I sat by the sea and wept...

I sat by the sea and wept... The blinding sun and the dazzling sand stood witness to my agony. Sometimes I wonder what made me love her. Sometimes I wonder what made me cry.

The whole world was out there, playing by the sea. The sea was lulling the land to sleep. There was happiness everywhere around me. But not in my heart. This shearing pain blocked all happiness from me.

Why was she so cruel? Why didn't she understand? Why was she so adamant?

I had never been so humiliated all my life, yet the humiliation was not what I was worried about. I was worried about her. I was worried about her future, our future. I was worried where would we land up if we go the same way. Was this relation all that I ever wanted?

I started weighing my options. When you start weighing your options, there is something seriously wrong with your relationship. I knew this and hated myself for it. But then I hated her more for what she had done. I was devastated... Was this the end of it all?

I still remember the day when I sat by the sea and wept.

N.B. This post is to show that we guys too have emotions. We don't show it out in open by deliberation. We have always been gauged by the "maturity" we show. The girls get away with their stupid fights because "they are meant to be kiddish". But what about us? Why don't they see our point of view? "Hath not a Jew an eye...". Don't we guys have feelings? Don't we cry when you hurt us? Only because our tears don't show doesn't mean we don't care.

Lately a few of my friends have been ditched. They were thrown out unceremoniously out of the lives of their love. The reasons were many, varying from the girl's parents not willing for their union to the girl wanting a change in her life. And the guys decided to take it in their stride, willing to let the relationship die a silent death. Willing to let go without a fight. All because they were supposed to behave with a maturity. WTF!!

55 Word Fiction : Ma

The children sat protecting her, the youngest with a sickle in hand. The stench of mud, feces and blood made her vomit .

The eldest cried, "I killed him Ma. Now he will never get drunk and beat you". Her tears had dried up long before.

Her husband lay in front of her. Dead.

P.S. This is my first attempt at writing a "55 Word Fiction". I got the idea from Mou's blog. This is a true story which I read today in The Times of India.

I could have named it anything but I felt 'Ma' was the most approprite on. No particular reasons.

ABC Tag

I have been tagged. Wow! that feels good. This is the second time I feel I have arrived on the blogging scene. Thanks a ton Mou for boosting my ego!

Anyways, lets not indulge more in my ranting and get on with the tag. Its called "The ABC Tag". I have to write ABC about me, kinda those stupid scrap books we filled up in school. I feel excited!!

However, there is a catch, I have to tag three other bakras for this. My life has been made easy by the fact that there are only three other people in this world whose blogs I follow. So, guys you have no other option than to be tagged. Deepak, Abhimanyu and Tys please cover my ass on this.

Anyways, here are the rules:

• Post the rules on your blog.
  
• Tag 3 people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
  
• Let the 3 tagged people know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
  
• Do not tag the same person repeatedly but try to tag different people, so that there is a big network of bloggers doing this tag! (Very Important One!)
  

Now, Ladies and gentlemen... here it goes, the darkest secrets of my life revealed on the World Wide Web:

A – Available/Single? Definitely not single. All my profiles on the net have the marital status ticked at the 'married' spots.

B – Best friend? My biwi.

C – Cake or Pie? Now this is a toughie... I love everything edible and hate to make preferences.

D – Drink of choice? Red Wine

E – Essential item you use every day? My PC. Wait! was this a trick question?

F – Favorite colour? Black. We men love to see in black and white. But now after marriage some strange colors have started making their way in my wardrobe. Peach, Pink, Duck egg (wonder what this color is, I never had a duck's egg and definitely not one with its skin). I demand to know the reason behind this sudden transition.

G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? Gummy Bears... I hate worms even if they are made up of jelly.

H – Hometown? Deoghar

I – Indulgence? Hmmm... I have too many indulgences. Righ now that biwi is not in town the answer to this question should be beer. Heck I even dreamt about a swimming pool full of beer yesternight...

J – January or February? This is when I come to know the maker of this questionnaire was smoking pot when he wrote this.

K – Kids & their names? Whose?? mine?? I am not in touch with them anymore. Please call up their 'mothers' for more details.

L – Life is incomplete without? A can of beer, a lazyboy, a large screen LED TV and a PS3. Not to forget, the other guys who play the games with u on the net.

M – Marriage date? 29th April. Damn... did I get it right? Bloody Hell!! I am a man. I am programmed genetically to forget such things.

N – Number of siblings?Two younger brothers.

O – Oranges or Apples? Oranges. Apples spell trouble... one got us out of eden and the other made us study a book full of obscure theorems of gravity.

P – Phobias/Fears? Anything which has the word decision in me makes me shiver. Heck I even wrote a post about this.

Q – Quote for today? "The more the quantity of alcohol in you, the more seducing the bartender looks. And if he is a man, its time to go back home."

R – Reason to smile? What!! Even after so much of effort u need a reason. I thought u were laughing mad till this line.

S – Season? I love winters... u get to sleep till late.

T – Tag 3 People? Done... hope they respond.

U – Unknown fact about me? I was "Jack the Ripper" in my past life..... Kidding? No I am not.

V – Vegetable you don’t like? Everything which has green color all over it.

W – Worst habit? Dunno... u tell me.

X – X-rays? X,Y,Z... what difference does it make.

Y – Your favorite food? DBC... Can't decipher? It reads dal, bhat, chokha. A favorite dish of any student. Easy to cook, easy to digest and u can't fuck it up how-much ever u try.

Z – Zodiac sign? Aries... the Ram.

And then he died.

"If I don't die from the fall the I probably would never", he thought as he glanced down from the terrace of his 13th floor office. Then he laughed at the absurdity of the thought, "Why would I jump? I have everything that I could ask for. I lead a fulfilled life." Then he realized " But then what's the use of this life, I have already lived it. I have nothing left to live for now". He thought and he jumped.

The fall was swift. He felt nothing, absolute nothing. A nothingness he had never felt before. That's a new feeling, he thought and smiled. Then came the crash. His head hit the floor first, a jarring smash. His eyes saw a brilliant flash, concussion, and then nothing, everything went blank and his last thoughts were "What a perfect end to a rather perfect life!". And he smiled, a twisted smile etched on his burst, saggy head which intrigued the investigating authorities for days to come.

He was a brilliant student in school. Went to the just perfect college, one of the most prestigious ones in the country. In college, he had the most fulfilling life. He fell in love with a girl, fucked someone else, made love to the third and almost married the fourth. In fact, he would have continued this if she had not come in his life. This time he fell in love, fucked the girl, made love to her and married her. After college, he held a good position in a reputed firm, made loads of money, roamed around the world. By the age of 28 he had a house, a good car, a beautiful wife and a loving daughter.

In one word,he had it all. He was fulfilled. He was satisfied. He saw no more cause for his existence and then he died.

One for the eternity..

A heartfelt thanks to all those who voted for us... it was a humbling experience to know that so many of my friends took the pain not only to vote but also to get their friends and their friends' friend to vote for us. We are sorry to let you down guys with our late application (otherwise you would have coaxed more votes out of all your distant relatives).

It was a fun filled 36 hours. We campaigend and we CAMPAIGNED. We messaged, we mailed, we phoned. I stooped down to such a level that I started chatting with my Mafia war family members and begged them to vote. Sad that Facebook barred my chatting services for some 10 hours, else I would have had some 400 votes more :).

Anyways whats over is over and now is the time to recollect... I am posting here the application we had filed in for the contest. Dunno if we get selected or not but as they say... "It was fun while it was there".

About Us

You must have heard this classic love story about the guy who meets the girl, thinks she is Aphrodite and falls head over heels in love. The girl initially rejects the guy but then falls for his wackiness. Well, here is a perfect example of such a couple.

Most of the times they agree to disagree about their likes. For example, the guy loves music and late night movies but the girl loves her sleep and wouldn't trade it even for "Citizen Kane". Why did they marry? Well, they both had a misplaced notion that living with a person completely opposite to you will be an adventure of a lifetime.

Anyways, their love story is another long-long story and we will get back to that later. What is important is that they are bound together by a voracious appetite for travel. They have traveled to some of the most amazing places in the country and are still yearning for more.
For the record, the guy's name is Paritosh and he is a software professional and a budding writer (at least he pretends to think so). The girl's name is Neha and she is a Marketing professional currently busy with the market dynamics of running the household (in other words she is a domestic engineer or housewife, whatever you would).

We are the best candidates because...

Having clocked some 24000 Kms on the highways in the last two years seems to be testimonial enough for our passion for travel and adventure. Living in a city with traffic lights and miles long jams have never been our forte. We love the open road and miles of greenery stretched as long as your eyes can see. We firmly believe the fact that the journey is always more important than the destination.

Being on road has become an integral part of our lives all through these years. We have a decent experience in nature and travel photography. As for the blogging part, Paritosh believes himself to be the next Shakespeare of travelogue writing. This adventurous, and according to our close friends a nomadic, spirit and the love for the road makes us the best suitable candidates for the "Great Driving Challenge".

Our Travel Plan

We plan to cover the cover the Great Indian Monsoon. We will start from Mumbai along the coastal highway (NH17) till Alleppy. We would be driving along the Western Ghats and through the Lush green landscape of Kerala. All along the way flirting with the Arabian Sea. We wish to reach exotic backwaters of Alleppy before turning Inland to the drive through the Nilgiris and into the heart of several Wildlife Sanctuaries in Karnataka. Finally we will reach Mumbai through Shimoga (where the mighty Jog Falls are) and the youth city Pune. This journey will be something dreams are made of.

Our Travelogue

We have extensively covered all of Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. We love both exhaustive driving and the more paced out leisurely ones. Most of the journey plans have been for 3-4 days with the first days being covered in measures of 300-350 Kms. The last day is the day of zipping fast to Bangalore, some 450-500 Kms covered in one night.

We started our tryst with driving some two years back with an almost accidental trip. We were supposed to go to Coorg, stay there for three days and then come back to Bangalore and back to the same old boring routine. But destiny had other plans in its folds. We got bored the very first day in Coorg. It being summers we decided to head to the seas and drove down to Mangalore. On the way we found out our love for the road. By the time we reached Mangalore the love graduated to a solemn marriage. We enjoyed a lot on the beaches of Mangalore and saw the sunset sitting besides a lighthouse on the Suratkal beach. A pity that we had no blog at that time, but you can see the photos in our flickr photostream.

After that trip, we go on a road trip almost every month and most of the destinations have been either the sea or any other water body. Pondicherry has been our favorite haunt. We have been to the place so many times that I know the roads of Pondicherry better than that of Bangalore. Well, Bangalore roads need a GPS even for the most seasoned drivers, what with the daily changing directions of "oneways" and all.

One trip that is worth mentioning here (or rather not mentioning here because it didn’t involve any driving) was when we went backpacking to Waynad. Thankfully we chronicled the journey on our blog and you can read it here at

http://fictionandlife.blogspot.com/2009/02/backpacking-waynad.html

We have just come back after a long long drive... went chasing the monsoon on the Western Ghats. Awesome trip... saw some of the most amazing sights on the earth. Drove with the sea and among the clouds; ripped through the green, green and more shades of green on the Western Ghats. We have the photos uploaded to the flickr photostream.
Well, before this turns out to be another of those winding journey of ours, we will like to take your leave. You can read more about our exploits (God willing if we get selected), on our blog. Till then, Happy Driving!!

I am also posting the testimonials which we received:

Paritosh & Neha, enthusiast, nature's slave...a couple made for each other as they see the same dreams and unknowingly keep praying for each others dream to come true...! U guys rock and can steal the show wherever u go.

-Shaili Shilpa

I have never seen two so different person, so deeply in love with each other..and one thing that major binds them is their penchant for exploring the unexplored ! Two travel bugs with whom I have maaroed the most amazing road trips of my life. All it takes to get them going is a map in hand, a full tank and each other. Paritosh , the coolest driver ever and Neha the best navigator. Seriously kudos to their true Roadies Spirit...Miles to go guys !!!

-Nitisha

I never belived in Madhuri Dixit's philosphy in Dil To Pagal Hai, that someone somewhere is made for you. But this was untill I came across Paritosh and Neha. They are the inspiration for whole bunch of friends ;). And its Pari who told me there's a thing called TOURING. Never have I seen such an avid traveller. He's the man to get any information, help, pointers, directions and anything else you need for a trip. His tour photos and travelouges make the place more beautiful than they actually are. The moment I heard about this perticular event, the only name came to mind was Pari and Neha. I know they'll the one. Best of luck. Have fun.

-Amrit

Neha & his partner are a humble couple with great interest in challenges......"Performance always comes from PASSION and not From PRESSURE".....All the best and u are the winner

-PINTU SINGH

Bhaiya and bhabhi are the best couple ever. I am sure they will win this. Best of luck!

-Abhhinav Alok

Both of you have got it in you to do it. Go ahead and enjoy the drive. God Bless!

-Deepak Kumar

God bless and best wishes for your endeavor!

-Anshu Bhabhi

Paritosh aka Pari......What to write abt this guy.......words are very limited to define this guy.......Funniest creature on this earth.......Well he know the art of living...and also the art of entertaining others.... Anddd the best part is ...Now Neha v uske sath hain, ...this is wat called as perfect couple..just try to view them at 23 degree ..they will look like rodies:) coz hamesa ghoomte hi rehte hain.. God bless u guys ..

-KUNAL AMBASTA

The Great Driving Challange

Well, well, well... finally I have opened the door to the oppurtunity which was knocking for a long long time. I have applied for "The Great Driving challange". Maybe now, Neha and I can go on that ambitious South India Drive we had always dreamed of.

In case you want to help me out, just click on this link and vote for me:

http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/124772585611412517/

51 posts... 201 Visitors...

I am so happy today, finally I made it to the 50 mark and that too with 200 people reading my blog. Yippee!!

I admit that 190 out of the 200 "unique" visitors was me, trying to hijack different computers to increase the count. But still... I owe this post to the 10 other people who have come and read my crap and, strangely, commented on it too. Thanks a ton guys!

Old Love

Now that I am out of my last project at my office, I have been deprived of the luxury of having a cab waiting at my doorsteps. Not the one to crib, I have found a use to the hours I spend in travelling on BMTC buses.

I have reignited my old passion - reading. The fact that both biwi and I love reading adds a certain romanticism to this. We go to the bookstore every weekend and get two or three books to satiate our voracious capacity to read. Its a very nice feeling to read a book that you own. I am new to this sense of ownership as I have always read books borrowed from the library, friends, colleagues, relatives, strangers... I hope you get the point.

I had this collection of short stories by Jeffrey Archer for quite some time, but couldn't get myself to read it. Not that I have any grudge against short stories but I love the longer versions with more twists and turns. Its biwi who adores them, she likes the fact that you can complete one quickly and still be able to enjoy a full story. She practically talked me into reading the book and I am totally thankful to her for this.

Today coming on the bus, I read a gem of a love story. It can be compared with "Love Story", "TheNotebook" or "The Bridges of Madison County". I won't spoil the essence of the story by giving some half baked synopsis of the story. You have to read it to believe the kind of love the protagonists have. Its a story wherein you will envy them and still can find similarities between your life and theirs. Its a classic and is highly recommended to be read. Never knew Archer could write such wonderful love sagas. You can read it in this book or in "A Quiver Full of Arrows".

I have arrived...

I got my first hate mail yesterday ;)... Why am I so elated about it? Depends on how you see the half-full glass. I, for my part, feel that you are popular when you get a sudden mail from an unknown stranger saying that they strongly disgree with your views. Wow!! So I have my own views. Isn't that exciting? Well, for all those who feel what the heck I am talking about please see the comment on my post about MJ.

Now, coming to the comment, I don't want to challange it or rebutt it. I want to let it be... a reminder to my superstardom, my bloated ego. Call me egotist but I love it when such things happen. Modesty has never been my virtue!

One thing I can't understand, why did this particular girl felt so peeved by my comments about MJ. AFAIK, MJ always has been the target of papparazzi and people have taken potshots at his rather unenviable love for children. Magazines owe their bread and butter to him, for christsake. Anyways, whatever it is... I am loving this spotlight. Long live scandals!!

note: Those who think that I am in serious danger of becoming a snob, have you ever heard of a word called "sarcasm".