11-11-17

I know its past that date now, But nevertheless I like to think about it , as it reminds me of Home..  India and My dad   He would celebrate my birthday every year , I was a grown up man but that did not stop him, he always made sure that on 11th Nov he had a few of my friends invited a few of his friends to celebrate, I remember his craze for Poori Cholle , he would always order them from Sindhi’s sector 17 Chandigarh) as my dad’s office was on top of their shop :),  that was one  dish Always on the menu on my birthdays.. along with  Samosa’s , Jalebi’s , and off course the CAKE.

One of my friends had an Aunt who made cakes on special orders, so the cake use to come from the aunt in Sector 18 Every-year, A BIG FRESH CREAM CAKE.

I remember the last time we had a celebration,  there was a guy playing the DHOL a few houses down the road and My uncle went and brought him over to play the Dhol suddenly it became a Dance party with everyone dancing to the Tune of the DHOL. What a beautiful HAPPY day it was ..

Sadly since I came to uk it never happened and I miss it, I guess we will never be able to get rid of that little kid in our hearts ever and now that my Dad is no more I doubt anyone will have the time or the energy to organize all that, so a Big Big Thank you to Dad for being so good and kind to me always, even though we sometimes did not meet eye to eye.

So this year too the 11th of the 11th came 🙂   Yes.. it was that day again today , when I was born, and the world had to be put in turmoil to endure me till I Live, whatever anyone might say I do feel that November is the best Month and the 11th is the best day.. Plus it has a nice ring to it 11th of the 11th ..

Although this year a little celebration happened from the 10th itself, I was meeting someone in the lovely buzzing city of London for lunch, it took a bit of an effort to find a restaurant at The SHARD, The name suggested it was a Chinese place , the name being “Shangri-La” but it was not :), although the views on the 35th floor were just awesome.

I was not impressed much with the food though but the company was lovely and I loved that ..  and I Got a gift too 🙂

11th started as usual till I saw my phone with so many messages , people wishing me and to read all that first thing in the morning is always a good feeling,  The only thing letting the day down was I was working 🙂  but hey ho it was not as if there was going to be a party in the evening 🙂

Thank you all for all the wishes, god bless you all.

With each passing year it seems the good old days are being left behind, fewer and fewer people remember each other but I guess that’s the way of the world these days..

This is a Short and Sweet Post for all who emailed me and texted me and Called me .. Love you all.. God bless you all. You all are the most beautiful people on this Earth not sure what have I done to deserve such good human beings around me ….

AND THOSE WHO HAVE FORGOTTEN .. well what can I say  🙂 …  Love you all.. God bless you all too . don’t worry 11-11-2018 is only 361 days away make sure you remember it then.  You too are the most beautiful people on this Earth not sure what have I done to deserve such good human beings around me, Stay blessed.

Week 8 :- Express Gratitude to 3 PPL

I have been wondering for a few days now what to say or HOW to express gratitude to those who have influenced me and my life, what words do I use that will do justice to the role they have had, Also how to chose the 3.

I have had a weird life so far, Life as we know has its ups and down, its these ups-downs that make life what it is LIFE and its these Ups and downs that actually make a person A good or a bad person. In all these situations there are people who stand by you or Stood by you, by the grace of God I am one of the luckiest person’s alive , I have had so many good human beings around me who have always helped me or stood by me through all the upheavals , So this is for all of them.

My GrandFather who always believed me whatever I said , even when I was giving him an eyewash to part with 10,000 Rs. so I could join a Computer institute just because girls were there, and a couple of my friends had joined. I cant forget ever how much you pampered me , if i got in trouble (which was often) all you would ask is Have I done something wrong, when I said “NO”, You believed me without a doubt and Stood by me always.

My parents  who again had to go through all the problems because of all the troubles I got myself into, the endless evenings they spent worrying if I will live after some incidents. I do repent doing what I did and maybe if you had not stood by me and shown me the right way I would not be what I am today.

I know I am not the best human being, I have my faults a lot of them. I have hurt so many people over the time, There are those who probably wish me dead and pray the worst for me, but then that I also believe is what makes us human, We are good for some – bad for others.

I wish I could undo what I did but sadly that is not possible, Life is not just weird, its FUNNY also because we end up hurting those who are dear to us , those whom we love the most, How can we be such idiots that we end up hurting them the most.

My friends I am most thankful to , and they deserve a big big gratitude for being with me always, in-spite of knowing what a bad human I am , still being there always, I want to name each one of you but its a LONG Longggggggggg list THANK YOU.

I know I have always said that I will be a friend and yet I have failed you many a times , to you all I also want to say SORRY for being a jerk like that.

I don’t want to mention a name BUT here I want to say to that one person whom I have hurt a LOT, I do wish I had not done what I did. You are the one who gave me unconditional love always and I let you down. I don’t even know how to express my gratitude to you for everything. Maybe someday I will have the courage to say sorry to you in person, maybe.. Maybe just maybe , I love you and will always do till the end of my life, God bless you and may you get all your hearts desires fulfilled.

The following lines Sum up everything in my life ..

Koi kami meri which hovegi kaiyan ton jhootha pai gaya main kaiyaan de man ton leh gaya main oh mere naal de age langh gaye ik ikalla hi piche reh gaya main Koi kami meri which hovegi

Something Lacks in ME FOR SURE Proven a Liar among others Fallen from many people’s grace Many have surpassed me Lone I stand behind Something Lacks in ME FOR SURE

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)

Week 6:-The city you live in

52 weeks of Gratitude .. Week 5 Says the title is “The city you live in”

I am not very sure with the topic here, because to me the current city I live in will never be as beautiful as to the CITY I am From, yes I have made my home in the city I live in currently but they do say home is where the heart is and my heart has always been in CHANDIGARH (the city beautiful), the moment I think of it I go on this nostalgic trip and why not almost all my youth was spent on the roads and by lanes of the beautiful city.

The first planned city to have been built-in india after independence, when i close my eyes all i can see are the beautiful roads covered with golden leaves especially as summer is coming. My heart jumps in excitement each time someone talks about this city, I have some beautiful memories. I did my schooling from a different city and in my 11th class I came back to Chandigarh, Took admission in Govt college for men and rest as they say is History. 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.

I have now left college and the CITY in search of new adventures, new roads, new ambitions.. but I 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.. 🙂

Chandigarh in those days was the “THE CITY” to be in, because of proper shopping centres , cafe’s, cinema halls, People from everywhere in the country would come to see the city, The gardens it had, Every now and then some sort of concert would be organised in the open places. The first ever Rock concert I went in my life was in the Chandigarh, I remember it was an english Concert and a Group had come from Bangalore, That was the first time I had heard the song “Tarzan Boy” 🙂 .. I know I have taken many of the readers long time backwards, we danced to that song all night long. Being nearer to Punjab it was quite common to have one of the Punjabi singers every now and then performing in the city.

Rose festival was the much awaited festival that was held in Rose garden all the beautiful girls of the city would come and we boys as usual behind them trying to impress them little did we know than that , That was not a way to impress a girl.

The rock garden another attraction that would attract so many in those days I am not sure how it is doing now, but then it was a meeting point for everyone, Sukhna lake was one place that I have a lot of memories , I use to go running early morning every-day, Sadly now I hear due to silting the water is not that deep anymore.

My best friends , the people who would smilingly stand shoulder to shoulder with me were introduced to me in this city, Babbar, Cherry,Ravi,vikram,Sood All of us became such good friends, I am so full of gratitude to the City Chandigarh because it was a stepping stone for me to come to where I am, Maybe if I had not come to this city after my 10th class I would not be here where I am now, but then who knows..

The famous Gedi route the road between the College for men and Girls, so much time was spent on that particular stretch of road. The beautiful girls who also obviously wanted to look at the boys walking up and down, and us on our vehicles trying to impress some, sadly the only things that happened was the wasting of petrol.

I am sure I can go on and on with so many memories , Experiences I have had in MY CITY, I can definitely say that I am who i am because of the city Chandigarh too.

I have some photographs of the city that I would love to share with everyone ..

Chandigarh Roads ..

Chandigarh

Night time.. Left here and third house 🙂

Home is at End of the Road

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 🙂

Friendship Day

Today is Friendship day, I am sure those who regularly visit me know that I become very nostalgic when it comes to friendship, by the grace of god I have made some very good friends all over. I am very proud of that. The following are my views on what I think about friendship, Let me take this opportunity Just want to say I love you all my friends and thanks for always being there .. and to all the new friends I have made here Online , Blogosphere. God bless you all

Internet has been a great tool, I have met so many people over it all over the world and I must say some of them have become very good friends, a few closer than family too.

Over this blog I met a few people some good, some OK, I wont say bad because I think , No one is bad they are good for someone if not you. Sometimes it makes me think that I am from a very old school, a school where patience, respect , love existed – nowadays I have seen it does not anymore..

Today we have become very unforgiving people. It may be an ethnic problem, or a community’s problem or a country’s, or in your relationships, with your wife, children, parents,Girl Friend, Friends, Acquaintances we get very very unforgiving and we hold that against them. Hold that Grudge for a long long time, We wear it as a badge which says ‘main tujhe kabhi maaf nahi karoonga’.

Everyone has a hidden agenda behind everything, It was not like this always people use to be so good, caring. The words they said meant something , people stood by there words.

Nowadays people are quick to make a relation, even quicker to spoil or break one. What they say is not what they mean. What would it take to go back to the good old days. I mean how can someone say oh we are friends then at next instant go behind your back , I mean what is friendship…

Dosti karo to Jam ke karo
Dushmani karo to woh bhi Jum ke karo
magar khyal itna rahe , ki fir agar Dosti ho
to Sharamindgi na ho….

I think this is where we have reached we have got so busy in our life that we have forgotten or forget what the effects of our actions will have on others, We have become so selfish, I ask god one thing always Please don’t make me so selfish, or careless, uncaring, heartless, Because I don’t know which action of mine might hurt someone, and to those who i have hurt , I am not sure how I will every be able to apologize to. I do hope that some day they can pardon me.

So

1. What is FRIENDSHIP/ FRIENDS ?.
2. Do we respect our FRIENDSHIP/ FRIENDS ?.

How do you show respect towards your friend, Or see if they respect you ?

Is SAYING That I RESPECT you same as SHOWING respect ?

To me a friend is who would stand by you, no matter what, right or wrong is something to think about after the need has got over.. A friend in need is a friend indeed that’s how we respect our friendship, Good friends stand by you Right or wrong.. That is not the criteria here at the moment.. The moment is that your friend needs you and You are there.. THAT TO ME IS FRIENDSHIP…

I feel that you respect it when you can Tell them how you feel and ask them how they feel directly, rather than assuming… Respect is shown when you See the whole world walk out and a few Walk IN FOR YOU.

Do people actually mean they are friends when they say they are, or are just making fun of you. If they are then why do they do it. Would they feel the same if this happened with them, or have they become so heartless that it does not bother them anymore. How can they go to sleep soundly, well now I am being a fool because they don’t even know what hurt they have caused.

People are impulsive and say things that hurt other people, they walk over others especially people whom they say are friends. And in all this process they loose friends, I am a bit of a dumbo it takes a bit of time for me to understand people are trying to ignore me , so it gets difficult to loose me :). Loosing a acquaintance or friend over trivial reason, a reason which is non existence. All I would say is such people will one day realize what they lost, by then it will be too late.

Now I have been wondering maybe I was wrong.

Was it that when they first talked to me it was for the sake of it ?

Was it that when they laughed with me at first it was for formality sake ?

Why are they like that, Why are people so selfish. OR AM I TOO NAIVE.. and STUPID and SILLY still thinking of them. It really pains me cause for me a relation is a relation.

Sometimes I wish i had the Ego or Impulse to severe my contact with people. I do pray to god to make me like them as that is the way of the world it seems Now-a-days.

Also how easy it is to Forget these days but more on that maybe some other day 🙂

Anyway today being friendship day Let me wish Please god take care of all my friends, foes, anyone I know .. God bless all and everyone …

Here is a little poem i wrote some time back, it is dedicated to everyone all who visit this blog , All who Think of me, All who Thought of me and All who at some stage were my friends 🙂 God bless you all..

PS:- Thank you for all the lovely wishes in the last post, I am yet to reply to the comments Will do that ASAP. Thank you 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

Holi – The festival of colours

After more than a decade , I finally got to be in a situation where I could be in India , in my home city at precisely the same moment when the festival of holi was to be celebrated, My Mama ji’s (maternal Uncle) daughter was getting married and she had managed to get me to promise her that I will be there in Punjab. The wedding was to be on 19th march in my Nana (maternal Grandfather) house, which is 5-6 hours from Chandigarh and if you go at my speed it could be done in 4 hours 30 minutes.. Since she was also going from Uk along with her Fiancée we all had only a few days to manage everything.

The ladies sangeet was to be on 16th and my flight to reach Chandigarh was on 15th and holi was on 17th , 18th was to be the day when girls side go to the boy’s side for the Shagun ceremony which was again to be in a village nearer to Amritsar, again a 5-6 hours journey, it was going to be a hectic schedule. My friends knew I was going to come and everyone was Like I had to make sure I would be with them on HOLI, so much so that some suggested to miss everything and be there, emails-phone calls , exchanged which involved a lot of swearing , shouting , but then it was fun thinking about it now.

So the journey began I landed at chandigarh airport to find my best matey Babbar at the airport, what I had not realised was he was not alone , a few others too turned up.. Cherry came, Sunjeet turned up from ambala, and my cousin Noni too turned up.

Fun time started from the airport itself, I had planned that I will leave by 3pm but one thing led to the other only to start for my village about 6pm in evening, the moment I left the city disaster struck, typical with me, things never go to plan , the rear tyre burst, “OH NO”, opened the boot to look for the spare to only find that the spare was also punctured, Not a good start at all.Thankfully there was a gentleman coming from the other side on his bike who gave Me and My punctured tyre a Lift, to a nearby village, I knocked on a house of the guy who fixes punctures stayed. He was kind enough to open and do the needful, after getting all that sorted I started off once again towards my village.

Thankfully nothing un-towards happened on the way other than the amount of phonecalls I was getting from my relatives , as according to them I was supposed to have reached home by 7pm NOT Started towards home at 7pm , One good thing happened the traffic seemed to ease out at night, which was good for me to get used to driving in India after so many many years soon I was back into INDIA MODE, zooming in and out, giving two hoots to the traffic coming from the right or the Red light on the way . The main roads were very good but as I went off the main road , it was chaos the BADAL Akali Govt. In all their wisdom suddenly decided to dug up all the village connecting roads , have their contractors put the raw material on the sides.. Election Gimmicks I guess to get votes, I was not happy god know how many times I abused these Govt officials.

Anyway to cut the Story short because this is supposed to be an article on the 17th March , I reached home about 2am, the bed had been laid for me , I met everyone , talked for a bit and off to Zzzzzzzz land. Next day we got busy in doing some work, the ladies sangeet started, and my phone would not stop ringing because everyone at Chandigarh was asking When am I starting, I had with lot of persuasion managed to make all my relatives aunty’s and uncles agree to the fact that I have to return.. The fun carried on till about 11pm where everyone started to pack up, and go to sleep , since the function was in the village it was just a family affair , come 11 pm I sat in my car and Zooomed back to Chandigarh, Reached Babbar’s house at approximately 4-5am in the morning. I was so damn tired I went to sleep ..

Early morning I was woken up to the sound of HORNSSSSSSSsss – LOUD MUSIC – TRUMPETS etc, kids were running around on the road outside, neighbours were putting color on each other It felt so fresh, I walked out of the house to be bombarded with Colour .. Rest of my friends started turning up , I was meeting them after more than a decade, everyone had changed so much, a few had got married , a few had become parents , some had lost their hair , It was fantabulos.

Whoever came to the house was targeted with color – water anything that came to hand

That is me filling the Bucket and making sure I put it all over Babbar .. 🙂

and he in return joined the kids to make sure , he has his revenge on ladies .. boooooooooooooo too him 🙂

We decided to go uphill for a picnic, The ladies did a wonderful job I must say with all the food, we men were responsible for the DRINKS 🙂 , started towards Morni hills on the way saw a lot of people enjoying the festival especially these girls , who were standing from inside the sunroof, singing their head off , drinking too which made them go louder and louder, but I guess the idea was to enjoy, they were surly enjoying, we enjoyed just watching them 🙂

Drove for sometime in the hills singing , dancing , on way found a little stream of water running , so stopped for our picnic, the kids in the group were having fun with me as their english chachu, couple of them were seeing me for the first time , so I guess they were all Ga Ga of a foreign returned Chachu.. they started to play with me

I also joined them in the fun and took them on in the battle of the Water …

When I was unable to control them , I had to do the MAN THING.. I had to take LAW in my hands and MAN-HANDLE the kids into submission and I WON.. yooooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooo , bring it on… KIDDO’s

yess , I took each one of them and dunked them in that stream MUUUU HA HA HA HA HA HA .. Bad chachu I guess

Food time came, ladies had prepared some delicious food, for the Foreign returned, making sure there was not much spices etc, as it was only my second day in india,I did not want to get sick , But saying that by then so much alcohol had gone inside that it would have been pretty Safe to eat anything .. as I am sure you all know that “Darooo peene se PEt ke saare Kide mar jaate hain”.. 🙂 he he he .. don’t ask me to translate that in English , it wont be funny then 🙂 .. but just for those who don’t understand hindi (Drinking Alcohol, kills all the germs in the stomach), see not funny at all ..

Food time

The Long walk back to the parked cars ..

The Whole gang well almost as a few left to find another place uphill to have coffee ..

Ended up on top of a hill where I in my tipsy mood had fun with the kids ..

HAPPY HOLI Guys, how did you celebrate yourssss…

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.

Funny.. Me thinking what I could- Part II

As promised in my previous article Me thinking what I could(click if you haven’t read it), If I am in my house feeling bored Sitting on my suite thinking

3. I thought I will go out to a pub meet some people, have a drink or two.. But hold on its Monday and too early to go to the pub (well for me it is its only 11AM in morning).. so I don’t think I would have found anyone in the pub.

Now on other hand If it was in my hometown.. I knew exactly what I would have done.. started my bike, MUM- I will be back in a minute or so .. (The Minute is this case finishes after 60 seconds but the SOOOOOOO continues tick tock tick tock ).. She would have said something , but the roar of the engine (I have a enfield) would have drowned the sound, ride to sector XX, take the left turn reach a house in middle , park the bike, open the gate , walk into the doorway, go to back of house, open the iron door, turn right , open another door into my friend sukhvir’s bedroom. ( he works on a night shift on monday and tuesday)

“Oh haan Mann, ki haal ”   – “hello Mann – How are you”
“theek thak, university chaliye” – “All right, Lets go to University” I would reply

No second thoughts..

He would get up, tie his turban, off we go.. Baba sehgal has been advertising his new brand of whiskey RITZ ( i am talking of 1990’s 3 or 4 )..and its the in thing, so on way we stop at THEKA, one half of Ritz, in the pocket it goes, ride to the sector 16, right in front of the cricket stadium a Juice wala is standing , we have a ACCOUNT with him.. he makes half a jug of orange juice with ice, we empty the half into it .. two big glasses
GULP GULP… and off we ride to the UNI..

The fresh air starts to do the trick, by the time we reach UNI gates we are a bit tipsy.. Go to law department, well behind the law department the canteen guy makes us fresh Samose and channa.. we have that .. soon a few others turn up.. and ITS A MEHFIL…

NOW GO ON BEAT THAT ……I can go into a friend’s house, without calling him first telling him I am on way, I don’t have to knock or ring the bell, telling who it is outside.. JUST walk in…

If Aunty is there then its good news cause then we get a nice cup of DUDH PATTI– (tea leaves in milk) with nice lovely sweet juicy Rusks.. and uncle ji would be working in this little kitchen garden, calling me showing me the lovely Carrots, cabbages , Spring onions , raddishes..

Hai bai mann ki haal chal hai  (Mann, How are you doing)

sab theek thak uncle, sat sri akal (All well Uncle, Regards)

and he would bless me with a few blessing hmmmmmmmmmm

Sadly in all these years , Uncle is no more But I know I will get the same love in that house always ..

UK SUCKS BIG TIME When it comes to relations-fun times ………