Starbucks and The Elevator which always stops at your floor!

This might have happened with you if you work in a building with at least three floors having elevator facility and of course if you are too lazy to use stairs to go to the your floor. But remember that all the people involved in this short tidbit are fictional and any relation with a living being or a place is entirely coincidental. Hope you believe in coincidences. I do.

It was year 2007 when Mike used to live in Chicago and was working for an insurance company for its identity and access management portfolio. They had a team of around 10 people working together closely for that particular project. Even within that small team, he particularly has to work with an Indian lady who was a contractor and mostly used to co-ordinate with her offshore counterparts.

The building was a typical American office building with some added facilities in it's top floor. It was a four story building and part of top floor comprised of a cafeteria, which used to provide food from different cuisines involving American, Italian, Mexican, Asian, etc. You could see a big rush during lunch time, but there was relative silence at all other times with the exception of continuous arrivals and departures in one shop.

This shop was on the right corner and the first one when you come out of elevator. It has plenty of green colors and an aroma which can even faint the people with no nose. That aroma used to pull many people into the shop in morning and afternoon hours. Mike's and his Indian friend's favorite time was around 3 PM central standard time. Not a great learning was needed to understand the meaning of Tall, Grande, and Venti. Initially, Tall was a long cup, while Grande was a grand one, and of course Venti was a cup with lots of ventilation. Slowly, when each one was tried on different days, the realization turned into a discovery that Tall means Small, Grande means Medium, and Venti means Large. So great the similarity was between two languages, still the shop was called the same in any language - Starbucks.

Mike's personal favorite those days used to be Cappuccino while his Indian friend's favorite used to be Mocha with whipped cream. Espresso was the one which used to give headache. But all in all, this was the real start of caffeine in their life. Now the story turns around from the coffee shop to the transport medium required to reach the starbucks.

Elevators in the building were nice and clean cabins with capacity of holding approx 15 people at the same time, however, anything more than 6 means you will run for some fresh air as soon as the elevator stops in your floor. But the good side for a man is that the elevator always comes with the fantasy of finding a beautiful lady alone spreading aroma of lovely flowers. Mike was in a different league of men though; for him, along with that aroma, it always came with total absence of mind. Here are some classic cases:

i) Mike starts from ground floor and wants to go to top floor (say, floor 4). He forgets to press the button, and suddenly finds himself reached at ground floor (oh yeah, as if elevator ever started) and goes out thinking he has reached top floor. Same case happens when trying to go to ground floor from top floor.

ii) Mike starts from ground floor and presses button of floor 4. The elevator starts, and stops at floor 2 (or floor 3) so that others can join. As soon as elevator stops at floor 2, Mike goes out with speed of a rocket thinking he reached floor 4.

iii) This peculiar phenomenon spreads to his Indian friend as well, and as soon as Mike goes out of elevator in any floor, she also follows him with the speed of a rocket.

iv) Different combinations or permutations of case i, ii, iii doesn't happen occasionally; Mike religiously performs them 4 days in a week, sometimes 3 times a day in the same building, in the same set of elevators.

Do these cases sound familiar? Well, you (or you friends) must have experienced the first three cases now and then, but the fourth one belongs to a special breed of human being. The breed with a great thinking, "The elevator always stops at your floor !"

Anyway, Starbucks and Elevator's phenomenon has been a very close part of life since. The starbucks has come to life in different flavors such as Cappuccino, Mocha, Frappuccino, Espresso, Latte, etc. Mike still likes a Tall Cappuccino (winter's choice) or Frappuccino (summer's choice) now and then, and enjoys the sips with his wife. His Indian friend, though, has moved to filter coffee famous in southern parts of India. And oh well, Mike faces the elevator dilemma only on few days in his new office. The rescuer is the elevator which speaks in a nice mechanical voice loudly telling which floor it is.

You must be thinking how Starbucks coffee was an interesting and surprising experience even for Mike, specially with him being an American. But folks, didn't I tell you earlier that he is a fictional character! I swear.

- Neeraj Mathpal
July 23, 2012

Me and Salsa?–(II) Day 1

From the title itself, you would have understood that I made to this class, and as they say, rest is the history. Indeed literally and figuratively, it is the history now.

I was nervous in daytime. I had not shaved for good 10-12 days. Although a shave is really due this weekend, but not today. But this class made me shave. It is like a child joining a new school, and should look good on the very first day. I was looking at the watch every hour initially, and as it approached 6 PM EST, I started looking at it every 5-10 minutes. I had more water than the normal, so went to washroom more times than the normal. All this because I had made up my mind that the salsa class might not see the sun light today, but it will see me.

The first day, when you think you should be in time. The first day, when you think where will you sit or stand. The first day, when it all starts. So on that first day, I dressed in my blue jeans, and white polo round neck t-shirt. Shoes were a question (?), but as I had seen people dancing in movies and at mango tropical, I knew formal shoes are a better bet for salsa. The place is just five minutes drive from my place, right next to Firehouse Sub and Dunkin Donets. I started at 5-45, and reached there at 5-50. The instructor was waiting, I had signed up online, so they gave me a yellow paper band to put it in my right hand. It was like a ticket for the class. I was still nervous and was smiling continuously for obvious reasons. There were some old ladies in their 40s and 50s, and men who were bald, they must also be in their 40s or 50s.

The clock hit 6, and the lady instructor started giving some instructions on mike. I looked around and found that there are some 20-21 people, males and females in equal number. One girl, may be 18 or 19, one boy, around 20, must be her boy friend, one Indian guy, must be of almost my age, and the other oldies. One person looked like mentally retarded, with her mother giving him company. I saluted to dance, as I felt people of all kind are into it to forget their sorrows, and enjoy the greatest gift of God – The LIFE.

Ok, so the class started. Instructor performed some steps for the warm up, and then the party began. We learned few forward (1,2,3) and backward (5,6,7) steps. Then we performed same in pairs. Rotation was the policy for pairing, so basically you have to do one or two rounds of these steps with each lady out there (and vice versa for ladies, i.e., with each gentleman). Then came the second step, which involved changing hands, and then a round about 360 degree turn, and then finally a combination of all these. All in all, it didn’t feel like one hour has passed. Time progressed pretty fast.

Enough about the class. What about me stading there, going forward and backward? Honestly, I felt out of place, and felt really like a big big beginner. Thought why am I here. The Bollywood / Barat dance is a much better form of dance. But then, realized that this dance form (salsa) is meant for couples, and it would be good to learn as I’m a married man now. It would be fun, though not today.  No wonder, I missed her.

Tomorrow morning, there is a ‘Zumba’ (another dance form) class, but for sure I’ll give it a pass. Salsa for beginners is good enough for me for now, so next class is on Monday. I think now that I’ll be able to make all 6 salsa classes, and that is not going to be enough. I have understood that it is very hard to learn dance, your God gifted natural moves will always remain your life savers.  Anyway, let’s see how it goes. I’ve to go to kitchen and cook something, something. Happy Dancing.

- Neeraj Mathpal
Oct 1, 2011

Me and SALSA? – (I) Introduction

 ‘Me’ and ‘Salsa’ – these two quite don’t go with each other. But what happened which might lead to this untouched territory, and a not so much interesting combination? Let’s see how this tale starts.

In my childhood days, I was not into songs, music, dance, not any co-curricular activities related to these. Of course, there was no natural talent for this, and no interest. Talent is still not there, but interest started in teen years, and most of it is a gift from hostel days. Almost everybody listens to loud  music in hostels, almost everybody dances without any reason. Generally, the dance style is only of one category - ‘BARAT’ dance’. A relative is getting married, a friend’s relative is getting married, a new puppy born in the hostel, a friend’s birthday, a friend is not so well, a friend is in love, a friend just had break-up, there is always a dance to follow. Basically, you don’t need any reasons to perform this variety of dance. And not to forget, if you are drunk, you are going to witness some of the most inventive dance steps, never shown on big screen in Bollywood. 

There are times when we all feel shy to dance. There are times when we all feel it is time to forget everything and just dance, and enjoy. There are people who appreciate your inexplicable dance steps, there are people who laugh at your crazy dance steps, there are people who get inspiration from you and join you in dancing. But other than with this Barat group of friends, it becomes tough to show your true steps with full enjoyment. In those tough times, it can help if you know some good steps. The good steps are a must when you have equally (or more) enthusiastic girl friend or wife.  Then there are other external factors, which put you under pressure. One of the big external factors is the television. Numerous television programs such as Nach Baliye, Dance India Dance, Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Just Dance show that there are so many talented people in our country. Cinema always have had positive impacts on our dancing skills, but these shows have taken it to the next level. In simple terms, Bollywood / Barat dance in not enough!    

Some 6 years back, I saw people started to go to Salsa classes in Bangalore. Especially the people like us, the IT men. They had different reasons to pursue for it. Some of these are -

1. Starting a new hobby. Good to have hobbies.

2. It will mean you are doing some exercise. Good for the belly.

3. You are far away from home, not with many friends. Good way to kill time in weekends.

4. You are a bachelor and have no girl friend. Good place to find one.

5. You would never get a chance to dance with girls. Good place to dance with girls, you don’t even know.

6. You have a girl friend, and she put you under pressure to learn Salsa. NO Good. Helpless. 

7. You want to impress your friends in next Barat. NO Good. Salsa steps won’t help you in Barat. Your natural moves will. 

Most of these folks don’t make it to classes after first day, some after first month, and rest learnt but never really show cased it. Another story of some average time pass with no real output. Now after six years, I’m also on the verge of trying it. What happened? What are my own reasons? Let’s figure out.

1. I like dancing, and watch dance shows on television / laptop (not every episode, but at least the good ones). It feels good to see people dancing, and good to know about different dance forms.

2. Lucky, my wife, also likes dancing, so that added to the weight. In fact we gathered information about salsa classes last year in our area, but it never materialized.

3. There is a nice restaurent / pub in Miami named "Mango Tropical" where professional dancers perform latin american dances with the tunes of Maxican / Spanish music, they look nice. In fact few scenes in one of the songs of movie "Dostana" were filmed there (Priyanka Chopra danced in same place). We've been there 4-5 times and had great time. But when it came to dance, we showed our Barat steps, and always thought what if we would have known Salsa.

4. Thought of giving Lucky a surprise by enrolling for both of us, once she is back from India for some 4 to 8 classes. But I can’t keep surprise a surprise. It also has not materialized, but there’s a chance it will based on success of next point.

5. I got an online deal today – $10 for 10 days for unlimited classes starting from today. It’s like 90% cheaper than the normal rate. I checked the schedule and found that there are 6 Salsa beginner classes in these 10 days. Only thing lacking was the inspiration, so called Lucky and get truck load of that inspiration thing. Deal is grabbed. 

So these are my not so different reasons. It will be a test for the “Casa Salsa” classes to teach me some of the classy steps. It will be a test for me also to “show up” in time for the classes. At this moment, I do not know if I’d be able to make up my mind to go out of home and head into the dancing direction. If everything goes well, who knows, once Lucky is back, we might enroll for some regular classes.

Let’s see “Me and Salsa?” series sees the day 1 chapter or not. I shall know in 5 hours from now and you will in 8 hours.

- Neeraj Mathpal
October 1, 2011

Blah Blah – I

As the time tells me from the right bottom that it is 9:24 PM on Sep 24th, I feel a lot of time is passed. In a golden way, I might say that lots of water has flown through the great river Ganga, though can’t comment about it in cubic terms. The life is going on slowly, nicely. So what’s the difference? Well, one, a big one, is first time in life after my marriage, I’m here in Florida, and my wife is there in India. What else? Nothing, everything else is same, but boy, that is a big difference. Once you are married, you get into habit of living life in a different way, a nicer way, at least for me, when you are miles away from your country.

So today, I just thought of writing a tidbit, rather than talking about a place, a happy moment, or anything in general. This came right from the heart without using any brains. Well, went to watch a real life story ‘Moneyball’. A nice movie indeed. Not a typical sports movie, where the story ends with a triumph of player or team or game against all odds. It was about management, a very effective one.

With my career spanning for a period of more than seven years now, I learnt a management lesson, which was very much visible in the movie also. If you have to decide about something, in fact anything, almost always research and analysis scores over instincts. Experience counts, but that also is, in a way, a different form of research and analysis. With time, brain has done the research, and that experience might result into instinctive decisions. But again the rule is experience counts only in your area of expertise, and for all others it is about doing research and analysis. Yes, the planning is very important as it can lead to desirables results more often than not. Genius minds are not that much into the process, but still process can help them to achieve more out of their brains.

All this is known well and applied well by many great men in the history of human. For now, I want to cut it short rather than writing a management lesson which is published in great details by thousands of men. There is only one sentence, which is knocking my head every alternate second, as of now. This is not entirely related to what I've put above, but I can't help if it is knocking at the door. Knock knock, who are you? Ae, you don't know me. You are an inglorious...  forget it, here it goes:

“Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword”.

- Neeraj Mathpal
September 29, 2011

Road to India - 8 days to go [Dilli]

Capital of India. One of the liveliest cities of our nation. The historical city famously known as Dilli.

As a child, when we used to live in different places of Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, Dilli always sounded like a dream city to us. Though Mumbai is famous as dream city of India because of its flashy and fast life, beaches, lively people, image as a business magnet, and mostly the cinema industry, but it was far away from us and we were really not able to relate ourselves with Mumbai. Not sure if I am echoing the sentiments of most of the pahadis, but at least for me, the truth is that Delhi was the dream city.

As soon as you are grown enough to know about your nation, the first thing you know about is its capital, the most important place for any nation. With so much history behind it, it was impossible to not get impressed with the city. From the mythological cities of Hastinapur and Indraprastha to different buildings starting from 11th century AD, its every page has significance in making today’s India. Watching it on television, I was always mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the place next to Yamuna river. Every January 26, it gave the feeling that Delhi is the soul of India, a mixture of all different states and people. The personification of unity in diversity.

My first visit to Delhi was in December 1989, when I was in 5th class. My chhoti bua was getting married, and because my fufaji was from Delhi, it was decided to arrange for marriage in Delhi itself. My other bua and fufaji also used to live in Delhi (at Shahdara) so their home was the base camp and it was planned to have tent for the wedding near their place. Because I had seen only small cities of hill areas such as Pithoragarh, Almora, and Nainital, it was going to be a life time experience for me. The best, I had witnessed, so far in terms of big city was Haldwani (a place with plain area situated 40 miles from Nainital). The tallest manmade structures, I had seen so far, were 4 storey houses or hotels. Those days, our long journey from Pithoragarh to Delhi couldn’t be completed in one shot. After 11 hours of bus marathon, we reached Haldwani, the door from hills to plains and stayed at a relative’s house, a place for night halt.

Next day, one of its kind journey started with another bus. I remember vaguely that it was a Kathgodam Dipo bus. My starry eyes were all blue with the dreams of big red fort, Shahjahaan and Shershah Soori roaming around in that place on their Arabian horses, the Qutubminar where Iltut Mish is putting few last bricks on its top most storey, the Yamuna river where young Kauravas and Pandavas are taking rest after a big hunt in the jungles. Bus was running with at least 60 km per hour, but it felt like it’s running like a super jet. When you are used to curvy roads of hills, where bus crawls with speed of 15 to 30 kilometers per hour, speed of 60-70 really feels like a jet. It is the great relative theory of great Einstein and I was seeing the live example of that. With the first few rays of sun in early morning, some high storey buildings welcomed us. We had reached Ghaziabad and were trying to count number of floors in each building from the running bus. The highest one, I counted, was a 26 storey building. We finally reached Delhi bus station (ISBT). Anand Vihar bus station didn’t exist at that time, so we had to travel by auto / taxi for 1 hour to reach bua’s house in Shahdara.

We stayed in Delhi for almost 8-9 days and had loads of fun. First time in my life, I saw people from different states. We used to play a lot with children of a madrasi family (my bua’s neighbors). Important point is every south Indian was madrasi for the senior people of our family, and I used to tell them that they are from Tamilnadu, they are not madrasi. We played a lot of ‘chhuppan chhipai’, ‘chhune ki’ in those days, and got two days to visit all the nice places at Delhi. Lal Qila, Chandani Chawk, Jantar Mantar, India Gate, Raj Ghat, Qutub Minar, Lotus Temple, Cannaught Place, Palika Bajar from that time is still crystal clear in my memories. Really, I found Delhi more beautiful than I thought, it will be.

Then, I got multiple chances to come to Delhi throughout my childhood (almost every 2nd or 3rd year). We visited more and more beautiful places, and started knowing about the ugly side of Delhi as well. There was pollution (pre CNG and pre metro era), increasing crime rate, careless blue line buses (Dadaa faced the brutality of these buses and couldn’t walk for one year because of these buses in 1999), and endless crowd. All in all, a tough city to survive. My longest stint was for almost 6 months in the first half of 2004 during my last semester of college (training period). I used to live in Maharani Bagh / Kalaka Ji area with 4 of my friends, and had some great time. People sometimes call it struggle time, but for us it was a fun time. It would need a separate chapter to write about that six month period; I have to move on for now.

Now for last 7 years, is Delhi for me another place for night halt? Technically ‘Yes’, but in reality ‘No’. Whenever I have to go to Nainital from US or Bangalore (and then return journey), I stay in Delhi for at least two days. I’ve my dear relatives staying there. I’ve me dear friends staying there. I still feel that this is the soul of my nation. I still feel like visiting Chandani Chawk, though time does not permit. I still feel like sitting on the benches of lotus temple, I still have thirst to touch the Rajput swords at Lal Qila. Dilli is still a Dream City!

- Neeraj Mathpal
July 13, 2011

Road to India - 9 days to go [Packing]

The countdown has really begun. One of the fun parts of vacationing and moving places is ‘The Packing’. Yes, it deserves a ‘The’. It is a common question for everybody who is moving to a different place or going for long vacation, “it the packing done?” Answer depends on what kind of personality you have. It shows how disciplined you are, how casual you are and how careless you are. Let’s take these case by case.

How about if I start with careless types? There are many people I know who like to pack in the very last hour or last minute. It is fine if you are going for a short vacation within your state / country to have some good time. You only need to have few basic things such as tickets and money. But what if you are returning back to India from US? I have seen people forgetting their passports on the way to airport, getting late for airport because they hadn’t packed their stuff earlier. I remember, I was going to drop one of my colleagues at airport for a 4-45 PM flight once, so I took some time off from office and reached to pick her up at 2 PM, but she was nowhere to be found. Got to know that she went for some last min shopping; finally she came back at 3 PM and most of the things were not packed. Some of her neighbors finally helped her in packing and somehow she got ready at 3-45 PM; I had to drive fast to drop her at airport. Fortunately she was able to enter into the plane in time, but not without forgetting some of her stuff in the apartment. Only few things were later couriered to her, and rest of it faced trash bags, but that didn’t make any change in her life. So there is a class of people, who do not really care if they miss something, if they (or others) have to face consequences of their carelessness. Sometimes it is good to be careless, but most of the times, it is a pain not only for that person but also for others. So if you fall into this category, it’s time to be a bit more planned. Again, it is ok if you are going to a nearby place for a short vacation, but not if you are going for something important or going for long vacation.

Second type is the people, who over plan things. It is good to have everything planned, but, in too much detail, sometime takes the fun out of it because it reduces the surprising / exciting factor. You should have Plan A and Plan B, but there should be little flexibility in it so that you can take dynamic decisions to enjoy your trip and vacation more. If you fall into this category, relax a bit, take less tension. Have faith in your decision taking abilities and be fun.

Now the third type, they are the people, who plan well but not in too much detail. It is good to be in this category. Away from extreme of both types (first and second). You would find most of the funny stories for the people in this category. Sounds contradictory? How come funny stories involving people who plan well? That happens, generally, due to mistakes, overconfidence, lack of re-verifications, external factors. One of my friends (who is a responsible person and always plans well) missed an early morning flight (6 AM), because he was gossiping with friends till 2-30 AM, then thought of taking rest for 15 minutes. But those 15 minutes were costly as he woke up at 9 AM. It has happened to me also once. When I was flying to California from Bangalore via multiple airports, my first flight was at 5 am per my itinerary. I even thought what kind of international flight goes at 5 AM, but never bothered to check my tickets. Anyway, my plan was all set and I reached airport at 2 AM, only to know that the flight was at 12:05 AM. I had a long chat with airlines customer service and finally looked back at ticket that was showing 00:05 hrs, and I had interpreted that as 5 AM. What more can be said? I had to wait in Bangalore for 2 days to get the flights again. So, if you fall into this category, don’t be over confident, verify the important things at least once yourself (and if possible second pair of eyes would be great).

Now coming back to packing, plan is ready for this time as well. Separate list of items for my wife, for myself, for the stuff / gifts we have to drop in India, important documents, etc. Isn’t this funny? This cycle goes on for each person in life. We do have many firms to provide ‘movers and packers’ help for permanent moves, but we still do not have professionals who can help you in packing for vacations (of course, there are few exceptions specially if you are rich enough, you would have personal secretaries). Doesn’t it sound like a good business idea?

“We provide online packing services for your vacations. We have a step by step online guide and professionals to help you for this. Hire us and our experts will pack it for you in few minutes. Powered by Skype”.

- Neeraj Mathpal
Jul 12, 2011

Road to India - 14 days to go [Florida]

Florida is one of the most beautiful states to live in United States. It never gets cold here except may be for 5-10 days. It rains a lot here for 3 - 4 months making all kind of spicy snacks such as Pakoris tastier. It has many great beaches on the east (Gulf of Mexico) and west side (Atlantic Ocean). If you are into water sports, this place is your paradise. It is very popular for the retired people, who love to spend twilight of their lives under the sun, sitting near beaches and having margarita.

My first interaction with this beautiful state was during thanksgiving vacations of 2006 (late November). Weather was very pleasant, no rain, no hot Sun. In summer, you might convert into a humanized lobster under the hot sun, but in November, you don’t need to worry about sun screen lotions and their quality. I used to live in New Jersey with my apartment mates. Three of us and one more friend took a flight from Newark airport to Miami airport and went straight to one of the South Miami Beach hotels near ocean drive.

The very first moment, I went to Miami Beach, I was in love with the place. I wished and told my friends that what it would be like to get a project in such a beautiful place, and as they say, be careful about what you wish for, the wish was fulfilled in Mar 2009. I came to Florida, that too near Miami, and staying here for more than 2 years now. My love for Florida increased with each trip to a different beach. It turned into even more beautiful place, once I got married in Nov 2009 to my lovely wife and came back with her to this beautiful place.

On the west side, there are Miami beaches, Hollandale beach, Hollywood beach, West Palm beach, Paradise beach, Aruba Beach, Boca Raton beach, and a very beautiful Fort Lauderdale beach. There are many more. You can never get tired in exploring all these beaches. Beautiful shades of blue water are all over the ocean. There are nice sea side drives, pathways, and lively restaurants. ‘Mango tropical’ at the Miami Beach and fries at ‘the Deck’ of Fort Lauderdale are our all time favorites.

On the east side, there are some beautiful small towns and islands with white sand beaches. The green and blue shades of water give spiritual experience. It is a great delight to mention Naples, Fort Meyers, Sanibel, Marco Island, Sarasota, barefoot beach, and many more. Shelling is one of the best time pass in these beaches. Mollusk seashells, and Bivalves are plenty, but searching for Shankh is an amazing experience.

Apart from these beach side places, there are many more beautiful places in the center and northern part of Florida. Just to name a few are the lovely Jacksonville, scenic old city of Saint Augustine (and the St Augustine beach), the ever busy theme park city of Orlando (it would require a separate tidbit to say anything about the famous magic kingdom of Disney parks, and Universal Studios). One honorable mention would be the south most city 'Key West' and the bridges over the sea to reach there (another separate topic). List is too long.

I know my days at Florida are approaching the expiry date, but this place will always have a great place in our (mine and Lucky) hearts. Just want to thank the beautiful state today. Thank you, Florida!

- Neeraj Mathpal
July 7, 2011

Road to India - 15 days to go [Vacations]

Life has an important function in terms of the work, we do. At one step, there are some very hectic days when you think life is no good, then there are some fine or cool days, when you think, life is good and little bit boring. In any case, brain demands for a refreshment every now and then, and as we have seen so far in our short life, weekends are not often enough for this refreshment. That is the reason, you have some long weekends during the year, you can add a day before or after the long weekend, and you have a nice 4 day vacation. But even that is not enough; you still need some more refreshment in terms of a little longer vacation. So you get some leaves depending on what kind of career you are in, what level you are in, etcetera. Whatever be the case, vacations are always great and what is best in them depends upon person to person. For us, the Indians, it mostly means spending time with family during festivals and weddings.

Best part of childhood is the summer and winter vacation, again depending upon which place you live in. For the hills of Uttarakhand, we used to get 10 to 15 days vacation in summer (in later part of June). When we used to live in ‘Pithoragarh’ (1988-1995), it mostly meant I would spend time at ‘Nainital’ playing with small handmade cycles - take a small stick (used for charts), attached shoe polish box on one of the ends, and here you go, you have a Harley Davidson. My great grandfather (father of my Nanaji) used to make these for us in minutes. There were other multiple options as well like horse riding, be a shopkeeper, visit mall road / flats, play with Mamas, Mausis, Nanaji and of course, Dadaa was always there. List is endless, but it was always fun. In any case, as a child you always have multiple options, at least in the late 80s and early 90s. I still remember the delicious food, my Nani used to cook.

Another good time was 4 to 10 days vacation for Dashhara and then for Diwali. Diwali was the time, when we used to visit our village ‘Dwarahat’. It was fun spending time with grandparents. The best things in Dwarahat was going to the fields, spending some time with our cows (I still miss two of them - a white cow Champa and a brown one named Lachhima), playing ‘Gulli – Danda’, visiting the various temples (they are made in times of Pandavas) and one small market. Still that place can be a bit boring sometimes, but never with Dadaa. For countless days we have played bus service (Dadaa playing the driver and me playing the conductor), and ‘Pasaa’ (dice) cricket. So all in all, again it was quite a good time.

Then there was the mother of all vacations - the winter vacation ranging from 40 days to 60 days. These vacations provided one of the best times as well as one of the boring times. Boring times because if weather is too bad, light will go for 3-4 days and you cannot do almost anything, even if light is there ‘Doordarshan’ used to save this time to telecast the worst (read Art) movies like ‘Rudali’, ‘Sooraj Ka Satavaan Ghoda’, ‘Wo Chhokari’. Best times because plenty time to play cricket on sunny days, to roam around, to read comics, etc. Needless to say that it was more enjoyable because Dadaa and my sister, and all my friends were also having vacations.

Did I say 40 to 60 days vacation? Can you imagine that now what would a vacation for that much duration mean? Sounds Jabardast. Well, yeah… 40 to 60 days… keep day dreaming!!

- Neeraj Mathpal
July 6, 2011

Road to India - 21 days to go [Soccer]

August 3. Barcelona vs. Chivas. Sun life stadium, Miami. Of course, it is a great chance to witness one of the best teams of all time. Best thing? I have two tickets in my pocket right now. But these were bought in start of June, when I was still waiting for my visa extension papers and there were no plans to travel to India in near future. We heard that all the Barca players would be coming except the magician as he would be busy performing national duty in colors of Argentina. I was excited so as my wife to see the magic from some of the greats. Even a red t-shirt was selected with a picture of football and Spain written in it.

Things have changed in last 3 weeks and now I’m visiting the country of Sachin. A country where East Bengal and Mohan Bagan are the Barca and Real. A country where kids play football only in the rainy season. A country where I doubt anybody knows that India once qualified for world cup in 1950, though didn’t participate due to some comical reasons. A country where people wouldn’t know name of their own football players except Baichung Bhutia. A country where Cricket rules. A country where Sachin rules.

Like all other Indian kids, I’ve been involved in some gully style football (aha, let’s not mention gully cricket for now). That gully style football has a different meaning in hilly areas. You have the first figure out a decent plain place where 6 to 10 kids can play at the same time. 25 by 25 footsteps would be good enough. Anything more that that is a bonus and an actual size field is a luxury. Well, needless to say that I haven’t had such luxury for most of my life. Only once I got that privilege when I was in 8th class. There was a selection going on for the school team, so I also thought of trying my foot.

On the match day, I reached the Dev Singh field in Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) in time dressed in my new white t-shirt, which was having collars. I thought I will get a chance to play for my class 8th ‘A’ with my friends. That was a match against 8th ‘B’. But as it turned out, there were too many friends who wanted to be part of the team and my small and thin frame was not a good match. But still I played that day, not as an extra, but as the starting player. It’s not a matter of shame that they gave me chance to play for 7th ‘A’ against 7th ‘B’. Well, I played as a defender for most of the game. Fell into mud couple of times, got some bruises on face and scratches on knees and hands. All in all, a rough one hour. I don’t remember who won that game, but yes, that was an experience. The happiness to have that luxury for the first and the last time in my life.

Let’s come back to present. This Aug 3, I would be in those hilly areas, and you know the best thing, it would be a rainy season and it rains a lot in Nainital, almost non-stop. So I shall witness again some kids playing in the rain, running in those 25 into 25 foot step areas with their hearts pumping, with their restless energy and with the unending spark. They are no Messi, but even they do posses the magic. The magic of life in the magical rain. May be I shall also get a chance to kick the football in that magical rain!

- Neeraj Mathpal
June 30, 2011

Road to India - 22 days to go [Fixed]

When the long awaited moment is about to come, have I started feeling the same excitement? Not yet. There is little bit of ‘it’, but there is more of ‘that’.

‘It’ being the ‘excitement’, ‘that’ being the ‘exhaustion’. Why so? Do I need to tell again about the waste policies of the two governments? Actually, not just two, all the governments, who ruled these two nations in last 31 years, are responsible for this, and yes, if that is not enough, there are constraints all around put on you by holiday calendar, by festival calendar, by life events, by yourself, by family, by employer, by income, even by your pets.

Basically, we are controlled by too many external factors. Are there any exceptions? Oh, yes, I have heard of those great stories of great people and not so great people. But show me one who has no impact of these external factors. Aren’t they hiding somewhere?

Do I need to tell about where ‘do joon ki roti’ can take you? It can take you to different corners of your nations. What more? It can even take you to different corners of the world. It can take you to the sky; it can take you to the bottom of the sea. Is that ‘roti’ not overrated? As some sage has said,” When you feel hungry, may be you are just thirsty. So have some water, then see if you are still hungry”. Water is definitely not overrated! But, then what fun? ‘Roti’ takes you to places. It shows you how different are things in this world. It shows you the soul of human is still the same, whatever form it takes when it crosses the mountains, and the oceans, and the soil, and the jungles.

Well, honestly, the best time of the year is right around the corner. It is about time to stop enjoying the great services of ‘vonage’ for few weeks, and to say ‘pranam’, ‘namaskar’, ‘hello’ face to face. Does anybody need facebook?

- Neeraj Mathpal
June 29, 2011

लैंप से लटकी परी

एक चौड़ी सी सड़क पर जब मैंने ठीक सामने 'स्टॉप' का चिह्न देखा, तो गाड़ी खुदबखुद ही रुक गयी। जब प्रतिदिन एक ही रास्ते से गुजरना होता हो, तो हाथ पाँव दिमाग के आदेशों की प्रतीक्षा नहीं करते बल्कि खुद ही सदिश बन जाया करते है। अन्य गाड़ियों के जाने का इंतज़ार करते हुए मैंने पीछे की सीट पर पड़ी पोलीथिन की तरफ़ झाँका, तो नज़र एक लकड़ी की बनी हुई छोटी सी परी पर गयी। कहने को तो ये एक सजावटी सामान भर था, पर असल में जैसे इसका श्वेत रंग शांति का, फूल - पत्ती प्रकृति का प्रतीक हो। इन्हीं विचारों के बीच गाड़ी स्वयं ही आगे बढ़ी और घर के नजदीक जाकर ही रुकी।

खरीदारी का सामान लेकर मैं और मेरी धर्मपत्नी रात के आठ बजकर बीस मिनट पर घर में घुसे, तो हमेशा की तरफ़ भाग्यवान ने सामान निकाल निकाल कर एक एक को फिर से परखना शरू कर दिया। हर सामान को देखकर उसकी मुस्कान और चौड़ी होती जाती जैसे अपनी खरीदारी पर गर्व महसूस कर रही हो। हो भी क्यों ना? आज 'डॉलर शॉप' पर मेहरबानी जो करी थी। एक छोटा सा बन्दर, फेंग शुई, दो चम्मच, एक मेढक की आवाज़ रहित मूर्ति। सभी धीरे धीरे कहीं न कहीं 'फिट' होने लगे। जिसे कहीं जगह ना मिली, उसे टीवी सेट के ऊपर, नीचे, आगे, पीछे किसी तरफ़ लगा दिया गया।

सब से निवृत होकर भाग्यवान हाथों में परी को नचाने लगी। बेचारी कभी इधर देखती, कभी उधर देखती, पर कहीं एक भी जगह न पा सकी जहाँ पर परी के लायक योग्य जगह मिल पाती। जब एक करूणा भरी नज़र से उसने मेरी तरह देखा, तो लगा जैसे साक्षात् प्रकृति माता हमारे घर में विराजमान होना चाहती है और हमारे पास एक योग्य आसन ही नहीं है। मैं भाग्यवान की यह छवि अधिक देर निहार नहीं सका क्योंकि मेरा हृदय दया भाव से भर गया और उसकी उसी पल सहायता करने की मैंने ठान ली। जब इन्सान एक बार कुछ ठान लेता है, तो सारी कायनात उसकी सहायता करने को आ जाती है। अंग्रेजी में एक कहावत है, "व्हैर दियर इज अ विल, दियर इज अ वे" और फिर यहाँ पर सवाल भाग्यवान का था, जिसके लिए तो मैं सागर पर्वत सब एक कर सकता था।

इसी सब विचार मंथन के बीच मेरी नज़र एक ५ फीट ऊँचे लैंप पर पड़ी, जो दो बल्बों की रौशनी में न सिर्फ स्वयं जगमगा रहा था, बल्कि पूरे घर को अपनी सफेदी की चमकार में नहला रहा था। बस फिर क्या था, जैसे ही मेरी नज़र उसके एक हुक पर पड़ी, परी आज से उसकी हो गयी। भाग्यवान के हाथों से परी को लेकर मैंने उसे लैंप पर टांग दिया। इस भाव विभोर दृश्य को देखकर सारी कायनात ख़ुशी से झूम उठी, देवताओं ने फूल बरसाएं, अनु मलिक ने मंगल गीत गाये और सारे कमरे में ख़ुशी का निवास हो ही गया।

इसी ख़ुशी से प्रेरित होकर एक लेखनी चल पड़ी लैंप और परी के इस महामिलन को शब्दों से अंकित करने। कृपया आप भी लैंप और परी को अपना आशीर्वाद दें, जिससे उनका मंगलमय जीवन और भी मंगलमय हो जाये।

- नीरज मठपाल
मार्च २३, २०१०

दा अमेरिकन हेयर कट

आप भी सोचते होंगे कि ये क्या बात हुई - अमेरिका का हेयर कट। पर इस बात में तो बहुत बात है। जो बाल कभी १०, १५ या २० रुपये में कटा करते थे, वो अब १५, २०, २५ डालर में कटा करते हैं। वो बाल, जिन्हें कटाने के लिए नाई से बस यही कहते थे कि आगे पीछे से छोटे कर दो और बीच में ठीक ठाक। उन्हीं बालों को कटाने के लिए कह रहे हैं - पीछे ३ नंबर की मशीन चला दो और छोटे कर दो बाकी। साथ ही आँखें बंद करके भगवान् से प्रार्थना कर रहे हैं कि भगवान् जब इन आँखों को खोलूँ तो अपना हेयर कट देखकर ख़ुद को ही सदमा न लग जाए। पर फ़िर भी किसी तरह सैलून से ऐसा कुछ व्यक्तिगत अनुभव तो मुझे हुआ नहीं कि मैं अपनी लेखनी को हेयर कट पर कुछ कागज बरबाद करने को बोलूँ। हाँ, अभी कुछ दिन पहले एक ऎसी घटना घटी जिसने मेरे हेयर कट को एक अति महत्त्वपूर्ण और अति संवेदनशील कार्य में परिवर्तित कर दिया।

जून २० - ये वो दिन था जब मुझे बाल कटाए पूरे ढाई महीने बीत चुके थे और किनारों से, पीछे से टेढ़े मेढ़े होते बाल रोज दुहाई दे रहे थे कि हमें काट दो, हमें काट दो। अब उन्हें कैसे समझाएं भाई तुम्हें काटने के लिए नाई के पास जाना पडता है। कोई तुम दाढ़ी थोड़ी हो कि तुम्हें रेजर से घिस डालूँ कभी भी, कहीं भी। पर आखिरकार एक ऐसा दिन आया जब " त्राहिमाम् , त्राहिमाम् " की ये पुकार मेरे कान के परदे फाड़ने लगी और मेरी अंतरात्मा ने कहा अब वो वक्त आ गया है जब मुझे अपने इन बालों की बलि देनी ही होगी। मेरे रूममेट के बाल भी अपनी सारी मर्यादाएं लाँघ कर गधे की पूंछ की तरह लंबे हो गए थे। तो वह भी अपनी केशराशि को बलिवेदी पर चढ़ाने के लिए व्यग्र था।

जुलाई ११ - शुक्रवार का दिन थे। हम आफिस से जल्दी निकले, आँखों में जूनून था बाल कटवाने का। दिल में तूफ़ान घुमड़ रहा था कि आज शरीर का वजन कुछ तो कम हो ही जायेगा। नाई की कैंची हमारा बरबस इंतजार कर रही थी। कुछ एक मील का रास्ता तय करते हुए हमारी कार मंजिल तक पहुँची। मेरे रूममेट की खुशी का बाँध छिपाए नहीं छिप रहा था। आख़िर हमने उस दुकान में कदम रख ही दिया, देखा कि वहाँ दो ही लोग थे, एक नाखून पे कुछ तो करवा रही थी और दुसरी आराम फरमा रही थी। हमें तो साफ़ साफ़ ही बोल दिया गया कि आज बाल काटने वाले जल्दी घर चले गए, अभी कोई नहीं है, कल आना। चलो, कोई नहीं, हमने भी सोचा कि एक ही दुकान थोड़ी है, अगली में गए तो वो बंद। अगली में गए तो वो भी बंद। अगली में गए तो वहाँ भी नाई भाग चुके थे। कुल मिलाकर एक घंटे ७-८ सैलूनों में चक्कर मारकर हम "लौट के बुद्धू घर को आए" को चरितार्थ करते हुए घर पहुंचे। सोचा कि कोई नहीं, कल चले जायेंगे।

जुलाई १२ - शनिवार का दिन। पूरा दिन सोने में ही निकल गया। शाम ६ बजे ध्यान आया कि बाल भी तो कटवाने हैं, फ़िर तो रविवार के दिन सैलून बंद रहते हैं। बस निकल चले घर से। पर पता चला कि शनिवार को ज्यादातर सैलून ४ या ५ बजे ही बंद हो जाते हैं। केवल एक ही सैलून खुला था जो ७ बजे तक खुला रहता है, पर चूंकि हमारी " अपान्ट्मेंट " नहीं थी वहाँ के लिए तो उसने भी बाल काटने से मना कर दिया यह कहकर कि किसी और कि बारी है, जब वहाँ तक कोई था ही नहीं। लेकिन उन्हें समय नहीं था, तो हम क्या कर सकते हैं। या फ़िर हमारी किस्मत में बाल कटाना ही ना लिखा था इन दिनों।

जुलाई १४ - सोमवार का दिन। आज तो प्रण करके ही चले थी कि आज बाल कटवाए बिना घर का मुँह नहीं देखेंगे चाहे कुछ भी हो जाए। पर फ़िर पता चला सोमवार को भी कई दुकाने बंद रहती हैं और जहाँ गए वहाँ वही ढाक के तीन पात। आगे कि कहानी क्या बताएं, बस हम भी जिद में थे कि कम से कम बाल कटवाने के लिए तो " अपाइन्ट्मेन्ट " नहीं ही लेंगे।

जुलाई १६ - मंगलवार को समय नहीं मिल पाया। आफ़िस के काम में ही उलझकर रहे गए, पर ये क्या , ये बुधवार का दिन भी वैसा ही निकला जब हम सोचने पर मजबूर हो गए कि इतना अगर बेकरार हम भारत की धरती पर होते, तो कोई नाई घर पर आकर ही बाल काट जाता। पर क्या हो सकता था, हम भारत में तो नहीं थे ना। ये भी सोच लिया कि क्यों न ख़ुद ही काट डालें, पर फ़िर बालों पर दया सी आ गयी।

जुलाई १७ - आज जब फ़िर से वही कहानी दुहराई गयी, तो हमने आख़िर अगले दिन के लिए शाम ७ बजे का "अपाइन्ट्मेंट" ले ही लिया। बालों कि व्यथा आन, बान और शान पर भारी पड़ ही गयी।

जुलाई १८ - आखिरकार जुलाई १८ का वो शुभ दिन आ ही पहुँचा, इन्तजार के बाद जब कुछ चीज मिलती है, तो उसका महत्त्व तो स्वर्ग मिलने के ही सामान होता है। बुकिंग होने के बावजूद हमारे दिल कि धड़कनें बड़ी हुई थी। मन में डर था कि कहीं आज वो दुकान बंद तो नहीं होगी। इस आशंकित मन के साथ कार पार्क करने के बाद जब हमने देखा कि सैलून के दरवाजे खुले है, तो साँस में साँस आयी। अन्दर जाते ही हैड नाई ने पुकारा, " मिली (सही नाम भूल गए हैं अब), तुम्हारे क्लाइंट आए हैं। हे प्रभु, ये क्या? जिंदगी में पहली बार अहसास हुआ कि हम नाई के लिए क्लाइंट हैं।

सिर पर पानी डालने के साथ नाई ने बाल काटने का शुभ कार्य प्रारम्भ किया। शकल देखने के बाद उसका पहला प्रश्न था, " हाऊ यंग यूं आर?" जैसे जैसे उम्र का हर दिन बढ़ रहा है, ये प्रश्न सुनकर और खुशी होती है। उसका दूसरा प्रश्न था," तुमने कब से बाल नहीं कटाये हैं?" मैंने सोचा तीन महीने से ऊपर हो गए हैं तो क्या बोलूँ, यही बोल दिया कि लगभग ढाई महीने हो गए हैं। उसके बाद जो कुछ हुआ वो सब कुछ एक हसीं सपने जैसा था। कुछ ही देर में हमारी केश्रशियाँ जमीन पर गोते खा रही थी। पंखे की हवा के झोंके उन्हें इधर उधर कर रहे थे। जैसे जैसे बाल नीचे गिर रहे थे, नाई बोल रही थी, "लाट्स आफ हेयर, लाट्स आफ हेयर"। चलो जैसे तैसे काम समाप्त हुआ, हम गदगद थे, बहुत खुश थे। उस सैलून के तो हम जिंदगी भर के लिए आभारी हो गए, जिसने हमें हफ्ते भर कि निराशाओं से निजात दिला दी थी। जहाँ और दिन २ डालर टिप में देते थे, आज ५ दे डाले। आते समय उसने मुझे बोला, "नेक्स्ट टाइम, डांट वेट फार टू एंड हाफ मंथ्स, कम इन फाइव वीक्स" । इस शानदार वाक्य के साथ ही एक मधुर मुस्कान का आदान प्रदान हुआ और हमने विदा ली। हम ५ हफ्ते या दो महीने की बात को नहीं सोच रहे थे, पर हाँ एक ख्याल दिमाग पर जरूर छाया हुआ था कि अगली बार से ३-४ दिन पहले ही "अपाइन्ट्मैन्ट" ले लिया करेंगे।

आज इस बात को पूरा एक हफ्ता बीत चुका है, पर आज भी इस हेयर कट की यादें एकदम ताजा हैं।

- नीरज मठपाल
जुलाई २७, २००८

Fear of metropolitan cities

This chinese guy, I met few days back, he was so much confused and lost in US because of a different life style and cultural differences. This guy with an english name Mike (real name Yabig) came to work for same client. It was his first trip outside China. He arrived at San Francisco with his wife and a sweet baby of minus six months (not yet born). A feeling of strangeness was continuing sickness for couple of weeks. In this independent country where you have to make your own destiny, where you have to choose your own path, he was there with nobody around to talk to him. Worst part was his english communication and difficulty in understanding even common things. Good part is he has slowly started knowing how to deal with circumstances, how to start coping with a different environment, a different culture. To take some appreciation and on a light note, he can always thank friends like me for this little change. I have laughed at him so many times because of silly questions raised, but he never felt bad. But believe me he is a question machine and we had to be on our feet most of the times to answer his questions and curiosities. Good part is we got to know more about China because he compares almost everything with China and it provides us some information about another great country. Yes, I do believe in "Hindi Cheeni bhai bhai" and more than that in "Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam".

Well for now, I'll leave all these slogans behind and start focussing on the topic itself. Behavior of this chinese guy triggered this topic for the day.

I have seen people in my own village, when they come to Delhi first time in their life, it's a hell lot of experience. Survival looks tougher in asking conditions as life is totally different, as it is not made for them. To be honest, some of my friends will say I was not very different 5 years back, although it was my umpteenth trip to Delhi, but somehow it was not my comfort zone. I gave a solid example when I jumped from a DTC bus when it was nearing a turn near Aashram (near maharani bagh). Actually I was sleeping and my friends said we are about to reach, I saw them at the gate and I felt like they are stepping down there. I was unaware of actual situation and stepped down from bus. Yes, Stepped Down !!. But when I landed like an airplane, I realized what I had done. I had just jumped from a running bus. A running bus!! It was a lucky escape as there was no other vehicle coming at that time. My friends were shocked. We met at next bus stop and they scolded me and we forgot that chapter with some huge laughters. It has happened with one of my friends in Bangalore. There are so many similar moments; I have even forgotten the count of them. But we survived and we learned from our mistakes. Truth is that even today I will have to think ten times before driving in Delhi or Bangalore or any metropolitan city of India. It seems easier here in US, but mate, believe me it requires skills in India.

Those blue line buses in Delhi are worse. They won't care for passengers, you somehow have to jump into and step down from a running bus. If you are taking too much time in that process, get ready for some slangs or miss your bus stop. Every second person looks like he is going to take advantage of your simplicity. If you are not "metropolitan smart", you are going to have a tough time there. I still remember when some of my friends used to say how shall we live in Delhi. First, being a Pahadi, the heat in summer will kill us and if we survive that, there are smart Delhites, who will make our life miserable. Only street smart people can survive there. But with time, we realized that it is not true. It is all about experiences. When you go out to any new place, you might feel bubbles in your stomach, but with time, they are going to burst automatically. You just have to stay calm and use your brain and instincts a bit. Then this becomes a continuing process, you will not even feel bubble at some stage, it's all about experiencing the bitterness of life and bitterness of these metropolitan cities.

I know you guys must have had similar or more horrible experiences in your life, you can write to me at laata.times@gmail.com about those moments / experiences. I'll publish them in this same topic. For now, I'll end this topic with a nice Shloka :

अयं निजः परोवेति गणनालघुचेतसाम।
उदारचरितानाम तु, वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम॥

(It means - This is mine, that is yours. This type of data analysis is done by people with small hearts. For people with big hearts, this earth is their home, their family).

- Neeraj Mathpal
April 8, २००८

Priyanka from Bangalore writes, "It reminded me of one similar incident that happened with me some three years back. Sharing it with you.

I was visiting Delhi for the first time, we had an off campus there. I went there with my friends( It would be better if i called them Classmates). The worst part in the whole thing was that I had not informed my parents, thinking that I would return back the next morning. Hostel life gives us that liberty. I was pretty much sure I would get an offer letter at the end of the day so did not bother to ask anyone for permission.

Now you call it my bad luck or anything else, while we were on our way, our placement officer called us to inform that the campus had been rescheduled for the next day. We were near Ghaziabad, I cud not even think of returning back. I started wondering where I would go. All others with me had somebody or the other staying in Delhi. (All being boys would go to their friends places, I was left all alone). I did not know what to do. Then suddenly it struck to me that one of my friends was in Delhi at her sisters place. Although it was a little awkward still I called her up and told her that I would be staying there with her.

She came to pick me up in the morning. The day went of well. All her family members were very nice to me. As we finished lunch, I had no idea wat was in store for me. As all nice people would do, her Didi and Jijaji asked us where we wanted to go out in the evening. Shipra mall in Ghaziazbad was chosen as the destination. We were all set and ready to go. I was a bit nervous as it was the first time for me. I had never been to a mall. To add to the fear and anticipation, we were told that some guests from US would be joining us for dinner. I was not at all ready for this---Going to a five star hotel with people i did not know at all.

Any way, we reached the mall and as all other people loitering around, we too were busy window shopping. I had literally forgotten why I had come to Delhi. Soon enough Out of the confusion in the mall I found myself standing in front of an escalator all set to climb upstairs. (Remember it was the first time), I wanted to take a lift instead. Could not say anything to anyone. My friend understood my trauma. She held my hand, told me the technique :) to place one self on the escalator, and then asked me to take a step. I was dead scared and it took only a fraction of second for me to fall down. Dhard.......... a heavy tall person had fallen. It was sooooooooooooo embarrassing. Only if I had applied by brain and coordinated my body along with it.. I did not get hurt much, only some bruises. My friend at first shouted at me and then laughed her heart out.

I can never forget that day, I was so quiet at dinner out of embarrassment and also scared sitting in front of those people. I have not told anyone about this incident.

Last August I met my friend in another mall in Noida, while climbing the escalator, we just looked at each other and exchanged a warm smile."

[Laata Times thanks Priyanka for sharing this nice piece]

Strangers

We all are, in a way, strangers in this life. If somebody tries to talk to me or looks at me, I'll first think "Do I know this guy" or "Do I know this girl"? And at the same time, the vice versa, "Does he (or she) know me"? Answer comes most of the times as "No". Then next question comes in mind "Are we linked in some way? Do we have something in common? Can we be linked in some way?" And most of the times, answer comes as "Yes" and sometimes a new relation starts, although ratio is very less. We are no more strangers.

Few days back, I was watching a movie "Strangers". That time again, same thought came to mind that perhaps no one is a stranger, or perhaps everybody is. Family and friends are not strangers, but at some point of time, when this all started, they were strangers. I was a stranger to this world, when I came to life. A small baby who tried to understand the simplicity of relations and at the same time, the intricacies of life. Then that baby grew up and said, "it's my life". All who are or were linked said, "it's our life" and the journey was on.

Not only people but any thing, in start, looks like something strange. With time and with experience, it automatically mingles with life and we feel like we used to know about it for a long time, it is no more a strange thing. It is a friend. I found a number of books strange, when I see hundreds of pages in that book, it really scares. When we start, it's a slow process to be an acquaintance of that book. But when we start going past first couple of hundreds of pages, it becomes a friend for some time. If book is worthy enough, a life lasting relationship starts. This hope is always there that we would have lots of nice strangers in the form of written or unwritten books of life. Knowingly or unknowingly, it happens.

To end this short tidbit, I would recite a line from a hindi movie song. "Ajnabee, tum jaane pahchaane se lagte ho..."

- Neeraj Mathpal
March 23, 2008

An Ultimate Race

I was in second year of my college. You know hostel life, it makes many people lazy like anything. I was no exception.

I used to love running in my school days, though never participated in a competition. Then after these many years, there came a college competition. After almost one year, I ran that day and that too for a trial and it was good enough to show my talent as a racer. I got a chance to represent my house in 200 meter heat. But when I started my sprint, I felt like somebody has caught my feet. Somehow I managed to complete the race with fourth position. Nothing strange, because only four runners were there in that heat.

But my batch-mates had full confidence on me. I was supposed to run in a 800 meter heat a little later. My friends were saying that I'm not meant for these sprints. I'm a horse for long races, so 800 meters is definitely mine. Even I was trying to pump up myself and wanted to win it with my will power. I used to tell my friends that in school days I used to walk / run daily in the morning for half an hour. How fast? I never told them. Was it just a jog? I never told them. Somehow expectations were set for me and they were real high expectations. They were saying to everybody that I'm going to win this race easily.

Then the race started. Everybody was there to cheer me up. There was so much ga-ga about this horse of long races. Then I was gearing up for my ultimate race, my shoes were there at the line with all sharpness. Of course, I was having my fingers and ankles trying to fight with my shoes to come out. I heard the whistle and I started with all my courage.

Oh, again I felt like somebody has caught my feet. Was there a ghost somewhere? A ghost running with me? Whatever I tried, I couldn't catch up with the pace of others. Forget others, I was not even able to catch up with my best. But then there were my friends among spectators. They thought that it is my strategy, I've started slowly because I'll gain speed later with more energy than others. Alas, only I knew the truth and I couldn't go out to tell that it's not strategy. So I ran with the same speed from start to end. There were four laps to complete this race. I was running alone for last lap. my friends were laughing like anything and cursing me. I was little embarrassed, but I also had my share of laughters. I was not tired at all, perhaps I could have run 10 more laps, but with the same speed. Anyway, history was written.

Now, there is nothing much in this race. But what makes it ultimate is aftermath of that race. It's a part of folk lore in my friend circle. We don't talk about the race, which one of our friends won; it was a 100 meters sprint; but we always remember my race, we make a lot of fun of it.

Well, to be honest, my friends make a lot of fun, not me. They do lots of leg pulling for it, whenever we talk about any sporting heroics of our friends. Probably, this comes at second place in our memorable moments of college sporting life. First one will always be a cricket final match, when playing first, we scored 216 runs in 16 overs and won it.

To conclude, I've three points :

First advice is : If you are out of practice and want to run in a competition, think five times before it and keep your mouth shut.

Second advice is : Even if you are regular in running, think three times before going for a competition, evaluate your abilities as a runner first and keep your mouth shut.

Third advice is : If you have a friend like me and he is running in a competition, keep your mouth open and laugh as much as you can. Thank you.

- Neeraj Mathpal
March 14, 2008

Funny things happen in life ...

I was about 9 years old that time. I was on the verge of becoming a member of senior most class of my school. Ya, you got it right. I'm talking about 5th class. This was a Sunday. It used to come with lots of happiness. After six days of 50 minutes on television (20 minutes news and 30 minutes a serial), Sunday used to come with a bang with a nice morning of three hour television, a late grand lunch. Of course time to leave bed was the same. 5 in the morning. Five. Huh. Now I can't even imagine to get up at 5.

Well, so on one Sunday afternoon, My Iza (mom) gave my elder brother 1 Rs and said, "dono log devsigh field jao, patang lekar udaao wahaan" (go to devsingh field and enjoy playing with kites). We started but on the way to that field, we saw one shining packet with a very attractive name on it - "Santoor". It was a sada pan masala without any tobacco in it. So we had a little discussion of one minute whether to go to field with a problematic kite or try this Santoor thing. With one coin of a single rupee, we didn't have the luxury to go for both. Then came the historical decision - Santoor pan masala. wah santoor wah. Fine we bought it, but when we tasted it, yukk. It was so bad, we couldn't even have one single supari of it.

That dream of having delicious pan masala was gone and we still laugh when we see kites flying in the sky, because we went on to never learn the art of flying kites. But yes, I can say I've read the Kite Runner, the tale of two afaganee kids. May be some day, with some kids, I'll at least try to be a kite runner for few minutes. You never know, funny things really happen in life.

- - - - -

Then there was one "Daabri" system. We used to live in Purani Bajar (in Pithoragarh city) first and then in Dhungkhani. There is a village "Daabri", some 8-9 kilometers from our place. Me and my elder brother used to have a great chemistry. Lots of fights, play and all fun. I used to refuse to go anywhere (to my relative's homes etc) without my brother. At the same time, If he has to go somewhere alone, I would also go. So even if my mom needs me or him for some other work, or want one of us to stay at home, it was just not possible. It's as simple as that - If he is going to Daabri (one of my nani used to live there), I'll also go. If I've been asked to go alone, I won't go. This attitude of mine inserted this phrase in our life - "Daabri System". It was not that I was afraid of going alone to a place. It was just that whenever possible, we have to be together because then we shall have more fun.

Now, I feel so happy about so many moments, we have enjoyed. Even one second of such thought gives tons of pleasure. Life is funny you know, now we meet once or twice in a year.

- - - - -

In our school, I used to like Kho Kho and Kabaddi a lot. You can say Kabaddi was my specialization area (thanks to R.S.S. for that and their nice evening shakhas). Although, I never represented my school team in Kabaddi, but I was in reservers. Simple reason, I was not allowed in playing seven, was my participation in other important events which were more precious for our school and which had nothing to do with sports. Back to kabaddi, I remember one semifinal game specially. I was in 8th class and had to play for my house. Ours was a team of thin guys and to be honest, to be even in semifinals was a strong performance by our team. Then came the semifinal, our principal was also there to watch that match. Our opposition was very strong. If you have seen some big guys in your school days, all of them were in the team of opposition. First pali, we fought hard. After few minutes, I was the only person still there in our team and there were three on the other side of line waiting to catch me alive. But with some will power and bull type style, we won that pali with one point. Second, we lost by a good margin and the game was over. But pleased with our performance, our principal asked for one more pali. We lost like brave fighters. We, the slim trim guys, were there with bruises and pumping hearts and fought till the last second. Memories of it is a real treat for me. Although we ended the competition with a bronze, but our real prize was those pats on our shoulders.

Now, I feel like playing Kabaddi sometimes, but can not get some enthusiastic friends to play that. Life is funny! Right.

- Neeraj Mathpal
March 13, 2008

एक दोपहर

आज पहाड़ों की एक दोपहर की सैर की जाये। उसमें भी अगर महीना जनवरी का हो तो कहना ही क्या। पहाड़ों का मतलब माउन्ट एवरेस्ट या नंदा देवी सरीखी पर्वत चोटियों से न निकालें। हम तो उन शांत पहाड़ी इलाक़ों की बात कर रहे हैं जहाँ ज़िन्दगी की रफ़्तार कुछ कम सी होती है, जहाँ किसी इलाके के लोग एक दूसरे से अजनबी नहीं होते बल्कि एक घुले मिले समाज का हिस्सा होते हैं, जहाँ लोगों में एक अनूठा अपनापन होता है।

तो चलते है उत्तराखंड के इन पहाड़ों में।

जाड़े के इस मौसम में सूर्य ही सबसे बड़े देवता हैं। जिस दिन वो अपनी प्रखर चमक लिये धरती की सेवा में हाजिर हो गए तो मानो जैसे पहाड़ियों का तो बसंतोत्सव आ गया। आज भी ऐसा ही एक दिन है। सुबह जब ९ बजे के आसपास दूर आकाश से आती गुनगुनी धूप का अहसास हुआ, तभी लगा कि शरीर में प्राण पूरी तरह से आ गए हैं। जैसे सिकुड़ी हुई हड्डियों को थोड़ा ताकत मिल गयी हो। आनन फानन मे पूरे पड़ौस के गद्दे और रजाईयां भी धूप में सूखने के लिए बाहर आ गए। पिछले कई दिनों से जो घरेलू काम अधूरे से पड़े थे, पलक झपकते ही आज फ़टाफ़ट होने लगे। इसी सब आपाधापी में दोपहर का एक बज गया।

अब ज्यादातर औरतें और बच्चे बाहर चटाईयां बिछाकर बैठे हुए थे। परुली की ईजा सूपा लेकर गेहूँ बीन रही थी। बाकी सभी औरतों की अंतहीन गप्पें शुरू हो गयी थी।

कुछ लोग हरया के बौज्यू की दुकान के बाहर सुबह से ही बैठे हुए थे और बीड़ी के धुएं के बीच सारे देश कि समस्याओं पर बहस कर रहे थे। इन लोगों की फसक का कोई ओर छोर तो होता नहीं है, फिर भी यही उनकी रोज की दिनचर्या का हिस्सा था।

कुछ बच्चे एक लकड़ी के फट्टे और प्लास्टिक की गेंद से बैट बाल खेल रहे थे। बातें उनकी ऎसी जैसे की बड़े होकर सभी ‘सेंचुरी’ मारने वाले बनेंगे।

इसी सुहावने दिन में कहीं से एक आवाज सुनाई दी – “चादर वाला.......”। धीरे धीरे आवाज तेज होती गयी। थोड़ी देर में एक चादर वाला अपनी पोटली खोले बैठा था और सारी औरतें उसे घेरे हुए थी। कोई खड़े होकर चादरों को फैला फैलाकर देख रही थी तो कोई बैठकर ही उनमें कमियाँ निकाल रही थी। खरीदना किसी ने कुछ नहीं था, पर मोल भाव पूरे जोरों पर था। आख़िर में एक गिलास पानी पीकर चादर वाला औरतों के अगले समूह की खोज में आगे बढ़ गया।

इसी बीच रधुली की ईजा ख़ूब सारे माल्टे (संतरे कि तरह का एक फल) ले आयी। नमक मिर्च लगाकर माल्टे खाना शुरू ही किया था कि पता चला कि सुरया की आमाँ के यहाँ नींबू सन रहा है। ये वो छोटे वाले नींबू नही होते, ये बड़े से नीम्बू होते हैं, जिन्हें छीलकर दही और गुड़ या चीनी के साथ साना जाता है। साथ में थोड़ा पिसी हुई भांग, थोड़ा मूली या केले मिला दो तो कहने ही क्या। जब नींबू सनकर तैयार हो गया तो थोड़ा थोड़ा वो सब लोगों में बाँटा गया। सभी इस नींबू की सुबह से प्रतीक्षा में थे क्योंकि ये तो निश्चित ही था कि किसी ना किसी के यहाँ आज नींबू जरूर सनेगा।

जब सभी चटखारे लेकर खा ही रहे थे तो कहीं से दो आवाजें सुनायी दी – “साड़ी वाला .......”... “चूड़ी – बिंदी वाला .......”। कोई आश्चर्य नहीं कि साड़ी वाले की परिणति वही हुई जो चादर वाले की हुई थी। लेकिन चूड़ी – बिंदी वाला खाली हाथ नहीं गया। कुछ लाल पीला सामान वो सस्ते दामों में उस समूह के सुपुर्द कर गया।

अब चार बज चुका था और सूरज भी ढलने लगा था। सभी लोगों ने अपनी अपनी चटाईयां समेटनी शुरू कर दी। धीरे धीरे सभी अपने घरों को खिसकने लगे। सभी के मन में यही प्रार्थना थी कि ऎसी दोपहर कल फिर आये।

अब मैं भी खिसकता हूँ। मेरी भी यही प्रार्थना है कि ऎसी दोपहर कभी कभी आती रहे।

- नीरज मठपाल
मई १०, २००७

अपाहिज

मौसम अभी खराब सा है। अत्यंत मद्धिम रोशनी में झूमर ख्यालों में आ जा रहा है। बाहर से आती हुई किसी समारोह की आवाजें कानों में दर्द सा कर रहीं हैं, लेकिन झूमर की ज़िन्दगी में इन आयोजनों का कोई लेना देना नहीं। उसके लिए मेहनत की दो वक़्त की सूखी रोटी भी पकवानों से बढ़कर है। फिर आँते भी वही खाना पचा पाती हैं, जिनसे उनका रोजाना का परिचय हो। गंदला पानी भी गंगा की निर्मल धारा बन जाता है यदि वह आत्म सुख देता हो। कोई कितनी आसानी से झूमर की स्थिति देख कर कह जाता है - " इस ज़िन्दगी से तो मौत अच्छी"। लेकिन झूमर को कोई शिक़ायत नहीं। वह अपने जीवन के सत्य को आत्मसात कर चुका है, मौत जैसी झूठी घटना पर उसे विश्वास ही नहीं। इसे ईश्वर प्रदत्त शक्ति ही कहिये या ज़िन्दगी ने ही झूमर को जड़ - चेतन में फर्क करना समझा दिया है।

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पीलीभीत रेलवे स्टेशन पर सैकड़ों यात्री जमा हैं। कुछ अपनी गाड़ी के आने के इंतजार में पसीना बहा रहे हैं, तो कुछ अपने गंतव्य पर सही-सलामत पहुँचने की ख़ुशी में पसीना सुखा रहे हैं। उष्णता (गर्मी) तो वही है, बस स्थितियाँ ही पसीने के विभिन्न रूप दिखा रही हैं। हावड़ा एक्सप्रेस के 'स्लीपर क्लास' से उतरा एक संभ्रांत परिवार जैसे ही 'प्लेटफार्म' से बाहर खुली सड़क पर पहुँचता है, तो तीन चार बच्चों को अपनी ओर लपकते हुए पाता है। बच्चे आठ से बारह वर्ष के रहे होंगे। शरीर पर टंगी हुई फटी कमीजें और नीचे टल्ली लगे हुए नेकर। पाँवों के तलुए तो जल-जल कर ऐसे हो गए हैं कि उबलते पानी में डलवा लो, तो पानी ठंडा हो जाएगा। पेट जरूर सभी के ठीक से लग रहे थे, शायद भीख पर्याप्त मात्रा में मिल जाती होगी। बच्चे अब परिवार के सदस्यों को घेरकर अन्न याचना कर रहे हैं। महिला तो बस घृणाभाव से दूर हट जाती है, लेकिन उनके श्रीमान दो रूपये का सिक्का ज़रा दूर से ही फैंक देते हैं। वहीं एक कोने में झूमर नम आँखों से बैठा है।

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झूमर से मेरा पहला और अन्तिम परिचय लखनऊ जाते समय ट्रेन में हुआ था। ट्रेन तब पीलीभीत से चलना शुरू ही हुई थी। एक असहाय सा दिखने वाला आदमी अपने घुटनों पर घिसटता हुआ आया। चेहरे पर दाढ़ी बेतरतीब ढंग से बढ़ी हुई और प्रश्न पूछती सी बड़ी बड़ी आँखें। उसके दो पाँव और एक हाथ बीते वर्षों कि तपिश मे कहीं लुप्त हो चुके थे। ज़िन्दगी की शायद इकलौती बची हुई पूंजी बाँयें हाथ में एक झाड़ू पकड़ा हुआ था। पता ही नहीं चला कब उसने फुर्ती से पूरा 'केबिन' साफ कर डाला। सफाई भी ऎसी कि क्या मजाल कोई खोट निकला जा सके। लेकिन ये सफाई तो मुझे उसके जाने के दस मिनट बाद दिखी। उसके करतब को देखकर तो मैं शब्दहीन हो गया था। उसने झाड़ू लगाने के बाद अपना हाथ एक बार मेरी तरफ बढ़ाया भी था। किन्तु मैं तो जड़वत था - मस्तिष्क से भी और शरीर से भी। उसकी जीवनी शक्ति मेरे लिए किसी परम शक्ति से कम नहीं थी। अनायास ही मुझे उसमें स्टीफ़न हाकिंग का कुछ अंश भी दर्शित हुआ था। लांस आर्मस्ट्रांग की साईकिल के पहिये भी दौड़ते नजर आये थे उन आँखों में। हर व्यक्ति का अपना अलग 'प्लेटफार्म' था, पर सभी की जिजीविषा शक्ति 'अनुकरणीय'।


जब इन ख्यालों की तन्द्रा टूटी, तो मैं उसके पीछे भागा। वह एक दूसरे केबिन में अपने काम में व्यस्त था। बस मैं उसके काम को अपलक निहारता ही चला गया। मेरे लिए उस समय वही मानव शक्ति का सर्वोच्च प्रतीक था। अगले ही स्टेशन पर वह मेरी आँखों से ओझल हो गया। साथ में दे गया एक अनकहा संदेश।

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अभी दरवाजे पर किसी ने खटखटाया तो ध्यान आया की बारिश बंद हो चुकी है। जब इस पृष्ठ को फिर से पढ़ा तो लगा कि झूमर का मेरे जीवन मे प्रवेश हो चुका है। शायद प्रवेश तो उसी ट्रेन में हो चुका था, पर झूमर नाम तो उसे आज ही मिला है। झूमर अपाहिज नहीं है। अपाहिज शरीर नहीं, अपाहिज तो सोच होती है। झूमर की सोच अपाहिज नहीं।


- नीरज मठपाल
मई ३, २००३

प्राकृतिक दृश्य

बात उस जमाने की है जब डब्बू की ‘हाइट’ साढ़े तीन फ़ीट के आस पास हुआ करती होगी। यकीन से तो नहीं कहा जा सकता, पर फिर भी वो पैन – पेंसिल अच्छी खासी चलाने लगे थे। उन्हीं दिनों एक शब्द ने उनकी ज़िन्दगी में हलचल मचाना शुरू किया – ‘कला’ यानी की ‘आर्ट’। ज्यादा कुछ तो नहीं पर आम, केला, चार रंगों का गोला ही उनके लिए 'आर्ट' था। जैसे इन्हीं तीन चार ‘ड्राइंग्स’ में पूरा कला संसार निपट जाता हो। वो भी उनके लिए ‘आर्ट’ कम, एक बड़ा ‘बवाल’ ज्यादा था।

ऐसे में एक दिन एक विपत्ति सामने आ खड़ी हुई। उन्हें ‘होम वर्क’ के तौर पर ‘प्राकृतिक दृश्य’ बनाने के लिए दे दिया गया। जिस मासूम के लिए प्राकृतिक और कृत्रिम वस्तुओं में अंतर करना ही कठिन हो, उसके लिए एक पूरा दृश्य रंगों से उकेर देना किसी नए तारे की खोज करने के ही समान था।

ये कला भी बड़ी ही विचित्र चीज है। सब कहते थे, “ कला तो एक खेल की तरह है – मानव की रचनात्मक और मौलिक प्रतिभा का आईना। ना जाने आज तक कला की पूजा – भक्ति में कितने जीवन समर्पित हो चुके हैं। एक सामान्य मजदूर और किसान से लेकर बड़े से बड़े नेता और धनी लोग विभिन्न कलाओं का प्रयोग एवं प्रदर्शन करते आये हैं। जीवन के हर क्षेत्र में कला विद्यमान है”।

पर कब्र का हाल तो मुर्दा ही जानता है और ये सब बड़ी बड़ी बातें डब्बू के लिए एक कोरा एवं अर्थहीन ज्ञान था। उस मासूम बचपन के लिए तो टेढ़ी मेढ़ी ‘ड्राइंग्स’ ही ‘आर्ट’ थी। वो तो बस किसी तरह ‘प्राकृतिक दृश्य’ की पहेली को समझने का प्रयत्न कर रहा था। ऐसे में जैसे ही संकट-मोचक को याद किया तो माँ स्वयम् कला की साक्षात् देवी बनकर सामने बैठी हुई दिखी। माँ के केवल चार शब्दों ने सारी प्राकृतिक अदृश्यता को उसके लिए पूर्णतः दृश्य बना दिया –

१ - पर्वत (या पहाड़)
२ - नदी (या तालाब)
३ - सूरज (या चन्द्रमा)
४ - पेड़ – पौधे

लगा कि जैसे सारी प्रकृति माँ के हाथों में सिमट आयी हो। हाथों में हाथ रखे पेंसिल ने चलना शुरू किया। थोड़ी ही देर में पन्ने पर कई सारे रंग फैले हुए थे। प्रकृति पूरे श्रृंगार के साथ कागज के उस पतले आयताकार पन्ने पर विराजमान थी। उसका मनोहारी रूप मन पर अंकित हो चुका था। कला की परिभाषा सार्थक एवं स्पष्टतः परिलक्षित हो चुकी थी।

आज जब भी प्रकृति को उसके जीवंत रुप में महसूस करता हूँ तो पास में ही कहीं वो पन्ना भी अपना प्रकाश फैलाता दिखाई देता है, मानो पन्ने से सारे रंग उड़कर पूरी पृथ्वी में फ़ैल गए हों।

- नीरज मठपाल

अप्रैल २५, २००७