anonymouspoet’s blog

2.00 PM, IIT Guwahati, Chemistry Lab.

Yeah, the place where you get to know about how ammonia smells like and what affect it has on your digestive system if inhaled even unintentionally. The place where casual affairs are not like the ones shown in Yash Raj movies, but more of secluded glances through the test tube! That's how realistic love stories are! Wow ..an affair through the test tube! Indeed anything is more romantic than that! Now come on, what more do you expect from a geeky place like that? May be you can talk about the love blossoms the way neural network functions your neurons are trained to the butterfly effect in your stomach when you see the gal you have fallen head over heels for . Now don't get any ideas here, neither I was in love nor I had a crush coz according to me IITs are not apt places to find your crushes!

While working on the chemical kinetics experiment in the lab, I was supposed to use numerous apparatuses. One of them being the iodine chamber. It is like a cylindrical glass jar covered with a watch glass. I had to use it to test the rate of kinetics and the process involved immediately transferring the contents into the jar. I did the experiment with all the devotion and the moment I pulled the jar towards me I saw it!!! Yes, I saw that when I pulled the jar towards me, the watch glass remained in the air for a fraction of second and the only thing I remember is I heard the glass breaking. I didn't see it because of the reflex action my eyes automatically closed I am sure Gandhi ji derived this "bura mat dekho" thing from one such mistake .when the eyes automatically shut every time you know when something unpleasant happens! Hehehehe. Too much!

All eyes stared me for a moment. And every single one of them appeared saying oyyyyeee wo phodaaaaa!!!!!! The lab in charge was certainly not pleased tried desperately to smile but gave boman irani's famous munna bhai expression of laughing anger. After few minutes I was working with a new set of chamber and all the events happened in the exact sequence .my eyes were shut tighter this time and I realized this that I have also closed my ears spilling all the content of the test tube on my favourite shirt!!!!! No hell no..not again man! Now you know how the "Bura mat suno" thing came into existence! Another reflex oriented thought and I could see all my lab mates giggling on me and my Bengali accented lab assistant howled O Bharun Raaaz, E na cholbe! (means ye nahin chalega). I bhiill gibh u eaaaphh (read F) grade. I was in deep shit indeed! I just asked him slowly sir do you chat with any gal who has a mole on her right thigh? (That is another thing that he has been fooled by our group of friends posing as a gal and using all the seducing skills developed after seeing "Basic Instinct" of the two people whom I fooled..they lovingly told me about the gal who they were talking to and both of them said that the gal talked very much like Sharon Stone!!!! Thank god that the two never talked between themselves! It was only the graduation party where they came to know that "Sharon Stone" was none other than me :D ) Welcome to the party sir!!!! I immediately sensed that he mellowed down Are bhoruuun todo todo todne se hi to seekhta hai na hum sab hum bhi bahut todaa hai

Now these were the first two mistakes .the third is weirder one. While conducting an experiment for geotechnical engineering for sample of soils, it was required to frequently measure temperature of solution using a long thermometer. And after every measurement the thermometer had to be dipped in cold water to bring the mercury down. Now I am world famous for my fast working skills (read impatient, this is what my mom says! Hehehehe) Another lab assistant was there along with my two group members. He saw that the mercury wasn't coming down and tried dipping it in colder water. I couldn't stop myself again reflex it is you know that I recalled how you bring the normal thermometer's mercury down yepp by giving it lots of jhatkaas. I told this guy ki sir laao mujhe do main karta hoon, and even before he could utter a word I took it and a big JHATKAA and KATTTTT!!! The thermometer broke into two mercury spilled all over..and I was like ..eeerrrrr .uuummmmm. Man I literally felt like stepping on bull's shit! What face do you make when you step on shit?? Exxxactly, I made that face! And the funny thing is that I started to convince the lab guy that don't worry sir I will collect all the mercury and hand it over to you! This happens when you act extra smart! The result, next time an expensive Italian machinery's thermometer broke in hydraulics lab .the assistant was looking for me in all the hostels!!!! I didn't break that

Hey all,

Well just like Priyanka Chopra and Nelsen Mandela, its my happy birthday too J

I turn a year older to my beliefs and a year younger to my dreams

I turn a year older to all the love and care and respect I got here and I turn a year younger to the faith of all the people who have known me

I turn a year older to my poetries and a year younger to all the emotions went in writing them

I turn a year older to the experiences that life has given me and a year younger to the lessons that I have learnt here

I turn a year older to be what I want to be and a year younger to what all you would want me to be

Thanks to all of you for all your warm wishes J J It couldn't have been any better for me.

Would like to scribble few lines

*Ufuk=Horizon

Pic: Taken from the Internet

Love you all

Cheers

Varun

It was the time when I was there at Kota for my IIT JEE preparation. 10-12 hours of self study (apart from the coaching and school which we never went to) till 2 years flat, leaves you desperate enough to grab any fun that comes on your way. Before getting ideas as to what kinda fun we could afford to have there in the so called modern gurukul "Bansal Classes, let me tell you that we had to live up to an image that we are bansalites!

So we hardly used to have time apart from our studies and daily practice problem sheets! Still, however long and hard you study, the recreational urge has to be quenched! Entertainment bug bit us as well. First to fall off the poison was my dear best friend Adit (addycool in his online avtar) and `then later me along with my buddy khandel (we created our online profiles together ) As our class was gal deprived so the desperation to talk to the opposite sex usually took the students to the chat rooms. I am just trying to camouflage the word "frustoo" with all this description ..anyways

When I heard about chatting funda from adit, I gave a frown as to isn't it weird to talk to people whom you have not even seen and are talking them for the first time. Somehow the idea of chatting didn't appeal to me. But one fine day rather night ..no rather before early morning at 2 AM .a knock on my window startled the flow with which I was solving the physics sum. It was khandel on the window  

Khandel: abe Varun, chalta hai kya?

Me: Kahaan bhaai, itni raat ko?? Aunty jag gayi to waat lag jaayegi! (my landlords)

Khandel: abe nahin jagengi..chat khaane chalte hain (he meant chatting karne chalte hain)

Me: abe is samay kaun si dukaan khuli hogi chat ki bhaai!

Khandel: tu aa to sahi

And to my amazement, we landed up in a cyber café, bits-n-bytes, the famous spoiling joint for the Kota kids. This is how I was introduced to the online world.

Much later I used to hear from Adit and Khandel about their latest online crushes and how they look and what all they talked and all.

How they used to fight and pledged not to talk to each other as one had talked to other's GF

How they spent time talking bout now they think that they should settle down as they are "grown up" enough now

My pal was one cool guy who would eye the hot invigilator during mock JEE tests and was daring enough to write the hindi songs on his question paper that he heard when we used to study together just because "mera paper dene ka man nahin hai" I guess all born intelligent are like that.

One fine day my pal came to me and said "Bahut serious baat karni hai"

I was all ears as I have never seen him that serious in the entire 2 years of me knowing him!

Yaar ..ummm ..

Yaar ..Mujhe Pyaar ho gaya hai!

 No I was not wide eyed jaw dropped there as this was the 6^th time in the last 2 months that the cupid had hit him!

But this time according to him..he was SERIOUS indeed!

Actually you are really serious at 17 years of age when you say this that "Varun, main soch raha hoon ki shaadi kar loon. Meri friend hai Africa se, uske ache farms hain, wahaan jaake farming karoonga, mumy papa ko bhi bulaa loonga aish ki life hogi"

Some how over some lose talk, these guys had a "e-break-up" and my 'ol pal underwent a massive heart break.

But wo kahaawat yahaan ek dam sahi saabit hoti hai, ki ek ladki ka gham doosri hi door karti hai.

A quarter of rum down under, and a new face of a hot lookin chick at bansal's, my frend was back to square one, all ready to fall in love again and the rest as they say is history!

I realized this that 'oh so serious' talks then are a matter of laughter among us now. The so called 'seriousness' then now appears another stupidity to us!

However, it let me to the belief that in a moment the present becomes the past, in a moment the moment itself becomes a memory .

These anecdotes have shaped me as a person till date and these sweet and bitter experiences make us what we call "Self"

He was ready to leave on his bike. Pre and post storm it is always silent. The silence played in his mind. He knew it could have been worse. However, he was glad that this is the silence prevailing post storm, at least he hoped and prayed so. His bike hit the road to his destination.

The roads vanished and converted into Paramount Hospital's corridor..the operation theatre's waiting area. And the street lights just dimmed and turned into the darkness of the tube light prevailing outside the OT. He was sitting relaxed there as the doctors have seen her CT scan reports and everything was just fine. It was just an oral ulcer in her tongue that had to be removed and then things are fine. Aarav's mother was facing this ulcer since long and doctors recommended a surgical biopsy for the same and this was the day. She was lying on the stretcher wearing the green robe. His dad was comforting her, holding her hands trying to wipe her forehead again and again, even though she was not sweating. His throat was getting sore and mouth drying out of nervousness. As a doctor, he knew the intricacies well. Aarav was sitting there watching everything silently and trying to figure out his reaction. Somehow his mind was completely ignorant and that was bliss to him then. However, he was not able to register the fact that two strong pillars of his life are in the line of fate's fire and are trembling today. She went inside and the doors just closed. Closed doors are always a mystery to one..you don't expect what could lie inside for you. Half way, doctor Khambey came out and told his dad

"doctor..the reports are not good it is T1 cancer..the test is positive"

His dad just shattered there in million pieces. Trying to register what actually Dr. Khambey said. Words like "positive" have never come crashing like it came then to Aarav. His world has revolved around his mom, right from having his meals on the tricycle while she chased him to learning the school notes and reciting it to her she was his world. He was always her strength, her nurtured belief against all odds, her fire to win every battle in life with her destiny, her son . was weak at that very moment the weakness he never ever felt. It was his mother who will be battling with life. And then he will slowly see her hands slip away from his. Images rolled as flashes imprinting in his mind very vividly, so much so that he was too shocked to even cry. Doctor told him to go and talk to his mom, as his dad cried the moment he was about to enter the recovery room. Aarav prepared to stop the tears in his eyes right there, as his mom needed him the most now. He stepped in .his mom asked "why is dad crying, is it something big?" He never felt this weak and equally strong the very moment in his entire life and replied with a smile "Mom, nothing like that, you know dad na..how he cries just like that even when we get an injection! Nothing to worry you are all fit and fine just another surgery to remove the ulcer tomorrow and you are out!" He came out immediately as it was getting weaker .and catched his breath..held his piled up emotions..a drop of tear came on his eyelashes and went back. No he needed to plan what next..how is she gonna be treated

He asked the doctor about it and was told that more reports are awaited to ascertain the nature of the malignant cells. His all night went praying. With none of his friends around his confidence and faith went jittery but didn't shatter. The gamble of destiny was still on ..life was at stake and he knew he is not going to lose it not like this. He repented not to force his mom to get the ulcer out when it was only ulcer all just three months back. It was next day when the tongue surgery was scheduled. His dad and him standing in the state of restlessness, doctor came out of the OT and told "Doctor, you are lucky, god is with you .we have removed the affected portion and the best part is that no chemotherapy or radiation will be required". No other news could have been better than this for them. Like a green plant getting dried up in the sun with no water. The news came as the first shower injecting life slowly back again in the family. But the happenings and the name Cancer left the entire family shaken. And given the kinetics it follows, Aarav and his dad very well knew that had it been 20 more days delayed ..they would have lost her Oral cancer being spread at the fastest rate stage 1 to final stage in only 2 months. The very thought gave him a chill down the spine. No face was more important and valuable to him than hers when he saw his mom coming out of the OT to the ward. Her nose strapped with a pipe inside..he was glad that she is out. And then he realized the value life has .just 20 days .

He remembered all the depressed souls who wanted to commit suicide he hated all of them to waste life like that and he was sure that life could be started at any point of time. Giving up is never a solution .he just thought that how much his family needed life that moment which some people waste just like that.

While taking his mom out on the hospital's terrace he saw two small kids 60% burnt playing giggling ..laughing .he could see their altered faces sustaining burns. And later came to know that those angelic souls lost their parents in a cylinder blast mishap. When they can say hello to life ..why cant him .and he would! Because all this while he had learnt this very well .if life could be summed up in three words..it would be

"IT GOES ON". And that everyone is alone all for himself and by himself

With the truck honking from back he suddenly got back on the highway .and his shirt was wet with tears of hope that its going to be fine now he knew that the storm has passed by strengthening his bond with his loved ones even more ..Three Cheers to LIFE!

I saw Taare Zameen Par just yesterday only and thought of sharing some thoughts with all of you. I know most of you would be having their palms to cover their wide opened mouth in anticipation "arre tumne tare zameen par nahin dekhi thi abhi tak!!"

A very well made movie on a child's psychology! Hats off to the entire team

It's a classic dogma in our country that when ever a child is born, it is pre decided that what he is gonna be. It's either an engineer or a doctor. Now days, MBA also receives a serious thought. We have been so typified by the lifestyle we are leading that the pressure of our expectations gets transferred on to the child. We call it a healthy competition? I don't agree to it! Most of us get complex by the fact that "Mr. XYZ ke ladke ko dekho, har cheez me aage rehta hai!" Though most of us won't vocalize on this but we do think and compare, which is very human! Some of us go ahead and convey this to the child as well, which is one of the biggest roadblocks which we think as motivation for the child! I don't think that any of us would like to be compared with our peers as there is a profound thought of uniqueness that is attached to our mental cloud. So how can a child cope up with that? Apart from that, this typical attitude influences the child as well in making decisions. Loaded with expectations, the child doesn't actually know or he/she has skirted the thought of what he/she wants in life. The result, even if we are doing well in life, we lose the lakshya or we don't know the purpose of our lives! This dilemma traces its routes back to the classic way of our up brining in the Indian society. And to an extent parents too are right, in the sense thinking that what is my child gonna do for his daily bread and butter? A friend of mine was perturbed on the fact that her son wants to choose cricket as his career choice. However, the reason for the disturbance here was not cricketing, but the fact that how cricket will earn him decent enough for his living as not every second guy is a Tendulkar.

The answer to this lies in ourselves because each one of us has faced this! How many of us are today what we have always wanted to become in life? I somehow appreciate the education system in the west in this regards. They are taught to think there and not to mug and vomit, just for the sake of getting good marks in the exams and make the parents proud! Their objectivity in identifying problems and chalking out a solution rests on the fact that they were allowed to make choices since long back. It might be that an average person there has a lower mental aptitude than that of a similar person in India (no offence meant), he surely has a thinking capacity that is far outstretched!

Bachho ko wo karne dijiye jisme unhe khushi milti ho zindagi me padhne likhne aur kuch banke dikhaane se zyaada zaroori hai ek achha insaan ban na aur wo karma jo hamesha se hum chahte hain main manta hoon ki zaroori nahin ki wo hume roz marre ki rozi roti muhaaya karaaye, uske liye kaam bahut zaroori hai. Lekin kuch ban ne ki hod me kahin aisa na ho jaaye ki bachha yahi bhool jaaye ki use pasand kya hai uski chaah ko uske aadat me zinda rakhna zaroori hai agar aisa nahin karte hain to wo ban to kuch zaroor jaayega..magar rahega adhoora hi

Bachhe ye nahin jaante hain ki MBA kya hota hai, MBBS kya hai, B.Tech kya hai unhe umra se pehle bada na kijiye..aur unki madad kijiye ki wo decision lene me sakhsam ho apne liye unke liye decision mat lijiye warna hum unke bachpane ko kho denge aaj ki is bhagam bhaag me..bas bhaag rahe hain bina kisi manzil ke..betahaashaa!

Pic: Tanushree

Title Pic: Noorie

Let them bloom to their inner self and be what they want to be! Be their guide and light their paths, appreciate, motivate them .

And see the difference that they can make .

Varun

I just saw Baghban once again and was driven to my laptop to pen down the thoughts playing in my mind. I was pondering on the fact of what selfless and unconditional love is. In the quest to search the exact meaning of this term…I closed my eyes and my life rewinded and went back to the last imprinted memory of what I remember. The earliest memory is that of when I was left to school by my mom. She dropped me holding my fingers in the warmth of her hand, I guess if any one asks me to define what it feels to miss some one badly…a guy who is in love would say that I miss my beloved, a guy who is alone would say that he misses his friends…I would say that no feeling is close to missing my mom the day she left me for the school all alone….suddenly the warmth of her palms was missing…suddenly the calmness of the aanchal of her saare on my face was missing…..

The movie brought back those memories to my eyes again..and I could not stop my eyes from getting moist, thinking of all those parents in the old age home. I have never gone to one, however, I know that most of them are either abandoned by their sons/daughters or have lost them. Loosing a son/daughter is painful to the core, but we somehow over come the loss as time is a big healer….but most unfortunate are those parents who know that the children who grew up in front of their eyes, who came to utter their first word through them, are today teaching them the realities of life…that too by leaving them alone and then not looking back even if they die…isn't it a strange irony that our parents leave us to schools to let us face the world and be responsible enough to face ourselves ..but we comfortably forget as to what they have done for us and leave them alone in the times when they need us the most. Is this their fault to expect that the small little innocent child who is a part of them, who has taken all his/her first step right in front of their eyes..knowing that come what, my parents are with me…will support them when they are old? How many times we remember this that it was our dad’s security that we didn't have the fear of falling when we first tried to learn cycling. We knew that dad is holding the cycle. And isn't it a strange irony that when our parents want us the most for their security, we leave them to fight their destiny while knowing that our destiny would always owe them something.

We say that a couple who does not have a child is unfortunate. But a couple who has a child which leaves them to the misery of fate and then never looks back are far more unfortunate. It is better not to have a child then. Because it is a curse on such people who cannot value the price that parents pay in raising them only to land up in old age homes. Don't our parents deserve that even their most unjustified and most unreasonable things are accepted and accepted with sheer love. The way they do it for us…

kyun ki unka itna ehsaan to hum par hameshaa hi rahega ki unhone hume duniyaa dikhaayi hai…aur apni har khushi ko maar kar sirf humaare sapne sajaane me apne baal safed kar diye… shayad hum unhe jeevan ki choti badi khushiyo aur dosto ke beech bhool jaaye, lekin wo hume apni har baat me yaad hi karenge..ki kaash aaj bachhe humare saath hote..unka darzaa to bhagwaan se bhi upar ho jaata hai fir..kyun ki itni kurbaaniyaan to bhagwaan bhi nahin de sakte hain….aur jaise jaise main ye likh rahaa hoon, waise waise hi mujhe mere sawaal ka jawaab miltaa jaa raha hai…agar pyaar sach me paane

ki ummeed rakhta to…maa baba jo apne bachhe se karte hain wahi sachha pyaar hai…kyun ki baaki har pyaar to hum apne liye karte hain..fir wo chaahe apne jeevan saathi se hi kyun na ho….

hai khudaa, hai rab aur hai bhagwaan bhi

hum shayad hain usse aaj anjaan bhi

oonchaa hai jo bhagwaan se bhi…

de diya hai har katraa apne khoon ka

khud ki saans chaahe sisak jaaye

aulaad ko apni har naseeb mil jaaye

dharti par ro raha hai apni aulaad ke liye

maa baap kehlaata hai wo insaan bhi….

I might forget that who am I one day, I might lose my identity and my one day…I would never forget the faint smell of my dad’s after shave while I used to curl my legs around his legs, wrap my arms around his chest with my head on his shoulders and get into the deepest and the most peaceful sleeps. It used to be the most secured feeling in this world….I can write endlessly on this, however, If I am to define Maa Baba in one sentence

Maa ' The irrational sense of hope to fight back life in me is my Maa

Baba ' My desire to fly and rule the sky in my fighter jet is my papa

If at all reading this made you to remember your maa baba…do remember what all they have done for you…and tell them that you do love them and give them back the security which they have always given to us….that I will be there for you…..

I saw the movie Lakshya once more yesterday and happened to go back in the memory lane remembering my visit to the theatre for this movie (all time favorite of mine).

However, we felt on the top of the world that ours was the most beautiful campus undoubtedly and has the sexiest hostels (ours were much cleaner and had an independent balcony for each room).

Anyways, I want to tell you that how excited we were on our internshipJ. Our first weekend at IITD, we were full of enthu as delhi had enough distractions to spend the weekends compared to Guwahati where the theatres had seats similar to those at the railway waiting rooms

It was decided that we are hitting the Chanakya theatre on this weekend to watch Lakshya, we were desperately looking for one in our lives. Trust me on this, the hardest part of life actually happens to be the search for a purpose worthy enough to live you life for, rather than to achieve that purpose! At least I believe so!

It was a typical Saturday eve, streets already full of smoking machines running soullessly on the roads of Delhi. Chanakya has a street food joint “China Town”, which serves excellent Chinese food, Indian style. They serve excellent momos and sizzlers! One of the best that I have ever had! Me and Kataria already hogged on the chef’s delicacy there and were quite full. Our show was to start at 9 PM sharp. We decided that we would see the movie in the DC (dress circle), tickets costing meager 25 bucks. Got into the line and managed the tickets as there was no advance booking for the same. Kataria warned me

“Oye Varun sambhal ke rehna, yahaan seats allotted nahin hoti hain, you gotta practice some somersaults and hurdle jumping race to get the best possible seats. Beware of the sudden surge of public behind you, it is almost like a stampede!”

I took that for granted, ki aise hi hota hoga and blah blah blah! As usual, standing there waiting for the gates to be opened. I could see that there was not much crowd there, so was kinda relaxed. Suddenly the gates were opened and could see people flocking the door as if the doors to heaven has been opened and has limited entry, would be closing soon leaving the rest of the junta to occupy hell! I exactly knew what Kataria meant by “surge”! It was a literal stampede, I was pushed and pressed to the wall and the pressure on me was increasing. My condition was no less than that of a washer man’s ass that goes happily to the river carrying the clothes to be washed. However, when he returns back with the wet clothes, you can see his tongue popping out and eyes almost bulging! Yeah I felt like an ass to ignore what Kataria advised .I could see Kataria’s head, that too was able to recognize it by the typical hair growth pattern on his head yeah that’s my pal!

Suddenly, my mimicry senses and adrenaline were working fast. I knew that this is the time to fight, hit others and survive else I die here itself. And come on, It would be so stupid to die here wo bhi movie theatre me! No way! I gathered all my strength and pushed the wall against me (remember the Newton’s third law!). Wall pushed me back with an equal force. Roared till my vocal chords ached .roared till the junta around me thought as if there was something wrong..hehehehe it worked, I read it in ninth standard that it is called the Aggressive Mimicry! Cats use it quite often. Also the funda is, when you see that you have no way to escape try this “Hoo haaaa hooooo!!!! And then..patli gali se choo!!!”

Yeah, I saw that patli gali right in front of my eyes boom baam bang and I was out of the crowd. I swear the next sight was quite unusual to my eyes. I saw kataria jumping like a hurdle race runner, one step on the seat and other between the rows he sat in the last row close to the balcony row and kept one hand on the other seat, stopping the others to sit there .

Pic: Sourced from Flickr.com

Yeah kataria, I owe you a seat in a theatre pal! Wait till I reach the US and when we see our next big flick together!

All said and done, Kataria was smiling with an “I told you naa” look. Finally the movie started. Scenes passed by, led me thinking about my purpose of life! Two questions which were prominent in my mind but very bleakly answered

What I wanted to do?

I always wanted to be a fighter pilot and serve the Indian Air Force, a job worth dying for.

What am I doing?

I am a second year civil engineering student at IIT Guwahati. If not all, many students who couldn’t make it to the IITs would like to be in my shoes. But it is similar to my situation anyways, I wanted to be a fighter pilot but I am no where close to that.

Amidst all these cluttered thoughts, I heard the guy sitting next to me .

“arre bhai sahib..pata hai ab Hritik, academy chod ke bhaag jaayega Jintaa (priety) use chod degi” I could actually hear the crushing of half chewed pan masala in his mouth! I ignored once. Then again, after some time “bhai sahib..pata hai..ab Jintaa ki sagaai toot jaayegi, wo border pe chali jaayegi” Arrrrghh..I hated him for this and more so for the way he pronounced “Jintaa” I liked her a lot till the day Priety Zintaa actually scolded a frend of mine who was too excited seeing her talking to Karan Johar and Isha Sharwani and tried taking her snap without her permission. (during the times when IIFA was scheduled to happen in Amsterdam) I somehow couldn’t take her attitude. Anyways that is altogether a different story.

Finally, when the third time he told me that he has seen the movie six times..I told him to shut up his mouth and if he spoke even a single word, I would throw him outta the movie hall. (I usually don’t take panga like this..lekin ab bol diyaa to bol diyaa, jo hoga dekha jaayega kataria to hai hi saath!) He finally shut his mouth and I was in peace with my thought process while Kataria was enjoying every moment of this.

The movie ended on a happy note, lakshya achieved, gal in the arms, parents happy and junta happy too

It was not the end for me there. However, I decided that day ..

I know that I might not have a perfect ending, with all the things that I want to have in life. But I know this for sure that I will be putting in 100% of me in whatever I do, without cribbing. Because sometimes, when you want to define your interest and you actually don’t know what interests you .you take interest in the things that you do and you do things that interest you that balance should be maintained, else that is the point where you lose the lakshya in your life.

With my journey forward, I came across iland, writing poems and narratives, interacting with people, I knew my purpose of life it is certainly not making big in life intellectually .it is living in this world even after I am gone. Living a life which is worthy enough to be called a life .it is laughing and making others laugh I guess no other contentment satiating than this

Lakshya I now know, is a continuous journey, not a destination!

This trip happens to be one of my most memorable trips while my stint at IIT Guwahati. Our end-sems were fast approaching and we desperately needed a break. It is a very common sight during those times; you can spot students dashing from room to room, student to student, canteen to canteen hunting and digging for notes to be Xeroxed as if there is no tomorrow. And its diwaali time for the library ka Xerox wala bhaiyaa. Some bonds have clearly written with bold letters on their foreheads "Yaar, kuch to padhaa de yaar!!".

Ahh, lemme explain you what exactly a bond means. In IIT lingo:

BOND = A person good at everything EXCEPT studies, a breed that thinks it rules the world. They are most seen during the meetings, cult eves, usual evening strolls, gaming sessions

GHISSOO = A person good at nothing EXCEPT studies, a breed that is high on demand during quizzes and exams!

STUD = A person good at everything, studies, sports, gals, speaking, etcetera etcetera. Bound to make it big in life!

However, studies were the last thing on our mind! All our batch mates and seniors have already been to Tawang and we have heard so much about it that now the urge to visit Tawang was inevitable. Five of us, me, Mandi (Saurabh), Kataria (Suresh), Khattu (Vishal) and Lanka (Phani) decided to pack the bags and hit the highway. Tawang is a district at the northwest extremity of Arunachal Pradesh which is yet an untouched virgin beauty. It holds beauty in its natural form, the mountains, the snow and everything.

Pic: A view from our hotel

Me and mandi were able to convince all the others with much drama getting right from “in the name of our friendship” to being nostalgic that it was our last year at campus. You can very well imagine our plight in convincing such lazy bums. What else would you expect from the guys who would squeeze the tooth paste tube until the tube starts to cry in pain and not even a molecule of toothpaste is left. Only then will they move their bums to get a new one (mind you, this happens only after all the tubes of the corridor have underwent a similar plight and are lying down some where in the dustbin!). We all were so mutually dependent even for our basic needs! These guys even used to jump in the balcony of my room and vanish off with the bucket and mug to bath and I used to be left figuring out who is it this time??

Finally all set, we were ready to go. We managed to get our permit from the Arunachal Pradesh’s tourism office for Tawang (it is advisable to arrange it before hand and avoid last minute rush).

I always thought that we get a good Sumo/Scorpio (of course the CD player in the car was a must!!) booked from the city at a decent price (like all the others did). To our hard luck, Guwahati was having elections and all the cabs have already been booked. And then after much wait we managed a crappy Spacio with a crappy lil stereo. But nonetheless, our spirits were high to see the snow!

Pic: A snowy lake enroute Tawang

Lesson number one: Look for the season and the time you are visiting Tawang (best time is pre monsoon sometime in March-April) but hey, watch out for the elections and other security issues.

Yippeee, finally we leave for Tawang, after much altercations and arguments with each other, behaving the typical “your mistake-not mine” way. I already started to feel cold!!

We left Guwahati at 12.00 noon and it took us 4 hours to reach Tezpur, our first halt en-route Tawang. We decided to break the journey here and continue early morning. We managed to find a passable lodge and stayed overnight. Got up early in the morning at 3AM and decided to leave. With weary and sleepy eyes it was hard to recognise who was who! and to add to that kataria’s snoring (he is a champ in that, and I guarantee you that no sedative can induce sleep if he is around sleeping) didn't leave any one of us to sleep (trust me I am sure the guy sitting at the reception would also not have slept because of that!). Khattu and Lanka made weird sounds all night (dunno what they were upto! Mebbe sum horny dream!) Finally, managed to get some early morning tea, khattu was busy staring the chai wali (sorry dost!)

Pic: 3.30 AM chai@Tezpur, enroute Tawang

And then we moved on, we could see the dawn approaching which we never did in the past few years as have always got up when the sun has said hello to us. Soon we were surrounded by mountains all around, lush green mountains and we could see the redness in the sky above them. It was a mystifying experience to slowly see the changing color of the sky. We stopped to capture this in our cameras. It was magical indeed!

We reached Arunachal border in some time and from there our ascent to the heavenly abode started. We could feel the freshness in the air. After 4 hours of journey from Tezpur, we reached Bomdila, another beautiful city of Arunachal.

Pic: This is Bomdilla

Pic: Kapuchi is all yours! the show stealer indeed, enroute Tawang

We spent some time there, just collected things to munch on our way (I am a big foodie!). Khattu and Kataria were game to get some booze as well on the pretext that there will be freezing cold on the way and they will need that (sahi kaha gaya hai, peene walo ko peene ka bahaana chahiye). And then the journey continued…..

Pic: enroute Tawang, the added effect of rain drops on the car’s windscreen

Our journey was along the trail of Chinese in reverse i.e. western most sector of AP, Bhalukpong-Bomdila-Tawang circuit. As we moved away into the interiors, we could feel the simplicity in the lives of the local residents. It is one of India's most sparsely populated, little visited and least spoken of province. That is what sets it apart from rest of the states of India. Arunachal Pradesh comes to headlines (rather to any news story) during wartime or China making and India denying territorial claim over it.

Pic: Sela Pass

Pic: Mandi’s topa rocked!

On the way we crossed the famous Sela pass, world’s second highest pass, at an elevation of approximately 14,000 feet. I had heard about it often when I was in class 7th and my geography teacher used to tell us about it. Ironically, in the exams, I used to never get it right!! Now I would remember it for my lifetime! It runs through a small ridge along the paradise lake with bluish water, glimmering in the dying rays of the setting Sun. It was a bewitching beauty. These guys now had another reason to have a drink, phew it was cold, infact, it was freezing! Mandi was keeping warm with his topa (see pic) and kataria and khattu had a drink to warm them. I was keeping warm besides mandi. Somehow we got out to take few snaps and hurled back in few minutes into our cozy sumo.

Pic: Having Maggi at 13,700 feet is priceless indeed!

Pic: Winds blowing us off our feet!

Crossing Indian military camps and bunkers, we finally reached Twanag. Magnificet!!! is what we said unanimously. In the bird eye view of Tawang we could see the Buddhist monastery on the hill from a distance and could feel its vibes all around us. It was dark by then and was drizzling, it made the lights that could be seen from a distance to flicker giving an added effect. We then rushed to our hotel as we were hell tired and hogged like pigs, as if food would be scarce for the next few days and we will live in a virtual famine. But then after such a tiring journey we were savoring specially made aaloo parathas. It was fantabulous!

I came out of the hotel during the night at around 10pm. It was pitch dark and all I could see were the twinkling stars. Never in my life was I so close to the sky, felt as if I could reach for the stars! The clarity in the sky, dew like freshness was unexplainable. I have never seen such clear sky as there was zero pollution. Finally, the aaloo paratha was having its effect, I felt sleepy and then went off and sneaked into my bed actually our bed……while lanka and khattu made all kinds of noises again, kataria was happily snoring!

The next morning as I came to the balcony of the hotel, the Tawang monastery on a hill, at an elevation of 10000 feet above the sea level, overlooking the vast Tawang valley, was seen flooded by the morning sun. We later visited the monastery or Buddhist Gompa.

Pic: Tawang, a bird’s eye view

Pic: Tawang Market

It was pacifying aura there, perfect blend of peace and calm; it was so very new to us. We found solace in escaping from the usual numerical theory concepts and the logic of how a load is distributed on a cantilever! In the temple there is a 28 feet high golden statue of Lord Buddha. A must visit I would say.

Pic: Statue of lord Buddha

We went to Jaswant Garh which is a war memorial at Tawang, raised to pay homage to Jaswant Singh and other soldiers, who fought valiantly but were killed in the battle of Nuranang, during the Chinese aggression in 1962.

Pic: Now you see mandi why I tell you to join the gym asap!

We saw all the other local places around. Our driver tried taking us to the famous lake that was created because of the earth quake that occurred in 1950 there. The famous hindi movie Koyla too was shot there, since then the lake has been better known as Madhuri lake :D. However, due to excessive snowing, we couldn't reach the place.

Pic: Road to heaven!!!

Never mind that, we have all decided to fulfill our long cherished dream of making a snowman there in the snow. All of us set on a roll, the driver explaining the concept about how to roll the snow easily. Finally, we managed to carve a cute lil snowman of ours from the snow. He was indeed smiling!

Our snoman says hi! to you

Pic: Our snoman with us, long cherished dream!

It started to snow again and we came back to the Sumo to get back. The very next day we packed our bags and our hearts with the warmth of the memories of this place. None of us would ever forget the hospitability of the localites here, so very cheerful and amicable, they surely stole our hearts.

And more so we felt more bonded to each other, the crappy lil stereo seemed to play best sounding music to our ears soothing indeed. Only then the realization struck us that within a year we will have to leave all this and go altogether in a different world, where existence ceases to exist. Discussing all this, when we reached back to our alma mater, we didn't even realize. However, we realized that how bonded we were as the students of IIT Guwahati to our insti and as friends hailing from the same department. It feels as if it was yesterday only that it passed by leaving us in the hands of today to look at tomorrow in a hope that they would return those were indeed the best days of my life!

Hey all, I have been tagged by Sarita and Anamika, so friends don't mind, I am answering them together as the questions are same J Actually, I remembered quite a few songs when I read the questions. However, couldn't post my answers earlier. Please bear this for my sake J

RULE #1 People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by them.

RULE #2 Tag six people to do this quiz and those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.

=~*~*~*~*~*~*~*=

1. If your lover betrayed you what would your reaction be?

I will be glad that she betrayed me, else shaadi hone ke baad agar aisa hota naa tab main sadak pe aake kapde faad kar gana gaa raha hota

"Achha silaa diya tune mere pyaar ka SSSS, yaar ne hi loot liyaa ghar yaar kaa SSSSS"

Then also I would have been richer by few bucks as I sing pathetically and I am sure the passers by on the road would be pestered enough to pay me for not singing J. Plus gud or bad both make you learn important lessons in life. Most of the important lessons that matter (not the ones that you skip anticipating that, arre iska question to aahi nahin sakta hai) are learnt the hard way!!!

I firmly believe on Bus, Train aur Ladki thing ek gayi doosri aati hai ..isliye bhaago mat!

2. If you could have one dream come true which one would it be?

"Mera ik sapna hai, ki dekhoon tujhe sapno me .

Tu mane ya naa mane, tu hai mere apno me "

Let dreams be dreams only J gar reality me ho gaye to sapne dekhne ka mazaaa kirkiraa ho jaayega.

Fir bhi gar aap jaan na chahte hain to it would be that one find day I know that I am a fighter pilot flying a Sukhoi!!! (my first love)

Is janam to is paapi aur zaalim zamaane ne hume milne nahin diya, lekin agle har ik janam aur uske baad bhi, jeene se pehle aur marne ke baad bhi you are mine my love, promise!

3. Is there any person, at whose face you wanted to throw your slippers/sandals/shoes at?

I don't believe in wasting my time and energy and my shoes/slippers on such persons if there are any. Why should I dirty my shoes. However, given a chance I would bash people who take undue advantage of women in whatever way.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

Jokingly, I would like to open a poultry farm ..

Hazaaro chooze, aur unke 10 hazaaro ande, fir main ek dukaan khol leta, jahaan un ando se omlette bana ke bechta aur uske saath bread bhi main hi supply karta omlette ka raja, bread ka baadshaah (hehehehe seen Andaaz Apna Apna? It has an interesting business idea J)and then I sing the song:

"Mujhe paisa mila, yaar aisaa milaa ab khareedoonga banglaa gaadi"

On a serious note, I would have invested it into my business idea then I wouldn't have to wait for a venture capitalist to invest in me. I don't believe in stagnant capital! Cash should flow .in and out!

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?

I don't want to lose my best friend and love both at the same time, so let best friend be best friend. I rather believe in making my spouse my best friend, not my best friend my spouse .

"Main ladkaa hoon tum ladki ho..tum aayi to….sach kehtaa hooon

Aayaa mausam dostii kaa ..ke aaya mausam .dosti kaa"

6. Which is more blessed: loving someone or being loved by someone?

"Har kisi ko nahin miltaaa, yahaan pyaar zindagi me,

Khushnaseeb hain wo jinko hai mili ye bahaar zindagi me

Hontho se honth mile nab hale, chahe mile na bahe bahoon se,

Do dil zinda reh sakte hain, chahat ki bhari nigaahon se

Zulfo ke narm andhere hain, jismo ke garm ujaale hain,

Jeete ji jinko pyaar mila, wo log kismat waale hain"

I believe that it should be both, being loved and love someone! To be called truly blessed.

7. How long would you wait for someone you love?

"Intehaa ho gayi, intezaar ki .

Aayi na kuch khabar, mere yaar ki

Hai hume ye yakeen, bewafaa wo nahin,

fir wajah kya hui..intezaar ki"

pyaar me milne ki shart nahin hoti, pyaar sirf pyaar hi hota hai…

8. If the person you like finds someone better than you, what would you do?

If someone wants to betray, he/she would anyways do that, because love is not a deal, you don't decide to jump on the better packages as you do while you chose a holiday package! Anyways I would let go, as it is not love .

9. If you could root for one social cause which one would it be?

I would mandate the punishment given in Arabic countries for people who indulge in misbehaving with women in any form, sexual exploitation, eve teasing etc. also, I would strive to make women strong enough to retaliate and give such b*****ds back!

10. What takes you down the fastest?

Pretences, arrogance, hypocrisy

11. Would you like to have the job you love or love the job you have?

I love my current job because I always wanted this

12. Darna mana hai… But what is the thing that you fear most?

Jab main chota bachha tha tab I used to fear Thieves hehehehe

Now I fear nothing ..

13. What kind of person(s) do you think the person who tagged you is/are?

Hmmm Sarita .she is a nice human being and her posts reflect very much of her. A gal with a die hard positive outlook to life with a steady head on her shoulders .I am sure she will make it big in life! Rock on buddy!

However, I dont know anamika as it is only recently that she added me, thanks for tagging buddy!

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?

Singles ROCK! And I would surely wanna be single and rich

15. What is the first thing you do when you wake up?

I snooze the alarm clock .till it cries in agony "abe ab to uthh jaaa"

16. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously who would you pick?

I don't doubt on my multi tasking abilities hahahaha on a serious note, I wont do that because agar aap do naao me pair ek saath rakhte ho to pata hai kya hota hai??? Socho socho .

Pant fat jaati hai . hehehehehe

17. Would you give all in a relationship?

Giving 100% in a relationship is not my cuppa tea. 1% apne liye rakhna hota hai taaki zaroorat pade to aap apne aap ko waapis paa sako 100% de ke khone se behtar hai na

18. What’s eating you now?

My project what else

19. Do you prefer being single or in a relationship?

SINGLES ROCK BIGTIME!

And the people I tag are '

Most of the people are already tagged, however I tag (sorry friends not my mistake!)

Doel, Smriti , Konfessioner, Vaidehi, Varsha and Laxmi (Phew, I had tough time searching who was not tagged till now)

Enjoy friends!

Given the gruelling schedule at IIT and with so many things to do and focus on, studies used to be the last priority. Nonetheless, it is an unsaid rule across all the IITs, do whatever it takes, hook or by crook, collaborate, lick, ghissofy (study), mug or be a stud, sell your soul to the devil! Or follow your heart! But but but maintain your CPI (the scariest form of decimal number that a student could ever visualise, usually not an integer, the magical number that speaks what you have done at IIT in those 4 years, literally!) It is called the life line of each and every student slogging out there to make it big in whatever he/she (yeah the ratio tends to be zero!) does. You realise that how much your bread and butter for life is dependent on numbers!

We too were bitten by the CPI bug! Because apart from the sacred stamp on all our asses, we would have something else also accompanying that stamp when we pass out, that is this number! It was in our hands if we wished to be proud of or be just another tom, dick and harry with a CPI of something dot something very insignificant.

I hope I built a good enough premise to justify why we all collaborated in exams/quizzes and assignments (I wont call it as cheating, cheating used to be in schools, in colleges, with such rigorous courses ..cheating ceases its existence!). It was our favourite subject's quiz tomorrow (yeah, transportation engineering aka TRANSPO). We least cared as to why are signals timed at the intersections or as to if you move with a constant velocity and clear one intersection green, you will clear all the intersections green! And trust me, you won't be interested in the explanation however interesting it might seem to be!  

Me, kataria, mandi and rest others reached the class where the quiz was supposed to take place. And since the professor (we called him MAR, I wont take any names here! It's a sin for now!) didn't come as of then, we had a fair chance of getting a seat at a suitable place. You realise that on such occasions, it is the back seat that fills first and the front row remains empty till the point the teacher comes and forces students to sit there.  The guy who has the highest CPI already gets the seats next (surrounding him) to him booked in the last quiz itself! So your aim has to be very very sharp that you shoot the bag to the desired seat. However, me and kataria being badly interested in the subject, studied it well before. We didn't want to take any chances, not this time. Earlier during the first year exams, I used to be surrounded by all southies and we weren't a united batch then. I hated myself in the exams for not learning telugu. What else do you expect when you know that every single person around  is whispering something useful for the question, however, given your lameness at the language, you simply cant help understanding it. The feeling is that of desperateness, because you know that you don't know the answer to the question in the paper, and you know this that the guys next to you are discussing it, still you cannot answer! You feel intellectually nude, given a piece of cloth and told to hide whatever you can and then run!  

This time, its no running nude, me and kataria decided, no turning back and being dependent on others to save our souls, it was our turn to fight back the system! Yeah! We know we too can do it and why cant? After all those guys were one amongst us only. Spirits were high, our motivation level rocked!

The quiz began! MAR set up the paper as if he was prepared to rape the students, opposite to gang rape, it was so many students being raped by a single person! And then I just saw negi, with the constipated look stuck to his face. His eyes, much more innocent than that of a lamb to be slaughtered! The thought "kaash padh liya hota" was dripping drop by drop from his face and MAR was enjoying such sadistic pleasures!

But we are not going to lose, we are going to survive, every single drop of blood somersaulting in our veins cried on the top of its voice!

Kataria sat in the column next to mine, parallel to me. I was very sure that MAR already noted this that these guys sat together in every class! However, he didn't say anything; I guess he was waiting for the right time Suddenly, I spotted the question of the only topic that I left out. This telepathy of teachers has always made me to think as to how does the teacher know that I have left this topic and give a question exactly from that topic??? Or am I that dumb?? Answer won't be useful now anyways.

Shhhh..chishhh chishhh kataria .abe kataria .

I managed to keep it low so that only my dear pal listens.

He heard that and raised is eyebrow; I knew it meant which question ..

I stealthily raised my two fingers out and said 2, question 2 dikha .

He rolled down the pages, hanging down from his desk, pretending as if the paper was unknowingly hanging and there was no maai baap of the hanging sheet!

Yeah you are the man kataria! Man of your words and our words too!

I tilted my head in order to align my eyes with the paper. I didn't realise that I got so lost into it, so much so that I dint realise my odd looking posture in the class. The other students were also maarofying chance-me-dance. MAR was certainly not liking it, and with his sniper eyes, he came to me and told in a southie accent ..eeeeee Varun ..u get up from there raa .get up and sit here else I throw you outta the class.

Phew!!!!! It felt that the whole world has stopped and it was only my heart that was pounding and rushing, pumping blood at its peak level rates. I experienced the adrenaline rush of a very different kind, unknown to me yet!

I obliged cursing my luck! Then saw his eyes shimmering with victory and pleasure. He strolled down to kataria .looking downwards to him..passed by him and then again turned got down to his ears .and whishpered .

 "Churesh ..(Suresh was kataria's name) Collaboration Always Collapses"

 I swear I have never seen that sense of victory on MAR's face ever before! We were defeated, but this was just an arena..a practising arena .and we learnt from mistakes, practice makes a man perfect! Yeah, this was the way which taught us that Darwin was very correct..its always the Survival of the fittest! And we are going to survive against all odds! Together Free your energies! Experience the collaborative business!