Saturday, September 1, 2012

Journeys

I. A journey of loss
You are at Valley of flowers completely astounded by the majestic beauty of the nature. Every kilometer you  trek ahead, colours keep changing due to change in flora around. You click pictures, try to capture the immense beauty through your camera (a camera u have possessed since long). Suddenly, the camera slips and falls out of your hand into the deep valley. You feel utterly depressed about the loss, about the camera and about the pictures in it. But the loss is so ephemeral that it evaporates and  gets so miniscule infront of the immensity of the mountains, the expanse of the clouds and the profundity of the river. You just walk ahead and keep exploring. Then just a thought comes across your mind "Probably the best work of an artist never gets published".

II. A journey of randomness
You start going down the mountain wearing a Beatles T-shirt with all four members printed on it. Out of blue, a random girl taking a rest inquires from you that when had you got the last haircut. You are taken aback by the randomness of the question from such an arbit girl. And before you recollect, she comments that that guy (pointing towards Ringo Starr) in your T-shirt resembles you with the same smile and same beard. You recollect yourself and just smile back and reply "But my favourite Beatle is John Lennon" to which she says "But mine is Ringo Starr". And then she leaves climbing the hill up humming " Mmmm I get high with a little help from my friends....". You start descending the hill with an extra energy in love with the randomness and gregariousness of that girl.

III. A journey of innocence
You reached the base camp and now set yourself for the road trip back to Delhi. And before any bus or a public vehicle arrives, you spot a school bus and take a chance at hitch-hiking on it. And after a little convincing the driver, you find yourself amidst some school children aged between 6 to 10. They are so frightened of you, conscious of the devilish new comer. From the cool Ringo Starr, you have turned some uncool monster whose backpack is heavier than their school bag. You try to be friendly and smile and put all endeavours to mingle with these kids. Finally after a lot of attempts, they find you friendly and start accommodating you. And before it all ends, you find yourself singing "Why this kolaveri Kolaveri Di" with the kids.

IV. A journey of laughter
You are sitting at a dhaba alone enroute Rishikesh. And in the next table, there are sitting 5 Sikh men. They call the waiter who is also a Sikh guy and order: "Teen chai ko paanch cup mein daal kar lao (Bring 3 cups of tea poured into 5 cups)". The Sikh waiter replies "Ye kaise hoga? Teen cup chai teen mein hi aayegi (How is that possible? 3 cups tea will come only in 3 cups only)". There starts a min-brawl which has started with 5 sikhs explaining 1 Sikh about how to pour 3 cups of tea in 5 cups. It gets so hilarious because of the trivial nature of the source of the dispute. Finally you get up and intervene ordering 3 full cups of tea and 2 empty cups from the waiter. Everyone (the six sardaars) is so relieved and rejoicing at the solution that they end up ordering 3 empty cups instead of two empty because the sixth guy sharing in the tea party is you!

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PS: All the journeys are based on true incidents.