Lone Wanderer…

It was dark. I checked my watch; it said 8:30pm. It wasn’t that late, I reflected. But here I was, miles away from home in Himachal Pradesh and I had missed the last bus to Dharamsala from Bhagsu Nag Mountains. The roads were steep and several kilometers away from my hotel. A thought crept in my mind of spending the night outside but I had to let it go as it was getting too cold out here.

My friend Saswat sat down on a bench, held his head and let out a sigh of relief. I asked few cab drivers to drop us, overpriced they were. They tried taking advantage out of our helplessness, thinking we would give in and pay him how much ever he asks for.

“What you want to do?” I asked Saswat

“I don’t know. We can look for a hotel here.” He said

“It will be too expensive here.” I said and then a crazy thought crossed my mind, a weird smile came on my face.

“Let’s walk”

I said and started walking. I am sure anyone else would have been there in his place would have dismissed this crazy thought of walking down these slopes. But there was a guy who wanted to have some adventure and was a partner in my crimes.

We had backpacks stuffed with clothes, laptops and camera. It weighed at least 10 kgs. We had no water on us. The road was dark, no lights to guide us. On one side there was dense forest, mountains on the other side of the road. We had no clue where the road ends. One wrong step and we would have fallen deep down. But we kept on walking, kept on talking.  

Not even a living soul was there, the road was deserted. All one could see from thousands meters above sea level was lights coming from the city. It looked amazingly beautiful. As if I was in space and the city looked like stars twinkling bright on a dark night. Every time we kept looking back, realizing we have walked down so much gave us a great feeling of conquering our inner desires.

We crossed St. Johns Church, the graveyard. A thought crossed my mind to spend some time at the graveyard but I dismissed it immediately. Not that I was scared but there was point in jeopardizing our safety for this. The road that led to the graveyard was uneven and even a slight mistake would take our life, as it is at a good height.

The stretch from Bhagsu Nag Mountains to Dharamsala is 15kms. In between for 5-6 km there is a military base. We were caught by army officers, they kept asking weird questions. I showed them my press card and immediately there was a change in their expression and tone. They offered us lift to our hotel. We decided to walk and finish the journey we had set for us. Moreover I don’t want someone to help me out just because I belong from Media fraternity.

We kept talking about useless stuffs, talked about weirdest things we had done in past, we sang, we even danced in the middle of highway. I had never done that. While I was walking suddenly this thought crept in mind, maybe this moment would never come back and I might regret that I couldn’t dance then. I always had this weird thing in mind to do; I wanted to dance on the middle of a highway. And the very next moment I started dancing. People who know me, they know that I don’t dance at all. I always shy away from dancing in front of people. I get conscious and then I can’t dance.

But there I was, in some unknown place on a highway dancing like crazy. There are certain things in life which I have to do and doesn’t matter how crazy or stupid it might be, I have to do it. Life has blessed me with what I asked for. There is nothing much asks from my life. I am doing things that I wanted to do. Plan a trip somewhere and explore the places, food, drink and stuffs that make those places special.

Travel excites me. There are people who think I am crazy. But whenever I get a chance to travel, I love to do. Last vacation I just took my bag and went to Varanasi to cover Durga Puja. Even there I had my part of adventure. This time also I decided to come here. Amidst the mountains and chilly weather, it’s fun. People usually prefer going back to their home in vacations, I prefer exploring new places. Not that I don’t like going back to home, but travelling is more important for me.

I wanted to do this. I don’t know whether this was adventurous or not, for me it’s more than that. I realized one thing about myself. I may get tired doing things that I don’t want to do. But when it comes to doing things that I love to do I never get tired. While I kept walking down enthusiastically, I could feel the adrenaline rush in my body.

For many, it is just a trip to a new place. For me it is something else, something that I cannot define in words. Something that I feel only at that particular moment when I am experiencing the thrill. For many more such adventures to come and many places to be explored, I will see you on the other side soon. 

Enlightened by the experience…

Varanasi or Banaras (Benares) - the holy city of Ganga, still has the smell of ancient times. It is the major tourist spot in India, which contributes the most, in terms of economy. The city has everything one asks for, good food, great places to visit, quite friendly and diverse environment with a mixture of different climatic conditions.

Roads are always clogged with people, guides trying to sell you a lemon and people from all sort of background come together here. The beautiful Ghats of Varanasi among the other tourist spots is one of the major attractions, especially the evening Ganga Aarti. It wraps up the entire city in its divine feeling.

Ganga Arti in Varanasi

The city has a great history. India has been ruled by many rulers; every one of them tried to set up their establishment at Benares (then), but failed to do so. Not only history but also in the Hindu mythological stories it plays an important role. This everyone knows or must have read in books or on internet and many of you must have noticed while visiting this city.

When I was Delhi, a week ago, the day I decided to go Varanasi to cover the festival, since then my excitement knew no limits. The fact that I love to travel and this was the first time, I was supposed to travel as a journalist, instilled loads of excitement in me. I had a backpack and a DSLR camera, while travelling one should always prefer carrying light luggage. I reached Varanasi on 27^th September 2014 at around 3 am. The ticket was not confirmed and so I couldn’t sleep the entire night and I had loads of work waiting for me in Varanasi.

I realized the very first day that it is not easy at all. It may sound easy but when you are actually on the field, it is tough. First of all, you know nothing about the place, doesn’t matter what research you have done on internet, it never helps. To a certain extent from tourist’s point of view information over internet would help. But as a journalist, you need to be realistic.

People don’t want to talk about serious stuff, they are not even bothered about the problems, they only complain. Police would say, everything is peaceful here, Government officials would pretend as if they are quite busy and the aam janta won’t talk. Every now and then you will be fooled by someone; you will be always given wrong address. You will have no other option than to trust that person. I was fooled four times in a day.

The problem is when people come to know that you are from outside and you are trying to look into their matter, many don’t like it. They would rather prefer their city journalist than someone from outside, doesn’t matter what you are trying to do.

Although it is amusing when you don’t know anything about the place and you end up finding things that you never expected to find out, it gives you a moral boost. I was there for five days; I use to go out every morning around 8 am and come back by 11 pm. I worked nearly fourteen hours a day to explore the city and more than that the stories which was buried deep.

It’s been 80 days as a journalist, and I can see that I am developing an eye for stories. When I joined, I remember how everyone used to tell us, as you move ahead in this profession; you develop an eye for stories. Whatever I was told is coming in use now, before reaching the spot I am arranging the notes so that I ask direct questions to people and don’t lose focus from the story. It is very important to know the right questions that you want to ask. Cross-checking information is the most important. The good part is whenever I come across any information, I always cross-check it.

Idol of Durga at Dashashwamedh Ghat

It feels good at the end of the day when I come back to my room, I know that, I have worked hard and I deserve a sound sleep. It feels good to know that these small-small aspects which we were told in start are coming automatically to me now, when I am at the spot it just comes to me and I do that. Later on, I realize that I was actually doing that.

In five days I managed to cover almost 80% of Varanasi and I have some idea now about the city. The day when I reached here, I had no clue how I am going to cover the city. I was afraid whether I will be able to follow my brief or not. I got really frustrated the first day itself after roaming around the whole day in the hot sun, I felt that I took a bad decision and this is not my cup of tea. But now it feels like I am able to do justice with my brief.

After spending five days in Varanasi, I went to Patna my hometown which is hardly 4 hours from there to cover Dussera. Fortunately or unfortunately I got to cover a stampede followed by a riot on the last day of the festival. As a journalist, they say it’s fortunate to be there in such situation. This has journalism done to me now. Although it was a sad day for the city, several people lost their live deep down somewhere there was a feeling of I don’t know what but whatever it was, it felt good to be able to cover the catastrophe.

Flashback...

“It’s been two months now since I came here.” I said

“Seriously man. Time passes by so quickly” said Anirudh

“Yeah” I said

“What do you think about this part of your life?” asked Anirudh

“I call this small part of my life ‘Happiness’. You know, I was quite bad in meeting deadlines. And now after being able to do that and live up to my expectation, it feels great. If this is how one feels when dreams start turning into reality then yeah I am living my dream and most importantly, enjoying it. Despite the workload and working over-time every day, I don’t complain. Although, I have no weekends to spare for myself, I am happy.” I said

“Man, seriously. I can feel that energy. It must be a great feeling.” He said

I remember throughout my life, I have been so undisciplined. I never managed to do things on time; except for a few that I loved to do. I remember how I used to get scolded from everyone, and how I used to just let it go with a smile on my face. But when I landed here, I knew there was no turning back. Doesn’t matter how tough life gets, I have to survive it.

I still can’t forget the final review of my project. The day when everything possibly went wrong and how I managed to survive that. The day, when I had to borrow formals before giving my presentation as I was unaware of the fact that we were supposed to come in formals. The day, when in the middle of our final presentation, my team mate’s phone started ringing, not once but twice. The day, when during the demo suddenly something happened and our software stopped working. Despite of everything that went wrong, we managed to perform things which we were not sure about.

At one point I thought I am not gonna make it. But when we showed the demo of our project, that one moment saved the day for us. The way we managed to pull it off left me in the awe of that moment. I regained my confidence which was shattered the moment I entered the conference room. And that day I felt there was some supreme power above us, which actually saved our ass. There was someone sitting out there who kept a close eye on us.  

I remember the moment when our guide told us that she can’t do anything to help us. She had to approve our project before we give the presentation. If she doesn’t approve it, we fail. Three of us were sitting in the corridor while everyone was busy preparing their presentations. We looked at each other and didn’t utter a word. Things started flashing in our head, what if we have to repeat this project again? One more year.

That very moment I got up, “Where are you going?” asked Pranav.

“I can’t sit like this and do nothing about it.” I said

“What we can do about it? Whatever we did, everything has gone in vain. There is no use of trying anything now.” He replied

“I know things are not in our favor. But we got to try till the very last moment. Can you think of spending one more year here while everyone will be loading their bank accounts with cash?”

“What can we do?” he asked me

“Do things that we have never done before in our life. Beg for one chance to show our project, from there we can take it to a new level.”

“Okay. Let’s go.” He said

Had he not supported me that time, I wouldn’t be here, living my dream, as what I love to call it. I would have been stucked in that college for one more year with no justification to give to my parents. In short, my life would have been screwed.

We entered our guide’s cabin again, she refused even to talk to us. She pretended as if she was very busy. It was quite frustrating, yet we were supposed to be patient. We tried thrice to talk to her, she didn’t. Left with no other option, we were about to leave when she called us back in.

“What you want me to do?” asked our guide

“Ma’am I know we couldn’t meet few deadlines, but we have worked really hard for this. I can’t think about spending one more year here.” I said

“I am not going to correct your reports; it will go to the authority the way you guys have made it. I will sign wherever you want me to but do not expect any sort of help from my end. Whatever happens in conference room, you guys have to pull it off. If you manage to impress the board with your project then well and good, or else you will have to spend another year here. And believe me; I am not going to make this easy for you guys once you start with your presentation. I don’t have any personal grudge with anyone of you; it’s the fruit of your deed. Are you ready?” she said

“Yes ma’am” we said in unison

She signed our reports; we came out and started preparing for our presentation. Every other group’s reports were corrected by their guide, ours not. Their presentation was corrected by their guide, ours not. We knew we were at disadvantage and they will try their best to bring us down. They need just one reason to screw us up.

All we had was few hours, six reports and a presentation to prove ourselves. We entered the conference room, I saw my guide sitting there beside our project coordinator and the main guy, in whose hands our fate rested.

We submitted our reports and then our guide and coordinator started bitching about us to the main guy. It seemed as if they were not our guide and project coordinator. It seemed more like they were someone who wanted three of us to fail. They tried everything to break us.

“You guys don’t want to pass?” asked the main guy

“Can we start with the presentation?” we said

“Okay. Let’s see what you have done.” He said

We started with our presentation, it was decided Pranav would start the presentation then I will join followed by Anirudh and then I will conclude it. But that didn’t happen. The moment Pranav started with the presentation, his phone started ringing. Immediately he put it on silent and I covered his slides so that there was no break. After a while, his phone again started ringing and this time it pissed everyone off. I asked him to switch it off and again our project coordinator and guide started ranting about it.

Somehow we managed to finish off our presentation and then they started firing question at us which we tried to answer in best possible way. Few we knew, few we didn’t. But we didn’t tell them that we don’t know; we figured out the answers and told whatever we knew about the subject. The problem was, purposely they were asking us questions which we didn’t know.

“Good enough. Show me your demo.” He said

We showed the demo of our project. He asked few more questions which we answered easily.

“Do one thing, I want you to make few changes now in your project and then show me the demo. If it works, you pass. If it doesn’t then I don’t need to tell you anything more.” He said

He told us what he wanted us to do. I took the laptop and went out. We started working on it. We were able to make those changes but it didn’t work. We got panic. We tried once, nothing happened. Twice, still nothing happened. And we kept on trying. But nothing happened.

Pranav and Anirudh sat on the floor distressed. I kept on trying. The feeling of failing again started enveloping us, it was scary. Mind started wandering to different places, sweat appeared on my forehead, head turned heavy and I choked. I was close to tears, cursing God for making our life hell. My hands were shivering with fear; I was planning to switch from engineering to journalism. If I fail today, then that will never happen and life will be doomed. I kept on trying and then suddenly it worked. Whatever I did, I don’t even remember what it was but our project worked.

I took the laptop and ran inside the conference room with full speed. Anirudh and Pranav followed me. We went inside, kept my laptop on the table in front of them and started showing the demo.

They were shocked to see us. They tried asking innumerous questions again but this time I had regained my confidence and answered every question with ease. They tried everything they could have to restrict us but they failed.

“Nothing can stop you guys now. I am happy with your work.” He said

“You guys made it.” Said our project coordinator

Goosebumps, sweat beads and tears. We came out, screamed, shrieked and yelled. It was party time. Now we knew nothing can stop us. It wasn’t easy as it seemed. But we did it. In a moment, things changed quite dramatically. A moment before we were not sure whether we will pass or not. And here we were. We held our head high and chest pumped up with joy. Everyone congratulated us. They knew we had no one to help us and we were showered with tough questions yet managed to pull it off in style.

Finally before leaving, we met our guide and undoubtedly she was impressed. She seemed satisfied now. She gave us few tips for future and wished us luck. Things started falling back at its right place. The project coordinator seemed happy too.

When I recall this moment, I feel happy and satisfied. Time is the best teacher and it teaches us everything which is necessary for that moment. Four years in engineering I enjoyed a lot, and life was really easy. Now I work every day, in past two months I got just two days as a leave. Every day I chase deadline, go out to cover some story, try to master the art of photography, design newspaper and work my ass off. I come back quite late at night and all I do is sleep. I feel sleep deprived at times, but I am happy with the way life is going. I have no complains now. N fact it feels as if time is less and there are lots of things which I have to do.

After all this, I have realized one thing. If you want to do something big in life, you have to make your own path. You cannot wait for the opportunity, you have to jump and grab every opportunity which comes your way.   

Life was not unfair, it was my past deeds…

Amidst the ruins of Feroz Shah Kotla, a man in his late forties, messed up grey hair, rugged beard dressed in decent clothes unwashed for a while sits among the lot of beggars with hopeful eyes and regret in his heart, waits for that day when he will be able to walk again.

In first sight, one would get confused with his personality which gives the impression of a decent background, Sunil Agarwal finds it difficult to survive in the city. An accident and his past deeds, which not only took away his livelihood but his family in one stroke, he feels despised by his deeds which has turned his life upside-down.

Born and brought up in Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh; Sunil Agarwal used to run his clothes business. Belonging from a business-class family, he made a place in his community with his business skills. Not long before, he replays the moments of his joyful life, and reflects how his bad habits turned into a curse for him.

When a person starts succeeding in his life, then sometimes it gets tough to handle it. As a consequence, he too became the victim of own life. His drinking habits exponentially increased with time and money flowing into his life turned him into a gambler. Most of the time, he used to be drunk and losing every day in gambling frustration was seeping through in his life and it started reflecting in his business. The money that he used to earn through his business were flowed mindlessly in evening.

As days passed, his business went down and he had no option but to shut it down. He lost every penny that he earned and as a result he was cast away from his own community. With no money in bank and three mouths to feed, he arrived in Delhi last year in search of a job. Luckily he found one in a retail store at Chawri Bazaar. He rented out a small house in Chandni Chawk and life seemed to look upon him once again. But his drinking habits still continued to distract him from his work.

“My wife lost her trust in me when we were forced to leave our ancestral home and come to Delhi. She used to abuse me daily and I knew that it was because of my deeds. I deserved it.”

Every night there used to be fights, abuses and a dose of mocking that he used to get every time he sat idle in his home. Life wasn’t unfair, it was the result of his past deeds and not been able to live up to the expectation of his family, he was distressed. Although his son was the only constant source of encouragement which he got. His son started working and used to help him to manage the household. But when unable to manage his household, his wife threw him out of the house when he didn’t mend his ways.

“I was thrown out of my own house for the second time. That night I got drunk and passed out. When I opened my eyes I was in pain and my leg didn’t move.”

He met an accident that night which turned him into a crippled. With no money to spare for his medication, the condition of his leg was really bad. Since then he had been living outside the gate of Feroz Shah Kotla. Every Thursday when people come here to offer prayer, he manages to earn little which he uses to survive throughout the week.

He has realised his mistake but it’s too late now. However he wish to get up someday on his own legs and start working again. He never enter the Kotla premises. He feels he don’t deserve to enter inside.

“I don’t want to enter the part of the Masjid, I feel unfit and unworthy of the place. I would only enter the shrine when he is able to walk and work again.” he said

Sunil Agarwal sitting outside the gate of Feroz Shah Kotla.

Disabled from Society...

Today after watching a glimpse of Accsex, a documentary by Shweta Ghosh I was left a little perturbed. The documentary talks about disabled people who are discarded from the society. It shows how they have dealt with their problem and what do they think about beauty and sexuality.

I have never given this a thought, to be honest. How it feels like? How does it feel like when you can’t see anything around you? And you have to either accept what others tell you or never ask any questions. How does it feel like when you can talk but cannot listen to your own words? When you can see and listen but cannot speak. You are not able to even express yourself to anyone around you. It must be very frustrating. And no one can ever understand the problems that they have to deal with in their daily life. This documentary shows how they have accepted their disability as a part of their life and how they have found a way to lead their life. The film-maker took the life of five women from Delhi, each suffering from some problem and how they have blossomed in their life.

A blind woman operating computer better than normal people, polio contracted women who are no longer imprisoned inside the walls of their house and a deaf girl who is a graphic designer is never bothered by her deafness. They are inspiration for all those who think disability is their weakness in life.

“My scooty is my leg, I cannot walk. And it is my scooty which helps to go anywhere I want, without my scooty I feel lonely. It feels as if something is amiss” reflects a polio-affected girl.

However movies and documentaries are playing a crucial part in motivating them but the way they are always looked upon by everyone around them often de-motivates them to do something in their life. For instance, their families are over protective towards them, people show sympathy unnecessarily and never let them do anything. Some do out of concern; many actually think they are good for nothing. The way they are labeled as abnormal is very disturbing.

Earlier I never had any opinion for them, and I am happy that I was never among those who judged them based on their disability. Still I don’t have any opinion. But after watching a small part of the documentary, it has helped me to understand their state a little better. And we do need people like them who are inspiration for everyone.

All they need is someone who can listen to them. They don’t need people’s opinion or suggestion about how to lead a life. They just need someone by their side who can just listen to what they have to say, what they have to express. Imagine. How it will feel like if from tomorrow you are not able to express yourself even after trying your best. It is a nightmare.

Disabilities are natural, no one asks for it. But how the world has disabled them from the society is a big question. Ask yourself. Imagine their state. Put yourself into their shoes. Push the boundaries of your thinking, open your eyes and don’t restrict yourself to someone’s opinions. It is not necessary what has been told since beginning must be true. Help them out of concern, don’t mock on their disability.  

Source: http://www.toocool2betrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Reality-Rearranged-By-Tommy-Ingberg_10-605x350.jpg

Silent cry…

There are times in our life when we get affected by few things which we know is momentarily. That thing might never come again in front of us in future. But as humans few things aren’t in our control.

I was in the metro, when I saw her. I was standing near the door, when my eyes caught her glimpse through the tinted window. The next moment, I turned around and that’s when our eyes met. There was something electrifying about her aura, her black dense hair kept coming in front of her eyes every time she moved and her kohl lined eyes had a world of its own. She wore a blue top over her black jeans with matching blue ear rings which looked quite appealing on her personality.  

And then that moment arrived when the metro reached Rajiv Chawk, she lined up near the door to get down from the train. Every now and then our eyes met, the more I tried not to look at them, more they looked into mine. As usual there was a big crowd already waiting at the station to board the train. The irritating thing about Delhi crowd is no one waits for people to get down from the metro. Before anyone tries to get down they start boarding the metro. They don’t understand the simple fact that first people need to get down only then they can board the train.

When metro reached the station, there was a murmur among the crowd, pushing each other even before the metro had come to a halt. The siren beeped twice, door opened and people tried to get down when she took a step forward. But before she could react, the big crowd barged inside the metro and pushed her inside. I saw it happening in front of my eyes. She was pushed from one side to other side by the passengers who were trying to get in. The moment the crowd barged in, her eyes looked into mine. Perhaps asking for help, she was traumatized by this sudden situation. She went numb for a while and couldn’t utter a word. She just kept looking into my eyes and I couldn’t do much. I tried raising my voice to stop them but it was suppressed by the hassle of the crowd.

I was at one end, it was impossible for me to come forward and help her out. But I should have done that; at least I could have tried to help. Those few seconds delay in my reaction kept on disturbing me the whole day. The look which was there over her face was disconcerting. She was on the verge of crying, tears almost came into her eyes. The way she was being pushed among the crowd terrorized her. The siren beeped again twice, door closed, metro left the station and she couldn’t get down. Instead she was pushed to the other end where I was standing. I felt bad.

I should have helped her. But I couldn’t and she was helpless. The next station when she got down, she turned around and gave me a look which kept on disturbing me throughout the day. The image of her face kept revolving in my mind. The more I tried to not think about that moment, the more it kept on coming back.

I know there was nothing much I could have done. She being a girl expected a little help from my end. Perhaps. But I was quite late in reacting. The reason maybe I was too numb in witnessing the scene or whatsoever. The fact that I didn’t try to reach out to her for help was something which kept echoing into my ears the whole day. Usually I always do my part if any stranger needs any help. For instance, offering my seat to ladies and old people; helping old uncle-aunties to cross the road; giving them way to board the metro; helping them to get down in crowd and stuffs like that. But after failing to help her much today, I felt disappointed. And that look on her face didn’t help either.

I know I am not going to see her again. Maybe someday I might. But then she won’t even remember me. This was a momentary accident which happened but somewhere it did hurt me. Like she uttered a silent cry…

http://s8.favim.com/orig/72/art-broken-heart-cry-girl-Favim.com-695395.jpg

Challenge Accepted…

“What you do?”

“I write.”

“What do you write about?”

“I write scripts for advertisement firm.”

“I didn’t ask you what you do for a living. I want to know do you write anything for yourself.”

This is a very famous cameo, done by Naseeruddin Shah in the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Doobara. It reminds of my current situation. Amidst the hustling-bustling of finding stories and meeting deadlines, I am left with no time to spare for my life. After joining Times group, my whole day goes by in search of some story and night passes in filing reports. I don’t know when I should write something for myself. Most importantly the question always is what to write.

Although I am very much happy with the way my life is going. I always wanted this. I always wanted to do what I am doing every day. However the fact that I am not updating my blog disturbs me sometimes. Journalism is not about us, it’s about the people. The joy of writing something which reflects meaning of your life and expressing the feelings curbed inside your heart is immense. One feels satisfied after pouring down everything which resides inside our mind and heart.

Sometimes I feel in the process of trying to become a good journalist I may end up losing the ‘writer-inside me’. I am not complaining. I surely want to make it as a top journalist but not on the cost of losing the ‘writer-inside me’. The ‘writer-inside me’ has helped me to reach where I am. And now when I am here, I don’t want to leave him so that he gets lost somewhere. And that maybe the reason I am pouring out the state of my mind, in best possible way. It may not make any sense at all to many; I am doing this for myself. Someone told me, when you have no clue what to write about but you want to write something. Always start with the feelings you are going through, it always works.

When I was in Engineering College, I had ample amount of time to write about anything and everything. I used to be frustrated most of the time and it helped me to shape up my blog. If you are able to channelize negativity to create something positive, it always works. Most of my blog posts were crafted in the middle of those lectures. The transition is I love every class now.

Every morning when I leave, I think about writing something after coming back to my room at night. But when I am back, most of the time I am tired and overloaded with many other works. I need to find a way out. I have two options, either to stop writing for myself or manage my time in a way that I am able to balance my work and personal desire at the same time.

The former is not in the picture and the latter is challenging. And I love challenges in life. History is evident how I have emerged out of those tricky and challenging situations when everybody gave up the hope.  

Djinns…

I have heard the stories about Djinns when I was a kid. I even used to watch Aladdin and always expected Djinn to come out of a bottle and fulfill my crazy wishes. But I never heard about Djinn Pooja. On Thursday I got a chance to experience the thrill of Djinn Pooja and I was amazed to see the crowd. It happens every Thursday in Feroz Shah Kotla after 4:00 pm.

From outside, it looked like another monument. But when I went inside, it was still. It was quite, pin drop silence prevailed and the darkness defined the presence of some soul. Although there were plenty of people, the stillness of the place had wrapped everyone in its silence. The place where people go and pray is underground. There are plenty of small caves and each cave is decorated with candles and flowers.

Make a wish list and drop it there. That’s what people do. They come with a chit in their hand which holds their precious wishes scribbled in it. They all come and pray, while leaving, they all drop their wish list and wait for their wish to come true. People believe that most of the time, their wish has been granted. And when that happens they come back to the same place and distribute Biryani and sweets out of happiness and respect to Djinns.

Above the cave, there is a masjid named Jami Masjid. Feroz Shah Kotla was built by the Sultanate Feroz Shah Tuglaq. Opposite to this masjid, a 13.1 meters high column made up of polished sandstone, popularly known as Asoka Pillar.

The place is in a big area, mostly covered with a green garden where people usually spend time with their family and loved ones. Every Thursday a lot of people gather there to offer prayer. There are lots of rumors also that one gets to hear about this place. It gets closed by 8:00 pm, as people say after the sunset Djinns come out and read people wishes.

It is pointed out as a haunted place, and nobody dares to go there after sunset. There is a strange vibe inside the cave but the existence of Djinns is still a mystery. Some say they exists some say it’s all bullshit. There is no point in arguing on a topic like this. Never try to question people’s belief. You can either be on this side or on that side of the road. You cannot be or expect others to be on both side of the road at the same time. And never try to bring those people from the other side to your side. When you tend to ridicule their belief, it invokes a deep rage in those people. That’s why there are always two kinds of people in our world – the one who believes in miracles, the other who don’t believe in anything.

Apart from the fact that Djinns exist in this place, it is quite a good place to spend your evening. It is situated near Delhi Gate, which is another historical Monument of Delhi. Usually the place is quite empty, except on Thursday. Outside the gate of Kotla, you will find a great variety of Street foods comprising from pani-puri to chicken tikka’s.

People who have not been there, I would suggest to go there and experience a new dimension of this world.

Delhi Diaries: A New Chapter in Life…

Since I was six years old I wanted to travel the world. I loved living a nomadic kind of life; I knew then that I can’t spend my whole life in one place. I can’t live a life what people call a stable life because I don’t want to settle down at one place. And so even my fate has helped me to travel across the country and explore different places, helped me meeting different set of people, which gave me a whole new perspective to look at life, learned about different cultures and traditions. I was born in Bangalore – the only person in my family who was born outside Bihar. It has been a spectacular journey so far. After spending fifteen years of my life in my hometown Patna, as soon as I finished my 10^th grade I got my first chance to go out alone and wander like a nomad. For another two years that I ended up spending in Hyderabad – a beautiful city indeed, I had explored many places in Andhra Pradesh. Places like Vizag, Srisailam, etc. and then I went to Chennai.

Four years of my life that I spent in Chennai were just awesome, even though what all troubles I had in those years has in a way helped me to grow as a person. Every year people make many promises on New Year, they will quit smoking, they will start dieting, they will propose the girl with whom they have been in love with, and they will start working out and stuffs like that. Every year I make just one promise to myself – that I will try to become a better human being. And now after completing my graduation, my fate has brought me to the capital city of India, the city of extremes – Delhi.

The first impression of Delhi is always great. Whoever comes here the very first time they fall in love with the city. It is a kind of place where you can live, doesn’t matter whether you belong from middle class or higher class family. Unlike Mumbai – which is also a great city of India, it becomes quite tough to survive if you don’t earn much. It is true that the crime rates have increased by leaps and bounds in Delhi, still a good place to live in. And especially if you are going to start your career as a journalist – a place with high crime rates is always good to start with.

But if we keep crime rates apart for a while, this place has got a great history. So many times it has been rebuilt, so many monuments exists here which has got some great story behind it, so many places are there to explore, so many restaurants are here to taste and so many trolls are here to find. These days Delhi trolls have become viral and I really want to meet those people who think Holland would have won if there was a match between Netherlands and Holland; that India is in FIFA world cup 2014, that our president is still Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kampala, and so many other trolls which have come into the picture lately. Although I don’t want to offend people sentiments, trolls are just for fun, to entertain the public and keep the sense of humor alive in media.

And this year has been a fortunate one for me as wherever I am going I am always welcomed by rain and awesome climate. My friends say, that I bring monsoon with me wherever I visit. And it is true to a certain extent. Like I went to Mumbai it started raining, I was in Kolkata for two hours (I had a train to change) it rained, I reached my hometown after two years and it rained the first four days and last three days of my stay and the evening I left Patna for Delhi, the moment my train started from Patna station it had already started raining in Delhi too. Maybe it is just a coincidence which I prefer calling the result of good timing or maybe I bring monsoon with me wherever I goJ.

With this rain, a new chapter has begun in my life; I can’t tell you the feeling when you actually start living your dream. Something which you always wanted to do but it wasn’t happening in your life and at one point you almost gave up the hope of living your dream, like many others you had to think about Plan B and Plan C, then suddenly lightning strucked, sun smiled and the dark clouds which were hovering around your head for a long time lightened your mood by showering its blessings upon you and you finally landed exactly where you always wanted to start your life. I cannot express my feelings now when I know that it is no more a dream and it has turned into reality. All I have to do is put my leg on the pedal, move ahead and make history.

One of my friend Indrajit always motivated me whenever I received a rejection during my placements, “that you actually know what you want from your life – it is a start. Many people don’t even know what they want from their life. So you are always one step further doesn’t matter you didn’t get through some stupid company doesn’t make you a loser. And for those people who think like that is actually one loser in their life. I know you will become a great personality in future and this is the test you have to pass. It is the way of God to check how much you are passionate about your dreams and how far would you go to achieve them.”

Thanks a lot buddy, for you have not been there to motivate me I would have gave up my hope and I would have joined some IT company. It took few months to convince my family that I don’t want to work as an IT professional, instead I want to pursue journalism (they were scared about job security and how much will I earn after becoming a media person), an entrance test and an interview with the Senior Editor of The Times Of India, Chennai to reach where I am right now. To be a part of Times School of Journalism and to be among those 35 students who have been selected from all over India. It is indeed a great feeling, there are so many things to do now and I feel this one year is very less.

This whole episode in my life did really turn my world upside down for a while. It was very tough to face the storm and stand still, it was very tough to bear the pain of disappointments throughout, and I am glad that in those tough times I stood still, learnt to get up after falling every now and then.  And it made me believe one thing about life, whatever happens it happens for a reason, even a small thing which happens in our life has some big contribution in changing our lives.

From engineering to journalism is a big jump and a big risk is involved. But if you want to achieve something you got to take risks, without taking risks in life we can never do something out of the box.

There are so many things to say, so many people to thank who kept on motivating me and appreciated that among so many people I think differently, that I was different from the crowd. Especially my mom and dad who had the nerve to let me do what I always wanted to do. My brother – who is always my pillar of strength, who always save my ass from getting busted and who has a great contribution in helping me to take the baby steps towards my dream. My friends who always appreciated my blog (even though very few actually read my blog and my articles), to that girl who claimed to be my fan, whom I met in a bus in Chennai and then never saw her again, who asked for my autograph as if I was a big celebrity, it did fill a sense of responsibility in me to write for those people who loves to read what I write.

A writer is always incomplete without their readers. Readers are someone who keep the writer alive, who keep them on their toes, who always motivate them to think differently, who help them to bring a new wave in the society. So a big thanks to all my readers across the globe for keeping my dream alive when I had no hopes that I can pursue my career in this field and it is not just a time pass hobby to write but my passion to learn and grow as a writer.

Keep reading as the new chapter in my life has just begun and there is a long way to go…

Hasta la vista…