Is it easy to remember or hard to forget?

It's 4am and I am sitting idle wondering what should I blog about! I know it's rather a weird hour and time to think of something like a blog but then I strongly believe in the sentiments voiced out by my ideal in 'Jab We Met' - "Weird lag raha hai na...toh karna chahiye"...
Well while I was sitting on the couch and watching some random music channels, a thousand things were going on inside my head- old memories of friends, foes, strangers I had met, happy times n creepy times. It was amazing how even a simple cup of tea could bring back memories of old times. I was wondering if it was easy to remember things or was it  hard to forget them! Just penning downsome random thoughts ...

• Is it easy to remember the fairy tales and adventure stories that one used to hear from grandpas n grandmas as a kid or is it hard to forget those stories coz they are the best memories we have of our grand-parents?
• Is it easy to remember the first school we went to coz thr we met the 1st 'idiots' we called chaddi buddies or is it hard to forget that school coz most of the friends we met there are no longer the idiots we knew?
• Is it easy to remember the 1st time we flunked in a test and the scolding/slap we received for the "acheivement" from dad or is it hard to forget that failure coz now there's no1 to bother if you pass or fail in the everyday tests of your daily life?
• Is it easy to remember the first trophy we got for outstanding performance coz that reminds us of our excellence or is it hard to forget coz it's hard to imagine how a thing as simple as a 'trophy' could make us happy?
• Is it easy to remember the first love of our life coz that feeling still stirs strings of innocent n happy memories or is it hard to forget the first time we loved selflessly and got dumped?
• Is it easy to remember your first job coz you that was the 1st time you were excited about working or is it difficult to forget it coz it was also the last time you were excited about working?
• Is it easy to remember your first car/bike coz it symbolized your first possession from your hard-earned money or is it difficult to forget it coz you are still paying the installments of the EMI you took to buy that?
• Is it easy to remember the first time you got drunk coz it was the 1st time you didnt remember the "wild" fun you had after that or is it hard to forget the day that got you used to a drink that always made you forget the fun you had?
• Is it easy to remember the first time you were cried all alone coz you didn't know who else could act as the 'wall' or is it hard to forget that it was the time when you so desperately wanted to run away from the world and celebrate your failures by yourself?
• Is it easy to remember the things that made you happy in life coz that still brings a smile on your lips or is it just too hard to forget those moments as you can't have them back ever?

While I keep wondering you can go ahead and do some thinking yourself if any of the points above made any sense to you.. :)

Valentine's Day "BLAST"

It was just another beautiful Saturday evening when usually Koregaon Park, considered heart of the city, is abuzz with young chirping crowd of people. 13th of February meant that there were lots of couples out there at different restaurants, or taking a stroll down the lanes of Koregaon Park waiting for the clock to strike 12 so that they could make their love vows irrespective of the caste, creed, state, country or any other form of human drawn boundaries. Young guys and gals walking hand-in-hand, OSHO followers clad in their maroon gowns, some buying cakes at the bakery for the special occasion at night, others in groups of friends taking sips of their favourite evening tea and loads of other unknown people from different sections of society moved about carelessly on the streets unaware of the disaster which was about to strike. But at about 7:00 all this excitement, happiness and many lives were blown apart into pieces by a bomb planted in one of the popular hangout places in KP- “German Bakery”.


After scanning all the news channel for hours where people were busy discussing if its a bomb blast or just explosion of gas cylinders, I, along with my friend Rathi, decided to just take a walk down the lane which was known for its high-profile party atmosphere on weekends. The lane was all deserted today with a few people moving about and mostly on phones trying to assure people on the other end of the line that everything was "FINE". It seemed weird, and I kind of missed the happy-go-lucky faces on the lane....the faces which I did not know but which reflected that life was all about living for the moment!

The news channels and reports say that 9 people died and only about 40-50 injured in the blast. But if you look deeply, I would say that the entire Pune is injured irrespective of the fact if they are born in Pune or in Bihar or in Taiwan. Pardon me for saying Bihar exclusively but with all this North Indian drama going on in the background I wonder if the MNS or Shiv Sena would now go and say "Sorry" to the families of the so-called "Outsiders" in the city if they were injured in the blast inspite of the fact that they were not considered a part of the city? The injury may or may not be visible externally but what's injured in this blast is the heart and soul of the city. People would now be scared of even going out for a stroll. They would be scared of sitting at a place like 'German Bakery' and taking relaxed sips of their cup of tea/coffee with friends. On the personal front, I would miss 'German Bakery'...though I wasn’t a frequent visitor there yet the place was symbolic of the loads of memories I have had in this wonderful city of Pune as a student and of lately as a working professional. Had the Police been on their alert instead of guarding the cinema halls for Shiv Sena activists, perhaps this blast could have been avoided. Maybe the Shiv Sainiks can now proudly shout their victory slogans...afterall they stopped the anti-Indian from releasing his movie though they couldn’t stop a terrorist attack!

By afternoon of 14th, the site had become a place of outing. The street which was symbolic of life and fun on other days was full of media vans and police troops today. People thronged in huge numbers. All of them stood silent and watched. It was a strange feeling for me to stand there and watch the mayhem. There were people of all age groups standing there and watching the scene. I wondered what was it that they were watching. Were they feeling sorry for the ones who had been affected? Or were they moved by the inhuman incident that had the city grieving? Or were they merely mute spectators like me trying hard to actually believe that such a thing had happened?

As the time passes by, people would forget this blast, people would forget that there was a place called 'German Bakery', people would party in the same careless spirit(I wish that happens soon) afterall thats what we have learnt from 3 Idiots- "Aal Izz Well". But how good is that attitude? Is forgetting and moving on with life always a good option? Shouldn't we stop at some point and think about what happened, and why it happened and how could we stop that in future? Or we may just choose to let the things pass...we may just choose to let few or lot more such places and lives be blown apart....and just keep saying "Aal izz well"!!!