The vicious circle ...

A bus fumes black smoke
A car behind him honks
The red light turns green
The girlfriend on the bike tightens her hug
The faces in the bus move past him

He is tired and bored and mad in the hot sun
The dusty road is full of holes
The traffic on the road is less today
But the passenger is in hurry again

His face is battered and swollen
He wipes his brows with his blue shirt
The blue of his shirt has faded like memories of his wife
He gets ten rupees and drinks water for 3 rupees

He watches you smoke
A ciggerette of the money
You bargained from him
And says nothing, just a darkness in eyes

He sleeps under a flyover
With his leg locked with a chain to one wheel
He cooks a meal of boiled rice and lentils
Sleeping is past his dreams

He thinks of a better morning everyday
but the sunlight is too far
he is, who carries people....
he is the Rickshaw Wala....

A little befuddled philosophy of existence

who am I ....
what is my existence...
what is my identity ...
and where does it lie within me???

If you cut my hand .. I would say .. me and my hand ... if you cut both my hands .. I would say me and my hands ..... If you cut my legs .. I would say ... me and my legs ...if you cut my head ... what would I say .. me and my head or me and my body ??

where is my existence? is it in my head or in my heart ?

Chai Chilam Chappati Charpai

A cow moans outside the window and I am woken up. The room is still dark and it's cloudy outside. It's eight in the morning and I desperately need a cup of Chai.
I am in Manali... just the name strikes a few chords inside. This is a place with something to offer to every soul. I have myself been here 4 times and have found something new every time. Life here revolves around four things, chai, chilam, chappati and charpai.
Get up in the morning, drink a nice piping hot cup of Chai, eat something (Chappati) and then there would be definitely someone to offer you Chilam, smoke it, and go to bed (charpai) and ‘repeat’. Oh man ... isn't this the life everyone wants to live....




I was referred by a friend from Delhi to his friend in Manali and that's it, my stay and food for one week has been free and on top of that as the 'pahadi' culture has it, he has taken great care of me. He has shown me the local joints and places which otherwise would not have been possible. I have made some really good friends in the market.

One day, I was invited by a friend into his shop to talk over a cup of chai and I see a photograph amidst the photos of gods in his shop, the photograph of a lake, a lake like I have never seen before. Upon asking details he says this is Parashar lake, It's about 60 kilometers from here and this is a holy place with a temple on the bank of the lake. There used to be a sage with name "Parashar" and the locals believe in him and the temple was made by the local king during his times. There is a yearly fair that happens on the lake.

The next day I pickup my day pack and head towards the place. I am told to board a bus upto Bhutar and from there ask for lift as no public transport goes in that direction. I get lucky to get into a truck, which is being used to carry stones for building the road very close to the lake. The truck driver turns out to be a very nice guy and drops me off about 12 kilometers from the lake from where it's an easy trek. He also offers me his water bottle and a few apples for the trek ahead.

The first glance at the lake and I am short of words, there is just a shriek moan that came out. I rush down to the lake and park myself just a few meters away from the lake. Ahh, the beauty of it....

I stay here for a few hours and eat the tastiest 'daal-chaawal' at a small canteen nearby. I returned with a heavy heart back to the place where the road was being built and again someone drops me at the road on Bhuntar. Another 4 hours by bus and I am back in Manali.
I smoke a chilam and am off to bed. I am told in morning next day that I was smiling the whole night, they thought it was the extra charas in the chilam... but I know what it was ............