Showing posts with label Experience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Experience. Show all posts

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Attention Deficit Disorder

Saturday, April 28, 2012 56 Comments


It was pitch dark and we were passing through the woods in a car. We were supposed to reach the destination an hour earlier, the camera's craving for a hunt (read shoot) at many places led to many pit-stops. Once we entered the forest, a guard warned us against stopping the car anywhere. I held onto BH's hand, rested my head over his shoulder and closed my eyes. Then, I heard these conversations.

Girl: Stop for second! Look at the lonely tree in the middle of the lake and the moon's reflection in it!!

BH lifted my head with his hand and said,

"What a catch in the night girl. It will be a picture for life and please don't get down."

That girl had one kick-ass camera. She quickly changed some settings clicked a few snaps in various combinations of angles and modes. Then, she gestured the driver that we can leave. She flaunted what she had snapped. The only person who seemed to be interested was BH.

Next morning, all of us went for a walk through the wood. I took my normal point-and-shoot camera with me. As we tread the rough terrain, we spotted many birds on the way. It was a visual treat. But, when I turned to show BH a bird we had not spotted before, I did not find him. I turned back. He was showing something to the girl with a kick-ass camera. I went there to see what I had missed sighting. The valley and trees looked beautiful with a orange hued sky in the background. I captured that too.
BH turned to the girl and said,

BH: Show me the picture you have taken.
Girl: See this, See this and this. Which is the best?
BH: All are good. You should take photography seriously. You are made for that.
Girl: He.. He.. You are flattering me.

The voice inside me cried "I have taken a snap too! And I am standing few inches away from you"

Was I jealous? Or was I lacking attention? I pondered. There is an intrusion in that territory of attention was the output. Although I knew, that both of them were intent on photography, I was hurt. I went into my shell. I slid the camera into its pouch and walked swiftly away from them. Alone.

BH, who notices the slightest of my change in expressions, did not comprehend this. Maybe, he did not expect. Then, I told myself not to expect a minute of atttention from him on this trip. I kept myself aloof from the happenings. Strangely, BH did not notice till that evening. I stood near a vast expanse of dry land, gaping at infinity. I had a warm hand on my shoulder and deep low voice said.

BH: What are you doing here?
Me: Nothing. I was just thinking to tell you that this spot could offer a picture during the sunset. Go quickly and bring your camera-woman.
BH: What? Are you jealous my lady? *Laughs uncontrollably*
Me: *Teary eyed* Did you see one snap I took during this trip?
BH: Oye! Are you crying? Dear.. She has a better camera than us. I was.. Leave it. Now stop crying and show me the snaps.
Me: I won't.
BH: You are a kid. Come-on. Grow-up.

After pampering, cuddling, hugging and chocolate-ing I felt better. I lacked attention. God! Such difficult times of my life :-D 

I cannot term this feeling as positive or negative. It really depends on how you deal with this feeling. I would not call term this as jealousy or insecurity, it is the behavior due to lack of attention. If the expectations and disappointments are not sorted as soon as possible, such feelings wont take long to grow into negative emotions.
So, I suffered from "Attention Deficit Disorder- Initial stage"


PS: I was not angry. I was just hungry for attention.
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Monday, May 23, 2011

Scary Auto Experience

Monday, May 23, 2011 41 Comments
I left office; it was 6.30 in the evening. I had to take an auto to head back home. I usually do not take an auto in front of the office for the extra monetary demands.
So I walked unto a signal and stopped an empty auto and asked,
Me: ‘X’ place (devoid of the verbs)
He just nodded.

<image: From Google>
I got into the auto and just said ‘right’ or ‘left’ whenever needed. He must have thought that I am not a localite. As we stopped in a signal junction, he called someone; the conversation from the other side was pretty loud and hence audible. And I heard this. (AD = Auto Driver. )
AD: Yellidya? (Where are you?)
3rd Person: BTM. (Place in Bangalore)
AD: Naanu same jaga same place bartini. Inna 10 nimisha. (I’ll come to the same place, in 10 minutes. )
3rd Person: Yeshtide? (How many?)
AD: Ondu (One)

I smelt something shady in the tête-à-tête. I immediately searched for the driver information which will be put up in every auto. Strangely, he did not have. I searched for my phone. I did not have charge in my phone!!  By that time, we had already crossed the junction, we were almost in BTM.

He called that person again. And the conversation was,
AD: Inna 2 nimisha kano. ( In 2 minutes)
3rd Person: Siddha. (I am ready)

My heart was thumping inside. He had to take a right turn now! 
I shouted “Right”. 
He said “ Madam, Oil.. Oil..” (tried telling me that he has to buy oil for his auto)
I knew very well that there weren’t any shops in the route he was taking. Now, I knew for sure that I was in a grave danger. I had thousand thoughts in my mind criss-crossing. I saw the rear view mirror, there were some vehicles coming behind. He bent down to get a deodorant kind of bottle. I moved to my extreme left and just SHOT out of the moving auto! He had moved his hand vigorously to hit my head with that bottle, his hand just managed to pull off my ear-ring!

I gained control and started shouting ‘Kalla.. Kalla..’ (Robber, Robber) 
THANKFULLY!! Few cars and few two-wheelers stopped by and this auto fellow sped off into the dark. I was in a state of shock. People were asking so many questions. I was wobbly; so many things happened in a few seconds. I stood still. I was as cold as an ice. I remember uttering ‘I need to reach ‘X’ place’

Some family dropped me home. I was still not able to talk. I realized I had not noted down the number of the auto. No one else did probably.

Had I not understood the language, had I not been gallant enough, I would have probably been the newspaper headline the next day.


I learnt certain things the hard way. Please take care.
1) I did not do this, but you can pretend to talk on phone. Talk out loudly as to where you are. 

2) Note down the auto number and the name of the driver whenever you get into an auto. You never know when the information will be handy.
3) Carry a pepper spray! And keep that in an accessible location.
4) Learn local language friends. Please! I was damn lucky that day.. Not everyone is!
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Monday, November 10, 2008

(Str)Etched Train Journeys

Monday, November 10, 2008 2 Comments
I had 3 train journeys with my husband. And all the 3 were memorable for different reasons.


The First Journey

The “first” was a memorable journey for the obvious reason. ;)
The second and third had some special experiences also along with the obvious reason.

The Second Journey:

We had taken a train from Delhi to Ranthambhore. We had booked our seats in the 3-Tier AC coach. The train was supposed to arrive at 11.05PM and it was supposed to reach Sawaii Madhopur by 5.15AM. Keeping up to the Railways legend, the train was delayed by 45 minutes.

My eyes were heavy. Sleep fairy had stung me already. After a looong wait, we could see a light approaching us.The sight of the train and the crusty sound of the wheels keyed me up. As the train stopped for its passengers, we settled in our seats ensuring the safety of the luggage we carried.

The Ticket Collector (TC) checked our tickets and we asked the TC when we would reach Sawaii Madhopur. He told us that we would reach there by 6.15-6.30AM since we are leaving late.I set the alarm on my mobile to wake me up at 5.30AM. As I slept, I saw through the window that the world outside, passes away in a flash. Slowly, my sleep took over the control of my eyes.

I had a disturbed sleep. I opened my eyes when the train stopped in some station. I looked at my watch. It was 5.10AM. My husband slept peacefully with a serene expression on his face. I washed my face. It was very cold. I wrapped myself with my cotton duppatta. Since the train had stopped, I stood near the door to catch a glimpse of the station name. But, the name board was too far from the sight to read.

My eyes were small, that was a clear indication that I needed some more sleep. I thought I would return to my berth to get some sleep till my alarm chimed. Before I turned my back, I found a person walking on the platform. Out of curiosity, I asked him which place was it. He answered “Sawaii Madhopur madamji” in Rajasthani accent. I got the shock of my life!

Train engine had already started. I ran back to my berth. I pushed and pulled my husband. I might have hit him also,( I really don’t remember) to wake him up from his sleep. :-D
We carried our footwear also in our hands and jumped out of the train as the train picked up the speed.

Only after the train left, we confirmed that we had not lost anything forever. Luckily, we had managed grab all our belongings. We were panting for the breath and my alarm started buzzing. Both of us looked at each other for a few seconds (without any expressions on our face) and later burst out with laughter. What else could we have done?


The Third Journey

This was the journey back from Ranthambore to Delhi. We were on the waiting list when we booked, and when it was confirmed, we saw that we had got seats in the separate coaches.
We thought we would request someone in either of the coaches to swap berths. Hoping that they would oblige, we waited for the train. Train made us wait for 1.20 minutes. Train arrived at 1.15PM.

The sight of the train astounded us. Even BMTC buses in Karnataka won’t be soooooo crowded even in peak hours!. Here in South India, we never had seen such crammed full trains. Now our decision had to be changed, we decided to sit in one of the seats.

We could not enter the coach. There were oceans of people. Our feet could not get the floor of the train. We pulled ourselves and held up the luggage. Train picked up the speed. There were people sitting all over, wherever they found place. To give you an insight, 4-5 people per berth and people sitting all over the floor of the train. There were at least 400 people in a coach. We pushed, stamped people, (We had no other go) fought with many and sneaked through somehow to reach our one of the booked sleeper berths.

5 people were sitting on our berth. We politely told them that we had booked the berth. They started abusing us. We told them over and over again that we had booked that berth a priori. It was a real test of patience. And the men looked “hatta-khatta”. They demanded for the ticket. I was really angry. But, we showed them the ticket and they gave us some space to sit where, 2 people could squeeze in. Added to this, people had opened the middle berth and around 3 people sat on that berth.

We crouched as we sat and we had to travel in this position for 5 hours. We weren’t getting sufficient oxygen to breathe. And people there were happily discussing politics. I thought, it happens only in India.

Only after Mathura, we could relieve our backs from the strain as many people got down.

Whoaw!  Phew!  What a journey!

Image Soure: Internet
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# Experience # Train
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