May be Clouds Have Feelings, Too

The evening starts out quiet As quiet as ever could be
But suddenly a stormy night Becomes a reality
The clouds dump out tons of rain And it falls so very fast
Then suddenly its clear again
And you see the moon at last

It was a long and tiring day, but still able to capture some of the glimpse of the city.

Shanti Path - Chanakya Puri, New Delhi

Spotted these kids with big business promotion umbrella near Mahipal pur. He and his friends were playing some sort of game and which I hardly understood. But for a moment I forget all my driving tiredness and business tension.

Children-Of-The-Lesser-God

Common scene on Delhi Roads. But you can easily make out that kid is least interested in begging. Instead he is more interested in the life or you can say the different world inside the car. Shot taken at Dhaula Kuan , New Delhi

Bonhomie Brigade : By Hirak Kanti Dutta

12th July 2008

The sun didn’t settle properly, and G-8 families from different parts of the city (naah, correction, one came from pink Jaipur) was gearing up, for a simple gathering, a family reunion to be precise. The included – Shekhar Patil and Family, Barfani Baba and Family, Manav and Family, Priyank and Family, Mohit and Family, Me and Sangeeta, Vinod Aggrawal and Pritam Shitoot. The destination was Dilli Haat, a favored spot for families, shopalcholics and foodies. Weatherman’s monsoon predictions were taken by a pinch of salt, and nothing unusual about it. But for a change, the weatherman had the last laugh, so had Indra, the God of thunder and rain. But by the time the G-8 families realized the mistake of an open air dinner, everyone soaked to the bones. But hey, nobody complained.

Loads of dinner destination discourses later, the G-8 arrived at a majority to select Nirulas’ Potpourri in CP as the new venue, leaving Dilli Haat foodyards in a lurch for that is just not the ‘right’ place to be during rains or thunderstorms. Surprisingly, the parking wasn’t a problem in CP on a weekend evening, that too when we were pretty late. But again, we had to move to some other restaurant, owing to lack of space to accommodate such a star studded, high profile G-8 members, and a quick query for a place for 17 drenched VVIPs made us move into Amber Restaurant below the Potpourri.

The moment we were inside, men huddled to one corner, and women and children were given the free rein to order whatever they like. The fluids of influence have already been injected into each member, and they cheered for the cameras with ‘V’ signs and the brimming mugs .

New ‘concept’ names floated in the air, men gloated over the goat-meat and chicken, women and children frolicked with fresh stories, but one thing was clear, everyone was enjoying one step at a time, no rancour or feeling of animosity towards anyone, no protocols breached, everyone remembered all the good times together, earlier and now, and pledged friendship over everything else. No G-8 summit dinner meeting at any destination till date was ever so successful. The G-8 members expressed their solidarity towards the ‘free spirit’ (not alcohol, dumb) with which each man is born and pledged for regular G-8 summits each month and entertainment rides every two months. This pledge was taken over ice-creams on Rajpath after which each member bade each other adieu.

In conclusion, I must say, that the next meet will be more successful when we expect more friends who missed this meet join us.

Pushkar Family Reunion:June 28-29' 2008, by Paraj

This was not something new to me. Short trips had often interrupted my priorities. And if it is a call from close friends, consent was doubtless, unless absolutely unreasonable. Visit to Sariska Tiger Reserve being a family trip, wife, Vandana and daughter, Reyvika, who's 4 year old, were enthusiastic and willing. They often recounted their sweet memories from the earlier visit to Siliserh lake near Alwar and how much fun they had there. Here was the chance to relive it again in a new setting – a forest reserve. Not to be. Twists, like every 'Sas-bahu' serial, blessed suspense and drama in our story. A phone-call to Vivek revealed our share.

"No Trip", announced Vivek, saying "The Reserve is closed for tourists owing to the rehabilitation of a feline family there from Ranthambore National Park".

It felt as if someone had put a period before the story wasn't even started. We needed a stronger reason to cancel the trip. At less than 300 km, touristy Kasauli suddenly seemed alluring. Can't say why I chose to hold back my opinion. But I abhor cancelling a trip.

I thought hard on it and came up with a two-liner. Hope you will agree.

If you have considerations, don't go on a trip.
If you are going on a trip, don't have considerations.

It seems my sentiments were echoed from other quarters. The phone rang.

"PUSHKAR it is", said Vivek, "Chalega?"
"Push-kar had pushed the destination 200 km further", I declared to Vandana.
"Never mind! I am still willing", she reassured.

We made an adventurous start early in the morning. Ride to Vivek's place through heavy drizzle and on water-logged roads was more exhilarating for the father-daughter duo. Vandana, on the contrary, had a hard time dodging the muddy water daubing her clothes with a hard-to-achieve fabulous paint-brush design. She was a sport and so was Neera bhabhiji, to allow three mud-covered creatures into her house. I blogged (my first ever) hasty post from Vivek's laptop to declare the start. Then the scene turned Total Filmy. We, six people – men, women and kids – walked into a Santro like some 'X-Men on a Vicious Voyage'.

Vishal, Vivek's son, now set to study in IX standard, is shy and often reserves his opinion unless probed. His real self hardly comes by. Still, I found him to be a quick learner. He curiously fiddled with camera controls and recognized some not so easily seen photo-opportunities. His images are promising and so is his mind.

Zip Drive helped ‘X-Men’ reach to the pick-up stopover. Visit to Jaipreet's residence happened to be my first. Gaurav soon joined us. "Dudes" saw each other for the first time. They hugged, No! Not like that…..you naughty boy….oh whatever, and rest is history. He is larger than my expectation, actually at heart as well. Eeshu, Jaipreet's son, an eighth standard boy, greeted us in with a sweet 'Hello' and a warm hand-shake. This gesture spoke of his mannered upbringing and extrovert nature and he never belied my perception throughout the trip. Chhavi, Eeshu's younger sister, is a very appealing kid, my favorite actually. I have all-praises for her. She is sort of a kid you can spend some quality time with, without getting bored for a minute, no matter how much an intellectual you might think of yourself. Yeah! Well, actually no. I don't know what intellectuality is. Believe me. Gaindaa kasam!!
Shekharji's car brought two surprises for me – a taller Tanu and a small RUKKMINEE jee. I mean, obviously Dude is a mammoth comparatively, isn't he?
Specsy beauty, "Akshita", was the only kid in the group who truly belonged to her age. No big talks, no extra-smart behaviour – just a lovely simple kid, period.
Parantha stop little beyond Toll naka was more than filler. Two couples, complete strangers for me till then, joined us on this LANDMARK Voyage. Let me take this opportunity to say Hi to Mohit. I never got time during the trip you see. Shaadi kaa woh pehlaa saal…..Hirak…yaad hai naa tujhe? Sorry Sangeeta. And You Bhailog! Before you say, "Hamari Koi Branch Nahin Hai", I say, "Khol Lo". Kahan kho gayey? Abbey 'Branch' kee baat kar raha hoon. Heck of your Pisa Tower thoughts.

And then something happened which went into annals – plz note a double there – of history. A Memory, to last forever, like Siliserh Trip. A group photograph, with the kind blessings of the almighty – actually it happened under the drizzle from heavens. So the trip started and so did our respective memory bank accounts, logging perceptions, ideas, appearances, activities, incidences, views, conversations, and the whole experience. And boy! Was it worth it? After all we drove over 400 kms……for what…..for that chlorinated dip. Kaptan! Ek baat toh pakkee hai…..every body in the group was excited to have a swim……Ek Swim Trip toh bantaa hai dear. We will title it – "Darnaa Manaa Hai". Dubkee lagaao aur khul jayegaa…..Kahan kho gayey? Abbey 'Dar' kee baat kar raha hoon.

Waise yaaron…..the name is masst' (+2Degree Hot Male). Thanks. My next post in a Yahoo! Chat room will say, "Anybody game to do a 'Loyee' to a [Hot +2Degree Male]. Sex no bar. Beware of Bear?"

You might be thinking what has happened to Paraj. Yeh aisaa toh nahin thaa! Actually hua yun kay kee one too-mini-skirt clad woman changed everything when she walked by the lane where I was having my share of Malpuas. I thought to rename them as just Pua because Mal was somewhere else. Then I thought, what Brahma jee, the creator, will think of me. I wasn't worried about apna 'dude' Brahma, Gaurav. He anyway was busy renaming his Malpuas.

The creator of the Universe – his land Pushkar – the land of creative activity. Our society has never objected to that. The world knows that we are bound to overtake China by 2020. Skin show and expression of the ingredients of creative-activity-turned-fun publicly is what really is objectionable here. How Pushkar is handling this cultural onslaught is a matter of research and debate but I enjoyed my Puas. Well, for the 'Mal', I am happy that beauty is just not skin-deep.

Thanks Vivek for the X-Men Voyage in the AC-comfort. We needed a break and for us Pushkar just happened because of you. Punya Teerth on an Ekadashi – Thanks.

Kaptan….Your choice of Pushkar and reinvention of the trip – I mean we were lucky you took the initiative. This is just not possible but if it ever happened lest I reached the Dhaba first, I will happily take your order on phone ;~))

Shekhar ji plays this game always. Game of majority. Three Ladies and a Man. Taraju nikalnaa pad jaata hai. 'Aaiee' aajaati hongee toh baap re baap. Koi nahin Sir…..kksh' jhadiyon mein hi sahi….par tol kar leejiyegaa :~))

Gaurav, Priyank and Mohit…..we met for the first time and I instantly related in that order, actually Gaurav being much ahead of you two – may be the 'Dude' factor !

Aman, Hirak, Manav, Shuja, Dallbir – Guys…..next time better fill up the respective lacunae. Otherwise, my memories are awesome. Siliserh, Pushkar, still counting!