickets with them... you all were from same place right?

Raj: No sir, we dont know him and anyway what makes you think we are even remotely similar?

TTE: Well you all seem to be students. Anyways may I have your ticket please?

Me: Sure, I searched my upper pockets, front lower pockets and still couldnt find my ticket.

Sreya: Gosh, I hope he isnt travelling WT. ( All eyes on me)

Me:( finally I found it in my wallet) Ye lijiye sir, mera ticket. ( All relieved)

TTE: well u have availed a student concession, would you mind showing your ID card please?

( I knew the moment had arrived. I really didnt wanted to bring this to an end but then I had to show him my XYZ University ID Card)

Me: Sir, this is my card, XYZ University.

Manisha: (elbows Raj and brings everyone to attention) Ab to mar gaye :(

Rahul: Chill maar samhal lenge, hum he na.

(TTE departs, Pin drop silence follows for next 15-20 minutes)

Rahul: Sorry Bhaiya, aap bura to nahi mane??? Hum thoda stud ban ne ki koshis kar rahe the you know??

Me: No its fine... you guys please continue the same as if am am a daily wage labour...If you stop or I sense any change in your activities, you dont know what I can do to you.

Raj: (in oriya) Thank God he doesnt knows oriya atleast. Lets speak in Oriya.

Me: (In Oriya) Sorry kido!! u r short of luck today...lets have some fun now .... wat say???

What followed was obvious, but wasn't very interesting to mention here ;). I wished I was accompanied with some of my friends anyways still I was treated like an emperor for the rest of my journey.

Well as usual some unanswered questions:

1) Does racist remarks makes us a stud?

2) Do boys forget their screws when they have girls around?

3) Do girls like extra cool ( Icy) boys?

4) Girls and boys can be equal partners in crime?