Exam time and lucky charms!!!

I remember my school and college times where I used to get more religious and superstitious before my exams used to start. And I know this happens with most of us as deep down we have some fear in our heart getting dumped in exams. In this process of giving exam after our hard study (in some case) and superstitious activities if some goes well, we consider those activities as lucky charm for us. Or in some case we analyse that in some or the other exam we have done certain thing and both gone well.And in successive exams whether or not we study , we do follow the activity as our lucky charm. So today I will be discussing some such lucky charms associated with me that I used to follow before my exams.

The very first act of superstition was to go without having bath!! I know its something awkward but I don't know from where but a random thought came to my mind after analysis of lot of things while I was in school that "all the exams I used to gave with shower were fetching me less numbers and the one I gave without having it gave me Full marks" made me die hard non showering person on exam days during school time. Then in college thinking it as superstition I did a mistake and all my first years I took normal showers before exams which ultimately fetched me 64 percent with one back. I made it a point not to take shower on any of the exam days which eventually helped me to get Final result in seventies...

The second act of superstition was having eclairs before exams. Actually this habit came to me while I was in college. Actually my mummy used to feed me some curd and sweet before each exams. But in college as she was not there to do the same tantrum she just advised me to take some sweet before the exam. I tried all kind of toffees and chocolates but it was eclairs only that worked for me. I don't know what chemical they use to prepare it or it was just a chance, but after each exams that I gave after having eclairs , gone at its best.

And the final talisman was to come late in exam irrespective of the seriousness of the examination or subject. The late commence ranges from merely five min to fearful half an hour. This is from school day only.. I found it beneficial for me. How? Actually I was a kind of person who used to study just last night before the exam so my whole syllabus got completed by morning only and then I had to do revision also.So that revision process used to took a bit time in morning and made me late every time but that revision only helped me a lot to cope up very well with the exam. Even I had done much better than the people who came on time in one exam where I was half an hour late!! I know this was very risky for me but but in the end I was gaining from it!!

P.S: I could have shared some more charms, but it is a bit personal!! ;)

Mumbai Monsoon

The more I lived here,the more I seem to be in love with the city of dreams. But I have to admit it – I like Mumbai best when it rains. Put it down to living in a city that has no seasons; just hot, hotter and hottest. But when it rains, Mumbai comes in to its own; almost comes down close to having a change of weather. The streets become greyer, the skies full of dark clouds and there is love and thunder in the air.
The rains bring out the best in the city. Motorists stopping for stranded pedestrians. People sharing umbrellas; taking in strays; excusing late arrivals at work; turning a blind eye to bare feet and sock-less shoes.
Yes, I love Mumbai in the rains. Soggy raincoats and dripping umbrellas; rattling window panes. Schools closed because of flooding. Trains delayed or cancelled. Erratic power supply. Entire offices stranded with nowhere to go. Ah, you may love spring in New Delhi, summer in Kolkata, winter in Chennai; but nothing comes close to Mumbai in the rains. Urchins flashing in the flooded streets; cars stalled; bedraggled policemen; shanties covered with blue plastic; trees struck down by lightening; and roasted corn on the cob.
The rains in Mumbai. The hot chai and bun maska at the local tea shops.Sitting at the top front seat of double decker BEST bus. A drive down the Worli sea face. A walk along Juhu beach.A trip to Khandala; a hike to Matheran. A siesta at the club. There is nothing quite like Mumbai in the rains.
It’s a time when I want to listen every song about the rain that exists. Sit home and drink tea all day. Talk for hours to a friend on the phone.Wear faded blue jeans a battered slippers. Give rides to strangers. Exchange umbrella woes. Take in shivering pups.
A time for nature’s glory. Everything being washed clean again. The earth lifting its face to heaven in gratitude. An orchestra in the sky. Mumbai’s most blessed season. The rains in Mumbai take us back to school, where we splashed about in the mud to today in offices where we arrive very wet and very late.
Mumbai do not have a winter and never seen a fall. As for the spring, it seems to pass by. But what Mumbai has is the rains. And God – I love them!

From Palanquin to Palio.!!

Recently I attended a marriage of my friend and after her vidaai she gone away with her hubby in a newly bought PALIO. Many old ladies (too old) were discussing that there was a time when they were got see offed in PALANQUINS.And this became the driving force for me to write this blog.

Really time has changed very much. Advent of technology had not only affected our way of living but also our traditions and ceremonies.Now we rarely see any Palanquins used in any of the marriages and why one should?
Means for how much time the groom will wait for the bride after marriage? The palanquin will take so much time. Today in the fast moving world people are so impatient that this will be the last idea of a bride's Vidaai.
But then I think of the older time when it was in much use , how beautifully and carefully bride is carried away in the Palanquin just like the Royal Queen and the bearers themselves had great importance in marriage.And there was a dignity and serenity in this slow paced palanquin Vidaai ceremony and groom had to wait a lot for her. And this distance and separation for a little time create anxiety and curiosity in them unlike today's scenario where newly wed couple get to know each other just few hour after the marriage or sometimes even before. And at other side the bridegroom remains in the transition phase in Palanquin which gives her enough of space alone to make an inner transformaton in herself and be ready to face the new phase of life at new place. And at this moment I can just remember the poem "PALANQUIN BEARER" by sarojini nayudu that I read in my school time. It goes like...

"Lightly, O lightly we bear her along,
She sways like a flower in the wind of our song;
She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream,
She floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream.
Gaily, O gaily we glide and we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

Softly, O softly we bear her along,
She hangs like a star in the dew of our song;
She springs like a beam on the brow of the tide,
She falls like a tear from the eyes of a bride.
Lightly, O lightly we glide and we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string."

Meaning: The bride is sad and is crying as she is seperated from her family. But simultaneuosly she is also overjoyed as she is going to start a new life.
In Indian culture earlier woman were considered as a burden. But when the palanquin bearers carry the bride as she is married..they feel no burden because of the ecstatic environment. In older times each and every parent wanted to get their daughters happily married. Carrying a palanquin of a bride was considered as a privilege.

An amazing competition.

Whenever I remember my college days and some extreme weird things that I had done at that time with my weird and maniac friends, there comes hell lot of things in my mind. Here I am going to mention one such of them which is a bit odd to share but then again only odd things are worth sharable and let us enjoy.
It was a kind of our(me and my friends at hostel) part of routine by then , to have a night patrolling of city on some old junky bikes. We use to do tripling at times if more people were there or if we had only a bike available for our adventure.
We used to have an odd but amazing competition which was introduced by a crazy friend of mine. After a long drive and having lot of tea at roadside shops who were a bit active in night and sometimes acquainted with some other beverages, we finally end at one of our favorite place which was a railway crossing where we use to standby very close to the passing by train to feel its speed and enjoy the the low intensity of earth shaking and high velocity wind left by the train. After all this our competition begins and we all align in a row side wise and we all...
start pissing... :) Yes we all urinate(w) and one of us check the length of the trajectory made by us. The one who use to have the longest of it at ground level wins it!! Even one friend of mine used to tell me the ways by which one can increase the length of passing liquid. Strange!!
I know this is something which is very yacky types and I myself cant think of doing it again in my life. But sometimes it is not bad to experience such odd things in our life just for fun.