"Super hot girl ahead ' stay cool, act cool ' Be relaxed man" ' This is what my brain was murmuring to me when I was entering my flight. Well, I was going to my village after 10 years and I was ecstatically happy about it. "Welcome Aboard Sir! May I know your seat number?" ' The airhostess asked me. "Ahh…hmm…hmm…Ahh" (Chill man and take a deep breath, she is just a super-hot girl ' came the voice again :). "Yeah, I am looking for 24F" ' I said (Well, who isn't looking for a '24-F' ' I thought :). So, I parked myself comfortably and I was joined by a father-son duo on the side seats.
The first hour in the flight was comfortable, until the plane was hit by a major turbulence. Everybody panicked; the Femina's and Filmfare's were replaced by the 'Emergency Flight Manuals' :). The kiddo was the first one to tighten his seatbelt. But it lasted for about 60 seconds and after that everybody was un-buckling their seatbelts. "These kids- they are so much afraid. Don't have the courage to face anything". ' His father said to me. "Well uncle, I think - we all had our balls in our mouth. He is just honest enough to show his emotions"- I said. The kiddo gave me smile and then to his father :).
"I am Dr. Parida and that's my son Pradyumna. We call him Praddy"- He said. I replied-"Hello Sir, I am Tarun and it's nice to meet you"- when I was interrupted in between by lil Praddy. "So Tarun, how does this plane fly?" ' I was taken aback for a second as I was never called by my name by a seven year old kid. But English language doesn't have prefixes or suffixes of "ji or aap or Bhaiya". And the kid was brought up in an angrez generation ' So it wasn't his fault.
I said - "Praddy, there is something called as Bernoulli’s Principle which says…".Again he cut me in between and said. "Why these seats are floatable? Its Mumbai-Delhi, we are not flying above any ocean"…. "But we can fall in a pond or a river" 
' I said. Praddy replied ' "That would be so cool" and winked at me. "Yes it's been so long, it will give me a chance to practice my backstroke" ' I said. And Little Praddy bursted into laughter
After the flight, I had to take a train to get to my village. It was a three hours journey and a passenger-train was the only option!! I somehow got into the train because of my prior experience with Mumbai locals :). I saw an old lady standing for quite sometime now and I said to her ' "Ammaji- aap wahan baith jao" and pointed to a seat where one lady and her son was sitting. That lady probably heard me and said to her son '"Beta, pair faila ke baitho. Nahi toh fir shaam ko complain karoge ki ' Mamma pair dard ho rahe hain. Be a good boy and sit comfortably" I looked in despair towards that lady. Amma-ji seeing all this said to me ' "Beta, mein theek hoon. Mujhe toh aadat hai. Tu chinta matt kar." and smiled back to me with her gleaming eyes. (Eyes of old people are always moist with a unique shine!)
So after getting off at the railway station, I was looking for a rickshaw. As I came out of station I noticed one rickshawaala bhaiya eye's following me. I also found his face familiar. I went to him.
"Bhaiyaji, Doodhli chaloge?" - I asked
"Kiske yahan jaoge ji" ' He asked me.
"Ji, Chaudhary HariRam ji ke yahan jaana hai" ' I said
"Woh, aam ke baago waale Chaudhary saab?" ' He asked
"Haanji, wohi" ' I said (I was amazed - Everybody knows everyone in a village and here I am who still doesn't know who all people live in my society!)
"Iss waqt vaapsi ki sawari nahi milegi bhaisaab so 12 rupaye lagenge" ' He said
I had never bargained for 12 rupees so I said ok and sat in the rickshaw
So finally I reached my home. My daadi was sitting in the porch facing backwards. I touched her feet and said ' "Ram ' ram, maa . Kaisi ho?"… She turned back, adjusted her glasses and kept her hand on my head ' "Arey aa gaya mera chaand saa baabu. Kitna bada ho gaya hai" :). I could see the tears in her eyes. She hugged me warmly with her wrinkly, shaking hands and said ' "Beta, iss saal toh mil gayi. Agle saal milungi ya nahi pata nahi. Sada jeeta reh beta". And the tears rolled down' but it was mutual this time.
[Respect the old and elderly people. Give them their 'space' ' In your hearts and in your life]
nice post man..
You”ve surely got all the right attributes to make girls fall for you…considerate, respectful and loving. You have a nice way of underlining the points that need to be emphasised for a better society without being preachy or uppity.
Aap bahut aacha likhte hain …… loved reading your write-up buddy
Tarun your timing is amazing and the end just mositened my eyes…thx bhai….
VERY TOUCHING POST TARUN!!……………………..BUT YOU STILL MAINTAINED D HUMOUR QUOTIENT IN UR BLOG INTACT
Well…Tarun Nice narration of a nice odyssey..Ya u r absolutely right.. whether our life is moving in first gear or it is rocketing in top gear..We should not forget to pay respect to our elders..Keep shravan kumar in ur mind..U will never try to ignore them..Well Tarun keep blogging u r an excellent blogger..As i love to rate blogs..So my rating is Nine out of Ten..i.e.Excellent…Bby shayonara..Shyam..
One instinctively thinks of John Denver when we talk of homecomings “take me home country roads,to the place where i belong.”Nice post
hey tarun ji ..its really nice post…..keep sharing..
Very well narrated and I liked the title - Life shifting gears - and of course the way you summed up saying respect your elders. Just keep up the good work…..I must confess that by reading such good posts we (readers) also purify our thoughts and ourselves.. so carry on man
YES TARU…………….
hi……..n very gud evening………
I liked ur shifting gears ……….very very very much……….u b a vrnd of
mine………………and i get dadi’’s blessings to write much more better
in these series….ok
you are a very good observer tarun,the way you have explained your journey from flight to rickshaw is fantastic. I always like the humour factor in your post, But the last part is best, we must learn to respect our elders. Good post.
heart touching…..
all that ends well is well enough…who knows what next and when???so nicely expressed.
Nice narration. I was touched by the closing lines. It usually happens so though some say others don”t. There is always an unknown fear of losing someone especially when we visit occasionally…. nice post!
you know tarun, its hard to say ” nice post, or super post” in your posts, they are just spellbinding….one has to keep reading, in a trance…..aur kahani khatam, and the words remain in memory for a long time…!
Nice, sentimental post…
hey it was v nice writeup …and senti too …quote was really touching
Nice…….I have seen people trying to avoid giving seats to aged ones……….but they don;t realized one day they will also grow old………Keep Going Tarun!!
gud ups and down of life in a single yet simple post…keep it up…
Your Search for 24-F will not end in that craft cause that barbie dolls are programmed to speak like that. And kids…..Jesus……I call them dot com kids. One lives in my neighbourhood aged 5 and calls me by name. Told many times, buddy call me either uncle or brother but who cares. Now his kiddo bro aged 2 started calling me by my name. Now a days afraid to go out with them. Sometimes i tend to call them windows kids. For every time OS crashes when transferring a manners program……..
every second of life can be captured like this, in words…………and every second has a tale to tell….a message to be heard……..u have given a beautiful illustration of this, in ur simple, yet so effective style……..keep it up….and wish u all the best….
thnx 4 sharing ur xperienc with us….it was reahlly nice reading your article….:-)
lovely!
Very very spontaneous. Style of writing — very attractive - Keep it up.
very nice and touching post…as always u have turned some simple and ordinary events which we may overlook, into an extraordinary post….
Very nice and interesting post.You have nicely rambled from the flight to a village and gathered the precious moments of life and made a garland for us.
very nice
Tarun…very nice…aap ne apne safar ki kahani ko bahut khubsurti se likha hai khas taur par ghar pahunchne ka manzar…sach yeh hi hai Tarun ke hamare yeh buzurg ek ghana sayadar ped ki tarha hote hain jinki chaon me me hum duniya ki tez dhoop se bache rehte hain….all the best
interesting write up..u hv mixed emotions, pains, gen.diffrences together with humour.. it narrates how the common civilian behaves in urban and rural india specially with elders. it reminds me the famous gazal of Jagjitsing……” Aab mai Rashanki kataronme khada nazar aata hoon, aapne ghare se bichadneki saza pata hoon.” keep it up.
Good narration Tarun - fast paced, with adequate doses of humour and great wisdom to round it up….The non-usage of superfluous words also contributed in making it an interesting read.
wonderful tarun! a whole gamut of emotions explored here…started with smile with a smile and ended with tears…loved the was you glided fron one to the other….right from the cheerful inquisitiveness of children to the warm genuine feelings of the elderly….from ultra urban mumbai to the villages …. you have amazingly interwoven so many genuine feelings in so short a piece and yet gave it an air of completeness…. fantastic write-up.