Nostalgic Times

This is one forward that I would like to keep on my blog. Reason? It reminds me of what I have been through over the years! And yes – Chitrahaar and Rangoli were great!

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When gulli-danda and kanche (marbles) were more popular than cricket…

When we always had friends to play aais-paais (I Spy), chhepan-chhepai and pitthoo anytime …

When we desperately waited for ‘yeh jo hai jindagi’…

When chitrahaar, vikram-baitaal, dada daadi ki kahaniyaan were so fulfilling …

When there was just one tv in every five houses…

When bisleris were not sold in the trains and we were worrying if papas will get back into the train in time or not when they weregetting down at stations to fill up the water bottle…

When we were going to bed by 9.00pm sharp except for the ‘yeh jo hai jindagi’ day…

When Holis & Diwalis meant mostly hand-made pakwaans and sweets and moms seeking our help while preparing them.

When Maths teachers were not worried of our mummys and papas while slapping/beating us…

When we were exchanging comics and stamps and chacha-chaudaris and billus were our heroes…

When we were in nanihaals every summer and loved flying kites and plucking and eating unripe mangoes and leechis …

When one movie every Sunday evening on television was more than asked for and ‘ek do teen chaar’ and ‘Rajni’ inspired us…

When 50 paisa meant at least 10 toffees…

When left over pages of the last years notebooks were used for rough work or even fair work…

When ‘chelpark’ and ‘natraaj’ were encouraged against ‘reynolds and family’…

When the first rain meant getting drenched and playing in water and mud and making ‘kaagaj ki kishtis’…

When there were no phones to tell friends that we will be at their homes at six in the evening…

When our parents always had 15 paise blue colored ‘antardesis’ and 5
paise machli wale stamps at\nhome…

When we remembered tens of jokes and were not finding ‘ice-cream and papa’ type jokes foolish enough to stop us from laughing…

When we were not seeing patakhes on Diwalis and gulaals on Holis as air and noise polluting or allergic agents…

The list can be endless… On the serious note I would like to summarise with…When we were using our hearts more than our brains, even for scientifically brainy activities like ‘thinking’ and ‘deciding’ …

When we were crying and laughing more often, more openly and more sincerily…When we were enjoying our present more than worrying about our future…

When being emotional was not synonymous to being weak…

When sharing worries and happinesses didnt mean getting vulnerable to the listener…

When blacks and whites were the favourite colors instead of greys…

When journeys also were important and not just the destinations…When life was a passenger’s sleeper giving enough time and opportunity to enjoy the sceneries from its open and transparent glass windows instead of some superfast’s second ac with its curtained, closed and dark windows …

Only Human

Another one of my incomplete musings….******************

The world of prejudice seldom draws its inspiration from the skies above. The skies that are the same everywhere. HTe skies that are so different! Like the human heart. Pumping blood- all the same. Pumping emotions- Oh! So different!!

Tomorrow may not be the definition of uncertainty that could have saved immorality a thousand blushes. Today saves the face. People who look at tomorrow and its uncertainties have prejudices against immorality. People living in today- love them. Because- the uncertainties of today help them experiment with the possibilities of tomorrow.

Lets live the prejudice with a self-debasing immorality.

Time is running, the motion is fast,

Keep on dancing, the music wont last….

Why?

Its a little late in the night, as I sit down to right this. And the first thought that comes to my mind- WHY?

Its a funny question! This friend of mine, (I will call all my friends pappu here, for anonymity’s sake), proposed this very beautiful girl. “I love you”, he gushed! “Why?”, was her response. Kids often say- I want to be a Kurt Cobain, or a Sachin Tendulkar. The moment they grow up, their parents ask- Why? Why can’t you have a more normal choice of career? Kids retort- Why do you have such a narrow view of a career?

The best answer to a Why is a Why! you may ask Why? Even I dont know why!! but what I have seen over the years is that a Why is never satisfactorily answered using a because, what, where, how!! the series of Why is an infinite sequence unless another Why clause is added to end the loop!

The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind

the answer is blowing in the wind…..

Another example of why neutralizing why is this famous incident- Roughly 40 years ago Robert F. Kennedy eloquently argued for idealism in a time of great conflict. He said, “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.” Speechless! right?(you may want to ask yourself- Why?)

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

my tongue gets tied.
And that’s no Lie..

Irrelevant! the remaining part of the song in the context of this post.

But this is how it is! I get down to write when I am bored, or when I have a lot of time. Wondering, whether thats the best time to write, and giving in to the temptation, ‘coz therez so much to write.

the difference between then and now, probably, is that somoene else is also reading it.

A writer’s block
Someone told me that Shaukat (Sanjay Dutt) in the movie Shabd (Word), has a writer’s block. And he is not able to figure out his next story. And he plays a game which involves his wife! I wonder, if it’s that easy to overcome a writer’s block. But then, I am assuming that I am a writer. Many would disagree. But then, I am not here to live up to people’s agreement! Am I?

The long and short of it- I get into a block, everytime I write 😉 but writing an introduction is easy!

The Story of my life
I grew up as a small town boy, moving from one city to another, finding, or defining his identity. Born in a small town in Darbhanga, Bihar (India), I spent my early years in Raebareilly (1980-1986, ‘then’ constituency of Smt. Indira Gandhi) and Bhopal (1986-87, capital of Madhya Pradesh). Completed most of my schooling in Ranchi (now Jharkhand, then Bihar), before moving to Delhi to finish off my undergraduate studies in Economics. My college was one of the most rowdy colleges, and my second week in college explained why it was so! For those who know Delhi, I saw more than 25 buses standing back to back, from Dhaula Kuan to Nanakpura Gurudwara, with not a single window pane intact.
Not long before I could get over the smirk on people’s faces when they realized that I was from ARSD (Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma) College, better known as SD, I joined IIM Bangalore (which was the other extreme of image and sophistication).
Two years at IIMB taught me more than a lot of places put together. And not just in academic terms.

Started off my career with TCS, large, beauraucratic and slow. Not my kinds. Quit after 16 months of rationalization to myself and joined Inductis. Small, moving and exciting.

Will write more later. Am running out of time now