Kismat

My first attempt at Hindi poetry.. please go easy on me :-)

Zindagi aise to hai bahut haseen

Magar lagta hai ki kuch kami si hai

Aise to hansi kabhi thamti nahi meri

Magar rehti aankh mein kuch nami si hai

Chala jaa raha hoon aise raaste par main

Ki jiski manzil kuch ajnabi si hai

Mera humsafar bhi mere saath nahi

Aur dil mein dabi ek betaabi si hai

Agle mod par shayad woh mil jaaye

Dil ne kab se lagayi yeh umeed si hai

Isi ke sahare chala jaa raha tha lekin

Thak kar aayi mujhe ab neend si hai

Umeed ka saath bhi ab chootne laga hai

Jo apna tha woh bhi ab roothne laga hai

Apni kismat ko na de dosh mere dost

Kismat wohi hai jo tune khud banayi si hai...

I just keep going on..

Another amazing weekend.. another one without much sleep.. but I am still not complaining.. :-)

Started earlier than Friday.. on Thursday itself. Well actually said that to put in some praise for myself ;-) cooked rajma on Thursday.. and they tasted amazing! It was like Christmas in my stomach! Feels like I am a natural at cooking :-)

Friday - The start of the weekend was not that good.. went for the movie Ek main aur ek tu.. And trust me.. it takes a lot for the movie to make me walk out on it.. And this one had it all nicely packaged! So I moved out midway.. having a couple of beers sounded so much to be a better idea! :-) And then the night got better.. went out pubbing and then some clubbing.. danced to my heart's content.. And came home in the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday - Had booked tickets to the Rotterdam ATP tour semi-finals.. The agenda was to see Roger Federer play! And did we get a treat... That man is as awesome as awesome can be! It was an honor to see him play. 

And then it was dinner at a friend's place in Rotterdam. And his wife is pregnant too! Looks like its a baby boom out there! :-) They were having a discussion with Sudhakar and wifey about the first ultrasound that confirms the baby.. And it sounded so awesome.. 3 inch is the size.. and you can see the heart beating, the two parts of the brain and everything.. would be the most amazing feeling in the world I am sure! Listening to them talk made me want to have my kid right there and then! But can't do it alone.. ;-) Another place another time..

Sunday - It was carnival time! Woke up early in the morning.. was going to Maastricht Carnival with a friend. Was so goddamn sleepy... until dressed up people started getting on the train.. and then it was all excitement in the air! Reached Maastricht and was in for a surprise.. it was snowing.. I couldn't imagine the weather to change so drastically in 200-odd kms.. And boy was I unprepared for that change.. :-(

But nothing was going to stop me anyhow.. I was there for the carnival and there was no stopping that.. reached the parade street.. went into a pub to get some heat in the system first ;-). And then went out partying in the carnival.. I was amazed by the enthusiasm and the energy in the air.. And it was so so colorful.. I have probably never felt more alive.. the feeling was amazing.. 

Came back home after that.. back to routine. I wish the carnival fever could go on for like forever.. :-)

I am planning on laying low on the coming weekend.. Need some rest... The man is growing old you see. Back to back all fun weekends have tired me out. But I also know the little young man inside me.. and he won't let me lay low.. let's see who wins the fight.

Cheers till then! 

All the world...

Just here with a song..

Correatown - All the world

Time of my life

Just had an amazing weekend. Though I missed sleeping long hours and have been sleepy ever since :-) but I am not complaining at all..!

Started with a "Bollywood" night in a club on the Friday night.. before that actually a lot of beers in the Three Sisters pub.. chatting to random people there.. it was fun.. and then all the dancing.. man I luv dancing. And after all this time, dancing to my own movie songs and punjabi beats... super! So danced and danced and danced. With some JD-cola ofcourse ;-)

Came back home at 5 in the morning and as I reached in my pocket to get the keys, horrible realization - Had left the keys in the apartment. Gave a call to Sudhakar and thankfully he answered! I didn't have high hopes with that but he did. Walked to his place to get the keys and came back. It was dead cold and those 25-30 min of walk to his house and back, man I was almost frozen to death by the time I reached back! But then the next day, had a good laugh about it. And Sudhakar was like - "Had I not answered, headlines today would read like - A young Indian man found dead of cold on a park bench" :-D... seriously, what would I have done! Anyhow.

Then on Saturday, had a friend's stag. And that started at a shooting range. I was so excited about it all week. It was the first time I would be shooting with real pistols and real bullets! And the excitement was worth it! It was some feeling.. though I didn't hit the target too much :-) but it was really an awesomax feeling! The smell of gun powder as you shoot, the recoil from the gun.. Amazing! Three different pistols - .22, .38 and .44! And obviously, the .44 was the best! Followed the shooting with some bowling.. and lots of beer as always.. it was good fun too. Then went for dinner and then for some stuff I can't write about ;-) Come on, it was his stag! :-D

Came back home again in the wee hours and slept off. Woke up to my phone on Sunday and it was an amazingly good news - Arun and Nupur have had a little Arun! :-) I was so happy for him. Didn't know what questions are to be asked in such situations but Arun knows me good enough to understand that. He answered all the questions without me having to ask. :-) The boy came into this world nicely on a Friday evening (10th Feb) to celebrate his first weekend. :-) Smart chap starting his life with a weekend.

Then cooked something to eat and got a call from Sudhakar and he invited for coffee at his place in the evening. I had to go to a friend's place for dinner so I declined. But he persisted that I come before I go there. I didn't understand the persistence but I went anyways in the evening. And another good news - Sudhakar and Shivangi are pregnant! It doesn't get better than this..! Had some cake and snacks at their place, congratulated them and then off for dinner.

Dinner had amazing aloo ki sabzi with plain paranthas.. And some pakode before that. Got super stuffed there, came back home and slept.

Couldn't have asked for more from a weekend. All fun mixed with good food mixed with super news from some of my best friends! Now that's a weekend really well spent... Hoping for many more of such days!

Cheers!

P.S.: There is no more Snow now..! And I have mixed feelings about that.

The After-Effects...

Have not been here for quite some days.. Nothing too much was going on actually... regular routine and hence didn't have much to write. It has been shit cold since the last week here (the feels like temperature was -20^oC yesterday!!). And so my running is also suspended for now :-( 

It snowed here on Friday. Only one day of snow but it was pretty heavy and the town was white..! I was working from home that day and decided to go out to feel the snow. So went out for lunch, walked on the fresh snow.. felt the snow falling on my skin.. it was nice. I like snow. What I don't like is the after-effect. The walkways are so dirty now. Have to take off my shoes before entering the house else it becomes all dirty in the house and things like that. Thankfully its not slippery yet but I guess it will be sometime. The forecast shows better weather in the next week and I should be able to resume my running. Let's see. 

Speaking of after-effects.. two more after-effects that I don't like come to mind. After-effects of a heavy night of drinking.. and after-effects of a sour end to a relationship. The first of those is still ok.. as I luv drinking and this one anyhow fades away till the evening is back again. :-) But the second one.. I just hate it. And it stays with you for the lifetime. No matter what happens, the bitterness will always always remain there. Whenever you think back about it, sure you will get happy memories.. but with them will also be the bitter, sour, ugly memories. And you will not be able to smile about the happy ones then. 

Anyhow.. there are some good after-effects. A lot of them actually. The after-effect of a good run and a hot shower... the after-effect of spending sometime trying to cook something and it turning out eatable :-)... the after-effect of spending a vacation back home... the after-effect of achieving something you planned for... the after-effect of a heart-to-heart talk with a dear friend... and many many more. So you see... the good things in life will always outnumber the bad ones... simply go out and live it up! 

 I am on for some real fun this weekend.. I just can't wait.. more on it later.

For now, just a song on how I feel right now.. and I am sure that the weekend will comply. And I am sure that the after-effects will be lovely ;-)

Alan Jackson - Good Time

Cheers to the good moments in life!