My dream is to fly
Over the rainbow so high....

Of clients, Mumbai and chai wale kaka…

Mumbai – the city that never sleeps (or maybe the city that sleeps only after the ek chaalis ki last local ;) ), has never been the way it’s been in this trip. I am ‘onsite’, sadly it was neither LA nor the big apple! Nevertheless, this trip will be special… for it is my first official trip.. and to the client’s office at that!

Excitement, apprehension, anxiety, joy – to name a few emotions that I felt (and still feeling) when I first came to know I would be travelling to client’s office in 2 days. That was 4 days ago. Today, 2 days into the trip, I feel both exuberant and restless at the same time. Exuberant because it’s been a confidence and morale booster trip and restless because I long to go back to my city, yes, my city – Pune. :)

Mumbai or Bengaluru or Chennai - it would’ve been the same had it been any other city in place of Mumbai, because frankly all I’ve been doing is waking up in the morning, taking a rick to office, sitting at my desk and working for 10-12 hours, living upto my company/manager’s (and my own) expectations, taking a rick back to the guest house, sending out status emails, watching a movie and going off to sleep.  I don’t have a clue as to what this place looks like in the light of the day, what shops sell what stuff or which restaurants there are in the neighborhood…

But what I did experience or rather what touched me was the daily cup of chai that I was brought to me every day without fail! :)

The day I reached here, I asked for a cup of tea – it was prepared and brought to me. I thanked kaka and graciously drank it –amrutjal! (when you’ve slept for hardly 4 hrs in the night and woke up with a wince at 6am, then walked for half a mile, then travelled in a bus for 4.5hrs, trust me, it is heaven!).

 Next day, without having to ask, kaka brought me a cup of wonderfully intoxicating smelling tea. I was pleasantly surprised! I thought he must’ve gotten it by mistake. But when he gave me another cup of hot piping tea in the evening with that smile on his face (a smile which closely resembled one of an ajoba looking at his grandchild), I was so deeply moved that I can’t express it.

Here’s to you kaka! You made me feel at home... :)

Ye Tumhari meri baatein hamesha yun hi chalti rahein…

Music is the food of life. Ok if not life, it certainly is the food for thoughts. I mean every song that we hear has some or the other memory attached to it… no kidding… the other day I was sitting with a friend and I played Ajeeb daastan hai ye and he went into a trance thinking about his girl friend!

I listen to Gela gela dil gela or Dhoom machale and I am instantly reminded of dahi-handi and rain-dancing in first year of my engineering college… o what fun that was!

Or Page 3 – kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahan pe… this is one song which makes me relive my entire first year in college. Right from the time I came to Pune to pursue engineering, to making my first friends in Pune to attending all those Engineering Graphics classes of JVK sir to becoming a ‘mau (read maushi ;))’ for the first time and experiencing the exhilarating joy of holding a new born!

I listen to Tujhse naraaz nahi zindagi and it takes me back to the evening when my family was watching masoom on tv. I don’t remember the year or the date, but the emotion of watching a movie with your family is one worth cherishing!

Jab we met is yet another movie whose songs will always build up memories, for it is a movie very close to my very close friend. In fact, not just one, but two of my friends go into a flashback listening to Jab we met!

Songs/music not only manages to give you Goosebumps, but some songs also help you come out of the gloom and cheer you up to the soul.


Pyar kiya to nibhana is a song close to my heart even today, for it was when I had my first crush (though till date I have absolutely no clue as to what that person’s name was or who he was!), but the song I shall always remember!!

Aye udi udi udi reminds me of 12th std prelims! So does Cigarette ke dhuen ka challa bana ke from Kaante… ji haan, jab mann laga kar padhna chahiye tha, tab we used to watch movies! Now you know why I didn’t get 95% in 12th? ;)

Even today the charm of DDLJ is not lost! The other day I was listening to Ho gaya hai tujhko to pyar sajana, and it just brought me back to my cheerful bubbly state in 10seconds flat!

Old songs shall always remain classics… I can listen to Ye raatein ye mausam, Dil ki nazar se, Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisar, Pyar hua ikraar hua anytime anywhere…

And some songs have so many emotions attached, that they can’t be described! Like the title of this post :)