snapshots

The teleseries has just gripped us in suspense, as our minds are held captive to the curiosity of finding out what happens next? where are those polar bears coming from in a place on the equator... my personal feeling, since the frenchwoman danielle came on a science expedition, it appears to me that these gigantic bears are the product of an experiment gone horridly wrong and out of hand.. but before i go on.. let me take u back to how it all started.
In IIMK, one of the most common lines that u can hear, is "Got any movies?", especially made famous by one Mr. Sumit Bajaj... sometimes i can hear these lines as a whisper down empty corridors, or a flurry of irritating IP messages, tht makes one go into absense mode like a turtle sensing danger (and hidin in it's shell)...
coming back to the point... well it was one such talks, as nishant, stephen and me loitered on the corridor of B top level as we made our back from class... that the talk came to whats new to watch... then nishant mentioned bout "Lost"... infact when I was home on vacations, I'd been pretty captivated by the promos but then serials are something of a foregone luxury once i finished school... not that I really got to watch much though, being burdened by the cruel system which overloads a child with unnecessary amount of homework, that can steal his present away. Oh that sounds too rebellious... actually, it's the hardwork that u put in early on that makes your foundation strong such that u can build ur dreams on them. My Dad always says, "if u put in hardwork, the fruit of success taste so sweet", thaty in itslef i feel has been his motivation as he scaled one height after another. However I can't undermine the fact that it's God's hand doing it all, and blessing our works.
once again i seem to have strayed, but then after seeing some serials, and watchin directors make movies... don't u think that such things always happen, if everything were to stick to the point and not deviate a bit here or there, then a serial would be no different from an advertisement and a movie from the news ;-)
well bout Lost then.. so nishant sends me an episode, telling me that he'll send more if i like it.. which I do, and get 4 more episodes.. srini and meren follow suit and by the end of the next evenin.. meren's on the 23rd episode of the Ist season, srini''s on 18th (though he seems to be draggin a bit when bored..lolzzz!!), me a distant 3rd at 13th episode.. but thts coz I'd rather curb my curiosity and enjoy every episode in a comfortable and relaxed setting, rather than rush through it... [in life as u strive for ur goals, take time to enjoy the beauty and joy that u can find in the very act or process of striving towards it, i'm sure u won't regret my suggestion]. Joshi and Prasun too have taken some episodes, dunno whether i was rite to send joshi that when he asked for something that had sex, action and violence... lolzzzz!!! tulsi havin reformatted his laptop for the 4th time in a month is runnin aroun tryin to fill his 11Gb free space, and the heat een more as now Sam wit his 15Gb free space is also in the running, being the latest entrant, whilst tulsi took 5 from me last nite and biswas was boasting of reachin7 last i heard of him... so thus the LOST fever continues...

pic. not the picnic place, but DU gardens when we wer jus sittin on our way bk

It was truly a gr8 day and we sure had our fill of fun... little did I kno tht even aftr two yrs down the line... i would be reminscing on it, havin been my last picnic till date...

wow! it was amazin... gettin up early, and seeing the nite turn into day. Something tht i'v been missin out on for a real long time... in fact i made to breakfast this morning inspite of not havin srini aroun, as he always asks me if i wanna go for breakfast... to which i answer, in 5 mins... and end up havin lunch wit him.

pic taken from the insti by my fren nishant at daybreak

Well for those who don't kno... srini happens to be my good fren and my neighbour... as here in the insti, though single rooms, we hav two rooms sharing a balcony... Srini is tall, dark and handsome... an intelligent and serious guy who will surely make it big in life. He is obsessed with winning games, and will work at it rigorously till his score is the highest around... be it EA cricket, or bz flag, or moto gp for tht matter... believe me, he is pretty much dogged in tht.. but all in all he's a good fren to have.
oh oh.. i was talkin bout the mornin and seems i got totally sidetracked.. anyways... tht was srini for u.
well... metro niranjan, came online too and so i think i'll jus giv u a brief description of him... his real name is MSNiranjan and we call him metro... a gr8 defender in soccer, he broke his ankle last yr and has been a bit shy of practice since thn.. unlike my first tamil fren srini, metro hates video games. Some say he is a bomb expert when it comes to killing fish (sorry if u don't get it, but only my frens here in the insti wud get tht).... hhehhehehe!!!
now it's 9:30 am, and am enjoyin watchin the day get it's full color... but i think i'll go and watch cricket for a while.. the way India is playin these days... really makes it fun. Hope they can keep their act together and kp goin strong...
the above were jus a random expression of thoughts and views from a mind tht is awake, fresh and free...
all in all it was a wonderful mornin and i look forward to many mornings such as these... ;-)

it's shameful to shoot an unarmed person, it's even more shameful to kill an innocent and unarmed person...
I'm saddened by this heinous act of terrorists to target innocent citizens in Delhi, and their actions in Pahar ganj, Sarojini nagar, and Okhla...
I wonder what answer they will give to God.

Known to be simple livin, of a friendly nature, traditionally into nature worship and a type of buddhism (now, a significant population have accepted Christ), basically into farming and poultry, these people who delighted in cracking jokes around the bonfire with a jar (bamboo) of fermented drink called 'Tongba' are the foremost inhabitants of the darjeeling-sikkim region. Known to have come from the east, they finally settled in this region and called it 'Mayel Lyang' i.e, land of the free.
I would be writing a lot more bout my tribe, but before i do that let me just take you through this gallery of some lepcha people (called "Rong" in lepcha)


kids in lepcha attire dancing


lepcha musicians and dancers



lepcha attire for different occassions


a lepcha girl performing on stage wearing a gada (lepcha silk dress for women)


harvest dance (men look nepali)


lepchas, bhutias, nepalis celebrating X-mas in Darj


Cho rum faat prayers in progress


lepcha girls dancing in their traditional attire


lepcha musicians are known to be very skillfull


lepchas are fond of music


two lepcha kids performing before an audience


we may be vanishing, but that will not kill our spirit

does that strike a cord in your mind??? C'mon u don't have to be a quizzard to be able to know that. Thats it... 'My beloved home Darjeeling ( Dorjee- thunder, ling- land), where i did my schooling from, and spent a significant part of my childhood. Nestled amongst the hills as it were a baby sleeping peacefully on his/her mother's bosom, this picturesque town has Mt. Kanchendzonga (the third highest peak in the world) to form it's backdrop.
With the road to destiny being written in 1889, this town at one time was under the authority of the Maharaja (King) of Sikkim, who gifted it to the British who found it very much like the English country as they witnessed the thick blankets of fog that usually covered it, and the bright summer sun that lit up the town once in a while. Darjeeling was to be used as a sanitarium in the lines of Ooty to the South or Shimla to the North, thus the development of Darjeeling began with the typical british architecture of that era... viz., a Church, a town hall, a mall where families could take a stroll (pic.), a market place, a railway station, a racecourse developed with time, and all the other civic amenities that are associated with a town, such as the hospitals, fire station, etc..
well coming to the topic that started it all... the first of em... 'TEA' - this served as a lure to people not just in the region but from all nearby kingdoms, as 'stories of money growing in tea bushes' came to be paryt of folklore. Well there was some truth in the statement, but not exactly the way many simple village folk took it to be :-( Tea has surely made Darjeeling world famous and this tradition carries on even today, but there are many dimensions to it such as patenting, other insights into this arena, which i will be taking up in future.
Coming to 'TOURISM' - this today is the chief form of livelihood to the people in Darjeeling and undoubtedly is the reason why u can find a hotel after every bend in Darjeeling (what makes this een more interesting is that, we're talking bout a place in the hills, which has so many curves that someone driving a car will agree that he spends more than 1/2 the time, turning the steering wheel right-left than holding it straight). There are some amazing getaways in Darjeeling, and a nature lover can have an eye feasting no matter how great a critic he may be... all these i will be covering soon... so keep watching!!! ;-)
coming to the final T, 'TOY TRAIN', since 1881 - it would be unbelievable to say that i have overtook a train anywhere in the world, but in darjeeling, thats no big deal. The toy train, havin been declared a world heritage in 2000 has been finally given it's due, but issues relating to diesel engine wanted by locals and UNESCO's choice for the original steam engine, future lies unpredictable...

So here I am finally gettin started with this blog of mine...
First of all let me tell you that this is strictly on experimental basis and whatever you read in the following listings is to be read at your own risk, for they are just a reflection of an individual's mind, and hence do not certify any authenticity to it. Moreover, it could be one dimensional at times, and that could cause you to be irritated at times... in such a situation as that, your comments would be most welcome, but any action regarding the article, lays strictly under the discretion of the writer, who may/ may not act depending on his frame of mind and his view on life shaped by the environment he is in and so forth...
Welcome to my blogspot and happy navigating... i hope you have a refreshing and enjoyable ride through these pages...