Now it was 10 days before the holi of 2006 .... a distant friend of another distant frnd was getting married and he happened to call me in passing ..... now those who have read my previous posts must be aware that there are prerequisites for calling me to a marriage ... a AC hall is one of em .... and i had doubts they wud have a fan in their entire village ... but then i thought that this can be an all expense paid for extreme adventure trip ..... so i said YES.
Also my father had mentioned it once that he wud like to retire to farming in a small village where everyone knows everyone else unlike our city..... although my father have gotten used to luxuries of life .... i still thought he was a bit serious ...... rather i didnt give it much thought untill this trip.
The day before we were to leave .... my frnds came to spend the nite at my place coz it was a 6 50 am train ....yup 6 50 am as in morning .... too damn eraly morning ...... icchpal .... jaspreet and pritpal ... ... randeep was to meet us at the station ..... he didnt want to bother me ... how thoughtful .... whn wud others learn ...... now my concern was the 6 50 train and i was havin nitemares form the time we bought the tickets .....
We have this Peculiarity at our place .... my dad is so punctual of time that u can match the watch by his moves .... if he has to reach somewhere at 6 in the mornin ... he still wont be late !!!! now that can only happen with me i dont sleep for the whole nite .... and thats wat i decided
we chatted till 3 am and as always i had so much more to say ...but they all fell asleep .... and no it wasnt my talk ... they were just plain tired ..... i had no other chance but to fall asleep .. knowing fully well that if i do so there was no way i culd wake up in mornin and be on time ..... but still......
now icchpal woke me up at 5 and by that time everyone else was up ..... i kinda envy ppl who can wake up on time without the intervention of any outside force like mothers ....... i have to say sleepin on the floor of my own room wasnt a gud experience and i was already cursing myself for aggreeing for the trip ..... i was not too sure how i culd spend the next 10 dayz .... neways i left my bathroom on their mercy ..... and went to my parent's room with plans of taking a bath myself ..... i saw a nicely made bed with no one sleepin ..... what a waste .... so i thought to untidy it by relaxing it for 15 more mins ... whn my mom came to wake me up again i had made my mind not to go on this trip ... hell i dont even need frnds ..... just let me sleep ...... but as usual i was dragged out of the bed by THE MOTHER .....
Everyone had finished with their breakfast went i came frm bathroom .... jaspreet went to fetch an auto .... as soon as i sat on the table jaspreet came running and announced that auto is standing outside and meter is running ...... did i mention i dont like ppl ....... neways i grabed a sandwich .... and ran .... everyone was worried we mite miss the train .... and we had to meet randeep ....... never mind i wasnt worried .... i was secretly hoping i miss the train and go back home to sleep some more .... neways the auto driver was sent by the devil .... cruised like he had the same genes as michel schummaker .....we reached on time ...... a first for me ....
Randeep was already standing on the platform and we had no problem finding the 6ft sardar
We occupied our berths .... the ones that were alloted to us .... and i went out scouting for food ... now it isnt everyday that i see 6 50 am written on the watch ... and feeling hungry at that time was a sure first .... neways i grabbed a cuppa tea .... and paid .... as soon as i entered the train i saw an aunty sitting on my seat with three kids ..... i had the shock of my life .... that was a seat that i bought frm my dads hard earned money booked the tickets early to get a reservation and now someone else was sitting on it .... but i thought i shud first finish my tea .... or else i may have to share that too ... did i mention i dont like ppl .
After an hour of my standing near the seat looking at the kids dirtying my seat and seeing my dads hard earned cash going down the drain .... aunty offered me some space .... i thought she was mocking me ..... it was made for three ppl .... and it already had six .... i shud have backed out of this trip a long time ago ..... after another hour that felt like eternity .... aunty and her army of three got out of the train ..... and i finally had the seat .... bought by my dad's hard earned cash ..... anyhow after an hour of trying to sleep .... i thought of passing the time with my soulmates the buks ... i looked around my seat and saw two old uncles .... and thought here goes my readin ... i stood and offered em my seat .... icchpal also stood and offered the other uncle his ..... i looked at jaspreet for him to offer his to me but he was fast asleep by the window .....
then suddenly at a station before amritsar (our destination) pritpal said that if we get down at this station it wud be much closer to our destination village .... this station was called Dera Beas ...... and i had my doubts even if railway ppl call it a station coz our train didnt stopped there... it just slowed down to a crawl but never stopped .... we jumped out with our belongings ..... first jaspreet than icchpal then pritpal ..... and when it was my turn ...the train suddenly seemed so fast .... now i believe whenever anything can go wrong it can go wrong with me ..... but i wasnt about to back out ..... i had no option infact ..... so i jumped from a moving train ....another first ......
As soon as we got out of the station .... i thought we call for an auto to drop us at our destination ..... but hell thee were no autos ... infact out of the station i culdnot see a single rickshaw and thought how cud this place stay aloof frm the hordes of biharis ....seemed immpossible .... neways after an hour of waiting we saw a truck passing and waved ... he stopped and icchpal and pritpal went to talk .... i was too mesmerised by the site ....
The truckwala dropped us at the nearest crossing from the Jaboval village ... the nearest was infact 3 kilometers away .... i was cursing myself ..... we stated walkin ...... i dont know how much time it takes to walk three kilometers ...coz i had never done that ...... and i was dead tired in 20 mins ... my bag seemed like dead weight .... and i thought of calling my dad ...and asking him to come take me home .. but i didnt stop or slowed .... my prestige and pride was at stake ..... i ve heard people saying walking is good for health but i thought i could be the first man to die of walking ... nehow after what seemed like eternity we reached the village ..... i was seeing a village up close and personal for the first time ....
contd...
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Sunday, March 4, 2007
The Ideal Budget
It’s been three days since the budget was presented, and all major media vehicles took the pains of analyzing it and presenting it to their semi-literate audience that can hardly realize the difference between a CAT and a VAT, it seems futile, for the budget didn’t had anything worth explaining. Taking a note of the fact that this was one of the worst budgets ever presented in Indian parliament, I sat down to think what an ideal budget would be?
Would it be the one where the prices of human food are reduced, instead of dog food? Or will it be the one which as an exception reduces the taxes. Any of it, would do, but then they may be idealistic for the country, not for me. Because, for one I buy neither pet food, nor human one, that’s taken care of for me. And I don’t pay taxes, and have no plans of doing so for next couple of years. So, I start dwelling upon the question of ideal budget for me and I am not going to talk like the idealist who have not seen any poverty in their lives but would still make claims and decide for the poor. I will be what I am, and I represent hundreds of thousands of MTV watching, Coke drinking youngsters like me.
I believe, it should have, as a matter of policy, scrapped any taxes on fast food (I have no clue if there are any), well, Mr. Finance Minister, we have to pay for it from the meager pocket money that we get. So, while I visit McDonalds, I have to return with a VegSurprise and sometimes a small coke, if I am blessed, and that defeats the sole purpose of going to McDonalds. I would also like to include that from the perspective of the pocket money, I can easily be included among the poorest of poor. Also, there should be a subsidy for computer games, which the government must consider, keeps the kids off the streets and out of the harms ways. This keeps the supply of work force constant and hence, keeps the economy booming. Therefore, ideally the CD’s and DVD’s should be provided free of cost, if not that then there should be a huge subsidy on them.
The third, thing that I expect from an ideal budget is rationing of designer goods. This would lead to boosting the confidence of those who can not afford it and would also eliminate the disparities in the society. This budget also saw an increase in the duty on importing cars into India. This means Amithab Bacchan would have to spend a little more change when he decides to gift his son another Bentley or Porsche, for a change. But not an ideal budget, not at all, that would subsidize imported cars, for the simple reason that they produce less smoke and would lead to reducing pollution in the air, which would increase the health of the population and would lead to a better economy. Push and Pull economics Mr. Finance Minister.
Well, I would sum up my description of ideal budget, by saying that the ideal budget should be ideal for all quarters of society and hence for people like me too. The description may lead to the so called idealist cribbing, but then as I say, these are my views, and it may not necessarily match yours, if they don’t, get one thing, you are wrong.
E&OE
Would it be the one where the prices of human food are reduced, instead of dog food? Or will it be the one which as an exception reduces the taxes. Any of it, would do, but then they may be idealistic for the country, not for me. Because, for one I buy neither pet food, nor human one, that’s taken care of for me. And I don’t pay taxes, and have no plans of doing so for next couple of years. So, I start dwelling upon the question of ideal budget for me and I am not going to talk like the idealist who have not seen any poverty in their lives but would still make claims and decide for the poor. I will be what I am, and I represent hundreds of thousands of MTV watching, Coke drinking youngsters like me.
I believe, it should have, as a matter of policy, scrapped any taxes on fast food (I have no clue if there are any), well, Mr. Finance Minister, we have to pay for it from the meager pocket money that we get. So, while I visit McDonalds, I have to return with a VegSurprise and sometimes a small coke, if I am blessed, and that defeats the sole purpose of going to McDonalds. I would also like to include that from the perspective of the pocket money, I can easily be included among the poorest of poor. Also, there should be a subsidy for computer games, which the government must consider, keeps the kids off the streets and out of the harms ways. This keeps the supply of work force constant and hence, keeps the economy booming. Therefore, ideally the CD’s and DVD’s should be provided free of cost, if not that then there should be a huge subsidy on them.
The third, thing that I expect from an ideal budget is rationing of designer goods. This would lead to boosting the confidence of those who can not afford it and would also eliminate the disparities in the society. This budget also saw an increase in the duty on importing cars into India. This means Amithab Bacchan would have to spend a little more change when he decides to gift his son another Bentley or Porsche, for a change. But not an ideal budget, not at all, that would subsidize imported cars, for the simple reason that they produce less smoke and would lead to reducing pollution in the air, which would increase the health of the population and would lead to a better economy. Push and Pull economics Mr. Finance Minister.
Well, I would sum up my description of ideal budget, by saying that the ideal budget should be ideal for all quarters of society and hence for people like me too. The description may lead to the so called idealist cribbing, but then as I say, these are my views, and it may not necessarily match yours, if they don’t, get one thing, you are wrong.
E&OE
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