I am here to tell you what a wonderful time I had at the Mumbai international airport. The way to the airport was a curvy one. ;) diversions, newly built lanes and roads all dug up. It gave us hope that the next time we come to the airport we would feel like having arrived at a foreign destination.

Somehow, the number of people present there to receive their beloved people, the alert security guards specially after the Taj and Oberoi incident, the highly expensive stalls put up and the newly built huge beautiful structure  fills up the atmosphere making you feel all geared up.

The hopes, expectations, anticipation of the receivers and the eager, long-awaited- look of those coming out of the exit door trying to find their loved ones amongst the crowd is worth a watch.

I was there with my brother and hubby. We watched the people in uniform doing what they do best - serve. The air hostesses in their elegant suits walked their way out with their crew. We still had 30 min on hand before my aunt would come out from the very watched over door.
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right now have to go.. but can you guess what must have happened? will write back soon.

Quote from Chandani's blog

The moment of truth

Sometimes there is no place to run to...

there is no place u can hide in...

no place for you to escape...

 

it haunts you...

wherever you go...

...even in ur deepest sleep...

 

no amount of happiness...

...can take you away from that grief

 

it doesnt leave you with options,

it doesnt demand any actions...

 

its just there...

...in front of you

 

you accept it...

you live with it...

                     or you fall...

...in a game called LIFE

Life's Experiences:

Hey guys, last week I was in Delhi, the capital of India.. and was pretty impressed to see the infrastructure and working of the state. Since its the Central Govt operating there all the states of India have their offices set up in order to have the State and Central unite and communicate..

One of the most impressive things to visit in Agra is the Taj Mahal built by Emperor Shah Jahaan for his beloved wife. Its a monument of love..

these days highly protected, preserved and looked after. The first look behind the massive gate was captivating. It not only looked beautiful but was a cool place to b e in.The yellowish tint on it is slowing going away giving way to a beautiful marble finish. This was the first time I got to visit the Taj and realised what I was missing. The big marble pillars call out for you and the moment you enter, you forget the world around you. Its been maintained well,

The Humayun's tomb in Delhi is the best, wellkept place for tourist while the others are coming up and meeting the expectations too.. the fast approaching Asian games have brought a tremendous rise in the progress chart of Delhi. I am very happy to see the developement which will in turn lead India towards prosperity.Hopefully, by 2010 Delhi will have become a place to learn lessons from....

The metros have changed the way we look at trains.. The underground stations, the big bridges, and double station stops say a lot about the great planning, construction involved on the part of the government.. they are doing a good job at it... wish the suburbans in Mumbai get replaced by the Delhi's metro trains.. the infrastructure required is already there...

I noticed that people in Delhi have a good moral sense, they help in keeping their city clean. The place on the whole is good, lively but cant say the same about the Delhites.. I don't say all of them are bad but I personally didn't have a good experience at that..

So, if you wanna visit Delhi... take a tour guide from me LOL!
Anybody visited Delhi? or have another version to my story? please share! :)

The Bike Ride:

It was one of the best rides ever. We left with an aim to ride and have fun but never thought where the roads would lead us to. National Highway 17 was our path to success. The beautiful lush green grass, rains, the zig-zag roads on the ghats and the wonderful weather never made us feel tired or exhausted.   

With three Bullet riders and a pillion we left one morning, got a free run on the roads.. with the speed of more than 100kms/ hr we felt like we were flying to the gates of heaven (there is a place in chiplun which is called so.)    The roads are very good in most places, thanks to Eron the company.. well painted and maintained except in one or two stretches where the road has gotten itself potholes.. (monsoons and heavy vehicular traffic). The route during the rains also becomes very pretty as you start seeing plenty of greenary as soon as you leave the concrete city - Mumbai. Its amazingly beautiful.  You enter a different world all together as you pass friendly villagers, stunning scenic beauty, green fields and tranquility. This path is best when visited in monsoon and that's where we went right. When we passed through the tall mountains and traverse by deep valleys we felt like it was the best of places. The streams were all full and grass was extremely lush green. Got to see various shades of green.     We reached chiplun, stayed there over night and started again the next morning for Guhagarh. This place is known for its beach .. some 40 kms away from chiplun. Its better to hault in Guhagarh than Chiplun. Has very beautiful resorts situated on hill tops. The beach has soft sand and is very clean. The Eron company has created their base there which has played a great role in maintaining the place. As I said earlier the people are very friendly and helpful.  

The way back home on the third day was great too. Captured the parts I missed. It was a very good experience and the accomplished feeling filled our heart with joy. We did face some hard times when the spokes of one of the bikes broke, when one of the riders got a severe sprain in his leg but it never could overpower our strong determination and enthusiasm to go on.  

I have gone for rides before but this ride was different and as a group we became stronger. Having covered 600kms to and fro we learnt the various basic requirements of man and machine.   The rest of the story you can follow watching the pics. Enjoy the pics!        

 

 <This pic has been taken while we were having breakfast at macdonalds.Bands like these were being distributed so how could I get spared specially with a group like ours. After all there is a child that resides in everybody.So I was the Macdonald queen for that morning HEHE!>

Hello people, M back from the long vacation to my parents place. It was great meeting all my old friends, going to those old places and meeting relatives. Since this was the first time I stayed back for such a long time it was like a mini vacation for my family members too.

Now that m back to bombay, I realised how important people and family is to me. Its nice to miss and to be missed. Just shows the role you play in life and ur personal involvement as a member of the family.

Life surely must go on but all these experiences alway stay back in your mind as memories that will last forever and they play an important role in making the person you are. So cherish, preserve and keep enjoying coz thats what life is all about.

Thank You! for writing back. I appreciate that even in my absence my space was kept alive. Take care! God Bless!

The other day I got a chance to visit one of the good hospitals in our area. Sadly all that glitters is not gold.

I guess the ISO certified firms get so busy handling their daily management activities that they forget that they are dealing with humans. May be because they come across people of all types and they have now adopted a common method of dealing with all. Unfortunately, its not getting them goodwill. I never went there to get a "Z" rated luxorious treatment but it wouldnt have left this negative feeling in my mind if they had a little gentle, generous approach towards their patients. The nurses were rude, wouldnt answer more than twice and the lady at the reception table never gave any information about doctors precisely.

My experience teached me that expect only good medical advice, treatment from the doctor. The way to the doctor can be a maddening experience, you might even get some other disorders but sometimes you can be lucky too! I would never be able to work with a staff like this one and if I ever do.. I think it they would have to keep a bed fixed for me 365 days a yr LOL!

"Precaution is surely better than cure" better than having to experience this.

What do you do when you get up in the morning and find that its raining outside? smile? Try reaching it from your window sill or call friends and get wet till it lasts?

Its raining as I write this note. M getting into the mood of describing it but at the same time m missing the fun I would have had getting wet :). The lush green leaves and the clean trees look beautiful. The smell of turpentine (m wondering where its coming from) is good. Getting into a mood of a long bike ride.

This is my first monsoon in Mumbai. M enjoying it to the fullest. Garam chai, pakodas and the scenic view from my balcony.. this place feels like heaven. Mumbai being a coastal region it usually experiences heavy rains.. so more water clogs, more road blocks - traffic jams, water on the train tracks.. apart from all this in the end everybody just loves the drop of rain falling on them be it acidic or natural. Once in a while I think I wouldnt mind getting stuck ON MY WAY BACK HOME.:) M sure its very exciting, adventurous and tactful to make your way back taking care of the puddles, open gutters, sharing the same time with strangers around and I would have all the time in the world hearing them grumble about the govt 's management flaws.

Its a pleasant season and the one I like the most of the three we experience in India.

Thank you friends for all the good ideas you all shared. Would love to know how you all party though.. m thinking of using many of those.. hopefully we will enjoy for the day has come... 30th May.... M excited and now the excitement is getting to my nerves. M hoping that all will turn out good even if its not exactly the way I have planned. All check lists have been prepared and now each of them have to be checked once again... Wish exams were so exciting too. Both of the events involve courage,intelligence, witty nature,the skill to excell.. we want to do good and achieve the best in both so why arnt they so exciting..

I returned from a short trip to a hillstation near bombay. What I saw amazed me to a great extent. It was not only peaceful out there but nature friendly too.

The ghats at times took my breadth away.The steep turns and the screeching sound of breaks. There were no vehicles allowed after a certain point. So we walked to reach the destination.The view was awesome. In the midst of nature walking wasnt such a taxing job,it was never so much fun. Since no vehicles were allowed the only means were the horses and hand-driven carts. I learnt how to ride a horse. They are very easy to control, even when they go wild there are certain tricks that they cannot overpower.

I really liked the way the people out there work hard to earn their living. They are physically so fit that they can walk around 40 kms with their horses everyday.. I dont say they are living below the poverty line.. they are not poor but they have choosen this as their mode of getting bread and butter. They are happier than most of us. Have a simple way of living, breathe fresh air, live on a curruption free land where people are honest enough to give each other their share.

When I think of the entire trip it gives me a certain kind of excitement. I want my life to be that way.. where I be ready to go any place, do any job with as much willingness as I went searching for the various site seeing places there. I dont think I need  a hillstation or any far off place to feel excited but yes, I do need and would love to have a similar environment.

M back to the city life. What I have here is the hope to make my life even more better, got inspired by the localites out there.

Living in Mumbai, you cannot escape the transport medium of the millions. It takes your around faster than any other public transport, is safer, spread across Mumbai, very convinient though not at all an energy saver.I am referring to the local trains in Mumbai. More popularly called the Suburban Trains.

Today I had the experience of being in one of them and for the first time I went in the rush hour. It was a whole lot fun and a great learning experience. Thanks to my dear sister-in-law,Aziza who gave me all sorts of instructions because of which I can happily write an entry here about a successful train trip..

For those of you who dont know exactly what m talking about.. take a look at the pic "Crowded Tain". Do you believe that?

The Life Line of Mumbai carries million of passengers to and fro each day, every hour, min and no train can ever be found empty. Not that it takes care of all the traffic on the road. There are an equal amount of people on the roads too LOL!. Coming back to trains and my experience. We were to climb into the second class compartment. ie. Ladies second class with the Green and Yellow stripes on it (Specific colour codes). As I said earlier it was the rush hour and the train was a bit late than its usual timing. Many ladies had gathered till then.Everybody's only aim was to get into the train when it arrives which made things easier. All you need to do is just flow with the crowd and watch your step, I automatically could get into the train with a good nice push from the lady behind me.OOH! it was so much fun finding a place and getting used to all those remarks and insults. I couldnt stop laughing at what I had gone through. We got down at the very next station which was a few min ahead. I stood there at the station waiting for the train to go,thinking that it will stop for no one.

There are a lot of things I learnt from this experience of mine.
* The good ones first: . It saved me a lot of money, I reached the place faster, could avoid all the traffic jam junctions and could free myself from a lot of Carbon Monoxide :).. Yeah Guys, POLLUTION.
* Train has all the relevant train instructions written on it with a complete List of stations on the doorside.
Now the actualy learning experience. :)
* The second class seats are meant for three people, could be at times occupied by six people or at times by six families and during rush hours by groups of people that you would normally associate with election rallies.
* The most important skill to be successful in second class is to be supremely insulting.
* Never Stand behind an elderly person for alighting the train. You will be blamed for all the things you never did. People always tend to have a soft corner for old aged people. The Emotional ones dont even mind fighting in their favour till their station comes.
* Never wear shoes with heals(saw a girl getting in with great difficulty coz she didnt have a strong grip). You cannot afford to lose grip and there is no second chance.You can never watch your step and worst of all NEVER EVER stamp those on anyones fingure.

It was good. I was always advised to not venture out and experience the rush hour coz m not the local mumbaite. HAH! now, I do have a point to make. :). Next I want to travel in the First class. Lets see if a combination of luxury,comfort and train travel brings me back to extend this entry.

Taking a train in India is a real experience. Choose a short trip (about 1 hour or so) and join the hundreds of indians (Bombayites) that travel by train daily,it'is a great way to know the country and its people.!!

Lots has happened uptill now. If I were to define life, I would say, "Adventurous, Lovely, Exciting, incomplete, unexplored, learning experience..... and much much more".

Its amazing that in such a short span I have discovered so many things about life. I hardly remember much about my early childhood days.My mom used to tell me how playful I was and at times so serious that if anything would go against my will I would cry and make those tantrums. I fail to believe that. :)

I have changed so much. Changed my ways of working and thinking. But I learnt the hard way. Learn by making mistakes and then correcting them. Its like telling the child stories so that he not only remembers the stories but also the lesson behind it.

Higher Secondary was a great learning experience. I learnt to know people, judge them in my own way and create opinions about them which were only mine to follow.

College was an exciting time in my life. There were so many projects that we were handling apart from the usual get togethers with friends. Lectures, strikes, rules, open Examinations... woho! it was all happening then.

Marriage was another wonderful experience and in one day I went through all kinds of  emotions. Uptil now, the education I have received and the reading that I have done has helped me be the person I am. I would also give credit to the people who have inspired me a lot. My near and dear ones have worked hard to have me around them LOL!

There still is a lot left to happen. I know I cannot plan it all but I also know that if its gonna happen to me.. I will try and make it the best. If its gonna pass by.. I will jsut let it coz if i comes back to me its mine or never was,.

There are a lot of unexplored topics and places.. There are things which I know I know. There are things which I know I dont know. There are others which I dont know I know and another phase or say sphere of things which I dont know I dont know. All of it and lot more. Since, I dont just live in the present, its helping me learn a lot more than what m experiencing.

OH! its exciting to write about a real life experience out here. On the 16th April 2006, I had gone to play a throw ball match at Grant Road,Bombay. It was my first experience of its kind. Didnt know the team members well, nor was aware of the actual rules of the game.. It was a very spontaneous decision. My sister- in- law-Aziza and I were in the Mother-India team. It was one special team consisting of all ladies LOL! We didnt win but what's more important is that we came to know so many people around, people with peculiar characteristics, nature and moods.:)It was a great learning experience. A memory that will last forever. Now next year we are gonna have team of our own and make sure we win. Life is fun with so much happening around.