Gujaratism @ Newark Liberty Int'l Airport

It was 5:30 pm on a cloudy day of 5th Dec 2007 when I landed at EWR from Atlanta for my AI flight to Mumbai.
Filled with all exciting thoughts of meeting dear ones and few surprises, I wanted to pass this time asap. I just wanted to close my eyes n be there in arms of my parents & dear friend at Mumbai airport. Quite touched by the snow fall at Newark, I was in search of AI terminal. There was some chaos since the Delta flight from Atlanta was 1.5 hours late. Assistants were helping the passengers to find out the right way. I thought I can follow the signs and reach AI terminal, since it was mentioned to be the same terminal. I roamed for sometime, asked Security guard for the directions, they guided me for one floor down, but I was a bit reluctant to move forward and thought to reassure facts. Finally I took out the print copy of my reservation to find out the terminal and other details which very much matched where I was headed !!I stepped forward and saw directions for AI terminal pointing me to take escalator to one storey down & I took it, quite innocent to the fact that some mysterious moments are anxiously waiting for me to arrive :)


I reached the level floor, and was guided to the AI terminal, only 20 feet away but blocked by a wall. As soon as I cleared my vision, a whole new world arrived in front of me- A world full of Gujju people whether they be passengers, air crew, AI customer executives, ticketing officers, escorts, AI ground crew..all full of gujju people. I was amazed by this inflow of Gujjus in Newark, the capital of state of New Jersey & to add it, I hear this announcement about passenger needs to come to ticketing counter in Gujarati..I had a similar experience at US consulate in Mumbai when I went for my visa personal appearance, but never thought that this gujjus, sweet by nature will so gently and perfectly dissolve in an ever embracing culture of US. It was hard to determine who the native Americans are in NJ. I had to spend 2 hours there, and I was sure of this to be a different but unforgettable eve !!

I was in the queue waiting for my turn to come for ticketing and was exercising my neck 180 degrees around to get some glimpse of some gujju beauty, well I found one !!But once she started talking with her co passengers, I was taken aback !!
It was kinda being in some town in Saurashtra region of Gujarat !! I was watching many more families pouring in the Airport to depart for the homeland India, to b precise Gujarat !! The relatives & friends who came to drop were all over the place and bidding bye in native Gujju style. I eventually got to the Ticket counter wherein I was again startled when the cargo crew with no US like discipline talked to me in Gujarati !! I, then took my tickets and moved towards terminal, the security check in crew was all American, but the passengers were still Gujarati, and there started one more funny scene. The lady in front of me was not ready to remove the bangles and other ornaments when asked to pass through the metal detector, the security staff was shocked and upon insisting ,the lady argued that they are tight enough to be removed, the staff after enough discussion got frustrated and commented,' Ok mam, if this detector can allow u to go, we do not have any issues' , The lady was happy and tried moving in, & the metal detector started shouting and so the other fellow passengers. The climax came herein where the lady then removed all the ornaments with so ease and everyone including me could not control our laugh !!
I was so anxious to tell this to every friend of mine and I did the same when I reached terminal.I then had to stand in the queue to board the flight ,wherein I heard a shout of 'Hedo, hedo' from behind which pointed me to move on!! The on board crew announced the passenger with seats from 60 + numbers should proceed first along with the ones with kids. My seat # was 76 so I was ready to start, & the family behind me were the ones with kids & so they went before me, but to my surprise many other passenger with no kids also joined him as if it was a scene at a suburb of Mumbai metro. I eventually boarded the plane with all high hopes of having even more of a memorable time during the journey.
The AI flight could not take off owing to snowfall and everyone was getting frustrated !! But our Gujju families started eating the rice crackers (' Sev-Mamra') and passed it over my head to other family members seating behind me. I really could not believe that I was in this land of Liberty where the Gujjus are enjoying ultimate dominance whether it be business, profession or personal life !!
The flight landed in Paris and the french customs came to check for any unclaimed baggage. Since passengers were shuffled all over the flight to sit near by their loved members ( as always is the case with any train serving the western part of India) they found couple of such bags, One of them had a name written on it as 'Jaysukh Patel' & so did French authority announced. But they dint knew that the plane is bound to Ahmedabad, the capital city of Gujjus because they took that name as ' Mr. Patel'. At this one of the enthusiastic passenger commented that, 'Ahiyaan badha patel aj chey- Everyone here is Patel', All of the passengers laughed a lot at this. Another incidence which made this trip memorable was that no one ever followed the privacy for Air hostesses and in spite of those ladies puling the curtains every time, they went into their compartments. The passengers never tried to knock before entering it, forget about the continuous bells that they always rang !! Finally, when we landed Mumbai ,to my shock, the hostess told one of the passenger, when he commented that the service was very poor, not to ever board AI flight, since he just don't know how to behave!! I can neither forget the expressions on that hostess's face nor the hidden laughter on passenger's !!
I had all the glimpse of a typical gujju life and felt to be in India even before reaching the motherland
24 hours passed so fast..

Family Matters !!

Of course it does and more when you are not near !!
Can't think of surviving one day without talking to at least 1 of my dear ones..
Life's all about family, making relationships and maintaining them, I am very much a social being, may be unlike many others of my age in this part of the world.
I am away from my home, from my dear ones, the ones for whom I can die , for whom I cherish to be always near me but still I am not alone. I understood the importance of having people ( preferably good) around quite well at an early stage in my life and I' ve thereby made a bunch of friends everywhere I went. These friends have been my family away from my family and have supported me quite well and have made every moment enjoyable.

Initially, I needed them, I was dependent on them, I was like a new born baby who started growing and learning and now after being an integral part of them, I am kinda self dependent so as to make myself worthy for my family. Its a feeling of being a family head, who needs to be integral but at the same time be able to virtuous enough to support everyone else in the family. I like when my parents feel proud of me, I love when my relatives look upon me as someone to inspire from, I feel great when my friends feel to come to me to share their sorrows and happiness and I feel responsible when my siblings put trust in me for everything they own. It has been a remarkable journey till date on personal front, a loving wife, a caring family, an amazing friend cum bro and a bunch of excellent friends.. What else you can ask for !!

I now have goals to achieve for my family, to make them proud. I've something to aspire for outside the personal relations now, since the relations I have cultivated will always be there with me. I m sure of it..
Lets give this new change in me, this self realization , my best shot and rise high from this superb foundation, I've laid out for myself,

Lovez' life or vice versa?

Lovez life or Lifez love, well a question that I do not have any boolean answer to..
I rather now believe both are one and the same, unless I come across some1 who can change tihs perception of mine.
I believe, one cannot survive without loving, without sharing anything and everything he/ she owns. Everyone need someone to talk to, someone to listen to, someone to complaint to, and someone to complaint for..

A pair of eyes to watch you
while you find yourself;
A hand to tap the back,
whenever you succeed;
A pair of legs to follow,
on the path of good and God;
A chick to touch and pamper,
to show that you care for;
A lock of hair to curl,
to feel the warmth when you sleep;
A touch of lips on lips,
to say you can die for;
A forehead to kiss,
to wish good luck in all endeavors;
A shoulder to cry upon,
when eyes full of pearls;
A belly to touch and feel,
the life you gave within;
A hand to hold,
to share the journey of life;
A heart to pour out,
and sink every grief of yours
A mouth to say that,
I love you

Lovez really the life and lifez nothing without love...
So all you friends, Love and let love = Live and let live !!

Desirez Unlimited..

I have desires, they are strong
I kept them hidden for so long
I was frightened by the failures
and lived to fulfil dreams of others
Never thought of living up to my own
To get the glory and endorse the crown
I was shy, I was lame
I thought of showing myself to others as a shame
I realise now I realize it hard
This is my life, I shall play my card
Only when I play and win the toss
Will be worthy then to possess
Some may reap me benefits, some loss
The path but will surely take me to the moses.

Why?

Things happen and they happen for a reason. But I wonder why they happen at the first place, at least those things which I do not like.
Why I have to separate from my dear ones?
Why I have to listen to rubbish of my boss?
Why do I lose enthusiasm to do what I do not like to, and at the first place, why do I have to do things I do not like to..
I sometimes feel would I have done something differently which would have changed the course of things and would not have lead me to a point where I have to ask myself Why?
There are many things actually that I think I could have done or not done, but Did I knew their outcomes at that time ? No, in most cases No..So why am I irritating myself asking this question? I chose this path cos I wanted to be on this path, and now If there are some thorns on it, then I need to bear them and should be patience enough to reach the end of it. And which path would not have any thorns on it, none.. A ride will never be a smooth , there always will be some bumps and actually those bumps only will make the smooth part of ride worthy to be enjoyed.
So, here I console myself saying, Whatever happens, happen for a reason and whatever I chose to do, I should start it and work till I finish so as not to repent of not doing it at least.

Neophyte's Serendipity

The Alchemist introduced me to this phrase and I believe every bit of it.

If you are wondering what Neophyte's serendipity means - Beginner's luck.
Everything in life has a beginning and many things in life go unfinished as one can't be enthusiast till the end. But a good beginning always increases the chances of ending gracefully. And to get good beginning , one needs luck to favor him at least initially.
To cite few examples, lets start with the petite Gambling experience of mine in a casino at LV. I was hesitant to play, but wanted to try my luck, started playing and here I go. I bet for 1$ in a slot machine and in jsut 30 seconds, earned 12.5 $ and decided to quit just to make me feel that this really is what I have won. I really did, and all subsequent chances of mine resulted in loss and i eventually lost more than 25$.
Another example is of trading in Stocks, the scrips I took , gave me good returns in the beginning and to realize some early profits, I did book some profit, but then greed overtook me and I thought of waiting and see my profits grow and then at an appropriate time sell the lot.
It took me more than 3 years to get the initial profits again and I eventually sold it for lesser profit. But the early luck did put me in the game and I m still playing it ..
There can be many other examples to cite but the essence is play the game to win it ( or lose it and to decide that you are not meant for this game) and to get that early motive, the serendipty plays an important role.
Get into the game and you will surely see favor following you.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

When God made man, he always knew, that he will be alone without a companion
And then he made friend, n since then ,man is no more sad and is smiling always !!

Well, this text describes my definition and experience of what a Friend is all about
There is no concept of a good friend or a bad friend, Friends are only Good, better and best !! & for ppl like me ,its only best, Although I learnt this quite late after making differences between my friends owing to different characters I came across !!
Anyways, Lets begin
Since childhood was quite influenced by people around & thereby coming across so many of these homo sapiens in life, am touched in one way or another
Every person has his/her own distinguished qualities and leaves an aroma of friendship which lasts forever !!
Some made me feel gr8, some I felt were gr8ful after meeting me, some left an everlasting impression on my mind with their loving and caring nature and on someone's I left my thumbprints. Someone who are now so much into my life that I can never think of separating with, and someone I think can never separate from me.
All of these inspired me and taught me in someway or the other and the best thing I learnt is A Thumb Rule of friendship which is: 'Give without expectations' and the one who knows this can master his life
Well , like many others, I am good at giving, but when it comes to expecting, m an exception,my nature led me not to stop it which just asks for worries for myself and I started loosing my dear ones.
My darling friends who loved me for my kind and caring nature started ignoring me for my possessive and interfering nature. I became a burden to friendship and was started to be overlooked, That was one of the most testing times of my friendship and I learnt some hard lessons even harder way, I was just not ready to believe that I m wrong with my way of friendship, though eventually I did !!
Having learnt all those lessons,I am cautious enough not to enter into anyone's personal circle of life and also not to expect much from anyone in life not even from the life partner. Everyone has his/her own limitations and patience is the key factor in any relationship, If you can follow this too, you gonna live a healthy friendly life forever, I swear

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A Comma...Isn't that what you feel with your life sometimes !!
A comma signifies a temporary destination- n rest assured I m not going to be a philosopher here explaining you the meaning of life....but think twice before reading this any further...R u at this juncture of your life now? or you already bypassed it, If you did , then I must read your blogs..else you can mine

I am not going to show you the different ways of pushing oneself in this ocean of tides and ebbs so as to keep sailing in the ship of life, m just going to put forth few of my life's commas and how did I manage to overcome them, if not fully then at least to a second comma from the first- After all life isn't itself a big comma ?

well to begin with, I will take you to my college days where almost everyone fell in love, n so did my friend...oops I never said this to ny1 that she fell in love with me more because I treated it as a comma only..I never wanted to make it a full stop and so I never committed but that first personal comma of my life made me feel gr8, it invigorated that new feeling of love and once I tasted that sweet taste of it , I cud never stop myself to love someone. Isn't that all of u do too? well that is how I can survive and so do u !!

Well second comma of mine happened with my best friend, who's still my best friend - who says, love losts, it never, it only translates !!!
But that was another comma, teaching me how to fall in love and keep sailing even without making it yours, making some pain as a habit..Difficult, isn't it? , Yeah I know..u also have crossed one of those commas , then whats new in it !!
Well nothing new , its just a memory book which will take you to your own old days with pride of you surviving still !!

A third big comma of mine happened 3 years ago and I am still stuck at it. This is again love , not with someone else but my roomie, my dude..He is my bro, he is my strength when I am down....But m confused, should I treat it as a comma, or something else - a full stop !!
Wat answer you get when you have to chose between a comma and a full stop?
well I chose to make it a semicolon ;
Don't laugh..this isn't a joke, it is in fact true..sometimes this is very much required to keep moving !!

well, having faced 3 big commas of love, I now decided not to fell in its trap anymore & the moment I decided to do it, I found myself in a new comma of life in a foreign country with life defining an all new meaning of comma..The void of not having dear ones, the eagerness to meet them again, the strange behavior of new people around, it was all different but I was anxious to see beyond this, cos I knew it gonna be a temporary situation !! Time has come to cross this comma too, but this is not the end of it, there are many more to come, and there are many more lessons to learn !!

Enjoy till then while sailing