NH4 - Around the State via the Roads

The Indian National Highway that holds together four of the Ten Most Populous Indian Cities , not been to many highway rides but surely this is worth betting your money on. Away from the maddening crowd of the expressway the NH4 offers not only a cheap and pretty motorable road , it also is serene enough for people not having a hurry to get down and click a few memories on the way to make it all the more memorable.

Do not ride in the summer heat , it is sweltering and bad for health :P

Imp Note - People Going to Lonavla , take this way round instead of the expressway , you gotcha be spell bound by the immense beauty when the rains come along. !!!

Matheran- The Smallest Hill Station

For people living in and around Mumbai , visiting the smallest Hill Station of this country is like a ritual. The accessible and easy to drive on roads ( even though they are bumpy ) along the valley make it a must go location for the public.
The place whose name means " Forest on the Forehead " is a scenic and serene hill station during the rainy seasons. We somehow visited in the burning heat of March - April and yet it doesn't cease to amaze. The greenery was less , the waterfalls were missing , the usual huge quantity of people were not there yet it all seemed a good cherish able experience. The Maruti Omnis being driven as taxis and the railway lines struck up in the middle of the roads all added to the old times fervor.
Those English people really had some adventurous nerves in them to go and explore all that we witness nowadays.

In the final days around Mumbai , it seems important to visit some places and pen down the memories.
To Be Continued...

Mumbai- The City that casts its spell

Mumbai is a city , Bombay is an Emotion.

What better than this phrase to start writing something about a city that is loved and hated , envied and cherished all at the same time.

A City that people say never sleeps , a city that leaves people spell bound with its magic that even jotting down a small article about it can make anyone go jittery , a city to write about which you need to be engrossed deeply in its landscape , in the feelings of the individuals putting up here and more often than not in the lanes and by lanes that can take your mental being to a very different level.The Five star hotels surrounded by the sky crappers , long sea line with the exasperating shining lights , the always out of time crowd of people , the night crawling chai wallas , the local trains and its commuters , the all very enticing night time eateries , the so very famous night life. These things and so many others that define this city and have become a part of its rich folklore , a tale that's been around for many years now and shall never diminish neither in its stature nor in the ambiguity always surrounding it. It is home to possibly the largest variety of people in this whole country or maybe the world ( not so sure ) , but it never ceases to exist in harmony or in correlation.

You can study , work , live and do what so ever you want , all that you hear when you go back to your home town is the curiosity of the people about the life of this city , the cursory glances that you get when you say that you are single even when living in Mumbai , the stupid misconceptions about this city and all the same things that add to the luminous effect this Town has on the people of this whole country.

It would be totally unfair to write about Mumbai and not talk about its best months , the rainy season. The four months which for some very weird reason totally refine the whole beauty and glory of this city , even though it does a lot of damage but as a whole the view on Marine Drive with rains lashing out at you and the sea with its amazingly high tides makes it all worth it. The long drive to the hill stations with serene beauty on either sides just adds a glimmer to the ever shining magnificence of this city.

For an outsider to spend 8 years in and around this city would make him/her feel privileged , honored etc but it does not do any such thing as it does not give ample time to its inhabitants to think that way or maybe its just molded in a way to make people witness a spectacle and cherish it forever without having to think about missing the same when they depart from its shores.

They Say the beauty lies in the Eyes of the Beholder !! For Mumbai the City Of All Cities You just add "er" and your outlook is somehow completely redefined  !!

To be Continued.....

loneliness- A Poem

I love to  be alone,

To look into  my own,

Ponder  about my thoughts,

To view life as it plots.

Looking towards  the  sky,

Seeing the  stars and  the moon,

Fading  into  oblivion  way too  soon.

I wonder  why this night doesn't last  forever,

Redeeming  all those  who seek it's cover,

Hiding from the truth,

They seem  to be lost,

Not seeing the ice mist and  frost.

Trying to  forget the time gone  by,

Hoping for a brighter day as it comes by.

Being alone is an obsessive virtue,

I can look into  my mind,

As the thoughts come through,

About the  imperfect past,

And the world so vast,

About the goals not achieved,

And  the words i didn't pay any heed.

Thinking where  have i gone wrong,

And  what's the place i truly belong,

So  as to  rectify my faults,

Experiencing  life in different slots.

Thinking  what i wanted to  be,

And  what have i become,

Hoping to  learn something,

On a strange  path that i have come.

Fighting this battle  of  life,

I feel a sense  of solitude,

Stung by all these  losses,

Hope is the best thing i protrude..

*****************************

A boy - Poem

One night it rained in the woods,

Deep there in  the shadow of hoods,

Strode a  young  boy,

Trying to achieve a  sense  of joy.

He had a dream to live  by..,

To show this world that thy can fly.

He had come all this deep,

Running away from the  cruel world,

Losing the love of his loved..,

Away  from the madding  crowd,

For he was feeling  so proud.

To do  something his heart pinched for,

Whenever he set his eye for the goal so far.

Losing everything on his way,

All set to reach the bay,

Not frightened by the  stormy night,

He walked with all his might.

To  fulfill his passions,

And breaking his   soul's  inhibitions,

To win it for once n all,

And to make his detractors fall.

For he had promised to return,

To  make everyone's head turn ,

So walked the boy  in  the woods,

Shielded  from the  rain by the hoods.

**********************************************

Rains and Life - Random Poem

It was just another night,
to be followed by a day.
It all seemed so quiet,
no one  could dream of making hay.

The sky was overcast with a tinge of black,
moon was fading with stars at it's back,
Finishing up their chores people were dozing off,
into the slumber of this dark night,
Unaware of the surprise someone had set up,
to be  ready for tomorrow with all their might.

Feeling the heat that showed no respite,
they were  at the mercy of heavens with no one  to fight.

Surprising everyone  the heavens opened up and the water started to pour,
rain was here there and everywhere.

Struck with joy people rushed out,
seeing the water and their fortune's swerve.
The scent of rain was enticing,
the soil was so pure,
the sound of gushing water,
made heavens to open the door.

The mud was wet , the path slippery,
the dead olive grass came alive.
Young started to make merry,
while the elders wanted their lives to thrive.

The rush of water was such,
it made people go crazy.
Dancing in the rain were they,
as if walking on a pale daisy.

For it had rained after a year,
the people had everything to cheer.
Celebrating in this dark night,
waiting for the bright sunshine,
not being tired of the fun and joy,
careless about the job they had tomorrow at nine.

Inspiration - Poem

long drawn in the tunnel so deep

i see light as i peep

i feel i have been here for a lifetime

but i hope i am in still in ma prime

a lot of times have i fallen but still from the fall have i arisen

there's so much darkness around

n i don't want anybody around

so much alone i feel in this fight

but still I'll go n catch the light

and in my heart of heart's i feel

One day I'll have the world at my heel!!!!!

LIFE AND HOPE - Inspirational Poem

Defeat was staring right into my eyes,
there was just darkness around,
feeling stung by this loss,
i had to cover a lot of ground.

Life had taken a heavy toll,
on my mind , body and soul.
Tired, i was walking by the roads,
watching the kids play n feeling alone,
feeling the obscurity of the moment,
i was beginning to feel for my own.

The fear was looming around,
the fear of a meek surrender,
in this game called life,
that just makes us to strife.

But still i had hope,
to win this battle of life,
to go far n above the rest,
to be called one of the best.

Hoping to see a brighter world,
ending this ordeal of life,
becoming a better person
for it just makes us to strife

Solitude - Poem

deep der into the nite...
with nothin 2 do.. i decided 2 write..
wd eyes full of sleep..
songs keepin me awake..
still full f energy n zeal..
keen on jotting down somethin deep................
something tat could touch ma soul...
which no one could call as foul...
smthin tat is realistic
yt diffrnt frm ds maddening world...

the enchanted words cuming out f ma heart...
feeling of sleeplessness creeping in...
the lines tat culd b called as divine..
makin me high as if havin a wine.....

far away frm this selfish lyff..
into the realmz of unforseen thoughts...
in the middle of an isolated island
surrounded by the demons of a rough sea..
willing to row the boat into the unknown
feeling the water on the face
the wind drenching the mind and the soul
it seems as if travelin in a black hole....

the strength leaving the arms...
going forward with all the might
still fightin to keep up with the night..

for this night doesnt seem to end..
travelling the length of the ocean
the life is surely gonna take this bend....

for if four in the morning i can jot this piece..
i can surely make a master piece.........!!!

****************

Smell of Rains and Coffee - Poem

To keep the eyes from shutting too tight,
The effect of sleep and its awesome might.
The rainy morning adds to the extreme delight,
The smell of hot coffee yet the loneliness fright.

The sound of the rain adds clatter to the cheer,
The smell of the wet mud gives life a new flair.
The splash of water on the windows makes life seem all the more bright,
The smell of hot coffee yet the loneliness fright.

The dark clouds add a tinge to the gloom,
The sparkling sun  makes the hearts to bloom.
Life shall unfurl with each passing sight,
The smell of hot coffee yet the loneliness fright....

The days Gone By - Poem

Those days are long gone by,
When it all seemed a trance.
Lurking in a shady corner ,
Getting high and dreaming of a life in France.

It all seemed surreal,
For we never thought of life as real,
All it took were a few twists and turns
For the ash to go up in burns.

Going crazy was the rule of the roost
Utter madness was the path we choose.
Now this life seems more of a test
Coz with some people it was more than a fest.

Paradigm Shift !!

This was being written at the time when another shifting was looming at our heads. The shifting of the flats that is very normally associated with each and every bachelor living in the city of dreams or for that matter in the ghost city the Future of Mumbai "Navi Mumbai". The life that we spend away from our homes , away from our parents , away from being under the watchful eyes of elders that almost everyone calls as independent, out of the box living can be sadistic at times.

The Paradigm shift that actually should take place once every eleven months and has taken place in our lives 6 times in exactly 4 years and truly and undoubtedly has made the life relentless.
The void that gets created when you leave a place where in everything had been made to look settled in the past can be wretched at times. The feeling of restlessness of shifting to a new place and the overall effort along with the tiredness not only stresses the body but leaves the mind in a tizzy.

Even more amazingly difficult is to cope up with the fact of having to say goodbye to your room mates or for that matter the Family of friends ( it would be apt) and moving on to new places with new faces , the energy sapping work of having to adjust and start all over again.
The extended family never ceases to be friends while also coping up with the responsibility of acting like a pseudo family and the act of moving on can lead to separation symptoms in any human being.

If studies are the make or break time , the bachelor period of one's professional life is like a thin balanced thread hanging between imaginary skyscrapers always willing to move you down into the ground for you can only do is to hold onto something and never give up.

P.S - Life is a test of character and the Paradigm Shift is just a small question that if answered correctly would not only give you a bonus of new friends but also help you explore life up to unknown avenues..

A Tribute to the Prodigal Genius. ! - Poem

To play was to follow the strokes of Thee,
To dream was like a reminiscence of the effortless glee.
To hope was a medicine learnt from Thou,
For you commanded respect in Sky and Snow.

Not even could be a deterrent , a fever of 103,
for magic it was to watch that 98 at centurion 2003.

Your retirement call would make a generation feel old,
they grew up to the hoopla of your cricketing gold.

The centuries at Sharjah would be a memory to cherish,
seeing those mesmerizing strokes would hence become a fetish.

All the ardent fans grew up with your cricketing folklore,
stories we shall tell seeing your records galore.

To emulate you would take a dedication of a life time
you are the child prodigy who dictated through the rhyme.

Politics !!

In these times of economic downgrade its hard not to think about the amazingly undue advantages that the politicians of this country hold over a normal middle class individual. Earning around 1lakh per month tax free , roaming around in Red Beacon cars to whatever place they intend to along with  spending crores of rupees on petrol without even a formal degree of education.
Like the Indian Citizenship law has a fixed date for being described as an Indian National why cannot the parliament and constitution have a fixed DOB or education levels for the politicians. If they are the guys who run the country , make the rules then like other citizens they should be entitled to taxes and oil subsidies. Why have all of them been kept above the stature of law they themselves have conjured up.

On one hand the inflation keeps on rising every year yet the salary growth of a middle class person in India is not able to come to terms with the increase in the expenses. Yet the so called rule makers of this nation are given a free hand in all the small to large range deals that take place in all the corners of this huge nation.
Like an employee in any organization is forced to report everything to his reporting authority why don't we set the same for these amazingly high headed people so that all the citizens of this great nation can be collectively said to be under a single roof.
Its time for the so called educated people who have never voted in their life to wake up and reach for their voter ID's.
PS - Its time to cast the ballot and ring in a change.!

good old days - Poem

To again write about the good old times,
Some quiet time is what I need,
Friends, parties and the moments well spent,
It all should come back indeed.

It began on that terrace so high,
And ended in the flats so serene,
Up above the smoke that curled,
For our lives was never about a sigh.

The concerts , the trance , the butt kicking high,
Served in the memory hot is TP's half fry,
The biryanis , the kheemas have all lost their taste,
Fun in today's times is all but a haste.

The night long revelry on a holi night,
The sweets , pakodas and thandai served so cold.
For never would those days be forgotten,
When the nights had lost their hold...

A Day After Sachin !!

It was close to the end of the final exams of my Upper Kg  , It was the around the end of March 1994 , a faint memory of watching a cricket match on a small black and white television set that used to be quite a fad in those times.
The match i guess it was a highlights package or something as Doordarshan never showed the Overseas matches live in those years , i guess it still doesn't. The match in which a youngster batting as a makeshift opener smacked the bowlers to all possible corners of the stadium much to the joy of the countless followers of the gentleman's game in the nation. I remember the sudden gasps that followed the fours and the aerial shots , for the common Indian Fan was averse to the idea of someone taking the attack to the opposition. Yet it was not until the 1996 world cup that i finally got an insight into the Game of Cricket and more importantly a man , a child prodigy , a scintillating Genius who for the next 17 years would assure in his own quiet way that the Present and the Future of the Indian Cricket is in his Safest hands. The man who with his desert storm made me follow the game to a Television set in a barber's shop and made me wonder about the improbable things that could be done with a cricket bat in tow yet remain so down to earth , so humble that even the most simplest of the common men would appreciate the tinge of softness in the voice and attitude.

The man who not only brought to life multi-million dollar deals to the Game of Indian cricket but also gave a hope to all his ardent fans that money could be earned in tons , if you have the will to follow your passion without fail. The man who could make us laugh , cry and still be anxious all at the same time in one single moment of cricketing frenzy. The man who with his knocks could mesmerize a fan's high fever to go away in a matter of hours. The man for whom so much has been written that even the best of the writers can fall short of impressive words to be put together .

The man we all grew up idolizing , for his shots were as pristine as his mannerisms  , for his attitude towards life was as breathtaking as his panache towards earning money and respect at the same time yet remain inexplicably far from any controversy , the man who proved that adulation and humility can go hand in hand.For his rise coincided with the growing up of a whole new generation of this country , a generation that not only followed him but also hero worshiped him till their last breaths , a generation who would be happily satisfied if they earned even an iota of the Respect and Money that he got in the last 25 years.

He is rightly called the God but more importantly he has always been the only Cricketer who seemed to be the perfect source of motivation for achieving what ever you set your eyes upon , without loosing the paramount abstract of life " Respect "

SRT  - Respect \m/ " You shall be cherished "

Random Poem

When we are alone and have nothing to do of our own, listening to the squeaky voices in the middle of the night, keeping your eyes open instead of sleeping tight.

Thinking about the past , present and future , all thoughts come rushing back to the mind. Stuffing up the brain like a stack of wood , burning in an old forest keeping the people warm

And with the rising sun always comes the Dawn.!!

Tehelke ka Tehelka !!

In the times when all the abstracts of the human life have gone inside to rot down an unimaginable fear inducing deep sea of malice , the times where the things that used to be of utmost importance to the humans of this nation have taken a back seat as far as one can imagine , the times when some how the crime rate that was always high has finally started to reach the masses , the times where the generation that was so callous towards the national problems has finally begun to take amazing strides towards integrity albeit slowly , the times when all of a sudden the assaults against the Female population has become so prevalent that instead of only being voiced against in Newspapers  , TV channels and Silent Protests , the bloggers have started a widespread channelization to make this so brutal and inhuman act against the conscience of a human to reach the masses.

That was quite a long statement about the times we are living in , but seriously something needs to be done to this country and its male population. If what they are saying Mr Tehelka did to a junior colleague in that lift or whatever the details hold is proven true, i believe that there is gonna be a widespread opening of the can of worms against the corporate sexual advances thing. Even though just hearing stories doesn't make me liable to write about this , but the thing that the ShowBiz industry calls " Casting Couch " has been going on in almost all the industries world wide.  The Media industry , the BPO sector do consist of some of the most intimidating secrets of this so called obsessive disorder that prevails in the minds of a hell lot more population than what the Aam Aadmi thinks it does.

I myself never paid too much heed to the media industry and the Tehelka magazine as such but reading the articles doing the rounds on the net it seems that a lot of people did have high regards for Mr Tehelka an with these accusations the so called belief in the goodness of the deeds and the people has once again been back stabbed. It is more or less the same affect that was cast on a world wide following of the greatest cyclist of all time Mr Armstrong , when the flabbergasting revelations of his doping scandal came to light.

Time has once again started to defy the logic of being good without any blemishes but we as humans must never let our belief on the abstract values of goodness  , kindness and dignity wander for even a bit for they are pretty much important for letting the humanity stay grounded in us Humans. Its time when we for a moment or two stop idolizing all those celebrities we have been looking up to since long and instead awaken our own selves for the drastic needs of the nation

P.S - Elections are coming closer. Go make your Voter ID's \m/

25 And Yet to begin

It ain't often that guys or for that matter even girls nearing their 25th birthday start introspecting about what they are and where they have reached in life instead of letting their hair down at some hip party , yet once we start pondering about all those things that were , are and will be according to us a part of our life that we realize that we are soon gonna be 25 And we are Yet to begin. Begin something that can in its true sense can be called life , something that you have always heard about in stories from elders and you are yet to experience the same First Hand , something that you feel is truly abstract yet has many co relations with what you have done , are doing and have plans for , something many people term as Success and the modest individuals term as making money out of their sheer humility for Mankind.

It is often said that the age 25 starts a mid life crisis in a Male as the female brain is somehow wired differently and their mid life apparently never comes. For the men who at 25 , having graduated from some mediocre colleges , earning a mediocre salary good enough to pay the high rents of the metros and enough to make a living out of the so called under appreciated and yet so prevalent monotonous Professional life  , this age factor does tend to provide a sense of notice about the Life.

The noticeable pressure of holding on to the job , holding onto the love affairs , making new friends , extending the so much hyped social circle , trying to reach up to the expectations of the family  and the burden of just thinking about having reached a marriageable age something that we are constantly reminded about by everyone around us not only adds to the trauma of not having done anything of note until now but in many cases leads to a nerve shattering breakdown of the individual.

For everyone doesn't have that born talent of a SRT and the will to continue doing something that you must have loved since you were a child , for many 25 something men in this country don't even have a vision for their own life and future let alone the vision for some one else , for many 25 something men working in what so ever industry get heavily excited at the stories of the self made entrepreneurs but never ever try and look into their own selves for getting  besotted with faith in themselves , for many of us don't come out of the entrepreneurship - investment co relation kind of rut that people have put us into , for many of us have the ideas probably much later than some amazingly talented and hardworking individuals who we believe have set the standards that we probably cannot match in this lifetime.

P.S- Doing some thing that you love is difficult ,  falling in unconditional love with what you do is more impossible  but doing something that you have always feared and loving it along with excelling in it at the same time can simply not be put in humane words and thoughts.

The writer is about to be 25 and is YET TO BEGIN !!!

Deep in a Night !!

There is something in the deep of a night,
Thoughts , ideas and the years gone by,
Keeping the leash on the life so tight,
The sky , the stars , the moon in the sky.

The sounds of the waking birds ,  winds of the dusk,
The feel of the rising sun through the dark it bursts.
The life as you have seen comes rushing in a glimpse,
For it is your soul who she actually trusts.

The long hard look onto the empty streets,
For once they crooned with all the noisy beats,
Up above the stars are feeling shy,
For when did u start gazing in their sky.

The Bane of Emotions

The humane emotions , the most amazingly mysterious abstract things that make a human feel alive can be a menacing threat to the sole existence of any other human being directly or indirectly connected to you.
The emotions that lead to a man or for that matter a woman to woo or get wooed by a married individual in an office space or a bar or for that matter any other place can definitely lead to a wretched being for the loved ones of the person in question.
It can be justified that you couldn't control your stupid anatomical libido while you were drunk ( of alcohol or a pretty high positioned chair in office space) for a night or for that matter many nights but how can a human justify the same wrong doing over and over again. Isn't it fundamentally incorrect to actually fall for someone else where you are already blessed to have some one waiting for you to get back home or the feeling of blessed is also superficial , how else would we be called "HUMANS" then.
For it is one thing to cheat on your established life partner with some one you see as a future prospect but it is rather gory and disgracefully alarming to do so when you do have children for whom you are the biggest source of a simple smile and happiness in their lives.
I don't know how does one feel when his children from the first partner whom he/she divorced because of the existence of a second beloved in their lives call you up or plead for a meeting to witness their childhood hero / goddess who eventually left them in the dark shadows of this dim lit world with only a single biological parent to look up to , yet I firmly believe that the hormone induced sense of the so called emotions should never be let to take an upper hand in any human's lives.

P.S - If you love  someone and you do fall for someone else , its time to get a reality check done. !!

The write up neither favors cheating nor does it ask people to abstain from it. Its a simple tale seen by the eyes , heard by the ears and expressed IN PEN.

The Thing Called Alcoholism

The contrasting difference between the "drinking an entire bottle of a cheap alcoholic drink through the night, yet standing tall and carrying a friend all the way back home" and "the unexplained getting way too high after having a couple of drinks and letting your wife of 25 years take care of you" can be quite amazingly mind bogging to a select few.

For it did not take even a single ounce of strength to gulp down all that much of the intoxicating substance those many years back, yet it takes a hell lot more emotional leave alone the physical strength the body spends on digesting down a few drinks in these twilight years.

The heavy all night parties with your office colleagues , the festive evenings with your cousins , the high of getting high at the best friends marriage , dancing at a wedding or at a disco ( for the modern people who are yet to get old) completely sloshed , all of them add to the fervor of the experience that you get because of that thing termed alcohol.
Excessive Alcohol in any form is definitely bad for the human's health as per the directions of doctors , scientists etc yet they only write research papers about the advantages of having the same in moderate quantities. Somehow and some times it also seems that even these so esteemed intellectuals get high on the very mention of this intoxicating substance lest they should publish their research in the full consciousness and realism in this paradoxical , unrealistic and all the time in dreams world that has the capability of doing a few spinning and dancing rounds in front of the eyes of the intoxicated or even for that matter the so called sober individuals.

Drinking or Alcoholism as some humans name it is actually not an addiction that starts and ends with a bottle or a designer glass (different people different choices ) , rather its some kind of a tribute that a human tries to give to his/her  tender heart which has gone through tremors and turbulence's yet never forgot the taste , which has gone through all the joys and adventures yet never forgot the pain.

P.S - The writer is neither an alcoholic nor is someone totally against it. But its nice to possess a taste for things irrespective of the Good or Bad Times..!!