A small bar of Cadbury’s dairy milk would cost as much as Rs. 25.00 but when my daughter relishes it as if there is no tomorrow… It’s priceless…
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The world’s most expensive chocolate
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Category Archives: Memoirs
When I was born the second time
I was born during a cold month.
During diwali… the festival of lights
8 days after Gandhi jayanti…
The time when most schools would have their mid term exams. Oh… how I used to hate my birthday then!
But that’s just about it. Those were the times. No matter what, it was so chilled out. No cares in the world…
And then unlike everyone… I was reborn again… that day was 12th Feb, 2003.
Today is 12th February, 2011
Technically speaking, I am 8 years old.
Still very young and lots of things to accomplish and thats the way I see it.
And still learning the school of life everyday.
I remember vividly the day I first set my eyes on Sowmea. Wearing a blue saree. Sitting on the floor. Eyes gazed down and refusing to see up. As if she is being tested. Tested to see how much patience she can endure. Then came “Can you sing a song?” situation. A typical filmy one actually. A usual thing when the groom’s lot ask the bride’s folks. She did and how? Boy! I was floored. I still feel she could have made singing as her career!
But that was not all. I’ve had so many friends in my life (Yes, girls of course) But sowmea was different in all aspects from all of them.
Shy (Until she wanted to!), unbreakable, strong, focused and absolutely no-nonsense girl.
She was none I had seen…. Ever! And by now I know her soul completely.
I wouldn’t have realized this today had I been any different then.
I then think of it as God’s game plan towards a person’s self realization. And I am so glad it took me this long.
I guess over time every couple complement each other in many ways than one. So much so that they begin to act like one, think like one. If one faulters, the other fixes it… And surely in my case, I would fault forever and she would mend the things and both of us by now realize this. While I keep promising that this year on I will be any different than the last, it would only be brushed off as another lame excuse and I think like an eight year old kid, I have conveniently done so!
And I don’t think we would have been any happier than we are today. Besides the little tuffs that we have on and off, the mutual admiration that we have for each other is so immense that any other issue would only pale in comparison.
On this very special note, I would wish all my readers, contributors, friends, family and well wishers a very Happy Valentines day!
If you have to express your feelings to some one who matters the most then do it now.
Don’t wait.
And to Sowmea, the love of my life a very happy anniversary today!
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Random thoughts of an aging mind…
Its less than 40 days to meet old friends & colleagues and my mind is already racing….
Anxieties… apprehensions… excitement… that adnrenaline rush… the rush of blood to my head
Tracing and picking up so many fragments of events that happened during my most formative years.
So many things happened along the way which I carry alongwith me until today until eternity.
I owe all my life’s happiness to so many people. People I could live without and many people I couldn’t live without.
This post is an extension of what happened during all those years…
It’s not even as exhaustive as I thought it to be… So I guess that leaves more room for me to delve into that life later on…
Childhood, school, the formative years
So many things happened. I guess I should be lucky to have born and brought up during the 70s.
Nothing compares to what it was then and what life we are leading now. Sure, money isn’t everything!
I am going to visit the house I was brought up where rests a Church now. The verandah, the chawl system, the neighbors, the power-cuts, the late night talks, starry eyes… the wonder years…
I hope, I hope, I get to meet with my old friend and buddy Raja when all we used to do was dream of a better life. A life better than Sharma chawl. Living there was one thing and getting out from there was another. I hope our families get along.
I guess that will… I mean when we can, why can’t they? Raja, are you listening? Plan the Kerala trip quickly….
If there was enough laughter and smiles in my early life then I must thank SK. Although we didn’t attend the same school, most of the times we used to end up in each other’s house. Especially during our board exams. I guess the ”Iyengar” surname helped us in a very big way. We always used to be one behind the other during our board terms. Copying, making chits were so usual for us. I guess it was only during these times that we actually started appreciating each other as friends more than cousins and thus we continue to do even until today! And SK, two days fultoo time pass we will do this time. God when we used to hang out it was like total chaos around. We still are the same. I guess we never got to spend that much time until today like how we used to do then… If you are from Bombay then you would know… Imagine very long walks from Bhandup to Mulund… Although we used to go cycling… we would rarely ride it. With us even our poor cycles used to take a walk and eventually rusty! SK, catch you soooon mate!
Next stop would be my school. St Xavier’s high school. The events that most shaped my life for what I am today. My teachers, my great great friends. It’s very rare that today’s kids spend their entire schooling from lower KG till their high school graduation in the same school. Well, to us it was the other home. It would really be unfair if I took some names and forgot the others. Dear Xavierites, this post is for you. Missed you all these years and too happy to meet you all. I almost feel that this is kind of a school reopening of sorts. Smell of new books, new school bags et all.
Cousins… Talking about cousins, I have this cousin of mine; Shanti who changed the way I used to think about people and life in general. In many ways she was my mentor of sorts. I guess the last time I met her was during 2000 and now its more than a decade than our last meeting and I am just too excited to catch up with her.
College… my most creative years
I guess it was only in college (SIES) that I could really understand that I had this creative instinct in me. College for me was one roller-coaster. We were a gang of boys and we used to claim ourselves the BFC gang. Meaning Batman Fan Club. Balaji, Russel, Deepak , Chandru (We also used to call him Kutta for his signature pose like a dog and occassionally Jeeragoli) and myself. It was Balaji’s idea to have it coined that way.
I still don’t know why.
So please don’t ask. But yes, this BFC reunion will unveil the mystery surrounding that. Or I must say that I am growing so old, that I need to re-oil my thoughts. It was during this period my creativity just went higher and higher. I mean I did our college annual day Logo for the year, aptly titled Visions, Won many inter-collegiate competitions. It was here that I was made to realize by BFC that I had a talent. Thanks to BFC that I knew about something called as the advertising industry. I didn’t get into the creative bandwagon but I still am with the most creative industry and I am glad I am here!
The rose day, the self intro with the girls (Well not me really but I guess everyone from my group except myself and Deepak tried it!) But however, I must admit that I was too good in raising the anxiety amongst the group. I would surely need to write a separate post about the great gang called the BFC! Hope the boys give me enough food for thought!
Ubique… the most supportive years
Ubique I would say was the most unique agency in my entire life. I mean Ubiquitas advertising. Gosh, it was one hell hole one would love to be in! You learn everything and nothing over here. By everything I mean friendship and by nothing I meant work. This was one unique agency where you join one day, resign the other day and you can still join back the next day. I mean in our two year stint we literally had so many heads turning up and down. All thanks to the great owners Jayesh and Dhaval. Mr. Dhaval Mehta was indeed a great guy so I’d keep him out of this mess. Jayesh was hell of a guy. If you haven’t seen baniya (Baniya is term used in Bombay where you find small shop owners who’ll go down to the last decimal when it comes to managing their money!) working in a corporate setting, you can imagine Jayesh there. He was this huge and bulky guy, always in sharp ironed, bright cotton/ linen shirts. He had this hitler like charisma and would leave none when it came to financial matters. While Dhaval used to be this strategic guy, Jayesh worried more about petty issues. We were a group of 6-8 awesome buddies who used to hang around no matter what.
I found great friends here if not a great career. Myself, Mahendra Shetty aka Mandy, Umang, Jeprish, Sunita, Preeti, Sandeep, Prachi, Rashmi always used to hang around bitching about the bosses and crack jokes at our own situations.
Inspite of all this, I must really thank Ubique for providing that stepping stone. Had it not been for Ubique, I wouldn’t be here where I am standing today!
So many things we did, so many events just clouding my thoughts right now. Life is one hell of ride!
The feeling is just too nostalgic and I hope it stays with me for a long, long time to come….
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Hoppingo… Battingo!
Wondering what Hoppingo, Battingo means?
Well, it’s a game where you are supposed to hit your friend (Hoppingo when standing and Battingo when he/ she is sitting)
Well, it was quite a popular game during our school times. I mean during the 70s and 80s and we used to literally play with each and every peer!
Now can you imagine someone playing this with an elderly person?
Can you imagine anyone playing this with their teacher?
I guess I have done it all with this particular incident which is still so fresh in my memory after maybe 30 odd years.
She was our language teacher, teaching us Marathi. We used to call her Deshmukh madam.
I was one of her fave students. I was like this good kid in front of her but behind her I used to do lots of hera pheri… During one of her classes, I was hiding behind the class room door and when she entered… I just went behind her back and hit her on her back saying “Hoppingo!”
She was sporty enough and resorted back to me with “Battingo” and the whole class were rolling down on the incident laughing and giggling… Immediately she composed her self back and then stormed out of the class to inform the principal…
Here’s what happened later… Read along… I was called to his room where I was interrogated… Here are the excerpts..
Princi : Whats your name?
Raj : Rajan father… ( I was almost close to peeing on my pants)
Princi : Why are you here?
Raj : Errrr… hmmmm… I… I…
Deshmukh mam: Tell him what happened?
Raj : I… I.. hit Deshmukh mam (So weird it was???)
Princi : What???? (He almost jumped from his seat)
Princi : Why?? Why did u hit her?
Raj : I was playing hoppingo/ battingo with her father!
Princi : Do you know what you have done?
Raj : (A very sad as if I-did-nothing look from me… almost crying situation)
Princi : I need to meet your parents tomorrow…
Deshmukh mam: Yes father! These kids these days I tell you ( I mean those days guys!… for all teachers its always these days)
Raj : OK father, I am sorry father (I said OK, now i need to source out my father to meet this princi)
That day I was doomed to be expelled from school…. I went home.
I didn’t have my mom then. My dad was working in the middleast and all I had for myself was my grandpa…
So it was kind of easy to convince him of my endeavors!
I pretended I was sick and tried doing shivers in front of him so he would think that I have fever and that way I can skip my school next day. Wow great idea that was… I went to the bathroom and out of fear cried like crazy. when I came out my eyes were red and swollen.
My grandpa wondered what happened and took me to the doctor… I was the happiest person then… Good I thought… I can fake the doctor with my sickness and get to be at home tomorrow, I thought!
But who can fake a fever to a doctor? My doctor (Dr. Padwal) interrogated me like crazy as if he were an FBI agent. After many many Q’s he finally took it out from me… (Still remember that moment) I finally had to spill the beans… “Dr I actually played a prank on my teacher and hit her on her back”
You cannot imagine the kind of laugh he had that day… Atleast I brought a smile on your face, I thought. He didnt charge me any fees (Ya he was very good doctor) He told my grandpa not to worry… “Your grandson has nothing, he is all well and he just needs you to go to school with him tomorrow to meet the principal”.
Then I had to narrate the whole thing to my grandpa. He was actually cool about it. He would support me on anything I guess. So, it was pretty chillled out! Not everyone gets a grandpa like mine! Yeah, I am lucky to have had him…
The next day was pretty cool at the princi’s place. My grandpa promised him that I will not get into any such acts later… I kept my promise… I mean this time onwards I ensured I was more careful… not to get caught…
Wow! That incident is still so fresh in my memory even today… Good I am sharing this all with you…
Guys, please let your kids be kids. Let them do lots of masti. Let them have a ball. Don’t interrupt them. Just ensure that they study well. Thats all. There is only one lifetime, one childhood… Give them those moments!
Don’t care about others Hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I loved writing it!!!!
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21 is a pretty good number
21 is a cool number.
No seriously…
I have been really thinking loud about this number.
This number is playing such a huge role in my life right now.
Well, I left school in the summer of ’89 and after almost 21 years we are having a school re-union of sorts.
To me, It will be the same meeting of minds sans a uniform, a school bag and all the added tags associated with it.
It sounds so exciting to meet our old pals, bond and go back in time the moment when we were all separated by our own choice and destiny.
So what could the number 21 signify?
So many things conjouring up.
Some odd and random facts for the number 21:
They say we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of our death. According to Duncan Macdougal. He tried to prove that the soul was a physical part of the body, with actual mass, by weighing dying patients.
The weight of a humming bird
The weight of a chocolate bar
The weight of a stack of nickels (As it reads on my fave movie poster, 21 grams)
How about some more…
They say one in 21 people (Approx) have an extra rib
Blackjack, the world-famous card game is also known as 21
Twenty-one is the number of spots on a standard dice
Once you reach the age of twenty-one, you know you’ve hit a pretty important milestone. In the U.S., being twenty-one means you can drink and gamble
In most places in the U.S., you can rent a car once you’re twenty-one
21 is the standard TCP/IP number for an FTP connection
Gustave Whitehead allegedly flew a plane called Number 21 two years before the Wright brothers’ first flight.
A twenty-one gun salute is fired in the UK for royalty and in the US for the President. It comes from the time when the largest ships of the British navy had 21 guns along one side
We live in the twenty-first century (Can it get any bigger than this?)
I mean imagine this, the street you have been using up and down from your kindergarten life until the time you graduate…
A wind blows and takes you to another shore in search of better life and prospects.
Twenty one years pass…
So many things happen afterwards…
Do you realize that you just passed through 21 summers?
And all the other seasons and some of life’s most amazing events.
Your graduation, new job, your first salary, Your first suit. Your engagement. Then your marriage. Your kids and their milestones…
So many things happend around you…
APJ Abdul Kalam as a President, India’s first woman president, The super successful twenty 20, Amartya Sen’s Nobel prize, Tata Nano… and various other milestones!
And some bad news rolled in too!
Like the 1992 and 2002 riots in India, Tsunami, Gujarat Earthquake, The World trade center attacks, Swine flu, Terrorist attacks in Bombay… just to name a few
My God… Don’t you think this 21 must be one hell of a number?
I will go back to the same point all over again. I’ll reminiscize. I’ll ponder. I’ll live that moment all over again.
I mean of course that time is not the same now. Its a different world now.
I wish I could turn back the times for once. But for the other, I am happy I am about to re-live that moment.
In the current situation, I think I would rather live the life I am into right now and be happy for what life was about 21 years back.
And I am just too happy and proud that whatever I am today is a product of what I was 21 years ago!
And with this I’d like to dedicate this post to all my school mates who matter to me so much even today just like they did 21 years ago!
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