Finally I acquired the courage and sent the email to my mentor "intimating my last day as a trainee in this company" (Subject courtesy and content editing : the one and only DRC) !!!
So; here at the end of the month June; as the faint monsoon drips ward off those evil sweats from your skin and decorate the tip of ur pilus with the diamond like faint yet intricate droplets from the heaven above ; I do bid my adieus to my friends @ Pune, the plethora of new acquaintances I've made here, my colleagues , my room-mates of 2 months' and above all the city itself. I know I've mostly criticized this city through-out most of my blogs but let me take this emotion drenched farewell opportunity to say a few (a lot rather) good things about this city and why I'd A-L-M-O-S-T considered the 2 summer months I've spent here to be my summer of ' 69.
These were my 1st proper 2 months completely , utterly , exclusively under the aegis of well, MYSELF. While for the 1st 2 weeks , I was too absorbed by the idea/ habit of being in a hostel (which eventually has turned out to be an extended family for me) life ; I began enjoying my stay alone in an unknown city once the miserable 1st 15 days were over. I knew the city pretty well by the and of the 1st week itself, courtesy my habit of aimlessly loitering around the unknown streets :)
So, here cometh the top five lists ( Author's gratitude to 'High Fidelity') :-
craziest things I've done in Pune:-
5> going to MTv stuntmania alone and and dancing to the tunes of AKON in-front of 1000 scandalized spectators !
4> The amazingly unplanned Thane trip
3> The trip to Raigarh which, inspite of being a fun one, turned out to be rather DAMP(pun intended ) and left me completely sleepless for, hold ur breath , 42 hours !!!( I must also mention here that the ropeway journey through the clouds, the beauty on the way and the eerie moonlight mountain paths while coming back left me mesmerized.)
2> The all girl bike trip to Sinhagarh
Anddd the top of the list , the unanimous winner obviously is
1> The DIVE_AGAR TURNED MURUD JANJIRA- ALIBAG TRIP.
Funtime I had here:-
5> The foodaholic(s)- Day out with Karan & Manpreet which used to mandatorily include "Cafe Good-Luck"
4> The ferris wheel trip at Manaranjor Nagar next to Deccan with 2 complete strangers who turned into friends in less than 5 minutes :)
3>The tour to Lonavla followed by mad chit-chat with Manisha (and I went to sinhagarh in the very next moring @ 6 after staying up till 2!)
2> The gregarious reception at Charu's place followed by my 1st lone hike to Lonavla
&
1> Mumbai- the friday-night (I guess I reached at 23.55 Hrs :) to Monday Afternoon Jam packed tour with all my dear friends
Breath-taking beauty:---
5> Chatursinghi Temple (It was a sunday I guess, and in-spite of the blazing heat, i loved that place but unfortunately Shanivarwada , where i ventured next, turned out to be quite disappointing though the stroll in Laxmi Rd was interesting and offer my eye with an unique yet diverse visual plater)
&
The serendipitous discovery of a point ,located at the backyard of my PG , from where almost the entire Pune can be seen.
4> Up and Above , courtesy a very old virtual friend of mine
3> Parvati temple :- both the trips there
2> Nariman point :- both with only Manisha & with 2MP(Manisha , Mangu & Prasanna) ;amp
And the winner?
1> Sunset from the Arabian sea , while coming back from Elephanta caves .
Pure Rush of Adrenaline :-
5> the Water scooti ride in some beach (can't remember the name) near Alibag
4> Back-Stroke at the Arabian ocean : -in Murud Janjira
3>Sun and moon standing at 180* in terabethia, the magical mountain of A.R.A.I , a land which inevitably reminded me of LOTR series !
Can't find anything else to add to the list .. were these 2months so less thrilling that i couldn't find an winner ? !! neway let's proceed to the next list.
NEW F-R-I-E-N-D-S / A-C-Q-U-A-I-N-T-A-N-C-E-S:-
5>Puja(My Room-mate Shailaja's Sis, the potential supermodel)
4>Dr Abdullah
3>Manpreet Rajpal
2>Kalpita Kshirsagar
1>Devayani Khare
And aboveeeee all of these , the biggest gain of all ,,, the winner amongst all these was a real quality time with myself..I absorbed the elixir out of each moment (please take a note: m NOT talking about my project or Professional life ) and i loved myself even more(if such a thing is indeed possible) for being capable of doing so!... I just hope to continue doing so after going back to B'lore as well provided it doesn't negatively affect by still nascent career tree.. So, 'BALANCE' is gonna be the keyword!
So, good bye Pune. The last one month of my 20th year and 1st 1 month of my 21st year were truly special thank to you. This had no doubt been the 1st summer of '69 of my life so far , I thank thee for it and hope many such are yet to come!
.....................................................................................
PS:- Top five things I'd miss about Pune:-
1>The food- the aroma of the cold coffee, sensation of mastani (@ Meridian ), taste of the Peshwari Paratha , tinge of the freshly made poha & the feel of the Bun Maska
2>Mountain in the backyard and breathtaking view from the terrace while swinging in the hammock
3>Lack of Traffic J-A-M
4>All Fun & No Work scenario where any week-day could have been turned into an week-end in a moment's notice!
5> Uninterrupted freedom of doing crazy things
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Worst Birthday Ever But... ... ...
So , it's official ... I've turned 21 and spent my worst birthday except probably for the day on which I actually was born . My umbilical cord conspired to strangle my throat and thus my entire birth process was not exactly what one would describe as hassle free. So, even before I was born , I started freaking out my kith and kin and probably I'd do the same even after my death !
Sometimes I do wonder why do we always wish the child ( that child might be 97 years old for all it matters) in her/ his birthday; don't u think that it's the mother who deserves the congratulations for her bravery to enter into a relationship from which she can never break up or get a divorce? And then there's the physical pain and sacrifices on the front of career , enjoyment and addiction !
I missed her badly yesterday ... on my 1st birthday away from home ... Even though I was overwhelmed by all the calls I got from all my friends and near & dear ones ; I Somehow felt a bit empty .. sometimes words are not enough .. I longed to see their faces , I longed to hug them and laugh at their PJs . The fact that there was no electricity in my PG and my cell was 90% discharged , even aggravated my blues ... But somehow I managed to sleep for an hour or so in-spite of the attack of a fleet of mosquitoes and my room-mate's sudden urge to put on make up at 2am in the night (honest to God she did that and then she took a bath .. I was feeling like I'd been transported to some ghost story's set) and I woke up fresher than a young green grass drenched with dew drops !
For the 1st time ever I went to office way earlier than the scheduled time and had a rather nice day. The lunch was good except for the most dreadful pina colada and believe it or not i treated 2 of my colleagues ! The phone rang from time to time to brighten up the rather dull Wednesday afternoon with warm & vibrant wishes and I especially enjoyed the 2 hour long talk with Oindrila (over phone of course ) where we kept on talking about exotic foods and excellent films ! And then it was 6.30 and I was torn between the choices of accompanying the aforementioned 2 colleagues of mine to "Good-Luck Cafe" , one of my most favorite eating joints of Pune located at F C Road and going to Pune station to meet a very old friend of mine. And I choose the later. I dont kno why . I guess i was feeling a bit like an emotional wreck, struck in a city I absolutely didn't yet became close to and a job I absolutely detested . I needed to be somewhere or with some-one which/ who feels like home... Now, I've a weird definition of home . I never considered it to be a place or a bunch of persons ... it always remained as an idea , something very vague and yet stunningly clear ... I am sure you've no idea of what i am talking about, neither do i! I guess i just wanted to spend the evening with someone i knew for quite some time and whom i considered to be not just a mere acquaintance , rather a friend . I am a single child and was always blessed with a huge number of friends. Most of them never forgot my birthday and never failed to make me crazy with all their enthusiastic plans to make the day special for me... I was missing them and even though I didn't expect anything remotely close to my normal birthdays , I just wished to be noticed . I was sick of being invisible ...
But that's exactly what happened ... I felt like as if i didn't exist .. i was feeling insulted and angry ... angry with myself for giving any1 the chance to ruin my special day. For all the readers of my blog , if u ever go to meet a friend of urs on his or her birthday , please do carry at least a small eclairs with u. No matter how indifferent and careless a person pretends to be, in some days of our lives we all long to be treated like a protagonist of the drama called life and we feel good to feel that our friends care for us ! I never miss a chance to wish people in their birthdays. Even if they are mere strangers . I find this day to be very special , just imagine if by any celestial conspiracy , this day was erased from earth ? How would the world be if you were just not there? In truth , it would go on just the same . Maybe nothing will change but then , we all like to think it'd make a difference .. We love to imagine that WE can make a difference ... So, i tried my best to play my part well .. ie , the part of a good samaritan, a perfect friend . I could understand the emotional upheaval this friend of mine was going through and i felt his need of having a media to vent them all out ... And i felt like a disposable coffee mug . Did u ever think how they might have felt ? those mugs? They feel the direct heat , the stain : actually all the bad things while they dont even get to or want to drink the coffee ... Actually , i was hungry .. I ate at 12.30 pm in the afternoon and it was almost 9pm and all I was doing was to try and maintain my poise ... I was too angry to even express my frustration . I was afraid that if i open up even a small lid of my heart , the accumulated depression which turned into rage , disgust and all the syndromes of emotional nausea would just break the dam of my mind and sweep off everything !
When i was in the bus , i called my landlady to inform her that i was at a friend's place and i'd be a bit late and will reach by 11pm .She behaved extremely rudely and advised me to stay outside @ "that friend's place" and i felt like if I could turn my anger into energy then the entire universe would blow up ... but funnily enough , i was not angry with any1 else,,, i just hated myself and kept on scolding myself badly ... You've no idea how bad you'll feel to rebuke urself on your own birthday .. But then, if u r on the verge of crying,,u can at least prevent urself from the embarrassment of that by erasing ur emptiness with ur anger. And then I returned to my PG (w/o procuring any food as i didn't have time ) and thankfully the exhaustion and hunger put me to sleep ...That was the best part of the day ..When i could feel the sleep fairy singing her lullaby to me!
I woke up at around 1am 2day by a call from that friend of mine who apologized for destroying my birthday..I wonder why they do that.. I mean u can never actually say : " yes u daft prick .. u did that , u were just not there when i needed you the most and i am disgusted that i ever let myself fall under the illusion that YOU could ever be a friend of mine "... so all I did was to smile and say : "That's what friends are for!" ... Of course he didn't understand my sarcasm ... few actually does !
PS. the "But" part : It does feel good to have the illusion of sacrificing a very special evening of yours for people you care for ... In the end of the day , you yourself can make you happy or sad .. thus I again got a lesson I always knew but of late forgotten : "I am my best friend and worst enemy " .. so it's convenient to for me to chose to be the former and I'd do that from now on!
Sometimes I do wonder why do we always wish the child ( that child might be 97 years old for all it matters) in her/ his birthday; don't u think that it's the mother who deserves the congratulations for her bravery to enter into a relationship from which she can never break up or get a divorce? And then there's the physical pain and sacrifices on the front of career , enjoyment and addiction !
I missed her badly yesterday ... on my 1st birthday away from home ... Even though I was overwhelmed by all the calls I got from all my friends and near & dear ones ; I Somehow felt a bit empty .. sometimes words are not enough .. I longed to see their faces , I longed to hug them and laugh at their PJs . The fact that there was no electricity in my PG and my cell was 90% discharged , even aggravated my blues ... But somehow I managed to sleep for an hour or so in-spite of the attack of a fleet of mosquitoes and my room-mate's sudden urge to put on make up at 2am in the night (honest to God she did that and then she took a bath .. I was feeling like I'd been transported to some ghost story's set) and I woke up fresher than a young green grass drenched with dew drops !
For the 1st time ever I went to office way earlier than the scheduled time and had a rather nice day. The lunch was good except for the most dreadful pina colada and believe it or not i treated 2 of my colleagues ! The phone rang from time to time to brighten up the rather dull Wednesday afternoon with warm & vibrant wishes and I especially enjoyed the 2 hour long talk with Oindrila (over phone of course ) where we kept on talking about exotic foods and excellent films ! And then it was 6.30 and I was torn between the choices of accompanying the aforementioned 2 colleagues of mine to "Good-Luck Cafe" , one of my most favorite eating joints of Pune located at F C Road and going to Pune station to meet a very old friend of mine. And I choose the later. I dont kno why . I guess i was feeling a bit like an emotional wreck, struck in a city I absolutely didn't yet became close to and a job I absolutely detested . I needed to be somewhere or with some-one which/ who feels like home... Now, I've a weird definition of home . I never considered it to be a place or a bunch of persons ... it always remained as an idea , something very vague and yet stunningly clear ... I am sure you've no idea of what i am talking about, neither do i! I guess i just wanted to spend the evening with someone i knew for quite some time and whom i considered to be not just a mere acquaintance , rather a friend . I am a single child and was always blessed with a huge number of friends. Most of them never forgot my birthday and never failed to make me crazy with all their enthusiastic plans to make the day special for me... I was missing them and even though I didn't expect anything remotely close to my normal birthdays , I just wished to be noticed . I was sick of being invisible ...
But that's exactly what happened ... I felt like as if i didn't exist .. i was feeling insulted and angry ... angry with myself for giving any1 the chance to ruin my special day. For all the readers of my blog , if u ever go to meet a friend of urs on his or her birthday , please do carry at least a small eclairs with u. No matter how indifferent and careless a person pretends to be, in some days of our lives we all long to be treated like a protagonist of the drama called life and we feel good to feel that our friends care for us ! I never miss a chance to wish people in their birthdays. Even if they are mere strangers . I find this day to be very special , just imagine if by any celestial conspiracy , this day was erased from earth ? How would the world be if you were just not there? In truth , it would go on just the same . Maybe nothing will change but then , we all like to think it'd make a difference .. We love to imagine that WE can make a difference ... So, i tried my best to play my part well .. ie , the part of a good samaritan, a perfect friend . I could understand the emotional upheaval this friend of mine was going through and i felt his need of having a media to vent them all out ... And i felt like a disposable coffee mug . Did u ever think how they might have felt ? those mugs? They feel the direct heat , the stain : actually all the bad things while they dont even get to or want to drink the coffee ... Actually , i was hungry .. I ate at 12.30 pm in the afternoon and it was almost 9pm and all I was doing was to try and maintain my poise ... I was too angry to even express my frustration . I was afraid that if i open up even a small lid of my heart , the accumulated depression which turned into rage , disgust and all the syndromes of emotional nausea would just break the dam of my mind and sweep off everything !
When i was in the bus , i called my landlady to inform her that i was at a friend's place and i'd be a bit late and will reach by 11pm .She behaved extremely rudely and advised me to stay outside @ "that friend's place" and i felt like if I could turn my anger into energy then the entire universe would blow up ... but funnily enough , i was not angry with any1 else,,, i just hated myself and kept on scolding myself badly ... You've no idea how bad you'll feel to rebuke urself on your own birthday .. But then, if u r on the verge of crying,,u can at least prevent urself from the embarrassment of that by erasing ur emptiness with ur anger. And then I returned to my PG (w/o procuring any food as i didn't have time ) and thankfully the exhaustion and hunger put me to sleep ...That was the best part of the day ..When i could feel the sleep fairy singing her lullaby to me!
I woke up at around 1am 2day by a call from that friend of mine who apologized for destroying my birthday..I wonder why they do that.. I mean u can never actually say : " yes u daft prick .. u did that , u were just not there when i needed you the most and i am disgusted that i ever let myself fall under the illusion that YOU could ever be a friend of mine "... so all I did was to smile and say : "That's what friends are for!" ... Of course he didn't understand my sarcasm ... few actually does !
PS. the "But" part : It does feel good to have the illusion of sacrificing a very special evening of yours for people you care for ... In the end of the day , you yourself can make you happy or sad .. thus I again got a lesson I always knew but of late forgotten : "I am my best friend and worst enemy " .. so it's convenient to for me to chose to be the former and I'd do that from now on!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)