Travel Blog 1: Trip to Agra

Good afternoon buddies. This is your friend 'rising from the dead'. I am going to narrate a very interesting and mind boggling incident now. Please hold on to your seats!

So you know my good-for-nothing (!) colleague Jessica right? Oh you don't eh? OK, she is just...good-for-nothing :)...OK sorry Jessica (in case you are reading this)...Now lets get back to the story...You know my good-for...Oh god, not again you say? OK OK I am getting on with it...

So I went to Delhi with Ms. Jessica Wade on an official trip. Suddenly she gets this wild idea to visit Agra so as to capture the brilliance of one of the seven wonders of the world. And we decided to go. Mind you, this was totally unplanned and we had no idea what we were getting into!

After we were done with our meeting at UNIDO, we planned to take an auto to Connought Place (spelling maybe a little off the mark :)). This was supposed to be this posh place with a lot of posh buses which will take us to the destination in style and comfort. But the auto guy we approached said "Oh you should go to ISBT instead. You get buses every ten minutes". We said "But we want deluxe AC buses, yeah?". And he said "Oh yeah, you get deluxe buses too". We said "OK, then lets go there". And he took us to ISBT. All the way there, he was saying how he was supposed to get some commission if he goes to Connought and how he sacrificed this for our goodwill. Then after an hour or so, we reached ISBT. And lo and behold, there are NO deluxe buses in that place. Apparently, it was a lot further from UNIDO than Connought and the auto guy just wanted to get the extra fare!! You do find all kinds of people in Delhi, don't you?

So we had to take this run-down local bus to Agra. And I got the aisle seat (guess how??)! The entire five hours was a nightmare! People were stamping my foot all the time, hot air was rushing into my face (windows had to be kept open or we would have sweat to death), baby howling, men farting and the list goes on!

And in the end of what seemed like a lifetime, we reached Agra. And we spent the night at a dinghy hotel with a 'out of the world' air conditioner. The next morning, the g-f-n (you know who) colleague of mine woke me up at 5 A.M. (can you believe that??!!) so that we can see the sunrise on the Taj. I get ready and all that (come on that's true OK) and go to the East gate and the guard says it will open only at SIX!! I could have murdered the g-f-n &*^%!! Then we went in and took some snaps and came back to the hotel by 10 A.M. Now we had to catch the flight back to Chennai from the Delhi airport at 4 P.M. and we hadn't made any plans on how to reach Delhi from Agra. We gulped down a breakfast (with ants in it) and rushed to the Railway Station.

As soon as we entered the station, we came to a counter which said "Unreserved Second Class Booking Counter". This was what was recommended by our kind hotel manager and so we decided to get a ticket from this counter. We went in and said "Two tickets for a super fast train please". And the clerk handed us two tickets and said "it's leaving immediately". We ran with our backpacks (which were heavy mind you) and finally got into the train just before it started. Five minutes in that train and we wanted to commit suicide!

Have you ever travelled in a second class unreserved compartment? I would think not. It so happens that only dirt-crested, nitpicking, drooling ANIMALS travel in these compartments. We went through hell. I don't wanna say more friends. It brings back DIRTY memories!

After 5 hours of such torture, we reached Delhi and took the flight back home. And the fact that I am writing this blog says that I am back to normal (or does it?).

Death

Here he lies as he wanted to be,

Home is the sailor, home from sea,

Home is the hunter from treacherous hills.

Here he rests his soul at peace,

Home is the leaf from the autumn breeze,

Home is the farmer from dried tills.

Here he stays, he goes nowhere,

Home is the merchant from selling his ware,

Home is the thread from the cotton mills.

Here he sleeps, he will not wake,

Home is the gambler after losing his stake,

Home is the sandwich from the flaming grills.

His journey has now come to an end,

So why show pity, why pretend?

His life was full of foes and friends,

To Heaven now does he ascend.

The God in Me...

My eyes they only saw, what they want to see
My ears heard only praise, the words of praise
Tasting, smelling, touching only what is here and wrong
And wondering why the hunger, thirst and longing went on
Lost in vanity and pretence
My five senses made no sense
Only through this man, so kind and chaste
Through him you can get a glimpse of grace, a glimpse of grace…

What Me Weird?

I was tagged by a character of least intelligence who fails to differentiate between right and wrong, good and bad, and finally between normal and WEIRD! So unfortunately I end up here, bringing to you the most amazing facts about me that have never been disclosed before and would have remained so, had not an interfering idiot forced it upon me.

So here are the six things about me that are, ahem, supposed to be 'weird'!

I wake up everyday around 9:00 A.M. and get ready to start a lovely day at the office (which starts at 9:30 A.M. meaning I run late most days, but hey, that's not weird!)

My mom brings me my breakfast and soya milk and I have them in my bed (of course I brush my teeth!). My mom used to feed me until a few years ago but then I told her it is high time I did it myself. After all my mother-in-law may not be willing to feed me!

People say I have six eyes cos I wear glasses on top of my contact lens. So? That makes me a six eyed creature, not weird!

I do not like potatoes and am crazy about cheese.

I have this habit of looking at an imaginary figure and complaining about someone near me.

But guys, all this is perfectly normal and I cannot think of anything weird about me even though I have tried my level best to think something that is. I would say the fact that I have been working on this good-for-nothing post for an hour or so is more weird than anything listed above.

But the MOST WEIRD thing about me, is my choice of FRIENDS!

One has already tagged me and I shall now proceed to tag some of the rest...(unfortunately none of them are bloggers)

Sri (She is weird all right!) Babe tell us about your "eat anything, sleep anywhere" stuff!

Mithra (She is sitting right beside me) So lets hear it from the Master!!

Divya (She is sane sometimes but weird most of the time) The stage is yours..

Asha (She is hmmm...VETTI) He He...

Jitha (WEIRD!!) Hope you exploit this opportunity to the fullest :-)

You guys can just write in to me or you could record your weirdness in my 'comments' area. Be my guest!!

Research Associate!!

Meet...... Preethi Rao, Research Associate, SEFC, IFMR!!

So guys, beleive it or not.....I am a Researcher!! My work is hectic but real fun (and most importantly, my kinda job). My colleagues are from France and Brittain and America and Greece and ....so on.....:) I am two weeks into the job and looking forward to more fun with them ;)

So if you guys want an appointment with me.....Please do call me....ha ha

Final Countdown

Often in this world,
Strangers meet,
But before recognized,
They become obsolete.

Almighty is a big cheat,
He joins hearts,
And one fine day,
He does them apart.

Thousand and one times,
The same thing happens,
We lose our friends,
And are rendered heartbroken.

Is it necessary always,
For God to cheat,
If friends are to become strangers,
Then why do they meet?


I have come to the end of the long winding road of student life. I turn back to see colorful memories - memories that make me laugh, memories that make me cry. But most importantly, I see my friends - the angels from heaven who made my life worth living. Today I realized that the final countdown has begun. My friends are leaving one by one. Bas aaj ki raat hai zindagi...kal hum kahan tum kahan!

So All the Best sweet friends, may god bless you all.

If I never see you again.....Adios Amigo!

'Nice' is Out..

Does anyone call you a nice guy?? Then beware! They are, in fact, cursing you. Puzzled?? Yes, for all purposes, Nice is Out. The world today is filled with opportunists, hypocrites and the kind. Selflessness is history and if you care about others it just means you are liable to be branded a 'nut'. Oh! I am not for one minute indicating that I am good. I am no less an hypocrite than any other Tom, Dick and Harry roaming the streets. After all I am human and its in our blood. But there are limits to machiavellism and hypocrisy. Of course the limits are set by oneself and differs from person to person. But limitless opportunism has become the 'in-thing' like bottomless coke :) Ok ok I know I am getting a little boring, but where else can I 'voice it out' :) Just one advice guys: BE SELFISH AND OPPORTUNISTIC...YOU WILL PROSPER!! Ciao...

Shakespeare or Me???

My Friend, Oh Friend!

Thou art my love,
My sweet and clove,
The sun will shine on thee.

Dearest my friend,
Thy upon depends,
My life and my glee.

Neither rain nor drought,
Or any ill thought,
Can make thy love bent.

I care for thee,
Thou ought to see,
Thy love givest me strength.

Up above the sky,
When I say goodbye,
To reach the divine abode.

I will still remember thee,
Thou wilt me,
By reading my little ode.

Kodaikanal....Heaven on Earth!

Find Me :)

Excerpt from my Autobiography
Manu's folks had a guesthouse in Kodaikanal, the beautiful hill station. Every quarter we (i.e. the Mohan family and me) used to camp there for a week or two. They were also member of the English Club, which was the most prestigious club out there. So my holidays were marked by trekking trips, boating in the lake, mountaineering, executive lunches, late night disco parties and what not! We also had this 'Kodai Gang' which mostly comprised of English Club members who were essentially rich snobs but fun to hang around with. For the first time in my life, as part of this 'elite' group, I boozed and smoked. But I consider that as a great experience and not a fatal slip because I had total control over my actions. I used to have wine just for company and smoked occasionally when I felt like it and of course I ate non-vegetarian food though I was a pure vegetarian by birth. Of course I could have gone into drugs or worse things but I loved myself too much to have enough sense to know my limits! So thats as adventurous as one can get, is it not!

Kodaikanal...the place where friend meets friend...the place where there is never a moment of gloom....the place where you can be yourself! Heaven on Earth...Kashmir?? Naaah....it is none other than Kodai for you!

Not everytime one gets to "enjoy life to its fullest". I am lucky to have had many such moments. Thank God for small favors!!

My First Poem!!!

NATURE

God has created this world awkwardly,

Things are strewn about haphazardly,

The soft rose has a prickly thorn,

With a calcareous shell, the tortoise is born.

The flowers bloom bright and gay,

Oh! What a difference between night and day!

The deep blue of the ocean,

The sunrise provides a wonderful vision.

Birds spread their colorful plumage,

The hapless ones remain inside the cage,

But to criticize this is premature,

After all, these are all a part of NATURE!!

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This was my first poem composed as early as in my 6th standard :)