Last days and a lonely ride 4

Day 3 : ... a bicycle story and paanch Samosa

One final get-together since most of us had decided to pack our bags the next day. At about 6PM, an SMS drops in... "Come to Crumbs by 7:30". One chunk that had gone outing, another that had gone roaming, and me... so it turns out, that I'm the only one who's to go from campus. What had been an impulse, is time to show off. That I am going alone gives me reason to ride out on my brand-new bicycle.

7:30pm, and nobody is yet there at Crumbs. A wait of over twenty minutes finally bears fruit, and we're all gathered at the stairs. I murmur into the one standing beside me pointing at one car, and

"What the #$%^. Seriously?"
"Yeah. See for yourself." ...and I hand over the keys.

Unable to understand the reaction, everyone turns towards her...

"He's bought a new bicycle it seems..." a pause until everyone digested the news...
And then, "I'm riding it to Bangalore tomorrow."

Hitesh is the first to speak. "He's cool..."
"Paagal!"
"Hucch hididaiti? Illind benglurig cycle-daag hogti?"
"Tu bangalore jaane ke liye cycle khareeda?"
"Good luck with your adventure dude."
"Haan. Issi liye to Sunday ko tum logon ko baar baar call kar raha tha..."
"Hey, give me one ride no..."
"KC, be careful. Aparna doesn't know how to brake..."
"Are Aparna, tumhare pair neeche tak pahunchte nahi hai... be careful!"
...
...
People wanting to, take turns in riding, and then we go inside.

Some pastries ordered, a couple of sandwiches...
"Why don't we celebrate?"
"Okay... How about cutting a cake?"
So we decide it is pineapple pastry, but nobody is sure what to ice it with...

In the meanwhile, Irfan comes back asking for seconds... His order is for 5 samosas, and another muffin.
Orders billed at the counter...

"So what do you want for icing?"
"Abe, koi kuch to bolo..."
after a pause, when there are no suggestions, "Jo order diya, ussi ko daal de!"
"Theek hai. You can put 5 samosas on it."

All said and done, Crumbs wasn't going to fill our stomachs, and we decide to go elsewhere.
Scirocco comes up as a suggestion, and the choice. We go there, order some mocktails, which are a literal mockery of their names... (the food was okay, though!) about ten minutes to ten, two of them girls stand to leave for hostels, when we're still waiting for the cake we'd ordered. Finally, the *Paanch Samosa* arrives at ten past ten. This is got to be the most memorable cake for all those present on that day. After all, who would ice a cake with five Samosas?

We ask the couple (Bhautik and his wife, Dipali) to cut it on our behalf, and for the first time, we all tasted a pineapple pastry with 5 Samosas on it... Try it sometime... ;)

Last days and a lonely ride 3

Day 3 : Good-byes and...

It was most certain we wouldn't be meeting again... 'cos I'd decided so. (though 'Time' had something else in store). I'm wanting to say one last goodbye to my musketeers. They've meant the world to Monsieur d'Artagnan when he was away from home... and I'm grateful to them for all that they've been.

Though I get a very short time out of their busy day., those few minutes, as they say, "Time had no meaning." in my world. Ab Lincoln has apparently said "If your biggest weakness is your friends, you are the strongest person you know". I don't know how true the second part of his saying is, but I sure realize the weight of that first part. Yet again, those whom I open doors for, are bidding goodbye.

"What is this?""Just a something for you, and this one for you" ... "You're not supposed to open them now."
"Why?"
"Just so... Please, not now. You can open it after we leave."
"Are you sure?"
"More than sure."..."And that's for you... Does that compensate for the three Roche I owe you?"
"Ya, Ya..."
"By the way, I got something more for you... I'd promised you this one..."
"Yeh to iska ************ hai. Dekh ke hi pata chalta hai."
"Seriously?"
"Yup."
"SERIOUSLY?"
"Yup. You'll have to spend about *** rupees to get it back in good shape. I can help you with it if you want me to."
...
"want to join for breakfast?"
"Nope... got other plans... and I know you want to open 'em too..."
... and then we all leave the place.

(Every so often, I spend nights at the MIT ground... replaying every moment of that day as it unfolds...)

After what's been a wonderful adventure, Monsieur d'Artagnan is alone on his path now... 
And the musketeers...? Well, that will only be written "twenty years later"... ;)

Praful, Tübs, Buzz... just as much as I can say...
"Na saathi hai koi, na hamsafar hai koi...
Na hum kisi ke, na hamara hai koi.
Par aap ko yaad kar ke dil kehta hai...
hamara bhi is duniya mein ek pyaara dost hai koi."    -Anon

In the hope that Monsieur d'Artagnan will see his three Musketeers "Twenty Years Later"...,

Last days and a lonely ride 2

Day 2 : The Great Escape and a few quarters down

A lousy day has just gone by in a place that's slowly being devoid of its charisma. This place is wonderful when you've got friends, and students skirting around. But right now, exams finished and holidays dawned, everyone's bidding adieu to the place for the next few days. And it's just about time when it's time for all of mine to be off too... "Just one last get-together" we say, and decide to dine together.

A fair chunk sits in "Spicy n Ice" waiting for the latecomers, me being one. Just as I'm about to reach the place.,
Trrrrring Trrrrring... (my cellphone ringtone was the classic telephone ring then...)
"Hello"
"Dude, there's a change of plans... come to KMC ground, we'll decide things there."
"What the bleep! why this change of plan all of a sudden?"
"Stories when we meet."

"Okay" I say, and walk back half my way to catch-up with the rest. While the rest of the party gets back, the story goes:
"We were having some time-pass fun waiting for you people. Irfan was rocking on one of the chairs there... and he fell on his back." and they all burst out in a laugh. Only after a few minutes, when all the laughter subdued, is the reason revealed. His rocking had broken the chair's leg, and immediate evasive actions were taken to avoid a show-down. Given that an entire table of people evacuate without ordering for a thing... and without evoking suspicion from the manager., I'm sure he's cursed everyone of us for having broken his furniture and gotten away easy-peasy. I wish I were at the scene when it happened... All said and done, the owner was bluffed, one perfect escape effected, a few hundred bucks saved, and we're all back at the KMC grounds not knowing where we'll be having our dinner.

Even before the place is decided, is the host named... "KC, your treat today.". Raghu's proposition, and on public behest, we all head to Pancharatna. Over an hour and a half, it was probably one of those rare dinners where people had less to eat and more to drink, and even more to talk. Let the point be taken that most of us were full by the time we stopped ordering starters. ("What on earth did we eat then?", you may ask...) When it was time for the bill, which was worth it, Bhautik, I've honored your words (though I must accept that was the most expensive treat I ever hosted...). An extraordinary dinner and we disperse.

But since it's been begun, it has to be taken to the end. One mere pint of beer during dinner wasn't good enough. Hello to T-spirits, where  all of those of us who wanted to, had a couple more... and then, it was time to decide what next. T-spirits has some more good business, and it's Sam-n-Suri's. That's our "Adda" for the night. Our bar-tender for the night, Raghu mixes fruit pulp and drinks and coke like he's been doing it all his life. Every mix he prepares has the exact same flavor. Perfect proportions they ought to be... "Dude, you should've been a bartender at some point to do it so perfectly every time!" I say of him. By 2:30, the last of them are finally empty. Time to go to bed. Good Night!

The Renaissance...

Has been ages since i've watched it for anything more than a few minutes. But today was different. Something attracted me towards this "Eternally Boring Game" of Cricket so much, that I sat before the TV for almost 2 hours (big time...)!!!

Yeah! never been a fan of this sport. My opinion - like someone has said long back, "11 Lazy lads aside, 6 twigs, and everything else talking in between is a bat and a ball". For long, I've heard only a selected few names on TV associated with the Indian Cricket Team. This was another big reason for me to ignore it. A handful of names can't rule a game! But it did seem like times are bound to change. It is no more necessary that Sachin R Tendulkar, or Rahul S Dravid or the likes are the only anchorages of the team. There were these two "Relatively inexperienced" lads, who took on a pretty hard chase. Inexperienced they might be, but never did they behave immature. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli proved, that it is time for selectors to revisit their preferences. The calm with which these two boys played really amazed me. I'd never seen a chase of 300+ being run down with so much of calm. Of course, one possible reason being that i've not watched a proper game for ages now... Nevertheless, these boys did play wonderfully, and kept me glued to the Idiot's Box till everyting was over... The game these two lads played today... it was the best one I've seen in a long time. And Gautam certainly has learnt the ways of a Gentleman. Way to go boy. Admire your act. :) And an applaud for Virat too... for the wonderful game.

And then, like alwayz, every time I saw the Lankans drop catches, or misfield, I'd crib the lost opportunities.  And my bro even asked me if I'll ever in my life support the Indian Team.But that's me... Sorry! I'll never ever be excited if India wins a match... until the game's over. Kudos boys! It's the Renaissance of Indian Cricket. But let it not be a Crusade against the other Sports and Games. We're already shameful of most others.

Dawn.

The Sun has not yet appeared in the horizon,
people around this place have still not arisen.
Another beautiful bright day breaks in town,
as Ms.World comes out of her darkness' gown.

The colors of dawn are so astounding to see.
Wondering if this is how heavens would be...
In a while everything will be like it always is,
the ruffled sounds and sights, as another day proceeds.

-Anon

springing nature...

this one, again from the jungles of the Western Ghats... Nature was at it's colorful best, with leaves just budding out in the woods.

picture-perfect

another one... this on a recent trek to Gerusoppa, a very small piece of evening life along Sharavati.

of movies and camps...

July 26th 2008.

It was a pleasant Saturday morning. A few of us friends took a RE to München from Stuttgart. I hadn't even thought, that I would see the world as it were 63 years ago. We boarded an S-bahn from München in the direction of Peterhaüsen, alighted at Dachau Bahnhof, and boarded the bus to Dachau. It was here, that I was exposed to a piece of the most dreaded chapter in World History.

The entrance was a huge one, but fully barricaded. There was only a small gate through which people could enter one at a time. Entering inside, I found the place nothing special. There were a few buildings along, and lots of empty space. We started with our guided tour, and our Ms.Guide (I don't remember her name any more... but she was a studentin of History.) walked us through the "Biggest Concentration Camp" of the Nazi Regime. After seeing the Military office chambers, we moved on to look at the "Elite Prisoners' " cells, and from there on to one of the 2 existing barracks of the originally constructed 12 of them. After this, she took us across to the "Gas Chambers", the end of world for the unfortunate millions, esp. Jews in Europa, who were caught, and put into these concentration camps. That day, I only heard what Nazi cruelty meant. (Well, in today's world, there are many more of such "Nazis", but that doesn't matter now.)

Today, I literally saw it all when I played "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas". 8 year old Bruno, moves to the countryside because of his father's duties as a soldier. Being an adventurous kid, he starts to roam around the place, and encounters a Nazi Concentration Camp. There he meets another jewish boy Shummel, a name he's never heard of, who's of just about the same age. Their friendship leads them to another adventure. Shummel has lost his father. Bruno along with Shummel, decides to help him find his father. Bruno's mother, sensing that the place is not the right one for her children, decides to move back to Berlin. But Bruno, having decided to help Shummel., tresspasses into the Concentration camp, and dons the "Striped Pyjamas" like Shummel has always, and the 2 set out to search Shummel's father. As the two are on the lookout, they fall into a march of all the captives. They are taken to one of those cells, where they are told it is only for a Shower. As the two boys enter the shower room, darkness engrosses the chamber from all sides, but Bruno holds Shummel's hands tight assuring him of finding his father. This movie is one of the very few, that I would watch a second, a third... an umpteenth time, without being bored. The story originally by Irish writer Johm Boyne, is a splendidly woven story. Cruelty is not shown as cruel. It always enrobes itself in those more dearly abstracts like friendship, and love. Looking forward to reading the book.

For me, this movie stands out in its own wayz, though not a very pompuous one. Watch it if you get another oppurtunity.

one of my favourite photos...

This was at Kudremukh, about a year and half ago.