The Times of Navratri- Edition 1

Sometime in 1998, somewhere in Chattisgarh

Navratri is the best time of the year. Like yesterday I left from home at around 5 PM. After our customary cricket match at the abandoned tennis court we cycled to the Pooja Area. The Bengali Samiti in township begins the Durga Pooja ceremony on Shashti and so the preparations were on for that. After that me with few of my friends moved to Santosh Chaat Bhandaar near Indra complex. After a few paani puris we visited the Navdurga Pendal next to Ambedkar Auditorium. Here the Devi there for all 9 days of Navratri.

After that we moved to the house of Ayush, next to his house in a Badminton playing area Chauhan uncle organizes Garba. We didn't dance but went upto the terrace on Ayush's block and were just looking at Garba & especially our new found interest of ogling at girls. Well Nipunjai says that there are couple of nice girls on the other end of the circle so we watched there, and then we watched a whole gang of them. Also behind them were the so called lafoots of the township. The difference between us and them, well we move around on cycles, them on motorcycles; we hide and watch girls and at max giggle post that, but they are quite visible and vocal in the way they WATCH.

Anyway after lot of bird watching we moved to Jagran program at Navdurga Pendal. Its very peaceful and the best part is almost everyone from the township is there.

Today I woke up late. The best part about this navaratri is that this one is after the exams, when it happens before the exams it kills the fun. Well today is when the Durga sits in the Mandir complex so should get ready for that.

After the morning pooja there is Bhog. All the Kids are supposed to help in serving the Bhog to all who come to eat. Again the whole community is here to pray and have Prasad. So we served everyone and btw did I describe the Prasad.

A sweet, but well that wasn't the attraction. You have Khichdi & chutney. Superbly awesome Bengali khichdi cooked in Desi Ghee, and along with that Chutney made of Khajoor and Papita. Awesomely awesome…

All who helped to serve get Extra Ghee as reward!!!

4 days later…

Another Navratri ended L. Dusshera was awesome yesterday and so were the Durga Devi visarjan in the morning, we went on the truck to the lake and danced a lot on the way. After that in the evening I watched the Dusshera from the balcony of Indian Coffee House munching on Special Masala Dosa and Frooti (felt like sitting in Royal Box at Wimbledon). Dusshera is like a mela, everyone from everywhere on earth assembles on the KV football ground. And the fireworks were awesome.

Now school will start again, boring…

Technorati Tags: Navratri

Back to Regular stuff...

As tonight's super-heavy, super-aweFome Gujju/Rajasthani dinner struggles to sink in my belly I can't help thinking about the past few days. After a trimester where I indulged in activities beyond my comfort zone, there was hardly any padhai in my life, I lost touch with most of my friends & my beloved acts, and the final day even my cavity dilling erupted out :), but in the end was Happies Endings...

Looking at everyone over the past few days, I found many new things about many people, found so many broken at times, fixed up the other day, and in that dily-dobly state of being happy-sad. I too went through the curve, but as another new chapter in long cherished firm of mine beckons I am super excited about just being there. Also staying childhood langotiya and meeting him after so many years would be awesome too. Gurgaon-Delhi-Noida sounds great as of now :)

Although sometimes I felt not so good too about all this, and a few things were dissapointing at times. But finally as everyone is happy, I feel good too.

My team was awesome, and so were my boss log who kept there calm throughout it, team was simply awesome :)

Plan to be more regular with regular things in life from now on ... :)

is this the end???

Is this the end of the much thought of Small City Dreams, or is it just another passing phase. Past few months have been the most boring in my life, I am through my worst days in terms of doing what I was best at. I miss the detailed research I went through for every new food item I had & every new food joint I tried, I don't watch, hardly anytime for digesting news items leave politics. I have read just one book in the past more than one year & above all I have lost touch with most of my friends (which brings to end the notion that MBA enhances networking, it just kills it, you hardly can sustain your existing network, for those who say who do it, maybe they hardly had any before coming here.), and also I realize that I am hardly any good at writing anything.

So maybe the end of the Small City Dreams as all this bound to happen, but I am sure that they would soon to surface, not now, but maybe a few years down the line.

Till then I think it would be great if get back some other pleasures of my life back in place.

Last Week

I have worked for two years, but sometimes a week can be heavier than that and much much longer than that. Some happiness followed by tonnes of feedback, mostly not so good about whatever you thought you were always good on, coming mostly for people who are not that relevant, but sometimes they are too.

Then an odd day when you don't have anything to worry about, you had the whole bunch of people you like so much to worry about. All of them with their sunk faces was hardly encouraging.

And then there were submissions, exams and some scribbling on forms and papers as always.

All of it is hardly joyful, dissonance resonates here, (and as one of my friend here tells me, all this effect is getting cumulative, lost and getting further lost) and I need to get over it. And at the end of it all, being high on a bit of Vodka remains the only bit of bliss I had.

Looking forward for a happier week ahead, but I hardly remember what being happy was, those moments are hard to find nowadays.

Me Too...

While writing this short writeup on Me Too Brands, I realise its already 03:52 AM.

Me Too is sad today because,

1) India out of T20 World Cup
2) India out of T20 World Cup
3) Me got pissed of in class today, my so called Intellectual Class can show all sensually charged ads, but giggles kiddishly when Freud was discussed
4) India out of T20 World Cup
5) Some regular no sleep syndrome after doing tonners of clerikal work
6) Writing a writeup for another irrelevant assignment, few will read, no one ever implements anything here
7) India out of T20 World Cup
8) India out of T20 World Cup
9) We couldn't work properly on another bplan contest, again!!! :(
10) Haven't met one of my friend for ages, the dinner got canceled, and now she is nowhere to be found!!! btw she is in this college too :((
11) India out of T20 World Cup
12) India out of T20 World Cup
13) Memory getting worse
14) India out of T20 World Cup
15) India out of T20 World Cup

Last time when we lost in 2007, it was sought of ajeeb types bad...

Me Too was sad today, as many others, I just hope I get some sleep tomorrow in class, and then Me Too can dream of the next world cup...

Speaking as someone else...

Every new stage in the life introduces you to lot of new things. This one has brought an environment Cultural shifts, a maturity level in establishing relationships, mood swings arising from a hectic schedule. And as everything else in this program, it fails to be consistent.

People swing from extreme forms of conservatism to the radical, and hardly any stand is conservative. Stupid-Dumb to the extremely intelligent, laziness to diligence, I fail to understand most of it.

And people it, from giggling on everything "Sensual" shown in class, to justifying the rationale behind "sex sells", I hardly find a strand of conviction. One second they are the all progressive kinds, hailing from metros, the other they cant digest petty things here, leave alone someone's freedom of expression.

I still am caught in the small town idiosyncrasies of conservatism and rigid thinking, but I think its sometime better than switching so much....

And Respect, well I have my biases, which everyone has, but atleast something is left.

Influencing People and all the other things...

It can be an extremely simple act, you want people to do what you want, to induce yourself in them. All of you which is Good, Bad or Ugly tries to penetrate them. We need a mirror everywhere, we want to see self in everyone.

And the preys, well they are freely available, vulnerable souls waiting for someone to take control.

I sometimes wish I could be a prey, but I am not at all that types, I sometimes tend to be blatantly expectant and try to be the hunter.

Leave me though, I am not relevant. I see the few influenced ones around me, and just wish that they were better off. Changing patterns in their life keeps them away from normal, way away.

Let things be simple and normal. Again.

Simplicity would be the way to happiness, maybe not eternal bliss, but just to keep things normal.