It is a late summer afternoon. I am driving a car and the place is unfamiliar. The road is deserted. After a long drive I arrive at a beautiful mansion.The gatekeeper questions me and I tell him I want to meet the owner. I introduce myself and the gates are opened. I park my car at the foot of the very broad stairway.I get out of the car and take a look at the surroundings. They are fantastic. Beautiful green lawns, very well maintained garden..I can see a couple of gardeners working..For a moment I am in awe...I let the feeling sink in and then climb the stairs. The door is huge and very intricately designed..Teakwood...I suppose.
I press the door bell. For a while there is total silence. I can hear my breath. With every passing second I am getting more and more impressed at the mansion and its surroundings. The silence is broken with the creak of the door opening. An elderly lady dressed in a white saree stands in front of me. I have a feeling, she is the maid of the house, evident from the fact that she has a towel thrown over her left shoulder. My doubt is cleared when she asks me, "Sir, How can I help you?". I reply,"Can u please tell that PACLOT has come to meet". Just as I finish my sentence I hear loud laughter of little children coming running in to the hall from another room. Following them is a lady dressed in a Pink Salwar Kameez. She has long hair and her face is covered with them after all that running. I smile at the kids. There is something unusual about these children and I am sure she is not their mother after counting them...23 in all. Well, the thing that looks common in all these kids was POVERTY. None of them looks more than 10...or maybe their malnourished bodies fooled me...but they are small for sure. But hats off to their cheerful faces...they all look very happy. As all these thoughts go around in my mind, she asks to me sit down. I smile again and she takes her seat facing me. She runs her hand over her forehead to move her hair back. Lo and behold!!! I am staring straight at her face...and who is she???
God knows! Whoever she was? Sure is great! :)
Monday, December 11, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Loved n Lost
I never believed in love at first sight, for I knew it was crap.
But as time sped with its might, love caught me in its wrap.
The searing urge to tell her, in my heart was always present.
I wanted absolutely no other, coz I knew I would resent.
I didn't want to stay mum, lest it would get too late.
Then life'd be all glum, wishing I had thrown the bait.
Toss the hook, I did, full of vain on my charm.
Risked opening the lid, was sure there'd be no harm.
I was smitten by her pulchritude, so thought, it was worth a try.
But when I reached an altitude, I found myself high and dry.
She never had that quenching pail, for which I thirsted as much I can.
So there goes my love tale, that ended before it began.
Before I wind this one up, let me just plagiarise a little.
Sorry BZ, "It's only words and words that all I have to take her heart away!"
But as time sped with its might, love caught me in its wrap.
The searing urge to tell her, in my heart was always present.
I wanted absolutely no other, coz I knew I would resent.
I didn't want to stay mum, lest it would get too late.
Then life'd be all glum, wishing I had thrown the bait.
Toss the hook, I did, full of vain on my charm.
Risked opening the lid, was sure there'd be no harm.
I was smitten by her pulchritude, so thought, it was worth a try.
But when I reached an altitude, I found myself high and dry.
She never had that quenching pail, for which I thirsted as much I can.
So there goes my love tale, that ended before it began.
Before I wind this one up, let me just plagiarise a little.
Sorry BZ, "It's only words and words that all I have to take her heart away!"
A Trek - Part 3
Finally we reached the foot of Sinhagad. Thankfully, parking was available, well it was just 9 in the morning and more people were expected only later in the day. We all came out of the parking lot and cast a glance skywards. There were 2 reasons for this. First, just to see how high we had to climb, second was a silent prayer to the Almighty. Well, Sinhagad is not exactly Mount Everest, but we all, still had a MOUNTAIN to climb. And so, we all set out to reach the top, beginning another journey which was going to be slightly arduous.
For about 500 mtrs or so, there is a KACHCHA road and then starts the real climb. V was leading us, obviously the most enthusiastic. I followed him, with M trailing me and N bringing up the rear. Half an hour passed and we could all feel droplets of sweat trickling down our side-locks. We took our first break, as we all rested on the rocks. The sun had started beating down. The number of people was increasing as well. Surprisingly we could also see some trekkers coming down, they had surely started early. The 4 of us smiled at each other. About 10 mins later, we all started again. The climb was getting tougher. Some places were wall-steep. V was still the leader, I was close behind, M was further back, but there was no sign of N. We still kept walking and about 15 mins later, M hollered at us to wait for N.
Where was he? We rested again, while M decided to backtrack to find N. We had reached quite a height, and the view from up there was sensational. 10 mins had passed and we were getting rather bored of sitting. Just then, M came up to us and pointed his finger upwards. There was N. How the hell, did he reach there? He took some other route, maybe. Anyway, we all gave out a hearty laugh.
So, we started again and about an hour later, we had reached the gate of the fort. Refreshment vendors were yelling and tired people were obliging. We too, bought some lime juice, lassi, boiled peanuts and cucumber. Our parched throats felt gratified. 15 mins later, we were sprawled on mats laid out on top of Sinhagad. A vendor quickly brought some vessels of curd and put it in front of us. Hell, who had told him to? Nevertheless, the thick curds in small mud vessels were too appetizing. We grabbed them, added some sugar and gobbled. Heaven! The aroma of wet mud is beyond words. Wow! This had just whetted our appetites and in a while, we were all gorging onion-pakodas followed by a lunch of Zunka-Bhakar. Post lunch was snooze time, that lasted only for about 10 mins.
We took a quick tour of the fort, and decided to go back home. The descent was rather difficult. Gravity pulls you down, and you have to resist. The knees and calves take a pounding. We were ambling, and after an hour we were back near our bikes. We had a quick meal and drink, and waved goodbye to Sinhagad, thus ending a wonderful day of trekking. J
For about 500 mtrs or so, there is a KACHCHA road and then starts the real climb. V was leading us, obviously the most enthusiastic. I followed him, with M trailing me and N bringing up the rear. Half an hour passed and we could all feel droplets of sweat trickling down our side-locks. We took our first break, as we all rested on the rocks. The sun had started beating down. The number of people was increasing as well. Surprisingly we could also see some trekkers coming down, they had surely started early. The 4 of us smiled at each other. About 10 mins later, we all started again. The climb was getting tougher. Some places were wall-steep. V was still the leader, I was close behind, M was further back, but there was no sign of N. We still kept walking and about 15 mins later, M hollered at us to wait for N.
Where was he? We rested again, while M decided to backtrack to find N. We had reached quite a height, and the view from up there was sensational. 10 mins had passed and we were getting rather bored of sitting. Just then, M came up to us and pointed his finger upwards. There was N. How the hell, did he reach there? He took some other route, maybe. Anyway, we all gave out a hearty laugh.
So, we started again and about an hour later, we had reached the gate of the fort. Refreshment vendors were yelling and tired people were obliging. We too, bought some lime juice, lassi, boiled peanuts and cucumber. Our parched throats felt gratified. 15 mins later, we were sprawled on mats laid out on top of Sinhagad. A vendor quickly brought some vessels of curd and put it in front of us. Hell, who had told him to? Nevertheless, the thick curds in small mud vessels were too appetizing. We grabbed them, added some sugar and gobbled. Heaven! The aroma of wet mud is beyond words. Wow! This had just whetted our appetites and in a while, we were all gorging onion-pakodas followed by a lunch of Zunka-Bhakar. Post lunch was snooze time, that lasted only for about 10 mins.
We took a quick tour of the fort, and decided to go back home. The descent was rather difficult. Gravity pulls you down, and you have to resist. The knees and calves take a pounding. We were ambling, and after an hour we were back near our bikes. We had a quick meal and drink, and waved goodbye to Sinhagad, thus ending a wonderful day of trekking. J
A Trek - Part 2
Well, I am yet to introduce my 3 pals to you. Short names...I guess that would be enuf. So, here they are...V, N and M. The morning was getting brighter as we whizzed past some slow moving trucks on a thankfully, traffic-free road. The wind was slapping our faces hard, but we all were enjoying it. Km after km ticked away on our speedometers and within no time, we had covered 20 kms. M was riding pillion with me, and kept up a lively commentary about the places that were passing by. This was my first time on that road, and I was pretty interested in listening. As we rode over a flyover, M tapped my shoulder,"We should have taken the previous left turn, not come over the flyover. Anyway, lets cross-over and take a reverse. It's a no-entry, but no worries". He was right, we don't have traffic cops so early in the morning. So after a minute we caught up V and N and all us stopped near Warje for some tea. A hot glass(that's actually smaller than a cup) of tea felt fantastic in the cool weather. Now I thought of leaving the driver's seat to M.
M is a ferocious rider. Safe but ferocious. And add to that, the village roads. I was hopping up and down on the back seat, sometimes yelling at M to slow down, sometimes holding on tightly to the handle at the rear, sometimes just closing my eyes, sometimes just keeping quiet...Phew! Riding pillion couldn't have been more draining, at least mentally. Thankfully, there was no incident. After a while, I felt relaxed as the roads were practically deserted. Bad roads without traffic snarls ain't that intimidating. So, as we raced along, we passed fields, brooks, huts, in short got to see what the country side is all about. The beautiful Khadakwasla dam went past. May be we were getting lost in the beauty and serenity of the place. M surely did because we weren't getting anyway near Sinhagad. M realised it, but not before we had covered a long distance. I had absolutely no clue whatsoever. "You have come the wrong way, about 10 KM or so", said a couple of kind passersby. We all cringed.
"Well done M! First of all, scare the daylight out of me with your riding, and then lose the route, that too 10 KM, what the fuck?", I thought. I wasn't too keen to allow him to ride any more. I rode on the way BACK to Sinhagad. The fuel tank had ample, so we were not particularly bothered. We all were singing along as we took the CORRECT turn near the Khadakwasla dam and sped to our destination - Sinhagad.
M is a ferocious rider. Safe but ferocious. And add to that, the village roads. I was hopping up and down on the back seat, sometimes yelling at M to slow down, sometimes holding on tightly to the handle at the rear, sometimes just closing my eyes, sometimes just keeping quiet...Phew! Riding pillion couldn't have been more draining, at least mentally. Thankfully, there was no incident. After a while, I felt relaxed as the roads were practically deserted. Bad roads without traffic snarls ain't that intimidating. So, as we raced along, we passed fields, brooks, huts, in short got to see what the country side is all about. The beautiful Khadakwasla dam went past. May be we were getting lost in the beauty and serenity of the place. M surely did because we weren't getting anyway near Sinhagad. M realised it, but not before we had covered a long distance. I had absolutely no clue whatsoever. "You have come the wrong way, about 10 KM or so", said a couple of kind passersby. We all cringed.
"Well done M! First of all, scare the daylight out of me with your riding, and then lose the route, that too 10 KM, what the fuck?", I thought. I wasn't too keen to allow him to ride any more. I rode on the way BACK to Sinhagad. The fuel tank had ample, so we were not particularly bothered. We all were singing along as we took the CORRECT turn near the Khadakwasla dam and sped to our destination - Sinhagad.
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