Crawling ants

“…we were crawling with limp legs over him with a caution. A drop of sweat slide from the scalp of his deceased head and made it's way through rear of the left ear, finally tickled over the bare shoulder and got absorbed in smoldered body. He was such familiar with the pain we were offering him that he had no expressions left for us and let us astonished at him. The ambience was damp with the sweat of burned, exposed bodies and air was filled with stench of foul breath. His garment was tattered with several claws clinging to get every piece of it. His skin had turned hard and brown with dust wrapping the superficial skin. He was gripped with brown, thick clutches that were shedding their rust over his stiff, dry hands. Their imprints could be felt over his pulses. He was sitting at one corner of the wooden encroachment and looking up at the three holes that were dig for the air to get inhaled into the vacuity. The warm rays of sun were intruding from these holes and were resting over his right fist making it brighter than the other one. He raised the other hand and with aching efforts, tried to close the left fist with the streak of sun ray within. The rays pour over the mesh formed by his clutched fingers and then a drop of tear emerged from his eye. He raised his face towards the three holes with moist eyes and anger flow inside the veins running through the ripples formed over his forehead….”

“For the past one year, I had been crawling over him over the same place and biting him at the same spot. Initially he used to howl at me while cursing his destiny, but all in vain. His pain had slowly transformed into numbness and then he started smirking at me with a grin. I know that finally he will let the sun rays fall over his feet and he will rest his head over his fists and will die wailing for lid to get open for the last time, but why should I care…!! Let me take pleasure in his pain.”

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Well don’t pain your brain over this short imagination..!! This is a superficial imagination about a man trapped inside an enclosure for the past one year. Since then he had been watching the rays coming out of three holes dig on the roof lid. He had a wish to take control over the impossible by clutching the rays in his fists, and as expected he failed miserably everytime. At that moment he realized that he is under regulations and is not allowed to go against the nature. It is the time when he started feeling the pain bestowed by the crawling ants. Just like him all of us are living in a closed environment wherein we experience pain and pleasure at the same time. Sometimes you feel like getting out of the solid clutches and dart out of the closure by smashing on the roof lid. But the clutches won’t allow you to raise your potential and finally you see rays of hope. You try to hold these and go against the customs, but in vain, and then you realize the pain within you. In short, you get to realize your limitations when you attempt to go against the obvious.

But the real courage is to hold the rays in your hands and smile at the crawling ants…!!!

Alone in the office

The time is around 4 PM and I have already messaged her many times. I was browsing through the pages, but still the thoughts like…has she taken her lunch…has maid servant done her job perfectly…has someone knocked the door…is she sleeping comfortably or not…etc were strolling through my mind. This is not the first time I was thinking about someone left at home behind. In 2007, my parents visited my house and I had to join office on Monday. The situation is same today. Instead of my parents, my wife was staying at home. Right from entering the Infosys campus, the phone had started ringing and enquiring about how the things are there in home. As I swiped in my proximity card for recording attendance for the day, I had anticipated the time when I would safely leave the office and go to home.

Believe me, it’s a blissful feeling to have someone waiting for you in home after you come back from your office.

It has been ages for me living alone and so thinking about being responsible to leave someone at home was an all-together different feeling. This is the imminent transformation in me after getting married few weeks ago. I used to eat and roam randomly but now the situation is more demanding. I have to pre-plan our meals, make arrangements for that and ensure everything is in place etc. Also, think about better place to visit for couples, regulate the time for outings, and finally drive safely. I hadn’t visited the temple in Hyderabad since last 1.5 years, but today my marriage made me visit 3 temples in just one day.

As I was writing this blog in office and looking at the engagement ring on my finger, I thought that these changes are bound to happen for good. These are the good transformations that will make you more sensible, caring and responsible in future life. It’s more than just marrying someone and retaining your rustic beliefs. You have to change and surely you will, to be her “better half”.

A must watch...

"Munni meri behen munni, munni meri behen munni, to tu mar gyee? Lambu ne tujhe lamba kar diya? Maachis ki tilli ko khamba kar diya?".

“There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who have seen 'Gunda'. And those who shall see it.” -- Roger Abhert

It is pleasure to have the opportunity to get into first kind of people after watching the highly commendable movie “GUNDA”. It’s a cult movie and you would be surprised to know that movie with such incongruous title is on IMDB at rating 8.4. IMDB is renowned website for Indian and international movies. That means it is uniformly accepted as a masterpiece and also I guess it holds the world record for being screened in almost all men’s hostels in India..!!! Each and every dialogue of this movie is work of genius in itself.

Let me take the pleasure to introduce the characters of this famed movie along with some of their punch lines (Just to mention that these lines may be offensive and to a extent indecent, so ladies and kids are advised to keep their eyes shut for one paragraph please): -

1) Bulla. "Mera naam hain Bulla, rakhta hoon main khullaaaaaa"

2) Chutiya. Bulla’s hermaphrodite brother

3) Lambu Atta

4) Pote. “jo aapne baap ki bhi naheen hote”

5) Ibu Hatela. “Mera naam Ibu Hatela, Ma meri chudail ki beti, baap mera shaitan ka chela, khayega kela?”

6) Inspector Kale

7) “kafan chor neta”

8) Bacchu Bagona and our own

9) Shankar, played by Mithun Da

Apart from these, Mithun Da has one sister and one girlfriend. Since they don’t have their introductory signature so they aren’t worth mention here. As you can observe, each and every character is able to raise an air of suspicion and curiosity inside you that you can’t resist to not seeing this movie. I had known about this movie since my engineering days and my days at IIT. The film offers distinct lingoes that people were often seen conversing in same fashion. The cinematography is superbly done with just one camera (must have been produced in recession hit period). All characters in movie are made to deliver their share of dialogue in front of the only camera and exactly no movement can be seen. To mention about the dialogues, as you have read in the title, it seems every character was paid peanuts to write their own dialogue in a minute and deliver it in a way as they wish. The movie present all sort of ‘gunda’s present at that time and the one and only messiah, Mithun Da who come for the rescue. He possessed an over weight girl friend who always tries to wooh him with ridiculous songs and her plump body, clutched with ill-fitted flashy dresses. Apart from her, he also has even fatter sister, and over-acting father, and a monkey who can understand his language.

There are many fascinating scenes and situations in this movie that can make you grip the edge of seat and wouldn’t leave you without watching the whole…Mithun as ‘coolie’ found on airport tarmac…rape scenes of ladies and then their murder, but without even removing their clothes…songs that have no remote relation with a scene before and after that…the dresses of the actors that can compete against all colors of the rainbow (even their shades too..!!)…all the characters in the movie are dead in the end but our Mithun Da still conquer the screen…and many more.

Out of many movies I am the big fan of comedy movie “Andaz Apna Apna” and now I think I need to update my data base with this cult one. This movie is best suited to be seen during honeymoon nights. The movie is one of the finest comedies ever made that can make you laugh for the whole night and keep you awake…!!!

Sienna village…Munnar

The hill roads had gruesome and sharp turns that can send shivers down the spine. The breadth of the road could accommodate not more than two bikes at same time, and our driver was so adept at driving on such scales that we were cruising at a speed of 80 kmph.
After a long wait during our travel, we finally reached to the top of the hill where our resort was situated.

Sienna village is a privately owned resort in Munnar and present exotic duplex cottages with a wide panoramic view of the scenery. The sitting room had a television and a sofa set where you can relieve yourself and relax around. The bedroom had a small balcony that open towards the hill side and a dam in front of us. We had a candle light dinner where we could feel the presence of other newly-wed couples around. Apart from Indians, there were many foreigners around in the restaurant trying their hands at eating ‘idli’s with fork and knife..!!!

The serene ambience was complimented with slight cold breeze of air. The rooms were warm and it was perfect occasion to sip a cup of tea while seating in the relaxing chair in the balcony. This place is famous for tea gardens (those are majorly owned by TATA Tea Ltd) and condiments. As you stroll over the walkways, you could smell the mixed fragrance of different types of condiments. We had few pictures of tea gardens and I must admit that these gardens are amazing. They seem to be like a painting beautifully carved with natural shades of colors. The plantations were aligned perfectly by the gardener or else by the nature.
Then we went to flower nursery where couples were seen clicking their best pose in front of camera with beautiful flowers in background. We found it little boring, infact artificial. Then we moved on to visit dams where you can enjoy the boat rides and road shopping. Munnar is also famous for home-made chocolates and sure we had our share too..!!!

We could find a lovely cuisine over the local shop for which were longing for so much of time…bachelor’s own favorite “Maggi”. We stuffed ourselves with 2 plates of maggi over the lunch and still wishing for more..!! After more sight-seeing we decided to shop for some condiments and chocolates for our dear ones to satisfy their raised hope against us.

Munnar is a small hill station and has always been an attraction for foreign tourists. The people are so humble and cooperative that you can’t resist thanking them for their courtesy. It was the time to return back to Hyderabad with lots of memories in our hearts (and camera of course..!!).

God’s own country

It was pitch dark in the night and the roads were too narrow to allow two cars to pass through without any hiccups. The humid air was breezing through the windows of the cars, carrying the aroma of raw spices. Old romantic songs of 90’s were complimenting the journey and she was sleeping with her head resting on my shoulders.

Kerala is known as ‘God’s own country’ and we were heading towards KTDC resorts in Kumarkom. The resort is situated on the banks of Vembanad Lake and possesses a beautiful bird sanctuary in the widespread area owned by the resort. The place is famous for back water lakes which are as calm as silence. The resort has many canals and the individual cottages were situated over canals.

We were stunned with the beauty of the resort and the comfort it offered when we entered our room. The room was adorned with a king size bed and lazy environment with dim lights and mild air condition. We woke up next morning with a mild breeze of air assorted with the warm rays of rising sun. Standing over the balcony, we found ourself surrounded with amusing and natural plantation. The lucid water was flowing in the canals creating the ripples along the edges. Rare species of birds could be seen sitting over the trees. The ambience was totally relaxed and silence prevailed over the speech. We had a good and heavy breakfast and resolute that we won’t leave this place without getting an ayurvedic massage. Kerala is famous for its herbs and body massage done while using them. Many therapies were introduced to us, but we decided to take a safer route and asked for basic body massage from the menu. I could feel the anxieties entrenched in my body being released to the vacuity as the masseur spread the warm oil over the body and liberate the extra oil to the wooden bed. As we move out of the room, we sensed a different world all-together. After that we took a record minimum of 6 baths to drain out the oil still left over our body..!!!

The evening offered us a pleasant view of the Vembanad Lake where the sun was setting at its slow pace. The house boats were sailing over the perfect backdrop of setting sun and birds were chirping while returning to their nests. I had a glass of beer over the hammock and then we had nice dinner. While walking over the narrow pathways towards our room, we could sense the buzzing of insects, tree leaves fluttering in a calm territory and could see the faint shades of light over the cottage’s windows and kids enjoying the hammocks.

Next day we took a ride over lake on a speed boat. It was 7 AM in the morning and we were excited to inhale the natural breeze of fresh air. One can easily spot the elation on the face of Divya. The early birds were looking at us with suspicion. After that, we went to a bird sanctuary where you could see different types of migratory birds. Unfortunately the best season to view them is in summers, so we walked over the sanctuary without any expectations. We had a heavy breakfast and now it was the time to pack our bags for our next destination, Munnar. I couldn’t hold the feelings of not leaving this place and finally was supplemented with lots of memories in form of photographs and video clips.

As I was going through these pictures, I could appreciate the efforts spent on preserving this natural beauty in God’s own country named Kerala…

Behind the 'sehra'

The cameras were flashing high on the face with numerous mobile phone cameras clicking to get the best and biggest shot of the man behind the ‘sehra’…Numerous hands were jostling to get the streaks of grey colored hair into the ‘saafa’ (turban) so that the sister can smear the forehead with a ‘teeka’…Ladies (man’s bhabhi) were giggling their way out to apply ‘kajal’ on his eye lids... Camera men were requesting everyone who comes in their photographic frame...100s of relatives and well-wishers were sitting along side the wall and were smiling at the new found ‘centre-of-attraction’…The ladies were whispering in their husband’s ears to let loose some cash for blessing the man…The room was embellished with blistering flash lights and the humid ambiance was filled with mixed fragrance of flowers and different brands of perfumes…

I got married on 31st January this year and this day is considered auspicious for “Basant Panchmi”. The wedding went off very smoothly and I must say that 10 hours of the occasion gave me enough memories to pen down for the blog. This is strange but true that in this revolutionary age too, the customs are still the same. They might have been modified but still you can’t expect the relief from these. I am strong enough to admit that sitting on a mare or marriage sofa or cushions during ‘phera’s is still the painful and audacious activity as used to be in past. The list is endless and I’ll try my best to not to forget any one of these in the following paragraphs.

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Those 10 hours…

‘Sehra’ is a string of little flowers that is tied over the turban (‘Saafa’) to cover the groom’s face during the whole marriage (atleast till he reaches the bride’s place). It gave me feeling that my face holds a special value and is not available for public display..!!! My first test: - the ‘sehra’ was so thick and heavy that I could barely see anyone in front of me. I was guided to the gate by numerous hands holding and the flash-lights of camera men. The flowers in the ‘sehra’ included very fine, irritating silver streaks that were intruding my nose and mouth as I breathe. So you can imagine two tests at the same time, first, walking to the door without using your eyes and second, to inhale much required oxygen to survive till the end of the function. As I had reached the gate, a beautiful adorned mare was waiting for me patiently. There were some rituals to be performed by my mother and after that I was invited for second test. This test was as furious as money tasks in Roadies (MTV popular reality show similar on the lines of AXN’s “Fear Factor”). I was supposed to climb up the mare taking care of my turban, ‘sehra’, the complete dress and of course, media. The mare was good in height and I could feel her smiling at my trepidations. I don’t know how I carried myself over the mare in just 2 attempts. “The guests must have been smiling at me at my 1st attempt, but who care for them; I have a ‘sehra’ to save me from their mocking faces.” After some ceremonies at the nearby temple we (my sister, mother, cousin and a friend) were stuffed in Maruti Zen. We were supposed to reach an assembly point from where we will form a ‘baraat’ and reach bride’s place. This was most awful trip of my life. A small little Zen was filled with 5 healthy people and sharing the same amount of air for breathing. On top of that I was stuffed with tightly packed turban, wicked ‘sehra’, heavy attire etc. One thing I forgot to mention that, to add to my misery I was suffering from body weakness due to the high fever that I had few days ago. So these conditions were quite satisfactory to be called as another ‘test’.

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The ‘Baraat’…

It feels so vulnerable to see the people dancing to the beats of band-walas while you struggle to breath behind the ‘sehra’. They must be really very happy for 2 reasons: - (1) Its my marriage and (2) they are not sitting on the mare. The traffic on the road felt the discomfort which can be felt by continuous honking of cars, people smiling at the comical ‘baraati’ dance, foreigners taking the snaps to understand the Indian culture (next Monsoon Wedding in making...!), some guests staring at me to verify whether they have joined the right ‘baraat’ or not. The crowd was divided into many factions, some dancing genuinely to the tunes of band, some dancing vigorously on the beats of ‘dhol’ and in middle of them ladies dancing randomly to mixed tunes. Apart from these, I could see some children juggling between the groups and dancing fanatically irrespective of any music (or no music...!) that was playing (that’s the spirit of childhood). All the professional dancers become amateur in 'baraat'..!! Anyways, finally we reached the entrance of marriage lawn where I could see huge crowd of guests waiting anxiously for us. All were trying to grab a chance to have glance at my looks (behind the ‘sehra’ of course). I was helped by many hands to descend the mare and walk towards the podium. The next few moments were comfortable for me. After some brief ceremonies, I saw Divya, my wife, walking down the red carpet, holding a big garland in her hands, staring downwards and taking smallest steps as possible. Someone said it right; girls’ look poles apart than the usual self when holding the wedding garland. We exchanged the garlands and were greeted with huge applause from the audience. As we sat down after this ‘mega’ event, the guests followed us with the greetings and blessings. Along with that they had picture-poses especially made for the camera men and video men. Seems like they do not want to miss the opportunity to mark their presence with a valid proof…!!! This was followed by brief dinner where formalities ultimately lead to starvation. How can one expect to eat a big ‘gulab-jamun’ before the meal, in presence of big audience with their mouth wide open?

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7 ‘phera’s and the ‘vidaayi’...

The ‘phera’s are known to be the final ceremony without which the marriage stands incomplete. These are the 7 wishes of Lord Parvati which she had offered to Lord Shiva and on the basis of his accepting them, she would marry him. In return of these 7 wishes he also had the liberty to wish one. Now we know why the husbands are considered as vulnerable (we are not even God..!!!). The ceremony culminated with emotional ‘vidaayi’ and finally we came back home at around 5-6 AM. It was unbelievable that such a big and auspicious occasion went well so smoothly that we could hardly realize that. Every arrangement seems perfect and pre-mediated and that’s-why the efforts are commendable. In less than 12 hours my status had changed and I had been bestowed with a new responsibility for my life. I may not have understood each and every ritual that I had seen from behind the ‘sehra’, only I could feel the transformation inside me at every moment.

Today, as I was recollecting the thoughts about the occasion, I couldn’t resist smiling at those moments that were troublesome, funny, unavoidable, interesting and emotional. Hats off to Indian marriage…