Family No. 1!!

It’s said, Friends are better than family, as we can chose them.

Route 2M, a cryptic name for some has emerged as a god given family to us. Each one of us has found a relation which has been our support when we were dull, has given us strength when we were tired and given us hope when we were lost in disillusions of corporate world.

Every member in this family has a beautiful role to play in our life which makes it a whole. From Lata mangeshkars of the world to Sachin Tendulkars, from great gamblers to “Ghar ki Bahus”, all cheer up for each other, for five days morning & evening for 1.30 hours.

The length of journey, which is unbearable for non family members who rarely get to sleep, is enviously very short for our family, as we have never felt the pain of non adjustable seats of the royal brand.

A true representation of multi cultural India, with a conglomeration of Punjab, UP, Himachal, Bihar, but the common religion which ties us together is a single word, enjoyment. Every day is sparked by the brilliantly imagined game plans, whether it is drawing the road side signals on a touch screen, to dumb charades, cut the cake, UNO, antakshari and recent additions like volley ball, clap at 3 and dictionary.

Extending this spirit are numerous parties for birthdays, Roka, engagements where members celebrate their happiness. Saviors for these treats range from temptations, grilled sandwiches, patties but the venue is always the same, our not so hygienic but a very warm spirited bus, where we are not charged on a per plate basis. It is an open house, where we can snatch from each others hand but it is ensured the driver always gets a share for bearing the loud voices and longs waits on the stops when some members are late.

Work pressure, boss problems, personal issues are never discussed within the group but are every day replaced by jokes, leg pulling, a melodious song and special dance parties on numerous occasions. It makes us feel the comfort of home, before reaching our own families. Bahu’s feel free to dance, sing and enjoy forgetting silence & shyness they have to maintain at home and married men for once just forget that they are tied to commitments. Our spirit has encouraged some shy members to dance on an unimaginable dance floor and reacting to the video coverage as if he/she would soon be on television.

A family which is hard to part with, a family which is always there for us and a family where we can be what we are, is our family No. 1..the Route 2M family!!

Dedicated to all the members of my family who have shared with me a great bond, the Route 2M bond!!

My Best Friend's Wedding!!

For one of my very best friend, as we share a special bond which is hard to define.

Hands half covered with Mehendi, face radiant with pre bridal gold facial and a huge smile. From Boy cut to shoulder cut, from jeans to sari and from tom boy to shy bride such is a change love brings to a woman as she progresses in her life. She has been one of the most intellectual gals I have ever known. We always used to talk about further studies, career and a bright future and strangely guys were never a part of any of our conversations. She has been a friend, a philosopher, a guide, has made me smile when I was dull and wished me success at every mile.

It was an exciting occasion for me to attend for two reasons, one to meet her after 2 years and second to see her sport a saree. Am sure she would have practiced wearing it around 20 times. When I landed in Mumbai, I was greeted by a happy Punjabi family full of fun and enjoyment. The evening was all set for “Geet Shangna de” and I had done my homework by revising some Punjabi marriage occasion songs. Mehfil was already in full mood when I joined the group singing songs. “Madhorama pencha vey”, “Charkha channan da”, “Main chali piya pekdey” were some of the number I could encourage everyone to sing along a with a song where I made a boy dance with a chunari based on theme, where bride tells her mom that she doesn’t want to go to her husbands house.

2 performances were a hit in the function, one by me where I put up a sale for each member of the family for “Dhai Aaane” and another was from her bua ji who had created a medly of old songs and matched them up with couples in their family. It had combination of songs where the elderly couples like Nana ji and Naniji actually performed a disco number. I was amazed to see how well a preparation was done for such a special occasion for her and this must be the kind of love she spreads in her family.

Night ended with a lot of chit chat with her relative aunties who told me stories of how they felt when they got married and catching a glimpse of the magnificent view of Mumbai, where sea was right in front of me, blushing with reflection of light.

I woke up at 5 AM as was hardly able to sleep and so was bride to be wide awake concerned about color of her Mehendi and all convincing her it would be right for the occasion. Everyone was hurried as the mahuarat for the havan was fixed for 7 AM when she was to wear chura which is worn for 40 days in Punjabi marriages. Being appointed as a “Sarabali”(bride mate) I was on my toes and had to be next to her at all times. We quickly got ready to reach the venue as it was in Mulund around 1.5 hours from bandra and soon hit the road cutting our way across the Bollywood city of India. Poster of upcoming movies, Amitabh, Shahrukh, aishwarya entertained us on the journey to a Marathi wedding.

The boy’s family greeted us with great affection and with a lot of rituals which I have seen for the first time. Clad in Marathi silk saree, my friend looked a beautiful doll while she walked towards the mandap. Her parents looked so happy when the couple exchanged rings and continued to perform the rituals, but her mum had a little tear in her eye. In the festivities and emotions my mind just circled back to the watch and it was already time for my flight. I wished the couple a happy married life and her family goodbye.

9th November 2010, will always be a special day in my life and every year when I wish her a happy anniversary, the memories of this occasion will make me smile!!

Break Ke Baad!!

I still remember the days around 20 years back, when weekend was marked as a festive time as VCR from Kalra Movie gallery along with four movies was to arrive in the evening. Movies were played one after another, songs forwarded and eyes glued to the TV sets whole night to watch the latest movies. Mum still used to frown as she was sent to kitchen to make some snacks & tea and she would keep an eye on the kettle while catching glimpse of the scene standing in the corridor.

From 4 PM to 10 PM BST, the same sequence was repeated as I watched three films in a row and the last one being break ke baad. From those times to this time, it actually was a Break ke baad for me.

After watching that movie, I couldn’t resist writing this blog as that movie was yet another movie which hit a cord with me after Dil chahta hai. A story written by Prasoon Joshi, a famous advertiser and story teller has brought forward the concept of a aggressive passionate girl who has dreams to become a movie star. She is an outgoing courageous woman who can leave behind everything to pursue her dream. People who loved her tried to come in her way in the sake of relationships as boyfriend, as mother but soon realized that her passion is everything for her.

It clearly showed when a person is following a passion, he/she can be blinded to other view points for those around them. Like her mother was an actress herself and she had gone through a lot of pain which she didn’t want her daughter to face, so wanted to protect her and even tried to be angry. She was right in her own sense and that emotion of hers made the gal realized that a passion is as good a goal as is her loved once support.

It had a similar impact on her boyfriend, who actually was her friend and was so used to her that he first tried to push himself on her. But with a break from her, he started following his own dream and made a mark in what he was good at with a support of some strangers, who became his friends. He soon realized what passion means to the person who is following it and he becomes more of a support than being annoyed.

Movie also highlighted role of friends in our lives and how friends love us for what we are but not for what should be. They can be away for a while, but they are always there for us when we need them.

Kudo’s to the independent, confident and fun loving girl’s character that Deepika has played in the movie. It also addresses a positive change which has come within women in India, who now dream and wish to fulfil them. Also, they can now propose to men with their knees bent rather than waiting for the man to take the first step.

I often wonder the creative thought which goes into finalizing these characters(Lillet Dubey, Naveen Nischol, Sharmila who had marvelous contributions to their role), their role, the outdoors, visualizing and actually making these movies. We as audience just pass our review comments on a Rs. 150 ticket which we sometimes feel have gone waste on a movie, but reality is many of such movies actually give us a new direction/a new thought on life.

Great work on “Break ke Baad” and my next blog after a long break. Enjoy the movie!!

Purani Jeans...!!

“Your name” has been tagged on a photo, was the message I received a few months back. I clicked on the link and it was a group photograph which was clicked around 16 years back, in the year 1994. It was a photograph of Class 12, Section C. I was amazed to see myself in the photo and my memories went back to the day this photograph was clicked, last day in school before our board exams.

The notification was from my class mate in school and comments on the photograph showed profile pictures of my classmates. Some had receded hair line, some were holding their babies, some had put on weight and a few looked just the same. A few more photographs were added within next few days and messages were all reflecting memories of those days. One of them had written, he first time drove a car on our farewell day and another one related to how slim he was then.

16 years seemed as it was just yesterday, when I was in school and our class teacher was taking attendance. I still remember our class had 9 Amit’s who were differentiated only by their surnames, one of those faces was a proud sports captain, another one was a classical dancer, yet another was a very good singer and all of them now are well settled professionals. I was happy to see 2 Amit’s out of those 9 were still in touch and met often.

When we had left school, we had put our signatures on each other’s shirts and taken vows of never forgetting each other and being in touch. But as life progressed, those names and faces got registered into memory and we soon fell apart. As we walked further in life, we made new friends, relationships and life went on. But those times still remained in memory and those instances became stories which we narrated to new friends and ties we made.

Am appreciative of community platforms like facebook, which has brought some of them back to me, and am happy to look at their pictures, their kids, read their progress in career. But some where I still miss some faces whose names are on my school shirt and my autograph book, but I have not met them since.

I often wonder, how will it feel when I will bump into them on road some day, will they talk to me or even recognize me.

I spent a day today, reflecting on those good times which I shared with them, the funny & stupid things we used to do and longing for a day, when those closed chapters of life will unfold and I will meet them again.

Common Wealth Games …A New Religion@Delhi !!

Gasping for Breathe, face flushed with sweat and heart beat racing high, she bent towards the floor, to get back some strength then looked at the trek she has just finished running…in the midst of loud cheers she picked up India’s flag and waved at the audience.

Such was the view at CWG where Indian athletes made India proud. From Shuttlers to wrestlers, boxers to shooters, High jumpers to athletes every participating player has pushed themselves to the next level to make India end 2nd. Many won gold medal for India for the first time, many records were broken, new games learnt and new friendships made.

Delhi became the center of attention for the world with shadows of Media outrage, stories of corruption, cleanliness, snakes and monkey’s emerging in games village which were all dumped by a spectacular Opening ceremony, an extensive showcase of Incredible India. A night which showcased the immense talent in India raging from Shyam Bengal(the sutradhra), AR Rehman(CWG Anthem), Hariharan(Swagatam), impressive dancers with cross culture dance styles, drummers, sand artists and Yoga practitioners. World would always remember, the bangle shops, kullarh wali chai, the dabba wala, mithai wala with big jalebi’s and long forgotten sugarcane juice extractors.

Delhi prepared well to host our special guests with its world class Games village, widened & cleaned up roads and parks, rejuvenated CP, CWG lane with Rs 2000 fine, special coach for women in metro, hop in hop off buses, hoardings of Shera and last but not the least, world class stadiums which were all light up as if they were decorated for Diwali. Special folk dance performances, mushayar, crafts bazaar and trips to one of the 7 wonders of the world Taj Mahal.

Delhites poured at the stadiums in huge numbers to support the games, volunteers spent endless days working in shifts to support the efforts of athletes and guests. Doordarshan which had become mostly extinct by hoards of news and entertainment channels, once again emerged as the channel with highest TRP as every eye was glued to the games. We appreciated the High Definition transmission, professional commentary and relay of the award ceremonies. Special advertisement on railways (Rail Gaadi), games we used to play(ankh micholi, pithu, kabbadi), tourism ads on Gujarat, kerala etc which struck a chord with many became a big hit.

Many of us visited some of the games, painted our faces with flags especially for India vs Pakistan Hockey match and waved Indian flag at the games. Hooted slogans for Indian players, prayed on the last day for 2 Gold medals for India to finish 2nd. 38 gold and great performance of some our women athletes who have made a new mark in these games.

All played, worked and contributed together for a common purpose, Common Wealth games where SPORTS became the only religion of Delhi.

For those 11 days, every Delhite felt proud of participating in some way in the gala CWG event and all related to a beautiful song written by Palash Sen for Delhi….

Mera Ghar, Mera Pata, Meri Shaan…..Delhi hai Meri Jaan..!!

Next Generation Mobile Love!!

Dedicated to all my friends in love and me on call waiting.

Technology has redefined many aspects of our life – From hand-washing to Washing machines, Dish washing to dishwashers, cooked to micro-waved food and a little device in our hand called Mobile from Pigeon mails & love letters.

I reflect back to a hit movie of our times (don’t think am very old), which had shown a white pigeon as a symbol of love where it did a free job of exchanging messages. It was also recognized as an indicator to the heroin that her hero is thinking about her. So was the irony of love a few years ago. We still had phone then, but the calling rates were quite high, so most of the people stuck to letters. I still remember the trend of pen friends, where two unknown people became friends by sending letters, which eventually made some meet the love of their life.

I often gather around my aunts to hear their stories of marriage and back to when they got engaged. Love was a forbidden word in their times and most of them had arranged marriages. (which actually has now become a forbidden word to many). One aunt told me, after their engagement uncle gave a call at her office and her boss called her to attend the phone. Yes they just had a phone next to her boss’s seat. (Love to imagine you attending a phone in your Reporting manager’s cabin ). Her face got pale with panic and her hands trembled while saying the first hello. Her boss was thoroughly concerned and doubting that everything was fine and even checked with a colleague who told her she is engaged and then Boss had a sigh of relief!!. Such was the beauty of love and relationships in those times, where people longed to talk, wrote letters to express their feelings and waited for ages to meet.

Zooming back from those days to these, pen friends have been replaced with cryptic key board friends who use the QWERTY/NON QWERTY key boards to quickly type the lovey dovey messages or forward messages. Postal departments around the world have moved away their business model from selling stamps and handling letters to Saving Schemes. And bosses don’t dare to peak into a phone which is received even while in a meeting.

Love of your life is always online through SMS, emails and messengers in phone. Love birds have ample time to discuss what they have eaten, what they are wearing and what they felt when a colleague mocked at her hair today. While 24x7 news channels still stick to the top stories, our love birds discuss the minutest details of every minute which they have spent without them. Mobile has become as precious a commodity as food to survive. I have seen people who don’t panic if their wallets are snatched but are more concerned if their phone is left at home.

For many the definition of love goes wrong if he/she didn’t pick up the call when he/she was busy with work. For some, love is more about a status check on their partners to make sure he/she is not with some one else. Facebook/orkut profiles of partners are actively monitored for new messages/scraps and status updates.

Love earlier was a thing to preserve which now seems to become a necessity to maintain a comparative mobile bill between friends and compare “Mera BF tere BF se smart kaise”. People earlier used to discover each other when they started living together, unfolding the secrets of other persons nature one at a time, always amazed with his/her reaction on a romantic journey together, his/her reaction when either got hurt etc. But today, even in arranged marriages, I see people talking from the minute they get engaged to the marriage day. Expectations are already set about each other and they know so much about each other already, that nothing much is there to explore further(especially for long dating couples).

I often wonder, has this constant communication lead to a increasing rate of divorces in the world, the number of breakups in early relationships, the number of heart breaks, suicides and of course emergence of new mobile service providers.

Is love more about calling many times a day to check what we are doing/feeling or is love still a feeling which makes you smile when you think of that someone special!!

Abodana Dhudhtey Hain!!

Driving down on NH24, a four lane highway connecting Delhi to Ghaziabad now, I could only view hoardings on either side of road displaying advertisements of upcoming construction of homes in Ghaziabad and Noida area.

An area which was prohibited to stay for quite some years, has become quite a hot property today. Tall sky scrapers coming closer reminded me of the downtown view of Chicago(minus the cows and CNG autos), which I admired on my first visit to US. I was amazed to drive on the smooth highway and thinking how easy it is to commute to such far flung place now.

Every building, every home seemed to be occupied with smiling faces peeping from the balconies enjoying the beautiful weather. A dream bubble emerged in my head, with a scenario where am decorating my room with my most adored collection of art, arranging my cupboard and my favorite ghazal playing in background "Tere aane ki jab khabar mehke, teri khushbu se sara ghar mehke".

Woosh..just missed hitting an auto..Remember I was driving.

A home registered in my name, with my savings has been a yearning dream in my heart since I saw my parent's smiles when they bought our home around 20 years back. A home, for which I keep noting ideas of decoration, of furniture arrangements, latest wall paint options, those little things which I will buy, even the jingle of door bell and yes a name plate inscribed "Supi's World" on it.

After stabilizing in my career a few years ago(with some sufficient funds), I started my search for my dream home. From Rohini, Sarita vihar, Indrapuram, Faridabad and now Noida my search has been endless. I had very interesting experiences for each locality which I sometimes look back and smile at.

Sarita Vihar: I was led by my uncle, into a meeting with a property dealer, who gave an amazed look, when he was told that "I" was the one who was looking for a house. He couldn't believe it to be true and even said kids grow up very early now a days :-). (Some praise, I was very young then!!)

Rohini: I went to meet a property dealer on a rickshaw not realizing that he felt am a broke and if I cannot afford a car, how I will be able to buy a home.

Indrapuram: From apartments at 14th floor to builder floors, the options have been endless. Buildings in construction reflected upon me the famous song "Do diwane shere mein, raat mein or dopahar mein.." where the hero/heroin walk around buildings under development. Relatively, I also had a friend then with me, whom I had pushed to look for a house. Paid around 10 visits, selected a house and finally the deal didn’t materialize just for a lac of rupees. But positive side, was my friend bought a house which his parents really wanted him to buy. I visited them today, I could see signs of joy & relief on his parent’s faces and yes the name plate on the door “in his name”.

Faridabad: An under construction area(rather than buildings) marked a major challenge there, where my first visit changed the color of my car from Azure Grey to light brown with all the dust. No roads, no lights but a future ahead being sold with a view of metro and upcoming FNG highway. It was convincing enough to buy and I did try it out, but unfortunately led to a loss as stupid company faltered. Arrrgh!!

Noida: From sky scrappers touching 35 stories to studios, from triplex homes to penthouse, the prices of all opportunities are shooting high up every day. But still am trying my options (fingers crossed) with a depressing fear on history repeating itself and my mind filled with doubts on the future of homes here.

There is a saying "The more you run after something, the farther it runs from you" seems to be true as my search continues. Rates souring higher with lesser availability are some where shattering my hopes of my dream home. Supply and demand curves which I loved in graduation are coming true in my life and I am still waiting to reach equilibrium.

My logical mind often wonders, what it takes to be get a right choice at a right time but then my spiritual mind knocks and suggests, “it will happen when its supposed to happen”, but till then..

......Abodana Dhundhtey Hain, Ashiana dundhtey hain!!!