Those were the best days of my life!!!!

Surfing through my laptop,I chanced upon a few oldie goldie songs that transported me to the days when life was just a ball. Going to college, bunking classes, eating the canteen samosa paav, savoring the gola at the road side stall,meeting at Ruku's place for combined studies (read: eating, chatting, giving blank/crank calls to male friends, who inspite of knowing used to get fooled everytime and going for long walks), going to Chembur station for shopping, pav bhaji and kulfi. Ultimate fun was going to town to enjoy a movie, shop at fashion street, eat and loaf around finding good novels. Back from college, it was time for more fun with building friends. Sitting at the katta, all the days events were shared and jokes retold. 8 PM was the limit, but finding loopholes was the mantra....later the floor stairs would be the gossip hotspot...after an hour of more gupshup, we used to retire for the day....Colony life was different...not many places to hang around, but still life was fun...I can never forget the sev puri wala, who makes the best sev puri/ pani puri and bhel in this whole world.......finger licking good......I can also never forget the gossip aunties, who used to sit on the benches and pass comments on every passerby. Result day was bad for the low rankers and a field day for these gossip mongers. The weak students were caught and disgraced further, with questions like " maths mein kitne mile???" science mein kitne mile??".....the irony of the situation was many of these women were not even educated...anyways thats what life is all about......

The song "those were the best days of my life" sums it all up.......

Panchi banu udati firu.....

After a usual mad morning, I sat on my sofa with a hot cup of tea and Eat-Sum-More biscuits. Savoring the short bread, I casually looked out of the window, into the backyard. A slow breeze occasionally moved the branches of the tree touching my window sill. Slowly my thoughts, the mess in my house just faded and I focused on the tree and the single bird sitting on one of its branches,chirping happily. In a few seconds it hopped to another branch and then to another and was soon joined by another of its kind. Looking at the bird, I suddenly had a crazy thought- Wish I was a bird!!!!!!!! Just imagine!!!!!!!!!!! No daily household chores, no grocery shopping...no responsibilities...nothing....Simply fly from one branch to another, find insects or berries to eat, collect twigs for the nest and generally have a merry time. Fly long stretches in the open skies, flutter in small pools of water,sing a bird song and simply relax..........The thought put a song on my lips....Panchi banu udati firu masta gagan mein...aaj mein azaad hun duniya ke.....

South Africa-Meri nazar se.......

IT has not only opened new job avenues, but has also offered people a chance to travel to different countries- offshore is the coined term in the IT terminology. Thanks to one such offer, we landed in Johannesburg, South Africa. Lesser known,lesser traveled part of this world- was my misgiving till I arrived here and found complexes full of Indians- people of Company transfers,business visas and of course the SA Indians-Indians,whose ancestors came decades back,mostly from Gujrat and made this country their homeland. People,who look like us, but are Africans in most respects. The term African for me always meant "Blacks". But now I am wiser- Africans can be "Blacks", "Whites", "Colored" and "Asians". This categorization appears on all official forms- be it an admission form of a school or the form for any visa.

The languages spoken here are Zulu, Afrikaans and English. I would specially like to mention that Afrikaans is quiet similar to German or perhaps Dutch, as South Africa was ruled by them for several years. But knowing German, I find a lot of common words. My complex for e.g. is called Waldorf- which means "Jungle Village"; the departmental stores Spar-meaning "Save"; "Straat- street and so on.

When I came here,I was freaked by the football mania- wherever you go, huge footballs have been set up- on the ground,in the air,as advertisements, for entertainment, around buildings...everywhere. But as I read about the SA history and the apartheid regime, the formidable prison of Robben Island and how football gave the country and its people a sense of being, I understood what being a host to FIFA 2010 means to them and the euphoria around it.

AS I talk of the people, the black SA is a hardworking lot. Poverty,unemployment and crime are rampant. Crime stories are abundant. Complexes are manned and electrically fenced. Walking on roads is rare. Stopping at a Robo (Signal) with your car windows down is calling for trouble. Showing off your trendy mobiles,laptops,ornaments is a big NO-NO.Certain predominantly black localities must be avoided completely. These few rules would be very handy in SA and would save you a lot of trouble.

Driving around SA at times other than the peak hours can be a treat. Two rules observed here are worth mentioning. If a Robo is not working at a cross, it is an unwritten rule that one car each side will pass at a time. And trust me the traffic moves swiftly. Secondly,if you allow a car to overtake you, the driver will thank you by switching on his emergency lights. Believe me,it feels great.

Being a tropical country, South Africa has lot of greenery and is a natural habitat to lot of animals and birds.But at a glance,I would describe African as "BROWN" and not "GREEN". Why??? The reason still eludes me. Till I find a suitable reason,you have a good time reading my attempt at briefly describing my present home away from home.

Veg IPL Tikki

Fast food ke zamaane mein fast cricket. IPL denotes everything that is super-fast:- fast 20 overs innings, swift fame and quick big bucks. Participatin of film stars and businesnessmen have added to the euphoria of the game and provided a glamour quotient to it. The skimpily dressed cheerleaders and stunts by the likes of Akshay Kumar gave the masala and the media people thier "rozi roti".

The most appealing part of the game however is the "khichadi" of regional, national and international players in one team, sharing a good team spirit and showing the neccessary "Bhaichara". IPL also gave an excellent platform to the youngsters together with exposure and opportunity to showcase thier talent.

To conclude, this new form of cricket is a WIN-WIN situation for everybody ranging from the organizers, owners, sponsors and last but not the least the players.

Sweet Old Days

Finding “bhule bisare” school friends on Orkut took me down the memory lane. Sweet old memories came back rushing, with faces of long forgotten friends- friends who were the lifeline in those days, friends with whom most of our time was spent, the school building and the ground, which was the second home, the school ki “Khusboo”, the prayer hall and the swinging lines of students chanting “Dayaaa kara daan vidya kaaa…” (not to forget the typical tone of saying the prayer), the roll calls, the recess bell and the curiosity of finding what the other has got in her “dabba” (don’t want to remember the study time, so jumped directly to the recess), the physical training class, with “Bagade” sir teaching “East or West AECS is the Best” and finally running back home with the final bell. Also remembered the Annual day preparations- bunking class to rehearse for the dances/songs, waiting after school again to practice, meeting in the evenings to knock on everyone’s door to mix and match the costumes, sticking sequences and laces on the “Dupattas”, searching for matching “Parandis”, final dress rehearsals and the annual day function- such were the days….sweet old school days….