Expression and impression

25/6/2016

Expression is an important thing, and how we express is even more important. As I was growing up I used to believe in a thousand things about the world, and sadly most of them were proved wrong by the world with time. Sometimes life gets frustrating, but one’s got to persevere with that. Work, passions and hobbies are the beautiful things that help us in coping with a boring adult life.

Everybody’s life is not boring and I realize that, but mine is, because I am not a people’s person. I like a very few people and if they are not there I prefer my own company. When I was little I had a passion for comics. My grandfather used to take me to a shop called Chatterjee and sons where I used to get great Hindi comics.

Comics were one of the tools my grandfather used to inculcate a habit of reading in me. A mode of expression, both in language and art, comics is one best mediums you can use to incite that hunger for knowledge in your children.

Good comics are rare these days, and in Hindi even more so. But I was lucky to have been born before the advent of the internet. I read a lot, a lot of comics and then I graduated to children’s books. Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn were my constant companions during my childhood days, and so was Harry Potter. Harry Potter almost grew along with me, and was my favorite character at that time. Now my favorite character in Harry Potter is Snape. I guess this is how life changes you.

My late teens saw the introduction of darker versions of Harry Potter and at around the same time I started reading darker stuff.

During my college days I read Chuck Palahniuk and despite him being a controversial writer, I couldn’t falsify his life views.

The classics such as Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Kafka give a great insight into humanity, and sadly for me I couldn’t appreciate those insights as much as I appreciate these great men.

Books are great friends, and for some, their best friends. They are a marvellous form of human expression. And expression is important, but before that, a right impression is almost a necessity.

हृदय की पीड़ा छुपाये
कांटो भरी राह पर
वह चलता रहा।
कुछ पल रुका अवश्य
पेड़ की छांव में सुस्ताने के लिए
पर फिर चल पड़ा।
रास्ता कठिन था,
राह में कांटे थे
पर वो चलता रहा
अपने हृदय की पीड़ा छुपाये।

Winter vacation of 2017

Jan 5, 2018

I had a successful Rajasthan trip from 23rd to 29th of December. I was in the train on 21st and reached Hapur in the morning of 22nd December where Papa and brother had come to receive us and take us to Meerut home. I left for Gurgaon on 23rd morning from where me and my friends left for Rajasthan at around 10 in the morning.

We drove, crossing Jaipur and finally reached Pushkar in the evening. In the evening We searched for hotels and finally got a decent one to spend our night in.

We stayed in Pushkar that night as we were tired and decided to leave for Jaisalmer the next day.

The very next day we left for Jaisalmer and reached there in the evening. Here, we did a Jeep Safari and Camel Safari at night. We spent that night in the car itself, deciding to rent a tent in the morning. In the morning we searched for camping places and finally found out a place and rented a tent. Our car got stuck in the sand but after much effort it finally came out of it. We stayed in the tent until evening, and then went out to enjoy the cultural programs organized by the organizers of the camp. After the cultural program we returned and talked and played games, watched the movie Border before we went to sleep. 

In the morning we went to the Jaisalmer city to see the forts and the markets and spend some time in the city. 

After spending some time in the Jaisalmer city got on the road again and decided to go to Mount Abu. We drove whole day and reached Mount Abu in the night where we booked a hotel, and had maggi, tea and aloo paratha at a roadside shop. We spent our night at the hotel and then in the morning after a breakfast of maggi and tea decided to explore Mount Abu.

We spent some time exploring came back in the evening and then after sometime went to the Lake and after that had a meal of Biryani. Next day, we started our journey back to home, and stopped at Pushkar again for the night. 

Next day, we started from Pushkar back to home. At around 9 or 10 we were back in Gurgaon. I left Gurgaon the next day to come to Meerut and there was already a plan to go to Kotdwar to visit the Siddhbali temple decided. On 31st we left home at around 10 o clock for Kotdwar, reached there around the afternoon and did the darshan. We returned by the evening and it was the new years eve. I spent the first day of the year in the comfort of home and then boarded the train to Benaras on 2nd to reach in the morning of 3rd January 2018.

Don't run

A man can bend
To his circumstances
Or shall fight against them
Fate gives no chances
But to fight is honour

Cowards run away
From their fate
But reach nowhere
Because you can't run
From your own Destiny

Fight till you crack
Or until you bend
But don't run
Because you may choose to run
But it won't take you anywhere

Jay 2

When Shakti and Laxmi picked up Jay from Cafe Coronary and brought him here Jay was mostly curious. He lived alone in a 2BHK apartment in IP city. It was like going on a holiday for him.
After Laxmi and Shakti convinced him he sat in the white sedan and came to Himachal. University was in a valley surrounded by dense trees. When he first arrived he was stunned with the natural beauty that surrounded him.
He met the professor, the head of the institution and of the university. After Bhaskar Mukherjee he was the third professor who was in charge of the university, the vice-chancellor of the university and also the responsible for the Ashtabhuj operations.
He met Dr. Rajesh who was a physicist and head of the Ashtabhuj operation team. The members of the Ashtabhuj operations team were spread throughout India. They were called for various missions according to their skill sets. 

Jay

It was a chilly morning but the fireplace had kept the room warm. It was snowing outside. Jay got out from the bed and made himself coffee. Holding the coffee mug in his hand he looked out of the window to see everything covered in a white, thick layer of snow.
Two years ago Laxmi and Shakti came to Cafe Coronary to bring him here, to the Campus. After one year of intense training he started working for the University, and it became his home, this 1BHK apartment at the University campus.
During his training period he made friends with Prithvi and Ali. Ali was posted in Delhi while Prithvi decided to live in a nearby town Kalpa where he did organic farming and solved cases for his clients. He came to university only when he was required.
Jay sipped his coffee and thought about what all had happened in past two years. After Dhaima passed away, he and Totto had lost everything. Totto was 3 years older to him.  He lived  alone and played in a death metal band called Mrityu. Totto lived nearby and came often. After he left IP City, Totto opened a small gift shop in IP city and called him regularly.
In these two years Jay's world view had completely changed. World was not what he believed it to be. First one year of strict training and then missions assigned by the university. Life had changed so much since then.
When his parents died in a car crash, he had moved to IP city. Money was never a problem for him because his parents left a fortune with Dhaima for taking care of him.
After moving to the Campus he had been busy with the missions the university assigned him. It was a fight between two rivaling organizations, and he was with the university. 

Story of Ashtbhuj

1920 India: Colonel James Smith and archeologist Dr. Bhaskar Mukherjee were at the excavation site in United Province. The workers had found a chest and an old statue which had eight arms. Dr. Norah Adams who was a specialist in linguistics and ancient Indian language had accompanied them to the site. The statue was of an old god, much before any other known civilization.
Dr. Mukherjee was thrilled and so were Colonel Smith and Dr. Adams. The chest contained manuscripts in an ancient language which could only be read by Dr. Adams.
The workers were still busy digging. Dr Mukherjee, Dr. Adams and Colonel Smith were in the tent discussing about the manuscripts when they heard a noise and a call from outside.
A treasure had been discovered, huge amounts of gold, jewels and ornaments were found by the excavation workers.
Colonel Smith ordered his officers to guard the treasure. The day had been a success. A whole new civilization had been discovered. A civilization which existed but no one knew anything about.
Dr. Adams and Dr. Mukherjee were excited about the manuscript so they headed back to the tent to decipher the manuscript. Colonel followed them.
In the tent Dr. Adams started to decipher the manuscripts.
"It is not easy to decipher the language but they have hieroglyphics which tell that the eight-handed statue was made from a stone which fell from the sky, and it gives powers to a person who owns it." Dr. Adams said to Dr. Mukherjee.
Colonel Smith who was listening to her quietly asked, "Do you really believe that?"
"Of course not, but it is difficult to deny anything without a proof; this is the reason we have not been able to deny God." Dr Adams said.
"Until today we didn't even know that such a civilization was buried under the earth, had a farmer not found an artefact, we wouldn't have been able to know it ever", said Dr. Mukherjee.
Colonel agreed to both of them. "The government will be very happy on our discovery, especially the treasure," he said.