Jornada del Muerto

"Different rail tracks merging and diverging from a single track,

  guards waving green torches, women working on the mustard fields,

  flock of swans sitting and suddenly flying off the watery fields, 

  smoke coming out from far off chimneys, boy raising sheep on the adjacent track,

  people waiting on cycles/bikes at the level-crossing waiting for the train to pass..!"

After three straight nighouts, Akash somehow managed to keep his eyelids open at 3 a.m. on that Saturday night. Working late night in front of a computer screen was not something very unusual for him. But searching for a place where he could find the true meaning of the questions surrounding his peaceful mind had really taken a toll out of him. The only satisfaction to him was the hope to seek the true meaning of those questions atleast, if the answers fail to satisfy him. 

After researching on the possible routes and arranging the tatkal train-tickets, he was all set for his ‘Jornada del Muerto’, the next morning. Finally, he was going to a town located in the Himalayas of Nepal. The town which is different from the world, the town where the average age is 60 years, the town where the weather remains snowy year around, the town where no language is spoken, the town where no God is worshiped. This town will be his home for the two weeks where he would be completely cut off from all forms of communication with any living being.

 It was unwonted for Akash to hit the gym after running a few miles and having breakfast in the morning but the-unknown curiosity and stress has made this a part of his daily schedule for a month.  After packing his backpack with a pair of jeans, t-shirts, a jacket, and two novels and his ipod, he somehow woke up his flat mate Vivek (who was so hungover after the-no-reason party to hardly remember if slept on or below the bed, last night) to apprise him with a perfect alibi for his next two weeks unavailability.

He took a private cab to reach the Gwalior railway station which was the jumping-off place for his Journey to the unknown.A contented smile was the only thing on his face after hearing the weird-female-voice announcement of his train's arrival. 

He boarded the train and slept like a rock for the next five hours to reach his first destination Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station.

P.S. : This is neither the beginning nor the end.
        *Jornada del Muerto : journey of the dead man

Cheers,
Shalabh

The Last..!

        It's just 15 days since we came back to college for the so called 'The Last Semester.'  A semester that is supposed to be the most happening, cheerful and never-to-be-forgotten one.

Already, the days when we have absolutely-nothing-to-do have begun. The days now include all day-long movies n series, evening and night hangouts exploring every local hotel / restaurant, very late night bakar sessions, sun-tanning, parties n parties, finding all sources to best utilize the last months in college, etc n etc.

Apart from the fun part, some strange feelings have been creeping deep inside me for the last many weeks..
 these include the solace in sharing interview experiences with friends, the happiness in the butt-swelling pain of bumps and the hugs after-getting-placed, misery in shattering of the dreams right in front of you, the agony in bidding goodbye to the friends leaving the college for the last time. 



Recently I had ,

The Last Goku's Birthday at IIITM...



 

 The Last New Year at IIITM...
      

Farewell to Friends... 

The Last Lohri at IIITM....

The Last Kite Fest at IIITM...

Also there is a happiness to start the professional career and become self dependent in a few months, a sense of responsibility towards family and self, an impulse to forsake the indolent attitude and become punctual is shadowing me..;)

Well, this was the story of last 2 weeks. A number of trips and moments yet to come.
I am sure the next three months will definitely be 'Terrific..'!


Cheers,
Shalabh

Effort, Foundation, Reward...

22/9/10, 3.08 am
"Every Creation Should be A Masterpiece"

The first question that strikes my mind after reading this status update of a friend is "Does a creator think the same while starting something? Or is  this  just an another piece of effort he is putting up?"
Even after the successful creation, would it lead to the glory of a Masterpiece or will it just be a fiasco ??
Should our dreams/ ambitions end up in something unique/something which is not done before?

Homer Hickman(high school student,Virginia), a character from the movie OCTOBER SKY dreams of creating a rocket after seeing the launch of SPUTNIK by USSR.For the residents of a small town where the coal mining was the only source of earning bread, the kids were also compelled  to follow the trail. Homer too was discouraged by his father, for the idea of creating rocket and to present it in a Science Exhibition. Despite of his serious efforts(with three other friends) to work out the Rocket model , he failed at several occasions. At the worst he had to give up everything and work in the coal mine to help his family after his father's accident. 
But a school teacher, who had a firm belief in the children motivated them to follow their dream. Finally their efforts resulted in working model and helped them in winning the scholarship for further studies.
And their model was really a MASTERPIECE.

Were Homer and his friends sure about their success right from the beginning ?? 

The answer is NO, moreover they never thought or had any feeling whether they'll fail or succeed. They just put as much efforts they could and finally it showed.

The creator cannot judge by himself  whether his creation is some Masterpiece or something ordinary.It is the satisfaction and the happiness that speaks for the creator, rest all depends on the so-called experts/judges to grade it.

"Sometimes one dream is enough to light up the whole sky"

P.S.  posting this after 8-9 months, who says I am lazy :P

Cheers,
Shalabh

Serendipity...!!

"Nirvaan has scribbled in your scrapbook ",
"Manak is your Yaar,join at Yaari",
"Udit Kumar- check out my facebook profile",
"Voicemail from Hemant",
"Lavish has sent you a private message",
"Scour.com invite from Abhimanyu Panwar",
"Akshay Tyagi 'feeling lonely' has written you a scrapbook entry"
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Udit, Navneet have sent you friend request"
"Piyush Singhal has invited you to join this community".
"Mayank wants to add you to his Netlog's friend list"


 This is what some of my earliest emails say.

I'm sure that some fates were already decided by that time, 

-: After scoring 340 marks in BITS, why would someone (Nirvaan) take admission in IIITM.

-: Why would a medical aspirant opt for Btech + MBA (Lavish )?

-: Why would me and manyu leave PEC (Elect.) ?

-: Why would the geniuses like (Piyush, Vikas) won't qualify JEE in their second attempt, (though I knw they didn't  prepare for it after coming to college).?

-: Who wouldn't have coveted Manipal's flowers and greeenery (Navneet).?

-: Who would like to quit the sizzling HINDU campus ? (Yudi )

-: Why someone(THE SACHIN) having research offers from MITS, OXFORD, HARVARD would would still prefer  IIITM. (I myself doubt the credibility of this very statement :P :P )

At that time,
#Did I expect that these aliens will eventually become my world and then my life?... NEVER.
#Did I imagine that each day will start seeing their faces (ugly though ;) ;)) and day will end only after spending a momentous time with them?.... NEVER


I never wondered
~Will there ever be a day without enjoying each other's 'bakar' ? :P
~Will there be any conversation not including a complement , at every 2nd word?
~Will there be times when the entire corridor couldn't sum up 10-20 Rs.(liquidity crunch: Newspaper and Milk incidents ) while at other times having party everyday and spending 4-5 Grands on a single dinner?

~How can there be days when everyone working 24 hours a day and still geared up?(Aurora,Infotsav)
~How can there be semesters, just listening to one song or not seeing Water Cooler even once ?(:P hehe)

~How can someone from 'villages' like CALCUTTA and NANITAL be so AMATEUR at FIFA and still up for a world cup at 4 am? (;) )
~How can ppl  stay in room for weeks to watch 8-9 movies a day or playing AOE/NFS for days continuously.

~How can someone fry 4-5 kg potaotes all night. (no names, what say khandel :P)
~How can one play with someone on the server as well as off the server (Goku was my fav player, and will always be. :D )


~How can someone be so calm but fun loving and artistic,fonder at the same time? Whether it be coding or movies or music(that too NOT in English or Hindi, Right... Quadra and Kalu?)
~How can ppl go to Agra or Fort at 3 in the morning and then have philosophical discussions there?

~How can ppl be alive sleeping 2-3 hours a day while some dying to take a nap again after sleeping 15-16 hours daily.
~How can ppl be on ANSHAN unintendidly (due to unforgetfulness or being too busy) 

~How can ppl sing(actually shouting or crying ;) ) all night in their hoarse voice (and me also accompanying to counterpoise them :D)
~How can one take 5 min for a single SNOOKER shot while few seconds to cover metres. ;)


~How can ppl be on Facebook whole day, not missing even a single 'like'?(In some cases,pics on TOI or records on cricinfo ;))
~How can ppl have their heads bowing to cellphones for the whole day and night?(and that too includes greeting someone at the door :D)

~How can one be so MASOOM yet so POWERFUL (I swear no PUN intended ;))
~How can one laugh and laugh and laugh, without a slightest impression of despair on the face ever.

~How can  a hostel room turns into a casino and stadium at times. (was it really Room no. 167 ;)) )
~How can one dare to enter the class 15 minutes before getting over and then marking at least 5-6 proxy..  

At that time,

I was also a juvenile to the 'PROPER' use of equipments like Fire Extinguisher in corridoor or water pipe or room freshners ;)

Also wasn't aware how useful and handy the hacks and bugs can be. ( MANAK,do i need to elaborate?  ;) )

(Didn't have other pic, hdd crashed)

These were my feelings and ambiguities few years back (at the time of receipt of the earliest emails, as mentioned above :P). But now I am quite insightful and know each one of those email sender better than they themselves do.

I just want the almighty Time to take a nap and let the next year equivalent to at least a decade .

Presently missing you all to hell, but this will not last.

P.S.- I didn't thought of writing all this, when I started. May be feelings and thoughts these days can be attributed to this.Not only the above mentioned people, but a lot others are also a notable part of my life.

Also, as this post is centered around a few people with whom I interacted most with in last couple of years, so many of you couldn't get some excerpts but definitely each and everyone of you must be having your own stories,emails :P and moments to share.
So just Cherish every moment and enjoy.

Life's Good.

Cheers,

Shalabh