Posts from — October 2002

The case of a missing ogre and a visit to a beach

Busy days are here again!! As usual, I was the early bird today. Reached the office at 8:15 AM. And I have been busy as a bee right throughout the day. Though, i did manage to find some time for a few well-deserved breaks. And since my boss is going on a two-week holiday (she’ll be travelling to Sikkim!!), she’s ensured that we remain muchly occupied right through this two-week interlude that we hoped would be peaceful! ;-)

Well… enough of this birds and bees talk!! … I guess you already know enuf abt birds and bees! ;-)

A couple of days ago, I surfed my way to www.fabmart.com and bought two items online. The first thing I selected was the VCD of Shrek and the second thing was a paperback edition of Lord of the Rings. Yesterday, the delivery from Fabmart arrived with only one of the two items… only with the LOTR book. About the Shrek VCD they said “We are having some difficulty in sourcing these items. We are attempting to procure the same from our sourcing partners in different locations. If we are unable to source these items within a week, we will cancel these items and initiate a refund to you for the same.”

Darn!!!… what’s with Shrek!!!?? I’ve searched for it in three Planet M stores, at two other shops selling VCDs… and now even at Fabmart!… It is not available anywhere!! The green ogre has vanished completely… in thin air!!

Suku… does your offer of lending me the VCD still stand??! ;-)

Anyways… right now… I’m publishing one of the few travelogues I have attempted to write. Its about a visit to Dapoli/Murud beach in Konkan… a place that I visited with my friends in the office a few months back. It was an amazing experience… and as I just went through the travelogue one more time… I was tempted to put it up on the blog!! … Check it out…

When someone suggested that we go to Dapoli instead of the much-debated options of Ganpatipule and Kihim beach, everybody was taken by surprise. Not many knew anything much about Dapoli. In fact most hadn’t heard about the place at all. But then Dapoli, a small Konkan town situated about 700 to 800 feet above the sea level and yet so close to the coastline is considered to be the only hill station in the Konkan belt. And the salubrious climate prevalent here prompted the Britishers to set up a cantonment at this place, which is also referred to as the ‘Mahabaleshwar’ of Konkan. About 10 kms from Dapoli and on the Konkan coastline lies the small village of Murud. This isn’t the Murud of the Murud-Janjira fort fame. Murud-Janjira too has an excellent beach and of course the famous fort. It is about 165 Kms from Mumbai. The Murud that we were planning to go is a small coastal village about 265 Kms from Mumbai. It is so small that had it not been for the heavenly beach present there, it would not have even figured on any of the national or state maps.

So, Dapoli it was! Upen took care of the accommodation right away, at the Murud , situated about 8 kms from Dapoli, on the coastline. Prajwal got us the best travel deal which we closed the following day. Meanwhile it was raining mails… mails to decide the games that we would play, mails to decide the itinerary, mails for this and mails for that. The wheels were set in motion and our minds rusted by city life were slowly beginning to open up to the idea of a fun filled weekend on the beach..

Finally the day of the trip dawned. Well, technically it didn’t, because we beat the sun to it and set off in the predawn darkness towards Dapoli. As the towns started decreasing in size and the size between them started increasing, a wide array of foodstuff was introduced and consumed in double quick time. People say that if you have good company then the longest of routes seems like a walk in the park. This most certainly was evident as the minibus sped past tiny hamlets with cute little houses (a distinctive feature if you travel by road in the Konkan region). We passed acres and acres of paddy fields separated by swaying palm trees. The lone track of Konkan Railway kept us company for the better part of the journey. And in no time at all, we entered the small town of Dapoli, where we had lunch. Immediately after the lunch, we set off towards our destination, Murud Beach Resort.

Just a half an hour later we found ourselves walking through palm and supari (betel nut) plantations on the way the resort. Then suddenly, without warning, there lay the Arabian Sea directly in front of us. We had arrived at the Resort. With surprising alacrity, defying the seven hour long journey, we unloaded the luggage from the bus and set up our base stations in the cute little thatched huts of the resort. And in no time at all, we were running onto the beach, heeding the call of the sea. As the group frolicked in the water, I went on a photo-clicking spree. I clicked the beach, I clicked the gently swaying palms, I clicked the resort. I even clicked some crabs on the beach (but I spent the better part of 15 minutes trying to get a crab to pose for me!).

As the evening progressed and the sun set, we sat down on the soft, white sand and listened to the incessant roar of the waves. The twilight gave way to darkness and the sky pulled on a blanket studded with a billion brilliant diamonds. The pitch-black sky looked resplendent with the tiny pinpricks of brilliance that were the stars. Each an individual and at the same time part of a formation. One was blue another green and yet another was sparkling red. We didn’t think anything could beat this scene. We were wrong though. Rochelle spotted a tiny speck of light zooming across the sky. It was a shooting star! I am sure everyone sitting there marvelling at this feat of nature wished for something or the other. Well, at least I did! It was as if a touch of magic was added to an already bewitched atmosphere.

When the dinner bell was sounded, none of us wanted to get up and let go of these enchanted moments. The dinner, though, was another treat. Fried Bangda (Mackerel) and prawn curry (both fresh from the sea) were amazing and had us saying, ‘Yeh dil maange more!’ Post dinner, we set up a campfire on the beach and sat around it telling horror tales and frightening the wits out of each other. It must have been an eerie sight too! Imagine a pitch-black sky, a beach about four-five miles long (all to ourselves), not a sound except the steady roar of the waves, the metronomic sweep of the beacon from a distant lighthouse… and a group of people sitting hunched around a crackling fire singing haunting melodies from Hindi horror classics. Makes your hair stand on its end, doesn’t it?!

Morning dawned and brought with it a biting chill. I, alongwith another guy from the group, grabbed our cameras and set off for a walk on the beach to snap up a couple of shots of the beautiful beach at the start of the day. The beach looked absolutely flat and untouched. It was as if we hadn’t set foot there the earlier day, leave aside the rowdy football games that we had played the evening before. The high tide in the night, like a caring mom, had tidied up the mess we had created in the sand. Even the remnants of the campfire had been covered under a thick layer of sand. The waves had left a sine wave pattern all along the length of the beach. A cold cross breeze was making my teeth chatter. The waves on one side, the palm tree plantations on the other and the flat beach with the wavy pattern. It looked straight out of a landscape painter’s dream. I clicked away to glory. We captured the serenity of the surroundings in our cameras, while the sun rose to herald a brand new day.

Then in a few minutes we were back to where we belonged… in the water! All the guys dove into the water with bare torsos and had an absolute blast, crashing headlong into the waves and in general, having a whale of a time. Hours turned into minutes and quietly sped past and then it suddenly struck us that we had to leave soon.

After a final set of group snaps, we bade adieu to the wonderful resort where we spent just about a day (but a wonderful, wonderful day), and set off towards Dapoli, where we once again had lunch.

Then it was back to the minibus, which trundled along on the route towards Mumbai. There was surprisingly little traffic on the highway for a Sunday evening and in no time Mumbai had arrived. It was time for another set of farewells and handshakes. As I got off the bus, I suddenly realised that this was the end of the journey (almost sounds foolish, but cant seem to put it in better words!).

During the ride back to home in a cab, I couldn’t help but think what a wonderful time I had with an absolute wonderful bunch of people. And in the end all I can say for those who didn’t come, is that ‘Forgive them God, for they know not what they missed!!’

An advice for the people wanting to visit Mauritius or Seychelles… You should consider visiting places like Dapoli/Murud (and countless others) which are in our own backyard!!

If you have reached here after reading through the entire travelogue, I salute your patience!!. If you have come here directly, please go back where you left off and read the entire thing, so that you can earn your salute!! :-))

cheers! … have a fab weekend!

Salman

Its happened!! Just as I predicted it would!!

Yesterday evening, I, just offhand, told my sister, “Take my word for it… Salman will be granted bail tomorrow!”

And guess what?!!… Salman indeed got bailed out today!! Read about it here!!

Strange!!… I didn’t know I could predict things!! Nostradamus… move over!… Supersam’s here!! ;)

By the way… check this out… it appeared on some discussion board at ndtv.com…apparently Salman still has some supporters!

MY SALLU WE ARE ALWAYS WITH U WE WILL FIGHT TILL U R RELEASED.COME WHAT MAY WE ARE ALWAYS THERE FOR U. We will protest and continue to message till Salman is releasd.Well he did pay 10 lakh rs to that useless victim why there is so much hue and cry about that.My Sallu is suffering in jail poor boy.I dont know why everybody is so against.Everybody is jealous of his good body,well i guess u people dont have the sexy abs he has got.He is so hot and sexy,We miss his dance and the acting he has done.We will start a dharna soon and will start a signature campaign for his release.
-Meghna and Veena(India)

Well… its difficult to keep a straight face after reading it!!… *LOL*

cheers!

An ode to Maharashtrian girls!

Came across this today while browsing through my bloated inbox, trying to delete some mails!!

Read… Sing… Enjoy!!!

*LMAO*

cheers!

On a day like this!

Nothing has been right today! Its just one of those days!!

I woke up in the morning, only to discover that my dormant tooth-ache had decided to make its presence felt. The ache (ache is probably too mild a word for what I was experiencing this morning!) was causing the entire right-hand side of my face to throb rythmically with an occasional stab of lightning shooting out from my lower jaw running all the way up to my temple!

With gritted teeth, I bore all that pain till it took mercy on me and subsided. I resolved to visit the dentist as soon as possible. But since Diwali is just round the corner, I felt I should be able to eat all the Diwali goodies. So, I decided that I should schedule my visit the the dentist only after Diwali was over. (I know that my decision was foolish… but inertia and lethargy scored over reason!)

Cut to the office… where, all of a sudden, a bad case of headache hit me! It was as if ten heavy metal bands were simultaneously playing some rip-roaring music right inside my head. And I’m not exaggerating!!

Very soon, I had burning eyes, itchy throat and heavy eyelids. I was also feeling slightly chilly. I detect the onset of a fever. Lets hope it stays away!!

Just then… the fluorescent tube situated right above my cubicle flickered for some time and then literally in a puff of smoke, blew out!! The acrid odour of an electrical fire hung heavy in the air as the smoke from the burnt out fuse drifted stealthily, clinging to the ceiling. To make matters worse, the smoke detector failed to detect the smoke that brazenly drifted past it!!

After lunch, I did not go for the customary after-lunch walk since it was too sunny. Instead I decided to pass some time by making some enhancements to this page. So, I registered for a free page-hit counter service and put up their code on this page. But as luck would have it… the page-hit counter refuses to work!! You can see for yourself that it shows 000000 even though I know for a fact that this page has been viewed number of times since that code was put up!

Today, Onkar wrote, on his blog, about an article which highlighted the sorry fact that our elected representatives do not know much about the national anthem. I commented on his blog by saying that it was disgusting to see our politicians so ignorant about our national anthem. All very acceptable… you might think! But somehow I mentioned that Vande Mataram was our national anthem. When Sat rightly pointed out my blunder, I felt absolutely embarassed!!… complete with blushing and the works!! I can’t, for the life of me, imagine what possessed me to make such an elementary mistake!! I just wanted to bury my head in the ground like those ostriches!! … In Bambaiyya lingo… ekdum popat ho gaya!!
Onkar even pronounced a punishment for me to help atone my sins!!… He says, and I quote…
“haha…go write janaganamana is the national anthem 10 times..while you are standing on one leg, holding the chalk in your mouth!”

I guess I’ll do just that!! :-)

So you see!!… its been one of those days!!… everything I touched, turned to stone! … somewhat of a reverse-Midas touch!… In case you happen to bump into me today, run away as fast as possible!! ;-)

I just hope that today ends quickly as possible and that I don’t carry today’s luck into tomorrow!!

Cheers!

The Perfume

This is one of the many inspirational stories that we all get from someone or the other via email. It stood out among the many recent ones that I received. So, I’m putting it up here.

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn’t play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant.

It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then putting a big “F” at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child’s past records and she put Teddy’s off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners… he is a joy to be around.”

His second grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.”

His third grade teacher wrote, “His mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father
doesn’t show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren’t taken.”

Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.”

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her
students brought her Christmas presents , wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long to say, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.”

After the children left she cried for at least an hour.

On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs.
Thompson paid particular attention to Tedd! y. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her “teacher’s pets.”

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he’d stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he’d ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer…. the letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story doesn’t end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he’d met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the
mother of the groom.

Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference”.

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”