Roadtrip...in a bus!

My bag is stuffed beneath my seat. It's a big bag mind you. My legs are bent and resting on the bag..I'm sitting next to a guy I just met at the Chandigarh bus station. And he's possibly the reason I'm feeling ok...in the first place!

After a shoot in Patiala for CNN IBN, I'd decided to head to Kumarsain (about 80 kms) from simla where my mum's family is. While the notion of going to the hills might be romantic, the road that leads there definitely isn't! And if the dusty roads weren't an issue, the state transport buses hit you in the ass like a fucking hard baseball bat! The pain in my ass at the moment, was the himachal transport bus that I had boarded in Chandigarh.
It was probably my state of complete confusion, the lost look on my face, of just the sheer desperation in trying to find an easy way to reach simla from chandigarh..that probably let Jitendra to encourage the conversation i'd first begun. Long story short, after wondering if we should take a cab for 1500 as opposed to a bus for 100 a passenger...the vote was clear. Now we were sitting on the second row behind the driver with the sign "you can do online BOKING" with us. As they say, if you stare at something long enough..you think its right...and i'm really beginning to wonder if the word booking has two o's..or is it indeed boking!?

The guy was as cool as they get. He was on his way to attend a course in simla he knew nothing about. He didn't know how many days it would last, or what it would teach him...he didn't even know where exactly it was in simla...what he knew though...that he was on his way! Adventurous... you bet!

After discussion finances and interesting ways to make money and sharing our ideas on entrepreneurship vs being an employee...our chat had strayed into the area of ghosts, god and of course personal experiences. My stories always get juicer with every narration. I expect that others embellish theirs as well.

Our man began telling me all about aghoras that are these tantrics who do strange things to break from the cycle and death and birth. Our chat continued despite men furiously digging their noses. Bumps that i feel now, but i didnt...then. And ofcourse even as we passed places called fagu and matiana (which i would ordinarily laugh at) and amusingly enough a place called nanni..when i was on my way to see my..naani ;)

It's easy to make friends of course.. through the course of this journey, we'd both trusted each other with our luggage and wandered off several times...and at the end of it all..really we were n no hurry to reach because the chat about Aghoras wasn't over. Well we did. And now i can't wait to pick up the book. I like the idea of travelling with a friend. The trick though..if you don't start your journey with one...make sure you at least finish with one.

P!

Marry a Tree?!!

Unfortunately we're at that ripe age where our parents seem most excited about the proposition of getting rid of us. The Hindu tradition, out of sheer politeness, calls it marriage. While some of my friend's parents have managed to shoo their kids away to another home...some others...are relentlessly trying!

I was chatting with a dear old friend of mine..who's parents are hell bent on finding her a match. Ofcourse...they have to find a whole other set of parents who'll be willing to take a bride...who's already married...and to make matters worse...to a tree! She's Manglik ofcourse.

Yes, I know Aishwarya Rai comes to mind because she had to marry a peepal tree...before she became the Bachchan bahu. But isn't she Mrs Peepal first!!?

Here our some questions we came up with..in this conversations about trees, peepal, people and ofcourse strange peepal people. 

1) Why a tree?

2) Why a peepal tree?

3) Does the marriage stand 'null and void' in law, if the tree is not peepal?

4) Who was the smart ass who said...any other tree is just not good enough!

5) Doesnt a peepal tree in Hindu philosophy denote a Saadhu..who is NOT SUPPOSED TO MARRY TO BEGIN WITH!

6) What happens if the tree you're marrying is already married to someone else?!

7) How come its always the girl who has gotta do this?

8) How come no other religion has mangliks.. or do they call it something else and marry people off to canisters, garbage cans, coconuts, sheep, crabs and toilet bowls?!

9) A marriage stands to be annulled if not consummated right...? Do they expect you to 'do it' with a tree while your human husband- to -be watches and waits his turn!!!!

10) I'm sure you have a question or two!!

P!

New year hooplah!

Some tibetan food, some choco chip ice cream. A few hugs exchanged ...and it was new year already!

It seemed a trifle low key compared to the past few years of doing live links on new years eve.... but it wasn't bad. The lack of traffic, I liked. The lack of enthusiasm, I could've done without. 

I'm not sure what it is about a new year thats so easy to write off as "just another day" and yet so hard to really treat as...you know, just another day!

All the cliches.... what-you-do-today-is-what-you-will-do-the-whole-year....for instance, I fall right into them..every year!

So, I don't fight with anyone on the 1st, I workout (fitness all year sounds good), I usually pray for a bit...and oh yes I always try and be happy (it is the new year afterall....yippie yay!)

I started my new year this time...waking up with three of my close friends. Quickly passing them all some breath spray. Going out for an uddipi breakfast...(we realised later that NONE of us had gone to the loo!) and the first "acitivity" we did in the new year was...hold your breath-  shopping. 

I was told there was some sort of handicrafts exhibition that was on at powai....and soon enough we were all driving there. Not that we needed anything really, but when has that ever stopped anyone from spending money on things you don't need, wont use!

Some bed spreads (now i know they're different from bed sheets!), a neti pot, some glass thingees, a lamp, some churan golis, cushion covers....when i finally got back home with all the bags...i really couldn't help but wonder...WHERE THE FUCK AM I GOING TO PUT ALL THIS STUFF!

Here's my question though..

am i going to spend the entire year.....

a) spending money?

b) doing things that are just giving me some sort of joy..

c) just breezing past a crowded bazaar (and im really going in for metaphor here!) and smile my way past people i meet and stop at the right one's who reeeally have something to offer

P!