Are we done with Haneef ?

All I remember seeing in the TV channels in the last two days is Haneef story. It was like a Bhajan series going on. Where is Haneef going to put his left leg? OK where will he put his right leg? What is he going to eat? Which channel has he given time to?

I am amazed to see people have so much time to crowd around his house too and garland him.

Finally when I came home today assuming Haneef series might be over, there you go. Sanjay Dutt series has started. I am sure this bhajan is going to continue for next two days in a loop. I am really not sure what is going on in the minds of the TV channels. When will they increase their socially relevant content and stop repeating the same programs day in and day out? This really depresses people who want to see those channels.

Anyways, let me see what is NDTV showing.... Oh Noo.... The bhajan series on India's win over England has started. The infinite loops I see are Sachin Tendulkar's talk and Sreesanth's shouldering.

Sigh!!!.... Let me go and do something useful.

Campus

वो कॉलेज की बातें
याद आती हैं मुझे
वोह कैंपस की बातें
याद आती है मुझे
वोह ह्यारीस की शामें
चाय समोसे के संग
वोह एगिस की रातें
जहाँ बैठते थे हम सभी यार
गपशप करते थे घंटे तीन चार
वोह हीज्ली का पुल
जहाँ बैठ कर खाते थे चोप और पीते थे चाय
और देखते थे गुज़रती हुई रेल गाडी को
वोह सेंट्रल लाय्ब्ररी
जहाँ जाते थे पड़ने
और देखते थे लड़कियों को
वोह क्लासेस के बीच
कैंटीन जाना और चाय पीना
वोह ज़िंदगी जहाँ कोई चीन्ता ना थी
वोह शामें और वोह रातें
ना कभी भूल सकूंगा मैं
और वोह यार जिनके साथ
बीताये मैंने चार साल
अभी मुझसे हैं दूर
वोह चार साल मेरे
जिन्दगी के हसीं पल
कभी आये और कही चले गए

-- Sastry
Written sometime in 1999 I guess. Just after graduating and spending time in a small place alone far away from friends.

P.S: There are some inherent bugs in the hindi transliteration. Bug is evident with i kaar.

Collecting Covers of the Matchboxes

Do you remember those colorful match boxes with varieties of pictures? It used to be a hobby to collect them and stick them on a notebook and maintain them. There used to be notebook specially made for this purpose. Colorful match boxes of all sorts. Candles, cats, lanterns, actresses and so on. What delighted us to collect them? Would not even think to pick them up even if they were found in a dirty area. It was fun. It used to be a matter of pride to display it to friends who didnt have as many as I had. And it would frustrate me when I hear that Mantu has more than I have. "Hey how many do you have?"
"100"
"Just 100? I have 200"
"Damn".

Hey wait a second!! he stole a few from my notebook. Damn it. I cant even prove that he stole. :-)

I cant even remember where I lost that notebook. But I will always remember it was fun to hit the streets in the afternoon searching for some nice "Maarkaas" as they were called in Bengali. Yeah thats right. In the afternoons after coming from school and having lunch. Mom would keep shouting "dont go. stay home." But who would listen? Who could stop the irrestible desire to collect maarkaas.

I wonder if its still a hobby or if it has become obsolete as the kids maintain more tech hobbies.

Visit to LalBagh

We had a visit to lalbagh on a nice saturday afternoon. Here are some nice
pictures.



Some of the attractions include the rose garden, lake, fountains etc. a nice place a nice break. This is one of the four KempeGowda Forts.







The lake is beautiful but a closer look shows the dirt. Its ironic that we always complain about administration. The bottom line we as individuals lack civic sens. There are soo many dustbins all around nicely designed and organized yet certain people (read idiots) still do not think twice before sullying the environment.