Life Under Control

Well Well Well!

Life's been so much fast paced these days. My bum and my thought process, both are not getting time to settle and rot. This is good in a way - "Khaali dimaag shaitan ka ghar". So very well said.

Nov/Dec were ultra busy with Amu's wedding, and let me remind myself here that I had treated myself with a full 2 weeks off work. No official phone calls, no internet. Just the family time. Love it. Jan-Feb were busy and 'stress' was icing on the cake. Far too many threads running in life's main() than I can handle. Finally, gave up a few of them witnessing the magic of layer by layer de-stressing. Have to get back to my normal self, have to get back to the good-but-not-so-old days of blogging, sketching, laughing, living. Don't want the time to run ahead of me.

Looks like the things are falling in place now. Paid the money for the gym, during mid-Feb; but finally the day 1 happened on 1st March. Finalized the bike - Bajaj Avenger 200 way back in Nov-Dec, but finally booked on 10th Mar. Finalized the vacation, and to get Hriday over to Chennai, but the month is not finalized yet. But yes, it gotta happen pretty soon. Finalized that I gotta get my a$$ out of chennai, but, there are so many buts and ifs. Let me stop here.

Sarkar - Anyay ke saath me kaise jiye jaaye...

Well, I dont know the date; but it was surely one of the weekdays, when I dared taking my wifey for an underworld movie - Sarkar. I was prepared to be at the receiving end of the anger and yelling if she doesn't likes it; as if hubbies can ever get to be the one throwing the tantrums in today's world!!!

But it turned out to be a pleasant experience, and this movie helping us turning some tensed husband-wife moments into funny laughter sessions. Most of the times, I have this excuse ready to my rescue - "Ab tum hi batao mai kya kar sakta, family problems hai, union problem hai, ". But she is smart enuf to use this when I am stubborn sometimes - "Tu to chiku se bhi zyada ziddi ho gaya hai". Its this fascination towards Sarkar - the movie, that we keep repeatedly watching this movie every now and then. And each time, I can jealofy wifey with the 2 minute role of Nisha aka Priyanka Kothari.

I still remember the beer drinking session with Mahen and Vindy opp Manas lake, when I declared in full high that I want to see Sarkar upon reaching Vindy's home - as if I am 'the' Subhash Nagre. And we three cracking jokes until dawn; with me n Mahen taking quickest naps in between words. We also laughed remembering the 'quote of the decade' from Mahen - "Yaar muzhe mera weight dekhne de, I have been laughing all the night; aur haste rehne se weight badhta hai". And how can I forget mentioning here another mindblowing one from Mahen to Vindy - "Oye, go to the gal's dad and say Fiss"!

Though it's lil bit childish to derive this kind of fun from a movie all these years, but this really is worth it. And another one being 'Ek aur Ek gyarah' where the trio - Tara te Sitara te Pitara aka Aj te Vindy te Mahen have their set of laughters since ages together. More about 'Ek aur Ek gyarah' when I am in a mood to write some crap like this. I do have sympathy of the visitors of this blog page, and I mean it. But the sole purpose of jotting such incidents down is to visit this after some good 2-3 decades and cherish these moments!

The Sattiday that was...

I found my bike missing the friday eve when I returned from office. It was parked on the roadside besides our apartment gate. Just one moment of unpleasant feeling, but the next moment, even before I rang the bell of my flat, I was sporting a smile on my face. Told wifey that the bike is probably stolen. It was hard for my wife to believe, because of the smile. Went down for a round in the nearby societies, just for the heck of it. And then found out which is the Police station that covers this area. Was all set with my documents to report to Police and get an FIR, so that I can start the insurance claim procedure (The reason behind the smile). Post dinner, I had funny talk sessions with Mom and with Seemaji (sis-in-law), with Mom a bit concerned about how would I handle all this, and Seemaji asking for sweets, coz I will be buying a new bike now. She knows of my fascination towards Bajaj Avenger these days. I was busy making my plans, about what actions need to be taken, and how do I manage my life without a bike for few days/weeks.

Let me give some more background here - I have a 2003 TVS Victor and have been using it for all these years. I want to replace it with a power bike, but don't want to do it before I relocate to Pune/Mumbai/Hyderabad. The handle lock of the bike was not in order since Feb 2009 and so it is having only the ignition lock for safety. And moreover, this lazy bum (also called as 'I, Myself n Aj') was too lazy this time to park it within the apartment compound every evening. The bike was lying outside the compound since Tuesday - a full 4 days and 3 nights together.

Thread 1 : Next day, Sattiday, I asked one of the watchman on the street if he knows anything about the bike; and he was trying to tell me something in Tamil, which I understood little. I called Suresh Uncle for translating help, which he did happily - and we were told that the bike was probably taken up by the watchman of the opposite mansion. I went to the mansion asking for the bike, but was not being treated well. They thought of me of some loser college going/just passed out kind of foreigner (non south-Indian), and asked me to again contact them on Monday. That's when I had to use my skills to convince them that they will have a tough time if they mess with me. All this conversation was in Tamil(watchman) and broken English(myself). Finally, the bike was traced to be with a guy named Das, who went out of Chennai for the weekend and parked the bike near his workplace. I got Das's mobile number from the Mansion, and my body language convinced them that they better return my bike without any delay. I did not talk to Das, but those watchmen talked and hinted of the scenario. Meanwhile the mansion owner Mr. Sridhar arrived and took my side to report to the police. This made the watchmen and few residents of the mansion feel the heat.

Thread 2 : As I came out of the mansion, I met Adv. Jesu Raj - the chairman of the society next to our compound, and I greeted him. I just mentioned to him about the bike incident, when his facial expression turned into a bit angry one and almost scolding me - "how can you keep the bike unlocked on the street, that too opposite our society for 4 days together?" He infact informed Chennai police that an unidentified and unlocked vehicle from Maharashtra is lying there for 4 days, and police would be coming anytime to pick the vehicle up and carry out of this street. After some drama, he understood what action is needed now, forgetting what has happened.

Now the iron was hot and I decided to hammer it at this time. So I called up Das, and handed the phone over to Adv. Jesu Raj, who in Tamil, explained him of the seriousness of what he has done, and how Das has taken up a 'probably' stolen bike, and what kind of action can be taken against Das. So, Das finally gave up and agreed that he will make arrangements so that bike will be handed over to the owner by Sattiday eve. By this time, the mansion owner Mr. Sridhar also arrived and talked to Das in a pacifying tone, so that Das is calmed down and he makes arrangements.

Meanwhile, everyone in our society came to know of the story, and everyone tried to explain me how wrong it is to keep the bike unlocked. And how more wrong it is to park it on the street. WTF! As if I dont know what a lock is meant for!!! The bike was returned to me by around 5pm, and once more ppl asking me to fix the handle lock, and park it inside the compound.

I informed this to Mom and Seemaji. Seemaji couldn't control her laughter and announced that "Aj's bike is in such a condition that even thieves return it back". Dad was suffering from a very very sore throat, and I kept myself from talking to him on phone for Sat-Sun-Mon. This will serve two purpose - unselfish purpose : the lesser dad talks, the sooner he recovers; and the selfish one : I am saved from his scolding about being like a careless teen.

Daddy Cool

It was during the bus travel from Yavatmal to Darwha with lil Hriday, that it came to my mind. I reached my town by 1:45, and hired a hand rikshaw. Hriday is a freak - he likes Hand rikshaw ride more than bike or car. And he is moody when it comes to choosing an option between his car or a state transport bus for a distant travel.

So, both of us went on a noisy riot once in home. Everyone except for Bai (granny) n Anjali were taking the lazy afternoon nap, but we spared none. Goldie was confused to the core. She is too young to understand why she was woken up, and why her Papa n Hriday are laughing and making noises. She was crying and Mom trying to pacify her. That's when Bai declared - Aj to Hriday se bhi chhota ho gaya hai. I am not wrong in saying that, I am growing younger with each birthday.

Post lunch, after checking on few routine things like the backyard tin shades and counting custard apples, along with checking if there are any signs of life in the soil where I planted green chilly seeds. There was no sign :-(

I had convinced Amu for hiking the mountain behind the railway track, near Chintamani temple. Mummy n Bai were opposing to take Papa for this hike. Mummy finally gave up saying that - you take him out, but dont let him hike. But I was not sure, if dad would agree and join us. So, I convinced Amu to convince Papa. But Papa said yes, upon asking for the first time itself. I was all excited.

The weather was too good. Cloudy but not dull, with spells of sun rays in between. The country side was lush green, and it rained the previous few days. We were a gang of four for the hike - Papa, Hriday, Amu n myself. So we finally reached the spot on the road, from where we would start the hike. Hriday was excited to see the 'train ki patri'. Upon crossing that, we reached the point where there were a lot of white stones (the ones which we played with as young kids, striking them against each other in dark, to see the sparks). Dad was the first kid to start collecting those, and giving ideas as to what can be done with them. When the hike became a bit more vertical, we kept all those stones at a point. Hriday was as if looking for this opportunity and asked me to lift in arms, as it was his first time. I was all prepared for this, as Hriday is just 5 year old. But his fear and probable tiredness was short lived, coz he asked me to ground him; and he happily hiked to the top without any fuss.

After spending some 15-20 min on the top, taking snaps in dad's mobile camera, it was time to get back. Collecting those white stones, we got into the car, then to the Chintamani temple. And as usual, I asked for the steering wheel while returning. Don't know how long it will take for me to master the four wheeler drive; but myself and Hriday have a story to tell our buddies about what we did last weekend.

Peace Peace Peace!!!

After loosing peace, the internal one, I have understood the value of it. I was getting premonitions that - "hey, where the hell am I leading this way?" But being carried away in one of the emotions, and taking uncalculated risk, this is where I have landed. I am not lost at all. May be, I am just wandering here and there and looking for some kind of satisfaction and eventually some peace.

May be this is what is called as life-crisis, or something else. I don't have mindset to study what it is called, but this is certainly a kind of dangerous disturbance. Various thoughts and principles are rioting internally, and disturbing law n order.

Having tried to re-start many of my loved tasks and hobbies, I am still not able to achieve what I wanted to. I have become highly dependent on individuals for peace and happiness. The human desires are raising their heads every now and then, and I don't know how to crush them, or atleast control them. I am not really sure, whether dependence on Humans is better than dependence on objects. And this thought keeps my mind busy and anxious.

Another fear is - is my survival possible, if the individuals go away one fine day, leaving me all by myself? The actual fact is - I would survive, but I don't want to survive just because I am not dead. There's hell lot of insecured feeling, even if I try to my best to convince that feeling of insecurity itself is more insecure than insecurity itself.

So much is already been said-researched-analysed-preached about how to attain internal peace, but me being a people person, find it difficult to isolate from individuals. Would becoming stoic help me attain peace? But then what about my desires? Is there no way other than crush the desires?

Who knows, this might just be a phase of life, and will pass on the way peaceful phases pass. Let's see...

Complete You...

Latest on the block....

Random Ride to ECR

It all started with me broadcasting on the group skype chat "mereko bahot bore ho rela hai", that I thought of riding off on ECR (East Coast Road). Fortunately, Sam's Honda Unicorn was available. The next thing to make available was 'getting some vella but interesting guy for the ride'. Upon doing some mischief with 'Chhota Supari', the dudes n damaads agreed for it happily.

Finally, Aj-Ankur-Viru-Vikas landed up near the escalator corridor, and Vikas kept asking - "Abe jaana kahan hai? Kya karna hai?". The next challenge was to find Sam's bike in the parking lot. But it turned out to be easy, as all the four of us started looking for a MH-12 registered bike. Once again at the office exit gate, Vikas questioned - "Karna kya hai? Jaana kahan hai?" with amazingly nice question mark on his face. No one was clear, what is the plan; but it was sure, that we wanted to ride for a good 15-20 kms on the coastal road.

So it started, with instructions on how to escape the probable fine, if policemen obstruct us. A hot tea and a round of smoke at a roadside stall, excitement was at the peak. With Vikas's ambitious plans for some firangs on the beach, we took a left turn on a road which was not that bumpy. And in all this excitement, I bumped the bike I was riding straight into the beach sand; and spent a lot of energy to get it out of the sand.

The beach was totally isolated. There was a guy (a kid probably) who was holding some rope/thread and a dark block was following him on the shore. We dont know what he was doing exactly. There was a gal on the scooterette, who accompanied her friend. And her friend was hand in hand with her bf for a long walk. All assumptions. While walking towards the waters, we obviously had some plans as a gang for the gals. The plans went in the air as soon as we reached water.

Good breeze making us feel good, and triggering us to do similar things more often. So the plan is to go for a catamaran ride sometimes in the coming weekends, and to visit Pondicherry on bikes in the next few weeks. Now, since we have all the enthu for outings, it made sense to return back to office. Yeah yeah, this short and random beach ride was planned just after the lunch on a working day.

The gal was still waiting on the scooterrette for her friend and friend's bf :-) Isey kehte hai yaari-dosti. Dost ke liye isolated beach par akele wait karne ki himmat.

The bike ride back to office was non-stop; and the excitement and happiness was at its peak! Nothing can beat the sense of achievement when we do something different.