Papaji

From the day I met you, I always found you loving me. I don't remember a moment when you would have scolded me. You always had a special affection for all your grand children. All five of us were lucky enough to have you by our sides when we made small or big achievements. While during our initial years you would make us sit on your shoulders and would take us to either to have ice cream or buddhi mai (candy floss), when we grew up and passed the final exams of our respective standards, you would take all five of us along with dadi, for a treat. And yes I remember, these treats used to be exclusively for your grand children and parents were never allowed :) During my graduation period, you would ask me if I had a girl friend and would assure me that I could share it with you whenever I wanted to. When I got my first job, you gave me the title of 'Manager Sahab' and always blessed me to become a General Manager one day. You advised me not to take tension in work and do it with conviction. You motivated us by telling your stories and how you never allowed wrong things or corrupt practices come in your way. I remember when i used to sit besides you and you would ask me to lie next to you on bed. I remember when I used to hold your hand in mine and used to fear this day sometimes. I used to curse myself for thinking like this. I also remember all those fun moments you used to create, by complaining about Dadi. You used to ask us to find a new wife for you, preferably a foreigner and we used to enjoy the expressions on dadi's face and laugh about it. I remember when you used to call us 'Ullu da Pattha' or 'saala' and then we would blackmail you saying that we will complain to dadi. I have never seen such a caring man like you. You would say 'beta' to anyone...a rickshaw wala, a sabji wala, a carpenter. You would keep your hand on their head, blessing them. You would ask them to sit and relax and have lunch. You had the purest heart. I love you Papaji. I miss all those moments Papaji and I miss you a lot.

Bowled Over!

"Arey ball pakad thik sey " ( gather ball properly ),"Out ho gaya (that is out)"... These and few more are the lines which my sister used to tell me that i used to shout while sleeping. My subconcious mind followed and fulfiled my dream, in my dream, which i would have loved to make through in reality. I still remember those nights when a cricket match would be scheduled for next day and i would sleep with a hope that I will close my eyes and puff...it will be morning with blink of an eye, as i never liked waiting to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat. Reaching early home for a day night match, waking up early for matches in Australia and its Trans-Tasmania neighbours, burning mid night oil for ODIs in Toronto and West Indies and even leaving home early for Chemistry class with actual motive of watching an hour of Sachin's batting at a mechanic's shop ( my mother had sent television in hibernation as i had my board exams). I have done all these things and much more to see ' God of Cricket' bat. These are few things that each fan of Sachin has done. I remember praying for your century, i remember watching match at neighbour's hous when you had hit Caddick for a six over deep mid wicket, off a sizzling pull shot, i remember crying profusely when you were dismissed twice or thrice in nineties, within a month. I remember all the beautiful moments that you gave to millions of your followers. What I don't remember is whether I had ever imagined you taking retirement from Cricket. Such questions regarding retirement always seemed usless to me. But now it is one reality we all have to accept in 2013. The reality that there will be ODIs but there will be no Sachin Tendulkar. Even after waking up on 25th December, i was hoping that Santa will give me one gift and Sachin would confirm about continuing to play ODIs too. But that was something which didn't happen. Retirements are usually very emotional moments, for players as well as for their fans. Today morning, Mr Cricket a.k.a Mike Hussey retired from international cricket. He was lucky to have such a well scripted end for his career, as him team went on to win 3rd test while he was on crease, thus completing 3-0 white wash over Sri Lankans. However, this is something which Sachin's fans could not witness. He rightly judged that euphoria around his last ODI would have been too huge, which may be he did not want at this moment. Thus deciding to hang his boots without playing any more ODIs. Only hope that keeps all such fans going is that may be he will play lot many Test Matches for India and this decision of his would help prolong his career. Once again, his retirement from Test Cricket is something which cannot even be thought about and god willing, he will not take a decision which would leave all his fans ' bowled over'.

We blinked our eyes and poof,we were in Srinagar. It sounds like some magic, isn't it? I will explain in details. I am talking about our Amarnath yatra. As they say, "darshan unkey hi nasseb mein hotey hain, jinhey bulawa aata hai" and I guess we have had really good naseeb(luck).

Chapter One( And the adventure began): There were six of us(all of different & unique nature) who started this trip from Delhi, on 30th June,2011. On a lazy Thursday afternoon, we landed in Srinagar. As someone has beautiful said about Delhiites and I quote, " Everyone is something in Delhi & no one is alone", one of our friend too had his high profile contacts ready. He made a phone call, though importance of that call be revealed a bit later. We booked a cab for our next stop, that was Pahalgaon. There are two places from where yatra begins. One is Pahalgaon and the other one is called Baal Taal. Holy cave is 50kms from Pahalgaon. We boarded our cab and moved towards our next stop. Excitement could be sensed from our breath as we slowly moved towards some most panoramic views which we would be witnessing over next few days. On our way we crossed huge mountains, farms of world 's best and most expensive saffron, a silent Jhelum river and highly energetic Sindh river, whose water seamed as white as milk. We passed through villages and reached our first stop, Pahalgaon.
Another call was made by our friend and the voice on the other side asked us to reach Chandanwaari, 16kms ahead of Pahalgaon. After some confusion and discussion, we decided to follow that voice and reached Chandanwaari. We reached army base camp at Chandanwaari and met the body of that voice. He was Lieutenant Agnihotri. A young man of almost our age, Lieutenant welcomed us into the camp. Oh! Among all this excitement, I forgot to tell you that how dramatically weather had changed from Srinagar to Chandanwaari. Our jackets and pull overs were out and we were consistently rubbing our hands. We were offered hot coffee by our hosts, which would calm us down. We were shown our rooms( highly comfortable tents) where we could now relax. It was 07:30 in the evening. We were standing outside the camp and were hearing a constant noise(though it sounded sweet). We were told that at a distance of about 100 meters , there was a river flowing and above it was a small glacier.We couldn't control our excitement and immediately moved towards that river. We had seen
glacier for the first time in life and it was just so amazing. We touched the water of the river which was really cold. We enjoyed the view till around 8:15pm (as sun would not set before that time) and then we came back to our camp. We were served with some delicious food and also had conversation with soldiers who had been part of UNO's peace keeping team in Africa. Their description of the area in which they were sent made us realize that we were standing in front of real heroes.

The Untold Story

It is a fictitious discription of how women now feel in Delhi, after the tragic incident of 16th December,2012 . That day, after getting out from the movie theatre in Saket (a renowned area in South Delhi), I decided to take an autorikshaw up to my home. It was 10pm and I was accompanied by another friend who belongs to the same ‘sex’ as mine, one which is considered as the weaker section and is expected to accept anything and everything. Within few minutes of getting out, we encountered a car which passed us by, while seemingly educated men in that car passed lewd and demeaning comments on us. Yes they were so called ‘educated’ because those comments were in English. I and my friend ignored it, considering it as another normal day in the capital city and approached an auto wala. As expected from Delhi’s autowalas , they won’t help you in any situation and would prefer to stand instead of taking passengers with meter down. We then decided to wait for a bus. Luckily one friend was passing by, while we were waiting and he dropped us home. Next morning I heard news about Nirbhaya, girl who had been raped and brutally beaten up, along with his male friend. They both had also come out of the same theatre yesterday and had faced same issue of transportation. Though they must have felt lucky to get a bus at that time, they were oblivious of the fact that their lives would change completely within an hour. I was shocked to read the complete story. It was terrifying to know what that girl went through and my eyes couldn’t stop crying. She was a doctor in making. Another educated girl, whose life was now shattered. I thought if this education had any positives for us. I only had questions in my mind. What if my friend hadn’t come last night? Could it have been me and my friend? Could this incident be avoided had that auto wala at least taken her home? Were those educated men in car better than those in the bus who committed this heinous crime? Or were they the same, with some shame left in their eyes? These questions kept on revolving in my mind and I couldn’t concentrate on my work. In evening, I couldn’t walk out alone for the market. Actually I didn’t even want to go with someone. I had fear on my face. I was still wondering if I should feel happy about my luck or if I should feel for that brave girl. I decided not to go anywhere and instead involved myself in some work to avoid all thoughts. Thirteen days after this tragedy, ‘Nirbhaya’ has left the world, while all those questions are still unanswered. I still have that fear in me and I think it will take huge efforts from society and government to make this fear fade away. I wake up at night after having bad dreams. I feel I am being followed when I walk on the streets of Delhi and I am not able to travel after 6pm. I am confused if I should wear the western outfits I brought or if they are revealing clothes and men might think I am inviting them to rape me. I am a common girl who till now thought of being safe in her home city. I am that confident girl who fought with her parents to allow her to study and work in the capital, while they relax in the peaceful village. I am a sister, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a girl friend, who till now was the face of this growing nation and confidently competed everywhere but is now afraid to walk alone. I can be found in your college, your office, your locality or in a market and I am looking for your support. Support of not walking besides me, but support of confirmation which assures me that yes one day I will again be able to walk alone, with head held high and confidence of reaching home safely and respectfully.

Way of Life

When was the last time you had an open hearted laugh, which brought smile on faces of others and which took away all your worries? When was the last time you sat down to enjoy the serenity of silence? When was the last time you acted like a kid, showing ignorance to this complex world without being arrogant? Strange way to start a blog, isn’t it? Oh! another question. I leave the stage open for you to ponder on these questions. Today, only thing that can challenge Usain Bolt’s speed is the speed at which our lives are moving. There was a time when the only aspect we knew of life was enjoyment. Even without various comforts and no money in pocket, we could enjoy to the maximum. Getting wet in rain gave us happiness. Eating somebody else’s lunch in school gave us the devil’s pleasure. We fought with friends, with siblings but the next moment we used to be back, walking, eating and playing together. If all of it was possible at that time, then what is it that holds us now from being the same old ‘bravos’? Is it the time that has changed or is it us who have been molded into a different avatar? The answer to all these questions is with us. Yes, life has become fast and furious and we are now running towards goals, which even after achievement do not give us complete satisfaction. It is our unquenchable thirst for these achievements which has limited our vision of life and enjoyment. Let us sit back and remember all those beautiful moments. Let us give ourselves that time we need to dwell on and rediscover our priceless and unconditional smiles and laughter. Let us allow those thoughts and emotions to flow freely and we will realize that every moment is enjoyable and expressible. My wings, my flights, I discovered them today, Let me fly and find my own way… In the dark forests or around the sprinkling sun, Will live through my dreams and a new one would have just begun.

Walked on the road, walked through the sand... U taught me how to walk, while u held my hand. Walked through the darkness, walked through light... U always taught me, I need to keep up the fight U taught me about truth, u made me learn life... I followed ur foot steps and learned how to survive. Love is sacred, u told me some day...

GOODBYE DRAVID

As aptly said by the little master ,there will be no other Dravid.
I still remember the day when 16 years ago you scored a valuable 95 at
Lord's on your debut. Since then ,even though Indian Cricket was jolted
by many a tremors , you always stood tall and you actually always
stood, wall.
You donned gloves in ODIs for the team's sake , you opened the batting
when required and you batted for hours even if you were drained by the
energy sapping fielding sessions.
From you ,there have been innumerable marathon innings like 270 at
Rawalpindi , 148 at Headingly , match winning century at Adelaide and
many more. I cherished each and every one of them. Laxman's 281 at
Kolkata would not have happened without your equally precious 180.
You captained us through the Test Series wins in Windies and at the
English soil. Your willow was as eloquent as you and did most of the
talking during the tough tours of New Zealand and S Africa. Your 190 at
Hamilton in 1999 speaks volumes of your calibre.
Even best fielders in the game took notice of you and Wellington was
lucky enough to witness yourself breaking the record of maximum catches
in Test Cricket.
Many eyes might be wet 'coz they will not see you play again but they
take pride in what they have witnessed over the past decade and a half.
Dear Rahul Dravid, you will be missed.