9th Sept 2010 Late Morning

I saw myself traveling in a bus. There was this school friend of mine sitting behind me with whom I was talking and a guy in one of the backseats moved his lips to say that my friend was really pretty and showed me a thumbs up. I moved my lips to say, I know and smiled. Later, I got down with my friend at her stop near her house instead. While walking to her house, I took her hand in mine and to make conversation I suggested she don't bite her nails because fingers don't look good with bitten nails. Yeah, the guy in the backseat successfully made me feel conscious in her presence.
After leaving my friend at her house, I decided to walk back home because I guessed by time taken in my regular ride of the bus that my house won't be more than two kilometers from there. In a few seconds, I realized I had no idea which direction to take. I recalled the direction bus takes and walked in that direction. A few minutes later I found myself in a completely different locality with differently colored tall buildings. I was enjoying the experience. I kept on walking for half an hour in various army cantonment colonies and felt as if I had visited different states or countries. Tired and eager to get home asap, I decided to take help when I saw the army jawans on the gate of one of the colonies. When I asked one of them the direction to my house, he showed his palm and asked for Rs. 2 as charges. I was surprised, and amused. As I stood there looking at him, he lowered his charges to Rs. 1, then added that had I given him Rs. 2, he'd have given Rs. 1 to his partner, and pointed at his partner who was looking out towards the gate.
I think I might have given him Rs. 2 and he'd have given me the directions to my house.

29th July 2010 Late Morning

I saw myself trying to race my toy car by pushing it with a lot of energy. Sadly I couldn't generate much speed. There was this other guy who kept on telling me that my car was much faster than that but I wouldn't believe him. Few hours later I discovered it for myself that he was telling the truth. All I had to do was rewind my car, as in push it back on the ground and leave it, and gently release it from my grip and see it zooming to the other end of the room. Interestingly enough, it bounced back from the opposite wall, and then the wall behind me, and then the opposite wall so as to make four lapses with just one rewind!

Moral: Sometimes you must get back to basics, you must listen to the other person who has more experience.

I saw one of my friend's middle name was "Niranjan", it was inscribed on a metal sheet on some memento or trophy in his room and hence his name abbreviated to ANS.

3rd June 2010 Early Morning

Many of my friends, batchmates and some strangers were beating me, hitting me. I didn't understand why, but I do know that whenever I went outside my house, they attacked me. Later they started attacking me even in my lawn! And eventually inside the house too. Apparently I had been staying alone because my parents and sister were probably somewhere else. Hence, I had to sneak into my own house most of the times! Eventually I started staying in someone else's house, a friend's house I think. They came there as well, so I had to escape so that they follow me and not harm my friend.
I did see that I was not the only one being beaten up. After being beaten, I felt tired but didn't feel much of pain. After a few beatings, I decided to train myself and beat them back when I'm ready. Their beatings made me stronger, and I exercised and practiced. At a grand party/ceremony, all the people who beat me were sitting on either side of me in a long row at a long table. We were having dinner. They started hitting me now and then, I was feeling angry and I decided to retaliate. Within a few minutes, all those guys were lying on the floor, groaning in pain!

26th April 2010 Late Morning

I saw myself traveling in train but this time I was responsible for all the others traveling with me. Almost all of them were my juniors from college. We just managed to get in the train before it left. Some were sitting on their luggage, some where standing. It looked as if we were in the general compartment but the compartment wasn't really crowded. The train and the platforms etc. looked like in the times before our national independence (early 20th century). Roughage, chaff etc. was lying on the other side of the compartment. We were chatting and laughing.
We got ready to get down. We were at that place for some reason. While keeping our luggage at the entrance of the bogie, we found one of our suitcases missing. I couldn't remember if we had that suitcase with us in the first place. I called one of my juniors (either Akshat or Neeraj) back in college to ask him if we had taken that suitcase for the journey. He said how could I expect him to know that! Of course, stupid of me! I made a few more calls but all in vain. Later I saw myself alone at the station, late at night, waiting for a passenger train to come.

I saw my parents, sister and me outside a temple. We had traveled in a jeep to visit that temple. We had a lot of luggage in the jeep and jeep's backdoor wouldn't close. So my father took the wheel, applied the reverse gear and parked the jeep touching the outer wall of the temple. He did it so smoothly that the backlights were unaffected.

23rd April 2010 Late Morning

I saw myself at the wrong residence. I opened the door, realized my mistake but before I could close it back and leave, the one sitting on the bed called me in. I went in.
The truth is, I was supposed to keep tabs on them and update my friend with the information. My friend and I were working for the government, collecting information on such people. They had committed many cold blooded murders. I knew I had to think of an excuse for mistakenly barging into their one room house which looked like hut from outside but had a lot of room inside. It was among the many hut looking houses in that row, and I opened one door sooner.
I went in, greeted them and sat on the bed, pretending that I was their ally. I began giving them some information on my friend's progress in the case. But before I could tell them much, he stopped me and asked me, "Naam kya hai tera?" (what's your name?). He caught me off guard. I wasn't prepared for that question. At any cost I was not to reveal my real name, or any Indian or American fake name. I spoke some Afghan name. He looked at me and gave me clear signs that he didn't trust my lies.
The style in which he killed the impostors played over and over again in my mind as we sat to eat. I remember fighting few men with rods emitting electric current, and the dead lady officer hanging from the great wall on that roadside. I was hoping to rescue her, so that if she may still be breathing, we could revive her, but those men stopped me and eventually I had to save myself when I saw the lady was no more alive.

My friend was living in the adjacent hut. If only I could switch roles with him because he was more experienced, he could find a way out of this situation. I couldn't just run away from this place, if I did they'd track me down and kill me. We were in their country, so they had the upper hand. The shrieks of the lady, who was an agent from our agency, they killed at the roadside by hanging her on a wall and throwing stones and sharp objects at her.
It was a dream, I told myself. Crap! I thought, why couldn't I opt for the other character, instead of the current character I was in? I thought I had a choice, maybe I didn't. I imagined how it'd feel to die, and since I would die, I wouldn't be able to see how it all ends, which made me sad.
They started threatening me to tell the truth. I was really scared and tried to disguise my heavy breathing with sneezing and coughing. I laughed at their accusations and spoke most of the times in native language of Afghanistan. I knew this mission was hanging on my little shoulders and I could not, at any cost, give in even if it means death. We needed to catch the whole organization, not just those two men, who commit atrocities and cold blooded murder in the name of God and law.
Alas, I was made a bait and my team was asked to show up, else I'd be killed the way the lady officer was. Before they taped my mouth, I kept on laughing hysterically and telling them they had weird sense of humor, putting their own man on the line, pretending he belonged to the enemy and expecting the enemies to surrender. The information I gave them about my friend and our team's plan was all true, except for the end game, which is my friend is a world class expert. But the game had changed now. I was going to die, and I wished my friend and our team didn't come trying to save me. I wanted those savages killed in cold blood, which would only happen when my friend executed his plan (plan B, since I have been captured) as decided.
Alas, I won't be there to see the end.

21st April 2010 Late Morning

I saw myself at a fort like place. I had to wait at diff. places, then climb stairs through thin paths with stone walls on both sides. The small rooms where others and I waited were spacious but the stair steps were big and the stairs path was very thin, hence only one person could climb up or go down. I felt a little claustrophobic thinking of a scenario when people have to escape the place, they all will fight to go through that thin stairs path, it was horrifying. BTW, among others, I saw aunties with their little kids sitting in a row of chairs, which means that that place was not just a center for karate exam but had other things going on in it as well.
I was probably at that place to take the exam for first belt of karate. While waiting in one of the rooms on the way, I saw many books lying in that room. I started reading those books and became really interested in them. Those books consisted knowledge of fighting as well as various sciences including physics and medicine. So I guess instead of taking the exam, I left that place with those books. I obsessively read for days and days with very little breaks. I was scared as to what would happen if I couldn't finish reading those books. I had to finish reading those books asap.

I saw the guy I met at the center for the exam. We exchanged smiles. I saw him looking around but he didn't tell me reason for his business there. He said he was just visiting our campus. I resumed my reading. Later Asrar came to my room; that guy saw him from a distance. He came to me and asked me if Asrar was my friend. I answered in affirmative and he said that my friend would die tonight. I was astonished as to what he said.
Later I caught that guy and made him understand that it wasn't worth it, that he should go back and think on it. He said he hated my friend and people like him, he hated all such people. I told him to think if his hatred was worth taking someone's life, I told him that if next time he saw my friend and felt the same way, he may kill him. But that guy wouldn't listen. He called his ally and both stood in the line for the food at our mess. Surprisingly, our mess was bigger and quite spacious. They had firm grip on their daggers but had placed them in a hidden position.
I was confused as to what to do. I went to Dhingra who was near the start of the line and told him everything. Dhingra, in his regular jolly mood said we'd handle them, that I shouldn't worry. Dhingra asked me where they were, I pointed at their direction, but then one person extended his height to hide others behind him and had two window handles snugged in his night-pants. Dhingra said that I told him they had daggers but that guy had window handles, a court case is also not registered for window handles. Akshay was also standing nearby, so I agreed and asked Akshay for his confirmation for participation. Akshay agreed. I said, great, we're four, they're two. But I was still scared because I saw him at that place, which means he knew karate and definitely better karate than me. I told Asrar about it, but he laughed it off and said my sense of humor was strange today.

Had Asrar accepted his fate and felt helpless, or did Asrar and his allies suspect this for sometime now? Did Asrar also know martial arts?

Before I could find out answers to any of these questions, my prof. called me, asking on PAKDD registration status, hence waking me up!

19th April 2010 Early Morning

I saw a drugged/drunk girl lying on my bed in my bedroom, and the guy who had brought her home. I hated that guy, I hated his guts, but I didn't have a reason to.
The girl lying on the bed was someone I loved a lot, perhaps my sister or a very good friend. Her habits did hint towards such an outcome, but I could never have foreseen the present moment. She did get drunk once in a while but drugs...
The guy standing in front of me, I interrogated him severely, and his prompt answers to all my questions did suggest I should thank him for bringing her home to me. I only wish I knew who did that, how all that happened.
That guy and I did, and still resent each other. But he was ready to help in whatever way possible. I wanted to appreciate his help, but was too perturbed at the moment.

17th April 2010 Early Morning

I saw myself at this hotel which had this vast circular area with elevators or turning door at its circumference. I entered the hotel at one end and saw people coming in and out of those elevators and turning doors. I got a call from my father. He asked me when I'd be home. I told him I'd be home the day after tomorrow. The signal was bad so I had to put my mouth just on the mouthpiece and whisper loudly. The call was cut eventually. I saw her leaving through one of the turning door on the other side.
I had not planned on coming to that place but I was following her who came to that place. I lost her when I walked out of the turning door to the other side.
I was with my friends. We were looking for some place to play, some card games I guess, gamble I guess. I was reluctant at first, but then later we all played, me and many of my batch friends. It was a gala time for us.

I saw myself in a seminar hall with steps type seating arrangement for audience. I saw someone giving a lecture on some topic of social science/sociology and I saw many of my batchmates, including Atul, attending that. And they were really enjoying it !!

7th April 2010 Early Morning

Underwater temple and paper piano

I saw a couple jumping into the water and from inside the water I saw them kissing each other once, then swimming deeper towards the Sri Ram temple at the bottom of the lake. I swam to the temple and visited it. I saw a hawker distributing prasad so I accepted a packet. I opened it and ate a little boondi from it. I realized I couldn't stay without breath under water for a long time so I started going back upwards. I called my sister and asked her to leave with me. She was puzzled but she did. I pushed her upwards, then started swimming towards the surface. I had to go through a thin opening which had stairs below it. I then realized that the temple was submerged in the lake but wasn't when was originally built. Sensing that I might be out of breath, I left the packet of prasad at the start of the opening for better comfort in swimming.
On reaching the surface, I started feeling hungry and regretted leaving prasad back at the lake. I looked around for vendors selling prasad but didn't find anyone selling the same prasad. Finally I asked one of them for 3 out of 5 diff. kinds of prasads that he was selling but he refused, as he sold them all as a set and not individually and I didn't have enough money to buy the whole set.
My sister and I were to wait for a vehicle to take us home but we waited for sometime and it didn't come. Coincidentally I saw Alok, Sachin and other IIIT-H friends who are currently working and staying in Bangalore leaving the temple in their car. Alok looked out of the window and in his usual style greeted me.
Apparently some of the guys in that car were to be dropped somewhere so it would take more time than usual for us to reach home. We made a few minutes stop at their place. I told them that it reminded me of my school and the place looked like a part of Army cantonment area. It did have small rooms arranged in a circle, a TV room, a playground and a large area for exercises. I saw a playroom with a paper piano in it. My sister went there and started playing the piano. I was astonished to see that piano make music. My friends and I walked around the place and talked for a few minutes. I asked them if there was anything available to eat and although I had a biriyani and something else, still I was hungry. My sister came to us from the other room and said that the paper piano was dismantled. I saw the broken into pieces piano and got a little worried. My friends said it can be fixed easily and that I should not worry.

I was at a marketplace (sadar bazar, Jalandhar, lookalike) with my father and some friend of his. My father left me with him to buy something from some shop a little far. My father's friend asked me if I would like to have something. I said, and he brought me a large hot-dog and something else in packing. My father called us outside so that we may leave. While leaving the shop, I forgot to take my half-eaten hot-dog and the something else in packing. Halfway out of the marketplace, I remembered that I had left my stuff at that shop. My father and his friend looked at each other, concerned. "Never mind, it'll not take long," my father's friend said and we went back. It was closing time for all the shops. Initially we were not sure if we were at the same shop because the place looked like an abandoned patch, as if nothing ever existed there! There was a man taking rounds of the street, asking everyone to close down their shops. He wore a uniform similar to the security guards' at IIIT-H. On watching us enter the abandoned shop, he walked to us and said we were not allowed to enter that place because it was past closing time for shops. We tried reasoning with him that we'd left our stuff inside the shop but he wouldn't listen. Finally we had to give him a little something, which my father and his friend debated upon, and went into the abandoned shop, only to find my stuff lying there, untouched, among the emptiness.
Later, we walked the empty streets of the city. There was enough lighting, both natural and artificial to confuse a brightly lit night to a cloudy daytime. I saw a big banner of indibloggers on our way back and got excited about it. I pointed to it, saying that they'd have their meeting in the same building which hosted the banner. My father asked me "What do you guys really do in such meetings?" not convinced those meetings and get-together serve any purpose.

I saw myself in a long table conference type of meeting, sitting close to the head of the meeting. Somebody, I think it was Mux, greeted him, "Konbanwa" which the boss interrupted saying it was morning time. The boss asked others if they knew the Japanese greeting for "good morning". Many, including me and Mux said "Oya sumi masen" with a little hesitation. He repeated the greeting with better intonation and pronunciation. He finally asked who knew basic Japanese. Many hands shot up, and it was then I saw Mohit sitting in the meeting, a couple of chairs away from me.

6th April 2010 Early Morning

It must be 8 or 9 am, we were trekking, me and few others. Among others I remember a couple of families, some other middle aged people, and few of my friends. We were walking through a posh colony, akin to an army cantonment colony. We looked around and saw only few people around. One of my friends pointed to a house and said, "This is house of Rocky, Sylvestor Stallone." I thought he was kidding but when I looked at him, I knew he wasn't.
I slipped away from the group, walked up to his apartment on the first floor. I knocked at his door. He came out in his night clothes. He stared at me for a few seconds. "What is it that you want, kid?"
OMG, Sylvestor Stallone talking to me !!
I introduced myself and said that I really wanted to meet him, since forever. He invited me in. :)
His apartment was really huge from inside. It looked as if he lived alone but there was a lot of stuff at his house that suggested otherwise. I saw collections of bollywood movies/songs from the 70s, especially Shammi Kapoor's. I saw a big poster of Shammi Kapoor at one corner of his living room, below which was his big stereo music system.
I went to his verandah, and peeped below. I was surprised to see Ruhela sir. I asked him what he was doing there. He said he was waiting for someone, and that I should leave at once and suggested an escape route, other than the front door. But I went back inside.
I was surprised to see my mother come to his house. I asked her what she was doing there. She didn't reply. My mother was with others on trekking, how come she was there as well? Maybe she was some other woman of my mother's age, and not my mother. She started making something in the kitchen. Mr. Stallone had prepared something snacks so we ate that and talked for sometime.
I saw Ruhela sir from the window beside me, he was beckoning me to urgently leave that place. I said I had to leave, and asked that woman who looked like my mother, if she wanted to come too, but Mr. Stallone said she'll leave after she was done with her work. I left from the front door, with Mr. Stallone closing it behind me.

31st March 2010 Late Morning

There was a little girl who went missing. It was Mahaveer who first asked me to search for her. There were two other things also that I had to search but the little girl worried me the most. Her absence haunted me in my dreams too. I knew I had to find her!
Once something got stuck in my throat and I was trying hard to push it out but in vain. I felt as if the little girl was telling me that I'd left her in the dark and she was scared. I tried harder to push out the thing stuck in my throat. I didn't come out, so I swallowed it with force.
I had late breakfast as usual and was carrying a glass of milk to drink after sometime. I saw Kapil, Atul, Parashar, Pankaj, Alok, Mahaveer and others playing some stupid game in which they'd hold anyone and push that person very hard and run with that person, then eventually releasing him/her from their grip. I tried to tell them that I had a full big glass of milk in my hand and that the milk would fall and that would make me angry. They didn't bother and the group, like a group of bees surrounded me from behind and pushed me randomly left, right, front. I got angry and spilled all my milk on the person on my right because I was holding the milk in my right hand. Sadly the person was Atul! After that I did throw the remaining drops at Parashar as well but the damage had been done. I went to mess to refill the glass with some milk. On the wall clock above the entrance to the stairs that led to Yuktahaar mess, I saw the time, 12:13 pm. It was way past the breakfast time, so I had to do without milk.
There was some guy who came to me asking for Sushanta. I said I didn't know where he was at the moment. He asked me what bothered me and I said a little girl was missing and he said if I had investigated it thoroughly. I said I didn't ask the girls of the college. He said Sushanta was incharge of ice-creams and that girls would definitely come to him for ice-creams and we could ask them at that time. I looked at him, he seemed to be quite interested in meeting the girls. Then Sashidhar came along and I asked him, "hey how would you suggest a missing person could be found?"
Sashidhar thought for a few seconds and suggested that we could trace her by the IP address. He then explained that the last number would be the person's ID, second last number would be the person's batch, third last number... Finally I asked him, could this method be used at present? Sashidhar, who was sitting on the sidewalk divider, looked up at me, I looked at the other guy. Both of them nodded in negative.
Nobody seemed to be bothered about the missing little girl. Was I the only one who knew about it? Did I imagine Mahaveer telling me about the little girl? Have I been doing too much detective work, as in searching for lost things that I've started hallucinating?
I looked at Sashidhar and the other guy, both lost in their own thoughts, I looked to my right, a little ahead and all my friends were still playing that silly game. I felt the dusk giving way to the night as the darkness slowly spread itself around us.

11th Feb 2010 Early Morning

Atul was sick, so I took him to a hospital where a girl worked as a nurse who used to be in my school, one year junior to me. She was so pretty and I had a big time crush on her. On reaching the hospital, with atul hanging on my shoulder with his arm, I realized the hospital was a military hospital and Atul would have a hard time there. Atul screamed like a baby when he got injections and whenever I visited him, he begged me to take him to some other hospital!

I did meet the girl from my school. She had come to check on Atul. I saw her in her group of nurses giggling in the corridor for some stupid reason. I wanted to say "hi" when our eyes met but refrained from doing so. She was still so pretty, the only beautiful thing (like sunshine) in the morose ambiance of the hospital. Since her first visit, Atul had stopped complaining about the hospital. :)

I saw myself with my sister walking into a colony we had lived in, few years ago. The first house to the left, in the row of houses as one entered the colony looked familiar to us, perhaps because one of our friends lived there. The door was locked from inside but nobody replied to our bell ring. We walked around the house and entered through the backdoor. Most of the house was marooned but for a pizza box that I found lying on the floor in one empty room close to the main door. I looked at it, then found it open but untouched. I looked at the date, more than a year old but the pizza didn't smell stale.

I had this English assignment due next month. I was at home, because somebody had died in the family and everybody was very sad about it. I managed to write some pages, almost half the assignment, till my last day at home. With a few days to spare before submission day, I stood outside in the train, planning my strategy to complete the assignment. When I reached hostel I realized I had left my assignment at home. :(

Later, I saw myself with a lady in white saree, who had some awesome gadgets. She helped me get my assignment transferred from home to college. My sister thought I had lost my head when I told her the instructions. Sadly the first half of the assignment that I had done wasn't on paper but in a liquid form. That lady further showed off her findings/inventions by rolling the first sheet of paper of second half of my assignment and immersing it in a big jug filled with liquid. The sheet of paper that came out was a blank sheet. She drank that liquid and narrated the whole content verbatim! Now I was curious and suggested her that she could make a similar device that could absorb the content in a liquid and read it out aloud. She smiled, then asked for the second sheet of my second half of assignment, immersed it in the liquid in the jug. The liquid in the jug was then boiled. As the vapors of the liquid came out, the jug started speaking out the content verbatim.

7th Feb 2010 Early Morning

I saw myself as a warrior from a different era because many men dressed as warriors from Spartan's era visited me and convinced me to return, realize my roots and destiny. I remember one of the men saying, "You are destined to be a warrior, what are you even doing here?" looking down upon the work I did.

I was an employee in a corporation. :D On insistence of my colleagues, I tried drinking and smoking after initial hesitation. I didn't feel any beginner's discomfort. The first puff of smoke from my lungs was liberating and whiskey was so smooth! Everyone was surprised!

Later at home, I heard my father talking about whiskey. I realized that my parents had asked me never to drink or smoke. Innocently, I asked father more about whiskey and how it tastes. He seemed to like whiskey and praised it, but didn't offer me a chance to drink! :P

I saw myself as a kid, in a large area surrounded by net. My friends and I were waiting for the boxing training when we all got an option to do attend something else instead, which was something silly and quite boring, but harmless! I just got up and walked out of the net and joined the queue for the other activity. My good friend looked at me, surprised (Arpit Khasgiwala, I think). Some distance from the net, I looked back and saw my friends and others sitting on the sand area lighted from top and surrounded by net. I realized I was leaving behind my great chance of learning how to fight and endure pain. I left the queue, jogged back to the net. My friend saw me, knew my concerns, punched me hard in the face. I fell back on the sand, my nose bleeding a little and my head still confused.

"Welcome back!" he said, offered his hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. Maybe he was my friend who later convinced me to return and embrace my destiny of a warrior! :D

25th September 2009 Early Morning

I think I was a pirate, or a merchant/sailor, I can't seem to recall what!
But I remember myself on the deck and sailing... long months at the sea, sailing, partying, confronting minor glitches etc. and occasional fights with another team. I returned home after almost a year and loved my welcome! My parents were so affectionate I was loving every moment of it.
I saw myself wake up in my room (was the previous paragraph a description of a dream in a dream?) and see bright daylight glisten my glass windows. I look at the time, 3 am. I walk out of the room and witness broad daylight. Surprisingly it was so bright that shadows were not clearly visible. I saw Asrar walking towards his room, the room adjacent to mine, and I asked him what time it was, and he said 3 am. He had no clue about the broad daylight phenomenon and suggested I not get perturbed by it. I saw the janitors and others walking in the corridor, asking for money on the occasion of a festival, Eid or Dussehra, don't remember. I took out a Rs. 50/- note and said I didn't have change (cheap, I know. :( ). They replied that it was alright and left. :(
To my biggest surprise, after few minutes the brightness disappeared and it was dark again. It was like the anti solar eclipse phenomenon, or it could have been a supernova!

25th July Morning and Afternoon

Tension could be felt in the corridors of OBH as all the students were busy preparing for their exam. (In reality I have got into this habit of studying with music on, and last night I slept with I-pod still running and earphones in my ears, and when I got sleep, I couldn't feel music entering my ears, and when I woke up, I could feel music entering my ears again, as if music was shut out and brain was resting, or maybe the music was ignored by the brain, as it does to other things happening in the background, except, of course for something loud maybe. My head does feel heavy though!) I saw myself studying with earphones plugged in my ears, but then I saw I was reading lyrics of the song I was listening, only to realize that the exam was on music and songs, and in my college, students have a huge collection of songs, which they do share through DC++ and FTPs. I was quite scared as I had to listen to so many songs and remember their tune, their words etc. I love listening to songs but under such situations, its a punishment. Besides, some students tried old school methods and asked one of their batchmates or coursemates to teach them the songs, which is stupid, one's supposed to listen to the songs, learn the lyrics and give the exam... anyways that coursemate was Himanshu and I saw a top view of his room and him aggressively listening to songs, his hunched back posture in front of his laptop, and also chatting with others, explaining them about the songs and telling them which songs were important !!
At another instance I saw myself with my friends at some city as tourists, though one of my friends had a small wooden house there, by the lakeside. We hung out there during afternoons and strolled on the streets of the city during morning and evening. My father met us after few days and I left with him. While in the process of leaving the city, we took a break and sat a some place, and saw there was some shooting in progress of some TV show. (probably inspired by discussion on Sach Ka Saamna at canteen last night.) I had this desire to be a part of it. Suddenly, and neither my father nor I had observed him coming, came a cameraman and another guy with a mike and asked me a question in Hindi. I asked him to repeat the question once, but I couldn't answer it, my mind went blank. Two minutes before I knew answers to all the questions being asked to the contestants during the shooting. He then asked me another question, then another, all in Hindi and I couldn't answer a single one. I felt dejected.
I patted a dog, a big reddish violet dog, with less fluffy hair. It generally followed me around when I was in my friend's house, he was my friend's dog. That day he didn't come around me in his usual style, but just came to me and stood there with its head down in a dejected manner. I felt like patting it and this time I did... I touched it on its face and then at the back of his head. "Attaboy !!"

23rd June 2009 Early Afternoon

I saw Sylvestor Stallone moving in the same corridor as mine. I saw the door open and went inside, into the untidy room, thinking that room to be of the person who had asked me to pay his room rent. He had given me a cheque, which was good because I couldn't find it anymore but it troubled me nevertheless. I entered the room from the left door, the rooms had two doors, mine too, and by the time I realized that the room was that guy's and turned to leave, I saw Sylvestor enter the room through the left door with a bowl of something in his hand and spoon in his mouth, eating something. I acted normally, not showing my excitement. To my surprise, nobody else showed any excitement either. I told him about my sudden intrusion and he said he was fine with it. He was quite a sport, behaved like a college guy. I told him about my problem while we walked outside his room and in the corridor. He cheered me up and said that he would help me find that guy. Then suddenly got hyperactive and started sparring with me, I ran to save myself but he overtook me and then ran towards me from front and gently pushed me. I skidded a few metres and my motion was broken by a pillar. Suddenly I saw Mridul sitting at the pillar on the other side and moaning about something. He refused to tell me about his problem, then after insisting one more time he started blabbering it out non-stop. I told him about Sylvestor Stallone staying in the same corridor as mine and it didn't seem to cheer him up or bother him in any way.

I met few other guys before leaving for home. A group of my immediate juniors were playing some game and they called me, asked me for a favor, asked me to do a rolling on my back on a slope inclined at almost 70 degrees. I agreed, thinking it would be easy, but when I started doing it, with the referee shouting the time left, I couldn't do it. I didn't feel tired or stressed at any part of my body but I didn't seem to have the energy to push myself up. "Time's up", the referee, another junior, but I kept on doing and others watched. Finally in two minutes, time limit was one minute, I did it. The juniors who had asked for this favor said that they'd expected me to do it and I said, I did it but took a little more time. While I was leaving I met few other juniors who said, abhi toh aap yaheen ho kum se kum ek saal, milte rahenge, have great vacation.
What I couldn't understand is, the huge palace also would be accommodating naval cadets too.

I saw Britney Spears too, according to the scenario, I think I had chatted with her online and now I had forgotten my online alias. She was standing in front of me, chatting with some other people, I wanted to talk to her so I introduced myself and talked, but like a stranger. We had become good friend online and if only I could remember the alias she'd remember who I am. :D

It was a huge gathering and all the professors and even my school teachers were present, although everyone was scattered around the corridors of the palace. I was under some stress because my parents were waiting for me outside the gate of the area of the palace, which is a tourist place. My father had to leave at the earliest in a separate direction and meet us later at home.
There was a new teacher who sang almost everytime and she sensed my tension and sang me a beautiful song, said all the best to me and left me feeling better, then my school's english teacher came and said, "isn't she wonderful", and I agreed.

Since for 5th year we had to stay in this place, me and Mohit went for a stroll. Few spots including the lake which everyone used as a swimming pool had to be paid for, we paid for it but we saw the filth floating on the surface of the lake and decided not to swim.

Sometime back at home, I compared the tummy of my cousin to my sister and said to my grandmother (naani) that my sister had correct weight as per her age but my cousin doesn't and is thin for her age. Naani seemed to disagree.

I had gone on a tour with my parents and sister, traveling in an army truck, with lots of luggage and proper beds in it, like in a room and backside of the truck open so enjoy the view as the sides and roof is covered. On our way I asked them to stop at the palace so that I could collect few things.

11thJan2009EarlyMorning

I saw myself and Akshay walking inside some ancient building undergoing renovation. Most of the building looked like caves of Ajanta, with some traces of paintings on them. I saw archeologists and workers trying to mend the cracking walls and roofs which might cave in anytime! Most of the area was restricted.
I heard a sound, turned and saw a man on a motorbike riding inside the building, towards my direction. I gave him a side and saw Akshay walking towards an isolated part of the building campus. I followed him, trying to call him back occasionally but he didn't stop. We both reached the entrance of the tiny mansion beside the main building (which was under renovation).
Akshay started looking around and was quite happy and impressed by the architecture and the carvings on the wall. We couldn't go inside because the entrace was locked. We started to leave when Akshay called me from behind. I turned and saw him rubbing his palm on the wall of the mansion. He said, "This is not an 8th century mansion. It can't be."
Now I know Akshay is no archaeologist so I didn't believe him. I said that since the board here says that its made in 8th century so it must be made in 8th century. Akshay replied, "the architecture and the carvings are still convincing, but look at the stones that make this mansion, touch these stones, these wouldn't be used in those times."
I said, "What do you mean wouldn't be used?"
Akshay replied, "People in those days could do better than this."
I didn't know how to react.

21stOct2008EarlyMorning

Hide and Seek

I saw myself in my hostel room in NBH third floor. I kept the door open and frequently stared at the corridor on the other side of the doorway, with a strange fear in my mind. Then suddenly I decided that my room was not a safe place anymore, and simultaneously saw myself in a huge lobby of a big house, which was as if had been teleported to the big house or my room had suddenly grown large, or maybe it was just my imagination. The idea of examination next day increased my fear, and I had a lot left to prepare.
It all started the evening last week, at the beach party where I and my friends started the game of a new kind of hide and seek. The beach looked lovely with the lighting and the palm trees and large no. of people singing and dancing, but we had lost the mood for the party. So, we all went and sat a little away from the crowd and while chatting decided to play hide and seek with a small alteration in the rule that the ones found by the seeker would also become the seeker, something like becoming a vampire after being bitten by a vampire. We played that game all night till the last campfire burned out.
In a state of agitation, I decided to study with my friend Atul in his room. Atul was one of the players of the beach party hide and seek last week. I started studying again, doing my preparation the usual way.
Next thing I see myself sitting in the corridor, beside the open door of my room, with friends from the beach party beside me. They said it was fine, and that it was just a game and that I should forget it. One of them, Gaurav I think, said that he was the seeker and he touched my arm to show that what I was thinking was my imagination and was not true. The fact is, I was having visions, visions of places I was not at that time. While studying, once in a while, the pages of the book change into someone's bedroom or lighted road in the campus and it was not because of I drowsing while studying. I drowse quite often while studying and I know the difference. It wasn't day dreaming either. It felt like I was in those places, the visions looked so real. And with all these visions I saw a man, in his late 40s or early 50s, looking at the beach from the window of his suite.
I thought that as a seeker I had some kind of powers to see what the other seekers of the game are viewing at any time of the game, one at a time, just like one can change view while playing video games. Our last game was left incomplete because we had run out of lighting on the beach and it was too late to continue. Since I was one of the seekers in the last game, I thought that the powers of a seeker again took over me at the time same as the time last week when we played the game. I then realized that similar thing happened last week as well, but since any part of the beach looked mostly the same as the others I didn't notice the visions at that time.
Didn't my friends get the same visions?
If they did, why didn't they say anything?
If they didn't why didn't they? why only me?
Could it be that the man in his late 40s is the main seeker, looking at the world through other seekers like me? Did he touch me to give me such an ability, like a seeker in the hide and seek game?
Will completing the last game of beach party hide and seek help me get rid of these visions?
Before I could get answers to any of these questions, I guess I woke up.

11thSept2008EarlyMorning

I saw myself in a hasty process of getting ready for school. I saw myself wearing my uniform as fast as possible, and hang the tie with an untidy knot around my neck. As I started wearing my socks, I felt the need to attend nature's call. "Damn", I thought, "why can't this happen when I wake up in the morning, everything has to happen at the last moment!" While sitting in the loo, I was reminded of something that was important to me and that I had to do. In my mind I saw myself with a backpack, a modified form of my schoolbag, but stuffed with heavy stuffs. I was getting late with every passing second. I heard the chattering sounds of school kids and a few honking horns of the bus. My sister shouted that the bus won't stop for me! Of course it won't!
I was again reminded of something that I had to do, which was important to me. I thought, "I chose this life for myself. I am doing this for my friend. I didn't mean to harm anyone, but no one understands the language of love and peace. I have to help my friend and save him."
I rushed out of the toilet, while pulling my pants on, and tucking my shirt. I grabbed my schoolbag, looked at it for a few seconds, smiled and rushed outside. The bus had already left. I decided to catch it at its next stop. I took a short-cut, the connecting paths between the buildings. The bus followed the road and hence took a longer route to its next stop. I reached the place and was standing there when I saw the bus appear from behind the last building I could see on that road. I smiled at the driver as the bus stopped in front of me. I got into the bus and sat beside my sister. Looking at her I was again reminded of that day.
That day, me and my sister got lost in a carnival. I don't remember my parents presence in the carnival. I and my sister stood at some foodstall, when I saw a man staring at us. He had long hair, and traces of beard on his face. We left the stall and went elsewhere but he seemed to follow us. I started running with my sister. We ran between strings of foodstalls on either side, then we went and hid behind a bench. Once in a while I peeked over the bench and still saw him standing, looking around for us. I had no idea why was he looking for us. The place behind that bench was a good hiding place because he couldn't find us there for the next few hours, i.e., while the carnival fair was still on. I was too afraid to leave that place, and I also had the responsibility of keeping my little sister safe. So we slept there, behind that bench that night. I didn't like it there, behind the bench. I wanted to be back at home, with my mommy and daddy, in my room, on my bed. I'm sure my sister was scared too, but she didn't say anything, just held me close and slept.
I felt like killing that man then and there but I was a teenager and he was a full grown man, armed perhaps and fierce looking.
Next thing I remember was me and my friend with the dead body of that man. How did he die? Did we kill him? If not, what were we doing there? I don't know either of these things.
As I sat in the bus, which steadily moved close to the school, I knew what I had to do. My friend had taken the blame for that man's death on himself. Perhaps the cops might have found us with that man's dead body. I had to save my friend, help him get out of this mess which was created because of me, I guess.
I looked at my sister. She didn't seem to remember anything about that evening, which was good.

6thOct, 2007 Morning

I was sitting with one of my friends in his flat in Mumbai. We both were slouched in a comfortable position and chatting, watching something on T.V. I looked at him and suddenly realized that he was one of the superstars of the film industry. It came as a surprise but I didn't feel any surprise.
Suddenly he switched off the T.V. and remided me of his latest film being premiered that evening and that I should be there with him at the premiere/showcase. Once again I didn't show any surprise/emotion at being invited at a premiere of a film. As a matter of fact, that friend of mine looked and talked like Shahrukh Khan and the film to be premiered looked and sounded like 'Om Shanti Om'. At the premiere party, with a glass of drink in my hand, I looked at my friend and he looked so happy! I had discovered that something bad would happen to him. Perhaps his girlfriend was planning to breakup with him, but I don't know how I came to know that. I was feeling helpless as I couldn't tell him, nor help him in any way.

I saw me and two of my friends trying to run away in a car with my friend driving and the other friend and I sitting at the back. I said that I was afraid to the friend sitting beside me and she hugged me and said that everything is gonna be ok. We drove on a thin road surrounded by marshes on both sides. The situation was that we had to reach somewhere at sometime and we were late. Also, I was the person who'd be playing the major role in something. But at present I can't recall what it was because I overslept !

Two of my friends and I attended some classes on logic, which included the real significance of symbols like '<', '>', '>=', '<=' etc. The teacher taught really well. Apart from that he taught other things that could really help us understand the functioning of human brain. The teacher did teach in school but we wanted to privately learn from him. It was her (one of the two friends) idea, not mine. It was a surprise to see that a teacher teaching in a good school lived in a marshy area. A few days later when We went to his house, we found his son (who looked like one of my seniors) collecting things from the cupboard and stuffing them in a bag. The teacher wasn't there. His son told us that his father won't be coming back.

I received a lot of sweets and toffees and all my favorite ones and I really loved the idea of having so many sweets to eat. One of my father's friend had come to meet me and he told me that my sister was not doing well in her studies and that she'd got bad grades not only at school level but they were very bad even at national and international level. He had brought me some more sweets, chocolates toffees. I thanked him for coming. I thought of calling home but decided to do so the next day. In the next scene, I saw my sister and I offered her the sweets. she declined saying that the sweets were for me. I asked her why she got bad grades and she said that did study for the exams. My father interrupted saying that she played games like quake 3 more than studying. She shud have devoted more time towards her studies. My sister shouted that she didn't. My father switched to a softer tone, saying that it's good to play video games but one should balance his/her schedule in a way that includes everything necessary for work and enjoyment in desirable amount. I agreed, saying that had I played anything/something, I'd have been a better driver. My sister said that I was a better driver than I thought I was, and shut the door on us.
My mother saw so many sweets, toffees with me and looked worried. I reassured her that I'd brush my teeth before and after sleep. Although she wasn't convinced, she smiled and agreed. When I had a handful of those toffees, I understood why she was worried. My right side molar teeth had started bleeding and was getting worse than what it previously was. I had to make a choice... those sweets, toffees or my teeth. I imagined the pain of dental operations/surgeries, the cold atmosphere of the AC, the bluish white light of the tubelights along with the light of the dentist's chair shining over me, and compared them to the taste of those sweets/toffees. I chose those toffees/sweets over my teeth and decided to have the rest of the sweets with my left side teeth.

Then I saw myself standing/waiting with the two of my friends for some event, either a marriage or some feast... and we'd done some makeup to look older and one of my friends (who had consoled me while we were sitting in the car) had done heavy makeup so that no one could recognize her.