Akelapan....!!!

Akelapan......
Ek shabd hai?
Ya ek ehsaas....
Athava, hai ye ek mahaul?

Jo bhi ho....
par kisi insaan ko ise parakhne ka, mauka na mile to behtar!
hain samasyayen duniya me aur bhi,
hain ehsaas aur bhavnayen aur bhi,
Unse hi nipate, samay vyateet ho jaye to behtar!

Dar-asal, insaan to ek samajik prani hai,
Aur Insaan ke liye, Akelapan ek bimari anjani hai,
Mano, ye ek cancer hai....
Jo andar hi andar kha jati hai,
Aur antim kshano me hi iski bhayavahta saamne aati hai!!

Durgam kshano me aadmi shayad do aanshu baha leta hai,
Par Akelapan - aapko Sisakne ka mauka bhi kahaan deta hai....!!

In aankhon ka soonapan,
jaane kise dhoondh raha hai,
Khuli hain aankhen,
par kahaan koi dikh raha hai,

Dil kahta hai - Akelapan hai ek saja
Mano, jaise kisi ko akele kaatna hai kalapani,
Na sukh, na dukh,
Na hasi, na aansu,
Na khana, na sona,
Na bolna, na sunana,
Kuchh bhi kisi se bata ya baant nahi sakta,
bas ek akela bhavna-shoonaya insaan
jaise insaniyat ka mashinikaran ho jaye
jaise aadmi, aadmi se robot ban jaye
Cancer kam se kam maar dalta hai
Akelapan - itna dayavan nahi: vo jinda hi tadpata hai
jinda hi radpata hai!!

Ai kaash.....Ai kaash ki hoti khabar,
Akelapan kya hai...
Ek shabd hai?
Ya ek ehsaas....
Athava, hai ye ek mahaul?
Ya hai...ye ek saja???

A true story

Heard real life story of a prof of IIM A..many in audience cried...so touching and reflection of things that r beyond our control in shaping our journey of life!
An IITian, in 1970's he went to US to do his MBA, was among toppers and lead a king type life after MBA, before some gujju startup company offerd him CEO position in the company....he acepted, came back and joined....3 months after that, the people who promised funding of the company, were arrested in US as fraud....! The gujju in India, who was Harvard passout, however, said they will take a loan and proceed. HQ was in mumbai and company was being set up in Ahmedabad...so loan was taken in Ahmedabad, and since gujju was in mumbai, and company was yet in the set up phase, CEO took loan for the company in his name ..loan was of 1.3 crore (at that time!!)....2 more months...the gujju said thr is some urgency and send some 30 lac to HQ...CEO sent....again he said send some more money...he again sent 35 lac....and 1 month after that, the gujju in India was also arrested for being a fraud!! He wasnt even from Harvard!!
The CEO had taken loan on his name...he was now stuck up...he was forced to shut down construction work for the comapny...could not pay even the labourers...bank officials started pressurising for payment of laon!! Then further trouble started....Someone junior to him, to take advantage and get him removed to get promoted in his place, spread a rumourthat the CEo himself had taken the money and he was actual fraud!! Society, bank and other people abused his family so much that out of pressure, his daughter who used to be topper not only in her school but also in the whole Ahmedabad, failed her 10th exam! His wife started believing that he was the cause of all trouble and stopped talking to him...he finally had to run away to avoid jail!!
After years of running, he decided to attempt suicide...went to the Ganges ..but met a group of 2-3 saints...they stopped him...he spent 1-2 years there...then his stressed out mind started to at least stablise!
Finally, one of his friends, who was a prof at IIM A, arranged for his to become a faculty at IIM A, as he was having educational background needed. But, because of so many years of stressed life, inspite of knowing everything, he could not utter a single word in his class, and in the very first class, he was rejected out by the students and IIM A, as per the feedback process, could not keep him as facutly even for the next class!! so, he could not continue there!!
His prof friend at IIM A, again tried for him and got him another chance for 1 single class at IIM B......this time, he could speak few things..and class was impressed....IIM B continued with him and slowly slowly he started coming back to life, but still stressed out as family was still being abused, police still behind him....he would still go and spend 15 days every month with the saints...and then in free time, would just wander on roads!!!
One fine day - he decided his biggest prob was loan...so he sold everything he had..a home at chennai, his wifes jwellery...etc etc..everything...and also took loans from companies where he had provided consultancy while teaching at IIM B !!
He paid 1 crore to the bank..and asked for some time to pay the remaining!!
Bank agreed!!
Then he started focussing on consultancy and earning more and more....while he would still think, even before taking a cup of tea, if he should take tea, or save those 2 rupees for his family!!! This was in 2003!!! for every cup of tea, he used to think more than half an hour, and half the time would decide on saving the 2 rupees rather than having a cup of tea!!
But his talent was unmantched and word of mouth of his great consultancy spread like fire...he earned a lot of money and paid all of loan!! Now he is a faculty at IIM A, has set up a consultancy company with 3 employees, his wife, his daughter and he himself!!! Now he has more than a crore of his own bank balance and ever increasing!!! His daughter again appeared for exam and topped the university in her graduation!! Life has become a full cycle for him!!
One more thing: After all this, the prof has become immune to good and bad..for him, everything is same...if theft happens in his office/home, he does not feel sad..while if his daughter tops, he does not feel happy...he just remains as calm as he usual is.....he even went to the home of the person who had spread rumours about him...and that person, on seeing him felt so guilty that even without saying a word, he started apologising...but the prof said y r u sorry? I came here to say that I have no complains gainst u or anyone!!!
Disclaimer: As heard from one of the students of the prof.

A Soul-touching dinner in Kathmandu, Nepal

Once there in Nepal, on 6th Sep, work started and we could not go anywhere because of our work load....but this meant that we had enough time to explore different places to eat in Nepal...once of them is called "Banchha ghar" ..meaning "place in home where food is cooked....!! And it was a delight to be there...both because the food was very good, as well as the cultural aspect of Nepal they show to you using the dance forms. Its simply amazing! Its one of its kind in Nepal and probably among the first few restaurants that opened in Nepal. They have conciously kept the settings inside same as it used to be in 70's ...we had to leave our shoes and go to upper floor for starters and drinks..One is supposed to sit on immaculately laid out soft cushions with small tables (you can stretch your legs below the table and be relaxed !!) The cushions are laid out along the walls and in there is opening for wooden staircase at the center. In between these two, there is enough space that the dancers use to ensure that each one sitting in the halls gets a close look at the local dance forms. Beautiful, young nepali girls come and put a teeka on your forehead and then they also serve you in a small earthern pot like "diya" a local speciality of rice made wine, called "Roksi"(Home made Nepalese Alcohol with Brandy, Orange Juice, Lemon Juice and mixed with Honey and Nepalese spices (Masala)) , which is to be taken in one shot like Taquila ...the pot is very small and still they serve it from minimum height! Food is very good....and veriety is there ...for a change, one could even enjoy so many veg items! A small speaker system is there to announce things and provide information. Then we found its the voice of Asha Bhosale singing Nepali songs!!! Quite a pleasant surprise! Nepali girls then started dancing in group...and they came one after other....one dance form was completed and then next would come!! Announcement was made about each of the form of dance....the clothing, song and other things would be changed without stopping the flow of events!! In total 6 girls were dancing...sometimes all 6, and then sometimes group of 3! The dance forms that they showed us - little bit I noted on my mobile

Newari DanceThe traditional dance of Newars, inhabitants of Kathmandu
THARU

The ethnic group of Terai region of Nepal, famous for their stick dance and colourful dress

CHEPPANGPeople from mid-western region of Nepal

SHERPA
Mountain people and sherpa are best mountaineers of the world

GURUNG

Hilly region people, renowned for bravery and most of the Gurungs works in the British Gurkha's

TAMANG
Also Hilly region people and very rich in Culture and famous for the varieties of the ornaments they wear.

RESAHAM FIRIRI VERY FAMOUS FOLK SONG OF NEPAL

Then there were other forms, one very similar to Dandiya, Danu Aari Dance and folk village dance! I was informed that they keep changing the dance forms so that repeat customers do not feel bored and have something new to look forward to. In the end, they come and just do a group dance and request you to join them! thats ultimate fun!!
It was also very pleasantly surprising that one could feel that all 6 girls were enjoying the dances so very much...like it was not their work, but passion...all of them were laughing and the body language indicated that it was more than work for them!

In the end, it turned out to be a great evening! A strong recommendation for anyone going to Nepal first time! For reference, contact details are provided below,

Contact details (taken from net) Authentic Nepali Cuisine Address: Kamaladi, P.O.Box 3011, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 009-771-419798, 423128

In the mall on the friendship day!

I had planed to do some shopping for Kuhu and Kanha. So went to Nirmal lifestyle, and went a bit early than the usual evening time.

Great sales offers were there on every store/brand and I had hard time suppressing my desires to go well beyond my budget :-) by the time I finished, it was about 4pm and I was feeling so hungry.

To those who have not been to NIrmal lifestyle mall, I think this is one of the most happening mall, full of positivity and good options. Almost all brands available and lot of good options for food. So I stated "ulta"...with Jalebi...is baarish me mall me music and play ke saath garma garam jalebi was BLISS! Then came aaloo chaat...followed by veg frankie!! yummy food made my day!

and then when I started to relax, I noticed a change! I saw a crowd which was:

1. Bigger than normal week ends
2. Much younger
3. Many of them having something written on their body!!

It striked to me that today being the friendship day, probably college crowd is out to celebrate! And it was interesting to see how the college crowd celebrates it in mumbai (in our college days we never even knew such a concept existed).

While those having boy friends/girl friends were more like couples in romance...showing the cupid love in public.....others were hanging out in groups. One could see mixed groups (boys or girls) or only girls group. No boys only group.

Most of the girls were bearing tops, which were revealing more skin than usually one wud find in mumbai. However, the reason was apparent. College going ppl generally write something on their friends body on this day. So every one was busy writing something on the body of the girls in their group, and since so many of them were writing, hence such dress (learnings from previous years experiences may be :-)
One thing was surprising though....in that case, y boys were not wearing such body revealing clothes..after all friends were writing on their bodies too. Any guesses???

Finally got a call from singapore ...a friend saying happy friendship day to me! I was happy :-)

So here I am, telling u back, my experience in the mall, on the friendship day!!