January The 13th

Lohri is celebrated as the Harvest festival in punjab, wheat is ripening , turning golden, soon it will be cut the grain taken and the farmer will take it to be sold for the rest of the nation to fill their bellies.

It is also Celebrated as the Eve of Maaghi a very auspicious day For Sikhs, Maaghi means primarily the festival at Muktsar Sahib, a district town of the Punjab (it is also my home town), in commemoration of the heroic fight of the Chali Mukte, literally, the Forty Liberated Ones, who laid down their lives warding off an attack by an imperial army marching in pursuit of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

The following song is sung as a tribute to Dulla Bhatti, he is the central character of most Lohri songs , He was regarded as a hero in Punjab, a Punjabi version of Robin Hood as he besides robbing the rich and giving to the poor, would rescue girls being forcibly taken to be sold in slave market during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. He would then arrange their marriages to boys of their religion with rituals and provide them with dowries. So every other Lohri song has words to express gratitude to Dulla Bhatti.

Sunder mundriye Hoye	Oh beautiful one like a ringlet one
Tera kaun wicahara hoye! Dullah bhatti walla hoye Dullahe ne dhee vyayae hoye!	Who will save you poor one (to a rescued girl) Dullah Bhatti is here for you (He rescued the girls who were abandoned and rejected after kidnap!) He married off his daughter (the rescued girls were adopted by him as his daughters)
Ser shakkar payee hoye! Kudi da laal pachaka hoye! Kudi da saalu paatta hoye! Salu kaun samete!	He gave a measure (ser about a kilo)of sugar! The girl is wearing bridal red dress! But her shawl is torn (poor and soiled-girl has been raped?)! Who will stitch her shawl(repair her reputation)?!
Mame choori kutti! zamidara lutti! Zamindaar sadaye!	The maternal uncle made sweet ghee bread (choori)! (maternal uncles were responsible to vouch for chastity of the girl) The landlords ravished it (meaning the girl kidnapped by rich moghul landlords!)!
bade bhole aaye! Ek bhola reh gaya! Sipahee pakad ke lai gaya! Sipahee ne mari eet!	Lots of innocent guys came (poor grooms) One innocent boy got left behind (the poorest of poor!) The soldiers arrested him! (Indicated that he was in collusion with Bhatti the rebel) The soldiers hit him with a brick! (tortured him)
Sanoo de de lohri te teri jeeve jodi! Pahnnve ro te pahnnve pitt!	Give us lohri (gifts) ..long live you couple! Cry or howl!

Back home in India I would have got up early, worn nice new clothes, met up with my friends from the neighborhood and then go house to house, singing the above song demanding some gift. We would get money or sweets… Money usually..

The house that gave money was blessed by US by

“Dabba bharaya leera da”
“Ai ghar ameera da”

The house that did not give

“Hukka bhai Hukkaa”
“Ai ghar bhukka”

My grandfather would give me the traditional 500Rs, My dad is a miser he would not give :), mum would give though depending on how much she has… I bet if mum was not at home a lot of the above Hukka bhai hukka was sung in front of our house he he he … I am just kidding

It would soon be college time, oh yes holiday-no holiday, festival – no festival, College is a must,  Not just me but everyone in the group would be there, to start the planning how to go about celebrating (I do think Now , why did we not plan a day earlier on the 12th.. hmmmm, would have saved coming all the way to college) , where can we have the big pyre lit have the dholi beat the dhol… dance around the fire eat the sweets the gachaks ( groundnuts and jaggery), Rewadi’s , nuts , next door neighbours would come a few other friends make a night out of it .. Dancing- singing … then once exhausted just sit around the fire till late in night just chatting…

So Here’s wishing

Mere SAARE YAAR BELIYAAN NU                   — (To all my friends)
Te uhna diyan Sohnia Sohinia saheliyan nu  — (and to all their beautiful Girl friends)

Mere Yaar Sharabiyaan nu                                — (To all My drunkard friends)
Te meriyaan Shonia Sohnia Bhabhiyan nu    — (To all my beautiful sister-in-law’s)

Mere Yaar Puraniyan Nu                                   — (To all my old Friends)
Te uhna di Nikke Nikke Niyaniyan nu            — (And to their Little Children)

Te Sab Budhiyaan Nu                                          — (To all the Oldies)

HAPPY LOHRI EVERYONE…. Have a blast .. EAT – DRINK and BE MERRY… Enjoy

HAPPY LOHRI . and dont forget my LOHRI… ..

C for College

College .. The word itself is so nostalgic.. we have so many memories attached with it .. I sometimes think of the time and seem to get lost in the huge ocean of memories , makes we want to go back in time to those days, Its been ages since I have left college but the stuff we did , the memories, the history we made .. each time I remember one such episode it lightens me up.. I have that twinkle in the eye, that energy , rush of blood which goes missing otherwise in the normal day to day routine that we call LIFE.

We have left college in search of new adventures, new roads, new ambitions.. but I for one still remember those days.. the 5 year of my life that I spent in college. The friends I made , the way we became friends , the silly things we did , the attitude, The no nonsense way , giving two hoots to life as if we were unbeatable.. nothing could touch us .. Not even KARNAIL SINGH the SHO of sector 11 police station.. 🙂

Or the taunts and abusive language of RAJ KUMAR the new SHO of sector 11 police station.. Going back the very next day to college and almost beating up the same guy because of whom we were taken to police station.

Parents almost going nuts coming to know.. My dad almost threw me out of the house, when he found we had been rounded up and locked up, My grandfather I admire him so much, he stood by me and gave my bail.

The last night looking at the books for next days exams, having your friends stand outside the window to help you with answers and Ravjote singh my Friend standing in the exam hall asking the teacher to Allow me to Cheat.. 🙂

Not attending any classes then having to run after teachers to get the lectures sorted.. MR AGGARWAL my physics teacher swearing No matter what he will not sort them.. then the scheming of stopping the postman on way to college to get the roll numbers .. trying to Patao the clerk to get the roll number.

Come diwali the burning of crackers in Mr GAUBA’s class.. Attaching it to a slow burning thing and 15-20 minutes into the lecture DHAAAAAAMMMMMM and Mr GAUBA (my chemistry professor) .. God bless him.. trying to be philosophical about it trying psychology on us, saying its the bad spirits or demons who are doing this.. and we students are so good ..

Sitting for hours in canteen, asking the guy to get tea and if ask for money throw a cup , and his saying ok ok leave it give it next month , then when he came next month , taking his book of accounts , slashing the days which had most money “IS DIN TO HUM COLLEGE AYE HI NAHIN”… (we did not come to college this day) a bill of 200 Rs slashed to 100 then give him rs 50 “BAAKI AGLE MAHINE MAIN ADJUST” (rest adjust next month)… and when it came to get NO dues signed he trying to be funny, cause it was his time then..

Standing at the gates, any girl passing she is mine.. blah blah trying to find ways to impress girls.. sometimes end up picking a fight.. beating up a guy thinking it would impress girls .. NO LUCK.. 😦

Sitting in canteen and someone coming running “PANGA HO GAYA”.. without asking what , just running for it, shouting “BABBAR” , “CHERRY” ,  “RAVI“, “ONKAR“, “BEDI“, “HANDLE”  come on and they in turn coming folding there shirt arms up to elbows..

End of year Standing in Queue to get the Roll numbers only to find out that I cant get the Roll number as I have Lectures shortage in almost every subject.

Going to Punjabi Mam, she was so beautiful who smiles when I ask “Mam Lecture poore kar deo Please” (Mam please complete my lectures).. awww blesss she did ..

Then walking to English Teacher Mr. Nijhawan who I find out today of all the days When I go home in evening sitting with my DAD.. They are class mate’s…  “OH £$%£”..  what do I do now, Dad will know and it will be chaos.. Phewwww he smiled, did not say a word.

Next day I went to him, I only had to say “Sir”..

“Tun dasiya nahin tun Mann da munda hain”.. (you did not say you are Mann’s son) .. He completed all my lectures, you see  I was good in english and represented college few times

Going to another professor who for some reason was having a bad day, “Jo karna hai kar le ” .. (do what you want to ) .. Not Poora Karoing (could not find the english word he he he ) .. your lectures .. and I have 75 short..

Ravjote Walks in the Lecture Room, “Oh sir , Kar deo poore .. Tuhada ki jaanda ” .. (sir please do, whats it to you) ..

He refuses, what was worst was 1st year students are having their practicals and it had to be all GIRLS.. The silly girls burst out laughing on hearing Ravi..  Which makes the professor more mad..

“Iske lecture poore nahin karne “.. Not completing this guys lectures .. he says pointing to me …

Ah well I tried the good way ..

Finding a way how to get roll numbers .. Get hold of a guy who is responsible of posting Roll numbers to college from the university .   don’t need to go to the other Two teachers  🙂  sorteddddddd

End of year Viva Exam , my Physics lecturer asking Am I sure I am a student of that class , He has not seen me the whole year in any of the lectures.

Sector 11 Inspector who is known for talking with his DANDA, He would without any reason beat up students or who he did not like.. He is walking through the college Suddenly a Voice echoes

“Karnail Singh Kuteeee” …  (karnail singh you dog)….

Pin drop silence .. sudden hustle bustle .. corridor empty …

finding myself in LT1 (lecture theatre).. with  Onkar panting and exciting he says .. “I said it“.. bloody hell .. first reaction is to slap him .. then having a hearty laugh.

 

I have so many memories of those years , If I start writing it will take years to put all of them down.. Those were the good old days , beautiful days..

Week 7 :- A Friend 1

52 weeks of Gratitude .. Week 7 Says the title is “A friend 1”

yaar ko humne ja-ba-ja dekha kahin zahir kahin chupa dekha..

Wherever I see, I find my friends everywhere. Visibly or indirectly, I see them all around me

Today I am going to talk about my best friend, The first I had, He was the only good thing to have happened to me during my school days (which were not very pretty), his name is Anup…. I can’t remember how we met, but we were in the same class and use to sit together. In our Xth class we sat in the second row Gagan, Me, Anupinder, Vinney Partap Brar, Bhupi virk, I front row were the girls 🙂 .. yeah you can trust me to sit behind the girls.

Holidays use to so much fun and I must say here that those were the days when one could go to a FRIEND’S place unannounced, Patiala in those days was a beautiful place with not that much traffic as it is now. I can remember all those days so clearly,  We had a Brown Vijay Super scooter  with not that much petrol as was the case with most youngsters in those days, The poor scooter carried a lot of us and never broke down, Anup would be driving, me behind him, Vinney partap as third person, Sometimes We had Ajay too, ajay is Anup’s younger brother. Those were the the Mad days… The Clutch wire or the accelerator wire broke, one person held it behind.. He would shout Pull to accelerate or slow down to change the gear.. The guy behind would be doing the needful. Hilarious situations now that I think of/

The day we did not have the scooter it was the trusted ATLAS cycle, me sitting on the Danda in front and him paddling.. catching hold of the trolley behind a tractor to take a lift .. I would spend a lot of my holidays with them in patiala, sometimes he would come to stay with us in Chandigarh.

Aunty ji would make us jugs of milk shakes and Aloo paranthas.. Anup was funny if he got engrossed into reading a novel he would not move, Me and Ajay would do things to him 🙂 put his legs around , and stuff like that but Anup would be so busy and concentrating in the novel he would not mind. He was a very good basketball player.

I can still remember the trips to the 22 number phatak   (which sadly is all changed now, as they have built a flyover now) It use to be THE place in those days, everyone in evening would come , especially the lovely beautiful Patiala girls. A famous fast food place called Pick a chick  that served pizza’s and burger, Order the food then finishing a bottle of ketchup eating it up.

One incident that stands out to me ALWAYS  and (which I think changed me too) was we had gone to Jammu and Kashmir tour with our school, bad luck for Anup he was stuck with me ,  I was a hostler in school and got bullied a lot, sadly those guys were also in the same tour. I remember we were at Verinag where it is believed the River Jhelum starts and had a night stay at a place called KOKERNAG, for some odd reason these guys challenged us to come to their room in evening. I was a scary cat But I still remember to this Day Anup telling me We have to go , it’s the question of Sardari, honour we have been challenged so no matter what we have to go, I was trying to dissuade Anup into not going but he was adamant.

We did go both of us against the 7 or 8 of the gang, though we got beaten up but I am really happy we made that, and thanks to Anup I also had the courage to stand up to these bully’s.

The first time we had a drink together, The time when his grandparents had gone to Canada and we painted the village Red, loud music , dancing the whole night drinking.. it was awesome. I remember in those days punjab had black clouds in the form of terrorism, very risky to go out at night but we were super humans no care in the world. Ajay was the scapegoat when the drinks finished we would tie a turban on him, send him off to the liquor store to get some more. Dancing to some silly songs ALIBABA, Queen and stuff I bet the villagers felt what the hell was happening in the village.

Like me Anup was very fond of food, I guess I got it from him,  I remember once I landed in Patiala, Anup and Ajay were getting ready to go to some wedding and in Punjab or maybe all over India if you are invited to a party then it is understood that Everyone who is in the house is invited, no second thoughts about it, I did not even have a change of clothes so borrowed his. The reason I am mentioning this episode is because we ate so much at one stage it seemed that when ever they served fresh bowl of chicken it all landed on our plates.

After my Xth class I came to Chandigarh , he stayed in Patiala, Then went to Australia for higher studies , stayed there for six years, meantime in Chandigarh my group of friends changed.. a lot happened in those year.. But then I heard Anup was coming back and we met after so many years .. It was back to where we had left.. Nothing had changed between us, he had just become a bit Sophisticated, Drank Scotch on the rocks, used the word MATE a lot.. 🙂

He was so knowledgeable and knew a lot about World war stories, He would read so many books , I would envy him how he could manage..And the Shayari he did , he had a SHER for any occasion.. he could recite couplets from heer-ranjha , Mirza ghalib. He took so much pride in the surname MANN, very Fond of classical and jazz music, when he had come to UK I had trouble finding a nice Jazz place .. and Yeah STEAK he loved it , I took him to a pub here to have steak his words were “This is not Steak”.. The day I landed in Vancouver for his wedding, we hired a car and he took me straight to this place where they made STEAKS “This is a STEAK” he said ..

A funny incident happened at the restaurant we had hired a two-seater car, automatic, I was driving one for the first time in my life, I don’t know what it was but for some reason we could not get the key to start the engine, we fiddled around for ages, in the end we rung the company we hired from, I bet the girl at reception had a hearty laugh when she told us you have to put the car in parking, press the Clutch and then it will start.. Made us look dumb.

He was very outgoing, each time we talked on phone he would tell me he had gone for mountain climbing or sky diving.

I got invited to his wedding, Went to Canada, for his stag night we went to a club the hilarious thing was he was so tired for some reason, he went to sleep in the club while we drank our self senseless and danced around 🙂 But when the time came to come home I have no recollection of how we managed to get home, Anup brought us back somehow, I met his beautiful wife.. The wedding party was Good I remember Dancing all the evening with him and bhabhi ji.. The highlight of the evening was being introduced as Anup’s Best friend who had come all the way from England.

This article is dedicated to my Best friend Anupinder Singh Mann, he is missed and will be missed always and ever.. Sadly In August 2007 My best friend passed away due to an accident while sky diving. Anup where ever you are I love you my friend, and I miss you.. there is a lot of me that was made because of you and I am very thankful to you for that. I am a better person because of you. Thank you for being there all the time, Thank you a lot.. I prey to god that everyone has a friend like you.. Everyone deserves a good friend in their life, and you ARE the BEST.

I wish and pray I am half the man you were.

Anups Mum wrote this to me :- bikram .ajay was always my strength and anup was my weakness.but after going to canada he slowly became my strength too.every morning starts with his thoughts and every evening ends like that.when he was in australia he might have been going through rough times financially or emotionally but when asked how r u son he would always say ; chardi kala; that was anup never cribbing about anything. one common sentence every one said on his passing was that he had no mean bone in him. even to the servant he would not like if anyone said servant, no he would say domestic help. To his seniors he was never rude or reply back. he may be very upset by their behaviour maximum he would say mom it is okay status quo has to be maintained. That was my son and am proud that i gave birth to such a good human being who was such a puritan in deeds and thoughts. I could go on and on but i will finish here with these lines

na haath hi pakar sake na pakar sake daaman
itne karib se uth kar chala gaya koi.

Mainu Yaar mere Jaapde

Khuda Warge

Kisse Allah de Fakeer di

Dua warge…

(Anup and me just after passing out of 10th class)

Day 13:- Happy Lohri

Lohri is celebrated as the Harvest festival in punjab, wheat is ripening and is turning golden.. soon it will be cut the grain taken and the farmer will take it to be sold for the rest of the nation to fill their bellies ..

Dulla Bhatti, is the central character of most Lohri songs , He was regarded as a hero in Punjab as he besides robbing the rich, would rescue girls being forcibly taken to be sold in slave market during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. He would then arrange their marriages to boys of their religion with rituals and provide them with dowries. So every other Lohri song has words to express gratitude to Dulla Bhatti.

Lohri reminds me on 13th January, we would go around the neighbourhood, house to house… singing the Lohri song demanding some gift, People would give money or sweets… Money usually..Takes me back to the good old days as I call them when my grand-dad and my dad were alive. Daddy as I called my Grandfather, would give me the traditional 500Rs, which use to be a lot of money in those days. Wants were and needs were less, Enough to go have a chicken soup at Goldie’s roost and a meal at Shangrila the Chinese place.

I remember our neighbours, The house on the left an old lady lives, She would have a bowl full of sweets ready, I would go and ring her bell, she would say “KHULA HAI” (its open).. Then a crisp 100Rs note and a bowl of sweets and TONS AND TONS OF WISHES, blessings, I miss them so much, don’t get all those wishes anymore from the heart.

The house right opposite us, were one of those misers too, hardly saw lights on in that house, I think the owners were in states, only a caretaker was there.. So nothing from there…

About 10 am it was time to go to college, as everyone would be there all my friends. meet up then the planning starts how to go about celebrating it, which usually started in the college canteen. In evening all of us would meet and visit every friends house , especially the girls 🙂 and the look on their faces seeing boys come to their house . In those days it was such a big deal if a boy talked with a girl or went to a girls house.

And since it is punjab, the visits always involved a few drinks here and there…

Then reach home, Dad always had a big BIG pile of wood… Lit the fire, have the dholi beat the dhol… dance around the fire eat the sweets The gachaks, Rewadi’s , nuts , next door neighbours would come a few other friends make a night out of it .. Dancing- singing … then once exhausted just sit around the fire till late in night just chatting…

HAPPY LOHRI EVERYONE…. Have a blast .. EAT – DRINK and BE MERRY… Enjoy

HAPPY LOHRI . and dont forget my LOHRI… ..

Day 3:- Funny Things I learnt- My Experiences-2014

2014 and also 2013 have been a roller coaster year for me , Lots to learn , Although I say that I learnt but I wonder DID I .. I can vouch i will make the same mistakes again as I am yet to learn the art of thinking from mind rather than heart. I am still letting my heart take a lot of control over a lot of issues and stuff involving me – my life. I wonder what is that mantra or HOW does one learn this art, as I mentioned the last couple of days have been very chaotic for some reason the start of every year has been very chaotic for me.

Here is an example remember the Gyan I gave on How to live and Die (2 and 3) I had mentioned about lending money , yes you can guess it right I went ahead and lent some more 🙂 , yeah SHOOT ME PLEASE SOMEONE, as I got carried away with the dialogues how I am like an elder brother to the person, How I am part of family , How he respects me blah blah blah. I just can’t learn from my mistakes, I know he is taking me for a ride a couple of my friends have told me that too buttttttt ALAS ME- MOI- MYSELF are just IDIOTS 🙂 (you guys who know me please stop nodding your heads)

So not sure if this post is valid or that do I have the Right to post this one BUT nevertheless here I go riding on my “god know’s what” cloud Sky high 🙂 yeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaa , Some of the things that I learnt if put in a funny way will include ..

Before that here is a DISCLAIMER alas I get shot for copyright infringements

Disclaimer:- The Following Statements have been taken from different resources from public forums, I have changed some according to my needs , feelings. So if they are infringing anyone’s rights , then I am sorry please let me know ASAP and I shall remove that line as the following is what I have learned and how to put them in English differently I would not know. If I have hurt anyone’s feelings than I am sorry in advance ..

I’ve learned the Saying “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” IS BULLOCKS.. people whom you have made feel good Will forget within a SECOND.. the only people you have HURT will remember.

I’ve learned that No matter how much some say they are your FRIENDS they never will be , cause they don’t know the meaning of it…

I’ve learned that no matter how much I care Some people are just ARSEHOLES…

I’ve learned that it takes years to build up TRUST and it only takes suspicion to destroy it.

I’ve learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen MINUTES After that, you’d better have a big Wad of money in your wallet or beautiful FACE..

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t compare yourself to others they are more screwed up, then you think…

I’ve learned that we are RESPONSIBLE for what we do Unless we are CELEBRITIES..

I’ve learned that regardless of how HOT or STEAMY a relationship is at first Passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take its place …

I’ve learned that the people you care the most about in life are taken from you too soon.. and the less important ones NEVER GO AWAY …

I’ve learned that The only people you need in your life are the ones that Prove that they need you in theirs

I’ve learned that You will never know how STRONG you are, Until being strong is the only choice you have left …

I’ve learned that there is a point in your life when you realise Who Matters, Who NEVER DID, Who always Will and Who wont anymore

and last but not the least …

I have learned that you can-not Make Someone love you.. All you can do is STALK them and HOPE they panic and give in.. 🙂

Enough Gyan for a day .. Have a good day everyone 🙂

Thursday Challenge (50) :-”BROKEN”

Thursday Challenge : BROKEN (Something cracked, damaged, broken, or not working…)

This is what happens when CRICKET FEVER takes over on a Sunday.. Wish I could have clicked the pics of playing.. but at least the Result is here to see.. I am sure you all can imagine what fun we had on a sunny british day, which turned rainy and the garden muddy.. but the FIGHT to win over opponents and Score the highest runs .. did not let us stop even after breaking Three windows 🙂 ..

and here’s another link to an older post .. that too fits perfectly on the theme of BROKEN (Something cracked, damaged, broken, or not working…)

Thursday Challenge (48) : ABANDONED – Real Story @Dornier DO 17

Lohri Festival

The following song is sung as a tribute to Dulla Bhatti, he is the central character of most Lohri songs , He was regarded as a hero in Punjab as he besides robbing the rich, would rescue girls being forcibly taken to be sold in slave market during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. He would then arrange their marriages to boys of their religion with rituals and provide them with dowries. So every other Lohri song has words to express gratitude to Dulla Bhatti.

Lohri is celebrated as the Harvest festival in punjab, wheat is ripening and is turning golden.. soon it will be cut the grain taken and the farmer will take it to be sold for the rest of the nation to fill their bellies ..

Sunder mundriye Hoye	Oh beautiful one like a ringlet one
Tera kaun wicahara hoye! Dullah bhatti walla hoye Dullahe ne dhee vyayae hoye!	Who will save you poor one (to a rescued girl) Dullah Bhatti is here for you (He rescued the girls who were abandoned and rejected after kidnap!) He married off his daughter (the rescued girls were adopted by him as his daughters)
Ser shakkar payee hoye! Kudi da laal pachaka hoye! Kudi da saalu paatta hoye! Salu kaun samete!	He gave a measure (ser about a kilo)of sugar! The girl is wearing bridal red dress! But her shawl is torn (poor and soiled-girl has been raped?)! Who will stitch her shawl(repair her reputation)?!
Mame choori kutti! zamidara lutti! Zamindaar sadaye!	The maternal uncle made sweet ghee bread (choori)! (maternal uncles were responsible to vouch for chastity of the girl) The landlords ravished it (meaning the girl kidnapped by rich moghul landlords!)!
bade bhole aaye! Ek bhola reh gaya! Sipahee pakad ke lai gaya! Sipahee ne mari eet!	Lots of innocent guys came (poor grooms) One innocent boy got left behind (the poorest of poor!) The soldiers arrested him! (Indicated that he was in collusion with Bhatti the rebel) The soldiers hit him with a brick! (tortured him)
Sanoo de de lohri te teri jeeve jodi! Pahenve ro te pahnnve pit! “	Give us lohri (gifts) ..long live you couple! Cry or howl!

13th January Lohri day… I would have got up early… worn nice new clothes… met up with my friends and then house to house… singing the above song demanding some gift. We would get money or sweets… Money usually…Imagine the beat of the DHOL… with a group of people singing the above song, the bhangra included…

The house that gave money was blessed by US by

“Dabba bharaya leera da”
“Ai ghar ameera da”

The house that did not got

“Hukka bhai Hukkaa”
“Ai ghar bhukka”

My grandfather would give me the traditional 500Rs and my sisters 500Rs, and my sister would always give her share to me… so I would have a 1000 to start with… the other one is a miser and doesn’t love me that much ch ch ch ch 😦 So she keeps her money.

My dad is a miser he would not give :), mum would give though depending on how much she has… I bet if mum was not at home a lot of the above Hukka bhai hukka was sung in front of our house he he he … I am just kidding

Then neighbours, The house on the left an old lady lives, She would have a bowl full of sweets ready, I will go and ring her bell, she would say “KHULA HAI” (its open).. Then a crisp 100Rs note and a bowl of sweets and TONS AND TONS OF WISHES, blessings…

The neighbours on the right now this is a tussle, because they have two sons, a year younger than me , the tussle is no one wants to go first because its POLITICS .. Yes … religion main bhi POLITICS hai (even religion has politics)… look the ones who go first will get money so the other set of parents will have to match it… So it’s always hoping they go first so we can tell my dad to give bit more to them… hence we get the same when we go to their house… Yeah you see POLITICS works everywhere 🙂

The house right opposite us, were one of those misers too, hardly saw lights on in that house, I think the owners were in states, only a caretaker was there.. So nothing from there…

By then it would be college time, oh yes holiday-no holiday, festival – no festival, College is a must… and why not cause everyone in the group will be there so meeting up time, meet up then the planning starts how to go about celebrating it, first sukhi’s , then vikrams, then mine and so on.. Evening comes we go for a gedi first in different parts of the city people have organized things, visit them have some fun… a few drinks here and there… Then reach home, Dad always had a big BIG pile of wood… (On second thoughts I think that’s why he did not give money he is saving all that to buy all this wood, or ordering the poor maali (gardener) to break some from the trees 🙂 ah well Now I know )

Lit the fire, have the dholi beat the dhol… dance around the fire eat the sweets The gachaks, Rewadi’s , nuts , next door neighbours would come a few other friends make a night out of it .. Dancing- singing … then once exhausted just sit around the fire till late in night just chatting…

Oh Sunder mundriye hoye!
Tera kaun wicahara hoye!
Dullah bhatti walla hoye!
Dullahe di dhee vyayae hoye!
Ser shakkar payee hoye!

HAPPY LOHRI EVERYONE…. Have a blast .. EAT – DRINK and BE MERRY… Enjoy

HAPPY LOHRI . and dont forget my LOHRI… ..

Ps:- This is a repost with a few changes.

Dreams- Wishes- HomeComing

I  have been living in a city and studied in a city for majority of the times but my heart has always been from where we came.  My grand-father had actually run away from his house when only 16 and joined the indian army as a sepoy, he with his hard work had risen to the ranks of an officer by the time he retired, did all his education along, After he left army he joined the public services and shifted to chandigarh. Since my childhood I have been very very close to my grand-dad. He would never say no to me ever for anything.

We use to talk to each other a lot , and he would tell me that in all his struggle to cater for his kids and build a home he had sold off his share of land back home in punjab, but he had always wanted to have something , I use to tease him that he is in such a strong position , all the ministers etc use to come to our house for some work of the other , I would say all he needs is to ask any of these ministers to make sure that he gets this and that .. for whatever work he was doing for them. But I would get a rebuke he would get so angry with me. Telling me that all his life he has lived on his salary , all that he has made is from his own sweat and hard work, and in our great nation it is very difficult to make money till you sell your morality.

I am not saying that one can’t make or have a rich life without being corrupt , there are many who have done wonders, maybe my grand-dad never got that opportunity , although he did make little property in chandigarh as the prices then were peanuts and the Govt. was actually giving away land for peanuts just to make sure chandigarh as a city developed. Look at it now it is so hard to find a vacant place and everything is in Crores now .

My father too worked hard to make sure we had everything we wanted as we were growing up

Well I came to uk and I started building my life,  always had this in the back of my mind to try to go back to the place where my forefathers had lived, Had been working on this idea for a long long time.. Finally today another dream came true, that of owning a house in the same place where my grand-father had sold his share and moved out , Today 11th december was a good day , We are owners of a 3 bedroom house , the registry and everything went through fine, and what a relief it was.

When I got a call from my Mama Ji (my mom’s brother)  to tell me that the paperwork has gone through fine. It was a good feeling, so now all that remains is me booking my tickets and go there and actually be in the place and make it into a home.

They say we come to know about who the true friends are in time of need, I had to get together a lot of money in a very short time but thankfully we are blessed by some very good friends who came out and have helped me in the best way they could, And some helped without even me asking they knew  there will be need of money , and I did not want to take any loans etc for the reason, they all contributed and we had the full sum, that had to be paid.

December seems to have been a good month for me , 400th post and today this news , It seems god is happy with me.  I know I have some land and house etc , but they are like what my father bought and earned , so this is the first one that I own and it is a good feeling to own something of your own.

I know every one of you has been wishing me well and blessed me with the best of the wishes always, so please be like that always and thank you for the wishes they seem to be working for me.  I will post some pictures and all soon once I lay my hands on them myself. Actually to be truthful I have not even seen this house, my relatives back home had gone to see this and I talked to my Mama ji who said it was an ideal place and in a good location , so we went for it …

He made a remark that you have come back home, The place where the “MANN’S ” had settled earlier after independence,  Then they all moved out to greener pastures and I was going to go back to the place .. It was indeed a homecoming or will be once I land there.

Please everyone do keep me in your wishes and prayers.

Another thing has been ticked in the TO DO List

2012 has been so great.

Whack , Chapped, Lappad, Thappad, Chanta, Ghasun, Mukka,

Long time back there was a contest, it was funny , You had to write some incidents where by you wanted to Whack or slap someone , it has got me thinking of all those incidents that have taken place , Now when I think they turn out to be a bit funny, but when they happened they were surely WHACK WHAM thoughts … What we did after the incident how we coped is strange then how we would now…

Baraat:-  My friend’s wedding. He had invited his college friends and work mates, It was a Hindu wedding scheduled for night, as we made way for hall dancing having fun in front of baraat, one of his work colleagues was burning crackers

I asked him very politely “Can I have a Patakha (cracker) “ he gave me one

I then asked Can I have a light , he replied in Haryanvi “Light to hum na deven” (wont give you the light)

I mean WTF I wanted to whack this person so hard. What sort of answer is this ?
Lucky for him Someone gave me a light.

Being in a Group:-
We were watching a movie in KC cinema Chandigarh Dirty harry, about 15-20 in group, for some reason as the movie finished a person from our group got up and slapped the guy sitting in the front row.

I remember getting so angry, I wanted to hit the living daylights out of him, lucky for my best friends took me away.
How can you do this, without any reason just slap a person, Why do some people get so bold when in a group while usually they are scary cats.. I hate people who take advantage of being in a group… it doesn’t make them brave, just shows how pathetic they are…

Colour of Skin: – On job we were driving on high street, I saw two guys bend over a car, doing something to a number plate, I stopped the car, got out, on seeing me they walked off.

I made them stop, asked what they were doing with the number plate of the car. One big bloke replies nothing. I told the guy that I saw them.

To my utter disgust he replied “SO, is it because of colour of my skin”

AAAAH wish I was not at work… would have whacked him, I hate people who use this Racism excuse… Since I could not whack him I told him “Well for your information you are Indian, I am Indian where the hell colour of skin come into it…”

Bribes: – At Delhi Airport, flight was four hours late, I was tired, sleepy and HOT. Standing in queue when my turn came the immigration officer took passport, twiggled around it, this page that page, scanned under UV, checked the picture few times.
I made a silly remark on the picture saying “I was handsome like that once “. He did not like it, he turned my passport puts it aside, asked me to step aside and wait.

Calls in 2 -3 people all white people, without a question “hello sir” “Welcome to India Sir”… all the niceties, stamps there passport off they go…

A bit later a person comes asking me what’s the matter, “ I have no clue mate”
On seeing the scotch bottles in my Duty-Free bag, “Sahib ko Ek offer kar do, jaane denge”.  (offer a bottle to the officer, he will let you go) I was aghast .. Took out my ID card shoved it up his face and Said “Get your sahib to call his Bigger sahib to have a word with me “.

I went mad I told them I am going to report if I see that officer again he is going to get a SLAP on his face… HOW ATROCIOUS can it be … Suddenly I got a VIP treatment…?

HORNS: – I wish One day I can just get out , walk to the car behind mine, get the driver out and WHACK them… then ask them… “Why are you so adamant on blowing the HORN”.

I mean it’s a busy intersection, a set of lights facing you has a big RED LIGHT on… which in every sense means STOP… So I am stopped … waiting for it to turn green… which means GO… when it turns green I will go.
Why is it that people in their cars, behind you start to blow the horn when they know and SEE the red light… common sense says that I can-not drive my car… So what’s the use of blowing the horn…?

It makes me so angry… I would whack everyone…

So what do you think are your WHACK THEM.. stories 🙂

Got it – Dreams come true – God is great

Right from the last almost two weeks I have been trying to keep it hidden, But today is the day when I can Finally say I GOT IT.. as of 1st april I shall be transferred over to a department which I have been longing to do for the last 4 years (will start work on 16th april over there).

As with the line of work I can’t disclose what it is , I am sure many of you would have already guessed it.

Due to the some of the problems I had two years ago ( The time when I should have actually got this) , I ended up messing up everything thanks to the person who put me into that SHITE at that time.  Life is funny but I do think that if one pursues what one wants with all heart and hard work  you can achieve what you want, Even if  other people (especially the ones who say they care for you and love you) do their best to ruin it for you. 

But anyway Thanks to THE ONE, for putting me through this, hope you realise one day what you have done, I also wish and pray that God DOESNOT give you the opportunity to Repent it too.

Hard work always pays , maybe late but it does pay, No matter how much, people do their best to make your life miserable and leave you standing alone knowing pretty well that they have let you down or MAYBE doing it deliberately at that precise moment was their sole Motive … BUT that has gone , Bad times have gone waving way to good times fingers crossed..

So Let me take this opportunity today to thank god almighty, Family and Friends who stood by me when the times were not good, to all the beautiful – lovely people who visit this blog. Making me smile all the time

A special Thank you to the one who listened to my Rants, Enquiring about me when I did not even know them properly , telling me all will be fine, You know Who you are. (let me be Sarcastic here , even though you don’t come to my blog often or comment in spite of me harassing you he he he he 🙂  )

Put it this way ladies and gentleman that all those whom I keep saying come to uk,  Let me say this to you that if you land near where I live, I might just be standing at the door of the plane to receive you If  I am working that day 🙂

I need all your best wishes and prayers please, So do send them my way, I need them all.

and shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  Keep it hush… 🙂