Twist of Fate

Now this is called fate....wanted to watch Rockstar by any means today, so decided to hit multiplex straight from office..my bad Satyam din't allow my laptop bag inside...so i thought to try my luck at other nearest multiplex. By the time I reached there, I came to know that the next 2 shows are houseful and next available show is 9.45PM...sad, I finally decided to buy tickets for tomorrow and treat myself with a nice dinner...When I was inquiring about next day show timings, suddenly a guy interrupted and asked if I want to watch movie today in 7.15PM show...and I was like...is it available? He had to dispose off last ticket out 5 (4 he had already sold). It was a win-win situation for us. I was abt to pay him money n suddenly the man behind the counter said, Ma'am you can't carry laptop bag inside..I was back to square one :( That guy desperate to sell his last ticket fortunately knew someone in the management. He called him and arranged to keep my laptop in the locker. Now my bag was safe and I had a ticket as well...thats how I gotta see movie... :) :)

Angel Strangers

Sometimes u come across wonderful people who appear just from nowhere n become saviours. I came across two such gentlemen recently at different places who helped me in the trouble hours.

We were coming back from a road trip to Kintamani, Bali. That was a blessed day cos series of incidents happened throughout the day. We left early in the morning so couldn't get the currency exchanged. We had some money with us but that wasn't enough. Since we were driving on the country-side, we couldn't find any money exchanger. Nonetheless, we spent carefully n kept exploring the places. N yes we shopped a lil ;)

By evening we had exhuasted all our money n we were actually pennyless and we were still almost 50 - 60 KM away from our destination. Not a good news in a Foreign Land! My friend was lil apprehensive abt the situation so I assured her that we'll definitely reach our hotel without hassle.

Luckily we had fuel in our tank. We started our journey n everything was in order till we came close to the city. We entered Denpasar n our destination was Kuta. After following few road signs n driving for almost 45 minutes we realized tht we r lost. We were asking route every now n then but now Denpasar seem like a big Maze. We asked route from a biker n he told us that he is going in the same direction so we can follow him. We started following him but with a lil apprehension as Indonesia is one of the 'not so safe' countries. So we stopped after following him for a while n asked the roadside ppl if we r going in the right direction. Tht sweet lil Balinese boy waited a few feet away from us so tht we don't loose his sight n get lost agn. After following him for almost 20-25 mins we still reached nowhere near Kuta. By that time our fuel indicator was shouting 'LOW'. No money n now fuel. In true words we were in a shit situation. Unfortunately we couldn't find any money exchanger on our way.

Wen the needle touched 'zero' fuel we shared that we r out of fuel with the Balinese boy. He stopped in front of the next fuel station n asked us to get it refilled. Poor boy din't know our monetary situation, we also tried our luck...in case the fuel station might accept our USDs. But NO it dint work thr. We finally went to tht boy n told him tht we hv no fuel n we hv no money either. Tht guy lended money to us to get it refilled...Obliged, we followed him n after 20 mins we reached a place tht was known to us n very close to our hotel.

First thing we did thr was, got sm money exchanged n returned him. We might hv paid him the money bk but we'll nvr b able to repay for the help he extended to us on tht eventful day. He has marked an impression which will last forever.

God bless tht Balinese Guy!!!

Quite similar incident happened few days bk at Agra. Luckily thr was no issue of money and fuel this time, just tht we got lost. A nice gentleman guided us to our destination n disppeared into nowhere after we reached thr...We could just say Thanks to him.

Laalu n Kaalu

I have promised a friend of mine that this story will come as a blog here..its been months now n still I haven't progressed beyond a para...but today it seems I'll be able to upload it.

This is the story of Laalu n Kaalu.. story of thr friendship, thr communication n thr connection..spread over a span of thirteen long years... yeah thirteen years n yet they hv not been wid each other in person for even thirteen hours...

Shy Kaalu n timid Laalu joined a new school together in class XI. Same class, same subjects yet nothin beyond formal interaction....

Nxt yr Laalu moved to diff city...Yr went by...Laalu moved to another city after completing her high school..for the 1st time away frm family..lil enticed lil worried lil confused...trying to explore the world frm a new perspective...n thr she found a wonderful friend for life in her Roomie... Life was busy those days...classes, studies, and above all managing life on her own... One fine evening she went to nearby market for grocery. On the way back she saw Kaalu coming from the other side..'Kaalu', instantly she recognized n so did Kaalu...but both were too lazy or I shd say too ignorant to even say 'Hello' to each other..Time moved on..By this time, she knew that Kaalu lives somewhr nearby as they bumped into each other every now n then... Still thr was a wall of silence between them.

A year later Laalu parted from her Roomie and joined another college. But destiny had something else in store...Kaalu n Roomie landed in the same college...Since Rommie had been wid Laalu for most of her grocery trips, she knew who Kaalu is.. Immediately they became friends..Now Roomie was the link between Kaalu n Laalu.. It was NOW that they were named as 'Laalu' n 'Kaalu' by each other.

Their news flew to each other through set of common friends.

Four years of College passed by and both joined different school for Post Graduation...Laalu got busier n started interacting less wid Roomie...a year later Roomie joined Laalu's B-school and they became roomies once again... Roomie was still in touch wid her college friend 'Kaalu' in cyber-world...One fine day, they decided to group-chat...this was for the 1st time 'Kaalu' n 'Laalu' were actually interacting...slowly the frequency of group-chat started increasing and soon it was only Kaalu n Laalu talking to each other...Swiftly few minutes of chat seesions became day long chat sessions. They nvr thot they'll get along so well n become such a good friends....

By the end of 3rd Semester both started preparing for their campus.. By this time both were hooked to system for atleast 7-8 hrs a day...talking abt every damn hour.. life was fun for both of them... That May, Laalu n Kaalu had to join their respective job in diff cities.

Corporate life comes wid its own challenges...thr interaction became less n less...1.5 yrs passed by like this. One day Laalu got the opportunity to visit Kaalu's city for a day to attend her cousin's wedding. Bingo!! After 11 years they'll get a chance to meet each other...

Then the final day came...Laalu n Kaalu were sitting right in front of each other...not even for a sec they felt tht they were long distance friends and nvr sat wid each other face to face. They chat non-stop as if ol' friends hv reunited after ages. However the meeting was quite short...Laalu's flight was after 2 hours so she had to leave...

This year coincidently Kaalu was in Laalu's town on a day after her B'day. He had almost 6 hrs to b wid her.. Laalu decided to drop office n meet him...This was thr 1st long reunion. As anticipated they had super fun time...

Time moved on...Kaalu got busier n Laalu also got lost in her world.... Almost 2 yrs later Kaalu agn visited Laalu's town..This time they met at the Airport for abt an hr... Every time they meet each other they updated each other abt themselves, they reminiscse thr chat sessions, thr meets and not to forget count thr hrs of being in front of each other...

Next time the gap between thr meets was less than 6 months and the venue once agn was 'Airport'...

Till now they hv been wid each other in person for around 11 hrs, yet the emotional connect they share is very strong and deep.

Both of them kno tht they r FRIENDS FOR LIFE.... I hope they meet agn very soon...n this time for a longer time....

:)

Confused Me....

Traveling is my hobby and slowly its getting into my system, its becoming my passion... I think travel, read travel, dream travel, talk travel... in short I wanna do travel, travel and more travel... It gives me a high that nothin else can, it fills me with joy, it encourages me, it charges me, it even heals me...it makes me feel complete. Its the reason that makes me keep going...

After talking so much about it...a question bugs me day and night..how to get into 24X7 traveling...how to make it my full time profession? I'm working in corporate sector but half heartledly cos my passion lies somewhere else...Yes I want to get into full time traveling, cos where your passion lies, u perform the best...now the question is WHAT?? There r so many ideas but haven't come across something that really make me work in that direction and quit the job...So I have been thinking, thinking and thinking lately what to do and how to do...On the other hand I find my job a secure source of finances...so feel like continuing this job and keep traveling as my hobby..m CONFUSED!!!

I hope that soon m able to gather my ideas n take the plunge and make my hobby my profession...cos u find happiness where your heart is.....

A Walk by the sides of Pangong...

That morning I woke up at 4.30 AM just to witness the first rays of the sun. The place was quiet, scenic n very mystical.... Calling it 'out of this world place' would not be incorrect. Cold, pleasant breeze added wonderful effect to the entire scene. After waiting for a while the golden rays of sun started glowing the clouds across the lake above the mountains... slowly the darkness was taken over by bright sunlight. Black peaks turned into grey and then to its original brown color. I kept on clicking the entire scene till my camera battery died out. I sat there for a long time to enjoy nature. The clear blue water of lake is so enchanting that u cant get enough of it, however long u may gaze at it.

After placing the battery for charging I came again near the tranquil lake, this time for a lazy morning stroll.... I started walking away from the camps by the side of lake...mountains in front, mountains on other side and mountains behind. The mountains here are different, they are very dry and cold with rarely any sign of vegetation. Thoughtless, I kept walking away and away from the start point. With limited time in hand and friends waiting, you can't go on endlessly. So at every far off mark, I told myself that I'll return after I reach that point and after reaching there, I pushed my end point further. Sometimes you just don't feel satiated. This went on for some time until I saw a pink wild rose shrub in front of me.....I wondered for a while that how a rose shrub can survive in such a difficult climate, but thats how nature is..mysterious!

That rose shrub became my returning point.

I'm glad I didn't carry any camera with me this time... At times it is better to capture the beauty with your heart than any electro-mechanical device. All my way, I was quiet, happy and bewildered by the beauty of that place. Its a beauty that can't be described in words, only felt by heart...

The sun was bright and high in the sky by the time I returned to my camp and the lake was glittering under sunlight. There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing such an amazing place with your own eyes....

Pangong, I'll come back soon :)

Love is living a Lifetime in a moment..

Religion and Me

This topic has been on my mind since my last blog....'Religion and Me'

We r born 'human' but depending on our family's orientation,our religion is decided.. then we go to school we r taught abt the religions followed in the world...yet again classification of human beings...similar thoughts r instilled in us since childhood...n gradually our minds r conditioned to believe tht the ones who follow diff religion r diff frm us...

If we dig deep into the books be it 'Gita', 'Bible' or 'Quran' they all talk about 2 things... 'Humanity' and 'Compassion'. They dunn talk abt 'Hindu', 'Muslim' or 'Christian' for tht matter... They dint create walls around us..

But over the yrs we hv forgotten the utmost teaching of 'Humanty', 'Kindness' and 'Compassion' n started giving more importance to 'Religion'...We r slaves of our ego, and the quest of supremacy n our focus is more on the 'Fence' tht divide us rather thn anything else...

I hv been part of this system (n I still am) and my mind was also conditioned with similar views..for yrs I prayed, went to temples regularly, even followed weekly fasts... But now a ques comes to my mind.. Does all this changed the course of my life??? HELL NO!!! It is the same as it ws before....

Now I strongly feel tht if some POWER is thr, it is everywhr... It hs no shape, no form n no name. It resides everywhr... It guides me as as much as it guides u... It punishes me as much as it punishes u... I dunn need to go to any temple to bow my head to pay my gratitude for tht matter... I can do it anywhr n everywhr.... My beliefs reside in me n no one can alter them...!!!

....cabbie in Dubai

Traveling is a bundle of joy for me... It gives me a sense of freedom, independence...it makes me feel liberated, complete and content...!!!

With traveling comes the stories, incidents, strangers who meet you for a short while but leave a mark on ur memories...

I wanna share one recent encounter with an Iranian guy on a relaxed Friday morning in Dubai. Mind U, Friday is Sunday in Dubai...

My flight was around 4 and I had 3 hours in hand to shop around...in scorching summers, Dubai is best at its malls :) :) So I asked for a cab. This boy picked me from my hotel n asked where I wanted to go..n my answer was Burjuman.. with sheer innocence he asked why Burjuman...why not go to some places which r relatively less expensive..

n from thr we started chatting.. He shared with me that he is from Iran n came here six months ago only. Quite confused as we all are in our early 20's, he was unsure of his decision to come to UAE for earning. Only son, lost his father few months back n his mother asked him to relocate and earn livelihood for the family. He left his electrical engineering course in middle and went there to become a cabbie...n now unable to decide what to do n where to go....

Wid such a simplicity and innocence that stranger shared his story and his dilemma with me...I was awed by his innocence and his openess n at the same time I felt sorry for him...n for long I was thinking about him...Why God throws such difficult choices in front of us where we have to choose between our dreams n life??? But thats the way life is....

His name is HASSAN n I still have his number saved wid me wid 2 thoughts... mayb next time when I go there, I can find him...or may b he's gone back to Iran to pursue his dreams......