ट्रैन के उस डब्बे में दूर से एक धीमे आवाज़ कपूर साहब के कानों में पद रही थी। समय के साथ वो आवाज़ पास आती जा रही थी। कुछ समय बाद जब एक बड़ी ही कर्कश आवाज़ कपूर साहब की कानो में पड़ी तो वो मुह बनाते हुए पीछे की तरफ मुड़े। देखने पे पाया की दो लड़के कोई सा लोक संगीत गा रहे थे और उनमे से एक छोटा सा सितार जैसा यन्त्र बजा रहा था।

धीरे-धीरे वो कपूर साहब के कम्पार्टमेंट में भी आ गए। पता चला की उनमे से एक अंधा था। वो दोनों ने वहां कुछ पलो के लिए गाना सुनाया। फिर गाना रुका तो दोनों हाथ फैलाये एक लड़का पैसे मांगने  लगा। मांगता भी क्यों नही, गाना जो गया था उन्होंने।

दो तीन दफा बोलने पे, चार पाँच लोगो ने लड़के के हाथ में एक दो रूपए के सिक्के रख दिए। यह देखते हुए कपूर साहब का जैसे सब्र का बांद ही टूट पड़ा।  

"आप लोगो ने फ़िज़ूल में ही इन्हें पैसा दिया है। देखिएगा, ये इसका उपयोग नशा करने के लिए करेंगे। मैने हमेशा यही देखा है। ऐसे बच्चो को भीख़ देनी ही नही चाहिए। "

इस बात पर कई लोगो ने मुंडी हिलाई। हालांकि, कुछ लोगो का दृष्टिकूण्ड कुछ अलग था, पर वो शांत रहे। भला कौन मु जोरि करे सोच के शांत रह लिए। पर ये बात उन बच्चो को कुछ जमी नही। उन्होंने तुरंत जवाब दिया।

"साब हम ये पैसा अपनी पढाई की शुरुआत करने के लिए कमाते है। गाना गाना और बजाना थोड़ा बहुत आता है, इसलिए वही करते है। पर बिना किसी बात की भीख नही मांगते।"

ये सुनते ही कपूर साहब को गुस्सा आ गया। भला आता कैसे नही, एक छोटे से बच्चे ने भरी ट्रैन में सेकड़ो मुसाफिरों के सामने एक वाज़िब बात जो कर दी थी। गुस्सा आना तो बनता था।

"बेटा हमें मत बताओ ये सब। सब जानते है तुम लोगो की करतुते। तुम जैसे बच्चो का कुछ नही हो सकता। "

ये सुनने पर उस लड़के ने कुछ नही कहा। एक शब्द भी न निकले उसके मुँह से। पर जाते जाते उसकी आँखें सब बयां कर गयी। ऐसा  लगा मानो कह रही हो...

'साब, हो सकता है की कुछ भी न हो। हम ऐसे ही गाना गाके पैसे जुटाते रहे। हो सकता है। पर ये भी हो सकता है की हमारा समय बदले। हम अच्छे से पढ़ लिखकर कुछ बड़ा कर जाएँ। मेरा दोस्त देखने लग जाये। परंतु, एक चीज़, जो कभी नहीँ बदलेगी चाहे लाख चीज़े कह लो, वो है आपकी राय। इसको बदलपाना असंभव है।'

और वाकई, किसी की राय बदलना आसान काम नही है।

I was at this Coffee shop once with one of my friends. We were meeting after a long time, so we did not dwell much upon the options available for a meet-up place and settled with the most expensive one (read: Not Starbucks) in the city.

We reached at the venue and occupied the central seat to look through the entire coffee-house (one of the boy things) to keep a check on the pretty girls coming in. (Han bhai ladkiyan checkout karte he hum, arrest karlo is baat pe).

Strangely, a girl was consistently looking at me which made me conscious and proud (no doubt) because this hardly has happened before. Also considering my photo wasn’t published in the Crime section of the newspaper that day, the happening kept me on my toes. 

Now, being an Indian, baat ki teh tak jaane ke keeda janm se milta he hume. I had the same. So, I gradually started to stare her back. Initially, for a few secs and subsequently for a longer period. And parallelly at the back of my mind, I searched about any links related to that girl. (She was beautiful by the way)

Now, amidst all this, the girl said something to her friend and she started looking at me too. Wow!

‘Bhai sabun kaam kar gaya us din ka’mene socha.  Matlab, jahan ek ladki ne nhi taada pure college life me, yahan saala 2-2 dekhe ja rahi thi. Kya ye koi dustak thi jise me sun nhi pa raha tha (in Anoop Soni’s voice).

Shaq to ho raha tha ki kuch to gadbad he. Matlab, jab aapko pata he ki aapki shakal kharab he, tab esi cheeze chamatkar ya fir galatfaemi ki category me aati he.

And I was unable to figure the right category that time. Nevertheless, I gave more attention, focused deeply and searched my database of girls. After a long time, itna time ki Ashutosh Gowariker ki movie khatam ho jaye, I recalled that she was a friend of a friend. And probably she might have been telling her friend the same story along with the other fact that I blog. Sheh! There went the first autograph ka sapna.

Anyways, Ashutosh Govarikar ki movie jitna time le liya tha humne in sab me and didn’t order anything, so the manager had a similar look as that of the audience who go to watch Govarikar ji’s movies.

So, we quickly checked the menu and decided on Pizza and sandwich. Now, the only thing which was left was a Coffee to order. Man bhi tha aur salary bhi credit huyi thi parso hi. So, we quickly opened the Beverages section in the menu.

Cappuccino

Espresso

Caffe Latte

Caf Mocha

Et cetra et cetra.

‘Abey isme Coffee kaha he bey. Kaha he bey Coffee’ my friend asked. (In Sanjay Mishra’s voice)

Kusoor mere dost ka nhi tha. Bhala ek aam aadmi ko kya pata ki Coffee ki bhi variety hoti he. Esi variety hoti he ki naam pronounce karte karte hi man bhar jaye Coffee peene ka.

‘Bhai ye sab Coffee ki hi varieties he’ I said with pride. Katwa chuke the tagda bill pehle isi Coffee ke upar to yaad tha. Mehenga bill aadmi bhoolta nhi he.

He asked for a suggestion. I had none. But, since you have proved a minute ago that you know about such stuffs, so you wouldn’t want to sound dumb in the next line.

Last time I tried Caffe Latte and didn’t like it much. So, I suggested to go with Espresso. How did I decide? Espresso ke bagal me rate chhapa tha. Use dekha. Aur decide ho gaya. Coffee to aaj Espresso hi jayegi gale ke neeche.

Mangwa li 2 Espresso.

After some time, Pizza came, sandwich came and then came the Coffee.

Looking at the cup we thought, maybe the waiter would bring the milk shortly. So, we waited. We didn’t  ask. 

Indian dil he, poochne se dar lagta he. Bejjati na ho jaye kahin, isliye shant rehte he. ADJUST KAR LETE HE.

After 10mins when nobody came. Humne kiya Google. Pata chala, Espresso is Black Coffee. Lag gye!

Pehle to hase cause humne lagwa liya tha 150 ka choona, per cup me. Ab lagne wali thi gale ki cause wo peene layak dikh nhi raha tha.

Still, we thought about our bill and tried to sip it slowly. We took the cup in our hand, brought it closer to the lips, tilted it a little and sipped the black Coffee!

Kasam se ‘Ram Baand’ namak dawai yaad aa gyi jo ghar wale dete he bachpan me jab bukhar chadhti thi.

Socha, koi nhi. Mard he, Roadies dekha he, pe lenge.

Agle sip me saari guts bahar aa gyi. Laga, ye time stunt marne ka nhi he. Varna Pizza aur Sandwich ko bhi bahar aa jana he.

To kuch nhi. Cup neeche rakha. Hosh sambhale aur hum bahar aa gye bill pay karke.

Tapri ki chai pi, tab jake dil halka huya.

At last, moral of the story ye nikla ki ‘Rate dekh ke cheeze decide nhi karni chahiye. Aur asli swaad to tapri ki chai me hi hota he’

Cheers!

"This post is a work of fiction. It has no resemblance with the outside world. In fact, not even a bit with the writer's life as well. Nah! Not a chance." You won't think anything like this throughout the post and even after that as well. And sadly, I can't control your thoughts. Democracy you see. So, double the enjoyment with your imaginations. Tathastu!

 

Here is an HONEST (almost) Indian conversation between a guy and his crush in a random office. Not IT at all. At all. :p

 *Here she comes. The guy almost chasing her with his eyes through the glass wall until she steps inside.*

Girl: Hi! Fir mil gaya. *smiles*

Guy: Hungry? Han bol de. Please.

Girl: Yeah. Let's go. Bhookh to lagi he yaar. Subah he, hopefully zyada chatega nhi. Chal deti hun. *smiles*

Guy: Cool. Let’s leave. Laga hi tha ye naya deo kaam karega. D-Mart teri jai hoi. *smiles*

 *While having the snacks. Sitting somewhere*

Guy: So, lot of work to do? Yahi question pooch pooch ke thak gaya hun yaar.

Girl: Han yaar. Bohot zyada. Pata he..bla bla bla....bla bla bla...!

Guy: Bhai control kar. Yawn mat kariyo. Bakwaas kar rahi he but sunna to padega. Control. *yawns* *Grins* Kal raat soya nhi na. Isliye aa rahi he. *hi-hi* Tu bolte reh.

Girl: Nhi yaar. Bus itna hi tha. Tu suna? Kisse batiya raha tha raat me?! Aaj flirt wagera nhi kar raha mujh se. Pandit ban gaya kya raato raat?! Roz to bohot Josh me rehta he. Thoda bhao deti hun tujhe pagal. Dikhati nhi hun bus. Tension na le. Bol bindaas.

Guy: Tu to reply karti nhi he properly. Movies dekhna padta he. Movie dekh raha tha yaar. Late soya is karan se. Waise tujhe yaad kiya tha mene. Even dropped a text. Called as well. But as usual, tune number hi ignore mar diya hoga.

Girl: Oh! When? Let me check. *she checks* Arey sorry yaar. Just abhi dekha. Waise ghanta phone nhi uthati dekh bhi leti to. Aur raat me mein kisi ka reply nhi karti bf ka chhod ke,  jiske bare me tujhe nhi bataya he.

Guy: Koi nhi. It's ok. Ab to aadat pad gyi he. Tu suna? Kya huya tere ex bf ka?

Girl: Bataya tha kya tujhe? Wo na...bla bla bla. Called at night...bla bla bla. Ignored....bla bla bla.

Guy: Oh! To fir scene kya he tera? Kis chu ke saath thi tu bhi na. Waise bando ko har dusra banda chu hi lagta he. Alfa male to khud ko hi mante he sab.

Girl: Kuch nhi. Ab to relationship wagera nhi kar payungi. Break up has changed me so much. Ab no more relationships. And dating me karti nhi hun. To zyada sapne mat saja. Waise thoda chance he tere liye. Chotu sa. So, try to be good to me.

Guy: Haaayee! Dil hi toot gaya! Lo, chaakoo le lo. Ghusa do. Khel khatam kar do yahi par. But ese bol ke mat mara karo.

Girl: Hahaha! Hasne ke alawa kar bhi kya sakti hun. Ladki hun. Attitude maintain karna padta he. Tu bf hota to awww bolke gaal kheech deti aur side look wali smile. But tere liye hasi hi kaafi he. Tu kisko dekh raha he?

Guy: Kisi ko bhi nhi! Tujhe. Kasam se. Man to roz karta he bol dun ki bohot pasand he tu. Gf banja. Rock kar denge. But Rockstar ki tarah, ye dialogue bhi purana he. Aur sunne ke baad tu muskurahat leke dil me, ignore karna chalu kar degi mujhe. Kyunki confess karne wale ki feelings to hoti hi nhi he. Use to bura lagta hi nhi he kuch bhi karo uske saath. Aur in case, tera bf nikal gaya kahin se to fir to khel khatam. Isliye bolne se darta hun. But like to tujhe bohot karta hun.

Girl: Chal chupa le. Mat bata mujhe. Hint to dete rehta he. Me bhi samajhti  hu.

Guy: Arey! Tujh se kya chupana. Tu to apni he. Mat ungli kar. Bata dunga to fir tera behavior change ho jayega. Meri kahani ke Index page pe hi the end ho jayega. Mat press kar. Kha pi ke nikal le.

Girl: Chal anyways, chalte he ab. Kaam karna he kaafi.

Guy: Han. Bohot ho gaya sach ka samna.

*Both leave*

People say it is tough to connect with people at your workplace to the level of friendship as you had in your college. An intense friendship that would stay for years to come and wouldn't die even when you switch jobs. It is hard they say and is true to a great degree.

Reason being, once you start to earn, priorities kick in. You have loans to clear, send home some share of your income, make your neighbors jealous and then there are your personal expenditures and plans to deal with, too. So all this needs proper plan and money. And we all know about our crave for getting richer with every passing day. And for the same, we need to consistently work hard.

All this is possible when you focus on the right thing which definitely doesn't leave enough time for making deeper bonds with your colleagues. So, I hope you get the idea here why people say what they say!

But what if, you connect with a few of them in that span of time. Irrespective of everything that restricts you from being friends, a bond does build up. And most importantly, you start to feel it. And this feeling increases manifolds when you get to hear that few of your friends would be drifting apart. That they will be joining another company. In short, they won’t be there with you.

At that moment you realize how much you are going to miss them. And how big of a void their leaving will create in your life. Because absence of somebody tells you a lot about them and their importance in your life. And vice-versa.

So, how to deal with such a situation?

The best way to come out of this bad sulking feeling of being left out is to avoid getting too emotional as much as possible. A fine thought has to be established at the back of the mind that people (read: friends) here, at your workplace, have different agendas.

Eventually, you all will be working at different cities with less hopes of a chai-biscuit hangout or anything of that sort. So, try not to take things to heart. It is all right if your favorite people won’t be there to create more memories in and out of the office. Also, this world is small enough for you to catch a bus and pay them a visit. Or, ask them to do the same. Thus, relax. Be happy.

I hear a lot of people complaining about their secrets being spread in their circle of friends and elsewhere. The secrets which those people have to call as false rumors for obvious reasons. The secrets which they didn't share with anyone except their best friends (read: BFF).

So, basically, they share it with nobody and the secret's out on its own, because private information has a life too. It likes to hangout with multiple people. Thus, 'rumors' are spread. Just like that. Logical reason, right?!

Let me tell you a story to explain my point better. 

There was a king who had a lot of wealth stored in some secretive place. The location of that place was only known to him. However, after his marriage, he shared the secret with his wife. Why? Because she is his better half.

Now, the king kept a weekly check on his hidden wealth. To make sure everything is intact. However, after a few months when he went to ascertain his riches, surprisingly, it was gone. He was astounded because nobody in the entire kingdom knew about its location except for him and the queen. And given that the queen wouldn't have revealed it to anybody, raised the question on the criminal's identity.

So, for investigation, he called upon Birbal. He was an intelligent man who was known for his witty solutions to complex issues. He asked for a couple of days to sort out the matter.

After a few days when he came to the darbar, he requested to talk to the king alone. The king agreed.

'I need to ask you certain questions which you might find to be out of the line. So shall I?' asked Birbal. The king agreed.

'Did you tell about the hidden treasure to anybody accept the queen?' asked Birbal.

The king thought for a second and said 'No' with conviction.

'So, do you think your wife must have done that?' asked Birbal.

The king was taken aback because he believed his beloved like anything. He wouldn't doubt her loyalty towards him. So, the king said 'No' to this answer as well without a line of doubt.

'So, now am going to tell you something which you might not like.' said Birbal and waited for the king's reaction.

The king was calm. Nothing to be cautious about, he said to Birbal.

'Your treasure cannot be found' said Birbal.

The king was shocked that even Birbal couldn't find the thief. He asked for a reason in distress to which Birbal said this:

'Your highness, I have made every attempt to find the odds, to trace the robber. I have even eliminated the obvious choices based on your answers to my questions. But, there seems to be no solution. I am sorry to say this but you should have kept the information about your treasure with yourself. It was safe then. You made a mistake to tell it to your wife. Now, I am not saying that she must have robbed you. Of course, not, but since the information was out, there was no control of it with you. You could no longer stop it from spreading by any means. Thus, the lesson here is to note that secret information should be kept to oneself. It should not be shared with anyone under any circumstances.'

The king understands his mistake and takes a life lesson from it.

Now, you too must have noted that extremely important point from the story; the basic mistake that we make in sharing our personal life with others is sharing it.

If that thing stops, I don't think there is any other way by which anybody has to worry about 'false rumors' anymore. Of course, if one has the issue of talking while sleeping, then medical help is needed. Else, the solution is free. Stop sharing information. Be it your BFF, BF or GF. Once it is leaked from your side, you have no control over it. So, keep things to yourself and stay happy.

But with that in mind, do not refrain from sharing this post. Thank you.