Moroneity

Have you ever been in a situation where you did something so embarrassing that you felt like disapperaing from the scene.

I mean just after committing the act you realize that you have committed a blunder. 

I  was the protagonist in three such acts-of-blunder....

Alright... the first act was performed at the IGI Airport.

Me and my wife were about to leave for Thailand just after our marriage.

Nervous...i was..as this was my first international trip .

Same was for my wife...she was looking up to me for taking her safely to Thailand.

I couldn't have afforded to not look in control of things.

I was repeatedly getting confused with the placement of the 

passport, tickets, hotel vouchers, foreign sims, foreign currency etc etc.

I got into the check in line...the girl was checking in the baggages.

I was looking at the travellers ahead of me to somewhat learn the check in process...i didn't want to look out of clue when my turn came.

After learning from a few travellers ahead of me..it was my turn.

The girl at the counter gave a very sweet smile and extended her hand for the passports.

I saw the extended hand and shook it  gleefully . :|

She was proffessional enough to not look perturbed...and very calmly asked me for the passports.

...her smile made pretty good mockery of me.

I tried maintaining my poise...and gave a very nervous smile to Shagun as if i was still in control.

She made a  puzzled inquiring gesture towards me...asserting i was not at all in control.

I so wished i could have vanished from the scene. :)

Second story....is of this saturday.

We were enjoying the delicious paranthas made by our Maid.

The door bell rings. 

I get up to check who was there.

The door bell rings again.

I open the door to see a lady in her late 20s with a small child.

She is scolding her boy "Beta dusron ke ghar me do baar bell nahi bajate".

This is the conversation that took place between me and the lady

Lady Smiles and says "Hi"

I Smile and say "Hello"

Lady Smiles again and says "Sunita"

I smile even wider and say "Gaurav"

Lady doesn't smile this time and says "No...i mean is Sunita there?"

I blush....as i was introducing myself to someone who was only interested in our Maid Sunita.

In all that embarrasment i facilitate the meeting of Sunita and the lady.

To complete this blog i was looking for a third story for some days.

I remembered one today...and this one is back from my childhood.

Our dada ji used to live with us...

Every night my mother used to give me a glass of milk which i had to go and deliver to dada ji.

Dada ji was living in a separate flat so it took a minute or so...from my place to Dada Ji's place.

After ringing the bell Dada ji used to take 30-40 secs to open the door.

That particular day...i got a whim .

I am standing outside the door...with the glass of milk in my hand.

I ring the bell.

Suddenely i say to myself 

"If i am not able to take 10 sips of milk before Dada ji opens the door...i will score less than 85%  in my 10th boards."

So the whim had set in...and the 40 seconds had started.

I had to take a sip almost every 3 secs.

I had kept 4-5 seconds to regain my composure.

So there i was sipping away like crazy and hoping to make the 10 sips before he opens the door.

In all this frenzy i couldn't see that he was peeping through the curtain.

I mean he saw all my 10 sips.

After  i had secured my 85% target and had regained my compsure....he opens the door.

I offer him the milk...but he refuses.

He gives me a look that was full of pity...

Dada ji with a consoling touch on my shoulder "Pee le poota tu hi". 

(Please Son...you only have it.)

:D

siR Ji

i ThiNk iT was 2008..Pragati MaiDan....Delhi Book faiR.
i Had  recently developed  a penchance for readiNg books.
i Was not iNto some partiCular genre but yes biOgraphies used to fasciNate me.

iT was on a random stroll iN the book stalls when i Saw a book tiTled...iCon.
i Knew a biT about iPod and iPhone...iCon seemed as catchy as iT's other iSiBliNgs.

i Bought the book and that was how i Met STEVE JOBS for the fiRst tiMe.
i Read each and every book publiShed on Steve Jobs after that.
The love affaiR kept blossomiNg.

ThiS blog iS not what i Read about Steve Jobs...as that would be liKe  "StatiNg the already known" .
ThiS blog iS about why i Felt shattered when Steve Jobs left us on 5th October?

These are the three maiN reasons for me feeliNg that way

1)He made me look Smarter.
ReadiNg about Jobs always gave me storiEs. StoriEs that made me feel liKe a STAR whenever i Narrated them to my friEnds. i Felt smarter just because of knowiNg those storiEs. i Loved to see the awestruck people who were amazed by the unusual ness of these storiEs.

People feel great/cool/proud when they have a huge fan base....but wiTh Steve Jobs iT was kiNd of reverse.
People felt great/cool/proud just because they were a fan of Steve Jobs.
On hiS death...everyone wanted to prove that he iS the biggest fan of Steve...and so did i.
SiR Ji ....i Was and i Am your biGgest fan.

2)He made me do weiRd thiNgs.
iN hiS Stanford speech he asked all of us to follow our hearts.
He made me do thiNgs which often had no ratiOnale...but i Did iT because SiR Ji Had assured me that the dots do connect.

He made me do a extensiVe cycle trek of 60 kms iN the hiLls ... just two days before my marriAge.
He made me go iN search of a musiC shop at 10 iN the niGht just because i Felt i Needed to play that song on HarmoniCa.
He made me bunk my offiCe for 10 days...and go on a busiNess meet iN Mumbai Spending some 30k just to meet Narayan Murthy.

3)He asked me SeriOus QuestiOns.
WiTh hiS sudden death...i Was shattered.
i Was scared...i Was scared as he was one person who proviDed hope. He gave order to my chaotiC thoughts. He asked all of us one very seriOus questiOn

‎"iF today were the last day of my liFe, would i Want to do what i Am about to do today?"


May be i Am too weak to answer thiS questiOn.
May be i Am too weak to even face thiS questiOn.


but whatever iT iS....Answer to the above questiOn iS very clear to me.

i Do whatever i Want to do...whenever i Can afford to do.
He diD whatever he wanted to do...whenever he wanted to do...and wherever he wanted to do.

Death ...the occurrence of the event iS totally random.

He went at 56 ...i Can go at 26, 36 or may be 86.
i'M not sure...when i Leave...but whenever i Do...

i Don't thiNk i Can afford to leave this questiOn answered wiTh a majoriTy of "No".

_______________________________________________________________________

Cheers to a man...who made i  so powerful.
iT's i  that he asks me to beliEve iN.

Cheers to a man ...who liVed.

Kunjum Cafe

There is this cafe in South Delhi ...Kunjum Cafe.

There are quite a few selling points of this CAFE...

To name a few..

1)There is no time limit on how long you sit in the cafe.

2)There is free WIFI in the cafe.

3)Music is really good but if you like to hear something of your choice...just plug in your iPod in the Dock.

4)The person who owns it is a ENGINEER turned MBA Turned JOURNALIST Turned TRAVELLER

5)You can go through a really well compiled collection of Travel books....actually the place is designed 

for strangers to meet and make travel plans.

Apart from these there is one thing that left me puzzled .

THESE GUYS DON'T CHARGE YOU ANYTHING....YOU PAY WHAT YOU LIKE.

I was really puzzled at the business model of this guy...you can have unlimited coffee/tea/cookies and he won't charge you a thing.

But still i tried to see through the psychology he must be working on.

When you are asked to pay whatever you feel like...

you will try to be reasonable enough...and pay atleast equal to what you would have paid at a decent cafe like that...

...as the things are free you won't order but you'll request.

After you have sat for some 1 hour or so...and have had 3 cups of pretty decent coffee...i got up to make the payment.

I went to the guy who served us...i think i was being reasonable enough and i gave him Rs 200.

He refused to take the money and directed me towards a box...in which i had to push the money in.

It was kind of Daan Patra we have in temples.

Anonymity involved in the payment process ....refuted my psychology rationale behind his business model.

A place worth a visit... :)