A POST One Too Many...

बातें हैं, सब साली बातें हैं...

कहते हैं, फिर भूल जाते हैं !!!

Have you seen Johny Gaddar? No? !!!!! You must... one of the finest movies I have seen multiple times in the recent past...

Ok now, mudde ki baat !!!

Friday and Saturday, witnessed an event that I had been working for, for about 3 weeks now... and it turned out just right... with a few minor errors, that I should have taken care of... but never mind... All is well, when it ends well !!! It was a two day workshop for the members of the Process Consulting Group, who are currently in Europe... a total of 25 participants. Had loads of fun with some serious brainstorming.... It felt really good to play an important part in organizing, and participating and getting recognized for what I am... and my team also won a quiz by a considerable margin :D ye !!!




Oh, and you can write a compliment NOW in comments and continue reading the rest of the post :D NOW!!! :D.. hehehehe...

Though the weekend was super tiring, there was a lot of satisfaction that I was carrying with myself... I should confess that I love attention when I know I deserve it, and have worked hard for it... rest of the times, its not important...

And now introduction to something that I am going to call my own for a long time to come... My new Lens, in fact the second of the two I have bought after I came to the UK...

The first one is the Canon 50mm F1.8 Prime... not many people, who know about dSLRs, would need an introduction to this one... This is a must have in your kit, thanks to its lightweight, excellent optics and remarkable picture quality...

The second one that I bought, came after loads of reading... I wanted to stop using my kit lens and step up to a lens which would give me a wider aperture, and better optics... something that I would be able to use as a walk around lens... And I finally zeroed in on the Sigma 24-70 f2.8 EX DG Macro... This is the closed that I could get to the 24-70L Series at one-third of the price of the God of Lenses... Read at least 500 odd reviews and finally bought the lens about 10 days ago... Did not click much during these 10 days except a few experimentals to make sure that I had taken the right call, and this lens did not disappoint... Beautiful colors, nice grip, and pro looks... It comes with its own disadvantages, but I have a feeling I am not going to feel bad about any of them. This lens looks like something I am going to be very very happy about... Already am, to be honest...



What follows are a few pictures from the New Sigma that I have and then some from the Prime... Enjoy !!!

The green line is a Laser Beam that is initiated from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich after dark... This runs above the Prime Meridian of the World...

And now the pictures from the Crazy Canon 50mm Prime...







Let me end the post with another song that I have already for about 3 times while I was writing this post...

देस मेरा रंग रजिया बाबु,
घाट घाट यहाँ घटता जादू

धुल गुबार मे जंतर मंतर
बाहर से भोला गहरा अन्दर
इंडिया Sir ये चीज़ धुरंधर
जेब दलिद्दर दिल है समन्दर

And now is the 5th time I am listening to this one... and I guess its going to repeat for another 5... love the happy mood of the song... For your information, the Song is Des Mera by Indian Ocean and is from the Album Jhini...

चार दिन की चांदनी...

I am feeling tired right now...

Because of the tiring weekend that just went by... It was kinda nice though... I need to write about it soon...

And because of people who cannot keep their word... An incident, and words pour... another incident, a few more words and a few days later... everything back to where it started from...

Hindi mein kehte hain na... चार दिन की चांदनी, फिर अँधेरी रात... this phrase makes me smile always :) dunno why...

Now, what makes my being tired irrelevent is the good news that one of Bindiya's articles is now a part of IGNOU's Course Material for a Diploma Course in Displacement and has been published along with some big names in the field of Resettlement and Rehabilitation... Good work Girl !!! Murari is proud of you !!!

Isn't it nice that Uncle God usually packages the not so good stuff with something to smile and and cheer for... Thank you God Uncle... Let me be blessed :) ok, a few more people I like as well...

My Friend Speaks...

A friend of mine wanted to speak something... take it out of his system... and did not want to it on his blog...

so the next best stop was "चाय की दूकान"... at least i am hoping that it is that way :)

What follows is his post... and you may want to share your thoughts, opinions etc etc on it... and I will leave it to him to read and react...

"there is a strength in some emotions [or state of mind] that surpasses the face masks that you put on your faces and make themselves visible with an inexcusable brazeness. and yesterday a visit to PVR confirmed my faith in strength that one of these emotions called love has. although it might be a mis-read [given the quality of good photographers and talented make-up artists] but kareena in that poster had a face that had beauty and grace which being in love and made humble by it only could bring. there was this calm on her face, which revolves around pain, that was accentuated by the urge to suppress the turmoil inside. there were words in those eyes that could pierce hearts to core.

i guess love only could bend you and still don't let you feel ashamed about it. or maybe the unfairness of it all makes you a pitied person in your own eyes."

I also have something to say about what he wrote in the last line... but I guess I will keep it for future and not write it now...

Random Thoughts...

Can you think of a painting without color?

Can you think of a recipe without some taste?

Can you think of the sky without clouds?

Can you think of a relationship without expression?

I cannot think of any of the four above... watching Lakshya (it happens to be one of my all time favorites) and hoping that everyone who feels something nice about someone, expresses it like there is no tomorrow...

You actually never know if there is one...

And you might just keep waiting forever... I hope not though !!!

Pass the "Excel" Parcel...

I was wondering how Manish, my MIS guru would feel in the situation I was in for a lot of my time today... When Manish used to work on Excel, he would never EVER use the mouse.. he would remember all the shortcuts... and we could hear his keyboard keys clicking in perfect harmony for most of the day.... and I would never feel any less amazed at how and what he would do to make excel work like magic...

I owe a lot of my excel skills to him... and I see him getting a lot of accolades with his amazing data analysis skills... I learnt how powerful a tool is EXCEL...

and today... I was doing a Knowledge Transfer to someone who has spent a good 7 years in the industry... and had no clue, absolutely no clue to how excel works... even the smallest of things like selecting cells and copying and pasting information... phew... and I was to pass on my Pivot and Data generation skill on that 10MB, 15000 row excel sheet to the person... I struggled with filters, cell selection, moving around in different worksheets on the same file and what not !!! I could not believe I was in that situation...

A true test of patience it was today... and I know its not yet over... there is more to come, because I have a feeling that as soon as I leave the supervision part, the data is going to be messed up !!!

Phew... Uncle God... you listening right? This is critical... I have worked hard on that data and brought it to look like information... cannot afford to lose it...

anyway... back to Excel... and sea of cells...

Ta Tu...

:'(

One of my very very good friends, and one of the best humans that I know on this planet lost his father this sunday... and it made my heart cry :'(

I don't know what to say or what to do... I just hope that Uncle God gives him and his family a lot of strength...

How I wish, I was next to you right now brother... I am sorry that I am not... I am sorry :'(

Me the KID, at times like this... and at times different...

A Friend called me a KID at two different occasions...

At one, it was probably some affection that was coming my way...

and at the other... it was probably a question mark on my maturity as a person...

Its interesting how one word can sound/mean so different at different times... and can make a good amount of sense at both too..

I don't like someone questioning my logic or maturity as a person... I give shit loads of people a run for their money when it comes to being practical, logical and a matter of fact guy !!

And obviously a few people are better than me... which is good... because that way, I can figure out what I can become if I am more logical and practical and all that... thankfully it also lets me figure out if I want to be that practical... I am glad I let a few dreams rule a part of me !!!

Amen to practicality that makes dreams LIVE !!!

oh... and that reminds me... I have a few new kids on the block in my camera bag... need to write about them sometime... Thank you God Uncle... you are the beshtesht !!!

A Few New Colors...

Wish..., originally uploaded by ~OM~ ॐ "FoTo-SoFiCaL" Bhardwaj.

Some fade away, some are new...

A few come back, the ones that stay always are few...


Have a blessed week everyone...

Hope you turn out to be a winner Smart Ass like the dude in the picture above !!! Have fun !!!

What's the Point?

This question at times stares me in the face...

Whats the point?

~ In thinking of a day after tomorrow when you are not even sure what happens tomorrow?

~ In thinking of a dream you have, when you know the reality today is a different world from you dream?

~ In giving yourself a hope, a reason to live through today and tomorrow and day after with all that you have?

Right, whats the point? in trying, if you know nothing is going to happen right away?

I don't know whats the point!!!

and I don't know what to say, when someone asks me this question, Whats the point Prashant?

Thankfully I don't ask this question a lot... I think there is a point... if I believe in something, I don't care if it happens today or tomorrow... I will still give it what I can... I will live with some faith, some hope.. and I would make an effort... and not back off by asking myself whats the point !!!

Today I am closer to a few dreams that have been a part of my days, thanks to not letting this question contol my actions !!!


Thank you Uncle God for making me feel that There IS a Point !!! Just keep letting me hold on to that small thing called FAITH, even if I have darkness right in front !!!

Words and Stills in ONE?

Have been thinking of merging the two blogs that I have...

So everything that goes on Behind the (*-*) Lens will now be posted on Chai Ki Dukaan... and that would mean, atleast one picture in a couple of days here...

thoughts?
ideas?
suggestions?


While you are thinking, here are some of the pictures that flickr thinks are the most "interesting" pictures I have taken...

What makes me happy is that the first picture is from my first trip with the dSLR to Orchha, and the second is a picture that I had taken a looong time back when I started thinking about taking photography seriously... Both of these pictures are very special to me, and I am glad to see them on the top still...

The rest are from a trip to Agra, McLeodganj, Pondicherry, Chattisgarh, Banaras, Moradabad, and Red Fort :)

And what makes this selection interesting is that it has 5 pictures from my trip to Chattisgarh where I went with Bindiya and Manas Da for the PMU Evaluation workshop and 1 picture from Sankalp, Moradabad... I would like to believe that I was at my best when I was doing these shoots for and with ASK... thank you Bindiya and ASK for giving me the best reasons to have a camera with me...

Details :
1. With Age...., 2. Waiting For the Rains...., 3. Wah Taj..., 4. Desires...., 5. I Can...., 6. Dark Windows, 7. My world... my thoughts..., 8. With her !!!, 9. No Matter What, 10. Shadow, 11. Pretty..., 12. A Silent Evening....

Anger Management

amandeep:
main gusse mein hoon.....

amandeep:
tell me some new, innovative way to vent it out

Prashant:
100 bucks ke kaanch ke gilas ke
bori mein bhar
aur hathode se tod de

amandeep:
LOL

Prashant:
aur ek ek karke

amandeep:
now this sounds good!!!

Prashant:
jab tak choora choora na ho jaye

amandeep:
YES!!!!
You're the best!!!!! :D

Prashant:
:)

amandeep:
but usske liye will have to wait till i leave office!!!

Prashant:
oh koi na
achche kaam ke liye wait to karna hi padta hai re

amandeep:
hmmmm.....
koi nahi karenge...
now i hope sham tak mera gussa shaant naa ho jaaye!!! :P

Prashant:
haan sochna
kaise todogi glass
maza aayega

amandeep:
i'm already imagining myself in the midle of that act!!!

Prashant:
super

amandeep:
:)


_______________

And for the guys, make it a point to add the most innovative of the galis while you are breaking these glasses or cups whatever !!!


Anyway, you got a way to vent out anger? Tell me !!!!

Sunday THE 13th with Cirque De Soleil

The weekend did start pretty well...Amazing dinner from receipies from a lot of places around the world, and then two nights of dancing, and one night of getting drunk !!!

What a weekend it was till Sunday...

I knew there was something planned for Sunday evening, but my bugger brother had not told me yet !!! So I knew we were to reach somewhere by 1900 hrs, and I would get late in reaching back home to Horley, and that there was no photography allowed...

What I did not know was, what I was about to see this Sunday, the 13th was

Suppa Duppa, Classy, Marvelous, Incredible, Astonishing, Splendid, Beautiful, Fantabulous, Magnificent, Brilliant, extraordinary, fantastical, terrific, tremendous, unreal, unusual, wonderful, wondrous, astonishing, awe-inspiring, awesome,awing, impressive, surprising, intense, irresistible, errorless, faultless, flawless, chamatkaran, mahe-surr, kamaal, fabuleux, fantastique, adbhuut, azab, gajab, mukkamal, Fantastique , Fantastisch, Fantastico , Überraschen , Stupore , Überwältigen , Sopraffare , Perfetto , imaginative, implausible, incredible, insane, extreme, excellent, fascinating, incredible, marvelous, prodigious, shocking, stunning, surprising, unbelievable, wonderful, astounding, bewildering, breathtaking, extraordinary, impressive, marvelous, miraculous, spectacular, staggering, startling, striking, stunning, stupefying, stupendous !!!!

Thanks to everyone who has read the previous post to help me out with the words...

And It was NEAT and Phenomenal (thanks aqui for reminding me of these :)

I got out of the bus, and what I see is that I am standing in front of the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London !!!

This is a shocker in itself... Every time I passed through that place, I used to wonder about how would it be to watch a show here, and there it was... right there in front of me and I was about to watch

Cirque De Soleil (Means Circus of the Sun)

This is an annual Circus event that is presented in the Royal Albert Hall ...

And this year's show was Varekai (Means Wherever in Romani Language)!!!


What followed in the next few hours is something that I am not capable of describing in words the way it happened... The most colorful of the dresses, the most flawless moves, people flying around coming out of nowhere, people jumping atleast 20 ft high in air, people balancing themselves with one hands 30 ft in air, and more and more and more...

I would leave it to the following pictures ( picked up from the official website) and a few videos that I managed to find over the internet to really show you what was happening there... Mind you these pictures and videos are nowhere close to how it felt during the 2 hours I was sitting in that auditorium...

Triple Trapeze

Water Meteors

Georgian Dance

Handbalancing on Canes (Me and Abhishek, both fell in love with this girl Irina, :D )

Flight of Icarus, The way this guy kept flying around with ease was unbelievable... I think I was in so much AWE throughout that I did not even clap and kept wondering what was happening...

The Musicians

The Russian Swings... (My favorite of all the acts) Amazing Energy, Amazing Flawless Fearless Performances)

Take sometime off, put some headphones to your ears and enjoy the videos that follow...

Cirque du Soleil's Varekai - Icarian Games


Cirque du Soleil's Varekai- Handbalancing On Canes


Cirque du Soleil's Varekai- Arial Straps


Cirque du Soleil's Varekai - Russian Swings


In case you are interested in the factual information about Cirque du Soleil or Varekai, THIS is where you can click...

And Abhi, Thank you Again :)

EXHale...

For about 2 weeks, I have been thinking of writing why I had a series of unsuccessful relationships in my past, and why I still know how to MESS things up BIG time and why I think I am a misfit when it comes to relationships :D

Just that I have not been able to gather enough courage to go public with that amount of truth...

I should start an anonymous blog !!! or steal someone's diary and write what I want to in there... or hack someone's account and post it in their name !!!

what else can i do?

Write it on a wall in UK :D when no one is watching... Graffiti... with the crazy people I know here, it might just sell for millions...

Make a painting out of my thoughts... again worth some greenies...

Umm... take pictures and say what i want to say in code... Naah... I make an attempt to take happy pictures or make them look encouraging.. with some exceptions of course !!!

What else?

Talk to someone about it? I did... with three friends...

One took a split second to agree to the fact that I suck !!!

the other gave me a lot of gyan and tried to pep me up, and partially agreed...

and the third, made fun of me and applauded at the honest confession !!!

For some reason, I am not feeling too bad about it... there are good things about me, there are bad ones too... Not being able to handle people I love is one of the BADDEST ones !!!

Why am i writing about it right now?

Valid point...

And I am doing it ,

Because I think i should take that thought of thinking about writing about thinking about why I suck should be out of my system...

And because I have been carrying this thought for a long time... years maybe !!! It needs to go out of my system... it need a body wash that can clean things from inside...

Or maybe I just need to eat at a dhaba, have chai at a road side stall, drive the entire night, have a few paranthas at murthal, honk the horn when i feel like, have a few golgappas till my eyes and nose start running, flip through the useless TV channels, etc etc...

Ok... so two things now...

1. No Gyan please :) take this post into your stride and humor :)

2. Read the previous post and help me out !!! not with Fishing Rods and instructions on how to fish, but with some FISH :)

Test your Vocab... Help me...

I need synonyms for

Fantastic

Amazing

Overwhelming

Flawless

Perfect

In as many languages you know of... 

So if you reach this page somehow ( RSS feeds, visiting Chai Ki dukan, Flickr etc etc) please do donate generously your gift of language for me... 

Drop a comment with as many synonyms you can of the words mentioned above.. 

PLEASE !!!

An Evening Alright !!!

My first visit to a 5 star hotel's restaurant in Central London... Called the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park.

Amazing service for two reasons...

Thats how it is in the Park

and it was the Pastry Chef's birthday

So we ordered our starters and the main course...

In addition to the Chinese Spring Rolls, The French Asparagus Salad, The Thai PakThai, The Indonesian Nasi Goreng which we ordered, kitchen made some "not on the menu" dishes only for us... The Arabic Pita Bread with Humus, and the Chinese Dimsums... very interesting food this was... 

And I was asking Abhishek to tell me the best dessert in his kitchen, and when we checked for desserts we were told that we cannot order it because the kitchen had prepared something for us... again not on the menu... So we had something made of Hazelnut cream, black berries, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, and choux... suppa duppa... 

Thanked the people around for the amazing dinner and then walked to Piccadilly for my so far favorite club in London, the Strawberry Moons... the inhouse DJ plays amazing music and even with my very limited knowledge of songs I enjoyed the beats that make you move... and to add to icing on the cake, he played Summer of '69, Jump, You Give Love a Bad Name, Wake me up before you go, Grease and a few more that I knew... 

and now time for the highlight of the night... Picture this.. 

A platform for pole dance...

lovely young women dancing there (no these were not performers, these were the guests at the club who could do their 30 seconds or minutes to fame)

and my friend Abhishek decides to enjoy his birthday doing some pole dance with a girl there... comes down of there after 15 minutes and then is dragged up again by a blonde who literally takes all his clothes off doing the pole dance with him... So my dear friend cheers the crown up with some topless dancing for sometime and becomes an instant celebrity !!! This should be good for a birthday :D

And we left only when the music stopped which would have been around 0300 hrs... 

this does not look like and end to the post... :) its not... the weekend is still on... two more days to go... lets see whats happening... It might just be like all the other weekends... Ghar, Movie, TV Food and a relaxed time.... 

Wasted...

I have never been this drunk before... and i don't remember feeling this loney before either... i was in a club tonight celebrating Abhishek's birthday and throughout I thought that there was something missing...

never mind....

I am still drunk and I am letting go of myself... saying what i want to doing what i want... God bless us all... May we do what is right for us and our loved ones !!!

God bless us....

Of Curves and Cuts on Tyres...

This year's Auto Expo (one of the exbitions that I love to love) looks like one of the more practical ones in the last few years...

Two things that I have been following and am happy about are...

1. The cheaper Car - Nano... The claims are that it costs a lakh, however when you add things like road tax, insurance, a few accesories etc this should be around 1.25 on-road for the base model... not bad at all for a 33bhp 600 odd cc engine... I think this should be a very practical buy for city driving... The only thing that will keep me away from it would be the poor Tata build quality in cars... except the Safari, the plastics of most cars are cheap, and they can start rattling in about 6 months of regular usage... Indigo is a delight to look at, and has one of the best ACs that I know of in Sedans in India, however the sound that it starts making after a few months is something that is a big put off... Ankur now has a Safari and I am really looking forward to some first hand reviews from him...

The sad part is after I have driven the FIAT, the build quality of almost every car that I have been into seems inferior...

2. The new SUMO... relabelled as the Sumo Grand... though the looks seem to be coming a lot from the LandRover, minus the headlights which still have a dated feeling... the first looks at the SUV made it look impressive... again.. the TATA build quality is something that I would really like to consider before I would recommend this to anyone... Mahindra seems to be much better in their engine refinement and the quality of the vehicles when it comes to a comparision between the Sumo and the Balero and the Scorpio and the Safari...

But with this new good looking Sumo, and the "I so want it but cannot afford it" Safari, things might be a li'il tough for Scorpio and likes...

Another news that I have been waiting for was the launch of SKODA Fabia... Its a premium hatchback, which personally makes a lot of sense to me, and comes with the SKODA tag... needless to say the safety, reliability, build finish and quality are the things that you can assume coming with this car by default... Not sure how successful it would be though in the very cost concious Indian market... We are not too keen on paying a premium for a smaller car which comes with added benefits... If the Fabia 1.4L Diesel engine delivers like the much higher and bigger Octavia does... they already have a customer in line for the car !!!

Honda also had on display the Honda Jazz which is a sleek looking 5 door hatchback... Another car to look forward to in terms of reliability and performance...

Oh, and yes I also saw a few pictures of the new Suzuki Dezire... the sedan version of the SWIFT ( which is a nice car) but Dezire is one of the most stupid looking cars that I have seen in recent times... Looks like there is a competition of sorts about who makes worse car backs between Mahindra Logan and Suzuki Dezire...

All in all, this looked like a good beginning for the potential car buyers, and people who are looking at decent upgrades for their existing vehicles...

I am looking forward to another FIAT though :)

Call the FireBrigade... save the CAT...

I am working from home today... there is no one in the office who I can talk to and its no fun going there when my BT Boss is not around...

and I get my share of adventure today...

One of my house mates forgot his keys inside the room and the room got locked... and he is on the first floor... and these were the spare keys because he left his spare keys at home when he went there this Christmas... situations i tell you :)

Thankfully his window was open.. and all we could do was to climb up to the window, get inside the room through that 1ft by 3 ft window and open the room !!!

So here is what we did....
Picked up the ladder from the backyard :) it was just there :)

first he tried climbing... but I am not sure if he was used to climbing up these ladders so it starting shaking bad... so I volunteered to do the Cat Rescue ACT :) climbed up the ladder.. opened the window full... and tried to get in...

now imagine this... an almost six footer, managing himself on the 4 inch space on the bar outside the window, trying to get inside through that 1*3 ft space... not easy... i just could not get in... so the next best option !!! get the keys out... i managed to see where the keys were.. but I could not reach them through the window... what a dilemma...

So got a few pipes and rods to somehow pull that key chain towards myself and finally managed it after 15 minutes of struggle...

Yippieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

Tshirt
Pyjama
hawai chappal
sard hawa
aur ek 10 ft oonchi khirki

kya situation hai :D


I ROCK :D !!!

Loud Quiet Loud

This weekend was a good weekend... I managed to spend a lot of time with myself... was at Abhi's place, but still I did not see him almost the entire day... was kinda locked inside his room and kept thinking, taking a few pictures, or being just there... and then almost killed myself laughing while watching a TV Program...

It was nice... specially after being followed by a party at Strawberry Moons, a club on the Regent Street... Abhishek, me and one of his friends from Manderin were there at the club till like 0200 hrs... it was fun... might write about that sometime too...

As of now... I guess some pictures to cheer a usual dull Monday up should be a good idea :D Have a great week ahead everyone...

God Bless !!!

This is me Laughing my guts out while watching the finals of Great Indian Laughter Challenge... Kapil Sharma was amazing with his Shamsher Singh and Lalaji Acts...

And this is some more of ME :) have fun !!! Oh and thats a real mustache :D I was being clicked for my portfolio :D by Abhi !!!





Thanks Abhi for letting me be ME.. in silence in alone in company.. thanks Bhai...

Those Were The Best Days of My Life... so far :)

The first memories of being on stage go back to class V or VI when I was a part of the dance team which performed on Boney M's Its a Holiday... This was my first ever english tape as well.. Boney M's 18 greatest hits and I still love those tracks...

Remember practicing during the not so important classes and enjoying it... Vicky was my partner in that song, however I wanted some other girl to dance with me :) but then, li'il I could do about it... Nice white shirt and the black trousers... I am sure I kept that dress for a while before I moved on...

and then a lot of years of stage-o-fobia...

Until one day, when I was in class IX... I had to climb up the stage to fill in for a few people who ditched us in the Independence Day functions... my first stand up comedy stunt :) it went pretty well for the lifelessness I felt in my legs and the dryness in my throat in those 10 minutes...

Another few years of stage silence, before it was broken in the form of Mughal'e'Aazam in my first year of college... PGDAV was no great college, but the kind of friends I earned there, the life that I lived there is something that no other place could have given me... I loved those 3 years of my life...

I still remember that the entire team had practiced on my terrace for a day and by the time we had finished the entire play was changed... We laughed our asses out because of the changes that were made during the entire day... Ankur Wahal had written and directed the play and he was flawless with his work... Today he is a brilliant Corporate Lawyer and no one is going to believe that he once used to rock the stage with his amazing performances...

His entry in the play on that yellow tricycle... mine with that 8 inch sword and the loose pyjamas... Tushar as the Kaneez... Karan Bindal, our 6 foot tall Laila... and Ankur.. the short Majnu....

The play was a super hit second year in a row, and that 800 strong audience enjoyed it as much as we did who were on the stage at that time... Ankur and Taru had hosted that year's Aaghaz...

I was a part of the Cultural Committee now, and in my second year.. we were looking for people who would join the group... This is when I dragged the freshers Nimisha Bhagat, Sandy, Vandana etc into the group... Ankush joined, Gaurav Marwaha joined, Meghna Jain came in... along with a few others and we had a brilliant team of people doing everything they could... This is the year when I got an award for winning the maximum number of prizes in an academic year too.. 18 prizes I won in various individual and team competitions in Delhi University that year... MY year of glory...

Ankur did not host Aaghaz that year... I followed his footsteps and was responsible for managing the show for about 7 hours and with me was Virat Vikram Juneja... and both of us created a riot... I loved it... it was the kind of feeling that nothing else can even come closer too... NOTHING...

Third year of college... Cultural Society at its best... The dance team from my college won almost every single competition that they participated in.. Gaurav Marwaha and Ankush were leading the pack here... Ankush focusing on the dance team, which needless to say, had some of the most brilliant dancers I have met till date...Gaurav worked his sweat out to get the sponserships and managed more than we expected... he did work too hard... and I managed the theatre part along with Meghana and a few others... Ankur, Patrick, Nimisha etc were our western music champions.. this is the time when our Rock Band Nakshatra also revived itself... Some ex students came back to play with us too... the green room below the stage in DAV always used to have something or the other happening...

This is the year when Kapil Sharma who used to be a DAV student sometime also came back to college and taught me and other most of what I know and remember today about Theater and stage... Getting out of home at 0700 hrs and coming back at 1700 hrs.. even later.. and spending most our time reading scripts, discussing plays, acts and learning and talking was a life well lived... I both smile and cry at times for those times... I still remember the song from Chupke Chupke we used to sing... the one with Amitabh and Dharmendra... we used to rock !!!

Aaghaz again was my baby this year with me on the stage for about 6 hours and with Virat again... A repeat of the last year... Laughter, comedy, fun and the feeling of being on the top of the world... the only difference being that this year we did the show in Army Auditorium, Dhaula Kuan... what an evening it was... bad throat by the end of the day but smiles that would not stop for days to come.. because every time you entered college you would have some eyes who would recognise you... some people would even come up to you and tell you how good you were....Even Ashish bhai, our canteen wala guy said to me one day... Arre tu to wohi hai na Stage wala !!! I just smiled and said haan woi hoon.... :D

The making of posters, the winning and loosing competitions, the bunking classes, the professors refusing to even know you at the end of the year when you requested for attendance, the understanding and the misunderstandings, the certificates, the sitting on stage stairs and singing or talking or just being, walking up to the srinivas puri market to have tea and keep sitting on the stools there for hours, Out of the Gate, across the Road down the street was our favorite spot... during the festivals, the entire cultural society dancing together in jam sessions... I don't really remember seasons changing for some reason... every day of the year was as bright and sunny as we thought it should be or wanted it to be...

I moved out of college... thankfullly was in Delhi itself... Jamia Millia Islamia... and not too far away from DAV... though the classes were many, but I still used to go to DAV at times... meeting people in person was the only way to keep in touch.. that is when we did not really rely on Text messages and Mobile Phones or emails to keep in touch... so a typical routine used to be... I would finish my classes in Jamia, rush to DAV, find someone in the green room... talk for a while or wait for classes to finish and then come back home together...

For some reason the team back in DAV did not find anyone to host the show, and they asked me to do it... I was not sure if I could because I was already out of college but they insisted and I agreed... I wanted Virat to do it with me again, but he was not ready... after a lot of begging and requesting he agreed... and Prashant and Virat did it again in FICCI this time... third year in a row I was there... could not have loved it more... my professors who used to look so serious all around the year laughing off their seats, the people who i did not know responding to every line that i said on the stage... it was a dream... a dream i lived... my then principle Bhatia Sir, who had taught me mathematics in the second and third year also came upto me and said, Inko tujhse achcha koi aur nai milega :)

By the end of next year, things settled down... I was now looking at how am I going to earn a living... Nimisha was busy with her studies, Meghna wanted to do her post grad in NID, Virat started assisting his dad and his work in Faridabad, everyone from the dance team got busy somewhere or the other, Ankur was already doing his LLB... We all moved and Time too....

Its like I lived a life in those few years and lfe that no more there.... but I know that something has not died inside me... its still there... Thank you God Uncle for letting me live and not just exist !!! You are the best !!!