Walk in the park

With the festive season round the corner, it’s time to forget calories and to gorge in mouth-watering sumptuous delicacies which are totally irresistible. In the past month, I was virtually home all the time. And when at home, the two things I did the most were: grab some food after regular intervals and have a sweet nap. This agitated my mom to a great extent (apart from, obviously, my less devotion on studies), since they both lead to me getting fat....Ahem....healthy I should say. My mom feels, one should be always be fit, keep a control on diet, eat health food, and a thousand other correct things. (Why are moms always right, I hate that). After all her persistent poking, one evening I finally entered the park after a very long time.

It was really tiring and boring the first day, but as the days went by I really started enjoying there. (This is also when I thought of writing this article) Just the sight of people walking vigorously injected further enthusiasm in me also to walk. I met many people there, some known faces and the rest the unknown. I considered them either the demoralizers or the hindrances. Demoralizers because they'll come up to me and say "Arre Kunal, What is the need for you to walk? You are fine enough". This brings down my 'injected enthusiasm' and encourages me to 'not-to-walk'. Hindrances because first they'll stop me, ask some questions even they aren't interested in listening, remind me of those thousand correct things that my mom also tells and then, finally, ask me to carry on after I have lost my continuity.



Well, all this happened for first 2-3 days of my walk and the demoralizers and the hindrances reduced to nil after that. Now I started realising the beauty of the park. By the word I not only mean that small plants, seedlings and the flowers. The beauty of the park comes from the chanting of small children, laughing of a group of senior citizens, shouts of boys and ringing of bells, which I dunno where it comes from (probably the ice-cream vendor).

While taking a round in the park, one can witness all the stages of life. Right from the young buds riding there first tri-cycles which their mother cautiously keeping an eye on them to the large group of senior citizens laughing in chorus as if mimicking Navjot Sidhu. For me two things are most fascinating. One is a group of 10-12 kids of the age group 5-6 years learning karate. They all might not be perfect in their karate actions but their unusual Chinese sounds like 'haiya', 'khya', and many others which I am not able to spell are always in sync. The other is the group of kids playing all sorts of games. This reminds me of my past and the days I used to play outdoors throughout the day. These kids, as thought following a certain legacy left by us, would play a different game after every 10-15 days and would fight on a very petty issue, remembering which leaves a priceless smile on my face.

There are many other people walking, some, probably, after a scolding from their moms too. Not to also forget the most peculiar ones either in the manner of walk or the sound that they make while walking. They are the ones who either copy the comedians or are the perfect material to be copied by the comedians. This is my story of 'Walk in the park' and probably for someone I am just another person (or a 'strange' person) in the park walking.....

Legacy lives on....

Even as the whole world mourns the sudden death of "Peter Pan of Pop music", it is still really hard for me to digest the fact that he is no more present with us.....Only physically, I mean, because he is simply immortal and his music will stay with us . Initialy, when the shocking news broke up, I thought it was just another rumour which would soon fade away like the previous ones. The singer taught people to dance (specially the moonwalk) and spawned millions of lookalikes the number of which will keep on increasing with each passing day. Everyone, at some point in their life, desired to dance like him....Atleast I did, and that too for a long part of my childhood.

He started his career at the age of 10 with his brothers in 'Jacksons 5'. His career then just took off to achieve unachievable heights. Since then he spent 40 glorious years in the eyes of legions of fans, he loved.

Originally 'non-white' by birth, Jacko was the one to intoduce a music video after separating from his brothers. He had a very big round nose which earned him the title of "big nose". On getting irrritated by this, he went through his first plastic surgery at the age of 26 and the second at 27 which included the make-over of his eye-brows also. The story of plastic surgery the carried on and on and the number went upto 13.

The 'King of Pop' in late 1980s and early 1990s was responsible for tracks like 'I want tou back' (1969), 'I'll be there', 'Dont stop', 'Bad', 'Thriller', 'Billie Jaen', 'Dangerous', 'Black and White', 'You are not alone', 'Heal the world' and many many more. Of these, 'Bad' and 'Black and White' are my personal favorites. (was tough for me to choose this one though) . The reason being, they were very popular when I was about 4-5yrs. Being the pop star that he is, his versatility can be seen from tracks like 'You are not alone' and 'Heal the world'. (these two really touch my heart to the core). He hit his peak with the release of "Thriller" (obviously I wasnt there to witness it, but heard a lot about it from my father) which recieved many accolades in the US and sold about a whopping 750 million albums around the world!!!!Phew.....

Later in his career, he witnessed a bizarre disintegration. He was being called a gay, rumours of him having transformed his sex, blah, blah, blah....I never believed in any, it was all due to his failed plastic surgery and some small small problems. His darkest moment undoubtedly came in 2003 when he was indicted for child molesting charges. But thank God he was acquintted of all such charges.

Now, at the age of 50, after having gone through all the phases of his life The King of Pop was heading towards a comeback. He was giving it all he had for 50 shows for the O2 concert at London!!!! 50 shows at the age of 50!!!! It is really hard for any 50yr old person to be "The electrifying Michael Jackson" even if he is Micheal jackson!! One can now wonder, how much effort was been put in by the star. He had been rehearsing day in and day out and came across many injuries. He had broken a vertebra and had broken a leg from a fall on the stage. Thus he took some painkillers but still he never gave up.

All said and done, but Jacko......U'l never ever go away from my heart. I had always heard "Life is short" but I feel......MJ, you have gone too soon!!! I feel, artists like him come into your life, leave an impact in your life and then never go away. MJ was like one of them for me....No performer can EVER match upto Jackson. I just pray now that may he rest in peace... (he'll finally find peace that had always eluded him)....

Michael Jackson (1958-forever)

MONSTER MACHINE

Our roads will never be the same anymore. We'll witness flashes zooming left and right. These flashes will be unstoppable and absolutely uncatchable. Stand up and welcome an imposing legend in the biking world - Suzuki Hayabusa 1300......But before I start....Gimme room, lemme accelerate and VROOM!!
I play with the tornados, race against the typhoons and challenge the forces of twisters while leaving behind that fierce hurricane. All this when I am on the MONSTER MACHINE - Suzuki Hayabusa.......(Also in my wonderland......dreams, that is)


For people who know Hayabusa because of 'Dhoom' or probably John Abraham, I must tell you, it is a lean and a mean machine since the moment it was born. The thump of the 1300 cc engine that you will feel between your legs the moment you mount the bike is simply amazing. And as you rev up the engine further, you'll hear the scream from your throat in sheer disbelief at the way this beauty blazes away. Have you ever tried to stick out your head out of the car's sunroof when it is at the speed of about 180km/sec???? This amount of force I am talking about when I say - Suzuki Hayabusa.
Indians got the first glimse of 'The Monster' in the Auto-expo in Jan 2004. I was really thrilled and fascinated on seeing it right in front of my eyes. I went directly into my wonderland (my dreams) and had desperation to have one of my own. Its air breaking aerodynamic designs had the perfect killing looks a biker can ever desire for.
Now that you have read this and are somewhat familiar with Hayabusa, (because of me also, apart from 'Dhoom' and John), you all can also have a bigger laugh than I have, the next time you watch a mere 'Maruti Gypse' chasing a Hayabusa in 'Dhoom'. Also now, we've got to raise the standards of our roads to accommodate 'The Beast'.....