Happy couple, eh!

The day has already started and I am already in office and already developing the concept shortlisted yesterday. But no, the post is not as lame as the first line here.

Its not common for me to come alone to office at this time, but today I did. And as I enjoyed the tea-sutta at the little tea stall, I saw something which made me happy and I actually smile on my own :)

There was terrific early morning light on Vikram (chai wala kid) and I was already missing my camera. While I attempted (quite unsuccessfully) to make rings of smoke, a middle aged couple came on their Kinetic Honda and asked for chai. Nothing usual about it I guess, but there was this intense chemistry between them as they waited for the tea, and I could feel the romance still alive between them. The guy actually took his clean white handkerchief and cleaned the glasses before Vikram could pour chai in them. I was elated!

We've (me, friends) been discussing how so many married couples we know do not look happy in each other's company and how life becomes mumdane and boring within an year of getting married. This couple kind of broke the perception; perhaps such love is much rarer, but it does exist :)

p.s. these two might not be a couple, and might just be out for tea after their first one-night-stand! In any case, I was happy to see them happy :)

Pressure Post - hairless Aparna, Arpit's hairy legs and Upma

I am under tremendous pressure to write an interesting and entertaining post. Plus I need to write a brain dead post to ward off the accusation of writing intellectual posts on my blog. I was accused today morning of writing a boring blog with no latest gupshup.

So let me just start off with how Aparna maintains herself so hairless and smooth. Its an age old and time-tested ancestral recipe, and I am about to reveal it here. Basically what you need to do is mix some special type of haldi (kastoori haldi, i think) with chandan (or some other two similar sounding ingredients) and use it on yourself. A few months of patience will pay off by removing all possible unwanted hair on your body; special care, however, has to be taken to not apply it on your eyebrows (rather obvious). But how exactly it is to be used remains a mystery. I only saw the mixture being prepared, but I suspect that you might have to add water/ oil/ wine before doing whatever you are supposed to with it.

I have a scoop on Arpit as well, but I shall not reveal it on a public platform. But here is quick update on his body hair. He has hairy legs (very hairy indeed) and smooth makkhan-like arms. His facial hair is unusual and makes him look a bit like a mongrel Chinese stuck in India. The hair on the head is shabby at best.

Aparna also makes awesome Upma (her first Upma attempt today with ma's recipe) while Arpit's tea is a perfect balance of Milk, Sugar and Assam Tea. I thoroughly enjoyed them both (the tea and the Upma).

As promised some images from my phone today. Absolutely unrelated to the post, but I had this irresistible urge to post them somewhere!

Office in the night



View from office



View from office



View from office



View from office



Office lift with Sachin's reflection



Headless Saibaba



Outside office



Outside office



Outside office



Sachin enjoying his chai



Vinishree, Kavya and Kavan

Over a cup of chai...

A girl walked past while I sipped tea, she was barefoot. Apparently she never wears any footwear...never ever. I don't know her name...

The stronger black pup continued to bite the other one with the cyst. The brown pup with the cyst is dead, or so they say. Mishi also almost died due to a cyst in 1994. Seems like a long time ago.

I look at my hands and wonder if future is ugly too. Someone had told me in 2007 that I am doomed with live with them. Something, somewhere is rotten inside.

The chai gets cold, I continue to sip it. It doesn't matter. I am still new to tea, started only in 2006.

A plan forms in my mind, a plan for a trip. Alone, like I always used to enjoy, seems like distant past.

Thought from the past!

Lal Cha from North-East...

It was very early morning and I was waiting alone in a private bus stand in Guwahati. I had just come from Tawang, but had reached the town at 3:30 am and it wasn't possible to go home then. Initially just waited on the road and once the waiting area opened at 5, waited inside.

I had made a couple of Assamese friends in the Sumo on my way from Tezpur and the three of us were waiting together. There was this guy outside selling Lal Cha. Lal Cha is basically lemon tea without milk and its quite amazing. It was just 2 bucks and very hot and I had many a steaming cups, which was a treat on a cold winter morning.

Inside, there was a special stall for buses going to Manipur and I inquired about traveling there. The guy on the booth was extremely friendly and tried selling me the tickets for the next bus itself (in fact he was also ready to make the inner line permit, then and there only)...and only I know how much I wanted to give in. But I had been warned and warned and warned again by everyone about my safety there! I had come so close to saying yes...

So odd...its a part of India, but so unsafe that its recommended that you don't go there! But why would anyone want to kill me, I am doing nothing? And I guess that's where the problem lies...we fail to understand. Its easy to look at things only in our own way and miss the other person's perspective. And maybe this is exactly what happened there...and still happening. We fail to belong to others' world and still try to make it our own. Whats the right thing for us may not be the right thing for others...and sadly this does not even cross our minds. For us our right is The Right! But what do they get from our right? Loads of unwanted guests...even people like me, who just want to see a beautiful place, experience a beautiful culture and then go back never to return. What do I give to a land that I claim to be my own? Nothing...

Am having Lal Cha after a long time in office right now as there is no milk...am glad I am, because it took me back to that chilly morning in Assam and the Lal Cha on the road! I am uncomfortable and disturbed, but am I ready for action...am I ready to stand by something that I believe so passionately that I would do anything for that?