Life travelogue…Childhood Nostalgia!!

The journey from being papa’s darling li’l angel to a multitasking career woman has been quite interesting and eventful!!…………..Many an autumn n spring have gone by until I reached the place where I am today………I guess a single post cannot do justice to this topic; hence, wud write about it in series….this one talks about “Bachpan ke suhane din”…:-)

No matter how much I achieve or establish….no matter what heights I reach……..I would still prefer being my papa’s little doll….nothing can be traded for those wonderful, carefree, joyous times spent with my parents n brothers….the pampering, the naughty pranks, the yummy toffees n candies, mid noon games, doll weddings, balloons, lots of colors n above all lots n lots of time!!!!!!!! Yeah, time is what we used to have in abundance while we were kids…playing away to glory…unaware and least bothered about the events unfolding all around the world….back then, life’s net was full of happy butterflies….. painting the wonder years of our lives with colorful hues …….

When I was in kindergarten, Papa used to take us (me n my big Bs) to the Sunday matinee movies---“Laurel-Hardy” & “Charlie Chaplin”….He was placed at Bombay High at that time….his work schedule was 15 days on shore and 15 days off shore….we used to look forward to the times when Papa wud come home……..he was my Santa Claus carrying a bag full of goodies whenever back from his trip…new toys n cute frocks with frills….dolls of my size…n many more lovely surprises…He wud tell us bed time stories which wud continue in parts for four to five nights….specially the “Sheikh Chilli Series” n the “sci-fi stories” were my favorite…Papa is a voracious reader n a wonderful narrator…..he inculcated reading habits in us right from our childhood….we had this subscription to the monthly children’s magazine called "Hilal" (which was in urdu) and Misha (which was a russian magazine for kids)…..While “Hilal” kept us rooted to our cultural background…..”Misha” introduced us to the world of astronauts n Russian folk tales……..We were regular visitors to book fairs, where Papa wud make sure that we bought enough stock until the next fair….I had Arabian Nights, Ukranian Folk Tales, Adventures of Dennis, Panchtantra Folk tales n many more….I still treasure them………In fact, all the Russian influence had instilled in me the love for spacecrafts n universe….and I wud dream of becoming an astronaut one day!!………

My love for dolls n teddy bears was not far behind……..I had many of them n had given funny names to all my soft toys….Fifi, tou-tou, tuk-tuk to name a few……..I also arranged a grand wedding for one of my "girl" dolls with my friend Naseem’s "boy" doll…..Mom had made special delicacies that day…..my elder brother obliged to be the Qazi for the "Nikah" ceremony….Mom had sown v cute li’l garara (the traditional bridal wear) for my doll….I gifted her a small cardboard house which I had prepared in my crafts class in school….I was very excited about the wedding n had invited all my friends for it……the sad part was that the doll never returned after marriage…..(Naseem u owe me this one ;-)…)

Well, I guess this post has grown out of proportion, so, more about my bachpan in the next one……..

Until Tajmahal do us part!!!

One fine December morning of 2007, when the weather was just perfect, we decided to go on a one day trip to the Taj Mahal in Agra. It’s hardly a four hour drive from Gurgaon, where we used to live then. It had been my dream ever since marriage to watch the Taj in its entire splendor in the company of my very own prince charming!! So prince charming (read Faiz) took me for this memorable long drive on his modern day chariot (read car) on a perfect morning with the most beautiful skies and the most lovely weather…..to add icing to the cake, we were accompanied by a few very close friends……Kashan with his new bride Saima, Tazim bhai with his wife Shadab and Danish (yet in search for a match). We were thoroughly enjoying our journey and teasing Danish for having the courage to visit the Taj without a partner. The excitement to reach the destination seemed to be rising as we were nearing Agra…….Once there, we could hardly wait to set our eyes on this epitome of romance!!

I had visited the Taj earlier with my parents when I was a kid….but it was the first visit for the rest of us. So, everyone waited with bated breath at the gate to enter the complex. Meanwhile, Faiz n Kashan went to get the entry tickets for all of us. The area outside was fully packed with an eager crowd. It seemed like an extra ordinary day with such a huge turn up. Soon, Faiz n Kashan returned with a long face informing us that the ticket windows had been closed for the time being and wud be opened only at 4 pm. It was hardly noon then. Apparently, some foreign VIP was on a visit to the Taj that doomed day n hence the premises had been sealed for the common man for security reasons. :-( …..Mr. VIP wud leave only after 4 pm and then the lesser mortals wud get the tickets…….for the first time in my life I cudn’t access my own cultural heritage for the sake of a firangi!!!! It was absolutely disgusting…..coming all the way from gurgaon only to have a glimpse of our dream monument and being held at its gate for hours just waiting for the entry….standing in the long queue, hoping that Mr. VIP wud leave soon.

After four long hours at the gate, getting pushed and shoved several times by the other anxious visitors in queue, the crowd had turned into a mob anxious to break into the gates of the Taj…..My fervor had died down by now and I was getting nervous with the thought of getting caught in a stampede once the gate opened. By now, we were in the middle of a huge mob, and returning back was almost impossible, the only thing we cud do was get pushed towards the entrance by the wave of hundreds of visitors. Most of them were like us, coming from far off places for a one day trip, hoping to see the Taj and return by evening. So no one was ready to leave without catching a glimpse. Me, Saima and Shadab were holding hands while following the queue for ladies (it hardly mattered which queue it was, coz all the gentlemen had become ungentle by now and all the ladies were fuming). The guys were standing some distance away from us….caught amidst the crowd. I was wishing this nightmare wud end soon and I wanted to disappear from the scene. Finally, the gate opened at 5 pm, and the crowd (it wud be unfair to call it a queue anymore…coz it was no more one) started moving. And then, the awful moment arrived, when we entered the complex…I was waiting for Faiz to come in, so that we cud set our eyes together on this dream wonder……but to my shock just when Faiz was about to enter, the Guards closed the doors announcing "house full"!!!!!!!!! It was a very very filmi situation, me on one side of the gate, Faiz on the other and I cud see the gigantic gate being closed between the two of us..... desperately looking at each other not knowing wat to do….i went numb for a moment…..it was like living the scene from the climax of the film “Devdas”….A huge gate closes between Paro and Devdas symbolizing their separation forever……I cud not believe it!!!!!!!!! I turned pale, then suddenly Saima held my hand assuring that they were all there by my side n it was only for a while that Faiz was not with us n that we wud meet him soon on the other side of the exit gate…. This one dreadful moment made me understand wat Faiz meant to me…and God forbid...........wat wud happen if we were to be separated ever in our lives??? My heart sank and tears welled up in my eyes…………….I started cursing the Tajmahal and Shahjahan for this moment…after all, wat kind of symbol of love was this that brought such a terrible moment in my life and separated me from my husband?!!! I must have been the most disgusted and heart broken visitor that day…n watching Taj without Faiz was a very painful experience. I cud understand now why Princess Diana wept when she saw this monument without Charles and how she must have felt. By now it had become a torture to stay inside; the presence of Taj and absence of Faiz was almost killing!!

All of us took a hasty walk around the monument, I had never ever looked at any historical place in such disgust as I was today…I felt as if each shining stone studded in Taj was making fun of my situation…..I cudn’t bear it any more….and was dying to leave the place at the earliest. The others obliged to my will to proceed towards the exit after spending the longest 30 minutes of my life. The moment I saw Faiz standing at the gate my face lit up a li’l bit but the signs of the painful event stayed. We returned back with a heavy heart and this trip which had started as one of the most beautiful journeys of my life had ended in a bad shape…Alas! We had this dramatic story to tell our grand children ……"Until Taj did us part"!!!!

Before the memory fades away..

Just started the blog yesterday and already feeling so good about it. Infact it's giving me a strange satisfaction....finally i m doing something apart from the monotony of work n home...it's like a breath of fresh air....so relaxing!!!

The other day while i was getting nostalgic about the past over a cup of hot tea after a tiring day at work....i realised that remembering the good old happy moments actually cheered me up and the tiredness vanished...this provoked me to write down my happy moments somewhere before my memory betrays me n i forget all those cherised times n grow old without ever realising that i have so many precious things to savor in the kitty of my life!!! So i have decided to capture all those smiles, blessings n sunshine in my posts here!

Happy reading folks! :)

Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the love of Changezi!!

No no this post is not about Changez khan............n i have no intensions of writing a eulogy / hymn about this ferocious warrior nor m i gonna talk about the skills of war and acts of bravery..............in fact this post is about the stark opposite...yeah u got it right...this post is about the CHICKEN!!! :-)

This post is a result of our recent trip to Daryaganj in the good ol' Dilli! Faiz, my husband, has a special affinity towards this place for his love of history, books and above all "FOOD"! So, when Gujjars were out there asserting their rights to reservation last Thursday, Faiz had some other agenda on his mind.....by the grace of his employer who had declared an official holiday that day in view of the Gujjar agitation, Faiz had all the time in the world since morning to think about things close to his heart (no, no not about me......coz that’s a far probability after 2.5 years of marriage ;-)) ...he read books on his favorite topic “HISTORY” through the day.........n got so charged till evening about dilli n its history that he couldn't resist his urge to satisfy the craving for some yum Mughlai food which had developed in the course of the day while reading about the Mughal rulers.....so despite my repeated efforts of making him aware of the danger lurching large on the roads of the capital due to the agitation earlier in the day....Faiz cud see no reason strong enuf to hold him back from reaching out to his fav food joint...."Al Jawahar" near Jama Masjid in Daryaganj. So off we headed to Old Delhi from our peaceful Noida apartment at 8.30 in the night…I kept on reciting dua to keep us safe from the uncalled for trouble that might be waiting for us in view of the events thru the day…. But as we progressed on the NH 24, the scene was quite normal on the roads with regular traffic n no signs of any burnt buses or tyres as hyped by the media….pro’lly the gujjars had decided to adopt “Gandhigiri” this time n had gone for a peaceful mode of protest…..Faiz cudn’t help but giggle all the while he was driving…..making fun of my fears and my out of proportion worries regarding our safety….he went ahead to tell me that the after a long day of protest the Gujjars might even hit the streets of old delhi to give us company in enjoying some of its delicious mouthwatering food!!! …..Well, we reached there “unhurt n safe” :-) after a cool long drive! But had to wait another fifteen minutes for a vacant table at the crowded "Al Jawahar"….ppl throng this joint… be it weekday or weekend........u always have to wait for a table here….but all the pain is worth once the heavenly food drenches ur taste buds!!! We finally got a table n then we ordered some yum chicken changezi, chicken afghani and mutton biryani……. we had the sumptuous chicken to our hearts’ content.....i was not much of a non vegetarian before marriage but after spending so much time with this "crazy fan of chicken changezi" - that my hubby is….I developed a taste for the exotic mughlai cuisine…..specially the CHICKEN CHANGEZI!!

New comer!!!!!!!!!!

It took me days to get started with my blog.......but finally here i am entering the realms of blogging....tempted to explore this amazing world of expressions!!!! where i can let my thoughts float into the cyber space and give wings to my feelings through words!!!!!!!!!!!!!