A Trip to Ooty

Three years ago,my friends decided to visit manali during the monsoons.We were excited since we had seen a documentary on the channel Travel and Living about it.Unfortunately ,due to heavy flooding,we had to cancel our visit.Nevertheless,our friend suggested an alternative.Since,his mother was the vice president in Reliance,one of her perks included free stay in hotels all over India.We narrowed down on Ooty and started making preparations.One of us was leaving for U.S the next month, so we decided to go on this last trip together.Sadly,few had other priorities and that left just the three of us me,my brother and my friend.We were all pumped up,especially me and my brother because this was our first trip on a plane.Like most single men,we started flirting with the air hostess.We pressed the buzzer for the silliest reason but she never got irritated and was enjoying the attention.My friend even suggested taking down her number,which i turned down because frankly ,I was too chicken.We landed at Coimbatore and were searching for a shared cab.Our friend being a south indian was well versed in tamil which was a blessing for that was the only language they understood.He negotiated with the driver and told him to take us to Sterling Resort which was high on a hill.There were a couple of other passengers including a newly married couple who were scared out of their wits on learning they were travelling with us.A couple of minutes into the journey ,and they realized we were not abd guys after all.On reaching the resort,we were shown to our room which had a living room,a kitchen and a bedroom with a balcony overlooking the hills.We paid a visit to the wildlife sanctuary,boating club,botanical garden and Dodapetta peak which is the highest peak in Asia.Unfortunately,we didn't spot tigers because we were travelling in a bus and that scared them away.The driver milked every opportunity to charge us (twenty rupees for taking pictures of deers and elephants) and the rest for being a guide.The weather was quite pleasant ,firstly because of the monsoons and secondly because there was no noise and air pollution.There are no fans in hotels and restaurants and everything is eco-friendly.Even while shopping,we were handed out paper bags.Some of those should be applied to mumbai as well.We bought different types of chocolates(rum n raisins,mints,dates and walnuts,cherry to name a few).The bus tour turned out to be amazing.Always the last ones to board the bus after sightseeing, the expression on the passenger's faces was priceless.On our last day,we cooked food which was a total disaster ,burnt potatoes,dal and soggy rice.We visited the loo soon after.We were sad that the trip ended so quickly.We shopped for almost everything including souvenirs,chocolates,oil,tea and clothes.At the airport, the cops inquired about the brown stuff in our bag which was nothing but tea packed in a transparent plastic bag.The trip turned out to be my best trip ever so far.

Breaking rules

Rules are meant to be broken.We say this nonchalantly without realizing the consequences.If you forbid a child to do something,he does it anyway in spite of repeated warnings.There's a child in all of us which forces us to break rules even when we, as mature adults are aware of it's consequences.We always jump queues,signals and railway tracks knowing it's dangerous and causes inconvenience to others.Sort of gives us an immense pleasure.I would say a little discipline never hurts.In Other countries,you are fined for littering and in some,you end up behind bars.See the irony,Indians living in other countries don't litter but mess up their own homeland.The recent ban on smoking in public places has invited a lot of wrath from smokers.They wish to live life on their own terms but is it too much to ask to show a little concern for others.Not to smoke in places where people are affected.In a lift ,I noticed a sign that said,Lift not available for going down,take the stairs instead, to which a doctor said ,Hah! rules are meant to be broken, and pressed the button to go down.We were only three floors up,How hard is it to take the stairs down? They always advise others to follow the book,be disciplined, and here he was clearly flouting one.I chose to take the stairs instead.

Superstition

Don't be superstitious.We've heard this phrase many times,haven't we?.What makes us superstitious?.Is it our belief in god and supernatural powers?.I'm sure, scientists would beg to differ with a rational explanation for everything.I've seen people blindly following certain predictions.I mean,it's harmless if you inquire about it once in a while just for fun,but to lead your life as per those predictions is sheer stupidity.Many people have predicted my future(at times I was literally dragged).Some turned out to be true and some ,well,even a five year old could have guessed that.I had this friend in college and she was in love with this guy since her school days.After going around secretly for a couple of years,the girl's parents found out about their rendezvous and the benedict arnold who rattled them out turned out to be her own sister.Since she was a jain and the boy was a pahadi(he belonged to a tribe from the himalayas)there was complete chaos.She wanted to elope and packed all her belongings in a bag(jewellery et all).The boy turned chicken and said his astrologer has predicted that,if they got married,his mother would die.I've heard different types of excuses for breaking up but this was right out of a movie plot.I mean, come on, grow a pair dude.She was heartbroken and eventually married a guy of her parent's choice who turned out to be a wife beater.Things would have been different, had the guy shown little guts.

Rock on

I saw the movie "Rock on" last night.I must say i had mixed feelings for that movie because on one hand it connected with the life of the youth of today and on the other hand it seemed like a repeat of the flick "Dil chahta hai".Farhan akhtar has to still recover from the success of "Dil chahta hai".Clearly he has made a conscious effort of repeating the same scenes of his earlier flick.Somehow i feel both of his movies are a reflection of someone's lives and i'm one of them.Suffice to say,i've lived life to the fullest but you can never say never.

Women :A mystery?

They say love is blind,sad but true.I read an article in Hindustan times Cafe about a girl's love story.She falls in love with her senior in school.The boy is a flirt and is simultaneously having an affair with different girls.In spite of all this,the girl totally smitten by him failed to believe he was cheating on her.Even after being confronted by one of his girlfriends,she refused to break up with him.When she demanded an explanation ,he said,Don't believe them,they're just jealous.He abused her a couple of times and apologized later.When he repeated this offense over and over,she told him she would move on ,to which the boy said,Think again.Finally, he told her to get lost and they broke up.Even now she still pines for him,hoping they will meet again.Why do women chase boys who are abusive and aggressive? They have these huge debates about equality of sexes but in reality,they like to be treated that way.Let me clarify,I'm all all for women's liberation et all and I strongly believe they are superior to men(My species are gonna hate me for sure) but its high time girls, stand up for yourself and demand respect,don't let guys treat you any different.

Drama in a Bank

All of us know for a fact that people employed in government offices don't work.What came as a rude shock to me was the same attitude being displayed by employees of a bank.I had to get some franking done on a sale agreement which required a visit to the bank.Since the amount was more than 1 lac ,i was told to come the next day.After much pleading,the manager agreed to do it the same day.After filling out the necessary forms,i proceeded towards the cash counter.The cashier was a lady and after letting out a huge sigh which was a sign that she was doing a huge favour to me,replied that the documents were not stapled properly.I didn't want to create a fuss so i went to the other counter to get the documents stapled although it cost me to stand in the queue again.After glancing thru her watch she realised it was lunch time so, she sent me to the manager to get it thoroughly checked and when i came back she put up a sign "Gone for lunch".After waiting for 30 minutes,she came back and frowned that the staple was not in order since it needed a stamp and a copy was supposed to be handed over to me.I told her politely that she could do it herself since it was not such a tedious task,she replied back with a stare as if to say it was not her job.A female standing beside me had to experience the same situation and she wondered why i didn't say a word.Unlike me,she lost her cool and said to the cashier"You people are not the only one's working,there are other people like us who work too".There was complete silence for a moment and it was hilarious to see the expression on that cashier's face.All this was worth the service charge that i had paid to get the franking done.

Teacher's Day

Today is teacher's day but it's just like any other day.During my school and college days ,we used to look forward to this day so we could chill out with teachers.They are the role models who work as reference guides and help us in making crucial decisions.Face it,all us have had our respective crushes.I know i had, on my french teacher who was also my English teacher,"Miss Chopra" we called her.No!!!! she's not a relative of Yash Chopra.I didn't have the hots for her but let's just say i was impressed..She always encouraged me to get higher marks in all my subjects.I scored 75 marks in English and french but she was not happy and made it quite clear while handing out my result.She always thought i was from Iran,I wonder why.At the end of my first yr in junior college ,she got married and moved to the states.I couldn't fathom the fact that she left.But life goes on.HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY Miss Chopra.