The black. The white.

I myself hopped from one ATM to another, making the count equalling to 10. Just to withdraw ₹2000 from my own salary. Finally got the money at 12 am.

And I had the sweetest sleep. Not because I got tired from running from one place to another with just ₹40 in my pocket. But because I am liking the horror on the face of those who hoarded black money. I am delighted to see the scare and fear on their faces and how they are willing to give the money to charity, to the poor.

Giving away money to the needy, which they never would have done, or had ever done till now. Sons are putting money in their mother’s accounts. So yes. The trouble is worth it.

— A salaried man with a bank account.
#fightagainstcorruption #blackmoney #noteban

Hyderabad : The First Couple of Days.

If you have lived in Delhi for over 5-10 years, you might know the existence of Compressed Natural Gas powered vehicles. You get accustomed to the cleaner, less polluted air. The “greener” air. So why am I being some nature huger and talking about the CNG gas?

26th May 2014, 2 pm, Secunderabad Railway Station : Something was wrong. Something in the air. Eyes started getting irritation. And the pollutants in the air made it harder to breathe. The southern state of India, Andhra Pradesh is petrol powered. Yes. That was the first impression of Hyderabad I got. Just as any other place, a buzz of auto-rickshaw drivers came into my ear. Everyone yelling at top of their lungs to just pull you into their “ride” and take you to any place you want at of course at a rate obviously higher than the legitimate one.

I had gotten into a summer internship at International Institute of Information Technology, which is situated at Gachibowli, Hyderabad. So about 26 kilometers from the railway station was the place where I was going to stay for the next 2 months.

What keeps YOU going?

I should be studying right now as I have mathematically 24 hours and 30 minutes and humanly just 8 hours to study for my exam. That’s a calculation one would never want. But somehow I still live with it.Anyway, so here is a list of things that I experience on and off  and I want to share with you! Tell me how many of you found at least one common thing and made you smile!

1. The one minute extra sleep in the morning when you know you need to get up.
2. The hot and cold feeling in winters under the sheets.
3. The first glass of water when you reach home after a run.
4. The smile of the little baby, who travels with you in the same bus / metro train, which makes you smile and forget the long day at work.
5. The Rs.5 you saved by not purchasing the bus ticket.
6. The pee you take before going to bed.
7. The longest burp you take after a big feasty meal.

Hell Of A Night Without Light!

Downward View From Mountain

So last month I visited my maternal village, a place never heard of, and a name that gives a weird smile on knowing it : Pokhri, Uttrakhand.
Funny name right? I used to wonder when I was young that is it really a place or some magical phrase “Pokhri” that makes you poke the other person without touching them, like what Facebook does today.

Anyway, I finally had a chance to visit this small little place which I hope I can find on GMaps by the end of writing this blog. The trip was a long one. From Nainital to the funny named village was a tiring journey of 15 hours straight drive, along with a few short puke-breaks because of two-three family members who have weak stomachs to hold the tummy fluids in place, including my mom!
However the journey included sceneric routes. On the way while climbing the mountains, there was nothing overhead but clear skies. And down below, if you had the guts to look, was a deep fast flowing Beas river whose sounds of gushes could be heard feet above! And on the banks of the river were naturally places boulders and rocks. Being inquisitive, me and my brother walked down the way towards the banks to feel the cold water and take a dip in the stream. My brother, dipped down once and came back up only to find that Beas carried away his specs along with the waters.
So we moved back up to the route again and continued the journey. Soon it started getting dark and we realised that the happy part was over. It started sinking in that this was not Delhi and there was no  such thing as street lights! So high beams were turned on in the car while travelling on the bumpy roads that first made me hit my head on the top, then on the left and then toppling over in the front! Sure it sounds funny right now! But trust me, it’s no fun.

With time, it was complete darkness and only source of light at that “no-where” point was the car headlights.

A point came when I felt the need to relieve myself, so asked the driver to stop till my tanks were empty again.
Suddenly, I saw two bright lights peeping out of a bush about 5 feet away from me. The driver called out for me immediately. I did not understand what was it about that the guy can’t even let me finish my business at peace! When I reached the car, it was then that I realised that Bheem Singhji had saved my life! A huge tigress walked past the car, stared at us, and then ran off to the other side of the jungle!! So now I knew exactly where we were!! Right in the middle of a war! War of land acquisition! Humans vs wild life!

Terrified, everyone was up with wide eyes just to be careful! So I switched on some music on my laptop to lighten the mood and small kids took to the mobile phones to play Angry Birds Seasons.

After about an hour, there was a fork in the road. My dad and my uncle who were now accustomed to the darkness at just 7 in the evening got out to look for some direction boards. And I got down to take some photographs but the flash was not too effective in the grave darkness! Then I saw both men returning with a swift pace towards the car and asked me to get in the car! What happened now, I asked. My uncle told me, while reading the direction board, something was crawling on his shoes, so without paying attention, he just kicked it off aside the road. And as they turned to come back to the car, he realised what he had actually kicked aside was a Python!! A real live Python who would have gripped his legs if he hadn’t averted the mishap by literally kicking it away!!
My aunt got worried and broke down to tears after the two life threatening animals that night.
The good news was, we were 20 mins away from the grandma’s house where we had to stay!!

Hell of a night it was!
But now I wonder, had it not happened, there won’t have been any story to tell my friends!
Pokhri wasn’t that bad either!

Read the next blog about my stay at the village!

Prabhas Tiwari

“Doctor, I am allergic to you!” – Le me.

Watching a broken heart is worse than watching a broken bone. Seeing a broken heart gives heartache to the person seeing him/her. Most of you might agree with me. But what if there are 100’s of broken people with 100’s of fractured bones? What if there are 60 year olds with a first second or even a third heart ache? What if you land up at a place with all the white dressed angels of god out there to repair these disfigured helpless souls? A place where people from lower section of society chewing “lal pan” leave a mark behind on the now-red walls? Where person moans and the family groans. And the visitor scares,”haww! Batao ghar baithe kya ho gaya!” H for haww- spit- hell.
Everyone hates to go to hospitals, so do I. But my hatred is beyond the normal person’s detest to visit a doctor. In childhood, I had a this weird tooth problem in all my milk teeth. My new teeth would grow up much before the milk tooth would even start loosening up. To most people this happens to 1 or 2 teeth, or even 3. But I had this thing for 5 milk teeth! So each time this would crop up, my parents would take me to the dental department of Safdurjung Hospital, leaving me behind wondering whats the problem with the second tooth? Isn’t it good that now I can chew more than 32 times? Anyway, that’s not how the world runs. So, I used to go to these dental departments to get my tooth plucked out by the middle-aged sadist lady with her own crooked teeth, looking into my mouth as if some gold mine is hidden and plucking the tooth out like the happiest and the craziest miner. The smell of the room would leave me nauseated. The people around throwing looks that throw keywords like,  “so-young-yet-at-dentist, new generation, carelessness”.
Then at the ages of 5 and 7, I had two accidents that fractured right leg at the same spot. And the orthopaedic department made me believe that there is, indeed a hell.
Since then I have been trying to evade the hospitals, however sick I might me, till it is too serious. In fact, a secret to share, while travelling in metro, I have to get down at AIIMS station, so I look for Gate number 4, which does not face AIIMS hospital, thus, not letting me face my fears!
Soda companies might very well say, “darr ke age jeet hai!” Thanks but no thanks. No soda drink can erase the childhood fears!

Related articles

• Appointment with Dentist (intansu.wordpress.com)

Virginity : Why does it matter to men the most?

Pre-marital sex is a term forbidden in Indian society, and the minds of most men, even though Indian testosterone seems to be the one with maximum rush, on the premise of the fast growing teenage pregnancy rate, increased rate of rape crimes and sex before marriage. On the streets, one can easily find a girl passing and three crotches being scratched. Recently, there have been much talks about the westernisation in India. Westernisation in clothes, in what people watch, the way people talk and the cultural influence. We have all readily accepted all the fruits from the western tree, but somehow retained the age-old roots of some ancient tree. This not only includes the change in cultural and spiritual beliefs but also the physical needs and satisfaction of the body. The Indian Gen-X is ready for having a physical relation. Men now want to live playboy-ish role. How very often one gets to see a guy pretending to be a womanizer from some H-wood movie, or some ultra hot guy buying drinks for a girl. For most of these men, keeping a sexual relation is perfectly fine. No problem with that at all.

But! When a man finds his love or when he gets into an arranged marriage, everything seems beautiful from outside. But from inside, there is a small devil always wanting to ask one question. The question is about the Virginity of the girl. An indian man, who was into a lot of physical relationships himself, suddenly gets into his “Indian cultural roots” and starts believing in the concept of “purity”. Purity for a man simply means the girl’s virginity. The moment a man sees himself getting into a serious relationship, the most important criteria becomes the “purity” of the girl. The moment the answer is negetive, it’s all over for the girl. Nothing bothers the man – the purity in the heart, the love she might be carrying, the talents in her, or even the potential success she might be holding. All that matters to the guy is the broken Hymen.
The effect is so pronounced in today’s date that the number of hymen-rejoining surgeries in India has amplified majorly. Marriages are ending up within the first week when the man realises there was no “seal” in his wife’s body. And one ridiculous myth that is struck in every mind is that the breakage of the Hymen is only because of intercourse. Wrong. A female might lose her hymen due to physical stress, athleticism, over mental stress or masturbation. A broken hymen does not necessarily mean the girl gave up herself to some other man before. And even if she did, then what is the big deal? A man can roam around and plug-in his pubic when and where he wants but as soon as a serious relation builds up, he wants an untouched body? And what about the girl who was once being pulled into getting physical? Of course, the obvious answer is why should I compromise with the purity for someone else’s pleasure.  Then what about the girl’s life you have ruined yourself before your current relationship? What about the pain you caused to the girl? Might she not be facing same rejection because of the damage done by you? Why is virginity even a dimension of considering someone’s love? We need to understand that whatever the girl did was her past. That past in which she did not know how things would grow. She had no clue of ending up with someone else. And anyway, if a man can have sex before marriage then why can’t a woman. And is it not stupid to ask for a virgin girl, when men themselves take it away before the marriage?
Virginity does not hold any ground in reckoning a girl’s heart, love, or feelings.

Related articles

• Can Sports Hymen Damage (socyberty.com)
• How Hard is It to Remain Virgin Today? Warning to Girls! (socyberty.com)
• Busting Myths, If You Know What I Mean (memebase.com)