Gautama Buddha - Hussain Sagar :)

It was one of those hazy summer evenings. It was a hectic day. We planned to visit an ancient church a week ago, but forcibly chose to forget about it. I was at my desk, dispatching some urgent mails, hoping to squeeze in sometime to write, inorder to make up for an unexcitedly spent monday and then my phone rings, partner-in-crime it reads, as it rings.

   

The voice on the other end says "Come down, I'll be there in five minutes, we are going out!" Over.

In the next ten minutes, I find myself clicking away random people on the road through an untinted windshield. :)

Two minutes after the engine stopped, we find ourselves standing in a queue, a board overhead reads - Ticket counter. 

There was this  northindian women who was draped in a jig red saree with sindhoor in her hair - half way up her hairline, clutching her bag in one hand and holding a baby in another, standing right next to us. She wore a sweet smile and was taking in all of the surroundings at one glance with her innocent eyes and then her eyes darted to a tall man in his late twenties, standing at the ticket counter with a straight face counting the change he just received along with the tickets. As more tourists swarmed in, this family of three slowly disappeared from sight.

The ticket counter was a circular place with around 6 ticket collectors  half facing the road and half facing the entrance from the car parking area. I said, "Tickets for 2". After 300 seconds he realises he doesn't have change for the 100 rupee note I gave. Neither I nor my friend had change. So we waited in the line till some blessed being with 10 rupee notes came up.

  There was this family behind - a family of four - mummy, papa and two kids - 'hum do hamare do' type :p
A women in her early thirties, she was short, had a high pony and huge shades which covered 3/4th of her face, she was accompanied by a man of similar age with a bald and not so cool T-shirt. Kids are kids anyday, jumping here and there, one hitting the other - the other crying and complaining. One hiding - other searching anxiously for the lost one, feeling annoyed, realising theres no one to fight with. :p

There was another queue at the boating front - A guy in the family (family includes his wife, his lil son, his father and mother) who stood right infront of us starts acting ultra conscious of being checked out by us. We looked at each other - we understood - and then we burst out laughing. "Anna- please anna - even if you were the only one left on earth we'd show no interest in you. Please stop acting wierd _/\_ " we talk this to ourselves and then we start laughing again. Before more drama happens, our boat arrives and a man in khaki guides us inside. :p

Do you wish your backyard opened to something like this? ;)

After some hustle and bustle our captain triggered the engine. As we went further into the sagar, he seemed more closer, the one i was so excited to meet. He's an year younger to me in our city. I've been here for an year more than him. His arrival was late, but his existence dates back to 500 - 400 BC. :)

He is tall - 58feet high reaching out to the skies.There's a serene charm on his face. He stands in the middle of a lake which was once drinking water. I've seen him so many times. I just can't forget the way he looks at me. He's pretty silent all the time, doesn't talk much, still I hear him. I know him. He knows me as well. He knows all shades of me. The excited me, the happy me, the angry me, the petrified me, the 'all' me :p  He's been there through summer and winter, he's been there day in and day out. Never less radiant than the day before with a serene look on his face, lucidly complex, conveying something new, each time we meet. He's been there throughout. Today we meet. I touch him for the first time since we are born. The first time ever. He feels happy..he's so gald to see me - so am I. :) 

My phone did a better job than my 50mm. The complete man completely. 

 Before Buddha.

Yes that's the Birla Mandir from Gibraltar Rock. :)

Birla Mandir Out-of-focus :p

Before we do the usual talking, our boat was back,and the khakhi uncle was urging us to get in. All serenity lost in the Rock of Gibraltar, we were back in the city again.

Stopped by a shimmery shop on the way back.

Then all of a sudden our tummies started talking :p

Telling ourselves we burnt few calories walking all the way up and down to the boating front, we decided to have some cheese , some more cheese and stopped by Dominos to have a Cheese Burst Pizza. Badluck knocked Dominos and they ran out of stock. We then headed to PizzaHut not planning to drop our cheesy dinner plan.

A nice day should end with a nice dessert. Yes or no?

Next stop - Donut House!

Recollecting how much cheese we had, we thought of cutting down on dessert and somehow managed to agree to share one.(Frankly we were already full) As we entered the place the donutty aroma compelled us to forget our vow.

There was this father-daughter duo - and their table filled with colourful donuts. Chocolate was all over the little girls face, here and there, everywhere. Then suddenly they are remembered of a living creature back at home, who also survives by eating food. She says,"Daddy, for mummy? :o".Then the father walks himself to the donuts in display and says '3 take away'.

It was hard to choose just two out of the many in display, we were gazing at butterscotch seriously thinking if we should take it :p There was a single butterscotch left, uncle says,"Pack butterscotch", he then noticed us, glaring at him like a thief who just robbed a gold bar and ran away. He politely said "If you want that, you can have it. They'll make another one." :p Then we politely smiled back to assure him that we weren't planning to kill him. :p

Butterscotch and White marble.

Happily lost!
28 April '14 :)