Heights ...... - Part I

Weekends are generally reserved for ..... chilling, relaxing and just lazing around. Ah .... not all of them though! So, this weekend was reserved for a trek at Tadiyandamol.

Coorg, the land of coffee, scenic beauty and picturesque landscapes. A place where one can find himself on cloud no 9, romance nature and awe at its beauty. Mystic streams, lush greeneries, igneous rocks, jagged pathways, mist and greenery complete a brief introduction to this haven.

On friday evening, we left Bangalore, away for a break, away from traffic and all the commotion. It was a gang of seven of us. Faces were put to the email id's and names I had only heard about. The gang explained not in any particular order,

Lakshmi : Casual and fun element of the group.
Kethan : Die hard kannada music fan ( "Excuse Me", "Neene Neene", "Yello Jogapa Ninna...")
easily provoked. Fun, nevertheless. We learn everything from everyone, isnt it? Did somone say, "Yes, Sir?" ;-)
Aparna : The "silent" observer.
Chitra : Seasoned. You can know, more about her, here.
Shub : Was one of the reasons we had a fabulous fun filled trip and returned back with "memories" captured with a 12X optical zoom camera ;-)
Kiran : A friend, a philosopher and guide.
( Huh???! ;-). Not necessarily in that order. I know all the rest are going to kill me for being so kind to him, But then ..........)

Ofcourse me : Not much to say, just the quiet one!

Who was that??! Who was the one who smirked now???! :O. Humility is my middle name, I hope you all know that by now!! (:D)


The moment we all met at Laksh's place itself I got a feeler that the trip is going to be fun.
It started with Shub askin me a question, " Do you know who I am?" , After 12 years I knew Kiran and Shub being the only new guy entrant .......er... it was just not that difficult to guess! :D

So we moved .. narrating one fun story after another. Oh yeah ..... Coorg was calling and how could we let our number be engaged? ;-)

Morning ...... with a misty carpet .... Coorg welcomed us.




She seemed happy to see us ....... Infact we were recieved with flowers too ...



and this .......



and this ........




With such a lavish invitation ..... I knew this was going to be a memorable trip ........


PS : A lot of memories in this trip and hence the Memoirs are going to be in 3 parts.

It was one of the days ....

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was just lost in thought,
One of those days when I was so fixated,
When you offered a contrast to it!!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I saw tears roll down,
One of those days when I was emotional,
When, somewhere, you were the reason for it too !!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was searching for words,
One of those days when I was speechless,
When, you were just the cause for it!!!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I wanted to share my happiness,
One of those days when I was jubilant,
When, you weren’t there where I wanted you too ;-)!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was in a mood to argue,
One of those days when I was at my sarcastic best,
When, you were offering your views!!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was so excited,
One of those days when even I believed in divine intervention,

When, you just accepted!!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was just being me,
One of those days when I just belong here,

When, you just understood!!

Now,
Its one of the days,
One of the days when I want to say,

One of the days when I feel like proclaiming …………. Ah … of course you know what, don’t you? ;-)

- An amateur poet

Parts of Speech

J U M P
GUN


----------------------
READING
----------------------


AMBECADNEIFNGG

Confused? No, this is no test. The above are

a) Jumping the Gun
b) Reading Between Lines
c) Hidden Meaning (Read alternate letters)

Well, we have all studied, "Parts of Speech", well here are some idioms which are very much a "Part of Speech" ! They are lethal too, and sometimes can suprise the individuals these are directed at.

Huh? Why are you looking so dazed ? ;-)

Contented?

Each one of us have our priorities at different points of time. Contentment is closely linked to the same.

Searching for bright stones, amidst the vast desert, assuming that all those bright stones are gems, we sometimes loose the diamonds we already possessed!!





Disclaimer : The above picture was published with no intent of any monetary gain . ;-)

Miss Life

Life's lessons.

We have many teachers. But amongst all of those, probably the most influential one would be, Life. Here's is a few, that she taught me!

Statutory Warning : Incoherent thoughts ahead. Reader discretion advised.


a) When, you feel this is the worst that could happen to you, you are wrong. There could be things far worse.
b) When, you feel this is the best that could happen to you, you are wrong again. There could be things far better.
c) Sometimes, the acts which caused immense pain, to you,like this, can bring a smile when recollected.
d) Sometimes, life can just be too kind!!
e) Sometimes confusions are good!
f) Following the traffic rules can get you bumped by a car behind.
g) Majority need not be right!
h) You can never wipe the slate clean. Sometimes there are just visible marks on it, or worse, scars on the board.
i) The most entertaining, gripping, comical play you could ever watch would be titled , " Life".
j) Anonyomity is not a hindarance to bonding.
k) Life is a theatre, but you need to switch on the lights, move the screens and invite your audience.
l) Your instincts need'nt be right.
m) Sometimes you could just be "stuck in reverse" ( Okie, I like Cold Play's "Fix you" track :-))
n) Your views and opinions season.
o) Sometimes you may have just missed the point.
p) You are better off being on your own, than changing yourself for someone else!
q) Some folks can be the "solitary reapers" and some the "daffodils".
r) You can make a difference.
s) Corporate ladders are a cliche'. Escalators and lifts are in!
u) Some movies are just not worth your money, when some are just priceless.
v) Sometimes you need a Redo, Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Refresh icons to your application called Life.
w) If you don't, laugh at yourself, you are just letting others do that job.
x) Change is good.
y) There is nothing called , free food.
z) Sometimes, you just overlook. Opportunity, flaws, strengths et al.

PS : There was no 't' bullet, in this list. Did you notice that when you read first time? ;-). Aha ... there .. I just proved my last point!

Lance Jay's Expedition.

In news, Sujee, a friend of mine flew down from US marking the completion of his business trip. Speaking of Sujee, transports me back to that time ..........till that time my left foot hurts .....! Okie .. now go on .... read further to know what hapenned ....!


Once upon a time, in the pre IT boom era of medieval Bangalore , a new bicycle was launched. Bicycles ..er ....bikes as they were called ........were the in stuffs then. Street Cat, a 'bike' that had a funky seat and slick tyres. When, Street Cat was a rage, the world was wondering..... *exaggeration* that was the best 'biking' could get for a while........... and then Atlas Rebel was launched. Robust, rugged and tough .. this was one hell of a 'bike'. Sujee, one of the early birds, was a proud owner of this 'mean machine' .... er .... yeah that was in Std VII, now what was that smirk for??? ;-)


Anyway, the bike was delivered to his residence and he was all excited. Yes, we had to go on a ride on our respective bikes. When 'Tour de Tippasandra' , comes calling can Lance Jay be far away? Huh? *Any smirks on my name being derived from the legend is uncalled far* Oh, that reminds me ......at that point , before placing my order for a new bike, I had a "Raleigh" bicycle. No, it was not a bike!! It was a bicycle, what my grand dad had purchased for Rs.98 long back. Yes, i chose to ride that 'bicycle' and yes we were 'paralleling' ( thats bike speak for going parallel on on a busy road ;-)). It was a steep down and we guys were crusing along. Rebel was gliding along smoothly, when .... I had to do some additional work to keep my Raleigh in parallel.



At a certain point ...... I could sense a eerie silence but an expression of shock in Sujee's countenance. As i traced what he was looking at, i realized something startling ........ the brake shoes of the back wheel ....were just dangling . One look at them , seemed they were mocking at me !! In despair, i try the front wheel brakes, hoping for some support! No .... I guess fate had other plans ........... there were no brake shoes in the first place!


Survival, being the most basic instinct, kicked in .....! Sujee moved to my right, a human shield, to avoid me being exposed directly to the traffic. It's good to have friends. :-) I had to come to a crash halt and i had to evaluate my options soon. I was gathering more pace as the gradient was tilting to the higher side. I had a few options , each one of them measured up as the deep blue sea to the other devil. There we remnants of a borewell, a set of logs and a sand heap near a construction site. Borewells and logs seemed a higher risk and the sand heap seemed the safest. I navigated , used my foot to reduce some pace and directed the bicycle towards the sand heap. THUD!!! The contact with the heap jolted me right from the vehicle and i was hurled to some distance, as i just shielded my cranial section to avoid any concussions!! THUD!! It took some time to come in grips with the situation and as i just managed to get back on foot, i retraced my path back to the crash site. I was still wondering, how a sand heap could inflict such damage ...! The crash site , had an indication that what lay there was my bicycle and as i carefully noticed, the heap was not a sand heap at all! It was hardened concrete!! Some, good samaritan had covered it with sand!I wondered what his(/her) intention, could have been, behind such an altruitsic gesture!!Let me guess ..... maybe it was a ploy to trick desperate "crash site hunting cyclist(s)" aka me!!! The borewell or the logs would have been a much better option! Heck, even the traffic wouldn't have hurt this much!!


As i was walking back home that day..... just one thought lingered .... if I could just meet that good samaritan ...........!

A picture is worth ......

Is it vast expanse called the sky,

Is it the rythmic (?!) splashing of waves,

Is it the beauty of sunset,

Is this the marvel, nature,

The serenity in chaos………

The simplicity of it all ……..

Who ever said “a picture is worth a million words” was wrong. This picture leaves me speechless! . Yeah … speechless coz , more than a million words that I want to say at the same time … at the same time!! Sometimes .. you remain silent , not because you dont have anything to say ...... you probably have too much to.......

Confuse(d)(ing)?

Oh Bard of Avon, you have some serious competition!! Hamlet, the character you gave life too, did not face a dilemma as great as what some others, I know do!!

Blood is thicker than Cola ......

Abishek Bacchan. Yeah, the same guy who featured in the Go Fida campaign. Yeah, the same who has had an awesome 2k5!! Okie ... now have you girls stopped *drooling*!! Okie ... stop the screams too. Ah ..... silence at last. Thank you!!!

Economic times in its Snippets section reports, that Abishek, aka Chote Sarkar turned down a lucrative offer from a Cola company to participate in their advertising campaign!! Well, the reason is rumored to be that his father, apparently endorses a rival cola brand !! Wow ... blood is thicker than Cola??!


But ..........but ........... what happens now??! The 'mistress of spices' endorses the cola brand that Abishek turned down! Yeah, and that happens to be the 'rival' company too! The ironies of Life ......! ;-)

For the uninitiated ........

Sometimes, work can do "wonders" to your system. Weekend's , all for yourself, become a luxury. Stresses and deadlines can be the way of life ... and can results in conversations which sound like the one featured in this post ....

Well , what do you think the converstion, would be like when stressed Divs, meets Jay who seems to be enjoying his weekend? An excerpt .... ;-)


D : Hey Jay, whats up?
J : Hey Divs! How are you?? Don't tell me you are calling from office! (Okie, that was rhetorical ... :D)
D : Its the same mundane work!! Don't even talk about it!
J : Fine, I have some entrepreneurial ideas, that we could work on, interested? ;-)
D : Er .....Okie ... lets discuss ! :D
J : Lets write a book!!
D : A what? :O Did you mean something on the lines of Ritu Beri's book? ;-)
J : Not exactly, see we can write a book and quote a price of Rs.1,00,001, per copy . Well, I know the figure was chosen, to up the price from Rs. 1,00,000 what Ritu Beri had quoted, for her book! :D
D : Okie ..... I guess you are too much into work Jay, Relax!! :-)
D : So, what will be our book on? (:D)
J : Oh, we don't have to worry about that, we shall fill half of it with a foreward section, written by most folks we know.
D : How will that help us?
J : Simple, for example, well just get Chitra, write a foreward (one of the many ;-)) . Now people will start wondering who Chitra is .... they will start getting curious, what her other works are, as she has been invited to present a foreward, to a book priced at ........... ahem ahem ;-) ! Thats where our second plan comes in ..... we shall go into a deal with Google, charging them, for promoting their search engine as "celebrities" (or atleast thats what others would think, else why would they have been invited to write a foreward) who were featured on our book, would most probably be searched for on their site!! :D
D : Wow ....(:D) you think google will be ready to pay in dollars for this??
J : Oh, we shall charge them in pounds otherwise ! ;-)
D : Okie .. go on!
J : Now ...for why our book is quoted 1,00,001? Our explanation is that, the book is charged at Re.1, but people (read publishers) valued the "love and affection", that people have towards us at Rs.1,00,000 for each of the 10,000 copies of books we have printed! :D
D : Hey, jay was it a bad week at work? ;-)
J : Don't distract the entrepreneur in me! :D
D : Er .....Okie ! :D
J : Actually, we shall endorse our book ourselves ... in a cryptic manner, though!
D : How is that now?
J : Like , I would give a review in two words "Read it " and sign it as "J". Now , people are going to be wondering ... WOW ... who is this "J", and thats where you come in!!
D : Me?! How come!
J : * Evil Grin* You give a review, "Definitely, worth a read" and sign it as "D"! Now, people would have two menacing problems as to who this D and J are!!
Ah ... we have managed to manipulate innocent souls and in the process managed to make "some" money!
D : Half our book will only be forewards , that will leave with a very small section for the "contents" in our book right? ;-)
J : Oh yeah, what do people expect for a book that is just charged at Re 1? ;-). The Rs.1,00,000 is for the "love and affection" they have towards us!
D : Hurray .. Young turks are here!!
J : Yeah, richness and wealth ... here we come!
D : Ritu Beri, needs to be careful ......! :D
J : Er ......... You mean ..... Beri beri careful? ;-)
D : She better be "Beri beri careful", coz we are soon going to be "beri beri" rich and "beri beri" famous!! :D

Yeah ... and it went on for quite sometime! :-)

Company

Is being alone, being lonely too?

Hitching a ride on Taxi No 9211?

A bollywood movie, in its truest sense. A taxi driver, a passenger and their different yet similar attitudes (confusing? Well .,.,... ) set up an interesting ride in Mumbai.

A mumbai taxi driver, Nana patekar, has a very short fuse. He hates almost everyone around him and attributes his failures to the ways of the world. An individual who changes quite a few jobs , before setting his hands on the wheel, although lying to his wife that he has a white collared job.

A spoilt brat, John Abraham. Surrounded with fake individuals who are behind his money, flat, cars and parties than him.

A ride, where each individual wants to teach the other a lesson, that he is 'in control'. The screenplay was interesting. A event and winding back to profiling each individual was on the lines of the movie 'Yuva'. The world shown through eyes of individuals who differ only in their economic stature. Given an opportunity each would claim that Mumbai belonged to 'his' sect and would be happy without the 'other' sect! :D. Songs.'Zinda.....' and 'Meter Down' are foot tappers, while 'Ek Nazar.... ' sets you wondering. Dialogues ....... curt and sharp. Its worth a watch if you would set aside a few flaws. Ofcourse, the last few minutes are a serious let down .......it just has an anticlimax after the climax! You don't belive me.... watch it! ;-)

The foes .... turn friends ... returning favours and indeed teach each other a lesson. A lesson watchable once though! ;-)