Wednesday, December 05, 2007

My recent sojourns..

Hi, people! I am back again and this time with a small surprise which you will find at the end of this post. No silly, I am not getting married (yet) and no, don’t think about any fancy thing about my work or workplace either :-)

The last month has seen me traveling a lot. I first went home for Diwali, probably the only time of the year when I cannot make myself stay away from home. And had a very good time back home too, the highlight of the trip being mom made gujiyas. My mother used to have a tough time saving the sweet for our guests when we were kids and she still finds it difficult to save 3kgs of gujiyas for a week. Even though my trip was short (only 3 days), I felt contended. I find it a little funny how easily I am adjusted to the routine there. I start feeling guilty of being late if I don’t take my bath by 8-30 (A.M of course!). While I don’t even bother to get up by that time in Pune. And I feel so happy going back to the place where I have grown up, seen many ups and downs of life, had some strategic spots of my home as my secret hideaways. Usually, when I go home, all I prefer to have is saaf-suthara ghar-ka-khana. This time, I got a chance to go to Indian Coffee House with my mom to have veg-cutlets. It was pure joy to see my mom enjoying it like a kid. We even took a second helping, which is a very rare thing in my family. And I can safely say that they still serve the best and the biggest cutlets! Clap Clap! 

The best thing to have happened was my chance meeting with a schoolteacher of St. Mary’s. I left that school when I was in 6th Standard. Pratibha madam is considered one of the best in that school. And I remember her very fondly because she covered me with her shawl when I was feeling very cold playing the role of a pandit in a fancy dress competition. It was January and I was in class 3rd then. It was understandable that she could not remember me but nonetheless I could see that it was an emotional moment for her. 

I came back to Pune couple of days after Diwali. And after 4 days, I was traveling again to Bhopal. This time to attend a cousin’s marriage in Faridabad. I was to join my mom, dad and grandmother in Bhopal and we were off on my favorite train – Tamil Nadu express. I had almost lost faith in the sleeper coaches of Indian Railways when Tamil Nadu express, with its excellent cushioned berths and cleanliness salvaged the pride. 

Before going to Faridabad, we had a couple of days with us and we had planned to visit Hardwar and Hrishikesh. Though I don’t claim myself to be a very religious person, I was still mystified with the charm and attraction of Ganges. I was a little wary of going into the waters, but I simply could not stop myself once I was in Hardwar. And the beautiful Ganga aarti in the evening is a site worth watching a thousand times. It seems the whole city gathers and joins Anuradha Paudwal’s rendition of Ganga aarti..

Hrishikesh is a small beautiful city in the Siwalik range, foothills of Himalayas. Though, we were going from one temple to another, I was particularly attracted by a small German café situated beautifully at one end of the famous Lakshman jhoola overlooking the Ganga. I just wanted to sit there with a cup of coffee and a book and forget the world. I wish I could do that someday.

We finally came to Faridabad for the wedding. The marriage was as all marriages are supposed to be. Many rituals, then eating, some more rituals and some more eating – that’s Indian marriage for you. Well there was lot of naach gaana as well one day before the marriage and I won’t tell you how much I tortured the junta there with my err..dance (? Was it dance?? :-O ). Though there were no injuries reported, I understand the damage was mental than physical.

I tortured further and I can show you the evidence too. And that, by the way, is the surprise I talked about in the beginning of this post. Just play this small piece and you would know what I mean.

girish marriage - ...


And if you have heard this, let me tell you that the female you hear shouting on top of her voice is yours truly. I don’t like displaying my talents publicly and I still don’t. This is displayed because there is no question of talent here. :-| 

But please don’t stop reading my posts because of the surprise. I promise I won’t post such scary things again. :-)

8 comments:

Amit said...

That germen cafe has always been my favorite as well......n Ganges fascinating as ever..........i can understand because i was a part to bit of it as well :-).........and to be honest your voice is not a torture but a healer ;-)

Varsha said...

After reading your blog and getting that wonderful shawl I really want to visit Haridwar and rishikesh. But more than that I missed a rare moment- Watching u dance!! well the post is great as always, the last paragraph in particular.

And what do I say about your song? Its always been a delight for my ears to hear you singing over the microphone.

keep writing :)

Nitu said...

hey, u know what is common between ur mom cooked gujiyas and the song? both are sweet! Thank u for giving a chance to hear ur distant voice again. keep humming n airing :-)

Redfrog said...

A nice reading once again.
As I once mentioned in buddy's blog i love the writing piece when it starts creating images. Your post took me to my own good old days ;-)

"had some strategic spots of my home as my secret hideaways",
reminded me of my places..i would spend all day doing 'my stuff'. Wonder if we will ever get again a time as good as those days.

Last week had some surprise calls from old buddies and one special school teacher. This post gave more life to my faint memories.

Way to go!! Keep writing and singing!! :)

PS: Common get over with ur modest stand on your singing. The other day George Bush was asking me 'Hey Shri whose voice is that ;-)!!!'

-Shrijeet

Anonymous said...

You sing Good!..

-G

Anusha said...

@ Amit ji,

Let's plan to go to that beautiful cafe sometime. I will have a sandwich and some real strong coffee.

@ Varsha,

See I made some additions to your wardrobe. :-) And well, thank God you missed that moment...You would have left the house :-|

@ Nitu,

The gujiyas are much better.. :-) Nonetheless, thanks for liking it and keep coming.

@ Shrijeet,

I am glad this otherwise useless cyber space could do something worthwhile. :-)

And since you mention the "creating image" thing, well, I hope the post was not strong enough to create the image of me dancing.. :-|

Thanks for visiting twice and reading and final posting :D

@ Anonymous dear

Thank you. :-)

Thank you people for being able to bear me.. Keep coming. :-)

Ambar said...

it was always pleasure reading ur blog before this one... really... now i have to search for another word for this... lets think...hmmm.. "trans-pleasure"... indeed.. u bring the pleasure and the trans together... so boss.. thanx alot for posting this voice of trans-pleasure.. and mind it, if u ever posted anything that u sing on this page, i am going to save it to my system and then i will publicize it on the web as "african idol" in making... ;-) kidding...

Anusha said...

@ Ambar

Titles usually don't do much good..See the so many idols we have had so far...

So I will now think twice before posting my voice again..It can do serious damage to my already slim chances of making big as a bathroom singer..

Thanks for coming anyway.. :-)