Battlefields

there are those battles fought on borders taking lives, bringing despair to families .. and then there are those that are fought to save lives .. in the dainty confines of the BND onco clinic.. valiant foot soldiers combating cancer, as it cuts through families in its ever growing grip on mankind.. led by the formidable short statured and smiling Dr. Boman N Dhabur .. who is unwilling to give up any patient to the disease without the hardest of fights..

So hard the fight is .... that even at 2 am in the morning .. yes, that's correct .. you read 2 am .. Dr. Dhabur is still on appointments .. munching pieces of marie.. looking into the scan reports .. and rallying his forces of oxaliplatin, gemset and sorts .. into formations that are planned to squeeze the life out of the cancer .. and bring cheer and hope to so many families .. And, then there is Mrs Dhabur .. who with her soothing words, and concern puts patients to ease and runs the clinic like clockwork ..

To these valiant marshalls, and their foot soldiers .. the BND onco team .. are billions of thanks.. for choosing the right battlefields to wage their wars on ..

Where The Mind is Without Fear -- Rabindranath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

The Original Gandhigiri

Top 10 Gandhi Quotes

The name "Gandhi" is synonymous with peace and non-violence. His epic struggle to bring together the people of India in their search for sovereignty is unparalleled. This great man's wisdom and foresight are compelling. On this page, you will find ten of the most powerful Gandhi quotes.

1. Strength

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

2. Government

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?

3. Self-Help

The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.

4. Government

It may be long before the law of love will be recognized in international affairs. The machineries of government stand between and hide the hearts of one people from those of another.

5. God

As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side.

6. Life

There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.

7. Change

We must be the change we wish to see.

8. Self-Help

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

9. Truth

The moment there is suspicion about a person's motives, everything he does becomes tainted.

10. Wisdom

Suffering cheerfully endured, ceases to be suffering and is transmuted into an ineffable joy.

Prachandgad ... Jinkla..

The conquest of Shivaji's mountain forts was officially on, when we started planning for this one at 4600 feet - atop Harishchandragad. On everybody's mind was Prachandgad - Torna - Shivaji's first conquest on the way to establishing Swaraj from a tender age of 16.. We are a far cry from 16, physically, but when you stand at the foothills of this imposing hill that seems to climb right into the clouds and has streams of milk dancing down along it's sides.... the clutch of age weakens.. the heart soars and the legs lift you up, as if with a mind of their own ... as if on a song .. Jai Bhavani .. Jai Shivaji... and you just know, that this is different .. there is something mystic and magical..

We reported to Fergusson college, Pune at 6 am.. Familiar friendly faces greeted Pankaj and me - they were were all there - Amrita, Nachiket, Mihir .. Tejas rolled in a few minutes later and Rakesh came in along with another of his friend's - Uday Thackray (long lost distant cousin of the tiger in mumbai you think? anybody's guess!).I'm not usually accustomed to starting up without a hot cuppa chai, but someone how that day, it was different. The excitement alone was adrenalin enough to keep me pepped up! Mihir had got me the sack - proper trekking gear with waist straps, aluminium supports et all .. in royal navy blue. So, there we were, packed up and all ready to go!

We reached Velhe, base village of Torna, at around 9 am. We were famished by the time we reached velhe and helped ourselves to generous helpings of kande pohe and chai. It's always good to start off with a good breakfast. It was already drizzling by the time we started. I was gladdened at the prospect of being completely drenched by the time we reach the top rises and that is thrilling! Of course, I didn't want to give in to temptation of getting drenched right away, so I put my Wind-cheater like most of us did, and set off..

10 minutes into the trek, the rain got heavier. The mountain sides seemed to come alive, with rivers of milk dancing down along it's sides .. the mist in the early morning air easily blew away the blues. As I was enjoying the beautiful creation of mother nature. our official photographers - rakesh and his friend uday got trigger happy with their camera - clicking away in all directions. We never have a dearth of models - of all shapes and sizes - in our gang. Pankaj, Tejas, Amrita, Rakesh & Uday all love taking snaps in all positions- the latest attraction being reclining on a flower bed. Credit to uday, the pics have really came out beautiful. If a casual bystander looks at it, there is every possibility that he'd say it was taken in switzerland or some other place.

As we waded through the muddy streams and the slippery wet mud, we carried the mountain up along with us. As if reaffirming the truth that dog is the man's best friend, we had two dogs following us from Velhe, all the way to the top. As if one of Shivaji's soldiers was coming up along with us to make sure we reach safely and savour a taste of grandeur of the fort. As we climbed, Only Mihir seemed to be listening to his own frequent requests to continue on the climb and click snaps once we were up. Those who wanted to lie about on flower beds, those who wanted to jump over each other, climb on trees, pull out tripods and shoot far into the cloud clad mountain tops... just did.The beauty of the hill had just enveloped us completely

When I said before that when you see these mountains - clothed in clouds and rivers of milk, the clutch of age weakens - this was not just a figment of my imagination. I actually saw it. Several fellow climbers - one of them among us - were easily upward of 50. They were not only climbing at a steady pace, but were also loving it.. Nobody, seemed to be tired and drained out.. They were wet,they were slipping, were muddy - but yet they were climbing with a smile - a happiness that comes from deep within.

The rains grew heavier and the zipper on my wind-cheater went down further and when a good deal of my tee was wet, it was apparent that keeping it on, only meant that my movement would be restricted. The wind cheater was promptly packed into the sack. More than half the crowd had shed their wind-cheaters too. Rightly so! who in their right mind would forego an opportunity like this to getting drenched!As we climbed, the hill sides grew slippery.. the wind blew harder.. and the rain drops, which earlier felt like petals on the face, felt like small darts attacking whichever part of the body that was faced towards it. We came to a patch, which looked like the table top of a small hill. We could see the draft of wind as it blew over the top of the hill - it was like a river of fog that we had to pass through. As we entered that stretch, we knew that the wind was blowing so strong, that it could easily knock us over. We had to sit down or hold hands at times .. so that the lightest one among us - amrita - would not need to find out what it meant to fly without wings. We would have liked to stay there longer and enjoy the wind, but we had much more to go and the top to reach..

At that time, we didn't know of the greater pleasure that held in store for us. As we turned around the bend of the mountain side, we could hear the sound of a water crashing down into the rocks .. now when I see water like that, everything in me says 'go jump'.. with me came tejas, pankaj, rakesh, uday, amrita and the whole gang ... the water was icy cold, crystal clear.. it turned us inside out, washed us and when we emerged from the falls after a good 10 minutes.. the happy faces around me told me that this was one exhiliariating experience & for many, a first ..

The climb from here became steeper, with many rock patches. After a steady climb, we finally reached the grand door of Prachandagad - The Bini darwaja. From there, after a hot cuppa chai which seemed to have more ginger than the actual tea leaves, we went ahead to the temple on the fort. It was lunch time and out came the boxes. One thing - Wherever you go, always make sure you have a gujarati friend with you. They will always come with the best food and will have enough to serve a battalion. The spread of theplas, chapatis, bhakri, sheera & sandwiches could put a 5-star buffet to shame. A few among us always know to park themselves in the best positions - Pankaj & Rakesh made sure that everybody paid them a little 'toll' before they had their lunch. Tejas, I'd say was easily the nicest guy in the crowd, cause he made me feel on the top of the world by saying that the contraption I created and claimed was a sandwich, was really the most amazing one he ever had!

Well ... lunch over, we were back on our feet and off to the budla machi (arm of the mountain having a feature like an overturned vessel).. A nervous moment was when we saw that a landslide had happened and coverd the path we had to take with rocks. Mihir, Nachiket and co expertly navigated the traverse and anchored a rope so we might all go across safely. As we went ahead to the Budhla Machi, we could see the mountain ridge which would take us to Rajgad on our left. The interesting part about Torna and Rajgad is that they are linked by a mountain ridge which would make an interesting trek... that for later.. So, We went upto the farthest point on Budla machi, till we could go no further and then, came back. It was soon time to go back, and the descent was much faster that the climb again dotted with moments of steep descents and frolic under cascading waterfalls..

Once down, we downed several units the staple diet of all trekkers and country farers .. vada pav and chai .. We jumped up into the bus still wet, still shivering and savouring every bit of the trek. As the bus sped towards pune and the folks in the front part of the bus went into slumber .. the night life in the rear part came alive. Rakesh became the item girl, Tejas the possessed Nagin, Nachiket the charmer .. and the silent bylanes of kakade travels came alive with song and dance and raucous singing all the way to pune .. As I drooped off to sleep in the cosy shivneri to mumbai.. I reminisced about how much we had packed into the day.. The shouting, the singing left me with no voice the next day, but when in your mind you know .. prachandagad .. jinkla .. you really don't need a voice .. your eyes and refreshed soul say it all..

Trek'di'ing to Harishchandragad..

There have been countless times when I've put in 'trekking in sahyadris' into google and gone to look up the pictures posted by different people and cherished a hope that one day I'd go to and see the world what it looks from thousands of feet above, with no wings .. All the time, either something or the other always came up and I could never make it into the hills .. so on the lazy boring friday of 5th june, as I sat thinking how best to use a relatively free weekend that was coming up .. it suddenly occured to me - "trek into the hills ... " ... A little searching and a few calls to the trek'di office later, I was registered into the harishchandragad trek happening on the weekend of 6th & 7th june..

Hastily, I arranged for a bag from sonal, as my bag seemed to have disappeared mysteriously and packed up for the next two days. Following, all the instructions on their site to the T, I had a well stocked bag - complete with Snickers bars (I dont need too many excuses to down a snickers, this was an easy one - energy bar, I called it!!)

The next morning saw me, backpack laden.. heading out with the first light of the dawn ... to kurla .. to kalyan .. and then to khubi phata on the ST -the 'red box on wheels'. It's really a miracle that it stays intact on the roads. After reaching khubi, I had to go ahead to khireshwar. A local boy told me that the shortest way to go to khireshwar was to walk across the plains. He walked with me for a small distance, giving me directions, and cautioned me not to take wrong turns as it could lead to the jungles, where there is an 'ajgar' that recently gulped down a villager .. *gulp* .. despite the looming threat of the 'ajgar', the 45 minute from khubi to khireshwar go down my memory lane as one of the best walks I've had .. barren plains on both sides, not a soul to ask directions from, a pathway that often dissolved into the ground and only the sound of wind blowing across the plains .. I felt like a triumphant nat geo explorer when I finally made my way to khireshwar, in one piece - safe from the coils of the 'ajgaar'. celebrations took the form of pohe and chai .. I kicked my heels up and then and waited for gang from pune to make their appearance..

The Pune gang came in about 12:30 and a few brief introductions later, we were ready to begin to trek to the top of the hill .. The trek began at about 1:30. We had a few incidents on the way up .. we lost the way a few times in the thickets, a minor accidents happened when Mihir, the trek lead, lost balance and fell down with 23 kgs in his backpack.. it was a tense moment as we waited at that spot on the way up for news of his well being .. in hindsight, that time helped us to get to know each other better ..

amrita, with her chirpy and non-stop chatter, was aptly named 'chimni', by my only fellow mumbaiyya partner, pankayj, who kept referring to me as 'mumbai meri jaan'. So, pankaj, obviously became mumbai2. 'vakil' indrajit was one who seemed to be a veteran of many a treks with his backpack complete with sleeping bag et all, photographer rakesh took pictures of every leaf, eveyr branch, every pebble and every rock face possible with his cheerful face in it, therefore easily bagging the 'photographer of the trek' award, but he also had a huge thirst for glucon-d, what with having downed a sizeable portion of the packet within the 1st hour of the trek... we had a doc with us too - aishwarya, who on the exterior, looked like a delicate thing, but packed in quite a punch when it came to scaling the gradient, and later, in arm-twisting nachiket, the co-trek leader in having her way and doing the pradikshana in a water logged kedareshwar temple on the top. tejas, the shy and unassuming guy, who professed a love for horror stories and movies, showed the chinks in his armour, when he jumped up on hearing a few of them, mihir , nachiket & mayur, our resourceful trek leads .. so, slowly and surely, I got to know more of the pune gang and made many more friends..

So, soon after we got news that all was well and we continued our journey uphill. After a hard climb of 5 hours and Mihir's many assurances of 'the end is just around the corner of that hill', the beautiful temple on the top of harishchandragad revealed itself ... almost magically..

On reaching the top, we selected to stay in a cave which also had a small kitchen compartment ... we went in, dumped our bags and then headed for the underground watertank at the temple to refill our water supplies. The water was so pristine & sweet that it could put a mineral water company to shame. So, after refilling our water supplies, freshning up and a hot cuppa chai, we helped to cut the vegetables for dinner. amidst continuous chatter, we never knew when the time passed and very soon, dinner was served .. cooked by mihir.. nothing spectacular, just a wet gravy and bread, but the hunger made it doubly delicious..

Once done with dinner, we lit up a camp fire. We did the usual - antakshari, jokes - pankaj has a huge collection of unmentionables .. in his mobile, so I'll remember to flick them off his phone someday! .. tejas, the hero was puling my leg that I dont see horror movies. so, at the campfire, when we told him some real life experiences and happenings, he was horrified when a lady walked from behind him in the dead of the night, to the other cave.. we sat till 3 am that night, having fun and talking .. finally, we went in to sleep to rest our backs ..

The next morning, we went upto Konkan kada, a concave cliff, which was full with fog and it was looking like milk oerflowing from the container .... At times, when it cleared, I stood on the edge as close as possible .. when you stand on a cliff edge at 4600 feet and look down into the sheer drop .. it feels like you have wings that will stop beating if you go further a few centimeters .... the feeling is marvelous and also sends a shiver up the spine.. after spending some time there, we came back to have a fantastic kichdi cooked again, by mihir.

Rakesh, Tejas, Ninad and I went ahead to the water logged shiv temple and had a dip in the chilly water.. it was the most amazing dip I've ever had ... though it's given me a cold now, it was the most refreshing bath I've had in years - and that too, without using soap ... refilled and refreshed, we started down .. and in about 4 hours interspersed with a lot of twitter and the recital of a japanese poem by chimni, random jokes by pankaj, countless photos by rakesh, recounting of the horrors he faced last night by tejas.. and we were back on the ground .. it was an amazing descent .. the rock faces being the most exhiliarating & challenging parts ..

We had a yummy meal at the local dhaba and then, started back home ... After bidding adieu to the pune gang at khubi, I waited for the red box on wheels, and got one with no seat .. so I slept on my feet for 15 - 30 mins, and then when I could bear it no longer, threw caution to the wind and sat down on the floor of the bus and slept off till kalyan .. kalyan to kurla, in a fast .. and then finally, home !

two days of amazing climbing, making new friends, eating some of the best kichdi I've ever had, sleeping in the cave, enjoying at the campfire, watching fog cover us in seconds and having the most refreshing bath of my life ... completed a great weekend and left me exhausted and rejuvenated at the same time!

The Big fat punjabbi Wedding!

Oye baenchod .. kidhar hai!! ...

That was the hearlfelt greeting I received even as my train was rolling into Nayi Dilli - home to fellow IBMer and my friend - Vineet Love - who was all set to get married in the next days. On my request that I wish to savour the taste of 'Delhi Metro', I was given detailed travel guidance (which I found out was checked and re-checked) to Rajouri Garden

From the minute I stepped into the brand new sleek air conditioned, traveller friendly metro ... there was a regular follow up on my location and route map - Vineet, the typical IBMer project manager just making sure I dont reach the other ends of Dilli ... !! Stepping off at Rajouri Garden, Anil Bhaiyya was right there .. to receive me and take me through the maze of galli's that went to Vineet's place..

My fellow mumbaite friend - Mr. DPR, who we fondly call Killer DPR - after the tashan he exudes - was already there. Without losing a moment, from the moment we stepped in, the dulha party started feeding us .. puri, sheera, choley, etc etc etc ... and we were stuffed!!

We were shown the 'pandal' - erected bang in middle of the lane that goes along Vineet's house. Habituated to the 'Pandu'dom and their versions of law & order here in Mumbai, I asked if they had to take permission from police to erect the pandal ... "Oye .. raste pe jitne log rehte hai, sab ko bulaa liya shaadi main" .... it was a simple and effective solution ... mumbaites would never think of this .. they would be ideal citizens and do the 'police permission' thing .. and end up paying a small 'fee'!!

After a shower and a rather long rest at Vineet's chacha's place, we went back .. and this time we were greeted by DJ HAPPY !! .. OYYyyyeee .. Dilli da tashaan ... surpries never seem to cease .. .. and this was just the beginning .. DJ Happy churned out song after song as the sangeet proceeded late into the night.. .. some we had heard and brought out the mumbaiyya ghaati in us, some we had never, but all the others seemed to know the lyrics !! .. Neverthless, the mood being pretty upbeat it was a great evening .... with wine, wealth and great foood .. err .. ignore the wine part, it's supposed to be censored!

The next day was rather eventful and we had a brush with history - Our very own personal Jahapanah - imported from the management consulting practise of PriceWaterhouse Coopers - and also fondly known as Dada in the IBM PMC circles, was with KD and me on a historical tour of Lal Killa. He shares a rather keen interest in History and shared many historical moments in the lives of the various mughal emperors ruling Dilli... However ... what made the visit most memorable were those exciting lil titbits on the secret life of the Jahapanah .. Incidently, the place we chose to be intiated into it - the Jahapanah's personal prayer room - made the excitement in hearing those stories just that bit more exciting.. and quite consuming ..

Another shrill ring on KD's phone and an urgent .... "Oye Baenchod ... kidhar ho tum log .. baraat nikal rahi hai ek ghante main" ... and we were jolted out of the pleasurable moments with Jahapanah .. and then suddenly we were going back on cycle rickshaw .. through the roads full of people .. and metro'ing it back to rajoudi garden...

Back again, we made it just in time to see Vineet ascending the Ghodi, who for some reason did't stand still .. a few trying moments later, the dulha - with sehra and all - was mounted and resplendant on the ghodi... and off we were to the wedding venue in Vasant Vihar which, we were told is one of the most posh locations in Dilli - whatever Dilliwaales do , they do it in style ..

About 100 meters from the final destination, the silent lanes of Vasant Vihar, till then, suddenly transformed itself into a massive procession - the torch bearers and the dillis's famous 'ASHA' band wallas suddenly crawled out of the sidelines to light up the street and begin a cacophony of drums and trumpets which had a strange rythm and beat to it ! The baraatis, neverthless, danced and gyrated away into positions that seems to defy gravity and also flung wads of notes at the band wallahs who played faster as they saw more notes flying towards them ... All in all, a rather noisy procession, but I guess, that is how the dilli processions are - loud and flashy and with notes flying all around !!

A long reception and a freezing mid-night 'Phere' session later, Vineet and Neha emerged ... .. vows taken .. 'taaron ki chaavn' main ... man & wife! The doli returned back at 5:00 am ... and even as we entered into the same small lane .. Vineet's dutiful brother .. who worked tirelessly to make all the guests absolutely at home .. let off a massive firecracker .. one that would have made any mumbaiyte jolt and think it's an attack on the country .. but then, hey.. we're in Dilli ... and who the hell is worried... .. after all there is a simple solution in place ... "Oye .. raste pe jitne log rehte hai, sab ko bulaa liya tha naa shaadi main" ... !!

Vineet , Neha ... you guys have a great life ahead .. this blog's for you, your family and for the great time we (KD, Dada & I) had at your marriage in 2008 !!