Clouds of Colours

 

What A Heart Wants ?

Those thoughts keep coming back every day now and then. Maybe those thoughts have never left me. May be it's deeply rooted in my DNA that keep surfacing with every this n that way.

Years back in around 1990 while I was roaming in Sangla valley of Kinnaur in Himachal along few friends, amid the small village of Sangla I came across a two roomed vocational training centre of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, an organization dedicated for upliftment of people of tribal areas in India. That centre was providing vocational training to big girls and basic education to small children of near by villages. Only a duo of husband-wife in their late thirties was running the whole show. They both belonged from Bangalore in Karnataka thousands of miles away from that small village of Kinnaur. They both were well educated and had their respective jobs back there and had decided to give six months for the welfare of their country and were deputed here as part of their non-paying duty. Those two rooms were their part of world for those six months.

Those few hours spent with that couple were engraved on my mind forever. With the divine surroundings of Himalayas, flowing of Baspa river, always smiling innocent people, mystic temples and Deities within, yellow harvest dancing in the fields, small houses made of stone and wood are still afresh in my heart. Sitting alone on the bank of Baspa that time I dreamt of settling there forever. I didn't know even after many years that if it was a serious thought or was a temporary attraction of young immature teen aged mind.

But one thing is for sure true, that all of my life till now, mountains fascinates me. It was not only that couple who showed me the way but as above I wrote it is in my blood which is very easily provoked when ever I see mountains. A small house in the hills is what I dream of for my retirement. The hassle basal of daily life, unnecessary competition in business and social life, rat race of earning more and more only to maintain your metro status, watching other people's possession of 'brands' and watching other people watching your possession of 'brands' sicken me. When will this blind circle end ? When I am gonna to be at my place? The place I have always dream of, the place where only peace of mind prevails.

But there is one hidden fear also. The way I wail about this routine life, who can be sure of that I won't get sick of that life too? May be it's only my mind, a confused mind. They say you can not get the depth of some one's mind but here it seem true with my own mind. Or may be it's just only one colour among the millions others contained in my mind. Who knows? But no doubt this colour is what my heart is made of.

In "God's Own Country"

After long long fifteen years, I got second opportunity to be at beautiful Kovallam beach. Though the rainy season had turned the sea rough and grayish, and my two days there were fully engaged in a meeting to keep me bounded from strolling far away at beach or roaming around in Trivendarum streets, I enjoyed this short nostalgic trip.

Around fifteen years back, when I was a young school boy, I collected a bag full of seashells at that beach. The images on my mind of gigantic blue waves of that time came alive when I stepped on beach after such a long period. Another difference, in our previous visit years back along my parents, we stayed in a small middle class hotel in the city and after spotting a beautiful resort at Kovallam beach, I innocently complained my dad for not booking that resort and now this time when I checked in this resort, I really missed him.

Meghdootem !

Blue Meghdoots took over Chandigarh sky last evening. As the last couple of days were getting too hot, these clouds and later rain in the night really helped dripping the mercury to ease the residents. Here is the view last evening I saw while serving as a driver for her to market :) .

Really a splendid view! Feeling Blue?

Missing You My Room

I got my separate room when I was in 5th standard and that luxury remained till I got married in 99.

Being a younger son of a bank officer, we had to pack our belongings almost every three years (some times even after one year) and head for an unknown city, unknown house, unknown school and unknown friends. Six different schools till tenth standard, what to say? Though initially it sounded fun but as I started growing up I started loosing the so called charm. Now I envy those guys who complete their entire school education in a single institution. Among many other reasons I think bachpan ki dosti remains forever. Anyway not to get away from my today's feelings, last evening while talking to Peggy, I bumped in the old memories of the royal days of my own room.

Obviously six different schools means six different cities and six different private rooms. All those different rooms are still loving, important and memorable to me in different ways and have different kinda memories warped in them. In a room I started writing my first diary (that's another thing that I never could maintain this hobby), In one room I got my first table lamp and I remember my vow of study hard under that table lamp (but I never could be very serious in my studies :) through out my life) I remember in the same room one day dad taught me how to write numbers in a row, I remember I hanged my dad's bullworker in my room though I was never able to press it. There was an air rifle on the other wall which I got from dad on my 10th birthday. I must have blown off thousands of bottles with that gun. In another room of Amritsar I started collecting stamps. This room was very beautiful at first floor with a view of main entrance. A teacher was arranged for my tuition and instead of learning mathematics from him I learnt to drive moped at his Luna. I must have read thousands of comics in that room as dad had arranged rented comics for me on monthly paying basis there. I remember decorating the walls of this rooms with the sketches of Chacha Choudhary, Saboo, Micky Mouse and Pluto drawn by me. And also tearing off some of them in a fight with elder brother. There are countess big and small memories tagged with these rooms.

But I actually realised the value of my room in my last days of high school and by the time I entered college I was almost in love with my room. 10' X 12' in size my room in Shimla had my whole world in it. With a big windows frame on one wall where one could view half of the city, other walls were covered with different posters and pictures of the persons I was inspired of. Arnold Schwarzenegger in standing pose of Commando and another of Predator, Bruce Willi's Die Hard poster, Black and white poster of Titan Fast track gal with curly hairstyle (I shamelessly begged that poster pasted in a shop of Titan dealer at The Mall,) a b/w poster of Madhubala (the only actress on my wall), a BMW Z1 two seater, BMW E32 convertible, a red Ferrari, two BMW motorcycles, a Harley, Dunlop tyre ad poster of knight rider bike, a MRF ad of a bike, Colour pencil sketches of Chattarpatti Shiva ji and Maharana Pratap drawn by me, another my drawing of a boy with an umbrella in rain with wordings "Rainy days doesn't matter as long as you are with me", a collage of family photographs, a kathakali mask I bought from Rameshwaram, a coffee coloured study table with straight back chair, on the wall facing that chair was diamond shaped dangles of Swami Vivekanand, Swami Ramkrishana Paramhans and Ma Sharda, a picture cutting of Indian Army commandos in action taken out of an edition of India Today, a wrapper of Cadbury's chocolate being edited "You are my sweet Fruit & Nuts" by her, books shelves filled with my all the books I could manage to save since my childhood, from 'Russi Lok Kathyen' to Fundamentals of Advance Accounting . A pair of dumbbells in a corner near my bhoomi aasan, a moderately large aquarium filled with pairs of Goldfish, Catfish, Silver Shark, Guppy, Angelfish, Barb and a all time sleeping snail. I think I had wasted too much money maintaining that aquarium. My room also had a cord nunchakus, a sword and a wooden stick for practising silambam. Apart from all above I can't forget my expensive Vega helmet, my Walkman, VHS collection of my favorite action movies, hundreds of my audio cassettes, my posters and sketches which I could not paste on the wall because there was no space left for them, jeans and shoes I loved so much, my lost watches and digital diary all affiliated with my room.

What were those days! I was very particular for my room and its cleanliness, I never had to buy that famous poster saying "cleanliness is next to impossible'. Every thing was at its perfect position. I even used to clean the posters on the walls and not even a single unwanted object was there in my room. But those are good old days. And now none of above thing exists in my today's room. Did I say 'My room'? Do I have my room any more? NO !

I miss you my room, really miss you so much!

Dancing Leaves

The drive was breathtaking, the scene was so heavenly. Roads were covered with the yellow and green leaves fallen from the trees. I don’t remember the last time I saw such beauty happening before me. I saw them falling on the road in thousands of numbers from tress in front of my eyes through the windshield of car.

The green road widen my eyes and pondered my heart. Breeze outside and the movements of vehicles filled the atmosphere with floating leaves. Driving my car through the dancing leaves make me feel of some sweet dream.

Surprisingly I was not driving amid the deep woods hundreds of miles away from city. The 15 minutes drive from office to bank and then back to office in the cloudy noon today at Madhya Marg was really splendid. Chandigarh is really beautiful city sometimes. The scenic beauty didn’t last for long, drizzling started and turned in complete rain washing off the roads to its original black later. But that short period was long enough to make my day.

Wish I had my camera with me at that moment :( (Here is a pic from local newspaper next day.)