Frown, scowl, clench Ur teeth ... swear!

One of the passengers complained of nausea. (the car soared ... ahead... until it was obstructed abruptly. And then soared again, and so on) It was diagnosed that that's because she was facing away from the direction of journey. (This car had seats facing backwards)

Like rider, like mount! The car was conditioned & tuned to Archie's driving. On braking, it reared up, like a horse !!!

It was a model of a few years ago, Indian cars back then were not manufactured with seatbelts. & even if they were, You would need seatbelts in 3-D – also to suspend you from the hood & tie you to the floor, apart from the usual.

Indian roads are not equipped to handle Indian traffic, & thus get destroyed very fast, are too narrow, & etc., etc.

He also does the things that common Indian people do on Indian roads – You overtake from both sides, (what a shame you can't overtake through!), attend mobile calls while driving, block the left lane when you have to turn right, & then block everybody else too, crossing all the lanes (If not for the streetlamps, you'd be driving on the divider.)

However, Indian public is used to this, & those who 'ride' with Archie, are part of Indian public.

Yet.

“A casual friend, once, actually started reading aloud the Hanuman Chalisa.” Archie Blushed. “His Mom called. He told her he had made a mistake by agreeing to travel with me, & if he reached home safely, won't repeat.”

After he dismounted, he apparently asked Archie “Who are you brother? I do not know you!”

Archie is very progressive. He likes to move ahead. Wants to wriggle into any minuscule space, if it enables him to move forward an inch.

'Give him an inch & he'll take a few feet' . Even reverses if he finds a more lucrative gap just left or right of where he is. True, sometimes, in order to keep marching on, you may have to retreat a tiny bit.

Archie is as proud of his driving, as others are doubtful & suspicious.

Sometimes he is made to forgo what he loves, for others fail to appreciate his ahead-of-the-times approach!

It was my wedding time & my brother in law had his hands full. ''We need your car, but You, we keep in the luggage dikey''

Wearing the rain

Feels like a drizzle, looks like a fog ... when the spray rises from the Jog falls.

I went there in August, just hopped on to a bus without planning, bit risky, but it was such a melancholy morning...

I was chilled as soon as I stepped out. A perfect day to get lost. I asked at the booking office. The tourist buses, both state-run & private were booked full, & more importantly, already departing. I went to the Bus depot, I was quite familiar, I carried my windcheater too.

One of the tourist buses was tallying its passengers. There was a person missing, & they sold me the ticket.

On the next seat was a college girl, going on the tour with her sister & father. They were decent polite people, at once took me into their fold, without being the least intrusive ...

I hardly remember them – they were nice to be made friends,

but on certain days, You feel like just taking the rain on yourself & letting it run down your face... You do not remember people.

... People were carrying cameras. The bus made a stop for breakfast & another at a temple. All is hazy, it was a large temple with golden gateways, the girls & their father offered pooja...

There were two approaches to the Jog falls. We were above it. Like many large falls, it was a horseshoe shape, & viewing points were on both arms.

It was a day when the Sun didn't show it's face at all.

All scenes were shifty, like reflections in rippling water, only not all that clear,

All views were wet, breath was steamy, all colours had shades of smoke & mist. Grey-green, grey-blue, grey-transparent.

That fine spray which rose, when parts of streams of the water, falling over the edge, broke their flow on the jagged backside of the fall,

was sticky & a little sweet.

The lunch & snacks available there at the stalls, I considered unfit for human consumption. Lot of human beings were having them.

Every once in a while, there will be a gust of wind, & the spray-mist will lift for a few seconds, clearing the view to the frothing white waters rushing down the falls. Collective clicking of couple of hundred lenses, a sudden lighting up of a small part of the air around us, already laden with moisture, by the simultaneous flashes, a low, generic exclamation of awe.

A moment, isolated, suspended in time,

& then time is rolling again, everyone moving, this spot is covered, on to the next stop.

When the bus moves through an early evening, even the darkness is not too thick, because it is wet! Unknown woodland, unknown roads, unknown evening. No road lights. Lights inside the bus dimmed, because everyone is tired. Unknown music leaking out of someone's earphones. Wipers grinding continuously. A shop or shandy seen only after an hour. The headlight beams the only visible & distinguishable area ahead. Drumming of the drops, splashing of the tires. A ride back from 'tourist spot' through wilderness to civilization.

In the fluorescent light, everything is familiar. Everything is routine. It is not melancholy anymore.

I had a bitter fight with the houseowner for returning late at night.

The dissappeared one

I searched & searched for Zeeshan, the lawyer & real-estate agent, on facebook.
If only I could get his no. & reach him before he reached.
I was calling Dad to find out where he was, as my train entered Durg station, & I got up & came to the door to find him & …
The phone dropped into the folds of the blankets, & I never knew.
When I had deboarded, & was checking my luggage, I realized the phone was not there, & the train was leaving… (& that’s how I lost my 4th phone, a new set I had just bought for my sister)
Zeeshan would be getting off at the next stop, & that’s why the futile attempt to get him to keep it.
I had been in the train almost 24 hrs, chatting with the Mango businessman, & another old gentleman, who shared some experiences with him, & was going to Vishakhapatanam for the inauguration of a Gurudwara.
Zeeshan told us about his internship work on the Telgi case, & how he had been amazed by the proportions of it. He was an easy guy with an entertaining style. His boasting didn’t sound like boasting. He told us how he does what he believes, how he had twice invoked RTI, how he had once approached a news channel who gave him a pen-camera for candid capture of corruption.
The Mango businessman got defensive talking to him.
At night, after everyone had dinner, he asked me to go stand at the door & chat. Since I wasn’t sleepy, & lights were out (so I couldn’t read), I agreed.
He offered me a cigarette. (That’s a first) I refused. We talked about this & that. He stated strongly how one must do the work they truly enjoy.
On hearing that I enjoyed counseling, he very sincerely advised me to become a Spiritual counselor, & establish a “math”. These people make tones of money! To illustrate, he told me a story.
There is this very popular spiritual Guru (no names). & elite too. His disciples are all financially established, & the rejuvenation courses cost small fortunes. & people also give huge donations to these gurus, to whiten their black money or to lighten their still-existant consciences. Such a man had been coming to this guru. Every month-end, he would discreetly place Rs 25 Lacs at the gurus feet. He stayed & meditated, but never tried to correspond. This went on for 6 months.
One day, he went up to the guru. Very concerned & asked for special blessings. On badgering, he broke that he was in urgent need of a large loan for the starting of a real-estate project. But he was not able to get it sanctioned.
The Guru considered. He asked for the documents of the deal, & after studying them, decided to invest in the project himself, not lend, but set up a partnership with the guy.
You can imagine the rest. The man ran away with a sum of Rs 7.5 Cr. They couldn’t trace him.
“See what a bet he played – he sniffed out where the money lay, & took a risk of Rs 1.5 Cr.” Says Zeeshan.

Where is the Rakhi-ism?

I was waiting for "Rakhi ka Swayamvar"
Beacuse, one should also challenge oneself.
In my case, I wanted to test my sanity & sense of sophistication, by the onslaught of mind-numbing melodrama...
But it is proving to hardly be a challenge.
Rakhi Sawant is no longer Rakhi Sawant.
What used to be entertaing (even endearing) about her was her complete oblivion to the surroundings. She'd throw tantrums, & howl so genuinely, even the most formal of us would be forced to consider,
Can this be just a ASD(attention-seeking disorder)? She probably does feel the way she says (howls) she feels.
If she trumpeted about being "self-made", she looked the part. "Unpolished" described her best.
But someone or something seems to have polished her quite a bit.
She's displaying reserve, for heaven's sake!
A sense of self-preservation, I grant her. After all, she's good a,t & successful in, her profession, as well as her (apparent) life-aim of limelight-hugging. She has to have survival instinct.
But common sense? (reasonably)Good judgement? Rationality? Self-restraint?
oooooooooohhh
I'm dissappointed.
She might have learnt to leash in her emotions, not create a scene whenever shocked.
Or she might have internalized that plots & scripts are best left to professionals, & she was not born to improvise.

She's behaving as a wellwisher would like her to...

Did she just get mature, or did she just get mature?

"DOODH -BHAAT" FOR UNDERPRIVILEDGED STUDENTS

The Right to Education Bill, 2008
Highlight point 2 says
No child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. Schools may not screen applicants during admission or charge capitation fees. A child who completes elementary education shall be awarded a certificate.
My head is spinning.
While the flaws mentioned here are significant, they are certainly of debatable philosophy.
Meanwhile it is difficult to laud "such bold steps as scrapping of class X board exams"
Already, automatic promotion till Class V plays havoc with children's progress.
A child who completes elementary education shall be awarded a certificate??
Exactly WHAT is the criterion of a child COMPLETING elementary education?
Tests & their results, right? Here we are talking of eliminating all tests & all results. As if they are the cause of our poor educational system!
Will "COMPLETING ELEMENTARY EDUCATION" consist of Attendance in school from age 6 to 14?
Please Mr Ministry of HRD !! Education is poor due to poor resource distribution & poor teachers, not Due to test & results - these, for heaven's sake are indicators! You are cutting off your own eyes & ears !!!
If a child's sense of self-worth is important, is real ACQUIRING of knowledge not?
By continuously erasing formal testing, we are left with no ways to assess the "learning" of student, nor capability (qualification or logistical) of teacher.
In such a situation which denies any verification, how is ACCREDITATION going to be unbiased?

p.s. ; unfamiliar with "Doodh-bhaat"? Check it out!

Annexure to the Raipur incident

What happenned inside the Dr's chamber

Deepti had got me to buy glue & paste the photo on the declaration. So the forms were almost complete. The senior nurse took my ECG, & sent it & me to the Dr for interpretation. Thankfully, everything was alright with me. While fulfilling the formalities, the Dr proceeded to tell me a story.

"Mere saath bhi aisa hua tha. (He had been stating the obvious - the inco-ordination in the Company.) I went to Bombay. (He had completed DM in 1995, but didn't look his age) I had applied, & got selected, & got a call for medical checkup. I had 4 & 4.5 power. It was out of range for the employment. So they said, You'd have to go to a medical panel. What did I care? 3 senior Drs are going to test my vision, so I get a free examination. I went for it. They examined me. They gave a 'go-ahead'. I received an appointment letter. I tore it up. Mujhe Govt job karna hi nahin tha!"

What happenned outside the Dr's chamber

Deepti got herself a bottle of water. There were many children around. All 3-4 yrs olds. Two of them, a brother & a sister, got Deepti. First, they kept telling their mother (while looking at Deepti) that they wanted water. Since she kept telling them that their father had gone to get it, Deepti didn't offer them. So they gherao-ed her. They kept asking strange questions (i do not know the details), leaped & hopped around her in cult-fashion, commented & made demands (even after their father got them water) & might have eaten her live if the Dr took any more time...

What happened at the Railway station.

Poor Deepti had been missing her siesta for 3 days, & getting quite ill. After submitting the documents, we went home, & collected my things, (& new tops) & Deepti thought that I could catch the 5:15 train. In the hurry, she forgot her wallet & mobile.

She dropped me at the station. Though I didn't catch the 5:15 train, I was in ample time for the 6:25 one. I asked Deepti not to park & return straightaway. She told me she'd call once she reached home.

I settled with the Cosmopolitan.
OW-ME-GAWD!
There was something in it. Her roommate's certificates, & extremely importat certificates they were too! I started calling her frantically.
Called my Mom to get Deepti's (cute) brother's no., & called him in case he had her roommates no. He didn't.

After many calls, Deepti fianlly picked up. I called her back. I asked her to park & come straight in through the station restuarant - I had no time for her to get a platform ticket.

She came. & also got me the frozen finger fries I had bought the other day, & kep at her landlady's fridge.
Seriously.
Deepti's a darling.

Lose count

I enquired if it was an electronic document they could forward me & I could print. No. It was a hard copy.
I blew my top. Dad said "Jaa beta, it's last day today". Yash pampered me on the phone as best he could.
Deepti had stopped being surprised. She called people up to find out the location. After lunch, we ventured on the Activa & went to the RO ourselves. I collected the letter which had been sent to them, they gave me the whole thing, because, I was the 1st case, & nobody would have any idea.
I didn't even open it, & rushed to the panel Dr.
He called me in. We both went. He pointed out that the letter mentioned all tests to be conducted by panel-listed service providers. "I'm on panel for medical check-up & ECG. not for the rest of the tests. Though we have the facilities". Deepti suggested that we could get valid results from the Medical College. He pointed out that the problem will be the same. He gave us the address of the Lab that was on panel.
There was also a 'declaration' regarding health, to be signed by me, & required a photograph. I didn't have one on me. Why would I carry snaps for medical test? I was livid. But I did not argue.
Deepti was in better state of reason than me. She took me to take a a snap. I withdrew money. Then she took me to the designated Lab. They collected samples, I paid advance.
Then we went shopping.
(Yes, girls will be girls.)
Next day, I collected all the stuff while Deepti was on duty.
The pp size phot came out good. I didn't look a ghost. Then after lunch, she took me to the panel Dr, & then, to the regional office, where I deposited the report, & claimed reimbursement, while she baked in the Sun.
But there is more.