Winter

Winter sets in once again as cold wind fills the air
Winter brings in memories of people far and near
Winter takes me to childhood years
Winter was when morning grass remained covered in frost
Winter was when Christmas carols rang in the air
Winter was when the warm sun lulled us to sleep
Winter was when stories filled the air
These and so much more
Special memories I have of my Shillong years


Winter sets in once again when dark fog covers the air
Winter brings in memories of places far and near
Winter takes me to my working years
Winter was when the sea breeze was cold and clear
Winter was when walk past the bridge was fun and some sun
Winter was when the rain was fierce, the wind was loud
These and so much more
Special memories I have of Sydney years

Winter sets in once again when morning sleep is hard to leave
Winter brings in memories of things far and near
Winter takes to my working years
Winter was when the grasses were green
Winter was when the rains were a pain
Winter was when the darkness grew each passing hour
These and so much more
Special memories I have of London months

But as I wait for the sun to shine, I agree I don't mind
To have this on for a couple of more months
And then to have it back in a year
For this is the season of memories, of friends
Of places far and near, of people dear
The sun will shine but it is fine
To relax and relive the old winter years

Shillong Memories

My hometown ofcourse. And just as everyone else would say about their hometown, I say the same that it is the best place in the world. I was born and brought up there and my childhood memories are from there. No matter where I be, the streets and roads and the shops and the lane shall always be imprinted on my mind and I can see the images without making any effort.

Cold place as it is, I still love winters as it has endless winter memories. The school holidays and the evening badminton games, the hide and seek when we were still younger can never come back but they were those golden days and will always be. I loved the winter sun and the sweet feeling with the sweet oranges in hand.

And there was Sankranti and we would wake up early morning and keep a watch on who is burning the 'mera meri ghar' first. My cousins would be with us too and we would savour the season with the sweet peethas and teel laddus. I agree we refused to visit many people then as the sweetness would get to our nerves and aunty who prepared singaras or luchis would be considered intelligent.

The Saraswati puja was another time for celebrations and what fun to go around and see the Puja pandals.

What to talk about Durga puja! That is the best time of the year and we would always pray that there were no rains. We did not know home then as we would go and spend the entire time in the Pandal(lunch was at home though). Evenings would be reserved for the cultural programmes and  even though there were no mobiles then, we would manage to coordinate with friends and reserve chairs for the show. Navami would be like the grand finale and we would return home only in the wee hours of the morning.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Durga-Puja-Jaintias-dance-to-bom-beats-for-celebrating-the-festival/articleshow/16924002.cms

Shillong will ever remain the home of homes and the root of what we are culturally. Christmas is always the best in Shillong and how I even today miss the sound of carols. I write this on a Christmas day when I am specially missing Shillong and wishing all my friends a Merry Christmas and a great year ahead!

Friends are welcome to comment their Shillong memories too!

And because Shillong memories are endless, I shall keep adding...

The below pics are taken from my terrace!

The clouds! No wonder it's called 'Meghalaya', the abode of clouds.

The rainbow is a frequent sight. I missed a slight brighter view because the camera wasn't in my hands then!

See how the trees are soaked in the rainbow colours. I really love this one! The houses just remind of everything that I am and I was and what I will be! It's a pain to say that I visit once a year but there;s hardly a choice.

And when it comes to cleanliness, who can beat us? You will know more from this article:  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Where-cleanliness-is-next-to-godliness/articleshow/17121390.cms

New Delhi

New Delhi is one of many homes for the universal me! What I love about Delhi are it's food and shopping options while what I don't like is the money craving nature of it's citizens.

The other thing that is kind of disgusting is the fact that Delhites know so little about the rest of the country. People whom they don't like are Biharis and people in any other states are South Indians! I am left speechless most of the time at this idiotic indifference and ignorance!

I hate the weddings where no one bothers if you have come, if you have eaten and actually no one bothers when the guy and the girl get married. It just happens when everyone is eating! It's so different in my part of the country where people push each other to get the best view of the exchange of garlands. And the host makes it sure that he personally tends to each guest.

The wedding invites are so elaborate! Recently I was invited by a colleague whose invite include the card attached to a box of almonds and raisins. How I hate this show!!!

People do 'Mata ki chauki' on the streets! What nonsense! Why not set up a small Puja place at home and offer silent and sincere prayers. I hate this showing off business!

Delhi also doesn't care for it's old people. Every now and then you hear of you old people found dead at their residence, being robbed or being left uncared for. The very reason is that they don't teach their children moral values in the same way that their parents never taught them. Delhites only crave for money and they will leave their parents to their own fate. What they forget is that they will be treated the same some day!

There are some things in Delhi though which becomes a trend suddenly. Take for instance the Chinese flower which you can see in every car. Well almost!

Another funny thing about Delhi is the people's inability to understand that there exists languages other than Hindi or Punjabi. My niece as she  is growing up is picking up her mother tongue Bangla. Delhites are so worried; she will not learn Hindi, how will she survive in school? We tell them that Hindi is something that she is going to pick up anyway, we fear she may not learn enough Bangla! Once we visited some friends and the lady of the house asked us if our parents were also Bengali. Good question! They tell us that we have made our little kid a Bengali. Now, do we have an answer???????????????????????????????????????

How do Delhites translate 'student' to Hindi? Bacchha...lol...u r a bachha even if  you are a post graduate  student bcos everyone who attends a class is a bachha :D

And come Diwali...every year it scares me to hell. I just can't bear the noise, the noise of the bursting crackers....it's just too much for me to bear. Not only this, the amount of money that Delhites spend on Diwali crackers could actually lit up some poor home and brighten some kid's future but no, no one will give to charity, instead they will show-off their wealth by burning crackers way upto midnight not only polluting the environment but also causing disturbance and hassle to children, old people and pets. When will they ever learn? And the mess after that is something which is better left untouched by the ones who created it in the first place. They will burn crackers near other people's houses and won't even care to clean it up after the celebrations are done.

And the money show-off does not end. It can even lead to killings. Read this and found it totally unbelievabale but yes, it is true- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Man-who-shot-Ponty-Chadhas-brother-Hardeep-identified/articleshow/17265156.cms

Read this and you will know what I mean about Delhi...disgusting!!! http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/onefortheroad/entry/why-indian-men-rape How can someone actually gather the courage for an henious act as this and get away! It pains me, pains me much to even think of the pain the girl is going through and why does these repeated incidents happen in Delhi, the country's capital?

Sai temples that I have visited :)

I don't know if I am spiritual but certainly I recognise the connection.

I present to you here various pics from various mandirs and there is nothing more I want to say other than saying that I get all my strength from HIM.

Lodhi road Sai jee

mere ghar ke aage Sai Ram

Sai mandir in Choti sabzi mandi, Prem nagar, Janakpuri



Sydney Sai

London wale Sai jee

 Baba, I missed you in Tampa. Don't know if I didn't make enough effort or if I didn't have enough means. But you are in my heart, you are my path and you are my direction.

Road...

Another one from the archives...

Does this road have an end?
Or is there a curve to it?
Does it take me to places new?
Or does it bring me back to where I am?

I see the golden sunflowers as I walk
I also see the fallen leaves
I see the budding flowers
And the lotus on the pond.

I see some felled trees, broken branches and dead leaves
Dark today, bright tomorrow
Curves here and line there

The snow covered peaks on my right
The blue water on my left

Do they notice me and think
How long will she walk on the lovely plain?

She...

I wrote this years back and found it somewhere in my old notes. If I remember right, it was published in my college mag...not  a great work but a try....

When she smiled, they called her a dreamer
When she smiled, they called her mad
When she cried, they called her a child.
But she never knew the child within her
Her innocence burdened by responsibilities
Her dreams shadowed by duties
Her youth never bloomed
Her eyes never shone
Great pains remained within the depth of her heart
She stopped laughing and she stopped crying
And one day, she stopped living.
What remains are dreams unfulfilled and pains unlimited!

Cricket

Yes, that's my  favourite game. The intensity with which I watch it has diminished since the past few years due to various known and unknown factors but my interest still lives. Here I will try to include stories about the matches I loved and stories about my favourite players. This post will grow day by day and I write I am watching the 3rd OD1 between India and NZ and loving Gambhir's game. I wish for a whitewash...offcourse I have to wait for that(there are 5 matches and not 3)

I don't believe India won the 4th ODI. I didn't watch the match after it was rain delayed. The last thing I knew last night was that even if you go by D/L, NZ will win.

Yes, a whitewash after all - 10/12/2010


So what if we lost the first test against SA? Life is like that; wins and losses :)

Hooked to boxing day test matches - Ashes and Ind/SA.

I hoped for Engaland to make it to number 2 after the Ashes victory. India's drawn series with SA was good enough to retain the number 1 spot but SA should have moved to 3....but that hasn't happened!
http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/match_zone/team_ranking.php

Oh! I missed the second ODI against SA. Never hoped for a win here! I woke up in the morning to see an sms from a friend saying 'If you missed it, you missed a lot' and how true it was! I really missed the thrilling 1 run victory but still am not so happy with the batting display in SA. Good luck for the World Cup; try out all your new and old players like a sanity form test. ha ha!

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-03/news/28650320_1_spot-fixing-indian-bookmakers-icc-anti-corruption

What stardom does to you...

Just been reading this news - http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/reality-show-star-arrested-another-beaten-up-69706 and can't stop wondering what stardom does to you!

Former Indian Idol participants got involved in a accident at 11:30 pm. Well 11:30 pm is not a  too bad time to return after a night out but they were drunk and driving!!! I clearly remember watching them when they were aspiring to be idols. What idols! They were clearly guys and gals next door but now they think they are Gods. In front of the TV screen you will see them cry when they lose a point but life has so many other tests and they just failed in one such test.

Oh idols! Please bring back some value to the society. Please think beyond yourself!

Random thoughts...

The night is dark and the cold wind blows outside
Silence is in the air but for the tick-tocking of the clock
I must call it a day and rest my mind and soul
For tomorrow is another day with new challenges and new dreams
But where are you my friend Sleep
Come soon and take me away
To unknown destinations and untrodden paths
Show me if you can, a glance of tomorrow
Show me a glance, if you can, of hope
Show me new skies and new seas
Show me flying and floating and show me my wings....