Thursday, June 19, 2014

A Journey To Remember - Episode 16

Here is the next episode of the story. To read the previous part Click Here

As Sid wanted to switch his job, he joined our company through my reference. It was not a great time for Sid. He had to go through that phase of change. Though he had come in terms with Shreya, his new job and different lifestyle at Mumbai kept him sad.

Aditi gave me a new lease of life. Ameliorating work conditions made me feel better. Sid got along well with both of us. Life was becoming better. One fine day, Shreya replied to one of my mails.
"Hi Rahul,I am so sorry that I didn't reply to any of your mails. I somehow lost my cellphone and I don't have any contact numbers, even today. Just call me whenever you are free. My number is +91-9XXXXXXXX."

I took no time to call her, after seeing the mail.

"Hi. Rahul here", I felt happy as well as uncomfortable.

"Hey. How are you?", Shreya replied.
Her voice had the same magic and I felt terribly awesome.

"I'm fine. How are you?", I asked her.

"Not bad. I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you anything. I vanished from Goa without anyone's notice. It was good for me and you too", She said.

We got in touch again. It took some time to get back to normalcy, but we managed it fine. Once-in-a-week call and many text messages were exchanged. 

Aditi : "OMG!! So when did you guys meet up, lately?"

Me: "A few months ago. 8 months to be specific."

Aditi : "What are you guys up to?"

Me: "After repeated requests she met me on a sunday, I still remember. Actually, her father got transferred to Mumbai and the whole family stays here. We roamed that Ecstasy heights Mall for sometime. She told me a lot about how things changed in an year or so".

Aditi : " Oh !! 8 months is too long. So what's the present status?"

Me: "I don't know !! She told me not to expect anything from her. Shreya is still depressed about choosing Sid over me. She disagrees on both of us getting together. Actually, the chances are too low."

Aditi: "Seriously? Shreya still wants to commit the same mistake?"

Me: " Not sure. Aditi, one thing is for sure...Shreya got into a relationship accidentally. She had no conviction in her relationship. When she realised that they weren't meant to be together, she couldn't avoid him or abandon the relationship. It took both of them, a very long time to break up. I feel sorry for Shreya. But she isn't ready to get along with me again after rejecting me. She has her own perspectives. Probably, we wont be together....It always happens with me. I'm so so unlucky. Ufff!! "

My eyes were wet.

Aditi held my hands and comforted me.

Aditi: "Don't tell me that you are still waiting for Shreya."

Me: "Yup. I am waiting for her. She'll be back very soon."

Aditi: " You are crazy and she is stupid."

Me: "We both know that !"

Aditi: " Funny!!..You are not doing the right thing."


Me: "I know that. You know what, I am in at most conviction that she is the Lady of my life. I have made her realise my intentions. Aditi, I have been waiting for Shreya from few years. I'll keep doing the same thing. Though I won't trouble her by enforcing my wishes. I know my limits and I won't pester her. Probably, I'll wait for few more months and then she might get married to someone else. After few days, I might be convinced that I can live happily without her. But my point is, I don't want that to happen. I desperately want to be with Shreya."

I could see tears in Aditi's eyes.

Aditi: " I wish, I was Shreya !" 

The conductor shouted, " Nariman cross. Nariman Cross"

Me: " Hey, we need to get down"

We had to finally end the past stories and the debacles of present and unboard the bus.

All of a sudden the person sitting in the adjacent seat stopped me,
"Sorry, i was eavesdropping you the whole night. I guarantee you that you'll surely get Shreya. God isn't that cruel to burn down your life . Shreya is doing the wrong thing by rejecting you. She'll spoil her life and her to-be-husband's life. Hope you can spread the happiness to others, if Shreya won't reach out for you. All the best, bro"

It made sense. It instilled faith and my heartbeats said, "Everything will be fine". I told myself, " I know that everything will be fine, but I want it to be Awesome


Thanks for your time. Drop a comment and let me know how you felt.
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Thursday, June 12, 2014

Amazing Theories !!

Prologue:

Well, these days, there is a tremendous decrease in people reading newspapers. Few of the readers just look at the last pages, film news and Page3 sections in it. Particularly, Kannada dailies have lost their readers count significantly. No time, modernization, mediocre journalism and low-quality writing are some of the reasons that we get if we ponder over this issue. 

Not to forget,there are a lot of people who read Kannada newspapers for the centre page articles. I am one of those old school types who still admire the write-ups of Vishweshwar Bhat, Sudha Murthy, Prathap Simha, Ravi Belagere, Pranathi and many more. No matter what, it seems impossible to miss on center page articles by these awesome writers.

To talk about life is a joy in itself. Here are 2 amazing theories on life that caught my attention and I have always been in awe of these theories from the day I read them.

Seven Years Each !

I was a huge fan of Cricket (I just realized that i used "was"). Cricket was one of my fantasies during my childhood (Again "was"). I used to fall sick to bunk classes and watch cricket at home. Waking up at 6 o clock in the morning wasn't an issue at all, if i could play cricket for an extra hour or two. 

Well, things have changed a lot. Cricket doesn't excite me anymore. Not that i watch or play cricket these days, but there isn't that anxiety and entertainment in it. Football is my new game of desire.

Our relationship with a particular person, liking for a certain dish, hobbies,places etc change over a period of time. The desire towards anything will last for a maximum of 'seven' years.

Consider a normal human life-cycle, we all are unaware of what we do in the first seven years. The next seven years is all about games and fun, teenage is more into friendships and relationships, 22-28 is the period where we worry about our jobs and career. Once we get married, our spouses are everything to us. Then we have kids, the next few years are spent on these kids. Our children become the most important thing in our life. It doesn't end here.  Then we thrive for an own home and taking care of our parents and their last few wishes. We are then worried about our children's marriage and cute little grand kids. Then starts the unending love towards spirituality, religion and all that is Good.

But we do act, at times, in such a way that we will own something forever. There isn't any guarantee of liking something for 'ever'. We are in an illusion. A favorite song of your's, a few years back, sounds so boring today. Your favorite hero, best friend, place to visit, hobby have changed over the years. Never ever be in an illusion for a temporary desire and lose something really worthy. This is the nature of life. Though, not everything loses its virtue but life turns out to be this way.

If you love something or someone for more than seven years, that is what you lived for !! There are obviously few things that are liked and loved beyond time. These things represent us and symbolize our life on this earth. At some point you'll realize your passion, find your soul mate, a satisfying profession and many other things. This is the point in life where we shouldn't compromise but hunt down our targets to attain what makes us happy. You should never put anything in abeyance. It's your life and You Live Only Once !!

We never live in the present !!


One of the biggest illusions of life is that we are living in the present. Actually, we always tend to live in past or aspire for future. You are watching a movie that was made long ago, listening to some retro, remembering the good old times, worrying about the future, your plans for the next weekend and many more.We are repeating what was done before or thriving to do what hasn't been done yet. It's a life which resides in past and hopes for future, it isn't actually present.

Well, right now, you are reading this post and thinking about clicking the "Like" button or dropping a "comment". You aren't actually in the present - You assume to be in the present. Chuck that. Now, either you are amazed at what i mentioned just now or it didn't make sense to you. You are into your imagination mode but not in reality. That again proves that we are in an illusion of living in the present but we aren't in reality.

Few of you may disagree with me and say that, living in the past and for the future is nothing but living in the present.
It sounds a bit complex and would vary with each person's perspectives and logical opinions.

We never live in the present, either we reside in past or future.


But these two theories make a hell lot of sense (at least for few of us). If you have come across such wage thoughts just drop a comment and let the world know. It feels good to share!!


PS: Life itself is a complicated stuff. We can never ever make generic conclusions and theories out of it. We are here for a reason , that we don't know. Lets live it to the fullest. 

Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part.

Thanks for your time. Drop a comment and let me know how you felt.
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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

A Journey To Remember - Episode 15

Here is the next episode of the story. To read the previous part Click Here

Prologue:

This episode deals with more of perspectives. I have explained a bit more on dating, love, life and priorities which most of you will agree (You are right!!) but few might disagree (Come out of the Ignorance!!).
Happy reading !!


There are a few moments in life which makes you neither happy nor sad. Realizing there was a huge disparity between Sid and Shreya was one such moment. I didn't like to see two of my best friends in such a situation. I knew, my chances were increasing but I couldn't digest the fact that both of them were suffering a lot.

Very few days were left for the marriage and I hadn't received an Invitation card yet. Neither of them called me or texted me about the preparations and what was going on.I heard a few gossips that Sid and Shreya had a series of fights. It was hard to believe those rumors, so I ignored them. My workload was too heavy and I was not that selfless to help them out in resolving their issues.

2 days before the marriage, I called Sid to enquire about what was happening, "Hi Sid, how are you?"

"I'm fine, dude. Whats up?", He replied.

"Nothing much. How is everything going on? How is Shreya?", I asked in a meek tone.

"Sorry, Rahul. I forgot to inform you. Things weren't going well on both the sides. So we had to quit before it got worse.", He elaborated.

"Sid, what are you telling? Are you serious?", I was stunned.

"Yup. I am very serious. I had a lot of disparities and fights with Shreya regarding various issues. We both never had sync with anything. Probably, we were acting it out, during the good-old-college times. This relationship was more of a tactic to pass time and share personal things. It had nothing to do with emotions, marriage and life. We realized these things a bit later, but we took some time to end this fake journey.We would have cheated ourselves and our families by tying the knot. It was the best decision we could take and I believe that we have done the right thing.", He confessed everything.

Man, I ruined my whole life for Shreya. I worried so much about you and now you have forgotten to inform me about the cancellation of marriage. Anyways, it cleared my routes.

"Are you both fine?", I asked him, genuinely.

"It is kind of tough for both of us. But as time flies we'll appreciate our decision", He was confident and sounded happy.

Shreya had moved to her native place with her family. The tragedy was, she had changed her phone number and didn't reply to any of my mails. I was deeply saddened by the fact that she didn't share anything with me. I guess, she tried her best to explain when I met her at the railway station. But I was dumb.

Aditi: "Ohhh!! That's a pretty complicated story. So you were very happy, I hope?"

Me: "Nope. Not really. I didn't want both of them to be hurt. But I always knew that they weren't made for each other. Sometimes, the loneliness suffered and the affection & comfort shown by opposite gender takes a bad turn called "Love". One more thing, when they realised they can't get along and they have huge disparities, they shouldn't have waited any longer. Many of us do this mistake of holding on to a dissatisfying relationship when we have better options. Dissatisfying doesn't mean anger, fights or discomfort. It is not getting the best you could get"

Aditi: "I still wonder why did Shreya disregard you, when she knew you are better than Sid, for her? Atleast, she could have explored more about you and gone ahead"

Me: " She had given herself to Sid. She didn't want to take chances and make things miserable."

Aditi: " Rahul, pre-marriage relationships are meant to check whether someone suits us or not. There isn't any promise involved in it. Both of them are trying and they should be mature enough to break-up, if they found someone better. In a way, Shreya cheated Sid by not trying you. You don't avoid the best match just because you are dating someone. At the end of the day, what really matters is - Are you living your life with the best match (not just the right person)? It doesn't matter whether your date was perfect or not? It doesn't matter whether you took chances with more than one? Shreya would always regret the decision of staying with Sid because she would be thinking about you forever, unknowingly"

Me: "Hmmm. Makes sense for both of us. But Shreya had different perspectives."

Aditi: "I know!! Anybody would feel bad at that point in time. Eventually, Sid would have understood. But any time, relationships are meant to try. She wasn't married to Sid. Once you are married to someone, there are no options at all and you have to bare it all. There is a promise involved in it. Shreya messed it up for you as well as Sid. So did Shreya ever call you?....(After a pause) Sorry, you carry on with the story"


Thanks for your time. Drop a comment and let me know how you felt.
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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Coffee, WhatsApp, Nature, Friends and Happiness !!

Prologue:
This is a travelogue of a Trip to Dandeli and DudhSagar with my friends.

Disclaimer:
It's quite personal and might be boring !

May 18th, 2014 Sunday night (@Electronic city Phase 2)
Four of us joined at a cafe (It was a bakery, but cafe sounds cool) for no reason. Everyone was worried about a long week that was ahead of us and confessed about the regrets of wasting the weekends, doing nothing.
We ordered a few cups of coffee (and someone ordered tea, i guess).Caffeine and smartphone did the trick. We searched internet for a place to visit and have fun. 
One of us said: Dandeli?......I guess, Dandeli would be fine!

Everyone of us opened our smartphones and Miss Google helped us in getting too much of information.We came up with a plan in 20 minutes(or may be 30 minutes).

One of us posted a message in WhatsApp and the rest of us accepted this trip invitation in no time. Within next few hours the total was 8 in number. 

May 19th, 2014 to May 29th, 2014
From booking a HomeStay to planning the places to visit, internet was more than enough ! WhatsApp was the saviour. All the decisions, information, discussions and notices happened here. Finally, 16 members were all set to Dandeli and Doodhsagar Trip (DudhSagar? Yup, Plans do change!)

May 30th,2014
We started our journey from Silk board at 7:30PM. After 2 hours or so, we picked all the 16 members and the real journey started. Everybody was so hungry that few packs of biscuits, Lays and other home-made snacks were finished within few minutes. We danced for sometime inside the bus. Music is such a rejuvenator -  everybody was back to their senses after a long day of work. We had our dinner at a restaurant on the way. Few of us had coffee, as well, after the dinner!!

16 of us know each other from July 31st, 2001. We all studied in a residential school for a span of 7 years (Uff!! That's a pretty long time). It was so refreshing to talk about what's going on in each other's life? Sharing joys and sorrows with your loved ones is so comforting. I had a (fictional) story to tell, my friend had few poems to recite and there were few PJs(Poorest Jokes), RJs(Rotten Jokes) and whatever. Few dozed off, but others continued their never ending series of tales. The moving vehicle showered a thick breeze and a view which set everything right for me. Obviously, I was sitting besides a window and was at ease. Darkness and breeze is kind of special.

During my childhood, I used to predict that we are nearer to a city, when we were travelling, by the view of electric lamps and brightness. But today, darkness is an illusion. Every village has so many electric lamps and street lights, the roads are filled with Cafes, Dhabas and tolls (there are too many). Darkness is rare in today's world but we still have a shade of it, inside us.

May 31st,2014
Google maps and navigation served the purpose of guiding us the roadways to Dandeli. On the way, me and my friend had a long conversation with the Driver. The Driver took a quick interview of what technology we work on, our native places and other things. 
He and his family was from Kengeri. He told a few things which impressed me  "Life in Bangalore is tough, sir. So much of price raise, pollution and insecurity. Most of the time is spent working, we rarely get to spend time with family. Kids aren't allowed to play outdoor games.Our childhood was too different and more enjoyable.
We touched recent election results, his trip experiences and much more. He added, " If Government reduces Diesel fare, then everything will be a lot better. It would help us a lot".
We all got to know so many new things.

My friend always iterates this poem,


ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞನೆ೦ಬುವನು ಗರ್ವದಿ೦ದಾದವನೇ?
ಸರ್ವರೊಳು ಒಂದೊಂದು ನುಡಿಗಲಿತು
ವಿದ್ಯೆಯ ಪರ್ವತವೆ ಆದ ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞ.

As we were nearing to Dandeli, the atmosphere got better - fresh air, greenery, fields, patchy-roads, small villages and a sense of happiness. Dandeli has a rich forest cover and a tropical climate (Go to wikipedia for more info and stats) 

The Homestay (http://www.sangwayhomestay.com) welcomed us with the rusted gate, morning dew, mango trees, green grass and a secluded building. We freshened up, had few idlis with sambhar & chutney and rushed towards the White water rafting camp.



We need to travel a distance of 12Kms to the rafting location. This part was very funny. Everyone was talking about water disasters, ending life and all the worst consequences. It was great fun (and gyan) to realize how thrifty our lives are. Water rafting was great fun. I took a plunge into the river Kali while rafting.Water entered though mouth, ears & nose and I couldn't breathe till I started floating with the help of a Life-Jacket. It was more of a magic than reality. Touching a friend's hands floating, shouting with all the strength, challenging the risk and experiencing the surreal was awesome (The Hrithik Roshan's moment in Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara). The 9 kms of rafting with the scenic backdrop and River Kali's aggression was memorable. 8 of us rafting and facing the challenge was amazing in itself. 
When you know, you have your dear ones, you will rejoice everything. 





The rafting experience was described and discussed upon, during the lunch at Homestay. After a voting, we planned to leave for Synthera rocks and Kali Backwaters. We played few childish games inside the vehicle and danced a bit on the way. Syntheri rocks explain the marvel of nature. A nature-created water falls - Kali river's tributary flowing beneath the 300ft rock,too many bee-hives on rock and serenity. Then we shifted the gears towards a dam to take a glimpse of Kali backwaters. It isn't a nice view to see a barren river. The water was less as the monsoons had not started yet. But the peace in sitting on the bridge, listening to melodies and talking bull-shit with friends was awesome.


The camp fire with pakoda in Homestay was good. We tried the swing, danced for sometime, had dinner and finished our day with a long discussion on our life at Bangalore, IT field, Life and some very serious topics.


June 1st, 2014
After a peaceful sleep, we woke up to the early sunrise. 
Few of them were still sleeping and others tried their hands at badminton, volleyball, football, swing and Photography. I took a morning walk which had a great impact on me. The calmness of the place, nature's existence, less falseness, people working their hearts out early morning and many more. Women draped their saree to make them comfortable to work (which was quite interesting), lush greenery, the sight of buffaloes & cows grazing, people were gratifying and had a fair knowledge about the place, villages were under-developed but maintained their nativity and life seemed to be more lively.




DudhSagar was on cards for the day. We bid adieu to the HomeStay and started our journey towards Castle Rock railway station. We took Yashwantpur-Vasco train and reached DudhSagar. The train journey was spectacular with tunnels (and people shouting when the train passed through a tunnel), mountains, water springs etc. I talked to a fellow passenger about IPL and the places around. He said, "Aaj toh Punjab hi jeetega. Zabardast match hoga. DudhSagar toh rainy season mein bahut acha hoga dekhne ke liye. Ab toh dry hai aur falls mein paani kam hai"
"Does that matter? 16 friends midst the nature!! Dude, we would even party in hell",I said to myself.


The 300 meter falls was awesome to look at. Water being guided by solid rocks and forests was a treat to eyes. We trekked for sometime, had lunch and fed few monkeys. Most of the friends tried swimming, but few of us just put our legs in water flowing. It was cold, refreshing and soothing (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani moment). The cold water current has a magic and I wont be foolish to explain it. We spent some time peacefully over there.

As obvious, the return journey started. We traveled via Dharwad. I have read a few books and articles which celebrated the culture, living, educational institutions and the legacy of this city. So I just got out to a hotel and had a Ragi-Idli.
 It was delicious and heavy enough for a snack. The atmosphere at Dharwad was different. The heat waves, Kannada accent and the signboards made me feel Dharwad. Two of us, keeping aside all the inhibitions, danced for a very long time inside the vehicle. We were nearing to Bangalore and the gloominess was spreading. I talked to one of my friend on mid-life crisis, work tension, family and let my heart out. I felt so good. Few people erase all the sorrow and comfort you. After cutting through the Bangalore traffic, I reached my place at 10am in the morning.

PS: My dresses still smell the aura of Dandeli and DudhSagar. My dreams still deal with river rafting, waterfalls, nature and spending time with friends. A few cups of Coffee, WhatsApp and internet helped in organizing the trip. The Nature and friends created the happiness. Stupid conversations, nature, amateur dance, silly thoughts, philosophy, music and what not. It was a Lifetime-Experience.