Last day

Was too lazy/busy (take your pick to regularly do the timeline thing like the past two days.. But right now, i'm in the bus that's hurtling down the himalayas trying to fight nausea and mobile blog at the same time (which would explain certain weird words and indecipherable sentences)
the day was good, overall.. Started late, but owing to the slow way time passes in manali, we were able to do justice to it..
We ate some delicious bun butter for breakfast along with some tea.. After getting back and freshening up, we checked out of our hotel and went for a walk.. On the way, we stumbled across a pine forest.. It was quite dense, and the trees made sure that all the sunlight that filtered through was a nice shade of green.. The walk was long and good.. There were a bunch of dogs quietly following us, hoping for a morsel.. But we couldn't spare any.. We were fast running out of cash..
We then made another pair of tourists click our pic..
Afterward, we had lunch at our favorite shack, and took our time to eat.. Only when we got to the bus stop, did we realise the bus was just leaving! We showed our ticket to the busstand manager and ran toward the bus and jumped in.. The bus master ran after us and told us our tickets were for yesterday's journey!
What now? It took up another 10min to sort out the confusion. Thankfully, the bus conductor was a nice fellow, and waited for us to make corrections.. And since the date mistake was the office's fault, we didn't have to shell any more money!

(updated the next day) The bus journey was uneventful and we managed without a heavy dinner.. Didn't want to take chances with our stomachs against the chicanes and hair-pin bends!
Of course, there was this stupid with a blaring mobile phone that didn't let anyone sleep.. He assumed everyone in the bus liked bollywood item numbers!
We reached delhi safely at 5.30a took an auto home.. The heat is already getting to me!

Day 3

(please excuse the non-rotated and badly layouted pics.. Or buy me an iphone)
6.53a just got up.. Wanted to go for a walk at 6.30, couldn't.. Or didn't, rather.. Getting up out of a razai is quite hard! Will see if i'll go now..

8.56a Made it for the walk.. To the quieter part of manali.. Came here one early morning a long time ago.. Brought back memories.. But today, in spring time, when everything is not covered in snow, you realise how the green takes over everything that hasn't been walked on in 2 months.. Too bad i don't have a digital slr :-P

10.12a came back from the walk.. Had jam toast, and chai.. The sun's come up.. We've decided to stay here the night, and leave tomo morning.. But haven't decided what to do all day today..

11.30a went walking in one direction with the aim to climb a hillock.. Bought what the shopkeeper claims are raspberries and cherries.. I think they are ooty plums! Didn't climb the hill, but decided to stop halfway and dangle our legs off the roof of an abandoned building instead! On the way we saw a car that went sailing over an overbridge being pulled up by a crane.. Wonder if the man responsible for getting the car down there survived.. Came back and booked tickets home.. We'll be leaving at 1pm tomo..

12.45p at home.. Freshening up.. Getting ready to have lunch..

14.49p finished lunch.. 8 to 10 tandoori rotis each! The roti n dal was brilliant.. Had chai n came back for uno n catnap.. Realized the increased apetite is because of the great weather, good exercise and great food.. Initially thought i could put on weight before going home.. Later decided i'd lose the same in the delhi heat anyway, so there'd be no point.

22.18p stayed in the room till late in the evening.. Went out to get stuff for friends.. Had dinner.. Not as great as before.. A has a sore shoulder.. I have a headache.. Both promise to disappear by morning.. I guess it's setbacks like these that make a trip like this complete..

Day 2

3.30a Am woken up by tossing and turning of bus.. Look out the window to see am eerie stack of lights.. Second look tells me i'm in mountain country

5.45a i don't dare open my eyes. The bus moves at impressive speed along the u bends. Keeping eyes open would result in bad nausea. I remember i need to take my medicine. I negotiate 15 seconds of nausea to pop the pills off their packets n into my mouth. The view is undeniably beautiful.. Camera doesn't capture well.. Always Blame it on the camera

6.10a we stop at sundar nagar.. Take more pics.. It's cold enough we can blow out fog!

9.09a reached kullu.. turns out the road to ladakh is closed.. Will have to change plans

11.31a reached manali.. Booked hotel room.. 400, quite cheap.. Quite shady too.. I've decided we spend as little time in it as possible.. Manali looks different in the summer.. More green than white.. We can still see snow caps though.. But there is no need for sweaters.. A thinks we can stay here for 2 days and relax.. I think we should move in the morning and find something else to do..

3.00p. We've walked for over two kilometers.. The place looks so good in spring.. Though i still like it better in winter with snow all around! Taken good pictures.. But time really slows down.. A sees the point in leaving.. I'm enjoying the cold.. I see the point in staying.. We've postponed the decision to tomo..

5.00p walked some more.. Watched honeymoon couples, each having a photographer and tourist guide tagging along.. Our camera just died.. Darn it..

6.00p walked even more. Crossed the baes river n back.. Again contemplated tomo's plans.. Bought coffee, and roamed even more..

7.00p came back to the room.. Tired with all the walking. Played uno.. Went out again.. Realize that trips with friends are not about doing cool things, but just have fun doing the same stupid things in a new place..

7.40p. At the restaurant.. Ordered one full tandoori chicken.. That's it.. It's raining outside.. Temperature around 15C

8.00p had one full chicken between us, and a full glass of milk.. Time for much needed rest..

Trip to manali

7.30p got into the bus.. Fully packed.. Aashish is saying fond goodbyes

11p stopped over at a busstop dhaba.. Had bunta and clicked pics.. I figure the toilet owner has a friend in the printing business.. See pic.. We buy mint flavored potato wafers made in ludhiana.. Awesomeness..

11.40p on the bus again.. Will go to sleep

Metro picture

The following post was typewritten on my mobile phone (T9 input) with an sms editor for my text-editing. So please adjust with the bad grammar. (Or be willing to fund an IPhone :)

Most of you (specially from delhi) would agree that one of the joys of using public transport is staring at other people.. The bunch of people sitting in front of me showed a slice of delhi culture..
The most prominent were a family of three.. migrant workers; most probably from hariyana, judging from their garb. The son, somewhere around 5 was full of life.. The father with a tiffin carrier between his fingers had an exhausted look on his face.. Obviously the family can't afford to take sunday off work, and junior had to tag along..
The kid was full of life, however.. Jumping around, asking a hundred n one questions to his mother, and playing with her.. It was nice to see the tired mom still have energy to play with her kid in spite of the hard day at work past.. Today was one of the hottest days, with temperatures blazing at 45c. The father, on the other hand, didn't want to join in the fun.. May be there was a jnu on his mind? May be he was self-conscious?
Next to this family, was a young couple engrossed with eachother; playing with a mobile phone, and learning the meaning of pda at the same time.. They paid no attention to the family next to them, even when the jittel boy put his dirty bare foot on the man's pants creating a footprint..
On the other end, was a plump man in his early 40s sporting a big moustache, he was watching the entire spectacle in disdain. Specially when the little kid put his feet on the chair, dirtying it.. The mother, catching his glance, quickly wiped off the stain with her saree, but not chiding her baby boy..
Isn't it how our city is, more or less? Mainly inhabited by the migrant worker, struggling to eke out a living, hoping to make it big in the city, and learning to find joy in little things that line their great hardships.. Our city cannot do without them.. However, the ones who have (or whose parents have) found wealth in the city either ignore the poor because they are caught up in their own world of unlimited pleasure they can now afford, judging by the new tabooless cultures they can now access due to their material surplus.. or look at them in disdain, assuming that it was all their own fault that they are poor.. But the poor are least bothered.. They cautiously keep a low profile while they continue their pursuit of happiness.

Few Random things

Present circumstances (meaning me being unnecessarily stressed out about the packing and moving to Kolkata, and then to Trivandrum, and then to Bangalore) have not allowed me to write sensible posts, so just so you (whoever you are) know that I am here, I thought I'd put up a few random things that happened to me during the  past month.

• I installed my cooler. Cut a chunk of my finger in the process. But I slept really well. 
• All-out (A liquid mosquito repellant) apparently doesn't work in anybody else's house but mine.
• I helped in a (failed) Lumbar Puncture. The guy was too big to hold steady all by myself.
• 70% of work at Shalom is done. Which is why I get time to type this up.
• I need to collect photos from friends. After which I'll post links. Sadly, I haven't used my own camera (great as it is) to its full potential.
• It's hot here, beyond comprehension. Even for a dilli-wala. I have a feeling the temperature will hit 50C this year. (122F)
• I puked an entire night's dinner and the next days breakfast because of dehydration. I had no idea that dehydration could do that!
• I'm seriously thinking about starting a new blog on music you don't have to buy. That I imagine I would update that one more often. Generally the plan dies out soon after the 'contemplative stage'. 
• A pigeon laid an egg in my balcony yesterday. And I thought it would have a nest at least. It laid the egg on the floor! And now it just sits on it. Wonder what it does when the sun comes up. DIY bird-nests anybody?
• Can't wait to get out of Delhi. There is that feeling of unease that creeps in the moment you know you'll be leaving in a few days. 
• I've had the honor of meeting so many good friends here. As much as I want to run away, I feel sad leaving them all behind.

Have a Great Weekend!

Movie Watching

This photo was taken the last time I went to a movie. Sherlock Holmes was playing, and I don't think I can miss Guy Richie's movies for the world. But in spite of all the drama that I lavished on the movie to my friends, I managed to miss the first 15 minutes, which had the famous fight-scene.
But no matter (I managed snag a pirated version from a friend later on) this blog is not about Guy Richie, or Downey Jr, but about watching movies in general.
It's amazing where God has placed me. I live in a time and place where the technology is so good that I can get a movie within 2 hours, and live in a country is so poor that I won't get caught that easily for pirating. So, for my kind, watching the movie in a theater does not make much sense. It's just louder, the pop-corn is expensive, you have to travel to the nearest theater, and shell out a lot of money, and you can't fast forward through the boring scenes!
But there is still a special charm of watching a movie in a theater with friend(s). The picture you see was taken on Republic Day just after I got out of the theater. The fog was so dense that (other than giving the chance for a brilliant pic, which I obviously messed up - blame it on the camera) I had to walk alone for 2 kilometers through criss-crossing streets in silence in 10meter visibility at 11 in the night. The place where I was walking a famous dumping ground for thieves. They basically dumped their victims on the very roads I was walking on!
Watching the movie in a theater is never about the movie (at least in my context) but about the experience of getting there and getting back!
I'm going to watch green-zone today. If Matt D delivers, I will most probably download it to watch it again and again till I memorize every scene!