The Holi Past and The Unhol(y) Present ???

Holi is round the corner. Rather it's Holi today...but there is not much noise as it's supposed to be a "Choti Holi".As I type this I see from my window a bunch of kids throwing plastics filled with water at each other. I can see a kid throwing, aiming plastics with all his might and then quickly running in the opposite direction fearing a backlash from his friend who he attacked just a second earlier. Seeing them have fun, I dwell, down past memory lane at my "Holi" Days and the ordeals that came with it.

The Night before Holi, we and my Grand mum ... yes my grandmother too :P used to make water balloons for us.... we used to give her a helping hand in making around 50-100 water baloons.And 10 years ago there used to be no plastics used ....Water balloons were the need of the day :P.These water balloons were then stocked inside a Bucket Full of water and kept inside the bathroom.

The Holi morning arrived and around 7.30 - 8.00, the Bucket was dragged in our balcony and then the fun used to start .Any Tress-passerby was a victim of our balloon attack: D.it either used to hit his head or it used to fall ahead or behind of him. The instant Reaction was to look up and see who hit him .We obviously used to hide away from the man. This thing Continued up till 9 in the morning.

It was then time to go down and play holi with Friends inside the society. In my one hand there used to be a plastic Bag full of Water Balloons and in another, there used to be colours or Gulal.It used to be the same with my friends ...except that they brought some chemical stuffs with Gulal and all. As soon they used to see me they used to Run Behind me to make me a "Holi" Mess. To Burst Atleast 2-3 Baloons on me.Whereever they could was all they wanted. On one of such occasions my balloons would just refuse to burst...So one of my friends would just stop in front of me and say ...Chal abb maar!!! :P...It was so Juvenile during Childhood that you laugh now thinking about it.

The Fun used to continue for around 3-4 hours up till 1 in the afternoon. Mom used to shout from the Balcony but we obviously wanted to have more fun: D

Holi they say now-a days has become dangerous and all and some are even calling for its Ban. Well for me it's all about the mind-set. If you are going to tell these kids who are now playing in my society ... they are all going to give a damn!!! ..These guys just want to have loads of fun.Holi should be taken in the right Spirit and not be reduced to some kind of moral policing.Yess I know that there are many people who have lost their eye sights and many other things because of some idiots who have an "Holi Excuse”. But the thing to remember is that these guys aren’t playing holi that time. They just indulge in what I would call as a "Naughty Activity/Excuse" which should be banned for sure. Ban those sought of Activities.Yess...But let the Spirit of Holi Prevail and no kind of Ban will help in either stopping those idiots or for that matter those kids playing holi right now in my society. As they say..... Buraa Naa Manoo......HOLI HAIN!!!!!!!!

The Different Phases of Life

I have heard different people saying things like "This a very Bad Phase that I am going through" or vice versa.I never have quite understood what they actually meant.But in these past 7 or 8 days it has completely dawned upon me.It is actually said when one person gets loads of failures or loads of success at one time.When he/she gets more than what he asked for or more than what he/she actually deserved.

These last Seven Days infact the last 30 days have been absolutely crazy.Phone gets stolen in a bus,I Get Calls From Acquintances,A Renowned M.N.C recruits me,I throw a Party,500 rupees goes out of my Pocket,And now to Top everything....I get a 62 % in semester 5 and am possibly in the TOP 5 of my class which I never could have possibly thought :P...Don't know about a good phase but Gee's if there would have been a term coined as "A Mad Phase" Mine would have been it :P

This has to be my greatest ever phase in my life but I must also remember that there is a bad phase in store for me somewhere in the future.It's not that I have'nt seen a bad phase.I have seen my brother go through one terrible bad phase.He though came out of that and how !!! It's really the bad phases in your life that test your character,how good are u as a person and how well you can cope with the failures in your life.Having said that though A Good phase does not mean that you fly in the 7'th Heaven and be in Cloud no :9.Good phase comes to remind you two things

1.It tells you,Look son I have Come to give you happiness,JOY you always Craved for ,JOY that you probably deserve,C'mon Son Keep it up and
2.It also reminds you, Son enjoy this till it lasts because failure seems to be around the corner,haunting around you,Ready to pounce whenever you put one wrong foot.

So all you people Craving for some Success,Some Joy in Life should all hold fort.There will be several such occasions where Success will come Calling.There are going to be Constant Failures along the way that will Continue to Haunt you,make you cry,but if you try and have some Faith in which ever holy Force you believe in, Success won't be Far Away
Amen.

The Perks Of Success

A Lonely and a lost Soul
Wandering around the college Corridor
Nobody seems to give him a stare
He too does not ask for more.

Suddenly Success comes knocking
Virtually out of no where
The Eyeballs all of a sudden increase
Now most of them seem to care.

Some appear lost and confused
But majority want to Celebrate
For one's outstanding Success
Which they would have themselves craved.

The Handshakes also Increase
And Respect goes to an all time high
Some take it very Sportingly
Some have an Emotional Cry.

They all say in Unison
Mooh Meetha ho jaye
You have done us all proud son
Jo hum kabhi naa kar paye.

I am Enjoying these Perks Of Success
But My feet are on the ground
As You never know,when Failure Comes Calling
And takes away your shining Crown.

My Most Nostalgic,Pious and Exotic Trip ever

When the Konark Express left from the Lokmanya tilak Station,I knew that this would be a long journey(I have travelled in that train for like 20-25 times in my whole life till now,no kidding)So I knew what was coming ....But I was more worried about the journey that ensued from here which would take us from the Jagganath temple in Puri to a small little place called Changanacherry in Cochin which lies in the western coast of the Arabian Sea.20 Days frankly did'nt look a long vacation when I was in School but it felt like 20 months when we came back here.I guess partly it was because of the fact that we had'nt been on such a long vacation for a long time...So brace yourselves ppl coz here comes a looooong Account of my experience in those 20 days ........

13'th Jan:
We reached Bhubaneswar early in the morning ...something like 4.30 and made sure every soul had a early rise.The place had already started giving me a haunting welcome just before sunrise.I made sure that I had my share of 2 hour sleep that I did not have in the hustling noise and coldish wind that the train brought about.The short nap rejuvenated me completely and I thought why not get into business straight away .Called up my good ol' friend Jyoti(yes,he is a guy).Dude do the needful will you ?...With No question asked,within a minute he brought his Pulsor and we were off to Vineet's place.After Few laughs from the past and then viewing his Girlfriend's pic on his P.C(cheezie but cool :P) ,we were off to see my good ol' Tution sir.Well he is the same ...has'nt changed..He too made sure to show his new lenovo laptop and all the gadgets that he had....I did meet up with many others as well ..Bless jyoti people for that ...Guess he screwed up his own holidays for me ..(He's doing his engg frm manipal and was on a holiday himself) Before meeting some more people I went to a town called Jajpur which was my cousin's place.I stayed there for like 2 days.Nothing much to mention here but I had tremondous fun with my nephew :D..Then the day I came back I met with my school girl pals ....I thought it would be just a "Hi Hello kind of a Meeting ...but hang onn...These girls wanted to go to a cake shop with me...I thought that could not get better.....After a good 20-25 minutes with them,recollecting all the school gup-shups, I came back ....and Guess how ...in one of the girl's scooty :P...Must say this was one of the better ride's I have had in my life :D....Purpose of my visit to bhubaneswar was my cousin brother's thread ceremony.It was farely private affair.Nothing frankly to mention here as well .Younger Cousin Bro cried coz he could not see himself getting bald but guess that was all part of the rituals...Rounded up my Bhubaneswar Trip with a visit to the World Famous Jagannath Temple..I had almost turned something like an atheist actually in my engg life but going there I felt there's nothing wrong in being religious..Infact I felt Pious and had Peace with myself.

21'st Jan:The Howrah-Kanniyakumari Expess was on it's way and I thought yet another tiring journey for a whole 2 days but I was wrong....The journey was great :D
23'rd Jan:
A man in his dhoti (90%people were in their dhoti's here)welcomed us...Hotel chorne ka hain saheb???..He asked in his tamilian accent :D...Booked a hotel quickly and got a Sea Viewing room as well....Kanniyakumari people is frankly a Place as little as my hometown Vashi....(No kidding)...It's not a big Place....
1'st Site:Devi Kumari temple:Note:All men have to remove their shirts and banniyan's before going inside...wtf !!!!....Did I read that right ????....Yup I did...I did not go in....Later I realised I made the wrong decision ......But there were young women for god sake's .....I was petrified initially .....Later we made our way to the gandhi memorial and reached in time to see the sunset point.....
2'nd Site:Vivekanda Rock Memorial:An absolutely Stunning Place to See....If you love your history ,this will be a wonderful place.Vivekanada statue and everything pious to be found ....This was really cool....
Just 10 feet away was the Thiruvallavur Statue which is nothing really ......It's just 75 foot statue .....nothing special.........
We also toured the Surrounding regions of Kanniyakumari as well but these were the only things there really to see coz as I said it's a very small place.....but a beautiful place non the less...and yes the three water bodies :Arabian Sea,Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal do Collide here but it was not really visible to me thanxs to the low tide .....The water bodies surrounding the place really make it beautiful and the reason for it to be so famous............

The Kerala Journey

We Booked a Car from a local tours and travels guy to tour kerela which was just a 2 hour journey from kanniyakumari.....
First Stop:Kovalam Beach:->Did I once say that Colva Beach in Goa was the Best Beach I saw .....Well this Beach comes very very Close to that actually.....This is one of the most cleanest,safest,and scenic beaches you are ever gonna find.The Trees and Vegetation overshadowing the Beach make for a Breathtaking site.

Next Stop:Trivandrum:

It's the capital and nothing really in this place except a Zoo,an art and culture musuem but yes...there's a nice temple called the padmanabhan temple ......Now even if u are not a temple guy or girl ......no especially a "guy":P...be here ....One has to be half naked and wear a dhoti to go inside ....Inside it feels Great ...Temples in the south are completely different ......Temples are like these caves and gods are kept kind of into the caves ...So even if you are not a temples person .....Just Try it once ...

Next Stop:The 8 Hour Boat Ride From Kollam To Allaphuzha(Alleppy)

Now This is what I would call as "Exotic"....The Boat had some 30-40 People out of which only 5 were Indians including us....Rest were all Europeans....I thought I had seen enough of P.D.A ...but wait there was more on display here .....But frankly this boat ride was great .....Back waters in Kerala are not famous just like that....Back waters and the exotic greenary around with superb view from the lower deck make for a
"Breathtaking watch".....Ohh 8 hours were not boring at all if you ask me ....A guy frm Charni Road who had come on a honeymoon and was only one of the 5 Indians on board said Life had become so slow and boring on the boat but I could Understand him ....He was on a Honeymoon :P....It came to a halt finally in the evening .....This ride was ....*undescribable*
Allepy also has a Beach ......Yeah the beach is good .....may be Great but had enough of it already in life as far as beaches went ....But the Beach was nice :P

Next Stop:Thekkedi

We were in the "REAL GOD OWN'S COUNTRY" now...I recalled that the tours and travels guy had said to us in his tamilian accent"AGAR KERALA DEKHNA HAIN TOH MUNNAR DEKHO AUR TEKKHADI DEKHO"
Tekkhadi welcomed us with the first stop being the
SPICE GARDEN: You will find different trees of different spices here .....COFFEE,CARDAMOM,TAMARIND etc etc.......WAS OK NOTHING GREAT
Next Site:The Kathakali Dance
Yup ...I did catch some kathakali too in tekkhadi.....A one hour show where dancing is done through the face and various postures are made ....AGAIN OK ....17'th Century Tradition is being maintained Nice to See
Next Site:Periyar Tiger Reserve :
It was some 6.45 In the Morning ...We were on a boat again...it was damn cold....Here there was no tiger no lion ......Nothing ....Just a pig to show for ......and that too the noobhish foreigners kept onn taking pictures of that pig for some reason (*silly*)
Tekkhadi was disappointing actually .....I am sure it had a lot to offer ...but probably we did'nt explore a lot........

Next Stop:MUNNAR

MUNNAR was the best place in kerela ......I wonder why people speak more highly of OOTY and never speak of munnar.....A hill station which has probably 100000 acres of tea garden all around the place....It provides a Breath-taking site of "MOTHER NATURE" and it's a pity that we could not spend more time here :( ....but did manage to go to the TEA FACTORY",ECHO POINT AND 2 OR 3 DAMS .....but this place is GREAT ..."A MUST VISIT" :)

NEXT STOP: COCHIN AND THE CITY OF ERNAKULAM

cochin is a nice port city .....had the third boat ride here after having a boat ride in periyar .......This was also great....again a place to be visited is Jew town in changanacherry .....It felt as if I have come to European City or something .......A jewish kind of a town with a jewish Temple and a Dutch palace.There's also A church in that place ...Nice,That place too also feels pious with arabian sea cozing up all around you.......City of ernakulam is for "Shopaaholics":P......
We were back to Alleppy or Alaphuzza coz we had to catch our nethravati from there.....After Some more Shopping there and ofcourse a walk near the back waters ....we were ready to leave .......I won't say that we did'nt want to go from that place....But it truly had left a mark on all of us ....One which we would never ever Forget.Period.

P.S1:Travelling with my Parents was a great experience ....Yeah there were plenty of shortcomings but we made sure that the 3 of us should have "BALL OF A TIME " and we did :D
P.S2:No Pics Guys Sorry ...I got that traditional Camera and I have'nt Scanned them as well ...I wanted to write this Blog flaunting all the pics ....But that was'nt possible....... :(

The "Second Home" Coming

I am off to Bhubaneswar tomorrow which is kind of like my second home.It's also been like four and half years since I have been there and so it almost feels like it's the second time I am going there and hence the title of the blog. :P According to me,the age between 10 to 15 is when you grow as a person and learn a lot of things.It was around that age that I happened to be in the "City of Temples".It was kind of a Culture shock for me after being here for so long in my own hometown and leaving my old school and all friends to go to what I would call as a "Townish city" was really difficult.Making Friends there initially was difficult.Since I was too fair that time,people were vulnerable. Taunts followed initially like they would ask ....Have you come from Australia or New Zealand etc etc .....Soon the things began to settle though.There were spells of loneliness but ongoings were roughly smooth.School that I went to was kind of interesting.I got to hear some incredible pronounciations by the teachers. My memory seems to fail me but I kind of remember one of the words.The word Journey was pronounced something like johh ney ....something weird like that.It was'nt one bit funny though.Sometimes I thought where have I landed myself into.

Anyways it would be a much better second home coming....Atleast I hope so.Planning to meet up with my school friends and tution friends there and also with my old tuition teacher.Kudos to the good ol' Private tuition classes.After a week's stay am off to the God's Own Country i.e to Kerela.Ironically I have never been to the South of the Country except a vacation to Banglore and Mysore which was about 11 or 12 years ago.Gee those were the days where it used to be a vacation every summer or even once in a blue moon winter.That's why they say School days are fun.How many of us have travelled after 10'th standard....Atleast I have not barring a trip to Delhi and Goa.
So unfortunately there will be no more blogging from moi this month... (
and you know what's coming up next after this.....A blog about my trip to both the places of course ~Adios~
P.S:
One chat
Me:So,What are you doing in the vacations ?
X:Nothing man,I am at home only..... *Yawn*
In Another Chat
Me:So,What are you doing in the vacations ?
Y:Well probably might join vacation classes..... *AARRRGH*
While In Another one
Me:So,What are you doing in the vacations ?
Z:Have'nt decided yet ...let's see..... *That's even worse coz you end up doing nothing*
Bottom line: *Whatever You do ......Have fun.Period.*

An Old College Review

Now when you surf the various sites on the net you come across various different kind of stuffs.Some Sites are great,Some are just average and Some are just plain boring and here am talking about contents of those sites ofcourse.And then there are some sites where you get to find some very readable,interesting and straight from the heart written articles.I found a very similar thing while surfing yesterday .There was this review of my college written by a student who I presume to be an old student of the college.It was written some 4 years ago.Things have drastically changed from then till now .The College has shifted it's base from Koperkhairne to a now very developing kharghar.And as this reviewer puts it,Things are constantly improving in my college but some of the stuff written in it especially the start of the review and the part of the proffesor's "Quotes"or rather mis quotes really had me laughing :D.......Go read !!!

Link:http://www.mouthshut.com/review/A_Chudaman_Patil_College_of_Eng-48267-1.html

2007:->2008....There goes another Year

It's been a farely good year for me .I passed in "THE EXAM OF MY LIFE" which I gave in the month of May .and of course how can I forget...I started blogging this year.Blogging has been a farely enriching experience for me .Here are a few things that I learned about blogs and blogging as a whole
->Think before you publish a certain post.
->Never try to hurt anyone through your blog.
->Don't stop typing in the middle of the post thinking this would not work ..I have done that several times and regretted it.
->Try not to alter your image or yourself in general through your blogs coz there is a huge danger of doing something like that.
->Type everything properly and clearly coz I have made several grammatical mistakes in the past without really any intentions of making them and at the end of the day It really makes you look a lot silly or rather noobish which you know you are not..... :P
->Get a really good template for your blog ....though I have changed mine ... but am still not happy with it ...coz I feel that other blogs that I visit are much more stylish and presentable than mine is.... :(
->Get some interesting and fun stuff in your blog(which I intend to in 2008)so that other's keep visiting your blog frequently.
->And finally I have also learnt that if you want to get more comments for your blog ...either you just have to leave a comment on somebody else's blog or have Friends and I mean genuine friends who themselves write blogs and get comments from them and you return the "favour" : P...Changing the topic now .....
Movie of the year according to me:
Now I have'nt watched too many movies this year ....funny I should say that coz anyways I don't watch too many movies in a year :P....Now I don't watch too many English Movies and I am not embarrased in admitting that.The reason being that I can't seem to get the U.S accent. And I am also not in the league of those people who sit through a english flick pretending that they are understanding everything coz let's face it ,they are not :P...(I know a lot many ppl like that)....
For me the best movie I saw this year was Johny Gaddar...Now if you are a fan of those "Who dun it"??...kinda books or novels then u sure gonna enjoy this one....I agree that it seemed like a English Flick,but it also seemed like a fresh and vibrant movie unlike those silly hindi "thriller" movies that we hv been bored to death with.....I hope I get to see similar kind of movies next year...
Blogging in this Year stops with this...... Happy new year readers .....Adios 2007.....and welcome 2008 !!!!

P.S:I don't belive in either astrology or numerology coz I feel you write your own destiny and jo hona hain woh ho ke raheta hain but still here's a thing to chew upon :P
2008=2+8=10=1+0= 1
My birthday:16/05/1987=1+6+0+5+1+9+8+7=37=3+7=10=1+0= 1.. :P
Both add Upto 1... :P
*rejoice*...well not exactly .....This does'nt not mean I become Khumbkaran and hibernate for the rest of the year ..does it :D ???