| Atlantic City – December 2nd, 2006 ‘10:26 A.M. , is it ?? A Saturday monin’, isn’t it ? Nahhhh , off to bed again , u’ve worked hard all week ,haven’t u ??’ Was still debating with myself, not yet bid a final good bye to the lovely dreams when I heard the most annoying sound in a very close proximity …..”^%#%$#$#$#” (wish I could mention the composition of my cell phn's ringer tone) Rite in da morn, half asleep, if you hear sumone speak, surely the world understands how much sense one could make... “ AtLaNtIC City ’ ‘no late please’ ‘NO LATE OK’ That’s all I reckon, following which were 2 more calls meant to “gentle reminders” that I , ASSUMED to be the very cause of delay all the time, better be on time .. 12:00 SHARPPP 12:00 IT ISSSSSSSS$%$%@$#Not a minute before , Not a minute after #@$#@#@ This is all I cud think of for the next hour !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7 minutes beyond the deadline, really guilty I reached the PALACE , only thanking my starts that no one else had arrived. While we gave time to the lazier ones to get ready , we experimented on all possible combinations we could work out, with whatever available, to get our BREAKFAST ready!! HOME MADE parathas – Courtesy Sneha /Maggie / Butter Toast / Tea/Juice /Dosa 4 da rest Did we evea have such a lavish breakfast since we came here ?? Not me, for sure :) While all of us virtually hogged on food (I know that's a gluttonous word , but dare you forget you ate like that) ,not to mention the umpteen number of times they made me prepare T , dere comes the 'Gabber'. A few more minutes while all of us displayed our driving skills , on NFS ofcourse , dere stood our dear VB ( No,please I won't call him Gabber again , I really wanna be a part of next trip) monitoring our performance, There he goes , 'So THE winners , I mean, drivers for this trip are ....................... (fingers crossed i waited ^%%#@!#@#@) Vishalllll.................. (Nawrries 2 more 2 go) Vineeshhh....................(Gosh!!!, just one more to go) 'AND ME' , said VB................(Disappointed I exclaimed , If only my name began with a V !!!!!!!! )' All set to go , with very less trouble everyone chose cars !! VB : 'Well , same names that we have VS , better stay with me. Bhau, I can see you got the baby car seat , I'll ensure you use it till the end , MY CAR you sit in' Vishal : Who could navigate better than Ashish?? Naresh and Sneha , dunno if the reason was car/Vishal or Ashish followed them :) Vineesh: As if three of us were left with options , by method of elimination Himanshu and myself landed up in his car It all started with the hunt for the gas station, we had realised soon enough that Himanshu would be of little use. And me , did anyone have any hopes with me ?? :) , Safe I was , no one even dreamt !!!! Setting our expectations clear,we trusted Vineesh would ensure we take the correct route and reach just in time , way before others. Well ,the confidence he displayed could fool anyone :) , No really!! Aferall ,it was just a 4 liner direction :)) While we gave others directions as to use the shortest way , the adventurous devil within each one of us lulled us to explore a new way !! Trust me 4 once , we intentionally chose a wrong ,I mean the longer way , NOT THAT WE LOST WAY :))) What followed was definitely an absolute bliss ! As we drove through this picturesque stretch, the elegant lakes and river,the picture poster sceneries - all of them formed a sight of unusual beauty and peace.These small towns along the trail provided contrast with the vibrant life of New York city. All three of us took turns in claiming to be the very reason of the great time we were having !! While the others tried their level best to help us get on to the correct route - HAVE FUN is all Himanshu would have to offer :) Towering casinos, bright flashy lights and a fun atmosphere - a sight which would not leave any one less excited , we being no exception. WELCOME TO ATLANTIC CITY - No , no hoarding, exclaimed me to myself !!!!! "Twinkle Twinkle little star , how we wonder WHERE WE ARE %$%$%$#$#@#@ " First timer that i was , absolutely enthralled by what lay ahead of me !!!!!!!!!!! Ceasor's Atlantic Club read the majestic building ahead of us as we drove towards the parking slot. Accustomed to being on the top , we parked on the 8th floor while others chose 7th and 3rd , feeling proud of ourselves for no reason :) Somebody had heard about a water show ,and we didn't want to miss on anythin. Wimsical music flirting with playful nature of the water through carefully choreographed movements WHOOPS!!!!! Bright colours in absolute harmony with gripping music is the sight which welcomed us. We stood watching with dazzled eyes ,swept away by a breathtaking union of water, music and lights. Food,Coffee,Tea,Beach , within two hours we managed to finish all , after all each one amongst us was lookin at being at least a MILLIONAIRE that night! . While Himanshu and Varun debated on which one of these majestic buildings they would purchase once they wind up , I only eyed the RAIN FOREST :)) ( Naresh and Sneha weren't competing at all , they were happy with the beach and we wouldn't mind lettin them have it :) None of us would forget the pace at which Ashish headed towards the slot machine and then we wouldn't catch a glimpse of him till the very end. We split , each one amongst us focussing real real hard , AFTERALL WE WERE TALKIN $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ DOLLARS $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ While I held on to King Uncle (VB - da dude) , we tried our luck at anythin and everythin' - Slot machine we targeted , NOPES max combinations , min BID - AFTER ALL WE PLAY SAFE ;)) No luck :( , we kept playing only to loose more and MORE - Roullete , we debated each time ,RED it is ,BLACK on that table . 'Ahem !!! This chinki stairs BIG TIME, No not here' 'Nahhhh my GUT feeling says we'd not make it here''Ya, this is IT' 'We'll NOT plAy beyond' 'ONE LAST TRY - PALEAZEEEEEEEEE' Ha ha , need I remind all GUT feelings, all inner voices , all logic were in 4 a TOSS NO big hits Only LOSSES ,getting Big Bigger and Biggest each passing moment !!!!!!!! How can I cut it short without the mention of this gambling machine , whose name neither I remember , nor I choose to reckon. Special treatment that all of us got there .... Yes Naresh/Sneha - I can c u smile !! How hard we all fought for your 18$ , walked all the way to ToP floor , got it cross checked and got you YOUR MONEY :) Okie just a li'll less Hmmm HiMANshu - Lago Raho Dude,THIS IS where you couldn't stop , ur pile gettin taller in each section and losses multiplyin n FOLD Vineesh - ' Trust me , now that I've made 50$ from 5 - This was my last bet :)' Vroom,Vishal and Me - Well - our fav triplet - 3 in 1 , 3 in 2 and 3 in 5 Told ya , other combinations wudn't wk :( Okie Guys , I can anticipate the anger mountin up , if you wanna teach that "fat little brat" a lesson count me in :) Akkha public mein sirf mera passport chk kiya , and I would only smile and thank him 'I take it as a Compliment' COMPLIMENT ???? When the entire world stood laughing at me for next 10 minutes??? After 4 hours of SERIOUS gambling , becoming near BANKRUPTS , we issued a report card :) Oh yes , the topper was only in $10 LOSS , No don't read that again , it was indeed a loss :))) !! Who cares though ???? What mattered was that we all had a funfilled day , away from the worries of day to day work !!!!! But If only ................ |
Monday, April 23, 2007
Neha's Tales : Dis is serious Gambling
Sense and Sensibilities - A passing thought .....
Sense and Sensibilities - not any easy deal , is it ??
What do we run towards, what do we run from ....run from the fear of what.. and run towards the hope of what .
Each day we tell ourselves ,we're being wise , we fight those battles of brains with heart , telling that BRAIN should be right and letting the HEART dominate MOST of the time...............eventually searching for what they call the true happiness , trying to be happy ....wondering why can't we let free ..
Why does the word FEAR have to be so dominant in our lives and yes FEAR of what .. ??
Trust, Concern , Truth - we eventually land up running miles from all these words... BUT WHY??
Why can't life be simpler ??
Why can't things be easier ??
Why does everything have to be so weird ??
Why can't all these why's be answered ??
There is something that doesn't love a wall , they say ... but then the moment I start believing in this ... someone pops up ' Good Fences make good neighbors '.. Huh ??
Paradox - This life is ... contradictions at each step, yet we live it with the same zing , with the same enthusiasm , ready to take on. Singing the same tunes with various Nadir and Zenith , trying to prove God knows what to whom............
What do we run towards, what do we run from ....run from the fear of what.. and run towards the hope of what .
Each day we tell ourselves ,we're being wise , we fight those battles of brains with heart , telling that BRAIN should be right and letting the HEART dominate MOST of the time...............eventually searching for what they call the true happiness , trying to be happy ....wondering why can't we let free ..
Why does the word FEAR have to be so dominant in our lives and yes FEAR of what .. ??
Trust, Concern , Truth - we eventually land up running miles from all these words... BUT WHY??
Why can't life be simpler ??
Why can't things be easier ??
Why does everything have to be so weird ??
Why can't all these why's be answered ??
There is something that doesn't love a wall , they say ... but then the moment I start believing in this ... someone pops up ' Good Fences make good neighbors '.. Huh ??
Paradox - This life is ... contradictions at each step, yet we live it with the same zing , with the same enthusiasm , ready to take on. Singing the same tunes with various Nadir and Zenith , trying to prove God knows what to whom............
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Tales of Alibagh !!!!!
We At Alibagh:
Once upon a late evening, just a few days ago...
Chatting with each other ( following the regular routine at work ;-) ), we decided our party pattern was getting a little monotonous and we needed to get out and do something different for a change , instead of just getting jaded all the time. Like what ??...Take a trip somewhere ???? Hmm.. this sounded interesting so as our dear old friend Jaitly suggested we go to Alibagh , BINGO all of us exclaimed!!!He'd heard of people taking weekend trips there ( Before you stop drawing weird conclusions about his origins *&^%$#!^) and since it wasn't far from pune, we could leave the next day, which was a saturday, and come back Sunday afternoon .
A cab ... we offered... but WOULD our good old friend succumb to our wish when he had something far more interesting on his mind ... Well .. YES u're a FOOL if you think he would !!!!
Wait a min, what so special about what he had on his mind?
Well, the distinguishing factor was that we planned to go there on Bikes!!
Afterall we're young as can be and footloose and fancy free!!!
!Number of Bikes – 4Number of Bikers – 6 ( Ahem !!!! Yes plz plz Do lemme count myself .. b'fore u forget I did ride for 10 mins ;-) )
HeadCount -7
Day 1 - The Beginning:
Early Saturday morning at around 5:30 A.M., the alarm made it's LOUD hue and cry ( The only time in retrospection , I wouldn't choose to curse it 4 ringing out aloud !!!!)
Yet another futile attempt by lazy good old Sardar to lull us to falling prey to hiring a CAB ... LOng live Basant who'd never Surrender !!!
Checklist :
Basant : Present
Hims :Present
The Me :Present
Panki :If u ask me the truth , though he ws half asleep and I assure u , mentally Absent , but Yes to add to the HeadCount : Present
Sardar :This species NEVER sleeps , HUGE physical Presence
Choti .... Rohit ?????????????????????
As the clock struck 7:15 ... the Guests made their magnanimous presence !!!!!!
We started early Saturday morning 30 minutes past 7 from Pune with Jaitly uncle in front, Panki and Me keeping the tail ( I told you he was half asleep .. happens when u just dun want to say GoodBye to the lovely DREAMZZZZZZ ^%^%^$^& ) We went thru wakdewadi road on the way where everyone let loose and really went high speed.Pit stop at a restaurent at Loanavala for breakfast.
Ahem....Caught !! I know all of you are still thinking of the prasad .. I mean the paneer pakodas !!!!Did I forget to mention how Jaitly barged into the Camera shopkeepers's house ... helped him get ready ...open his shop ..bargained.....Well when I say bargained I mean B A R G A I N E D.. and finally got what captured some of the finest moments spent together !! YES... we purchased a CAMERA first thing in the morning !!
T'was the Mumbai highway on the way to khapoli where these guys really let loose taking the turns at high speed..these roads were bikers dreams with very less traffic and lots of exciting twists and turns.We were cornering at 80-90 almost all of the trip, did lot of stops along the way to let the slower guys catch up !!!!
How can I cut this short without a mention of the SONGS we sang ... the GYMNASTICS we did on the Bikes .... the hooting..the giggles .... and yes the MUCH SOUGHT AFTER GOGGLES ( Weird ... dunno How I get to mention them here :-) YET another futile attempt to sound POETIC) Reached Alibagh around 11 I guess, parked the bikes on the beach and before we could realize what was in store next, the ANIMAL instincts in some amongst us surfaced and they JUMPED right away into the water ... :-))) .....To be true the beach was tempting enuff ....!!We soon headed towards Kashid beach !!
Goddess of happiness seemed to be really Gracious on us !! We found the finest beach ... And yes the finest Bunglow we could ask 4 !!!! Was it the Palm trees ??.. Or the beautiful soft white sand and dazzling water ... May be it was the gentle gushes of the cool breeze.......well I Guess the best word that defines it all is IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE BLISS and this place - yes a blessing !!!!
None of us would deny that the next two hours in the sea were an ecstasy .....from volley ball to the Bright PINK Frisbee and the PALACES we made outta sand .. U name it and we had it on our list...and YES for all the 'Food Freaks' amongst us ... We did not miss on the Cold Drinks and Chips !!
Though we were reluctant enuf to leave ...we moved towards the bungalow and as soon as of us changed the water and mud sogged clothes , we Hogged ( I know that's a gluttonous word but dare u forget u ate like that :-) ) on the YuMmY food !!
Rest???... Did Basant hear SLEEP .??...tell u u're in trouble if you mention that word in front of him !!
Without wasting any time we headed towards the Fort.In the evening ,the low tide causes the water to recede quite some distance and there is practically a vast expanse of ground stretching from the coast to the fort. The 'Nawab' in all of us urged us to hire the 'Bagghis' and each one of us took turns while playing the Veeru and basanti ;-)
....Poor Poor Ritu and me .. How can we forget how much we had to beg these BOYZZ 4 a Slush .. But then as the per the law of nature .. We Won !!!!
The next 2 hours at the FORT were sheer FUN...Well YES we did recall how nicely we fought the battles during those bad old days...While Ritu, Rohit and myself mussta been the Chief Commanders in Shivaji's Army... Shivaji's most trusted foreign secretary mussta been our dear Pankaj..and yes Shivaji's most trusted servants who was always close to him and helped him to escape from Agra ... Ahem ... Mussta been the Sardar ..and .. Jaitly !!!!:-)
:-) .. K Guys I accept I'm Exaggerating !!!! My Hands UP !!#$! DISHCONNNNMMMM .. but here I escape AGAIN :-) !!!
Later as we headed back towards the Bunglow we almost lost the way....we found ourselves riding on a a very dark, deserted road in the middle of seemingly nowhere...that we never knew of and had ever been to before. We rode ahead without a map or a clue and trying to figure out the way....huffffff....bufffffff.......Ahem!!.......Once we reached the gate, the worry dissipated a little and we walked into the driveway of a little bungalow flanked by coconut trees on three sides. Let's suffice by saying that the owner whose most striking feature was his just-the-right-amount-of-moustache made us happier by serving us a cuppa TEA when we needded it the most !!!
It was already dark... As we lazed around in the lawns listening to the sound of the waves coming to shore, in the vague distance... gazing skyward at the tapestry of stars twinkling brightly amidst the Palm tress ....!!!! The cares of the day-to-day world seemed as distant as those flickering points of light. If there is Heaven .. It was THERE .. That moment :-) !!!!!!!
We stolled barefoot at the beach later at night singing the finest numbers ..... YES the only feeling that flooded all of us was that of absolute PEACE and contentment ...
This was the beautiful end to the first day of our outing .........
Well even the thought of all this is enough to brighten my spirits when I'm in a sad or pensive mood ....!!!!!While I'd positively pen down what followed ... I'd put an end to this write-up with the following lines ......
" The tide recedes , but leaves behind bright seashells on the sand.
The sun goes down , but the gentle warmth still lingers on the sand,
The music stops and yet it echoes on in sweet refrains...
For every joy that passes there is something beautiful that remains "
Once upon a late evening, just a few days ago...
Chatting with each other ( following the regular routine at work ;-) ), we decided our party pattern was getting a little monotonous and we needed to get out and do something different for a change , instead of just getting jaded all the time. Like what ??...Take a trip somewhere ???? Hmm.. this sounded interesting so as our dear old friend Jaitly suggested we go to Alibagh , BINGO all of us exclaimed!!!He'd heard of people taking weekend trips there ( Before you stop drawing weird conclusions about his origins *&^%$#!^) and since it wasn't far from pune, we could leave the next day, which was a saturday, and come back Sunday afternoon .
A cab ... we offered... but WOULD our good old friend succumb to our wish when he had something far more interesting on his mind ... Well .. YES u're a FOOL if you think he would !!!!
Wait a min, what so special about what he had on his mind?
Well, the distinguishing factor was that we planned to go there on Bikes!!
Afterall we're young as can be and footloose and fancy free!!!
!Number of Bikes – 4Number of Bikers – 6 ( Ahem !!!! Yes plz plz Do lemme count myself .. b'fore u forget I did ride for 10 mins ;-) )
HeadCount -7
Day 1 - The Beginning:
Early Saturday morning at around 5:30 A.M., the alarm made it's LOUD hue and cry ( The only time in retrospection , I wouldn't choose to curse it 4 ringing out aloud !!!!)
Yet another futile attempt by lazy good old Sardar to lull us to falling prey to hiring a CAB ... LOng live Basant who'd never Surrender !!!
Checklist :
Basant : Present
Hims :Present
The Me :Present
Panki :If u ask me the truth , though he ws half asleep and I assure u , mentally Absent , but Yes to add to the HeadCount : Present
Sardar :This species NEVER sleeps , HUGE physical Presence
Choti .... Rohit ?????????????????????
As the clock struck 7:15 ... the Guests made their magnanimous presence !!!!!!
We started early Saturday morning 30 minutes past 7 from Pune with Jaitly uncle in front, Panki and Me keeping the tail ( I told you he was half asleep .. happens when u just dun want to say GoodBye to the lovely DREAMZZZZZZ ^%^%^$^& ) We went thru wakdewadi road on the way where everyone let loose and really went high speed.Pit stop at a restaurent at Loanavala for breakfast.
Ahem....Caught !! I know all of you are still thinking of the prasad .. I mean the paneer pakodas !!!!Did I forget to mention how Jaitly barged into the Camera shopkeepers's house ... helped him get ready ...open his shop ..bargained.....Well when I say bargained I mean B A R G A I N E D.. and finally got what captured some of the finest moments spent together !! YES... we purchased a CAMERA first thing in the morning !!
T'was the Mumbai highway on the way to khapoli where these guys really let loose taking the turns at high speed..these roads were bikers dreams with very less traffic and lots of exciting twists and turns.We were cornering at 80-90 almost all of the trip, did lot of stops along the way to let the slower guys catch up !!!!
How can I cut this short without a mention of the SONGS we sang ... the GYMNASTICS we did on the Bikes .... the hooting..the giggles .... and yes the MUCH SOUGHT AFTER GOGGLES ( Weird ... dunno How I get to mention them here :-) YET another futile attempt to sound POETIC) Reached Alibagh around 11 I guess, parked the bikes on the beach and before we could realize what was in store next, the ANIMAL instincts in some amongst us surfaced and they JUMPED right away into the water ... :-))) .....To be true the beach was tempting enuff ....!!We soon headed towards Kashid beach !!
Goddess of happiness seemed to be really Gracious on us !! We found the finest beach ... And yes the finest Bunglow we could ask 4 !!!! Was it the Palm trees ??.. Or the beautiful soft white sand and dazzling water ... May be it was the gentle gushes of the cool breeze.......well I Guess the best word that defines it all is IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE BLISS and this place - yes a blessing !!!!
None of us would deny that the next two hours in the sea were an ecstasy .....from volley ball to the Bright PINK Frisbee and the PALACES we made outta sand .. U name it and we had it on our list...and YES for all the 'Food Freaks' amongst us ... We did not miss on the Cold Drinks and Chips !!
Though we were reluctant enuf to leave ...we moved towards the bungalow and as soon as of us changed the water and mud sogged clothes , we Hogged ( I know that's a gluttonous word but dare u forget u ate like that :-) ) on the YuMmY food !!
Rest???... Did Basant hear SLEEP .??...tell u u're in trouble if you mention that word in front of him !!
Without wasting any time we headed towards the Fort.In the evening ,the low tide causes the water to recede quite some distance and there is practically a vast expanse of ground stretching from the coast to the fort. The 'Nawab' in all of us urged us to hire the 'Bagghis' and each one of us took turns while playing the Veeru and basanti ;-)
....Poor Poor Ritu and me .. How can we forget how much we had to beg these BOYZZ 4 a Slush .. But then as the per the law of nature .. We Won !!!!
The next 2 hours at the FORT were sheer FUN...Well YES we did recall how nicely we fought the battles during those bad old days...While Ritu, Rohit and myself mussta been the Chief Commanders in Shivaji's Army... Shivaji's most trusted foreign secretary mussta been our dear Pankaj..and yes Shivaji's most trusted servants who was always close to him and helped him to escape from Agra ... Ahem ... Mussta been the Sardar ..and .. Jaitly !!!!:-)
:-) .. K Guys I accept I'm Exaggerating !!!! My Hands UP !!#$! DISHCONNNNMMMM .. but here I escape AGAIN :-) !!!
Later as we headed back towards the Bunglow we almost lost the way....we found ourselves riding on a a very dark, deserted road in the middle of seemingly nowhere...that we never knew of and had ever been to before. We rode ahead without a map or a clue and trying to figure out the way....huffffff....bufffffff.......Ahem!!.......Once we reached the gate, the worry dissipated a little and we walked into the driveway of a little bungalow flanked by coconut trees on three sides. Let's suffice by saying that the owner whose most striking feature was his just-the-right-amount-of-moustache made us happier by serving us a cuppa TEA when we needded it the most !!!
It was already dark... As we lazed around in the lawns listening to the sound of the waves coming to shore, in the vague distance... gazing skyward at the tapestry of stars twinkling brightly amidst the Palm tress ....!!!! The cares of the day-to-day world seemed as distant as those flickering points of light. If there is Heaven .. It was THERE .. That moment :-) !!!!!!!
We stolled barefoot at the beach later at night singing the finest numbers ..... YES the only feeling that flooded all of us was that of absolute PEACE and contentment ...
This was the beautiful end to the first day of our outing .........
Well even the thought of all this is enough to brighten my spirits when I'm in a sad or pensive mood ....!!!!!While I'd positively pen down what followed ... I'd put an end to this write-up with the following lines ......
" The tide recedes , but leaves behind bright seashells on the sand.
The sun goes down , but the gentle warmth still lingers on the sand,
The music stops and yet it echoes on in sweet refrains...
For every joy that passes there is something beautiful that remains "
Blogging ..but why ??
Thoughts and gestures make moments,
Moments make memories,
Memories just keep adding to making ourselves "US" each passing day ....
Some things happen but never completely unhappen , they live with us , like a diary we all carry with us. And these pages when we flip through we derive a happiness which is enough to brighten our spirits in a sad or pensive mood ........
Here I am , all set to pen down my thoughts......
Building a web of words, which make an integral part of my being!!!!!!!!!!
Moments make memories,
Memories just keep adding to making ourselves "US" each passing day ....
Some things happen but never completely unhappen , they live with us , like a diary we all carry with us. And these pages when we flip through we derive a happiness which is enough to brighten our spirits in a sad or pensive mood ........
Here I am , all set to pen down my thoughts......
Building a web of words, which make an integral part of my being!!!!!!!!!!
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