Delhi - The Cleanest City

Last week I was in Delhi. I met my friend Ramesh there after many years. We both did our Engineering from the same college. Ramesh is settled in Delhi ever since we passed out of college. Well, I visited the city after almost 15 years. It’s a wonderful feeling every time we are in the world’s cleanest city. There was a time when Delhi was considered to be one of the most polluted city. This happened due to its rapid unplanned growth and industrialisation. The number of petrol and diesel cars increased exponentially over the years. Gradually, the condition became very severe, it was turning quite uninhabitable. There are several reasons for the environmental degradation of Delhi. Lack of adequate policies to control pollution, lack of political will, unplanned industrial growth, use of outdated technology, inefficient waste disposal, and many others. 

People in Delhi started to wear pollution masks most of the time, many used to wear while sleeping as well. After repeated warnings by WHO, and various other Environment communities across the world, the Government intervened. They took some strict actions. It started to shut down some factories which didn’t follow the expected environment regulation. But then due to lack of support from local people it was very difficult for the government to deal with the situation. Things usually turned worst during the festival of Diwali. It is a very auspicious occasion in India, and it has always been the festival of light. But in the early 20th century with the emergence of the powerful cracker industry, bursting crackers became popular. Gradually over the years it penetrated deep into the system. It became so emotional that people couldn’t think of celebrating Diwali without bursting crackers. There are numerous factories which produces crackers and they don’t follow and norms or regulation. Several harmful chemicals are released during the burning of crackers. The oxides and dioxides of sulphur and nitrogen are released. These chemicals get exposed to their skin, eyes, lungs and increase toxic levels in the body. 

There was a time when pollution level in Delhi was 50 times more than the WHO guideline level for safe air. Post Diwali morning it used to become 50 times more. Delhites were living on a time bomb, completely ignorant. Industries were still growing rapidly, people still burst crackers even though it was banned. But 5 years ago something happened that shocked the entire world. It was a usual post Diwali morning in Delhi. Everyone wore safely musk. And then some tragedy happened that completely changed the dimension of the city. More than 100 thousand people died on the same day due to suffocation and other breathing problems. All the new born babies who appeared on this world on that particular day, couldn’t survive. Several senior citizens died. 

After that tragic incident which is considered to be black day for our Environment, people in Delhi realized the impact of the alarming situation. Government took extreme and strict measures. They shut down all the industries which were not following the pollution guidelines. Schools and offices remained closed for almost a month. People started planting trees all over the cities. Entire Delhi took up the responsibility to clean up the mess of the past. Ecology has become one of their main philosophy. Gradually over the years Eco efficiency has become the most important thing for the city. It wouldn't have been possible without the support from the local people. It all began with the grassroots level of involvement, planting trees, watering them. Delhi residents are encouraged to cleanup, go green, and create a climate that features better air quality, eco efficiency, bio diversity and an abundant quantity of clean natural resources.

A huge investment was done to replace the traditional and outdated transport system. Government banned all petrol and diesel cars. Delhi is the first city in the entire world to become completely fossil free, not only in transportation, but also on power generation. All the vehicles, including the Metro run on electricity these days. Delhi was an opportunity for all the ecofriendly scientists to experiment their research. It came up as a blessing. Delhi became the first city to use wireless electricity, that too completely free. Yes, finally Nikola Tesla's dream to provide free energy to the world has come into reality after almost 100 years. 

The entire NCR is connected via Hyperloop, a high-speed ground travel system which is the world’s fastest mode of transport in today's world, almost 1000 km per hour. Meant to be intercity transport to connect multiple cities using Hyperloop, but Delhi is the first city to implement it with such large scale within the city. Now, people in Delhi can reach from any place to any other part of the city within just 5 minutes. Hyperloop capsules are completely solar powered.

To know more about Hyperloop do watch this video.

The streets of Delhi looks fantastic these days due to local contribution to make the locality clean and sustainable. Delhi is considered to be the cleanest city of the world. Last year it won the Green Capital award. It is the first city in the entire world to become completely fossil free. Several automatic cooling systems are deployed across the city which runs on solar and other renewable energy to reduce the city temperature during summer. Since electric transmission has gone completely wireless, all the electric poles and wiring are removed. Big trees were planted both sides of the road. More than 50% of the cars and trucks have gone driver-less. Number of road accidents has decreased significantly. Many parts of Delhi look like mini forest with plantation all over. Delhites have an impression of living in an exotic village with all modern facilities and infrastructure. The city is spreading rapidly at a phenomenon rate. But the growth is now very well controlled and planned. Many MNCs have come up in the city in the last few years. Foreign investors are investing heavily in the Eco friendly city. 

It was Diwali night. Coincidentally it was also the 5th memorial of the tragic incident. The particular day has been internationally recognised as Human Environment Day. Everyone was together, celebrating Diwali with family and friends. We could see Eco friendly Diya Balloons lighted up the sky. These are fully biodegradable and safe and simple to use. 

People were also enjoying fire in the sky laser displays with bursting sound in a controlled manner, thanks to the various sound simulation techniques evolved over the years.

Many companies are coming up with innovative ideas of celebrating smokeless, noiseless and Eco friendly Diwali. It’s a huge market, and every year we get to see some new creativity. It was such a pleasure to be in such a great city, particularly during Diwali.

PC: Google Images

This post is a work of fiction written for Indiblogger’s #CelebratingSuper campaign in association with Vodafone.

Homeland

Raju was born and grew up in a small village in India. He was good at studies from the beginning. Just like others Raju also loved his village a lot. It was his world, his homeland. The neighbouring villages often fight with each other on small issues. Everyone took pride and was ready to die for their motherland. Sometimes there were minor conflicts within the village as well, but those could easily be neglected. But when there was any fight with any other village the entire people would become united. Everyone forget their internal ego, the unnecessary small issues and fight together for their homeland. Raju grew up in such environment. In fact, he witnessed many such fights.

Raju studied at the only school in the village till 8th grade. Actually those days there was no option for the students after 8th grade. Based on the school teacher’s recommendation Raju’s father admitted him at a school in the nearby town. It was for the first time Raju had been to any town, even though it was just 70 km from their village. He studied hard and soon everyone at school started recognizing his talents. Gradually, Raju noticed some major changes. Life was quite different in the village. In the town life seemed to be busy. There were many schools and colleges. Everyone took pride for their institutes. In case of any conflict entire school/college would become united. Raju noticed that religious differences was more in the town. And whenever the prestige of the town was at stake, everyone would get emotional. People were ready to die for their homeland. 

Days passed by. Raju did very well in his higher secondary exams. He took admission at an engineering college in the city. Life was different there. People were more broadminded. Raju noticed that people usually don’t interfere with other’s life, everyone was busy with their own. Most of the issues were created by politicians. Issues based on religion, language, or race were more prominent. Time had really just flown by. Raju graduated. He then lived in many different cities of India, switched jobs. In all the cities life was more or less the same. Even though languages differ, but people are the same, emotional, sentimental. Politicians play the actual game. People take pride on their respective states. They wish and often demand to get preference in their respective regions. When critical situation would arise, people get very sentimental and ready to die of their region, their homeland. Also, all are patriotic towards their country.

Few years later Raju went to the US to pursue master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Raju had lived a good life in the US. He studied hard. He always wanted to travel to the space. Life was different in the US. Clean and broad roads, excellent transportation systems, people seemed to be more educated and liberal. But then human beings are same everywhere, their basic nature remains the same. There also the politicians play the real game. People want to be superior to others. Everybody love to get preference. There also people are very patriotic for their motherland. Raju met many people who actually belong from rival countries, but he noticed them staying together, eat together, and they would laugh together. Sometimes Raju was confused, but then he would simply smile. 

After the master’s, Raju completed his PHD. He worked with NASA as a senior scientist. After several months of training finally it was time for him to fulfil his dream, to travel to the space. He travelled with two other astronauts. The space shuttle took them and cargo into the low Earth orbit. The mission was to do some maintenance activity at the space station. 

Raju was floating in space. He looked at the Earth below. It looked stunningly beautiful as sunlight reflected off of the oceans. Raju was mesmerised. He kept looking at the Earth, and was lost in nostalgia. 

He remembered his small village where he grew up. He recalled how people used to fight on small issues, smiling. He remembered the town where he did the later part of his schooling. He recalled all the cities and countries he lived. He wondered how people are so emotional about their respective homelands. He wondered how over the years the countries were formed, how the politicians play their tricks, how people fight in the name of religion or language or face. Everything felt so meaningless to him. Raju kept looking at the Earth, his home. Now, he understood the true meaning of homeland.

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

One Memorable Train Journey from Pune to Bangalore

About a year after we got married, Anjali moved to Pune. She opted for a PG Diploma course in Emergency Medicine from Symbiosis University. Few of my good college buddies, Dhiru, Diganta and Saikat were in Pune those days. I and Anjali went to Pune, looked for a PG nearby the institute. Well, there were many options in that locality. Anjali liked one of them and paid the booking amount. The duration of the course was one year, and during that period I visited Pune about four to five times. On every occasion I stayed with Dhiru and Diganta, they both shared the same house those days. It was party time whenever I visited Pune. Reunion of old friends, Anjali also joined us in the evening after her classes were over. For the first time we traveled by bus, Volvo. It was pretty comfortable, Rs 1000/- per ticket, took 15 hours to reach Pune. They dropped us somewhere on Pune-Mumbai highway in the middle of the night. From there it was another 25-30 km to my friend’s place. We took an auto. On one occasion I took a train from Bangalore to Pune. Those were the days when Air Deccan entered the market and changed the dimension of aviation industry. It immediately became the pioneer of low-cost flights in India. Even average middle class people started to fly. One day I thought to give it a try and looked in the internet. Bangalore to Pune, Rs 1000/-, exactly same that of bus fare, but it would reach Pune in just one hour and 20 minutes. Also, my friends stayed very near to Pune airport.  

Anjali’s PG course was over. It was time for her to come back to Bangalore. Once again I traveled to Pune by Air Deccan. But the return journey I booked train tickets. Anjali had hell lot of luggage. It was actually much beyond my expectation, almost 100 kg I guess. We boarded our train in the morning. It was stationed on the platform. It came all the way from Mumbai, on its way to take us to Bangalore. We had to take a coolie. I also carried as much I could. The railway platform was crowded. We found our compartment. We somehow placed the luggage. There were many people sitting at our compartment, more than the number of berths. I was already tired, out of frustration I asked, “Itne saare log kaise baith gaye yahan pe?” (How come so many people occupied the seats here?)

All the men were in their middle age, one of them was quite tough looking. Couple of them replied in chorus, “We will get down at the next station.”

Suddenly a lean man grabbed my attention. He was at the window seat opposite to us. He was handcuffed, one hand locked to the window. Both I and Anjali felt weird. I thought the guy must have done something wrong in the train and the Railway police handcuffed him. Soon our conversation started with the co-passengers. They were all policemen. The handcuffed guy was actually a thief, laptop thief. He was from a village in Karnataka. The cops were taking him to Karnataka police to progress with the case, to catch hold of the entire gang. 

"Are you guys from Railway police?" I asked.

"No. No. We are Mumbai police," they replied in chorus. Proudness on their face.

In few minutes the train slowed down, and then stopped. Three of the fellow policemen got down at the very first station from Pune to Bangalore.  They said goodbye to us. All the cops were good friends. They shook hands, wished good luck. They were speaking in Marathi, but we were able to make out everything. Suddenly the train started with a jerk. So from here the real journey starts. I, Anjali, a handcuffed thief, and three policemen.

All the three policemen were very decent. One of them looked quite rough and tough, another a little short with big belly, and the last one looked normal. They seemed to be very friendly. Soon they opened a polythene bag. There were Vada pav inside, nicely packed. Well, Vada pav is a simple vegetarian fast food dish native to the state of Maharashtra in India. It's local Indian burger stuffed with deep fried potato along with coriander, onion, spices and chutney. It is immensely popular fast food dish all throughout Maharashtra. 

They offered us their food. Out of courtesy we were a bit reluctant to accept. But it wasn’t too hard for them to convince us. They also offered a Vada pav to the thief, in fact it was an order. The offender denied. The rough and tough policeman asked him one more time. Again the thief denied. The policeman slapped him hard 2-3 times. They bad guy immediately got hold of the Vada pav and put inside his mouth. Anjali was very shocked.

"Why are you beating him? He might not be hungry," Anjali looked sad.

"Sorry, I shouldn’t have beaten him in front of you. But you have no idea about such people. They are criminals. They have no heart, no emotion. The only think they understand is the stick. We caught him red handed with three stolen laptops in Mumbai. We immediately arrested him. For the first two days he spoke only in Kannada. We were so frustrated. We then applied little dose, and pretty soon few Hindi words uttered from his mouth. We increased the dose, and few more Hindi words came out. In the next few hours as the dose kept increasing he became more and more fluent in Hindi. There is no other way to deal with such people," the policeman explained in details.

Time spent well. Interesting conversation. I asked how they catch the criminals, how they get the leads? They shared few of their stories. In between, our discussion turned to a different direction. Anjali asked their names. One of the policeman, the fat one was very proud of his surname. 

"I’m Rajput. You guys know Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, right? He’s also a Rajput," The man’s proudness showed up.

Then Anjali popped in. She was also very happy. "Yes, we are also Rajput," She said. They asked her name, and the Rajput thing continued for a while. 

"So, are you also a Rajput?" One of them asked me. I was a bit confused. 

"Yeah. Like that only, not very sure," I murmured.  

"What is your name?"

"Jahid. Jahid Akhtar," I replied.

There was a silence for a while. And then things turned back to normal. 

Time passed by. Darkness fell. Stars shinning in the sky. Evening is the best time when we travel in sleeper class. Pleasant breeze. Open sky. The typical train sound effect, so soothing.

"So what are you guys planning to do? How are you going to catch all the gang members?" I asked. 

"Tomorrow morning we need to go to Madivala Police station in Bangalore. We need to submit an application to request extension of his remand for seven more days to gather more information from him," one of the policeman answered.

"But aren’t the Bangalore police going to help you guys? You are only three policemen, and you don’t even know the locality well," I expressed my concern.

The cops looked at each other, smiled. "These interstate investigation cases are kind of complex. They help eventually, but it takes time. There are lot of formalities. For high priority cases the procedure is fast. But for normal cases it’s not that easy. Few years ago our team leader, the policeman pointed his finger towards the fat guy, tried to pull his legs. So, two-three years ago our team leader visited Bangalore for an investigation. He was at the police station for the entire day, and only the next morning his application was accepted. The major problem is that Bangalore police speak only in Kannada or English. Actually, our English is a bit poor," The policeman shared their worry.

Later the cops asked if we could help them in writing the application for them. Anjali was eager to help. They gave the content and she drafted it. They were so happy, felt pretty relaxed. After dinner, the lights were turned off. Everyone went to sleep. The windows were open. I kept looking at the dark sky.

In the morning we reached Bangalore. The policemen thanked us. They gave us their numbers. 

"If you guys come to Mumbai or Pune, and if you are in any kind of trouble, just call us," the policemen expressed their friendship. We were so happy, smiled, "Sure, that’s so nice of you."

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

Ecoworld Bangalore Lake

At the backyard of our office, Ecoworld, Bangalore.

Ambur Mutton Biriyani

This post has been featured in BlogAdda's "Tangy Tuesday Picks" this week.

When it comes to Biryani the first thing that comes to our mind is "Hyderabadi Biryani". In case you don’t know what biryani is all about? Well, it is a South Asian mixed rice dish with its origins among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. It is a very popular recipe in the subcontinent. Everyone just love biriyani irrespective of gender, color, race, religion, region, language. Biriyani has somehow united the entire subcontinent in its own way. No doubt that Hyderabadi biryani is one of the most popular dishes, not only in south India but across the country. The dish is basically from Mughlai cuisine, and is quite a challenge to prepare, as it has some unique ways of spicing it up. Apart from Hyderabadi biriyani there are also different other varieties of biriyani which are equally tasty. One of my favorite is  "Ambur Mutton Biryani".

Ambur is a town in the Vellore District of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the banks of the Palar River on the Chennai-Bangalore National Highway. The place is quite well-known for its biriyani. I have been preparing Ambur Mutton Biriyani for quite some time now. It was Mr Viswanaathan Ramaseshan who introduced this recipe to me. Soon, I became a fan of it. I just thought to share this amazing dish to everyone.

Ingredients required (Preparation for 4 people) {

1. 500 grams Mutton
2. 500 grams Seeraga Samba Rice (One can use some other rice as well. But Ambur briyani comes out really well with Seeraga Samba Rice. Samba is a variety of rice grown in Tamil Nadu, also some other parts of India and Sri Lanka, and has a small ovular grain, compared to the long grain of basmati rice.)
3. 2-3 tablespoon of refined oil.
4. 50-100 grams of Ginger-Garlic paste (Freshly prepared, highly recommended)
5. 2 sliced onions
6. 2 Tomatoes, chopped (I prepared it with and without tomatoes. Without tomatoes also it is equally tasty)
7. 10 – 13 Dried Red chilies ground to paste 
   
8. Few pieces of cloves, cardamom and cinnamon sticks
9. Coriander leaves
10. Mint leaves
11. 2-3 tablespoon of card
12. Juice out of one lemon
13. Salt (According to taste, preferably 1 to 2 tablespoon)

Instructions:

1. Soak the rice in lots of water. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan
3. Add spoon of curd. Add in the Cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Fry for 10 seconds. Add in the garlic paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes on medium flame.
4. Now, add in the ginger paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell of the ginger goes off.
5. Add in the chili paste, mutton, the mint and coriander leaves, chopped onions, tomatoes, salt, curd and lime juice. Add in a cup (250 ml) of water. Mix well to combine.
6. Cover and pressure cook everything for 5-6 whistles on medium flame. Switch off the flame and wait for the pressure to release naturally.  
   
7. Add in the soaked rice to the mutton gravy. Add in extra water, salt if necessary. Cook of another 3-4 whistles on medium flame. Switch off the flame and wait for the pressure to release naturally.
8. Open the lid and gently fluff up the rice to mix. Serve the mutton biryani hot.  
   

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

Paanch Pandav

In the Mahabharata, a Hindu epic text, the Pandavas are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu, by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. The Mahabharata is the longest epic poem known and has been described as "the longest poem ever written". These 5 brothers are the life and soul of this epic. Yudhishthira was the eldest of them, and the other four respected him a lot. All the five brothers always remained together, loved each other, they shared everything among themselves. Later, all five brothers were married to the same woman, Draupadi. But all of them also had multiple other wives.

Due to some unavoidable circumstances the Five brothers had to leave their kingdom and lived in the forest for many years. They got to know from some travelers that a big Swayanvara (kind of contest) was to be held in the kingdom of Panchaal. The winner of the competition was to be offered the princess Draupadi's hand in marriage. It turned out that the winner was to be decided on the skills of archery. Arjuna was extraordinarily talented with shooting arrows. He entered the competition and won. The brothers took Draupadi and introduced to their mother, Kunti. They told mother that they had own a competition and received priceless alms. Mother Kunti was busy with something, and without looking at Draupadi she just casually ordered their sons to equally share the alms among the Five brothers. Their mother's order was supreme for the Pandavas, and they all agreed to share princess Draupadi among themselves.

The "Paanch Pandav" name was quite famous within our school, perhaps beyond the school boundaries as well. "Paanch Pandav" was the name given to a group of girls, all of them our classmates. They were very good friends, so called true friends. Friendship takes time, to know each other well, to share secrets without the worry that it could be leaked. They grew up together right from the start. Everyone admired their friendship. It was difficult to spot any of them individually, they would always be in group. During the breaks they would be together, gossiping, playing eating, everything together. They even visited the bathroom together. Even after school hours people used to see them together. They shared everything among themselves. Fortunately none of then had boyfriend that time, or things could have been different. Even after so many years, not only our classmates, but the juniors, seniors, everyone who passed out of KV BRPL still remembers the "Paanch Pandav". 

I don't know why but our "Paanch Pandav" always reminded me of The Spice Girls. Well, Spice Girls are an English pop girl group formed in 1994. That was the time when they were becoming very popular. Spice Girls were also a group of Five girls, all gorgeous, just like the Paanch Pandav.

The "Paanch Pandav" :

Arundhati

Pallabita

Neena

Anurupa

Anusuya 

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

Half Girlfriend

During our Engineering college hostel days we had a senior. We used to call him “Arvind da” (Name changed). He was very friendly and decent. He used to roam around with a girl of his same batch from different branch. She was Pooja(Name changed). They would enjoy their evening stroll in the campus, spent time together in the canteen, go movies together, only two of them. The beautiful lady also frequently visited him in our hostel. He stayed in a single room. They would spend good amount of time in the hostel on the weekends, and then went out by the college bus. For us they were ideal couples. They looked alike, both had the kind of charm, they always had smile on their face. Those were pre internet and pre mobile phone days. We also didn’t have a landline phone at our hostel, it showed up much later. But our Girls hostel had one from the beginning. If the boys had to communicate with their girlfriends or friends they had to either give a visit or go to the telephone booth about a km away. But during the ragging days there was also another option. The seniors would write letters, yes, hand-written letters, and would ask some decent first semester guy to deliver it.

So, one day I met Pooja in the city. We both hello-ed. I asked if she's with Arvind da. She smiled. Aha, I remember her smile, so delightful. She said she's alone, some shopping stuffs. Later in the evening I and one more friend were with Arvind da, in his room. We were simply gossiping, smoking. 

"Today, I met you girlfriend near Pan Bazar, " I said.

"Girlfriend? I don’t have any girlfriend."

"Come on Arvind da," the words came out from me and my friend’s mouth simultaneously.

"Are you talking about Pooja ?" Asked Arvind da.

"Ofcourse yes, or who else?"

Arvind da laughed, "Pooja is not my girlfriend."

The discussion continued for some more time. Arvind da was close to us. He tried to explain his relationship with Pooja. But we were not convinced.

"So you mean to say Pooja is only your friend and not girlfriend?" I asked.

Arvind da remained silent for a while. And then he said, "It’s much more than friendship I must acknowledge. But then she’s not my girlfriend. It is somewhere in between."

We were totally confused.

"Are you guys into some kind of physical relationship?" My friend asked.

Arvind da tried to bring his charming smile on his face, but it was fake. 

"No yaar, nothing like that."

"Not the hard core type, but kissing and may be some other soft stuffs?"

Arvind da again laughed and denied. I think he was upset with the question. He was a very emotional and simple guy.

"Forget it. You will not understand our relationship. It’s very complicated," he commented, smile on his face.

Even though we were not matured enough to understand such relationships, but we didn’t bother our senior friend anymore since then. A couple of years later it was time for Arvind da's batch to move out of hostel. We still had another two years. It was time to depart. Arvind da passed us a small diary. We were supposed to write our address/contact number/email address (Yes, suddenly internet cafes became a booming business those days). I noticed many of the guys mentioned some goodbye quotes on the diary. I was confused. It’s pretty easy to say Hello and get introduced for the first time, but farewell quotes are difficult. I didn’t know what to write? And then something came to my mind and I penned it down, fast.

Arvind da laughed. It seemed he liked my goodbye message.

Actually such relationships has had always existed. Some relationship better remain unnamed, unrecognized. Chetan Bhagat tried to give it a name. Like many others, even I didn’t like the idea. I think for some people "Half Boyfriend" name would have been more convincing name than "Half Girlfriend", or does it anyway matter? My wife picked up the book from a store long back. Even though I’m not a big fan of Chetan Bhagat but I read the book. I felt an emotional relationship is not presented in a mature way. But the book is a best seller. The novel is made into a movie as well. I don’t have any plan to watch it though, but "Half Girlfriend" made more than ten crores on its opening day. Not half bad, isn’t it?

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

Michael Learns to Rock

Michael Learns to Rock (also known as MLTR) was one of the most popular band during our schooldays. It is a Danish pop/soft rock band. Formed in 1988 and they have sold more than 11 million records over the course of their career. With romantic lyrics and melodious tunes all of their songs were very popular in India. Not only romantic people, even the heartbroken ones also loved MLTR songs. Recently they had a very successful concert in 4 cities in India. Fans in Gurgaon, Guwahati, Dimapur and Kolkata had the opportunity to hear MLTR's melodious tunes as part of their 25th anniversary tour.

I have an interesting memory about one of their songs titled “That's Why You Go Away”. It’s a beautiful song, and the lyric too catchy.

"

Baby won't you tell me why there is sadness in your eyes

I don't wanna say goodbye to you

Love is one big illusion I should try to forget

But there is something left in my head

You're the one who set it up now you're the one to make it stop

I'm the one who's feeling lost right now

Now you want me to forget every little thing you said

But there is something left in my head

I won't forget the way you're kissing

The feeling's so strong were lasting for so long

But I'm not the man your heart is missing

That's why you go away I know

You were never satisfied no matter how I tried

Now you wanna say goodbye to me

Love is one big illusion I should try to forget

But there is something left in my head

I won't forget the way you're kissing

The feeling's… 

"

We were in grade eleven. Our senior batch was about to leave school. It was farewell time. Like everywhere else in our case also it was the immediate junior’s responsibility to organize the farewell party. It was an emotional moment. We knew that now our seniors would move ahead in life. Next year we would be in their place. It was fun time. Lot of music, dance and some laughter mingled with tears. I and my friends were eagerly waiting for a chorus song to be performed by the girls of our grade.  The song was none other than MLTR’s "That's Why You Go Away". We heard the girls practicing for the last one week. The particular song was selected by our English ma'am. We were very confused. 

"The song is just too romantic. How does it fit for a school farewell event? I mean just look at the lyrics – "I won't forget the way you're kissing"

But our English ma’am was just too intelligent. A simple amendment to the lyrics made it a perfect farewell song. She simply manipulated three words and the song just turned into an exclusive dedication from the immediate junior girls to the senior boys. 

"

Baby  Brother won't you tell me why there is sadness in your eyes

I don't wanna say goodbye to you

Love is one big illusion I should try to forget

But there is something left in my head

You're the one who set it up now you're the one to make it stop

I'm the one who's feeling lost right now

Now you want me to forget every little thing you said

But there is something left in my head

I won't forget the way you're kissing blessing

The feeling's so strong were lasting for so long

But I'm not the man sister your heart is missing

That's why you go away I know

You were never satisfied no matter how I tried

Now you wanna say goodbye to me

Love is one big illusion I should try to forget

But there is something left in my head

I won't forget the way you're kissing blessing

The feeling's… 

"

The girls performed really well on stage, and some of them were laughing too.

Now listen to this wonderful song:

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

How I met Anjali - 7

How I met Anjali - 6

I’m pretty sure I and my old buddies didn’t know about Valentine’s Day during our schooldays. It doesn’t mean we were among the good guys, only our general knowledge was weak. In those pre-internet days, I think even the love birds of our hometown were also ignorant about the blessing and the strong affectionate wishing of this particular day. 

After I joined Engineering College, the situation remained the same, even though my general knowledge improved a bit, but joy of Valentine’s Day was ocean’s apart. That was the time when this day of love was becoming more and more popular in India. So popular that some political organizations started to take advantage out of it by picking couple from the parks, and then insult them, harass them, all in the name of so called Bhartiya Sanskriti (for the sake of Indian culture). I remember one occasion when few of my college friends gathered under a tree to display their Valentine’s Day protest with paper banners and placards. Well, their intention was simply to tease some of the college love birds and to have some fun. Anyways, it was quite an entertainment to watch their protest.

The story was completely different after I met Anjali. I got to know Valentine’s Day more closely and deeply. I was in my 8th semester. It was yet another Valentine’s Day. I and Anjali visited Guwahati Kalakshetra. It is a cultural institution to promote the art in Assam. The place is close to nature with lot of open space to walk around. It has got neat and clean beautiful gardens. Kalakshetra has a museum which reserves old traditional things of various tribes of Northeast. There is also a beautiful art gallery and an open theater. People can enjoy live performances by various artists out there.

We were strolling around Kalakshetra. It was cold and foggy. I think it even rained for a while. Anjali always used to carry her fancy umbrella. We were not among the couples who held each other’s arms while they walk. The passage through the garden turned slippery. The trees looked beautiful. Water droplets on the leaves. It was green all around. Lovely weather. Great feeling. And then all of a sudden Anjali was down. She slipped. I laughed. Her clothes got dirty with mud. I gave her my hand. She stood up. She didn’t say thank you. Instead she shouted at me.

"You stupid. I fell down so badly and you’re laughing. Why you didn’t hold me when I slipped?"

I was totally stunned. "How the hell I know she’s going to fall?”

“You slipped so fast. I didn’t get any time to react,” I tried to be more defensive. But still the argument continued for quite some time. 

It has been fifteen years, and all throughout her shouting never stopped. And for me, nothing changed much either, even today I prefer to play defensive.

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.