The Change

It's been a wonderful week. No it was not a week of enjoyment but a week of great learning! Over the last two years I have seen changes in myself like most people do. Good or bad is a relative thing and hence would not comment on it as well. But there was a definite change – maybe some good and some not so good.

I remember my first year at college. Like everyone I was ragged. AMC Bangalore… and I was not really complaining. There was a smile. An eagerness to see more and learn more. Talk more too… and this eagerness came with a great level of positivity. And hey there was an willingness to work too. You the typical dream of earning money… doing my own stuff. The eagerness just added some more to my humility as a person and I remember some seniors saying 'Your have something special and try not to lose it'. Years later as I slog through chores of life and office I often wondered where the smile disappeared. My memory of the smile is so vague that now can't stop frowning now. There was more missing and I could not figure out what it was.

Coming back this week, I was attending the V Shantaram Awards. Unlike the awards of stature of Filmfare, this ceremony has always been very low key. There were no red carpets of fancy stuff like that. And there was something very striking bout it. And this year they decided to award veteran actress Sandhya – a prime part of V Shantaram's films. Let  me tell you she is pretty old and was the leading lady of films like Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje and Navrang.

As Sandhyaji walked up the stage she bent, touched the floor asking for blessing of god and the stage, and then went up and made a very short speech on being chosen for the recognition. It may sound very mundane, but for a woman of her age asking for blessing was a rather touching moment. And as she left the stage with photographers trying to capture her in the best frame I felt something strange. I knew what I had gone missing in me.

Over the last two and half years I lost a lot of things in the race to make some money – smile and eagerness to learn included. And not strangely I was no more half as humble. For many, I was quite arrogant. I never intended to be so… but then…

Things change though. And small things make that happen. A spark light a fire, one person starts a revolution and so very small event made me realize I lost out on my smile as I lost out on my humility.

With so much of realization let's see if I stop being as human and try rectifying on the lines. Maybe it's time to be Noyon again! J Wish me luck!  

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The cool side

Recently when I took the Go Air flight from Guwahati to Mumbai via Delhi all I knew was that I needed to save money and that was the cheapest flight available. However the journey was not too good to start with and I almost promised myself never to take that flight again. Almost! But by the end of flight I was pretty cool and was quite willing to overlook all issues. Let’s say the reasons due to which the problems were created turned out to be reasons I would remember the flight.

First and foremost was the route that it too. Since it was taking the Delhi route the fog mean the flight was delayed. But since it was talking the Delhi route I could get what is one of the most exciting views I have had – a distant views of snow capped Himalayan Range. As exotic as it looks even from such a distance, as it stood proudly above the clouds, I was left completely speechless. So much that when the steward asked me if I wanted anything to eat I took a couple of seconds to get over the visuals and respond to what he said. The plan was drawn out right away. Himalayas are on priority on my travel chart. They always were but now there is urgency!

Another reason why I quite enjoyed the nine-hour flight was the halt at Delhi. I have been to Delhi as a child and hardly have any memories left except its heat and the fact that we used to buy ice slabs so that we get to drink cold water. But this time around I got to witness the cold of Delhi. Delhi ki sardi is indeed chilling. But more than that I really like the city and how clean it is. From high above the city looked like a blinking microchip! Maybe I was only around the right areas, but what I saw was good enough for me to chuck Mumbai… if only Bollywood shifted to Delhi! The roads are well maintained and broad, the food is cool and cheap and the rents are low too. The auto-wallahs demand way too much but the metro apparently takes care of a lot of problems.

As I settled down to my monotonous life in Mumbai yet again the visuals of the Himalayas are something that keep coming back to me. As I look around I see only a dirty concrete jungle, with people walking and working like robots. But I hope I will break out and reach the snow peaks some day…

In the meantime, it is indeed interesting to see how everything has two sides. A journey, a city… or a person! Look deep if you find anything.  

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The intital excitement 

Even as the auto bumped through the busy roads Nisha could not help feeling how similar it was to her own life. She really didn’t know what she was up to. There was just huge excitement boiling up in her heart. There were huge thumps that the heart was making – as if almost in synchronization with the honking of the cars around. 

The auto was directed to take her to the Andheri station where she was supposed to meet Pranjal. She had met Pranjal before; once in a small event that she was handling and once just by chance. But they did chat a lot. Google chat… that’s what was the mode communication been so far. And it has been pretty efficient. At time they went to chat for the whole day even as work happened side by side. 

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Being LADIES in Guwahati!

If you have been to guwahati and been a user of the famed public transport then ‘ladies’ is one word you must have heard often. Every bus handyman worth his salt knows at least one English word – ‘ladies’. Reason: They shout out ‘ladies’ so that the driver knows that he cannot just foot the accelerator because there is a delicate person alighting or getting off the bus. For so long I assumed that they did associate ‘ladies’ with the fairer sex. Not any more.

My recent visit to Guwahati shattered one of the best kept secrets of all these handymen. Well at least this particular guy in whose bus I was traveling!

At a certain bus stop which usually sees lesser rush gentleman was trying to get down from the bus along with his toddler son. Ignorant about the kid and the complication the driver stepped on the accelerator. The ever so helpful handyman came to rescue right away. “Ladies ladies” he screams at the top of his voice as he banged the bus with his hand thereby conveying to the driver that he needed to halt. I looked towards the door hoping to check if it was a beautiful girl who was the ‘ladies’ getting off the bus. All I saw was the man and the kid. I kept waiting only to realize the man and the kid were the ‘ladies’ after all. LADIES!

There I sat wondering what ladies meant after all. What a word meant or conveyed and how it was comprehended. Ladies for the learned was definitely the fairer sex. That particular handyman however had his own connotations. I am not sure if the same gyaan his shared by rest of his fellow colleagues but it does end up bring quite a few questions in my mind – apart from the words and meanings.

Imagine how many times us guys might have been the ‘ladies’ when we were younger. Shudder? Or is this what they call being in touch with your feminine side? Being ladies surely has it own meanings… in good old Guwahati at least!

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