Its funny !

 I, one of the “April born fools”, would like to share with you’ll one of the funny incidents in ma life .

This one was when I was in PCCE doing my 1st year of engineering.  Every morning travelling from Margao to Verna was adventure itself.  There are two bus stands from where u can catch bus to come to PCCE (yes  ... catch!  Or to be more precise catch any part of bus if you are fortunate enough). Not that any of this choice is better or something. Consider that as GK. :P 

 So we were treated like ‘bachaas’ (that’s a much better word) by the conductors. Actually we dint exist for him. We were directly addressed  as ‘half-ticket’  and the ‘full-tickets’ used to  laugh at his insensible jokes the way siddhu  might laugh even at anyone’s  funeral. The buses were locked when parked on bus stand and ‘full tickets were given chance to enter bus by this great conductor with welcome song and we used to struggle to even stand on last step! [Please note: I will never forgive that conductor in my life. I wish I could tie him by the most easily breakable thread to a bus and drive the bus as fast as I could.] 

 So you know how difficult it was and how lucky it was if you get to sit. (Not very lucky also because that person had to catch friend’s bags, drafter etc etc :D). We had a professor who used to come from Karwar who was fatter then a hippo when u look at his stomach, but had by mistake got a head of honey bee.  This fellow being a full ticket used to keep his bag on sit before climbing the bus, reserve the place, and then get in the bus ‘aaram’ se, then travel the journey towards his seat with most horrible smile I have seen with free stamping pedicure on our legs ! Ouch L (He had wasted one entire lecture giving us lecture on how picnics are bad when we had bunked class previous day) He used to give us Home Work!! We were engineering students!!!

We all used to get irritated but couldn’t do anything. One day this hippo kept his bag to reserve place, all Verna workers and people got in bus, and he got late as usual. But there was no smile on his face as he was coming towards his seat. Because there was already someone seated.  He asked in this South Indian accent of his “Where is my bag eers?” (Don’t ask me what this eers is! His brain appends this word to end of every sentence he says, For free! ) No one knew where his bag had disappeared. Let me tell you I have helped people find things when they are lost , but I was so overjoyed by this news  that ...that... I dint help!

So hippo started searching the bus seats, top racks... but alas “us din Google bhi uske help ko ata na toh bhi search nhi kar pata  :D:D.” The worst part was conductor was in bad mood and dint wait to hear his nonsense, and started with bus. We had already smsed our friends and were chatting on phone about all this, smileys were getting exchanged! Finally we reached college. Bus became half empty as all students and some workers got down. This hippo professor had got a nice change to search for his bag. But conductor dint take his ticket, and dint allow him to climb bus to check for bag. :D We couldn’t control our laughter and ran in the college. We had got off lecture because his notes and bag had disappeared in this air ;) So we were roaming around!!

After some time we saw him sitting behind his best friend’s bike and going on mission “Hippo’s bag search”.  With the speed we could make out the Activa was willing to move but there was equal and opposite resistance offered by hippo’s weight which was not allowing the scooter to speed.  They had to catch the bus which was heading back to Margao now. He was so tensed I guess that while crossing the high way, instead of showing  left hand to indicate crossing , he lifted both hands And we the 1^st year IT students witnessed  Titanic remake. :D LOL

Innocent Relations ...

“Deva ,mhaka bari buddhi di..vidya di, shakti di.. ani mhaka ek bhaav di “

 

Every evening after ‘parvad’  this is what I used to say standing  in front of GOD folding my hands !! WHY ? Because I was told so! I was told that if you want brother you will have to tell GOD about it every day! And I wanted him so badly as all my  best friends had brother, I never forgot to say it at the end of ‘parvad’. It took around 3 years for GOD to put the baby in my mom’s stomach ( again I was told so ! ) . That’s what we do when we are kids, we just do as we are told to.

(btw ‘parvad’ is saying some ‘shlokas’ in Sanskrit , or some verses in reference to GOD like ‘Shubham karoti kalyanam’ which are usually taught by grandparents )  !

Childhood! I find it so much like blank fresh drawing paper, the characters around you then draw on this canvas which slowly shapes you! I find it as light as a feather, flowing with the wind, in any direction with no burden! Haaa! Just the feeling gets me flyingJ. I love to see the innocence on the faces of kids. And the questions these ignited minds ask, even the genius people fall speechless.

So, my brother was born after I did 3 years of ‘tapascharya’ ( but you know actually who did ;) ahem ).  And the day he was born same night there was earthquake in Goa. Maybe he wanted everyone to feel his arrival into this world. It was night time, so I had no idea about mom being taken into hospital. Morning I got this news and I was so happy!! I wore my favourite dress which my granny had stitched, and went to see my lil bro. I had this image in my mind about my brother, he will be fair, big black eyes, pink lips, round and chubby smiling at me all time. So I enter the room in hospital and what I see is this little reddish pink thing! I was like WTH. I shouted at ‘AAEE’(mom) , I thought it’s because she used to  have this beetroot soup all the time.  But still I went near the cradle just to see him , and this fellow who seemed to look like been sleeping , announced war against me !! He peed on me x-( And there it was the start of still unending war ! Grrrr 

But as he grew up some months older he actually started looking like what I dreamt like bro! Only I didn’t imagine he would have such a exact geometrical circular bulbous round head. :D I still make fun of him. Somehow , right from the point he gained his senses , he recognised me as his enemy and  always cried loudly whenever I was around. And I was so mad after him; I loved to kiss his chubby chicks n he hated it like anything. :D:D Maybe because he hated it I liked it more!! :O 

I just mentioned that kids are innocent. But another universal truth is ‘they are naughty’ :D and you think my bro was exception ? This empty headed fellow, when he was just learning to crawl, had fallen on his head, and pointed finger at me saying I pushed him !! I had got all shouting for just being around him. But I never stopped going after him, because he was weak, slow in crawling, had difficulties in balancing because of his bulbous head. 

Once I and my cousin were riding cycle and we were excited because we had learnt balancing in that summer vacation.  My brother was around playing, and we told him we will give him a ride on the slope and he got scared , and was not ready but we made this poor fellow sit forcefully :D We went up properly holding the cycle. But while coming down, the speed increased and we couldn’t control the cycle and he fell. OMG and he started crying with volume set to maximum. We both were so tensed that he will tell everyone at home. Finally we washed his wound, and ahem... bribed him with two erasers, one apple and one banana, one eraser come sharpener and one tattoo. But he was so corrupt that he blackmailed me for a long period with this.

So many years have passed by and still this relationship has not lost its innocence. It’s like we both have grown, but we still fight for silly reasons. I still feel protective towards him although I tie Rakhi to him, telling him to protect me! I feel nice every year, that he buys small gift for me from his pocket money and all that anger dies away. (BTW I do start reminding him about gift 2 weeks in advance :o)

I wrote this as we all celebrated ‘Rakshabandhan’ just recently and I wanted you’ll to just recollect all silly, naughty things we did , and we still do with our brothers/sisters. J May this bond last forever!  

Namz goes to Shimla , Manali , Chandigarh

!!   Shimla  -  Manali  - Chandigarh  !!

There  are  times  when  you  just  want  to go  somewhere away. Away from work , from the place u stay , away from normal routine . And then  u know where u  want to go . On Tour !!

We  had covered most of the places in South of India , so decided  to go  Himachal Pradesh. We went hunting thru the iterneries of diff Tour organisers. Mind you .. they lie a lot ! They will tell u , they have cost saver packages, which will turn out to be your most expensive  tour :D We finally heard of Yatrik travels from one of our family friends and found it much sensible and  .  http://www.yatriktravels.com/  you can go thru their site ! 

Gokhle kaka, Kirtany and KAKA !! The 3 organisers :)

 

So we took this Shimla – Manali – Chandigarh  total 10 days package.  You can find more information about  all these 3 places on wiki :D .  I will just try to give you’ll view from my perspective. 

PART 1 

SHIMLA 

So  the tour started from Delhi that day very early , with 5 familliles , 1 sardarji driver , 1 cleaner , and three coordinators from Yatrik travels.  What i believe is we were very lucky to  have such nice quick bonding people with us . It took us no time to introduce each other and within few hours we were all seated in seats which were not allotted to us  , playing antakshari , some word games etc.  

Please allow me to describe just this one breakfast which was my favourite. We had stopped at a typical Dhaba  , with trucks parked at the entrance, some wooden furniture around , and THE CHEFS outdoor making parathas , tandoor stuff , jalebis  , lasssi etc. So  we had this beautiful  lasssi.. ya ya it was deliciously  beautiful . It was then followed by  potato , onion , cabbage parathas  which were accompanied with pickle , dahi  and   ‘makhan’.. not butter :P :D Makhan is desi butter and it tastes  way better then amul butter ! The satisfactory feeling u get after having this Punjabi breakfast is unimaginable. :D

OOO LA LA !!! :D

The best parathas accompanied with dahi , pickle and makkhan !! yum

 

As you  are a few km from Shimla , the city is all ready to welcome you with pleasant cool weather , awesome sceneries  , beautiful vegetation and people . Weather was not only breezy  but  it was drizzling too ! We were all tired and closed ourselves in warm blankets in rooms . The room we got  had a terrace view , but the temperature had dropped down drastically. Next day the  weather was super cold  when we went to see the Valley. Although the view of valley was pleasing , we were not pleased enough to open our eyes against the blowing winds.  We clicks some pics and then went to see the famous Church and Lakkad bazaar. By afternoon the climate was pretty pleasant.  

 

Evening  we went for Horse riding on hills. I wanted a white horse , but the horse guide  was arguing with me as if that horse which I was suppose to ride is the best in world L I had to go uphill on that  very excited horse.  I was last when I started  and when we reached top of the hill , I was second . I must have yelled so many times at the  horse guide   , to control his horse , but he was laughing at me saying that you have paid me for a walking ride and I m giving you running horse at the same rate x-(. Thankfully they change the horses when we come downhill, and I got white horse !!! And he was very sweet and maintained  his speed thru ought ! I liked it J

Torture at Project Lunch Party

Food !  Well that’s how my day starts and ends too ! Those who  are my friends know very well about my cravings for food(actually non veg to be more specific), and those who don’t know me so well , can make out it from my size ! :P

After coming into PSL my weight has increased  at least by 5-6kgs (maybe more L). That’s because of the veg food the caterer provides . So? So people who like non veg have to go out to eat, which increases the weight.  Although  now we can see some change .. Maybe because the weighing machine in cafeteria no longer supports and shows weight for people like me :D (I m just kidding .. im not that fat now ) .  Anyways I just wanted to share a recent torture that I faced for our project party , but before that a  chop for all those people who don’t support non veg food .

There is a reason why I eat non veg . I love fish  but I love nature also  ..  Oh yes !   The reason why I eat fish is to maintain balance in ecosystem . Let me elaborate . Just imagine if everyone was veg. Now think what’s the aim of a fish in life ? Do they have one ? NO. That’s the answer . So they come to life , live for some time , n die !  Or maybe who live longer will simply increase life in sea making it overpopulated . Ahaaa now come into picture , people like me .. I mean fish lovers .  We provide fish with a aim in life. We  eat them , make them realize that they are special ( only thing is they are not alive to live with that realization :D)  and thus maintain balance in ecosystem. Ok ? :P Actually non veg items are costly also , but we think of our ecosystem , nature  and unlike veg people don’t run after money .

So  you know by now how much crazy I am about fish . I see to it actually every time we go out for birthday parties ,  lunch outs , or team lunch that I  can eat non-veg that day .  And I succeed every time. J But this one fine day , there was Vinayki (this day I can’t eat non veg , onion , garlic L) . And our team mates decided to go for project party in Soul Souffle ( :D ha ha discount ka mail aya nahi , ki nikal pade khaane). I was  sad because I wont be able to go . Mom had  given me veg pulav in tiffin.  But then everyone started forcing to come . Some nice people ( who later became my enemies ) started telling me that they will order some salad , and some gravy without onion , garlic. I was touched ! So sweet people , how I could say no . I said ok.  Still I was sad that I won’t be able to eat non veg. 

Anyways we reached Soul Souffle . I loved the ambience. It had an open cottage like structure . There was a huge Christmas tree , rite in the middle . There were light and dark green hanging lamps on ceiling.  The entire cottage was bordered with  diwans with lovely cushions made out of silk in different colors !! A senior waiter , a very thin character ( soul souffle doesn’t provide food to waiters I thought ), came to greet us on the door.  We went and dumped our lazy bumps (spelling altered to maintain sanctity ;) ) on the inviting diwans .  This senior waiter was arranging tables, suddenly came to us and said “ Get up , get up , sit here “ . I felt like I was in primary school , we are on picnic , n I have gone n sat on some wrong place , n of course Mr. waiter sounded like a principal. I am very obedient like that you know . So we all got up from diwans and landed on the chairs reserved for us.

The orders were already placed so we were relaxed talking , pulling each others’ leg, laughing  . Waiter took drink orders from us and he was gone. Cold drinks were served and we went into waiting period.  I was very hungry. Then I saw the waiter coming…  he got the starters and kept it right in front of me . I smiled at him and I looked into the plate, n then I gave him THE “WTH” look. I said “This side we all are veg  (mann hi mann I was repenting  .. but .. I continued …  ) , take it to the other side” . But maybe my nose was not following vinayaki and hence the fish aroma filled my nostrils . But the dish was gone on the other side of the table (No use repenting over spilt milk .. or a non veg dish that’s gone away I say) .  Again he came and performed the same ritual , as if someone had told him that there is a girl sitting  with veg people who usually loves non veg ,  so just  take every non veg dish there first and then get it to non veg table. X-( 

And there I was sitting slurping the sour fresh lime soda, . (I had mentioned sweet actually , but by now u can make out that waiters there do exactly opposite ). Looking at people eating chicken starters , fish fingers etc …. Just Imagine ….  Poor me.

Finally veg starters came , they were some small heart shape mini cutlets , which were ok.  I ate two, I felt like I ate two channas or something.  Suddenly  I look at the table where non veg food was getting served (actually all time I was looking there .. by now but obvious eh !!  ) and I see  that they have got main course also .. rice , fish curry , chicken gravy n what not !!!! x-(  I checked the time , it was 2 . And we were licking  starter plates here  and were gazing at the empty plates on our tables .. hoping for a miracle to take place .. for them to just refill. I can’t wait like this . I called the waiter , and gave him a gentle reminder.  The result was that he only placed EMPTY main course plates on our table. And got French fries. We finished it in no time and again went into waiting period. It was 2.45.

Finally the chef himself came with this special without onion-garlic gravy and placed it on the table. Haaa I thought .. finally. But there were no rotis. Non veg people had finished their share already. Some people started tasting gravy.  Our plates were empty, the hot gravy had turned into cold dessert.  We reminded the waiter.But turns out , that waiter was “besharam”. Reason. With the stares I was giving him , if anyone else was there , he would have sat right there and made rotis and served us.  Suddenly he comes and asks “ANYTHING ELSE ??  “ I felt like telling him, get me iron rod with which I can break your head into pieces. What did he mean by ANYTHING ELSE ? Our plates were empty , maybe he thought he had served some Soul souffle  ke invisible soul dishes into our plates.  I thought it would have been much better , if I had got my small tiffin , atleast I would have eaten veg pulav, I would have shared also with others  (1 spoon per person, soul souffle ka prasad ) , I m not that bad. Finally the food came, at 3.30pm . By then, the Non veggies were eating badishep and laughing at us.

Why did I write all of this ..

So that all those wonderful non veggie people know in the future that if you are a veggie and most importantly if you like non veg …  avoid going to such parties .. will help avoid SOUL UNREST !!