Black alphabet equals a buffalo.....

(Courtesy my Colleague Anirudh who too must be courtesing some genius crackpot on net who has the time to draw such innovation)

Yamuna bridge near Kempty…

This place in ‘Jaunsar Bhabhar’(U’ll see multiple entiries for same if you are into googling, it’s a place inhabited by beautiful truly Aryan pedigree who are carrying forward the sword of Pandavs and Kaurvas and with scheduled privalage bestowed upon by GOI are doing wonders in public life..adjacent to this is Jaunpur(Nainbagh) area infamous more due to ignorance with experts calling it place of reverse ‘Polygamy’…its all history and do not try to look too deep into it….by the way Jasu Rana or Jaspal Rana the famous shooter comes from this place)

If u drive down from Kempty falls which does not at all hold any charm of yesteryear anymore and is becoming the only solace for redundant technologies like ‘Air troliies’ which has been put up , I rode on it alongwith Bijal, Joshita and Seema on this weekend trip and made a quick exit soonest from a place which is pale shadow of its former self.

Driving from Kempty towards Vikasnagar taking the yamnotri highway, Yamuna at its best with swirling waters is view to behold, Nomadic muslim Gujar making their annual treks towards Shivalik ranges are a companion throughout.
I have this trip many a times
· With Pintoo , Rajesh Gupta and Sharad Gupta way back in mid ninties.
· With Pintoo couple of times later.
· With Kapil Manwal in 2003.
All the times its been bikes and scooters and drive always a thrill, I decided to ride my ‘Zen Estillo’ but making sure many a times that route was allright hoping still that modern and rising India has not taken anything away from adventures of yore.
I was rewarded by a nature made waterfall hundered times better than any ‘Kempty falls’.

I wanted my kids to savour this ride and certainly think it was so, l look forward to further journies this path with many a friends in years to come.

Amen!!!

“Rama market in Doon….pushing economy to boom”

Hope you guys remember ‘RAMA MARKET’..that old hub for ‘cut pieces’.. a den for cheap goods with lots of interesting bargain thrown in.I still remember ladies of Indira Gandhi’s socialist era in 80s going in in this circular market with every inch of space utilized productively, haggling for the last penny and giving a look only witches of Yorkshire are capable of to the vendor for a negotiation gone awry..vendor not to be left behind coolly packs back the goods in non chalantly way only to take a conciliatory step calling behind “ Bahenji chalo aao..aapki rahi”.
As you used to walk the chicken neck entry space..all Ajay mendies villagers from Bannu and Bahawalpur in West Punjab now in Pakistan in their third generation from the coops of space owned by them ..showcasing their wares and calling out to visitors in sweetest voice“ Aoji Bahi saab’…if you still happen to walk through without showing any interest his neighbor would certainly call “ dekhne ke paise nahin lagte didi” others would call “ Chiffon hai..georgette hai..Cotton hai”..i can bet best shirt with anyone you would not have sailed past the third vendor, such was the direct selling tactics these guys had.
Market still stands testimony to grit and determination of an enterprising community….hell bent on overcharging you for the sub standard goods, fourth generation now work on same space.Quality of wares is top notch again a testimony to rising tastes of Indian consumer looking for a bargain on side, there were Darjis or ladies tailor working besides or attached to a clothes shop working better and maniacally than militarily run garment factories and churning out suits after suit within hours, ,it tells about changing scenario I remember a time in late 80s paltan bazaar seemed almost dead..the charm had gone out ..and now everything is changing infact if you happen to visit same place after a gap you may have difficultly identifing same and this holds true for whole of India.

“Jauhar Dairy”…….Milked dry in late 80s !!

Like all small town middle class parents of that era one of the ‘ handing them over few responsibilities atleast ’ included telling us children was to bring milk in pitchers simply called Dabba from local dairy which Gobind Garh abounded in(It was an Era still free of Polypack Milk still in Doon), we the simpletons fell for,but it certainly offered opportunity to get free gossip time a respite from grueling 10th-12th standard exam preparations .
Jauhar clan was into ‘milking biz’ for a long -2 time but a refurbished with brand new blackbeauties the reluanch happened with with Kokila Ambani type Dadi of the family going gate to gate advertising her sons new venture, she was really lady with Iron panties(Peace be upon her soul), I still remember she distributing milk and passing off the milkfroth as an extra favour she was doing to choosen few, than there was the senior Jauhar who was supposed to be big bank officer but that did not deter his Punjabi Spirit to don blue striped cotton underwear and shoot choicest of profanities on workers who dared to bring only purest non adulterated milk without debasing at Origin, continuing the family tradition was ‘Kesho’ the bumpkin of family but than distributing milk from waterfilled pitchers and copying style of Iron lady is actually not a rocket science so he became a full time manager of this dairy with dirtribution his forte,last was young handsome Akshay kumar type young Jauhar who by virtue of his ‘Cambrain Hall’ education was entertaining biggest pastime of Doon teenagers…PREPARATION!!!(see blog entry “Krishna coaching) ..his airs I have heard have gone with time and clerical job in Bank..you know Indian bureaucracy puts you into mundane very fast.
We certainly have had many a intellectual discussions regarding various hotties of neighbourhood during these sessions alongwith meeting various queer characters from near and afar..Afar here means Yamuna Colony.The carrer talk too paramountcy ultimately we were the first ones to move out of Doon leaving Jauhar and his Dairy behind.
(Watch the space for “Eka Tha Kesho!!!” coming soon)

Happe birthday !!

It's that time of the year again. Last year was very special, because this time around, then, our blog itself was born. So, this year, Licence Era turned 1 besides Kabir who turned 4 and little Krishi who stepped into his 3rd year. This time, we hosted a party at the Indian Trail beach (Click Here for an aerial view). While driving aimlessly on the hilly roads of the nearby 'Lake in the hills,' mostly reminiscing Doon, we had stumbled upon this beauty. For several of our neighbor guests, it was a startling discovery. First of its kind in our group, the party became a major hit. Weather fully co-operated, and except for a few wandering clouds, it remained sunny with mild temps. Little kids refused to get out of nice, cool water, and big kids indulged in sand castle competetion. It was surprising to see how much creativity these guys had. It reminded me of our Janmashtmi days when we would model Krishna Bhagwaan's birth.

One of the creative creations by the Sharma sisters

While mango lussy turned out to an ideal starter for the warm afternoon, samosa-chole chaat was an ideal companion. That was followed by ladies serving pani puri in a road-side stall style that guests devoured. Beach party without a volleyball game would be incomplete; so gents descended on the court and enjoyed several good games.

Kicking off Volleyball, that's me.

Kabir and Krishi's wait came to an end with the cake cutting, with relite candles giving them hard time and their lungs good excercise trying to blow them. Krishi really enjoyed cutting the cake while Kabir grabbed the toy cars off the cake, and dug in with both hands.

Happy Birthday, kids!!

The cake cutting was immediately followed by royal lunch, prepared with lots of heart by Manisha, along with a small delivery from Pizza Hut, my favorite for more than 10 years, even though the new Dominos' multi cheese thin crust is getting very hard to resist.

Pav-Bhaji and Tamarind rice, two of the lunch entrees

Some of the lot then went paddle boating following their own shadows in the lake water shining like gold in the late afternoon sun. We had the beach booked until 6 pm, and even though we never expected the party to go beyond 4, when we pulled away from the beach, it was almost 6, with the lifeguards wrapping up and calling it a day. The party ended with nice, cold siwayeian as dessert, what some called Ganesh Chaturthi while others called Eid celebration.

Balwant Rai Mehta committee-Chapter X

“Good Riddance” Huma was history now, Kharag had more pressing matters in hand his endeavour had taken a increased vigilante mode, with his mamoth research he had already yielded state more revenue than imagined, his hand picked team was able to earth some old leases going to post independence era when Gobind ballabh pant the great visionary invited farmers from Punjab to come and invest their energies in the fertile Terai land, human greed has no boundaries the initial trickle had build into avalanche land hungary enterprising sikh farmers by all means were into land accumlating mode, be it involved legal means, coercion everything worked and than few long term one sided leases were also made, Kharag by natural instinct had developed a soft corner of down trodden, his present work clear cut awarded him an opportunity to undo certain wrongs but as a legal hawk he knew his boundation, but his interest was taken up by one such curious lease made by tharu tribal in 1950 to a Punjabi business man of marshy Bhabhar grassland, the acres of land now ran into crores worth of money being in thick of Haldwani city ,lease was about to be finished in 2010, with such leases he knew lesser generally of more enterprising kind backed these up with POAs and other documents so these leases became perpetual ,still he wanted to delve deeper into this, storing it in his back of mind, he carried on with his daily briefing of the team.
================================================================================
Ballu knew he had to do something fast, the egg trolley was sprawled all over , he shouted one labourer to call Pushpi fast, the cleaning part would be easier ..but how to explain this loss to Lala, the eggs in trolley were worth 1000/= rupees and he knew Lala would be the first one to deduct same from his salary. “curse this falling habit” he muttered to himself.He saw Pushpi come bouncing over….well a little deviation here If you happen to watch a female form with a bouncy walk than make sure to give a look over…all over a little longer with of course that hint of slimeness on the face and glint of lascivious in the eyes you may or maynot get some receipts with stinging signature on your face but what you are sure to notice is that this bouncing is actually happening in prominent protusions on the female anatomy creating an illusion of bouncing all over, Pushpi smiled as Ballu had same corny look in the face as he tried measuring the protusions with his eyes,Ballu recovered and told her to clean the mess fast, his anxiety returned, Pushpi could fathom the worry, but what can be done she actually liked naughty kids of Ballu and was pally with ballu’s wife.(To be contd.)

(like a beautiful butterfly Pushpi ran all over..Picture courtesy Ms Joshita Rawat)
(Purely a work of fiction any resemblance to persons living or dead is incidental)

Trip to Dells - II: Drinking Sharks at Sharkys

Photo Courtsey: sharkyssportsbarandgrill.com

Once we all settled down in the cottage, and kids were all in bed, the gents headed out to Dells downtown. We expected hustle and bustle at 11ish, but literally other than the 2 competing bars, Dells looked like a ghost town at that hour. That was the story, in fact, for the entire weekend, where we didn't have to wait in queue anywhere. We dismissed it saying it was the economy taking toll over this town. Our first stop was Nig's bar, the one that I had shortlisted in an effort to avoid our day of arrival from getting completely wasted away. We got sharp glances from everybody inside, kind of what foreigners get in India. We hardly felt welcomed plus the music was so loud and there was no place to sit. We stepped out, and while thinking about what do do next, we noticed another bar across the road, called Sharkys, another popular spot. This place was surely quieter and less crowded; a place where bunch of old men like us could sit down and crack some sardar jokes that we all had memorized on Aravind's request.

Having used to the Chicago culture, where people are now somewhat used to Desis and their peculiar accents and habits, I walked up to the bar and ordered Tequilla shots in an effort to make up for the lost time and get a quick buzz, while Aravind stuck to his Miller lite. That's a different thing that I ended up drinking Miller lite as well, since I just couldn't make the bartender understand a simple word 'shot', I tried every which way, repeating shot and shaat in different accents, along with all possible body actions, but that guy just couldn't figure out why I wanted to drink Shark. Eventually, Aravind showed me an ad of the Tequilla shot on the wall, and I pointed to it with my mouth shut. That's when he said, 'Oh you want a shot! Why didn't you say so?' All said and done, we sat there for several hours drinking shots after shots, Aravind resisting initially, and then joining in, sticking to his beer, in the end. Not losing his desi instinct though, he ordered the deal-of-the-day drink, that Bhushan smelled and almost threw up, and we took a sip each and thought that drinking cough syrup like Benadryl would actually be a treat in comparison. Eventually, at 2AM, we were kicked out by the bartender because it was time to close.

Next -> Day 1