Random Musing

I like these kind of blogs where I muse about random stuff and ramble incoherently. It not only acts as a talk back but also gives me an opportunity to vent some spleen.

I think I am blogging a bit too much dogs nowadays. Liking dogs, or your own dog, is one thing and talking or writing about them extensively is another thing. I have become like the mothers who just can't see beyond their kids. I am like the Helen(?) of Goldbergs, I am wearing "mommy glasses". But on the other hand I had thought that I would exclusively write Alex from now on in my blog. Was that decision too layered in my obsession for him?

Why don't they have spell check in this blog? I thought it was a rather standard stuff where ever you were supposed to type. I can type xgftersd and this page will not even blink! What a jerk.

Where are the winters? I have cracked open my blazers wardrobe and have to still be a bit uncomfortable wearing it. If not now then when will I wear all the suites and blazers that I have piled up?

I hate this cough! It's really bugging the hell out of me. Even my tried and tested Septillin has failed me this once. I have still not overcome the horrific memories of the cough I had a couple of years back when I had gone to Kathmandu to take exams. How I used to wake up coughing and how my rib cage used to ache from consistent coughing. The only word that rhymes with that cough is brackish. It was that bad.

Cough reminds me of House (which has me hooked!) which reminds me of English serial, which reminds me of 30Rock (big fan of Liz Lemon), which reminds me of poetry of Jewel. Now this is what they call a "train of thought", a phrase I learnt from Sherlock Holmes, the short stories, not the movies/series/interpretations.

By the way why do they have so many serials on Holmes nowadays? Is he the flavour of the year? We have Sherlock at BBC/AXN, then another one Elementary, in which Lucy Liu (very unimaginatively names Dr. Watson) has started getting on my nerves, and then House, which is a very cleverly disguised one with our homely Dr. Williams instead of Watson and even House's flat number as 221.

Well I have to look up the poetry of Jewel now, before I forget and get distracted by something inane and trivial. I seem to have the attention span of a gold fish!

Indie & Alex

I have had dogs throughout my life, pure bred as well as in these politically correct times the one's they call as Indie, which in the days gone by were called "mongrels". Despite tall claims by so called experts I always felt that the Indies were cunning and independent, hence a lot difficult to train.

Pedigreed on the other hand came almost pre-assembled. Till the time you were not a total ass they were not that difficult to train. I guess this came from their inherent desire to please the owner. The Indie were also affectionate and playful but they also had a free spirit which was untameable. And I had all the dogs right from the time they were pups (except for Lucy) so obviously there were no external factors involved.

I think I am rambling now.

So my guy Alexander, or Alex for short, found the love of his life. An indie born toLucy, an old friend of my Suzana. Now this indie gets along so well with my guy that you wonder about love in the stars and fated to meet kind of stuff. Alex being a big dog with the brains of a kid till now can be a bit handfull to play with.He used to grab her by her neck or ear and make her sprawl on the road. She used to howl with pain but still hang with him during walks. And at that time I was npt as all interested in petting or talking to her so no external incentive to play with Alex were there.

With time and perseverance she won my heart and now she is Roxana - one of the queens of Alexander the Greek king.

She comes running when called and gets her treat of dog biscuits for putting up with this lout Alex.

Now of course she very rarely lets him catch her neck. With her slim, light body she really makes him run and can easily dodge him, while he runs like a out of control train! 

Roxana is his personal trainer now.

P.S.: Roxana has a new suitor now, another indie Moti. 

Let's see how the story unfolds.

Alex - the car riding junkie at almost 8 months

Alex.
More of an Alexander, now that he has grown up all muscular and tall.

He used to be a small pup and now he has grown into one big hyper teenager.
Oflate he has picked up the joy of riding cars. The minute a car door opens he pops in and is already for the ride. Thankfully so far he doesnt bark while the car is moving on dogs and cows.

A dog this old is just like a kid at 2-3 years. Everyother day he'll come up with something new and surprise you. 

During the dewali holidays he picked up coming down stairs. I say coming down because he was always pretty confident going up. It was the coming down part which used to have him all whiney and weepy. Imagine carrying a dog this big in your hands and walking down 12-15 stairs. Thankfully he got the hang of it once he was left alone on the landing to manage it. Now he can't wait to run up & down the stairs.

More later about the love of his life, his childhood sweetheart Roxana.

Makki di roti & Sarson da saag

I had it (obviously referring to makki ki roti & sarson ka saag) for the first time day before yesterday at a wedding in Lucknow. Which of course is very ironic cause I come from a place where both maize and mustard is all over the place and roti and saag is a staple meal.

Maybe the reason that it was so common was why I never bothered to have it.

At the wedding after the round of fish tikka, kababs, noodles I wandered of to the stall serving it and on impulse took it. As I was having it for the first time went the whole hog and put dollops of melted ghee on rotis and saag. And took a bunch of pieces of jaggery too.

It was delicious!

A summer Sunday Dawn.......

On a lazy Sunday morning my thoughts drifted towards the time I had spent with Suzana. I missed her and the thought that I did came out of nowhere and enveloped me like a light cloud around me.
I took my bike and rode to the place where she is, right on the banks of Gomti.
It was still early morning and the sun was still not out. On the riverside a light breeze was blowing and the flock of wild ducks were flying down to the water. Just the kind of place and time of the day Suzana would have loved to run around in.

On the left side was a railway bridge and a passenger train lazily trudged across it. How she would have gone all curious on seeing a train, got all excited and then barked herself crazy taking the train to be some giant lumbering animal trying to flee from her barks. She would have loved the whole experience.

Stood around for a while soaking in the scenery and had a small chat with her, telling her how much I missed her, how she had to be put to sleep due to the debilitating leukemia, what a wonderful place she is in with open grassy bank and a river flowing past, and what all we had been through together in our journey of 8 memorable years.

On my way back crossed Dilkusha gardens. I had heard about it a lot but somehow never seen it.
Parked my bike and walked in to an isolated place. I was surprised to see the monuments and the well maintained lawns.

Dilkusha was a hunting lodge build by the nawabs and designed by a brit for them. Looking at its size it looked more of a place of "pleasure" rather then a lodge of any kind.

As I was walking about the place in my splendid isolation I came across a big lawn. And right across the lawn was this golden labrador pup around 2 months old. A teenager was with him, and was sitting away disinterested.
We both saw each other. Our eyes met. I bent down a bit and the pup came tearing across the lawn right into my lap! I patted him, played with him and he went all crazy licking and jumping all over me.

I played with him to my hearts content and as I walked away I felt as if Suzana had come over to play with me for one last time.........

Doppelgänger found!

So I am on this Indigo flight on the 23rd of this month, from Bangalore to New Delhi, and just as we queue in to board the tarmac bus there is this guy right in front of me. The first thing I noticed was his brown loafers which he wore without socks, and thought hey! I have the same pair at home though of a different brand and I often wear them the same way. As it was a long queue and there was nothing else to do I started observing him more closely. He had khaki cotton trousers on which too is one of my preferred casual wear. He was in a black checks shirt on a back ground and I was in a blue checks on green. He had a unruly mop of salt n pepper hair pretty similar to mine.
He was though a bit shorter, maybe 5'9", and a bit hefty. Looks vise he did resemble Ajay Jadeja.
He was wearing a watch which I had almost bought a few months back, a white dial one with black rubber strap, but instead I had taken a white dial with silver metallic strap at the last moment.
A black trolley bag, but then that is pretty ubiquitous.
And of course the similar ear phones.

Ghost Story

PThe events I am about to narrate are of this morning and the day has still not ended. A bit has been made up to add spice to the story BUT all the creepy bits are true.
For the purpose of narration I feel that a third person narration would be better......

The day started on a promising note with a cloudy sky. He thought it might rain again today in the morning like the previous few days. But that was not be. It had become unbearbly humid by the time he reached college. Passing the whole day on the ground floor in some other department without AC seemed to be an impossible task for him.
It had just been two days and already this holiday postings crap was getting to him.
The idea of passing the day in his chamber on the 4th floor with AC at full blast seemed pretty tempting. The whole floor would be empty and the doors locked, but he had his own key to the chamber. Thank god for the foresight! It almost felt like a sin, a forbidden task, he thought and smiled to himself.
He took the lift to the 4th floor. The door opened to a deserted lobby. No one had come at that time. Moving through the empty offices he reached the dark gloomy corridors of his department.
As he walked down the corridor he could see the verandah right at the end. A girl, a first year student of his, had jumped to death from the floor above around a month back. He wondered if he would have seen her jump if by chance he was walking where he was now, then. He wondered if she screamed on the way down.
He had taught her class and had taken quite a few classes just recently. But sadly he had no recollection about who she was. Her batchmates told him that she used to sit in the second last row and always towards the window during his lectures. Did she think about jumping while he taught? Looking down from the window and wonder how it would feel. How quick would it be.
They told him that he even spoke to her once when she had a dizzy spell in class. That she used to wear specs. Though he pretended to remember he really had no clue about who she was. He couldn't even remember her name.
As he opened the door to his chamber and switched on the lights he thought that if by chance she would appear in front of him right now he would not know it. Even if she tells her name. That would be pretty insulting for a newly formed ghost.
Maybe the blood trickling down her forehead would be a clue.
With these thoughts in mind he settled down in front of the AC. Time went past pretty fast while he tinkered about with his stuff.
Making best use of the solitude he took a short nap.
He woke up feeling fresh and a bit different. In what way he could not say.
Walked down to the library and there the staff seemed pretty happy to see him. During the course of conversation he came to know that a 9 day havan was going on in the college for the departed soul. This was the third similar incident in quick sucsession in the college.
Finally the college came to an end, and he leaves for home after doing some quick errands on the way.
By the time he reaches home he is somehow very tired and drowsy. Just peels off his clothes and lies down on the bed.
Next thing he knows he can hear a banging noise coming from somewhere afar. Maybe its just a dream or my imagination.
The banging grows louder and more rapid. He feels that he is surfacing from a deep dark water body and as he moves towards the top the intensity of light increases. Next thing he knows he is awake.
Where am I? What is this place? And who the hell am I? He looks around bewildered.
He is still looking around the room when the banging starts again. He gets up and unlocks the door. He is surprised to see it latched from the inside in the first place. Ash is pissed. What took you so long? He mumbles something and goes back to bed.
There is some music playing at a distance. Then he feels Ash shaking him. Your phone is ringing. He gets up and looks blankly at his cell. What ringtone is this? I have never heard it before, no wonder I didnt get up. He takes the call and goes back to sleep.
Next time again he hears the phone ring but this time around he gets up and picks it. As he is about to answer Ash asks him what is he doing with her phone. What the hell is going on, he thinks.
Finally he gets up still feeling drowsy and with a heavy head. There are 3 missed calls in the cell which was right next to his head.
As he sits and muses about these weird happenings a thought enters his head........
Is it possible that he is still sitting in his chamber in college, while this entity at home is someone else? Did something go wrong during the nap he took in his chamber? Has "she" come with him, driven away by the havan being performed to get rid of everything spooky & evil.

P.S.: the thought of sleeping again makes him a bit nervous and wary, but its late at night and he is feeling very drowsy.........
P.S. 2 : there is a soft imitation lace coaster on his desk the next morning and he is the only one with the key to the chamber.
P.S. 3: the light outside his chamber is on, while he remembers shuting it the previous day.
P.S. 4 : there is a death game image on his screen, which has been auto-googled somehow while still in his shirt pocket.

Alexander at 8 weeks :-D

How time flies and dogs grow! 

3 weeks back he has just a little more then a hand full and today he is a snapping biting little Tasmanian Devil!

He used to insist on sleeping on the carpet next to my bed and now he sleeps outside in the dieffenbachia flower bed by his own will at night. 

How fast they evolve is almost amazing. 

He's on his Honeymoon right now. Disciplinary classes and behaviour management will start once he's 3 months old. 

Freak out till then buddy!

100th!

Well, well, well, never thought that I will come this far. And was surprised to note that there are 99 of these with this being the hundredth one. 

I moved away in between for a year or so but with the advent of smart phones was back at blogging. 

Someday I will sit back and analyse my blogs. I am sure there will be pointers somewhere. 

So here's to a hundred more and counting.......

Board of Boredom (Studies)

All these years while in academics you hear about Board of Studies this, Board of Studies that. The principal hypes it up, makes it sound like a 3 chaired bench at the Supreme Court!

And then a quirk of fate makes you land up at the University as the college representative on "The" Board of Studies and you realise what a sham it is. 

The principals from the different dental colleges are left to fend for themselves. Pushed away in a dark dingy corner of a delapitated board room. Huddled in a corner, arguing about the external examiners list and requesting (begging?) repeatedly for tea from the University peons. 

They finally get bad tasting, lukewarm tea in disposable plastic cups which are smaller then tequila shots!

That is notched up as a big achievement. 

The only highlight of the trip were the mustard, very Yash Raj-ish fields, newly laid 6 lane highway and bread pakora at a road side dhaba on the way back. 

That is another item "to-do" in academics struck down. 

Alex - Day 4

First night of peaceful though I had slept at 9:30, in anticipation of a long night. 

Got up at 4:30am, totally fresh & awake. 

Went to check on Alex and found him asleep like a baby on my Ts! I guess the extra t-shirt helped. 

He has started running around now and also comes into the main house. Slept under my bed in the afternoon. This is pretty rapid development in 4 days. 

Alex - day 3

So here we go again!
Alex is here. Alex cause thats the name given by the breeder on his pedigree sheet. Jane's elder brothers name is Alex, so will have to keep this Alex or his name hidden from her for as long as possible.
One month and 4 days old today, 3rd day with us, he is taking a toll on me. I am too old for this, or atleast feel so. Its just like having another kid, with late in the night/early morning crying for food/attention. And of course the bed wetting and assorted accidents.
This is the first of my "licensed" pet. I had always gone for keeping pets for the fun of it. This one comes with a pedigree sheet and a "micro chip" to boot!
But he has a calm personality and is at peace till the time he knows I am around somwhere.

TTEs on a Train (to be sung like Riders On The Storm)

What do TTEs talk about when they gang up on a train?

I had a whole gang of 8 with me alongwith their chief.

They talk about trains and train crossing and train timing. That's but so obvious. 

Then to add some excitement to the dead conversation there was a chain pulling in S2 on this Kathgar bridge on Ramganga. The beauty of all this is no one can get off here and neither can it be fixed. So they called up the commercial control to rectify it. 

And then like most desis they talk about cells, apps and Whatsapp! Whatsapp seems to be the national pass time now days.  They do talk elections but with the highly charged up political atmosphere they pussy foot around it. Then there is the unifying factor: a hated senior or a bully colleague, we had a bully colleague in this scenario, who as luck would have it got the chain pulling episode rectified and afterward came charging in blaming everyone for not assisting him. Even the chief seemed to be wary of this guy. Hardworking kind, but who never let anyone forget that.

Moving on, I used to love these type of iron bridges as a kid. While travelling in a non-AC compartment you could make out the change of noise the train usually makes while passing through such bridge. It used to bhi the standard "khat khat, khat khat" and then something like "khat khat, woosh, khat khat, woosh..." while passing through a bridge with these A shaped girders (or is it beams?). Even at night with my eyes closed, I could tell that we were on a bridge. And the sightl of the beams passing by on a fast train was a visual delight!

Morning mist, Meerut & mit jayaega saara gila....

Chodo sanam
Kahae ka gam
Hastae raho
Khiltae raho

Mit jayaega
Saara gila
Humsei galae miltae raho.... :-D

On a morning train after ages in winters. All stuffed and rounded like a snowman. Either the seats in Shatabdi have shrunk or I am overstuffed!
Just reached Meerut station and it looks pretty respectable as compared to the crappy town it is.
Just love red bougainvillea blooming at the platform. One sight you hardly seen on railway stations. 
Everytime I have come to this city I have lost my way. For some reason this city reminds me of strife, rudeness and disorder. Kind of a western UP counter part of Cawnpoor!
I saw first half of Dhoom 2 here, stayed for a night in some hotel, got stuck in a huge traffic jam, came for an univ inspection, and got lost once, no twice, while driving through it.
Maybe someday I will have something good to say about Meerut.
That day has yet to come.