my camera has been troubling me for the past 2 months. may be since the rains started. it does not come on. its lens gets locked and it goes off in a few seconds. i spoke to BJ, he said to leave it with him and someone will do it. snap art quoted 2500 for it. i decided to go to town to its official service center at Fort. On Sep 7, i took the new AC bus to churchgate. it took good 2 hours. walked to the shop. they said it will cost 200 to check it. i had no choice. in 2 min I was told that the repairs will cost 2500 and was instantly minus Rs 200. (I did get disheartened a little). But had to do it, since I had come all the way here and could not go back without knowing the status.
lunch at Aram in capitol theatre building opp CST. after Upma, Poha and tea walked across to station from the underpass. got a train at 1.27pm to andheri. got in a bus from there. the station area outside has been cleared of autos and taxis. it looks less messy with only people and buses.
after getting off at 7 bunglow stop i stopped at Chandru's and told him that his Sindhi curry on sunday was very bad. it had no vegetables. they obviously tried to defend themselves. after very long i had got curry (after my karate class) on sunday. i also did not like kaju katli i got from them earlier. i am not got going back to them now for anything.
01.09.09
7.00 am left home for airport. was told rohan is coming by kingfisher and i had collect some booze bottles from him. i reach the desired terminal. after checking the monitors for the flight, i realize there are no kingfisher flt at that time. there was one of AI. i talk to kingfisher staff. they tell me difference between kingfisher and kingfisher-red. so it might be the red one. i walk down to other terminal. there is flt at that 7.40 here. i wait till 8.30. no one comes out. i call sushila about it. she says she will talk to Ima and call back. in 2 mins she calls and says rohan is coming tomorow!
i relax and decide to go home by bus. the bus stop is near Balaji restaurant at the airport. after 15min, i see someone drinking good looking tea in a glass. i ask, from where he got the tea. he points to restaurant. i go in. it is 9am and i am hungry. place is not exactly cheap; but the quantities are very large. idli-wada sambhar was served in a huge bowl and the tea was in glass pretty big too. enjoyed myself. came out after eating and stood at the stop again. a bus (330) rolled in in a few minutes and I got home.
Point to note: I was totally relaxed at whatever happened. fruitless trip to airport, delay in bus - nothing worked me up.
02.09.09
i got out of home at 7. it was raining heavily. under the umbrella near KK's ex-home. i got bitten by 15-20 mosquitoes. they all took shelter under the umbrella and sat all over my arms, cheeks, neck... no autos were coming. walked up to mohan medical. then to 4 bunglow, across the road. after 25 min finally got one. was at the airport by 7.40 the flt time. after waiting a few minutes, rohan appeared and handed me a rather large bag. he was in a sling and also had a strap around his chest. i remember his shoulder had come out, ima had told. he said there are lot of news paper and 2 bottles in it. it was quite heavy. i got in an airport auto from the queue. he brought me home and meter showed 12 more than up journey. i took his name and auto number (Amit, MH-02-SA-311). he was saying sorry and also returned 10 to me. i intend informing Traffic cops about this.
Point: i remember she telling me that someone was passing Mumbai on Sep 2 and I will have to meet him to get the booze. she messed up with dates and also did not inform me that it was Rohan who was coming.
- It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. - J Krishnamurti
- 1% of the population earns 40% of the planet's wealth.
- None are, more hopelessly enslaved than those, who falsely believe they are free. - Johann Wolfgangro Goethe (1749-1832)
- Al Qaeda was the name of a computer data base, for US supported Mujahideen.
- Before 1980, Afghanistan produced 0% of the world's opium. After the US/CIA backed Mujahideen won the Soviet/Afghan war, by 1986 they were producing 40% of the world's heroin supply. By 1999 they were producing 80% of the total market supply. But then something unexpected happened. Taliban rose to power by 2000. hey destroyed most of the opium fields and production dropped from 3000 tons to only 185 tons, 94% down! On Sep 9, 2001the full Afghanistan invasion plans were on President Bush's desk. 2 days later they had their excuse 9/11. Today Afghanistan provides more than 90% of the world's heroin. It breaks new production records every year.
- I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. - Dr Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968)
- Once we understand integrity of our personal existence are completely dependent on everything else in the world, we have truely understood the meaning of unconditional love. For love is extensionality and seeing everything as you and you as everything.
Kaivalyadham Library:
"ANANDA - an experience" by M Sivaraman
The writer talks about meaning and attributes of Anand, a feeling that is not like a feeling of joy in a common sense; but something superior.
"A MESSAGE TO THE NEUROTIC WORLD" by Dr. Francis Volgyesi (Translated from Hungarian)
- In Okna, for example, on June 4th, 1916, I first experienced the horrors of a gas offensive. The Russians attacked with Phosgene gas, but their first attempt was unsuccessful; the wind blew the greenish gas back to their dug-outs, where they hovered, a yard or so from the ground. They were not equipped with with gas masks, since they had been waiting for the wind to turn towards enemy for weeks and the offensive only began when the initial moment at last arrived. The wind however turned again and smothered the Russians on clouds of their own destructive gas. I heard a chorus of death cries that resounded in my ears to this day. Within a minute or two not a man remained alive in that part of Russian dug-outs.
- In the battle for life, in the frantic struggle for existence, every civilized man is compelled to strain to the utlost, or even over strain, the nerve apparatus inherited from his ancestors. This continual strian is one of the most important inner springs of mental development - harmful influences coming from outside chiefly affected the external organs of the primeval man, whose life was largely physical. Whilst civilized man, whose life has become to a great extent mental or spiritual is most vulnerable in his nervous system.
"THE WAY OF ZEN" by Alan W Watts (Thames and Hudson Press)
- Tao which can be spoken is not eternal tao.
- The baby looks at things all day without blinking, this is because his eyes are not focused on any particular subject. He goes without knowing where he is going and stops without knowing what he is doing. He merges himself with the surroundings and moves with along with it. These are principle of mental hygiene. If you regulate your body and unify your attention, the harmony of heaven will not come upon you. If you integrate your awareness and unify your thoughts, spirit will make its abode with you. Your eyes will be those of a new born calf, which seeks not the where-fore.
- When a man has learned to let hismind alone so that it functions in the inegrated and spontaneous way that is netural to it, he begane to show a special kind of virtue or the power called 'te'. This is not virtue in the current sense of moral rectitude but in the older sense of effectiveness, as when one speaks of the healing virtues of plants.
- Lao Tzu says,
superior 'te' is not 'te'
and thus has 'te'
inferior 'te' does not let go of 'te'
and thus is not 'te'
superior 'te' is non-active and aimless
- The centipede was happy, quite
until a toad in fun
Said, "pray, which leg goes after which?"
This worked on his mind to such a pitch
He lay distracted in a ditch
Considering how to run.
- Basic Confucian principle, 'it is the man who makes truth great; not the truth which makes man great.'
- The word 'Dhyan' (Pali- Jhana) is the original Sanskrit form of the Chinese 'Ch' an' and the Japanese 'Zen'
- It cannot be called a void or not void
or both or neither
But in order to point it out
It is called 'the void'
- Form is not different from emptiness; emptiness is not different from form. Form is precisely emptiness; emptiness is precisely form.
- If it is already manifest, what is the use of meditation? And if it is hidden, one is just measuring darkness.
No thought, no reflection, no analysis,
No cultivation, no intention'
Let is settle itself.
- A popular Japanese poem says of Daruma doll:
'Jinsei nana karobi
ya oki' or -
'Such is life - seven times down
Eight times up'
- The wise person does not strive. The ignorant man ties himself up. If you work on your mind with your mind. How can you avoid an immense confusion.
- "Where there is an object, there is a thought arises." Is then the thought, one thing and the object another? No. What is the object, just that is the thought. If the object were one thing and the thought another, then there would be a double state of thought. So the object itself is just thought. Can then thought review thought? No, thought cannot review thought. As the blade of a sword can not cut itself, as a tip of finger cannot touch itself, so a thought cannot see itself.
- Nirvaan consists in the future annihilation of the sense and their fields.
- Let everything be free to be just as it is. Do not separate yourself from the world and try to order it around.
- When the fish is caught, the trap is forgotten. (between page 100-101, found bunch of 3 small dried leafs. Initially took them; but later replaced them back. It did not belong to me)
- There is no place in Buddhism for using effort. Just be ordinary and nothing special. Relieve your bowels, pass water, put on your clothes and eat your food. When you're tired go and lie down. Ignorant people may laugh at you; but wise will understand... as you go from place to place, if you regard them as your own home they will all be genuine, for when circumstances come you must not try to change them. Thus your usual habits of feelings which make 'karma' for the five Hells will of themselves become the Great Oceans of liberation.
- Koans:
Q. Everybody has a place of birth. Where is your place of birth?
A. Early morning I ate white rice gruel. Now I am hungry again.
Q. How is my hand like the Buddha hand?
A. Playing the lute under the moon.
- It could be assumed that the type of Za-zen practiced for a purpose, to set 'Buddha-hood' in stead of just sitting to sit...There is of course, a proper place for sitting along with standing, walking and lying - but to imagine that sitting contain some special virtue is 'attachment to form'. Thus in the 'T'an Ching', Hui-heng says,
'A living man who sits and does not lie down. A dead man who lies down and does not sit. After all these are just dirty skeletons.'
- Oddly enough if we had to decide to decide, we would not be free to decide. We are free to decide because the decision "happens" - we just decide without having the faintest understanding of how we do it.
Aug 9, 09 / woke up at 7am, Sunday / ate mithai, cheese sandwich, milk-coffee, banana / karate class at 8am / tough class, mostly punches and sit ups / 9.45am breakfast, bath, packing for a week / 11am nandita called, she was outside with pratibha, we went in her car, she dropped us at khar, took an auto from there to chembur, nandita got some wada pav from jhama / got an AC bus at 11.45am, got off at lonavala exit, auto to kaivalyadham, registered at 2.30pm / i was given room-5 and nandita room-1 in vedanta block / queued up for doctor's appointment in HCC building, my weight 63.5kg, BP 130/90, no specific reason for visit / i am given a booklet that will be my ID for the next 7 days here / we have a lecture on 'yog' then a lecture on 'ayurved', shown a 30min documentary / dinner at 7.30pm, dal, beans, roti, rice / walk after dinner, in room at 9pm / called home, switched the phone off at 10 and slept, felt a bit cold, pulled a blanket from other bed.
Aug 10 / woke up at 1am thinking it was morning, went back to sleep / woke up at 6.25 instead of 5.30! / rushed to jal-neti 'shuddhi kriya demo' at 6.40am, it was still on, did not miss much, saw a girl pushing a rubber tube through her nose and taking it out from mouth, felt very difficult and odd / 7am yogasan class till 8.15 / nandita had paid her money, everyone was recognizing her / she also moved to a better room, i too was told they will move me but did not / office asked me to pay 750 a day, i refused, told them they can move me to a sharing place or put someone in my room, they agreed so I paid same 4000 that i was ready for / b'fats at 9am, porridge khichdi, very nice and healthy and herbal tea / collected my free Tshirt from office / on my way back nandita, went out to buy bananas from market, later she got her Tshirt and we got out 'jal-neti pot and rubber tube' / at 10.40am hot water massage at nature cure for me / it was amazing first time in my life, i sat in a tub of hot water with strong jets on six sides massaging my spine feet and sides, went for 20min / in the end felt a bit tired due to going up and down aiming the spine to hot jet / had to carry underwear, towel etc for a change / sat down for 2 mins on the edge of tub to get my bearings / in room 11.45, lunch at 12.15pm -dal, taak,snake gourd, roti, rice, salad - very good food / gave nandita her share of 5 bananas, saw her new room in HCC, very nice and big / in my room put alarm for 2.40 for nature cure / nature cure at 3pm - head and face oil massage, very good, and for another '1st' I had steam after massage / it was a very strong experience, I shed so much sweat (water) that I felt I was a cloud pouring down water, water was flowing down from my fingers like a tap, came out after 15-20 min and went in for a hot shower / to mess for herbal tea and papaya / 4.30pm yogasan class / 6pm meditation / dinner at 7.10pm - bhindi, dal rice roti beet root soup / walk for 20min / in room at 8.20, no signal in my cell phone/ got ananta by chance, spoke to her.
Aug 11 / night was a bit restless, perhaps mattress is a bit hard and also I have too many hours to sleep, will have to sort it out, shivering, covered with another sheet on top of one blanket and a sheet already, switched fan off for a while, turned head otherside, slept, alarm went at 5.59am / went for herbal tea / 6.30 for yog shuddhi, easily did 'jal-neti' and passed the rubber tube through, everyone appreciated, vrishali said it was magic / 7.30 yogasan / 8.30 nature, 'til oil' massage on lower back and legs and then local steam / new experience again, enjoyed / 9.15 b'fast with Ta . got intro with two girls, Robbin (from USA) and Coerinne (Swiss), Robbin is studying pediatric science and Coerinne trees and plants (botany), she calls it 'plot science' / robbin could not finish her sprouts salad, i helped her, she put some on my plate / free time, went to library near the gate, picked up some random books on psychology / 12, lunch, walk, watching crabs with Ta, rested in room / back to library at 1pm with Ta, both came out at 2.30pm / 3pm nature cure - mud pack on stomach and eyes, massage on palms and soles with 'til oil' with back of a 'kansa pot' called 'kansavati' / tea and kharbooja / coerinne told Switzerland has 4 languages, swiss, english, italian and swiss ---, she speaks 3 of them / feeling a bit heavy to got for yogasan; but went through it / short walk, watching crabs breaking and eating grass, very interesting, saw it 1st time in life / 6pm, Trataka a shuddhi kriya for eyes - we have to work on self to internalize with 'Avilom-Vilom', deep breathing & then stare at a candle to get tears in the eyes, didn't happen freely; but did get moist / walk / dinner / talk by Dr Vaze on Yoga and Health, went too long and a bit scattered, me and Ta were restless / retired in room at 9.30, washed my Tshirt, day end at 10pm.
12 Aug 6.20am herbal tea / 6.30 yog shuddhi / bath / 7am yogasan / 9am b'fast, Upma, nice / cudn't find Ta, must have gone for nature-cure / to room / 10am nature-cure, hot spine bath, legs hot pack, took 40min / room, washed Tshirt / 12 lunch / library at 1pm / 2.15 nature-cure, oil application n steam bath / 3pm tea, bananas / room washed under wears, so humid nothing is drying easily, I keep them under the fan / 4.30 yogasan / 5.30 walk with Ta and other ladies, watching crabs, frogs, birds, feeding potato salli to crabs and fish in streams / 7.10 dinner cudhi and khichdi / 8pm lecture on 'diet/nutrition' by Shweta Tiwari, so boring gave me indigestion, walked out from there 10min early at 8.50 / Ta gave me RK Narayan's book 'Grandmother's Tale'.
13 Aug up at 6, tea , shuddhi kriya at 6.30, did only jal-neti / 7 yogasana / walked around / 9am b'fast / Ta and ladies discussing with other women nutrition lecture / discussed how to go back, by taxui or bus / not allowed to go out, due to H1N1 scare in city, it is shut / spoke to hersh then to Balu about the taxi, price settled for 1500, 3 people were to go, Ta said she and other woman will pay 1200 and I can pay 300, she didnt take that as I had paid for the bus ticket from mumbai / tea at 3 / nature-cure at 3.30, mud pack on face and stomach, it for relaxing I was told and kansavati / 4.30pm feeling lazy and too full for yogasan; but still went ahead / walk with Ta, she looked pale, she had some back problem due to some yogasan / she wore a belt / 6pm Bhalekar on 'Pranayam' / 7.10 dinner / walk / 8pm lecture on 'yoga' practice / spoke to Ananta, she has fever n cold, one student in college was sick with H1N1, I was scared, felt bad for her, poor thing she is alone for the 1st time and is going through tough times / Srimathi too is not able to attend to her.
14 Aug Did not go for Shuddhi / 7am yogasan / 8.30 nature-cure, steam # 3 / b'fast at 9 / walk with Ta, feeding crabs / library contd book 'The Way of Zen', made many notes / lunch at 12 / back to library at 1pm / 2.30 nature-cure /3.15 tea, kharbooja / ;ibrary / yogasan at 4.30 / walks / 6pm sitar, Ta walked out, she found him real bad, out of tune and loud, he did not play for meditation, I too left after her, it was a bad idea to take a front seat / 7 dinner, walsk / 8pm Dr. Bhalekar's lecture on Relaxation techniques till 9.20pm / walks / spoke to ananta, she had gone to a doctor and got herself checked and got medicines for 3 days, she had 'bacterial fever and sour throat / she went to same doctor who treated Munna for his hurt / good girl / i am happy she was not diagnosed the dreaded disease / her hostel life has started with tough times / slept at 10.30pm.
15 Aug independance day / tea at 6.20 /shuddhi kriya at 6.40 / yogasan at 7 / boys doing prabhpheri in loud voices, patriotic songs and bharat mata ki jai / feeling very emotional during yogasan class / ended early for 'flag hoisting' / at the hoisting felt emotional, Ta too had wet eyes / after anthom, some patriotic songs, principal, a sikh gentleman spoke very well on the occasion, more speaches by students, song by girls / room to get my bag, nature-cure at 8.40, oilapplication and steam#4, very little sweat this time, i guess all the impurities had been drained out / 9.20 b'fast / walk with ta from under the expressway bridge to foot of the hills, a dried broken tree, a body of water, a stream flowing down from the hill / room 11.40am bath shave / 12.15 lunch / more walk with ta, talking about Jalal, Kahkashan serial, Kalika, old movies, old songs, library / did not go for nature cure, it wa going to be mud-pack and 'kansavati', did not want to get oiled again / reading newspaper / slept for 45min in room at 3.30pm / 4.30 yogasan, did not feel like going; but went / little walk, then more walk with ta and vrushali, went to Swamiji's Kuti, havan was on / 7.10 dinner / got email ID of Fumiaki Jingi / newspaper and TV in HCC library / 8pm lecture on 'backache' by Dr Bhalekar / spoke to taxi driver, hersh said he wanted to talk to me when i reach mumbai, wondered what it must be / day end
16 Aug woke up at 4am, then at 6am with alarm . feeling calm and composed / bath, went for tea, vrushali talked about US economy and both Zeitgeist films / 7am combined yagasan class in HCC hall, some posture were modified and done a bit differently, corrected way of cycling was shown, end at 8.30 / room to finish final packing / 10.30am taxi arrived, Ta another lady and me moved off for mumbai, enroute stopped for chikki and plants / women gave me money for her share 600, Ta gave me the rest 900 / lady got off at Sion, Ta at Khar and i reached home at 12.30.
It was the very first time in life I went out with any woman for 7 days, at a stretch.
27.07.09 4pm / IIT Bio-lab
I was sitting in her lab while Kishu went about completing her tasks. She brought out 4 copies of her thesis. I took one to hold it and see it. First 2 page read like this:-
On July 25 went out around 11am to get something for Kishu on the occasion of her 'defense' of her thesis. first place was crossword to find the book by dr. benjamin spock.couldn't find it. then i moved to bandra to BR jeweller. this place has been a saviour for gifts at the last moment. i reached there quite fast and decided on a silver bangle with 'hammer' design. i sked them to write 'Dr. Smriti Sharma 27.07.09'. she was supposed to be called a Dr after her defense was over, although the degree was to come in her hand on Aug 7, during convocation. sushila had told me we have to give her something when she comes home, cause it will be her 1st time after her wedding. but i said i have give it to her own my own. also it had been on my mind for very long to give her something from me with love; in fact i have to give it to mishu too when she clears her 'defense'
sunday 8am karate class after very long. last sunday i was in jaipur. it was a good class. i couldn't do the crocodile walk. too tough. but no bodu could do it. 10am went to cinemax for 'a matter of life and death', old film, with david niven. god story line and very good sets, production value and SFx for that period. had early lunch at 12.30 / slept till 3pm. sent a sms to chandru ans also spoke to hemant. I told him to let me know what is the problem with things going ahead after the meeting. there seems to be lot of resistance to my job scene. have been in touch with kishu.
saw the mivie about '26/11 on comp, link sent by dharam. movie was done very well by BBC.
on 27 july woke up at 3am first due the long sleep on previous day. got up at 8am. made b'fast, had bath at 9am and left for IIT at 11am. bus was a struggle for about 15min. finally got a 424 from indian oil stop. reached IIT at 12.45pm. met kishu just outside the corridor of her department. she was dressed in a nice salvar kameez and had sindoor on her forehead. she was on phone with Rupesh. i too spoke to him. he sounded as if he would have liked to be here. i got a feeling that he was envying me. he asked me if i was taking her out for lunch. to which i said 'no idea, i have just met her.' and it was true weather was not good and traffic was too much to venture out of gate. she was meeting so many people, her lab mates and attendants, who she met everyday for the last 5 years.
after a long chat i suggested 'gulmohar' for lunch. i too had no 'dum' to go beyond it. we had a paneer dish with rotis and shared a kulfi later.
we went back to he lab after lunch. she had things to tie up and hand over and meet her 'sir'. it was signing some papers regarding some patent. it seems her paper had won 1st prize (and $20000) in some international organisation.
Later i gave her company to cash section to pay her 'convocation fee', went for a cup of coffee at coffee shack and in the end dropped her at the hostel. 4.30 satish called and said, 'you have reached there' basically meaning whatever I was to do I did for Kishu. someone called on kishu's cell. she went out to talk.
4.40 she is online with arunima.
later we go to HN. she wants to buy a white salwar kameez for the convocation.
4.50 she is back on her laptop. this is new Sony Vaio from the US for rupesh;s family.
on july 29 prateek is 26. he was not home, due to his work. mansi came over in morning and wished him. woke him up. dipika too came for dance practice.
on 30th house painting started at 11am till 5pm.
31st morning woke up and went to raheja garden. wanted to be alone for a while. practicing 'not being' judgemental. correcting myself. listening to birds chirping. the hedge is trimmed.
bedroom fan is on for drying the paint.
i was very happy and relaxed this time when i met her. she was so relaxed and made me feel reassured. before this very 'parting' from her was a pain for me. but this time things became so comfortable for me. thank god she came and we met and all my tensions dissolved. now i will miss her but surely i will NOT be miserable.
i went to IIT to attend its 47th convocation On 7th aug, 09. kishu got her degree along with hundreds others. there were nearly 200 Ph Ds,along with M Phils, M Sc, M Tech, B Tech and duel degree students.
function was scheduled from 4pm, but i reached there at 2.15pm to be sure. i wanted to be dead sure that am able to get in in time, get a seat and shoot kishu's pictures and videos. after i stood in the queue, i called her. she was getting ready but she called me when she came out. she and monica gupta were together. they came and met me in the queue. they were wearing peach color 'uttariya', color code for Ph D students. i took some pictures of theirs. arunima too joined soon with her parents. then the line started moving and i took some more pix on the run. even they had to pose on the run along with the moving queue. finally kishu was insisted, 'let it be chacha you carry on'. but it was kinda fun.
i had got kishu's coconut prasad from siddhivinayak temple and some 'saunf' for her. she likes it
very much so i had got it, in case she forgets to buy it later. she kept 'saunf' in her bag, but gave the coconut back to me to keep. i was a bit worried with a bulging ball in my small pouch. in any case i decided to say it is ganpati's prasad and was also ready to keep it out with security. but like always, i worried myself enough waiting for the problem, that never came and i entered the large convocation hall without any hitch.
i took my seat in the designated 'green' area. i looked for a seat with a short person in front of me. but soon volunteers asked my group to move in front as there was a lot of vacant space. i was too happy and took hurried large steps and got myself the best seat - in the center and fairly close to the stage. then i checked out the camera's basic functions. i am not used to her camera. kishu and i exchanged a few calls there. she told me when her name was going to be announced, so that i can roll at the right time. once she called and she asked me me wave to spot where we both were. it was good because i could take some video from there too. although it was a bit shaky with full zoom.
entry of the members of 'academic council' was very impressive. everyone in the hall was asked to stand up as nearly 70 council members walked in from behind and slowly proceeded to stage and sit down only after they had taken their seats. the IIT anthem was being sung during this walk.
convocation was announced as 'open'. IIT director Devang Khakhar, Anil Kakodkar (atomic energy), Madhavan Nair (ISRO)and E Sreedharan (Delhi Metro) spoke well. Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) was conferred on Dr. Madhavan Nair.
soon nearly 200 receivers of doctorate were lined up and their names started being announced fairly swiftly. i did not have to wait much; arunima srivastav was the first to be seen walking up to get her degree. i tried to follow her as far as i could. as soon as i saw monica at the 'gate' i was rollingeady. as she walked to the 'wait mark' kishu appeared at the 'gate'. monica gupta was called and she moved to take her degree and Kishu came to the 'waiting mark' and in a few seconds was the climax for me as Smriti Sharma's name was announced. she walked up took her blue folder, nodded to the panel and walked away to left of the stage. i followed her too as far as i could. she went back to her seat and came towards me to say that i should switch on my phone. i did. she said to move out as it was getting tiring and she wanted to click pictures. i followed the 3 girls. i took a lot of picture of her, monica and ruchi. i too asked them to click me with kishu. later some one announced that students should be sitting inside. i noticed some of them rushing in. i thought in case i don't get a chance to go back in, i too went back. but i guess the warning was for the students who had not yet received the degree and getting restless sitting.
we all came out again and clicking pictures and videos we reached 'kriset' for a well deserved cup of tea. they also make it very well.
i took more picture there. some solo of kishu opposite the large stairs. it was getting dark now. we moved to H11 as she had to copy the pix on my pen-drive. we got in an auto, then waited for about 25 min before she emerged with monica. i took the tiffin (i had given it to her as she wanted lunch on the day she left my house) and my drive from her.
i am feeling a bit jittery because munna has taken my advice/idea to send ananta to bangalore to study B Sc (Animation) at the Toon Skool, Pesse campus.he has taken study loan from a bank and sent her. her expenses will be in the range of nearly 2 lac/year - quite a lot for him.
at 10am on aug 1, he and ananta left by bus to go to delhi to take Rajdhani to Bangalore. the train was at 8.50pm from nizamuddin. i spoke to them, wishing them good luck (in a way wishing me too, as i am in it fairly deep too). they reached on aug 2 evening and stayed at the Abode, where he had stayed when he came to check out the college and hostel facilities etc. that time ketav and anju had met him and supported him.
they went to the institute on aug 3, for her orientation. but munna banged inti a glass dor and cut his brow. he had to rush to a doctor about 6 km away. ananta was disturbed and went with him too, missing part of orientation. a 2nd year student offered to let her know what she needed. she also did not stay at the hostel that night. next morning ananta had to be in class at 8.15. the same senior girl offered to take ananta wit her. munna went down to the rendezvouz with ananta and dropped her.
she attended her class and i spoke to her at night. she was still with her father due to his hurt.
finally munna left for jaipur on 5 aug by 8pm train and that was ananta's day-1 at hostel in her room. i spoke to her when she was there. she sounded very very low. i tried to pep her up and told her that i will call her often also if and when she gives me a 'missed call'.
this is my last day here / spoke to ananta about 'dos and don't' of hostel life / told her to stay healthy always / eat balanced diet, told her all hostel menus are supposed to be balanced / so eat whatever is cooked / have milk or milk products, egg / exercise, develop appetite /
took phone number of bhrigu sanhita's suresh shastri, to call him from mumbai.
manju made poori aloo for b'fast / i had asked her to make some for my train journey too / last time the food was no good / ananta called roop narayan to take me to station for train at 2pm / he refused saying he was busy during that time / informed munna about it / he said he will come from office for me / manju said the train will stop at durgapura too, so i could take it from here / i was not sure so munna came at the right time, we had lunch at home and i bid good bye to everyone / reached station without hassel about 20 min early / train moved at 2.10pm sharp / and it did stop at durgapura too / so sad i called ananta, she said if i took the train from there everyone could have come and dropped me / hmmm
at 4.45 it is raining heavily stopped at savai madhopur for 30 min / 6pm kota, a tall man got in and claimed the seat (31) opposite me, where someone was already sitting / i am on 32 side upper / both had tickets with same seat number / finally he realized that 31 guy was upgraded to this seat and he was also upgraded to 1st class! cool, i thought / he said lalu yadav had introduced a system of upgrading already reserved tickets to higher class, 'without extra charge' to accommodate lower class people also get confirmed reservations.
7.35, it is dark / everyone is quiet / waiters continuously moving up and down selling their wares, irritatingly / they are passing every 2 min selling the same thing / i am told the train will reach borivali at 7am / satish called / he said kishu has reached mumbai and is on her way to IIT right now / i felt a bit hesitant to call her / decided there was no signal to call / asked for tomato soup / he filled the toast and then filled less than half glass of soup / i told them about it, he said the glass is big that is why / tea was bad too / thanks to satish for letting me know that kishu is has reached / i called her finally . she was in taxi / she said she did not call me because i will get upset for not being there for her / loved to talk to her.
slept around 10... woke up around 5.30, went to loo and got ready to get off / it is raining through out / before borivali train got stuck for 30 min / i am at the door with my luggage / finally i get off / walk out, climb the bridge, take an auto from s v road and reach home in 45 min.
