When we reached Bangalore we instantly advanced towards Chinnaswamy stadium. It was Sunday and so there was huge crowd, we were lucky for we had already booked the ticket for the day otherwise we would have been looking at window showing all sold out. Before entering we were told to throw away our water bottle, for the reason that people liked to offer water to players of other team by throwing bottles at them and we were also told to switch off our phone, for the cause that someone is not spot fixing or fixing of that sort, in any manner. Because of the help from irctc we saw only second half of Australian’s batting. Then the Indian batting started, it is always good to see Shewag massacre the bowlers, but this was short lived. Next when Dravid got out (reducing further its average of 22 on his home ground) I thought now Indian team is a gone case. With only 40 runs, 2 wickets already gone and with only one credible test player remaining, I thought follow on is inevitable. For india to save the match at least one of the players had to hit double century. And we knew from whom we should expect it. One of my friend said, “Accha hai follow on ho.. bc Sachin to ki batting to do baar dekh loonga.”

When Sachin came to bat, well what can I say… he played. And he played every ball diligently, not a single credible appeal was made against him till I saw his knock of 191* at the end of day 3. He saw Vijay getting tired and lose concentration, unlucky Pujara and Raina going after his temptation (the crowd was cheering six six and then Ricky ponting seeing that Raina is excited, to lure him brought long on inside… and Raina just gave the expected catch).. but his determination and concentration never went down.
He was angry two times.. first one when he was about to get 150, with everybody standing and shouting, “Sachin..Sachin” in unison, clapping hands and shouting at the top of their lungs, I could feel the whole stadium shake with the excitement. At that time the people above side screen also got up. Umpires pleaded to people to sit down but no one was listening, After Sachin took a quick single and completed his 150 then also the crowd didn’t get settled. And when he again came to bat, because of all the shouting of crowd, he lost his concentration, and got beaten by a ball. This made him furious and then he made a quick angry gesture to crowd with his hand.. one could easily see the anger on his sweaty face.. that time in 2 seconds the crowd was pin drop silent. I then realised how Indians watch every action of Tendulkar and how much they respect him. The second time he was angry was when Raina got out, Raina was in good touch but got out because of his own fault, It could have been good partnership for Tendulkar and India.

Apart from cricket we went to the Forum mall in Bangalore. It was good mall, we watched a very bad movie “A American”, ate paav bhaaji for 80 Rs., and went to a friend’s house to sleep. Bangalore at evening time is uninhabitable city. This is because of the pollution of all the autos, bikes, cars etc. Everywhere you go you will smell petrol vapours, it was quite black in the evening and one could see pale evening sunlight trying to pierce through the smoky black screen of petrol floating all around.  But our evening was short lived as we headed towards Yeshvantpur station.

All in All I am pleased that I saw one of the best knock of Sachin, felt the Sachin effect and that too in my first match; it will be imprinted in my memory.

With the son gone she was a bit relaxed to do the daily chorus, tidying up the bed, cleaning and sweeping the floor. After these she began to make lunch for herself and her son.  It was chappati and subzi of lauki and dal. ‘It’s so hot, one day this whole earth will burn under the sun if this continues’ she said as she finished the last chappati. ‘Let me lie down a bit and straighten my back till he comes all yelling and yelping for food’ She laid down on the rusty old charpai which creaked simultaneously with her bones all making her conscious of her increasing weight.

‘Oh what a good one hour nap it was. Raju has not come yet!’ All refreshed she started shouting “Raju come and eat it’s time for lunch” But there is no reply. After ten or fifteen shouts she gave up. ‘Must have taken lunch at Sonu’s house, always says that Sonu’s mummy cook this and that’ she muttered to herself, and then poured some dal, subzi and put two chappatis for her. After finishing her delicious lunch and thanking God she began to collect clothes for washing. “Now what will I do of those cold chappatis, no one will eat them. Let him come and I’ll teach him lesson” She thought as she beat the squalid bed-sheet of verandha cot. ’This bed sheet will last for only one more month, and then I have to buy one new bed sheet. I also have to a new short for Raju, he was complaining for it from past two weeks……’  With her sturdy hands she finished washing in around 2 hours. Piling all clothes in one bucket, and putting on hawai chappals she went to the roof, “Don’t know where on earth he is playing in such a heat?”  “Arrey behenji finished washing clothes?” Sonu’s mother asked her. “Haan ji, just finished now I will have some free time for myself” with a quick smile she answered the question. ‘Some noise of children is coming from her house Raju must be there’ she deduced as she climbed down the stairs.

After washing her hands and face she started the T.V. A bahu was criticising her to be sister in law. ‘All families have same stories’, she wondered, thinking about her sister in law. She didn’t remember when she slept, but when she woke up it was already five in the evening. ‘Why Raju has not come yet.’ She got up and went up to collect the dried up clothes. She shouted “Sonu ki mammi.. O Sonu ki mammi” As Sonu’s mummy appeared she asked her “Aji.. it’s evening tell Raju that I’m calling.”

“But Raju is not with us”, Sonu’s mother replied.

“He told me in the morning that he is going to play at sonu’s”

“No, No he has not come at our home. In fact Sonu had gone to school the whole day and just now came”

“Oh my God where has that boy gone?” With a worried voice she answered as she hurriedly collected all clothes and went downstairs. Coming to verandha she shouted “Raju… O… Raju where are you? Come back” but there was no one to acknowledge her order. ‘Where has he gone’, she hurriedly went into the streets of her mohalla looking for him. Panting and restless she finished one round. She completed second round of the streets all running but there was no sign of him. She asked every neighbour whether Raju was there playing or having seen him nearby playing. All neighbours had same answer “Nahi behenji he has not come here, why don’t you ask in the next house? I think he was there.” After running here and there for some time she called in some neighbours for some help. All neighbours at once began to patrol in streets shouting Raju’s name. She was screaming hysterically “Raju.. Raju where are you” continuously. ‘Where can be he.. may be in garbage dumpster’  she began to throw garbage out of the dumpster making all her clothes dirty. ‘He’s not here then he can be near rose field’ She ran to the rose bushes. Uprooting some and removing some with her hand. The thorns all piercing in her feet, hands and tearing away her at many places increased her impatience and agony, making her eyes all blurry with moisture.

‘May be he’s gone near pond tree.’ She went to tree and started climbing but could not climb. And then there came a bird with a shrill voice. ‘Oh my God this bird will explode my brains out’ “Where is my son” She cried out loud and fell in the pond. ‘I have to search the pond but how will I go inside pond it’s too deep?’ and then the bird shouted in its shrilled voice “You mad woman the Sun is so hot”. And as she turned around the she saw all pond drying up. But alas! There was no sign of Raju. Suddenly she felt some soil dropping from above. ‘All dried up water has become soil and it’s falling now Oh my god where is my son… ’ Soon there was a large mountain formed. She ran from here and there, around the mountain… on the top of mountain, but there was no one. ‘Please God tell me where is my son’ and suddenly she realised something. She felt her mouth falling in her stomach and her lungs contracting with despair. Her throat was all dry as she knew that her son was under the mountain. She ran towards the mountain all wailing and throwing her towards it. She began to dig up the dirt with her own hands crying and shouting “Raju O Raju where are you… Mere beta” While all other children came running to her and began shouting “Pagal pagal.. ye to pagal ho gayi”..  Oblivious of the soil filling in her long nails she kept scratching and scraping the mountain, while the entire world danced in front of her eyes. She sat there crying. Tears dried up and new tears formed up in on her cheek. ‘Hey bhagwan save my child.. Please God save him’. Her pallu was not enough to dry her tears..

“Maa E Maa I have come” A man entered into her house

“Are Raju beta you have come” She woke up from bed “mera raja beta”” She held his face in her hand

“E Ma why are there tears on your cheek something happened” Her 24 year old son coming from New York asked her.

“Nahi re Just had a dream… Le I have made your favourite lauki ki sabji and daal”

“Arre waah Ma this is the best”

She saw her son eagerly eating chapaati with lauki as she took a sigh of relief.

For the first week I was in dearth of food, well I come from Rajasthan so roti is a must for me, but here in the name of roti I could only find Kerala Parantha (That too local people eat differently, I can’t explain here). But India is a diverse culture and so in every city you can easily find a corner where they provide your native food. I also found one nearby called Kolkata Mithai Bhawan. The owner was a jolly fellow and boasted that all its ingredients were imported from West Bengal (all rasmalai and sandesh). It gave us good substitute for dinner (25 Rs. for 4 chapatti and dal, sabji). For breakfast I bought some biscuits/ Haldiram stuff.

At lunch time I was at my office branch which was near padi, Lucas. My company had business in transport which meant this branch this branch to be situated along a highway. So there were only two mini dhabas, one for veg food and one for non-veg food. I tried first with Veg. shop, the experience was new and learning one. First of all they gave me folded banana leaf, I sat for the food to arrive. The waiter came with rice with a fried red chilli on it. I unfolded the banana leaf and was just going to put some rice on it, when I heard the waiter saying something to me. By actions of deaf mute symbols he told me to wash the banana leaf with water, but I didn’t understand much of it, so he washed it for me spilling the water on my pants (you know where). By that time the entire restaurant was looking at me like an alien landed on their planet. Next came in some daal stuff, some dry stuff and pickle. I called for some Sambhar on rice (I only know two names Sambhar and Rasam of which I don’t like Rasam).

Now the difficult part was to eat. I have never eaten rice with my hands, though my mother can do this easily but well I guess I didn’t inherit that from her. So I mixed rice with Sambhar and took some rice and somehow put it in my mouth. From my first attempt I knew that it will take me more than 1 hr if I eat in this fashion; moreover I will be feeding my cheek and chin more than my stomach. I again took some rice and put it in my mouth wiping my face with other hand (Chennai people don’t use left hand while eating). After watching my 5-6 failed efforts the person sitting in front of me told me how to eat it without spilling and easily, after practicing his mantra I learned the secret of eating rice.

In non-veg shop there was only Biryani, there I ate Chicken Biryani two times. The first time it caused me a stomach-ache, I went for second time giving it a benefit of doubt but it again did the same to me; so I ditched her. Later I went there only for egg biryani (At least with egg I know it’s egg.. otherwise I’m definitely sure that in the name of chicken they were giving some other bird or animal biryani). Later on I tried various types of Dosai, Vadai, Utthappam etc. The taste of food is definitely better than that of Kerala, as here they don’t use coconut oil in everything they cook.

The next thing that comes in my mind other than food is weather. Surely it’s too much humid in Chennai. (I now know why rains are so less in north… all water is in the sweat of Chennai people)It’s like all the sea has vaporised and has come upon you. Just after coming out of the room and roaming for ½ hr will drench you in sweat and you will feel of taking a bath immediately. AC is a must here.  The heat here is not hot, its ugly.. like something that you don’t like/ you detest  an acrimonious stuff. You sweat a lot outside, but the sweat doesn’t vaporise because of the humidity. With tropical heat..  and water being the liquid having highest specific heat, the bodily perspiration heats up which in turn produces more sweat in the body. So in the end you are left with a body drenched in heated water and yourself praying for some wind/AC to soothe you.

The difference from Jaipur is that there are no hot air waves. If wind flows than it will be cool otherwise it will not flow. The more pleasant times of the day are morning and evening, both times cool sea breeze flows. Here women wear flowers on their hair in morning and evening. There are many stalls all over the road selling mogra flower gajra in morning and evening. Well this makes my day.. because every morning when I go to office and when I come from office I smell the sweet smell of Mogra coming from lined up shops, intermingling with the coolness and smell of sea, giving it altogether a wicked sensation.

Culturally Chennai is lot different than other cities; then I realized that every city has its own culture that defines it and so it’s not bad to have differences. I also visited some of the temples here all made in granite stone and people thronging and jostling to have a look at their lord. Evening walk at Marina beach was always pleasant. And so are the people of Chennai (but beware of the auto drivers). In all it was a good experience for me to visit Chennai.

Lastly: You drink a lot of water…. In Chennai you sweat it off, in Jaipur it vaporises and in Kozhikode you piss it off…

Then after attending the wedding (this also involved us to travel a bit local areas.. though I forgot the names of places) I came back to Bangalore with one of my friends. He is bookholic, I will not say that he is a bookworm because he dislikes the course books, but he always has 5 or 6 books with him. He bought 5 to 6 books/magazines for the Bhopal to Bangalore journey, and well I thoroughly enjoyed the articles. One of The Week issue had complete description of Arundhati Roy experiences with Maoists or Naxalites (as we call them), this articles thoroughly described why the local people are trusting these people and what actions of government has compelled these tribal and semi tribal people for guerrilla warfare. It was a long article and I came about conclusion that both the parties who are using violence to makes others listen to its demands are wrong. These thought were also circumstantial to externalities, as one my fellow passenger was some RSS chief (he was an old fellow). In morning he did some good pranam types thing. The RSS and articles made me think about how different religions are making tribal people to convert into their religion (of which the tribal people are oblivious) by providing them money.

I stayed in Bangalore for 3 days and the whole days I spent watching movies not on laptop but on T.V. I also had luxury to put my ass on joey type couch. In that city I visited one Punjabi dhaba… I missed butter chicken in Kerala and so relished it a lot in that dhaba. Well one thing is true about Bangalore: The traffic is really bad. The next day we went for watching the match between Royal Challangers and Mohali in sports bar, drank 3 pegs of whisky and watched mohali screw up a sure winning match. It’s work culture in Bangalore, work in day and party in night. After Bangalore I came back to Calicut at 6 in morning, It was quite good to wake up at 6 in morning in Calicut (I rarely do it since my institute is there). I slept in my new room that I will be allotted after I come back from intern. After some haircut and roaming in kunnamanglam market I came back packed my bags and set for the train for Chennai.

Now this was my second train journey (12 hrs) that I was doing alone. In front of me some college girl was there, her parents or relatives came to see her off. I thought of starting a conversation with her but then declined that idea. Then in next station another gorgeous girl came (:D), a bit older than the first girl may be older than me also. I cornered myself in my corner..  occasionally looking at what each of them was doing. Then this was followed by company of two uncles and one aunty. All of the berth members were tamilians, as all started conversing with each other shortly after. I grasped my copy of ‘The Accused’ and sank myself into the building mysteries.

I reached Chennai on 6^th morning. One of my intern mate was also my roommate so I went with him to office. The local buses of Chennai are quite good, maximum ticket is around 8 Rs. I walked by foot for around 2 km and was submerged in my sweat. The humidity is very bad here. On first day itself I visited the Marina beach and then nearby City Centre mall.  There we watched Clash of Titans, it sucked: the story as well as the 3D effects. In night some cool wind breezes out of the sea but then again it has water vapour with it making our back and asses soaky soaky again till we reach the room. …

This all led me to think as to how the gradual demise of Urdu took place in India. Primarily after post independence era this language has certainly lost its ground in India. I did some research  and found out that initially in 17^th century there was no concept of Urdu or Hindi as different languages. They were considered same and some poets of that era even wrote ‘whether the language they are writing in is khallis hindi or urdu “lafz ye urdu hain ya khallis hindi” ’. But after that British did some cunning thing, to maintain difference in Hindus and Muslims they also created a sense of difference in the languages . This surely gave them an advantage because the elite class of both groups were proud of their lingual heritage. But among all these there were some good people, who talked about homogeneity of language Premchand wrote both in Urdu and Hindi and reached to Indian society, and Gandhiji had a notion of a common  Hindustani language. Later on after post independence era the majority of Indians believing that Muslims were the cause of atrocities of partition, looked down upon the culture of Muslims.

After some time when Hindi and English became the national language, the downfall of Urdu began much faster. Services and job offers were denied to people who did there MA and BA in Urdu, because they had no use of it. The learned class of Urdu speaking people gradually receded, and so did the literary volumes of Urdu. Now the cadaverous condition of Urdu is such that people only use it to make a living i.e. for teaching it in some schools or madrasas, the concept of literature and its deeper meaning is lost. In India Urdu’s status has changed to Sanskrit now.

One must realise that what we have lost is a diverse culture of verses and the gazhals. When I read some of the gazhals, I try to decipher it… though in vain, because there is no one to correct me. People everywhere want others to become like themselves, to make everything same and monotonous, and that mentality has gulped this language also. Having difference is a must for an enriching society, with different culture, innovations and experiences. By denying a language its rightful status we are denying all the possibilities of that culture or experience to make an influence in our lives. This fate is also welcoming one of our National language Hindi, and with westernisation of our society we will find degrees of MA and BA in Hindi useless and volumes of literature again wasted… sooner or later…

Yaad hain haemin…

Yaad hain hamein…

Ab to inhi syah lafzon ka sahara hai…

Safed kagaj se muhhabat ka ek bahana hai…

Yaad hai haemin…..

Everyone was in gala and excitable mood and so a plan came about, we decided to watch a movie in Crown (the only theatre in Calicut that shows Hindi movies). We were all positive to watch ‘Wake up sid’, so…

We booked a jeep for Saturday, and this too was a Mahindra product but not commander…  I always feel a kind of excitement when I travel by jeep. When I was small there was only this popular mode of transportation available to visit my grandparents’ village. And the skills with the driver rode that jeep were awesome, he could have easily qualified in 26^th January parade or some circus show. There were always 15 or 16 people clinging to his jeep. People used to crush each other in it.. I don’t know whether it was a trick of driver to make people come closer, but he always set one sentence on route “bhai khisko, jagah banao..ye jagah mat chodo..”. The route was and is in such a good shape that there was always 0.6 (I would have liked to say high but that’s too vagueJ) probability that the jeep will turn upside down. Now you will ask that didn’t you get terrified? Well the pain and misery was so much that our entire mind was concentrated on ourselves and not how the driver drives. But the driver had so much expertise that there was never any causality.

So coming back to where I started, we all sat in the jeep, at first there was a bit fight between who will sit in front, one had fight with travelling in jeep and other had the height i.e. he was such a lanky fellow that his head touched the roof when he sat at the back. Then it was settled that both will sit in front.  We headed for the crown cinema hall only to find out that the movie has been changed. Now we had two options that is either watch ‘tarzan’ or to watch ‘the taking of Phelam 123’. Though tarzan poster had one beautiful lady in bikni we all went for the other one, because it had Denzel Washington, John Travolta.. and we all being intellectual people should watch them acting (It is said in economics that sometimes people take decisions based on emotions and not rational thinking). Though I must confess the movie was big time sucker (the result of emotional thinking), and the whole time I was longing for the ‘tarzan’ girl.

After the movie we all opted to eat outside and so all in unison decided to go to ITC (though one resisted but we all…) The first room we went in was not the restaurant but bathroom, the pressure was due to cold-drinks we drank while watching movie. We (oh!! I forgot we were all 6 people) always order a buffet because it gives free dom (it feels like we are eating in a marriage ceremony just eat as much as you can and then give the present in the end). The food was not good, but we being hungry people ate to full (that means taking main course at least two times and dessert 3-4 times). After we were satisfied that our stomachs are full and we have got all the benefits like 30 minutes extra for chatting, we all got up and called our Volkswagen (the jeep) to go to hostel.

Coming to hostel we all following primate human being subconscious went to sleep (though one of us watched ‘wake up sid’??….).

14th aug:

today is our hostel party. And I have to see that food is there on tables when this party starts. Of course there is arrangement for booze also. All of us know that today is Janmashtami. And after 12 midnnight there will be independence day. So many of us chose to not drink till janamashtami was over. Independence day!! well it starts after 6 AM. Because that was the rule in school days

15th Aug 0000 hrs:

We all are having our drink in our hand. On DJ ‘Ma tujhe salam’ is on and we all wish each other a ‘happy independence day’, celebrating the true independence

1200 hrs: woke up brushed my teeth and then went straight to mess. Ate the sumptuous food, an independence day specialty. After that I saw some kite flying. All kites were like show kites, not for flying. So worked for a while with those kites. After a good few trials I managed to fly one and that too with the help of my good ol’ wind going downhill.

Black leaves, black grass and black moon;
makes my lonely heart swoon .
All perception seem to un-exist;
the night slowly and slowly begins to loom.

The night brings thoughts of you;
the face? Can’t remember you.
Blank night with blank memory;
occult night, emptiness begin to accrue.

A whiff of sightless wreathing breeze;
sans senses get it with ease.
blinding darkness veiling the sky, the world;
and adamant stars begin to tease.

Coy, obscure, vacuum and olly;
the night streams in me fully.
Calmness and smile come to me; and
I walk away dilly-dally.

So from today what I am planning to do is to write a blog every week and blab about a word that comes in at that time in mind. Here it is, today I learned a new word valediction which means a farewell speech or something related to farewell.

Normally you stand at bus stand and again stand there, then you get tired and  you sit at the cylindrical steel structure made to support your butt. .. Sooner or later sweat imprints made by steel on your ass gets itching, you get up, roam a bit here and there and look at other fellows. And this process repeats itself till your bus arrives. At the time when your destined bus comes, you are half wet in your bodily secretion. If you are quite secretory person you would also have a beautiful smell around you, that you realise when you stretch your arm to catch on the bus (If god could have made it good smelling, nobody would have had a problem!!).

Of course the bus doesn’t stop entirely, it seduces you like Hindi movie heroines: first moving towards you with slowing pace…. then giving a sweet horn…. and again speeding up and you chase her like Bollywood hero. After getting in the bus (when someone: the villain has yelled at you because you had gripped his shirt to climb up) you give a sigh of relief. Your ardent love (and a gruelling fight with the villain) finally gets you your beloved darling . You give a smile and THE END ? but nahin..“ doston picture abhi baaki hai”

First thing you do is look for a place to sit and 98% of times you will not find any. Well then you search for a terra firma corner  to stand and support yourself. …..If you are a practitioner of yoga, I think you will get through the rest of the journey with ease.    Or you will learn it here ………. many times in a really crowded bus you have to stand on one foot and then lean towards the window while your one  hand is pointing upwards  holding the sole supporter, and other hand is in your pocket to give money to conductor, at the same time the fellow behind you is making you fall on the nearby sitting passenger(saala *@ #@ &&&@).   I think this must be one of aasans that our yogis did .

Problem adds on when you are quite sweaty sweaty. A drop of ‘thy water’ from thy head makes its way behind the ear(giving you a tingling sensation) then budging through cheek, it dangles at your chin making pendulum like motion…….  . So the drop adds on (ye to bhai kahawat hai ki Boond Boond se badi Booonndd banti hai.. ) and due to gravity it falls on the sitting passenger.  And u can’t wipe it because your hands are occupied.Now because you are so sweaty sweaty and have sweety sweety innocent face(otherwise you are dead) you give a cute little smile, and he glares at you giving “where this disgusting thing has come from” look …..  

While this is happening your ass acquires a temperature of 100 C because of the rubbing\scraping and abrasing of all different asses and other things that pass by as their destinations arrive. And you try to shrink it as much as you can…. In the end your destination arrives…. As you are standing at aphelion you make your way out.“Arre bhaisahab/bhaiya/tau or uncleji for men and aunty/didi/exuseme for ladies”. Making minimum contacts, not touching anything you move out of the bus. When you put your first foot outside the bus you know what you have achieved, maybe it’s same “real or fake feeling” when Neil Armstrong first put his foot on the moon.( I can’t deny the conspiracy theory ) You take a deep breath and give a content smile to people standing there while disembarking the bus.. you have really reached your destination…….

So this is an ordinary bus travelling process that I have shared with you and I have also made bold the main points that would help you out for your upcoming bus journey..

There is one other thing that bothered me… well it has to do something with economic way of judging things. From Nehru Place to Noida many village people also climb on the bus, they basically travel taking their whole family. Well I’ll tell you what I have seen many times: A male who is sitting in ladies seat doesn’t get up seeing the ladies with those workers (actually he stares at them with disgust or we all look at them that way because when they climb up they make a hell of noise for their belongings and children). Quite often these ladies with them have one baby in their hand and one standing nearby and of course they are all a bit dirty because they are workers , then also they are not given a seat.

But when a working lady neatly dressed  gets on the bus, the same man stands up for her or the conductor makes him stand up for her (the former one is what I have seen most). The poor lady being uneducated doesn’t know that she has a right on that seat, and nobody cares to tell her and this very indifference also has taught them to not ask for a seat. I think that this subtle morality distinction with respect to economic background is quite discriminatory. Of course the working lady can stand up longer than the lady who has a child with her yet the former gets the seat.

Though this is a minor issue or example but maybe this view of society against poor people, that they are hard people, who can do strenuous work and can bear a little more of physical pain is unjust and unreasonable. This I think is making disquiet among the poors, though they can’t speak for themselves but this is possibly leaving a grudge in their hearts. The attitude of society also tells us why the social perks for poors provided by the govt. are being used by rich people though poor are present there….