Intezaar

Intezaar kiska kar raha hun main?

Aankhon mein kyun hai yeh beychaini?

Kinarey pey khada dekh raha hun main,

merey khayalon key leheron mein doob raha hun main.

Ruki hui si lag rahi hai yeh duniya, 

thama hua sa lag raha hai yeh aasaman.

Palkey hain basayi mainey kiskey liye?

Jindagi, yeh intezaar hai kiska tumhey?

Yeh Suhana Samaa

Dil ney kaha waqt tham ja jara,

Palkon mein merey basney dey yeh samaa.

Inn vadiyon mein jhul rahein hain jo tehniyan, pattiyan,

Keh rahein hain mujhsey tu bhi jhoom ley jara.

Zharney hain gaa rahein eak geet jana sa,

Mann ko hain dey rahein eak ehsaas anjana sa.

Yeh khamoshiyan jaisey kaano ney samajh hai khoyi,

Par eak hari si thandak aankhon ney hai paayi.

Nas nas mein merey bharney dey yeh nasha,

Waqt tham ja jara.

And then they met...

The winds wont blow, no halo will glow,

the trees wont swing all in a row.

This girl I tell you when walks to me,

my heart will sink with all the glee.

My heart will know and it will bow,

and I will throw my love to grow.

Hug her tight that she never fights ,

and talk to her as if time flies.

Make her laugh for me to smile,

dance as one and swing her nice.

Take her out on a starry night,

gaze at the sky of diamonds bright.

And for every mood that she might flaunt,

give her a kiss she will always want.

Be your own lifeguard!

All ya land lovers!! Listen up and listen up good. This post is specially for people who either want to learn to swim but "do not have time" to do so, or are dead scared of getting in the water. One way or the other you will sometime in your life find yourself in water that is deeper than you can stand and breath in. And then instead of feeling 'If only I could swim' at that "drowning" moment, its better to know some basics.

Well, if getting rescued is all you care about, technically you don't need to know how to swim, you just need to float and not drink water around you, till someone gets to you and drags you to dry land. So here is the scenario, you just fell in water, what is the first thing you do? You reach out to the water surface and try to get your head out so that you can breath. Head first or feet first doesn't matter, whichever way you fall the general human tendency is to orient themselves so that their head is out. Now, while doing this people generally push the water up and down as if cycling in water and do the same with their hands, which is natural. The position of the body is upright at this point.

The first and most basic thing for "never-swam" people is NEVER try to stay upright. You always want to sleep on the water, like sleeping on a bed, looking up at the sky. That is your best bet at saving your life. Its like a small sheet of metal, if you keep it flat horizontal on the water surface its going to float but the moment you make it vertical... 20,000 fathoms awaits it.

This turning your body from vertical to horizontal is possible only if all your body parts work together. We will go in a body part sequence that is hydro-dynamically effective.

Your legs are a very unique part of your body, which if not used efficiently are going to drag you down. For one, your thighs are heavy and two, they are shaped so that they can easily submerge and go down if vertical. So the first part of your body that has to get up to the surface so that you can get into the sleeping position are your legs. To do this start moving both your legs up and down, like the pair of blades of a scissors. When doing this try and keep both your legs straight from your waist down and point your toes away from your body, so that even they are horizontal. This makes your feet act like flippers, helping you lift your legs up easily. It will be hard to keep your legs straight and at the same time move them up and down. So, bending your legs a bit in the knees is okay, but just a BIT. So how fast or how deep does the leg movement have to be? Well, until your legs are straight, your legs should move with a higher frequency, but a lower amplitude. So move them with an intermediate speed but not deep inside the water, just near the water surface.

As your legs start coming up, you have to push your HIPS and your STOMACH up, up above the water surface. Believe me its not at all hard. Push it up as if someone was poking you from the water below. Its every body-part for itself when you are in water. Just imagine... you are upright in the water, you started moving your legs like a scissor... they are coming up slowly... but they are only going to bring themselves up, the hips and stomach have to push themselves up, so that you attain a horizontal position.

As far as your hands are concerned, just skim them on the water surface, with your palm facing the water. Just like lying flat on snow and making a snow angel.

By now (looking sideways) nearly whole of your body has been rotated from being vertical to a horizontal position, but there is one more thing to remember. ALWAYS look up at the sky. Do not try to look what is in front of you, because that is going to bend your body and make it vertical again, pushing you down into the water.

That was a lot to remember up there, but it seems a lot because of the explanation. Its very simple even for a non-swimmer and anyone can float on their back in less than 15 seconds. Just remember these 3 points:

1. Keep both your legs straight and move them up and down like a pair of scissors.

2. As they start floating up, push your hips and your stomach up towards the sky.

3. Keeps moving your legs and maintain your hip and stomach position. No need to push hard now. Keep looking up.

Now that you are quite stably flat on water you are free to scream the hell out. Hopefully if someone nearby knows how to swim they might come to save you, unless all they too know is just to float!! Practicing this in a shallow 4ft pool won't harm you. Try it!

Well, now that you know a survivor skill do you feel like its okay to NOT know swimming? You will be missing out on an opportunity of a lifetime if you are thinking on that line! Because when you know how to swim, you don't only make sure you are confident in deep waters but also pose as a lifesaver to someone else who might be drowning. So think it out. You won't be much different than a doctor, the only other person who is a lifesaver and consequently at the same stature as god, to people who are in a helpless and agonizing situation, waiting for someone skillful to come and pull them out of deaths very own hands ;)

Keep Swimming!! \m/

Eak kavita Babansathi...

This one's for my Baba's 60th Bday from what I know him for the last 25yrs.

शब्द कित्ती गोळा करू, बोलू तरी केवढे आज,
साठी पूर्ण झाली आहे मित्राची माझ्या खास.

वार्यावरती येतो तो अन वाऱ्यासारखा जातो,
गप्पा अश्या करतो कि आम्ही हलत-डुलत राहतो .

डोकं सारख आपटत राही, नव्या शोधांची त्याला खाज,
इंजीनियारही झक मारेल अश्या आयडिया त्याच्या खास.

रस्ता माझा बनवेन मीच, असो वाळू किंवा बर्फ गार,
पाणी असेल तर झालाच कि, पोहून जाईन नदी पार.

हृदय म्हणतो "थांब जरा!", "घेउडे कि जरा श्वास".
कधीतरी विचार मला, कित्ती देशील असा त्रास!

शब्द कित्ती गोळा करू, बोलू तरी केवढे आज,
साठी पूर्ण झाली आहे मित्राची माझ्या खास.

A "Date" to remember!

Dark black skies... tiny stars flickering like diamonds... cool gusts of winds... and only the sound of splashing waves.

He was still looking up at the sky...amazed at the wonders god created up there...and then he turned his head to the side to find her sleeping besides him, '...and the beauties he created down here!'

This was their first date away from the chaotic city and the usual "date venues". Somewhere unique, somewhere quite is where she wanted to go.

"Why not!", he thought, "A private yacht, the open seas and just the 2 of us!"

His eyes were stuck on her, just couldn't take them away. She was nothing less than a Mermaid sleeping on the yacht deck. That Long Black Dress... her shoulder long wavy hair bouncing with the wind, and those eyelids like petals, flickered everytime the wind blew kissing them. Just looking at those red lips made him feel warm.

Turning on his side he smiled and kept staring at her.

"What?" she asked with a puzzled tone.

Giving an innocent nod, he ran his fingers through her hair and pushed them behind her ears. Quickly kissing her cheeks he slid himself back and started looking up at the stars.

"JAYY!!" she screamed.

Sliding near him she went up and looked in his eyes. Their eyes locked for a few seconds as if they were meeting each other for the very first time.

'How I would love to look in those eyes...every morning I woke up', she thought. 'Hmm, only if he ever proposes.'

With a big sigh she rested her head on his chest and opened up her eyes at the sky.

"You know what Jay, I like your eyes."

"Really?? Just my eyes? Thats it??" came a quick reply.

"Well, I don't want to go into the 'DETAILS', you know!!", she said tickling his tummy.

Both of them went on laughing for a while.

Taking his arm in her hands she hugged it tightly and kept gazing at the stars.

They continued looking up at the sky... no words... just the waves.

"You like the stars and the skies don't you?", he said holding one of her hands and playing with her fingers.

"Ohh I love to gaze at the skies, the stars, the planets... everything up there!" she said in excitement.

"Did you ever dream of going to the stars then? Or better, bringing them here?"

"Ohh, come on now Jay" she started, "don't start the 'I'll bring the stars for you' line. Thats too cheesy".

"Ohh NO!" he replied, with a devilish smile, "I am not going to. You are going to catch one for yourself."

"WHAT??" she yelled, "Are you serious?!" and started laughing.

"Come on. Play along this one time will you!" he said lifting up her hand.

"Open up your hand, grab the star you like the most and close it tightly!"

She looked at him. His eyes were pleading... something she couldn't resist.

"Is that kid in you ever going to grow?" she gave in, opening up her hand.

Looking up at the sky, she rolled her eyes a bit trying to choose a star from the millions up there. With a big 'Ahh' she closed her hand as if grabbing one.

"Here!" she said, showing her hand.

"Now give it to me", he wrapped his hand around hers as she smiled and opened her hand.

"Now what??", came a quick question, like a 5 year old.

"Now... about my eyes... You love them don't you! How would you like to look at them every day and every night... No one else... Just you and them!", he said opening up his hand.

"Will this star do??" he asked with a wide smile. He was holding a bright glittering Solitare Diamond Ring.

She wanted to smile and laugh, she really did, but her eyes couldn't hold the tears back. It was something she had always hoped for but this was too real, too surprising to be JUST happy.

She closed her eyes and started nodding as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I want those eyes to look at me for the rest of my life Jay!", she whispered with her eyes still wet.

He kissed her forehead and touched his nose to hers looking deep in her eyes. Sliding the ring in her finger he hugged her tight enough to feel her heartbeats. They were louder, much louder than the waves now!

My Real Life Hero.

-->

You taught all that you could to make me and Amruta good swimmers and I know you had big dreams.

I still remember the times you used to give me a Rs.2 bill each time I went for a swim in 2^rd Grade, so that I swim at least for that. What a waste I was! :|

I get hungry after every swim even today, thinking about the wait for that Sunday swim session to get over so that you would buy me and Amruta a Frankee at Tibbs.

I want to go on that ride again standing just behind the scooter handle and revving the motionless handle sleeve as you used to speed up.

Its summer here now but I am still waiting for you to bring a big watermelon and I miss the Watermelon Mocktails you used to make.

Will you bring Kababs on Monday or Sankasthi even here and innocently tell mom you forgot about the DAY, while blinking one eyelid, signaling us the situation is under control :D

But at the same time why do you clap your hands and chant the Aarti during Ganapati at Aatya’s house?

I am happy that you trained me to eat everything. “You should be ready to eat anything that won’t kill you if need be and if you want to survive.” is what you said and I do.

I know how much you wanted to pursue engineering but couldn’t because of your love for swimming, but I am happy that I am able to pursue your dream.

You made me study hard for a motorbike and encouraged me to ride one and never bogged me down with safety issues or being overcautious about it, you can't imagine how lucky I feel about that!

I was stunned when you said “You can even play an Electric Guitar now that you play an Acoustic one”, without a hint of sarcasm in it. I was expecting being yelled at :P

I miss the times we used to fight with Aai and Amruta to watch those Sci-Fi movies together. I want to stay awake watching those movies again.

You are my real life hero, I am inspired by your decisions to go off track and explore new avenues, and be ready to face the downs.

I won’t call you the Best Dad in the world, you are my dad and that’s all I need…and really speaking the world is not enough!

Honestly this was something for Father’s Day, but neither of us felt anything special about wishing Fathers Day. “We enjoy every moment together, then why do we need a different day for that?!” is what he said. And I can’t agree more.

Growing young.

As we grow old so do our parents and a lot of people around. Apart from growing old physically there's a stage after which their mental growth ceases. Call it the early 70's or mid 70's. This is a time when the brain stops developing any more, rather it slowly starts switching off it's sections. To put it in a simple way, after that peak period everyone starts growing young. They start their journey towards becoming a child again, naïvely enjoying everyday as a new one.

There are short term and long term memory losses. Listening to and focusing on normal conversations could be a problem. Vision starts to die away. The body has already started giving up. They are going to be slow now. Don't expect them to have the same reaction time as you. This is the period when you have to be patient... as patient as your mom and dad were when you were a baby or sometimes even more patient than that. Think of them as children.

But can I even compare them with a child? A child is so full of energy. Everyone around them is delighted, overjoyed with their presence and entertained by their monkeying around. Well, obviously don't expect that from the old timers. But ask them about their college days or workplace memories and see them amaze you. Oh and if you think they are not as cute as a child, just go back in time for a moment. Think of those days when your mom/dad used to tell people how cute, sweet and intelligent you were even if you were slow amongst most of the kids, dark in complexion, too fat to run or too skinny like a dry twig. They don't even expect you to give any accolades, although one or two wouldn't really hurt ;) But at least don't look at them as if they have committed a crime.

Go slow with them on certain matters. Getting pissed off won't do the work faster, would it now?! Do you remember how often they used to repeat stuff till you got it right or till you were satisfied. They would do all that with a childish and godly tone.

For some time forget they are your mom and dad or uncle and aunts or a random person you met at the bank! She’s the most beautiful, sweetest girl; he’s a bit boyish at times but still your chubby, cute boy. They are like kids now! :)

And for those who don't want to accept this fact, remember that life is a cycle and you are going to be old too. What goes around comes around!

There's only 1 Formula!

My idea of a perfect sport is one which has power, team work, style, strategy, thrills, full of surprises & demands a lot of passion from you. If you know what I am talking about you must be a die hard Formula 1 fan. I had a craze for cars as all boys would, but I never thought I would end up like this, trying to recognize every car that passes by. I am a freak they say, hell yeah I am and I am proud of that. Gasoline runs through my veins not blood!
F1 has been in my life when they started showing it on DD Metro, thanks to Mr. Mallya and then came the problem of no alcohol advertisements on DD. No more F1 broadcasting. But I have my resources and am happy to be still in it!

Tell me one sport which gives the sports person more power than a 800bhp F1 car. Although the whole team is never in lime light, a F1 team has the most number of members related to it...more than even a Football team. You don't know when your car might give up or someone behind you might crash into you. The driver has to focus so much for the whole race, no breaks, no points in between, its a race to the end. If you survive you win, there's no second chance. And do I need to say anything about style? F1 drivers define the most powerful, stylish & inspiring people. For auto enthus the car in itself is a style quotient.

All this said Formula 1 has its share of downs, some badly written rules & some not at all sporty drivers. Who cares, its those drivers who make their way from the rear of the grid to the podium that make F1 what it is today!


If there's one sport I love & haven't still tried, its Formula 1 racing. "Ofcourse!" you would say. But its one thing I live for and want to try before I die, drive a F1 car, atleast for half a mile. You know what try this, put some fast music once you are in your car or on your bike and rev your babe each time the song goes upbeat, feel it, live it, and believe me its worth dying for! This video should help ;)

25 years of Togetherness

Some lines about Mom Dad's 25yrs journey together...

2+5 is seven,
seems like a road to heaven

But the path is full of thorns
to teach you many a norms

Step on them with love in your heart
and each one will blossom like a flower

Take turns to clear the road
because sacrifices will be core

Take pains to understand the other
and gains my dear will be forever

Reach the end of this path
the 7 colors of life will brighten your heart

And you will think again that 2+5 is 7
and yes it was a road to heaven!

More years to come

Falling Colors

Its fall now & nature has started changing colors. Pink, red, Maroon, yellow, green as if the trees are showing off their mood. I look out of the window and I see trees in red, trees in yellow & yes trees in green too! The sky isn’t dark today its bright & blue, making sure the trees can flaunt their colors easily. They look like a bouquet made of Red lilacs reaching for the sky & Yellow roses gazing at them. The greener trees as if helping the red & yellow look even more distinct. I am on the highest floor of the stone ‘CoRE’d tower & all this seems so small from up here that I feel like taking out the whole bunch of 'flowers' with my hand and giving it to you....if only you were here! ;)

Aaji...

Swimming & me!

I still remember how I used to be frightened of baba when it was Sunday, it was swimming time then and luckily (for him) he used to take time off his business and swimming to teach me and little amruta. Amruta as usual was excited and raring to go. Dads favorite, daughters generally are! And I used to be as far away from baba as I could.

Its true, if your dad is damn good at something he wishes you could be like him too. I was never in harmony with this. What could I possibly do? The first race of my life at the age of 5 and I could hardly complete half of the 50mts. I knew baba lost whatever hope he had of training me into a swimmer that he was, the fame he earned. But Amruta never stopped. With the great reflexes that she had and a lot of practice she made it to the Junior Asian Games as the goal keeper of the Indian team. She was the one who proved to me that nothing is impossible, you just have to try it, do it. And that's why even today I keep trying different things, you cannot decide that you do not fit in a activity, the activity tells you!

Many years down the line, during the 3^rd year of engineering something came into me and I thought this is the time, its now or never. Baba was always excited about me becoming a Mechanical Engineer, the first engineer in the family. But I knew he still wanted to see me swim like a Pro. Aai, baba and Amruta had a hearty laugh when I told them I wanted to take part in the 50 Free event. “..5-5 taas practice kartat sagley swimmers. But I won’t stop you” said baba. I could see that even he was excited about me finally getting in, but he wasn’t showing it at all.

1 month and 5hrs per week is what I had along with my Engineering studies. I did whatever I was made to do by god. Judgement Day was here. At the competition baba was giving me last minute tips, stroke correction but all I could see at that moment was his excitement.

“Competitors on the deck please” came the call. I was nervous. Its been more than 10yrs since I have been on the starting blocks where each and everyone's eyes are glued. “Take your marks…......GO!” went the whistle. For a moment I literally felt the world freeze. I saw all the years baba had taught me swimming go through my mind in a second. “SPLASH” my whole body plunged into the water. Swimming as if I was being followed by a shark, I swear I was pushing my hands so hard I thought I was gonna rip them apart. Touching the end of the pool, I was breathless like an asthama patient.

I looked up to find baba standing near the ladder. “Tuzhya heat madhe pahila alas tu (you came first in your heat). You timed 30secs”. He was jubilant, very happy. Timing wise I didn’t even make up to the first 5 swimmers, still it made a big difference to him. Imagine how happy baba was. The guy who held the 100mtrs butterfly national record for 10 yrs, telling his friends at the swim meet that his son got a timing of 30s in 50Free. Believe me this was not at all anything even near "good", 24seconds was the National Record , and people get there after years and years of practice. But this was the moment I was waiting for, to see baba being proud of me for swimming and not studies. Then there was no turning back. The same day for the 50m Breast Stroke I came 5^th amongst 18 swimmers. That was it, he felt on cloud nine now. This was the first achievement in my whole life, which made me really really happy!