Ek non-ajnabee haseena se yun mulakat ho gayi

Usually I like watching the sunrise,but that day, it was different.Not because I didnt like it,but because I didnt see it,well not in the literal sense of it actually.I did wake up early,as my habit goes,looked at the morning sky,but this time I didnt "see" the sun rising,I "felt" it.For the non philosophical souls wondering when I will start making sense,I would like to elaborate that I felt a desire,an urge,maybe even a need, of someone bringing a new dawn in my life,maybe someone would rise up in this sparkless unromantic life...maybe!!

The bus was about to leave,we were three people on the seat.One of our friends sat near the window,but I wanted to count us,as just two,she...and me,living at the edge,and sitting at the edge.The journey was to last around quarter of an hour,and it was just the begining of a sweet little day,just the first few minutes of plenty that I would spend with her.Well to sum up,it was just the begining...but then,it was the begining,and I wanted it to be as perfect as possible.I was more nervous than I had been during any of the vivas in my college(bad comparison I know!!),just a little confused as well.It isnt that I didnt try to calm my nerves,afterall it was just a routine outing of some friends,everyone expected it to be just normal,so why couldnt I.Whatever be the reason,the fact is,being normal was not among the options,also "none of these" wasnt there.I could even feel my sense of humour going haywire then,just as the very recollection of those moments is making it happen now.So we had been together for close to ten minutes,the bus journey had started a couple of minutes ago,and,I had uttered exactly a couple of words to her so far.God bless the person who invented the phrase "Good Morning"!!

"You look beautiful", you had to be a fool to expect a dumbo like me,with all the nervousness of the world engulfing me,to say that to her.But this was one of the few 3 word phrases that I wanted to say.Expectedly "good morning" remained my only words for quite some time.Then there was a mention of my SMS in the morning which had remained unanswered,when finally my philosophical self found its own,and I said "its not always a good thing to keep someone waiting".As it commonly happens,my philosophy remained unanswered.Again a generation of silence followed,only constructive things I did then, was to think of as many things to talk about as I could.The weirdo bus was noisy and it was not helping my cause either.Complete solitude was not possible,but at least we could have some silence.My prayers were answered when the bus stopped for filling its energy reserves,motionless meant noiseless,and I had to find my voice then.So what were the things that I could talk about.My favourite TV series had been an indirect recommendation of her,I thought of making a mention of that.After all,it never harms to show the other person that you remember things even remotely related to her.The funny thing was, I couldnt talk about it,as it would bring a third person into the frame,a name which probably would have made her uncomfortable then.For the confused ones,its one of our common friends,who wasnt on talking terms with her then,and who,was directly recommended about my favourite series.With this also went the second topic,which was another one of my favourite serials,again a result of her indirect recommendation.If anything could make her feel even an enigma of ackwardness,I must avoid it,and thats what I did.Of course I had other topics but then the bus,and the noise,had started all over again.So I was back to doing the best thing I could do then,admire her.Let me just give a detailed account of what it is like,when you,want to believe,that the person next to you is the most beautiful person alive!!

It wont be true if I say that I could not remove my eyes off her.The truth is,I felt so shy that I wasnt looking at her much,but I would stil like to believe ,and would appreciate if you also believed, that all the time, I was only looking at her....even when, I wasnt.I wanted to tell her,that in almost three years that I had known her,I never found her so attractive.Among many reasons for my feeling so,was also the obvious one that she indeed looked very very pretty that day.Something was clearly wrong with me,I was noticing things like her ear ring to even her chappal!!..I had never been someone with any sort of taste for these feminine things,but lots was different that day.Again it wont be true if I say that I was falling in love with her,yet the reality is...I wanted to.

I was sitting close to the back door of the bus,the genius angel noticed it,and remarked "hey dont fall down the bus".So far so good...and then she added "dont worry,I wont let you fall".XYZ public will argue that there isnt anything hugely romantic about this comment,but then I was in my own land of dreams and desires.I had my own interpretations and this gentle comment of hers had a romanticism attached to it,which only my heart could have identified then.If she smiled at me,passed a momentarily glance at me,did anything which could be anyway related to my presence next to her,even the smallest of things,it was driving me crazy.I felt an urge to sing 'pehla nasha pehla khumaar' in some filmy location,throwing my cap all over the place.Again sanity prevailed,for a while,and I decided to start some sort of discussion with her.Yes,it was time for an extended conversation now.I already had a topic(in fact many topics) ready,MBA preparations.It was a nice issue,and there was just so much that we could discuss about,as two genuine aspirants of one of the toughest entrance exams.The conversation was a mild success,with exactly one question(by me) and one answer(by her).Here I am,a guy,who wishes to get into the best management college of the country,face the toughest interviews with confidence,struggling to express a routine attraction that I was feeling for a girl...only if that were a routine attraction.It may sound a tad monotonous,but I cant restrain myself from mentioning,again,that she looked lovely,and seemed to be getting lovelier by every minute.The journey was nearing its end,and I finally gathered the courage to face the harsh reality,that I had been an absolute dumbo,maybe even a bore.The irony is,I still loved those moments.

Now,putting things into perspective,and finally getting into the normal mode,I know, all that meant nothing.Yet,it conveyed so much.The Mba talk(of 2 sentences) was the last chat we had during the journey,but I am not complaining now.Some things are better left unsaid,specially when silence can be so beautiful,and so very romantic.Purists may disagree,but I would still like to believe,and would appreciate if you also believed,that I fell in love with her during those moments,during that journy,even if I wasnt in love,just a couple of hours later.Someone once said "we derive greatest of pleasures in the simplest of things",now I know,that the guy must have had a similar trip in his life!!

Story Behind the Story: I am in the middle of reading "anything for you madam" by Tushar Raheja.The book is very much in the Chetan Bhagat mode,yet I am enjoying the romantic aspect of it,which even made me write something myself,on this enigma called romance.Also,not only does this post come straight out of my heart,it also comes out of my imagination.After a narration of train journey,inspired by a true experience,I found a bus journey,a convenient topic...comments and suggestions are most welcome :)

क्या है मेरी ये ज़िंदगी ??

क्या है मेरी ये ज़िंदगी..कमरे का ट्यूब लाईट,
जिससे पल पल की रोशनी के बदले
एक कीमत अदा करनी पड़ती है...

या वो खाली बालटी,
जो सिर्फ़ ज़रूरत के वक़्त भरी जाती है,
वर्ना खाली ही रह जाती है ...

दरवाज़े पे पड़ा डोर मैट,
जिसे जिसने भी देखा,
नज़र झुका के ही देखा...

मेरी खिड़की पे लगा ये पर्दा
जो मौसम के मद्धम होने पर
परे हटता आया है,
मगर धूप झेलता आया है ....

या शायद ये अलार्म घड़ी
जिसकी आवाज़ नींद से जगा तो देती है
पर ये नही बताती की
इस जागॄति का क्या करूँ ....


क्या है मेरी ये ज़िंदगी??!!!

This post is interesting..no funny..no interesting...no slightly complicated !!

The piece of writing below is CERTAINLY NOT my piece of imagination,well as many would APPRECIATE the point,that it cannot be.In all weirdness,these are words/phrases/watever uttered by one of our teachers.Many people may dismiss it as mere slit of pongues,but I,with my blessed aesthetic sense, have always enjoyed them thoroughly.All the readers who are unfamiliar with the person concerned will need a little imagination,a bit of visualisation,to APPRECIATE the comments,which were made in all seriousness.For the special class of readers who happen to be my classmates,am sure they would enjoy the remarks,and if possible,remind of other such instances they can think of...enjoy :P

It is very funny,no intersting...no funny
It is very slightly complicated..very complicated
You make a pant,give a shirt,give a shirt,make a pant..it is the same
Obviously I dont have any intention of writing all these equations
Is it making logical sense or not?..why? (WTF??)
Ok anyhow I will explain now listen!!
In this thing,it is only for this thing
It is very IMPORTANT BUT I will try to explain it
Your book I have not put the mark,it is in the photocopy!!
I will explain,I have not completed according to my satisfaction
Are you appreciating my point..no..ok!!
I will finish today's class in one statement..no two statements!! (surprisingly the 2 statements took around 12 minutes)

मेरी तन्हाई की अमानत...

उसने कहा, बस बहुत हुआ,

क्यों ज़माने की महफ़िल में

आखिर ले जाते हो मुझको,

किसलिये सबसे मिलवाते हो मुझको,

अब तंग आ चुकी हूँ मैं,

वो गलत नज़र से देखते है

इसलिये नही,बल्कि इसलिये

की कोई देखता ही नही,

किसी को कोई फ़र्क ही नही पड़ता...

सजल,तुम्हारे अलावा मुझे

कोई समझ ही नही पाता,

सच कहूँ तो मेरी मौजूदगी

का एहसास तक नही करवा पाता,

जानती हूँ मेरे अपमान पे

तुमको भी तकलीफ़ होती है,

तभी तो कहती हूँ...

मुझे अपनी संगिनि बनाओ लेकिन

किसी और का साथ निभाने को ना कहना,

मैं तुम्हारी थी,तुम्हारी ही रह जाऊँगी

प्लीज़ किसी और को अपनाने को ना कहना,

है इसी में अब खुशी मेरी तमाम

की बनके रह जाऊँ,

तेरी तन्हाई की अमानत मैं.....

ऐसा जब मेरी 'कविता' ने मुझसे कहा,

मैं चुपचाप,बस देखता रह गया उसको!!!

P.S : This post is a result of a realisation,and the importance of giving the required importance,and love,to ones own compositions...because at the end of the day,the world will never understand them,as well as we do,if my 'kavita'is special for me,am sure she expects me to be the same for her :)

DELHI 6...and the Ramayana Konnection

If you havent seen the movie....DO NOT READ THIS....and...WATCH THE MOVIE!!

I hereby attempt to present my views over the Ramayan connection of the movie Delhi6.It is something which is subjective,different people will have different interpretations,but surely if we dwell into it,we would appreciate the movie more,as a work of art.Here i go...

Purpose: Ramayana may be regarded as the most important piece of literature for our country.We Indians,hold it in high esteem,most of us have significant knowledge about it,but there are minute aspects which we tend to ignore.Ramayana,though an ancient epic,encompasses most of the modern issues,the problems,as well as the solutions.It has this ability to make us understand even the contemporary problems beter,and accept solutions,which we have always known,but find it difficult to accept.

Story connections: The 1st reference made to kala bandar,is followed by the description of Treta yug demon ravan,preseting Kala bandar as a wicked force.

Soon,we have the description of Ram and its said:"avadh mein aata hoon",and the next scene is about the situations that will lead Abhishek to Delhi.In a way,Abhishek here is being depicted as a messiah about to go somewhere.

Sita haran in Ramayana-can be compared to the way Sonam is tricked by an illusion(just like Ravana's fake impression before Sita when he comes as sanyasi),in a way she is also running under a false impression.Later we find how a monkey(Hanuman) becomes her saviour.Again this is a similarity on both occasions.

The references to monkey have been on different grounds,kala bandar as a positive thing(as above),kala bandar as a negative one(on several instances ,and also as the great Hanuman.

Coming to Hanuman,one thing I felt is though the religious text of Hindus,does it gurantee in any way that Hanuman(or any vanar) was a Hindu(dont decide anything by the name,if we know these names to be hindu names,its because we accepted them to be those).Reason of feeling this way was the episode where people are fighting over the religion of 'kala bandar',which raises some serious questions...

Talking about Ramayana offering solutions to many modern day problems,we have jalebi incident,followed by Shabri act being depicted.It is also shown that a small child asks the question"agar shabri achoot hai...",something which even a small child can observe,but we fail to understand.Also the reasoning "wo to bhagvaan hai,unko maaf hai" that Gobar offers indicates another important aspect."When you associate something with god or religion,people can allow rationality to take the backseat"(Very imp. for us to realise,this is what has led to biggest of probs,a person cannot distinguish bw right and wrong when it pertains to his religion,but I believe that in todays world,one must believe that no God is bigger than logic,rationality and truth).

Another instance is where,people talk about killing Kala bandar,which is followed by act of Ravan trying to kill Hanuman,which actually led to Lanka dahan and total anarchy.this is similar to what was to follow in the movie.

Then we have the war scene,Devta and raakshas war,with shouts of "har har mahadev around",it is followed by the riot scene where we find the violent Hindus shouting "har har mahadev".But are they fighting the demons,no because they fail to recognise them.

If Dev D was a wonderful take on modern Devdas,this also is an exceptional take on modern ramayana,which doesnt go the parody way,it goes the mature sensible path.Remember the movie has often talked about the genral goodness of humanity,as Abhishek says "yahaan log achhe hai"..this is what we have to realise,if today one needs to fight the Ravans,you just CANNOT fight others,because everybody is good at heart,you have to fight the RAVANA or the KALA BANDAR inside you,eliminate the reasons why the rams of today(which includes every person...because har kisi mein usi ka noor hai!!) sometimes behave as the Ravans....

Now if that isnt a masterpiece,what is then??...Hats off to Mehra Sir,and congos to Prasoon Joshi,his venture as a writer of the movie,even if not a box office success,is a brilliant piece of cinema.The metaphorical value of this movie,once realised by the masses,will make it a very very memorable one.I salute this piece of cinema,I could feel it,get involved,and maybe make it a part of my life..let us all pledge to kill the Kala bandar inside us,and fight the actual Ravan!!

Experience Spring Fest (part 2)

As expected the next day mostly went into practice.Of course there were certain distractions,and other formalities,but practice for the play remained at the centre stage.The major attraction for me was the much awaited Hasya Kavi Sammelan during the evening.Unfortunately the general excitement for it,was nothing in comparison to the one they people had for "kal ka chhokra" KK.There is a reason why Hindi is regarded as being neglected in present scenario.Anyway we were yet to have a run through of our play,and we were quickly approaching the evening.I was begining to get anxious.Finally when the Kavi Sammelan was just few minutes away,we managed our 1st run through.It indeed was a very good performance,and as soon as we were done with that I rushed for the Sammelan.The situations played a sort of joke on me,and the next few hours were pretty much eventful for me.Unexpectedly the response for the Sammelan was amazing,but I somehow amanged to get inside the audi.I was surprised to discover that we were treated to a classical and westerm music fusion program,with the name of hasya kavi sammelan.The program was amazing and I thorughly enjoyed it.I had no complains from this event,just when it was announed that Hasya kavi Sammelan will now be starting..at a different venue.This meant that I would miss out almost completely on the drama practice,I had to take a decision,and there were no second thoughts.Interests can be curbed,maybe even passions can,but then there are few things which are even over this,this was too special for me.We had the 1st slot for the play the very next morning and I had hardly practiced my part,but I knew I could not miss this opportunity,something inside me was telling me to go for it.My gut feeling was proved right,the next couple of hours turned out to be among the most special moments in my life.Among the poets was the young poetic sensation Dr. Kumar Vishwas,someone who has been a hugely inspiring figure for me lately.It was great listening to all the poets,it certainly was the most special event for me.One of the poets very much impressed me by his views,and the passion with which he put forward his ideas.Yet it was watching Kumar Vishwas live on stage that made it a god level experience,I knew I wont regret missing out on my practice,I knew I would always be proud I came for Spring Fest,my trip was already a success.Those were purely magical moments for me,moments of sheer ecstacy,no doubt it was once in a lifetime experience,an experience which will stay very very close to my hear always.I did get some scolding as I returned after "7" long hours,but I decided not to argue over it.Already a couple of other issues had been raised earlier which pointed towards my temperamental aspect.In my heart I knew,there are right and wrong things,but then there are certain things,which are just necessary.It was the conclusion of another very eventful day.The next day,we had our rangmanch as well as the nukkad.I was pretty confident about performing well in the play...I went to sleep a satisfied and a confident man.

Third day at SF was when we performed our both group acts.Everyone played their parts in the play beautifully,what i loved the most was the ease with which we conducted it,there was hardly any pressure on anyone.Everyone was more than satisfied at the end of it,I personally believe we presented on stage,a dramatic act of really superior quality,and like many others,I was pretty confident that this would be a prize winning act.I would like to make a special mention here,as a note of thanks,to one of my friends from Kgp,who came to watch the play.The gesture meant a lot to me,as she was the only one to turn up,when I had invited about 5-6 friends of mine,anyway no regrets,I wastotally immersed in a feeling of satisfaction then.The nukkad was to begin shortly,and I didnt even have my lines,as the narrator.We practiced for some time,and we really enjoyed it.I feel it maybe the funniest nukkad for almost everyone who got to witness it.Again the systematic nukkads that most teams performed did make us a little nervous,but once again our team came out trumps.The nukkad also turned out to be a big hit,it got more claps,more smiles,more laughs,than any other nukkad(I didnt see all of them,but am pretty sure about this).Unfortunately no video of nukkad was made,but those images shall remain in my memory,those again were proud moments for us.It was like a mission accomplished.Dramsocs was a happy unit,Vivek Bhaiya and Kuldip Bhaiya(2 of the most important people behind this) must have been highly relieved men after this.As for the expectations,we had hopes from both the acts,and really high hopes.I personally,knew the fact that our nukkad wasnt technically very correct,not withstanding the fact that it was easily the most entertaining one,so I was a little sceptical about it.

The relieved souls just roamed about,most of the time doing the most important thing of the SF,trust me you get to see plenty of pretty faces.Everyone was involved in certain formalities like packing for some time,some tired ones took rest,I was still miles away from inaction,and kept myself busy in some or the other act(like getting the accomodation refund,which again happens to be a lengthy process).The evening had a couple of rude shocks for us,as we didnt win in either play or the nukkad.Different people took it differently,but one and all in our team were affected.For me,it was a great learning experience,prize or no prize,I was still a satisfied man,and in my heart,I knew that we were just unlucky not to be considered among the top 3 in the play.It was getting a little emotional for me,also because we were nearing the end of the fest.Also I was indirectly scolded by one of my seniors for a stupidity of mine during the play,I just hope I learn from the mistakes that I made,which will make the trip even more sucessful.I spent most of the time during the closing hours with one of my school friends,and a kgpian now,and it was great talking to him.We chatted on a variety of topics,and I wished that it could continue for a lot more time.The senti minutes ticked by,got converted into hours and soon it was bye bye time.

The expressions on some of our faces when we returned to Ranchi station summed up the nostalgia and the level of involvement that we had displayed.Most of us were exhausted due to the sustained energetic attitude that became synonymous to our presence,there for those days.I personally,was already missing the days,like many others.What a lovely trip it has been...Yo KGP,yo SF..and above all..Yo Dramatics society..."kachmachaa" diya hum logo ne!! :)

Experience Spring Fest-09 (Part1)

sair kar duniya ki gaafil,zindagani fir kahaan...zindagani gar rahi to naujawaani fir kahaan...

I was away from blogging for some time,as I had a good 10 busy days lately(which was upto 26 jan,but stayed idle for some more time).I was a member of the team from Dramatics Society of my college(team of around 20 people),which reprsented the college at Spring Fest,IIT Kgp.This meant that I had to miss classes,a gd session in my college,and I was supposed to miss out on a computer course as well,I decided to make all the sacrifices,because "passion first" has been my motto,and am glad I took this decision.

SF-09 was soemthing which I was always expecting to be a special experience,becuase I had a godly experience at Kshitij(tech fest of IIT Kgp) last year.The expectations were sky high,on proffesional terms,our team had to perform a play and a nukkad at SF.The plannings were being done for a good amount of time,but making this whole thing work out was a challenge in itself.The prospect of watching KK perform got many people even more interested,which eased out the things a bit.I wrote a 30 minute play's scipt,which I would frankly admit,has been one of the most challenging and satisfyibng things that I have done.Nukkad's script was finalised during the last moments,the various elements of decision making process again intensified the challenge.At one stage,the play was even scrapped,but finally we went to Kgp,as a happy bunch of people,well prepared for both Nukkad and Rang Manch(play),at least mentally,and I for sure,knew that Kgp will again provide me with a lifetime experience.

Things didnt start out well for us,as we had to wait for over 4 hours,sitting in the open,with all our luggage,due to certian "technical' problems.After a good amount of sustained effort from certain tired souls,our team finally got registered.We were begining to come into the 'nautanki' mode then itself,as we kept ourselves,and others who had gathered,entertained with out antiques.In fact the fun and frolic had began during the train journey,and the drama society,in its first such visit,was coming into its own,and quite confidently so.Summing up the situation so far...we had reached kgp at around 4.30 in d morning with an average sleep of say 3-4 hours(and that after significant efforts by varios TTs and security persons).We were 'accomodated'(the word really suits here) in a hall,it probably was 4 times the size of our hostel room(for 1 person) and 70 of us took guard,along with the bag and baggage.I deesperately wanted to have some rest,but then few of us decided to enjoy ourselves in an event called break free.
5-6 of us somehow pushed ourselves for it,after completing the couple of daily activities.It was an event where we were supposed to do anything in 60 seconds,was a great concept,but I had never been a person confident of facing such events.Most of my friends decided for comedy during the 1 minute,while I was suggested on trying something poetic.When we reached the venue,the event had started,I had not thought of anything,and my turn was a few minutes away,now I was begining to get the true feel of the Fest.I somehow managed to jot down a few lines on "main ek minute mein kahee gayi baat hoon",but soon things turned ugly for me.IIT Kgp students just cared for 3 things in the e,vent,GIRLS(didnt matter much how they looked),Kgpian performers and comic performers..I didnt fall in any such category,and judging by the proceedings I was sure to receive the kind of response I had never seen in my life.I almost dropped the idea of participating,but when the moment came,I gathered the strength,and recited my lines confidently,though I did face my share of hooting..though not to the extent I had expected.6 of our grp members took part in the event,and it was fun for most of us,though it was a pretty anxious for me.Finally we decided to have the best thing we could at that time,it was time for lunch,breakfast,snacks or whatever category one could think of.Jut as we were about to be seated in the cheapest dhaba of kgp(I love it,even though food isnt good),we came to know that 5 of us had qualified for 2nd round of break free which was about to begin,now I was totally getting into the fest mode.Even the so called basic necessities of life took a backstage during those moments,and thus we made our way back to the auditorium.Now for some stats,14 out of around 60 registered people qualified for second round,and 5 of the 6 in our group did.We were high on confidence,I surely was,it was like passing a test which was making me go real nervous.High on confidence,but low on ideas,thats what I was,60 secs had changed to 90 secs now,I had no clue what I would do now."main dedh minurte mein kahee gayi baat hoon" didnt seem like a good idea,and would have been a 'touch' repetitive too.But as things turned out,the 2nd round of break free turned out to be a truly amazing experience for us.Ideas came out of somewhere,most of us performed standups,and BIT was at its vintage best.No Kgpian came even close to our performances,it was a proud moment,where one and all present in the audi,must have realised the class that this drama team displayed.We easily bagged the 1st 3 positions(and I think would even have secured 4th and 5th if they would have been given).I got the 3rd prize,and the 1st thought was about the moment when I was trying to pull out due to fear of humiliation.My second act was a standup cum mimicry act,where I indirectly conveyed my view that SF for Kgpians only means looking around for girls(and quite desperately I must say).Needless to say it was party time after that,we finally managed to feed ourselves at 3.30 pm.I was in tears when I gave the news about the event at my home,the next couple of hours were really cheerful for all of us.It was followed by KK's show,which was the major attraction for most people.It started out in the most boring fashion for me,as I have never been a fan of KK,but slowly I got into masti mode with my friends,and in the end I managed to have a good time even though the songs were pretty much uninteresting for me.It was a mixed day for us,there were moments of frustation as well as moments of ecstacy.I had my first meal at tikka,which also made me nostalgic.We didnt practice even for a minute the whole day,which meant that the next day was supposed to be a busy one....(contd)