Perfect Stranger

"Yeah mom, I will take care of myself.Ok? Will call you once I reach there. Bye!".
Finally I was on my way to Delhi. For a well deserved break from exams, studies and monotonous life.
Was wondering when a 60 something person came and sat in front of me. There goes my another chance of an interesting journey..I sighed to myself. Then sometime later another young man joined us.
I DIDN'T PAY OVER TWO GRAND TO TRAVEL WITH MEN!! c'mon..not again!
But all my previous attempts at having an adventurous journey were nightmarish, so why should it be different now?? But at least I was in Rajdhani. So no drunkard could come on board( I had a drunkard for a co passenger for an entire 2 day train trip previously).
The departure time was fast approaching. Thank God. Atleast I could now think of what all I should do in Delhi. Just then I heard a sweet voice." Excuse me please may I know where's this seat?"
Where's this seat??! Are you kidding me? This isn't a ship!!! But still wanted to have a look at her.( She was the only female passenger in the entire compartment. Wait a minute. Was she Sameera? (Before you Sherlock Holmes clones rake up your brains, I had checked the passenger list. We all do it right?!) And wait another minute! her name was somewhere close to mine on the list!
Yes. She was indeed on the opposite berth.! She came. Adjusted her luggage. Sat down. Pulled down her glasses resting on her head. And settled down with a novel.
I re-checked at my expression. Was I gawking at her? Drooling?? Nope.
What prompted this reaction from her? But man she was a beauty.
5'4'' something. Dark brown hair, step cut. No make up(thumbs up!!) but a thin line of mascara which made her eyes more beautiful. Maroon coloured glass frame and glossy lips. Wow.
Then I started praying. Real hard. "Dear God. Thank you so much for getting this damsel in same compartment. But please do something that would make her talk to me first! PLEASE!!!
Then I heard the barks of a dog inside the compartment. German Shepherd. The sniffer!! I opened my eyes just in time to see some fear in those mascara lined eyes. When the dog came to our seats, she jumped onto the seat next to me and tightly grabbed my hand..THANK YOU GOD!! I NEVER THOUGHT THAT MY PRAYERS WOULD BE ANSWERED SO SOON!! and thanks to my trainer that he made me do those extra body pumping sessions the entire week.!
"Excuse me? The dogs are gone. Now you can relax." I prayed that I don't say those words. But I blurted out before I could know...Then one of the most amazing moments of my life came to an abrupt end..
" I am sorry. I am dead scared of dogs. I didn't know what I was doing. I just..."
"It's okay. I understand. Its natural."
"Thanks. By the way I am Sameera."
" I kn(ow)...ahem ahem. I am Akash."
"Nice meeting you."
" So you not scared of dogs?"
"Not at all. I have a dog back at home. So I know how to handle them. In fact I just love dogs."
Wow. What a topic to strike a conversation.
" Oh! lovely. So going to Delhi I suppose?"
"Yeah going to meet my cousin there. She stays in Gurgaon."
"That's where I stay!"
GOD! Didi please don't come to pick me up at the station!! Though I love you a lot!!
I got my first real six string bought it at five and dime...
" Excuse me. Hello? Didi! kaise ho? Yeah I am in the train. WHAT?!! kya hua? oh..but I don't know how to reach that place. Okay. I understand. SMS me your address. Will manage it somehow. Ok. Love you didi. Bye."
WOW!!!
" Any problem?" she asked genuinely.
"My cousin won't be able to pick me up tomorrow at the station."
"Ok"
Ok? That's it?! What happened to the good old sahanubhuti? Wait. I just met this gal. Why should I expect her to help me?
"What was the book you were reading?" I asked the girl, seeing a familiar book in her hand.
"Erich Segal. Love Story."
Was this the journey I always dreamt of ?
To be continued...

A night to remember...

Today was the farewell of one of my greatest friend..Naturally, I wanted to give her something good. Something which was true, special and great too! no compromises on that!! So had made her a collage of all the places she would miss in mumbai along with a few sentences I had penned down. Fortunately she loved what she got n SURPRISINGLY she too gave me a gift, an asskicking tee ;)

We had gone out for dinner at Aromas in Hiranandani, powai..a fantastic place!! n then we started chatting up. We wouldn't be talking face to face for some considerable time.

After sometime we began observing the people around who were in the restaurant..then the actual fun of the  night began. We saw a girl who had been waiting for someone since a LONG time, we started guessing, who could be she waiting for? I had a bet on her guy who bunked the date. And she said-"No way,she might be waiting for her lady friend, ladki ek ladke keliye itni wait nahi karti kabhi, seedha usko bol deti ki I was waiting for u since ages, now go to hell!" As expected she was right, a girl turned up after sometime. and I was wondering, when was the last time I was right about a girl, even a wee bit????!

Then another good friend of ours had joined us and the fun raised many notches! We were sitting inside and there were tables outside the restaurant too..the seating was such that, there was only a glass separating the ones sitting inside and out, n it feels like you are sitting next to them..enter..the central characters of our fun- a couple..a girl in black and a balding, bespectacled, skin n bone guy..my friend was at her wicked best today!! she went all sharmili type and suddenly asked us to click a picture of her,as if she was on date with that guy!(remember, only a glass separated both of em?)

And then, the couple were holding hands and we started mocking them , n they didn't even get a slightest hint on what we were talking about them(i hope so!)..the girl started adjusting the guy's hair,or of whatever was left of it! n we came to a conclusion that the reason of his baldness could be the girl pulling em out in the name of styling them :D

Then came the turn to check out my gift-the tee, one of my friends told me to go n change into it which came as a whacky surprise to me! fortunately other came to my rescue saying that chicks do that, boys don't!! Thank you so much for saving me yaar!!!

So instead, we just spread the tee on ourselves which made us look like scarecrows!! 

It was an amazing evening today... the wickedness flowed today so spontaneously today. It was one of my best times spent ever..and i owe it to the 2 gals who made my evening..if you are reading this..I would like to relive those moments..again n again n again..

P.S: one more reason for us having such a great day was the video spoof of Shraddha (remember the videos of a girl with sweet voice and some "my style" songs  that are doing rounds on youtube?) Please do check it out!!

Me and my my friends

I know I had written in my previous note that this time I won't be writing any poem.For that, the writer part of me kicked the real me so very hard, that I had to eat my words... This poem is for each and every friend of mine who has made a hell of a difference in my life..I owe my life to u guys..Love you forever...Indore janta esp for u guys, some of my juniors, some of em from chennai and also my Engg buds.

I was not a person  I am now.

I was alive, but only just..

I was breathing, because I must.

Fun wasn't a part of me,

nor was it around.

I was an introvert,

I rarely made a sound.

But things did change

As I met some lovely people

Who helped me out

And made my life beautiful.

I started to feel alive

I rediscovered myself.

They changed things around,

Pulled me out of my doubting self.

They breathed confidence into me

That I had rarely felt.

I started to love myself,

I learnt how things were to be dealt.

There have been highs and lows,

But they never let me feel alone.

If I had made any mistakes

I am ready to atone.

I swore to stand by them

Whenever they need me.

If I have their trust,

What I can do, the world will see.

I have never been out of touch

I never would be.

If you wanted the reason,

I had written this for you to see.

I have never asked for anything.

I never will.

I would just pour it out

From the tip of my quill.

It pains, I rarely get to see you

I wait for someone to say

"I miss you too.."

You guys make me live,

You make me smile..

You mean the world to me

Don't forget me after a while...

 HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY FOLKS...

Girls.Have changed. Or have they?...

I don't know ANYTHING about girls.Period. It would only be foolish to say that I understand girls. This incident happened when my friend and I were travelling in a bus. We were travelling in a BEST bus, heading home from an outing. We couldn't get a seat, which happens so often than not!We then realized that the bus was full of students, who, apparent from the sponsored bags,were coming back from a certain tutorials. And, now it becomes a necessity to let out that the friend accompanying me was a looker. The bus driver had stopped at a depot for change of duties. My friend and I were talking when we heard giggles from the girls. I thought, what's new in that! Girls giggle without any reason, or to put it better, girls giggle for even small reasons..then, the giggling didn't stop.

When I turned back, I realised that the girls were giggling looking at us. The bus started and Imade my way through to the front of the bus, my friend being behind me. Then, to my surprise, I heard a girl exclaim,
"Look at the guy in blue tshirt!! Isn't he so handsome!The one who is clean shaven! (I was wearing a green tshirt and had stubble, so we know who's being oggled at).

It didn't stop just at that. They started telling it to their friends across the rows. It turned out, that girl had quite a number of friends travelling with her that day, fortunately for my friend, and not so fortunately for me..Because, within few minutes of the BROADCAST, there were many eyeballs looking in our direction. For the first time in my life, I felt so uncomfortable. I felt I was part of BigBrother/Big Boss whatever even though i wasn't the participant!!.Our every move was being followed. And, also for the first time did I realize that I 've never seen such girls

so openly oggling at boy(s).It's usually the opposite. Right??! Their confidence levels were nothing I had seen before. It was as if they were a different species of girls, if I could say that. I also had realized how a girl must feel, when boys oggle at the,! but, you have to say, that girls do love the attenttion showered upon them! Though my friend was not exactly basking in all the attention, he did like it! I was more nervous than him, but then I thought why I should be so nervous, when I was not the centre of attention!! I quickly exited the scene, as I had seen a vacant seat..Suddenly I found(to my surprise) that some of the eyeballs were following me too!!!

It's a good feeling i tell ya! 

Man, the girls are changing! Finally!! I feel strongly, that in the years to come, the % of girls making the first move will significantly rise. Where boys too have a choice. IF there are other daredevil ones like these. It will no longer be the case where boys do all the hard work. I only hope it happens, for the better of the brotherhood of single boys!!!

It can only happen, again IF, the change what I have seen is a reality and not an aberration...

"Industrial " tour-Part-1

If unexpected things come your way, then most of the times they turn out to be good..at least for me!

Before the disappointment of cancelled new year plans got to my head, here i was preparing for a 

roughly planned tour to Dapoli( a beach town in maharashtra) and Mahabaleshwar(strawberry country).

It was a 3 day tour. we were supposed to start at 9p.m from our college by bus on 3rd Jan. But the bus we were about to travel eventually turned up at 12 a.m! As it usually happens with a bus filled with 40 odd youngsters, we never slept and the fun continued till we reached our first destination at 6 a.m (thanks to some exceptional and adventurous driver we had!) 

Let me tell something about this place Khed where we were put up. It's a village with houses made of clay, 

fresh air, people still waking up at the cries of a cock.. The bus was unable to reach our rooms so a couple of MUVs were provided to drop us. But as events turned out, 6 of us were stranded on the road with no street lights or any other light source. We thought of reaching the destination on foot..that was one of the best decisions I had taken, we walked through the gaon ki galiyaa, when we looked up, we could see whole lot of constellations in the sky, the last time i saw them so clearly was 15 years ago.. I felt choked, I realized how much I missed my grandma's place..the houses were made of brick, each household had cattle and tractors or an MUV, as their main source of income was either farming or tourism.  

We were given accommodation in cottages. We thought of exploring the village and asked a local on any significant spots in the village.But were really surprised when a local told us that the beach was right behind our cottage!!,  because for nearly 4 hours we were driving through ghats!, since it was six anyway, some of us thought of spending some time on the beach for getting a glimpse of the first rays of the sun. We were all excited, as we being engineering students, rarely are awake at such time in the morning!

And our patience paid off. What we witnessed as the first sun rays met the sea, was absolute magic...Whole of the beach was red, the waves were red too! no wonder where the beach got it's name from-Tamboos Tirth

To our left was a typical koli village which we had explored.. it was an awesome experience peeking into the lifestyles of the kolis, which I longed to experience. We watched as the fishermen ventured into the sea for fishing in their boats. At one time the entire horizon was littered with the boats. We had the luxury of sipping tea while strolling down the beach. For some time none uttered a word. I was wondering if I was with the same bunch which never allowed anyone to sleep the day before. But the serene surrounding, the calm occasionally broken by the ways beating on the coast could calm down anyone. After going click crazy for some time, it was time for beach football!! After some crazy moments we headed for our baths..

One thing I must clear here is, you must be ready to live in a single room with a bathroom attached, without the comfort of any star hotels and the only way to approach this place is either by our good old State Transport bus or by a private vehicle..but it's a rich experience if you need a change from the monotonous and polluted city life. After munching on  a sumptuous breakfast(overlooking the beach again!) we moved for local

sight seeing. We visited a chemical factory as a part of our Industrial tour and then went to another beach. It

was bigger, better and cleaner! We spent a good 3 hours at the beach and as luck would have it, in absolute silence and in awe, we saw the sun going down on the beach. It really put a ROCKING day to a close quite perfectly.. 

We reached our rooms in time for dinner..after gorging on the yummy dinner it was again time for fun..all the card games were out and so was the time for dumb charades. We then retired to our rooms, ant then started the actual fun. We realized that 10 people were supposed to sleep in a room designed for a maximum of 3!!!

But being engineering students, we were, we managed to pull up a design for seeing the night through, but again we could sleep only for 3 hrs when we were rudely awakened by an enterprising friend in the morning..

But that story is for another day :)

my last blog

2:08 am
hey! am not hanging up my boots yet! i just began blogging remember!
i was talking about my last blog of the year 2010...and i guess i have fallen in love with
the late nights, typical mumbaikar i guess!
well..what a year it has been, as i look back i had as many highs as lows..some  subtle moments to some emotionally charged ones, to subtle and the non descript! it has been one helluva year no doubt.
i loved it but yes i don't want my next year to be such a roller coaster ride for me..some nice surprises, some masti, some masala, loads of happiness and some comments for my blogs!
as shahrukh khan sings in "yes boss" mai zyada nahi maangta..mai zyada nahi maangta!( i so love this song)

HAVE A ROCKING NEW YEAR!  

n i will go back to my planning on the plans for my new year
chao

Here I am!

Hello bloggers!,
i am mrinaal, a final year engineering student from mumbai..after so much o' thought, wait, laziness and finally pestering..here i am, at 1:45 am, typing away on my keyboard for my first blog!
its been a heck of a month(m not kidding!) with my semester 7 xams (which finished yesterday btw).. finally some peace of mind..!
with the year end round the corner..just would like to know what your plans would be? mine?? none..surprised? ya none.. the fog and a certain agitation by a group of people has led to the doom of my new year plans which were to take place in mussorie n nainital..but theek hai. koi gall nai ji.. mumbai me rehte hain we will definitely do something! definitely had some fun today though with a good friend..will see you all soon with all the news about my new year BASH!  wish you all a VERY ROCKING NEW YEAR!