A day out

It has been sometime since I have written anything here. Blame it on my lack of imagination or lack of sensitivity or plain procrastination.

Now, Suddenly out of nowhere I got the stuff from the least expected source.

Last weekend we had our team outing. Being part of a research team we usually do not have time to go out or party. It is not because we are busy developing next "Killer App", But we are just busy re-designing our previous design. Thanks to a new mega customer deal, we were able to get some timer out for the trip.

The destination for the trip was a resort in the middle of a jungle in a place called “...hmmm..OK I for got the name!!”. Any way it does not have any relevance here. Personally I am not somebody who enjoy being in a resort as I always feel they are too artificial. But any way, this time I did not have any choice and had to join them for the trip.

We reached the place without any incident. The place was really good with all kind of luxury thrown in everywhere.After hours of games and dancing to the tune of "Himesh Reshamya"(Yeah.. you can run but you can never hide from him) followed by a stupendous meal everyone where exhausted and went off to sleep in no time.

The next day they provided us a jungle safari. It was not that interesting for others as they were expecting a tiger to wait for them on the way and wave at them and say "Yo man"!! Which, I was never expecting.

After the safari everyone wanted to hit the swimming pool and chill out. I thought of joining them too. Then somebody came up with the idea of trekking which was booed by the majority. I was not sure about that idea but thought that would give it a shot. We got hold of two reluctant souls and started for the trek. I was expecting a jungle trail with dangerous animals lurking round the corner waiting to pound upon us. It was not to be. The place was mostly tobacco fields cultivated by poor local farmers. It was bewildering to see the same poor farmers are cultivating the same tobacco that fetches billions of dollars to the cigarette companies.

We passed the fields and reached a rocky area where there was a Lord Shiva temple in a cave on top of the rocks. We sat next to the cave for sometime. The view was not spectacular but was very pleasant with nice breeze caressing us all the time.

Suddenly from nowhere one person came with a set of "stray dogs" or I would call them “his pets” in a procession. We were little afraid at first. He looked shabby with his torn, soiled trouser shirt and was drunk. He started blabbering something in his local language. I was never able to make out anything, but I still nodded to whatever he was talking.

I was not sure whether it was him the alcohol in him that was doing the talking. But, one thing I noticed was that everything he talked was from his heart. He talked something about the place, about the god that was protecting them. Then he invited us to the cave in which he stays. He was still telling so many things and in one moment he just broke down. I guess it was when he started telling about the people or something. He showed us the gods in the cave protecting them. After sometime we decided to leave him there with his problems, gave him some money knowing that he will use the money to get drunk all day.

On the way we met some kids staring at us as if we were from some alien planet. They had every reason to the think that way. From the way we dressed they must have been thinking, "Hay.... what these grown up people are doing here wearing shorts like kids and carrying some weird thing in their hand (Camera). Wow!! They have one more person looking like a lady, but why is she wearing a trouser and T-shirt?”

They looked very sweet, even though they were not well fed and were not wearing nice clothes and were not smelling of some expensive baby powder. There was innocence in their eyes. It looked like they were expecting something from us. We gave one of them some money and told him to buy some sweets. He ran and gave it to one girl and all of them together ran to a small shop nearby. We followed them to the shop and asked them what they wanted. The cutest of them was sure about her choice. She said "chocolates". We bought chocolates and distributed to them. Just as we exhausted with the chocolates, one kid cam running asking for chocolates. Surprisingly the other kids took one chocolate each from their pocket and gave it to him.

The way they did was so touching. They shared it without any hesitation or doubt. I was sure not every day they get to see some weird people giving them chocolates, but still they cared to share it among themselves. I don't know how long they will have this love between them. Being somebody from a city where each other fight for anything and everything, it was very touching to see love and care in the heart of these kids. They did not have anything, never ate good food, never wore good dress, and never had parents who pamper them all the time. But still they cared for each other.

We left them there and walked towards our bus. Then suddenly from nowhere they came in front of us giggling and smiling. I thought of taking their picture, and told them that I was going to take their pictures. Suddenly they stood there in attention in one line holding their breath. I have uploaded the pictures through flickr. It looked so sweet and genuine to me.

On the way back I still had their smile in my mind. It also made me think about "Happiness".
For everyone happiness means different things.
For some, it was about staying at home and watching the foot ball match.
For some, it was about going to the mall and shopping till they drop dead.
For some, it was about playing cricket in the rain
For some, it was about cooling themselves in the pool.
For some, it was about talking to strangers about their god.
For some, it was about drinking till they loose their mind.
For some, it was about the chocolates that the strangers gave them.
For some, it was about posing for a picture which they might never be able to see.
And for me, I got my piece of that real estate from seeing the smile on the face of these kids. Meeting these people was the best part of the journey.

One thing I learned about life was,
“It is not about what you do or what you don't do. It is just about what makes you happy!!!”