Scent of a woman

Paraphernalia. To me it means the most when it’s not around. At work, what could it possibly be? A desk, water bottle, notepad, computer, pen, postcard, photograph, certificate, bin and the list goes on. These are all physical, tangible items, by no means unnecessary, but what about things which don’t fall in the “tangible” category. Things which touched (not physically in this case) your life on a day-to-day basis! Take a moment, try recalling… doesn’t come that easily, right? Probably, your paraphernalia is still around you.

For me it’s the regular ice-cream guy who suddenly disappeared, a stray dog that was always sleeping in my backyard, who disappeared too, a pani-puri vendor who changed his base, a building that doesn’t exist anymore due to some property dispute, a security guard who was always drunk and eventually got fired, a drink buddy who quit for good (which is good), a chaiwalla who passed away (which is sad), a perfume that is completely out of production and so on… the whole point of writing this is that I miss two of my closest buddies a lot. One, who I know for almost a decade now and has moved to Kingdom of Bahrain for some reason and the other, whose Sweet Pea (Bath & Body Works) sanitizer I’ll miss the most. Sorry for all the philosophy above except “paraphernalia means the most when it’s not around”.

Lost and found

Lost in confusion, you’re the sole controller of the mind and its actions. But why do you still feel restless, always questioning. Curiosity never leaves you. Sometimes it’s better not knowing, but poor curiosity hovers. Think about it, are we not constantly in search of something bigger, greater and unending. But it all ends in the end. And then the search begins, once again. Vicious! The game’s over, you keep telling yourself... but you also jump in, the moment there’s an opening. Because the child is hungry, and will never go to sleep. Well, let it never sleep. Discovery lies in searching, believing that the restless mind will always surprise you!

Unborn child of mine

I imagined my world being perfect. Who doesn’t? It takes time to fix things that aren’t perfect. But what is PERFECT? In my opinion, it’s like an unborn child—conceived, not born. My child (unborn) wanted to be a different person. It didn't like the limelight, it wanted to be undercover. But what did I get—a world that didn’t work by my ways!                                

In my opinion again, my world will be perfect when I find that ‘someone’ who completes ME—helps me give birth to that unborn child. I think I've found that person. But my child is yet to be born!

know more

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works are usually written to be performed in front of a live audience by actor.

The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder (as in a wheelwright or cartwright). Hence the prefix and the suffix combine to indicate someone who has wrought words, themes, and other elements into a dramatic form, someone who crafts plays. The homophone with write is in this case entirely coincidental.

Under The Mango Tree

16th October 2010.. @Hampi with a friend from a decade ago.. A much awaited holiday to an even more awaited getaway! It feels like heaven when you skip the routine.. no ironing clothes, no skipping breakfast, no traffic, and no office.. Just a small town life away from the hustle bustle of a metro!

It's amazing to see what tranquility can do to you.. You are at peace with yourself - a perfect balance with nature. And that's how life should be..isn't it?
Hampi offers more to the mind than to the eye! And that's cause your mind is absorbing more than your eyes.. You think in simple ways, you learn to adjust to what's being offered.. materialism takes a back seat..

The need to look sharp and seem smart doesn't appeal to the aura surrounding our thoughts.. What our hearts yearn for is the slow entry of peace and calm into the crescents of city-life-being.. Hampi encouraged that craving and satisfied that like a crescendo peaking orgasm..

Sitting for breakfast at The Mango Tree, we do nothing but overlook the Tungabhadra river.. Our minds are free of any thought, our life is free of any stress.. Without trying, we meditate...

Are we human or are we dancer…

My sign is vital, my hands are cold… wonder how sometimes lyrics of a song you stumble upon while your music player is on shuffle mode, make you think about something that’s totally unrelated. The first thing that caught my eye was the wrong grammar in the lyrics. Are we dancer or dancers? Grammatically, it should be dancers, isn’t it! The idea here is not to point a finger at the lyricist or anger the fans, but only to express that how sometimes our brain relates to the external factors so AMAZINGLY.

I love the song btw =), so ‘The Killers’ please don’t ‘kill’ me ;-)

Vrrooommm… a legendary ride!

Duration: 6 days

Distance covered by road: 1700 kms

Height scaled: 13,000 feet

Mode of transport: 3 Enfield Bullets (one of them was a 1985 made) and a 7 year old Pulsar 150)

Starting point: Alipore, Kolkata

Start time and date: 4:30 AM, April 1, 2009

Number of travellers: 7

Route: Kolkata-Siliguri-Gangtok-Tsomgo lake-Nathula Pass (final destination)

Temperature range: 42⁰ C to 6⁰ C

Remarks by the co-bikers: “One hell of an experience”; “I want to have a house here” (this was on our way to Tsomgo lake)

These are some vital stats of a road trip that I undertook with a bunch of my college buddies. It was on April 1, 2009, our hearts full joy and josh; the Tricolor emblazoned on our beauties, our bikes, and we ventured out on the road less travelled. Had it not been for the prodding of one of our friends, who wanted to do something adventurous after our MBA, we would have not have had such a wonderful experience.

Sikkim is a land of flowers, greenery, God-fearing and peace loving people. This line hasn’t been picked up from any travelogue, but truly is a reflection of what I saw and felt about the place. It may be like any other tourist place, but for us, the road trip made all the difference.

Negotiating the narrow roads, which start after you cross Siliguri, is an absolutely exhilarating experience. At times it scares the hell out of you and at other times the all-pervasive beauty—the snow capped peaks, or partly frozen water body just takes your breath away.

We also discovered what Sikkim and the Bollywood have in common—Danny Denzongpa, the actor of yesteryears, of course. He has his own beer brewery in Malli (Sikkim). The brand of beer is called ‘Dansberg’ and is as good as Carlsberg =). Another thing that is popular in Sikkim is this beautifully crafted bottle of Old Monk rum, shaped like a laughing Buddha. It’s something really funky to take back home.

The whole idea of sharing this experience with you all is to urge you to take a moment off, and think about all those things you have always wanted to do. Recall the ‘bucket list’ you created long ago. How many of you have had that moment, when you strike out one ‘such’ thing off the list? Well, I have had one such moment and that’s when I say—it was a legendary ride!