#for all those gujju friends

[shyam-kariya]

મને તો થાય છે સ્વીકારી લઈએ હાર,

પણ મારી માં એ ખાધેલી સવા શેર સુંઠ નું શું.?

- રમેશ પારેખ

I really want to accept the defeat,

But then i think about my mother who had tried her best to make me brave.

tried to translate it for non gujjus.

#for all those gujju friends #this is my motivation #proud gujju #gujarati #gujarat #shyam #shyam kariya #shyam writes

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

so there's no hindi version of phoenix wright but it absolutely SHOULD exist because it would be so good listen-

(i am fully "localising" this because if the english and french versions of the game were allowed to then so am i, dammit)

it would take place in some big city in india, probably mumbai so that the steel samurai stuff can be connected to bollywood

the last time i was in mumbai i literally saw a japanese temple like down the road from my grandparents' building so the japanese influences aren't even that out of place. it's a big city okay, it could totally work

kurain village can be a "gaon" (village) somewhere in the maharastrian countryside. the fey manor even feels a lot like the big family houses you get out in gaon, though with a lot more japanese influence of course

the thought of pearl calling maya "maya didi" is melting my heart omg ("didi" means "big sister" but you can also use it on people who aren't literally your sister)

maya can still be called maya, it's a common name in india

and morgan would get so mad whenever phoenix doesn't call maya "maya-ji" ("ji" is a respectful suffix like "-sama" in japanese). he'd be like SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND, WHY TF WOULD I CALL HER "MAYA-JI"

edgeworth and gumshoe would have THE jai dixit and ali bhai dynamic from dhoom. without the motorbikes, of course. gumshoe would call people "yaar" instead of "pal" (it means the same thing).

larry is circuit. i don't know how else to put that. if you understand then you understand and if you don't, you don't.

speaking of, furio tigre would ABSOLUTELY refer to himself with the pronoun "apun" (a first-person pronoun often used by mafia-type characters) and call people "mamu" ("sucker")

OH AND WOCKY WOULD TOO. wocky would speak in the most munnabhai slang you ever heard. he would also mix english, hindi, marathi, gujarati, punjabi and bengali all in the same sentence. nigh incomprehensible.

lotta hart... while it makes sense to make her from south india, i feel like they get negatively stereotyped enough as is and they deserve better. so you know what? she can be gujju. lotta is from surat now and she talks like it. she's got that "hurati" accent. morgan fey hears her with her પાણી instead of पानी and ગોળી instead of गोली and is immediately like "get out >:("

wendy oldbag being one of those desi grannies is absolutely brilliant lmao

sister bikini being a desi auntie is even better

me and my brother have been calling hindi manfred von karma "manoj karma" for funsies so i've decided to keep it (the word "karma" is of indian origin so it works perfectly)

i haven't come up with pun names for people yet but phoenix, apollo and athena can keep their english first names. seriously, in mumbai you see places with those names all the time. especially apollo. it is inescapable.

^see? i was DYING. anyways

MAYA'S TRADEMARK FAVOURITE FOOD SHOULD BE PANI PURI ("gol guppa" for you dehli peeps), NO I AM NOT TAKING CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

khura'in, being likely in the himalayas somewhere near bhutan (based on their climate and culture), would still be a few hours' plane journey from mumbai so it still works. a lot of the khura'inese characters can keep their same names too, eg "nahyuta sahdmadhi" already sounds very very sanskrit to my ears (sanskrit is the south asian equivalent of what latin is in europe). and also have you seen how he dresses because it's clearly a sherwani (indian/pakistani formal clothing) and amara's idle animation is clearly inspired by art of hindu deities and rafya's middle name is literally padma and oh my god there is so much shared cultural influence they are CLEARLY countries that border each other

(the "kh" sound strongly present in the khura'inese language is also giving me south asian vibes...)

me and my brother already joke about how shah rukh khan would totally make a great mr reus/roger retinz. LISTEN okay he absolutely would. he's got that villain swag.

you don't even need to change the other guy's real name ("manov mistree") because that already sounds like an indian name. do you know how common the surname "mistry" is in some parts?? do you know how many gazillions of people i personally know who have names that sound exactly like that??? and roger retinz is the ratings rajah. RAJAH (king). i've already been headcanoning him as desi since the first time i played aa6. anyway shah rukh khan character vibes

(but then again amir khan has literally played an evil magician in a bollywood movie before, so he could pull it off too i think...)

hindi has informal ("tu"), medium ("tum") and formal ("aap") second-person pronouns. you could have SO MUCH FUN with those. franziska would call literally everyone "tu" to assert dominance while edgeworth would call literally everyone "aap" to keep them distant. siblings amirite

franziska referring to miles as "mera chhota bhai" is actually killing me oh my god. that's her chhota bhai you guys skjdhkjfhldjssdrgse

feenie calling dahlia "dollie" works really well because i have like seven relatives with the nickname "dollie" so i'm presuming it must be common

oh yes, and mumbai does occasionally get earthquakes so the DL-6 incident still makes sense

india also has an active space programme so the UR-1 incident does too

and there's a monsoon season with storms so the SL-9 incident does as well ahahhahahhaa this is sO GOOD (okay in all fairness the monsoon season is not in february, when the case takes place... whatever whatever it's FINE i can make it work somehow)

you can use three scripts for the one translation -- english romanisation (for NRIs like me who suck at hindi...), the devanagari script commonly used to write hindi, and the urdu script so that urdu speakers can play too (for the most part the languages are mutually intelligible, you wouldn't need to change the dialogue at all, only the writing system)

if anyone out there is better at hindi than i am and wants to make a fan translation please do, it would be so iconic

#since my grandparents have been here i've been thinking about this a lot #ace attorney #long post #random stuff #i'd try translating it myself but like i said‚ i suck at hindi #i can understand movies and stuff i just can't speak it #i'm way better at gujarati bc that's what we speak at home #uhh i think there were a few spoilers in here hang on- #aa6 spoilers #there we go

[thesecretattic]

[meghanayar]

A memo from the mountains

Facebook reminded me yesterday that it’s been seven years since my family and I embarked on a two-week sojourn to the Swiss Alps.

This trip was memorable for a hundred different reasons, most of which make me laugh hysterically even today.

For instance, we were 16 people who carried 44 kilos of food with us. Yes, a full 44 kilos of food - it was weighed and checked at the airport. I will never forget the bewilderment on the face of the Emirates Airlines employee who spotted a 5-litre pressure cooker amongst our belongings.

Why so much food, you ask? Is that even a question? We are Gujjus, and we cannot imagine being deprived of our staple diet for a full fourteen days. Besides, Switzerland is the most expensive country in the most expensive continent on the planet, and when we travelled there in 2014, the Euro stood at a staggering 87 INR. Which Gujjus worth their salt would eat out in such a scenario?

So, the day before we were to leave, my mother summoned our ever-faithful cook and asked him to whip up as many theplas, bhakhris and pooris as his arms would allow. The other three mothers in the group did the same thing. Then, my brother escorted the whole haul to his friend’s shop (a neighbourhood gruh udyog), where all the theplas, bhakhris and pooris were vacuum-packed - basically, dressed to survive 13 hours in cargo.

During the two weeks that we spent in that tiny Swiss village named Val d’Illiez, we cooked every desi meal possible - from pav-bhaji to poha to chhole-puri to besan cheelas. Heck, we even repurposed leftover bhakhris, using them as pizza base on the last day!

However, food was the only department that sailed smoothly on this trip. Everything else that could go wrong, most certainly did.

Like the time we stopped to have lunch at a metro station (yes, food again) and nearly missed the train. I say “nearly” because three of us managed to get inside, while the other thirteen - including our parents - were left hanging on the platform when the doors closed. Luckily for them, the driver was a sweet soul who reopened the door, and waited patiently while all the aunties and uncles boarded. Had he been the nasty kind, we’d have ended up paying a penalty equivalent to the amount of money we saved by lugging 44 kilos of food!

Then, there was my mother - who refused to let us carry our passports even though it was mandatory (in order to use the travel pass), because she feared that we would misplace them. Every day, my father would remind her about the passports, and every day she would refuse. “Koi TC-VC maangshe nahi!” was her standard answer.

Well, on the second-last day, the TC did ask for our passports. And when we told her we didn’t have them, the TC threatened to fine us 70 Euros each. I did some quick mental callisthenics. We stood to pay 6000 rupees per head!

I swung into action - politely begging her to let us go. “My mother doesn’t listen to us, otherwise we’d be carrying the passports” I told her in my finest French. She pardoned us eventually, but not without shooting me the angriest look I’ve ever received.

The funniest part of this trip was our return flight - when an Indigo staffer simply refused to let us board with a pressure cooker. “But Emirates allowed us!” yelled the angry mothers at the counter lady. “EMIRATES DID! How can you refuse then?!”

“Because I can,” said the lady very calmly, “You will not check that cooker in. I won’t allow it.”

We eventually left for Ahmedabad without our beloved 5-litre Prestige pressure cooker - our faithful companion that had saved us thousands in restaurant bills.

While this trip was replete with moments of comedic gold, it was also, for me, a coming-of-age affair. I was newly-single then, looking to resurrect my career, and slightly embarrassed to be the oldest “kid” in the group at 26. When we trekked up hills, boated across lakes and explored villages, I often broke away from the group, to ponder on some essential questions that would help me rebuild my life.

“What would I want to spend the rest of my life doing?” was one of those questions.

Eventually, during one of those quiet long walks, I received the answer. It happened spontaneously, like a brahmagyaan moment. The thought clicked in my mind, and I knew the universe had answered my question.

It was actually quite simple. Having lost a couple of precious years to an ill-fated marriage, I wanted to own the rest of my life. I wanted to be the boss of my time, so that I could spend it working with words in every manner possible - reading, writing, teaching and learning languages.

Words aside, I wanted the liberty to live without ultimatums from the clock. I wanted to be able to tread new terrain as and when I pleased, without being held back by the biological/maternal impulse to prioritize another human's needs over mine.

I hadn’t heard the word “child-free” until that point. “Anti-natalism” was yet to become mainstream. Nobody I knew had taken this route. But I knew that this was the path for me. And that if I ever sought out a partner for myself again, it would have to be someone who’d agree with me on this.

Seven years later, my gratitude for that moment of enlightenment has only grown stronger. Where I once had only one reason to make this choice, I now have a hundred more, especially after the pandemic. I love children and cherish the time I get to spend with my friends’ kids, but I know definitively that I will never have any of my own. Because I don’t want to.

I am a happily child-free woman. I understand that this is not for everyone, but it is just right for me. It lets me be. It is the wind beneath my wings - heck, it IS my wings.

As I sit here amidst the Himalayas now, reading stories and crafting some, I am grateful for that holiday in the Alps, seven years ago, that made me this person. This post today is a little tribute to the trip that changed my life.

If there is a God, She lives in the mountains. I can feel her voice in my bones. She always knows what I need. She has all the solutions.

#holidays #travel #travelling #solotravel #mountains #nature #inspiration #workfromanywhere #family #reading #writing #amwriting #freedom #growth #healing #childfree #antinatalism #choices

[rrgupta]

30 June, 2018...Sanju.... 

Ranbir kapoor playing Sanjay dutt, in a movie directed by Rajkumar hirani (munnabhai triology) ... Almost incestuous and I expected a glorifying portrayal of Sanjay 

Sanju.. A film industry product of the 80's.. Drug addict, serial womaniser, flop actor, terrorist.. Yes all that's portrayed.. But also a human being, a weak human being, a fragile son.. Those are the thoughts you take home. 

Ranbir kapoor is at his best... Better than Barfi and rockstar,his is an emotional performance. The changing physical appearance, from the 18 year old weak druggie to the reformed muscle builder to the middle aged guy is only part of the story. The mannerisms of Sanjay dutt are superbly imitated... But more than that the angst of a drug addict, a terrible youth, are so well portrayed that you get drawn in emotionally (I cried at least thrice!)Simply superb performance. The script dilutes his druggie phase into a near comic role, which I felt was unnecessary and the most negative message of the movie. Other than that the movie has done justice of showing the negativity of Sanjay. 

Paresh rawal as sunil dutt has underplayed his role, making sure he doesn't overpower the son. The Story portrays him as a true hero... An unloved father who cares deeply for his son.. A disciplinarian, his one fault, Sanjay is always trying to win him over. The father son relationship is the crux of the story, initially formal (typical of the 80s era). Sunil dutt is the strong man of the family, belong his weak son first out of the drug addiction, then helping him legally and then rebranding Sanjay's movie career in munnabhai mbbs. Sanjay's and sunil's mutual love is portrayed in ways that children of that era can understand well! This movie is as much a biopic of sunil dutt's fatherhood as of sanju's life

Vikas kaushal as kamli, the fictional gujju friend, is a antithesis to Sanju. Probably a good mirror to explain the society of those days. Very nice acting. But the  role is too 'chamcha', at the end! 

Manisha koirala, as nargis, is passable. Great physical resemblance, but beyond that the acting and the role should have been stronger. The younger actresses, sonam ahuja and anushka kapoor.. Both are too plastic and take away from the movie. Dia mirza as manyata is a figurehead, also. Why couldn't these characters be developed more.. Probably because of the length.. But then, were the songs a must? Not one hummable song 

A biopic of a guy still living, and most of the events having occurred in full public glare, is not easy to script and make. The druggie and adolescent scenes are shown to be frivolous. The parent - son relationship is portrayed maturely (for me that's the real takeaway from the movie) The terrorist phase is surprisingly handled with full responsibility! Missing are the two previous marriages, the very famous girlfriends, the sibling issues. Its a movie that's got the blessing of Sanjay dutt, so there's a bit of airbrushing the negatives. The gun running and terrorism accusation are portrayed legally corectly (I researched).the guy has suffered enough jail time and his one of the few celebrities who's been convicted for his crime of gun running (more than most culprits who are from mollycoddled families), so let's give him a break, I feel

There's a strong message about the role of the press, which I feel wasn't entirely warranted.. But that's my view! 

some of  my friends aren't  wanting to see the movie because it is portraying a 'terrorist'.... the movie  is not about a terrorist or about his innocence...it's about the human being. anyways, i am seeing a TV serial about Hitler & his henchman. About Churchill, who is the worst of most human beings... i have seen movies about Gandhiji & about Bose, about mickey mouse & also a druggie. there was the movie Bombay about riots & Dil Se about suicide bombers,   also Satya & Godfather about the mafia

i think by deciding not to see movies on basis of some political belief or not reading these books seems to indicate  that you don't have inner strength  to fight these issues. I also believe that seeing such movies about characters that you don't like (Like Churchill, a historical figure i abhor) you would actually learn more about the 'other side'  & therefore strengthen your beliefs.....This is my feeling & hope that people understand this to help create a better world

Definitely, a must see, 4/5 for me

Rajesh Gupta

[swapnagangadharan]

Waking up early morning and getting fresh, we made our way to Dehradun Railway Station. The transportation guy called Bhim and checked on us, Bhim gave his and my name saying we would be there soon.

Just a month ago I was here with my Har ki Dun mates and I was recollecting all those memories.. An initial unfamiliarity turns to camaraderie and friendship, all the formality goes away and you end up with a deep bond.

And here I was going through the whole cycle again. Just for a second and I mean for a second that thought did come in my mind, was it too soon to join in for another trek and meet new people?

I was honestly not yet over the previous trek and my mates.. Archana, Saish, Vidya, Ashish,Semal were coming to my mind. My consolation was seeing my pal Bhim next to me. But yes, there was a certain kind of melancholy I felt for some time.

As usual we saw a whole group of trekkers, 3 women first timers for Har ki Dun, some for Kedarkantha, but where were our guys?? Now this is something Bhim and I hoped, the fewer group members the better. We always felt 25 people were too much and when we saw the mailing group list and saw 19, we were kind of happy!

As we meandered along amidst the confusion, we saw a lanky tall guy standing near the jeep, we went ahead and asked him and sure enough he was a part of Rupin Pass batch. My first impression was, such soft eyes! A soft voice and very pleasant looking, he was Kashif and you would know more about him as we go on 🙂

He was from Bombay and had joined in with his friend Shravan. He had done the tougher Goechala trek in 2016, Bhim had done the same one last year so they ended up discussing their treks.

Then came along a father son Duo- Mihir and Karna from Baroda. Seeing them, we thought of another Father son combo from our previous trek, Kishore and Rudra.

For Bhim and me, mentioning Kishore and Rudra brought  big smiles, Rudra’s responses to his dad, especially the war of words between them was something we always remembered, Will they be as interesting as the previous ones?

It was past 7.30 am and we heard two jeeps with the others had already left, we had to wait for one chap who was coming by bus and sure enough running, huffing and panting came another guy Nishant who was coming from Sahranpur. Finally we were on our way.

We were on a familiar route, this was the same route that took me to Sankri last month and it was truly a deja vu moment for me. I was remembering Saish and me sharing headphones and listening to Local Train – the band, Coke Studio Pakistan songs, Shit.. I had to get out of my past moments and move on to be in the present.

While there are many moments I can recollect, I remember asking in the jeep, is anyone from this group Gujarati?? And out came the voices of Mihir and Karna! My next question was, are you carrying food? Their looks were like obviously!! Thank god! Because my Har ki Dun Gujju mate Semal defied all stereotypes of being a gujju (meat eating, beer drinking, not knowing Garbha, no carrying food Gujju!) So this was good, maybe they would share it with us  🙂

Kashif had motion sickness and threw up a bit, some of them had already taken Avomine as precaution. As for Bhim and me, after Darma Valley experience our stomachs were hardened enough to take any kind of bumps .

We did get introduced to a few trekkers during breakfast, or let me put it this way, a chap came up to us and introduced himself, he was Kiran. We still had no clue as to how many of us in total were part of this batch, was it 19 or was it 13??

Finally after a tiresome 10 hours or so we reached base camp and by base camp I mean tents and camping and this was unusual to most of us. Usually the base camp would be in a guest house or hostel and our actual camping would start the day before the trek. This was new, camping from Day 1!

Then I noticed 4-5 lads(yup for now I will call them lads, ‘cos that’s what we think of 17-18 year olds!) these were the ones who had come in before us. Young boys huddled among themselves and I didn’t exactly roll my eyes but I thought Oh No, Kids! well a little older than kids but you know my drift!

I also saw two other gals with a lean guy holding some remote and he had a drone! We were all intrigued as he maneuvered the gadget around. That was Pooja, Nirvi and Akaash from Bombay.

Finally we met our trek lead – Himanshu Thapa and my first thought was OMG, the trek leads are getting younger by the day at Indiahikes! He was a freaking 21 year old! What I wouldn’t know then was that his maturity would go beyond any experienced 50+ year old I met.

I remember him asking me about my trek leads and when I mentioned Devang, Tanmay, Imroz, he had a different smile for each one of them! I prodded him, tell me tell me more!! He only said we have a long journey ahead, I will tell you as we go along!

Himanshu did the orientation and asked us all,  What physical activity/regime we followed and why Rupin? Why did you guys choose Rupin? Out came varied answers and I grinned in agreement when Kashif said he signed up because of the snow slides 🙂

I was impressed when Pooja Nirvi and Akaash said this was their first trek! A first trek and Rupin? Man that was impressive! Here I was struggling through every trek of mine, encountering a new challenge, a new fear and some of them just dived in. I also remember the five lads saying they finished their Boards(12th grade) and decided to do this one. Jeez! Boards! 12th grade kids!

And there was Roopmohan aka Roka Bhai, our guide and a young lad named Rabin(we called him Robin) with sparkling caramel brown eyes. Both reserved.

So here we were, a bunch of us knowing only a few names of others, clueless to a certain extent and not yet showing our true selves. We were all polite, treading gingerly, anticipating each other’s moves.

Tomorrow would be the first day of the trek.

    Dhaula It is – Part III Waking up early morning and getting fresh, we made our way to Dehradun Railway Station. The transportation guy called Bhim and checked on us, Bhim gave his and my name saying we would be there soon.

[shyam-kariya]

shoutout to all the gujjus!

મને તો થાય છે સ્વીકારી લઈએ હાર,

પણ પછી મેં વટથી ખાધેલા સવા સો ગ્રામ ગાંઠિયાનું શું?

Comment or reblog if you're gujju, let's have a સ્નેહમિલન

#for all those gujju friends #proud gujju #fafda jalebi #garba #undhiyu #khaman dhokla #chhas #thepla ane choondo #shyam writes #radha ka shyam

[shoemon]

weekend in Amdabad...allergy, Food, etc.

Originally what was supposed to be a trip for adding another half-marathon to my belt, became a weekend full of eating, hanging out, and a lot of sneezing.

Here are the 9 things I did over the last weekend in the city known as the “Boston of India”

Allergy:

As I got into my non-AC sleeper train to Ahmedabad, I was super ready to go to sleep and wake up once the train was entering the old capital of Gujarat.

Every year in October, for the last decade, I become supremely sneezy when traveling in busses and trains. I hypothized it to be dust allergy for all those years till it started in March after spending 4 hours in Central Park, New York City. Pollen allergy(seasonal allergy) is what I am calling it now. Usually it is no big deal(besides annoying the people around me) and is suppressed after a cetrizine tablet hits my system. I also always carry the antihistamine in my work bag so no worries, at all. But of course I booked sleeper tickets to go to Ahmedabad and also forgot to shift the tablets to the trip bag.

So there I lay at 2am in the train, sneezing continuously. Slowly the eye itching set in and I used to handkerchief to itch them so badly that I bruised them and peeled the epidermal layer of the area surrounding the eyes. Without the medicines my nose, eyes and throat were on fire but I had no option but to just, wait it out.

On way from the station to my friend’s place I stopped, bought medicines and eye drops and slept for a few hours. I would be on cetrizine for next few days because Ahmedabad is super dry and dusty. Never am I ever traveling in trains without cetrizine again.

Thali, Coffee, Food trucks

I am one of those annoying tourists that only want to eat local food when traveling. To satisfy my urge for Gujju food, I dragged BB to a popular Gujarati thali place- Atithi. What followed is a lunch of size I have not had in a really long time. Lots of farsan, roti, puris, sabjis, sweets etc later I was satisfied and wanted to spend the afternoon in a cafe reading my book.

 I discovered a cute café called Soul Square where they understood my need of supremely simple but customized order(black coffee over ice and soy milk on the side). The cetrizine and abundance of carbs made me drool over the book even after the coffee, and I caved in to go home and sleep.

By the time I woke up, it was time for dinner :D

Ahmedabad has a beautiful food truck area where you get JAMUN SHOTS! Yes, your heard it right. Intense jamun juice in shot glasses with salt in the rim. I imagined the elixir of life would taste like it. And of course you have to end with waffles with dark chocolate and strawberries. Originally by this time we were to be getting ready to run 21kms, if only the Midnight Pink Marathon would not have been cancelled.

Mocha, Haunted farm, Escape room and Kailash Parbat

We started the day with brunch at MOCHA, one of my favorite places growing up in Mumbai which shut down 3 years ago and now is only there in Ahmedabad. “Chocolate Avalanche”, one of their signature dishes, has a lot of sweetness and memories attached to it.

Somehow I agreed to go check out a supposedly haunted farm near the city. We reached when it was nearly dark and started walking on rural roads with no light but only dust and creepy structures. We had conversation about how humans are scarier than ghosts and we should’ve got the Swiss knife with us. There was an eeriness in the area and we decided that it was a better idea to come back in the day-time. 

We then headed to an “Escape room” where we got an hour to solve a bomb-scare and diffuse it to escape from the room. My first time to one of these, and a really fun one. We ended the night with a delicious dinner at Kailash Parbat and yummiest Nolen Gur ice-cream at this Bengali place called Pabrai.

MICA, Swati snacks and Riverfront

The last day I spent catching up with VG at MICA, a place I has earlier visited in 2015 to see SA in action :) Grad schools are fascinate because these are students, but also fully grown adults. Ideally, they need to adult while also chase after academic and future dreams. That means, maintaining your room, your appearance, hobbies, relationships, and also working super hard to get good grades and jobs. It was great to see so many people doing all the above and more. I tried to draw parallels to my time in grad school and was hit by many thoughts.

Before leaving for Mumbai, we went for Patra and Handvo to Swati Snacks and walked for hours around the Sabarmati Riverfront (I see why the city is called the Boston of India)

Thanks Ahmedabad for showing me a good time, every time.

#Travelogue #ahmedabad #india #Gujarat #wanderlust #food

[thesecretattic]

Attachments

If this wasn’t “Hot” (even Karan Kundra had called me that find those SS from in my old laptop 💻 everyone wud call me that but Harsh was obsessed he had OCD so he was busy saying he is hot n he forced me to create a fake acc n then he was busy making me jealous just so I wud reveal myself n he was saying hot or not this that. Every girl is an overconfident dent talentless unattractive Aneri Vajani or what? That too was CHEAP woman how salacious see her next posts.

No matter what she does that INCESTUOUS btc he is fking her n giving her love even now for giving herpes to her own BROTHER? Baho mein leke she was doing that! Shameless over confident woman knows she’ll win hands down every time but for what? As if I’m not a girl? Have some shame n self respect and LEAVE FROM THERE. Loads of wheezing saala saari himmat hi toot gayi I have cried n put in a lot of effort in my recent post also n I asked for some food finally after starving all day when I got another certificate of her LOVE MAKING session she got that love for what? Her incestuous pic? Ek ek hijadiyaan masculine uncouth females! contacts gujju ke naam pe they’re getting these call girls and sophisticated, hardworking/talented or deserving girls like me are expected to hk up like hookers? That’s why I’m still a virgin I ALWAYS KNEW his friends were a terrible influence on him! He copied him read and look how another death happened. “Just cuz we don’t have such husbands Arey we never had anyone virgin cuz CHEEN KE LI UNDESERVINGLY”

My hands are more delicate than her’s they look bigger in pics but his parents will n CRITICISE cuz that Ho is nowhere near me not my competition she’s SLTTY and UGLY INSIDE OUT

Is this wasn’t “Hot” (even Karan Kundra had called me that find those SS from in my old laptop 💻 everyone wud call me that but Harsh was obsessed he had OCD so he was busy saying he is hot n he forced me to create a fake acc n then he was busy making me jealous just so I wud reveal myself n he was saying hot or not this that. Every girl is an overconfident dent talentless unattractive Aneri Vajani or what? That too was CHEAP woman how salacious see her next posts.

No matter what she does that INCESTUOUS btc he is fking her n giving her love even now for giving herpes to her own BROTHER? Baho mein leke she was doing that! Shameless over confident woman knows she’ll win hands down every time but for what? As if I’m not a girl? Have some shame n self respect and LEAVE FROM THERE. Loads of wheezing saala saari himmat hi toot gayi I have cried n put in a lot of effort in my recent post also n I asked for some food finally after starving all day when I got another certificate of her LOVE MAKING session she got that love for what? Her incestuous pic? Ek ek hijadiyaan masculine uncouth females! contacts gujju ke naam pe they’re getting these call girls and sophisticated, hardworking/talented or deserving girls like me are expected to hk up like hookers? That’s why I’m still a virgin I ALWAYS KNEW his friends were a terrible influence on him! He copied ‘em n look how another death happened. “Just cuz we don’t have such husbands Arey we never had anyone virgin cuz CHEEN KE LI UNDESERVINGLY”

[swapnagangadharan]

I remember that early morning as we waited for our pick up at Rishikesh, a couple more would join us from there. The rest of the group were being picked up at Haridwar.

We were given prior instructions about the pick up points and we would be going to Sari and stay overnight and start the trek  the next day. The drive to Sari would take  8-9 hours.

We met a father son duo. They were residents of Rishikesh.

Kishore moved to Rishikesh 5 years ago and was running his own business while his son Rudra had completed his Masters. An accomplished athlete, he competed professionally in swimming and an injury made him give it up some years ago.

We were quite an interesting mix in that trip.

The fact is I was travelling with friends who are much older than me, the kind that few could even understand that one could become close friends regardless of age or anything else.

I had met Pankaj at a workshop couple of years ago and we bonded so well that our friendship strengthened over time and his friend Jogen also in that process became my friend when we met at Mundgod, Hubli in December last year attending a Buddhist Seminar.

So here we were 5 of us with the driver  on a long road trip to Sari where we would meet the rest of them there.

Exchanging snippets of each other’s lives becomes interesting then. Initially it starts with smiles, formalities, everybody putting in their best foot forward, not treading on any sensitive issues. Yup, that’s how it usually happens, doesn’t it?

And this was 8-9 hours and after some time, all of us relaxed and started chatting, asking each other about what we do, did anybody else have experience in treks, the usual stuff. Very congenial and nice.

As I think about it now, I ask this, we all have different masks for different situations and people, don’t we?

It’s all fine as long as we are in pleasant and easy situations, but put all of us in an interesting tough situation and aspects of who we truly are comes out and trekking does that to you which I would realize much later.

Spending time with what looks like strangers first, formalities , being polite, maintaining distances, not crossing any boundaries and all becomes an about turn in a few days.

You come to know whom you gel with, whom you disagree with, whom you like and whose company you truly enjoy. Sometimes you don’t even need to talk, you can just sit with someone in silence and feel connected.

This is something I thought about in hindsight, the entire dynamics of relationships between people when they come together.

Meeting Rudra and Kishore was something else as we all spoke about almost everything under the sun during that drive. I shared something common with both. Love towards animals with Rudra, a spiritual side with Kishore.

I must say this though, they are a formidable force together, their energy though completely different from each other had it’s own uniqueness to it. There was so much love and yet contrasting thoughts, beliefs, mindset at the same time between them.

During the drive, I came to know they were Telugus and being from Hyderabad and fluent in that language,we would just ramble a teeny weeny bit in it.

The drive was fantastic as we stopped at Devaprayag and took a short break.  We could see the confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda that becomes Ganga. Those brief breaks were awesome.

Stopping at a Chai Point where we met Kalu – the mountain dog and Rudra and I pampered and petted him till we left the place. We all were in a state of bliss.

Green pastures, rolling hills, flowing blue green waters… It was all beginning to set in my head that I was actually here!

We stopped for lunch and we saw the others slowly coming in to eat. They were in different vehicles and this was the common stopover before reaching Sari.

I clearly remember four of us sitting together even though we knew the rest of them had come for the same trek.

Curious glances, nothing in common at first sight, a look here and there, perplexed, sitting at the tables, in their own comfort zones. All of us..

At one point, Pankaj got up and spoke to a couple and came back with a big smile and said, Ha you found your Telugus, I found my Gujjus to talk to finally in this trip.

I gently reminded him that the last time we were traveling to Ladakh, there was a van  load of Gujaratis barring one Maharashtrian couple in that trip, all speaking in their native language and I didn’t feel the need to be associated with someone from the so called my ‘kind’ , so why now this comfort feeling and telling it out loud? Just because I met a couple of them who knew the same language?

Interesting isn’t it, the whole dynamics of it ? 🙂

Finally we reached Sari and as we got out of our vehicle we saw a fit guy with a big smile greeting us. Devang ! Yup one of the trek leaders who led us into the guest house at Sari. Full of energy, enthusiasm and tad bit nervous too 🙂 It was his first trek as a Leader.

The other guy was Venkat who was mentoring Devang. If Devang was full of zest, Venkat looked quite the opposite. Very quiet and stern at first sight. I remember when we had to stand in line and show our medical records, somehow I thought he will admonish me for something or the other!

Pankaj was very excited to see another guy, Dushyant. He was a trek leader with Indiahikes and he had done the Great Lakes with him a couple of years ago. Right now he would be at the Sari base camp as a co-ordinator for this trek. A pleasant and a very charming guy and very affable as I got talking to him during dinner time.

And there was us all…

What goes through your mind when you get bunched up with an eclectic group?

Seriously that day I had not much of a recollection of most of them. You look around, you try to see if you can get a vibe, a smile, some warmth, an energy and all this happens sub consciously.

You tread carefully because for the next 6 days you have no idea how it’s going to be, so what do you do? You stay with the same group you usually came with at least initially.

If you are coming solo, maybe you will talk more to the trek leaders, or maybe find another solo traveler and start a conversation.

We were all still strangers to each other.

I was initially placed with two girls in the room and before we could even get to talk more and go beyond the usual Hi’s, I was shifted to the same room with Pankaj and Jogen for comfort sake.

Now when I look back, I distinctly remember 3 people that caught my attention that day.

I remember a quiet woman making her presence felt softly even though she was usually in a corner by herself while eating, that was Seema.

And there was this big guy cracking jokes with his friends and the trek leaders. When all were keeping to themselves, this group would be having fun. He was Bunny.

The last one I remember clearly because I heard a response from him to someone in an affirmative voice. I remember looking back and wondering as to who was this person, who was so frank and could express his views without being diplomatic at all. This was Bhim.

So there you go, a bunch of us coming together for a common purpose.

As Devang and his team led us through a long list of DO’s and DON’Ts with lots of enthusiasm and preparing us for the trek, I was truly getting nervous.

Why? I don’t know, maybe it was the fear of the unknown, of doing something I had no idea with a bunch a people I didn’t know.  Granted I was with a couple of friends but in the end it’s only me that has to deal with this whole journey.

That night post dinner, we went for a short walk along the road and Rudra and Kishore joined us. We had a hot cup of Chai before we said Good Night.

It was going to be a big day as we would start our first day trekking towards Deorital where we would camp that night.

I could barely sleep that night and I noticed that people were awake in other rooms and chatting.

It had been a long day and I guess we were trying to make sense of what we were about to do..

A new trek and a new beginning…

            Here comes the Group! Part III I remember that early morning as we waited for our pick up at Rishikesh, a couple more would join us from there.