Doubt

What is the limit to Loyalty, if there is any

CIRCUS

Life goes round and round in a circle. No kidding. And not just mine. Everyone's. Individually and collectively.

What has not happened before that is happening today. The economic meltdown, 'War on Terror' ('terror on terror'?), health crisis in africa and in general the sorry state of affairs any where in the world.

Why do people blame me alone for not learning from past mistakes? Who ever does? Have 'we' learnt from our past mistakes. If anything we make the same mistakes but at a grander scale. What's that about?

I am (or I make myself) immune to our collective mistakes as I desperately try to focus on my personal mistakes. In almost a masochist way. And the cynic in me leaves with me no hope, for me as individual or for the world as a whole.

So if people are saying this too shall NOT pass, I disagree. This too shall pass, as have the centuries before and will the centuries after.

One doesn't have to be fortune teller to see ourselves repeating all of this and expressing a sense of disbelief as though it never happened before our time or never will happen after our time.

The truth of the matter is it will, it sucks and none of us really care! We are all waiting for life to pass by and thats about it. I know I am!

Define

Fantasy - escape from Reality

Reality - Fantasy gone bad

Dichotomy

What is this thing

that everybody claims to know

but no one really does?

What is this thing

that everybody claims to feel

but one rarely ever does?

What is this thing

that keeps the world going

or so it seems?

What is this thing

thats everywhere

yet nowhere to be found?

What is this thing

that has my most sincere faith

yet I can never believe its existence?

What is this thing

that makes me a romantic now

and then a cynic?

Shadow

What can I say
of the cherished house I lost
or the ones I found instead.
Should I say anything
about being cheated
or being the treacher perhaps?

Where can I find
the images I see
yet lose sight of.
Can I never find
those memories of yester
my mind wouldn't recall?

Why shoud I cry
for the cat that stung
my hand, leaving it cold.
Should I not cry
even for that infant
I found dead in the bag?

Who should I ask
about the crying child
on her way to Jungfreu.
Should I care to ask
the name of the snow covered town
I walk around without getting lost?

How am I to learn
what are you trying to teach me
if you insist on being so cryptic.
How should I know
what you mean to me
when I know not who you are?

This and That

VAPORISING THOUGHTS

The past few months I have had a zillion thoughts I wanted to pen down, but they vaporised faster than camphor. I had always been a bit incoherent but now it seems more and more difficult for me to write one coherent line. This is the closest I can get to writing something now..........


SKY's THE LIMIT

I thought the day would never come when you could look up at the sky and find it easier to count the stars (of which there were many) than the number of air planes. No seriously. For a minute I thought maybe a major catastrophe was about to happen in London and this was all a part of the evacuation plan! Again seriously, is climate change, credit crunch and the likes for real??

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IN THERAPY

The most cherished thing in my life right now is the walk back home. It started quite simply one summer's day. I decided to walk back home from work for fun. It felt good; besides having given up the gym and not chocolates (as intended) this was to be my only salvation! So I decided it would continue till the end of summer. Once autumn sets in, days become shorter and my classes start it might have to stop. It's a month since end of summer and I haven't stopped. I continue to walk back home, now every single day. I find I simply can't give it up. The foxes have made me abandon the short cut and take the longer route and I can't thank them enough!

There was a time when I wanted to get home from work as soon as possible. I felt safe, warm and comforted in the confines of those walls. But now I take my time to get back home. I walk, taking the longest possible path, smallest possible steps, slowest possible pace which slows down further as I approach my former comfort zone - the now abandoned couch. Not that anything at home makes me feel uncomfortable or threatened. But being in the open, walking a path where I may pass a few strangers but am on my own, completely with myself, wading through those golden leaves strewn at my step, soaking in the cool crisp air or the drizzle as the case maybe is just the kind of therapy I need!

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CHANGE IS IN THE AIR

It's not just the autumn air that is fresh. With all that is going on in my life now I think there is some change in the air about me. The resistance kicking in within me only enunciates this creeping change. I can't say yet what is changing but something surely is!

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SEASONALITY

I have made up my mind. Autumn is definitely my pick among the four seasons. Oh yes! It's 'DROP DEAD' gorgeous :)

and finally

CHECK ME OUT!

I am so HOT that on a perfectly cold evening I can melt a bar of Chocolate, just by holding it.

One of this is true

the only thing I refuse to believe is I am a believer

OR

the only thing I believe is I am a non-believer

Is there a difference??

Gripe

Life - is often Meaningful
Meaning - its often Personal
Personality - its often Indiviualistic
Individual - is often Social
Society - is often Detrimental

Detriment of Life, Meaning, Personality, Individual.

Truly Yours

So dear readers, of which you are many, hold your breath! And uske bawajood agar saanse kuch bachee ho tho (What? I am a SRK Fan!!) Wait for the end of the tag! I promise to give you Nirvana one way or the other!!

I am breaking my golden silence for this much thought of (not!) piece of borrowed (26 questions and 2 answers) tag. Why you ask? Because I thought this would be an interesting way of boring my forever bored mass readership! And then there were a lot of questions on food and for everything else I could display my levels of narcissim.

A-Available:
If you can reach me..
B-Best friend(s):
Meself
C-Cake or Pie:
Bit of both - (I am greedy!)
D-Drink of choice:
Wine
E-Essential thing used every day:
Brain (ha!)
F-Favorite color:
White
G-Gummy bears or worms:
Gummy bears if you're talking about the candy
H-Hometown:
Chennai, Always
I-Indulgence:
the amazing triumvirate - Chocolate, Cheese & Wine
J-January or February?
February (over Mar, Apr and all other months too!) it's my birth month re
K-Kids and names?
Girl - Tara, Boy - Aditya or Siddharth
L-Life is incomplete without
If I knew what it took to complete life, wouldn't my life be complete by now?!
M-Marriage date:
Are you going to send me anniversary gifts? If so 8th July
N-Number of siblings:
24714020
O-Oranges or apples:
Oranges
P-Phobias:
list of things I don't have phobia for would be shorter
Q-Quote:
There are Extremes, there are moderates then there is ME
R-Reason to smile:
Many, infact any!
S-Season:
Spring, I think.
T-Tag two people:
I already tagged myself and no one reads me anyway so there isn't any point tagging any one else
U-Unknown fact about me:
I am not a bad person (but does that make me a good person??)
V-Vegetable(s) you do not like:
Are you kidding me. There aren't any that I do like.
W-Worst habit:
You haven't guessed yet? Self Obssession!!
X-rays you have had:
Why do you ask?
Y-Your favourite food:
Cheese, Chocolate and Wine (Any food that has either or all of these!)
Z-Zodiac
Aquarius

I Want to Thank God

for endowing me with the special ability, talent if you will.....





to pluck (grasp) 'bad habits' out of thin air, just like that!!!

Thank You God!!!

Hoping against hope

am I? Is it too much to ask? Don't I have the right to ask, pray, wish? I sincerely hope without trying to sound too negative.......






that IPL bombs big time!!!!!

Why I hate Reality?

Because in reality, reality is an excuse! Reality is a self imposed constraint that stops us from getting what we want, doing what we want, being what we want.

5x5

5 film titles that describe your life

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron

Hazaaron Kawaishen Aise

Jhoot Bole Kauwa Kaate

Arth (or the lack of it)

Taare Zameen Par

5 songs that describe you

Main Aisa Kyun hoon (Lakshya)

Mann Yeh Baawura (HKA)

Jaane Kyun Log pyar karte hain (DCH)

Wahaan kaun hai tera, Musaafir Jaayega Kahaan (Guide)

Yeh Jo Zindagi Hai (1947 Earth)

Aaina Mujhse Meri Pehli (Daady) - extra

5 characs you can relate to

Karan Shergill (Lakshya)

Mrs Meenakshi (Mr & Mrs Iyer)

Geeta (HKA)

Siddharth (DCH)

Karan (Rang De Basanti)

5 characs you want to kill

Rahul (all Rahul's played by SRK)

Sreekanth and Aniket Pandit (Astitva)

Sam (KANK)

5 charac you would like to date

Siddharth (DCH)

Rahul Seth (Bollywood Hollywood)

Salim Mirza (Tehzeeb)

D.K Malhotra (Maasoom)

Mohan (Swades)

मेरे पहले टैग की कहानी, मेरी जुबानी..

Ten things I wish I could say to people right now:

• Get me out of here
• Get the hell out of here
• Start thinking, for God’s sake
• Stop smoking, will ya
• Can you keep quiet, ever
• Can you say a word, one word, any word
• What’s with the world
• Please stop! Please stop Raining
• I am bored!

Nine things about myself:
• I cannot be described in 9 lines
• One word would suffice to sum me up
• That word is Mad
• I don’t believe in anything or anybody
• I have very little to say or give to the world
• I need very little from the world
• I have a whole other life, in my dreams
• I never lie
• I don’t know if I know myself

Eight ways to win my heart:
Really? You want to? You can’t win my heart, ever! (See point 4 of the above). But things I like in a person
• Wit, Sarcasm, dry humor
• Intelligence
• Have an opinion, but don’t be stuck up
• Be chilled out
• Be adventurous
• Be kind, courteous (saying thank you and sorry doesn’t hurt!)
• Be sensitive to everyone’s feelings
• Don’t try to win my heart! (I love such arrogance)

Seven things that cross my mind a lot:
• What if I die tomorrow
• What am I supposed to be doing with my life
• Can I quit my job, right now
• I am going to pack my bags and go, somewhere
• I am too self absorbed
• Am I too stuck up in my past and future, missing out on the present thereby
• Can I be alone in life? Can I really?

Six things I wish I never did:
• Procrastinate
• Work in Advertising
• Drink Alcohol
• Be so glued to the Internet
• Give up music classes
• Got angry

Five turn off's:
only 5, you must be kidding!
• Sports
• Chinese food
• Rules
• Discipline
• A group of people who are neither strangers nor friends

Four turn on's:
• Cheese, chocolate, wine (not necessarily in that order, works best in combination)
• Humor
• A good impersonal debate/argument
• A good funny or sensitive movie

Three things I want to do before I die:
• Be famous or infamous
• Try everything once
• Make a list of to do things

Two smileys that describe me:
• the confused one
• the straight face

One confession:
I am crazy. Oh you know that already? But that’s the only truth of my life. And no unlike some people I know, I am not proud of it!

Random Thoughts on Death

The cold, stark reality of life lies in its end – Death. I sometimes find myself wondering why death is associated with so much grief?

I think it’s not what death takes away with it that causes as much sorrow as what it leaves behind. I think the loneliness, poverty, shock, terror and a myriad of such circumstances that those living find themselves in is what makes death grim. Added to that is the knowledge, which can be disturbing yet encouraging, that the end is certain. That death is waiting for you, somewhere, sometime. But can any one be prepared for death, one's own or some one else's?

I can often see humour in most things in life. I would like to believe so. But the humour in death eludes me. Can death be viewed from a detached perspective?

What scares me about death is not that I am going to be in its claws someday. I often say, sometimes even believe it to be true, that if I were to die tomorrow I wouldn’t care. I don't know how many would. I seriously joke though that if it should happen, I be told before so I can tie up some loose ends. Like get that hair cut I always wanted, or take a quick trip to that one place I absolutely want to see, or have my favourite foods, drink myself silly. The list is endless.

What really scares me about death though is when it is going to take away some one close to me. I know that life would move on. But even the thought of the inevitable scares the heck out of me. What scares me even more is what if when it happens, I have a detached reaction. What if it fails to move me? What if I move on with my own life like nothing ever happened?

Life is unfair, we have all complained at some point I am sure. But is death any fairer? What about when death eludes someone who is suffering, waiting for it? What about when death snatches away someone who is happily looking forward to living?

I think death serves a far greater purpose to life than life itself. It teaches one to value life. It teaches one to live for the moment, in the moment. It prods one to live every moment of their life like that might be the last moment!

But when am I going to wake up to death's call ...I wonder!! What if I never do? What if death picks me up before I have that hair cut???

Aphrodite

This must be one of her early morning dreams, she thought. The time when her dreams are so vivid they seem real. But she remembers dragging herself out of the bed and going through the everyday routine before running to the bus stop. Yes, thats where she was, the bus stop and this was no dream. In front of her stood a guy, the likes of someone she has only seen in her dreams till then.

She knew all the regulars. The scrawny bespectacled girl, the cartoonish asian chap, the weird hat man, the school girl and her fagging mom. She doesn't remember ever seeing him though. And she could never have missed or forgotten him. He must be new. She had a good look at him. Oh yes, the perfect height - not too tall, not too short; she put the final figure at between 5.10 & 5.11. He was lean without being overly thin. She noticed his sharp features, the light wheatish complexion, his unusual but attractive gait as he disappeared into the crowd. She spent the rest of the day thinking if he was in fact what she thought he was.

As she hurriedly got on to the crowded bus that evening, she knew the Gods were smiling on her. She could pick him out from any crowd. But from where she stood, she could only see his back. She wasn't complaining as she stood soaking in every bit of its detail. Her concentration was rudely broken as he got off at the next stop. But his stop was not supposed to be until 2 stops away?! Catching the last glance at his profile, he looks every bit she thought firmly.

Over the next few weeks, her luck Goddess seemed to be working over time for she started seeing him more frequently. Each day as she observed him more minutely she got less discreet. He was what one could call handsome. Properly handsome. He reminded her of Al Pacino in Godfather 1. Not that he resembled him, but that was another man she found handsome. She was sure that when he smiled, there would be a hint of crookedness. She hadn't seen him smile even once. But she was sure of how exactly his mouth would curl when he did. She liked this picture of his smile. She liked his hair, the right length and volume. Its color - Not very blonde nor too dark, just the right shade of golden brown. Above all, she liked the air of arrogance he had about himself. Was it the knowledge that he was bestowed with such good looks or his genuine lack of care about it that gave him the confidence, she couldn't decide.

One day, quite unexpectedly she came face to face with him. She was getting off the bus while he was getting on. She saw a glint of recognition in his eyes. Was it complimentary? She chose not to answer the question, just yet. Later that week, when she was sitting quite carelessly in a stop, not her usual one, he once again caught her unaware. He walked up to where she was seated, her face sinking down into the book she had stopped reading the second she caught sight of him. As she looked up, in what she hoped was a casual way, she found him staring at her. Too stunned to react in any other way she gazed into those surreal eyes, for the first time. It might have lasted only a few seconds, but to her it seemed like eons. She knew it was time she asked him the question. But her courage failed her again. Besides she wouldn't be able to hear a no, not after having come thus far.

Days, weeks, months went by. He would sometimes be met in their usual bus stop and other times he would take her by surprise by appearing from nowhere on the road, in the tube and once even in a pub. In some of these meetings he would glance at her, more than once, and in some others not even acknowledge her presence. It didn't bother her. The only thing that bothered her was the question and more importantly the answer!

That morning he chose the seat next to hers in the bus but she didn't look at him even once. She couldn't bear to. She needed the answer before she could proceed. Her rational mind told her time and again that the answer was not important. It did not matter if he was or not. But she knew that thats not how it worked. Her imagination had to be perfect. And the answer had to be what she was hoping it be, to attain that perfection.

How could she imagine his beautifully sculpted body being draped in the pure white toga, the pleated end of which would fall down gently from his strong broad shoulders; the jasmine tiara adding the extra charm. No she couldn't do it without knowing if he was Greecoroman or not!

She stared long and hard. It was the weirdest piece of earring she had seen anyone wear. She was sure she hasn’t seen anything weirder than that. Not even that spiky hair style that leaves no more than 4 strands of hair standing out in four different directions. It was huge, plain black, going all the way up from the hole in the bottom lobe of the ear, through the back and finally arching down through a hole in the upper lobe. Overall, it looked like some sort of cornucopia. From a certain angle it even seemed like a natural (and rather ugly) appendage of the ear. Technically it was an ear ornament - it just wasn't serving its exact purpose - that of ornamenting the ear. The sudden jerk put an end to this inner monologue. This is where she had to get off. She threw one final glance at the man with the weird black earring to confirm she wasn’t dreaming. After all, wasn’t she used to seeing weird stuff only in dreams. Her own ‘real’ life was anything but weird - it was ordered and imperfectly perfect.

She preferred her dreams. She dreamed of living in her dreams - where randomness was the order of the day; where there were no real or imaginary constraints; where life was time & spaceless; where she could have seen the same man with the same weird earring and not found it weird. But, what if she already was? What if her real life was just a long and repetitive set of dreams, lucid dreams? What if she was flitting in and out of these sets of dreams; the ones she calls real and the others - dreams?

Yes, it has to be that! Life has to be a series of dreams tacked together. That fits in with her belief that nothing is real or everything is! She suddenly caught her reflection, smiling. The thought that she herself must be ‘the weirdo’ in some one else’s pattern of dreams, turned the sly smile to a grin!

WTF

X = (a+b+c)*17.5%

Formula 1
Y= (a+b+c)+X

Formula 2
Y= (X/17.5%)+X

What's the difference? Y remains the same, does it not? Apparently Formula 2 is more complicated than Formula 1. Is it really? Need it be so complicated?

You know what I am getting at, don't you? Life, or the end of it rather, is going to remain the same, however you arrive at it! But do we have the tendency to over complicate it? But aren't simple and complex relative terms?

Now am I complicating a simple post? All I need to know is, is life meant to be simple or complex? Is life meant to be anything at all?!

The Land of Thebes

Luxor, the ancient capital, turned out to be the surprise package for me. I say surprise because my expectations had been severely diminished after Aswan. But the land of Thebes as it was popularly referred to in the glorious times of the Pharaohs was truly magical. One can truly experience 'timelessness' here.

We began our sojourn in Luxor with the 'traditional' felucca ride on the Nile. We were taken to Banana Island where we were made to taste the Egyptian version of our Yelakky! I wouldn't call it an 'out of the world' experience, but the sail back at sunset was refreshing certainly.

That evening we were to watch the sound&light show at the Karnak temple and what an evening it turned out to be! The magnificent temple, the biggest of all the pharaonic temples, in the heart of the land of Thebes, is dedicated to Sun god - Amun Ra. Every Pharaoh worth his salt wanted to leave his mark in this temple, it is said, not only to pay his obeisance to the most celebrated God but also to proclaim his superiority. The temple stands on the East Bank of the river Nile; East Bank is more famously referred to as the 'land of the living'. This was the place where pharaonic civilization flourished!

In the late hours of the evening, when Amun Ra had called it a day, we were transported back to the glorious bygone years, thousand of them. We sat there partly enraptured, partly sad (that it was all gone!) but mainly spellbound! I can't say if it was the beauty of the place, the quality of the show or just my minimal expectations that were surpassed that made me fall in love with the place. But I can say that simply imagining the life that must've been in the ancient land of Thebes was exhilarating! At the end, the silence and darkness added to a strangely likeable eeriness to the air.

With Amun Ra and others fleeting in and out of my head, I started the following day, more upbeat and excited than I had been the whole of the trip. We were to visit the West Bank, known as the 'land of the dead'. It was the place where the Pharaohs, after having lived a glorious life in the East Bank, were buried in their magnificent tombs - all preparations for their after life being made elaborately. There are more than 60 tombs of the Pharaohs excavated so far, in the Valley of Kings and many more of the Queens and Noble men in the Valley of Queens. Then there was this beautiful temple of the Queen of Hatschepsut (a tongue twister of a name that I finally got round to pronouncing properly!) to be seen.

We could get into any 4 of the many tombs in the Valley of Kings for one ticket. Our guide, a young girl from Luxor (let's call her Samira, for I don't remember her name but it was something like that), patiently and enthusiastically educated us on all and sundry of the valley; she even gave us a mini discourse on stories of after life - most of which of course went way over my head! We gave the Tutankhamen's tomb a miss (it's not much of a miss I am told!) but the tomb of one of the Ramses (5 or 6or something like that) was great. It is the deepest of all and once again made me sufficiently claustrophobic; and once again I survived (too bad for you!).

As we were on a time crunch, we decided to give Valley of Queens a miss; the tomb of Nefretari or Nefertiti, one of them is supposed to be the most beautiful tomb That tomb was closed anyway, so there was no point in going up to Valley of Queens.

-----X-----
Nefertari is the wife of Amenothoph, uncle of Tut but more commonly known as the Pharaoh who wanted to get rid of the God Amun Ra and believed that there was only one god, 'Love'. He was the first known Monotheist of that age.

Nefertiti, is the wife of Ramses 2, the most beautiful women; now Ramses had many wives but Nefertiti was his beloved, so it was widely believed that she knew some sort of magic (hee hee!).
-----X-----

We then turned to the temple of Queen Hatschepsut (seriously, try pronouncing it!); Samira made me say it over and over again till I got it right :-)! Oh, btw, Samira, her mom, her entire family loves India, Indian movies; they think Indians are the best dancers in the world. She thinks Indian women are the most beautiful in the world etc., etc.,! :)

Anyway, Queen Hatschepsut was the eldest daughter of one of the Pharaohs (my memory!) and she believed she had the right to throne more so than any one else. She built the temple, again for Amun Ra, directly opposite to the temple at Karnak. It was built at an elevation in such a way that when Amun Ra woke up in the morning, as his rays gleaming through the magnificent pillars of the temple of Karnak on the opposite bank, one could see him rising, from this temple and pay their obeisance. She was a powerful queen and it is said that her rule was a period when the Land of Thebes was beautified a great deal. But the jealous Amenotophe along with tutmosis 3 (who was her Nephew and wanted the throne!) tried to overthrow her and in the process damaged the beautiful temple a fair deal as well.

One can approach the temple of Queen Hatschepsut by foot from Valley of Kings. It's roughly a 45 minute hike. But if you intend to do that, you need to reach the place really early in the morning, if you don't want to be fried (or deep fried) that is! We of course neither went early nor had the time for the hike. On the way back we stopped for a quick photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon, ruins (destroyed by earthquake) of what was once a huge Colossi ;-P. If you insist, this is the story of the colossi!

We didn't have time to do much else in Luxor as we were to reach the bus station to take our first public (read non touristy!) bus trip to our next stop, the Red Sea Coast!

The bus journey was an experience. We got to listen to some Sufi chants (at least I think they were) and watch an Arabic movie. It soon became obvious why Egyptians are crazy about Hindi movies and more importantly why they think Indians are great dancers! And I had no clue what I had just seen. It seemed like some random collection of unrelated scenes (comedy scenes at that).

After 6 long hours (the roads were amazing, a private car should be able to do the distance in 2.5 or 3 hours!) we reached Hurghada - a small but immensely popular coastal resort.

Before leaving though I would only say and say so with much conviction that a trip to Egypt sans Luxor is best not done!

P.S - I am not sure how many of the facts (if any!) I have got correct(haven't got the best memory I am afraid!)

The Land of Nile

Aswan, a smallish town, is where you find Nile in all his glory. This is the land of Nubian, of temples that were submerged under the High Dam. On our first day in Aswan, we were shown the controversial boon to the Egyptians - the High Dam, the smaller Aswan Dam and the Philae Temple.

The High Dam threatened to submerged 23 temples built along the banks of Nile in and around Aswan. It also took down a village of the Nubians who were relocated to safer parts of Aswan, a move they were clearly not happy about. But then again, it supposed to be a boon to the whole of Egypt, not just aswan! We also got a quick and almost passionate heads up of the significance of 6th of Oct and the love lost between Egypt and Israel etc.,

As for Philae temple, it was built for the ancient Egyptian god Isis. In the course of being informed about ancient Egyptian gods and religion, we ended up having a discussion about the religions of the world, with our man Shieko. When Shieko got highly emotional about Islam, we realised it was time to stop!

The next day we were to take the early morning (well actually its almost middle of the night for us) convoy to the temple of Ramses II in Abu Symbel. This was the highlight of the trip for me.

First driving down a desolate high way in the middle of nowhere (only desert all around!) in the middle of the night at over 100km/hr; watching the sun rise over Nile, the 4 large statues of Ramses II sitting magnificently on the west bank facing east as though overlooking the whole process of sun rise. It definitely was the best part of the trip for me. To add to the fun, was our guide, Reham, a young girl from Aswan who had just finished her course in tourism. Her passion for the temple and King Ramses was funny but also sweet. But the real icing on the cake was the priceless expressions on the faces of the American father-son duo who were our company that morning.

The rest of the evening was spent strolling along the corniche in Aswan, watching the sun set, followed by the dinner. Now, I must mention about this dinner - for it exemplifies my main gripe with Egypt. So in this restaurant we had dinner at, we were greeted in the usual 'oh you are Indian, I love India, Indians very nice etc.,' way. Furthermore the waiter assured us that he knows (in an almost sympathetic way!) that we are vegetarians and he will ensure we get the best and their special vegetarian food. So far so good. The food arrives, it is about as good as you can expect in Egypt (Egypt is not a place for food, we were warned and it is indeed true!). He then asks us to give us 50E£ as he doesn't have change and assures us that he would deduct it from the bill. We are a bit perplexed but there can be no harm in it, can there? So we oblige. We then ask for the bill and he comes up with the number 103E£ - in addition to the already handed over 50E£. That means our bill is £150E£. But surely something is wrong. As per the menu card, even if we over estimate and add service charges (which can be more than 20% in some cases!) etc., our bill shouldn't be more than 75E£. So we ask our man quite innocently, if we could have a breakup of our bill, only so we could be more informed about what we are paying for. He loses his cool now. He hands us our 50E£ back, and after 15 long minutes comes up with the bill - a total of 43E£! What the hell! So how did he come up with the 150E£ before??!!!

My point here is, if you want more money, just state it in the menu card! I don't mind paying more for something, as far as you are honest. What is all this cheating about? See, I am not trying to taint Egypt; it is a beautiful place, undoubedtly, but this kind of cheating, which is not a one off case btw, sticks out like sore thumb!

With our stay in Aswan ending on a sour note, we were not really looking forward to our Luxor trip the following day!

The land of Pharaohs

The land I've dreamt of seeing since the time I learnt about the civilizations in history. 7th or was it in 8th standard? The day had finally arrived when I would be standing in front of the only monument that has the distinction of being a wonder of both the ancient and modern world.

Driving on the 12km long 6th of Oct Bridge in Cairo for some vague reason reminded me of New Delhi. The roads are also comparable to the Delhi ones, as is the traffic. Crossing the road is an experience. The traffic doesn't bother to stop, signal or not, and you just have to manoeuvre your way through it. Hello, I am from India, but even I can't handle that level!

So on our first day, we were to go around with an English Couple (Why o Why an English?) and a proud Egyptian guide whose name is Shady but who (thankfully) calls himself Shieko! Shieko gave us a few tips on how to handle the localites we would encounter. Of course, we knew all that, after all, aren't we the generation of 'lonely planet reading', 'net-researching' travellers! Furthermore, Shieko promised to take us to 'govt run' places to buy original papyrus, perfumes and any other Egyptian specialities we might be interested in shopping for. All geared up and visibly impressed with Shieko's knowledge and his sensitive & courteous manners we were geared up for our first day at Cairo.

Our first stop - Pyramids at Giza. So, did it live up to all the high expectations I had from it. Yes and No. I mean yes, it is certainly impressive. But I always have the problem of over expectation! Anyway, am not suggesting it is not worth it. You can't find it anywhere else, can you? Inside the pyramid, there is nothing, we were forewarned! But then one would still want to see what is that nothing! So we went in, almost crawling. Once there, I wasn't sure if I was going to survive to tell the tale, as claustrophobia happens to be one of the many phobias I nurture! And oh btw it is hot as Hell! We rounded off the Giza visit with the routine jazz - sphinx and all that.

I think I asked Shieko one two many questions, so he decided to lead us straight into the first of the many traps he had set up for us - the perfume factory and papyrus museum! Unless you really enjoy being fooled out of your wits, you would do well to avoid any one trying to talk you into one of these things. As for us, I think it would suffice to say that by midday on our first day at Cairo we were left with a rather huge hole in our brains and wallets! The full impact hadn't hit us until later that night, though.

Our penultimate stop for the day was the Egyptian Museum. I, not being a very 'museum person', don't have much to say about it. But hey if you think Indians are stupid to give away the Kohinoor to English, what do you have to say to the Egyptians? The only non-original piece in the whole of museum is the Rosetta stone - and no points for guessing where the original is! But, how do the British do it, really?! The highlight of the museum of course is the Tutankhamen coffin and Jewel section! Again the all famous Golden Mask of the juvenile Pharaoh is currently in London O2, temporarily.

We then made our way to the maddeningly refreshing Khan-El-Khallili Souq. Yes, it's the same world famous bazaar where everyone tries their hand at bargaining; where one sits down and enjoys (or not) the Shisha and Turkish coffee in one of the most famous and extremely touristy Ahwa house! We were in every single shop, greeted as 'hey Indian', and the names of Amitabh Bacchan and Shah Rukh Khan were on every one's lips. Some men tried their hand at flirting, mostly the harmless kind of course. After several failed attempts to buy a scarf for 5E£, I settled for a 10E£ one. This was to get into the Hussein mosque, which though not much renowned for its beauty, is known to be one of the important mosques of Islamic Cairo. Oh, by the way, Lonely planet informs me that non Muslims are not allowed inside. I think it is not possible to look at an Indian and guess what religion they practise, if they do at all!

We then headed to Giza station to catch the overnight train to Aswan. Our next encounter was with a group of Indians. When 2 Indians or groups of Indians meet anywhere outside their country, the encounter is worth a mention. The words flow out so measuredly! You talk and yet you don't. You want to ask them things and yet not. It's funny. Anyway after some small talk mostly revolving around where from, where to and the likes, we kept to ourselves. We were going to run into them the next 2 days in Aswan anyway. We finally settled in our seats and eagerly waited for Aswan ....