I, the Wanderer

  Before I went to the United States for a short visit, I had never experienced difference in Indian way of driving and other ways. There, I learnt how to drive in lanes, when to apply the accelerator and when to apply brakes, how to let pedestrians pass first , then cycles, and then other forms of vehicles, the transformer like trucks being the last. Since the day I have been back to India, I think I have really tried to control myself driving in these conditions that are totally opposite to what I saw in New York. In India, we 1. don't know what are lanes, 2. have no idea what marks on the roads mean and 3. never knew rules of the road beyond textbooks because, ummm, because nobody follows them anyway   Everyday, I pass through my favorite highway, The Gurgaon Faridabad road , that was once considered to be very very dangerous. To tell you the truth, it still is! For those who love speeds, its a heaven and for those who don't, its nothing less than a nightmare. Wel...

The Hero, Anti Hero or Villain?    Last Sunday was quite unmanageable with time, as is the case with me. A little miscalculation of time and I was late for a meeting that my friend Yash had been calling me to attend, since a few weeks now. And once you are late, you are kind of late for almost everything that happens beyond that, EVERYTHING. While waiting for a friend at Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, I suddenly bumped into another old friend of mine, Vibhav. A few chit chat at the stop and we were out at the Inner Circle.   We chatted across everything we hadn't talked about since long, old office, our new lives, drinks, women, trips and tours, about him and about me while we kept touring the inner circle till I saw this bare-footed old man standing with head down and back bent, holding a few pens in his hand, silently calling people to buy his pens. At first, I ignored. Next second, it felt a little uneasy seeing his bare feet. Third second, I asked Vibhav if he c...

The Cat, The Bath and The Food   Once inside our place of stay, we settled ourselves a little by relaxing our not-at-all tired bodies. A new place means you are looking for new things, and that implies tiredness is at its lowest. The sun was pretty warm anyway. We paid our rent in advance as per their policy (900 Rs/night for 3 people, not bad!!) and started with Dart games, paranthas and tea. Some moments later, I got a chance to meet this beautiful feline who was quite a badass in terms of attitude when we wished to play with her, but transformed to a little meeky squeeky cat  when she found us having food. It felt like she was always hungry. She could sniff food from anywhere and came calling with her meow meow, conveying modestly that she wants a piece of it. She was a gem, and pricked my thighs with her sharp claws!!  The chess board at Sukha's is quite huge and fun to play on. On the verge of defeating Ganesh, who knew nothing about the game, Rajat too...

Pushkar , some 400 kms away from Delhi, is a small buzzy temple-filled town in Rajasthan with a handful of population (well, on a rise). The city is surrounded by Aravalli Hills and is known for its lake that resides right in the middle of it. One will find more tourists from abroad than Indians, Firstly, because Rajasthan has always been one big attraction due to its culture and nomadic appearance. Secondly, weed might be another reason. Well, let's go on... It was, as usual, a trip based on instincts. No plan & no intention of having a plan either. My friend told me he is leaving for Pushkar, I proposed to join in and after a few mins I received an email regarding bus ticket confirmation. Two days later, I found myself boarding a sleeper bus (1st time for me) from IFFCO Chowk, Gurgaon and snored for the rest of our overnight journey. The bus takes around 8-9 hours to reach Pushkar from Gurgaon via NH8 or the Delhi-Jaipur Highway. 8 o' clock in the morning &...