Bina and Me

I lived a piece of defence life today....

Meeting and separation are a part and parcel of life..from the stories i heard from baba on his experience and life in the Indian Air force, i could well imagine that of all good and bad phases of the defence life, separation from neighbors and friends during a 'posting' was probably the most painful episode...putting a brake (or may be a break) to a relationship of 3 or 4 long years, where airmen lived together with their families in one particular station, shared everything ranging from their offices, evenings and lives, to mangoes guavas and other fruits/vegetables growing in the station; as their wives exchanged recipes and dishes; mingled with each other and imbibed each others culture....so long i had used my mind to imagine a situation as such..but today, a heartfelt emotion triggered by an incident made me experience a bit of defence life.....

My attachment with Bina was definitely not as strong as the one between 2 servicemen living in the same station...but the fact that i had a friend talking my language,having similar hobbies & interests as mine, and living just a block away in my complex was quite comforting...or rather, i say it was relieving...it is not that we met very often and chatted a lot...12 hours of my day on all the 5 weekdays is spent away from home in my workplace....occasionally, on my way back from office, I met Bina and masima (her mother-in-law) buying vegetables and groceries from the stores in front of our compound...hence commenced our casual conversation, the duration of which ranged from 5 minutes to 45 minutes depending on my hunger levels (most days i am hungry like a shark by the time I reach home)....Bina was my source of information about all upcoming events and get togethers happening at NCL Godavari

Bina had an artistic bend of mind...she was a champion in drawing and painting....anything related to arts and crafts interested her immensely...that was one more node which strengthened my attachment with her....we shared ideas on glass painting, nib painting, shared information which any of us dug out from the internet, and showed our paintings to each other as we experimented with the different forms of art...

Bina was an early bird....last year winter, it was Bina who managed to drag me out of bed on cold weekend mornings much before the sun could illuminate the streets of Hyderabad, in search of flowers and fruits growing in the desolate townships of BHEL and Dandamudi Enclave....the above mentioned projects were designed in an eco friendly fashion with a lot of flowering and fruiting trees planted along the border of the individual plots...some legal hindered the construction of bricks and mortar, but the plants underwent their natural growth cycle to blossom to flowers and fruits, probably for us to have them plucked...Bina did not frequent the sparsely populated townships on weekdays, probably due to lack of time and companion...but on weekends, we jointly marched through the mist encapsulated empty lanes in our expedition of collecting flowers and papayas....sometimes, a Gujarati friend Pooja joined us in our morning adventure trips...we forgot our age and behaved like kids as we plucked flowers, buds, or spotted some beautiful unfamiliar bird..of all the hours i spent with Bina, this was by far, the most enjoying and memorable one.....the advent of summer dried up the flowers and whithered the fruits, thus halting our weekend meetings...

Be it Ganesh Chaturthi, Janmashtami, Shivratri or any other function conducted in our compound premises, we eventually paired up ( Bina and me; and our mother in laws together)...I remember a Rangoli and cooking competition being conducted in our complex where the 2 of us emerged winners...Bina stood first and I came second..had Bina participated in the cooking competition, she would have definitely bagged another trophy...My Bengali preparation of payesh and patisapta secured me the second position....the 2 glistening crystal trophies in my living room would always remind me of Bina and that fun filled competition day ...even if we both participated and competed with each other, the competition between us was healthy and we took it sportingly....in Bina's absense, any future competition of this nature would lose its charm ...

There is one more, and a sad connection between the 2 of us....we both lost our father in laws in a span of 6 months..mine being first followed by hers... shortly after which they consolidated their plans of shifting to Bangalore...

I met Bina today evening as we bid adieu to each other...her house devoid of any furniture or art pieces created by her...dont know whether i would say this is the 'last' time i saw her....tomorrow morning, before i would wake up, they would have left Hyderabad!

Palace Tour - I

Since time immemorial, Charminar had been the emblem of Hyderabad.....tourists visiting the city flock to the old city on the banks of Musi river to catch a glimpse of a heritage that symbolizes our city...or probably to experience the old world charm of the minars, bazaars,the hijab clad women, surma lined eyes, white bowl shaped caps which reminds one of the tales of arabian nights....

but right behind the Mecca Masjid, within 200 meter radius of Charminar, stands another, and probably more majestic example of the architechtural heights attained by the nizams, who once ruled this land....a splendid palace consisting of luxurious fountains, impressive gardens, imposing gates, intricate meshwork of nizami designs on the four Mahals, from which the name Chowmahalla palace got derived....a palace less frequented by visitors as compared to the Charminar, probably because of lack of adequate marketing and promotion than what the palace deserved...

Had Amrita not insisted on visiting Chowmahalla, in her last training session in Hyderabad, we probably would not have discovered this piece of hisorical magnificence, at least, not so soon....the way we experienced the abode and the lifestyle of the nizams and the begums was unique in its own way...when we stepped into the palace, we were 2 minutes away from the scheduled closure time...the security guard, being highly loyal to his duty hours,barred us from entering.....hence leaving me with no other scope than to adopt a drama and a basketful of lies....my Wells Fargo visiting card emphasized and supported me in all ways....my designation of 'Corporate Communication' and the proposal of a 'venue recce for an upcoming event of my company' did all the trick...a typical example of misutilization of my corporate identity....the three of us (minus the entry tickets) were escorted by a local officer guiding us through the different facades of the building....contribution of my husband is note worthy here in terms of his timely cognition and appropriate application of lingustic skills.... the security personnel assisting us was a cute young lad hailing from Assam...and our Assamese root immediately established connect and brotherhood....he and my husband were both happy to converse with each other in Assamese... very nicely, with utmost care, he showed us the place around...had our 'bhaitie' not been there, we probably would have ended up seeing and guessing things on our own...he coordinated with his fellow co workers and the other security guards and showed us all the places within that limited time frame... the 4 palaces now houses a museum exhibiting different items used by the nizam, the items ranged from crockery, armaments, stagecoaches, vintage cars, robes, showpeices, furnitures, chandeliers, so on and so forth...a well maintained garden tops up the beauty of the place....

for now, let me rest my pen, and let the pictures do the rest of the talking

by the way...i didnot completely misutilize my id card....highly impressed with the grand demeanor of the palace, i have proposed to my folks in office for conducting an event in Chowmahalla...and hope to see the day in near future

Lakeland Hyderabad !

a satellite image of my city would probably exhibit several blue blotches of lakes or waterbodies that it encompasses .... and of all small and big, named or unnamed/ familiar or unfamiliar lakes, my favourite is the one located in Shamirpet....

post my accident, the experience of rebuilding my lost confidence seemed quite rewarding...the driving lessons and practice sessions through the long green tracks of Alwal on a Saturday evening led us to the vast, horizon spreading, pristine lake of Shamirpet.....when we reached the evening sun was about to take plunge into the depth of its water.....various shades of rainbow colours emanating from the drowning sun painted the entire canvas of the sky in its own tint....in accordance to the sky, sheets of water absorbed the colours like a mirror as its own image got reflected and refracted through the transparency of the water....

the rocky terrain; physical geography which surrounded it, and probably the formation of the lake seemed quite enchanting...i am no geologist, so if i am to describe in simple words to what a layman's mind could construe, it seemed to me as if chunks of rocks in the stony heart of the deccan plateau got depressed; scraped/scooped out to form a hollow for water to accumulate, hence imparting form and shape to the current evening getaway and a lover's paradise of my city.....the banks of the lake constituted of huge masses of rock gradually sloping downwards to meet the water....

time seemed to stall as we sat on the shores of the lake....at the air water interface, a gentle breeze caressed and teased the water surface, leading to the formation of mini waves, traversing from the centre of the pool to the outward margins only to break itself apart in to millions of water globules ....the waves breaking on the shores in a continuous, predictable rhythm seemed like a hymn sung by nature, as if to put the humanity to sleep in its soothing lullaby.....at the middle of the lake little islands made of rocks of different form and shape , projected their head up above the water, probably to help a piscivorous kingfisher or a cormorant catch its prey for lunch....

the only sound waves our ears captured were the shhhhh....of the wind blowing between the strands of our hair, an occasional screech of a parakeet, and the sound of water hitting the stony banks of the lake...i had the desire of walking around the lake along its circumference in a 360 degree turn...the shells of dead molluscs, green grass, rocky protrusions, half eaten fish discarded by herons lay strewn on the banks.....

the lake was bigger as compared to my imagination or eye estimation...and a complete circumnavigation would have taken hours together....the setting sun invited darkness and there was no way we could ignore or reverse it....turning homewards was the only option..

A piece of Rajasthan in the heart of Hyderabad

Would like to start this blog quoting Tagore ...."Dekha hoy nai chokkhu meliya, ghorer hoite dui pa feliya; ekti dhaaner sheesher aagay ekti shishir bindu"...translating for my non bong readers (in case any), "didnt bother to see the beauty of a sparkling dew drop on the blade of a paddy leaf, just two steps away from my home, "........

.....for me, my experience with the "Aai Mata temple" of Jeedimetla would testify the above statement...i had been in Hyderabad for the last 2.5 years, and heard of this temple several times from the marwari grocery shop owners, and my fellow rajasthani neighbours....had the wavering flag from the peak of the temple didnt catch my attention, i would have never realized what i missed....a grand majestic temple of Vaishno devi (Aai Mata as referred to in Rajasthan)built on a similar structural frame as the imperial palaces of Rajasthan.... situated a kilometer away from my house, amidst the chemical factories at the junction of Jeedimetla Village and Shahpur nagar industrial complex, this temple is known only to a handful localites and rajasthanis living in and around that area.....tragedy lies in the fact that the 3 year old temple is oblivious to most hyderabadis, so much so, that there is no mention of the temple in internet, neither on my all time favourite ready reckoner 'Google Maps'....

the temple is pinkish/orangish in colour, (the trademark colour tint of most Rajasthani palaces, a shade very close to the one of Hawa mahal), constructed with stones which got shipped from Rajasthan...the temple has magnificient tombs with intricate designs engraved on them, and 'jharokhas', very typical of Rajasthani architechture, adding to the glory of the temple....a huge wooden door, with elaborate ornate designs of lotus flowers and leaves, coloured with golden foil and "meenakari" glasswork, leads one to the main worship area...3 deities preside there, the primary being Maa Vaishno Devi at the centre, with Gora Bhairav and radha Krishna on either sides... made with sparkling white marble in glass polish, the idols look gorgeous....dressed in a bright red 'Odhni' or 'Chunri'; and a golden yellow saree, the goddess looked stunningly attractive...

i conversed with the pandit to widen my knowledge of Maa Durga and her various forms... This is the excerpt of what i learnt from him: in Rajasthan, Vaishno devi appeared as a small girl and meditated in a cave for several years....some time later, Mata came to Rajasthan from Gujarat in a different form, and this time in the make up of an ordinary lady....since she migrated to rajasthan ( Gujarat se Rajasthan aayi thi, ) so she was called Aai Mata.....

right next to the temple, a marriage hall is getting constructed.... so hope to see the temple in a grander and more splendid shape in times to come...

Flip through the image gallery, and I am sure you would want to come over.

PS:: Driving directions:: from Bowenpally, hit the NH7....cross Suchitra X roads and proceed towards medchal...keep an eye to your left...near jeedimetla Village, you would find "Deewan Family Dhaba" to your left....take the lane right next to it and drive for 1 kilometer approximately.....ask the autowalas or any one where the Aai Mata temple is, and you will soon catch a glimpse of Rajasthan in Hyderabad

Green Revolution in an Ashram

A Bengali proverb is applicable to me these days --- “bhokto hoyechhe bhogar maa, nityo cheera khaye”... Chirwa or flattened rice is called cheera in Bengali, which is consumed by folks inclined towards religious practices, rites and rituals as a replacement of rice....the concept is rice makes you impure(??!@#$^%^@*%!???)...got nothing to do with my feeding habits...but my new found interest of discovering beautiful yet unknown religious institutions within my city....i am not too religious by heart and soul...i tend to make friendship with the gods in my mind rather than placing them in the light of sacredness; which helps me get rid of all devout customs...no wonder my father-in-law teased me calling ‘matlabi’ J .....

This time I discovered an ayurvedic ashram with the undertone of Hindu religious sentiments, very close to my house, on NH 7 called the “Sai Geetha Ashram”... more than an ashram, it seemed a biodiversity project to me... as the name suggests, the ashram housed a beautiful temple of Sai Baba...presiding on a stone chair wrapped with decorated silver foils, the marble idol of Sai Baba has a very pleasing demeanor...a passive smile on his face would lead you to imagine that he is very pleased to see you visit him.... unfortunately, photography was not allowed therein...the Ashram imparts the name of a god to each plant, relating the identity of the god with the tree...each tree is believed to possess healing properties, not only for the physical body, but also to relieve mental and sociological problems like a hostile relationship between mother-in-law and daughter in-law, between husband and wife, siblings so on and so forth....each tree had a board hung on its branch, which depicted the history and the relevance of the tree in present times....circumnavigation round the tree in specific clockwise or anticlockwise directions at a definite holy hour or important day like birthdays, wedding anniversaries etc would eradicate the problem the tree promised to cure...few trees also provided astrological solutions to folks not getting a job or getting succumbed to enemies....sarees were draped around few trees with the front pleats and the pallu, which was hung from the branch like a flag...probably those were feminine trees or a goddess resided there....it reminded me of the Jungle book song " Jungle Jungle baat chali hai, Chaddi pehn ke oops, saree pehn ke per nikla hai"....

i remember the religious significance of Peepul tree, which, according to the ashram is an incarnation of lord Vishnu....watering a peepul tree by a lady increases her chances of conceiving a male baby...another medical utility of Peepul is that, if a green twig containing young leaves is inserted to the ear of a snake bitten person, the twig will absorb the poison and turn black, thus saving his/her life...had it not been something so severe as a snake bite, I would have loved to get a demo...by sundown, all the trees had a lamp, agarbatti and garland encircling their bases...few trees were given Prasad, which was also curious in its own way.... on a disposable aluminum foil, the trees were offered white rice and some cooked yellow curry....

The ashramites worship ‘The Value of Time’.... we saw a huge HMT clock mounted on a big wall, with 2 ladies blowing a conch on either sides....they attempted replicating the ‘clock’ technology from the Nizams of Hyderabad, but could not do a decent job of it....certain things are best in their pristine and authentic state....very similar to the Nizam watches displayed at Salar Jung Museum and falaknuma palace, where a doll came out to ring the bell as the minute hand touched 12 every hour; the Ashram clock had a doll do the same...the only difference being that this guy was late by a minute or two....

The ashram also had pet rabbits and swans loitering around... we saw 3 white and 1 pied swan....one of the swans didn’t seem to like me, and every time I approached them to get a better shot in my camera, it charged me with a craned neck and a straightened protruded beak, in full mood to attack....the rabbits were definitely more polite than the swans...and happily munched young shoots which we offered them...

The day we went had a volunteers meet .....The dress code for the volunteers working in the Ashram was ‘white’... probably they have formulated some herbal super strong stain removal gel or something like that to keep their dresses so sparkling white...a satsang was hosted in the evening...we attended it for a couple of hours despite my aversion ...and finally headed home..

The ashram, as I captured in my camera

PS:: good things about the Ashram:
1. They give medicines for migraine, sinus, eye problems etc free of cost every Sunday
2. They have yoga and meditation classes
3. They sell herbal medicines, and offer alternative therapies for almost all problems

Picnic

After loitering in the jazzy glittery corridors of the Hyderabad shopping malls, spending hours uselessly window shopping and devouring frankies, corn cups and panipuris for the last 2 years, i decided to take an alternative way to spend my weekends....Exploring in and out of Hyderabad is my new addiction... the tranquil evening at Jayadarshini Temple and its near by lake, awakened our vagabond souls... i love my 'village'... literally called as 'Jeedimetla Village' or 'Kompally Village', i stay 26 kilometers from my place of work...unlike earlier times, when i used to crib for spending 3 hours a day in transit between home and office; i realize that it gets compensated by the weekends which i enjoy more and more over time...

Medak church was the next thing on the list....got selected primarily because of its location advantage in terms of nearness from our house...We had hit the national Highway 7 at 8:30 am on a Sunday morning... it was quite a surprise for my Mother-in-law, as it opposed the fact of my attachment to the bed till 11 am on weekends...as always, drives on National highways are fantastic...taking cues from the print out of ‘Google Maps’, we proceeded straight, bypassing small localities like Tupran, Ramayampalli, Manoharabad et al....at Manoharabad, we had to stall at a road tax collection booth, which exempted defense vehicles from paying the toll...my mother in law regretted not carrying her identity card coz of which we had to pay a duty of Rs 140 for either way transit....we took a left turn from Chegunta for the Medak road...the road took us through small villages and vast stretches of agricultural lands on either sides...my husband spotted a lengthy serpent crossing the road in its full size...but my visually challenged eyes could only see its tapering tail sliding inside the bushes...we also saw 3 peahens on a mini hillock; an old mosque looking very similar to the Charminar...

It took us 2 hours to reach Medak...Medak being a small town, didn’t take us long to reach the Church complex...built in Gothic style in shades of grey and white, the church has an imposing yet elegant demeanor ...the church would be the perfect model for a photographer....the intricate designs engraved on its wall beamed in the morning sunlight... the church has a distinct English style; the images we clicked were good enough for displaying in the LCD selling showrooms....the Church housed 3 huge windows, made with tinted glass, depicted stories of Christianity. ..sunlight penetrating through the coloured glass added a different spectrum to the otherwise imperial appearance..we visited the church at 10.30 am on a Sunday during the assembly time... the mass was being conducted...in a language I don’t understand....I read that the church is second largest in Asia and could accommodate as many as 5000 people...i feel I would have enjoyed the grandeur of the church better In silence, without the smell of coconut oil on wet hair tickling my nostrils....
Outside the church, the open field was flocked with hawkers and small stalls selling trinkets, especially photos of Jesus and other deities of Christians, puffed rice and sugar candies...many families were enjoying picnic...ladies were busy washing rice and managing babies and kids, and the male members concentrated on slaughter of chicken and other similar fleshy animals.... the place did not have much eating joints....at least I could not find one....thankfully I had got this info from somebody’s blog and we carried our victuals on the way...we finished our lunch sitting in the car, and thereafter headed towards the Medak fort....

Built on a hillock, the fort is in a dilapidated condition....recently the fort had been taken over by the AP tourism department and repairing activity have been initiated.... I hope to see the fort in a better condition few years down the line when I get my children here.....as of now, not many people visit the fort, and we didn’t get a guide to take us along...we were on our own trip to explore the ruins and remains of the fort..the majestic fort which once sheltered the kings, queens and the royals, is now inhabited by reptiles and insects...without adequate maintenance, the fort underwent weathering for several years...barring few structures, the building blocks which once formed a rock solid barricade is all loose, detached and strewn around...roots of trees penetrated deep inside the massive chunks of stones ... the crevices of rocks and bricks housed history and memories alongside slimy glides of poisonous species...dry leaves piled up on the sideways of the so called stairs....we stepped carefully, and noisily to drive away any creature resting in near vicinity.... with every step, we could hear them scurry away rapidly midst the bated ‘hush’ of the dry leaves .....we took the main way, leading from one door to the other....the fort had 4 doors, all built in a similar pattern....probably this was the only thing that did not wear out with time....we stuck to the main route till the peak of the hillock...we saw several sideways, and tunnel like corridors, probably leading to a new aspect of the fort....bushes and spider webs growing on those unfamiliar lanes and alleys, and fear of serpents/scorpions deterred us from exploring them further.......on our way up, we spotted a big pond. Water tank and a long flight of stairs plunging into the water body....i wanted to go down to the pond, but again the way to it was unfrequented, hence I chose to stay on the safe side... solace was in the fact that sun was overhead glaring down, and the heated rocks would probably not shelter the shade loving reptiles... the top of the fort had a mosque and a wide terrace, which offered a clear view of the city below....we could see the church at a distance and a huge green lake....the terrace had several tunnels, bearing close resemblance to ‘manholes’....i stooped to understand where it ended... an intriguing fact as it was, like a well, it did not have an end...our echo came back to us... there was no one who we could ask...the ambience brings back the memories of stories we read during our childhood days...of kings n queens, kingdoms, palaces and its underground tunnels linking cities...the path taken to escape .... historial fantasies flushed my mind...it was broad daylight tanning my skin, ..otherwise, had it been twilight or night hours, an additional, perhaps imaginary concept of ‘haunted’ would have made the place even more exciting, topping it with the romantic silver shade of the moon...

Soon it was time to go down....the umbrella did not seem to help much ...hankering or some cool shade we sped down...back into our Santro, we were on the homeward journey....

To view the photo gallery, click here

P.S :: Travel tips for folks who wanna go to Medak:
1. carry plenty of food and water with you .
2. the Road we took ie NH 7 was great, and also the Medak road was quite nice
3. For people with defense background, carry your ID card and you can evade road tolls
4. If you want to see the church, and not attend the mass, visit on a Saturday
5. we started at 8:30 am and were back by 4:30 pm traversing total of 165 kilometers....
6. We purchased several kilos of Yummy mangoes on the NH7 on our way back...it seems there are mango orchards on either sides of the highway, the workers sell them off for a 15 rupees a kilo, and they also give you 2/3 mangoes to taste ;)

Here @ Hyderabad

When compared to other metros like Delhi, Bangalore, Bombay, Pune and Kolkata, hyderabad offers a limited number of weekend getaways...the fact which is quite disappointing on one hand, however nudges a vagabond soul to explore more and more within and beyond the boundaries of the city, for places which is yet undiscovered, and maligning Hyderabad for not being able to appease the wanderers...and as the popular adage goes “dhoond ne par to bhagwan bhi milta hai”, ...how can the same not apply for my city?

And here I am ,..all geared up to share a nice driveway on the outskirts of the city towards the district of Medchal through the National Highway 7... I chose the road cause it is quite close to where I put up...the highway provides a visual treat with trees flanking either sides of the road...dotted with small farms growing gourd, cucumber, and small green carpets of paddy plantation.. there is a small woodland, mostly populated by timber yielding trees which can offer a nice romantic and private meeting place for secret lovers, unless they get spotted by the caretakers...or otherwise a gang of rowdies who can also share that place as they sniff dusts of marijuana!! ( all this is my imagination...i have never stepped into those woods and hence cannot validate this statement with facts).

The highway hosts several dhabas on both sides...one Rajasthani Dhaba caught my attention..... the owner made all attempts to replicate the ambience of a typical north Indian Dhaba, where he laid out roped ‘Khatiyas’ and the old style lanterns ( Lonthon or hurricane as we say in Bengali)...will share a detailed review once I dine there...

We got a reference from Bunty about a beautiful Balaji temple built beside a lake, about 1 kilometer from the Medchal bus depot...with this much information, we were on our exploration trip....the barren and uninhabited areas, and absence of local people for reference posed a problem in figuring the way out... however, this process of discovery was charming, and off course time consuming, which eventually resulted in us reaching the temple a little before sundown... the trip was worthwhile beyond doubt...standing on the banks of a long lake, the temple is obscure and beyond the knowledge of most; hence not commercialized and very quiet and peaceful....at twilight, the evening light shimmered on the surface of the lake...the evening blue was fast encapsulating our surroundings....after darshan, we walked up to the lake....it would have been an ideal picnic spot...fearing reptiles and the sky overcast with clouds, we decided to wrap up and started our homeward journey.

Sharing few pictures of the temple and the lake for now....hope to revisit the place in future, and with more time.

P.S :: For anyone interested to pay a visit, take the NH 7 from Kompally and reach the Medchal bus depot....approximately 1 kilometer from the medchal bus depot (towards Nagpur), the building of Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) is the first landmark.....right next to the building, a small alley will lead you to the temple; we discovered in our way back, there is a small hoarding directing people to the temple, written in English and Telegu both. The temple is called Jayadarshini Temple...you might have to go further and take a U turn to come to that place, as per the structure of the road...once you enter the small road trust your intuition, and the local people while you proceed...the area is sparsely populated...but soon you can seen the tip of the temple....and always, visit the place during daytime, if you are the first timer. For more reference, you can mail me at moitreyee.sarkar@gmail.com

my first accident

technically this is my second accident with my scooty....but if measured in terms of the impact of injury, its the first major accident beyond doubt...

sunday, june 5th, 1:53 pm : i collected the slipper which i had given to the cobbler for repairing... thankfully, this was the only task which i managed to accomplish succesfuly from the list of 4 or 5 tasks that i thought i would complete when i stepped out of the house...was passing by cine planet when the flashy poster of "ready" caught my attention...a minute of hesitation, and a phone call later, i booked 2 tickets for the night show that day...i realized that i had traversed several klometers on the highway ...alone...and most importantly, Safely.... what if i meet an accident on my way home while covering a bare stretch of 1 km.... my sixth sense did poke me, which most of the time is sleeping otherwise....lunch time was fast approaching...and the sunday special fish was waiting for me to have it devoured...i accelarated along the empty tracks of the service lane parallel to NH 7....i did see a motor bike with 2 fat guys, unable to decide which way they wanna proceed....after a couple of glances on either side, the bikerider decided his way ( at least thats what i could figure out)...and straightened his way..... when i was nearing him, out of the blue moon, those buggers decided to take a u turn....i decelarated and pulled the brakes....but the next moment i realized i jumped out of my scooty in a similar fashion of a toad jumping out of the water....i bruised my both legs....people rushed to help me...lying on the road, i remembered Shalini ....what if i snatched the title of "iron man' from her?(just to give the context, Shalini has 2/3 iron rods implanted inside, for various reasons ranging from Sports to road accident) i dont have the slightest intention...i just hoped i did nt break any bone or tore any ligament... in my pain i missed the opportunity of ranting the other driver...i was asked several times later where did i hit myself that i developed huge patches of black eyes...i seriously dont have an idea.... i rested for some time, the culprit, ie the folk who made the offence of turning abruptly without a flash of his indicator offered me to take home... probably that was his way of saying sorry... i thought i better grab the opportunity...while seating behind him i construed in my mind, what if the guy abducts me..i did nt have strength in my legs to jump out of the scooty and run for my life....but again i was in south India, where ladies are respected, unlike most patches of northern part of the country..so i dismissed the thought for a while....a second thought visited my mind...what if i tell Gulton and he stops me from these single trips as per my whims and fancies...i thought of not divulging the event at home...i thanked the guy as i took over the drivers seat from the gate of my colony...i hoped the security guard did not see me...he knew me well and also my mother in law....somehow i came home and fell flat on my bed....i tried my best to give a story of heat stroke on a not-so-hot, cloudy and humid day...my folks bought the idea for some time...but no sooner, my gait like the "Sajjan Singh of Pratigya" unveiled the story of my accident....

P.S :: the accident didnt deter me from watchng the useless movie that night....a shot of tetanus and a shot of painkiller..and i was back on my feet....