Bicycle Riding in Pune!

A few days back, I tried picking back one of my ardent hobbies which I had abandoned in My Odyssey years- Cycling! Since Aakash and YD were going on a long bike ride! I tagged along with them. I borrowed YD's cousin's ladies bicycle and on a chilly December Tuesday evening we were all jet set to hit the rough roads. So we decided our route which was going to be down from Sadashiv Peth-FC Road-E-square flyover-University road. I had only practised a little the previous evening on Karve road and was a bit apprehensive about the evening traffic on all these jam-packed bottle necked roads. Anyways it was my first time and I decided to take the risk. Of course I was finding it difficult to keep pace with these guys as they were very fast and experienced. I had to pedal my way faster to keep up with them. The seat of my bicycle was very low and I was finding it problematic to pull the cycle on upward slopes. Infact I had to get down on Garware Bridge! But some how I managed to ride down all the way ahead of E-square but then my legs which were not used to all this exercise gave up. So I turned back and returned mid-way! But though exhausting it was an exhilarating experience. And a quiet fulfilling one @ that. I think I need to go on more such bike rides which will make me used to ridding. The most difficult part was facing hell while driving thru full traffic at 6 pm. I wish we could go on a plain green pollution free road someday, probably on the outskirts of the city. Aakash had a bike problem so he turned back mid-way while I guess YD was the only person to reach the decided spot. Albeit a bit taxing, it was too good an experience! I think one must keep giving a shot at such different strokes to keep up the excitement in our mundane life!! Thanks Aakash and YD! Can't wait for the next round of Bicycle riding!

Life's Big Lesson in a Small Scoop! 10

I am updating this section after a loooooooong gap! It was not that lessons weren't learnt in this span! Infact there were many! Its just that not all of them were drafted here!

Abb padh likh kar kiska bhala hua hai?????

I have a habit (You can call it a bad one) of uttering hackneyed dialogues and making fun of the highly cliched sentiments that our Hindi Cinema evokes @ times - rather ignorantly. One of my favourite one is to babel fish in a typical auntie like monotonous style, " Abb padh likh kar kiska bhala hua hai ?"(Read:Who has benefited out of Education anyways?).

Yesterday I had my Eureka Moment! As me and my hostel mates gathered for our regular late night "girl talks". And our regular bhanksss about films began. I began to utter the same dialogue. And I stopped mid-way. Rather my rational brain forced me to press the STOP button immediately.

"Padh Likh kar Kiska Bhala hua hai ?" My brain re-read, scanned and comprehended the dialogue. The answer came pronto: Mera aur Sabka. This was even more applicable in terms of women. I gulped my curiosity @ that moment and let it lie low for later contemplation. After everyone descended to their slumber the internal ratification began. I am 26 years old. Am independent!(yeah I can finally say that) Inspite of a crash I have landed to the safety of my own feet. Bruised but certainly not broken! And a major portion of the terra-firma beneath my trembling feet(apart from my loved ones) has been provided by no one else but my education.

There are girls in my hostel who have practically come from remote villages in Maharashtra. Some of them can hardly afford a metro-lifestyle. They prefer to walk their way around instead of spending Rs. 3 everyday on the "comfort" of overcrowded PMT Buses. They want to educate themselves and the world around them. They are taking pains of working part time and educating themselves because they understand that in a society that is ruled by the influence of ever-altering political, social and economical scenarios, it is education that will be their backbone.

Education today has stood firmly with many ladies who have absolutely no support in this world. With education comes financial Independence and it further reckons freedom to take individual decisions responsibility.

Just imagine the spate of us Indian women if we were born in an earlier time frame where situation was not conducive for women education. The vicious circle of poverty - early marriage - illiteracy - dependency - destitution would have continued. The anti-women literacy antagonists would have ruled the world and our atrocities as a second sex would have multiplied. Or for that matter even if we were born in a third world country that was not pro-women education and liberation, each day would have been so difficult to live.

I think we Indian women should really be grateful to the doyens of women education like Anandi Bai Joshi, Mahatma Phule & Maharshi Karve etc. It is only because of the relentless efforts of these people that many Indian women are Educated, Independent and Earning a living for themselves today!

What has education provided me??? The answer is simple! EMPOWERMENT- to stare the world in the eye, keep pace with it and challenge it!!!!

I got my answer!
I will never repeat that dialogue again!
I swear!
: )

English just KICKED THE BUCKET! 1

English dies a sad death everyday..And very brutally @ that!
And guess what, we kill it~
Here is one instance how..

The victim- the word " Functional"

According to Merriam Websters dictionary:
Main Entry: func·tion·al
Pronunciation: \ˈfəŋ(k)-shnəl, -shən-əl\
Function: adjective
performing or able to perform a regular function
—func·tion·al·ly \-ē\ adverb ctional psychosis>—compare organic 1b

I have atleast heard 25 people at isolated instances using the world wrongly, in a totally different parlance colloquially!

They say- This dress is casual but I prefer functional dresses for special occasions.
or
This is a functional clutch- for everyday purposes I have another one.

1.e. the word functional is surmised as "related to function or special occasion"
when actually it means a regular function(activity).

It is high time that we correct this gross culpable linguistic gaffe immediately!

Yeah!

It rains in the land of creativity and the ensuing " Thinker's drought" ends....

Sleepless in Shaniwar Peth!!!

What among the following factors contribute the most to you turning into an insomaniac due to sleepless nights ?

1. Bed Bugs
2. Painful Breakup
3. Coffee
4. Nostalgic dreams
5. Exams
6. Work Load

My Observation:
All of them are equal partners in the crime....Just not in that order..hehehehehe

I like!

Where the mind is without fear and the head held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action; Into that heaven of freedom,my Father, let my country awake.

.......Rabindranath Tagore

हिम्मत करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

Indeed a very beautiful poem that I came across Today by late Mr. Harivansha Rai Bacchan. The last para holds a very special place in my heart!! It inspires......


लहरों से डरकर नौका पार नहीं होती
हिम्मत करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

नन्ही चींटी जब दाना लेकर चलती है,
चढ़ती दीवारों पर सौ बार फिसलती है,
मन का विश्वास रगों में साहस भरता है,
चढ़कर गिरना,गिरकर चढ़ना न अखरता है,
आखिर उसकी मेहनत बेकार नहीं होती ,
कोशिश करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

डुबकियां सिंधु में गोताखोर लगाता है,
जा-जाकर खाली हाथ लौट आता है,
मिलते न सहेज के मोती पानी में,
बहता दूना उत्साह इसी हैरानी में,
मुठ्ठी उसकी खाली हर बार नहीं होती,
हिम्मत करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

असफलता एक चुनौती है स्वीकार करो,
क्या कमी रह गयी,देखो और सुधार करो,
जब तक न सफल हो नींद चैन को त्यागो तुम,
संघर्षों का मैदान छोड़ मत भागो तुम,
कुछ किये बिना ही जय-जयकार नहीं होती,
हिम्मत करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

-------- Harivansh Rai Bachchan