Rufus became a proud father

It feels like yesterday when I went ahead and got this cute 1 month old Golden Labrador into our family. I named him Rufus. On 8th may 2008 my dear Rufus became a proud father of 6 pups. 5 of them are of his color and 1 is black. I hope I get to see them soon. The pups are taureans ! ha ha ! Only a few people would understand what I mean but yeeee I am happy !!

Come home before its late

Ahhh!!! An earth quake !!!!!!!!! All the noises in the background !!! My world turning upside down... !!!! Whats happening !!!!
The voice sounds familiar, I thought... and it was getting louder. A sudden realization that it was my mom and this was no earth quake. It was my mother trying to wake me up in every possible way to go to school !! You are late, she said. Without paying much attention to what she was saying I got out of bed, my eyes still shut and sleepy. Then started the questionnaire round. Have you ironed your uniform, is your bag packed? Have you finished your homework? One answer for all the questions was a simple word "yes". Honestly speaking I had not done any of those. I ate my breakfast and got ready for school as fast as I could. I could hear my autowala (rickshaw driver who used to drive me to school) already screaming my name. "roz ka hai tumhara, tum kabhi jaldi kiu nahi ready hoti " he said.(Same story everyday, why dont you ever get ready on time) . I reached school, kept my bag in the class and ran for the assembly. " You reached !! I have so many things to tell you" my friend said during the assembly. We started talking in between the assembly knowing for a fact that teachers and prefects were around. Luckily we didn't get caught. First class was science, my favorite ! It went well. By the third class, I was bored, hungry and sleepy. It was Hindi class and Mrs Nimbkar was trying to explain to all of us some hindi poem/kavita. I soon got distracted and started thinking about how my life would be when I turn 20 or even older. No school for sure and that was enough to make me smile. Mrs Nimbkar soon noticed that and asked me to explain what she had just explained. Ooops ! I had no idea !! I was in my own wonderland !! She threw me out of the class. Being me I was not at all embarrassed and happily walked out of the class thinking aahh finally a break ! Soon the bell rang and and we had our short break. Me and my friends ate our lunch and gossiped. After three more classes I was totally exhausted, but I was enjoying the day in a way. I liked being at school, cause I was always around my friends laughing and enjoying. During the long break we ran to the canteen to eat samosa. One of the classes turned out to be a free one and we had a lot of fun during that time. We made paper plane's and played in the class. Finally the school was over. My mother had come to pick me up. I sat behind her on her blue kinetic and we went home. I had my lunch, slept for a while. As soon as I got up me and my elder brother got into a fight because I wanted to have cold coffee to drink and he wanted to have something else. We also fought over whose turn it was to help mom make tea.He gave in and then it was time to go out and play. My mom did my hair. Before I left she told me to be back before it gets late. I told her that when I become 20-21 years old I would not listen to her and stay out of the house till late and ran away. We played all sorts of games till late and i realized that it had become dark. I had to run home before my angry mother came to my friends place. After coming home, my grandfather started teaching me maths. It was the day we were going to learn integers. My grandfather was excellent at maths and a lot of fun to be with. Finally with all my homework done It was time to watch some TV. After dinner my dad came up with the idea of ice cream and everyone welcomed it. I went with my dad till ravi nagar Dinshaw's and got pineapple supreme, my dad's favorite. Everyone enjoyed the dessert. This was like a routine in our house. The day was over. It was time to sleep. My brother and I fought some more because he wanted to sleep on my side of the bed. He was also complaining to my mom about the fact that i sneak into his class when he isn't around and talk to his friends and take his pen/pencils which i completely denied :) .Again I was in my wonderland thinking how nice it would be to be all grown up.......
and suddenly I could hear the alarm ring !!!!! WHAT WAS HAPPENING !!! I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND !!! The bed felt different and so did the room ! Where was I ? Everything looked different. I scanned the room and realized this was not home at all. This is where I live in the present. This was Melbourne ! and I was late again ! But this time late to go to work ! The reality struck me hard. Now my mom wasn't around to wake me up, the autowala not around to take me to school ! Hell no school also. No more maths lessons from my dear grandfather.My dear school friends - just figment of my imagination. No samosa breaks. The time when i could just go out to play with my friends without worrying about a single thing - gone ! I am not staying with my parents anymore. I don't get to see them everyday. No more pineapple supreme. I never get to fight with my brother anymore ! The only conversations we have is about the progress of my assignments. As far as my life is concerned, its restricted to university, assignments ...some more assignments and work and a few friends.
I wish I knew that growing up isn't that much fun at all. I wish I had a time machine and I could go back in time. I would always remain in school and this time I would never wish to grow old.
The only thing that still remains unchanged in all these years is my mom saying " Come home before its late".

Monday Mornings

Each week I have a new version of my Monday mornings. These versions vary from burnt toasts and omelette's to missing the train when I am already late. The bottom line is every Monday morning comes with a new recipe for disaster. The story does not change much, the degree of disaster does. Every Sunday night I go off to sleep by 2am or so, after coming home from a late night shift at maccas. Every time I make a resolution that I will kick start the day by getting up early and doing my hair and going for work. According to me the first day of the week shows how your week is going to turn out. Unfortunately, I never hear the alarm ring on a Monday morning and thus instead of me kick starting the week, Monday morning kicks me !
I get up late which forces me either to completely skip my breakfast or end up having something which should look like toast and egg. I have to go without my favorite cup of coffee the first thing in the morning. I can't find anything to wear in my pile of clothes. The clothes I bought very excitedly just look bad on a Monday morning. Finally i make a run to reach the railway station only to realize that I have missed my train and will be late for work. Finally when I reach maccas, I always find myself surrounded by people I dislike which adds cherry to my already bad start.
And yes I have forgotten to mention that there are times when I have to take a cab and even then I am 15 mins late for work.
Through out the day I am sleepy. Things don't work out for me on Monday.
Every Monday morning reminds me of the previous week and somehow gives me a feeling that the current week is going to be even worse.

Note - I got up late today also !!!!

The letter ...

To the most special person in this world,

When I look back at the years and time I have spent with you, all it does is bring joy and smile on my face, because together and alone we have gone through a lot but still managed to remain friends.

Remember our first meeting, the first time we spoke to each other,

The time when we became friends from being just mere acquaintances,

Somewhere when we just started trusting each other with our secrets,

The times when we were really low in life and things weren’t working out, but we knew that one person would always be there to listen to anything we wanted to say and trust us without judging us the way world does.

The times when we were really happy and wanted to share it with someone and knew whom to call.

The other times when we just wanted to talk without any reason, knowing that it is good to have someone to speak to even when we don’t talk sense.

The times we didn’t speak to each other for months but still knew that we are just one phone call away!

The times when we fought, but we still knew that they would get sorted, because they always do!

And even today, after eight years of this crazy friendship we are still surviving, more importantly now when the distance plays a major role.

This trip down the memory lane just to let you know that you are one of the sweetest people I have met and I love your stupid caring ways.

You are one person I never want to lose.

Ill always be there for you and you can always count on me.

With loads of love,

Alka Bai

We have moved to my current house in August 2007 and till a week back our living room was completely vacant. We have a funny looking dining table and 4 chairs. Apart from that there was no place to sit in our so called living room. Our rooms have all the required furniture.

But every now and then I felt the need to get a couch but never had enough money to buy one. Actually I didn't want to invest my money in one. Then one day we went to our friend's house warming party and I realized that their house was homely and ours wasn't even close to being called HOME. This was it I thought. I had to make the apartment into a home. I discussed this with my house mate and realized that she shared the same feelings. The very next day we went to Ikea and bought stuff to beautify our house. We got non sense I must say. This non sense includes rugs and candles and artificial flowers , but not a couch.
The next day while coming back from work I went to Salvation Army store to look for really cheap second hand couches. I was very delighted to find a few that were worth buying. But I needed to consult my house mate and decided that I would visit the store again with her, but again that day never came. Weeks passed by.
Then one fine morning when I was really late for work I saw a couch under my building, just 2 minutes away. But I had no time to go and examine it. Bad luck I said to myself. I thought about the couch all day at work and started cursing my luck. When I went back home in the evening, to my surprise the couch was still there. Oh great !!!! I thought. I called my house mate who was sound asleep. I tried to explain to her about the couch but all in vain. I checked the couch myself but I wasn't sure about it so I called up another friend of mine who lives next door and asked him to help me with the decision. After debating for a while, we decided to take the couch home. Now the question was how and who will pick it up ? There was no one except for the two of us. We somehow managed to bring the couch home. We quickly arranged and rearranged the interiors of the house. I was happy that finally I had a couch in the house.
Then it suddenly struck me that I was Alka Bai. Ok who is Alka Bai now ? Alka Bai is our maid in India who comes every morning to clean the common area of the society. Every now and then she keeps on asking for free stuff, be it anything she is always ready to take it home. She asks my mom " Bai yeh mein le jaau kya ?? " I had become Alka bai. I never thought a day would come in my life when I would happily and proudly put someone else's rubbish in my living room.
Anyways I realized that these our the lessons we have to learn from our life and live with them.
So this was the day I became Alka bai :)
Attaching a few pictures of my new living room

African Safari

Somewhere in Dec 2007
Location - Melbourne

This was the day when everything was going wrong. My alarm clock stopped working somewhere in the middle of the night and that made me get up an hour late. I was to start work at 11 am and it was already 9:30 am when I got up. I quickly got ready and to make things worse I realized that it was a weekend which meant that Flagstaff station would be shut and I would have to walk all the way to Melbourne Central to take the train. Normally this is not a major concern for me but today it was cause I couldn't waste even a single minute. It takes me an hour and 15 mins to reach work normally and on weekends 1 hour and 30 mins. I did not have time for this. I couldn't afford to be late. First I hate being late and secondly I knew that the store owner would be there. The only option was to call a cab. Luckily I got one quickly.
I told the cab driver where I wanted to go. Usually the cab drivers are Indians - yes Punjabi's and Gujrati's, Pakistani's, locals or Africans.
This cab driver was from Africa. Soon he started to talk to me and started asking me these typical questions that all cab drivers ask. These are a set of typical questions that everyone asks and the answers are at the tip of my tongue. I told him that I was an international student, studying full time at Swinburne University, that I was late for work, studying IT. Questions I am bored of.
The question that came next completely surprised me ! He asked me if I knew Amitabh Bachchan. For a second I thought I had heard him wrong and I made him repeat the question. I realized I had heard it correct the first time itself. He had actually asked me about the Bollywood legend Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. I told him that I knew him and that he is a good actor and everyone in India love him. To add to my already surprise state he started singing the song from his movie - Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein Khayaal Aata Hai.... and asked me if I knew the song. I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say. I asked him how he knew the song. Not only did he know the song, he turned out to be a huge Bollywood fan and knew the dialog's like ' Jaani, Yeh chaaku hai...lag jaae to khoon nikal aata hai !! ' and knew Rajesh Khanna, Shah Rukh Khan and had seen many Bollywood movies. including Mr. Bachchan's Coolie. He told me that Bollywood is very famous in Africa and like India people worship Mr. Amitabh Bachchan there. He told me that ever since he was a kid he has been watching Amitabh Bachchan's movies.
Suddenly I felt very happy and proud of the Indian Cinema and its achievements.
For a long time we discussed Indian Cinema and I didn't realize when I reached my destination - work. The guy was so happy with the conversation we had, he did not take money from me. He told me " I cant take money from you, you have just reminded me of my childhood. "
As for me the wrong start to my day had suddenly turned right, I had one of the best conversations with the cab driver and I cannot deny the fact that I was happy that because of Mr. Bachchan I had saved around 30 AUD.

Indigo Fish Market

14th Jan 2008.

When I was in India around two months back, I had gone to Bengaluru :) , Banglore for most of us to meet my brother and his wife. I had a good time in Banglore except I didn't like the city at all. Anyways on my way back to Nagpur I was to take the Go Indigo flight to Nagpur via Pune. My brother dropped me to the airport an hour early as he had some work in the office and the flight was an hour and a half late. So in short i had to spend 3 hours at the airport doing nothing.
I spent all the time doing exactly nothing, just noticing people at the airport who were exceptionally loud and vocal.
Finally the announcement for my flight was made and I was delighted. As we took our seats I realized that everyone on the flight was again very loud. For some time i wondered was it just me who thought like that ? Soon I realized I was not at fault, they were actually loud ! Even before the flight took off people in their lungi's started to walk in the flight as if they were taking a walk in the park ! The air hostesses had to make them sit, but they did not listen and continued their ' evening walk' in the flight. The minute the flight took off everyone on the flight started clapping as if it was some joy ride and started shouting. I was shocked. The three hours that the flight was in air the women ( they were huge ) kept on talking loudly, some fought and swore, some clapped when they saw the fight and some hooted. I suddenly felt as if i was in a fish market. 'Fish market' is the term my English Teacher in school used to use when we would fight in the class and talk loudly.The term is kinda stuck in my head since then. The poor air hostesses es made several announcements and asked them to remain seated but all in vain. The weird women and men just kept on changing seats, taking pictures and talking very loudly. Even the pilot made 3 announcements in very firm tone asking everyone to keep quiet and to remain seated. But nothing worked. I really didn't understand what it was that was making those people behave like that. Anyways finally I was happy when the journey came to an end and I reached Nagpur.

Dog and The Bone

If you have read my first blog "Anekta mein Ekta" and played the game "Dog and the Bone" then you surely know what I am talking about. Anyways I was in India a month back. I think whatever we learnt as kids about unity has really vanished. Even our GREAT politicians who are supposed to lead the country towards a better future are fighting like dogs for a bigger piece of the bone.The only thing that interests them is MONEY !!
I was very impressed with comments made by Remo Fernandes and his views on Indian Politics. Finally someone had the courage to openly say the truth about Indian Politics on TV. He said that the Indian Politicians should be shot dead cause they are not interested in doing anything for the country.Its an insult to even compare them with dogs as dogs are loyal.
Secondly Raj Thackrey and his party, the so called Maharashtra NavNirman Sena went ahead and declared that Maharastra(Mumbai) is only for Marathi's and not for non marathi's !He degraded the Bachchan family.His party workers beated up poor taxi drivers and the chat wala's.Yes he was arrested but not for more than 5 mins. I wonder where the country is going ?? Who gives these politicians to decide who can stay /not stay in Mumbai.Mumbai is the city where people from all the states come to make their dreams come true, earn their living. How can the politician decide who can be a Mumbaikar n who cant ?? All the non marathi's born and raised in Mumbai are as Mumbaikar's as a marathi's born and raised in Mumbai. If he wants the non-marathi's to leave Mumbai he must ask the Ambani's and the entire film industry to leave Mumbai too ! But he didnt. Then why the poor taxi wala's and chaat wala's ?? There life is hard anyways, please give them a break !!

Anekta mein Ekta ? ? ?

Ever since i was a kid I have heard that our country India is all about Anekta mein Ekta - Unity in diversity ! I used to watch this small advertisement 'Anketa mein Ekta' on Doordarshan as a kid where a young girl teaches her brother and friends about ekta.My mother used to tell me this bed time story about these pigeons and the hunter. But as i grew up and got to know the world around me, this 'Ekta' seems to be vanishing and diminishing very fast. I am not denying the fact that we have shown unity when it comes to wars against Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.
Everyday in the news we see one caste fight against the other.
Even here in Melbourne the typical Indian mentality hasn't changed !! When you ask a person " where are you from ?" instead of saying " India" the INDIAN would say " I am from Gujrat or Punjab or South ". Why dont these people rise above the states and say " I am from India !!" I fail to understand that.
A few days back I was studying in the library and there was this Indian guy from South India sitting next to me. We started having a conversation and i said something to him in Hindi.The conversation was something like this -

Me - " something in hindi...... bla bla bla "

GUY - " I dont know YOUR LANGUAGE !! "

(Yes he said 'your language'.)

ME - " What do you mean by your language? Aren't you from India"

GUY - " No, I am from South India !"

ME- " Isn't S. India a part of India ?? And by the way its not my language its our language ! Hindi is our national language !"

GUY - " I dont understand Hindi, dont think I am rascist "

ME- " You should make an effort to learn Hindi. You call yourself an Indian and you cant even speak two lines in Hindi. What kind of Indian are you. You should be ashamed of yourself !! "

GUY - " I dont want to learn Hindi "

This was it ! I got so angry that i told him that he had no right to call himself an Indian and such people should be thrown out of the country and got up and left !
I am still in a state of shock ! First he said your language and then he said he doesnt want to learn hindi ! What kind of Indian is he ?

Why cant we Indians try and rise above the fact that someone is Gujrati, Punjabi, Malyali, Maharashtrian or bla bla bla !
Why do 2 gujrati's or 2 south indians talk in their language only even if they are in a group of non-gujrati's and non-s. indians!! Why cant we rise above the states, the languages and the caste ! Why cant we all be just Indians !! Our ancestors started with the caste system and we call ourselves literate and educated but we still follow what our ancestors taught us and they believed in ! I know whatever I am saying wont change overnight but our we the younger generation or the future of India making any efforts to solve these issues. Most of the youngsters ( Future of India ) I see are too busy with their respective girl friends and boyfriends and going to pubs ! I wonder what future India has ? The kids are just blindly aping the west ! They all want to be KOOL and HAPPENING ! I am not trying to sound like a 60 yr old but if all of us dont realize that it takes a lot to become a great nation ( like my brother would put it ) - is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta !

Melbourne Beggers

I have been wanting to write this for a very long time now. Finally my exams are over and i can sit and write about the two Melbourne Beggers i know. Beggers in Melbourne sounds weird isn't it ?? when the Australian government takes care of all the poor and those who are less fortunate! But this government cannot do much about these two beggers. These two being me Apeksha and Melanie. Let me tell you something about Melanie first.Melanie Evelyn Pereria is an interior designer, who studies in Swinburne University. She is extremely hard working and passionate towards her work. She has a dream of becoming really rich, happy and successful and live in NY city like Sarah Jessica Parker ( Sex and the City ).She is one of the closest friends i have in Melbourne.
This blog is our survival story.
I work at Mc Donalds to support myself in Melbourne. But as the semester to an end and exams and submissions came closer I decided to take some time off and concentrate on my studies.This meant no source of income. There came a time in October when we had no food in the house and absolutely no money.Believe me we couldn't afford anything.Our bank balance was 0 AUD. The only thing we had was a roof on our head which we call home.The house has nothing except for beds, a very old fridge that leaks to glory everytime it wants to defrosts and few tables and chairs. I will never forget the night when we were very hungry and we didn't have anything to eat in the house.We didn't even have the basic groceries like milk, biscuits or any veggies. We decided to go off to sleep in that state only but our stomachs and the hunger didnt let us sleep. I opened the fridge which looked empty to hunt for something to eat. All i could find is 6-7 days old bread, that too 3-4 slices. I decided to eat that. I got it for Melanie also and she said " I dont want, I like my bread toasted !!! " and i told her " Shutup and eat this, Beggers cant be choosers !! " That very moment we realized that we were actually living like beggers. We know how a begger would actually feel when he sees people wine and dine at these fine restraunts and cafe's. Everytime we walked on the road that week and saw people enjoy their food we just looked at each other and didn't say a word. Everytime we saw pictures of mouth watering pizza's and pasta's our stomach's would make that funny hungry noise. But we still didn't lose hope and faith in god.We were still happy and knew that this phase will pass soon and we would have money. Then came tuesday and i got paid for my work at mc donalds, which was just 70 AUD cause i had worked only for 1 day. But it felt as if i had 70,000AUD. We went to Victoria market and bought fruits and vegetables.We got all the food that we would possibly need with 30 AUD. We cooked and ate to glory !!!!
I have never faced a time like that in my life before.Never in my life i had to think about food and how to get food on the table, all thanx to my lovely parents. Parents work day and night and put in all that they have to make our lives secured.They have made my life so easy and gave me everything i have asked for. But I take that week as a good lesson. Now I love and respect them even more.

Quarter Life Analysis

Being a twenty-something

It is when we stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about ourselves that we didn't know and may not like. We start feeling insecure and wonder where we will be in a year or two, but then get scared because we barely know where we are now.This is when we start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that we thoughtwere so close, aren't exactly the greatest people we have ever met, and the people we have fought with and lost touch are some of the most important ones. They made us laugh and cry.Some of the best times we shared with them start reappearing in our minds.We fail to understand why we behaved the way we did at that time and fought. Everything seems to be very childish all of a sudden. What we don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as we are.

We look at every teenager or those 18 year olds with our judging eyes. We think they are stupid and dont know what they are doing and have no idea about what they want from their future. We always say or think that we never behaved like this. But most of the times we fail to realize that we were teenagers once and more or less behaved this way.Our opinions have gotten stronger. We have certain boundaries in our lives and are constantly adding things to our list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, we are insecure and then the next, secure.

We look at wat we are studyin or our jobs... and it is not even close to what we thought we would be doing, or maybe we are looking for a job and realize that we would have to start right from the scratch and that scares us. We are no where close to our goals or where we expected ourselves to be. The idea of buying our first car and the first house still feels distant.

We laugh and cry with the greatest force of our life. We feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and we try and hold on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where we are or move forward.

We get our heart broken and wonder how someone we loved with all our heart could do such damage. We lie in the bed and wonder why we can't meet anyone decent enough that we want to get to know better. We wonder how and why other people we know have such perfect life and dont have to worry about anything. Why some people get everything and some have to put up a fight for everything, may it be money, love, family, job ...the list seems to be very long. We dont understand why we are in such a mess cause we know that we aren't that bad after all.
Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. We go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with friends about the same topics because we cannot seem to draw a conclusion or find a solution to our problems. We worry about loans, money, family and everything under the sun and the future and what it holds for us. Suddenly we are just tired of the uncertainty life brings. We want solutions and answers to our queries from god or the world.

and while winning the race would be great, right now you are scared just to be a contender!

What we dontrealize is that every other 20 someone relates to it.

We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

Its called "Quarter-life Crisis." nothing is constant......except change.

wats life without a few risks?
============================================================

My World in Melbourne

We came together from different worlds, different backgrounds. We speak different languages. Some of us called ourselves Indians, few Indians proudly called themselves " mumbaiyya" and "Gujju's" and some one from the " multicultural country Malaysia". We started talking, exchanged a few thoughts and it struck us that even when we were from different parts of the world, deep down we were alike. The few brief meetings changed into long conversations. Conversations turned into confiding in each other and believing in each other. Before we realized we had become FRIENDS.
We all have left our families and loved ones behind to conquer our goals, to live our dreams. Together we make our own world in this part of the world called Melbourne.We love each other, trust each other, more importantly are there for each other.
All of us have faced tough times, worrying about work, family and money and at other times our studies.But we have never left each other alone. We have spent hours talking about our dreams and passions, our worries and seen days becoming nights and nights changing into mornings.
Now the time has come that the Malaysian understands Hindi and the Indians can swear in Malay. ( Malay being very difficult to learn ! ) Malaysian can cook dal chaaval, loves rajma-chaaval and watches Dil Chahta Hai and other bollywood movies with the rest. The indians like chicken randang and chup chop chicken. A few of us who were not so good friends have become close and wonder why we behaved the way we did earlier. Formalities have vanished. Words such as ' sorry ', ' thank you ' and ' excuse me ' dont exist in our dictionaries when we are with each other. We cant remain angry with each other for more than five minutes.
We dont know where our lives our going to lead us. But we are glad we met each other. Without each other our world in melbourne is incomplete.

We are Melanie, Pooja, Apeksha
Ankur Soni, Jigar Shah
============================================================

Partners in Crime

Date - 4th November 2004.
Location - Mumbai, India

The time goes back to my third year of engineering at SNDT university. It started out as a perfect day. Natasha, Niharika and I had almost finished our work for the day. We were studying the entire day at Niharika's aunts place and working on our assignments.By the time it was 4:00 pm we were completely exhausted but proud of our accomplishments so we decided to take a break.The three of us took the car and went for a drive.

We were enjoying our time, the music and the conversation. In sometime an idea sparked into our minds. It was something we had never done before.We had seen other people do it,our parents had warned us against it ! But we still wanted to try it and thought it was exciting ! Natasha was not very sure about it ! But after debating over it she also gave in. It was decided that we were going ahead with it. There was no looking back.

But we didn't know how to go about it. We were scared because we didn't want to get caught. We were still in Niharika's aunts area and realized that we couldnt do it there. We waited for it to become a little dark and drove to Karter Road.
People who know Mumbai, know that Karter road is a busy place and everyone comes there for their evening walks.So we drove till the end of the road and waited there for a while till the people went back to their homes.

But to do what we wanted to we had to buy it ! We didn't know which one of us was going to buy it ! Niharika said she wouldn't do it ! So finally it came on me and Natasha ! Both of us decided that we will do it ! We stopped infront of a small shop and got out of the car. We were nervous and the shopkeeper knew we were just kids trying it for the first time. He smiled and asked us what we wanted.We just pointed out in the direction of the paket and gave him the money. He also warned us against it and told us " Beti iski aadat nahi lagaana! Buri cheez hai ! " (Girls dont get used to it ! Its bad !!) But it had gone too far and as decided there was no looking back. This was it !!!!

We had bought it ! Our very first packet !! It had four red squares on it. But then Natasha said we couldn't do it in the car because her mom would find out. So we drove back to Karter road, looked at each other and nodded ! We got out of the car ! While getting out of the car we already felt like heroes ! We were walking with style. It was low tide at that time and people who have seen Karter road know that it is infested with small rocks and that you can walk till the end and sit there. So we had found our spot. We walked till the end and sat where no one could see us properly. None of us were really talking. The conversation was restricted to mere essentials. I knew my hands were sweating, but it would be below my dignity to admit it so i kept quiet.

Niharika took out the packet and took one stick out. We all stared at it. Natasha and I didn't know how to light it. Niharika was the bold one. She held the stick in her mouth and used a matchstick to light it. Natasha and I kept staring at her blankly. She had taken the very first puff of her life. We saw the smoke coming out of her mouth and nose.But that meant it was our turn now. Natasha did the same and passed on the cigarette to me. Nervously i took it in my right hand and took a drag ! It certainly didn't taste very good but mind you for a second i felt i was in heaven.After a few cigarette's we thought we were pro at it. It gave us a high and we were in a different world all together.We felt that our problems would get solved and that life was good ! We were surely behaving like Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt from the movie Kaante and it reminded us of the song Rama Re -
Collar ko thoda sa upar chadhaake
Cigarette ke dhuein ka chhala banaake
Sochna hai kya, jo hona hai hoga
Chal pade hai fikr yaar dhuein mein udaake
Jaane kya hoga rama re, jaane kya hoga maula re.
We smoked our first pack and it was time to go home.We thought we were very smart and what we did was easy ! But then we didn't realize that the difficult part was yet to come ! We smelled of smoke and didn't know how to get rid of it ! So we went to another shop, bought a lot of menthol and deo's.We thought we had taken care of everything. This was too good ! We were smart !!!
By the time Niharika and I reached the hostel we both were dizzy and our heads were hurting like hell. We straight went to have a shower so that no one knows what we did. But the headache didn't stop and things went from bad to worse.Niharika started puking. I was feeling really sick and the headache was killing me. We called up Natasha to check on her. She too wasn't feeling very well. We realized our so called smart plan wasn't so smart after all. We felt very guilty about it but still decided that we will never tell it to anyone. We were partners in crime and would keep it to ourselves for the rest of our lives.We also made a promise that we will never touch the damn thing again !!!!