Sunday, July 29, 2007

Come away with me...

From the time that laptops came into the market, I’ve thought about owning one and keeping it handy for all the times that I traveled and wanted to write my thoughts down… for years, I’ve been imagining myself on a train (anywhere – long distance train journeys are almost identical everywhere!), looking out the window, taking in the landscape, and having at the same time a means to capture it forever… And today my dream’s come true… at this particular moment, I’m sitting on an Amtrak, headed on a south-bound journey across the East coast… and I have my laptop on my lap (!) to accompany me - finally.

But you know what I am realizing now? I’m actually spending more time looking down at my monitor than out of the window! So I’m missing the very moments which prompted me to want a laptop handy in the first place! Oh well, you know what they say - “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it”!

But I’ve got a lot of catching up to do on Blogger so I’m going to take some time out to tear my eyes away from the window and live my little dream :)

Recently, Nithya 'gave' me the “Thinking Blogger” award and she wrote something very nice about my blog, which surprised and pleased me! And according to my new philosophy (which I started following at 7:00 AM this morning), I’ve decided to love myself enough to celebrate the little things in life, so cheers to this thought and this small yet significant achievement!

I’ve also got a lot of other thank yous to say because Zee tagged me… she’s got the devil in her for sure, for putting us all “ees” in this predicament!

But now since I have the time, let me start with first saying thanks to the people who thought of putting sockets next to the seats on this train so that there’s no danger of my laptop running out of battery while I ramble on...

[Oh, just looked out the window - the fog has cleared and New England can now probably be described as a painter’s delight!]

And thanks to -

All the books, novels, travel channels and magazines for giving me the opportunity to experience the world sitting in my living room…

K sir, my 8th standard class teacher, who showed me that joking and having fun doesn’t necessarily mean you lose the respect of the other person…

H, for being my closest friend for the past 15 years and for making “distance” the least of the problems in sustaining a friendship…

R, for being thoughtful and taking the time to send me snail mail and real gifts in parcels across continents, in times when we all usually make-do with e-cards…

[Btw, have you guys heard John Legend? He’s got a voice like rich melting chocolate, which makes you feel warm and light-headed! I’m listening to his song “Ordinary people” right now… Maybe I should thank him too!]

K, for being like a sister I never wanted, but am eternally grateful to have!

C, for not leaving me alone on those nights when I was upset and cried buckets!

My bro, for being very stringent with his appreciation, so that when he nods his head in approval, you know there’s truth in it…

[I’m thanking more than 8 people/things, if that’s ok with you all! I think I'm on a roll here!]

S, for teaching me that first impressions can be totally misleading!

Pink Floyd, INXS, Nickelback, Jagjit Singh Kabir, U2 and many more, for creating lyrics that can move mountains!

Sudhamadhav, my 7th standard classmate, for drawing a pencil line in the middle of the desk we (forcefully) shared and never allowing either of us to break that boundary, not even with a stray eraser or scale! And thus, I knew the exact description of men-to-be-avoided-like-the-plague. Forever.

[Oh, I know whats missing in this landscape outside - there are no cattle grazing in open fields!]

To ‘Annual Sales’ that make frightfully expensive out-of-reach stuff affordable! (I recently bought a pair of flip-flops from a very elite brand, which originally cost $30, for $3.44! I don’t know who’d buy a pair of chappals for 30 dollars anyways!)

[You know you’re approaching New York when the afore-mentioned scenery changes to high metal cranes, unfinished construction sites, blue orange and grey coloured buildings, dirty abandoned plots of land and walls covered with graffiti. Oh, and of course the downtown Manhattan skyline.]

Our helper at home, who knows how to make a perfect cup of challu chai. And who has cared for our family for more than 25 years.

[As my journey comes to an end, I should finish this post and start gathering my stuff up]


And I want to thank my Mom and Dad, but I think this space is not enough to write down the many many reasons I’m grateful to them…

True to my nature, I’m not going to pass on this tag to anyone, just like I don’t usually forward chain letters. Sorry about that.
[FYI, ofcourse the world is not totally high-tech yet and so they still don't have wireless on trains... hmpf... so much for "real time".. so obviously, I'm actually posting this hrs after writing it down]

40 comments:

APOO said...

What?! I am disappointed!!

I thought you would look into the future and mention a "Thanks to Apoorva for being the first one to comment on this post!" :P

I always thought the movies or books had scenes of people traveling in a train by the countryside and penning down their thoughts! But this one is for real. Wow!

Funny, the first thing that came to mind as I read you are blogging from Amtrak, was, (a) Which laptop does she have? Good battery life! (b) Amtrak has internet connection? Wow!
However, you answered these later. :)

Unknown said...

hey Ruchi...what a lovely post...you seem so happy and at peace with yourself...I am not sure if someone else will understand that but I think you will. :)
I must thank you for getting me started on blogger...its one of the best things I have done this last year...you know I always like putting down my thoughts...

apoo...whoever you are that a really interesting photo...you remind me of Hugh Grant's roomie in Nottinghill. :)

S said...

Hey this was a beautiful post ruchika ...u make it all appear so alive and apparently, you seem to be enjoying every bit of it..
You truly deserve the thinking blogger’s award :-))

What ??? Me being too lavish with the praise ??

yeah..I guess I should stop now ..Or else it defies the impression !!

Unknown said...

splendid !

with so much of stress around its nice to see smone enjoying every bit of smthng...

tht lively spirit rocks :)

Still Searching said...

`apoo
Hehehe.. oh yeah, def thanks for being the first to comment!Oh yeah, I've had the vision for years, except that in books the people usually have a diary and I was imagining a laptop! :))

`chaits
thanks! good to see that the positive spirit is coming through in my blogs.. i went through too much of an ordeal in the past few months! blogging is amazing! if you have a thought, there is some place u can put it! (put up new post!)
p.s. love to see what apoo has to say about ur comment! :)))

`s
praise?!!!! yeh kya hua?! aaj sooraj kahan se nikla shanghai mein?!! :)) thanks, ur praise means a lot, coz like my bro, u're not loose with it, so i know it means smething! hope i inspire u to start writing too!

`rashi
thanks! yes, i guess i am enjoying the moment! :))

Rashi said...

keep on...!

Zee said...

dammit!!! despite regularly checking ur blog i'm never the first one to comment!!! dammit dammit dammit!

1. very well written....love the zooming in and zooming out of the scenario
2. i still put thoughts the ancient way....i write them the min i get them....sometimes to be filed in my carton of diaries
3. ur point of forgetting to look out just to be able to capture what's happening outside reminds me of orange room when i was so desperately trying to catch saif on my mobile that i forgot to see him in real person (idiotic me!)
4. u didn't thank me :'(
5. i cannot believe ur partner drew a line on the desks. remember my roomie in jhabiers? she used to sweep her side of the room.....they're all the same...sex no bar!

my comment is long enuff to be a post in itself!!!!

Amandeep Singh said...

Wow..so manyy thanks...
They all ll be delighted...
and pink floydd..n jagjit oughtaa read ths..;)

I know how it feels with lappie in front of ya in train..
Though I dun get to see beautiful landscapes from my window..as they are all fields of Rice..or wheat all thru the journey..( yeah Punjab)..;)

Wrote so many things In train..
Read so many...
Watched so many...

and Reading ur Post..
commenting on it..

Oh thank you My dear Lappie :)


( Loved the post..I shuld start thankin all things too...U inspire me..:)..)

APOO said...

@Chaitali - Actually, I am a mop. In disguise. Just paint my hair white and there you are. A mop!

After the above comparison, I shall take your comment as a compliment :P

@Zee: Lets start a competition. Who comments first on this blog. We tally up at the end of the year and if you lose, you copy my hairstyle!

Keshi said...

u deserve the Thinking Blogger Award...cos I love how ur posts make me THINK.

Keshi.

S said...

hey c'mon..i have been so lavish with my praise for your blog ..u just cannot deny... My comments are a witness to that .
As for writing , i too hope that you inspire me and inspire me fast so that i start my blog before they come up with something new !!

As for sooraj in shanghai , woh aajkal kuch jyada hi nikal raha hai ..its so damn hot here !

Still Searching said...

`rashi
u know, i liked your blog a lot!

`zee
1. thanks, i like the scene change too.. had to capture what was going on outside, otherwise there was no point of the laptop! :))
2. i dont remember the last time i wrote something down on a piece of paper! i think my handwriting's also gone to the dogs now!
3. saif.. orange room... trying to take video from the cell.. awww.. now i'm missing sat nites with u guys!!
4. thanks for getting us to get out of our houses on sat nites! :)
5. with a name like sudhamadhav, what can be expected from him anyways?!

so now my comment is also long enough to be another post! :))

`standbymind
looks like this post is inspiring people to write long comments, which is really cool! :) waise saying thanks, once u start thinking about it, becomes pretty easy! i actually had to delete some points coz my post was gettig so long! and landscapes are basically the same everywhere.. just green grass somewhere and green paddy fields elsewhere... cattle somewhere and no cattle elsewhere! i believe punjab has jersey cows?! is that true?!

and wait, how are u reading my post on teh train?!!! does it have internet?! dont tell me the amtrak is behind the shatabdi?! :))) just kidding..

`apoo
lol! and let me say this on zee's behalf.. she' already usually pissed with her hair, i'm thinking she doesn't need a mop now! :)))

`keshi
thanksss!! i like ur posts a lot too!

`s
who comes up with what something new?! yes true, u've been spreading the good word about my blog to everyone and that counts as praise! thanks (again)!

Daroga said...

very beautiful scenes honge ... hai naa.... from that train.
Apna bhi time aa raha hai... to see US Landscapes while travelling instead of Apna desi style.
And fikar not.... Inshallah.... trains bhi wi-fi ho jayengi jaldi hi.. agar abhi tak nahin hui hai to.

And... Congrats for the Thinking Blogger Award. (waise hota kya hai ye :P)

brandy said...

So beautiful!! I love reading happy posts like this. Put a smile on my face. Thanks for sharing!

Rebelzz said...

You know what! That has been my biggest dream, ever. To sit in a train on one of those long journeys and type my heart out!

Just looking out of the window and writing about it... Hmmm...

S said...

ufff...'they' matlab whoever invented blogging and the likes of it .
And NO.. its not just spreading the good word, its the comments.....go back..n read...read carefully...all of them sing paeans to your writing . ..

Ekta said...

hey...well so true..be careful what u wish for..u never know when it might come true!!
Well congrats on ur new laptop and hope u dont compromise on enjoying ur ride coz of the laptop!

Incrediblyirrational said...

lovely post! looks like you were in full swing,thanking life. i do that too, many times these days,after i returned from the city of slums,Mumbai.

mathew said...

congrats for the award!!! :-)

7th standard classmate, for drawing a pencil line in the middle of the desk we (forcefully) shared and never allowing either of us to break that boundary, not even with a stray eraser or scale!

Holy!!how can someone be that evil at that age!!!...Anyone how has he turned out after gettin older!! :-P

nice post as usual...I loved how you blended the visuals from your journey to the post!!

Still Searching said...

`adarsh
amen to that thought, that trains wi-fi enabled ho jayenge... then we'll all only surf and not bother to look outside and enjoy the scenery! waise i didnt know what was thinking blogger till now either, so i looked at nithya's post for a clue!

`brandy
thanks! am happy to have prompted u to comment again! :)

`rebel
hope ur dream comes true too!

`s
sahee kaha... u've been giving me too many compliments on blogosphere to be like u! maybe u're not u, u're someone else fooling me into thinking u're u! hehehe....

`ekta
haha, u're the only one whose noticed that line till now, and i think its the truest thing anyone ever came up with! thanks, i hope i dont get addicted to laptop though!

`nithya
u're the first one i thanked :) yes, i guess i was on a roll when i wrote the post!

`mathew
i knowwww.. that guy was pure evil, he was so nasty! i think he's still the same now, though luckily i havent had to interact with him at all in the past 15 yrs (ofcourse I threw a big tantrum if my class teacher ever made me sit next to him again!)... hope he's not doing that with his wife now.. u know, this is my side of the bed and thats' yours, and god help u if u ever cross it!

Cool said...

Its just not the laptop that is required, but the spirit to use it also... see right now i am sitting at jaipur airport and commenting on ur blog :) (i have wireless net :) )....

and let's hope we don't cry buckets and be positve in life :)

and after ur post i am tempted to get tagged.. but think still will pass it on..... but i do enjoy reading ur blog a lot....

zoxcleb said...

wow... a lot of thank you's.... are u turning a new leaf over or something?

as for your opening wish, i had that too. then i got a music player, and started carrying a pen and paper around. but i just listen to music as i look out of the windows.. its way more fun that way, and sometimes a song gets associated with a particular view. :-)

zoxcleb said...

pittsburgh?! no fair.. i'll be back there in a month, if u will still be around then.

Zee said...

@apoo..... i'm almost there man......ruchi knows it!!! :(

Still Searching said...

`cool
yeah definitely.. u have to want to use the laptop, and put your thoughts down.. just merely having it doesn't mean anything... thanks, am glad u enjoy reading my blog :) u should put up a new post soon too.. been very long since u blogged!

`zoxcleb
hey thats soooo true about a song getting associated with the view! i feel like that so often! and later whenu hear the same song again, u get reminded of the same scenery and time! oh, i'm in pittsburgh only this week, so thats too bad...

`zee
lol! :)

Ganju said...

WHAT??? why haven't you thanked me??? surely you have something to thank me for??? i am dejected, devastated, decimated. how how how could you do this to me? howwwwww?

PS: sorry

PPS: based on your direct order i have blogged :)

nutty said...

niiiice! i liked your combining the tag with a travelogue type post :)

u actually took the amtrak!! every time i wanted to do that it seemed a lot more economical (time n money) to either fly or drive n I sooo miss trains in this country! but I can completely identify with the dream of writing/typing on a scenic train ride. I usually make do with doing the same on flights tho :)

Still Searching said...

`ganju
this is nice.. someone listen's to me atleast! ;) ok, so since u asked, let me say "thanks for writing funny posts about your razor sharp and lightening fast brain which gets you into trouble so often!" :)))

`nutty
yeah but amtrak is the most convenient for me, though its def atleast 3 times more expensive than my other option - which is the bus! yeah writing in flights is def another version of this dream, only u cant see much outside the window from up there.. but when has that stopped people liks us from thinking, eh?! can totally relate!

wanderlust said...

reminds me of what someone said when i got my first camera "now you will never enjoy the scenery around you". you tend to look at everything through a lens and miss the beauty of the complete picture.
lovely post

Keshi said...

aww ty!

Keshi.

Phoenix said...

Hey, nice post, n blog. totaly agree with you about wishes coming true in most unexpected ways.
And those thank yous are nice, wonderful bits of life.
Keep writing.

Cuckoo said...

Good one gal!

Still Searching said...

`wanderlust
yeah, u miss the moment in trying to capture it forever! such a paradox, isn't it?!

`Keshi, Pheonix and cuckoo
thanks! :))

Jeya Anand said...

Great...u have a laptop now...I m still longing for one...will screw my dad for a new one shortly:)

Sincerity said...

Hello still searching,

What a gem of a blog you've got here! I hope you don't mind one more reader. I haven't yet brought my laptop on the train... that sounds like a good idea though. I'll have to try it sometime.

But I might lament the same way you did about missing the morphing scenery outside the windows. That's one of my favorite past-times. Doesn't really matter where I am, in a car, on a train... on a plane...
I love looking out windows. :)

Nasia said...

Of all the thankus i read.. this ones the most endearing... Sudha madhav especially.. Lovely!!

BLogographos said...

Thank you for taking a look at my blog - I wonder how you found it. I'm enjoying reading yours. I'll be updating mine in a bit, so come back!

Bullshee said...

I appreciate the thank you to Pink Floyd the best, especiAlly coz u named them first among all the bands with the awesome lyrics!! :D

Amandeep Singh said...

ersey cows....mm u read that in skool..din u?

well all i see are buffaloes..we love its milk..cant drink cows milk..

and..me have the gprs thing on cell..so thats how its better thay amtrak...though the speed of gprs is all time hell...its like lets see if y page opns first or the snail travels from one end of teh compartment to the other..
yeah snail winsss!!

:)

Still Searching said...

`jeya anand
aaah.. the times when you could threaten your parents into giving you stuff! or black-mailing them emotionally! :))) kidding!

`sincerity
i totally love looking out windows too!! thanks, i def dont mind one more reader on the blog! thats always nice! thanks, glad u liked my posts..

`nasia
yeah, sudhamadhav is my fav too! :)

`blogographos
hey.. i stumbled upon ur blog through anahat's.. u're on his list :) do update, i'll be back to check! thanks, u come back too! :)

`bullshee
coz they rock! so they deserve it! :))

`standbymind
haaa.. gprs! :) oh and i think i got the impression of jersey cowz in punjab from 'dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge'! hhehehehe...!! :))