Introspection and Curdrice

*waves*

As I sit here having my curd rice and vegetable soup I feel nice..You know why? coz I never realised I like curd rice and I think the combination is deadly..this got me thinking deeper..What if I have things around me like the curd rice and never realised it.. What if I have simple solutions that bring happiness and joy to me but I've just complicated myself enough to realise it?

What if Im pouring dal over the rice and feeling unhappy whereas a simple curd rice is what brings so much joy..?

Curdrice.. Curdrice..sounds so simple so easy..and Dal ? so so so complicated !

curd-rice is what the world needs right now.!

Wackao!

Hola everyone!

Its me again and Im here like a sweet spray of joy in your extremely boring life! ;)

so.. ! I've been bombarded with some standard questions recently like " hmm so what are you going to do in life? Do you have any ambition whatsoever? Don't waste time like this..! why don't you join some nice course ? e.t.c e.tc..

Each time someone asks me this question I say " hmmm good question.. Haven't thought about it you know!"

After a lot of introspection, I am happy to announce my plan for life! :)

okay! So how many of you have actually "lived" life?

Don't you ever feel that life is not all about earning money and wasting your time with things that you don't even know why you are doing?

How many of your minds are filled with thoughts of completing pending files, deadlines, annual targets and so on?

pssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

hold on right there..!!

stop stop stop..

take a deep breath! and re-examine your life! Is there anything you did that made you say to yourself that "I am different.." .?

no nah ?!

this is exxactly what I don't want to do.. I don't want to spend my life like this..!

I want to enjoy life.. dance in the rain , plant a garden full of flowers, cycle till I fall down exhausted , Sing at the top of my voice from the tallest peak of a mountain , learn a musical instrument, meet new people, learn a different language and so on!

We sometimes forget what we have around us in the midst of all these so called "responsibilities"

so what exactly is life? Is it going to work and coming back extremely tired, work work work.. umm excuse me...who are you working for and why? :)

Do you really want to be 60 to realise that you've been very serious in life and its time to take a break?

So my plan right now is to complete my graduation and work hard for one year and earn a lot of money.. Needless to say I will only work where I feel nice and where I don't feel suffocated with the work ;)

As soon as the year ends, I will set off to travel all around the world and meet people , learn about new cultures , taste different cuisine , maybe even tell them all about India.

I will learn so much with the amount of experience I would have gathered !

after that amazing one year of travel and fun , I will come back , this time to earn for a year again ! by this time I think, I would exactly know what I want to do in life and then I'll have even more fun doin what I want to do! :) :) :)

I know many of you there will go- hey! that is so not possible and its not practical and all..!

and I say- why not?

Where there is a will (and your Dad to pay the bill [;) ] )

there is a way!!

aavjo,

Ashwini

what do you think? ;)

Sarap dase, suna suna kaisa meetha meetha sa zehar! FINALLY!

*a special request- please play teri deewani, naiharwa,saiyyan and chaandan mein while ur reading this!* :)

thanks! :P

Have you ever felt the need to slap yourself to see if what was happening was actually true or whether it was just a beautiful dream??

This is exxactly what Im feeling right now..!!

so lets rewind a little

(few years back):

I heard the song Allah ke bande and thought- hey nice song man..!

and then I heard this awesome soul stirring song called teri deewani..!

and I said- awesome !

After a few months , my cousin gave me a cd which had a lot of albums and one album called "kailasa"...

THATS IS IT! I was hooked for eternity!!

I listened to that album day in and day out..

i knew each and every beat, each and every rythm of all the songs in the album... I was just soo sooo soooo addicted..

then I started following all kailash kher songs..and I realised that the songs had such an amazing feel to it. I would search for some new kailash kher song each day!

and then this was turning into a huge problem at home... I wouldn't let anyone hear anyhting else!!

And God forbid if anyone stopped a Kailash kher song in between.That person was in HUGGGE trouble..! slowly my friends noticed my madness and they went-huh..wats so great about those songs.. How did they know!

Pretty soon, My didi got hooked to the songs too and together we would talk about these songs day in and day out.. we would sing "teri deewani " before going to sleep and all.

I would say "isn't it so odd, kailash kher doesn't even know that he has such a big fan!"

Then I learnt about the Kailasa band.It had Kailash Kher , Paresh kamath and Naresh Kamath who were brothers.

One day I heard saiyyan on tv and thats when I realised that this band was just made for me!! :P

They made such beautiful music!! Each song just brought this amazing and pure feeling of music ..

didi started calling me "kherni" :P

And then there was "kailasa Jhoomo re! " I went yayyyyyyy!!!

I always felt that with an A.R Rahman song, the magic is such that you won't like the song when you hear it for the first time , but if you hear it like two or three times thats when you start loving it, but with a kailash kher song, I just fall in love with the song right away!!

Then came a series of songs and I started feeling more and more that "THIS IS MY BAND" :P

If the newspaper said anything about Kailash kher, my mom would tell me that there was something about kailash bhai.. :P

my friends toh waise bhi always kept teasing me.. they were like use pata bhi nahi hai you exist!

Thats when magic happened..

or in amazing words this is what happened:

"Ishq ka jaadoo sar chadh kar bole,

khub lagalo pehre raste rab khole " :P

Destiny had to help me meet them..! you know this famous line that goes- "Kissi cheez ko dil se chaho toh puri kaynath use tumse milana ki koshish karti hai.."? here it was more like "kissi cheez ko dil se chaho toh kamaths use tumse milane ki koshish karte hai" :P

i searched facebook for "kailash kher" and found a profile, was not sure if it was HIM but still I added him..!

And then chaandan mein was released.. MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC..! aaah! when was I going to meet them I don't know..

I just thought it was going to be an unfulfilled dream and kept listening to all the songs day in and day out!

At college, people would irritate me by saying "kya yaar kailash kher kahan acha gaata hai"

They did this because they knew I was gonna get so irritated and all.. I actually would stop talking to that person if he said anything bad about kailasa :P

In any antakshari I would sing kailasa songs.. I was getting so predictable :P

And then one day I was in surat lazing around at dad's place and suddenly my best friend calls and says "hey ash, ur kailash bhai is coming to ahmedabad today.."

I was like "ha ha ah okay not funny"

and then she was like beyyy Im not kidding he's coming..!! I pleaded dad, I wanted to goooooooooooooooooo but it wasn't possible!!!

It was sooo sooo heartbreaking.. so many of my friends went and I was so upset.. but then they said "oye if her biggest fan is not there, the concert wud be no fun" and then I was happy :P The same thing happened when I was in mumbai and they said kailash kher was coming after 4 days and I was leaving the same day.. ARRRGGHHH Again!!

I had lost hopes of ever seeing them perform live..

Suddenly one day my notifications said "KAILASH KHER HAS ACCEPTED YOU FRIEND REQUESt" I wentt yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!

but he wasn't regular and I wasn't sure if it was him :(

and then One day I searched for "paresh and naresh kamath"

OHMY GOD!! they were on that social networking site!! Paresh bhai and Naresh bhai were there!!!

I called each and every friend and told them this.. they were like oh must be a fake profile!!

then I asked them about kailasa and stuff and they gave me the most amazing news , they said they were coming to Ahmedabad!!!

yayyy!!!!! :) :) :)

Now present:

6th February 2010:

I reached the venue and we got the most amazing seats(thanks Paresh bhai) :)

I was so close to the stage.. It was like a dream. people around were so normal but I was like-"OMG OMG OMG"

the band was doing their sound check! It was like I was waiting for that moment since I don't know when! Paresh bhai and naresh bhai are sooo down to earth..!! maybe they don't even know themselves that they are suchhh big people!! they talked normally with me..! I was on cloud 9!! :P

And then the stage was set for magic to happen.

kailash bhai came in sining Jana jogi de naal..!! And I was like ohhhh nooooo!! He's here. This is it!!!

Im watching Kailasa live that too I was so close to the stage!!

Couldn't stop smiling..! Couldn't stop myself from screaming the lyrics while the other executive people sat there elegantly. My heart danced to the tunes..

Aand I felt sooo sooo good!! aaah my dream has come true.. I can die peacefully now:P

AND SUDDENLY::

Kailash bhai said "some people are crazy and we have the information that a crazy fan of Kailasa is sitting here with us! " My heart skipped a beat .. I thought is he talking about me?? and thenI thought, no no no no..!

suddenly he said "I would like to call Ashwini Mohan on stage..Ashwini mohan"

__________________________________________________________________________________

EVERYTHING AROUND ME WENT blank!!! you know this scene they show in movies where everything around you stops for a second.That is what happened!!!

You have no idea how it feels when a person you have worshipped for so much time is actually calling u on stage!!

all I could think was "kailash bhai said my name!!"

and then I went up on stage.

I was there!!! STANDING RIGHT THERE WITH THE WHOLE BAND!!

and then we danced and sang !! Never ever In my wildest dreams had I thought something like this would happen!!

How could this happen to me??!! The moment was to die for! although for a moment I did pray that I shoulllddd not faint!!!!!!!!!! :P

My face flushed and blushed and it gave the wierdest of expressions.. I started dancing with full force but later like a lightening the feeling struck me that I was standing there with the legends!!

and then I just stopped dancing,

I just stood there dazed..!

That moment was like a flashback of all the days i have listened to these songs in a loop almost like 50 times a day..! It was like someone from up there was smiling and saying "there you go! ab khush? "

The concert was just of 90 mins , but the fun was something I would remember till I turn 90! :P

After the concert I talked to Paresh bhai and Naresh bhai and the other band mates.

I talked to the drummer Kurt and the tabla player "sanket".. the others had left and were in a hurry. It was because of them that this was possible.. I was a different person that day...!

The feeling was just psychedelic!!!

It was like my heart was just too full with happiness!!

Finally - I can finally say the line and mean it that- "God is great"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im so so so sure, that the happiness that they have given me was just so enormous that they are going to succeed so so so so much in life! God just put the star batch on their collar :P! Im so sure, they will be legends !

can't stop YAYYYY'ing :) :) :)

aavjo,

ashwini

A Bhel of two cities

A BHEL OF TWO CITIES

It was a very beautiful day… I can still smell the old paint on the train, and the feeling of being suffocated because of the extremely fat and rude woman sitting next to me, I can still hear people talking at the top of their voices … As I was saying, It was a beautiful day and me and didi were on the train to Ahmedabad from Surat.

Now, there is one thing that you need to know about me.. I am a foodie and I have sudden cravings for food items at totally odd situations..

When I was travelling to surat, I had this amaaazzing and extremely tasty “Bhel” !

And since then I couldn’t wait to get on the train back to Ahmedabad to eat “bhel”..

Everything was set..I sat on the train, waiting to get my hands on the yummy , crispy and mouth watering bhel.I knew, it wouldn’t be a problem as during the 5 hour journey atleast 10 bhel walas generally show up…

Suddenly, I saw a man carrying a basket on his head..

YEsss!!! Hes here .. I thought..

“bac phree, bolo, minral waater, bolo, bac phree boloooo”

Damn! It wasn’t Bhel..

After some time , I saw another basket man..

But,

It was “phrooti aaya phrooti, limca bolo fanta bolo, pepsi bolo”

NOOOOOOO….

Okay I had to wait…. I waited and I waited..

And there was no bhel wala in sight.. I was really irritated now.. I needed some junk food and I needed it NOW..!!

And then there was, the “cutlet wala” .. I had 2 cutlets.. Haash! My stomach was full and I was happy..

After 2 mins,

“bhel bolo bhel aaya, bheeelll”

didi asked me If I wanted any.. I simply replied “ nah dat’s okay..no mood for bhel now “

didi: “are you sure??”

me: “duh-uhh..!!! I just had 2 cutlets!”

The rude woman bought one packet..

The bhelwala went away..

And after 10 mins,

OHH no!!! It was here again..!! Bhelll …. I need bhell right now… YUmmm!! Can’t look at the woman eat it.. NOoo!!!

Didi: don’t worry. There will be more vendors soon..

And then I waited , I waited I waited…

Okay.. I thought I should forget about it and divert my mind to something else..and just when I thought I had forgotten about Bhel, I got a msg from “buyshares” which said “Buy BHEL for blah blah blah”..

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Bhelll Bhelll bhell…

Suddenly I heard a basket man say “Bheeel”.

And I wassss soooooooo happy..!! He was walking very very fast,.. I ran behind him..

I ran through two compartments..

Finalllyyy!! I thought.

“BHAIYYAAA”..!. ek Plate Bhel” I shouted, still panting.

and he said:

“madam bhel nahi bread hai”.........

aavjo!

ashwini :)