Just 'KID'ding

Last blog I shared my experiences and my friends experiences of "mother". As I was writing about her, I recalled the ear-tweaking that I used to receive from her quite frequently. I still shiver when I think about that and then I wander to those moments that led to my ear-tweaking...then a smile goes across my face and I wonder, how can I re-live those moments. The only way now is to re-visit those sweet memories of the "Best days in my life". So I thought of checking with my friends on their memories...and I received a wholesome response!

My friend Abhi mentions of spanking that he received for being creative. When asked to explain defraction of light in a prism in own words, he literally used his own words. "When light enters thru one side, it sees two sides to go out. Now light is made of seven lights combined. Red being used on top of ambulances wants to remain on top..." And then this guy had the guts to ask the teacher why she marked him a zero....that too in front of the whole class. What happened next is beyond imagination...but what was on his mind could be well explained from the Calvin strip.
Calvin probably explans childhood amazingly and hence I have used Calvin strips generously on this page.

In school, lunch breaks were the greatest times that we used to cherish. We were hardcore footballers and every minute of the 70 minute break mattered. So we used to start our tiffins in the last session before lunch. Counting the time after the tiffins were emptied was something like this...
Talking of eating in the class, one of friend mentions that he was caught eating in the class and his teacher asked him whether he had enough to share with the whole class. He promptly opened his bag and shared what he has with the whole class leaving the teacher speechless. To add to the woes of the teacher, the school principal passed by and saw that everyone were eating in the class. When the teacher narrated the whole incident...the teacher was on the receiving end!

Archana today is one silent gal working in a software company...when I asked her about her childhood, she said always onto some or the other pranks...so much that her parents thought twice on what punishment to give her.

Actually I would have loved to put in more memories here, but I have time constraints now that I am a grown-up. I have responsiblities...I need to work, I need to earn, I need to be successful. So I live by those memories that I had collected as a child! Sweet dreams!!!

Most caring lady in life - आई

This probably would be the best blog that I would have written. One of the main reasons is that it has contributions from all my nice friend, but most importantly it is about the sweetest person I have met in my life and it is very unlikely you would have found otherwise.

Very obviously I am talking about “आई”. I am not so sure what you call her…some call her mamma, Payoshni calls her mummy, one of friend joking refers to her “Matoshree”, in the western countries, she is called “Mom”, down south in India she is called “amma” and if I keep writing like this, the list will not end. In all the variations, the "M" sound seems to be near universal to the word mother in many different languages. Incidentally, this is thought to be related to one of the first sounds an infant learns to control. Hmmmmm sounds interesting??

If I tried looking for a definition for “Mother” in an online dictionary, it would give me everything except feelings. And would it be any point knowing that?? So I asked my friends to share their feelings. Quite a few said that she is the best friend coz she has known me for years and I share everything with her. And there are few who admit that she is not the best friend, but then she gives so much space that you can share anything with her. For me the feelings are nothing different. She is not my best friend, but I know whenever I need to look back on someone to rely on, she is always eager to be there.

And while we are talking about motherly love, we can’t forget mom-made food, can we?? So what makes mom-made food so wonderful?? So much that a five-star dinner cannot provide?? Ofcourse, there is motherly love that goes into it. Or as Abdul says, its love converted into dishes. Other than is you also have the privilege of eat-as -it-cooks. Along with this also comes the sweet scolding! (at times)

The scolding does hurt, but then it is like the sweet cut of a doctor’s knife who is operating on a patient. Hurts but cures! Cure, Care and Protection…she values us more than her own life. I have been prone to injuries every time I have been out to play and every time that I had a mark on my body, I could feel the pain in her eyes. She always is the “Suraksha Chakra”

Today I glide on my bike and wade thru water. Had it not been for her, I probably might be keeping myself away from water and being a pillion rider thru my life time. I still recall the efforts and time that she put in to teach me inspite all my refusals. And how many have not faced such situations??

And to summarize the whole, here is a small marathi poem that my friend has dedicated to mother. And I have this for her:
When you have a mother who cares so much for you that anything you want becomes her desires

When you have a mother who is so understanding that
no matter what is bothering you she can make you smile

When you have a mother who is so strong that
no matter what obstacles she faces she is always confident in front of you

When you have a mother who actively pursues her goals in life
but includes you in all her goals you are very lucky indeed

Having a mother like this makes it easy to grow up into a loving, strong adult!

Thank you for being this wonderful mother!!!

And a poem that I found on the net that I would like to dedicate to her:

MOTHER

From seeds
You watered us.

As we sprouted
You helped us grow
With the warmth
Of your radiant love.

Along the way
You trimmed us
To keep us safe
From Harm.

When we grew out of
Our little pods,
You replanted us,
Where you gave us hope
And showed us faith
That we may be able
To do for others
As you did for us.

~Your loving son~

Payoshni gifts her mother yellow roses, Pradnya has a surprise gift every year…Sunday is her birthday and I am still wondering what do I gift her. She is the most precious gift that I have…what do I gift her. Whatever I gift her, I am going to be with her the whole day…trying to make it “the” day for her!

Higher than I could dream

Last Sunday, I had 2 options: Either to reach the height of dreams OR to reach the heights that I could not dream. Well, I decided to risk the Sunday and go for the later. My motivating factors were a group of friends whom I love spending my time with and “trek”.

So we met at 6:30 at Borivali (as usual, I was late). Little had I expected that the overall group would be 52. From there began the journey into a crowded Virar train and from Virar thru a packed shuttle to Palghar. There I saw the true capacity of a ST bus…the group of 52 and some more passengers, comfortably fit!!!

Guess it must be an hour by the time we reached the base camp, Vaghote. A cup of hot tea and the sight of the target cleared the little bit of sleep that was wandering in my mind. With a guide to show us the route, we started the trek. On the way, we saw a huge lake that they called the “Heart shaped lake”. Initially it looked pretty simple, but we knowing where our target was, we knew it was going to get tough…and it did! The walk upwards was a real sweaty one. It took us about an hour and a half to reach half way. Here we got a better view of why the lake was called the “Heart shaped lake”…and that makes me call the nature as “amazing”We were almost drained out of our water resources by the time we reached here. Luckily for us, this place is full of natural water resources…and I was wondering if the branded “Mountain water” actually was bottled from here. We definitely were exhausted, but we never let the enthu down (as if we had an option). Eventually we reached what we thought was the top, but the guide mentioned that we still had 10 more mins to go upwards. “Huh!!!” that was the general reaction. The 10 mins walk was not much stressful…but at the end of it, we were on top of the world in a literal sense.
We had trekked all the way “from the crowds to the clouds”…beauty of a place, terrific view, wonderful breeze. Once upon a time, this was fort Kohoj. It still has that covered water tank which stores natural water. Anyways that we were down with water resources, we replenished our resources here. No Aqua-Guard, no filter, no boiling, no bottling and yet so pure…that’s the wonder of nature. It was lunch time and we were craving for food (very obvious). Simplest lunch for a Sunday afternoon…regular veg sandwich smeared with ketchup (anything goes with ketchup) and theplas with chutney. It was hunger in first place and the love with which it was served that made this feel like a feast. A little bit of rest and the return journey commenced. “Concentration” was the key. Probably the fact that no one recalled clicking snaps on the way down, probably speaks on how much we concentrated.From the base back to home was a long journey as well and by the time we reached home, we were completely exhausted…not a bit of energy left. A lazy Sunday was converted to fun-filled, extensively exhaustive day that took me to a new place, gave me new friends, brought me closer to my existing friends and took me to such heights that I could never dream of!

For those who have missed the stuff, here are pics from my album, from Uma's album and from Kaustubh's album.

Technology : Disconnected

How would you feel if you were deprived of your mobile connection?? And then you had no access to the internet, no TV and the FM did not catch signal at all?? Frustrating, right??

Probably not! When you are lost in dense clouds with greenery all around and with a group that can enjoy anywhere they go, you would not even realize that. The place was Malshej and it is worth a lot more than I can write. The visibility of this place changes almost at the wink of an eye. Here is the video for you:

And if this is not amazing enough, have a view of the caves at Lenyadri...and there were no 3D graphics for designing nor were there lifts to reach the place which we puff and pant to reach even with properly designed steps!

Speechless?? Well, I was and I don't have words to say what Bhimashankar was like. Moreover it rained so heavily there that we barely managed a couple of snaps.

And just so that you know how beautiful natural waterfalls look, here is one captured for you.

If you feel you have missed something, you can check the pics here.

Now that I am back, I have my mobile working, the TV is on and FM catches signal, I am wondering where has the technology actually taken us...and I long to go back to the greens with my group sans all technologies to enjoy it the way they did!!!