Childhood reloaded!!!

My Alpenliebe lollipops (All 4)...

After my cook shouting at me to get Jeera (Cumin) from last two days; today I set-up 2 alarms and still got up  bit late to run to the nearby grocery store… With the typical male ‘go and get it as told‘ approach, I picked a Jeera packet to the cash counter… The bill Rs 22… We both gave each other frustrated looks over change… The owner looked around his counter slowly trying to get my attention to buy some small items on sale… Usually I don’t pay any attention, and wait for him to tender change that adds into my piggy bank (well, currently my Kingfisher Airlines pouch… I don’t have a piggy to swallow the coins)… But then I noticed few lollipop’s there… A childhood smile emerged on my face… And I ignored the change that he was about to give and pointed my finger to them…

He generously got the whole box towards me… And my mind just thought of grabbing all of them at one go!!! I even picked chunks in both my hands… But then later released them seeing that I needed only 4 (Rs 2 each) to get to a round figure of 30…

As I came home and opened one of them it was childhood relived for next 30 mins!!! Slowly and gradually the lollipop melted drowning me into childhood……………… Childhood reloaded!!!

PS: I had 2 of them on Friday, and have saved the rest two for later… (Have hidden them carefully in my cupboard to protect them from my roomies)

………I should have…

(GO) NO FREE left turn...

Funny??? Actually it isn’t… Numerous people including me passed this square each day with the (GO) NO FREE left turn… The paper sticker put up by someone to convert the ‘NO’ to ‘GO’ for fun/convenience/timepass/etc had changed the whole meaning… I noticed it… I even clicked it from my cam… But did not get down from my cab and give a minute to correct it…

But thankfully it was corrected by someone, before my inner voice got strong enough to make me spend few minutes and act…

Somewhere we all feel that things need to change… Maybe even wish that we contribute… But then nothing happens until we act………

Each individual acts!!! ……… I should have…

Rajasthan Trip -Iternery, Locations to see and Travel

Map 4 (RC 1)

Since a long time or probably since childhood when I did regular treks, camps, etc. I wanted to plan and enjoy a long trip on my own………

Piyush, one of my best friend is visiting India after a gap and was going to be around Jaipur in March… So I had plans to visit Jaipur for a couple of days to see him… I thought of adding few more and see Jaipur when I am there… And then finally decided to take this opportunity to plan a Rajasthan trip… So after lots of planning, reading, web-surfing, Google search results, travel-sites, blogs, train timings and managing ‘dates’ of all superstars and megastars of the journey; here is our travel iternery presented as RC 1.

Rajashthan trip -Invitation

Sharing the invitation mail that I sent out to my friends…

Dated: Feb 28, 2009

Yesterday morning as I logged into my Google Reader to check blog updates; a line in one of the blog there said-

“”"am really happy when few of my friends really have tried to keep in touch, no matter where they are, whatever timezone they are in, but the ones I am referring to are the ones I feel are in front of the computer all the time, or carry a mobile phone with them for 20 hours a day, but still find it hard to use them to keep in touch !”"”

Mumbai Pune Volvo Travel…

Volvo

Mumbai… A Friday evening… As usual I was waiting for a bus to Pune at Vashi… Usually I prefer to travel via the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation bus, but looking at most of them completely full by the time they reached Vashi, I moved my attention towards a typical Mumbai-Pune Volvo bus… While I was paying the agreed ticket amount to the co-driver, the bus moved… So I knew the bus is full, and I have to occupy the back seats… As the bus made its move and the lights went dim… Half-blind in the dim light I tried to move fast; holding bag in one hand and managing my laptop on the other shoulder… It was was like walking blind in between the rows in a movie theater to reach your seat… The movies has already started, theater is dark and you can see almost nothing!!! As I neared the last seats, my bag had a hit with the legs of a female, who was sitting somewhat unusual on the second last row… I looked up amazed…

Chikki ghya… chikki… … Lonavala chi Chikki…

Chikki (Strawberry flavor)

I was sleeping… or well actually trying to sleep on the top berth of my compartment… It was raining steady outside… And I was shivering inside… Somehow the chaddar was not providing enough warmth… I heard the train leaving Lonavala Station… The irritating noise of on-station hawkers faded, and things were going calm… Could listen only to the helpless slow movements of the train in the Ghats now… And occasionally some in-train sellers… … …

“Chikki ghya… Chikki… … Lonavala chi Chikki…” (Have some Chikki… Chikki… Lonavala’s Chikki…)

[Chikki is a traditional ready-to-eat Indian sweet made usually from groundnuts\sesame seeds\dry fruits\Coconut and jaggery.]

Didn’t sound like a regular seller… I gave a cautions ear…

“Chikki ghya… Chikki… Lonavala chi Chikki…”

Sounded like a old trembling voice… female… pause…

“Chikki ghya… Chikki… Lonavala chi Chikki…”

This time a bit firm voice… Looked like she took a deep breath for this sale call… I turned and then took a peek out from my Chaddar…

We are so so so used to it… … …

Be a MAN. Respect women.

Here are some shareable “search strings” that have given some hits to one of my blog entry recently… Ugly, insane, or whatever… It just reflects something in us!!! Maybe not in us as individuals… But maybe yes its in us as being a part of mankind…

—call girls in goa
—calangute beach call girl
—1000 $ for a night
—call girls calangute
—goa women night
—finding women in calangute
—goa calangute beach girl
—call girls on baga beach,goa
—goa girls ready for a night
—phone numbers of call girls in goa

Here is the target blog entry… “Goa, calangute beach, 9**** *****, 1000 bucks, whole night, above 18!“…

My interaction with Religion and God…

No, this isn't any ancient temple that belongs to some Religion or God... Just a snap from my album at Picasa...

Continuing on last thread and Inspired from a write-up that my friend Prashant Murarka shared with me few days back…

 

All of us some time or other have had some interactions with these words… God, Religion, caste, etc. Trying to share a few of my major interactions from since childhood…

 

—Religion for me started when I was told by my Parents that I was a Jain as I was born in a Jain family… Maybe my rational thoughts even as a child did not make me feel that I should follow Jainism as I was Jain by birth… It was not like my parents were forcing me to follow Jainism… They were in fact very liberal and always said, ‘follow if you feel it is right’… But I guess the whole environment, big joint family, close society, etc. were embossing on me that Jainism was a obvious choice when I was to still understand for myself what is a Religion?, what is Jainism?, Why Religion? Why God? before I started accepting things…

 

—Most of my childhood days I spent at my home town village Vaduj. My Grandma used to offer 24 mangoes to God, before anyone in the house could start relishing the mango season… I still remember those mangoes… Bigger, better quality and TWENTY FOUR of them were offered to God and what we all 4-5 grand children got was one mango in the morning and one in the evening… When God never ate any of those 24 best ‘chosen’ mangoes and I always felt that it is unfair on me and my cousins; when I used to think that I alone could have taken all those 24 at the same time in my small tummy…

 

The Temple experience…

Sri Muneshwara Swamy Temple...

Early morning around 6:25, as usual I was sitting waiting outside this temple for my office cab… Another Software Engineer walked towards the temple… Now somehow I can identify a Software Engineer from distance in Bangalore… Coming close to the temple he performed the usual actions that people perform while passing by a temple usually in a hurry or otherwise and stood by the side of the temple… We both now wait for our cabs… Our eyes met with a formal smile followed by “Morning…” from both sides… And he walked to join me on the stairs… A pause for few seconds… I don’t know if it was early morning effect or going to school childhood feeling I asked him…

“Hey, you know which temple is this???”

Surprised with a unexpected question… “Ummmm… Well, No!”

“Mate you should have at least got to know something, before you bowed…”

“Well, yeah…” Reluctant to get up… He just turning around, reads the paint… “Sri Muneswara Swamy temple…”

A pause… His reluctance to move that bit reminded me of those people worshiping Dagdusheth Ganapati standing in the middle of the road…

Khandas Bhimashankar trek -Day 2

Clockwise: Pravin-Nimesh-Hemant-Snehdeep-swapsshah

After the exhaustive day 1 write-up, I will try to shorten this one… Well, as far as the trek is concerned it wasn’t really…

It was tiring, and more tough because it turned out to be unexpectedly long!!! The expressions above say only one side of the story… It was also fun, pure nature, excitement and loads of private jokes, friendship laughs all the way right from the nature’s call in the morning to the last minute as we departed…

So lets start from where we left yesterday… Khandas- A small village surrounded by mountains on three sides… No phone network has still been able to reach here till date… But its an amazing place where you would not feel cut out from the world, but rather it takes you closer to mother nature… Walk out in any direction, look anywhere and its all green and lively…