tHe yEaR tHaT wAs : 2007

Here comes December and one can hear words like targets, goals and achievements made by individuals/companies in different domains. I recollect this portentous year with those events that one can call "Comedy Of Errors" :))


1. CHEF: My friends call me a good cook. On a faithful saturday night, my stomatch started growling, making strange noises. So at 1 a.m, i decided to make "Maggie". Around 8 a.m, we could smell something unusual, but the unshakable faith on the "Fire Alarm" made us believe nothing was wrong inside the apartment. At 9 a.m one of us with lot of effort got up to find the maggie and the cooker turned into charcoal...... I forgot to switch-off the STOVE:)

2. CRAZY ME: COLD-Not my cup of tea. My roomie calls me THERMOSTAT. As asked in Shantaram "Will you restrain or go ahead with an option where you will fall but will get some pleasure in doing so". I would say count me in later genre. so camping for four days, when the temperature was as low as 37 F, was one of my craziest decision. Thanks to my friends with heads on their shoulders and ears shut to my whining, we camped for a day. Believe me, i almost froze(how did i do it???). hhhmmmm... will i camp again in winter !!!!!!... Y not ...Crazy me :)

3. Story of A^2 : Thankfully not me this time. My roomie "A1" is stupendously great with maps and directions. Last year,2006, we were enthralled , when a short trip from Mrytel beach to Charlotte got extended to Florida. [ Charlotte is located north of Mrytel and Florida South of Mrytel :)]. "A2", the driver, went crazy.

This year, we come again with the perfect driver-navigator tale. One Saturday afternoon we congregated at our residence not to discuss india's next five year plan, but to plan our day. N and Me shopping. A2 and his friends decided to explore the mountains. A1 planned to slouch at home.

I miss Indian roads, whose vastness gives us black carpet welcome and confidence to move without fear and ofcourse maps.

On these barren, perfect roads "A2" had no other option but to call A1 for directons to the mall. As luck would have it, instead of reaching mall he landed in front of the restaurant. :))


4.A Perfect Filter : When you don't find tea filter. This option isn't bad? ain't it?




5. Oops what went wrong with this?

6. Dangerous Me:

Diwali in Charlotte

Shayari

खुद को तफ़सील से समझना, इंसान के ज़हानत में नहीं ,
शायद इस रास्ते पर चलना उसकी फिदरत ही नहीं,
अपने से अंधी चाहत का जब गिलाफ हटाएगा,
दुसरो के जस्बातो के मायने तभी समझ पाएगा

[khud ko tafseel se samajhna, insaan ke zahaanat mein nahi,
shayad iss raaste par chalna ushki fitrat hi nahi,
apne se andhi chahat ka jab ghilaaf hatayegaa,
dusaro ke jasbaato ke mayene tabhi samaj payegaa]

Can you believe, " I " did This .. :)

My First Glass Painting


Card made of Handmade Paper and Cardamom

Making Of Witch House

You need : 80 % - bunch of creative folks(A,A,G,N and R) ; 20 % - Few Junk Items : Waste Paper, Oil / Water Paints, One Doggie, Thread, Black CardBoard,Garbage Bag ,Black Duppatta,Scissors

Dated: oCt 26th, 2007

BackPacking @ YellowStones

Wednesday, 5 th Sep '07 : I called up one of my friends to discuss our last minute shopping list. He suddenly suggested backpacking in Yellowstones. i jumped at the idea as this was in my to-do list for a long time. He suggested that we could hike for certain distance and then camp. The idea sounded very adventurous.

Thursday,6 th Sep '07 :The next major task was to buy a backpack.As luck would have it, i left from work late and reached Concord, a shopping outlet in charlotte, by 7 p.m. A friend of mine suggested "Outdoors" to shop for backpacks.I was running out of time as i had to get back and finish packing for the trip, but the gal attitute tempted me to look for other options.Thus, i went to "Sun & Ski sports". Here, i entered an unexplored world of Backpacks. The salesperson informed me that backpacks for women are different from those of men and the size of backpack should be equivalent to one's torso length not the height.But again... 4000 ci wouldn't suffice 3 days' clothes and food. so after 30 minutes of my session.... i went back to "outdoors" for the 5000-6000 ci one... The salesperson here gave me tips on packing stuff in a backpack.She also suggested taking a rope for the trip as Yellowstones is a bear country and we would have to 'hang' our food.

Saturday, 8 th sep 2007 : After taking permit for backcountry camping, we reached cascade lake base and parked the car. we hiked for 2.5 miles to reach our destination.How I wished we met atleast one bear on our way to the camp site, but alas i guess the bears were scared of us :))))). The stretch was so beautiful.I was so tempted to take snaps, but one of my friends, knowing this attitute, decided break time for snaps ... Grrrrrr ...........Though later we realized how important it was to reach the destination before sunset.

Our destination, campsite,4E, was near cascade lake.We pitched our camp between tall trees that rustled their dry leaves in the night.we cooked maggi and soup using the lake water.The toughest part was to hang food.We packed all our toiletries and garbage in a school bag.Check out the snaps.







The sun went down.The sky was clear and the stars were growing bright.We could hear strange, weird echoes of crying woman or wolf.Scared,I squeezed myself inside the sleeping bag and slept till i could greet the beautiful morning.I strolled towards the lake and I felt .....

the meadow so peaceful yet full of life,
joy and happiness felt in the calmness of sky
the lake, in the middle of mountains, solemn and quiet
engulfed by silence speaking mystery hidden deep inside.

पुकार

हे मानुष, तू किसे पुकारता,
तू झुलसता जा , करहाता जा, झुकता जा,
पर कौन सुन रहा है तेरी पुकार,
कैसे करेगा तू अपने काम साकार,
कैसे देगा तू अपने सपनो को आकार,
तू जो तूफानों को करना चाहता था पार,
पर यह कैसे है मंझधार
अमीर गरीब सब चिन्ता में है डूब,
वाह कुदरत तेरी नीति है ख़ूब,
हे मानुष, तू किसे पुकारता

पुकारना है तो पुकार अपने श्रम को, अपनी शक्ति को,
अपनी सोई हुई संवेदना को जगा,
हाय हाय की रट को मिटा,
अपने कर्त्तव्य को सीने से लगा,
फिर पायेगा तू वो सब, जो तुझे पाना है,
दृर्ढ़ कर तुझे खाली हाथ नहीं जाना है,
तुझे अपना नाम रक्त के कणों से,
धरती पर नहीं, बादलों में लिख जाना है,
यहीं है आज, जमाने की पुकार,
देश की पुकार, और यहीं होनी चाहिए,
तेरी अपनी पुकार

- December '94

मेरी डायरी से

१. हमारी हर कोशिश में एक कशिश थी
वो बात दिल्लगी नहीं, दिल की लगी थी

२. नादानी में हम भी पेजर खरीद लाए,
जर-जरित हो गए, जब घर से बुलावे आये

3. अक्सर ऐसा होता है कि हम चाह कर भी
नहीं चाह पाते उनको जो हमे चाहते है

४.हमे अपनी तकदीर पर भरोसा था, खुद पर नहीं,

इसलिये तो आजमाया तुम्हें, अपने आप को नहीं

दो शब्द

परिस्थितीयों कि ढाल में ढल गए हम, ऐसा क्या हुआ की बदल गए हम

बस यू ही

कुछ उलझी कुछ सुलझी हुई सी जिन्दगी,
रात के अँधेरे में करहाती हुई सी जिन्दगी,
कुछ रुलाति कुछ हंसाती हुई सी जिन्दगी,
भोर की हर किरण के साथ बदलती हुई सी जिन्दगी

कभी रुकी कभी भागति हुई सी जिन्दगी,
हमेशा कुछ तलाशती हुई सी जिन्दगी,
कुछ देती कुछ छिनती हुई सी जिन्दगी,
रात की करवट में समाई हुई सी जिन्दगी,

कुछ लोगों से बनती कुछ से बिगड़ती हुई सी जिन्दगी,
हर बदलाव को समेंटती हुई सी जिन्दगी,
अपने दर्द को सीने में दबा कर,
कई दास्ताँ सुनाती हुई सी जिन्दगी,

कुछ सवाल कुछ ज़वाब देती हुई सी जिन्दगी,
बस क्षितिज पर चलती हुई सी जिन्दगी