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 :)

DREAMYYY..!

Im just like any normal person out there.. I wake up, go to college, come back have food, hang out with my friends..e.tc e.t.c.. But, lately I have been noticing spooky things in me..

ITS REALLY HARD TO SAY IT ON A PUBLIC FORUM AND IT surely IS REALLY BRAVE OF Me TO REVEAL My "FREAK side"...

okay, here it goes..

All of us go to sleep and dream... All of us wake up in the morning and sometimes forget those dreams and then go on with our life.. But things are a bit different with my dreams.. I see hints of things that happen in the near future..

I know I am giving you all an impression of being a psycho but trust me I am not lying..

I realised this first in the year 2001, when I was about 9 years old.. I had a dream of the roof coming down and that the earth was shaking really hard and I told my father about this and he shared his experience about an earthquake that he had experienced once in Mumbai.. After less than a month on JAN 26, 2001 the earthquake happened in Gujarat ..the deadly earthquake was experienced by me and I was terrified.. Then the same year I dreamt that a plane hit a huge building.. I told this to my father in the morning and he just laughed it off and the very same day(evening) 9/11 attacks happened.. and my family was shocked because I told them about it the very same day..

Since then I have paid extra attention to my dreams.. I also get to know more about myself as I interpret my dreams.. Like once when I had to go to a party and dreamt that my teeth were falling which meant I was concerned about my physical appearance..

Some more incidents that have freaked people and me out are: Once I dreamt I was standing on a bridge with my friend and we saw the river below .. The sea was very turbulent and then suddenly all the water splashed on the land and then the next scene was that a bunch of villagers were crying and praying.. I told this to my friend and after 2 days- it was the TSUNAMI..

The worst part about my dreams are that mostly they indicate disasters and all bad things..

Very recently, I dreamt that my best friend fell off the bed and her face was swollen up and her face was bleeding.. I was scared and texted her in the morning asking her if she was fine and told her about this dream ,she laughed it off but after a week.. that was exactly what happened.. she fell off the bed and hurt her face and it started bleeding .. she was shocked too...

I have so many more of such experiences and everytime I feel scared...scared of my own dreams..

Even when small dreams come true like once when me and my friend had decided to meet the next day and she is one person who will never cancel on any meeting with friends and I dreamt that she was going to say no because she had to go to the bank and voila thats what happened.. I still haven't told her because I know she won't believe me ...

Also when Im dreaming.. almost 95% of the time , I know its a dream even when Im in the dream..

A drawback to all this is that whenever I get a nightmare , the thought of it coming true horrifies me..

They say that Dreams are only thoughts you didn't have time to think about during the day.

But If you ask someone like me, it would be,

that-Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions

Aavjo,

Ashwini :)

See what you did to A.R Rahman..!!

ALL THIS was bound to happen..!

One fine day A R Rahman, who has been winning more than 11 filmfares, wins two Oscars and instead of making him feel happy about his achievement, we have made life hell for him..

A.R Rahman is My favourite musician since I was 5 years old.. Being a south Indian , I have listened to almost all of his songs.. I regard him to be my God.. :)

Okay coming to the point, He has given so many hits and has made music that has helped many of us connect to our inner self..!

some master pieces of Rahman like roja(chhoti si aasha), bombay,Khwaja mere khwaja,swades,dil se,lagaan, kannathil muthamittal, guru take my breath away..!

Have you all even heard Ye jo des hai tera or Jashne bahara or maybe even MAA TUJHE SALAAM???

Where were you all when he composed such songs..?? Why weren't you garlanding him and organising felicitations..??

Why didnt you stand outside his house then and wait for a glimpse of him..?

you know why? because you needed him to win (2!!) oscars for the country to prove himself to you that he is actually a maestro..!

now,everywhere you see you find- JAI HO, JAI HO, JAI HO..

I feel bad when I see how people are only talking only about his success after slumdog..!

He was always a genius..! I am not saying that the oscar means nothing to me..Yes.. I am very happy that he won such a prestigious award but so much hype being created about this is bad..

Now recently, it was reported that Rahman is unwell.. all because of the heavy workload and stress..

Is this how we congratulate someone..?

We must have created so much pressure in his life that when he wakes up in the morning , he must feel the pressure to perform well now.. To keep up this image of being the best musician ever(eventhough he always was).. To make music to please everyone, to prove people that he is not a one-hit musician..

..

will Rahman be the same maestro after all this we have done to him..??

this thought creeps me out..

Am I crazy..?

Dear readers, (if any) Im sorry I havent been blogging much lately..
okay lets face it my life is boring and I am very lazy..
Anyway lately I have noticed so much going on in Ahmedabad..

so heres the story-

It was a lovely evening.. I decided to go for a walk with my neighbour cum friend himansha.. After a small walk around our area, we decided to have some panipuri.. After relishing the pani puri we decided to have a pani ka pouch( hehe)..

as soon as we finished I was looking for a dustbin and -it was nowhere to be seen..As I sighed and kept the plastic pouch in my pocket, my friend on the other hand started walking towards a pile of pouches lying there.. I was so happy that being with me she had understood the importance of a clean and green city..

As I raised my hand to pat myself on the back,

"PLOP"..

she threw it on the pile of pouches ...

grrrrr....

"himansha why did you throw it there..? you are making the city dirty you know" I fired..

" haan haan mother India.. ab chup reh.. vahan aur logon ne bhi to litter kiya hai.ek aur pouch se kya hoga?"

"someone else will think the same and before you know it , this place will be a huge pile of water pouches.. do you know plastic is so harmful to the environment.. agar hum ahmedabad ko clean nahi rakhenge to kon rakhega?" i snapped..

" yaar..paka mat" she said while messaging a friend..



This is the exact reason my readers that our city is so polluted today..

Someone throws something on the road, another person does the same and this goes on and on and on..

but the muncipality is equally wrong.. I say there should be atleast 1 dustbin in every 200 mts..

my dear readers, Since we follow trends so much why not start a new one where we always throw litter in a dustbin..? Its a very small thing and if everyone does it Im sure the world will be a better place to live in..

can't we do this much for our mother earth who has fed us and always taken care of us..?

when people around me do such things I feel really upset..

Is there something wrong with me or is the world really so selfish..?

I leave you with a touching song from micheal jackson called heal the world..



Heal The World

Make It A Better Place

For You And For Me

And The Entire Human Race

There Are People Dying, If You Care EnoughFor The Living

Make A Better PlaceFor You And For Me

Ashwini

tight security or insecurity?

hello all,

I was in Mumbai during the holidays.

While in Mumbai I visited the museum there and all the terror struck places in Mumbai.

I salute the people of mumbai... I understood what they say when they talk about the Mumbai spirit.. The place was the same but only now there are dozens of police officers there and a lot of police dogs... All restaurants and hotels had tight security...

it was heart breaking to see the Taj hotel.. I was reminded of the horrifying pictures i saw in the newspapers and tv... The CST station also looked horrifying as i was pretty sure that whoever was in there might be feeling a little frightened of the place..

We talk of having lot of security now but what about the insecurity that these attacks have instilled in us?

Every Indian now wakes up with a feeling that anything can happen anytime..

While in the museum what struck me was - there was a full room filled with war weapons.. knives n swords of all sizes... shields and suits to protect the kings and warriors.. old guns for shooting or huntin etc... and i felt that this insecurity is not something that is new...the people of the olden days also had such problems only now with such advanced technology, the murderers can operate their weapons sitting at a different place with their remote controls...

A king fought with another king for their kingdom...but atleast there were some rules and they abided the rules, like once the king is killed..the war ends ...

The same way terrorism is the king now and if we dont kill it ,it will captivate our whole kingdom, country and the whole world..

the weapon which all us Indians should possess is "unity"... with it we can kill

all the insecurity, we can kill the fear and we can kill the grief ..
the sun will rise..Butterflies will fly yet again, children will smile again and the world will be a beautiful place..
Aavjo,

Ashwini

The Times Ahmedabad Festival but no festivity for me..

Why does this always hapen to me?
whenever there is some interesting program in the city, I end up in some other city that time...
This is exactly what happened when i was in Surat for my vacations and Bam..!! Ahmedabad starts celebrating..!!
I fell unconcious when I head that KAILASH KHER..(I totally worship him) was going to open the festival..! I heard he gave a rocking performance ..(kailash bhai is the best!!)
I wish I could've attended his live concert..
Anyway I dont mind because without Kailash's biggest fan (in the whole world), the show couldn't have been too rocking..( in case you haven't noticed Im talking about me..)
So if that wasn't enough Rahul sharma whose fan I was since I heard his song "Kashmir" had also come...!!

sigh..

so much for having a blog on Ahmedabad...

Aavjo,
Ashwini

IBN-E-MARIAM

OHKAY SO THESE ARE THE RULES:

1.KEEP YOUR MUSIC PLAYER ON SHUFFLE
2.For each question, press the next button to get your answer
3.You must write the name of the song no matter what. AND YEAH.. No cheating!



SO IF SOMEONE ASKS YOU -HOW ARE YOU ?

YOUR ANSWER IS-- KAISE MEIN KAHOON-KAILASH KHER..(LOL..)

QUE-1.WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

ANS:dil-e-naadan -abida parveen

(hahahA)



QUE-2.WHAT IS YOUR LIFES PURPOSE?

ANS:kabhi kabhi aditi..

(eh?counsellor i guess..:P)



QUE-3 WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU..?

ANS: teri deewani -kailash kher

*smiles*



QUE-4 WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

ANS:tauba tauba-kailash kher

(ouch!)



QUE-5WHAT DO YOU ALWAYS THINK ABOUT?

ANS-khamaj-fuzon

('LIKE'as in?)



QUE-6:WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

ANS- Aerosmith-living on the edge..

(wow!!)



QUE-7:what do you want to be when you grow up?

ANS-saiyyaan-kailash kher

(??honestly i wanna b a photographer!!)



QUE-8:WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

ANS-kahin to hogi vo..-jaane tu.....

(hahahah thats a gud 1)



QUE-9:WGAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET??

ANS-khwaja mere khwaja..

(what??)



QUE-10:WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?

ANS-IBN-E-MARIAM

(ohkk..i like dat 1)



:)



aavjo,

ashwini

i missed aapnu Ahmedabad..

Archana got married on the 28th of August in chennai....As she was getting married on the 28th ,being her
sister, we all had to leave well in advance...We left Ahmedabad on the 22nd of August and came back on the 3rd....The marriage was great and so were the receptions...."receptions" coz the poor souls had to smile through
the chennai, Bangalore as well as the Ahmedabad receptions!!good for me though....getting ready,showing off my anarkali,getting to take pictures and ofcourse eating
fabulous food. what more could i have asked for!! :)Although I had lots of fun there, i was still dying to come back and write to you ,dear readers...As much as I hate to compare ,I am really eager to this time so i can weigh the negatives and the positives
of two major cities....Chennai and Ahmedabad..!!!!
First and foremost of all ,as soon as I entered the Chennai station one thing that greatly impressed me was
the announcement....the announcements were very clear...by clear i am not referring to the voice of the
announcer but the way it was heard...it didnot echo at all and had the perfect volume and could be
understood despite the commotion....but,here it comes--the accent was horrible and very funny....for e.g:ahmedabad became agkhamadaabaad and platform number chhhe(6) became platform no. che(chakli
waala ch)
The roads seemed to be very clean but the potholes were awful at some places....Another funny thing was that-If uve been living in ahmedabad for a long time you'll agree with me that
when you go to a city outside gujarat and suddenly find each nook and corner having a bar cum restaurant,
you are baffled for a moment at the thought that there are bars here!!specially for me as i was sticking my head out of the window examining chennai closely when i saw 6 bars
on the first lane from the station ,for a second my mind thought,"oh my god...how do i see the word 'bar'
on these boards..maybe ive not read it properly..isnt it illegal?"and then i remembered that we were a dry
state or so we want people to believe .. :)
ask me about the nightlife i enjoyed there...and i would say ya it was great i ate my food at 8:15 and slept
at 9.....if u ask me if i went out anywhere in the evening just to hangout..i would give you the reply that
chennai taught me--"are you mad???go out in the evening all alone??only girls??are you out of your
senses...!!it sounds so funny to an amdavadi...
And the traffic jam bappa re!!you wont believe but we actually missed our train eventhough we were well before time due to traffic
congestion..!!
But one thing is sure that the food there is soo soo cheap compared to ahmd that we can feed 2 people
with the money...masala dosai-15 rs.. idli-10 rupees a plate (4 idlis) including sambhar and chutney...and im not speaking
only of southindian dishes...food in general is cheaper...pot bellies proved this as I saw them eat"mounds and mounds of rice for break fast, mounds and mounds
of rice for Lunch and mounds and mounds of rice for Dinner" :)
From what i saw Chennai gives a lot of importance to sports...I saw atleast 2 spors centers or sports
grounds teaching various sports in a stretch of every 2 kms....During my stay there I also saw numerous boards and posters announcing various sports competetions
around the city...
One thing that i dislike abot chennai is that very few people understand Hindi...as much as people
defended tamilnadu saying people dont speak hindi here,no one does-i still think they should as it is our
"rashtrabhaasha"...but it is also improving a lot after many northindians have settled dowm south...Chennai resembles Mumbai in a way as it is always working...very few people seem idle and everything
moves fast ...
And how could i forget the most important thing------ power cuts!!!I have to tell you that Chennai is quite hot this time of the year and i had to live through horrible times
of power cuts there....As soon as the clock struck 12 the power was gone...gone till 3:00PM and sometimes 5:00.PM...imagine the
condition of people at this peak afternoon hour without electricity!!and wait theres more...as soon as it is 7:30PM, the current would go again , this time only for an hour or
so...and this was not occassional but happened every single day and people sort of just live with it ...and
back here i barely remember any power failures except a few times due to some short circuits or some
fault...even if the current went it went for a maximum of an hour and not more than that...Ahmedabad is
much much better in that aspect...
well ive weighed all the pros and cons and is there a slightest doubt as to what my answer is???well maybe its not fair as im greatly biased for Ahmedabad..No matter what, my heart will always come back to this walled city of fun,frolic,culture,food and most of
all, the amazing people...
aavjo,ashwini

violence everywhere....

july 4:

two children studying in the asaram bapu school go missing..

july 5:

their bodies are recovered from the sabarmati river bed..

after july 5:

violence all around...

the father of one of the boys is on a hunger strike since he wants to know the exact reason for their death and the ashram says it is not necessary that the ashram is responsible for the deaths....

following this innocent people were beaten up severely,reporters were beaten up by mobs,there is still bloodshed all around..

we were studying in the college on friday when various student leaders came and threatened everyone to leave the campus and ordered the college to remain closed the whole day...

many shops were closed down....

and I ask why??

it takes two hands to clap..in the same way noone is responsible for all this..

first of all i dont think it is right of the father to go on a hunger strike...i donot think remaining on a hunger strike will solve everything..this is the time his family should be strong...he should himself try to find out the real reason and not lose hope....by going on a hunger strike,leave alone mental strength he will not even have physical strength to recever from this loss...

but on the other hand his appeal for justice is correct....

asaram bapu is known for his non-violent and rational thinking....he is like God for so many followers,yet many of his so called"supporters"have not maybe followed his footsteps and have created havoc and violence all around....

what is the use burning so many vehicles and hurting so many people physically and mentally..??have people forgotten all about humanity and the fact that Gandhiji was from our very own city known for non-violence and its unity??

The only way this can be solved is by arranging a personal meeting for both, the parents of the children as well as asaram bapu...this way they can both get to know their side of the story and maybe patiently bring out a rational and less-violent solution....

It is said that ,'too many cooks spoil the broth'..this is what is happening..too many people crowding over will be really disturbing for both the parents and the ashram..so we should leave them alone for a while and just hope for justice ....

let us pray for peace to prevail like always in our dear city ahmedabad...

aavjo,

ashwini

kya natak hai yaar....

now as im in the process of making new friends in my college...
many of them come from other places...many come from delhi too...I ASKED ALMOST ALL of them whether they are liking it here...
got just one answer"no not at all...humare dilli mein hum kitna ghumte the yahan to ghumne ki koi jaga nahi hai"
is it really true amdavadis?do we seriously need new places to hang around and have fun??

by the way!!!
u know near devashish school there's a new music cafe' in construction called the right brain...
its got music,books,karoake etc...im really looking forward to it....
aavjo,
ashwini

MY DAY OUT....

DEAR READERS(IF THERE ARE ANY),

I KNOW IM A VERY IRREGULAR BLOGGER BUT I WAS SO BUSY WITH MY LIFE THAT I JUST DIDNT HAVE THE TIME TO WRITE ABOUT IT...:)

SO SOME NEW THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN MY LIFE ARE -I JUST GOT ADMISSION IN ST.XAVIERS...(YAY!)

THATS A GREAT THING FOR ME BECAUSE I THINK FINALLY ILL BE ABLE TO LEARN MANY NEW THINGS...

ANYWAY SO I AM NOW DOING MY MAJOR IN ECONOMICS....

THIS IS MY 4TH DAY IN COLLEGE...

YESTERDAY I WENT TO FERNANDES BRIDGE TO GET MY BOOKS...

I TOOK A RIK TO THE MAGICAL OLD CITY...

THE RIK TOOK ME TO SMALL LANES AND ROADS BUZZING WITH PEOPLE...

AS IT HAD JUST RAINED THE WHOLE ENVIRONMENT WAS SO FRESH AND COOL...

THE BOOK SHOP HAD SO MANY BOOKS...NAME ANY BOOK AND YOU WILL FIND IT HERE IN FERNANDES BRIDGE...

AFTER STUFFING FRESH NEW BOOKS IN MY BAG I WALKED LIKE A TRAVELLER ON THE STREETS OF TEEN DARWAZA...TEEN DARWAZA LOOKED ABSOLUTELY HEAVENLY...

STREETS WERE FILLED WITH FRIENDLY PEOPLE ,LAUGHING,TALKING AND TRYING TO CONVINCE YOU TO BUY SOMETHING FROM THEIR SHOPS...

I BOUGHT TWO LOTUS FLOWERS FROM A LADY THERE FOR 5 RS. AND WALKED ON...

A LITTLE FURTHER I SAW THE VERY BEAUTIFUL SIDI SYED NI JALI...

AND I COULDNT STOP THINKING ABOUT HOW ARTISTIC THEY WERE AT THAT TIME ...

AFTER MOMS 5 MISSED CALLS I MADE UP MY MIND OR RATHER SULKED BACK HOME....

WHEN I CAME TO THE NEW PART OF THE CITY I REALISED THAT THE STREET CRIES WERE MISSING,LESS PEOPLE PREFERRED TO WALK OR CYCLE AND PEOPLE WERE A LITTLE LESS FRIENDLY ...

SOMEWHERE I FEEL THAT WE ARE LOSING THE CHARM OF THE OLD CITY....THE HISTORICAL PLACES ARE NOT TAKEN CARE OF IN THE PROPER WAY,SOME ROADS ARE NOT AT ALL CLEAN...

HOPEFULLY EVERYONE WILL REALISE IT SOON AND THEN AHMEDABAD WILL BE A BETTER PLACE ALL OVER AGAIN...

AAVJO,

ASHWINI

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AHMEDABAD!!!!!

Today is ahmedabads birthday(or not...)...well apparently it seems that 597 years back,on this day(26th february 1411) our dear city AHMEDABAD was established...

MAGICAL AHMEDABAD :

I always say that this city is magical....I now found out that even history has its proof....

Sultan Ahmed Shah (who laid the foundation of A'BAD) was on his hunting expedition when he once saw a hare chasing a dog,against the law of nature...

he asked a sage for explanation,The sage pointed out unique characteristics in the land which had such rare qualities which turned a hare to chase a ferocious dog. Impressed by this, the sultan, who had been looking for a place to build his kingdom,built it on the same soil.....THE SOIL OF AHMEDABAD!!
Did you know ...In 1487 ,the grandson of Ahmed Shah, built the city with an outer city wall six miles in circumference and consisting of 12 gates,189 watch towers and over 6,000 battlements to protect it from outside invaders!!!!!

NO WONDER ITS ONE OF THE SAFEST CITIES ;)

It took an army of 1 lakh infantry,800 elephants,3200 camels,600 cannons,1600 carts and 5 crore to establish ahmedabad(itna paisa to sanjay leela bhansali apni aek film banane mein kharch kar deta hai...kuch sikho bhai..!)

I only wish that this magical city never loses its charm ....I hope people realise that its one of the most beautiful and amazing cities and take care of it .....

Heres a poem written by a person which totally shows the nature of amdavadis...

We know how to enjoy our life and always have an easy going attitude...:

In Ahmedabad Airport
In a hurry to go home

despiteThe nice room booked in Taj Residency

In Ahmedabad. Home as destination

Is looked forward to as the resting-place.

Not realizing that itIs one more station,

a place of restlessness.

The train of time keeps moving,

Leaving all stations behind.

Here I am, (not waiting for the rains)

But an old man all right.

Because I said I want Indian,

To get more points on Flying Returns.

The constable at domestic advised

to goTo international airport

Using the red bus of Indian Airlines.

But I called Dinesh the taxi-driver

quicklyOn cell: he came back,

I had tipped him 30 rupees!

He took me to the International side,

Much drearier with customs and immigration.

But here in front in the security lounge,

Is a family, talking and laughing:

One old lady with full gray hairs,

One young couple,

man in yellow t-shirtWife in red dress,

wearing black specs

And a cheerful middle-aged manIn a lively manner,

setting off peals of laughter

.And another man with two young boys,

Aged eight and twelve.Each one laughs so differently

No need to patent it.

The girl’sIs like serried ranks of soldiers

Advancing relentlessly.

Old lady laughs as if she isCoughing in gaps.

I could have changed my ticket to Mumbai

To another airline from domestic.

But I would not have seen this family,

Who knows how to live life,

and enjoy it,

Nor written this poem.

.D T Joseph

29.01.08

Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

AAVJO,

asHwIni.

sanjay kalal.....

It was a cold winter morning at school... A student of 11th std informed the school about an accident of an 8th std student near the highway...All everyone could think and hope and pray was that it was a minor accident....but Gods ways were different....The child was hit by a tata sumo and he breathed his last....

Sanjay kalal was not an ordinary child...His eyes had a light..A light that only successful people can have...

He was a favourite among teachers and friends for his simplicity and honesty....

A few days back our school had a ceremony for dear sanjay....Candles in everyones hands, we prayed for his soul to rest in peace and prayed that such an incident never repeats....

It was new years day..everyone was happy and sanjay was exceptionally happy because his parents had gifted him a cycle....something which he wanted for a long time...and he came on his new cycle the next day --the day he left this world.....

After he left on his heavenly abode he still did not stop helping the world...He donated his eyes for a noble cause,for someone else to see through his eyes and thats why he is still alive even today..

A teacher in our school took his tuitions and she had a strange intuition... As Sanjay got a cycle on new years day as a gift from his parents...he informed the teacher about it and she repeatedly told him not to come on his cycle.....

He missed his bus in the morning...he came on his cycle...

It was a cold winter morning at school... A student of 11th std informed the school about an accident of an 8th std student near the highway...All everyone could think and hope and pray was that it was a minor accident.....

The teacher asked"it is not sanjay right??"

------------------------- may his soul rest in peace--------------------------------------

dogged!!!!!!!!

"Im feeling really happy...i just cant believe it!"babbled another delicate darling heroine as she got an award.....

whew..."u bet"i fumbled as I made my way towards my window....

I was seeing the same old things---our watchman sleeping,some aunties gossiping in the garden,children staring at something,birds hovering about......then again our watchman sleeping,aunties gossiping and what the hell are these children staring at anyway!!!! I thought...

They were looking very tensed as some two boys were with a dog but I just couldnt see what they were exactly doing as a huge tree was blocking my way.......so I put on my new jacket[showing off was not intentional but i thought u must know ;) ]and went over....

The kids (many of them)were standing looking at 2 kids helping a puppy with something as it was moaning..For a second I thought that they were hurting it and ran towards them but then I saw a horrible sight!!!!There was an extremely heavy cemented brick on the poor puppys leg...

Even i helped the kids take the heavy brick off its leg.....Eveyone seemed helpless-me,the kids,the dog ,everyone!!!!!

I thought I should immediatly think of something so I ran towards the watchman and told him about it but he was too busy snoring ,to listen to me .I then with all the kids went to my house and searched for some animal welfare numbers.....I came across a foundation called asha foundation which claimed to have saved numerous other dogs and animals.....

i dialled their number and this was the conversation:

"hello"

"haan boliye"(yes)

"humare yahan...umm.....humare society mein aek kutte ke puppy...um..bachhe ko per pe lagi hai"(a dog in my society has hurt its leg)

"acha aapka nam pata bataiye hum vahan 10 min mein aa jaayenge"(please give your name and address...we'll be there in 10 mins..)

so as per indian standard time they came after an hour or so ....all the kids and me till that time were playing with the puppy and giving it something to eat and drink....

we led the doctor to the puppy ...it was still crying.....

He took out an injection from his bag and a little boy unable to see, ran away, but came back later....

It started wailing and crying and tried to escape as he injected medicine into his injured leg..

He examined the leg and bandaged it as we looked curiously...

The aunties didnot bother as they were quite busy discussing whether honey is good for hair or not...

anyway so he dressed his wounds and gave me a chit....In it he had written a medicines name to be given to the dog for a week.....I happily accepted.....

since then for a week me and my assistants(the kids)look after the dog...Its been one week and the dog has started walking again....

After the doctor went, the audience(all the bachhas)congratulated me and clapped for me...

It was so much fun.....

I realised that winning an award was not important to feel good or at the top of the world...little things like these make you a very happy person.....I would recommend all of you to take these small initiatives....

I am now fondly known as "doctor didi"by these kids .....I come everyday to meet the kids and the puppies and they give me updates on all thats going on in the society or with the puppies...

I took the happy dog in my hand as my trophy and thought what that heroine had said---" I am feeling really happy...I just cant believe it".....

I must say-----now even I have a huge fan following .....

:)

aavjo,

asHwIni....(p.s ASHA FOUNDATION animal helpline---- telno:9879877281,9924147407)

votes up?

wassup u may ask...

The election fever is on in ahmedabad and it can very well be understood by all the vigorous campaigning thats going on...

Just yesterday I saw two rikshawallas looking at each other with a bloodshot rival look....

reason??

One had his rik fully decorated with the flags of India and the congress party while the other had his rik screaming"tamoro mat bjp ne aapo"(give your votes to bjp)

But I really wonder if the Bjp or the Congress wins,is it going to make any sort of difference to me??

I still will have to go to school/college...I will still have to study,I will still be roaming in the same old roads,hang out with my friends and family......!!

I think that schools should maybe give more stress on current affairs rather than teach us about the past and then again tell us to forget about the past and think about the future!!!!!!!

Anyway so as I was sitting by my window(my permanent hobby),I spotted all political workers distributing pamphlets,People shouting slogans and playing songs from their speakers, I diverted my eyes towards the sky and if all that wasn't enough ,there was this huge air balloon with a partys name on it....!

I sighed and went back to my unfinished Homework and thought"I am never going to understand anything about politics!!!!"

aavjo,

asHwIni

THE SPOOKIEST PLACE EVER!!!!!!!

23rd september:

It was a cool and chilly winter evening...the wind was whistling and blowing all the leaves in our society....I was at my window looking at the few birds in my locality fly...when,suddenly,......

<>>

who could it possibly be?i thought as i made my way to the hall...it was noneother than my friend nimisha.....Her face was pale blue and white,her legs were trembling and she was falling short of breath.....

"nimisha wassup?"i asked her still thinking what possibly could make a brave girl like her afraid....

"Its....Its the SCARY house"she said as she sat down puffing.....

" the what?"i asked totally confused ...

"I went for some shopping at the 'himalaya mall' today and there was this place called scary house and it was just too scary....."she said trembling recalling how people with masks scare people...

"heheheh....what rubbish....people with masks....they must have been frightened not you"I giggled...

She gave me a cold stare and said"oh yeah....you think you're brave??lets go there and we'll find out"

"ok as you wish "I said with full energy and confidence but little did I know what lay in store for me!!!!

5:45 pm(at the mall)

The scary house was right there on the second floor....The exterior was a wooden door that was creaking and a watchman stood there waiting for people ....

We bought the tickets for 30 bucks...I then realized that it was worth much more....

Confidently I walked in...i was thinking of maybe laughing at the "ghosts"......

GULP!!!I didnot realise and was not informed that the house is pitch dark!!!

I couldnot see anything .....not even my hand...

suddenly i heard someone whispering something all around me and suddenly somewhere out of the blue an alien looking creature jumped ahead of us.......

I screamed and made my way forward....again I couldnot see anything....I suddenly saw something glittering and we went near it....I corpse fell from above the roof !!!!!The atmosphere was filled with shrill screams of ghosts and it felt as if the whole room was filled with them which was the scariest part....As we moved or rather ran forward (in pitch dark again...straining my poor old cornea) there was a scary looking tree on the top of which someone was sitting like a cheetah waiting for its prey... as we screamed some ghost started chasing us to a dungeon and when we looked back it was nowhere to be seen....!!!

As i screamed and went further a person, rather ghost said"aao madam aao"and led us to a place like an operation theatre where a dead man was cutting himself!!!!!

We shouted and fled....there were three doors there and just when we were thinking of which door to choose two beings popped out of two of them ...we ran for our lives to the third door and there we saw one of the most horrifying sight...there was a man hanging on a rope from the cieling...!!!!!

WE screamed and screamed and screamed and there it was--- the most important thing for me:the EXIT!!......

WE ran to it and i felt a shiver or may i say several shivers down my spine.......it was really really scary......I WAS SWEATING like a pig and feeling colder than ever......

As Im writing this ...my heartbeat is still not regular and i think i am now a patient of myctophopbia(extreme fear of dakness!!)

I would certainly recommend this to all amdavadis.....

But remember:

You cannot go in if u have any heart problems or if you are weak hearted or if u r below 8 years old :P....

The picture in this page is one i took in the scary house....