A Metro Ride.

If you reside in Delhi or NCR and travel by Delhi Metro or if you want to travel by Delhi Metro then following are the points you should know because they are not announced but observed, felt and experienced:

1) While boarding metro from a station which is super-duper crowded, just stand in a line and leave yourself lose. You don’t have to make an effort to walk in respectably. Or better omit the word respectably because I don't want to sound ironic, you see. So, I was saying that leave yourself lose, the whole crowd will push you in and you'll flow like a stone in a current, hitting here and there, pushed, crushed and pulled. And in the end, you will be in the metro. Ta-da!

2) Apply the same technique while getting out of the metro. It works. But one very important thing to note here is that do NOT be the last one in the group of those getting down because there are people outside who are waiting to get in asap and you being the last one are the most prone to bear severe impacts on your body and your mind or there are even chances that you might not be able get out of the metro. (Both has happened to me and the experience of the former was so awful that it made me yell ‘Fuck Everyone’ while I was struggling to relieve my pulled hair and my bag which was stuck somewhere in between and I’d  thought I wouldn’t be able to get it back.) To avoid it, try to be in the middle.

3) If you are a girl and want to get a seat then prefer travelling in general coach rather than ladies’ compartment. Simply because females wouldn’t offer you their seat unless you are pregnant or old or some lady who can constantly stare with a don’t-you-have-manners-to-offer-me-your-seat expression at those sitting. On the other hand, men will offer you a seat most of the times (age no bar) because they are in a habit of doing the same since time immemorial.

4) Further, if you are travelling by ladies’ coach then there are chances that some aunty with dark red lipstick and a suit so bright that you might curse yourself for forgetting your shades, ask you to adjust a little to fit in her big bums in that tiny space. Result: after sometime, she would be comfortably sitting and gossiping on phone while you would be barely managing on the one hand space left.

5) People tend to forget who they are or where they are when they plug in earphones and play some pathetic bollywood song. To identify this category, work with your ears. If you hear some strange voice humming or worse, singing a heart-wrenching Hindi song, just try to bear it because you don’t have any other choice. Do you?

*****

I'm sure you must have realized how deep my connection with Delhi metro is. It is so strong that even in my sleeps I get bizarre dreams related to metro. :P

(Image Source: Google.)

Look through my eyes!

"I can see a big screen up there. And this whole place is covered with see-through walls but of a different kind. Like, ummm, transparent for us as we are inside and not for those who are outside. Something like we can see them but they can't see us. Or better, even we cannot see them because that would be a distraction, I think. So cut the transparent thing. Yeah! Also, it has a mild shock system so that nobody gets through it."

"And on that big screen, a very calm movie is being played along with a restful music in the background. And it has got a starry ceiling with some clouds all over."

"Hmm...that adds to the ambiance. And there are low-rise couches placed on the floor, across the screen. Nice and soft leather couches with stuffed cushions and on the corners there are small antique lamps and some scented candles. And the lights are dimmed."

"Oh it's looking good. We can surely have a good sleep here."

"Yeah, definitely. But one more thing. Here in this little space, one minute is equivalent to one hour. Like some kind of a parallel universe. So if we spend one hour here we would just miss a minute and thus it would save our time."

"Aah...that's pretty cool. Huh!"


"I know.", and we both smiled.


                                    *************************************

Well, I had this conversation, today with one of my 'very dear' college mates while sitting at Rajiv Chowk metro station. It is 'The most crowded' metro station of Delhi and because we had to wait for another friend and had nothing to do, we both started churning our imaginary cells and came up with this. Weird right? :P :D

P.S : And I don't know why I've put this photo. I just liked it. It's quite different actually. :)

P.P.S : And about my little, cute, adorable labrador, Lupus is the name I have decided (thanks to the same dear person). And he is truly a darling!

Looking beyond the Four Walls.

With college mates, I'd never thought that my life could turn out to be one full of surprises. A life in which every day comes with a packet full of goodies and a little tinge of adventure. Few months back, I had never thought that college could be so much fun. And such a pessimist belief was bound to enter my mind after having a boring start and it was totally attributed to my so-called 'professional course'. I remember feeling completely out of place amidst the college crowd in the initial days. But, it's not the same anymore. Thankfully! I have settled now. I have found some very good buddies...with whom I feel safe and warm. With whom I don't hesitate to bring out my 'crazy' self (not that I feel shy in front of others....but it's just a way of saying, you know! :P ). Anyway...I should not deviate.

As I have already mentioned in one of the earlier posts how I wish to enjoy my life, I have instilled a slight change. I'll tell you how. Earlier, my schedule was - getting up early, getting in the car, boarding the metro, going to college, and directly heading back home. But now...I get up early...in the car...metro journey...college...and EXPLORE different places and then head back home. And today was no exception!

In the morning, I had my History test and believe me friends; Legal History is so not interesting. But somehow the paper went well. :) It was 11 in the morning; we were already through with our test and had the whole day in hand to spend judiciously (And hey, I realize that this professional thing is getting in me now :D ). So Yashi, Divyank, Anuj and I decided to go to Connought Place. More often than not, we all four are contemplative. It’s not possible for any of us to decide something beforehand. We don’t sit down and think of our plan of action. We just do it when it clicks us. Like today, we had no idea why we kept sitting outside the Central Park for like an hour or so. Please mind that the Central Park was closed. And after spending some really good time outside the closed gates, we all thought of visiting the ‘Ugrasen ki Baoli’. Why? Because we are The Vellas, always free and willing to experience something new...something novel and Ugrasen ki Baoli is a very calm place to visit, especially when you come from a super-duper dusty and noisy area. We unwound ourselves and spent much of our time there sitting and chatting and laughing and enjoying each others’ company. Just when our exploratory mind became restless again, Yashi told us about some ‘haunted building’ nearby. Having nothing else to do, we all immediately stood up in full enthusiasm and headed towards it.

                                             (Ugrasen ki Baoli...nice na?)

                      (Now this was truly mesmerizing...I'm glad I captured it.)

 The ‘haunted building’ was nothing but a 14-storeyed, under-construction building. Its construction has been seized due to some legal dispute over the same. Sounds very ordinary...isn't it?

But things become a little spooky when you read ‘COME UP’ scribbled in bold on the wall of the 14^th floor and that too in an inexplicable manner. Like an open challenge. And it became spookier when we four went inside the building and sensed something really negative in that place. Yashi and Divyank even had a strong repellent feeling. Of course, none of us dared to go to the top floor (marna nahi tha :P ) and I'm sure that it was just our mind, playing games but the whole tempo gave us chills down the spine.

                       (There it is...scribbled on the wall...COME UP!!)

                  (This is Divyank, Yashi and Anuj...entering the 'haunted building')

Next stop? It was the Cha Bar at the Statesman House...just across the road. I'm seriously in love with this place. It has been also glued to my list of the most favourite places in Delhi. Tranquil. Positive. Coffee shop. Books. This is how I describe it.

Well, the day has ended. I have come back home. I’m pretty exhausted now. Hungry too! I should better eat something and take some rest. Oh God, I have to study Economics. Urggghhh...!!! Law is tough. Nothing is easy, actually. Anyway...I’ve already wasted a lot of time or I think I should use the word ‘lived’ for describing this day as it was beautiful. :)

And like always, I hope to spend my coming days in a similar fashion and enjoy the enthralling randomness with my amazing trio. :)

Signing off!
Vinati

When We Do It Our Way..

Each morning when I board a metro for my college, I see so many activities going on and on, in every nook and cranny of the city. My twenty minutes ride to the nearest metro station shows me hundreds of people, both male and female walking in a particular direction and going to their work places. All of them, like a herd of sheep, walking with the same expression but not the same thoughts. Every time I see them I wonder how there life would be like. What all things would be going on in their minds as they make their way through the traffic. Same time, same road, same noise of horns and pollution all around, same tempo...everything seems so same and mundane in their life. And then comes my metro ride. The thought conquers my mind again as I enter the metro. There is no difference. The hustle-bustle of a metropolitan city is so prominent here. But then while thinking about others’ life and aspirations, my thoughts take a halt and come back to my own life and aspirations. It seriously gives me chills when I realise that "God, I am too a part of a mechanized world". And this is true. I do nothing different. My day begins with me going to college, attending boring lectures, having lunch, waiting for my friends, coming back home, exhaustion taking over, trying to take some rest and going to sleep. This is what I do every single day. Everything is so dull and grey as all the things fall within my comfort level. But hey, I was not put on this earth to lead a humdrum life like this. There are so many things to do, so many things to experience but I am not experiencing anything new. I am WASTING my life and this is just not done.

I so want to break the conventional norms and do something beyond my comfort zone. Something like breaking my schedule, visiting unexpected places, doing out of the ordinary things, bringing back home some amazing memories and making my life worth living.

Yesterday was one such day. I did something different. I visited a place which, after so long, gave me a taste of peace and contentment. I visited Hauz Khas Village with my ladies.

It was a breath-taking place. There was no crowd and no rush in the air. A place that I had longed to visit for like so many months. From our first step there to our last step, we all were like, “why didn’t we come here before? And how did we miss something like this?” It was so unlike the whole of Delhi. We could see few people relaxing, few enjoying with their friend circle, few taking a stroll by the lake and few exploring the fort. The positive ambience of that place made all of us feel so damn good from within. We felt like we got our dose of gratification.

Though we did not have much time to visit whole of the place cause it was really big and we had to leave early, we managed to make it a memorable day. And it became all the more special cause it was International Women's Day and I was with the best girls in my life..!! :)

Here are some snaps of the same :

This is Bhumika, Kajal and Shivangi in the photo.

This is the lake I mentioned above...it was green yet so serene (aah rhyme! :D )

Kajal, Shivangi and me

Okay I know we are looking insane but we were actually admiring ducks.. :)

Hauz Khas Fort.

And I really really really wish that I get to visit many such places where I feel alive from within. But next time I want Nikita (my another special girl) to be with us and I hope she's reading this. :)