Life goes on...there are days when I am hit by nostalgia and I  revisit my blog and some of my blogger pals...Renuji, IHM, Mampi , Balvinder, D , Nancy (Reflections) ,Ki jaana main kaun, Mishy-Piper....and many more. There are so many blogs which I can no longer access..they seemed to have disappeared...Mampi, Blavinder and many more...I wonder if you all are still around in blog-sphere ?

This is just to tell you...I do think of you all. I no longer remember how to tag people, pictures etc..guess will pick it up once am back. Shout a hi if you drop by..

Aaj phir tumhari yaad ne dil ko dastak dee hai
Aaj phir tumhari awaaz ne pukara hai
Haule se mera dil yeh kehta hai
Tu aaj bhi mujhe bahut pyaara hai....

Monsoons

Cloudy skies, warm wind, stuffy, unbearable
Gush of cool breeze
a drop
Plop,Plop, Plop
Raining at last!

Ditch the Drive !

So I decided to pick my daughter..Nothing spectacular, my daughter has experienced this chauffeur- driven service from me all her life! But you see, this time round I was grumpy, irritated and just did not want to drive. So off I  went in my new car, speeding down BKC- one of the few, make it very very very few,  roads in Mumbai where you can go above 30km/hr. After innumerable wrong left turns, right turns and U turns I finally manage to locate the place. I crawled at 5km/hr trying to locate the main gate/ watchman/ ANYONE on the deserted road on a hot summer day at 2pm.

As I kept crawling and looking around, I heard a CRUNCH..Stop! I braked hard..there really was no need to press hard on the brakes, the car was barely moving!..Suddenly the world acquired a different dimension! . It took me a few minutes to realise that the front tyre had gone in a ditch and the car was tilted and balanced like a poised gymnast on one of those crossbars !I gingerly opened the door and stepped out , at the same time trying not to dislodge it from its current position.

Did I mention that the road was deserted ? Well, suddenly a few people came on the road, helpful drivers a couple of rickshawallahs, watchman etc.
 Most of them tutted. " Arrey Madam..Kay Kartos Tumhi "? (What have you done ) "You did not see the ditch? There is a piece of ply laid across it."
Thank you ! I fumed internally. Piece of ply on the ditch ! How the hell was I supposed to know that the harmless piece of ply had a gaping hole underneath.

"You will have to call a tow-chain" quipped one driver
"Abhi kidhar se aayega. Madam park karo aur Jao..Driver ko bhejo apna" , suggested another.
"No no  Just call your husband"
Suggestions were flying fast and furious. I looked helplessly at one of them and said'"Why don`t we all try pulling it out. Just help me push it."
Half of them vetoed the idea outright." Nahi Hoyega..No.  Call  the Tow chain."
One enterprising fellow demanded that I hand over the  jack and he would some how try to rescue my perfectly balanced car...Amongst all this commotion a young driver walked up.

"Stop now all of you. I am getting in the car and we are 7 of us.. So just lift the front and I will manage it."
He got into the car and lo! behold in a couple of minutes the car was back safe on the road.
" Not too bad. Only the Mudguard scratched a bit." said a helpful soul
I blew a sigh of relief. I thanked him and said , "Main toh bahut darr gayi" ( I got really scared)
He looked nonchalantly " Why ? It was an accident. Its just a car. You are safe na ? Call your husband now. He will be happy to know you are safe."
I looked at him .Thin, scruffy fellow in dirty jeans and old faded striped shirt. He walked back to his car and drove off.The crowd of 6 soon dispersed..as suddenly as it had assembled.

Moral ? Why did I write this incident ?
To highlight :
Apathy of the so called educated lots who drove away in their air-conditioned cars without a glance ?
Apathy of the government..At a higher speed or late evening this ply covered ditch could be a disaster?
Gratitude for these so called uneducated drivers who rush to help out people ?
Wonder at the wisdom of the young man ? Its just a car ! You are safe..

Go figure!

Aaj phir tujhe bhulane ki koshish ki hai
Aaj phir se nayi raah dhoondne ki koshish ki hai
Koshish Karne par toh  bhagwan bhi mil jaata hai
Shayad is liye ek baar phir ek nayi  koshish ki hai....

Idiots??? You Bet!!

A college in North India. Year- 1986.

A group of giggly girls with admission forms in hand.

Girl-1 , "Listen yaar.This says, Arts or Commerce?"

G-2,"Commerce re..its better.."

G-1, "Nooooo. You mad or what. Its Not really hot ! Let`s fill up Arts."

G-3 , " You think so?"

G-1, nodding vigrously, " Of course. Come on . This says -Choose any three options besides English."

G-2, " ,we could take Economics".

G-3 , "You are hung up on Commerce !You want to work in a bank or what? Babugiri?"

G-2, " No! Bhaiya said it`s a smart subject."

G-1, "Okaaay, but next one is my choice, Geography! The teacher is really thanda. No issues for attendance. Plus we go out for trips, it`s very scoring also."

G-2, "Hey , I am not very good with drawing maps and diagrams."

G-3, "Shutup! We took your subject na ? Now tell me Anthroplology ki Psychology?"

G-1 and G-2, "What is Anthropology? "

G-3 ," Surabhi said you study things like,' why Africans have curly hair and why are Europeans fair'.You know very new kind of subject. Practicals too. So very scoring."

G-2,"I have never liked Surabhi. I think we should opt for Pycho."

G-1 , " Are you mad? It`s a weird subject and that Ms. M who takes the class is really strict. Forever screaming. I am not taking it. I think Anthro."

G-2, " Sometimes I wonder, ' Are you really My friend?' You can`t take Pycho for me ?"

G-3, " Listen ,just shutup! We took your Eco na? Bhaiya`s smart subject. Now write Anthro. "

A little later in the day.

G-1 , " Mummy... I filled my form today."

Mummy, " Good. Girls college na? "

G-1, " Yes Mummy. Arts."

Mummy, " Ok. "

January 2010. Metro city in India.

A group of people chatting animatedly in a Restuarant.

Dad-1 , " So, how are the prelims.?"

Dad-2, " Just ok. I don`t think we will hit 80."

Mom-1, " Did you get the form for RN College? "

Dad-2 , " No. I think we will go for JNS. I think ISC is better board. "

Mom-2, " Yeah, we even went to the Career Counselor. He feels ISC is a better bet."

Dad-3, "Really ? I think you are making a grave mistake. Go for CBSE. It will train your kid for national level exams. "

Mom-1, " Yeah ,even my niece did that. RN is very good. Classes from 7 to 1 pm. Then Training for national level exams from 2 to 7pm. No time for loittering around."

Dad-4 ," 7 to 1 and then 2 to 7 ? Isn`t that a lot? No , No I think maybe HSC is better then. No attendance issues. We could take the integrated programme."

Mom-5, " Thank God , my Daughter wants Humanities! I think we are opting for Eco, math, Stats. All very scoring, except Eco. Then ,maybe go for LSE in 2012."

The cell phone rings.

Dad-1, " Yes C ?"

"Dad can I apply for Humanities? All my friends are..."

Dad-1 cutting him short, " Have you lost it? We can`t do that! I will be home in a while."

Faasle

Yaad bhi aati hain tumhari,

dil be kehta hain baat karoon ,

Faasle magar badh gaye itne

ki baat karun bhi to kya karoon.

Bas Yu hee

Itna paas bhi na aayo , ki tumhe dekh na sakun,

Itna duur bhi na jayo, ki tumhe dhoond na sakun ,

Itne raho mere aas paas he tum ,

ki jee chahe to nazren mila ya chura sakun.