Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Reincarnation in Goa

Actually after a long time, was really looking forward to something: I was really bored of anything and everything around me. And this trip felt like a great escape. But then this trip isnt about me, its about us. Its about eight people— Ankit,Avanish, Nitin, Ravinder, Rohit, Praveen, Vipul and me(names are strictly in alphabetical order to avoid any controversy) who are very different people, with different ideologies( Sounds like a big boss house), but had a common motive: to have fun—pure , uncomplicated and rare these days in our lives.

Last time I felt good , was after watching Wake up Sid : which portrayed a slice of life. And its now when we landed in Goa, there are was a amazing feel good factor that generated within: Cool winds, that blew was due to the trees all around or from the distant seas didn't matter. Ankit, me, Nitin and Avanish arrived together.

And let me first introduce my gang:

@ Ankit: He is certified doctor for all hygienic and non-hygienic purposes in our group. His patience is something to watch out for and we all were dependent on him for our finance and fooding.

@ Avanish: He is the guy with a heart made in heaven just for friends and a chimney installed in his heart on earth just to smoke. Besides this two activity, he sleeps (all alone:-)

@ Nitin: He is a little dynamite, more than not silent but his jokes have potential to create near destruction which can make you laugh to death.

@ Praveen: He is a challenge of sort, a mini storm, someone who is very hard to content and thats what makes him quite a sport and some one you just cant let go off your life.

@ Rohit: He is the male version of Plain Jane or Miss Goody Two shoes: Simple, Sweet and Silent, adding to the cool factor within the group.

@ Ravinder: He is perfect example of Jat Ban Gaya Gentle men. He used to be such a bully and seeing him now with so much composure and grace will make u pleasantly surprised.

@ Vipul: He is truly the leader of this gang with loads of maturity , and with his cocky madness, his striking balance hits perfectly the right chord.

And about me, I am this insane child of the group, whom all fonders with great care.

So our trip began and our agenda was clear: eat, drink, beaches, and of course babes( hidden agenda). Ironically it remained hidden only:-)

The trip began with all of us drinking the first night bottom up and going to the sea:

Moment of Madness: When we went reach the sea at Calangute beach at midnight, pegs down and spirits high. Higher than the waves that we encountered. And what followed can be best described as Mad man's act and victim was the usual Avanish, who was turned into a basket ball, in the sea court and game was played in the most adventurous way it could have. Our camera was the single witness to that but unfortunately as the censor board as prevent us from public circulation of that night display of insanity.

Next day we were were happily meandering in the deep waters of the Arabian sea, swimming,diving and taking on the splashing waves with full vigor. Our breakfast was strictly South Indian keeping in mind that we did not have a representation from the state in our group.
Anyone smiling..will be sent to Raj Thackarey.

Food of the trip: The big king-size fish tandoori with a bottle of Fennie.

Disaster of the trip: Having Punjabi Thali in Goa and Rohit driving the jeep. Cant choose between the two.

All the four days we drove in a open-air jeep, and riding on it was nothing short of adventure. Of course ask the chauffeurs who drove it....Avanish and Ravinder are clear nominations and again voting is open here. File your vote. My vote goes for Avanish because of his passion for driving: although Ravinder being better at hand.

Night at the Titos was colorful and eventful. We danced and danced till the wee hours. While Ravinder was unstoppable, you had to see to believe seeing Praveen dance, and so were others. Sandwich and Brownie at 4 in the morning.....Sizzling!!! A little more than Riya Sen in her white dress that nite at Titos. Nite life in Goa is truly rocking..its cool clubbing all over. One moment you think, is it India?

Dance of the trip: Mr. Praveen Sahay, who danced at Tito challenging all standard choreographies and to bring home the point: Pappu can dance Saala.

Adventure Sports were cool and loads of fun. Flying high in the Parachute over blue sea, meeting eye with the sun. Period. So was the water drive and banana.

Action of the trip: Mr. Ravinder Dagar's timely dive in the banana ride and Au's efforts to reach out to deep sea and panicking each time he didn't find his feet on ground after a bugling wave.

Last night of the trip would be always memorable. The moon was at its silvery best, and the sea was looking ravishingly beautiful and at its wild, sexy best. There were loud, wackiest jokes cracked, resulting into resounding laughter. As the night grew, it was the time for heart to heart communication. That night someone spoke and someone listened. While few were sitting, few strolled, in that silence of night, I learnt a few things.

Anecdote: Any good script should have the emotional touch.

The night was astounding, waves resounding…..

...(Wordsworth would have been proud)

Few potential winners::

Drunker Award of the trip: The award was keenly contested between Praveen and Ravinder for their undivided loyalty for Fennie( It is a Goan drink made out of cashew or coconut) and the Goa govt is planning to appoint them as brand ambassadors for the drink. However the winner is undecided in this segment...Pl vote for the your favourite contestant

Bravery award of the trip: The award has been unanimously decided in favour of me for the sheer overconfidence I exhibited to drink down Fennie half bottle neat, in Anjuma Beach and almost making my challenger Avanish wondering why did he challenge? I didn't win.

Of course the anti-climax that followed didn't matter because by then I realized why my friends are class apart from others...they didn't let me complete the challenge, because they though. challenge was not bigger than my health...I was high that night...not because of the alcohol but because of my friends. That was my night of Dangerous Liasons..

But the Kodak moment of the trip will be the snaps we took in that old fort (famous for Dil Chahta hai). We did have ours too.....Lovey Dovey. Check the same out at the site.

Humour was the basic element of the trip: It came in all form whether physical ( ask Avanish) or mental( Ask Ankit). Some jokes were funny to the core, some were loud, some were irritating, but the jokes that won all our hearts were brilliant because of their sheer timings.

Jokes of the trip:Clear Winners here are the one that was cracked by Nitin Mittal that last nite on the beach ( Censored) and the other one on Chanda Mama cracked by Ravinder.

Every movie is incomplete without a good cameo, which was played by Rohit to the tee. He added that perfect sweetness to give trip that fresh feeling.

And someone who ensured the trip went off smooth was Vipul.

My final vote of thanks, pl give a pat at your back:

Praveen, who gave the idea of trip( An idea changes our boring life Sir jee)
Ankit, who managed our finances
Avanish and Ravinder for co-ordinating
And of course me, Rohit and Nitin for participating….

And this trip of ours is dedicated to all those friends who are planning for a trip like this for long..its time to make a call, fix a date and venue and pack your bags…..trust me we started off where we left…whenever we met last.

To all my friends..wherever you are Kolkata, Delhi,Hyderabad, Mumbai, Assam, Gujrat, Bengal… o wherever in India I love you and miss you all.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Wake up the "Sid" in us

After watching Wake up Sid, I felt good. Actually very good. I felt like calling up my close friends or friend whom have not spoken for a long time. Was wondering, we watch movie each week, what the movie possessed that touched my emotional chord so deeply. Well must tell you, that we bunch of insane people( read Vikram, Sagar, Venus, Geetu, myself and our Ruby Bhaujai) went to watch the movie and the movie left us so elated that we continued the tempo of fun for some time. And unfortunately our victim became the staff and other visitors of CCD. We lost all sanity when six of us attacked on that plate carrying single brownie with vanilla ice-cream. Our weapons fork plunged into the brownie and within no time, we gulped it all and ordered for another. By the time second brownie had come, we had shed all our inhibitions and attacked the same with more vigor. It was mini battle of sorts to get the share of that delicious pie. While I am sure other people would have found us jokey bafoons, we enjoyed at our own expense least bothered about the rest of the world. That moment I realized that even a simple moment like that can make into the beautiful collection of picturesque moments. But you need to have the spirit to enjoy the same. That moment I realized what Wake up Sid did to us that night—it made our spirits go free. How? By awaking the child like, innocent, unadulterous, selfless Sid in us which cares a damn about perfection, and lives in his own tune. Ultimately the movie was about living the moments, whether it was Sid's innovation of posing a bunch of bread with a candle as a birthday cake or our long drive at 3 am at night to a village...each having its own thrills and joy!!

Wake up Sid was also about identifying our talents. What we like doing and pursuing those. Often we are good at something but we are ready to for-go the same to chase something else and make it our career and convince ourselves we are happy at that. And then it needs probably a friend or a Ayesha to come and tell you, that you would be very good at a particular thing. Truth is stranger than fiction that is why we don’t believe in our talents and while others do. I have promised to myself that I will pursue my dreams along while with my career that happened to me. Thanks to my Study Buddies for reminding me the same.

Irrespective of who we are, what we are we all love to be loved, cuddled and constantly seeking compassion without a reason. The movie attempts to stir that emotion rigorously in us and manages beautifully. Even a simple hug can be so endearing in life, when you really need, you will never know unless you have those bunch of special friends in life, to die for. That night, I missed my school, MBA and my Guwahati friends who has had been a defining support in my life and of course, I missed having that special one by my side. It may be just another movie, but it touched my soul.

If you are reading this, I would like to re-iterate what the movie says “Fulfilling a dream is satisfying only when you have someone worthwhile to share with”.I wondered whether eating that brownie in the CCD tht night still would have been so memorable, if Venus would not have shared it, or Vikram would not have tried to rob it. Perhaps not !!! Memories are made by near and dear one..so please go and give the special person a hug and make him or her realize that the person is special for you. And never let the Sid in you die, as a little bit of imperfectness is perfect for our lives…..

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Three Beautiful People

Beautiful people are rare to meet and I was lucky to meet three of them and interact for a period of 2 years and got connected to the life time friendship card with them. When I use the word beautiful, it is in the context that each one of them had a unique way of looking at the world, which I found bful besides the fact they were each gorgeous in their own ways. Each left a indelible impression, which has helped me groom in a better way, I am today and I would like to thank all three of them,I never had an opportunity to, for being just there for me.

First and foremost, would talk about the friend who and me connect with what aesthetically people call : values. We almost have a similar outlook towards life and people, just that I am a little more hyper and she is a little more calm. She is not a bong, but her name means artist in our language. Yes thats right, Shilpee. Well I must admit, when I met her, I particularly didn't think highly of her, not that I do now, but its just that, we are just too addicted to each other's company. Anyways coming to our first day on interaction, was particularly amusing since Miss Late( she was always good 5 min late for classes, we wondered whether she took so much time to comb her long hair)..well I must say she had a really long hair like Rapunzel). So by default of being late, she had to sit beside me in first bench. Ten min into that account class, two strangers were forced to communicate to each other, thanks to boredom the professor generated.....through chits, which became a rage in class room communication. Poetry, Odes, sorry, thank you all became part of those chits and the thrill of passing them was unimaginably attractive and anticipating the replies. And also it promised to begin a new friendship. Cool, composure and grace are three qualities which she displays in testing times, is what I endorsed from her. You know I have said this before but she is God send angel to the souls who get lost in this world like me and she has tend to give me direction each time. Only once I was really angry on her till date, the day she cut her bful long hair to turn into curly Maggie noddles( she supposed perceived as style).Its 6 years from that classroom desk to this day, in this endearing journey of joy and tears, nothing has changed beside the fact that we have become best friends.

Cut to the second girl I would talk abt. Calling her a girl would be sort of misnomer..She is a hurricane of sort. She is one, who is upright and dares all( she can send anyone to ICU with her acts, ask a few in our college): I was completely taken aback by the energy she displays...If in one sentence I have to describe, she is a free spirit whom no one should cage ever. She's outspoken and speaks her mind..she's never politically correct and a few who takes stands and not boringly diplomatic. Well there is a flip side too..she often acts impulsively just like me and can shock people with her unconventional revelations. She works on a simple but cool philosophy: If you cant keep yourself happy you cannot keep anybody else happy. I never believed in the same but I feel this is the biggest truth in life which we fail to acknowledge. People would call this selfish but she gives me a counter logic :we have just one life to lead and we cant waste it for anyone and anything. She has this uncanny quality of magnet any one that comes across her cant but get charmed by her. But inside this exuberance, lies a girl, who just ones to live and let live. They say truth is stranger than fiction and the fact that we are friends is a testimonial to that. We have had fights but we have proved to people, that bond of friendship is beyond everything else. She is truly a brand ambassador for all those girl, who dreams and aims high because while flying high, she has never forgotten her roots. By now I know you have guessed it right—its one and only Sonia!!

Some friendships happen because it is destined to happen: One such happened to me also. Payal.Well this is one friend, who owes lots of thanks for several reasons, and I haven’t even thanked once...She is the one who brought out in me the writer, an art I never knew I had, so that fact that I am blogging attributes to her only. She is one rare of talent , whether anchoring, painting or studies.....while others enjoyed and had fun, she stayed focused in her work. She has inspired me, encouraged me when I am down,and have helped worked towards success. I still remember the day, first semester results were announced the joy in her face on being one of the toppers and not anticipating it was worth a watch. Fact that we had different set of friends helped to share something different. Her willingness to help others is something special. Two things that I will always remember abt her is her dream to set up a orphanage some day and her smile, which had the radiance to bring brightness in other’s life. Well only thing, I would like to say her is : Thank you.

In fact, I have learnt to understand people and perspectives better because of these special people….you have to be lucky to get such friends who are much more than just another pretty face!!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Living Life...On the Edge

Well I must confess-most part of my lives, I have lived it on edge, be it catching a train or flight or completing my studies for exams or assignments/projects in B school. While most of the times it is not intended, but just naturally happens to me….and to add up, there are minor hurdles happening just to add up to the thrilling climax of every episode. And luckily for me each time by grace of God I have managed to be not in time, but just in time or just made it.

And I must each time I have this angel…mostly in form of my cousin Tj, who either books my ticker at odd hrs or supply with PNR no at midnight when I realize I am in train without a copy of ticket, and averts the disaster. In college days it used to my B-school buddies who used to protect me.

Sometimes success can spoil your habits and I learnt it the hard way, on Friday. I had a flight to catch from New Delhi to Kolkata..Thanks to my nephew who will inaugurate his staple diet that’s rice or more precisely as famously called “Anna prasan” by my hand. True to my self, I was busy closing my day’s work at office despite my colleagues several attempts to pursue me to start my journey to airport as clouds were meandering large nearby…..unwary of such things, my risk appetite allowed me to continue to work at little longer till 4:15 pm when finally I proposed to move.

Well as it is said, man proposes and God disposes….And God disposed an immaculate amount of shower well clubbed with gutsy wind…which left me and people around blitzy-gritzy. Well I have had experiences of hurdles but hurdle of this magnitude was unimagined in my wildest dream. However my dreams of catching the flight at 6:45 pm were still in my eyes…and finally at 5:20 pm I managed a cab and set for the journey. Thanks to my roommate who escorted me from my office to the residence where cab was waiting. I was confident flight would be delayed and I will make it anyhow as I have literally adopted the dialogue “ Acche logo ke saath accha hota hai” in my and my close ones life.

While the beginning was promising, moment I reached Pragati Maidan, things started looking gloomy. Traffic all around and water logging…I still was hopeful. After painful crawling, the cab reached ITO…and that’s it….All hopes shattered. I was in middle of a mess... And what was set to be a thrilling climax and turned out to be a so bloody one-sided anti-climax. I was stuck there in the heart of Delhi for good 4 hrs….Flight was long in the distant heights without me. And I who had watched in news or paper of this kind of traffic massacre was witnessing the same at the cost of my wallet and painfully sitting in the cab, loaded with wet clothes and gladder.

But there are some guardian angels in the city in form of Vikram and Venus, my new acquisitions in friendship, who gave me not only shelter but served amazing food for dinner. Thankfully I managed a ticket next day early morning..


And at this point writing this blog, on a well spent evening with my cousin and close friends followed by some delicious delicacies by Ma dearest . But the chai at the Bhawanipore Gurdwara refreshed my day and mind….now eagerly waiting to meet my nephew and niece tomorrow. All you people out there must try out the tea at tht juncture and today only learnt they serve Thumbs Up with Milk….Dangerously Attractive..time to again live on the edge..Guardian Angels be prepared!!!

Monday, August 17, 2009

W3: What Women Want

Well as I always wondered what would the most challenging thing or element in this world to know or explore : And it came to my mind nothing can be more exciting than trying to read through the mind of a woman. Well I have been fortunate to interact with quite a few of them and all diverse within themselves.

First myth that Guys have is that they understand girls. And the Fatal Myth: Guys feel that some day they will able to grasp their mind completely. Sorry boss: " Hum honge Kamayab..ek din" dosnt work here !! Well India is divided into multiple religions and God only knows how many caste, creed but all girls in India, irrespective of geography, religion, caste, creed, education, nature, profession shares a common dream : “Raj” the eternal romantic hero that will come in their lives one day, and sweep them off to the stars. Well DDLJ that created “Raj” is not a cult film because it is the longest running film till date but it empowered even a simple Indian girl power to dream and choose. Unfortunately, the “quintessential Indian Male” although adopted the glamour of Raj but never got into the “soul” of Raj, what women wanted…..All though I agree that there can be exceptional exceptions. And then there is SRK, the global Indian selling dreams...

Well “love” adds a little magic to our lives…..well so when you are in love, never wait too long…because girls know you are in love with them even before you know about your own feelings….And a lil birdie has also told me that in all eras, girls want guys to come forth and propose themselves. Now here is the catch: From here the task gets cut out for guys…girls love unpredictability in guys. Guys should have the talent to surprise them in different ways each time…be it your wit or your joke or your silent blushing…….in short you need to do something to give them a chance to say: “ How cuuuuuuuuuute…” and seeing them say that so cutely your heart just miss a beat and make you fall in love with her again……and make you say that three letter word which the girls love to hear time and again….till infinity:)

But what beats all..is their love for golguppahs...the expression at the sight of them is sheer rush of adrenalin...and make you wonder what those round shaped "Atta ka Golas" have that you dont have to bring a million dollar smile in their faces.....Keep thinking but we will never know!!