Joy Of Life

Live life till the end
Njoy every nuance
It's not a battlefield; rather
An Offroad of peaks and troughs

Drive through the present
There is no reverse gear
Hope is the accelerator
And Love is the fuel

Laugh when you feel happy
Cry when you are sad and upset
Express what you feel; For
Emotions are not to hide

Hands are for adios and hug
Eyes are for stare and wink
Tears are for sorrow and joy
Life is of gloom and glow!

Chilling Chilika

The sun has risen an hour back and I had to wake up midway in my sleep cutting through the soothing dreams thanks to the loud alarm ringing in my cell. It was a fine winter freezing morning when we packed our bags and laced our shoes and eases into a rented Chevrolet Tavera to head towards the mighty Chilika lagoon at Satpada. We were a group of 6 guys with nothing to do in trimester 6 of MBA course and the trip was the result of our research paper on ‘How to kill time’, started by Subu with a long chart of destinations in and around Orissa, along with frequent calling for formal meetings and sending MOMs after each meet!

We planned to go at 7 AM. But thanks to the driver arriving late, we started from Bhubaneswar at 7.30, with all dressed up in jackets. We stopped at around 8.30 in a roadside restaurant for breaking the fast (for past 8 hours). After a long wait, we were happy to feed ourselves with variety of dosas, puri sabjis and a tasty tea. Satisfied with the good food, we resumed our journey at 8.30. We passed through serene leafless trees on either sides of the road as if they are welcoming us with a ‘Namaskar’.

Brahmagiri, one of the major junctions during the last lap of the onward journey, amazed me with narrow lanes filled up with cycles run by people ranging from school going fledglings to the old-timers. It won’t be surprising if it has a nickname ‘Cyclegiri’. It seemed as if the place is following the footsteps of Denmark in cycle density.

After a journey of 3 hours helped by a delay of 1 hour for the mighty breakfast, we reached the shining shores of Chilika at Satpada. Debu, the bhai of the team, recently promoted to Uncle, thanks to his newly grown moustache, assumed the role of a treasurer. He pooled in money from all of us, stacked up snacks, bought the ticket and there we go!

We took 1600 Rs ticket and got into a seemingly old boat. The whole journey was around 4 hours across the lake. It was an awesome experience to be in the midst of chilling lake for that long period. Inside the boat, Deepu sat on the extreme front like the captain, me and Puskhu were at the left side and Prati and Subu were at the right side. At the back deck was the sleeping Debu, who wakes up intermittently, wears the cooling glass and asks me to take photos proclaiming that in that outfit, he looks like Don!

We 1^st went to a place where the boatmen showed us taking the pearls off the shell. Keeping the virgin gem in hand was exciting. Then we went to a point where we could catch a glimpse of dancing dolphins. The dolphin family got scared when many steamers ventured into its arena and in no time, they escaped to greater depths.

Then we moved to pay a visit to the Serbian guests, the birds flocking around a small ridge. We got down there and the boatmen threw stones near the bird’s vicinity so that we could witness the spectacular scene of them flying in groups forming colourful sketches in the sky and move towards the other end of the ridge.

Later we moved to a lakeside makeshift restaurant which was exclusive for those sailing across Chilika. There were fishes, crabs and prawns in offer. The masala gravy prepared by cook was extremely delicious to say the least, a must try for those who peep into that area.

Finally we reached the best spot in the whole trip – An island in the lake mouth where lake and the Bay of Bengal joins. An isolated lake and a virgin beach nearby is as splendid a combination as ‘kappa and meen curry’, a Kerala dish. Some of us took bath in the beach followed by that in the lake to get rid of the sticky sands. I collected some shells as a memorabilia. In the island, we saw moving shells and a big outer shell of a dead tortoise. The boatmen showed us how to take a crab out of its shelter inside sandy holes. The crab kept quiet even at his hand when it was covered with sand. But it soon came back to action the moment it was dropped on to the shore. I was not sure if it was its tactic to lie unmoved or it might also be that it got fooled that it was in its own house when covered with sand. Debu started experimenting the phenomena and the results proved the hypothesis to be true. Debu even went to the extent of touching its chelipeds as if he is shaking hands with it. Finally it was time to leave and the weepy crab bid adieu to Debu hoping that he will come next time for a date.

Around 4.30 PM we started from Chilika heading to Bhubaneswar. The return trip was boring when most of us were busy resuming the broken dreams in the morning. I suggested Deepu that we can have a tea midway, which was vehemently rejected by him stating that we will reach there in an hour. And yes he was on the dot :p We finally reached at 7.30 PM thanks to the heavy traffic.

The funniest part during the whole trip was a caption in a poster in front of a midway hotel. It says: ’We welcome guests and send back friends’!

Characters (In the order of appearance):

Author             Nithin Gopinadh
Subu               Pradeep Subudhi

Debu               Debabrata Pruseth

Deepu             Deepak Panda

Pushku            Pushkar Singh

Prati                Pratik Ranjan

Date: 14^th Jan 2011

Place: Too lazy eh? Read the article to figure out!

Surprise

In life you may have to face
Few rejections, embarassments, failures
People may hurt you and may not think
That you are worthy enough

But life is just 1 billion heartbeats
It is not made up of stereotypes
Noone is bad permanently, they're
Just victims of circumstances

The ones who are good to you
May even be bad to someone else
You may not get everything you like
But life holds its own surprises!

A Home Awaits...

Though parted ways, traversed own paths,
Stretched your limits, climbed up skies,
Deep in your mind, a far off place,
Waits for you, to come back again!

You called it home and made it heaven,
You blossomed in its serene garden
You had your best of times out there
And learned a lot like never before

You made a lot of friends for life
A few found out their dear ones there!
Why dont you come and relive those
Good old days, all over again!

FYI

I'm not quiet but am not noisy too!
I'm not exciting, but I'm worth citing
I'm handsome, if beauty lies in mind
I may cry, but I can bring in smile

I wont do just anything for you
But I always care for you
I may not be with you in your smiles
But I wont let you alone in your tears

What you interpret, doesn't defines me
What you hear when we talk, is me!
I may be tough, but I'm tender
I'm not the best but I'm worth it!

Cheerio

In a flash, one year gone

And its time when you all go

Pain of parting feels more than

That the words can express!

You have been a guide for us

You have also mentored us

You have been more than just

A friend for all of us

You started rough

with viva stuff

Some hues and cries

Just a culture shock

Parichay made us closer

Sambandh made it deeper

We danced together on the floor

For JLTs, 'Gemini' and more

We've been a shadow for you pals

In core, interest and the like

Of the several committees

When we both worked hard alike

Sleepless nights in game committees

For the pride of Xpressions

That's the time when you left

lasting imprint on our minds

We played it hard on Athlos

Showed the spirit of togetherness

We fought it hard on Maxinations

For the love of our own blocks

We worked hard for Xuberance

We penned down for the Yearbook

For all those lasting memories

Swosti was the humble gift

There were times of differences

Thanks to the mandatory attendances

Still we had many good times

When we became closer friends

By the time we got to know

How much close we've been through

Far too late, but one last time

Miss you all for a lifetime!

A care...so magical

Ever wondered how we feel consoled when we hear our favourite composition?...Music… the magic that makes me feel the presence of god…the love that caresses me so deeply… the passion that I’m so fond of…its soothing…energizing… I’m always amazed how divine power has scripted such a rhythmic dimension to our life… Life without music is like mind without love… it refreshes… relaxes… rejuvenates… it has the power to control emotions… its a reflection of how much god cares for us... surely, one of the best gifts god has given to us!!!