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
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,
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."
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
