Wednesday, March 29, 2006
The Ice Candy Boy
The far end of Platform number 3 in Kacheguda was spotted with a good number of passengers who were waiting
for the door of the unreserved compartment to be opened. There was enough time for the Bangalore express to depart,
but people were already waiting in large numbers to get into the general compartment.
It was 6’O clock in the evening and the door was opened and within no time all the seats were occupied by the passengers.
I got myself into one of those single seats, keeping in my mind that I haven’t have to share it with anybody else.
The seat opposite to me was occupied by a boy, about 13 years old.
He was lean, had unkempt hair and wore dirty clothes. He kept spitting out of the window with an élan only few people can have.
He looked reckless and kept humming some peppy mass numbers from the tollywood.
“Ekkadki pothunnav anna?” was something I did not expect.
“Bangalore.” I replied in very short sentences in order not to continue the conversation.
“Poddunna enta timeki eltam aadki?” he kept the conversation going.
“Poddunna 7 avutundi” This time I replied more inattentively.
He had a worried look at his 30Rs electronic watch and bore an expression of calculating something.
The train left Kacheguda by 7’O Clock and the general compartment was already teeming with passengers.
A few of them settled in the aisle and a few others, who felt it rather undignified to do the same, tried to ask for a share in the seats.
I saw one such passenger, an obese 45 year old man, approaching my seat. I tried not to look at him, fearing that I have to share my seat with him.
The boy in my front did not think twice before offering his seat to him. I pitied the boy, for the man, almost occupied the whole seat.
The boy then slipped underneath the seats, to get himself into a sleep. He struggled to get any sleep as it was not so comfortable.
He returned into his first position, this time almost on the edge of the seat, for the man already occupied the whole seat.
I somehow felt bad on part of the boy, but he did not even have an iota of such feeling towards the man he shared the seat with.
“Ye oorra needi?’, The obese man queried the boy.
“Madi bengulooru. Nenu Hyderabad lo pani jesta” replied the boy.
“Yem panira?”, the old man continued.
“Ice cream ammuta saar.” The boy announced proudly.
“Yentostundira rojuki??” the old man kept asking questions like a lawyer.
“Rojuki yaabhai roopayalostai” the boy told him with a sheepish smile.
“Water bottles…aa water bottles..aa thanda thanda water bottles..” the water vendor managed to maneuver the crowd in the compartment,
shouting in a typical railway Jargon. I was not particularly impressed with his management skills but was forced to buy one water bottle for having not planned
to get my own bottle from home. The boy bought a bottle for himself.
“12 rs per liter”, I felt like cursing the finance minister for such outrageous price tags for commodities which we can’t live without.
“Babu, konchem neellu istava??” I was brought back into this world by some voice.
Before I could say yes or no, the Boy offered him, his bottle.
The train stopped at Mahbubnagar and they said that it won’t stop for more than 2 minutes. The train will not stop for the next 2 hours and anybody who had to have something for dinner had to quickly run along the platform and get some Tiffin. The boy wanted to eat something too. I agreed to get him something and managed to scurry across the platform to get us two plates of Idly.
I wan hungry enough to ignore the quality of the Idlies. It was when a few more people entered the bogie there were a few kids in them. The Ice candy boy ate one idly and when he saw the kids looking at the Idlies avariciously, offered them the rest.
I was shocked to see his action, because he knows that he will not get anything to eat for sometime.
Even after the obese man got down at Mahbubnagar, he did not stop offering his seat to the kids around him.
He chatted with them and joked around with everybody.
The boy smiled at every other person and shared whatever he had.
He did not think about anything beyond one day in future.
He did not complain peevishly about anything.
My opinions about the boy started to change rapidly.
I suddenly realized that we have to learn so many things from this young Ice candy boy.
He looked like a young Buddha to me.
He taught many of us who earn a 1000 times more than him and yet find it difficult to be happy for even one minute.
He taught many others who search for happiness everywhere else in the world, that it is within us.
He taught me the true meaning of life is to love everybody and to share whatever is possible for you.
I sincerely thank the Ice Candy boy for the lessons he taught.
for the door of the unreserved compartment to be opened. There was enough time for the Bangalore express to depart,
but people were already waiting in large numbers to get into the general compartment.
It was 6’O clock in the evening and the door was opened and within no time all the seats were occupied by the passengers.
I got myself into one of those single seats, keeping in my mind that I haven’t have to share it with anybody else.
The seat opposite to me was occupied by a boy, about 13 years old.
He was lean, had unkempt hair and wore dirty clothes. He kept spitting out of the window with an élan only few people can have.
He looked reckless and kept humming some peppy mass numbers from the tollywood.
“Ekkadki pothunnav anna?” was something I did not expect.
“Bangalore.” I replied in very short sentences in order not to continue the conversation.
“Poddunna enta timeki eltam aadki?” he kept the conversation going.
“Poddunna 7 avutundi” This time I replied more inattentively.
He had a worried look at his 30Rs electronic watch and bore an expression of calculating something.
The train left Kacheguda by 7’O Clock and the general compartment was already teeming with passengers.
A few of them settled in the aisle and a few others, who felt it rather undignified to do the same, tried to ask for a share in the seats.
I saw one such passenger, an obese 45 year old man, approaching my seat. I tried not to look at him, fearing that I have to share my seat with him.
The boy in my front did not think twice before offering his seat to him. I pitied the boy, for the man, almost occupied the whole seat.
The boy then slipped underneath the seats, to get himself into a sleep. He struggled to get any sleep as it was not so comfortable.
He returned into his first position, this time almost on the edge of the seat, for the man already occupied the whole seat.
I somehow felt bad on part of the boy, but he did not even have an iota of such feeling towards the man he shared the seat with.
“Ye oorra needi?’, The obese man queried the boy.
“Madi bengulooru. Nenu Hyderabad lo pani jesta” replied the boy.
“Yem panira?”, the old man continued.
“Ice cream ammuta saar.” The boy announced proudly.
“Yentostundira rojuki??” the old man kept asking questions like a lawyer.
“Rojuki yaabhai roopayalostai” the boy told him with a sheepish smile.
“Water bottles…aa water bottles..aa thanda thanda water bottles..” the water vendor managed to maneuver the crowd in the compartment,
shouting in a typical railway Jargon. I was not particularly impressed with his management skills but was forced to buy one water bottle for having not planned
to get my own bottle from home. The boy bought a bottle for himself.
“12 rs per liter”, I felt like cursing the finance minister for such outrageous price tags for commodities which we can’t live without.
“Babu, konchem neellu istava??” I was brought back into this world by some voice.
Before I could say yes or no, the Boy offered him, his bottle.
The train stopped at Mahbubnagar and they said that it won’t stop for more than 2 minutes. The train will not stop for the next 2 hours and anybody who had to have something for dinner had to quickly run along the platform and get some Tiffin. The boy wanted to eat something too. I agreed to get him something and managed to scurry across the platform to get us two plates of Idly.
I wan hungry enough to ignore the quality of the Idlies. It was when a few more people entered the bogie there were a few kids in them. The Ice candy boy ate one idly and when he saw the kids looking at the Idlies avariciously, offered them the rest.
I was shocked to see his action, because he knows that he will not get anything to eat for sometime.
Even after the obese man got down at Mahbubnagar, he did not stop offering his seat to the kids around him.
He chatted with them and joked around with everybody.
The boy smiled at every other person and shared whatever he had.
He did not think about anything beyond one day in future.
He did not complain peevishly about anything.
My opinions about the boy started to change rapidly.
I suddenly realized that we have to learn so many things from this young Ice candy boy.
He looked like a young Buddha to me.
He taught many of us who earn a 1000 times more than him and yet find it difficult to be happy for even one minute.
He taught many others who search for happiness everywhere else in the world, that it is within us.
He taught me the true meaning of life is to love everybody and to share whatever is possible for you.
I sincerely thank the Ice Candy boy for the lessons he taught.
Monday, March 13, 2006
The Greatest ODI ever.....
When most of the cricket fans were busy extrapolating England’s total that would challenge the Indian batting to avoid test defeat blushes on Day 5 and some more relishing the Success of a unsung hero’s 501 wickets and few others savoring the worlds most controversial bowler’s 600 wickets, 22 men were on a mission to script one the most scintillating cricketing epic in the history of the game, somewhere else in Johannesburg.
It was one of those days when even the greatest bowlers would ever think of making their son a bowler anymore and cry out in agony, “It a F***ing Batsmen’s game...”.But the 32000 capacity crowd gathered to watch the game live, and the millions of cricket fans world over, obviously did not complain, for it was the most stunning display of powerful hitting by the batsmen, carting the cricket ball to all parts of Johannesburg. The match in which, 872 runs, 87 boundaries and 25 sixes scored in a day was probably the best One –Day match one could ever imagine to see, when two of the best cricketing nations engaged in a war of the willows.
Never ever would you see two dashing players with almost similar batting style bludgeoning their way to mammoth centuries, matching shot to shot. Never ever would you see bowlers treated with so much disdain to make Centuries. Never ever would the scorers need to use a ‘4’ in the hundreds place, twice within 5 hours. Never ever could you use the clichéd phrase, “Anything is possible in a game of cricket until the last ball is bowled”, with so much conviction.
It was a day when records broke like the bowlers hearts, a day when the best of punters faltered in guessing who’s going to win, a day when a record which has been unruffled for 10 long years has been broken twice within a span of 8 hours, a day when the World Champions would feel embarrassed to talk about their highest one-day total ever.
Full credit to the Proteas for whom this match was not only a series decider but also an answer to the humiliation they suffered in the Down under, earlier this year.
http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/cricket_newsdetail_1668855.html
http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/cricket_fullscore_matchId=1664688&po=1.html
http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/cricket_fullscore_matchId=1664688&po=2.html
http://sify.com/imagegallery/gallery/index.php?hcategory=13709681&hgallery=14161002&sort_idx=
It was one of those days when even the greatest bowlers would ever think of making their son a bowler anymore and cry out in agony, “It a F***ing Batsmen’s game...”.But the 32000 capacity crowd gathered to watch the game live, and the millions of cricket fans world over, obviously did not complain, for it was the most stunning display of powerful hitting by the batsmen, carting the cricket ball to all parts of Johannesburg. The match in which, 872 runs, 87 boundaries and 25 sixes scored in a day was probably the best One –Day match one could ever imagine to see, when two of the best cricketing nations engaged in a war of the willows.
Never ever would you see two dashing players with almost similar batting style bludgeoning their way to mammoth centuries, matching shot to shot. Never ever would you see bowlers treated with so much disdain to make Centuries. Never ever would the scorers need to use a ‘4’ in the hundreds place, twice within 5 hours. Never ever could you use the clichéd phrase, “Anything is possible in a game of cricket until the last ball is bowled”, with so much conviction.
It was a day when records broke like the bowlers hearts, a day when the best of punters faltered in guessing who’s going to win, a day when a record which has been unruffled for 10 long years has been broken twice within a span of 8 hours, a day when the World Champions would feel embarrassed to talk about their highest one-day total ever.
Full credit to the Proteas for whom this match was not only a series decider but also an answer to the humiliation they suffered in the Down under, earlier this year.
http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/cricket_newsdetail_1668855.html
http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/cricket_fullscore_matchId=1664688&po=1.html
http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/cricket_fullscore_matchId=1664688&po=2.html
http://sify.com/imagegallery/gallery/index.php?hcategory=13709681&hgallery=14161002&sort_idx=
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
When McMIlan met Wright Brothers...
The vast expanse of barren land between Naseer Cycle Taxi and the place where we live is almost covered in its entirety with some thorny bushes and rocks, but for some long stretches of naturally formed lanes due to the flow of rain water downhill.
The moor was slightly sloped towards our place and the regular use of cycles on those lanes ensured that no grass grows on the stretch.
It was a bright sunny afternoon, with the sun lashing hard on everything under it. Weird it may appear; I wanted to practice cycling in the meanwhile, finding some company in my sister. We never owned a cycle then and we had no other option but to hire a Bicycle on an hourly basis. The Naseer Cycle taxi offered a wide variety of cycles, ranging from the very small ones to the regular ones.
My sister asked me to get the cycle. I went there and chose a medium sized one and did not ride it until I was completely sure that nobody else was using the road, in view of their safety..: D
The sight of long road downhill, did not warn my not-so-grown-up brain, about the possible accidents it may lead into. I started pedaling and the cycle was very well oiled and I could already feel the gaining impetus. I never forget my uncle's golden rule about Bicycle riding viz. "you will never fall off a Cycle, as long as you continue pedaling". I did the same. I never stopped pedaling. The cycle whizzed past the bushes and the small rocks and I had enough confidence to veer the vehicle conveniently, avoiding small hindrances.
The cycle now caught up enough speed to spur a slight fear down the spine. It was when i feebly checked if the brakes were working or not.
Gosh.....They weren't...
I did not know what to do and I cannot explain why I continued pedalling even after that. It was the fastest ride of my life and worst thing about it was that I had no control over it. Little did I know that I was rapidly approaching a naturally formed Rock ramp, inclined at about 35 degrees with the horizontal, abruptly ending into a ridge!!!!?
It didn’t take long for the speeding bicycle to reach the ramp and to take off the ramp. I had my heart in my mouth while the cycle was in the air. I clung to it like one of those AXN extreme bike riders and almost understood what Einstein theory of relativity is meant, practically. The time of flight seemed like an eternity. I can now correlate that scene to one of those scenes in the MATRIX Movie trilogy, wherein the time comes to a stand still with only thing that is moving is, you. I watched the ground moving beneath me as fast as I am moving forward in the air.
As the famous saying goes, “It’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the sudden stop at the end that does.” the flight was not the most fearsome, but the thought of the fall was as damaging as the fall itself would be.
I lost hold on the handle in the mid-way and somersaulted over the Bicycle to reach the ground like a Plane landing over the runway.
I nose-dived into the silt accumulated during the last rainy season, and glided along the ‘runway’ for about 6 feet before coming to a grinding halt.
My Cycle followed me and was over me. I’ve then learnt what role-reversal really meant.
Thankfully for me, the saving grace was the accumulated sand which provided the much needed cushioning effect for the crash landing.
The moor was slightly sloped towards our place and the regular use of cycles on those lanes ensured that no grass grows on the stretch.
It was a bright sunny afternoon, with the sun lashing hard on everything under it. Weird it may appear; I wanted to practice cycling in the meanwhile, finding some company in my sister. We never owned a cycle then and we had no other option but to hire a Bicycle on an hourly basis. The Naseer Cycle taxi offered a wide variety of cycles, ranging from the very small ones to the regular ones.
My sister asked me to get the cycle. I went there and chose a medium sized one and did not ride it until I was completely sure that nobody else was using the road, in view of their safety..: D
The sight of long road downhill, did not warn my not-so-grown-up brain, about the possible accidents it may lead into. I started pedaling and the cycle was very well oiled and I could already feel the gaining impetus. I never forget my uncle's golden rule about Bicycle riding viz. "you will never fall off a Cycle, as long as you continue pedaling". I did the same. I never stopped pedaling. The cycle whizzed past the bushes and the small rocks and I had enough confidence to veer the vehicle conveniently, avoiding small hindrances.
The cycle now caught up enough speed to spur a slight fear down the spine. It was when i feebly checked if the brakes were working or not.
Gosh.....They weren't...
I did not know what to do and I cannot explain why I continued pedalling even after that. It was the fastest ride of my life and worst thing about it was that I had no control over it. Little did I know that I was rapidly approaching a naturally formed Rock ramp, inclined at about 35 degrees with the horizontal, abruptly ending into a ridge!!!!?
It didn’t take long for the speeding bicycle to reach the ramp and to take off the ramp. I had my heart in my mouth while the cycle was in the air. I clung to it like one of those AXN extreme bike riders and almost understood what Einstein theory of relativity is meant, practically. The time of flight seemed like an eternity. I can now correlate that scene to one of those scenes in the MATRIX Movie trilogy, wherein the time comes to a stand still with only thing that is moving is, you. I watched the ground moving beneath me as fast as I am moving forward in the air.
As the famous saying goes, “It’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the sudden stop at the end that does.” the flight was not the most fearsome, but the thought of the fall was as damaging as the fall itself would be.
I lost hold on the handle in the mid-way and somersaulted over the Bicycle to reach the ground like a Plane landing over the runway.
I nose-dived into the silt accumulated during the last rainy season, and glided along the ‘runway’ for about 6 feet before coming to a grinding halt.
My Cycle followed me and was over me. I’ve then learnt what role-reversal really meant.
Thankfully for me, the saving grace was the accumulated sand which provided the much needed cushioning effect for the crash landing.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Timepass palli-bataani..
How do i sneeze?
"Airtel...."..:P..
coz I don't have a "HUTCHH...."..
We were travelling in a cab last nite and we had this Hindi speaking girl in our cab,who had to get down at her place.
She said, "Bus, yahee rok deejiye.."
Main bola.."Yeh Bus nahi hota.."...
yikes...I know it stinks..:D
What is the best tourist destination for lovers?
LV Prasad Eye Institute...coz love is blind...:D..
Aaj keliye itnaahi..keep visiting for more K-stuff..Have a nice day..:)
"Airtel...."..:P..
coz I don't have a "HUTCHH...."..
We were travelling in a cab last nite and we had this Hindi speaking girl in our cab,who had to get down at her place.
She said, "Bus, yahee rok deejiye.."
Main bola.."Yeh Bus nahi hota.."...
yikes...I know it stinks..:D
What is the best tourist destination for lovers?
LV Prasad Eye Institute...coz love is blind...:D..
Aaj keliye itnaahi..keep visiting for more K-stuff..Have a nice day..:)
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