an interesting Interaction..

Being away from home and people has induced this tendency of getting super excited at the very remembrance of them. Same goes for the mention of India. This never happened when I was there, it happens now when I am so far away from her - India. The rich culture and heritage of our nation is renowned world wide and there at the same time there have been several occassions when foreigners saw India as a land of snakes and black magic.. The very thought, the very mention of anything and everything makes me feel connected to my homeland. A similar incident happened today. On a bright saturday afternoon, we (my rooommate and I) decided to go and visit the nearby Gulbenkian Museum and spend sometime in the park amidst nature. When we reached, there were many people. Among them two teenagers approached us. And as one of them started speaking to me my roommate explained to him that I don't understand portuguese very well. The boy soon started speaking in english and introduced himself as a Scout and that he wanted to me to buy some charitable stuff. (The mention of Scouts reminded me of my Bulbul and Guides days in school). Now something interesting happened, he gave me the paper where he wanted me to write my name and other details and I saw a very very noticeable word (being an Indian) on the paper and the word was "Gandhi".

I immediately got super excited and asked him what did that signify. He started off in a nervous tone saying every little thing he knew. To calm him down, I added some more information to his database about Gandhiji and then he was extremely delighted to know that I am from India. In an even more nervous gesture, he beckoned to his partner, who in the meanwhile was interacting with other people around. This lad came and started off so confidently. Our team name is "Gandhi" and we all like him very much... and very innocently gave me some details about their inspiration. He too seemed equally delighted on learning that I am from India. To be very honest, it was a proud moment for me and for that matter would have been for any other Indian present there. Although the present leaders are working on projecting a Global image of India but the way these young minds associated with India was incredible for me and a moment to remember. He handed me the slip from his scouts booklet and as a token, I gave him Indian Currency with Gandhiji's photo on it and they were more than delighted to receive that. Hoping for many more such an interesting interactions.

Cheers Sweta.

Back to Lisbon....

Long time since I have blogged, today i saw a blogspot link on someone´s status msg and remembered the fact that i have a blogpost too which has remained untouched for a long time now.. So I am updating. For the last few months, life has taken a turn for me. I decided to go for an internship during the summer months where I landed up at another job offer in Lisbon. Strongly motivated by the desire to go out of the way to achieve my dreams, I accepted the offer. But that was not all. It was accompanied by its share of shortcomings. I had to be away from my country,my home,my mom,my dad,my sisters,my friends,my relatives and start a new life out here, all by myself.. I would like to describe myself as a person who is strongly motivated by her dreams, inspired by love and controlled by emotions. When I say, inspired by love, I mean inspired by the love i have received from my parents, family and friends which entrusts a sense of belonging and responsibility towards them. When I say motivated by dreams, I wanna say I have always been a dreamer. I feel dreams turn into reality at different junctions in our life, giving way to the next dream. When I say controlled by emotions, I mean it.

After arriving here, within no time i got accustomed to everything, as it was my second visit. I surely missed out on a lot of things-my best friend´s marriage,my bhaiyas wedding, the festive season in India especially the Durga Puja of Kolkata. I remember, last Navratri, I was in Ahmedabad with my cousin and we went to Garba nites.. I did not know then that the Garba steps picked up there would come in handy when I am so away from my motherland. This navratri passed and i was waiting for the weekend to arrive. Navami was on a saturday and i decided to goto the temple out here. I had heard they celebrate Navratri in an extravagant way.. So i set out to witness and enjoy the celebrations. n it was indeed worth it.. The decorations, the arrangements, the food, everything reminded me of India and for some moments I felt as if I was back there. Had an amazing indian "shuddha shakahari" dinner at the food joint. After the initial pujas, the Garba dance started. Being an avid dancer and festival enthuisiast, I started to match the steps as well. the dance continued for some hours and was then followed by the Aarthi. During my last stay at Lisbon, I had met some Indians and I met them again at the celebrations. It was nice to have company, very soon there was one bhaiya,one bhabhiji,one auntyji and I felt GOOD..I returned home with my heart contented..

The last 22 days have been good and I am looking forward to so many things. I know i have all the blessings and the support.

Cheers,
Sweta.

Lisbon Diaries ---

I am heading for a place, where I love to be the most, and on my way to that, I find so many things that remind me of my Calcutta and people back there. I see the smaller version of the yellow trams of Cal, I see the european version of Netaji's statue near my home in shyambazar. I see the like of Vidya Sagar Setu stretching across the river. I was in one of the most happening places of lisbon but i soon discovered that the riverside is quite near so leaving behind the showrooms and restaurants, I headed straight for this.. Tagus River.. Thank God I listened to my roommate who suggested me that it would not be a very good idea to stay at home on a sunday afternoon in Lisbon. So I just went along with her, who had plans for opera show with her friends. She showed the way to metro and my university which I m gonna join tomorrow.. My frequent visits to New Delhi in the last 2 months ans travelling via metro helped me understand the lisbon metro better.. They are very much similar with all the red line n blue line stuff..newaz..After the metro ride she joined her frnz n i headed for straight for the waters. Ohh..!! I also see the ferry. anoder reminder of my town.. Today I am not in an adventurous mood so maybe i vl try the ferry ride some other day.. Now I jus wanna write, writing after really long.. the hectic schedule in and aftr colg made it so difficult for me to sit still and write .. But on the banks of the river when the cold wind is blowing past me and the turbulent waters are gushing against the stones , I jus wanna sit and write.. Sitting next to a riverside or any water body sets me into this introspective mood, could be the crabby effect of my cancerian sun sign.

So many people are coming , taking pictures and going back but i wanna sit and feel the air of lisbon and try and get accustomed to it for the next 2 n haf months.......... Will update more soon..

Cheers
Sweta

The closest thing to crazy by katie melua..

How can I think I'm standing strong,
Yet feel the air beneath my feet?
How can happiness feel so raw?
How can misery feel so sweet?
How can you let me watch you sleep,
Then break my dreams the way you do?
How can I have got in so deep?
Why did I fall in love with you?

This is the closest thing to crazy I have ever been
Feeling twenty-two, acting seventeen,
This is the nearest thing to crazy I have ever known,
I was never crazy on my own…
And now I know that there's a link between the two,
Being close to craziness and being close to you.

How can you make me fall apart
Then break my fall with loving lies?
It's so easy to break a heart;
It's so easy to close your eyes.
How can you treat me like a child
Yet like a child I yearn for you?
How can anyone feel so wild?
How can anyone feel so blue?

Don't talk to strangers...

We have grown up listening to this..but wat if u meet a stranger, n he says things exactly wat u hv been willing to hear for the past few days.. especially when you arent having the very best days of your life... blame overburdened schedule.. blame my mind which jus doesnt listen and keeps wandering !! blame.. the super slow net in hostel.. or for that matter blame the horrible weather in bengal... so got enuf reasons..!!! Two back to back nite outs had already drained me off any energy , but that wasnt it.. had to travel for 7-8 hrs.. to my destination.. smtimes the place is really nostalgic... but the other times.. its not so worth mentioning about..!!! newazz.. so started off wid my trip to kgp took a bus to cal.. dozed off in the way to be awakened only when cal arrived.. scorching heat in the "city of joy" only added to my piled up miseries..had enuf food at comesum howrah so that it lasts the entire day.. had to go n slog in sir's cabin as usual..!!! got upon the train only to get into my comfy cozy seat n doze off.. caught hold of the attendant n asked him to intimidate me once v rch kgp.. suddenly.. the specy guy or should i call specy man ... or should i call specy uncle.. who was busy over d fone, since the time he got up said to me.." dont worry beta.. i will let u know.. " I was obliged.. "i jus said its ok.." n then the conversation began... generally its which colg ? what do you study..? and ths time it wasnt different..!! so i told him NIT bla bla.. REC.. yaa yaa exactly..!!! ohh NIT is a brand.. ("n i wondered is it..??")...n very soon got to know the that the fellow was the VP of ICFAI school of business.. !! n then the MNP in me came out..!! gradually drifiting the conversation to a more professional side.. I asked him.. 'So have you heard of Aarohan".. he said .." well yes n no..!! ' now thats wat i call a confusing or rather a confused answer.. he ws tryin his best to be diplomatic.. :) but cudnt manage to.. !! i gave him a brief intro abt aarohan n my role in it as the MNP.. n he seemed to be elated at the fact..!!! throughout the conversation he kept on referring to himself as an MCB but still kept on.. u r doin a commendable job ma'am.. n then suddenly he took the form of one of those charactes who are strangers but yet give a deeper insight about your life without even knowing you.. If you have watched "If Only" then you can relate better.... he went on..!! n for a change i was the listener which i am, to the very selected few....ma'am i wuld like to tell u one thing you are a lady n very vulnerable..I was like excuse me..!!! n then he told me.. ' the first thing i noticed about you was your simplicity".. so do take it as a 'brotherly advise" whatever i share with you today..!!! i told him firmly.. my ears are very discrete in nature.. they hear only wat they wanna hear.. !!!! n he went on..!!! very soon you will enter the real world, you will get married , you will get a husband whos a v high profile husband.. who himself will nt hav the time to take care of you.. but the moment you ignore him he vl b on fire.!!! i wonderded is he sm student of 'linda goodman', !!! we were discussin aarohan and hes giving fundaz..yaa i listend .. cz i wanted the contact of the admin guy frm ICFAI.. n you ma'am are a very pretty lady. !!! ohh these comments or compliments comin on a day when i m certainly nt feelin best, not looking best..nevr mind..!! i said thank you in the most polite way i can..!!! politeness i a virtue that a gal mus possess.. i have learnt this.. :) n today im gonna give you the little tricks and trade of marketing..!!! he continued.. what was it..!!! i cudnt understnd..!!! he ws jumping frm one topic to another and thn finding a relevant link between the two..!! he askd me questions like a teacher and expected correct answers like a strict teacher. n very soon i realised that i knew the answers to most of the questions.. !! but never asked those questions to myself.. in fact in real life also the same things happpen.. the questions that are troubling you.. jus ask them to yourself.. So i did answer and he corrected me where i went wrong in "understanding the vagaries". He then narrated me incidents where his wife behaved carelessly at the frankfurt airport and told me that ma'am be very careful when you are travelling alone and never talk to strangers like me.He kept on saying that the train was like a second home to him, and it became quite evident when the attendants were at his service at the drop of a hat. Can you imagine he also exlained the documents that i should be carrying always when on an international venture.. I wont mention them I'm sure most of you readin would know. Very soon my destination came and he gave me the contact number without me having to ask for it for the second time. Somehow, i was deeply moved by the conversation that I had with him and realized that it was long time since i had spent some quality time blogging and this would form the content of it.. this wasnt meant to bore anybody.. it was jus an overflow of overwhelming experience with that person... !!

A Suicidal Attempt...

Long Never Ending Railway tracks.. Scorching Overhead Sun.. Not a single being visible.. Sounds like an ideal location to do the action mentioned in the title of this post... Well, I walked walked and walked on the tracks..A Living black creature was walking parellel to me at the other.. and not to much my surprise, I wasn't scared..Y Should I be..?? it was jus a buffalo..Dont we find plenty of it in India.. Not much vivid thoughts coming to my mind except-the kid that i met who constantly said "see you , see you", as he got down at his destination with his parents,how i arrived at the station early morning after the shivering bike ride,how me n my friend chatted for the major part of last night...JUST A MINUTE !!!! Should i be thinking of all the good and bad times of my life,the cherished ,the privileged moments - pertaining to the title.. Neways but that is all i thought.. Is it so necessary to think all the time.. y cant my mind jus sit still even for a moment... Is it the first experience of walking alone on the rail tracks or is it the fear that i know what will happen next...i continued my way with the heavy luggage.. i was not eloping.. I continued striding and thinking .. Finally i reached a location where i could see the local buses and autos... it was one of those overhead railway tracks found very commonly in calcutta at ultadanga, maniktalla n many more such places.. i stood atop and was trying to analyse which part of calcutta i was in.. suddenly people started yelling.. "nebe jaao(come down) ki korcho(what are you doing)" .. oh my God.. y cant these people of cal jus let anybody do what they wanna do.. I replied " haan neeche aa rhi hun( i am coming down)"..

Obviously i was standing there to come down only... what.???? even you thought the same as those set of people..that i was there to commit suicide.. NO WAY.... I may not certainly be having the best days of my life ,BUT i will (very soon-extreme optimism).. and i have no right to kill someone whom my parents nurtured with so much affection, whom my friends loved..and so many more reasons to not to commit suicide.. I was just trying to find a short cut back to my home in cal.. i ws already too late, It was 4 hours since i sat at durgapur stn for calcutta and was sick and tired of the train which stopped at evry other instant... and i had assumed that it would stop at DumDum stn as well.. so i wud get down n reach home early.. but the train jus went past by the Dum Dum stn and dint stop.. but then just 5 mins later stopped again.. No railway stn there in the vicinity though.. i had had enough.. so just thought of getting down and then letting this journey back home become an adventure.. After getting down on the tracks i had no clue how would i be getting home from there.. that is why i was jus walking on the tracks and wondering.. Newaz if i wudnt have found a way would have called my Dad.. But then very soon I saw the roads of cal.. n i realised that Ok finally i would reach home.I saw a bus which would take me to my place... but then my next step was hw to get down.. n the momemnt i was trying to analyse the path down which wasnt gonna be smooth either, These people startd screaming.... And I realised that they were thinkng that i was there for "A Suicidal Attempt"... This whole incident became quite a memorable one for me, i ended up narrating it to my friends and family .. some had a good laugh thinking of the hilarious interpretation of the crowd present there.. Others really scolded me hard for getting down of the tracks all by myself and then exploring the bizzare location... Well my parents had a mixed reaction ... they did laugh coz they were supposed to laugh as i was narrating it as an extremely weird incident that took place but being parents they also had to make me understand certain "DOS and DONTS"... I jus thot of blogging it down too.(as Its been quite some time since i wrote one..) thanks to a friend for the APT title..

cheers Sweta..

guru and ethereal connections...

If i ask u wat dus the title of this post mean , u wud say it means "teacher"..in many young girls' mind abhishek will also be appearing in his worst ever avatar.. u r correct to a grt extent.. but today i would give you the better and deeper meaning of the word "guru"..

The word guru is derived from two words.. "gu" and "ru" .. "gu" means darkness and "ru" means light.so basically a guru is smthing or someone who leads you from darkness into light.. so who accrording to you is the best guru.. well many of us would say mom,dad,physics mam, maths sir and blah blah.... but plz reconsider the question and answer again... my dear friend your best guru is your own soul, which enlightens your mind and body .. and strives and purges itself so that you can be what you wanna be.

At any time when you are feeling low, and its one of those times when things are going absolutely contrary to your yearnings, take some time out ... walk alone, and try and feel connected to the almighty.. hes d one who helps you become your best guru.. so when you can stay connected with half the world with umpteen social networking sites, then why cant you carve out a network with you and the God..

It works wonders...
cheers Sweta