Independence Day!

So this was the 70th Independence day or so I am told.
Well 70 is a nice round figure and I have a thing for round numbers.
Has things changed for the better in all these years? Well frankly I don't know.

Technological advancement apart I feel everything else is more or less the same. There might be 300+ channels but I watch the same 2-3, if only that. Books are still the same thankfully. Movies if anything have become shallow with minimalistic plot and rely way too much on special effects.

I might have 2000+ contacts on my cell but I prefer to be in contact with only a handful.  And even this availability 24x7 is more of an intrusion than a blessing. Cars are more advanced now but roads were almost empty back then.

Life expectancy has improved thanks to modern medicine but at what costs. Many survive with debilitating illnesses for years where nature taking its course would be both merciful and relieving for the patient and their care takers.

If anything air conditioning would be one of the greatest invention in Indian conditions on a regular daily basis. But then there was life before that also and we used to sleep pretty blissfully as kids.

I think travel is one thing which has become faster and more accessible then it was in the heydays. And is a good welcome change.

I don't yearn for old days, but as I belong to a generation which has seen rapid advancements I am at a position to look around and compare.

Thumper@24K!

Well, well, well, we have come a long way!
On this Sunday, the 19th of June, Two thousand and sixteen our good ol' Thumper crossed the 24K mark.
As far as ordinary bikes go, this is not an exceptional milestone.
But then this is no ordinary bike to begin with. It is more of a ceremonial bike which ventures out on rather few occasions. Like the King's mount which comes out only in ceremonies and leisure rides. No minion task for the Thumper.
The significance on 24K is also because the longest trip Thumper has undertaken is also a 24!
and that was it's 2400km run from Lucknow to Ladakh to Kashmir.
I do hope to take it out again someday on a long run where it gets to run free, rather then the clutch/brake/accelerator existence it has to put up with in city run.

Slap of God : Thunderclap!

Rain started pouring like there was no tomorrow, early in the morning today. I think it was 5 or something o'clock. I was in a mood to go back to sleep but then I remembered poor Alex, stuck on the roof. Well, he wasn't as drenched as I had expected as he had the good sense to stand under the awning. As I was rescuing him I saw that there already was a couple of inches of water pooled up on the roof. The drains would have clogged again despite my cleaning them a few days back.
So, I left the ecstatic Alex to scuttle down while I, like a true hero, went out to clean the drains.
It was pouring so I was drenched in the first few steps I took on the roof. There was a small rectangular iron sheet left by the painters which I took for the job.
Here I am, totally drenched, feet in 3-4 inches of water, with a metal sheet in hand, stooped over the drain which was clogged with leaves, twigs and matted Alex's hair.......and then IT happens!
There is this blinding white light all around as if a thousand flashes had exploded spontaneously and a thunder as loud as I had ever heard right over my head!
And I am like, this is it buddy!
I was back down so fast that I literally skipped over water.
With the sound of thunder still resounding in my ear, I took off the wet clothes and thought of going back to open the other drain. Everyone knows that lightening doesn't strike twice at the same place. Right?
So I am back again with the same rectangular metal sheet in hand, hunched over the next drain in pouring rain, with one eye in the sky.
And then it happens again!
And this time I see it coming down!
Not as loud or bright as the first time, but right over my head, and enough to chill me right to the bones.
I am down again and could not care less if the house drowns today.

Now when I think about I wonder what was I thinking the second time around. Its not like I am Flash and could out run a lightening bolt, so what exactly was the point of keeping an eye on the sky.
5 hours since the Slap/Clap and there is still a dull ache in my eardrums........


P.S.: 3 days after this clap/slap I was going through TOI in Delhi and in it on one of the inner pages there was this news of 117 people being killed by lightening during the same thunderstorm!
And two guys were struck by lightening while standing on the roof and enjoying the rain during the same storm in Ghaziabad.

An ideal evening.....

Ah! Today was an ideal evening or an evening well spent according to me.
Lounging on the couch, or sprawled is more like it, watching my favourite programme,  and Alex by my side.
A bottle of chilled water and an empty house made it all the more better.
The temperate weather also helps to add on to the peace and tranquillity.
Happiness in simplicity!

Then & Now

A long, long time back if I was asked to name a few individuals I would never ever meet again, I think her name would be among the top 5 or even 3. Her father was in the army, she had already been in APS when I joined, and was due for transfer anyway. And I did not like her. Not because of anything specific, but just like that.

We were together in school in Udhampur. I think it was during 9th - 10th. We both were the first to reach the class. I think, by a good 10-15 minutes before anyone else came. I used to be terribly shy and everyday I used to wish that either she would not be there or there would be someone else besides her. And I was the class monitor!

I don't think I ever spoke to her, which knowing me then would not be a surprise, and to avoid her I used to stand outside the class till someone else came!

And here we meet so many years down the line.....and now are good, chatty friends!

So I guess the moral of the story would be, to not be a presumptuous ass ever!