Hyperbole

23rd is my flight from Del to B'lore and the fog is on the rise! In all my wisdom I got the booking done for the 9am flight but looking at the conditions I feel even that to will be a bit too early. It's 12:30pm and the fog is still very much there over here in Lucknow. I guess, I should be mentally prepared for a long haul at the airport. And with two kids in tow, that should be fun!

Quite a few times I have come across events which though ordinary in nature do seem to surpass beyond the normal number of odds stacked against it. Till now I used to just get amazed and wonder about it, but from now on I'll note them down in my blog. Just the other day I was in a mall shopping for shoes for my kids. Came across Levis store and thought of purchasing a brown jeans as my previous one was tattered beyond it looking hep. Went in for a look but could see only blue jeans. Asked from a salesman and came to know that in India, Levis only sells blue one. I'm saying in India cause I've a black Levis but that has been brought from the States. The salesman was insistent that there are no non-blue Levis. Anyway was dissapointed and came out. As I was looking around saw a clothes mart just next to the Levis store. Just strolled in for a look. As I was looking around their collection of jeans, which were all blue, came across a single brown one of just the shade I was loo

Robin told me about the cat lying near the back gate while I was having my lunch. Suzana had alreay given it the once over I was told, and there was no motion. So I assumed there was a dead cat on my hand now. No hurry, took my time to finish the lunch. It wasn't as if the cat had anywhere to go in a hurry. The task was something I would have shirked at any time but just after lunch seemed to be the worst possible time. This one was brown and looked as if it had just gone to sleep. Seemed pretty healthy for a stray and I wondered if it was someone's pet and what they must be going through right now. Reminded me of all the novels and short stories of Haruki Murakami I had been reading lately and how most of them had cat as their central characters. A dead cat would have been an evil sign, indicator of bad things to come, a very big no-no in those books.

Winters have finally come to Lucknow after a gap of almost two years. I remember last year I had hardly got a chance to wear my sweaters and passed most of the winter in blazers during college hours and a thin jacket in the evening. I even felt warm in my corduroy shirts at times. In fact I didn't even go out anywhere and had celebrated new year in Lucknow itself, so it's not that I missed it or something due to the travelling. This year seems to be promising. Took out by sweaters out yesterday and am comfortable in the blazer today in the college.

Tamil Nadu is a place which for some reason fascinates me. Infact I haven't come across any other non- Tamilian who is as fond of Chennai as I am. Sun-rain, humidity-heat I've seen it in all forms and still yearn to go there over and over again. Went to Chennai a couple of years back during December as my annual conference was being held at Le Meridian. Had taken my brother's Thunderbird then and ridden all the way from Bangalore to Chennai and back with Daya as my co-rider. The irony of that trip was the fact that I was more comfortable there as compare to Daya who being a Kannadiga was very wary and had started the journey after full prayers and a big tikka on his forehead. As if he was not going to Tamil Nadu but Pakistan! Got an opportunity of ride around Chennai on the bike and that really was the best part of the trip. Went to Spencer plaza for lunch & shopping with Shaleen and Marina beach with Daya at night. First time around I was taken around C

Monday morning 4:42 a.m. Is it normal to get up so early to finish a book you have been reading? Was in the midst of Haruki Murakami's "Sputnik Sweetheart" when I slept, rather early, at 11 last night. Woke up all of a sudden at dawn, or was it pre -dawn?, and straight away took the book from my bedside and was engrossed in the mystic world of words within minutes. Finished it finally at around 7am, just before leaving for the gym. The book was spellbinding needless to say. Short, sweet and a standard Murakami . Later on it made me think. Is there anything else in this whole wide world that would make me get up so early and eagerly? No, I guess not. I couldn't think of anything. Isn't this weird? But then being normal was my forte.

KFC opened it's outlet in Sahara Ganj recently. Had to go there to purchase some furniture from the Home Store on Sunday. Reached there around 7pm and was my way up when I saw KFC outlet practically empty. Seeing my good luck went in and had a mini meal which by the usual KFC standard was pretty OK- no thick, crunchy masala, no boiled, bland chicken pieces. The chicken pieces were large and well done with just the right amount of flavouring. While relishing my meal thought about all the times I had been to KFC in Delhi & Bangalore and how I had to wait in queue to place my order, had to search for a place to sit with food trays in my hands and how people used to hover overhead waiting for me to finish so that they can occupy my seat. Compared to all that this was pure bliss. Instant service, choice of places to sit and finishing the meal at your own easy pace. Things which can only be enjoyed and appreciated in a small city like Lucknow.

Few paragraphs in literature come close to what you would write if ever got a chance to describe yourself. This is one of my favourite. "Idling always has been my strong point. I take no credit to myself in that matter - it is a gift. Few posses it. There are plenty of lazy people around and plenty of slow coaches, but a genuine idler is a rarity. He is not a man who slouches about with his hands in his pockets. On the contrary, his most startling characteristic is that he is always intensely busy. It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do. There is no fun in doing nothing when you have nothing to do. Wasting time is merely an occupation then, and a most exhausting one. Idleness like kisses, to be sweet must be stolen." -quoted from "The idle thoughts of an idle fellow" by Jerome K Jerome

22nd November. The Chamber. Haze is the word which comes to my mind if I had to describe the state I am in. Everything around is bright and clear. Atleast all the physical things. I can analyse. I can converse. I took a detailed, extempore class. But mentally I seem to be far, far away. I can feel myself breathing. Which is not a good thing when it means every single breath. Floating would be the second word which comes to my mind if I had to describe my mental state right now. Swimming is good most of the times but you can also float once in a while and let the currents guide you. "After the slumber of the year The woodland violets reappear; All things revive in field or grove And sky and sea, but two, which move And form all others, life and love." - Shelley

A couple of weeks back, early morning around 7, was working out in the gym. I was in a bad mood, full grumpy and grumbling to myself. In between sets was taking a breather by gazing at some song playing on the TV monitors placed all over. Sometime then I noticed the ticker running at the bottom of the screen on MTV. That day they were running the daily horoscope as one liners on colleges i.e. students, profs and canteen. Like for Leo it was something like "Attend coll today, take up your attendance by 0.0001%" or for Pisces "You bunked college and no one noticed". That caught my interest and I wondered what was the one liner they had for Scorpio. Missed it a couple of time between sets. Finally landed up on the tread mill still all grumpy and pissed. Still musing about the events of the day gone. At that very point Scorpio's ticker came on screen. Just three words. "Stop being juvenile" For some reason that really caught me unaware. I wasn't expec

I had a clean slate in my academic life of almost 25 years. Was never hauled up for anything by my teachers. Was never caught cheating or was frisked for chits by the exam squad from the University. On the 12 th of November 2008 I was caught cheating and ordered to be expelled from the examination hall by the Controller of Examinations from RML University. The irony behind all this was that I was the invigilator for that hall! General Surgery examination was on and the poor students were floundering with a couple of tough short notes and I did what anyone with even an iota of compassion would have done in my place. This situation would not have arise if anyone had taken the trouble to teach them surgery in the first place. The controller from the University caught me once- twice- thrice. I guess this is what happens when you don't have good, solid experience of cheating from your student days. On top of all this the students were also pits as far as cheating was concerned. I h

Well not exactly a train robbery to be exact but more of a robbery discovered by a co-passenger while she was travelling with me to Lucknow. Her husband called up around 7pm when he came back from the office in Delhi to discover that their flat has been ransacked. He called her up promptly and all of us came to know that the only thing missing were her three beloved “imitation” jewelry sets. The laptop was untouched, the three cell phones were left behind. Now the question that comes to my mind is that what kind of a loser thief will bother with crappy fake jewelry in the first place and leave all the electronic goodies behind? I’m sure that the husband must be sick and tired of the “ chamko ” stuff and dumped them at the first given opportunity . Good riddance to bad rubbish was what he must have thought. Moreover I was intrigued by her cell phone provider who let her talk for a good 20 minutes without any break in the network coverage in this godforsaken east U.P. countryside.

I've things for certain words which for some reason tend to fascinate & intrigue me. I use them while talking, I pause when I read them somewhere and I wonder who came up with such unusual names/words and how. Words that fascinate me: Syncytium , Apoptosis , Cantielever , Gomphosis , Orbicularis , Metatarsal, Omnipotenet , Omnipresent, Ubiquitous, Wrath, Megnanimous , Megalomania, Concurrent, Cumbersome, Exhume, Rostrum, Beget, Canape , Touche, Theque , Torque, Diabolical, Demented, Quantum, Icicle, Encephalitis, Harakiri , Kamakazei , Oui , Crimson, Beige, Crepe , Camaraderie, Capeche, Meche, Vagabond, Mistletoe, Voila, Mirth . . . to be continued. Names that fascinate me: Kankanadi , Gwyneth, Allepi , Patadhakal , Magoud , Copenhagen, Azerbejan , Zach, Morpheis , Zakaria , Zingzingbar , Hemis , Pyongyang, Gokarna , Pehthal , Pollachi , Kramer, Kruger, Rasputin, Raizada , Parvardigar , Jahanpanah , Kamini , Mrignaini , Hallikerimath , Louvre, Kathgodam , Coppernicus, Leonardo,

Mmmmm ................... Walnut brownie in the morning is one of the little pleasures of life. All the more when it is delectable! Things like this makes me wonder how come I am so passionate about certain snacks when I am not very fond of food and not exactly a foodie in the first place. Eating does not figure in my top things to do list. But I am a bit partial towards chocolates- but then only good ones. Like Milk Chocolate is a thing which I abhor, it sounds more like an oxymoron then anything else. How can anything which is white in colour can be called a chocolate in the first place? And while on this topic I feel that Amul and Nestle should be prevented from dishing out the things they produce and calling them "Chocolate". In India the only true chocolate I feel is the one produced by Cadbury . They maybe drier then their foreign counterparts but atleast they taste like them. Time to take another bite of the brownie now...... Mmmmmmmm

Canteen is the heart of most of the institutions. You get to hear the latest gossip, college news, score updates, uptake on political events, local news, reports on hostel fights, departmental ego issues and discuss crap which you would never bother or be interested to talk about anywhere else. More so in this place where it was placed in straw shacks on open ground right at the entrance of the college. Here it was not only the heart but also the eyes of the institution as you could see whoever was coming or going from the college. And then dissect them, their personality, attire, mannerisms, gait, way of talking, eating habits, sexual orientation, personal and social life etc. I think you get the point. I must have spent countless hours sitting there with Daya (who used to have his b'fast ) during the winters of 2006. The tea was bad, dosa was sad and pav bhaji had a chinese twist. Stuffed parathas were the only redeemable feature by far. But then all said and done there was

CCD , Gomti Nagar , 7:25pm, 3rd of Nov. '08. Here I am sitting in this joint and typing this blog. So that day has finally come when I'm the one on the comp rather then being the person staring at someone else working on one. And wondering what on earth would be so important that he had to work in a cafe rather then just sitting back and enjoying his coffee. So now I know. Best possible way to kill time while my desktop is being upgraded. Couple in front of me are discussing their occlusion and what should be the normal place for the lower jaw to rest. God! want to just tell them to shut up! But obviously can't cause they were sweet enough to offer me this seat when the cafe was full. Gasp! the ass just came back from the loo and wiped his hands on the cushion. An English speaking bhaiya - something you only come across in Lucknow. Well on the other hand they are kind of entertaining and I've never seen a guy match a girl word for word........he really can talk. Mus

Long, long time ago when I had gone to Goa for the first time I bought a pair of cheap, roadside, mercury coated aviator shades from Madgaon on my way to Calangute beach with the gang. Fell in love with them but like everything else at that time they also became victim of my carelessness. Couldn't afford the original Ray Ban aviators so forgot all about them Later when I came to a stage of finally buying one for myself they had gone out of style. Today after almost two decades I came across a pair of original mercury aviator Ray Bans at Shoppers Stop and latched on to them before they again disappear. Like everything else in my life it took its own sweet time coming but then it eventually did! 

Dreamt that I was on my way to Doda with H & D. And that to by a local bus! The landscape and weather is still fresh in my mind. There were these huge brown, barren cliffs and emerald green Chenab could be seen raging and roaring in the valley below. For some reason the river was getting split into two by a narrow, sharp mountain side. I remember telling H that just by looking at the steep surface of the mountain on the opposite side you can imagine how high up we were moving and any accident would plummet us hundreds of feet into the icy cold water of the river below. Crossed over the river via a old rope bridge with a ghat and a temple on its left. Ghat was full of people in various stages of bathing and washing clothes. On the way got a call on my cell from Ma teling me that Pa was waiting for us at the village and we had not informed them how or when we are coming. As the connection was bad and full of static it got cut. As I was conveying this piece of info to H & D I s

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami Started on 30th Sept at 10:15pm, as soon as Lucknow Mail slipped out of Lucknow station. Finished on 9th Oct at around 1:00pm, as Shatabdi Express was gliding into Lucknow station. 607 pages in 10 days. Not a very rapid read if you sit back and calculate but I was too busy for around 5-6 days in between. At times when I was reading I was oblivious to the surrounding and was one with Toru Okada. This is not a mere novel. It’s an emotional rollercoaster which rolls back and forth between time frames, continents and the complex characters which are scattered across the pages. A masterpiece which you know will end eventually but still want to prolong it forever........

Bhopal railway station. The second stop of this train after Nizammudin! My whole experience and memories of train journey revolves around getting off at different stations and trying out the local eatables, buying a magazine or newspaper or just hanging around soaking the local atmosphere. And here I am stuck on this train which stops after around four hours. Anyway as I get off at the station I see a person standing right in front of me who seems to look like Daya. And it turns out its Daya himself! After the initial surprise I came to know he was travelling from Benares along with his parents and was on his way to Bangalore by the same train. I told him to carry on with the boarding and come to IIIrd AC where I was put up. So the train starts from Bhopal and Daya comes to my cabin searching for his berth. And by the most amazing of coincidences his berth is just opposite mine and is the one which was previously allotted to Nitin. I was stupefied! What were the odds of such a thin

Day 1: Morning 8am, am standing at Kalkaji wondering where my taxi has run off? Got a lift from my father-in-law and after the standard weaving in and out of traffic managed to reach Nizzamudin station well in time. After 8 yrs of staying and studying in Karanataka this is the first time I’ll be travelling by the Yeshwantpur Shabdh Kranti Express. I had heard about this train, had thought of travelling by it a few times but its only now, 7 years after I left that state, that I am travelling by it. In Indian railway stations you can normally make out the priority or importance of the train by the platform it’s made to stand on. My train was on the last one! Got on the coach, saw the new brown upholstery and smarter reading lights and then saw the three berths put up in the gallery in place of the standard two. Cursed Nitin silently because he had made me book tickets by 3 rd AC while I was in mood to travel by 2 nd AC. Due to this new development my berth also changed to inner upp

From mountains to the ocean. Last week I was in Kashmir and next week this time I should be in Goa. The week after that I should be in Kedarnath, Uttranchal. And two weeks after that in Jammu for Deepawali. Do I really travel too much or do I just feel like that? Got my net connection on my lap top so should've a lot to write about my travels. Lets hope that my desire to write about my trips prevails.

So where did all this start from? If my memory stands correct the seed of this trip was laid when Daya and I took a road trip to Chennai from Bangalore on my brother’s Thunderbird in December 2006. I foolishly felt that we could do that; this trip should not be so tough. D as always was ambiguous about the whole thing. In Lucknow I put forth the idea to Harish who was wholeheartedly into the scheme. I felt he wanted to be a pioneer, the first man on 180cc Bajaj Pulsar to conquer the Himalayan desert. We planned and talked about it endlessly, over countless hours in the neighbourhood CCD. Nitin too wanted to come but the bike part he wanted to change with a SUV. Jiku was also asked in the passing but he looked uncomfortable with the idea. During the course of our planning D left Lucknow for Raipur making it all a bit more difficult to bring to life. And to compound the problems further D had given his bike for overhauling in Bangalore and it was taking forever to get completed. Payal’s