Tushar Arora, Dera Gazi Khan, Pakistan

Last week I met an old man. On conversation with him, I got to know that he was a refugee from Pakistan and like others; he too suffered huge loss during the transition from Pakistan to India. He had hard feelings for the people responsible for the separation. Because according to him, he had to suffer because of some other people’s decision and their personal interest (his feelings).

As per him, on 14 August, as Pakistan got independent, terrorists started converting people from Hindu to Muslim. And if anyone refused, he/she was cut down. A similar scene, which we must have seen in the movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’. He was 12 years old at that time and had 1 younger brother and 3 younger sisters. All the memories of that day are still fresh in his mind. He was on tears while he was narrating this to me. His father was shot dead in front of him. His mother leaving behind his husband’s body took all her children and moved towards the station to board train to India. At the station, he and his brother were given poison. One kind man, who was also trying to escape made them ate flies so that they both puked and get rid of the poison. They all escaped and moved to India, where they settled in Meerut.

 They left all their earnings in Pakistan, buried in and around their house. His mother started working in India and brought them up. Feeding 5 children alone must have been tough task for her, that too in such state of mind. 

On my further questioning to him, he revealed the name of the place he belonged to. It’s Dera Gazi Khan near Multan in Pakistan. I opened Google maps to look for the place and all what he remembered about the place still exists – ‘Committee Chowk’, ‘Jhampur Road’, ‘Mandi’ etc. He was too happy to see the images of the place and its development.

The mother of the old man is my Great Grandmother, whom we use to call ‘Amma’ and the old man is my Grandfather. If she would not have showed courage on that day, I may not have existed in this world. 

This post is my small effort to say thanks to her for all the love and blessings she has showered on our family.

3G Video Calling - for the deaf and dumb people??

The title says it all. Still, it you are not able to figure out what this blog post is about. Be patient and read incidence below:

All Delhi Metro travellers must be aware of the flood with which people get in and out and travel in metro. These people don’t have much time to bear for others, however, being Delhiette they can’t leave peeping into each other's life too. One of such passenger is me. 

One morning I was travelling in Metro from Tagore Garden to Patel Chowk in metro. The metro was over-loaded with people. After missing couple of metros I was finally able to enter into one. As I was somewhere near Karol Bagh, the phone of the person standing in front of me ringed. He picked up the phone and put it on video call mode. I was like what show-off he is. You don't have space to talk and this guy is crazy enough to make video call. Next moment I saw him making signs with his hands in front of the phone. I tried to look into his phone and I saw that the person on other end of the call was also making signs with his hands. I realized they were not just making signs; they are deaf and dumb and are rather talking with each other in sign language. I felt bad for making such baseless judgement about them. Felt sorry. 

However, post doesn't ends here. I tried recalling and was not able to recall if such an idea was ever used by any mobile operator to market 3G services. Being it Airtel or Vodafone with their puppy running behind these people or zoozoo in their need or Abhishek Bachann saying 'what an idea sirji'. Maybe there is some law which abide these operators from marketing this way. Or their population is so less that revenue short mobile operators don't want to spend any extra money on them. However, I feel it’s such a nice way to make connect with people and also letting all Dumb & Deaf people know that technology is advancing for them also. Distance is no more barriers for them. They can enjoy video calling service more than couple sharing love moments or businessmen attending business meets.

I am waiting for the day to see such an advertisement.

Undigestable... 11

We always want to be in middle to be in our comfort zone...but when in loo we avoid using the middle urinal...!!!

Why??

Delhi Metro: New features!!

Its been a year since I have been out of Delhi.I have been missing Delhi Metro rides a lot all along. But now, when I am back in Delhi and travelling through Delhi metro everyday,I find a huge change in its dynamics. Some changes are for the better while some have worsened the case of Delhi metro for me.These are some of the things which I felt while travelling in Metro in last 15 days:

• # The first compartment is full of girls and the second compartment is comparatively empty and full of young boys. This remembers me of the song "Mere samne wali khidki m ek chand ka tukra rehta hai".
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• #  The people who are waiting outside the metro to get in, have become much more generous. They let people to come out of the train first, before getting in. However, I still don't know why they hate the last person who is getting out. They make sure that they push that last person back in train and make him/her travel with them for one more station. Is it some reward for him??
• 
  
• #  I use to hear ladies talking about sarees. But now in train, you can hear uncles discussing prices, from mango to onion, they discuss it all. Why don't they discuss aunties??
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• #  The carefree girls of Delhi are the ones who travel in all the compartments except the ones reserved for them. These girls believe in thought - 'why should boys have all the fun'. You can stare these girls for long as they are always busy listening to music on their phone or messaging.
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• #  Don't get into any kind of argument with any of the uncles in the morning. They all are freshly beaten by their jaanemans. So they all are set to pass on that love to you.
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• #  Now, couples not only go to movie theaters to express their love, they travel in fully loaded metros to have their luxury time being close to each other. Lucky people, Shiv Sena is currently unaware of this. Otherwise no couple would have been allowed to travel in metro.
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• #  Last, but not the least, I am now regular Delhi Metro traveler. :)

Dil tookre tookre ho gaya...Lekin us din m jaldi so gaya..

Below is what happens when you are in MBA college and subjects like micro-economics, statistics and accounts becomes everything in your life. Day and night the only thing you are able to see are the books, ppt of these subjects. The time you get to relax is spent is thinking how to get freedom from MBA college and curse yourself why I decided to do MBA. And when all these thoughts are running in your mind and you have one awesome friend who is one step in front of you in wasting time on Facebook. You never know that under all such pressure you can form one great record-breaking, fantabulous ghiisi-piiti shayari....The credits for the below song goes to me and my friend Richa.

Dil tookre tookre ho gaya...lekin us din m jaldi so gaya..
Tujhe sota dekh dil baag baag ho gya, lekin itne me tu jaag gaya..

Itna pyar usse ho gaya...lekin m dil kisi aur ko de gaya.
Usne tera dil liya nahi, keh k "fata note chalega nahi"..

Uske intezar m marta raha...aur ye note fatt ta raha..
Fat fat k ek din sikkke me badal jaega tu, uske pyar me chillar hi kehlaega tu..

Chillar kehlane se bhagta nahi...lekin mere peeche bhi koi bhagta nahi..
Dil tookre tookre ho gaya...lekin us din m jaldi so gaya...


Dil tookre tookre ho gaya...lekin us din m jaldi so gaya...
Tu akela tha kya akela hi reh jaega, ladkiyon se bolo stock me ye maal wapas nai aega..

Aadhi shadi shuda already hai..n aadhi shadi mujhse nahi karti hai...
Pehli aadhi out of scope kar, meri maan second aadhi pe concentrate kar....

Koi to tere talent ko pehchanegi, wo din door nahi tere peeche 10 ladkiyan bhaagegi
10 ladkiyan jis din bhagegi...hatho m sandal le kar ayengi..

Sandal le k hi sahi peeche to aayi, kis ko pta k kisne kitni kyu khai..
Dil tookre tookre ho gaya...lekin us din m jaldi so gaya...

I didn't ask for corner seats!!

Corner seats used to be the hottest seats for everyone, at least at one point in life. If not, then there really is something wrong with you. Either you don't know about existence of corner seats or you feel that these are for some special lucky people or you know but you are too shy to accept. However, there is no need to go so deep into all these thoughts, as there are actually many benefits of corner seats. Benefits of which the ones using the corner seats should be proud of. Well, I hope you are not so dumb to realize that I am talking about corner seats in a movie hall !!!

Now lets see how many benefits you know:

• * On weekends these are the seats which are filled in last and on weekdays these seats get filled first.
• * You are not supposed to move your eyes from left to right to watch the movie. Just concentrate in one direction and one angle.
• *  You should pay extra for the sound as speakers are nearest to you.
• *  In case of fire, you have the chance to run first.
• *  You can check out everyone going up or down the hall in between the movie. And everyone also gets the chance to check you out.
• *  You get two movies to watch at a price of one. One for which you have gone and the other for which the couple sitting in front of you have gone. If lucky, you can even watch three movies at the same time.
• *  If people are brave, they can turn an action movie into a romantic one for you by the beautiful music of their love. You may call it remix!!
• *  Sometimes, you may feel that you are watching some 4-D or 5-D movie seeing your front seat shaking. Did you pay for this??
• *  You get motivation to get committed and pay back the society what you have got from it !!!

Hence proved, that corner seats are actually value for money. Do buy corner seat tickets and let the tradition follow. Next time you say it to you gf/bf that u didn't ask for corner seat. Think twice..you can actually use many of the above reasons to convince him/her that these are the only seats you should buy.

I know there are many more benefits. Keep pouring them as comments.

Back-Pack Trips: Much More Than Just Fun

Back-pack trips!!! Or, I should say the back-pack trip season started in my life in last few months of my MBA at Great Lakes. The trips were also fastrack like our course here. I had 3 trips continuously to Madurai, Kodaikanal, Kancheepuram and Pondicherry. However, the essence of the back-pack trips doesn't lies in the places, however, in the travel to these places. All these trips were almost unplanned. The maximum time went in the planning was be 1hr only. The fun in the trip is inversely proportional to the time spent in the planning. The least the planning, least is the expectation. So, whatever happens becomes the reason for enjoyment.

The fun lies travelling in local public transport buses. These buses are so solid for travel that you actually hear the bus metal striking hard against each other and shouting. Sometimes, the sound resembles the Anu Malik's voice. Carry the least luggage with you so that you actually enjoy the trip light. Meet people on the way and let them decide your next destination. Discover new eating joints. Buy daru whenever you see theka. And search for adventure every next moment.

Back-pack trips are not only meant for enjoyment. However, are great source of learning or self-training. Few lessons which I learnt from my back-pack trips:

• Patience - You really need to be patient. You will encounter many such situations when you are just helpless and the only thing you can do is sit patiently and find new ways of travel. Like reaching the bus-terminal when all the buses are full and no available seat.
• Struggle - You need to struggle with each and everything. The bus, the people around, the food and sometimes the unbearable shitty smelling public toilets.
• PR Skills - PR skills are really handy in catching up some localite and asking them to reveal all the information of the town. So that, autos and rickshaw walas are not able to cheat you.
• Common Sense - Back-pack trips check your common sense to the bottom-most level. From simply asking for charges to identifying the right stranger to guide you.
• Smartness - Never try to act smart with local people even when you know only few words of the local language. Don't use few local words to start your communication just to show that you are local to the place. Because if the opposite person replies in local language and you are not able to comprehend and answer, he will get to know where you belong to. If he is egoist, then you better say sorry to him/her and move on.
• Accounting - Right from estimating the correct price to bargaining power to calculating the expenditures and the remaining amount with the bank for the rest of the trip, your accounting/banking skills come in handy. The quick you are able to judge the price the better you are with your budget on the trip and better your decision making skills.
• Generosity - One need guts to learn this skill. Taking care of the poor people on the move by providing them food or just talking to them needs whole lot of courage or better to say humanity. But when you are actually travelling with all kinds of people, you are able to identify yourself with them more and able to treat them as your friends. One blessing from them can make your life.

Now lets see what should be inside back-pack to make the trip just lot more than fun:

• Pair of jeans
• Pair of shorts
• Extra t-shirt
• Swimming costume
• Shoes
• Slippers
• Comb, paper soap, sunscreen
• Mobile chargers
• Glares or shades
• Cap
• Extra pair of undergarments
• Towel
• One pullover (if going on heights)
• Basic medicines
• Awesome trip buddies

If you just carry all this in your bag and start moving towards the destination without any solid planning, you will for sure have the best of your trips like in the pic above.