Alas! It's too Late

This story is set during 1940s decade. Dharini was sitting in her courtyard day-dreaming. The courtyard was lit up with lights, the flowers were spreading its fragrance and the aroma of the freshly-made samosas was filling the courtyard with a pleasant evening smell. The house had been cleaned up and the people in the house were running around in urgency & shouting out instructions to each other.

“Dhariniiii, check if you need any last minute touch-up. They will be here any moment” shouted her mom from the kitchen. But Dharini was lost in her own thoughts and imagining as to how would the guy look? Will he be tall, fair, or have a good job or be romantic? She was too engrossed to pay heed to her mother’s remainders. Being a rich girl and educated in a convent school, Dharini was excited to meet the guy to check if he matched her expectations.

Finally, an hour later the guy and his parents arrived. Dharini’s mom ushered her into the room and ensconced her in front of the guy’s family. A nervous Dharini, with her pallu pulled over her eyes was smiling when her mother said that the guy belongs to a well-to-do family. She thought she now did not have to compromise on her standard of living after marriage. The guy’s parents demanded to see the girl’s face and when the veil was pulled off her head, Dharini was disappointed to see Bakul - a short and stout guy with dark complexion and thick dark circles that made him look like a panda. However, it was love at first sight for Bakul. Since the girls were not allowed to decide in those days, Dharini was married off to Bakul without knowing her wish.

Post-marriage, Bakul started gifting Dharini with a hand-made doll made with a rolled-up paper every day. Though it seemed strange, Dharini remained silent but never bothered to give the doll a careful look. She just tossed them into her cupboard without even noticing it. Though Bakul was very loving and good guy by heart, Dharini could not come over the fact that she being a beautiful girl, she was married off to an ugly, uneducated, school dropout village brut who could not even manage to speak English. As the days passed, she realized that Bakul’s mother had the final say in the house and no one dared to disrespect her decisions. Bakul was so enchanted by his love for his mother that he did not realize that Dharini was going farther and farther from him. She felt that his mother dominated him because of which he could not come up in life or take his own decisions. He was totally crippled without his mother when it came to decision-making. He was so busy running errands for his mother that it left no time for the couple to spend time together and get to know each other. One day, when things got out of control, Dharini tried to explain to Bakul that his mother’s constant interference was causing discomfort in the house and she could no longer take and to add fuel to the fire Bakul was a BIG ZERO in the romance department.

Bakul continued to shower the same kind of love to his mother but started giving Dharini her share of attention and things started warming-up between them. They had just started falling in love with each other when Bakul passed away because of a snake-bite. Dharini’s life became empty now. After spending two months like a crazy person, she took out the dolls. Those were the only gifts he left for her since the day they got together. She started counting the dolls. She then slowly started unwrapping the paper dolls and found that there was a letter on each paper/doll. The letters said how happy Bakul was to have Dharini as his wife and how he understood that she was feeling uncomfortable that she was sidelined in terms of attention. Some of the letters had questions to be answered. Dharini now understood as to why Bakul sometimes looked lost in front of her. He expected the answers from her but…

When she unwrapped the last doll, she was surprised to see I LOVE YOU in bold letters on top of the letter. This letter had some surprises in store for Dharini:

• He was trying to learn English secretly so that Dharini didn’t feel ashamed to hang-out with him in public
• He had made efforts to be romantic and learned to say I LOVE U from his friend but never had the courage to say it with Dharini’s cold reactions towards him
• In the letter he said sorry for being totally dependant on his mother and not giving her enough attention even though he understood what Dharini was going through
• In the end, he mentioned that he had bought a house for them without telling his mom and Dharini did not have to tolerate her mum-in-law’s constant interference and finding faults. He said it was A GIFT TO HIS WIFE. Now they could live happily in that house and start their own family

Fainted! Dharini collapsed on the floor. Finally her husband’s death had taken a toll on her and the fact that she read those letters but it was too late.

Chota Venice - Holland

Mein aur meri tanhayi aksar ye baatein karte hai (to my sapno ki nagri – Bambai), ke tum yun hoti toh aisa hota, tum yun hoti toh waisa hota. But real life mein (back from my dreamworld) kuch bhi nahi hota.

Before this phrase adds some more fodder to your already corrupt brain, let me take you through this tour.

This Wow! Effect belongs to Giethoorn, a small town in Holland. It is also well known as "Venice of the Netherlands”. It was founded in 1230 by a group of fugitives. The specialty of this village is that it has no roads - bad news to the automotive-addicts.

All the transportations are done by boats. Yes you read it right. In place of roads, there are water canals and with the help of 'punters' (typical boats from Giethoorn) you can go from iss paar to uss paar. Offlate they have also introduced cycling tracks next to the water canals.

Imagine – You are going to meet a friend of yours. You come out of the house and instead of hailing a rickshaw or a passing taxi; you hail a passing by boat to reach your friend’s house. Exciting!!!

Marnese pehle meri aakhri iccha – Someone please sponsor my trip to this place

Hippies’ Haven - Trip to Goa

Goa!!! Here I come. After 14 hours long stuffy bus ride and fives bags filled with my puke:), we finally reached Goa on 20^th May 2010. Oh I forgot to introduce. We matlab me and my other tanhayees - Suyash, Manish, Wendy and Ravi.

After checking-in to our hotel, we splashed straight to the in-house pool for some full-body hydration. We bonded over a game of water volleyball and some under water breath controlling race (surprisingly I won even against the boys). After some unsuccessful attempts in teaching swimming to the girls, the boys succumbed to the pressures of necessity-for-stomach syndrome. Bhukkhads. Damn! I could have competed in the CWG in Delhi :(. Anyways without wasting any further time, we freshened up and headed towards Brittos for a lavish brunch. The view was straight out of my dreams – eating delicious food with beaches and water as a backdrop. Bachpan have had panipuri and bhelpuri in Juhu beach with human feaces and dog shit as extra design to the already clean beach (sarcasm to be noted!).

Once done we stepped out to Baga beach, collected shells, took pictures, and all of us got the same tattoo done one our arms. Team Spirit!!! After loitering around for some more time, we headed towards our rooms, again did some keedas and got ready for a late night party to Tito’s (famous club in North Goa). We danced the entire night to our glory. Day 1 ended.

Next day we got up on time for breakfast, filled our stomachs and headed for Infantaria café for a brunch. Post which we headed for the Basilica of Bom Jesus church. The church was enormously huge. We also had a peek at the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier. We dawdled around the town on our hired bikes, shopped for clothes and sea shells and headed for a nice dinner at Britto’s. Days 2 ended.

Our last day in Goa arrived. We had an early start for Calangute beach. And here we had our fun of our lives. We did jet skiing, banana ride, Water scooters and Parasailing. Now came the best part of the fun. The gang decided to just dive into the mid-sea with just our life jackets on and no one around for help. We dived into the water, floated for sometime waiting for a boat to arrive to take us to the shore. While heading back towards the shore; we again jumped into the water and swam to the shore, Boy that was fun! With our tummies ticking for food we went to Infantaria for a brunch and beer session. Took some rest and set out for Morjim beach. Played games on the silver sand, did some dryfruits shopping and headed for a sumptuous dinner of togetherness. Last day in Goa comes to an end.

Nest day we catch an early morning flight and head back to our office :(

A bike ride to a blissful journey

A famous Bollywood film stated that 'it’s easy to find a partner in your best friend but not too easy to find a best friend in your partner'. However, Ambika was lucky to find a best friend and a life-partner in Karan. Karan and Ambika had lot of things in common which made it easier for them to get along well with each other like a house on fire.

They both met at a social event for the first time. Though Ambika was outspoken and made friends easily, it took time for them to befriend each other all thanks to Karan being an introvert. Time passed-by and gradually phone numbers were exchanged and thus their road to discovering each other started. They used to chat for hours over the phone without realizing the time.

And one day a common group of friends decided to go for a stay-over jaunt. Karan and Ambika had best of fun during this trip with ganging up against each other, pouring water over their sleeping friends, applying toothpaste on their face etc. They were inseparable through out this trip. The trip not only got them together but also made them the best of friends. In spite of developing a fondness for Karan, Ambika did not take it too seriously without realizing that Karan had already fell in love with her. Two days after coming back from the trip, it happened to be a common friend’s birthday. So couple of friends decided to go to Marine drive for a late-night bike ride. Ambika joined Karan on the pillion and thus the love-struck Roadies set out for their bike ride.

It was exactly 12.00 midnight, cool air was blowing on their face, empty roads with Queen’s necklace (Marine Drive) in the background, and Karan popped up the million dollar question to Ambika leaving her astounded. It was the most romantic & beautiful idea of proposal any girl could have asked for. The bike was whirring past the clear roads, ripping apart the cool breeze with strings of street lights lit up and Karan saw a blushing pillion rider through his rear view mirror. Ambika could not stop smiling that night. It was the most beautiful moment she had experienced. But the happily-ever-after is yet to come.

Ambika was recuperating from a bad past and was not ready for a new commitment. Hence she kept rejecting Karan’s proposal as she had by now made up her mind to be single. It took Karan almost a month of patient persuasion to get Ambika accept the proposal. Life went on well thereafter with Karan and Ambika still being more of best-friends than a couple. They hardly fought and even if they did, the fight hardly lasted for an hour. Karan was the sweetest and perfect guy for the pursuit of a loving man. He dealt with Ambika’s bad temper and mood swings effortlessly. He was a romantic at heart and they both loved each other truly. Ambika was fond of dogs but was not allowed to have one at home. So Karan created a story of an imaginary puppy and they both used to talk about it everyday. Daily Karan used to describe about the pup’s antics to Ambika and she would burst into peals of laughter.

Few months later, Karan went abroad for further studies and Ambika got a new job offer in a new city. Life was going on good for them with Ambika giving enough space for Karan to enjoy his new life and showering him with her constant care. Karan also reciprocated her emotions by standing up for her during testing times. They decided to get married with their parents’ blessings after Karan got back from US.

It’s been 3 years now. Ambika is still waiting for her knight-in-shining armor to come on a horse back and take her away along with him. But Karan is nowhere to be seen. With mehendi on her hands and the rituals going in full swing, Ambika is hoping that her hero would make it on time to the wedding. Yes it’s their wedding tomorrow and Karan’s flight got delayed and hence the long wait only to live happily ever after.