Chandigarh….as I see from my Balcony!!!!

If you have read my previous posts, you would know that my current job (just 7 months old) has taken me to places which are not known to 90% Indians. So I was delighted to find that my last training was to be at Chandigarh especially because all this while I had been coming to the City on weekends and staying in hotels just to avoid being “BORED”. I said Good Bye to Moonak and its good people (except Mr. Jindal) and headed towards the best city in this part of the world. I reached in the afternoon dead tired after spending 3 hours in a Non-AC taxi. But on reaching the destination, I was pleasantly surprised at being offered a glass of Nimbu Paani by the Lady who is now my Landlady thanks to Shalinder (my Colleague). I was in a hurry and so dumped my bags in one of the rooms and rushed to the airport to board a flight to Bangalore. My friend Shiladitya was there in Cochin waiting for me to join him on a short vacation. It was a wonderful trip and Kerala truly deserves the tag “God’s Own Country”. After a few days of fun, I took a flight out of the God’s Own Country and came back to Land of Goddesses. I am still confused as to how a small city has so many beautiful Girls. A meticulously planned and beautiful city surely deserves beautiful citizens but then this could be a good thesis for any PHD student.

Let me come out in my Balcony or else you might take the word “BORED” seriously. My first morning here at Sector 32-A gave me a chance to get the feel of the city albeit from my Balcony. I suddenly woke up to a lot of noise outside and it seemed that I woke up in time for Lunch. Being late on the first day itself would not have been a good start and so got up to check what was happening. Two continuous rows of buildings with a well paved lane in between; I felt as if I was abroad. Lot of People out on the street walking, quite a few engaged in Balcony to Balcony conversations and a good number of cars ready to be driven. One man giving a good Massage to his father and a couple of Guys waiting below a building waiting for someone to come out on the Balcony. May be they too had some Message to give to someone special. I came back in and checked time. It was only 7A.M. When you have such wonderful society parks and good roads that lead to the parks, everybody would like to enjoy a good walk. I just came back after a nice walk too and today was my first time but sadly tomorrow is perhaps going to be my last day here. Anyways, I started enjoying just standing there in my Balcony for an hour or so observing as life unfolds before my eyes while some good music plays on my phone.

Every morning I am greeted by the sight of an old lady coming out and offering water to the Sun God and then a kid comes out from another house and does the same thing. Sometimes they come out at the same time and it is a wonderful sight. Just then you would also find a group of people riding cycles at some distance and hurling something at the houses as they ride along. This is how the scene would be if you imagine that alien forces have invaded Sector 32-A. It happens so fast and with so much precision that it could be near fatal to anyone who would open the door at that time. Especially, beautiful girls should avoid coming out in the Balcony or at least they should first get their face insured. I was kept out of the harm’s way by my Landlady. She never let me subscribe to the newspaper by keeping the Gate closed till the time these Delivery Boys went out of sight. Nevertheless, I get my daily dose of corruption, murder and inflation at the Office.

The next thing that attracts your attention is the range of four wheelers on display. From Nanos to Audis, all are in the neighbourhood and co-exist peacefully without any ego issues. Audis though struggle to find space and the Gates are kept half-open to keep the asset secured. Even a scratch would break the heart of people like me who love the brand so much. For the owners, that won’t matter much. Every day washer men come and clean each car without any racial discrimination. They have a schedule and do their job perfectly.

While you are appreciating the cars, a girl walks past at the speed of light. I have not seen any Girl walk that fast. She apparently goes to the Society temple every morning. Either she doesn’t want to lose even a minute out of her prayer time or she might have someone waiting at the temple. Forget the conspiracy theories of my devilish Brain and let us appreciate the fact that she goes to the temple at least. She has such long hair that her fast movements make her knotted hair swing like a wind-mill. Now that was not a great example but you might have understood what I meant.

Once Chotu comes riding on his cycle to collect Tiffin boxes, I know that my time on my Balcony is up for the day and I have to rush for office. Before I sign off, let me share very important information with you all. Ranbir Kapoor lives opposite my Building and he is always in “Jabse tere naina……” mode. It is his misfortune that I live opposite to him. The star within him needs a camera. Should I take a photo and upload????? No, my Blog is much more important than his aspirations wrapped in a towel. I will miss my Balcony and Chandigarh of course. The next post would be from some new place….c ya soon.

BEAUTIFUL...that's how my day began today!!!!

The hour hand had barely crossed Eight in the morning and I was ready for office. For those who don’t know me much, being at my desk by 9 AM is a sea change considering my work hours in my previous job with Levi’s. There I had the entire Charminar City for my office and I would be at work the moment I logged in to my laptop. So I could work from home in the morning and then venture out by 10AM. However, this practice had changed since Shiladitya (my friend) joined me in Hyderabad and we would be out by 9AM to stuff ourselves with some vadas and a cup of tea. It was more of an exercise than breakfast I would say. Here my sole purpose for reaching early is the comfort of the Air Conditioner that allows me to enjoy my first cup of tea as I glance through the newspapers. I found it really funny when I realised that in my previous role, my final Bye would be to the Security Guard and in the current one, he is d first one to be greeted by me. 

Let me not get into further details and instead stick to the theme of this post. Rain clouds had gathered and it started to drizzle. Having experienced a near fall a few days back while trying to avoid the puddles, I told myself that it is better to move rather than stick around and get drowned in the pool that others call the By-lane. So here I was by the roadside waiting for an auto and then SHE CAME. Not the auto but an angel who perhaps had forgotten her way and came my way. I was rendered speechless by the magnificence of her beauty. Honestly, at that moment I could only remember one of my all time favourite songs..... “When I saw you standing there….” -by Lobo. There was no Chair and neither did I fall but I did surely feel the Blood go to my feet. She had not spoken though. Sun was shining bright and no signs of any rain in the air. I had come out for a casual morning walk on a holiday and had all the time in the world to stand there under the shade of the tree which had been perfectly planned and planted by Mr.Corbusier. But just then a rude sound eclipsed the Sun, brought in the rains and I again found myself waiting for an auto to reach office at the earliest. As I was being dragged into the Auto by some invisible hand, my shoulder came under severe stress for I just wanted to worship the Goddess one last time. Initially I felt bad that she was not in the same Auto but then I found myself staring at a 50 year old Uncle with hardly any air gap between us. This is one thing that I hate about 7-Seaters. You run out of ideas as to where to look. It would have been so embarrassing for her to find a “Villainous” looking man looking at her for the entire length of the journey. Forget her, how torturous would it be on man who has to look elsewhere when probably one of the most beautiful women is seated just opposite. Thank God, she was not there and the feeling of joy was not marred by such atrocities. As someone had rightly said, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever” and so shall the joy remain within me.

She was very fair and her face had very sharp features. The face had a heavenly glow and a kind of sweetness to it. I don’t think cosmetics can change the look drastically. The eyes were prominent and worth a good amount of insurance. I like it when woman leave their hair untied either the curls falling on the shoulders or flowing down smooth as a silk. Her height was perfect keeping in mind her built. She was neither Size Zero nor Bulky framed. She was like a typical Indian beauty, who has enough curves for a Saree to drape perfectly. Someone had once said that a woman’s feet reflect her character. I did not believe in this piece of outrageous analysis then and still I don’t give a damn. But, for some strange reason I do tend to check out the feet and I was literally floored to see her feet match the awesomeness of her face. A “paayal” fitted in very nicely and further accentuated the attractiveness. She was wearing Harem pants and a fitted tank top to go with it. The best part was that she kept it minimal and didn’t over-accessorize. I believe Black and certain tones of Red look good on most women. Her demeanour exuded confidence and she was at ease with her body. That is why she was able to carry herself that well. Some naturally endowed people look vulgar and artificial just because they themselves are not sure about their looks. They always look at the outside world for cues. Beauty is only skin deep and beyond that lies the real Beauty, the Beauty of character and personality. Tons of powder is nothing but dust if the mind is not clutter free. Being part of the fashion industry for a while, I know that it is good to be conscious about ones look. But there is a very thin line. The moment you grow over conscious, you screw your happiness as external appreciation becomes your index of beauty or smartness and that is often misleading.

I have written precisely 938 words as of now to paint a picture of this beautiful woman and perhaps she is asleep by now. That is alright but actually I have used up these few minutes, some MBs and a little of my grey matter as a dedication to the entire Woman who think of themselves as beautiful. There is no shame in loving one’s own body or a certain attributes. It really stumps me when I find people of our generation considering it taboo to talk without any inhibitions about curves, sizes, figures and fits. This often translates into reactions which are cheap and demeaning especially to a woman. The idea is you need not wear the right clothes as long as you have the right attitude on. Some woman look decent even in Bikinis and a few can even make Sarees look cheap and vulgar. Sex appeal is actually not determined by a piece of fabric.

Oh I forgot to mention that there was a Guy with her, may be her Brother. I say so because he also had the model kind of looks. And I am not talking science here. In case you don''t know the popular conclusion in such cases, here it is for you.

"Koi bhi Ladka ek bahaut hi khubsoorat ladki ke saath ho toh yaa toh woh uska Bhai hota hain aur nahi toh bahaut hi gandha sa koi insaan hota hain, Langur ke haath mein Angoor types"!!!!

AMITABH BACHCHAN...Do I need to say any more?????

These days I do not have the luxury of watching trailers of upcoming releases as I don’t have the idiot box at my place. I just log in and book my tickets online based on the stills or my “sixth sense”. Actually, my hunch helps in just deciding the order as I end up watching all d movies that hit the theatres. Life otherwise would be very boring here. Nopes, it’s not an exercise but it’s just that I like to decide for myself rather than believing the Reviews of any Tom, Dick and people like Ayan. Art cannot be objectively judged and appeals in a different way to different people. Anyways, my attempt to book a ticket to a show of TRANSFORMERS failed and so I had to go to the theatre to try my luck.

I waited for my turn and then bought a ticket to the 6 P.M. show of BBUDDHA HOGA TERA BAAP. Now, don’t poke fun at my lack of ability to stick to my decisions. It was a much thought out move. I deliberated for almost 39 seconds and at the end of it I found that a MACHINE was no match for the CREATIVE GENIUS OF the BIG B. Honestly, I was not sure about the movie but I knew I was in for a treat. The story was not that great and it was a bit weird at places. I almost got blinded by the colours that he wore but then gradually the loud colours turned into an extension of the character that he was playing. The moment you hear him say in his awesome voice “Hum jaha khade hotey hain, line wahi se shuru hoti hain…..”, you know this movie is dedicated to the lead Actor himself. You get to see all that makes him the Greatest Actor of the Millennium. His understanding of the various shades of a man’s emotions is there for all to see. Many actors have tried over the years but the Master is still the ANGRY YOUNG MAN. He is a Magician and I was exposed to his magic quite early in childhood thanks to my father’s love for movies. Then I did not understand any damn thing about acting and seeing my sister hide behind my mother during fight sequences, I believed it was for real. In fact, I had tried to convince my father to buy me a uniform that Police Officer’s wear. Thank God, he didn’t.

“Mere paas aao, mere Doston……Ek kissa suno…..” and with this song Mr. Natwarlal had a young fan in me and in fact my cousins as well. Every Sunday morning, all of us would gather in the TV room with a plate full of delicacies and wait for the moment when the cassette would be pushed into the VCR. We would have watched Mr. Natwarlal kill Vikram (that was the name I think) almost 40 odd times. The other Cassette at our disposal was ALAAP which was beyond us and damn boring as well. After lunch, we would be kicked out of the room and all the elders would gather to watch the new releases. I still remember that we wanted to watch DAMINI and got a good scolding after they failed to convince us to go out of the room. Finally, my uncle had to bribe us out.  We went and bought GOODYEAR rubber ball and as we were enjoying a good game of cricket, Sunny Deol was asking  TARIKH PE TARIKH, TARIKH PE TARIKH…..BOLO KITNE TARIKH?????

As I grew up I got to know more about the legend through his movies like Zanjeer, Suhaag, Do Aur Do Paanch, Don, Silsila, Trishul, Coolie, Mukaddar Ka Sikandar, Deewar, Sholay and many more. Then came this movie where Amitabh and Mithun combination worked wonders and gave us one of the most powerful movies of all time in terms of performances. I was particularly delighted to see two of my favourite actors lighting up the screen with their brilliance. (Ok Ron….I expect a comment on this). Vijay Dinanath Chauhan and Krishnan Iyer M.A. are two characters that would never die. Khoon se latpath….khoon se latpath…AGNEEPATH. I saw that same intensity in his face as he was taking on the goons in this latest flick of his.

As a keen follower of his movies, I feel that we have missed out a decade of his cinematic excellence in the Nineties for various reasons. But the Master came back with a Bang and is doing brilliantly well in movies which suit his age. Not every actor gets a strong role when he is 65+ but this Man is aware of his limitations and within those limitations, he is continuing to enthral his audience. That speaks volumes about his confidence as an actor. Rajnikanth is still dancing around the trees and Salman would the same in a few years time. But actors like Amitabh excel in every kind of situation and hence roles are specially created for such Actors.

I have lots of respect for Big B especially for the fact that he stretched himself hard at this age under difficult financial circumstances and reinvented himself through KBC and has never looked back since then. We surely have lots to learn from the man and his life. Hindi Film Industry and this world would be poorer the day he decides to live away from the Sets. He has given us so many moments when we forgot all d hardships that we face in our day to day life. Here’s wishing him many good years and wishing myself many good movies of the SHAHENSHAH…….AMITABH BACHCHAN.