Travel Update

It is wonderful to keep a tab on the places you have visited in your life time. I am sure this still does not include quite a few places that I have been to, but it is a good start.

Travelling is a wonderful experience and I recommend each and everyone to see more and more new places as the world out there is amazing.

Every city and every country has its own story. One needs to just soak in and enjoy it.

  

   

   

 

           

• Create your own travel map or travel blog.

         

• Vacation rentals at TripAdvisor

 

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 7

Theme: Kill
For miles and miles, all one could see was the pure white expanse of snow like a canvas. The mountains stood tall and proud with no hubris or arrogance.
But it all changed 13 years back with blotches of red spoiling the pristine beauty and taking away the silence.
Kargil – something we will never forget.

Theme: Damage
Being teenagers, their emotions were fragile. A trip to the amusement park got her heart in her mouth. The roller -coaster ride made her scream and he laughed at her. The relationship was damaged there and it was a closed case. She was just trying to understand love and all he had was lust for her.

Theme: Envy
Radheshyam's car was getting scratches daily and he reported to the police, who caught Manekchand red-handed.
On interrogation, he revealed his jealousy on seeing the new 32-inch TV of Radheshyam and so he did this.
When police realised the brand of the TV, they had a hearty laugh. The brand was Onida - 'Owner's Pride. Neighbour's Envy'.

Theme: Death
Meera and Sameer exchanged their vows and said “Till death do us apart” amidst friends and family. Theirs was a love marriage after three years of courtship.
Meera’s bad dream turned out to be her premonition when Sameer met with an accident.
The words that rang in her head were: “Till death do us apart”

Theme: Supernatural
Everyone thought that Karim was alone and lonely. He did not think like that. He had an unwanted companion with him for years.
It seemed as if there was some supernatural power that ensured that he was never alone and pain was his constant companion.
Karim longed for solitude, at least without this companion.

Theme: Blue
It was the first art class of the six year olds. The teacher asked them to draw and colour a river.
Everyone except Ameya coloured the river blue. He coloured it black.
When asked, he replied " But madam, I've always seen the Yamuna as black and never blue. My house is on the river bank".

Let’s talk about him. He is gone now!

The need to put this blog triggered after watching the mass hysteria that prevailed across mediums and forums after the deaths of two famous and great men – Dara Singh and Rajesh Khanna.

Reams of paper were printed giving the minutest of details of their individual lives, things we did not know about them, stories that talked about their personalities, incidents giving glimpses into them as individuals.

Even the social media – whether it was Facebook or Twitter was abuzz with people remembering them and showing reverence.

While there is nothing wrong in remembering someone who has left, what I am not able to fathom is why all these good things were not mentioned about that person while he was alive. Why do we feel that we cannot tell the world all these things when the person is alive? Why do we feel that we need to wait for the person to go away to bring out these stories?

I do not remember any article or news story on Dara Singh or Rajesh Khanna in recent times other than the times when they were admitted to the hospital or when Rajesh Khanna appeared in the Havell’s advertisement, which gave people an opportunity to just thrash the commercial but not talk about any of the good things of Rajesh Khanna that suddenly appeared after his death.

Won’t it be amazing to know about the great things about a person when he is alive so that one can appreciate him for those things and he can also get to know about it/read/hear about it? If someone has achieved so much in life, it should be celebrated during his lifetime rather than writing paeans about him after he has gone.

This analogy can be extended further. People will not appreciate the great work/virtues of a colleague till the time he is around in an organization, but will talk and remember him only after he has left the organization and the said person will never know what people thought about him.

The attempt of this blog is not to question or criticize the tribute that comes in from people after the person has left but rather say that one really does not need to wait for the person to have gone to talk the good things about him.

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 6

Theme: Fragile
Brian loved breaking his cars and toys as soon as he got it. His parents thought that he would become an engineer just like his father. His love affair with breaking things stopped only after he broke the fragile heart of a girl who committed suicide after knowing that Brian was just flirting with her.

Theme: Scream
The weather was lovely so I decided to drive to work. I thought Friday the 13th should be enjoyed but what was in store made me scream.
No traffic lights working in the morning and complete chaos all around.
Now driving for two hours in the evening and yet not home.
Friday the 13th curse is here!

Theme: Aphrodisiac
"Hey Rajeev. Why the hell are you sweating and crying?"
"Give me water first Akash"
"Here. Calm down"
"I met a doctor who recommended eating 5 Mexican chillies as they are good as aphrodisiac. With this condition, i will be taking water rather than making love"
"I have only one thing to say Rajeev: facepalm!"

Theme: Mouth
"Mom what is a chatter-box?" asked 6 year old Malini after returning from school.
"Someone who talks a lot. Someone like you" said her mother Priya.
"Mom. Then Tina is very mean. She told Jiah that she can never be a chatter-box"
Why?
"Because Mom she cannot speak." spoke Malini with tears in her eyes.

Theme: Lust
July was around the corner and the ritual was about to begin. It was the same pattern every year.
Nishil would get the tickets for the semi-finals and sit back and enjoy the seeds. He loved watching the seeds battle out at Centre Court for the Wimbledon title while lustfully enjoying the strawberries and cream.