Jee le zara....

Main hoon gumsum tu bhi khamosh hai
Sach hai samay ka hi sab dosh hai
Dhadkan dhadkan ik gham rehta hai

Yun Jaane kyu phir bhi dil kehta hai
Jee le zara, jee le zaraa
Kehta hai dil jee le zara
Aye humsafar, aye humnawa
Aa paas aa jee le zara

Hai zindagi mana dard bhari
Phir bhi isme ye raahat bhi hai
Main hoon tera aur tu hai meri
Yunhi rahe hum, ye chahat bhi hai

Phir dil ke dil se, pul kyu toote hain
Kyun hum jeene se itne roothe hain
Aa dil ke darwaaze hum khole
Aa hum dono jee bhar ke ro le

Jee le zara, jee le zaraa
Kehta hai dil jee le zara
Aye humsafar, aye humnawa
Aa paas aa jee le zaraaa

Gham ke ye badal guzar jaane de
Ab zindagi ko nikhar jaane de
Chhod de ab yaadon ke dukh sehna
Sun bhi le jo dil ka hai kehna

Jee le zaraa, jee le zaraa
Kehta hai dil jee le zaraa
Aye humsafar, aye humnawa
Aa paas aa jee le zaraaa

Warne in Warner

"Next to bowl is David Warner. He ll be bowling leg breaks. Just 4 wickets in test cricket, this shows that he is not a regular bowler. However one of those wickets is Hashim Amla, another one is Darren Bravo. Well watch out Dhoni, because there certainly is a "Warne" in "Warner" -Harsha Bhogle, 24th Feb 2013

Real world??

All this bonding, is it worth it?

The story of the Gas cylinder

One of the most difficult things while moving your house is transferring your gas connection. Its a f*#kin painful procedure. This is what happened to me:

Day 1: Early morning 8:30 am

I located the Gas passbook which had the contact numbers of the gas agency. Dialled the first number.. no response. Second number...no response. Again...no response...again ...no response, till I ran out of energy. "They never answer the phone" my mom said.
So, I took my car and drove down to the gas agency office. The office was in a mess and was crowded like shit.. The phones were ringing incessantly, but none of the employees seemed to be bothered.
"I want to transfer my gas connection to a different city" I told the young woman behind the desk, when my turn came.
"Consumer number?" she asked as she fidgeted with the computer keyboard.
"1223223"
A few clicks later. "Account dormant hai, active karana padega"
"How do I do that?"
"Woh saab se poocho..NEXT"
As I stood in the second queue to meet Mr.Saab, I wondered how many hours would it take for me to get to him.
Finally as my turn came, I got straight to the point "Account dormant se active karana hai"
"Ye lo KYC form. Bharke leke aao. Saath me address proof, id proof and photograph leke aana"
"But I am already your customer, why do you need all these proofs again"
"Government se poocho. Unhone rule banaya hai" and he moved to the next hapless customer.
I slowly curbed my anger and decided not to fight and headed home.

Day 2: 8:45 am

As I reached the Gas agency office, I realized that it was closed. I inquired in the shop next to the agency.
"Saab, Second Saturday band rehta hai every month"
I resigned to my fate and headed home.

Day 3: 9.00 am

I prayed to God before stepping out of the house"God, please have mercy on me. Let the office me open today!!" All my documents were ready.
My prayers were answered. The office was open. Again I spent several minutes awaiting my turn.
"Kya kaam hai"
"Dormant se active karana hai"
"KYC form laya hai?"
"Yes"
"Address proof, id proof?"
"Yes"
"Theek hai, 6-7 din lagega account unlock home me" and he handed me a receipt.


10 days later:

"Saab, Account unlock hua kya..number hai.....blah"
"Abhi tak nahi hua hai"
"But aapne to bola tha 6-7 me hota hai, 10 din ho gaya already"
"To mai kya karu? Maine to documents already forward kar diya hai"
"When should I come again to check"
"4-5 dine me aake jao"

4-5 days later:

"Account unlock hua?"
"Number?"
"blahh"
"Ha ho gaya"
"Abhi transfer ka procedure kya hai?"
"woh madam se poocho"
Another queue, another wait for 30 mins.
"Madam account active hai, transfer karna hai"
"original receipt, gas cylinder, regulator leke aao"
"Okay madam"

Next day:

"Madam, I have got the cylinder, regulator n original receipt for transfer"
"OK," she scanned the original receipt and started entering stuff on the computer.
10 mins later, she handed me a transfer receipt and the deposited money.
"Now what is the procedure in the new city"
"Kuch nahi, jaake receipt dikhao, paise deposit karo, ho gaya"
I beamed, as I made my way out of the office...
....little did I know, that the job was only half done!!


Day 1: City2: Morning 9 am.

"Sir, Transfer karana hai. Just moved into this city"
"Kal aao"
"Huh...why?"
"Madam nahi aaya hai aaj"
I was off to a bad start.....

Day2: City2: Evening 3:35 pm

"Sir, madam aaye hai kya? Transfer karna hai connection
"Ha, andar aao peeche se n meet her"
"Hello madam, transfer karna hai"
"Jaldi aane ka Sir. Office band ho gaya hai"
"Bahar to likha hai 8:30 to 4:30"
"Nahi 3:30 tak hi rehta hai, aur subah 10:30 ke baad aane ka"
She clearly meant that her timings were from 10:30 to 3:30. I controlled my anger and walked out.

Next day:Morning 10 am:

"Good morning madam, transfer karna hai"
"Ha, sit down, we ll start at 10:30", she said as she lazily read the local newspaper
At 10.30, she started the computer and indicated me to hand over the papers"
I handed her the transfer receipt.
"Baaki paper?"
"Kaunsa baaki paper?"
"KYC karna padega. ID proof, address proof, photo aur yeh KYC form bharke lao"
"Madam, abhi karwaya tha KYC doosre city me"
"Naya address pe KYC karwana padega"
"Yeh kya rule hai?"
"Yehi rule hai"
I cursed myself for being so dumb and not asking about the list of documents earlier.
Slowly, I headed back home...

Next day: 11 am.

She recognized me "Sab documents laya?"
"Yes madam"
She casually glanced through the documents and then started typing slowly on her computer.
After what seemed like ages, she finished filling up my details and handed me a receipt.
"Maine cylinder ka paisa bhi add kiya hai along with deposit"
"Matlab, cylinder abhi milega?"
"Nahi, aaj gaadi nahi aaya hai. Kal ghar pe bhejti hu. Yeh regulator leke jaao aaj"
"Kitne baje tak ayega?"
"12 baje tak ayega woh"
"Ok madam" I left for home...

Next day:

I waited patiently till 2 in the afternoon, and then called the agency office.
"Consumer number blahh..."
"Ha ..bolo"
"Cylinder book kiya tha, aaya nahi ghar pe delivery"
"Aapne kal booking kiya hai.. 8 dine me ayega"
"Arre, madam ne bola ki aaj ayega"
"kaun madam?"
"Transfer karti hai jo"
"Ruko un se baat karo" I waited for a couple of minutes, before she came on the phone.
"Madam, kal transfer karaya tha na...aaya nahi cylinder"
"Arre..maine to bola tha godown me"
"abhi tak aya nahi"
"Bhaiya..aaj ayega pakka!! dont worry"
But the cylinder didnt reach my home that day..

Next day:
I called up the office. "Chaya madam se baat karna hai"
"Kaun?"
"Madam, woh cylinder nahi aya"
"Kal nahi aaya? Ruko I will call the godown and tell him"
"Should I call you back?"
"Ha 5 min me phone karo"
After 10 mins, I dialed again. "Madam, bola kya aapne godown me?"
"Ha, 2 ghante me ayega"
My blood boiled when the cylinder didnt reach within the next 8 hrs..
I decided to pay them a visit the next day.

Next day:
I reached the agency office and located Chaya Madam.
"Cylinder aya nahi kal bhi"
"Yeh godown wale log ko kitna bhi bola kaam nahi karte barabar"
"Abhi kya karna hai bolo, I need the cylinder"
"Aap godown me jaake apna consumer number bolo, they ll give you the cylinder"

I drove to the godown, and did the needful. The delivery boy threw a cylinder towards me and told me to take it.
I hugged the bloody thing and kissed it as I loaded it into my car.

With a smile on my face, I reached home.
My wife heaved a sigh of relief as we packed up the induction cook top (YEs!!its a pain to cook Indian food on the induction cooktop) and installed the burner.

The heavenly delicious phulkas that day made the whole freakin goddamn experience worth it!!

Brother v/s brother

Elder brother: Born in 1981
Advantage:Super fast bowler.

Younger brother: Born in 1987
Advantage: Batting genius.

Story teller: Elder brother
Year: 1997

"Should I reduce my pace? He's still just a kid..what if he gets hurt?" As I walked up to mark my run up ater celebrating yet another wicket, these were the thoughts racing through my mind.
In fact, every time I bowled to him, I though about this. Brotherly love always overcame my killer instinct as a bowler.

On the other hand, even from a distance of 40 yards, I could see the fierce determination in his eyes. The poise of a confident batsman. No hint of fear of facing someone with a reputation, twice his age and size. Fierce determination and concentration!

I had been taught to decide what delivery to bowl depending upon the conditions and the batsman' stance and capability. As I ran in to bowl, I changed my mind and decided to bowl an out cutter instead of an in cutter. BIG MISTAKE!!

As though by magic, he read my mind. He watched the ball till the very end, his eyes lit up and he whacked it over the rope.

Amongst cheers of his companions, he celebrated his assault, while I was subjected to mockery..

Second ball. I wasn't going to be the big brother this time. All my strength, all my focus, all my energy went into the next delivery. The ball must have kissed the speed of sound..I smiled as I delivered the ball..

He was quickly into position, very quick in fact and WHACK!!! Another super shot out of the park..

The smile was wiped off my face..

Wherever I bowled, however I bowled, the outcome was always the same..


He was the most gifted batsman I ever bowled to. I have no shame in admitting that he was better than me...maybe in every aspect of life

RIP brother!!

The school kid

It is strange, how certain memories which are tucked away in a remote corner of your brain, some things that you have totally forgotten about, things that dont matter (or do they?), come back in a flash!

Today as I was traveling to office in the cab, I noticed a school kid standing on the road....zip..zap..zoom!!!

Some years back, I used to travel to office on my motorbike. One fine day  saw a school kid trying to grab my attention on the road. He was small, frail and by the looks of it not from a very well to do family. The school uniform he was wearing suggested that he was from a school which wasn't very popular amongst the middle and upper classes.
However, here I was, early in the morning, driving to office and the kid trying to grab my attention. I slowed down and stopped some paces away from him. In the rear view mirror, I could see him running frantically towards me slowed down by his heavy bag, but not by his spirits.

"Uncle, school ke pass chod do na?" he asked with an innocent face.

"Kidhar hai tera school? Mai to aage se left loonga"

"Udhar tak chod do, wahan se nazdeek hai mera school"

"ok..aja peeche!!"

In an instant his face lit up and he started smiling. Soon we were on our way and I could see that he was tremendously enjoying the bike ride despite the chilly weather. Once I dropped him on the junction, where our paths separated, he smiled as shouted "Thank you uncle.." before running away.

I met this kid many times and offered him a lift every time we met. However, we never spoke anything of consequence and I dont even know his name.

After some days, I stopped coming on my bike and started using the office cab (changed timings).  I never saw the kid again, but I didnt stop thinking about him for some days.

Fate took its toll and I left the city, only to return back in 2 years. Other things occupied my mind and the boy was forgotten, as if he never existed.

Today, when I passed by the same street, I saw another kid dressed in the same uniform. Everything came back in a flash and I started to wonder.. "Where would he be, what would be doing, I hope he does well..."

Strange are the ways of the human brain.

Lakh Duniya Kahe-Talaash

Lakh duniya kahe 'tum nahi ho'
Tum yahin ho, Tum yahin ho
Lakh duniya kahe 'tum nahi ho'
Tum yahin ho, Tum yahin ho

Meri har soch me, meri har baat me
Mere ehsaas me, mere jazbaat me
Tum hi tum ho
Tum har kahin ho
Ho o laakh duniya kahe tum nahi ho
Tum yahin ho, tum yahin ho
Ho o laakh duniya kahe tum nahi ho
Tum yahin ho, tum yahin ho

Tumne chhoda hai kab saath mera
Thaame ho aaj bhi hath mera
Koi manzil koi rehguzar ho
Aaj bhi tum mere humsafar ho
Jaaun chaahe jahaan tum wahin ho
Ho o o lakh duniya kahe tum nahi ho
Tum yahin ho, tum yahin ho
Ho o o lakh duniya kahe tum nahi ho

Tum yahin ho, tum yahin ho...

Khushboo banke hawaaon me tum ho
Rang banke fizaaon me tum ho
Koi gaaye koi saans goonje
Sab sureeli sadaaon mein tum ho
Tumko har roop me dil hai pehchanta
Log hai bekhabar par dil hai jaanta
Tu mere paas ho, dilnashin ho
Ho o o lakh duniya kahe tum nahi ho
Tum yahin ho, tum yahin ho
Ho o o lakh duniya kahe tum nahi ho
Tum yahin ho, tum yahin ho

Tum yahin ho, tum yahin ho...