My Sanctum

“Ye lo madam, aapka tayyar hai”, sounds better than “I love you, will you marry me”, especially when what’s on the platter is scrumptious and flavorsome chicken tikka. The tangy yet spicy mint chutney, creates a romance that’s oh- so spicy, in every sense!

                There’s no space to sit. I’m standing outside the Jai Jawan outlet, exclusively at Linking Road, Bandra. There have been at least a dozen men, walking around me and trying their best to sell a bag, accessories, perfumes and what not. I am focused. None of these sales gimmicks are going to work on me. I am hypnotized by the sinful aroma rising from the tandoor.  The commotion is neglected by now. All I can imagine, see, breathe or even feel… is food.

                Beyond all the drama and the impatient waiting, my steel plate arrived. The chicken was my prize for the persistent bargaining. All my little black and green plastic bags from the shopping were stuffed into my backpack, after all… who’s got the time to hold anything in the hand when the chicken tikka on your plate is screaming out to you for eating it!

                The ambience, the presentation and all that jazz didn’t matter, for the small variety of, yet brilliantly cooked meat, just melts in the mouth, slipping you in a state of trace. 100% customer satisfaction when it comes to hygiene at that little shack. The turban clad men, always smiling make your order feel like their top most priority. Being addressed as ‘betaji’ takes you a step further into the sigree of Punjab! The pav is twisted and torn, blanketed around a juicy piece of chicken, dipped generously into the chutney… chewed and savored like there’s nothing I’ve ever eaten. I sip my thumbs up… burping with a smile that feels like I’ve attained nirvana. I kiss my fingertips, still smiling. For I believe I found my sanctum today.

They call it settling in.... I call it a new family

       Sometimes, we try. We try                                                         to make a niche for ourselves,

everywhere we go. Some places, we go alone.. at some others, we hold another hand. Sometimes, there are people who stare at us when we walk by and sometimes, we're ignored. Life can throw some specifically difficult people to deal with... yet sometimes there are people who lead you through the dark phases.
        Many a times... situations get tough. So much so that, we almost give up. We forget the reason we started it all for... and that's the time the important people walk in. The people who remind you... not of all the greatness that lies in achieving... but in the warmth and the beauty of the journey. The journey that we don't merely travel, but live each moment from the time it begins... hence making it so important to end it correctly.

         These things, I am reminded of, each day, as it passes by. When I observe, like a wallflower, all the people I meet and mingle with, I realize that this is the beginning of nourishing a new family. A family that teaches you, fights with you, argues like there's nothing beyond it, loves and nurtures you, at every point of your life,as you grow. 

         And today, I realized that its not just about getting accustomed to some people, is not about settling in, but about enjoying the company, the crazy jokes, emotional moments and the mad stories. I am actually becoming a part of one such amazing family.. with people so much to learn from.

Dedicated, to the Rotaract Club of Deonar and the lovely people associated to it. To all the people who make it so easy to become friends with. To the Rotaractors!!

Cheers!!

The Smell of School

Today, after three long years, I visited my school. So much had changed, yet so little. The statue of Swami Vivekananda, was right there, where it was several years back, yet the beloved watchman and his salt and peppery mustache, I couldn't find.

I climbed the stairs that I had been climbing for 6 long years. I walked the corridors that were once a stage to my drama, podium to my speech, an adda to all the gossip and the playground to hundreds of lunch-breaks.

For the first time, in three years, I smelled my school. I breathed the pale colours of the classrooms. I breathed through the existence of so many kids at the same place, as I was at… a couple of years back. I saw the chalk dust in the air, which brought a gist of nostalgia with it. I could hear the footsteps, the synched recitation of the pledge and the co-ordinated greetings to the teacher.

I imagined myself as the school girl once again. I could feel my oiled and neatly tied hair. I could see my brightly polished shoes. The ribbons, the badge, the crisply ironed uniform, uptight socks and so much more… that for once, I reached for my bag, to hold the straps of my satchel, only to realize that now I, am an almost grown woman, with a rather stylish handbag.

I Found My Valentine!

 I know I am writing in pretty late about my Valentine’s Day, but I guess it’s worth a moment of reading… or at least of writing!

Well, most of the day, of 14^th February 2013 was spent in a rather regular manner. Not too much said or done! However, as the day passed, and I didn’t have much to do, I came home and lazed around for a while. Waited for maa to come back from her evening walk to just co-exist while the TV was on. But to my surprise, I was asked out on Valentine’s Day. The day every love starved person looks forward to or plans for, at least for a week throughout the year.  So had I. Though I didn’t expect this to happen.  I have never expected my mother to say to me, “so what if your day ended soon, we have to evening. Let’s go to the mall and grab a bite” and all I say is, “cool! Let’s go!”

It’s like how aviator shades are back in vogue, keeping things simple is in too. Maa and I reached the mall, and did our regular thing. Shop at the super mart and grab a bite at the food court!

We strolled around with our basket and happily filled it in with soap bars and fresh kiwis. She gifted me a lip balm [I am a shameless valentine… couldn’t get her anything] time passed in each other’s company.  We ate some chicken and garlic bread, some beverage and some dessert. It was indeed one of those times, when you know you are happy. I’d not say the chirpy and giggling all the while- happy, but it definitely is the kind when you just feel content from within and that smile on your face would never agree to vanish!

Well, that’s what I think is love. Also, I strongly feel, we must love ourselves to even be able to love somebody!

Belated ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ to all those looking for love. Look for it within yourself… if nothing at all, you may find a reason to smile!

Dedicated to saint Valentine, though I think if you were here, you’d tell people, love doesn't limit to romance!

Cheers!

-Love,

Miss. I don’t really love Valentine’s Day!

Perks in the Life of a Broke Teenager- 5

There’s an end to absolutely everything we come across, and so is there an end to this. I’d not say that this is an end to being broke, because there isn’t one. However, I guess, I’ve reached the point where I have learned to differentiate between times when I need to go with the flow and the times when I’d need to stop, wait, think for a moment and take a stand and decide, which way I must be opting for!

Well, right now. The feeling of eating, shopping and enjoying like a freebee felt right. Yet, I believe, in the near future, there will be a time when I’d get bored of being this girl and hope to grow into the lady with her pockets full!

There will be a time, unlike today when I’d become broke of choices and ideas. I’d be broke of thoughts and broke of people to share stories with, broke of times to spend all the money I may have earned, broke of experiences I could share with dear ones, broke of memory and broke of years to live any longer. Before it gets that late, before I lose all the opportunities to fill my pockets with, I want to be on the other side of the court, just as much as anyone of you wants to be!

So what is getting in our way?

Well surprisingly, for a change, this time, I have an answer. I know.

Ourselves... yes. You are getting in your own way and I am getting in my own path to achieving it all! We hold ourselves back... which we need to learn how to put an end to!

It’s time to bid farewell to the empty pockets of my pants... its time to fill them with something, and for starters, coins and my lip balm are thumbs up!!!

Cheers! To all those broke blokes!

Miss I just got a new strawberry lip balm... I can almost eat it! 

Perks in the life of a Broke Teenager-4

Here I come with yet another story, an experience I share with the same friend, and yeah you guessed it right, Reet! [She loves the exclamation] Well, this is the day we went to The Kalaghoda Street Festival along with another friend Pritha!
Train rides are rather typical these days, so I’ll not go on and on about, the songs we heard, the breeze that swung by us or the random people travelling along with us! So as usual, we got away from C.S.T. station and grabbed a bite from a pizza parlor. Checked out the “pretty” boys. Cabbed our way to the Kalaghoda Street!

We walked around, picked up our souvenirs from whichever place pleased us and just chilled for a while till the sun almost calmed down! It was time for pritha to get back home as she stayed far away, and on the other end, there were the two of us, who couldn’t control our bladder for any longer [I know she’s going to get furious when she reads this] and couldn’t find even one restroom that wasn’t under maintenance… So we hopped and awkwardly ran and stumbled our way into a shopping complex right on the other side of the street and hush, [wiping our foreheads] we were for once relieved!

Now, thinking from a teenager’s point of view, do you, by any chance expect us to have walked out of the centrally air conditioned place, without walking around and scanning the freshly in vogue apparel and accessories!?? [Don’t make me answer this one!]

 Well, then we, I’d say as planned by fate, walked to the footwear section and found a pair of moccasins that were, to both our surprise was available in both our sizes, [36 and 41] that instant she just flashed this big smile across her face and asked the sales person to pack both pairs, ever before I got permission from my mom, who, at each purchase of mine says, “this was the last one, you don’t need any more” and each time, each purchase becomes, the second last one!!!!!Really excited and thrilled, the two of us plan to watch the sunset at the Marine Drive. The breeze was forceful. The aura of that place is such that, though adjacent to a hustling city, the world beyond the promenade is independent and exists all by itself, including the hundreds of us, who sit by, sink in the sunset, drench in the rain, and sweat through the summer. Smiling like, the sun, the water and those rocks have captivated us!

                As time passes, and the moment the sun sets, Reet wants us to get back to the station as soon as possible, because of her runny nose! [Believe me or not, she used more than 30 tissuenapkins] we grabbed a coffee, packed some burgers and decided to ditch the local train and hopped into a bus! Half way down, as dramatically as I can say it, we sat down, had our coffee, sip by sip and hungrily guzzled down our burgers. Played perfect songs and plugged in our earphones and started reading the book we had taken up and there………………. Our bus gets spoilt and everyone is getting off…

At the pathway of nowhere, startled and tired, we wait for some other bus to come by… we do find a bus within a short while, but only till Sion and this midget along with me decides, two broke girls can’t pay extra for a ticket…only half way. And she just behaves like we had tickets and there we were, at Sion Depot, reaching our destination, travelled without a ticket and standing on the footpath laughing our way out!

                In just about 10 hours, we had travelled by all means of public transport. At about 10, two girls, who are going to wear same shoes to college tomorrow, one not willing to go home yet and the other sneezing and rubbing her nose all the way!

                 Every day doesn’t need to have extraordinariness. The simplicity and the twisted tanginess of certain moments is what make them memorable!

Cheers! To the simplicity of bliss!

Miss. I love stories, long or short!

*dedicated to Reet [exclamation mark]….. Just the way you like it sweety!!

Perks in the Life of a Broke Teenager- 3

 I guess, most of us just conclude that ‘broke’ stands being financially unstable or ‘empty pocketed’ at the moment, but I think it is far beyond that….

One can be broke of experiences, broke of emotions, broke of love, broke of an identity, broke of people around, broke of stories to share, broke of memories to cherish!

I love memories. I love the fact, [I am repeating this again, but...] that the random most thing or moment can create a memory in your mind that does make an impact forever. I like how those small things add up to build a castle, called life. After all, what would life be, if we didn’t have memories of anything relevant to anything we have done for how many ever years that we have lived!? What would be the significance of living then?

Well... as teenagers, we fight a battle of not merely surviving, but of existing and end up broke in all ways but one, age... we sooner or later realize that the only way we have grown in the past couple of years, from childhood to becoming adults ,is ‘age’. We find ourselves stuck in a deep rut, from where nobody can see or hear us, but we do find the sun throwing its rays right at us!

The question is, are only teenagers broke, in all the different ways, or is everyone, at some point or another feel empty? The answer that’ll quench my thirst would be a remedy, suggesting me with something that’ll fill all those hearts, minds, pockets and lives!

Cheers… to finding answers!                                                                                              
- Love,

Miss I have too many questions… anyone with answers???

Perks in the Life of a Broke Teenager-2

Now that I have given you a rough idea of what I think, is the ideal life of a teenager, i.e. to live broke and happy, I guess it’s time I share some details of how those moments of absolute  uselessness and joblessness creeps in each one of us.. Leaving us so thrilled that we give in, to living in the moment!

It makes us feel alive... rejuvenated, so much so that we start assuming that life is going to be stable and stunted in our teens and that is that. No more. No change. No growth. Though I am of the opinion that this phase, eventually wears out and is replaced by the phase in which guys wear ties daily and girls replace gloss with lipsticks, a period of maturing. However, I’d say… each phase in life has a need, which is eventually served!

Now coming back to being the frivolous and impulsive teenagers, whom our elders think of as incompetent, let me take you to the day I finally had my new laptop packed in a bag on my back!

5^th February, Reet, my friend and I had a plan of watching one movie [emphasizes on ‘one’] in a theatre at Sion, Midnight’s Children we deduced in a while! Now I needed to get done with some final formalities at the retail shop, I purchased my laptop from. So, I go ahead and book two tickets for the 6 pm show at around 2 pm itself! Pretty jobless at the moment, I decide to go the book store, purchase something nice and read some more till about 5 pm. Just as I am reaching the 5^th page of Shobha De’s Sethji, Reet drops in a text explaining how bored she got at the thought of lying around and having to stare at the ceiling throughout the afternoon. No sooner than, me suggesting that she hops onto a bus and accompanies me at the bookstore, she grabs her bag and meets in with half an hour.

The obvious thing you’d expect out of us would be, heading back into the book store once she reached, pick a book each, discuss some authors and then settle in our own worlds of the pertaining books... but what happened, wasn’t exactly so.

Yeah, she reached the bus stop, and met me, waiting there. What changed in the next couple of moments is that, randomly she happens to say that we could perhaps watch another movie in the time we had in spare. Not thinking for even a moment more, I grab her hand and drag her to the multiplex. However, the only available show at that moment had run out of vacant seats. The two disappointed friends, are just sighing deeply at the thought of having to walk back to the book store under the cunning heat, when the attendant at the counter offers us two tickets in a mini screen accommodating not more than 25, among whom, 10 came to just improve the strength of their vocal chords by hooting and screaming, 5 must have come for a lunch break nap, 10 others to honestly watch the movie David and 5, including the 2 of us who came for just the heck of it and ended up making a good deal of laughter and vague humor out of the movie!

Just within the span of 15 minutes, we need to rush into another screen for the 2^nd movie, originally intended to be watched! And by the thrill of the whole overly hyped feeling of having watched two movies consequently made us hungry enough to spend most of the cash we had on food, keeping aside 20 rupees for the best samosas in the world, across the street at Guru Kripa and 40 more for reaching home!

There was popcorn, coke, fries, garlic breads... and so much more than just the movies to that day!

The amusement I saw in my friend's eyes of having the pleasure of being broke for the first time ever, the hot steamy aroma of the samosa that wooed us right till its last crispy end and the walk we talked, discussing random things that made every moment worth it!

Hanging out with friends is not rocket science. It’s just too random to be looked at and be noticed. It’s the little extra we can give to others. It is the little extra we receive from them.

A teenager is no single person. We have hundreds of us... in us! [If you know what I mean]

We are tangled souls in simple ways of life! We are sandwiches. We are the crushed cans of coke sometimes. Sometimes, the feather touch of a phone, the chilled splash of water, the tune of a song stuck in your head. We can be footballs, at times even tissues. Ironically, we can be dustbins sometimes, but what matters is, that even dustbins are useful!

I’d not say everyone should know to deal with teenagers [especially the broke ones like me] but at least try to let them be like a sapling. We may just grow and surprise you some day!

Cheers, to wealthily being broke!

-          Love,

Miss 'oh god I talk too much' [sometimes... or all the time... I guess... I don’t know!!]!

Again.. dedicated to Reet!

It's the little I can give!

Perks in the Life of a Broke Teenager!- 1

I know what most of you may think..“Been there, done that”

After all, who’d not agree, that having an extra rupees 100 or two never hurts in those desperate moments when you feel like hogging on just one more burger, or taking a cab ride to the station! But the fun, my dear friends lies in empty pockets of broke pants, the noisy coins in broke wallets, the crumpled wrappers and soiled tissues in broke bags, the sparkle in the eyes of broke & hungry teenagers! Nothing can beat that feeling when you and your friends save the last ‘note’ of 50 for getting back home and proudly rejoice in the moment when you still have 10 more to grab a rejuvenating glass of ganne ka [sugarcane] juice!

I’d not deny that I have had many such experiences, especially when I set on these food adventures, alone or in company. But the target of the day was Reet, my poor little friend who put up all my ideas of “fun”.

I’d also not deny that she herself has this untouched side of her that is so vey spontaneous and zealous that she’d just, enthusiastically in the spur of the moment just say something or suggest something  that somebody might think of as really fey and reject, but when she suddenly out of nowhere suggested to doing something irrational.. I looked up towards the sky, in a rather dramatic manner, pointed my index finger upward and said “God… you exist!” [Well, that’s what I say when something really unexpected out of somebody so unexpected comes out from!] And that’s when we set out on not one but several journeys that can be looked back at, in those solitary moments and smiled at!

Some incidents at some times have indeed been engraved in my memory for ever [or till I can remember myself!] Some moments related to certain people, places, things or even hoardings at a bus stop, random numbers, colours of cars, restaurants and songs remind us of our memories, memories that are so dear to us, but somehow, in due course of time get buried under newer memories and hide under the dust called age!

Now that, I’d say are the perks of being a teenager!

Cheers to memories and souvenirs!

-Miss Teenager at heart!

                        *Dedicated to a new friend.. REET!     

College = Politics?

It has been more than six months that I’ve been a part of this college. Some may define college as an educational while some may call it their ‘adda‘. For some, college is a melting pot of ideas and experiences while for some its a place they live a dream. A dream where one day they are a movie star, the other day they are Union leaders, while some other day they become world class Indian politicians.
    It was a vague experience to see the entire class gawk at the entry of the leader of a troop a.k.a. the hero of every short film made. As every day passed by, groups were made and broken; bonds grew stronger and slowly weakened. Some people lied about themselves; some remained discrete while some couldn’t stop talking about themselves, the sky, the full moon, or even the brown coloured bowls in the canteen. Some remained silent and stared. I’d not know which character I play, but I do know, the BMM department in every college functions, well, however no less than a super-hit blockbuster Bollywood movie, where there are heroes, villains, the mother of all, the pretty girls with pretty bags, the cool dudes with bikes and how can we forget the damsel in distress!
    Everything falls in place, in sync, when suddenly a revolution takes place, for an untold reason, there’s plotting, arguments, elaborate action scenes, two sides to every tale and of course one person  to start off an settle the “matter”. There’s always something to be spoken about, mass bunking, cultural festivals, break-ups, hangovers, group projects, night ins-outs, nothing is left out, not even professors! There are relations to be maintained to live these three years in glory. There are connections to be made to have a good night sleep, though you know you have enemies.
One does make friends or must I say acquaintances, to sail through college life. There are often stereotypes we all find in each of our academic batches. Some make us wonder “Come again, why BMM?” Some make us admire and think “you are cut-out for the job!” While there are the usual underdogs, the self-claimed group leaders, the gossip-gangs, the ‘tapree’ public, the hangout mates, the library chaps, the DSLR flaunt-ers, the ghazal  listeners, the trash metal rock heads, the regular bunking duds, the first benchers' who take notes, the last benchers' who look attentive, the fashion divas and the indifferent peers! BMM would be incomplete if any of these elements would go amiss.
Politics is played, the game is mastered not by the players themselves but the audience knows every rule noted in the unwritten book...