A Surprising Train Ride

One reason why I was hesitant to blog about this for so long was because I felt that it might sound too mushy. One reason I really want to blog about this is because I consider this as probably the best thing I have ever done for someone I like, till date. So anyway, here goes:

I had planned a trip to India after being here for one full year. I was due to be in India for the summer of 05, and that would be a full three months almost. I was excited, and so was everyone else. My girlfriend and I were more excited because we were getting to see each other unexpectedly, as we were not really sure if we would see each other for at least four years after I left. We spend the month prior to that making plans and fixing dates. I would arrive in India somewhere in June and I would return on the 9th of August. Or so she thought.

What she did not know was that I was not leaving on the 9th of August as I had told her. I was not leaving until early September. All the while as we planned dates, I was secretly planning my own dates. The reason being that her birthday falls on the 10th of August and she was slightly sad that I would have to leave just one day before her big day. I wanted to make that day special for her and I figured that it just might be a few notches more special if I was with her as a surprise, rather than just telling her that I would be there for that day. So, I discuss this plan with my close friends and try to work out the logistics. All this happened without her knowledge. All she knew was that I was flying out from Bangalore on the 9th and she was coming to Bangalore few days prior to see me off. She was due to take a train back to Hyderabad on the 9th, the same day as my flight.

The summer went by real fast and soon it was August. We both met in Bangalore on the 6th and had some real good time. She did begin to express some sadness that I was leaving, after all we were not sure when we could meet next. I did not really feel sad, because I really was not leaving the next day. It did break my heart to see her cry and I also ended up feeling a little guilty for not being able to fake some sadness. I wondered if she thought I was cold hearted. So anyway, we wake up and have another sad day. Her train is at 5pm and I tell her that my flight is at 10pm and that after her train leaves I would go to my uncles house and leave from there. That kind of served as an explanation for the small bag I was carrying with me to the station. I had secretly booked myself a ticket on the same train to Hyderabad and as luck would have it, we were to be in the same coach.

We go to the station early and wait for the train. I am doing my best to console her and at the same time trying not to smile and either give up the surprise or end up looking like a jerk. I somehow manage to hold on. The train pulls in and she gets in to her coach. She keeps her luggage on her seat and comes back to the door and stand there. I somehow convince her to go and sit on her seat. Hugs, kisses and tears later, she goes to her seat. We look at each other through the window. The whistle blows and the train starts pulling out. As soon she she moved out of sight, I run towards the door and board the train. I do not go immediately to her. I wait near the door till the train gathers some speed. I slowly started moving towards her seat. Around this time she gets up from her seat and was moving towards the toilet, to wipe her tears dry. We come face to face in the aisle and I couldn't help smiling. She looks at me and freezes for a few seconds. I am sure she must have pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Surprised, shocked, loss for words? I don't know how to explain her reaction when she saw me. All I can say was that it was priceless. She just refused to believe that I was going all the way to Hyderabad. She believed that I was getting down at the next stop. She was convinced only after I showed my ticket to the checker. The whole scenario was totally unexpected for her and as a result she spent the next 30 minutes crying. Tears of joy I hoped.

After it had sunk in for her, we sat and talked way into the night. Closer to midnight she fell asleep on my lap. I stayed awake and woke her up exactly at 12am and wished her. The next day we reached Hyderabad on time. We spend another great day together. At the end of the day she said that what I had done for her was undoubtedly the best thing that someone had ever done for her in her life. She meant what she said and I knew that she did. There was no doubts about that for me.

From among all the train journeys I have taken, this one is without doubt the best. This one journey where I did not count the number of coaches. The one journey where I did not see which engine was hauling our train. The one journey where I did not put my head out of the window or even bother to take a peek at the view outside, considering that these are the things I usually do on a train journey. There was something way better inside the train, right next to me the whole time.

9/11 Through The Years

I got this idea from Orange Fling, few months ago. I was going to post it then, but I thought I would rather wait till now, as it is more appropriate. As I step into another year in my life, I feel a little curious to know what other events have happened on this particular day. I just browsed through wikipedia to see what great events have happened in the world on 9/11 through the years. Most of us associate 9/11 with he terrorist attacks on the WTC, but lets see what else has happened prior to that. Wikipedia shows tons of events that have happened on 9/11. I am obviously not going to list them all out. I will just pick and choose what I feel has made some impact. This is obviously a cut and paste job.

1226 - The Roman Catholic practice of perpetual adoration begins.

1541 - Santiago, Chile, is destroyed by indigenous warriors, led by Michimalonko.

1683 - Battle of Vienna. The battle broke the advance of the Ottoman Empire into Europe.

1709 - Battle of Malplaquet, where Great Britain, Netherlands and Austria fight against France.

1776 - British-American peace conference fails to stop a nascent American Revolution.

1893 - The first World Parliament of Religions conference is held.

1906 - The term "Satyagraha" is coined by Gandhi.

1914 - Australia invades New Britain island and defeats the Germans.

1918 - Boston Red Sox have their last World series win in Baseball. The next win came in 2004.

1919 - Honduras invaded by US Marines.

1926 - A failed assassination attempt on Benito Mussolini.

1940 - Buckingham Palace is damaged during a German air raid during WW-II.

1965 - The 1st Cavalry division of the US Army lands in Vietnam.

1972 - The closing ceremony of the Munich Olympics takes place, after the massacre.

1989 - The Iron Curtain opens between Hungary and Austria.

1990 - US President mentions the use of force to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

1997 - NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars.

1998 - A report is sent to the US congress, accusing Bill Clinton of 11 possible impeachable offences.

1998 - Malaysia becomes the first Asian country to host the Commonwealth games.

2001 - The world trade center and Pentagon attacked, killing almost 3000 people.

Looking at the list above, I cant help but notice that most of the events have been death/war related. Very few events to cheer about. Oh well, I'm just hoping that in future we would remember 9/11 for better reasons that would make us smile.

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

The year 2007 has been terrible. A lot of my friends got married and so did a few of my relatives. Another few weddings coming up before this year gets over. It has been terrible for me not because they got married, but just because I missed each and ever one of them, and am going to miss the rest of them. I only have myself to blame for being so far off. Anyway, that's not the point.

I have been thinking a lot about how our generation has moved ahead and all the progress we have made in a lot of areas, both good and bad. Imagine how most of the weddings would have been about a generation ago. Parents fix the match, they do most of the planning and organizing, with help from the family of course. Everything was so bound tightly by each ones respective traditions and customs that it was considered the norm to have things a certain way. A different way was not even an option. I wonder if people even considered it back then. Maybe they did.

Things are a lot different these days. All the customs and traditions do still exist, but to a certain degree, i believe that we are trying to break away. It's not exactly because we don't respect them. It's because we have a different perspective of things now. Maybe I should not generalize and speak for everyone. What if I am wrong? So speaking strictly from my point of view, I feel like I want to do things differently. I don't my wedding to be an affair where I invite a thousand people, nine hundred of them who I have no clue as to who they are. Aahhhh, but you know how it is. If you invite A, you have to invite B. Now since B is invited, C and D also have to be invited. Most of us know how people like C and D can get offended for not being invited, even if they are your fourth cousin's mother-in-law's siblings. Now would I dare offend them?

I would not say that I don't want a church wedding. I do want it to happen in church, but I guess I feel resistant because there are just too many rituals involved. Most of them don't make any sense to me and I think we could do just fine without that. So cut out the dramatics, and I think I can have a nice solemn wedding. So will this become a reality? No, don't think so. Because my family is so plastered to the church, that to have a wedding that does not include the traditional chants and spells would be considered blasphemy. I really do understand the position that the family is in. They have so much that they believe in and so many dreams and expectations that they have for how their child should be married. I am not denying that. We have dreams too, don't we? In the end it boils down to who is going to give in.

That bring me to the question. Hey, whose wedding is it anyway? Isn't it supposed to be my wedding? So don't I have the right to chose the kind of wedding I want and have it my way? Why don't most parents really understand that? Most of us have dreamed about a nice sunset wedding by the beach, haven't we? Heck, I have, and why cant I have one? After all, you only get married once, or at least its supposed to be that way. It is not really fair that you don't get to do it your way if its a once in a life time thing. I do dream big, but I also remember to keep my feet tightly on the ground. I don't expect to have a sunset wedding on the beach with champagne flowing. What I would love to have is a quiet gathering at home, with just close friends and immediate family. Yeah, now is that asking for too much?

Anyway, my own wedding is still a while away. God only knows how that day is going to turn out. Who knows what battles I am going to win and which ones my folks are going to win. One thing is for sure, I am not going to have a thousand people. Maybe two hundred and to the other eight hundred who feel left out, I'm sorry. Hate me all you want, but this is my special day, now don't ruin it.

ps: Cheers to all my buddies and cousins who got married these last few months, and to those for whom the bells will toll in the next few months. Wish I was there.