The never ending world of pictures!

That unintentional click of the camera while sitting in class or on a beach, the planned click to capture the moment when India won the world cup, the click to capture someone's happiness, and then the click to capture the daily life. I now understand why clicking a photograph is called Capturing images. These images have the power to take you back in history, especially the people involved. You tend to start reliving those moments temporarily, feel the rush inside you, the goosebumps.  You are excited about the surprise the next picture will bring, also you have just remembered what the previous photo was about, but the current photo, you are trying to recall what this one is about!
Suddenly, with the next click, this photo comes up, with an old friend you haven't talked with for a while. What is he up to now, you are curious! You think of sending a message to him but you haven't talked in years!
I have never been a fan of clicking or posing for photographs. It just makes me wonder about the moments which might have just gone into oblivion now, moments which I can't even remember now. Wish I could get all those moments captured but its too late!
Pictures don't move, they don't even speak, but they make you smile, and cry too sometimes!
I was thinking of tagging several people in this post, but then let them realize the importance of the captured moments when they themselves look at them. So if you happen to read this post, pick an album, or go to your social networking page you used some 3-4 years back and relive some moments again!! Those classrooms, those hostels, those random trips with friends, and all those festivities.

Life at a German Hospital!

So, I had never been admitted to a Hospital before, nor did I want to be admitted to one in recent future. But as it turns out, things had been planned differently.
In Germany, unlike India, you don't get medicines without a Doctor's prescription. This made me visit a doctor for being prescribed for a simple nasal infection (which I am sure would have cured by itself in Indian conditions). A few hours wait to see the doctor, would have been worth getting some medicines for free. But things unfolded quite differently from what I had planned. The doctor somehow saw some accumulation in my nose on its way to damage my eye (Yes eye! Does it feel serious now!).  He now wanted to operate it that very day, because he was very concerned :P.
Making things short and simple, I was admitted to the hospital, and operated on the very day (the story about the operation can be explained in a different post altogether). When I opened my eyes, I saw myself getting some infusions, and some sort of weird white mustache on my face. So now, my life at a German hospital had started for the next few days!
Everything regarding your health is covered by an insurance in Germany, so you need to pay literally nothing, except the meager charges for your stay at the hospital. It all actually turned out to be a leisurely and boring holiday for me inside the closed premises of a huge building with a lot of food, television, and a lot of people (doctors and nurses) to take care of you.
 The food, I now realized why the Germans are so tall, strong and healthy. Its because of the quantity and not only quality of food they eat. An Indian can't really finish a full lunch which a German has. And as I would say, what I was having was Hospital food, and not a typical household food, you know what I mean. Depending on choice, one can have a 4-,5-,6-course meal on his wish! But yes, unlike where we come from, the Germans don't have a concept of dinner. They have, what is called an Abendessen, which they finish by 6pm, and that is more like the evening snacks we have in India. And to top it all, they go off to sleep by 9pm.
But during this boring stay at a Hospital, I met a lot of people around. The different types of people in Germany, the lazy ones, the curious ones, the ones who always had a smile on their faces, the slightly rude ones (which might be due to their professions). I don't speak German well. So I was initially very terrified at the thought of staying at a hospital and making a fool of myself. But it turned out to be otherwise. I saw the friendly nature of the people here. They were always ready to help, raring to talk to me (although they didn't know English), never forgetting to say thank you and take care. These small things which we take for granted, are taken very seriously in Germany, and says a lot about the people here.
I can write a lot more about the hospital, but now I need to finish what I missed during that lazy week!!

No need to tell them!!

I have this bad habit of sharing with people, everything that happens in my life. I often get impatient  if I don't find anyone to hear me out. Its a weird, depressing feeling if you may understand.
But whats the need to tell people what is happening in your life? Is anyone even remotely interested? Would they love to spare some time to hear what happened to you? I Don't Think So.
Those who long to hear or actually know what happened to or with you, will apparently manage to find it some way or the other. Those who are not interested, are never going to understand it anyway, whatever number of times you try, they won't understand.
So do whatever you want to do, do it with all your might, and all the happiness inside you. You don't need to do it to tell or boast about it later, to others, because people are busy, they are not interested, and just like you, they have a lot of The Other Stuff on their minds to look into.

Need to be Home for DIWALI!!

Remember that Maruti advertisement!!! Hope in spite of all odds the guy manages to get a lift home in a Maruti for celebrating Diwali. Being at home on Diwali is so important.
I too am one such guy. I love the festival, the lights, and the happiness everywhere. I seem to never have missed the festivities of Diwali since ever. While I was a kid, I used to celebrate the festival like crazy.
Starting with the electric lighting on all the visible roofs, painting the walls above those with red paint to write Shubh Laabh and then, in the evenings, running up and down the stairs carrying those earthen diyas in a tray putting them in every corner of the house as soon as the Ganesh-Laksmi pooja got over. And after that, cracking all those fire crackers with so many relatives.
I managed to continue this even after I went to college. Although, getting home wasn't possible during those four years of engineering in a distant southern corner of India, I managed to find some like-minded people. We would dress up in all sorts of traditional clothes, go to temples, light diyas outside our rooms at least and have a lavish dinner after that. This was not the best way we could celebrate Diwali, but at least this was some way we could!!
As it turned out, after getting a job, I managed to sneak back home on diwali for two successive years. Both these times, I distinctly remember watching this Maruti advertisement several times on my laptop before actually leaving for home.
This Diwali is going to be a different story altogether. This time I am far-far away from home. Its been only a few days since I arrived here. So not a big chance that I can still celebrate it with friends. You don't get earthen pots here, so how do I light diyas? We have a temple here, far away from my place, but I think I will go there.. to celebrate Diwali, in whatever way it can be celebrated. The achievement I seem to have achieved, though, is that its a holiday on Diwali here too..

Foreign lands..... the Indo-Pak way!!

Whenever I meet someone from Pakistan, I really get a warm feeling from inside of having met someone very close after a long time. You won't feel it till the time you talk to someone from the neighboring country. And obviously, me being from Lucknow, love hearing the perfect blend of Hindi and Urdu as it should be. And when we converse we somehow exchange a few words which directly reach the heart and make us ponder as to why the two countries still aren't able to be friends with each other!
So I went to an Indische restaurant in Munich a few days back for dinner with an old friend. It turned out to be a Lahori-Indische restaurant, the ones serving Indo-Pak cuisine. The owner came to us, very politely and gently, took our orders, and served us a delicious meal ( the food was a but expensive though, especially the water, but then, we from the sub-continent are known to make fools of even our own people really well).  After filling the desires of the stomach and heart, my friend (who was giving the treat) was all set to loose some more euros. By the way, its not about the owner getting emotional and serving us free meals!! So the waiter came with the bill and while my friend was using his card, we started some small talk.
The guy asked us where we were from. He spoke in the typical tone spoken by an Indian Punjabi/ Haryanvi but with some polite words. Since I was the only one amongst the group who could speak hindi perfectly, I decided to take that question. I introduced everyone and then told that  am from Lucknow and he was like, "O so you are from the city of Nawabs, tehzeeb ka sheher (city of Etiquettes)".  As an etiquette, I too asked from him that where was he from. He simply said, that he belonged to Punjab. My immediate reply was, "The one in India or the on in Pakistan"? His reply was, and I would like to quote by memory, "Paaji kya baat karte ho aap bhi, kya India kya Pakistan, hum to bas Punjab se hai". I didn't have any words to reply to that!!
This conversation left me thinking again, what I have thought several times in so many years! Why are we still fighting, the people they don't see or imagine India and Pakistan differently. We have so much similarity in whatever we do, even then we can't be together. But I was happy somewhere. Happy to see and know, that even though we can't be friends on our own lands, we are at least brothers in a foreign land. The reason for being foes at home, is left for you and the bureaucracy to decide!!

The Malignant tumor

You know how a malignant tumor works. It remains in hibernation for most part of your life and then it suddenly attacks you.  The pain it gives you then is most frustrating although you know that the tumor had existed since along time. You always knew that it would attack you on some random day and you will have to take it on without any prior notice , preparation, or consent.
This is what happened yesterday. She was trying to talk to me since a week. But I was suddenly busy with something or the other, which doesn't usually happen considering I am totally jobless right now. I finally called her and she broke the news to me: she was getting engaged. I always knew this news will come about some day or the other, but was just ignoring thinking about it. And then it came. And what a timing!!
We had this pact sort of thing that I will be the first person she will tell about her marriage once the thing is planned. And for the first time, she actually fulfilled her promise, some promise, fulfilling which I would have gladly avoided.
And just like in the movies,when the hero is totally frustrated and decides to leave everything for a great career ahead. thinking of coming back and talking to the girl of his dreams only then, does he get the shock of a lifetime: that the girl is getting married.
But this is how life moves on. She was the only girl I ever had a crush on.  Though I always knew there was only a bleak future ahead.
I am about to leave for Germany, not knowing what is in store for me now, except maybe a bright career. But the pain of this malignant tumor, I really don't know when its going to vanquish, for me to start fresh again. Maybe, this was the right time for her to go away, giving me a reason while I am abroad to work on my career, rather than thinking about this silly stuff.

Dream of dreaming

I left my job for a better life in the March of 2013. I applied to some good colleges assured that I would land up with some great admits by the end of May, and fly away for something better by June. Life went on peacefully since then. Wasting time at home, going out, partying, knowing that I had got very less time before I start a new life. And then slowly, time passed, and I couldn't manage a single admit. I wasn't disappointed. I had this planned. I frantically started applying for jobs. Living in a small city, I had always had internet as my best friend. Applying to large number of jobs online, I was sure I would land up with a lot of interview calls by June. Nothing has happened yet.  I am bored of wasting time now. But I have now turned so futile, that I don't or rather can't do anything now. I used to be good at everything, but now I seem to be good at nothing...
Life sometimes plays weird pranks on you. You leave something just fine to catch something better and you end up having the worst. The world of dreams is not that easy to achieve. It requires some hard work but a lot of luck. I dream a lot, most of the dreams; I don't know very well how to work around for them.