Ladies Compartment IInd Class

The second class ladies compartment is the most entertaining way to travel. Not everyone will be as amused but trust me if you do observe it in a detached manner you will find more than just a few instances that will make you laugh.
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT TRYING TO TRIVIALIZE ISSUES. Just wanting to make people see the funnier side of life and if not that then just the gory reality of it.

1. THE GANGWAY is the way! The alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end- and hence, a lot of people (women) decide to just stand there even if the have to alight after another FIVE stations.

2. Push and Shove, elbow and bellow is the best way to get in or get out. Or so they think. Imagine if everyone went about their commute in an orderly fashion. Things would be easier, lesser people would be injured and the travel would be more pleasant.

3. It is a great place for women to knit, clean veggies and do some shopping on the go. You get everything here from Umbrella shaped mechanical pencils, mini hot water bags, accessories of all sorts, colouring books, stickers, combs, kitchen wares and eatables.

4. If you have noticed an argument in the compartment- refer #2 it starts with a push or a shove. The belligerent victim starts a verbal abuse of sorts and then starts explaining the situation to co passengers and including them into the fight. After that it becomes a jugalbandi when both the sides try to one up each other.

5. A baby in the compartment is a play toy for those around but the same baby if crying becomes a nuisance. When the baby smiles everyone wants to hold it but no one wants to comfort a crying baby.

6. People love to eat on the train... and then throw peels/ plastic bags/ any residue or remains out of the window. Now, i don't blame the uneducated but what about those who have a swanky mobile phone, seem to be from educated families and wear top class clothes and behave like.... This happens most often when the train crosses over some creek, out comes everyone's used garlands and other stuff the holy books say must be discarded only in water. Not trying to hurt religious sentiments but there are other ways to dispose.

7. The fourth seat is God send. Hell yeah! It sure is. Doesn't matter if less than half your butt fits on the edge of the seat and despite you almost slipping from on there you still hang on it for dear life cause your feet are killing you.

8. I have been travelling by trains for quite a while now but somehow i don't get used to the fact that people ask you "Where are you going to get off?" even before you sat on the seat that just got vacant. I know i have mentioned it in an earlier post but couldn't help it.

9. We turn a blind eye to the disparity among us. Yes, we do it and we say there is nothing we can do about it. I have seen more than a few times - women with children who aren't exactly normal trying to fight the unforgiving crowd and standing their way through while most others just choose to ignore. Giving your seat up (at least then) seems like a noble thing to do. Then there are the Seat Gangsters that reserve seats for their friends and pick fights if someone tries to reason it out.

10. Finally, the one thing i cannot afford to miss out. The advertisements stuck all over the train compartments - all compartments alike... There was this one that said "Love, Sex, Friendship, Call some number and some smarty pants had put an arrow below it and wrote DON'T CALL! :)

We Mumbaikars spend most of our waking hours on the train and thus they form an important part of our journey. Journey to work in the Journey of Life.

THE DEATH OF SIMPLICITY

Sometimes the answer is not in the complex,
Neither it is in the difficult.
We think and talk and try,
We fail and then we cry,
Baffled, we wonder why?

But- we fail to realize that
The answer is in the question
It is in something so obvious and evident
The answer is right before us
We just choose to not see it and turn a blind eye
Because Simplicity is Unfathomable.

Thus occurs the death of Simplicity.

Still Waiting

Have you ever found yourself just waiting...
Endlessly for
1. An auto rickshaw
2. A friend's phone call
3. For it to be time to get off work
4. For a bus/train (Happens a lot in Mumbai)
5. For your flight to finally take off
6. For it to start raining
7. For it to stop raining
8. For your results to Come Out Already.
9. For the person you are waiting for to finally SHOW UP...
10.For ...well there can be a million things.
The 10th one is whatever you please.
FYI - Sometimes waiting can just be fun!

IT IS OKAY TO NOT..

How we yearn for life to be different. How we complain that it is drab! It is boring, pakao, same old and it will be so. Not because there aren't a million things to do but because we choose not to do it. We set a later date to do whatever. We don't even bother to observe the beauty of nature - the scenery right outside our window unless it is IN YOUR FACE.
Our times are different from the times of our parents. We prefer to meet online than in person (yes, a boon for friends overseas but not someone who is next door!)
So on a drab day like today, i was forced to wake up early by my father and accompany him at work. I happened to sleep really late last night and the night before last. Monday is definitely the most awful day of the week. I could have slept on but i promised dad and so, very very reluctantly i got up and got ready for WORK.
I spent most of the time in office getting BORED and Yawning with a few moments of stamping papers with a rubber stamp in between!
Then we set out for some work at a bank.We reached near the gate and i couldn't help but notice a serpentine queue for GOD alone knows what and i shuddered to think i might have to join them. As it is, i was sleepy and beginning to feel hungry (not a good place to be)
My dad walked straight into the bank and (phew!) i followed suit only to be directed out of the building into a line which was tiny than the one i got intimidated by in the first place.
The line was small but it was a bad place to stand. Right above our heads was a Air Conditioner duct from which water was dripping. The droplets were splashing all over wetting our faces and shirts and we stood there cringing. The window next to ours was empty but we couldn't switch lines as it was meant for something else. Just then a man with his seemingly 4 year old kid in tow came along. The kid had worn a bright yellow t shirt and black jeans just like me. He stood next to his dad. Then all of a sudden he noticed the drops of water falling. He rushed to the spot and started catching drops in his tiny hands with a smile. His joy knew no bounds and it was evident. I couldn't help but grin looking at him. Suddenly, his dad realised that his son wasn't in the place he was asked to stand and turned around to see. He immediately scolded the kid and asked him to stop playing with the dripping water. The kid seemed to obey but only for a few seconds and then he was back again, unmindful of what people around him might think.
Makes me realize how growing up affects us in good ways as well as bad. More bad than good if you ask me. Rules are meant to be followed. Tiny things don't give us pleasure always just because we choose to think it is too tiny to give us any joy.
Money matters more than anything.
Seeing the kid just made me realize - it is okay to do what i want even if i get yelled at. It is okay to stand below an AC duct and catch falling drops and be joyful and IT IS OKAY TO NOT CARE about silly things and do your own thing.

The Quest to be Different

If you have been one of those who has read my first blog post, you'd know that i always considered myself to be a little different and quirky than girls my age. I have always desired to be different. I am an agreeable and amicable person and tolerant as well but i want different things in life. My goals might not be in line with most people my age. I am also a perpetually confused soul but not so confused as to know what i don't want. What i don't want i am sure i DON'T want it at all but when it comes to being aware of what i want i am baffled.

God/Providence/Luck- (call it what you may) played a part and set me on a path which after taking i never looked back. Engineering in Printing and Packaging has been the single most and wisest decision of my life and i cherish it. I started with rosy dreams of being a Comps/ EXTC Engg just like any other engineering aspirant. Not so long ago, i wasnt aspiring to take up engineering at all. I hated the word "Engineering" it sounded so drab. It didn't make sense and i would have gladly taken up Medicine/ B.A./BSc and in fact i had taken up Bsc BUT as luck would have it, i got PPT and grabbed the opportunity well aware of the risk of venturing on an untrodden path.

Engineering is done, so to speak. I stand at cross roads in my life once again. Awaiting examination results and chilling when most friends have settled for a job and remaining are flying to foreign shores to pursue masters, i am just EXISTING.

Everyone does ultimately want a steady income and the only way to get that is a) work hard or b) work smart... At this point, i don't know if i want to study abroad next year or work for a while and then continue with post graduation. Even if i did settle for higher education, i am not sure about the course i'd like to take. There are a million things i want to learn. I just want to do so much (SO much on my mind and i wonder if i ll even be able to do 1/4th of the things) I WANT TO ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF MY LIFE.

After 20 years, i want to look back and cherish memories of having achieved all i wanted and hopefully something worthwhile, not having kids and then cribbing saying "If i .....then i would/could/might have/....."

I guess there is no real answer to how i am going to chart my life. The only way to find out is to live each day till i get there.
It probably isn't all about doing really weird or different things as much as maybe doing things differently. Only in that shall my quest to be a little bit "hatke" be accomplished.
Like Mr. Shiv Khera says
"Winners don't do different things,
...they do things differently!"
and the meaning of WINNING for each one varies. At the end of it all it still means a sense of fulfillment.

The Really Pointless Post - In the Loo

Read only if you have nothing better to do.


In my house I have rooms that I like more than others. For ex: my living room. Why??? As it has the most important gadgets like the TV and my PC. My room is another place I favour but only for sleep and study purposes. Now that I am on vacation the study bit is eliminated. So, I hardly spend time in my room except at night.

That leaves the kitchen, bathroom and toilet. I don’t really venture into the kitchen, I leave that to mom. Bathroom, yea, well, whatever. The most important according to me is my “LOO”. I love my loo. Yes, you read that right.

It is definitely my most imp place in my home and not only because it is a need. If you are one of those people who spends more than just a few seconds in the toilet you will (maybe, I presume) know/ understand what I mean. Just to make it clear, I am not one of those who stacks Playboy/ Archies/ the daily newspaper in there, so I don’t spend hours in there either.

Of course, a pre requisite to spending a little more than usual amount of time in there is that it should be really clean and shouldn’t give off offensive odours. :P
My loo is well maintained and mom is the one responsible for keeping it so spick and span though dad and I help maintain it that way. None of us in my family are a fan of wet loos.

It doesn’t stink.
In fact it doesn’t smell anything at all unless you just pooped, then you’ll know that the room freshener is at hand too. It is not like I spend an insane amount of time there but whatever little I do, I learn a lot. No, I don’t stare at my $h**.
I oft times think. I actually think in there. It is such a quiet place after all and no one disturbs you unless they are in an emergency situation and need to get in before you get out leisurely.
1. No smell 2. No sound
Not exactly complete silence. If you are having gastronomic issues you sure might rumble – A LOT.
Perfect place to meditate… LOL

It is pretty much like Archimedes, you know, the whole public bath and screaming “EUREKA” while running naked on the streets. He probably would know exactly how I feel. I share his sentiment.
It is like as though I get enlightened or as if I get some sort of weird revelation or a brainwave.

It is quite a place to de-clutter (Not just the stomach but your mind also.) is a double whammy.
Think of it as a chair with a hole and it won’t be so bad. You don’t need to go up a mountain to find solitude. Just like it is for me, it might work for you too in the Loo.
They say if you have a problem sleep over it or sit on it, I‘d say Shit over it.

FINAL JUDGEMENT

I'm not going to explain it to the world,
I'm pretty sure they won't understand,
All of this wasn't part of my plan
But, Shit happens.

Shit happens when you least expect it
and before you manage to resurrect yourself
the world has dissected you.

They bisect your life and think
they've figured you all out
but don't they know - it's not for 'em to do so!

So, everyone everywhere come on all out
throw your crap at me.
Dump all you want at me,
There's a limit i can take and I Will;
just so you feel satisfied;
but when you cross that limit-
Don't expect to be let off easy,
I'm not doing this to please me.

You didn't - in my shoes walk,
and so you have no right to talk,
I tried my best but it didn't work,
My responsibility I didn't shirk.
I'm the captain of this ship,
If it sinks - I go down with it.

At the end of it all
I'd like to say
Hey, what YOU think doesn't matter
cause yours is not FINAL JUDGEMENT!!!