Monday 29 September 2008

Travel-logging

Everyone loves and lives to tell their travelogues - there is something unnatural that happens to everyone on their journeys; it could that you forgot to put locks on your check in bags or lost your luggage, missed your flight - or even leave your tickets at home and even disastrous one 'Lost the Passport'. I for one am proud to say that I have been through all of these - not all at the same time of course- but every trip is full of stories that I would love to share here.
When I forgot to lock my bags
It was my first ever international trip - let alone that - it was the first time I was to step on any plane for that matter. Any hoo bubbling with all excitement I reached the airport said my long good byes to everyone - naturally I was to go for a year and a half for my higher studies to UK. SO sure and confident that everything is under control I walked to the desk - showed my ticket and put my bags on the weighing machine - 63 kgs exactly, well under the allowed weight of 64 kgs for students traveling. Whoosh I saw each of the bags drawn over the conveyor belt to accompany me on my flight. Proudly I collect my boarding pass and walk away to my next check post only to realise that the little locks that should have been on the bags are still in my pockets. DAMN!! No need to elaborate what happened ahead - it was a flight full of fear anxiety and excitement - big butterflies in my stomach - packed like a bomb about to blow off - luckily when i got my bags all safe and sound - it felt like my plane had actually landed
When Vandana left her tickets at home
In January 2004 Vandana was to travel to Denmark for 2 months for training through her office - she was a complete wreck as this was told to her only a week back - so there was not much time to pack etc - since she was the first of my clan to partake an abroad trip - we were clueless as to what could be in store. Her parents, my bro and mum were to drop her to the airport - for some reason i opted out and stayed at home instead. An hour and a half later i received a frantic call from my brother - I could make out there was someone yelling in the background- it was my mum!! Not quite sure what is happening I was trying hard to focus on he was saying and picked up a few keywords - 'Vandana', 'Tickets', ' At home' - I almost sprung from my seat when it actually dawned on me what had happened. The lass had left without her tickets. I turned the whole house upside down looking for them; finally to find them nicely tucked away in an envelope on the bed. I wasn’t sure how it would be of any help with me finding the tickets - cause the flight was to leave in 2 hours and there was no way I could make it there on my own in the middle of the night. While I was trying to make any sense of this the door bell rang - I saw through the peep my neighbor - he knew what was going on and was ready on his scooty to drive me to the airport. Armed with our helmets and not ascertaining entirely how cold it would be outside -freezing, we drove. We made it in 45 minutes - it was a record!! All in all yes I handed over the ticket and the usual 'rona - dhona'. Another point to be noted during your travels - check all your documents! Againnnnnnn !!!

When I lost mah luggage
Off to trip to OZZIe land, in December 2007, my flight was delayed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by 2 hours - Malaysian Airlines, to Brisbane - Via KL. I was getting a lil panicky as my transit flight from KL to Brisbane was due soon after I reach KL and I didn’t want to mess up my plans. Several enquiries and assurances later the Airline staff confirmed that arrangements for all transit passengers would be made. I landed in KL at the time when my transit flight was to take off - was rushed off directly from the runway to the waiting aircraft - like a swing airborne to airborne again. Happy that I made it I slipped into a deep slumber. Waking up at SYDNEY I was reminiscing what a flight I had - chatting up with some of my co passengers who had similarly been evicted. AS I waited for my luggage I had a weird feeling that something was wrong. And it was indeed - my bags had not arrived - they were still stuck at KL while I was being swinged away. It would take 2 more days for them to arrive and would be sent directly to my hotel - of course I was handsomely compensated for the grievance. I didn’t have much to complain as all my essentials were with me just my formals missing; but the compensation was more than enough to help me shop!! What a great trip - landed in Australia and the first thing that I do is shop.

When I missed my flight
Just as I was thinking that I have become a pro at globe trotting another disaster struck. June 2008 I was traveling to UK for a conference - I did the regular check - my flight was on time - I did a web check-in, a window seat as usual. Packed well in advance I drove to the airport sans ADI who was in Goa with his office guys. Too proud to show off that I can do things on my own without him! Just as I made a call to the Airline to check my status I could feel the sweat balls become bigger on my forehead. The departure time for my flight read 0130 hours and I had literally translated that to 1.30 pm in the afternoon. What the customer service lady on the line was informing me was that I had already missed my flight!! Tears rolling down my cheeks I informed everyone of the mishap - BABA insisted that I should still go to the airport and check. Making desperate calls to the travel desk and customer service I was a nervous freak when I reached the Airport. On reaching I went in straight to the Airline counter who very patiently heard my situation - there was no way I could cancel this trip - the booking for the conference and the hotel etc had been done in advance and there was also no way I could cough up money to buy a new ticket. The airline guys first gave me some water and then said they could put me on another flight that was to leave in an hour if I had my bags ready. I only had to pay some 'no show' charges for missing the earlier flight. There was nothing else that could have made me happier as I had already typed my resignation letter in my head, if the unexpected happened. I ran out with new found legs and picked my bags and was soon aboard my missed flight!! An important lesson learnt is to never back away from adversity - there is always a way out, I would have been in more trouble if I had decided not to go to the airport.
Hehehehe - when I lost my passport
This was an unbelievable event - I actually laughed my way out of it - on my flight back to London in 2006 my passport fell off my lap in the airplane. I only realised this when I had to present it at the immigration counter. I checked my bags inside out and traced my way back to the security gates near the boarding deck. I was almost embarrassed when I told the officer there that I want to go back on the flight. Very surprisingly he quipped, "Don’t you like London!!” I explained what had happened and was amazed when expression did not change. All he said was "Are you sure!!", and all I could say was "Positive". He took me along some doors that read “Officers Only" and I found myself in the security zone. He made a few calls on his walky talky and made me go through the Metal Detector gate and frisked my bag - then another door and I was in the lounge where all Airlines had their desks. Suddenly I realised that internally the airport is a small managing unit just feels much spaced out!!! Any hoo I ran all the way to Airline desk where there was Q. Mustering up my courage and convincing myself that this was an Emergency situation I skipped ahead of the Q. Thanks to all people ever so considerate. As I approached the lady at the desk she told me to hold on for a minute. She picked up her mike and on the Public Address System I heard, "Attention all passengers just arrived by the *** Airways Flight ** ***, Miss Trupti Mulajkar, could you please approach the closest airline counter' - this was repeated thrice. Not sure how but involuntarily I yelped 'That’s me!!' and she still continued to complete the announcement. When I finally went close to her - I saw the look on her face just like my mother's and felt that a hard smack was on its way to my cheek. Luckily she just smiled and handed my passport. "You should be more careful with these things". I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and thanked the security officer for helping me out - He said he was glad I can see London now and didn’t have to go back - of course I could see the sarcasm. If I would have not found my passport then we would both be traveling back home on separate flights!!!.
Such have been the amazing stories behind all the beautiful pictures and memories - they would have been different if all would have not turned out to be fine. But you know what they say "In the end everything is ALRIGHT - if it is not alright then it is not the END". Rock ON!

Tuesday 23 September 2008

Good Morning!!

Emotions run high. The heart races at million beats per second. The mind tried to build a picture that changes faster than persistence of vision. The wind lashes my face as I try to grab my thoughts that reach somewhere before I can physically get there.
There is a rush of blood with every thought, I find myself carelessly smiling and reliving moments over and over again. The elements reminding me of you - as I try to catch your scent in the wind, search your face in the clouds and my eyes light up like the fire burning within.
The delay of every millionth of a second causes agony. As every moment spent without you is an opportunity lost., especially when every morning I check myself in the mirror and look good just for you. Every radiant spot on my face touched by your love.
And then the moment arrives, when the cloud cover of faces dissipates. Slowly but surely my eyes begin to scan, when the frenzied thoughts of the last few minutes takes shape and I see your face which simply encapsulates all my feelings and to reciprocate to that dollop smile I simply have two words, "Good Morning!!"
- written by me - one Wednesday morning waiting at the station

Tuesday 16 September 2008

FACES -



He is my favorite and his buddy Hobbes is someone Id love to have for myself too. Do you think after these expressions there is any need to describe exactly whathe feels like. I have this poster stuck up on my dashboard in office and often look past at it without thinking much! Today a colleauge of mine asked me to share this poster with her and we ended up assigning each of these 12 Calvin moods of to our daily lives in Office.

So lets go in order left to right and top to bottom

Calvin 1 - I call this the SMART One
Thats what i do when I have received "Gyaan" on how to do my job better - seriously I am great at it - just that people have too many expectations from me to be the BEST.

Calvin 2 - BLOW my head out Cal
He is late again - as usual promised to leave early but something came up at the last minute so - "You should probably go ahead" and SHOOT MEEEEE!!!!! Just kidding but that is the last thing you want to hear after a long hours day.

Calvin 3 - Good Knight CAL
After I have done staring at the computer long after it has shut down, pacified that no email is going to be aimed at me. It is 'war of the mails' most days, some times you get wounded, sometimes you are victorious, every new project a new battle - keep your blade shining!

Calvin 4 - Seriously CAL
Yes after the gruelling train ride - when i reach the desk waiting for my Inbox to be flooded again - I think to myself seriously i get paid for this !$#&.

Calvin 5 - Twisted CAl
Oh cmon everything doesnt have to be taken literally- but when people dont seem to grasp the obvious and engage in discussions that are going nowhere - endless.

Calvin 6 - Bored CAL
Oh no not again!! Just when you think that a project is over and long gone - it comes back to haunt your dreams yet again.

Calvin 7 - Catastrophy CAL
Yes I am good at my work - but sometimes do make it a point to goof up - just to look like that!

Calvin 8 – Sarcastic Pirate Cal
Why now, doesn’t that look like the young Jack Sparrow in the making – hohoho and a bottle of RUM, Id prefer Vodka but I’ve graduated to more serious drinks lately, Drambuie’s and Cointreau’s. That’s what I look like in extremely high spirits, when things look much better with just one eye open.

Calvin9 – One finger in my … Cal
At any given moment in time when ultimately there is nothing to do or you don’t want to do it(the probability of this occurring is more);many a times involuntarily, its like a morning ritual, a twinge of getting something out of the way – that nasty pestering and sometimes very stubborn and deep rooted piece of snort out of your nose. Yup most of the time you wish that no ones looking and other times when it is irresistible you don’t really care.

Calvin10 –what god forsaken reason can I give now Cal (patented to Adityo)
‘Procrastination thy name be put to test’ by this dude, there is no sane reason for the stuff he does but just like that is a good enough reason.

Calvin11 – I wanna scream Cal
So many times everyday people cross you for the wrong reasons, it starts from rickshawallahs, to the hoodlum at the station gaping at you and thinks that you haven’t spotted him already, first class lady travelers who cant stop yapping about their inconsiderate male bosses, my chaiwala who doesn’t know how to make chai and experiments on me everyday.

Calvin12 - i told you so CAL
hahahaha this is my favorite lines - but really - i dont like to say it that often, but cant resist the devilish temptation when all logic is surpassed by the id, and why not? Its not my fault when you didnt listen the first time i told you so .....

Monday 8 September 2008

Words from the past

Scrummaging through some old papers I came across some of my earliest musings with poetry. You know those are the days when You can almost try your hand at everything. AnyHoo scribbled on a page torn from a notebook was this - it did not have a name then and i cant still cant think of one now ....

I saw a boat, rollicking alone
Fighting the waves on its own
That was no place for it to be
Lost in the vastness of the sea.

I saw a bird in its lovely flight
Going nowhere no nest in sight
Still shearing the wind and soaring high
carrying on, challenging the sky


I saw a tree standing tall
With leaves and fruits and flowers et all
Standing there how many years it must have spent
But no on saw now it was bent

I saw the sun the brightly star
and felt its warmth from yet so far
in its light the darkness hides
but the truth is its burning inside!

I saw a rainbow one morning
Sashaying its colors, glimmering and shining
the dark rain clouds it had shadowed
Knowing quite well its colors were borrowed

Everything I saw was somehow lonely
Living for others - but solo completely!

dated - March 2000


Monday 1 September 2008

Picture-speak

Some of my favorite pics - 'mah' works :)

'The Brisbane Cityscapes'
I took this picture while on a boat ride on the Brisbane river - it was an awesome ride - some of best landscapes i have seen - colors of the sky I have never seen before - It feels like the sun painting the whole city in its Yellow and the overwhelming clear blue Skies.
'Yohei - upscaling Windermere'
My Mad mad Japanese friend who has washed his mobile 3 times and used mosituriser instead of shampoo - Yohei the sweetheart with his innoccent smile and never say die attitude. I remember waking him up hysterically at 4.30 am to catch a train for this trip at 5.15 am. His brilliant plan to snow board with an old scrap metal sheet and cardboard sled which almost gave me a frost bite and of course his lovely wife 'Asami'. He went RED after having the curry but he loved it and of course his infamous 'one hour pasta sauce' - I am grateful for whatever little Japanese i learnt from him Arigato - Gosai- Masta - Yohei san!

'The nestled Windermere - Lake District'
It was a last minute decision to make this trip to Lake District - tickets were bought, the YHA was booked for 2 nights - it was the last weekend before the lakes closed down for Winter. We changed 3 trains and 2 buses to make it here - a good 51/2 hours away from Sheffield into the Lancaster county, very close from the Scottish highlands. The lake district houses 5 of Britains most beautiful and scenic lakes - we went to the biggest ' Windermere'. A low budget trip with packed with extreme action - so it included a trek of 4 hours in pouring rain, river crossing on the mountain and a ride in the freezing lake - so serene and calm. This picture is taken from one of the stop overs in the walkathon - which gave a complete birds eye view of Windermere and the last of what the Summer left behind. You can see the leaves drying on the trees and grass turning flame red - signs of the harsh winter creeping in ....


'Baby Rewa - one month old'