The Shoe Stoppers

The Sikkim trip refreshed all my childhood memories. In train when I was struggling against the talented people of U.P. and Bihar, The Upper Berth reminded me of my misdeeds. What goes around that comes around, someone said, I guess that is correct.
Here it goes......
Once upon a time me and my twin brother were going to Chandigarh for our NDA test, the buses on the Manali-Delhi route were as usual over crowded, so both of us boarded a Volvo Bus, and if you ever had the fun/chance to ride the Volvo, you better know that all you can do is close your eyes and you will get up only at your destination. As a matter of fact, that was our very first chance to get inside The Volvo, so we were excited and in that excitement my brother removed his slippers, which actually belonged to my father and he had borrowed them after forcing dad to remove them [what a way of borrowing!!]. He kept his legs on the back of the next seat and slept as if bus belonged to our dad. Later on when we both got up, we realized that we were about to reach Chandigarh, so then he started looking for his slippers. I repeatedly kept warning him that you will loose them and he lost them finally :)
They were, no doubt, in the bus only but we were too shy to go beneath each and every seat and request the sleeping Elite Class Passengers to help us. So then the Thieves popped out of no where and told us,"Why don't steal the shoes of the passenger in the next seat? It is easy, simple and moreover he can afford another pair easily :)" [Of course, we could have also got a new pair but at 12 midnight it was out of question, so we decided his sacrifice for us :)]

I extended my feet and in a flash his shoes were on our side. Luckily, it was exactly the same size, so the moment bus entered the bus stand, we covered his [my brothers] feet and almost jumped out of the running bus. Later on my brother said that it was unfair, so he decided to walk barefoot and sacrifice back the shoes but the bus was almost out of the stand and we equally shared the "paap"[sin]

Now comes the best part. The hardest part was to convince Dad, so while writing the test I cooked up one story, no doubt I couldn't clear the test, as I was sleeping and laughing throughout it :). We told dad that the test center had some poor electricity machinery [blah, blah, blah] and halfway through the test the building was on fire and we ran away with those shoes because our slippers were already stolen by someone :D Dad knew that there is something else but he never asked and we never told.
While traveling through U.P and Bihar I was wondering whether my shoes are still there or not all the time :) No body stole my shoes, luckily.

Moral of the Story: What goes around that comes around.

Mini Post

Some stories which I heard/saw/said have the following "morals" :

1 Everyone should visit Sikkim, It is beautiful, low populated and an Indian State.

2. Earlier I said while traveling through Bihar, U.P one should not go by sleeper and should go by A.C class. But, now I am back from Sikkim and I did come by A.C., so here I make another announcement/request: No one should travel through U.P and Bihar at all, these two states are dangerous for a normal human being :(

3. Those who want to quit smoking, must listen to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan :)

4. Delhi is a very hot place where the air is not air anymore, it is a combination of poisonous gases. But still, I love Delhi, everyone does actually :)

5. Kollace is doing good :)

6. Once upon a time there was a lion in the jungle, he died all of a sudden :P

Edited Part: Satyam kicked all of my friends :P

Its not just Life but India,as well, is Beautiful :)

Here I am with the latest after elections :)I was not working with any party although, but to your surprise and mine as well, I am in Sikkim, having amazing time, working with KOLLACE. I thought of visiting Rajasthan, Gujarat but unexpectedly I am in Sikkim, so you never know what this beautiful Life has in store for you :)

This post is totally dedicated and sponsored(by me) for praising Sikkim, its beauty, its freshness, its law and order and a lot more things. But as we know, No Pains-No Gains, so before reaching Sikkim, I had the most horrible experience of my life and that was me going to Sikkim in a bloody, creepy sleeper class via U.P, Bihar[although it was the devil inside me that prompted me to have have this experience, the adventurous me] of Indian Railways :( All the stories that people used to tell, came true. In a single train, at least 10-12 thousand people were traveling, no exaggeration here.

As soon as the train started, I saw 10-20 TTE's entering the train and "making/selling" tickets as if they were selling tea/coffee/samosa. So many people had their tickets made on the spot, and the train was no less than a running hell. And to make things more beautiful, people just don't buy tickets, they just don't buy tickets at all Dammit, as if the ticket is their fraternal/maternal property. Aligarh, Allahbad, Kanpur,Buxar, Patna and after that my will power gave up and I was like a dead meet. On the lower berth 14 people were sitting at a single instance of time[2 Lower Berths] and when we reached Patna, I lost count of them. All of this reminded me of distorted version of Autology. But what came after made me forgot all the pains I had to take while reaching Sikkim.

Sikkim is a small state situated in the North-East part of India. Here in a car meant for four people only 4 people sit. Here while driving people wear helmets for their own security, not because a cop might fine them. Here people don't follow any law and order because there is no law and order. All we have here is Harmony, Understanding and Patience. The roads look like the perfect example of a "road",that even without traffic lights. The number of taxi-cabs operating here is almost equal to the number of people, "thoda sa" exaggerated, but believe me the cheap luxury you get in Sikkim will drive you crazy. Nobody passes strange looks if a girl and a boy are walking together, if they are holding their hands, if they are enjoying their Life. Everyone has got his own business to do, and Hail The Blessed Lord, ladies do sell the liquor over here, and nobody minds. It was very hard for me to digest that I am in India and not in some alienated place. Very soon I will be coming up with few more updates :)

Moral of the story:

Don't travel via "sleeper class", if your train is travelling through Bihar, U.P, Jharkhand, even if touches the remotest of the villages, don't take chance, get at least a 3-AC.

Sikkim is a very beautiful place and is an integral part of India.

Minor change: Its not just Life but India, as well, is Beautiful :)

Mission Railways

I left Pune on 3rd of the April, booked a "tatkal" ticket, for a Holiday Special Train, which couldn't be booked first hand, but I booked it again, as I knew that "IRCTC+ICICI" is a deadly combination and nothing will happen to your money, so I booked another ticket and got the money back for the previously "unbooked" ticket within 2 days. I had always heard about trains running late in INDIA, by 2-3-4-5 hours and sometimes by a whole day but never experienced it, so I never trusted it.That day while leaving Pune, I don't know how and why, but I was thinking about the "on time" experience of mine with IRCTC. I reached Pune station at 12 afternoon, roamed around for one hour and then to my surprise/experience an announcement was made which said,"The Pune-Nizammudin train has been rescheduled and now will depart at 7:50 p.m" :D
This proves the theory of you conspiring and universe approving or whatever it is...:D

Moral of this short story is,"Don't expect/want the bad things to happen if they are not happening because if you do then they will"

At 7:50 I landed on the upper berth and slept like a relieved dog after many-many days.Next morning when I woke I asked the tea-boy for a tea. He charged me 5 rupees :) Later on I asked him about the lunch price which he said was 50/- only.
Then asked him to show me the menu card provided by IRCTC to every vendor, he asked me to talk to the Manager. Initially I was bit reluctant/frightened to go and talk to the manager, anyways who wants to be beaten up by the tea and samosa boys in the running train, but another fellow passenger joined hands with my anti-corruption organization and went to the manager and there "we" found that the tea without tea bag was for 3(5), with tea bag was for 5(6), ordinary lunch for 32(Not available), paneer lunch was for 50 and mineral water bottle was for 12(15) Rupees. I calculated instantaneously that for 810(10 coaches*81 people) people if they drink 3 tea cups a day then in a day the tea~samosa boys were pocketing 5000 rupees for the tea only. A perfect business :D
After talking, I came back from there, ordered another tea, now see the conversation:
ME: 1 tea please.
Boy: (Gave me the tea)
Me:How much??
Boy: 5 Rupees
Me: But the manager/IRCTC says 3 rupees
Boy:I don't know, 5 rupees.
Me: Lets go and talk to the manager, what is your name? Haan-Sanjay, lets go
Boy: Why??its 5 rupees, or you can pay whatever you want to [:D]
ME:What does that mean?I don't want to pay anything
Boy: Thats fine with me, enjoy the tea.
Me: Gave him three rupees.
Boy: Ran away as fast as he could.

After that I went to each and every coach, starting from S1-S10 and told everyone in every compartment regarding this low~scale~mass~scam and asked them to pay the right price for the right thing, and you won't believe it the tea~samosa boys were themselves returning the change without having asked to do so :D. I did not went to the AC coaches as I did not know how do they react on such issues, so In case you are an AC traveler pay attention and act accordingly :)
So next time you travel, mind that you are not paying more and paying the right price, after all its our right :)

P.S: Please don't be adventurous in case you are traveling through U.P/Bihar/Jharkhand because Indian Railways has reported a lot of cases of people being thrown out of the running trains :D. After all life is important than Rights and Wrongs :)

The second brief part is on the way :) which tells "me"about the importance of food and money in Life when you are not accessible to both of them :D