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Mumbai Safari.

A bus white in colour was going infront of my house. Mumbai Safari was written upon it in big letters.

I felt very rejuvenated to see that the bus services had resumed.

It was an air conditioned bus.People were sitting inside the bus wearing masks. They didn’t seem sad. People have adopted wearing masks as a daily part of their life.

On seeing that bus we felt that we too should be travelling in the same bus.

But then we remembered that the pandemic was on.

Darn it!

My heart really went out it.

Still….

Best wishes to them for their journey and I do hope that they have a happy tour.

Adios!

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The Holidays.

The holidays were such a time when we all cherished each and every moment of it. The holidays meant breaking free from the rigidity of daily life. The fun in packing bags and suitcases is a bit tedious but the true fun lies in slinging on the bag pack and getting ready for the journey. Getting onto a train, making the berth for sleeping is another fun which my father used to do for me. Once or twice I have made a crumpled berth for sleeping. Waking up early in the train, watching the green fields and having omelettes from the train pantry is fun beyond words. At home many of us make faces and say-“Omelettes. Can’t we have macaroni and cheese?”  But there is no greater fun than having omelette with bread, a chunk of butter and cold water.”

Flight journeys were a rare privilege which once in two years we could afford. The best part of holidays were of visiting my maternal grandmother. Those days were golden. She was a ball of pure love.

Such were my beautiful holidays.

We just simply miss them.

Be happy and have holidays. Hope that very soon we too shall have one and more than one.

Adios!

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The Road We Traverse Everyday.

The road we traverse everyday is our daily hard work, the fruit of our toils and extreme dedication.

Suppose somebody spends his entire day playing video games, the question arises how is that extreme dedication?

It is extreme dedication as the person playing the video game spends his entire time focused upon it.

From morning till night. From bread and jam to supper, we struggle to maintain our existence.

There are two roads on which we traverse everyday. The first one is the journey of life, of daily routine and the other one is the journey which one completes by travelling on roads, in planes, in trains, in buses, in cars.

One journey is monotonous, the other one is exerting on the mind and brain.

Journeys are often completed much earlier than expected, yet people simply keep on pulling.

A baby simply plays in his/her mother’s lap and the mother nearly spends her entire day playing with her child. That is the road which they are traversing at the moment.

The roads of life often intersect with each other, leading to a loop formation.                    

Suppose the fishmonger from whom you have bought fish early in the morning, is the driver of the autorickshaw in which you are returning home.

Your old school teacher is now an employee in your company.

The roads we traverse everyday are very different yet same, still unique.

N.B.-Mothers make aloo puri for lunch one particular day, the other day they prepare chole paratha.

The dishes are different yet the road is same i.e. lunch.

(Aloo puri and chole paratha are both Indian dishes which are extremely delicious to eat. The only thing is that both the dishes are heavy for the stomach and after having a sumptuous lunch there is no other option left than to sleep.)

Have fun traversing the roads of life.

Adios!

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Soft fight.

We often squabble, quarrel and bicker for reasons unknown to us.

Soft fights occur everywhere. Most of them happen as frustrations are a recurrent feature in humans.

Buses are a common place of soft fights.

In a bus jam packed with people, it is a superb opportunity for a soft fight to take place.

You pass a man in a crowded bus, without an inch’s space to move and your elbow hits the man and instantly he flares up.

The man –“Are you blind? Why did you hit me with your elbow? Can’t you see properly? Nonsense!”

You-“Please mind your tongue sir. It was not deliberate. There isn’t a space to move in the bus. Still I am sorry.”

That man-“Sorry, Huh! Keep your sorry with you!”

You simply shake your head and get off the bus.

At a fish market, the price of the a particular fish which costed Rs.100 yesterday, costs Rs.130 today and then a soft fight is definitely going to happen between you and fishmonger.

You- “Yesterday, a kg of this fish costed Rs.100 and today it costs Rs.130. How can it be so?”

The fishmonger-“The vendor has sold us the fish at Rs.100/kg today, so how can I sell it to you at the same rate?”

You-“Didn’t you ask the vendor why he has increased the price?”

Fishmonger-“I don’t have that much time. If you want to buy then buy it or you can leave.”

You-“I am your regular customer and this is how you behave with me?”

Fishmonger-“Its business time. So if you want to buy that fish then it is completely upto you or else don’t waste my time.”

You-“You can keep your time with your own self.”

Whether you buy fish from that person or not is your decision, but most probably you will not

At a railway station,

You stand in the ticket line and a man tries to cut in and tries to stand ahead of you. The soft fight which follows is:-

You-“Why are trying to cut the line?”

That person-“I am not trying to cut the line. I am simply looking ahead to see whether tickets are available or not.”

You-“How can you see whether the tickets are available or not from here?”

That person- “Sorry, sorry. It’s my mistake.”

You-“Good that you accepted your mistake.”

At a shop,

You have ordered for a particular thing and that thing has been sold to someone else by the shopkeeper. The soft fight goes as follows:-

You-“Why have you sold the item which I had ordered for gifting to someone else?”

Shopkeeper- “When that customer asked that item from me, I thought that I had two pieces of it. But later on I realised that I only had a single piece of it.”

You-“I was supposed to give that item as a gift to someone else. Now please arrange another piece of that same item for me.”

Shopkeeper-“It will take two days.”

You-“Two days! Are you mad? Cancel the order immediately.”

Shopkeeper-“I am sorry for the inconvenience.”

You-“It’s me who is sorry for placing the order in your shop.”

At a restaurant,

You- “I had booked a reservation for 9:00 pm and now you are saying that the restaurant is full?”

The manager-“We had actually mismanaged the bookings, so the restaurant is full.”

You-“Now what can be done?”

The manager-“Please accept our apologies. We will be giving a discount of twenty percent for our goof up.”

You-“Thank you.”

But the downside was that you were given a table only at ten p.m. in that restaurant and by that time your hunger was as angry as you were.

You to the manager-“Your twenty percent discount is of no use. Even after booking a table beforehand, we were given a table after an hour then that means that restaurant has no sense of decorum.”

Manager-“I am extremely sorry.”

You-“I am sorry that I choose your restaurant.”

See, soft fights happen everywhere. It takes place due to human nature. Most often it underscores the fine line between justice, equality, honesty and truth. When any of these gets crossed with one another then a soft fight ensues.

Adios!

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Holidays begin and going for a bus ride- Part-2

The next day we went to a tea estate. You had to pay a twenty-five rupees entry fees. The whole area concerning the estate was very big and one could tour inside for hours. There were beautiful tracks cut in the estate so that one could walk on lane.  After spending nearly forty-five minutes walking, we went to the tea shop there and bought four different varieties of tea, out of which only one stood out and it was rose flavoured.

While coming out of the estate, we saw two flamingos and four begonia trees.

The nearby jungle tour which our trek guide was repeatedly requesting us to visit, was planned at about 12:30pm. We had our lunch at twelve pm.

For lunch, dal bati churma  ( a famous Rajasthani dish) was prepared with onions and farsan and with it veg jeera rice, spicy korma and dal hundo was made. For people who didn’t eat rice, small chapatis and rotis were made. Having the buttermilk during and after the lunch made our hearts dance with happiness, joy and enjoyment. There is nothing like a fresh glass of buttermilk garnished with coriander and chillies and bit of an essence of jeera (cumin) powder.The restaurant manager told us that they had an another variety of buttermilk which was made with the essence of rose and saffron and brought three glasses for us. We had that buttermilk too and it was brilliant but the original buttermilk with jeera powder was and is the best.

Now the tour to the jungle began. It was about a two hour journey from the hotel and in the bus our trek guide was also present. We asked him-“yesterday, you told us that the jungle is nearby, when it is a two hour journey. Please explain.”

His reply was-“Actually, long before, nearly more than a century ago, this whole area was a jungle. Our forefathers were the original inhabitants of this place and they would tell us that there were wild elephants and tigers in this jungle but now the area and animals in the jungle have reduced”.

Hearing his explanation we understood the matter.

nature forest waterfall jungle

We reached the outer boundary of the jungle and from there we would have to get into a bus which was enclosed and protected with strong iron grills.

Before getting into the jungle tour bus, we had some sweetmeats and a mango vanilla ice cream each.

Then began our enclosed, protected jungle tour. The bus conductor told us not click any photographs of any animals. ESPECIALLY LIONS AND TIGERS.

Do you want to know if we had seen any tigers or lions or not, then wait for tomorrow, as I will narrate and write about it tomorrow.

Adios!