this Diwali - a pictorial tour.

the core area

the tree under which we ate.

mother and daughter- a portrait.
they were SO nice :)

Mom and dad, aunt and cousin.

A grim mood is a formidable maid, if we are to assume that it is predominantly female,the grim mood that is.

and usually, the sense and appreciation of the ridiculous is fast to overtake her sluggish train.

huh, that one was good to amuse myself with.
I do not know what exact kind of a writer I am really. I seem to want to try everything that I have ever read and thought, not that it is consciously done. speaking of my undetermined style -this is in accordance with my tastes in reading,fashion, people.. but no, maybe not people. I seem to like people,on the whole, I can be polite,kind and even can take trouble on their behalf- but I only love a certain group type the best,the ones - the crusts of my heart.

I have my sandwiches with the crusts.

ok enough of terrible jokes.

there are three distinct general groups of people, based on your reactions and feelings generated by them and towards them,respectively.

the first is the ones that you are indifferent to.

the second are the ones the nurture your soul just by being them selves, it is such a good connection, you are all on the same wave length , they give off positivity ,which is as natural and subtle as the grassy glade in spring, the perfumes are there, all intermingled , just there, beneath your nose, playing hide and seek, but wrapping you in the sense of comfort and well being.
these people refresh you, make you feel good about everything the world and under the sun.

but mind you, these same people may not do this precise thing with all the people, they might make others indifferent, or even scornful or disapproving at times, but if they work for you,you probably have the same sort of an effect on them too-- remember, I said probably, not necessarily.

the third kind are the ones that fill you with uncertainty , fear, or anger,sometimes they rely on you to make them feel good, there is no mutual communion of well being and positivity, here there is only giving and greedy taking of the bright ,sunshiny enthusiasm that you try to share with them , but you get nothing back in return , well, if you don't count exhaustion, confusion and heartache.they are the energy vampires for you.there are sometimes subcategories in this ,there are some pretty decent people in this, generally considered kind and wise, but they seem to have this effect on you, and well, the others are just downright lost cases.

I know there are lots of different people in this world (thank God) - but well, this is what I had to say about the topic at the moment.

 I have a purpose today though, I intend to write an account of our Diwali celebrations.

Diwali and new year was spent at my uncle's in S.K.with the usual wonders :) the whole family coming together and new cloths ,huge and delicious family dinners, either at home or at the farm, early morning jungle treks, swimming, the renown fire-fight of Savar Kundala on the night of Diwali, photoshoots, lots of lions and a LEOPARD!! and merriment in general.

let the pictures tell you their story :)

Dad and his friend Drongo,Morning Trek.

The salt makers- Costal highway,Ahmedabad-Bhavanag.

Me and my cousin.Mom wanted out.

Our rangoli :) (one of two)

the Farm Dog,Marshall, I love this picture :)

The Bazzar at S.K.

it says, "the most nutritious food for winter is...., Probably the stuff he is selling. :)

and some more of S.K. bazzar.

need I say I was totally in love with this window? I just kept feeling it was out of a painting.

painting

more painting.

Diwali - my style.:)

one of the two lionesses,on their meal.we saw a pride of 9 lions,1 lion,2 lionesses and 6 cubs.
(LOVE EM!)

that is when she tells me to back off!

ok I know,this looks SO much like a dumb tourist shot.Believe me when I tell you that this is the very first time that I have had such a picture taken,in all these years of watching lions.
O' leos,know that I do not have anything but respect for you.

Mr wobbly pants.

she loves him,now just to wipe that mouth clean.

after all,they are lions,the great big cats.

our car.

the lion we saw on our last day.

don't you like this one?:)

the place just outside the core area,where my uncle had fallen, in the basement, through the gap in the floor, and got badly injured, lots of bats,rotting things and stuff.interesting place.

a fiery portrait from the fire fight.

oh,and Did I mentioned? we passed through an area of the forest which is scarcely ever visited by any one, including the forest rangers, core area forest , the untouched. I am blessed to be able to go to such places. We had a nice outdoors lunch under a huge banyan tree, and then I, father,brother and my cousin took off on foot, wishing to see more things- it was worth while, never mind the heat.
we say a wonderful variety of deer and antelopes this time - the blue buck,sambhar, black bucks, spotted deer, barking deer,Choushinga. that's a lot for one selected area. we also saw some wild boar and a Jakal.

and at night, when returning - I saw my second ever leopard, a stealthy shadow that streaked through the road ,fast as lighting, and slunk down low on the side of the road, ever moving. beautiful and breathtaking.

I want to photograph one!

there were lots of birds,mongooses, some snakes and lizards.all the wonderful creatures ,indeed.

 we saw lions three different time this time, the first ones were the big pride, then there was the lone lioness on the night of Diwali, and then the lion (one of two)  when everyone was coming to Junagadh to drop Vidur and me off to the rock climbing camp, through the forest. we had to trek quite a long while to find these two, but could only find one,the other was somewhere near by,so we didn't stay too long.



this picture below is my dad doing what should be done when you see a lion in front,when on foot.
(well,you may stand too-just don't panic ,that is the more silliest thing you may do.)

and some more remaining photos,in no particular sequence.something is wrong with the captions, the moment I try and write them,the photo jumps up above the other pictures, very inconvenient.

Vidur found a 2 rupee coin while walking in the forest in the least disturbed area, how wonderful - in a way- it is :) magical happenings.

next blog will be less rushed, I had to finish this on 12/12/12 , will tell you more on camp etc.
thank you for reading.

school days,college days, and Growing up in different ways.

I've been meaning to write about my adventures during the last days of college, from a while now,but the exact moment of inspiration hadn't come till today.

today I was made to realize, that school girl frocks had pockets!

now, do you know what it signifies? that little detail is extremely important- with a good,sturdy pocket -you are the master of the world, or nearly that anyway. A school girl, such as my self, would use her pockets wisely, there will be every sort of knick knack in it , to be preserved and hoarded. from pieces of erasers, to stub pencils, sometimes a hanky ,but usually not, but if there is one , all the corners will be tied in to knots to preserve and store little treasures,such as interesting looking rocks and pebbles one finds during the prayer time,when we sit down on the play ground, or during the physical activity class.Once it had imprisoned a little ladybug, one of the many found on a flower bush in the school, to show to my inquisitive little brother, but by the time the "school girl me" reached home, the poor thing had been just a cold corpse.different leaves,sticks,little notes containing scribbles of the important nature ,to be pasted in the diary or given to someone, some times an odd rupee or two,never more,the yellow fruits of Neem tree, flowers, now and then, stamps -many times,sometimes a pen, something interesting found on the road,pictures off of match stick boxes, bicycle keys,chalk pieces, blank pages, and sometimes written ones.

why did I realize and remember this? because I was standing outside my school, where now my brother studies, and  I was early then I had to be,I had half an hour to just sit there,on the scooter ,observing the world.the discovery of pockets made me want to write again.I simply couldn't get on with my blog about my trip as long as I hadn't written this, and so this will be dealt with much love,first.

I also noticed that the category of children, hadn't changed at all, I will talk about the girls as I studied in the a girls school at the time. the similarities continue in such a way that the facial traits are the same,of the corresponding character.

-there was the studious ,"I want to make my parents proud and be a doctor" kind of girls, bespectacled, long braided with sleek,oiled,out of the way hair, prim mouth and a precise manner. some passing girls would be asking her for her notes or will be asking a hard problem that she can't solve her self.the studious do not indulge in being overly friendly, for they are focused on not wasting their study time.

- the vain girls, those who are fairer than the lesser mortals, and have a high opinion of them selves,without much character, and the girls of shallow and weak spirits praise them on to a pedestal.you can spot those good looking popular ones anywhere.

-the intellectual, harder ones to find than the other kinds, not as studious as the first category, they pursue their passion because they want to,and not for the marks or praise or parents.they are not good in all the subjects, but are aces in the ones they like. they look rather lost, full of pride and with a sure stride, aloof, they don't care much about the feather heads- but you can spot them with their amused smirks directed at some silly ninny.they sometimes have a devoted confidante- or sometimes not.

-the bully, you know the kind, I don't need to elaborate.

-the gossips, a band of girls laughing, dropping their voices, and then shrieking with laughter again while passing none too subtle a glances at the intellectual or the studious. you'll know those fickle birds anywhere.

- then ,there might be a jolly sport, some one who has lots of friends and good enough marks to go by.they may or may not have big dreams,but they hardly seem to care, at that point.

-the rebel, the girl who will keep her hair open, will get a temporary tattoo here and there, put on some eyeliner (not allowed in school),like rock music and hold an overly high opinion of her self,and wouldn't like the constraining ways of the parents or the society (the milder equivalent of the western "Goth" so to speak), who hated the prime and lecturing teachers, and thought the other ones fool to follow them like a herd of witless sheep. they are rather nice, if you can make them be friends with you.

-the thin, sad, unhappy girls, those who never scored good, nor looked good, because they were never told anything to make them feel good at home, unhappy with life and them selves, and confused and scared.that is the unhappy truth. a friend and I did make a "rescue society" in the 10th standard for them, but I made the mistake of taking in the vain and the popular in it with us, and the sad girls felt threatened and insulted by them and rebelled against the fact that they needed any help,and without any actual real guidance, the society collapsed.

anyhow, I mustn't label , But I was just observing, things in school do not change so much.
dare you try and tell which one I was?

then I hit another strain of thought, about the recently left college life, how it had started, how scary it had been, initially, to the unbroken colt like me, fresh from high school, innocent or the world's worldly ways.afraid of the stylish people and unsure of myself, but nonetheless, always firm in my resolve to never change to suit the public opinion or create a false image of myself. this I have successfully maintained, while, during the college time, my opinion of my looks has had a lot of pushing up done with it,and now I know that I am a good looking lady, and all the more humble for it, I never did doubt that I was a wonderful person,at-least from the inside,even in school.while my dressing confidence has evolved for the better,I know what I like and will wear it without discomfort.

I thought about the struggles of the artistic line, of being outside of any particular group, and also the pleasure of having made some gem like friends, connections that will last a lifetime, in college,as well as elsewhere. each a precious treasure, picked and chosen by fate to be put in my path.I am lucky that they liked me and caught on,despite all of my peculiarities.

I also thought about how I had come in a totally different sphere of attitude, as far as romance was concerned, in school, I was surrounded ,as if in a nunnery , where one forward girl was gossiped about her "handshake" with a boy for a month.not that I partook any of it or like it.they were just hypocrites and I thought so at the time too, but the college scene, it was quite the opposite, people changed their gf s and bf s ,so called in short, each week, or when the novelty wore off. I never approved of the system and felt quite disgusted with the shallowness of their professed feelings,never ever having been at the giving or receiving end of the class gossip, I found out late in my third year, that I was considered to be a lesbian :D, it came about when I was trudging on ,on the long,hot ,dusty way toward the stationary shop,one noon, and two girls got out of the cafe`(a place I rarely went to), looked at me and one whispered to another "she's a lesbo", now, the poor thing hadn't a clue that I would hear it,after all, I do have a high noise sensitivity, and a trained ear,with a childhood spent in nature.( I do wonder at people being so DEAF these days,for they really are in the cities). I was quite speachless ,actually, and unable to confront them.for a sizzling, shining minute, I was angry,red hot angry, and then I burst out laughing, to the amusement of other passers by -laughing so to myself. the people here still treat homosexuality as a freak of nature, or most do,rather then a natural occurrence, I wasn't offended by being accused of being that, I was just a bit saddened, as any self respecting straight girl might be. I believe the misunderstanding was pardonable, what with my lonely lunches (not always,but often enough, when only when none of my three friends were around,because of difference in classes)and being stuck in the library so long, never populating the popular haunts like the canteen and cafe`s, and never flirting or even smiling without reason with a boy. sometimes I am even unaware of them, unless they have a lot of character. I actually hadn't yet learnt to ease up , to imbibe my straight backed ,head held high walk with a hint of a friendly swing, to mix my idea of grace with a womanly charm, to give sometimes, a more than friendly smile,to colour my helpfulness to others in the class with a preference to some particular persons and leaving them guessing all the while (that I don't think I want to do),and truth be told, I do believe I rather frightened the little boys. I might have mentioned my first day before sometime on here, when a boy asked me what my name was and I cut him short with a curt reply consisting of "what do you want to know that for?" it was really a defense mechanism- brought in to play  by my little scared head, I had heard about ragging and didn't want it, thus this answer from a brave school girl. that fellow had to be the big mouthed one. He told everyone how I bit his head off. he told me so himself in the fourth year, when I had grown a bit more approachable,and we were in the same class.

I can still be as frosty as Uranus if I wish to,am so, in public transports, but my beloved ones will assure you that I am a veritable ray of the Sun.

now,on the threshold of starting a new kind of life, a working,independent person, how grown up it sounds!! I ,who still take part in the final rights of refills of much loved pens,can never grow up,in the way the world wants me to, I will say this, that to me, to grow up is to know that you mustn't jump in to the puddle with your leather shoes on, but you mustn't stop jumping in to them!

(do not copy the quotes :D)

check out a recent video :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUPdslbETro&feature=share

now, like never before,I feel like a ship who has lost it's anchor, I feel frightened a little of the future, which has never happened before. I hate having to leave my family,though I shall come back to them each night, but the day doesn't seem too far when I might have to go abroad to study,oh HOW shall I survive without those beloved souls? It is an unreasonable fear and I know I will do what has to be done, as I always do, but my mind is in grief.

Add in to it, an unattainable dream, a dream quite out of my hands to achieve or win,for it be not mine only to take. a dream which my heard hadn't dared to dream before and which remained quite untouched,no matter how much I tried, for a heart always hopes, a wistful,painful inward journey which has taught me a lot, but disillusionment is nothing but an empty patch which makes you think you will probably be lost in the desert before you reach the edge of the oasis- till then ,you just believe that it be only a fantasy. Right now,I shall hold that unattainable dream in clear sight , detach my heart from it, and keep there to cheer me on and inspire me, in a rather odd way, towards other, more fruitful dreams.

well, so on and on I waited, looking on and feeling rather sad about my almost grown up state. the time ticked by, and my brother didn't come out, where was he? I wondered. some more time went by, almost all the children were gone and only a few slow ones remained, still talking over things.

I decided to get down from my observation tower,the scooter and find the way ward child. I was rather annoyed at his nonappearance and a bit worried.

So in the gates I went, and scoured the play ground the back gate and then went down the main walk, toward the front gate.while I walked,searching all the while,I heard a patter of running feet behind me, and before I could turn , I was hugged from behind, or my knees were, to be precise. I knew that a child was clutching me around my legs after the first millisecond of "what in the world!". So I turned on him a smiling countenance. he was round  faced, with copper brown curls and huge,hazel eyes,rather pretty. he smiled back, and his companion reached us, who was informed with a laugh, that "She is a rainbow!! Come and see." this ,ofcourse, made me break out in a smile even more wider. this was brought about by my not having bothered to remove my rainbow striped slacks from under my long ,very long mind you, top. I am happy that it happened.no one had told me that I am a rainbow in such a nice way before.

I didn't have to leave them or anything, they just let me go and kept busily talking about the whole magic of finding me to be a rainbow - and My little wave was quite unobserved, but I did depart, for I had my own little rainbow to find, whom I found in the principal's office, looking rather blue. He wasn't in detention ,he was having to wait for being particularly good in Tae Kwon Do, he was waiting for the school games form to arrive, which the sluggish staff was taking ages to print. So I just went in and hurried things up a bit.

let's speed up now, the new day has just arrived! today is my first day of real work! wish me luck,O kind and beloved, for your good wishes mean a lot.

thank you.

flattering indelicately..

Dear friends,
leave away your primness and sense of outrage, and get ready to be amused -do not Judge or pass opinions - it is only for my writing and narrating pleasure.I am fairly starved of writing these past few weeks.

I always try and be like the perfect Dog,
"beauty without vanity, strength without insolence,
courage without ferocity and all the virtues of man without his vices". _John cam Hobbouse.

so I don't take things for granted or let words swell my head- I think all the good people should be complimented - it helps - as in actuality ,it is the confidence that makes a face lovely, and a healthy head and heart that makes  a good person.

 enough of off subject chatter,I do tend to go off the track.

I am about to tell you a few incidents, which are,fairly common ,of-course,but they always would interest people,as it is a perfect study material in the general mentality.


I was a mental wreck one morning, last month, because of personal and professional (study) reasons-  our extension list was to be out that day, and I was almost on the verge of shivering with apprehensions and nerves.I have noticed that, when ever I work up my self in to a stressful mental frame,the universe acts in it's kindly way and provides lots of distractions.

the day dawned fair and hot, and I reached Ahmedabad Bus stop before 7 am, the bus driver seemed to be under the payroll of the kindly angel and kept me chattering till most of my fluttering nerves had steadied. he talked about his family farm lands, and wanted to know if I also didn't think that it was better to stay in the village working in the farms rather than living the cities.he talked of his family's continued military background and how his father lost and ear in the India Pakistan battle, and how his grandmother was in the security force at that time. he is an interesting guy.

thus,we were talking about properties market in the cities ( I never seem to escape that :D) and how the children of wealthy families were the worst- most ,but not all,and that it was sometimes that you couldn't tell by a person's appearance how rich his family might be . that is when entered, our case study no one- the Proud millionaire, or so we christen him for all intents and purposes.

he Heard our last topic of discussion as he entered,typing something on his touch screen, his ears perked up ,and he raised those doe like eyes (no seriously, he did have nice eyes, but that's nothing),and regarded my full length, once,twice,and you could see his brain working.

the M-to the driver," what do you think, what is my financial position?"- to which the driver responded with a blank stare, you simply can't expect an honest driver to jump at the opportunity of asking about someone's financial position.

so our Mr M,said to the bus at large and me ,(there being only me and the driver in there)- "no,really, don't worry , do ask me. do I look like I am very rich to you,I have not gone bad ,have I?"

then,I thought,ok,now someone needs to handle this, so I said , " oh, we were talking about how impossible it is to know now a days who is what.we weren't implying that everyone who's rich is bad (here read,filthy rich, not comfortably off)"

he simply proceeded to miss the point and asked again, "no really, would you know How many cars I own?" and receiving no answer to it, he ticked off on his fingers, (very comic) - "well,we have a Mercedes , an Audi and a BMW - do I look bad to you? (to me in particular) "

I shake my head indecisively and the driver continued to gap, (we were awaiting a professor to arrive at the spot and than we could leave) - this was all coming on too unexpectedly ,and we were both unprepared as to how to respond.
we never had to handle anyone who bragged so much before, you see.

so he came in and sat down besides me, turned to me and said, "you see ,we have a villa outside Ahmedabad and a huge apartment here near by,(describe to me the short way from the stop to it),my parents are both surgeons (why brag boy, they earned it,not you)  and he just proceeded in the same manner, with me replying in a polite but detached way.he had finished his Bachelor's degree in engineering and way now in his first year of masters (that made us the same age-if he was calculating),he told me his full name and what cast he belonged to (like-WHAT) and he asked me what I studied, in which field and year,what was my name,when I gave my first, he asked what my surname was,to determine if the cast was high enough ( :P ) he was just left clueless, as most people do not know What my surname stands for,it is one of the rare ones.though,I could see he hesitated a few moments,and than wiped it away,clearly deciding that it belonged to the subservient casts-though it didn't discourage him enough (and my tortured soul laughed,what would he do if  he knew that It was one of the higher ones- talking from his perspective guys) so he went on and on,the professor had arrived and the bus was in motion,the driver back to his job.

he continued to give me little pieces of his philosophies, and how he believed everything he read in papers, the guy clearly had no conception of the word, "propaganda" and "political lobbying" -he was blissfully unaware that each news paper supported some policies,some parties and some did the others. he told me reads the news papers from end to end (!) so as to increase his knowledge.

till here,I was just outrageously amused, he was stupid but harmless, and clearly thought that he had me smitten , with his wealth and charm (!)and then he his where it hurt.
"I read a few days back,why did Gandhi get the title of "Mahatma?" (the great soul)- no body gave it to him, a girl in Delhi has filed and RTI against it (right to information act)- after all,Gandhi didn't do all that much."

well,I just sniffed and said - humbug! he was called the great soul just before the round table conference took place in  England,where he was in attendance, Shri Rabindranath Tagor called him that.no need for a silly RTI for that!

so he become more passionate to prove his point, "I read the other day that Gandhiji stole from his own house, and he said, "you are not a thief unless you are caught stealing."

I was outraged, Gandhiji never said such a horrid thing in his life, it was probably Hitler who said something alike. the ninny thought him self so smart! I said," he did steal some gold shavings but he was so ashamed that he confessed him self."
 well the argument went on ,dragging in some other the professors, one said a good thing, "we all are too small to pass judgement on him." so the other ,younger one said, "oh of course, if a child says a true word, which is bad for you, you always say that the child doesn't know! "

I just concluded that,"what ever it might be,what ever he might have said or done, he has done more great things than all of us combined and has given great sacrifices for this nation - if he has faults ,well,he was just human after all, we all have a bad habit of making something Godly out of a great human, let us not do that."

after which, he invited me to a  game of cards - which I refused.before getting down he asked for my number,as he wanted to know the procedure of "what do you do when your thesis is over", but I escaped by saying I didn't know it myself.

the very same day,when coming back home, I took a shared texi, the driver of which kept staring at his texts while driving,which drove me to tell him to not to do it.he glanced at me,and that was that- he asked me where I wanted to go, where was I coming from? where was my stand? where did I live?was I  a model? (no) Did I work in an aeroplane ? (air hostess),could he drop me to my own house after he had dropped off other passengers on their stops. this offer I firmly refused, never show the interested strangers the way to your house.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
welcome back to a more recent past.

day of my pre final jury, I was a jumpy cat that day, anyhow, the ride to college was uneventful,apart from the same millionaire guy sitting besides me,  saying little in a self sacrificing way, he did though tell me that the bus would leave a little early that day. one younger professor had got a new,shiny maroon bike, a Royal Enfield -like this,

                  and was to came to college on that and asked casually if anyone wanted to come with him below my window, so out millionaire went with him.

the jury went alright ,will all the usual tortures and the usual triumphs,(considerable less than the tortures) anyhow, while I and a friend were running toward the stationary get something, the professor came out of his cabin and asked when the bus was going to leave, so I answered, and than he said, "I am going to leave earlier , you can come with me on the bike if you want." well....you see, he is a pilot and an engineer, but he is kinda MARRIED. :P and very self obsessed,(he once showed me all the videos of him flying planes and landing on his new laptop,worth so and so,the price tagger) so I told him,
"thank you ,your new bike is lovely ,but isn't the heat just terrible? I don't think I can survive it."

my friend sniggered and made a comment about flying skirts on a bike.

after that the day continued to stay interesting.

we move on,my work there is over, the owner of the bus had to come to college in his car for some work and so he took me and another girl early back to Ahmedabad with him.so far so good.he is a nice sort of a person, he dropped me at the nearest BRTS station,from where I could get a connection to the place from where I could get a bus to Gandhinagar- to get there I had to change two BRTS buses, during which time, My roll of drawings and the building model I was carrying drew considerable attention, a travelling lady asked about how to get in to architecture, as her daughter wanted to do it. we had a nice little chat and when she got up, I got her seat too. (no one ever gives you a seat ,even if you are carrying so much -gentleman are so rare),standing includes all the annoyances are people brushing past you in an offensive manner,leaning over you,breathing on your neck and so on- not to mention all those bold groupings at times.

when I reached my stand ,I got down and started walking away, someone called me from behind than,
"madam"

I stopped and turned,curious and a little wary.

it was a man in a black suit,average hight and face.he smiled at me.he had been on the bus with me.

"you are an architect,right?"

"well, yes,why?"

"well, I am an advocate and I need to redesign my home and office, I have tried all the big names,they are all talk and monotonous, I want something fresh and new.can you help me? where do you work?"

"yes, I can,though I am in my last semester,so still a student."

"oh that's fine, my house was designed by B.V.Doshi, but personally I don't like it, I am sure you have lots of new ideas -students always do, and they need someone to help them come out in the world, what's  your name?"

"Diva"

"oh ,nice name, I am ------ -------"

"I hope you are only interested professionally,Mr,------"

"yes,absolutely, I need lots of new ideas and visions, you look like you can provide those!"

"alright than, This is my number, you can contact me on this and we can discuss the particulars, and if we come to an agreement,we can proceed with the project, I can absolutely help you with new type of décor"

"great, where are you going? can I drop you somewhere? my car is parked that way, may be we can talk more on the way."

"no thanks, I am going to Gandhinagar"

"oh you live there?"

"yes"

"alright, than I will call you again soon,and we can talk, where do you plan to work after you finish? what are your plans after graduation?"

"I think I might go for Masters"

"ok ,that's great. anyway, nice meeting you! I will call you soon."

we shake hands in a professional manner, or so I thought before his hand lingered too long. the conversation had been conducted in English all the time,he flaunting and I closing up so the onlookers were curiously observing us.

(he called the night after at 1 am,which ,I obviously couldn't pick, as I never sleep with my phone near by, in the morning I saw it,and was annoyed, he called again the second night at around 8:30 PM, to say sorry that he had called that late, he wanted to apologise and said he wasn't a bad guy or anything so I said of course,but summarily notified him that I would NOT be able to answer his calls before 10 AM and after 6 PM. he took that bravely.

than he said,
"when are you coming to A'Bad again?I will come and pick you up,I need to show you my home and office"
"I don't know, but meanwhile, why don't you mail me the existing plans? so that I can start forming some ideas? I can also give you some basic sketches if you give those."

"oh,you see, I can give you the dimensions,why not text me your email id."

"ok will do, but I can't work with dimensions only, I need the plans, I Can not work without those, how ever am I to form the idea?"

"I will tell you, -went ahead and told me how the window was placed here and there and in the middle ,silly- I want your new ideas Miss Diva, if you can not come all the way to the site, let's meet some where in-between , there are some good cafe`s, let me give you a treat, and we can discuss more there."

I went colder. not getting a date like that Mr,Lawyer.

"well, you mail me your dimensions, and after July I can come and see the site , I hope you are not in a hurry? I am busy with my thesis right now and can not spare time."

"oh alright, let me just mail you those -just message me."

I made a new individual, architecture oriented account, and didn't text him till 10 AM the next day.had to stick to the timings.

I still receive his forwarded jokes, and am considering bursting his that bubble soon enough.I don't mince words. ))

I waited for sometime,the sun was cruel at 4 PM ,with no sign of a bus, a rickshaw pulled up near by,headed toward Gandhinagar in a taxi fare manner. so I climbed in, just seconds after that, the old taxi driver that we talked of got in too- seeing that was kinda creepy. he smiled,

"hello there, do you remember me?"

"no,I don't"
 (yeah,I lied to a stalker :P )

"oh,don't you remember,that day I took you to Gandhinagar in my taxi, you got down there and we talked of this, I would have dropped you off to your home you know."

"oh yeah,that day ,right"

"who was that guy you were talking to?"

"what?"

"that guy in black,he was an advocate right? what did he want with you? you shouldn't shake hands with people like that,don't you know? what were you talking about?"

"that's none of your business"
as you can imagine, by now I was fully freaked, I knew he had been watching me and must watch me each day I came back from college, that fear was confirmed with his next sentence,after a short,heavy silence,

"I always go by this way at this hour, I see you standing in the heat,you shouldn't wait so much for the bus , I can easily give you better service."

I was beyond responding,  he had been talking with the rickshaw driver in a friendly manner, they were friends, and I was imagining my self being abducted or something in my wild,vivid imagination, and my guts were revolting at the thoughts. fleeting thoughts of jumping out while the city was still going on were there, I was just going to tell him to stop when something went "dhummm". and the blessed rickshaw stopped.

the driver hopped out, to look, the guy sitting with me said nicely, "don't worry, it will be fixed in no time,it's just one screw that popes out."

I was too busy gathering my model in my hands to pay any heed, ( it might seem trivial,but it had taken me a full day to make it,and the rickshaw was in a very busy area, so people were around, no pressing danger) - I swung out with a full swish of my skirt, before he could say or do anything, and lo! what was the if not a bus just waiting behind us! with another swift twirl the skirt went up the steps and in the safety of numbers.

I hadn't read where the bus was headed, I only knew that it went to Gandhinagar, and that was enough. I asked the conductor, that I wanted to go here,and where should I get down, he thought that I was a stranger to the town,and told me to sit down besides him, and that he'd tell me when to get down. alright, I didn't mind.

now, I do have to say that the driver and the conductor were both nice, chivalrous fellows. they kept up some amusing banter on the way, and also asked me nicely about what I did, they also teased some little boys travelling with their dad about how their trip had been and if they'd got them a gift. I was feeling pretty snug.

we stopped on the way to get some drinking water, and another bus stopped with us, I read it's destination and it was the bus on my original route, the conductor was out getting water, so I asked the driver if I could change buses now,

"have you bought a ticket or do you have a pass?"

"I bought a ticket."

"oh,then you can't change, you can't get on to it from here. I am sorry. but let's do this, I will try and go ahead of this bus, so that we reach the palace from where this bus changes rout to your station, and you can get down and catch that bus, how would you like that doll?"

"oh that would be wonderful,if it is possible." I said,beaming. though I personally thought that being stranded on a station half way wasn't such a brilliant idea.

"let's do it than" he accentuated that with a volley of horns to get the conductor back in a hurry. who, when taken in to confidence, loved the idea as well.

thus started the grand Bus race, on the Ahmedabad ,Gandhinagar Highway, which was rather empty at that hour. the other bus driver seemed annoyed by the way we went ahead of him and get some admirable competition, by this time, I was beyond caring, the idea it self,getting off in the middle, wasn't that appealing but the high drama that I seemed to have inspired was so much fun! I know I know, racing is bad, but they weren't so far gone ,as far as speed goes. I was just glorying in the rare moments of the old fashioned chivalry, basking in that golden light.

yeah *roll your eyes here*

anyhow, we were much ahead of that bus, when the little children were told that their stand was just beyond their by their dad. the conductor and the driver exchanged dismayed glances. we had to stop.

the little army of children took their time getting out,and waving bye.

and we lost out lead and also the chance of regaining it.

not that I really minded, I had simply enjoyed the fray.

I got down somewhere far and took a rickshaw to home, dumping the idea of walking home the 4-5 KM with all the stuff in that heat.

and thus, the day ended. dad was worried and told me never to sit in taxis , which ,I will try but can not guarantee, and mom ,well mom just made a statement.

"that skirt is no good, I tell you.I wish you'd not wear it when you travel alone."
which, as a rule, I had to reply with, "mom, I can't hide from the world just because they can't handle one slit all the time.can I. though I do get your point."

and that's why I've always said that skirts are far more feminine than pants. (OMG cosmic wisdom :P)

my aunt said, :finish your blog before we go to attend this wedding -tomorrow- or you'll add something new and it will never finish.so this one is dedicated to you for pushing me to write it when I would have just stopped - I like how it has turned up.thank you.

here is she and I blowing some bubbles.

 http://youtu.be/ODyJSxCuTHs

huh, something roll at your feet and some you can't get,no matter how much you shout for it, such is life at the moment, but oh! I love it. dotted about with all the colours of the rainbow, and I,equipped with a swishy skirt , can conquer the beautiful monsoony world.

love yeah ;)


some wisdom
"A man is never worth your tears. And the one who is, won't make you cry" - Unknown 

"Unless it's mad, passionate, extraordinary love, it's a waste of your time. There are too many mediocre things in life--love shouldn't be one of them" - Dream for An Insomniac 



"We always believe our first love is our last, and our last love our first"- George John Whyte-Melville 

"The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves" - Victor Hugo 






"Trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember someone you never met" - Unknown

"Nothing spoils the taste of peanut butter like unrequited love" - Charlie Brown

 "Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option" - Mark Twain
how true!

smiles and lots of magic sent on your way!

 "Hearts will never be practical until they are made unbreakable" Wizard of Oz