That was Indu

A few days back during general chat, somebody said it is very easy to maintain a blog. Read a few blogs, take a few links from online news and your post is ready.
Sorry to say, I am absolute contrast to him. I do none of the things mentioned by him. Neither do I have time for browsing nor do I have to ‘hunt’ for topics for my posts. And give me a break !! I am not a news broadcaster here.

I have millions of my sane/insane thoughts on which I can write. And that was the sole purpose of having my own blog !! To give vent to my emotions, thoughts and views. Agreed, sometimes our views emerge from some news but not always. There are so many incidents keep happening around me that I don’t need to look anywhere else.

Today’s post is again one of them.

She lived in my neighbourhood. She was also my classmate. A short stature, thin girl, second among four sisters from a typical middle class family, she was like any other girl of our age except for one difference – she had a polio stricken leg. She walked with a prominent limp.. pulling up her dead leg with her hand. I still remember how she used to put her right hand under the knee, lift the leg up like a dead log and put forward.

We were sharp contrast to each other except for studies where we always tried to outdo each other. We two had different backgrounds, our upbringing was different... Me a serious quiet one and she a bubbly laughing girl, I was into athletics/sports and she could not even walk properly, we had a car to go places while they didn’t even have a two-wheeler but friendship doesn’t see any differences and so ours also blossomed within no time and we became very good friends.

After about 4 months they shifted to Pandara Road as her father had got a bigger flat there. Then after a few more months when new session started, she changed her school to a local one there, as it was difficult for her to commute.

But we kept in touch. We felt a true connection in our lasting friendship. Since it was extremely difficult for her to board DTC buses, it was for me to go to her place. I was in south Delhi, my school was nearby, at times it was difficult to take time out to go to her place but I did. Week after week, months after months it was me who used to take DTC bus for going to her place. It had become a ritual to spend a whole day at her place studying, discussing & laughing together.

Not even once did I ever think that I was doing something extraordinary for her and that now it should have been her turn to visit me. I never weighed friendship in those terms and till date I have not changed. I don’t think friendship can be measured in terms of equality. It can happen between any two persons of any age and any background. Our wavelengths should match - no other parameters are required.

Accept people as they are. Never expect anything, always give.. for, it is their wonderful friendship you are getting in return.

It was a grave misfortune for her that in spite of being given the polio vaccinations, the disease had struck her. Sometimes fate has a much bigger role in your life than you expect it to play.

She was extremely simple girl, always smiling and had resigned to her fate of one leg. She never thought it as a problem or a hindrance to her life. Maybe she was used to it. In difficult times she had taught me how to smile. She was the rock, my pillar of strength whenever I needed her.

Towards the final years of school, the frequency of visits had reduced. That was the time when we didn’t have cell phones. After schooling we moved further apart. She took up Arts in college and went for plain graduation as her parents didn’t want to spend money on her.. it was to be saved for her dowry. It made more sense to them having four daughters and because of her one leg status she was the most difficult one. She never complained and had become very quiet. In fact she used to make fun of her future and used to call herself ‘one-legged girl’. Probably she was trying to laugh away the oddness in her life.

During those years, my visits to her had become almost nil. We were both busy in our own lives. In the meanwhile her elder sister got married and now it was her turn. The parents had started groom hunting. In the final year of her graduation, fortunately for her parents, one guy was ready to marry her for a hefty dowry. He had a small cloth shop in Ghaziabad.

When I came to know about her marriage, I cried. I knew she, like any other normal girl, had dreams.. dreams to get married to a decently educated well-settled boy and this one was just school passed !! I knew her choice, her taste and I knew she was succumbing to her parents’ pressure and no one could do anything.

Nevertheless, she took her marriage vows in December even before she could write her final year exams next April. She was assured that she would be ‘allowed’ to write them but apparently it didn’t happen. I had taken two day’s leave from college to attend her wedding.

On her wedding day I saw the groom. I was shaken beyond words !! He was no match for her by any means. He was a widower and at least 12 years older to her. She was smiling but her deep tearful eyes were telling a different story. She knew I could read them without a single spoken word.

It was a pain for her to be draped in a Saree when she had to lift her leg to walk and how she had managed to go up the stage, only I can visualize now. She was literally lifted by her cousin brothers to the stage. As it always happens in any wedding, she was the centre of attraction… not for being the beautifully adorned bride but for being the POOR unfortunate bride.

After the wedding they shifted to Indore, her husband wanted to set up a big showroom with that dowry money. Then after good four months I received her first letter. Yes, it was a letter not an e-mail. She wrote how happy she was adjusting to a big joint family, wearing saree all the time and was in the family way. I could again feel the pain hidden in that letter. The frequency of letters reduced further and by the end of first year of her marriage it had stopped completely.
I completed my studies, started working/traveling, shifted my base to Mumbai and was completely out of touch from my earlier world.

Now, recently, I came to know that she has passed away two years back leaving a motherless child.

That was my friend... my one-legged friend. That was Indu.

Current song- In The End - Linkin Park

Technorati Tags: Issues Memoirs Feminism Society Friendship Human Behaviour

Finally Back

So, I am back.. finally. Trying to settle down to my regular chaotic routine. Where was I ? Oh don’t ask me that. It’s my habit. Cuckoos do fly away sometimes. This Cuckoo is no exception, except that she records her experiences on her other blog.
I was also on a hurricane trip to Delhi. Oh Delhi, my Delhi. It was extremely hot out there with temperature soaring to 48+ degrees Celsius and poor petite Cuckoo felt like a tandoori chicken in an oven.

At a construction site I could see small children trying to kill the afternoon heat with a hosepipe. And I (the delicate birdie that I am) wanted to do the same.

Then fortunately, common sense (Well, not so common in me) prevailed…
Cuckoo !! Behave !! You are all grown up now, can’t shed your clothes like those little ones.

I know I know, I am a stupid silly girl and sometimes (well, many times) my pea sized logical brains are at their best trying very hard to reason it out.

No ? Don’t you remember my logical logics ? See here and here if I am lying.

Anyway, the point is that I am enduringly in love with that city, my first love, since the day I was born.. excellent roads, wonderful flyovers, vast space, big parks and what not ? Now, don’t ask about my other love affairs, I’ve had many. ;)

Sitting in the cab, once again I was awestruck looking at those magnificent flyovers. Oh I felt like flying over them ! One after another.. Dhaula Kuan, AIIMS, Moolchand. Since was already late, couldn’t even ask the cabbie to stop to click some pictures. Yet to experience the Metro train and those recently come up malls. :(

Anyways, there is always a next time & then I will fully enjoy and capture the heated oven.

Current song- Fiza, Udti Firti Hai Tu Panchiyon Ki Tarah – Sonu & Alka

Technorati Tags: Delhi Seasons Summer

तुम अनछुई सी

तुम अनछुई, एक कुल्हड़ जैसी
जो एक बार होठों से छुए जाने पर,
किसी से चूमे जाने के बाद,
आख़िरी सांस तक बस उसी की हो चली ।

और वो मेम, चीनी मिट्टी के कप जैसी
जो एक के होठों से लगने के बाद,
फिर एक बार धुलकर, सजकर है तैयार
किसी और के आगोश में जाने को।

As always, translation doesn’t convey the same meaning but it is some consolation for non-Hindi readers.

You a virgin, like an earthen pot.
Who after being kissed
and touched by someone,
don’t let anyone else claim you till your end.

She, like a cup of china clay
enjoys the intimacy with one.
And is ready again after a wash & a makeup
to embrace yet another one.

Current song- Aaja Re Aa Zara – Md Rafi

Technorati Tags: Hindi Poetry Society

कहीं नज़र न लग जाये !!

Today I read a post on superstitions on Bellur’s blog.

Hmmm.. Nothing new about it. I know people are superstitious but looks like this mini train doesn’t want to be left behind. :)

Have a close up. I clicked it on my way to Elephanta caves.

Note:- In India people hang lemon & green chillies in their vehicles to drive away the bad omen.

Technorati Tags: India India Shining

Whose Gain, at What Cost ? - II

This is India. On one hand we are competing with and aiding the best of the world in the fields of medicine, technology, humanity, beauty etc. and on the other hand we are struggling within ourselves against the dowry system, child marriages, child labour, Sati pratha and many such social diseases which are still hollowing our society.

In India, even now it is common to see marriages where bride & groom hardly get to know each other before their wedding (sometimes they do not even see each other) or a husband throws out his wife for not bearing a male child or where sex education is still a taboo.

This is in continuation of my earlier post where I wrote about a woman who died on the operation table to fulfill her husband’s wish.

Now, the next case was a horribly shocking one for me. I fail to understand why some men treat their women as commodities, a toy which can be played around at their capricious whims and fancies. I don’t have words to describe this woman’s situation. Three months have passed by; it is still haunting me terribly.

As she was being shifted to the adjoining bed from a wheeler bed, I could see her writhing in pain. A newly wed bride (it was third day of her married life), her hands adorned by still fresh mehndi (henna) and tinkling bangles. Her off white saree was fully soaked in blood.

Reason ? A man who happened to be her husband, who had pledged in front of sacred fire to take care of her happiness and safety; could not control his desire to ‘conquer’ her and pounced upon her like a beast. He didn’t want to waste a single moment after the wedding. After two days of continuous rape, there she was lying in almost unconscious state accompanied by her mother-in-law. That monster didn’t even have guts to come to the hospital.

She was immediately shifted to operation theatre and was given thirteen stitches to her private parts. Her family at Ajmer was not informed as this was ‘nothing’ according to her dominating mother-in-law who obviously wanted to defend her son. She was continuously cursing the bride for not ‘co-operating’ with her son and making it such a hue & cry.
Without letting mom-in-law know, I somehow managed to speak to her busy doctor about hospital filing a complaint but on what basis, the doctor asked me. It was neither any accident nor the husband had beaten the patient. The hospital has its own set of rules before taking such steps. The police case could not be filed unless the bride herself complains. What a mockery !!

For the fear of arising of such a situation, the mother-in-law never left the patient alone. I was very bluntly told to mind my own business. I myself was going through a tough testing time then, did not want to multiply my problems. Could no longer stay there, asked Suhani if I could go home and came back saddened.

Probably I am selfish to the core and a coward as well.

Later, I came to know that the mom-in-law took her home the same evening... only to be attacked again by that beastly creature who was waiting there.

My heart aches.
I can see one more death in near future.

Think of it. With what dreams that bride must have come to her new home – a home full of strangers where she wanted a little love and a place to blossom.
Sometimes I do not want to believe in the institution of marriage.

Current song- Zindagi Tune Hume Kya Diya, Kuch Bhi Nahi – Jagjit Singh

Technorati Tags: Issues Society Human Behaviour

कल रात - Translated

I somehow managed to translate the poem, for non-Hindi readers. I know I am late, not getting enough time. The translation is just below this poem but as I always say, translations are never the same; they don’t convey the same emotions. So, Hindi readers please don’t even look at it. You will be disappointed. It does not have the same magic.

कल रात थी बहुत हसीन
समां था कुछ ज़्यादा ही रंगीन।
अचानक वो मिले कुछ ऐसे मोड़ पर
जा बैठी पहलू में, सब कुछ छोड़कर।

मुद्दतों बाद हुई थी मुलाक़ात
कुछ कहने सुनने की नहीं थी बात
बस आंखों से जाम पिए जाते थे
और उनका नाम लिए जाते थे।

वक़्त से कुछ लम्हे चुराए मैंने
और समेटकर दिल में बसाये मैंने।
फ़िर न जाने कब हो मुलाक़ात
वक़्त का तकाज़ा भी तो था साथ।

कितने अमावसों के बाद
कल आयी थी पूनम की रात।
हसीन पल और अनकही हसरतों से
भरा नहीं मन छोटी मुलाकातों से।

वादा लिया है अगली मुलाक़ात का
पर यकीन नहीं उनकी किसी बात का।
नाउम्मीद हो चली थी मैं,
लेकिन कल कैसी खिली थी मैं । :)

Last Night

Very beautiful was last night,
even more enchanting was the aura.
I met him in an unexpected way
Ran into his arms leaving all aside.

No words to say or listen to..
the meeting was after an eternity.
Whispering the names and
intoxicated thru each other’s eyes

I stole some moments from time
and treasured them in my heart.
for, time stood there knocking..
who knows when we’d meet again.

This moonlit night had come after
countless dark nights.
Beautiful moments & unsaid desires..
hearts are not yet filled with small meetings

I have taken promise for next meeting
but not assured of his words.
Despaired I had become..
but, how had I blossomed yesterday. :)

Current song- In Dino, Dil Mera Mujhse Hai Keh Raha – Soham

Technorati Tags: Love Poetry Hindi

Paper Book – A Death ?

From tiny mobile phones to enormous flat-panel televisions, the digital age has stamped its presence long back in the blood system of our daily life. The technology is going cheaper day by day & is easily available to common man.
There is an obvious analogy between what iPods have done to LP Gramophones and what electronic books may do to the printed page. While the physical medium of books is least likely to be changed, there is an emergence of electronic books or e-books. What then of the printed book? Has the Internet made it redundant?

As books go digital, new questions, both philosophical and commercial, arise.

How, physically, will people read books in future? Will technology 'unbind' books, as it has unbundled other media, such as news, music albums and photography ? Will e-books cannibalize their paper counterparts ?

Will reading habits change as a result? What will happen to bed-time stories ? What impact will it have on our lives ?

With e-books giving us company, do you think we are going to pay heed to our handwritings ? Is it the right thing to happen or is it killing some of the finer characteristics of us ??

Personally, I am a bit old-fashioned, I love paper books, love to receive and gift them.. it has a certain personal touch and I don't want paper to go away entirely, but at the same time I won't have any regrets if we achieve a world in which access to all the world's content is instantly available on a global basis, without killing trees, burning diesel, or building warehouses.

And now the question is, what is a book anyway?

A book is a package of large quantities of subject matter, whether it is fiction, art, factual information, educational material or anything else. While books will always HAVE a place, I can't say that books will always be restricted to paper. I can see many great advantages of e-books over the traditional paper books but I still don't think that the rise of the e-Book will be quite as meteoric as some of these other forms of media have seen.

First let us see the advantages of an e-book.

The change has already happened for encyclopedias. Wikipedia, free, collaborative and online, has eaten into sales and usage of paper-bound alternatives. So books that people would not traditionally read in their entirety, or that require frequent updating, are among the top to migrate online and perhaps to cease being books at all. Telephone directories / dictionaries will also fall in this category.
And until recently, classrooms remained virtually unchanged - desks arranged in neat rows facing a chalkboard/ whiteboard at the front of the room, students taking notes on paper, and read from printed textbooks. Things started to change with the advent of projection equipment and individual computers. The trend is continuing, and the next casualty of the technological revolution appears to be the printed textbook.

Another advantage is that e-Book readers can have instant updates and revisions, and electronic contact with all other readers of each book, thereby sharing ideas and reactions more rapidly and with more people. Further, electronic books need not go out of print, are cheaper and less bulky than paper books if you want to carry them.

For children unlike paper books, e-books can be multimedia: letting us mix voice, music, color, motion pictures and leading to animated talking books.
I can see the supremacy of paper over monitor has started diminishing. There are many who believe that the new generation of learners, aka the Net Generation, or N-Gen, are much more accustomed to reading and learning from a screen.
The idea is attractive because theoretically, e-book technology allows you to load many books and periodicals on a reasonably small hand held device, making it easier to travel with lots of reading matter.

And the biggest advantage is it being environment friendly; we can save our trees and environment.

Still, there are many people who remain skeptical about moving from print to screen. Reading on screen and paper for comprehension and accuracy tend to lean in favor of print. There is a decline in speed and accuracy, and an increase in fatigue, when reading from a screen rather than paper.
Many editors still prefer to proofread from paper, where the errors seem to jump out more than on screen. Many e-publishers state that the vast majority of e-book purchasers print before reading. Also, e-books are much in need of standardization.

A paper version appears to be almost necessary and it is certainly convenient. Many students still cannot get to computers easily and many students do not like to work on the computer for longer hours. Many (including me) are of the opinion that a paper version is much easier to use when preparing for a test or exam.

I won’t talk about the piracy as I don’t think it can be avoided in any form.. physical or electronic.

However, commercial pressure from Internet-based e-book sellers will cause traditional book shops to struggle to remain competitive. Book publishers may still be in charge of the printing presses, but that may soon be irrelevant. They need to find a new role in the Internet age, and those who don't succeed may become increasingly marginalized.
Perhaps the slow response of publishers to digitize textbooks is a blessing. The delay will give educators and others an opportunity to more closely examine the costs and benefits of using electronic books in a classroom setting.

Personally I would want to read bedtime stories from paper books to my children and grandchildren. I do not want to believe that the electronic format will ever become more popular than paper books, I do not want that personal, human touch to go away, I do not want us to become slaves of this electronic age but at the same time I know acceptance of the electronic format will continue to grow.

And I do believe there is room for both.

Current song- Chandni re Jhoom – Kishore

Technorati Tags: Questions Technology Human Behaviour

India Shining - II

When Abhi replied to a query of Confused Sam on my other blog, it reminded me of a small town called Ghoti. This picture was taken at the same place last year on Diwali day. As we were stuck in a traffic jam, I had nothing to do except click click click..
It was nice to see the vibrantly coloured Indian deities on a hand-cart getting sold for as less as Rs 25.00.

Current song- Aicha, Aicha, Passing Me By – English version

Technorati Tags: India India Shining

बस और नहीं

The translated version for non-Hindi readers is just below this poem but as I always say, translations are never the same; they don’t convey the same emotions. However, I also feel that something is better than nothing. :))

नहीं, बस और नहीं बुलाऊंगी मैं
कहूँ, तुम याद नहीं आते तो झूठी कहलाऊंगी मैं।
हर बार बह जाते हैं गुस्सैल लहरों में
अब रेत घर नहीं बनाऊँगी मैं।

तुम भी तो कभी बढ़ाओ पहला कदम
अब न पहल कर पाऊँगी मैं।
कह दो तुम्हें नहीं है इंतज़ार मेरा
ये झूठ तो न कह पाऊँगी मैं।

कतरा भर ज़िन्दगी जीभर जी लूँ ज़रा
गर और मिली तो ख़ुशी से मर ही जाऊंगी मैं।
क्यों हो तुम खामोश खड़े
आ जाओ, आ भी जाओ, अब न चल पाऊँगी मैं।

No More

No, no more shall I call you.
If I say I don’t think of you, I shall be lying
No more shall I build sand-castles of my dreams
For, your anger always washes them away.

You must also step forward sometime,
I can not do it anymore.
Say that you don’t wait for me
Oh ! I can’t utter this lie on any score.

Let me live this slice of life to the fullest
For, I'll anyway die of joy if I get some more.
Why are you standing away in silence
Come, come to me, I can walk no more.

Current song- Katra Katra Milti Hai, Katra Katra Jeene Do – Asha Bhosale

Technorati Tags: Love Hindi Poetry

Differently Strong

1. A student named John aged 14, jumped off the fifth floor of his school building. He left a five-page note that said he was killing himself because his classmates tormented him with names like gay and teased him for his growing beard so early in life. He had never told his mother about this.
2. Another 13 year old, Minakshi hanged herself with a dog leash in her bedroom. She too left a note for her family. It read: “If I try to get help, it will get worse”.
3. A young boy of seven refuses to go to school and when forced, starts crying.

What do you think these cases could be ?

These are nothing but the cases of bullying.

I think I was also a victim of bullying although in a subtle manner. Yes, I think it was bullying, else I don’t know what to call it. And like the people mentioned above, I too had never told my mother about it. BUT I survived.

Not early in life but in college. She was with me in college, my classmate but very different from me. She was strong, outgoing, party loving, extrovert, ‘I care a damn’ attitude, ever ready to go out with a new guy, flirt, smoke etc. Sudden disappearance for 2-3 days without telling her folks was her way of life.
I had none of those ‘qualities’. The only common thing between us was intelligence. We both were intelligent. While my intelligence showed some results in academics, her intelligence was doing a good job in her fields of excellence.

I am unable to recall how it all started but now I think she was jealous of me & hated me largely. The reason was very simple.
She hated it to the hilt when any guy (same batch or senior) ignoring her, approached me to be friends. Of course, I was much better than her in physical appearance (pun intended) and studies but she wanted to be “The most wanted”.

The guys (oh, they are guys after all, can’t blame them) used to make silliest of excuses to talk to me… notes, library, lab, bus, cricket, songs, home…anything. That bothered her. In particular, she was conscious about 7-8 guys (three of them our seniors), who had not shown any interest in her and were always ready to help me in any manner whether I needed any help or not. :)

I was always getting the compliment of being a girl whom a guy would love to take to his parents to meet. It was all intolerable to her.
She started calling me names, making fun of me in front of her group.. for every little thing where she thought I could not match her. If my new dress was appreciated by others, it was her job to call it atrocious. My dresses, sandals, hair, handwriting, my name, my feminine body, even my being a front bencher.. everything was hit upon. She tried to attack me whenever I was alone.

Not that I was from a village or a small town or my views were primitive. My views were more advanced, contemporary & matured than her; all my friends irrespective of their genders were welcome to my place unlike her. Though we both had visited each other’s places on some occasions and I had even bought cigarettes for her many times, there was something in me which she hated terribly. Somehow we were never on the same platform.

Now when I think back, it was a difficult time for me. Though I felt hurt most of the times, I kept quiet. Oh yes, sometimes I answered her back in simple words “Not that I can’t do it but I DON’T do it by choice”.

There is much more to say here but the gist is “I SURVIVED”. Survived the bullying without anybody's help, not because I was strong, but differently strong.

What is bullying ? Bullying usually involves one or more people teasing, being violent towards or harassing somebody on an ongoing basis.

The most common form of bullying is name-calling. Children call others names for many reasons: short or fat, a different skin colour, or a physical disability. Victims are often smaller or weaker, shy and insecure than average.
Boys bully more than girls, and the tormenting is more often physical. In girls, bullying often takes more subtle forms but this can be every bit as painful as physical aggression.
Many parents are unaware of the happenings as it mostly happens when the person is alone and the person experiencing bullying may be scared to tell anyone or feel ashamed about being bullied.

Who are bullies ? The children who receive more forceful, physical discipline from their parents, view more TV violence and show more misconduct at home are more likely to become the bullies. Bullies often want people to look up to them, and they try to achieve this by acting tough. Their behaviour is usually initiated to create status for themselves. They are often unhappy, immature and unpopular in school, but other kids may associate with them out of fear rather than friendship.
Many boys who have been bullies continue their style of behaviour in later life. As adults, they are at increased risk for criminality, marital violence, child abuse and sexual harassment.

Indications that a person is being bullied could be:

Lack of motivation
Vagueness around certain topics
Unusual behaviour
Physical injuries

What to do if you think someone is being bullied

Talk to them - It is a good idea to talk to the person you think is being bullied to find out what is going on with them. Try to remember that the person you are talking with may be very sensitive about the situation and may be scared.
Let them know you care - Help them feel good about themselves. If a person is being bullied their confidence may be low and they may feel lonely. It helps to let them know that you are a friend and care about them. It can often help to point out all the great things they have to offer to help them to feel good about themselves.
Include the person into your group - Making a special effort to include the person in your group may help to increase the person’s confidence.
Stick up for them - If you see someone is being bullied it may be helpful to stick up for them but take care to ensure that in trying to do so you don't make the situation worse or put yourself in danger.
Speak to someone - Letting someone else know about the situation may help you to solve the problem. A teacher, counselor or another adult could be helpful people to talk to. It may also be helpful to involve the person experiencing the bullying in this process. Together you can go and talk to someone about the situation.

And in the end, try to make that person differently strong.

Current song- Pour que tu m’aimes encore – Celine Dion

Technorati Tags:- Issues Society Bullying Human Behaviour

Ye Hai India Meri Jaan !!

Have you ever traveled like this ?
Imagine waking up on a Monday morning in Chembur, Mumbai to find a massive Boeing 737 parked calmly outside your house !!

Yes, it’s true !! A scrapped 75-foot-long Boeing 737 belonging to India's private airline Air Sahara, minus its nose, tail and wings and placed on a trailer, has been parked in on the Chembur road off the Mumbai Pune highway when it was en route to Delhi.

The plane has become the centre of attraction with people coming from all over the city to take a look.
The common people have been fascinated with planes and never seen one so closely so it is fun to see an airplane on the roads when one is only used to seeing cars and auto rickshaws.

Not only them, some homeless people found a better use of it by converting it to a makeshift kitchen. And some even strung a clothesline where the plane's wings once were.
The quick ones with business mind found an opportunity to whisk away some parts of the plane until the police arrived yesterday to guard it and cover the luggage hatch with a piece of cloth.

Well, it all started at about 3 am on Sunday when the driver of a giant trailer carrying the fuselage of an Air Sahara plane out of the city asked for directions to the Mumbai-Pune highway. The aircraft was headed for Delhi where it will reportedly be used at a flight training academy.

Someone pointed the driver towards a left turn, which he trustingly took, only to end up driving past Duke's factory at Chembur to a point of no return. Entering a road off the main highway, the driver found himself hemmed in by two-storey buildings, garages and small shops, unable to turn the 75-foot monstrosity around. After that all the three people (driver, cleaner, helper) fled from the scene.

And the Mumbai’s Traffic Police seems to be at a loss as to how to move the mammoth aircraft, which is sitting on a trailer wedged in a bylane off the Eastern Express Highway, with hardly any space to manoeuvre.

Yesterday evening i.e. on Thursday evening, the Traffic Police met with UTC Carriers who is transporting the plane to discuss how to move the plane from the location. The deputy commissioner of Traffic Police said it will be moved at a time when there is relatively less traffic, in all possibility at late night, and is likely to be taken to Khopoli.
However, the facts state otherwise, as the enormity of the aircraft and the width of the lane may make the whole endeavour a difficult proposition.
As the trailer blocks one lane there has been traffic congestion on the narrow road. Rush of onlookers have also been steady since the word of an unusual sight had spread.

I can not help myself saying "Ye Hai India Meri Jaan !!"

Current song- Run Away – Linkin Park

Technorati Tags:- Mumbai India India Shining

India Shining - I

NO !!!

YES !!!

Technorati Tag:- India India Shining

Together

This is another one from my box of few scribbles of poetry and was written around the same time as You. Again, I have not changed a single word of it.

Together we were a jungle team
full of play and wild scream.
Together we dreamt to dream,
laugh and cry in gloom and gleam.

Scratch and bite, love and fight ..
all through day and night.
Agreed, we at fault together
then where is my equal right ?

Every night we drink together ..
You, that poison and I, my tears.
How could you turn our heaven into
something, which even hell fears ?

I gaze at space the whole night
while you sleep the day away.
If you wanted to depart,
couldn’t you find a better way ?

With you I learnt the meaning of ‘us’
but you taught me the word ‘away’.
I die hundred deaths every day
For your happiness, I still pray.

Current song- Bahut Pyar Karte Hain Tumko Sanam – S P Bala

Technorati Tags:- Love Language Poetry

Do I make you think ?

I think I thought a thought, but if I thought the thought I thought I thought, what was I thinking?

Aaaah ! I am happy. Happy for many reasons. No, it has nothing to do with that Smiling post.

Well, I am tagged again but this time with a difference !

I am given a tag of ‘Thinking Blogger Award' by a fellow blogger and a regular here, Mur of Queensland, Australia who has nominated ‘One From the Cuckoo’s Nest’ i.e. my blog as one of five blogs that makes him think.

My blog is not even a year old.. only a few months, not even completed 100 posts and now this ?

Well, I am honoured, humbled, touched and of course I am flattered. Thanks Mur.
It is nice to be recognized for your thinking cap but then I realized just because I make him think, does that necessarily mean I am a noteworthy thinker ?? What do you all say ?

In Mur’s words “Cuckoo who is a popular sub-continent blogee with some great stories and a huge local following”. Well, that’s your generosity Mur.

Now, it is my turn to tag five bloggers who come to my blog and whose works make me think. Hmmm.. a difficult one I must say since all of you guys’ work make me think.

So, here goes my list.

1. Mur Yes, I am tagging him back as his blog is a mix of thinking box with a good sense of humour and without whom I wouldn’t be writing this post.
2. Gaurav who says a lot through his posts including some of his nonsense ones. ;)
3. Peace with Guns who writes some life tales with nice simplicity.
4. Aditi mostly writes some serious posts which really make me wonder whether she is my soul sister.
5. SiD some of his posts [not the current ones ;)] were quite thought provoking ones.

Now it’s your turn to carry on the good work. And you can tag me back if you think my blog makes you think a little.

Ok, once again the rules are:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to five blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the origin of this award.
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

P.S.:- And I think I am going to win another award this year.. to be ‘The Most Tagged person of the Year’ [There are still some pending ones :(]. Thanks to my regular readers and welcome to the new ones.

Current song- Sensualité - Axel Red
Technorati Tags:- Tags Thinking Blogger Award

:)))))

:))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Current song- Sensualité - Axel Red
Technorati Tags: Cricket Smiles

Whose Gain, at What Cost ? - I

Sometime back, based on a real incident I had written about Suhani, about her happiness & anguish. If you have not yet read the story, please do now for continuity & better perspective of this post.

During my absence from blogosphere, I had to make several visits to hospitals, all for different reasons.. Suhani being one of them.

Almost for a whole day I had to be with her as no one from her family was available that day. The experience I had in those few hours was quite disturbing to me. Hospital visits always make me sick. Sometimes the simplest things which are taken for granted shatter us beyond words.

Well, Suhani was admitted in a private twin sharing room of gynaec department as no single room was available in such a short time.

When I reached there, the other bed in the room was getting ready to welcome a new patient. I came to know that the woman who had occupied that bed till then, had died a few hours back.

The reason ?

She was seven months pregnant with twins, unaware that one of the fetuses had died inside and the poison was spreading rapidly to endanger the life of the other one. When her condition became serious, she was brought to the hospital. I would call the whole affair as sheer negligence on everybody’s part.

It was her third delivery.. she already had two little sons.

I was wondering then why this third one needed and was told that her husband wanted a girl this time to ‘complete’ the family.

True, this time she was carrying a girl and a boy but at what cost ? She was a frail woman, third pregnancy with twins had made her extremely weak and anemic.

Moreover, when one of the fetuses died (unfortunately the girl), whole attention was diverted to save the other one which was still very small. In the process the woman bled heavily and lost her life on the operation table itself. I won't say the doctors were incompetent.

The newborn was kept in incubator and what an irony !! Now, all the three boys are motherless. Though I had not seen the woman, I could visualize her agony and trauma the way it was explained to me. She came, she wailed, she struggled and within hours she left.

Pause for a second and think about what has husband gained. Did that woman had any say ? How many times women succumb to husbands' demands ?

If this case was bad, I don’t know what to call the case of the next patient who had come to occupy that bed.

Current song- Jahan Ja Ke Chain Se Mar Saku – Mehndi Hasan

Technorati Tags:- Society Feminism Issues Human Behaviour

Cricket - Game of Chance

For a change, some of my predictions in this game of chance is coming out correct. At the start of Super 8, I had predicted for Aus, SA, NZ and SL to be four semi-finalists. And I was right !!

Now, tell me which team is going to challenge Australia in the finals ? New Zealand or Sri Lanka ? What do you say ?
Don’t ask me silly questions like why am I not asking about South Africa.

Earlier, I had my finalists as Australia and South Africa but Proteas let me down. :(
So, now my money is on Sri Lanka.

I know Australia is the best team, my all time favourites and they are going to win the cup but we must appreciate the efforts of Sri Lankans and how they have come up to this stage.
Yesterday was Maharoof’s day and he came out with an impressive figure of 10-3-25-4 at an economy rate of 2.50 plus one run-out as well.

I am supporting Sri Lankans for being the only Asian team in the race.

Hail Tigers !

P.S.- Heyy if you are reading this post, you got to comment. Ok ?

Current song- Piya Baawree – Ajay Pohankar

Technorati Tags: Cricket Sports World Cup

Those were the Best Days of My Life

Yes, today I am going to talk about the good old days of summer. I like all the four seasons for different reasons and summer always had a special place in my life. The summer when we had plethora of time, the summer which made us sweat but not tired, the summer which made us gaze at the stars and the summer which made us shed our clothes to the minimum. Oh summer ! Oh summer !

Yes, the lovely summer is here again ! But alas ! We won’t be able to do many things that we used to love doing then. That is the price we have to pay for growing up.
And when I was tagged by two people (Mathew & Fleiger the Tagger) to do this Summer Tag, I felt doubly nostalgic. ;)

Yeah, you got me right. Its tag time again. And the rules of the game go like this.

1. Name the person (with link) who tagged you.
2. Describe what you are asked to do, in this case write about eight things you enjoyed doing during summer.
3. Tag five people

The summers remind me of many things & those many things are mostly common among all Indian children. I will try not to repeat or keep it to minimum.

• Food: Watermelons, mangoes, ice creams, Rasna, sweet thandi lassi and home made different flavoured milkshakes were the staple food of my summers. More than solids I survived the scorching heat of North India on liquids. My all-time favourite thirst quenching ice-cream was THE orange bar but sneakily licking the lid of cup ice-cream was so much of a fun not to be missed out and I still do not miss it ! ;)

Later on when I grew up, Nirulas was the place for ice-creams.

• Comics, books: The most of summer vacation afternoons were spent in reading something or the other. Favourites were Archies, Asterix, Tintin, Phantom and Enid Blyton. Also, since Hindi reading was made compulsory :( Champak & Parag became the part as well.

The day new books for new class were brought home, the first job was to put brown covers and then finish off the books one by one.

• Morning Rounds / Sunrise: Getting up early morning was another fun thing for us. All (Well, most) of the neighbourhood kids used to get up early and go for morning rounds discussing the day’s plans while watching the sunrise.
• Dolls: Playing with dolls was another activity for me and I loved that. One of my neighbourly aunts was expert in making cloth dolls with all the minute details including eyebrows & nails. During exam days ‘orders’ were placed to her to make dolls and the summers were spent in playing / marrying them off. All the Barbie dolls were kept aside as they were no match to these dolls.
• Cricket: Later on when I grew up a little and after I was threatened ten thousand times by my mom to throw all my dolls, I took up cricket as an alternative and I am proud to say that it became one of my favourites.

Though I used to represent my school in long jump & races, cricket was never neglected and is still not neglected.

• Climbing Trees: Growing up in the capital city was fun but it was incomplete without the summer trips to grandparents’ place. My grandfather had a huge bungalow with all types of trees and a big garden. The whole area was so big that I used to measure it in kilometers instead of feet / yards ! Obviously, climbing trees and counting the branches or fruits was one major activity for all of us.

• Star Gaze: Sleeping on the terrace and gazing the stars ! What fun it was ! Discussing the constellations, finding the Saptrishi, making the shape of Leo, looking for some satellite or shooting star. Nights were really very short to accommodate all my fascinations.

• Saying AAA….: Last but not the least. Saying Aaaaaaaa (sometimes with your palm on your opened mouth).. in front of the desert cooler or an oscillating pedestal fan. Yes, if you happen to be in North India, I am sure you would have seen or done this. It used to make a very strange funny sound but so were the strange days of that life.

Now that rule no. 1 & 2 are taken care of, time for my favourite rule. ;)

Yeah, you got it right again. Its time to find my victims, my shikaar. So, here goes my list..

Abhi- Your blog needs some delicious summer delicacies. :)) I know you are busy for a month but after that would like to know about your bachpan.
Alok – Would like to know how your summers were spent. Finish your exams and do this tag please.
Lazy – You have been quiet for sometime. We all would like to know about your summer/summer holidays you enjoyed most.
PM – You too are quiet these days. Take the tag now. :)
Prashanth – Never tagged you. Let me grab this opportunity. ;)
MG – There is no other way to know more about you than this tag. :P

Maverick, Sigma & Bach – Be ready, I can see the channel through which this tag is coming your way. ;)
Current song- Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams