Do you believe in miracles?

“Do you believe in miracles?”

With the wind whistling in my ears as I rode the bike back, I glanced around at the teary eyed face of my pillion.

“So, do you believe in miracles?” She asked again.

“NO!” I said and raced towards the fly over that read ‘Pune: 9 km’…

It feels so weird when you see someone after that long a time. Speechless describes it best. And boy had she changed. I had totally forgotten what she looked like, but we met as if we had met just yesterday. Soon we met others, people forgotten in the sands of time who were nothing like what they used to be. We remembered all the little things we had left behind in the race to grow up, small little things that defined us in the past.

Her voice brought me back from my flashback.

“Why?”

My speedometer was clocking a constant 70. I glanced down at it and then back on the road. It was pretty much empty with the occasional car speeding past.

“No idea…never happened to me” I shrugged.

True love is so hard to find. A single thing can break your heart even after 4 years of togetherness. What does one do then? How does one move on? How do you get over that person who had been your entire existence? Answers to the above questions I don’t have and neither do I know anyone who does.

You are lucky if you can turn you back on what was and embrace what could be. Most people can’t but some can. And what would you give to just meet the one person who held your side all along?

Thoughts clouded my mind. The reason I was driving back from a near remote location located on the outskirts of the city were unknown to even me. All I knew was that I was doing it. I had just helped two people in love meet. Was this a miracle? No idea never happened to me.

The parking lot loomed into view. I got her back home. As she got down from the bike, I knew what she wanted to say. She gave me a hug and said thanks. Was the trip a miracle for her? Or was it the chance meeting of the two, I would never find out but all I knew was that something had happened today to turn her into this. Wondrous how a small thing can turn someone from an atheist to a believer in miracles. She had witnessed one today.

So do I believe in miracles? No clue never happened to me. If miracles were real, I would have gotten what I had asked for. Will I get it, I don’t know but I guess I can wait…

To be continued… 

Diveagar Trip

Destination: Diveagar (170 km from Pune)

Transportation: 2 cars 2 bikes

Travellers: 13

Duration: 20 hrs

It was on the 10th of June 2010. The exams had just gotten over and the end of semesters brought with it a sense of freedom that just needed to be satiated.

5:30 A.M sharp, all dressed and packed, we arrived at the meeting point.

6:00 A.M we had filled fuel (25 l each in the cars) and it was time to start.

With a large number of stoppages for chai n wadapav, we finally managed to hit our destination by late noon. The sight that awaited us there was, in plain words, splendid. With literally no crowd thronging the place as other beaches usually have, Diveagar gave us an unique experience.

3:00 P.M the football came out of the bag

5:30 P.M was time to leave. So tired and wet, we climbed on board our respective vehicles and started back

7:00 P.M Mangaon. With stomachs rumbling, we set out to find a cheap place to hog.

9:00 P.M we restart for home with the promises that we'll reach by 11. Yea rite.

11:30 P.M Mulshi Ghat, one of the cars breaks down. The mechanical engineer steps out to try his hand at the situation. A nearby hut is knocked open to beg for petrol (70 Rs a litre). And this was where the combined intelligence of multiple engineers came to the rescue :)

12:00 A.M With the car finally up and running, for one final time we headed home...

2:00 A.M A bell rings at my home announcing my arrival to my then very sleepy (not to mention angry mom). After a quick bath and some food, I finally settle for the night.

New experiences: Swimming and Car repairing :D

This post is a thanks to Kartik, Bhalta, Amol, Zeeshan, Chaman, Nabin, Anup, Kancha Gang n Chaman's friends...

The Fat Man Sings

To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward. ~Margaret Fairless Barber, The Roadmender

By midsummer of 2006, two months after my final escape from the gulag of high school, I found myself in the frightful predicament of having to go to college. As I sat with the list of colleges I had applied for, Dad very simply pointed out that AIT was by far the best of them all. Hence began my journey.

I still remember my first day here. I walked in, my head held high because I'd made it into one of the finest colleges but that misconception was quickly corrected by a senior who rather forcefully notified me of the "Norms" that I had to follow to "Survive" here. With a now heightened survival instinct I geared up for the first quarter of my life here.

The foray into the unknown world combined with the added ‘freedom’ was challenging; New friends, exposure to new cultures, myriad of clubs, variety of girls, frequent ‘belt’ parties, movies, new mobile phone, submissions, one night preparations, horrible mess food, one side crushes, a bare second class, the year was over in a flash.

The second year came with the entry into a new department; New roommates, contact with girls, English play in Akriti ’07, new FEs entering to find nice receptive seniors (pun intended!), BAD(?!) habits, finding new close friends, One night @ a call centre, first downs and a pass class.

Scribtip was a brand new addition. From bringing out my very own eMage (Val day issue) to sitting up till 4 am in the morning designing pages for the magazine, the magboard honed my photoshopping skills to say the least (not to mention saved my skin from the attendance fine). Submissions were a pain. With my train ticket cancelled and having signed a defaulter form for all three submissions, I found myself homebound in the “Army dabba” with nothing but a 1 rupee coin as my sole worth.

The rains gave way to the penultimate year of my engineering. Armed with an arsenal of downs I marched into the new semester fearing the worst. The new flank was positively “scary”. Soon the new Fes arrived bringing with them the first wave of nostalgia. Akriti ’08; probably my finest ever, the devil’s green faced minion, debate runners up, JAM (courtesy chatty) and LIMS which definitely held my interest the most.

It was this time that a girl sang her way into my heart; the girl who would come to change life as I knew it in AIT. With my hopes of reaching BE looking bleak especially with a killer critical, taking refuge in books was the only option left. Finally after almost a month worth of exams I was free or was I? I would have to wait a few more months to find out.

One of the most intoxicating and exotic experiences that are a part of the final year at college is the shocking expanses of unsupervised free time that stretch out before you. Long weekends, with nothing to do and nowhere to be. Be brought with it a marked change; becoming a day scholar, new bike, new place to call home, rules and regulations, time constraints, improved attendance, impressed teachers, placement and distinction, the year marks an end to the adventurous time I had experienced in AIT.

The last four years have the most magnificent years of my life and one and a half pages are clearly too less to speak of them all. All the excitement, heartbreaks, responsibilities, acquaintances, knowledge and experiences have made me ready to face the outside world as I step into it. The four years might have ended quickly but the memories of the wonderful time I had will never cease to exist in my mind, neither will the memories of the people who made this journey worthwhile.

The tide recedes, but leaves behind bright seashells on the sand.
The sun goes down, but gentle warmth still lingers in the land,
The music stops, and yet it echoes on in sweet refrains...
For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains.
Adios AIT!!!