Experiences

Hearing the unadulterated laughter of a child
Sharing a walkman with mom while walking in the evening
Crying while reading a book and not knowing why
Not being able to put down a book until you have finished it
Studying and enjoying it
Running an extra minute or raising your legs an extra inch while exercising
Reading a long mail from a friend

***

Some issues have been sorted. There is more peace and order. :)

Pause

As I go on a short journey to discover myself, set my priorities right and just figure out some important questions...I pause my ramblings here for some time.

Hope to be back in action soon. Till then, ciao!

Catching Up

I met three friends from my college gang of five yesterday. One of them had come down from Bangalore and that had initiated this reunion. The other two stay in Delhi itself and yet I was meeting one of them after a year!

I was the last to arrive (maid cleaning home, noone else to supervise, so couldn't leave on time). We met at McDonald's in South Ex. My turn to create a scene. Hence, my Bangalore friend and I did a bollywood ishtyle slow motion run towards each other and hugged. :D

The college I studied in creates a strange compulsion in its (her?) students. Everyone must within two sentences of their greetings remark how you have lost weight since they last saw you (even if you met them just yesterday OR have gained four kgs since you last met them, as was my case). And remarks on the size of your ass are considered absolutely natural and part of the conversation. So I was also asked to turn around and oblige them so that they could decide if I had indeed gained weight. Not sure of their conclusion.

Had a nice time catching up with them. But if you are imagining scenes of four nostalgic women remembering idle times spent in a college cafeteria bunking classes, I would say....Nah. Not too many emotions. Not too many memories infact. Maybe its because it has just been a year. Maybe its because we just aren't a typical college gang.

As one of them put it, the reason we all are friends is because we respect each other’s need for distance. None of us could have possibly belonged to any other group. We are all individuals who are different from the crowd, in good and bad ways, and it is this difference that is our common thread.

Parting lines:
Bangalore friend: " I will see if I can spend a night at your place...just too many people and too few nights you see :) "
Delhi friend 1 (met her few months back): "I will try and meet you before I leave (for her MBA degree to Pune/Ahmedabad which will start sometime July I guess)"
Delhi friend 2 (met her after a year): " See you next year!"

I hope we stay friends for a long long time.

***

Background music when I started running on the treadmill at the gym this morning,

"Arre ruk jaa re bandeh, arre tham jaa re bandeh, ke kudrat hans padegi..."

CAUTION

Instruction no. 3 printed on the treadmill in my gym:

When not in use, remove safety plug and store out of children

An Eventful Meal

Day: 3rd March 2005
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Place: McDonald's (I hate people calling it McD's), Green Park, N.Delhi

Two very tired individuals: my mother and I entered McDonald's. The day had been spent doing random jobs like posting a certain letter at the Gole Daak Khaana, Exchanging the cream dhoti bought two months back for Guruji for a white one at Co-Optex, eating Ice-Cream at Janpath, enquiring about the price and availability of a memory stick/pen drive in CP and the likes. While mom had managed a meal somewhere, me had not had a bite since breakfast. And it has become HOT in Delhi. Very very hot. Walking on the roads leaves you panting like a dog. And soon I will be seen walking around with a cap on my head. But the flowers are in full bloom and the roundabouts make for a very pretty sight.

Getting back to the story, Ma and I entered. I ordered a Veg Surprise Burger ("just quit my job, so can't afford better things" was my reply when my mother asked me why I hadn't ordered a normal vegetable burger. She, of course, gave me a "you are mad" look), Ice Tea (Ma is on an anti soft-drinks drive these days) and a small french fries (I had to indulge somewhere!). Balancing the tray and the packets in my hand, I somehow managed to climb the stairs up to the seating area. Decided to go wash my hands, specially because I had scribbled with my finger the number of my car on a dirty windshield when enquiring from the deaf and dumb parking attendant in Janpath about the location of the car where dad had parked it. I blindly walked towards the place where the loo had always been. Two employees blocked my way at the door. Too tired to speak, I just moved my hands to indicate to them that i need to go inside the loo to wash my hands. "Ladies Loo Upstairs, Ma'am". an "Oh!" was accompanied by an embarrassed smile and I quietly retreated. Apparently they had shifted the loo and I was too blind to notice!

When I finally sat down to eat, the surroundings caught my attention. In the row on my right, on three tables sat three different couples. The first sat on either side of the table. The second sat on the same side facing each other, barely touching but appearing close and comfy nonetheless. The third were the coziest of them all. Holding hands, hugging and all that. On my left sat another couple. A bouquet of purple flowers was lying on the table. The guy wore a grotesque tie. Before I get reprimanded for gawking at these people, I would like to clarify that all this was absorbed in one quick glance around the room. Surrounded by so much coochy-cooing, I decided to concentrate on my food and enjoy it.

When I had finished eating, mom decided to pay a visit to the loo which was located on the floor above the one we were sitting on. Moments after she went, I heard the sound of balloons bursting. I had seen the balloons when I went to wash my hands. Mom claimed to be innocent.

While I waited for my mom to return, the couple sitting on my left decided they were bored of playing knots and crosses and should play Antakshari instead. Yes. Two people. In a restaurant (If I can call McDonald's that). Full Volume. They started singing songs. Everybody turned to look. Most smiled, muttered something to their partners, exchanged glances. Some gave them a thumb's up. I just tried to control my laughter. Though I must admit it takes some guts to be singing in public like that specially when you are not very gifted at the art of singing.

After the eventful meal, mom and I had gol guppas (also known as paani poori or puchkas) at Evergreen outside. Highly Recommended.

And then we returned home.

One Week Escapade

A week in God's Own Country. IMHO it should be called God's Own Coconut Country. The singularity in vegetation on the one hand makes the state picturesque while on the other, it makes it boring! Traveling hundreds of kilometers by road and seeing the same kind of trees can get to you. But God couldn't have chosen a better tree to bless His country with. Every part of the tree is of economic use. Makes for great commerce!

My itenarary was Munnar-Kumarakom-Kovalam-KanyaKumari- Alleppy-Cochin. Highlights from each place:

• Munnar: Sunrise at 5:30 in the morning, clouds over the lake. Tea Gardens. A 15 min cruise in a speedboat. Pineapple. Avial.
  
• Kumarakom: Lying in the hammock and reading Charlotte Bronte unravel the idiosyncrasies of her characters in The Professor. Sitting on the cabin roof of a motorboat, feeling the breeze on my face while the boat moves through narrow backwaters.
  
• Kovalam: Going into the sea in a catamaran (a boat made of logs of lashed wood, very very narrow and tiny!). Fun at the beach. Sand in clothes. LOSING MY CELLPHONE.
• KanyaKumari: Breeze. The kid who sold key-chains: "one set for seven, two for fifteen"
• Alleppy: Driving the motorboat in the backwaters.
  
• Cochin: Meeting Joker. Kaashi Art Cafe. Graffiti on the sand on the beach. Sunset at Fort Cochin. A sleepless afternoon. Bike rides. Rainbow Bridge. Fish Fillet. Impossible task of packing all that Joker gave us.