Kabhi Kabhi !!!

kabhi kabhi darta hai dil mera, kyun aage kuch dikhai nahi deta !!
kabhi kabhi bhatak jaata hun raahen, kyun mujhe kuch sunai nahi deta !!

kabhi kabhi ek ajeeb sa shor hai, kyun akela ho jata hun bheed me bhi !!
kabhi kabhi khud se hi karta hun baaten, kyun kho jata hun khud me hi !!

kabhi kabhi rone lagta hun bacche ki tarah, kyun mai kuch samajh nahi paata !!
kabhi kabhi hansta rehta hun bewajah, khyun apna gham chhupa nahi paata !!

kabhi kabhi udna chahata hun bahut uncha, kyun mai par faila nahi pata !!
kabhi kabhi dhundata hun tujhe e zindagi, kyun mai tujhe dost bana nahi paata !!

Kyu dil mera udaas hai aaj???

Darr sa lagta hai,

Raat bhar jagta hai,

sochta hai kuch aur, 

karta hai kuch aur,

pyar to bahut karta hai,

na jane kis baat se darta hai,

na jane kis ka fikr hai,

har baat me uska zikr hai,

chhupaye baitha hai jane kon sa raaz,

kyu dil mera udaas hai aaj?

Samay bahut kam hai,

isi baat ka gham hai,

aadhi abhi raat hui hai,

adhoori apni baat hui hai,

kehna bahut zyada hai,

tum se milne ka irada hai,

mil ke kabhi batayenge tumko,

kitna dard hua hai humko,

aata nahi ye apni harkaton se baaz,

kyu mera dil udaas hai aaj?

Galati hui to maaf karo,

humara bhi kuch insaaf karo,

mana adiyal hain thode hum, 

kya isi baat ka hai sara gham,

koshish karenge ki badal jayen,

aur apko thoda kam satayen,

chelo keh diya humne bhi kaafi,

ab to de do humko maafi,

yahi sochta hai chhod ke sare kaaj,

kyu dil mera udaas hai aaj?

badal jaega apna dhang,

dekhne hain abhi bahut rang,

ek duje ke rang me dhalna hai,

saath saath hum ko chalna hai,

naya din jo aayega,

jeevan me khushi layega,

raaste me baahen failaye khade hain,

tumhare aane ki aas lagaye khade hain,

dekh nahi sakta tumko ye udaas,

isi liye dil mera udaas hai aaj.....

Zindagi me koi aane wala hai !!!!

Ajab si masti hai, ajab sa shor hai,

Ek meethi si dhun koi sunane wala hai,

Jhoom utha hai mann ek naye josh ke saath,

Lagta hai ki zindagi me koi aane wala hai.

Naya josh umada hai subah ki pehli kiran ke saath,

Ujala aa ke sara andhera mitane wala hai,

Har cheez jagmaga rahi hai charon taraf,

Lagta hai ki zindagi me koi aane wala hai.

Pyaase ko jaise paani ki talash me,

Bhagwan khud amrit pilane wala hai,

Barson ki pyaas mitne wali hai ab,

Lagta hai ki zindagi me koi aane wala hai.

Panchhiyon ki awaaz me bhi madhur sangeet hai,

Sangeet jo sari haden mitane wala hai,

Humaare kadam bhi thirakane lage hain ye sun ke,

Lagta hai ki zindagi me koi aane wala hai.

Dekho kaise ye jharna machal ke bhag raha hai,

Madmast hai aise, jaise iska bhi koi chahane wala hai,

Baarish ki boondon me bhi kitni tazagi hai,

Lagta hai ki zindagi me koi aane wala hai.

Neendon me bhi bechaini rehti hai aajkal,

Koi sapnon pe kabza karne wala hai,

Ghadi ka kanta bhi ruk sa gaya hai,

Lagta hai ki zindagi me koi aane wala hai.

Dil ke darwaaze pe dastak di hai kisi ne,

Zaroor is dil me bhi koi ghar banane wala hai,

Hum bhi ummeed me baithe hain palkein bichha kar,

Lagta hai ki zindagi me koi aane wala hai.

Sochate hain to yakeen hi nahi hota kabhi,

Humara bhi is jahan me koi chahane wala hai,

Bahut besabari se intezaar kar rahe hain uska,

Zindagi me jo abhi aane wala hai.

It's a different feeling

3 AM, brains off and lights on,
Thats how our days have gone,
A thousand foolish thoughts, beware of stealing,
How do I tell you, it's a different feeling.

A rusty bike and an endless road,
Couple of friends who left abode,
Remembering the time, that went past wheeling,
How do I tell you, it's a different feeling.

Books were heavy and minds were light,
Group studies usually resulted in fight,
The days were cold and nights were chilling,
How do I tell you, it's a different feeling.

When every second girl becomes a crush,
When hottest discussion was on, 'seeing you blush',
When every such thought induces a tickling,
How do I tell you, it's a different feeling.

When a couple of bucks felt like a treasure,
No words can describe that moment of pleasure,
Friends were life, those voids were filling,
How do I tell you, it's a different feeling.

Times have passed but memories are raw,
We too keep moving as the times flow,
Thinking of a life without businesses and dealing,
Believe me dear, it's a different feeling.

Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.....

Khayaal to bahut hain mann mein,
khayaalon ka humein khayaal na aaya,
Baki sab ne to khayalon ko shabdon me dhaal liya,
Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.

Socha tha ki ek din apna bhi hoga kuch wajood,
Dekh na paye vo toofan jo waqt ke saath aaya,
Ret pe bane ghar bhi tik jaate hain kuch din,
Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.

Sapne dekhte dekhte aankhon se neend gawa baithe,
Sapne sach nahi hote, ye sab ne humein samjhaya,
Zyada mushkil nahi tha hakeekat me jeena,
Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.

Zindagi ho jaati khoobsurat,
Agar saath rehta kisi humsafar ka saaya,
Khud hi me dhoond leta hai insaan apni khushi,
Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.

Mehfil-e-Jashn me bhi khud ko tanha paaya humne,
Kisi ne bhi is lachari pe taras na khaya,
Yaaron ne to dard chhupa liya hansi ke peechhe,
Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.

Is tanhayi me bhi daal li hai jeene ki aadat,
Andheri raaton ko bhi apna dost banaya,
Gham ne to hum se dosti kar li lekin,
Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.

Chalte chalte nikal aaye hain bahut door,
Thoda sambhal ke chalo kisi ne bataya,
Sambhalne wale to kab ke sambhal gaye hain,
Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.

Aaj jab peeche mud ke dekhta hun,
Saaf nazar aata hai ki kya khoya aur kya paaya,
Paane wale to manzil ki talaash me rehte hain aksar,
Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.

Kabhi akele me socha karte hain baith ke,
Na jaane kitni saansen bachi hain bakaaya,
Saansen ginana jindagi jeena ka tareeka nahi hai magar,
Hum se to ye bhi na ho paya.

Log kehte hain ki galatiyan insaanon se hi hoti hain,
Fir kyu kisi ne humein galati ka ehsaas nahi karwaya,
Galati sudharne ke mauke to bahut mile honge,
Fir kyu hum se ye bhi na ho paya.

Life at Tel Aviv, so far so good :)

"Meter or fixed price", the first words that stuck my ears as soon as I entered the taxi at the airport. Being an optimistic Indian, it is my tendency to not trust the fixed prices, and I responded, "meter meter". And soon the taxi driver responded in a silly vioce, "meter meter". I soon realized that this is not India and you need to say only once to make them understand.

Nevertheless, he started driving and I somehow went into memories of my previous trip. At this very place when I entered the taxi last time, someone almost jumped into the taxi; it was Bipinbhai from Surat, Gujarat.

Background: Bipinbhai met me at CSI airport in Mumbai, being an illetrate person he required help to fill the immigration form and I did that favour for him. Later at the waiting lounge, he kept on bugging me for around 2 hours. I could only make out that he was from Surat, was in diamond business and a frequent traveler to Israel. After I escaped from the waiting area, to my surprise I found that I was sitting at the last row in the plane and Bipinbhai was next to me. No wonder I had a sleep deprived and a horrible flight. I somehow escaped from Bipinbhai at arrivals terminal, but mannnnn - Gujjus mean BUSINESS (no offenses meant to my gujju friends). He followed me till the taxi bay and at last asked the driver, "Drop him first and then start my meter". Ideally I should have a problem but I somehow agreed, allowed him IN and then negotiated on the price. I paid 70 NIS out of 122 NIS and asked him to pay the rest. A win win situation for both the parties.....

I was still busy in the world of my thoughts till a vioce said, "77, Ben Yehuda". Yeah, it was the taxi driver and I had reached my destination. This place was fimiliar to me as I had stayed for around 40 days here last year. Nothing much had changed here, even the workers of the red store were same (red store is a general store next to my apartment). The only thing that had changed was my address, from apartment no 36 it was now apartment no 16. This one was bigger and better, it had a separate living room as well.

I always knew that cooking is going to be a pain because this time I had to be all alone. As a precautionary measure I had carried with myself enough of 'ready to eat' stuff from India, a lot of maggi and puliogare powder (thanks to my tamil friends for introducing me to puliogare - kind of tamarind powder). As a precaution I bought tea bags also from India. From full meals at lunch, I shifted to fruits and started having a couple of apples and bananas each day at lunch. Falafel is another delicacy which I enjoy to the fullest. I have also developed a liking for hummus and pita bread, its simply awesome. And if nothing works, SUBWAY always works....

Though most of people here can understand and speak good English, I always had a tough time explaining things to people. Pardon my pronunciation but I have to pronounce Herzel street with 'H' silent to make them understand. I have learned a golden line, "Ani lo medabel everit" which means I don't understand Hebrew (pardon me if I am writing 'right hebrew in wrong English' but that's how I understand it). From past many days I am constantly telling my driver to pick me up at 6:30 in the evening, I am not sure how he comprehends it but they always come to pick me up at 6. I have been into even tougher situations: there happened a chance when the lady at the shop didn't knew a word of English and my Hebrew is as good as my Mandarin ............ well jokes apart, the purpose was to buy a few chocolates and it took me around 2 minutes to understand that the price was 8 NIS per 100 grams. Thank god, sign language works when nothing else works :)

It's been more than 3 weeks here and I didn't even realize that this voyage is about to come to an end. I go for a walk every alternate day, sometimes to the beach which is just 2 minutes walking distance from my apartment or sometimes to the dizengoff street. Sometimes I take long strolls and cover the beach, dizengoff street, allenby street and carmel market in a single go.

The more I explore it, the more I like it. I like almost everything here - the place, the people, the beaches and on top of everything, "FALAFEL"

To sum it up, "Tel Aviv, The more I come here, the more I fall in love with this place".......

Shimla's brief history

This is what Shimla looks from the railway station.







Shimla was once described as an obscure village, but with the passage of time it has become one of the most famous tourist destinations of the world, lets have a brief look how the things happenned.

Scottish civil servant Charles Kennedy built Simla's first British summer home in 1822, and by the latter half of the 19th century the city had become the summer capital of the British Raj. Many British soldiers, merchants, and civil servants moved there for roughly half of each year due to heat and disease at India's lower altitudes. Many others, like author Rudyard Kipling, went there for the active social life, which Kipling found both exciting and scandalous. Shimla is dotted with monuments; imposing buildings with an Victorian aura and often referred to as the hallmark of British rule in India. The Kalka-Shimla rail link, one of the few narrow gauge tracks still operational in India, bears testimony to the engineering excellence of the British. Shimla is etched in history of Indo-Pakistan relations as it was witness to the Shimla Agreement signed by the two nations following Pakistan's surrender in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Shimla is named after Shyamla Devi, an incarnation of the fierce goddess Kali.