The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken

-by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Rollercoaster

A year into Vanika-Ville ..I've been wanting to write a blog embedded with pics for quite some time now..took an oath to put a whole travelogue post the Goa trip but laziness takes over most of the times... for now we have another one...

This one was not a smooth take off.....naah !!! As the plane steered high into the sky, the turbulence increased....though this wasn't really my first encounter with turbulence..this one was teeny-weeny...(experienced the real one on an international flight & for me the whole Final Destination franchise came alive.. )  ....it did trigger a recall..I called in to the fun times....my journey through rollercoasters...!!!

I had been away from rollercoasters for quite a long time after the Essel World tour..
Years later comes this trip to Las Vegas..the Sin City...it is famous for casinos, nightlife, gambling..& rollercoasters would be the last thing on your cards..still remember the  road trip, the outskirts taking u to the city, the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" billboards...this city stumps u ..I was still cherishing the looks of Mandalay Bay, Eldorado, MGM when we happened to drive by New York-New York & all my fellow riders were frenzied by the huge rollercoaster....( I was caught off -guard...we r not getting on rollercoasters not in Vegas....!!! these rides are reserved for trips to Six Flags, California Adventrues & Disney isn't it.....)Thankfully, they decided to check-in to the hotel first & take a tour of Strip & reserve the rollercoaster ride for the next day.. !!

Vegas is a city you explore in the night..we roamed on the Strip .. went crazy abt the city...retired at 4 am & were up at 12 PM the next day..(Vegas does this to u ) We had our brunch at a place right opposite to New York-New York :-)
I was right opposite to this giant mammoth watching it for a good 45 minutes..ppl screaming, the cart tossing them up in the air, the rumble of the cart wheel against the rails..I had butterflies in stomach...what scared me most abt this ride were the two inversions...two vertical loops where u r upside down...I decided not to think too much abt it & geared up

The tickets were purchased, there was huge queue as ppl thronged to  get on the this adventure..I made a new discovery...before the inversions, the first thing happening to u is a long vertical fall...there went up a ramp as high as I cd see.. followed up by a sudden fall to the bottom most point...

After watchin' ppl get in & out of the cart, our turn came too...we were six ppl..or one cart full load..(since there was only one cart on the rails tht day, it was just us..it was comforting ;-) )
The cart kicked off..it takes u through a dark chamber & launches u on the tracks..then the ascend begins..this one as expected was never ending..I cd see rooftops of most of the surrounding buildings .. the ascend would still not end...soon it was only sky..we came to the end of the ascend...the cart came to a jerky halt for a couple of seconds & there we were thrown down.....can't describe the feeling....I was off my seat already.. thinking this is my last ride ever..before I could feel the seat again...we were swirling, wobbling , the two inversions were taken too ...I kept screaming throughout(which if u ask me, is the best trick to enjoy these mammoths...ur attention diverts away from the pounding heart, the gushing blood, the dry throat & that's wen u get to the thrill)
The interesting part of all such rides is they always click a picture of the riders on the highest/scariest point & u see ur pics flashing everywhere as soon as u alight from the cart.

After this ride, I came out a confident person..I think it's just a matter of breaking the barrier by taking the first flight.. :)

Next in line was Stratosphere...the tallest structure in Vegas..other than the breathtaking view of the city, it also had to offer the most insane rides.
The  elevator takes you to the higest point in seconds ..the twist is the door always opens at your back..It's a crazy feeling..while u are waiting for the elevator door in front of you to open..suddenly the enclosing behind your back pops open.. :-)



These are the rides atop the tower

Due to strong winds, Skyjump & Insanity were closed.
Big Shot is free fall & X-Scream has a trackway which pivots in a see-saw fashion past the edge of the building.
While few ppl jumped on, two of us decided to stay back & reserved double shot for the Disney leg.

Then came the much awaited trip to LA, after an amazing run at Universal : Jurassic Park, the Mummy followed by the Disney tour, "California Adventures" was on the cards more for the variety of rides it had to offer & I was game to explore them all ...(yes it's just the first fall that matters)

Grizzly River Run & Double Shot were soon conquered over, we went on to California Screamin' too...

The most exciting one .."The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror"..the theme is a haunted hotel, the elevator being the prime feature..

You r taken to the old library where an old TV set shows u flashes of past...how ppl never survived this haunted place.. then u proceed to the creepy boiler room & step in front of the elevator

The elevator door opens, u  take ur seats... what happens next is best described below(not in my words this time) :

The elevator rises for a few seconds before coming to its first stop.

The doors open to reveal a long, dimly-lit hotel corridor, with overgrown plants and doors to guest rooms running the lengths, and unread newspapers and trays laid out in front of them, with a single window at the opposite end of the corridor. A violent thunderstorm is raging and lightning flashes outside the window. Ghostly images of the five doomed guests from 1939 appear for a moment, turning to the elevator and luring the guests to join them. They then vanish in a burst of electricity.
The elevator doors close and the car continues its ascent. The voice over continues, saying
"One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the door of an elevator and into a nightmare. That door is opening once again, and this time, it's opening for you." The elevator stops once more. The doors open to what at first looks like a maintenance room, but slowly transforms into an endless field of stars.<Then pops up a mirror where u see urself with all fellow riders....all faces are shown melting away giving u a slight idea of what the ride has in store>

And then ur dropped....this is one hell of a fall must say...it raises u off ur seats..and then there are two more falls .... while u reach the highest point before benig dropped, the elevator doors open & there u have the view of the park from the highest point..tht's wen the cameras flash too....:-)

I loved this one.. took it twice on the same day only to come back cpl of months later to relive the thrill.

And then the most amazing of them all ...Soarin' over California which is a simulator, takes you on a virtual tour of the Golden State, California..right from Tahoe, Napa, SFO to Redwood Creek, Monterey, Yosemite , San Diego to LA ending at Disneyland....everything including the aroma changes with the places..one needs to ride it to experience it...for me it was Serene, calm..it was like achieving "Inner Peace"

Shakespearia...

Pulled back to school days yet again...driving factor..."Sonnets"

English Literature was my favorite subject...I remember the last week of June aimed at being "School-Ready" ...books were purchased, scanned through...(it was like diving into the bad times which were nearing..)...the only book I was interested in was "English Reader"
I would start at the index, flip pages & in no time get deeply engrossed ...for me it was the most attractive thing..it was plethoric, had so much to offer..from Arabian Nights to Fairy Tales...from Sindabad & Aladdin to Cinderella & Rum-Pel-Stilt-Skin...Poetry & Prose, Grammar & Diction..Subtle to Surfeit....I found my niche in it !!

Years passed by & the content upgraded...from a single reader to 3 books & a novel we had verbiage at our disposal....grammar was an integral part & we had some real technical stuff like "Parsing"(hate using the word technical here...but my diction has been long lost ) ....
This reminds me of a poem which I love....was amazed to find it on Google:

  "Loveliest of Trees"

 LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry now
 Is hung with bloom along the bough,
 And stands about the woodland ride
 Wearing white for Eastertide.

 Now, of my threescore years and ten,
 Twenty will not come again,
 And take from seventy springs a score,
 It only leaves me fifty more.

 And since to look at things in bloom
 Fifty springs are little room,
 About the woodlands I will go
 To see the cherry hung with snow.

"threescore & ten" is a phrase which is glued to my head since the day I read this poem...score being a 20 ...the poet talks of a span of 70 years( now tht's math made interesting)

Unfortunately with years...the preference changed too....
The pipe-dream of being an English teacher was trounced by the charisma of the technologist...materialism trimphed over subtlety... and there I was...lost in translation..

Flipping to today..came across one of Shakespeare's sonnets..which reminded me of one I read in school.....which also brings an end to this long "summery" reminiscence:

 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
 Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
 Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
 And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
 Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
 And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
 And every fair from fair sometime declines,
 By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;
 But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
 Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
 Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
 When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
  So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
  So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

...(null...)...Random...))

Random thoughts going through my head right now...& I am determined to write ..it's been quite long & I hate taking a long break from Vanika-Ville...

With Violet Hill ~ Coldplay playing in the background I decided it's time to put these random pieces to place..be it to satisfy my writer's ego of not being able to come up with something worthy or the observant in me who wasn't able to focus.

It's one of those days in office when you are on the spot -AGAIN !!
Honestly, I am sick & tired of these lone shows...hate it when people simply escape leaving u behind to run a show full of shit...this workflow(job) has been fixed & executed endlessly for past 3 working days & it just fails to give-up ..& so do I !!!
The worst part is to sit & monitor it when you know it's gonna run for a good 30 minutes before failing with another random reason...all you could do meanwhile is get to social media, refresh it..only to logoff after a while..then there are random emails floating in you mailbox...some mail chain which has been running for past 15 days only to pull u in loop for last day...u think of taking a break but such workflows have a knack of failing as soon as u get up for that break...!!

And then Adele plays on the list :
        There's a fire starting in my head,
        Reaching a fever-pitch & it's bringing me out the dark..

For past few weeks I am stuck on a song .. Apologize ~ One Republic...have played it endlessly for days..

And then my thoughts wander through the weekend...the Friday nite @SPOIL , Unplug with KK ...I want to run back to the weekend & play it on an infinite loop.. :-)

And yeah the workflow Stopped & Restarted.....(ppl here are calling out in unison that it is amucked....)

                                            I need a break..  :-)

Child's Play

Saw this kid in the basement of a newly constructed building today...standing on the ramp..making weird faces...dressed in a bright green floral frock...!!
She was all by herself..& needed no one for company...she would chuckle, howl, smile..walk barefeet in the sun & back to shade..caught hold of a dried thin bark of a tree..swept & mopped the floor..hit everything around with it when she saw a cement bag placed near te grilled gate..that turned into her sofa..she would gingerly perch on it..get up ..try to balance her feet b/w the grills & get back to the sofa...wd steal an ocassional glance at me & get back to her gig.

I watched her for a good 10 mins & it made me think....
"Life can be fun with the simplest of things around..all you've got to do is start enjoying it !!"

Party Rockers !!

Apr 3rd 2012: Went to an official gathering again...
Venue: Aros Lounge & Bar , Hitex

It was one of those partner visits I've got used to by now..but this time the invite & venue both looked interesting..initially I wanted to laugh it off wen thy said .."Join the dance floor with ..........."
We aren't gonna dance with them are we??

Reach the venue & there's this usual MO(modus operandi) meet, greet, network..so u know thr'll b a monotone to everything u do ....& then u remember the only motivation u had over the last dinner was company of few ppl..(the remote stooges now) but this gathering was a li'l different considering the fact that the ppl were large in number, u weren't pushed for n/w-ing & u din't hav to go into hiding... ;-)
Soon the dance floor was opened & we also had to get into some gig for some time...
Well all in all it wasn't that boring...it was good ..

But dance floors work best wen u hit them with friends..say informal gatherings & so far I've had the best time wen it wasn't too planned..u just get up one fine day & gear up to go to 10D or B&C or HRC..
10D started on a not so grt note..with less space n random songs but then we decided to njoy it our way...we sang every song & danced on it too till the time the dance floor was opened & then there was no looking back....
Then there was this random visit to HRC on two sunday evenings(with 2 different set of friends) which turned out awesome
Last grt gathering has been R & C's farewell night at B&C ..we had almost cancelled the plan wen R just takes a firm stand (which was pretty strange for all of us) & pushes everyone out of ofc...we danced till we dropped ...also identifed some out of the ordinary character which looked straight out of the Harry Potter movie & we had lot of fun taking digs at the pathetic DJ & coining new steps(learning few new looking at the AV)...this was followed by a quick trip to Ohri's & the after party continued till 2:30...new friends were made & the party ended on a high note..with 3 of us posing on the road divider ..!!!

And now, I'm looking forward to the next one... !!

Lone MovieBuff

"Movies to har koi dekhta hai..lekin movie dekh kar yaad rakhne wale ko Movie Buff kehte hain.."

A blog on movies should & must take off with a dhamakedaar dialog isn't it ??

Well I am this movie buff who not only remembers bits from blockbusters but from those odd, flop, forgettable ones too...& tht's the quality only true movie buffs have..although most of my friends get taxed by the endless jargons(read: movie bits, dialogs, actors) I hurl at them, but in the same group I have also found some true soulmates..there's this niche group of people who are as crazy as me ( some even more knowledgeable than me..I'm trying hard to cope up with them)
Yeah niche group is a term I learnt from Shekhar babu.. (as we fondly call him)...I can't forget the endless discussions on Kaka's step , Mithun Da's disco moves..(not to forget the engine step), Rajkumar, Rajnikanth, Vishwatma or Tridev..any movie...u name it ...he knows it...wat a camaraderie !!

Not to forget..moviebuffs watch as many movies as they can lay thr hands on...I went a step ahead & even watched movies alone...yeah alone..all by myself..
Initially the very thought of being a lone moviegoer din't make any sense to me..I mean how could someone do it?? There were numerous times when I bent myself to give up watching a movie in theatre for lack of better or no company & wait for it to be aired on TV or catch hold of the pirated version..

Then came the twist..."The A-team"..tickets were booked we were on our way wen Chin gets this urgent call from office...he rushes to ofc & I make the tough choice.."Let me watch it...let's see how it feels"
First part is easy..collecting tickets & entering the audi...if movie starts on time ..u are good...I enjoyed this movie thoroughly...action-packed, good humor, some no brainer action thrills...it was a nice ride except the interval & few odd glances ..no big deal..eventually u get used to it ...

"Who says u can't watch a movie alone...?? While u watch a movie u r alone after all.. it's just the screen & u .."

I was thrilled...this gave me enough boost to watch "Band, Baaja, Baraat" on a lazy Sunday afternoon (Chin was out of town this time) & then almost a year later it was "The Artist"...(no one was interested to sit through an oscar-winning, B&W, silent movie) but I was determined...I had to watch it....so I did !!!

Trust me this movie is totally worth a shot.. I can pen paragraphs to praise the movie, the director, the
lead actors ..everything...!!! There isn't a single moment in the movie where you feel it is silent..Jean Dujardin speaks through his eyes & smile..the most amazing smile I've seen in years..u are instantly connected to him...!!

And now ..reading through the lines here, I feel the title is a paradox...if u are a movie buff...u'll be anything but a loner... :-)