D - Dozzzzzing Off

As babies, we were allowed to doze-off whenever we wanted. In fact we were encouraged to doze-off as much as possible by stressed out moms. Even during the initial school days, there was special time for naps allocated in the post-lunch session. As the years grew on, the right was slowly and steadily taken away from us and suddenly sleeping became an un-cool thing to do. 

However, there was a time when Prime Minister of India used to doze off during the Republic day parade. Parliament is the best place to doze off for Indian politicians. Even when sessions are on, many off them take a quite naps. Despite its usage by the high and mighty dozing off per se is not very popular with the bosses all over the world.

However, things are changing these days. The army of people fed-up with the efforts of lesser mortals asking them to stay awake is growing by the day. Already the concept of power naps is gaining ground and is looked upon as an effective stress-buster for high flying executives. 

Little do the lesser mortals know, this was one of ingenious way of legalizing napping in the office by the happy-napping people. However, it has not yet percolated to the lower levels and happy-napping people at lower levels still suffer from the ignominy of taking a small siesta after lunch.

Additionally, taking a nap is no easy achievement in itself. The art of dozing off requires considerable amount of expertise which can only be attained through sustained practice and focus over a duration of time resulting in the ability to doze off anytime anywhere. This "anytime and anywhere" concept also includes stressful situations such as exams, board meetings, buses, auto-rickshaws, trains, classrooms, etc. 

Moreover, masters of the art have the special ability to doze off standing by holding / leaning on the nearby branch of a tree or a pole. The method to doze off even while standing is only known to the sensei of this art and is exercised on very rare occasions with extreme discretion. People around would assume the master is in deep throught rather than sleeping.

Personally, as part of happy-napping people team, I am eager to see the change happen faster at the lower level as I get caught out frequently in not very comfortable situations. For me, sleep comes faster than I can imagine. Although I cannot claim to be a master of this art, my dozing senses are stronger than most of the multitude inhabiting the earth.  There was bit of bragging in there. However, if anybody needs to learn to doze off discretely, self here is happy to help. For now, I am off for my dozing senses are now activated...

PS: This is part of the April A-Z Challenge where a post has to be posted every day in the month of April except on Sundays. The details are present here.

C as in Clock

Clock

Tick tock tick tock it goes

To nothing it bows

A reminder of time

Not its keeper though

On the wall it sits

Silent and watchful

Yet never unnoticed

But never proud

For generations pass

Under its watchful eyes

Collects stories in bagful

Unceasing and unbiased

The family moves on

Home it ceases to be

Yet unceasing it goes

Tick tock tick tock

Its spring is worn

Tired are its hands

Yet it cannot rest

For it know not rest

The stories remain hidden

To all the souls of the world

For it never was

A teller of the stories

It was but a teller of time

Reminder of time

Not the keeper of time

Tick tock tick tock

PS: This is part of the April A-Z Challenge where a post has to be posted every day in the month of April except on Sundays. The details are present here. My theme for this series is "Quirks of Life".

B.b.b.Bladder!

Day 2 of the challenge! Happy I was able to get something not so decent to write about and still remain true to my theme - "Quirks of Life"

  

Few things in the world get greater priority than a full bladder. All priorities, urgencies are kept aside for a full bladder. It is said that - nobody can stop a full bladder whose time has come. 

Yet this critical organ seldom receives any praise or any acknowledgement for the work it does. It is like the multitudes of billions working in cheap Chinese factories. This may not be true but am an Indian and like to dig in whenever I get an opportunity. It does not even get a mention in popular literature and it is mostly associated with disease or like the one who cannot be named. Bladder itself never cares about recognition. It is happy with its anonymity and content with its work.

However, the full bladder occupies a prominent place in Indian sub-consciousness. It has actually allowed Indian men to attend to the exigencies of a full bladder at a place of their choice provided they have to face a blank wall or a thick bush/shrub. Bladders are relieved from great heights like overarching bridges to display dominance over the entire city or even in front of office of the dean of college albeit under the cover of darkness.

Human beings as species need to learn to control this organ. As babies and to a large extent of the childhood, the required control is rarely there and that causes the loss of bladder control resulting in special warmth spreading through the legs. Over a period of time, the control comes in most members of the human species. However, certain members of the species have the special talent to control the bladder and stretch its muscles for extended duration. How these members go on to achieve this is still a mystery. Thankfully bladder control is not a sport in Olympics. Indian men would have still lost as a blank wall would have been enough for them to lose control and we would have one more sport where we bemoan a loss.

However, this sport is well practiced in pubs with loads of beers. Beers are said to have the ability to fill the bladder faster than any other liquid known to mankind. Pubs leverage this to create offers to lure clientele. An example is given below.

As kids, bladder had the special tendency to become full and on the verge of bursting in the dying minutes of exams. Unfortunately most kids had the same problem and there will be queues at a wrong place during the exam. Great, are those kids who bear the twin agony of full bladder and a difficult mathematics paper at the same time know fully that relieving of one would only bring the horror back in focus.

Keeping aside the beers and any possible disease, adults or kids for that matter lose their bladder control in terms of great anxiety or fear. This happens as in times of great distress, bladder which doesn’t figure in top 10 priorities for living, is left alone and the energy is directed to more important organs. Not joking. Check this link.

So leaving you now for nobody can stop a full bladder whose time has come including self. 

PS: This is part of the April A-Z Challenge where a post has to be posted every day in the month of April except on Sundays. The details are present here.

A is for April Fool's Day!

The first day of the month and the first day of the challenge.There was none better quirk than the Fool's day itself. Unfortunately unlike the other days of celebration in which we are inundated with various products, fool's day comes across as a low-key affair. So I asked Fool's Day (FD ) to have a word with us.

Ahem.  I have never been offered this honor of presenting my views on myself. So thank you very much. Well to begin with, I am really very disappointed with this state-of-affairs. Unlike  the other days, which are very specific to one category of people such as valentine's day, women's day, etc. I relate to the entire mankind. Yet except for few geeky organizations and some real pranksters(bow down), nobody takes me seriously. Yep I understand the irony. Probably with the world so wired for the specialists, they forget a generalist like me. Maybe they are not sure what to do with a generalist. 

Furthermore, this year it came on morose Monday which in a normal course of life itself is a huge dampener for many. Morose Monday is laughing at me. Nature has played a cruel prank on me this year by choosing Monday for me. Yet chin up is what I told myself. Smiled at the little pranks happening around. It lifted my spirits. 

In India, with the financial year closing on 31st March, I was celebrated with a sigh of relief after the exertions of last week in most organizations. That pepped me up. Then there were those stupid messages traversing across the mobile networks putting smile  on people around. 

Yet I crave for the publicity blitz that happens on other days. A week before that day, advertising campaigns are sounded like war horns. TV, radio, social media like twitter, facebook are full of messages, videos and cards . For me it is nothing. This despite the fact that  my appeal casts a wider net than the other days!

Yet what I get is nothing. Not even a holiday. No remembrance. Even if I am forgotten, nobody complains. No gifts are exchanged to be remembered for a life time. But, I bring smile on people's faces.I lighten the mood. The mushy couples forget mushiness for a day and play pranks on each other. A glum boss may play a prank on his directs. Kids have all the fun on that day. Sometimes their parents and teachers become the target of their pranks. The world suddenly seem to be a happy place for all. So hoping a better treatment next year around, I leave you with the thought - 

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe. - Albert Einstein

 PS: This is part of the April A-Z Challenge where a post has to be posted every day in the month of April except on Sundays. The details are present here. On my part the theme for this series is "Quirks of Life". So will be racking my mind on finding those illusive quirks.

[Bullet-O-Logue] Reminiscing 2012

Mumbai to Jawahar (330 km)

24th November - 25th November, 2012

This was the first trip with another bulleteer, Eby. Going together on a bullet-ride was one of the things that we had always talked about during the numerous night-outs in Mumbai. So there was very little hesitation when he suggested for a trip. The place was the primary issue and after some hours of googling Jawahar was the destination. We had decided to go via Bhiwandi-Wada-Jawahar. Although, the ride till Bhiwandi was chequered with the container traffic, the ride post-Bhiwandi, was what we were looking for. We did goof-up on the route after Wada, yet the goof-up made the ride more memorable. The night dawned on us faster than we expected and we were half-way when we realized our goof-up. There were two options, going back and taking the shorter route which would still be shorter or go along the longer path. Eventually we decided to go ahead on the longer route. The village road soon gave way to jungle road sending our spirits soaring. The creeping fear on a deserted route and unforgiving curves created the high that we had wanted when we embarked on the journey. Moreover, the full-moon basking the entire landscape like a transparent cloth made us sit-up and admire the black and white landscape around us. It was like the assurance from the universe that we were safe. The pic below is the proof of that assurance.

We did reached our destination by 9 in the night and finding a place to stay never posed a difficulty as people from Jawahar helped us in every way they could. On the return, we started for NH-8 as Bhiwandi container traffic was too much to handle for us. Fortunately, for us, the moment we reached NH-8, we almost flew through to Mumbai. But we did miss those turns on the lonely dark road and the quiet assurance from the universe big time.

Mumbai to Bhandardhara (280 km)

7th October, 2012

This was the first weekend after getting the bullet and the enthusiasm still has not ebbed. Not a solo ride this time. Had bro for company. The place is famous for Wilson's dam and waterfalls. However, monsoon was way past and very little water was seen from the waterfall. From Mumbai-Nashik highway, we had to take a diversion near village call Ghoti  to reach Bhandardhara. But here was the first bike issue that I encountered. The tube carrying petrol to the engine had become loose leaking petrol all over my jeans. Fortunately for us, the bike, stopped right in front of a garage and we could get it fixed immediately. This happened right after we turned towards Ghoti. The return was uneventful but the thought of another bike breakdown did hung on our minds till we reached home.

 
 Mumbai to Ahmedabad (1260 km)

30th September, 2012 - 2nd October, 2012

The First Thousand

The day you get a bullet, you just want to ride, ride and ride. This feeling was the cause of this solo ride to Ahmedabad throughout which I could not exceed 50kmph. It was the first ride and later realized was mighty lucky to complete it without any hiccups. Started early 4.30 AM and reached home 6.30 PM. The sole companion during the ride was the ipod and those huge containers. The absolutely smooth NH-8 made things easier. The best part of the ride was the numerous thumbs-up for the bike from other travellers. Moreover, from Baroda to Ahmedabad section brought back the memories of college days as all the kitli (tea-stalls) were covered in this section in fond rememberance of those days.

The ride ensured the first 500 km was achieved very quickly and so bike was in garage for servicing the next day itself. It still had to complete the remaining part of journey. The return too was pretty much uneventful except for the rainy welcome that started from Charoti. Another 13 hours of solo ride.  

Sunset on NH-8

Rumbling Thoughts

Image Courtesy

An empty coffee cup

A blank notepad

Soft purring of the machine

And the many open windows

The blinking cursor

An idle mouse

Silence of keyboard

And an unfinished poem

For the mind has gone wandering

To a land far far away

Unknown to confined brain

Mind's source of freedom

A single thought

Looping infintely

Leaving everything else

Searching for neurons

Unable to leave the thought alone

It was a single thought marathon

Leaving the unattended thoughts fuming

The brain slipped into sleep mode!

PS: Thoughts were simply rumbling without any purpose. This was just to vent them out!

So Gaya Yeh Jahan!

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 31; the thirty-first edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is 'Strangers in the Night'

Cab at 0030 hrs is never fun. You are alone and work will still be pending. Roads are empty with occasional bright lights from 24 hours open ATM. And when the radio sings "So gaya yeh jahan.." the cocktail of happiness and loneliness shroud you. Yet he saw today another soul from the opposite sex today. His heart did skip few beats but he was aware of the protocol that follow in such situations. You get into the cab, she pulls out a mobile and there she goes with whatsapp or gtalk or music. You again are left with the radio singing "So gaya yeh jahaan" and remain strangers in the night.

Image Courtesy

As he approached the figure, pending work on his mind was replaced with the conflict happening between unpromising hope and anticipated disappointment. She was brighter than the lights at 24-hour ATMs. The slightly higher cheek bones and the beautiful smile accentuated the brightness. He was blinded in the dim parking light. Yet when she was assigned to the same cab and when she followed him into the cab he felt hopes rising within him. "Where to?” she asked. The question evoked more than an answer. Conversation flowed. His jokes were were getting the laughs. The radio was asked to keep quiet. As the cab sped away, her head swayed in sync with the song played by wheels on the rain-made contours in the road. Yet the smiled remained and his tiredness banished to deserted island of his mind. The rains were there to add the effects for him. He could feel the creaking of his wheel of fortune that had gathered dust making an effort to move. A slight push and he knew he would get the jackpot. 

All he wanted now was a traffic jam. He know it can happen and it has happened with the blessings of rains. It was raining But it never happens when you want it. Roads were emptier than life in a dried out stream. The only thing that he had were the passing moments. Every passing moment was both an unforgettable memory and a rising fear of separation. Every single moment was precious though precious little he could do to hold on to it. 

His eyes became like prisoner’s eyes close to his escape. But she laughed as gaily as a flower that has just bloomed in first rays of sunlight. "Bhaiyya, aage side me laga do". The voice sounded the death knell for him. It was expected, yet his heart had hoped every inch against it. Few moments were all that he had. It could mark a new beginning or a make it a sweet dream. The new beginning was what he craved for. The cab stopped. She started to get down. His eyes fell on her speaking his heart out. Her smile remained steady. He did not want to leave that gaze. The gaze only disturbed by a police siren coming closer. His mind was resolute in ignoring it, for his heart yearned for the gaze. Then the words came out from her beautiful lips - "tereko nahin uthna to alarm kyon lagata hain!"

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Introduced By: Shilpa Garg, Participation Count: 03

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