cacophonix

Whoosh!

2006-02-03T11:31:00.000-08:00

one inch of life
and another one of death
a fine line there is
of is and not beth?

the fall saved the one
the weight was more than a ton
the misfired gun
took the unsuspecting nun?

live it up men
coz it is not to be trusted
for through my pen
comes the shield busted

Khaichidi.....

2006-02-03T11:17:00.000-08:00

My grandmother told the most wonderful stories. Three generations have grown up on her stories.

I especially liked all her stories, and never grew out of them (still haven't, I guess). Every time I went to her place, I would pester her for a story. Till I was about 17, she would oblige, but last 4 years or so she would not tell me as she said I had really really grown up. The story telling was getting rarer and rarer.

My favourite story was, ofcourse, khichidi. The word has no meaning, and is a story for the really tiny tots. This is the story which I must have heard at least a thousand times and more, but I never ever get bored of it.

This december, when I went home, aaji (i.e my grandma) was not well. She was complaining me of how she was no well etc. In order to distract her, I asked her to tell me the khaichidi story. She obliged, and told the story. I was transported back to childhood instantly.

Two days later, her condition deteriorated and in another day she passed away.....

One day, reflecting back on all the events, I suddenly realised that the last time when she spoke to me was when she told me the story. She never told it to me in the last 4 years, but that day she did....and I believe they were the farewell words for me. I am sure no other words would have been as dear to me, than 'khaichidi'.......I guess God has his own ways..Thank You God, for the most wonderful farewell....

Dad's 50th birthday!

2006-02-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

It is at times like this, that I realise no work of fiction, no thriller movie, no roller coaster ride can match the thrill called 'life'. The title of this post would have prompted a few of you to skip by, but having come so far, I can promise you it will be worth it!

It all started about 13 months back...28th march 2005 was to be THE day. We Hingways are famous for our parties. We've practically given parties for anything and everything. The thing is, we don't need a reason. However, once there is a reason, the fun only increases.....

So, somebody somewhere came up with the idea of dad's 50th birthday. Mom was for it, and I was consulted as well here. I gave my consent and the planning started. We both knew dad was never too fond of birthdays and stuff, so we decided it was best he was left out of the plan. And the thought of a surprise party wasn't bad either.

Mom started with the preliminary preparations and I gavemy inputs now and then from my hostel. Both my parents have their birthday within a week, and IITK is gracious enough to grant me leave at that time every year. So I was to join live action one week before the day...

Mom decided it was going to be a real grand event, and invitations went to many parts of the country as well!! And the best part was, all of them agreed!!!

However, somebody called to say they wouldn't be coming, and conveyed the message to my dad! OOPS!! secret out!!

Then mom had to tell him all the planning so far, and he was really bewildered. He practically justified the term 'birthday', coz he was as edgy and diificult, as a new born, and mom had to bear it all, while I was getting hysterical with laughter with mom's every phone call.

It seems, apart from the basic fact that he's not too fond of having his birthday celebrated, was the fact that so many people, from so many places, had actually agreed to come!! He thought it was getting a bit too much. He would grumble and complain every time the subject came up, and was suddenly transformed to the 'kid' again.

After days of trying to persuade mom to drop the idea, he realised the party WAS really happening. He declared one day that he was going to be as cooperative as he can be. He wasn't too different than before, but added some high quality sarcasm to the show!

Now things were getting hot, and I reached home. The same day my mama and family arrived from m'bai. Pople had already started coming, and I was really excited. The house had almost the excitement of a 'shaadi waala ghar', with lots of people, lots of goodies and India cricket matches. I believe no program is ever complete unless the whole family sees at least one cricket match together.

Anyway, back to the subject. I was made in-charge of the party preparations and I took charge running to hundred places, and directing my cousins to do their bit.

Then, dad started his phase three...He suddenly was much active than before and told everyone there was some mistake, and that he was not 50 at all, and that there was some mistake in counting!!! Dad has a superb sense of humor, and he was at his best at this time.

One day me n mom decided, well he wants to be a kid, let us give him a kid's birthday party. It was decided that we would have a theme party, with everyone wearing pointed hats and we would distribute everyone ballons and toy whistles, to add to the fun.

We planned all the games that are held at birthday parties, including, you won't believe it, 'I lost a letter' and 'simon says'!!! This time, the secret HAD to be kept. We'd already goofed up once. So everything was very hush - hush. Nothing was purchased till the day of the prty, lest he should find it somewhere. We even had return gifts for every family, which were chocolates.

The preparation being done, we proceded to the Radhika Hotel banquet hall we'd booked for the purpose. As the guests trickled in, dad got the shock of his life when we gave everyone balloons and caps and stuff! It was great to see everybody right from 2 year olds to 80 year olds wearing caps and blowing whistles.

The games started soon, and everybody had a great great time. Then the serious part began. People strated making speeches, some had even written poems for dad!! One relative actually framed the poem she had written and presented it to dad.

Then came the real part. Everybody asked mom and dad to speak. That was the most sentimental part of the evening, and my eyes were moistened at the end of it.

However, we were there to enjoy, and then the festivities started again with games like musical chairs, followed by dinner and other things.

next day I was pleasantly surprised to see that many people had given gifts (even though mom had insisted on no gifts) and all of them were practically made for me.. It helps when your dad is not crazy for his gifts!!

One of the greatest moments of my life, I had a ball, and it was really worth it!!

the inter-iit experience...

2006-01-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

last year, the inter iit sports competition was held at iit madras. those not belonging anywhere below bhopal will not know the simple fact that if one has to go to anywhere south of bhopal by train and sleep, will have to book the tickets 2 months before the trip...

alas, they did not...so, there was only one train which will transport 120 guys to chennai in such a situation..that is the wretched lucknow madras express..here reservations are always available, for the simple reason that it does not have a pantry car!!

two and a half days of journey and nothing to eat can be a dreadful thought..coz that is the best way to make time move in a train...

anyway, people came to know that there is a station called nagpur in the way, and that is the last place where you can get some good food...some people also came to know that there is a certain Anand Hingway who happens to live there, and also happens to be there at that time...

so shri Vishram Yadav approached me and entrusted me with the very noble task of providing a decent meal to 120 hungry iitians...having accepted the responsibility very enthusiastically, it did not take me much time to realise that the job, apart from being noble, was also daunting...

However, being a Hingway, i had to get the job over well....so the food part was fixed up pretty soon (it helps if iitk provides u the money - they have a lot of money)...the problem was, the coach wanted two bananas for each player...and the caterer refused to bring them.

So it was upto me to get the bananas, all 20 dozens of them, to the station. I was waiting outside the station with 240 bananas while my cousin parked the car. All the beggars at nagpur station thought this is a banana distribution camp or something - and they did go bananas...onr of the beggar would not let go of my foot..i had to pay him 5 bucks to free my foot!

Inside I made the enquiries and got to know that the train would be arriving at platform no. 3. All of us went to the platform 3 with 120 food packets, water bottles and of course, the bananas..very conviniently, the train chose the platform 5 to arrive at the station.

then the confusion and the run started. when i raced back to the main area the coach was there, pulling his hair...then everyone was mobilised into action, and in record time we got the food to the train. The train stopped there for quite some time, and that helped...

In retrospect, everything looks so good. Ask me how I was at that moment!!

in praise of kempty falls...

2006-01-02T05:41:00.000-08:00

Few days back, I visited the Kempty falls near Mussoorie.

I have heard the real story of a guy who climbed up a mountain with his friends as a trek, reached the top and looked at the scene around. He decided it was the most beautiful sight ever, and that nothing else can be better..He decided he wanted to die looking at the most beautiful sight, and jumped and died...

I do not endorse the act, life is too precious...However, if there was one place that could induce me to say this, it would be kempty falls....

the dirac delta function of life..

2006-01-02T05:28:00.000-08:00

i've been really busy these last few days, but finally it is here.
during the end sem exams, swapnil dharaskar created suicide at iitk. his being from my city caused a chain of events, which i am not mentioning here.

It is said that when you are falling from a height or experiencing a big shock, the mind goes blank and one does not recollect the experience, if he or she is fortunate to escape it. swapnil was not fortunate enough....

For those who did not have a look at the accident site, there is a metallic cycle stand on which he fell and it is badly mangled..this has got me thinking...

I sincerely hope, for his sake, that he lost consciousness before the fall. If he did not, and for maybe only one micro second he faced the pain, then I think life won the battle....

It is my opinion (i do not claim any evidence, just a thought) that if he felt the pain for that instant, he faced much more pain than he would have suffered had he lived. This is the dirac delta function of life. infinite pain, zero length or finite pain for finite time, the product is the same... Life does not let you go so easily....

i fell in love with a voice!

2005-11-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

For the classical novel or movie to be made here, I would never be the perfect protagonist.
Not that I want to, but that's just an observation that came to me as I began scribbling this...

Why I say this is because I hope in my heart I never meet her...coz it may break the lovely picture I have created in my mind..

We talked on phone, and after the first hello, cupid struck...After three phone calls now, i know my heart enough to know I am in love... Then came the e-mail, ending with 'love.....and her name'....

the heart took an hour to get back to normal...

but now i hope i never meet her. I am too normal a person of this world to see beyond beauty and looks and personality. every time this question my heart asks me..."how will she look?"

I have the most beautiful picture of her inside, and would like it to remain like that.

the feet are beautiful...

2005-11-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

coz they say don't see,
coz they never saw,
coz they were too busy,
i should refuse to see?

the curves are as perfect
as any bust ever made
for they too were made
by Him and he loved them

for years you serviced them
the beauty taxed to the full
never was the face of a dame
to be asked of so much

i love them
i enjoy them
i see them
and i write on your feet

To C or not to C

2005-10-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

I've been called a flirt, a batsman, a lady's man and what not.....

The only offence (if it can be called that) is that I do not hesitate to compliment a beautiful girl when I see one. The compliment is meant to be taken purely on face value, and the discussion should end there itself....

It does, in most cases, for I feel most of the women I know are smarter than us males feel, and can guess the difference between a compliment and 'lassugiri'...

It is obviously the guys, who cannot get those innocent words of mine out of their system. I've even been called a hypocrite!

We say we've graduated to a new world, open in all respects. Everybody keeps shouting about how western culture is trying to kill our culture and so on.. So why can't this 'open' system understand that if you like someone there is no harm in saying so. And liking can be at different levels, like you like someone's hair, or face, or eyes, even voice... say so. people like it.

A genuine compliment can be felt by the person. If you tell a girl she has beautiful eyes it does not mean you are trying to seduce her. It is just an admiration of something beautiful created by God. Do we hesitate before saying that a scenery is beautiful????

Especially in India, there is super hypocrisy. Poverty and mediocracy and idiocy are encouraged. We need to break loose. Wearing good clothes is an offence here. So is trying to look nice, or even smell nice. How many times have we, ourselves, taunted our friend who applies deoderant (though he probably does us a favor by doing so)?

In the same way why should anybody mind if I call a beautiful girl beautiful?

Why?

2005-10-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

what for you come?
you are not mine
you are nobody's
but you do come.

the life of mine
is too short for you
the good too much
to be missed for you.

yet you cause
a tear, a burn in my heart
all the good
where it gone?

go away
for you are not mine
you are nobody's
you must be undone

i see the blue
only in the skies
and the waters
that follow it

i never am to see you
you are not mine
you are nobody's
the blues must go away

The loners

2005-09-27T04:17:00.000-07:00

The loners

I reveled in the dusty clouds,
the mind had in all sense conquered,
the space was all mine,
and there like a king I lay..

not ever the used was mine,
nor was mine ever to be given,
the space was all mine,
and there like a king I lay.

I never had the scratch
of a fight over nothing
the space was all mine,
and there like a king I lay.

She came along one day
and the dust wanted to settle
the space demanded a soul,
and helpless there I lay.

The space was gone,
The dust all settled
The sunshine of love peeped through the clouds
And basking there I lay.

She had a similar world
The queen in her own right
The space was too much for her
But then there was one space, wasn’t there?

The siblings thus were
And a new world was it
The scratch of a senseless fight
The wearing of handed over clothes..