I had to write an essay about a person/character who had influenced me and I was thinking about all such people while shaving my beard. There were just too many things that I loved to do and likewise there are a lot of people who have influenced me throughout my life. In fact it would be really hard to point out that one person who had had more influence on me than anyone else.

My first passion, like most kids was astronomy. I read the stories of Galileo and the likes with much awe in school and whenever a teacher asked what I wanted to become when I grew up, I dutifully said “an astronomer”. Yes, I knew the difference between an astronaut and an astronomer; after all, I was the kid with more interest in telescopes than in football.

I was humming Gurdas Maan’s song Pind Diyan Galiyan while shaving. I paused when I reached this line:

Je Gurdas nu tu marjaana kehndi na,
Ni maaye meriye
Marjaane di bhora keemat pehndi na

This roughly translates to “If you had not rebuked me while I was a child, O mother, I wouldn’t have achieved all that I have”.
Could it be any more obvious – I asked my reflection in the mirror. There was no one who had had more influence on each aspect of my life than my mom. This probably is true for most other people. I still look up to her and reach out to her for the smallest of issues. The only thing that has changed over the years is that now she reaches out to me as well. And when she does that, I feel like Mom’s ‘Big Boy’.

Dil Chahta Hai
Kabhi Na Beetein Chamkile Din
Dil Chahta Hai
Hum Na Rahein Kabhi Yaaron Ke Bin

I allowed myself to raise the volume higher than usual as I listened to this anthem of friendship by Shankar Ehsan & Loy. I closed my eyes to let the words sink in. I’d bought myself a new pair of headphones. I’d heard the song countless number of times. But today it seemed to have a different feel to it altogether. Well, they say that unless that happens, you can’t really say you bought a good pair.

I wondered whether it was just the headphones that had changed. Or was it the yaari-dosti of the past; which was now just a collection of vague images residing in some dark quaint location in the mind? A pebble had stirred the calm waters of the pond that was my mind; and images of fun and frolic bubbled up. I remembered one occasion when we were stuck in a traffic jam while travelling to India Gate. It was raining heavily and we’d all sung this song at the top of our voices in the car. The images of the silly antics, the uninhibited playfulness and the tiffs made me laugh.

Din Din Bhar Ho Pyaari Baatein
Jhoomein Shaamein Gaayein Raatein
Masti Mein Rahe Dooba Dooba Hamesha Samaa
Humko Raahon Mein Yun Hi Milti Rahein Khushiyan

That time had passed. It was not coming back. But strangely, I didn’t feel nostalgic. Maybe this is all that it was meant to be – a discreet pond of memories to be stirred occasionally in reminiscence.

Kaisa Ajab Yeh Safar Hai
Socho To Har Ek Hi Bekhabar Hai
Usko Jaana Kidhar Hai
Jo Waqt Aaye Jaane Kya Dikhaye..

The effervescence in the pond subsided as the song came to an end.

I’ll wait for some new puddles of water to collect. Maybe then I’ll buy an even better pair of headphones.

Koi ho.. Yaadon mein..

Palkon pe boondein liye,

Aaina bani yeh aankhein teri..

Bheeni si.. khushboo hai..

Havaon ke jhonkon ne jo,

Chhu ke tujhe chhudai..

Life tends to lead you to situations when you need to make tough choices; when you need to choose between two very divergent paths. More often than not, one of these paths is the easier choice and the other is a more difficult one to tread.

While logic would propel you to take the easier path, it’s always the path less travelled that is more intriguing. It pulls you towards it, because there is a victory attached with taking the tougher choice and still coming out successful.

It fascinates you and you are drawn towards it.

Depending on whether you can convert your tough choice into success, your choice is said to be intelligent or foolish. But the experience is simply unmatched!

I was faced with such a situation a few months back. I took the road less travelled by, and it proved to be the right decision; although a tough one at the same time. Even if it hadn’t, I’d only have had myself to blame. But now I have only myself to credit as well!

Sometimes you have certain experiences in life which can give you goosebumps by their mere recollection. I had a similar experience today.

The weather has been really chilly for quite some days. The sun had shown some muscle over the dense fog only today.

I was sitting with my family in the verandah to enjoy the sunshine. The adjacent building is being constructed. I looked up and saw that the workers were putting up a column and were struggling with it. I cautioned the others that some brick or other construction materials might fall over us, so it’d be better if we moved in. But they didn’t quite pay much attention just then.

Then something strange happened. Without even giving a second thought about warning them again, I simply got up and moved towards the door. I had barely taken 3-4 steps; when I heard a loud crash behind me. A brick had fallen at the spot where I had been sitting!

It was a really close shave. I had escaped by a matter of seconds!

When I think about it in retrospect, I realise that some strange intution had driven me to get up and move away from the spot without warning the others again; as if I knew I was the only one in danger.

Was it a mere coincidence?

Sometimes life shows you sights that you cherish all your life. I was driving to college and the sky was partly cloudy. It was well past the ‘office-time’ so there wasn’t much traffic on the road and the car moved at a decent pace unlike other days.

The windows were rolled up, so there was absolute silence inside; peace and calm; just the way I like. The sun bathed everything in its light. Then the scene changed as a cloud cast it’s shadow! In a few moments it was sunny again. I could see the shadows of the clouds moving along the road. It was a scene worth cherishing!

This hide and seek continued till I reached college. It did set my mood right for the day, maybe even for the week!

The latest news is that my picture has been selected for Yahoo India’s monsoon gallery! Here’s the link to the page –
http://in.news.yahoo.com/monsoons-india-2011-flickr-photos.html.

See the 3rd image titled ‘Earth, Water, Sky’.

Phew!! I am so relieved that the site is up and running once again, and it loads much faster too. I had to change the hosting once again and unlike last time, I had the backup of the databases. But, I hadn’t anticipated that restoring the databases would so difficult! It took me nearly two days to get it done.

The past few days have been hectic. Had my exams last week. I think I have done well enough, especially if I take into consideration my preparation!

I’ll be going to Goa on 24th Feb on a college trip. Haven’t done any major preparations for it yet, am depending on mom for that! I haven’t had much time for it anyways, except the weekend which I spent working on the site. I’ll have to run around a lot tomorrow for shopping, the part I hate the most! My mom literally has to drag me to the market for buying clothes because I don’t go for shopping unless I notice that most of the clothes in my wardrobe are almost qualified to be called rags!

I have been planning to start posting in the ‘I Dream’ category for quite a few days now. I have quite a few ideas about what all could go into that page. But, now I guess the Shubh Aarambh can only be after 3rd March when I return from Goa.

It’s been a long time since I wrote. Well, the hosting crash did set me off-track a bit. To add to that, my exams began. They’ll get over tomorrow.

I hadn’t any plans of writing today but the millions of formulas and hundreds of pages of the textbook that I’ve been trying to memorize (albeit without much success) have cluttered up my mind. The stuff seems to be going round and round in my head like tiny buzzing bees.

So I thought letting out my feelings on the blog might help relax and prepare my brain for the early morning struggle to complete as much part of the syllabus as humanly possible in 1 and half hour.

So, adiós for now, until I come back to write! And of-course, all the best to me for tomorrow’s exams!