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Friday 31 January 2014

Village Life.

In my last blog i told you that we reached our village in summer vacation.In village people wake up quite early in the morning around 5a.m and since our house is facing east sun light come directly to our house.Early in the morning farmers used to take their bullocks to the field with bells ringing from their necks and their mouth capped with cap made of thin wooden bamboo.There we get to feel unique smell of smoke coming out from burning wood which was used to light earthen stove ( chulha ) and some of the utencils used for making food & vegetables were also made of earth.Apart from smell of smoke there was another smell of cow dung which was used to clean the earthen courtyard because it is considered that cow dung makes the house pure and kill harmful insects and bacteria's.
In breakfast my favourite food was thick bread made of rice flour dough and we used to eat it with onion,pickle and salt and till today whenever i go to my village i eat this very dish.Another popular dish of breakfast in our area is chudwa ( made of rice) with curd and sugar.As i told you that we had a pond near our house so we along with our cousins used to bath in it.We didn't knew how to swim so we used to take bath just in the corner of pond where the water level was quite low but my cousins used to swim quite fast and they used to go deep inside the pond and they also used to backstroke swimming and we kept wondering that how they can do it.One of cousin used to remain underwater and came out in another corner of the pond to our utter surprise.

Thursday 30 January 2014

Summer Vacation

During summer vacation we used to go to our village in madhubani district of Bihar. Those  days trains were run by steam engine and heavy black smoke used to come out from it and whistle of train was also different from today's train.It used to be a journey of 24 hours approximately and we used to go by first class which was without A.C at that time.My father used to get this facility from his office only once in a year.He is very fond of eating and used to make preparation for packing namkeen,biscuit,fruit,apart from prepared food and vegetables with full arrangement of plates,glass,knife etc.So as soon as journey used to start we started eating one item or another after every half an hour or so on his insistence.
We used to by comics from stations and used to drink tea which was served in earthen pots in those days and because of that it used to smell unique.After reaching our village which has a railway station and our house is just a walking distance from station.Our Grandparents,two uncle's and aunt and cousin's used to look forward to our visit and we also were very fond of them.We had a big house in the village and it was mostly built by my fathers money and there were only two-three houses in whole village which was as big as ours.At that time roads were almost non-existent and there was no electricity and they used to have lanterns which used to get lighted bi kerosene oil.There is temple just few meters in front of our house and just alongside there was pond which is called pokher in hindi and there was lot of greenery all around.We had our own mango orchards just 100 meters in front of our house.After reaching our house the first thing is that we were asked to first clean our hands and feet and then take the blessing of our family deity ( Kuldevi ).

Wednesday 29 January 2014

Gardening.

Going back to my childhood days in bhopal i remember that gardening became a big passion for us.As i had told you in my earlier blogs that we got a big house with big courtyard.Initially when we occupied the house it was a barren land and the earth of that area is of black colour and it is very fertile.My eldest brother is very fond of gardening since childhood and we the younger ones used to assist him.Within a year we turned our courtyard into a beautiful garden with lot of beautiful flowers like marigold,jasmine,mogra,different colour of roses,sunflower,Raat ki rani ( used to smell great specially after the evening ) and there were so many flowers whose names i don't know.There was one small plant with lots of flower was named 10 o clock because flowers used to bloom at that time.
It required lot of labour and hard work and apart from flowers we also started growing lot of vegetables like cauliflower,peas,tomato,beans,brinjal etc.We also brought small fish of different colours in different shapes and sizes and put them in water tank of fountain which was in our courtyard.Slowly word spred out about our garden and people used to come from far away places for flowers.Even our landlord got surprised to his house changed so beautifully by us and he got so happy that he told my father that he himself couldn't have done it and he told my father that from now on you consider this as your own house and do any modification in the house if required and there is no need of any permission.

Tuesday 28 January 2014

25th Wedding Anniversary.

Today i am taking a break from childhood memories because yesterday was a special day in my life . Yesterday on 27th January i have completed my 25 years of married life and most of the family was present except my younger brother family to celebrate the occasion.My younger was not able to come as he was unwell.Actually he was the one who reminded everyone that this year is going to be my silver jubilee of marriage but unfortunately he was not able to make it.We all gathered at our family residence and cut the Cake and whole was decorated with flowers and balloons and and to my surprise i found that children's have not only done that but also booked a hotel for the dinner and all family members gave us lot of gifts.
                                                           So the day was made memorable for us by my family members.Now i want to tell you that i am presently unemployed for past 3 years but still i am living my life comfortably and i don't have any worries because i am living in a joint family and if you remember i started my blog by writing on the importance of having the joint family otherwise it would have been very difficult for me to survive.I know there  are lots of difficulty in living in joint family like you have no privacy and you need to make lots of adjustment but when you are in difficult phase then you realise the importance of having the joint family.           

Friday 24 January 2014

Sports Galore

As i told you in my earlier blog that we made lots of friends and we are four brothers.My eldest brother is 5 year older then me and the elder one is 2 year old and younger one is 2 years young so our friends were also in the same age group.We used to play lots of game like cricket,football,volleyball,table-tennis,)etc.But apart from these sports we also used to play Marbles,kite-flying,latoo( Wooden toy of conical shape with nail below)which is tied with thin rope and when we throw it down on the floor and it start spinning on the floor.These days you hardly see children's playing these games.Playing with latoo is an art and it used to come in various shapes and we used to have lots of battle fought with passion.In 1973 hockey player Aslam Sher Khan of india was big star like dhoni of today because he was instrumental in india's wining the hockey world cup and he belonged to bhopal.But we used top play hockey in rain on rods and that to with plucking trunk from the trees and giving it the shape of hockey and we also used to make ball with cloth and tying it with lots of paper giving it round shape with the help of rubber bands.And i can't describe the thrill of playing
hockey of this type in rain.
Apart from these games i was also very active in athletics and used to participate in 100mtr,200mtr,Long-jump & High-jump from school in the state level school games.I used to jump 15 ft.at that time and i was in 6th class.I also used to jump 4ft. high in high jump.

Thursday 23 January 2014

Bhopal-1

As i told you in my earlier blog that we got shifted to bhopal and started a new chapter in my life.But within few days we started making new friends in our neighbourhood.And within months there were lots of friends and i remember some of them till date such as two brothers Tom & Tunnu,Four brothers with unique names like Goodluck,Welcome,Bubble and Lucky.Then we had a freinds called Bhayyu and he had a Table Tennis
table installed in his house,another friend were maheshwari ,kartik,Dabboo.And those were the days when there was no T.V,Mobile or internet.So after coming to school and having our lunch we used to spend most of our times in playing in the outdoors till 8 pm and on day of holidays we used to spend most of our days playing some sports or another.In bhopal we found people were very friendly in nature and it was like living in a village where each house is like yours and everybody was involved in each other lives.To give you an example there was a lady whom we used to call Gaur Aunty who used to live opposite our house and she was very educated herself and used to come on radio programs and she had one daughter and one son both were studying medicine and both later became doctors.So gaur aunty used to come to our house whenever she was free and became very close friend of my mother and used to help her in kitchen or cleaning the house with broom or taking out small stones and particles out from the rice.Not only that when myself and my younger brother used to go out to play and if she would see us that we have not put oil in our hairs she used to catch hold of us and then used to put oil in our hairs and comb it too.Some times when my mother used to be unwell or she used to go somewhere with my father so aunty used to prepare food for us and it is without being asked by mother.So it was like living in a big family where there was no restriction on going to any house.

Wednesday 22 January 2014

BHOPAL ( GOLDEN PERIOD ).

After a year in dehradun my father again got transferred to Bhopal the capital of madhya pradesh. Frequent transfer take a heavy toll on children's since it means going to new school,losing out to your friends and going to a unknown place.So we reached bhopal and we went to our house there we all went overjoyed to see that it was a big house consisting of 8 bedrooms, big courtyard and there was a water fountain also inside the courtyard.There was hill on the backside of our house and it was in Arera Colony which is one of the posh area of city.This was in 1973 and myself and brothers got admitted to Rajpushpa school.One thing was very interesting was the name of bus stops like bus stop near our home was called 10 no. and our school was located in 7 no. bus stop.So we started to settle down in new place and also started making friends in our neighbourhood.I was in 5th class.Wheather of city remains normal most of the year.My father's office colleagues were also staying nearby so there used to be gathering on weekends and we used to watch 2-3
movies in a month in cinema hall Rangmahal which was in New market which is the most prestigious market of bhopal.Since my father had a car from office so his friend along with their children used to accompany us.I remember that while going to new market we used to cross two big ponds like river which is called Bada Taal and Chota Taal in hindi.And after watching the movie we used to relish ice-cream.

Tuesday 21 January 2014

SAHASTRADHARA

There is another beautiful place called Sahastradhra ( 100 water Falls ) near dehradun.When we reached there the view of hundreds of water falls falling from top of the mountains and the massive sound of falling water and water colour was milky white, can not be described in words.There was greenery all around and in the centre milky white  water coming down with roaring sound and downstage people were enjoying the bath but we were quite afraid to take the bath.There was a hot spring also where hot was coming naturally and we were told that it holds medicinal properties and taking a bath in that hot water can cure you of any skin diseases.This was in 1972 but now i have been told that because of exploitation of  the hills most of the water falls have dried up.If it is true then it is really sad that new generation will not be able to see what we has seen.
Another beautiful memory of our stay in dehradun is travelling to delhi in car to meet our uncle in delhi who i told you in my earlier blog was staying in delhi and was employed in hotel Ashok.It was a 6 hour journey with lot of greenery all through the route and midway  we had our snacks and lunch.So our stay in deharadun was very good.

Monday 20 January 2014

Mussoorie

As i told you that hill station mussoorie was visible from our house so there was great curiosity among us that how it will be from nearby? So one Sunday we went to hill station which is not very far from dehradun in our station wagon car.The entire journey was of scenic beauty and full of greenery.  But as we started going upwards some of the family members felt uneasiness because car was going round and round upwards and that is why some members also vomited.But after reaching on the top there is a place called lal dibba.It is the highest point of the hill and there was a huge binocular installed for public to view the Himalayas range.It was a view to behold.I still remember the mountain peak full of snow capped was changing colour every few minutes.Somewhere it was milky white,somewhere it was orange and somewhere it was brownish.After spending some time on the top we returned to our home in dehradun.

Sunday 19 January 2014

Dehradun

My father got transferred to dehradun and we shifted there.It is beautiful city surrounded by hilly resort masooriee.We got residence in cannaught place.It was a spacious house and famous Ghantaghar was at walking distance.There was three cinema halls in row on one side of road and another one at other side of the road.So it was a happening place.Our school was also just few feet away from our house.But the most fascinating part of this house was amazing view of masooriee hills and in night when lights were on it was like thousands of jugnus( A fly which radiates light) lighting up the hill.
My father was the project head and he got one Station wagon ( A ten seater car ) and one jeep for his official duties.So we got overjoyed with the luxury of two cars and often used to ride them.Our driver name was Inder and he used to give us ride whenever he had free time from his official duties and naturally we were quite fond of him.Since my father was the head of department there was a opening in his office and he asked my maternal uncle to come over to dehradun since was looking for a job.
So my maternal uncle came and started working with my father and also stayed with us.We all loved him because we used to play cricket with him also he used to teach us dance steps.My maternal uncle was great fan of jeetendra and he used to dress like him and his hair style was also similar.

Saturday 18 January 2014

KOLKATTA

After spending first five years of childhood in delhi my father got transferred to Calcutta in 1971.We have taken up residence in lake garden area.I was in 3rd class and was studying in Hope Hall school.We used to go to the lake nearby which was at walking distance from our residence and there we(my brothers) used to get quite exited seeing very big fish in the lake and while returning home we used to relish phoochka (Gol Gappe).Another childhood memories is of big Durga Puja celebration of Calcutta with all the cities getting lighted with huge size idols of Durga and big pandals.
It was the time of Bangladesh war with young brigade of muktivahini very active in calcutta.Because of muktivahini movement young boys also learnt to make crude bomb.I remember one day i along with my brothers with the help of neighbourhood friends tried to make a bomb with nails,thread and some other materials which i don't remember now since i was only eight years old and after making that bomb we tested it successfully on a small wall and it came crumbling down and we went up in joy that we made the bomb successfully.
Another memory of my days in Calcutta is of my mausa ji house in Calcutta in dark by lanes and very old buildings where we met his father Pt.Kashinath jha who was a reputed astrologer of Calcutta. 

Friday 17 January 2014

Early Childhood.

As i old you in my earlier blog that my father is a civil engineer and after completing his engineering he came to delhi in around 1960.My father are also four brothers like us and he is third in line like me.In delhi his elder brother was employed in Hotel Ashok and he was very active in social circle of our mithila community.We are maithils from land of Sita.One of of her other name is maithily.My uncle was brought to delhi by one of our villager Late Ratikant Jha who was employed in Darbhanga House by princely family of Darbhanga in delhi.In those days most of the maithils family of repute in delhi used to gather at darbhanga house in delhi  and that's how my uncle got acquainted with most of them and one of them was Late L.N.Mishra who later became the union railway minister.
So with their help my father got employed in N.B.C.C.LTD.( A Govt.of india undertaking ) and we started living in delhi with our uncle at ashok hotel staff quarters a two bedroom flat.So in our early childhood memories is of ashok hotel and also going to darbhanga house.After some time my father shifted to his own house on rent in kidwai nagar.After that we lived in several places like south extension and amar colony etc.

Thursday 16 January 2014

JOINT FAMILY

Dear Readers,
In today's time when joint family system is fast disappearing, i want to share my life experience with you about my life living in joint family system.
My father is a civil engineer and he has four sons and i am his third son.We originally belongs to madhubani district of bihar.My father was employed in Govt.Undertaking and he had a transferable job.So our early childhood was spent in several cities.Now i will share my childhood memories with you in my next blog.    

Sunday 12 January 2014

The magic of Sunsilk - way to great hair

Recharging your hair - what does this exactly define? When I heard this line for this contest on IndiBlogger, I was very confused. How can one recharge their hair? What exactly is it! After giving it a good thought, I realized what 'recharging your hair' interprets here. Usually during summers, my mother says to me 'baal thake thake lag rahein hain' - I never get how my hairs can be tired! Having said that, it does frustrate me when my hair is not getting 'set' the way I want. Besides, if there's dandruff in my hair - that's a NIGHTMARE...


Sunsilk - the best 'charger' of our hair. It's absolutely frustrating to come home from work/playing/travelling and seeing your messed up hair. What I do is, take the white magic in my hands (Sunsilk shampoo), put it on my hair and BAM! There's the magic.. My hair's back to normal HECK.. back to being AWESOME.

A good hair day- it's a big day, an important day in my life for instance. The thing I worry the most about, prior to the big day is my 'hair'. Will it be good? When I wake up in the morning and take a bath, will my hair style be good? If not, will my 'big' day turn into my biggest nightmare? A good hair day for me mattes a lot.

When we talk about having hair styles, we often 'copy' or at least try to have the same hair style as our 'inspirations', actors/politicians and various other people, sometimes parents too (like in my case). Let's take the example of THE person, who defines 'handsomeness' - Mr.Tom Cruise.



In the movie Vanilla Sky, when Tom Cruise' character goes to meet Penelope Cruz' character and gets asked by her, 'why are you here today', his character or I shall say Tom Cruise explains - ' Woke up today and realized that today is a good hair day for me and so thought to pay you a visit' - I rest my case. *grins*

On a good hair day, you'd realize this yourself that how confident you are, your body language is very positive and in fact, everybody else' reaction to you is much positive. I hate it when someone says to me 'what's up with your hair' but when someone says 'hey, good hair man' - it's like receiving a highly prestigious award - don't you agree!

In any profession, looking good is highly important. In corporate department for instance, looking sober and formal is a necessity but is it possible to maintain your hair EVERYDAY? It is, when you have the 'secret solution' to recharge your hair - Sunsilk. The 'WAY' to looking good, looking confident, looking energetic and above ALL - being respected is the way to the secret solution to 'perfect hair' i.e. Sunsilk *huge rounds of applause*..

Do visit Sunsilk website and get the 'secret solution to great hair'. :)

Friday 3 January 2014

We Chat, We Debate, We #VoteForIndia



We Chat, We Debate, We Vote. India currently finds itself standing on the crossroads. We can either opt for the right path, which may have certain obstacles which we can collectively overcome OR we can opt for the wrong path, a path that will devastate our future, jeopardize the future of the next generation and make our progress stand still.

The youth of India needs to utilize this opportunity and be part of something special. If it wasn't for US, a party like Aam Aadmi could have never been formed and brought into power. It's the power of the common man that has all the powers to thrash and demolish the ego's of the parties and make them aware of the fact that if the aam aadmi of this country rises up - becoming a developed nation shall no more be a 'dream'.

With the growing of technology, comes in our hands a very special power. The youth of today is very active on internet and when off it, equally active on mobile apps. Staying in touch with all the recent happenings has got easier with these apps. To name one such app : WeChat. Chatting is not only what we do on WeChat but also it's about serious discussions that take place between 2 individuals. I for one have had many such discussions with my friends and that's why such apps help us understands each other's views, debate on them, discuss on them and then make an opinion/have our opinion.

Using these apps effectively will result in an 'ideal' elections for the youth and in general, the PEOPLE OF INDIA.

Socially used mobile apps - they can also be used THIS way -
  • WeChat - As I mentioned earlier, it's not just an app made for chatting. Invite your friends for chats, make them aware of the issues we face, debate and discuss on the parties fighting in the elections. Know each other's views and share yours. This way, a healthy discussion can take place and of course a healthy discussion is always a positive sign.
  • Facebook and Twitter - Now, these are social media sites but also have apps on mobile. While on the go, you can stay in touch with your friends and the latest happenings and NO, not just see hashtags like 'feku' and 'papu' trending, that's not what these apps are/were ideally made for. Create groups on facebook, reach to large masses and write about topics that will actually determine WHICH party is worth voting.
  • Instagram - This is basically an app made for image sharing but did you ever think of using it this way - , do you see horrible conditions in your surroundings! Pardon me for asking this obvious questions - of course you do. Take an image of such poor conditions and upload them on Instagram, share with your friends, spread it around and tell everyone that the government that rules your state/city/district isn't doing it's work effectively. 
Existing Social Mobile Political Apps -

India Politics - This app covers all the aspects of the on-going events in Indian politics. Live feeds, election dates, past election results, speeches of leaders (via the courtesy of youtube), connect with your favorite parties and leaders via twitter and facebook.

India272+ Volunteer (Introduced by Narendra Modi) - This is the official app released by Narendra Modi. I see this app as a 'game-changer'. Narendra Modi has given the voters a direct chance to get involved with his party. Voters have the option of taking part in discussions, sharing their views, getting all the updates about Narendra Modi's rallies. All those that support the BJP and Narendra Modi, this app ought to 'catch your attention'. A must download app and I'd suggest that all the parties must create similar apps.

Apps that CAN be created to mobilize/convince India's youth to vote -

Bio of the politicians - lots of politicians contest elections, we as the voters do not always know their history/bio. It becomes absolutely necessary to know about the person you're voting for, to insure 'correct voting'. Early life, education, criminal records, family background - the app should cover it all. There is Wikipedia for this, but certain people do not always trust it's information and besides, it may not always have all the necessary information about Indian politicians in particular.



Online voting -  With new inventions in technology literally everyday, perhaps it's the right time to change the VOTING procedure. How about online voting! A unique password/username for all the voters, which will be provided as per your election card. If we can have a large majority of India's youth/people on internet, why not use internet as a median to change the face of voting. This will take time to implement but it's at least worth to discuss on such unique ideas which are very possible to implement in the near future.

That's pretty much my take on the topic. These are a few suggestions from my side, the rest depends upon you (readers). Let's vote for a change, WE can certainly bring about a change - awareness is the key. #VoteForIndia and be a part of history in the upcoming elections which out to change the political scenario of India forever. :)

Do visit WeChat website and download there app. Chat and discuss on issues that will help in bringing about a change.

We Chat, We Debate, We #VoteForIndia.

Thursday 2 January 2014

2014 - A ray of hope for India

The past year has seen many incidents take place, some good and some not so. If I try to put all of them into this blog post, it'd be highly difficult for me to cover all the points. Keeping that in mind, let's stick to one of the most important topic of discussions, well usually i.e. - politics.

Indian politics had a very eventful year of 2013. Modi being named as BJP's next PM candidate, Congress showing faith in Rahul (giving him the post of VP and sending him for rallies) and the BIGGEST of them all - the emerging of AAP party. After 2013, Indian politics will forever be known as BF (before) and AF (after) AAP.

Not only did AAP stand in India's capital elections, it also managed to get 28 votes, which meant that it could form government with outside support, which it got from Congress (8 seats), meaning that it got the 36 votes of majority. BJP even with 32 votes didn't wanted any outside support and hence AAP had the chance to win the heart of the people with their work.

It remains to be seen how exactly AAP goes about doing its job but its certain that Indian politics has seen a significant change in 2013 and we're ready for a great 2014. With Lok Sabha elections just months away, lets see how these parties pan out their last and most crucial moves before the BIGGEST election among them all.

A very happy new year to you all, may this year bring us all great success.

May the best government come into power and take our country to great new highs. :)