Oh those songs...

Man, I don't know if it happens just with me or every music lover.Some songs get attached to a period of your life so distinctly that whenever you hear those songs, you are taken back on the timeline.

Like, when I hear Himesh Reshammiya's songs from the movie Tere Naam, I instantly start travelling from Kurla station to Chembur Sindhi Society...Confused??? Hehe...Well, those songs were being played in almost every autorickshaw when the movie was released and I had developed great liking for them. And I used to listen to them almost everyday while going to my Diploma college.

When I listen to KK's songs or those that became famous around 2005, 2006, 2007, I feel like I am walking from matunga Central station to VJTI college. Because I used to listen to songs (on my cellphone and radio) everytime when I went to VJTI.

These events make me feel terribly nostalgic. I just miss those moments a lot. The 'herogiri' that I used to do like wearing sunglasses, wristbands, cool t-shirts, funky neck chains, etc. having the i-pod tucked in the belt and the earphones 'serpentining' from it to my ears.

I used to feel Casanovic when college girls at the stations, near Poddar/SNDT/Wellingkar/Ruia colleges would flirtingly stare at me when I passed by (Although I hardly paid any attention, hehe...that's how one should move around to really flatter them :) ) It was fun man...

Later on, when I joined Accenture, some songs got associated on that part of the filmstrim. Like those from Umrao Jaan (new), Woh kisi aur se (Agam Kumar Nigam), Saawariya, Namaste London, MP3, Dhokha, etc. I used to listen to them while travelling by the company bus or on my car's stereo whenever I got my car to office. A little bit of that association also stems from the fact that I had started enjoying the company of a colleague who had joined my project. I had developed kinda fondness for her...(remember my first post) HAHAHA....well, that' s when I started imagining a lot while idling away my time at the traffic signals...And the first post (and this blog) was born.

Really man, I cherish those moments, hope I can revisit them in some form when I return back to India next year...Alight then, logging off now...listening to "Tere Naam Humne Kiya Hai" right now...lemme enjoy it and get lost in the past...

Another 'hidden' smack...

Since the time I've come here, there have been a number of instances when I (and we too) have seen discrimination. One was obviously during the career fair (s) as i had mentioned in an earlier post. But time and again, it rears it's ugly head in some form, from somebody's mouth...This week, there were two instances that I felt were smackingly blatant.

Yesterday, during one of our class discussions, a desi student just passed a general comment about companies going belly up because they acted greedily. And the prof said "Hmm...so you are trying to say that American companies are greedy, huh?" albeit jokingly. But the intentions were clear man.
But I don't detest this as much as I detest our own desis showing India in a negative light in front of Amrus. The same guy often brings out examples like "Backin India, the water is poor or people don't have spending power and stuff like that". I feel like kicking him on his face everytime he does that. Just by living in this country for 2 years and flashing a firang accent doesn't give you any right to criticize your motherland. She will always embrace you with open arms when these firangs will kick you out of this land or when your dirty dream of leaving everything behind and earning loads of money here doesn't materialize.

To quote a second instance, our department had $40,000 to give as scholarships this year. But $39000 of that went to undergrad students (who are all firangs) and only $1000 came to grads (as majority of the batch is desis), even though everybody knows how much do undergrads study.

Instances like these have happened in the past too. In my Accounting course last semester, there was a discussion about the tax collected by countries around the world. And one naive desi pointed out "In India we have a number of taxes, income tax, sales tax, VAT, etc." And the kallu prof was quick to snort "And still you have bad roads!"...Harami saala...Ask your government to sustain a population of 1. 2billion and let's see how much you can spend on good roads (which is one of the few material things that you boast of). I am not saying all firangs are bad...they are pretty good...but then even a few of these things are enough to irritate any loyal patriot.

Go to hell with this land...Every instance like this solidifies my resolve of returning back...Yes I Will!

Updates

This semester zoomed by me. I am still wondering how I am on the verge of my final exams when I had just started. Man, it's crazy!

But in a way, it's good that I didn't get much time to sit back and let my mind wander. Because no sooner do I do that, my mind immediately goes back to momma. This is the first weekend in the entire semester when I have stayed at home and actually relaxed a bit. I had caught cold and had mild fever since last week and badly wanted to rest. Maybe, the stress that had built up all this while contributed to it too.

Friday and Saturday were gloomy with rains pouring outside. I loved this time to recuperate...I listened to songs, watched a movie after 3-4 months (Barah Aana), slept like I always wanted to and lazed around. Although I will have to rev up again as I have a number of assignments and presentations in the coming 10 days.

It's been 3 months already since mom left - and now only 3 more remain before she comes back! Yayyy...By the way, she is going to Muscat to stay with dad next week, for little over a month. Then she will again go back to India with dad for his sinus operation - the trouble which has plagued him since decades but which has now become extremely irritating and painful.

After the operation, dad goes back and mom comes here - and this will be the last time she will have to keep running around. After my graduation, I shall ensure that she has some stability in life, at least now, after 56 years. Who likes to leave his/her home and keep moving to new places? Especially, when parents become grandparents, they prefer living in serenity and having their children take over all the responsibilities.

By the way, I forgot to tell that I am gonna become a 'chacha' in October, YEEHOOO! GOD is great that he set up everything well so that mom, myself and probably even dad will be here during that happy period. Because, my brother has no plans of returning for at least until the next 6-7 years and I doubt if mom, dad and I will ever come back to the US after we leave.