Lucknow...

You are the Lucknow for me.
The lehza and the tehzeeb,
The white chikan salwaar-kameez,
The Urdu that never sounded
The way it did
When you spoke.
The talks, the smile,
And the silence that it broke.

You are the Lucknow for me,
The toe rings and the nose pins,
The glitter and the large earrings,
The kohl around your eyes,
The love of wearing bangles,
The folklore and the folk music,
The loud weddings.

You are the Lucknow for me,
The way you say aap to me,
And say hum when you mean I,
The shukriyas and the aadabs,
And of course the ‘wah janab’s,

You are the Lucknow for me,
The glitz of Hazratganj,
The traditions of the Chungis,
The mehendis on the hand
And the beautiful bindis.
Hand pump water with metal-tanginess,
Sugarcanes eaten on terraces.

You are the Lucknow for me,
The love of literature,
the nerd, the scholar,
the wannabe journalist in you,
the show-off-I-got-100-out-of-100 in you,

You are the Lucknow for me,
The sweetness of hot jalebis,
The spicy kachori and samosas,
Hot like the CCD cappuccinos.

You will be forever in a sweet corner of the heart.
The forgotten, pushed away,
Hidden parts of me,
The lekins and the agars in me,
The shayaads and kaashs in me…

Gully Cricket: I Relieved my childhood days

Gully cricket used to be one of the most important part of my childhood days. I still remember fighting for those dubious decisions, sulking for the missed catches and jeering at the losers… those were the days of innocence and freedom.

A few days back Ankur and Me were out on a fieldwork. While going to meet a respondent, thru a gully, we came across these kids playing cricket and couldn’t stop ourselves from asking them to give us a chance to relive those childhood days. So we took our sides. The game began, I know we were not playing to win or loose, as we used to do those days, but it was great fighting for the outs and going for those short singles, not letting your bat when your out and making the most of being a captain by going out to bat first and bowl first. It must have been quite a sight for few passersby who watched two 25 plus (Okay for Ankur it is plus plus plus…) guys in their office formals, playing cricket with kids and acting like them too….

I relived my childhood days in the gullies of Masjid Moth with kids I had never met in my life. It was fun and more than that it was like going back in times.

There’s nothing that can stop you from having fun and living your life, the only thing that stands between you and life is you; yourself. Go ahead and live it!

Somethings Do not Change

Back in the 12th, asking a girl out for a movie was a big deal.. Since the advent of puberty, your voice had already started to crack.. It cracked even more when you had to ask that cute girl out for a movie.. Now this is 1999 I am talking about.. It wasnt easy to get the girl u like to go out with you then,..... to be honest, its still difficult..

So you knew this cute girl, long hair, lovely eyes you could lose yourself in, got dimples everytime she smiled.. So if you wanted to ask her out for a movie, the conversation with her would go something like this -
"umm.. did you watch that movie - Dil Se?"
Note that SRK was her favourite actor, so it made sense to mention his movie, even though you thought the movie was a dud and you better spend the evening watching Undertaker wrestle Bam-bam-Bigalo..
"not yet"
"oh.. would you.. I mean.. like to"(the voice cracks up here) "I mean.. watch it with me..er.. this Sunday.."
She suddenly realises that hes asking her out.. she turns on her girlie radar, which essentially means shes gonna act full bhavkhao..
"umm.. I dont know.. My dad wont allow..you know.. alone.."

Somethings will not change...

You wanna ask, how can we be alone if we are together.. But you dont..
"Oh.. but we are not going alone..Your friends are coming too" An obvious lie.. But good thinking nevertheless..
"Who all?"
Think of names.. names..
"Shweta, and Rajesh.. and Anshul and..." You name 5-6 names that you know are her friends.."thats good, I think I can ask my dad then.."
Whoopieee...

What follows next is trying to convince the 6 friends of her(whose names you mentioned) to come with you.. You lure them with free popcorn (kamine kahin ke) and they finally agree.

Then comes the booking of tickets.. Note that this is the time when there was no online booking.. So you had to stand in a long queue to get the advance booking.. You manage to get 8 tickets.. You take great care to ensure that two out of them are corner seats..

"Uncle corner seats diya na?"
"Haan yaar.." You hear him telling the next in line - "Aaj-kal bacche bhi corner seat maangte hain" hehehe..

Finally Sunday arrives.. You get up early(which you rarely do), take a bath(which you at times don't), apply half a bottle of perfume and reach the theatre.. She comes on time, but with her Dad in tow. Her dad drives his Maruti 800(we had only Maruti and Fiat back then) in through the theatre parking and almost runs you down.. Now these dads are the villainous types.. The problem is they had been teenagers once and know exactly what dirty things go on in the scum brain of the testosterone driven monster who asked his daughter out.. Her dad steps out of the door of the car and slams it.. These dad types work as managers in a MNC usually, and wear a tie to work, but when it comes to meeting his daughters male friend, he wears the unshaven look and polo neck t-shirt, to look cool..."Pappa, he's my friend"
You look at pretty her, then look at her Dad.. And you wonder, how could someone like him make something this beautiful..
"Hello"
"Hello sir.."
Women enjoy this.. They want you to meet their dads.. Its their way of saying - "See, this man is my favourite person in the world, and if you can stand up to him, only then you have a chance with me.."

Somethings will not change...

You enter the hall, you make sure that you get the corner seats for yourself..You buy enough popcorn for her friends to be occupied... The lights dim.. Vicco Vajradanti ad plays.. The movie starts.. SRK starts jumping on a train.. Chal Chaiyaan Chaiyaan.. You are least interested in the song or in the movie for that matter.. You are interested in the cute girl sitting next to you.. You want to hold her hand.. no, not hold, just touch initially..

Clouds of nervousness loom over you, your palms become sweaty.. you wipe them on the thigh your jeans.. then all of a sudden, in a moment of gutsy drive, you touch her hand..

She pulls it back, almost like a reflex, then looks at you with wide eyes and a smile playing on her lips.. like she's amused, and she didnt expect you to do something like that.. Even in that dark hall, her eyes twinkle..

Somethings will not change...

The movie ends, you saw the movie only in bits and pieces, still it will be one of the best remembered movies of your life.. You start walking out of the dimly lit hall into the dimly lit parking.. When all her friends have left, she stands on her toes to reach your ear and whispers "thank you"..

It will be ages before you understand the meaning...

Its 2009 and a lotta things have changed.. There are no single theatres now, Maruti has stopped manufacturing 800, popcorn is costlier than what was the ticket those days, even SRK sometimes comes up with meaningful cinema, but one thing hasn't changed, its still damn difficult to ask her out..

"Wanna..er.. watch a movie on Sunday?"
"Lemme see if I am free"
There she goes again..
"Oh com'n"
"He he.. okay, which one?"
"How does it matter? hahaha"
It takes her a full two minutes to understand the joke behind that one...
She lands 4-5 playful punches, out of which two hurt..

Anyway, the movie starts.. Now that you are 25, you think it must get easier for you.. But it doesnt!..

You still get all nervous, your palms become sweaty.. It is still needs a lotta planning to put your arm across her shoulder.. You touch her hand.. this time she doesnt pull it away.. But she still gives that amused-mischievous look...Like after all these years she still doesnt expect you to hold her hand..

Somethings do not change...

The movie ends and the credits start rolling. You leave the hall with her.. You two walk through the huge driveway, sparsely crowded at this time of the night.. She walks closer to you than she normally does.. She holds your hand.. Theres something amazing bout that touch.. It seems to say that she trusts you and has complete faith in you... And it says that she knows you will keep her happy..

Her touch makes you feel strong.. responsible.. pure.. loved.. all at the same time.. as she walks close to you, holding your arm, she rests her head on your shoulder.. And you have the world..

"Thank you"... is all you can whisper in her ear..She looks at you...smiles.. her eyes swell up with love... a drop finds its way to her cheek..

Somethings do not change...

Dada shines when the rest fails...

Its 1:30 am and KKR has lost the match.. not a nice thing... But then I just cannot wait to update my blog...

We cudnt have asked for a better match. I think only God could have scripted such things. I mean it was a humdinger from the start till the end.

So when it seemed all very down the hill for KKR, Dada put his head down and resurrected the innings. Munaf Patel almost gave away the match when Dada hit him for two consecutive sixes and brought the match into KKR’s clutch and when it seemed that ‘Dadagiri’ has done the miracle, there was a twist, Yashpal Singh fell to a rash shot. Last over and 7 runs, Kamran Khan (a rank new comer) was asked to bowl, he held his nerves right, with just 2 runs required from last two balls Dada got out. Two runs required from last ball, Ishant Sharma managed to make the bat meet the ball and ran a single and got out attempting the second.

Super over: Chris Gayle and Mc Cullum walked out to the middle and Chris Gayle justified his presence in the middle, by making 16 out of the super over against Kamran Khan. For KKR Ajantha Mendis was handed the ball and Yusuf and Ravinder walked out in the middle to hit the KKR out. Yusuf made it look all very simple with his clinical execution, first ball a 6, second a miscued hit that Hodge could not hang on to resulting in 2, third another 6 over the mid off and the fourth one over the square leg for a 4. Match was decided.

Yusuf Pathan was adjudged Man of the Match, but for me the match belonged to two people, Dada and Kamran Khan. Big match and big hearts... A great match...

A Vella Day in the office

A vella day in the office. This morning when I woke up, I thought theres a lot to do, so I came office a bit early, finished my 10:30, and then on I am left with nothing else to do…

Ankur, Nitant and Me, the trio is completely vella. Wanted to do something productive but then I realized I am in office so being productive is not an option. Nitant and me have joined the ‘Ankur ki le li’ gang, the only motto of this gang is to take Ankur's trip on every single chance. We have been sincere in our effort so far.

One thing about not working is feel like there is no work, and that is no fun. The best fun as Anuj had mentioned in his blog is, when you have loads to do and still don’t do anything. It gives a sense of supreme power. That reminds me of something that I was thinking for a long time, what is the best job in the whole world. That must be watching other people working for you and you need not do a single thing. You just order and they place it right infront of you. That makes me think of Aladin, did ever work. I mean other than chasing Princess Jasmine, fighting the odd villains and roaming on the QALEEN the carpet did ever do anything and if he did he must be crazy. Which guy would like to work when he has a genie to do everything at the snap of fingers. Wow! What a life that must be.

Sometimes when I think, and that happens rarely, I think of superpowers. I mean in movie, some unassuming guy gets some superpower and becomes a neighbourhood superhero, I wonder why can’t a spider bite me into a superhero, or a scientist make a batman, a radioactive ray turn me into a hulk. I would love to be more responsible and of course powerful.

Being a Jumper would definitely help, I hope u all are aware of jumpers (not the wearable one’s), these are the guys who can go to anyplace the wish to by just thinking about it. What life!

I asked Ankur what super power he wants, he wanted an X-ray vision, and guys must understand the reason. Saurabh wanted to travel into the past. Nitant as usual couldn’t comprehend the question: I asked “What superpower you want to be”. He replied “US of A”, I don’t blame him, he is suffering from ABCD: Acute Brain Cell Deficiency. Poor chap, but as Aamir Uncle said “Every child is special”….

Move on...

The question keeps coming to me. It was always there, but more so now. I don’t know whether I have been able to provide right answer or not. Cause I know that the question still lies there and I need to face it every single morning. I have woke up and the first thing that comes to my mind is the question.
It’s a rat race and we have named it life and the way of living. We have accepted everything that we see and believe that whatever is happening is all a part of life and they need to go that way. Dreams have been confined to sojourn of lonely mind in deep sleeps only. Are we happy with ourself? Is the face in the mirror the same that I want to see? Am I smiling coz I need to or coz I have to? Is every action of mine is a reaction or synchronised? Monotony, pressure, demands and aspirations have taken the front seat and all that mattered for living, love, happiness, friends and friendship have all been nicely pushed under the carpet. I think I have had enough of all these and now the time has come to wake up, probably move on...

Frustrated

Frustration,
like tide, is growing,
On a fullmoon night.

Life,
Like a flower half bloomed,
Is waiting for the storm to blow the petals away.

Love,
Like a meandering river,
has lost its way.

Friends,
Like moisture on parched lips,
Have dried out.

Destiny,
Is an excuse I use,
For everything ‘not done’

Desire,
Like a candle in the wind,
is still burning, but for how long....

Music in the Hills

The thrill of road trip lies in the journey more than the destination and when you have an equally breath taking place that you are visiting then you are surely looking for a great time. The time was a long weekend and we had booked ourselves for Music in the hills in Naukuchiatal.
Naukuchiatal is some 300 kms from Delhi and the road post Moradabad is beautiful. And once you begin the uphill drive on the road towards bhimtal, you are greeted by fresh air (which by Delhi standard, is a very rare commodity) and some picture perfect natural beauty.
We had booked an Innova. It was an early morning drive from Noida, where we all had gathered, to Naukuchiatal. It was going to be a 9 hour drive with two tea breaks in between. We were however unexpectedly held up at Moradabad due to an accident and had to stay put for half an hour. But that didn’t make much difference as we moved towards the hill. And as the wheels started rolling we started chatting, playing cards, etc and with people like Navneet, Sudhanshu and Richa in the trip we are never going to have a mute moment, of course me included in that group.
The drive up the hills was of course an uphill task, with a few of us feeling the hill sickness. Navneet’s medical advice fell on deaf ears, however the matter were under control and we all reached safely. The rooms were decent, we threw our bags in the rooms allotted and rushed for the food. The food was okay. Post our food session some of us went for boating. The resort had a beautiful lake, and the boating experience was very cool. Post boating we all got ready for the first event in the evening, performance by the Galat Family. It was an awesome performance with some great music and new songs and some re-worked ones. And as I think of that night the song ‘Sabse peeche hum khade’ starts humming in the background. Somehow I think the song has been with us ever since we left the hills, probably a memento sort of thing that we are carrying from there. Hectic drive took its toll and post the performances we all went to our respective rooms and fell asleep. Next morning I woke up early and was expecting Navneet and Richa to join me for a nature walk, but their promises fell flat, exactly the way they were on the beds and I had to go on a lone journey.
Naukuchiatal, like any other hill station is beautiful in morning. The rising sun definitely has some effect on everything that it showers its rays on, they start glowing like gold. The far mountains were wonderful. As me, AV and Tamo sat on the bank of the lake sipping our tea, we couldn’t stop talking about the beauty of this wonderful place. And thus the camera started clicking and by the time we were done, there were around 50 snaps of the very place seen thru our eyes. For me this was probably one of the most wonderful morning teas I ever had.
Next stop we had our breakfast and again, Richa, Navneet, Nitant, Ankur, Monika, Sudhanshu, Ritika and myself went out for boating. It was wonderful time. Simply sitting in the middle of lake all quite and not thinking about anything. Bliss.
We did play some pool. It was a good time. Some good game and some bad ones, but more importantly it was good time to learn some pool. The match was interrupted by some bad light and so we were to leave the game unfinished.
The evening was going to be special with Parikrama playing. And all of us were really excited, some knew about the band and the rest were really curious. The evening started with a new band Rock Shop playing but soon enuf the big daddy of Rocks in India took over and once they played, the house was literally on fire. Everyone going frenzy. So the cheers for once more kept chanting post every single performance. Though not much new numbers and almost all of them being re worked ones, it was still very well performed and the energy was what got to every one.
And post that we sat for sometime by the bonfire. Sudhanshu, Monika and myself returned to our rooms, while Richa, Nitant, Ankur and Navneet spent some more time by the fire.
It was dumb charade time in the room and it lasted till early hours of the morning. Then Yogya, Saurabh and myself took what we call our last nature walk in the valley. Post that we went to bed. By the time I woke up it was time to return. We had our breakfast, took some snaps. Packed our bags and bid adieu to this wonderful place.
The journey back was a bit tiring. We halted at Ginger to have some tea and refreshments and then we moved on. Richa entertained all of us with her lively performance of “Sabse peeche hum khade”. And as the wheel kept rolling a few wickets fell into the bed of sleep and that left Navneet, Sudhanshu and me to fight over movies. But soon tireness had its grip strong on us and we too succumbed. And as we reached home, we had brought back with us freshness of the hills, the energy of the bands and lots of memories, some captured thru cameras and some beautiful etched in our heart...
Goodbye hills...

My Visit Home

Its been quite sometime since I last wrote. Must owe this to some hectic travels in the weekends. Lets start with my visit to home. I went home around the Navratra times. Since childhood days its been one of my fav times. We have this beautiful Ram Mandir infront our house and during navratras they have these pravachans going on and Baba, maa and myself, we sit in the garden sipping our tea and chatting about anything and everything with the backdrop of Ramayan. It feels divine, to me atleast. So this time was certainly going to be special.
It was a lonely Bhubaneswar, with not much of my friends there. I had my cousin’s wedding to attend, my reason for visit. The wedding was fun and with friends and family the time speeds away.
I took some time out to visit my old adda, the place where I spent most of my time during my college days. New faces have taken over the old ones, even the chai wala bhaiya is no more there. I think the guy is his younger brother. Things have changed, but they still have the shadow of yesterdays. Shweta has opened a new restaurant and I visited that also, its a cool joint. I was there last time also. Anup would be coming to India next month, probably I would be planning visit then.
We all behave like birds, we all learnt how to fly together, spent times talking about our successes and failures, our dreams and fears and today... we all have flown away... far away from each other. Now when I look back to those old days when DJ used to be the big entertainer enacting every other guy on the road, or Saurav whom we used to tease a lot... and Dada whose wise old guy look was butt of all jokes. Five days went away like a jiffy and when I woke up on Sunday it was time for me to leave.