Vanity.

Since the childhood, a 'part' -a colorful, joyful and lovely part- of my life has been so close to me as my smile is.
And that day, as we ate from the same plate, that 'part' seemed like my soul mate. We were as two peas in one pod, that pea being just four months elder to me.

We stayed 24x7 together and did every single thing together.

As we grew up, till the last year, I thought we had same thinking/vision/principles/ethics/morals-call it whatever. Ok, I did not think we had the same ones (I know, that would have been stupid!) but at the very least, I never thought it be completely opposite, completely contradicting each other.

Either I have changed towards good or my soul mate has changed for bad.

And I do not hate this fact, I am hurt by this. moved. shaken. depressed. and devastated.

Though trying to accept it and move on, whenever I realize this fact, it sends a shiver down my spine. It was so so so unexpected.

The things what my so-called soul mate does and says would not even be the last things I would do or say on this planet.

Gossiping and finding out every bit about NOT your family, not your friends but about the people whom you just know by name;

Meeting a new person, smiling and talking to him as if you adore him to death and later on backbiting about him to the world;

Or even worse, backbiting about a person every now and then meeting them like you were dying to see them;

Matchmaking!! Uhhh!!;

Mocking every person and everything;

Speaking to elders in a tone and language which doesn't justify YOUR age!;

Cutting words and pulling people down from their highest aura;

Thinking oneself to be the best thing one possibly can, fine but PORTRAYING all others as shallow?!;

And-[Ok, I never wanted to say this but still I couldn't resist it-] Being a complete aunty (if you know what I mean!).

After seeing and going through all this, the best thing that happened to me is-I fell in love with myself all over again. I feel so good about myself. I've started respecting myself and my principles all the more. 
I'm not trying to sing my own song. Just that, when you know that something around you is insanely wrong, you either try to adjust with it, ignore it, fight with it or like me, you believe in yourself and stick to your own values. 

Sometime back, a friend explained me about vanity. I wasn't convinced completely with his words. But now, if I've people like these around, I think that  
v a n i t y   i s   f a i r.

Birthmarks.

2^nd April 2011.

It was an EPIC day in my life and for another prominent reason, in every Indian’s life too!

Yes, the D-day was here. All our inputs since 29^th of March had to pay off that day.

It was “Reminiscence”, the Alumni Meet in our college.

And we friends had put up a stall for the public. For the college it was a stall, but for us, it was a challenge and a chance to prove ourselves. It was a business. For most of us, it was our 1^st time on field. We were still learning the ropes. And though we talked about being okay with not earning much, but all of us, somewhere in the corner of our hearts, were praying hard to make it BIGG.

Summer had just knocked, so our stall served “Barf ke gole”, 3 aerated drinks and Jaljeera. A lil' mixture of innovation and a snappy stall name- "Thand Rakh" had got us all resolute towards the idea. And to top it all, we had fought with the organisers to let us get a tattoo artist too. :D

On the other hand, it was the final day of World Cup 2011. 
India had made it till there and no Indian even dreamt of defeat now.

So yeah, it was an important day for ALL of us.

*Hopes were high, nervousness too.*

The time before 2^nd went in arranging the raw materials, tasting and finalizing the flavours, fighting each other’s different opinions (I know working with a team is not a bed of roses, but working with 15 classmates, altogether different thoughts AND choices, is definitely a tougher task.) But we did it. And, well! :)

The first drink was a mixture of Fruit Cola and Ice cream Soda. It gained brown color and I still wonder how a friend came up with its name-“Mock Champagne”, but it was perfect!

Second one was Blue Lagoon (Just selected cuz of its colour which supported Team India already and we immediately named it “Bleed Blue”! :D) and third was Ice Cream Soda (Since florescent pink in colour, we wanted to name it “Pink Panther” or “Trip to Paris” initially but at the end, the same friends suggested “Pink Fantasy” and we all had thumbs up for it.) :D

 These drinks were aerated. So for a little change we also included Jaljeera on our cards.

The main attraction that day was tattoo. It was India’s final match against Sri Lanka and everybody wanted tri colours on their skin.
Tattoo guy was a spectacular artist and was too fast with his brush. And a lil’ more to some of our expectations, the tattoo idea was an outrageous hit.


We earned, that much that we nullified our investment money and then gained profits too. :D But, we earned a lot more things.
We were praised, appreciated, admired- and all the adjectives that go with it- not only by our batch mates, but by our seniors, super seniors and teachers. We made friends, came to know more seniors and the vice versa. Networking is important! ;)
The day revived the sparks inside us and the feeling was just W-O-W!!  Full of vigour and confidence, and love, respect and mutual understanding towards each other, we then danced and celebrated. 

The feeling at the end of the day matched to Jay-Z, when once he remarked, “I’m not a businessman.  I’m a business, man!” :P

My teammates. Tattoos on faces and names on sleeves. Excitement amazingly captured. :D
In all, an awesome click!

The tattoo mania:  :D :D 

After a year of our school life, we felt that passion for work and that joy of winning, simply because we had found a purpose. Got me thinking and call it a ‘Happy-Realization’ if you wish so, but actually I realized we’ve become lazy in college just because we don’t have goals (or targets or purpose or directions or even pushy teachers). Goals that make us forget everything-from differences to tiredness, from hunger to the Final match-and make us get our lives in it.
Seems a simple thought, but the planning and then the execution is the real test.

Anyway, sorry for marching to a different drumbeat but this was an important happy realization to share. :)

The dusk reminded us about the Finals and we all rushed to our homes. Yes, WE WON!
What a feeling it was!!! What a moment it was!!!
No adjective can describe it.
Happiness and pride were definitely the prominent ones.
The players on the field had teary eyes too and they ran to hug each other. Later, we saw them carrying Sachin Tendulkar on shoulders.
I too had dedicated this cup to him but after the match ended, I so wished that Mahendra Singh Dhoni should have been carried on shoulders. He was the man behind the victory. Of course, the team too. But a leader creates the base of it.

 We had won the cup after 28 years and have scripted a splendid chapter in the books of history.


Me and my family then rushed to the M.G. Road. 
The scene there was _____ (Can’t find the perfect word, I guess a new one should be created!)
The victory had got the crowd into a frenzy.

Every.small.atom.there.was.full.of.ecstasy.

People were dancing without even thinking a bit, playing loud music and Dhol, pulling off their shirts, roaring all kind of patriotism slogans, standing on their car roofs, yelling "Vande Mataram" and what not!!!
The best scene was to see anybody hugging anybody! :D :P
Gosh, the energy was outta control n was sooo positive!! :D
Seriously yaar, Cricket unites India like hell!
I too made a smart move and carried the 2^nd drink, Bleed Blue’s hand-painted poster and flaunted it with pride on roads. ;) :D

For all the hard work you had put in, for all the matches you won and for conquering the world for a day- Salutes Team India! :)

We really owe that evening’s every joyful bit to the Men in Blue!

And for all the happiness, smiles, tears of joy and vitality you gifted to the Indians, thanks a tonne! :)

These two events- the happening of “Thand Rakh” and winning the World Cup after two decades are so much fresh and crisp still in our memories, that it doesn’t feel like it’s almost been two months to this date. I can still jot down the most minute detail of that day. But that would be too much for this day! :P So let it be.

What I actually want to say is, these two events were such BIG ones and have left such raging feelings and imprints on my mind that these seem to be everlasting and unforgettable.

They have surfaced as nothing, but BIRTHMARKS. 

Journey, Nostalgia and Courtesy.

Yeah, home is super boring in a vacation. No college, no friends, no classes, no hang-outs!
And IF you don't join any classes, don't have cousins around, don't have loads of random relatives to collect the family gossip from and have lots of household chores to be done, you are in trouble! ;)
Plus, if your cable and internet bills were not paid by your dad because you were over-using them, you're helpless! :P 

So, I was waiting eagerly for going to Nanaji's place, Karanja. The date arrived and, though, we were going for just 6 days ('coz of my brother's classes), we were all very excited! :D
BTW, I'm writing this from Karanja only.

Karanja is not a happening place at all. No places to visit, no good restaurants and no theaters even! :/ It's a real small town. 

But the things that drag me here are no less- First of all, my family here; calmness of the place; winds; starry nights; our big home (Awesome place to play Hide and Seek! :D) and the garden where we play with mud- first, make cakes out of it, then get dirty and then play with the forceful pipe water!! Aah! This is one of the most amazing times... :D

 More than this, it's my Mum's stories that bring me here. Stories of her childhood, of her playing with her pet cows and buffaloes :o :P, of her washing and cleaning them and then riding them!!, and stories of her farms and fresh vegetables that roar out her nostalgia every time she starts speaking about them!
I admit, I've heard them over a thousand times now, but somewhere, I am so much attached to them that I love listening to them over and over...
And as we entered Karanja, she chuckled like a 5 year old with joy, and stories, and showed us places where she did this and that! 
I silently wondered about the last time I saw her chuckling like this and it reminded me of the day when dad, mum n I were watching TV and a small documentary of a village was going on… And then we saw here repeat her stories and her special smiles again!

   

We did reach safely. But we had some amusing experiences on our journey. We left Indore by bus for Mhow, from where we had to board our train.
We traveled by a local bus. Actually made Kunal, my bro, travel by it! He so didn't want to and we so stuck to this idea of getting him this experience! :P
Then there were no autorikshaws there so we had to hire a thelawala for carrying the luggage from the depot to the station! Haha, fun again! :D
In train, we had two seats in one compartment and two in another. So, we requested a couple to adjust with our seats so that we all four could be in one compartment. They must be in their late 40s and seemed from a fine family. The lady was such a ruthless and a fussy one. She knew no kind way of talking and was shouting like a maniac. Her husband at least had ears for our problem. She was not ready to listen to a word even. Anyway, dad tried convincing them. But, all went in vain. Alright, you don't want to adjust, ok, but I don't know what made her continuously shout. Dad told them kindly that we are moving to another compartment but she didn't stop. Uhh! For a second, I wanted to laugh! 
We started moving our luggage and the man started abusing!! :O

I understand that they were not interested and comfortable in exchanging seats but I don't understand why the hell he was abusing! We didn't utter a single offensive word and dad was super-duper polite while requesting and also while they said a no and even when the bad language came in the air.. Dad even asked for forgiveness twice or thrice. Uhhhh!!
OMG! Whatever happened to manners? To courtesy?
And to simple display off humanity?

Learnt a bigg lesson, thank you God!

Sometimes, we forget some real common kind gestures. This lil' incidence got me closer to displaying them off in future!

And now, while sitting in the passage and jotting all the feelings down, i feel so light!

BTW, the laptop's battery's gonna crash in a while, it's windy, clouds are signaling rain and I'm being called for the dhoklas! :D

P.S.- You're all welcomed to Karanja and to some dhoklas too! ;)

On being good..

This thought strikes me every now and then... So, spilling those beans here..

“Good”- We’ve been listening to this word since our childhood.

Completed the food? Good boy!  

Learnt to ride the cycle? Good, good!

Got 10/10? Veryyy good! 
Say namastey. |Namastey uncle! Very good beta!

Came first in the 100 mt race? Gooood! [along with pats! ;)]

Also, we all were so fond of stars and ‘good/very good’ remarks in our note books that we used to crave for them!

All we knew that time was that good meant “You did something nice/Well done.”

Time passed. This good we knew was replaced by ‘cool’.

Got a new jeans? Cool! 

Joined the dance classes? Cool!

Won the debate competition? Cool man! *HI5*

Topped the exams? Cooool buddy!!

LOL ;)

Good then changed its meanings from the old notion. 
Umm.. Rather, I’d say we still didn't know what it actually meant.

In high school, it got a li'l mature and in a funny way, serious.

Wrote a poem? Good yaar..

Solved the math problem before everyone else? You are too good dude!!

In a relationship? Ahaan! good hai ji!! :P

But now, when I think about it deeply, it has changed its meaning and existence completely for me.

Good now, for me, means BEING good. 
Being true. Being kind. Being humane. Being helpful. Spreading smiles. And being selfless.

And nothing more than this gives me true happiness. It satisfies my heart…and my soul. And I've realized it’s one of my purposes of living.

Also, with this, I don’t need to go far for searching for happiness.

Yes sure, there DEFINITELY are some drawbacks of being SELFLESS and GOOD to everyone:

Envy (the biggest demoralizing factor);

People taking undue advantage of you, people taking you for granted, people hating you (All co-related factors);

People wanting to be like you and hating you all the more because they can’t be :D ;

Spoilt relationships; 
And yes, anybody who is good is liked by all and ironically, that’s why hated too!;

jealousy eating up friendships (This thing is heartbreaking as people so close to your heart disappoint you big time. It’s not anger. You are hurt.);

Also, a good and a nice person mostly seems fake and pretentious to all.

But, but, but, the Law of Attraction states that the good attracts all the other good.

And this reason is enough for me to stay selfless and good.  :)

And most importantly guys, it’s time, we understand that personal attack is a below the belt game. 
Let’s be positive, encouraging, nice and GOOD to all.

Trust me, by being so, the very first person who’ll be happier will be YOU. :)

"Zindagi"

While coming back home from the college, the rides are quite interesting every day as my friend Paridhi and I have loads of unusual topics to discuss about and some songs always to sing... :D

We stay together in the college all the time, but I guess there’s something magical in the rides that bring out the “interesting us”!

Yesterday, it was her Birthday. We gave her loads of surprises, had an awesome time and saw her happy as ever... And yesterday’s ride was so joyful! 

And this very line-“Ye life bhi kitni filmy hai!” is her baby! ;)

Maybe it was just out of ecstasy or the excitement, but it made me think. Later at night, I sat down to make a diary entry and started writing more around this line. So, here those lines are-

“Ye life bhi kitni filmy hai!

Kabhi hasati hai toh kabhi rulati hai...

Kabhi agle scene ke liye tadpati hai toh kabhi anjaane me hi kuch accha kar jaat hai...

Jhagde ho ya jhagdon ke baad ka action, sab public tak barabar pahuch jaata hai...

Roothna-manana, gale lagana aur fir jaate jaate flying kisses dena...

Romance bhi hai aur hero logon ki bhi kami nahi hai! :P

Dost log aur jigri dost log dono hi hai... Canteen ki masti se long drives tak... 
Dialogues toh ek se ek dete hai... Emotional bhi hote hai aur blackmail bhi karte hai... 
Gaane bhi hai aur ham gaate bhi hai, bhale hi churaye hue kyu na ho! ;)

Mummy aur Papa ka daant aur pyaar, har ‘Aditi’ ka ‘Amit’ jaisa bhai aur har ‘Amit’ ka ‘Aditi’ jaisi behen hona koi itefaaq ki baat thode hi hai...! *(‘Aditi’ and ‘Amit’ from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na) :D

Film track par chale toh acche report cards, trophies, medals aur bohot saara pyaar, ashirwaad, duaayein ghar aati hai...

Off track film ho toh flop ho jaati hai aur fir nirasha hoti hai..

(Lekin ham bhul jaate hain ki, flop film log jyada din yaad nahi rakhte..)

Ek pal me khushi, ek pal me aansu,

Ek pal me takraar aur agle me hi khub saara pyaar...

Agar aap samjhte hai ki ye life ka khel hai toh.. Ahanh!

Doston, ye toh upar baithe director ki film hai!!” 

:D :D