Only once in your life,
I truly believe,
you find someone who can completely turn your world around.
You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more.
You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you.
When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement.
Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful.
You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.
-Bob Marley
(Tonight, the words sound so right! Thanks to Americanising Desi for introducing me to these!)
“A tale of love, living, colors, friendship, survival told by death. A tale of words, stories and their power. A tale of a thief-a book thief. ”
That’s how I would surmise if you ask me what the Book thief is all about! I’m not reviewing it, particularly not in a manner which is conventional. But I’m mesmerized by the book. Completely!
But I’d like to tell you that it’s a must have. Written by Markus Zusak, I think it’s the best I have read after Manto’s Black Margins. The settings are of Nazi Germany and the story begins with the Liesel Merminger, a little girl being sent to foster parents.
She adapts to her new home, her new parents, the foul mouthed Rosa Hubermann, Liesel’s adoptive mother and Hans, her new father. To me, the three come together as a family never separated. Liesel journey continues with her nightmares, her bed wetting, the football with Rudy (her best friend) and a little stealing.
In a way, Liesel’s love of books can’t be described, it’s not because she knows how to spell the words or know them at all but because she picks up her first book from the grave of her dead brother. There is a bit of suspense until you discover that a Jew called Max Vandenburg visits their home for shelter in lieu of a promise made by Hans Hubermann during First World War. The family hides him.
The Second World War has already begun and gets closer to them and so does death, where Liesel miraculously escapes. I prefer not to reveal the end, for it’s much more than a simple escape from death for Liesel and for death.
The narrative is strong and grabs your attention. The first half may be a little slow but the peels reveal off just at the right time. I think it’s a book to be enjoyed, a book to be loved, and a book with some lovely insights, some thoughts that can’t just cross your mind until you read it. Its in all a new perspective.
“Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like rain.-the book thief”
(*Facebook)
Priyanka ‘Dil ne kaisi harkat ki hai!!’
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You like this.)
Neha Chandok at 6:10am July 11
dil ne kesi harkat ki he, kya dil ne mohabbat ki he…
nazar aata chaand mein uska chehra, khuda ne yeh kya qyamat ki hei..
Priyanka at 6:12am July 11
lagta hai aap bhi is bimari ki mureed hain,tabhi aap bhi shayari kar rahi hain.. 
Neha Chandok at 6:14am July 11
mureed nai priyanka hum is bimaari k karan ‘murde’ hone wale hein…
Priyanka at 6:18am July 11
hehhehehhe…Way to go 
Neha Chandok at 6:22am July 11
****
(Background-I went to meet M after a gap of two-three months. She has lost a lot of extra baggage in one year and plans to continue with it…)
M-You have lost weight again…you look thin, not like how you were after returning from Delhi!
Me-hmm, okay. Thanks!
M-Have I gone fat?
Me-Is that relative?
M-No, but I feel its proportional in a way. Least, by appearance.
****
There are no rains and the wait seems to get longer. The screams just escape now, into the dry air and autumn seems far away. Dreams, were they? Where in a land, it rained without a reason? Without a question?
I miss my coffee, books along with it. I miss the cocoon which I’d around me which made me feel safe. I miss the comfort of a knitted quilt and the white noise of the loud blaring TV even when none was giving it an ear. One can just talk to it endlessly. I miss the window from where I saw the world, outside, the rains, the storms, the hills and its natives.
I miss the warm hugs, the concerned scolds, the tantrums I threw, the look that I got for missing food, I miss the nights when I slept and slept without a worry.
I miss-Me. I miss-Life… I miss life in me or maybe I miss me in life…
By now, I’m very sure that I’ve built all the suspense a good (read better) writer needs in order to be successful. So, cutting the long story short, we shifted back to Bangla Sahib, lived there for two days, continued with our PG hunts and finally got one in Moti Nagar.
Now, this family consisted of a husband, his wife and their son. The room was fine, the loo we had to share, food was good, the metro station was a few minutes away and me and A was happy yappy and all excited to see the office life…
I was interning with GH, an ‘I*dia T*day’ publication and my office was at Jhandewalan-yes, the Videocon towers. Now, that’s not important, inne? But yes, wherever you are in the world, there are things which would make you feel like you are at your home town only. Like the taxi drivers, who would always whistle, smile and giggle, turn the music loud, or honk at you if you pass such a place. Moving on, the building was definitely impressive and as soon as I entered I started spotting news readers and faces which by that time I’d only seen on TV.
Soon I got introduced to the lovely receptionist was given a station to work at, having been introduced to the assistant Ed*t*r.
Now, I can’t really account for the whole month and you’d really not like to know about the work part. But I’d like to let you know that the same floor also housed offices of I*dia T*day’s other publications like Cosmop*litan, Harp*r’s Bazaar etc. And here is what all I remember of it
So, Delhi aka dilli in all was a fun, lively time I had. We stayed the last two days at the savior’s home, his wife is an amazing cook… saw movies like Dev D, Katha, had fun, had prawns, had fun, had chats, had fun and returned back…with loadsa memories…
Yeh dilli he meri jaan…
So, fellas me and A after having lovely kebabs, amazing chicken and rice at Colonel Kebabs, saying good byes to the savior and his lovely wife get back to the PG. We had already met 2-3 girls who were living on the same floor and we really didn’t like any of them.
It was around 9.30 and we enter the room only to find that the bedding promised to us hasn’t been provided and instead of two beds there was only one single bed left. As expected, we moved downstairs and to talk to the land lady.
I can’t really tell you how many times we rang the damn bell, how many times we knocked the door, rather in the end we had actually started kicking the door (which was only hurting us ) but no one opened the door. Now, we would have managed on one bed, but we could in no case sleep on a plank of wood without any cushioning. So, me and A spent 2 hours knocking and banging the doors, planning and thinking what should we do, hoping and praying that least someone would help us but only to the extent of futility. Thankfully, there was a small swing there, where we sat.
By now, it was 11.30 and someone in the adjacent building was playing loud music which at that stressful, point of time helped us relax a little bit. We both had a few suggestions like
*sitting there through the night
*sitting on the plank bed through the night
*going out to the market and booking a room in some hotel
*call savior and tell them about the situation
*freak out and call anyone and everyone in Delhi to help us out
I was more bent on the first one and her on the third. We both out rightly rejected 2, 4 and 5 option. Now, at times like these sometimes you know what ‘Luck’ happens to be. A friend of A’s whose home was in south Patel Nagar calls up and gets a peek-a-boo into our situation. In half an hour he and his younger brother come and take us to their home. Aunti ji, a very lovely lady, welcomes us. Now, we finally knew where we were for the night and we laughed with misty eyes. We realized how small a help might be, how much it may mean to someone in need!
At 5’o clock next morning we were again out on the streets, trying to find a place to stay.
Next part would definitely see close of the room-hunt! Promise!
The five days were over…Sigh, they were. Thus, we needed to get out of Bangla Sahib and find where to stay for the rest of the month. Now, for your info C was interning in Chandigarh, which left me and A in Delhi to struggle and shuffle: P. Even though we had many contacts, and those many contacts (pun intended) were trying to find some place for us two, they couldn’t.
We ourselves had been to a few places. Now, me and A had our priorities straight-a good loo, a good enough, airy room with bedding, close to our workstations, close to metro, nominal rates and okay okay food or a dhaba nearby! Not too much to ask for, no? But Delhi Delhi Delhi… we searched it in and out, we couldn’t find one room which could give all this to us. Here is a list of what all we saw-
*A PG in Vasant Kunj- The room was okay. But it had a fridge, it had a fan and it had another entrance. It had those lovely lights. All what we didn’t need. The old lady smilingly told us that she would take only 18 K without any food and only 20K with breakfast. I, till date, don’t understand what kind of breakfast was she going to serve us with in those extra 2K-gold coins? We both were on the verge of collapsing after hearing the rent. As soon as we came out we laughed and laughed till our stomachs ached.
*We went to check out a PG in Lajpat Nagar. We were led in through very very steep stairs by an old man. And then we saw rooms and rooms and rooms on each side just like a chawl in Mumbai. The kitchen was super unclean, the loos-yucks, and had we stayed there we would have died of suffocation.
*Another one was where we thought the man was drunk and the lady of the house was just a little too scared! Of course, we wanted to enjoy and not get into troubles.
Now, originally the classmate P was supposed to stay with us. This entire PG search was going on during the first-five days for we were just trying a better option. P already had a place in mind which was the Sheesh Ganj Gurudwara at Chandni Chowk. When finally on the last day we surrendered our search for the PG, she told us that we had rooms booked. So, me and A just took our luggage and reached Sheesh Ganj. Now, readers, I give you a chance of your lifetime to laugh on me and A for there was nothing like that. The person in charge told us that a slip had to be signed and it was still in process.
Me, being the short-fused one had a good exchange of words that you wouldn’t like to know, with P on the phone. But the fact was that we still didn’t have a place to stay. Finally our savior- A’s dads friend entered (he had been the one suggesting PG’s etc) and we began our search again. By the end of the evening we were damn tired and we both felt that we should choose a place now, whatever and however bad it is.
Thus, finally, in Patel Nagar we saw a PG, actually a hostel which had 50 rooms, a stone eyed servant and a very sharp, clever and greedy sounding lady of the house and we made a call-We were staying there. It was almost dinner time and the locality having a lot of good restaurants, the savior decided to treat us and we tagged along for we also had to find ATM’s to pay the lady.
What happened next, gave me the shock of my life…So, next part I say… again!
*Delhi Diaries- the five heavenly days
So, the previous night we had set our alarm clocks at 6’O clock. Now, there was an important development the previous evening.
The coming of A-she had reached the place late in the evening and somehow knowing that she was a nice girl, I didn’t want to leave her alone in what I knew was turning out to be jungle. So, I proposed to her that she stays in our room which by now had four girls already. She was okay with the idea. So, that makes us five girls in one room. A, me, C and two whom I would not like to mention again but would have to.
So, I rubbed my eyes, got up, got ready as we were to visit…(before you all jump out of your seats and get super excited I warn you please stay calm or you might get a heart attack) the Parliament. Yes, our Parliament! So what if we were made to line in front of the Parliament gate like we were Nursery class kids, if we were not allowed to take any pics-outside or inside, if we were secluded from our mobile phones, if we were checked, double checked and triple checked, we were at India’s PARLIAMENT after all. Now, If I start describing you the marvel Parliament is, you would be freaking jealous and I won’t like that. But trust me, it was an amazing tour. We saw Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha, we visited the museum, we saw Nehru deliver the famous independence speech (okay, even if it was a wax statue), and we walked Dandi March with Gandhi etc etc. Yes, by this time we were damn tired and so we had lunch in the Parliament’s canteen and it was bloody cheap for people who earn a lot better than anyone in the whole damn country.
Anyways, the next five days, we loved it and loved it more. Though, problems in the room had started eating my peace. A, C and me were well off but putting the other two was a bad idea. How bad, I can’t even explain! So, we visited AIR, met RJ’s from Rainbow, PIB, PCI, India Today etc. We were traveling on our own. The good thing was we were staying at Bangla Sahib which was close to almost each place, we were just walking on foot and we took a bus only once when we had to go to CGO. Thus, we literally tasted ‘dilli ki dhool’.
It was real fun when we managed to reach India Gate, after loosing our way countless times and then when the three of us used to walk to CP every night to a dhaba whose rajma/kadi chawal, I still can’t forget. Bargaining in Janpath was real fun, and it turned out that A was the only one who knew how to do it and do it well…
next part, i say!
Now, to be precise, this one comes after 4 months of the actual happening of events. Time to feel blessed all of you out there who had been so keenly waiting for my ‘dilli’ experience…
Now, let me inform you- the ever inquisitive clan that I was in the ‘dil walon ki dilli’ for one month and a week. Now, the deal was that whole of the class was in Delhi for first five days for arranged visits and then thankfully we were to spread over in two cities-Chandigarh and Delhi-as per the choice and liberty of each individual and complete our internship. Coming to that, I wonder who was the first one to give the title (dil walon and that shit) and why? I never saw anyone wearing their heart(s) on their sleeve rather there was this woman officer at the metro station (which I was haunting everyday) who used to beat this beggar child so ruthlessly that I almost puked one day. Not even one passer by stopped, not even one person asked her to stop beating him and when I did I was given that F*** O** expression. But anyways, that all comes later…Why depress you in the beginning?
The first five days were heavenly minus a few classmates whom I can’t bear; a few times I felt people were acting over smart etc. No, I am not the all-loving soul at all and mind you the ‘etc’ is where the real stories are! Now, the morning which began it all was damn exciting. Now, imagine a date as early as 4’O clock in the morning, the half sleepy blessed state and you are walking out with your rucksack, laptop etc.
Now, come on I’m not scooping the secrets of early morning dating here (those really interested, take appointment :\). Ok, so where was I? Yes, he leaves me at the railway station around 7’o clock, where I meet a friend-C and few others. As expected the train is late but as not expected it is late only by some 20 minutes.
Now, the journey is not really much to tell you about, I was a li’l tired and thus, half of the time I was trying to sleep and the other half abusing the other group who was making a lot of noise. I don’t really understand why people have to bother others in order to enjoy themselves?!
Anyways, forgetting and forgiving them, we reached New Delhi station where finally something funny happened. A classmate of mine, P, was carrying luggage more than she could have really carried. Thus, two of the boys helped her out till we got a taxi. I really had a good time enjoying the heavy duty scene. Our destination was Bangla Sahib Gurudwara where we had booked rooms for first five days and we got a cab sooner-than-expected again at nominal rates.
Life started sucking as soon as we reached there and I realized I’d left my shawl with him and I had literally nothing to cover my head. Now, being an atheist that isn’t a problem to me, why would God favor those with a covered head more than those with an uncovered one? Such prejudices belong to human clan alone! But there are people whom it bothers, so one classmate was good enough to lend me his handkerchief. Thus, after settling the finances, we finally moved to our rooms which were again-unexpectedly clean, neat, good loos and nice beds, in short, whatever I needed to spend five days with a peac-ed and not pissed mind.
There were a lot of discussions over who was staying with whom and finally, I, C and someone who was desperate (read in caps) to stay in our room, managed to secure one room for ourselves. By evening, I found myself mighty Pissed again for repeated reasons like ‘over-smart classmates’.
Finally, the night came and tomorrow was going to be an excited day.
And you would have to wait for the next part….
