Sun, Sand and Vomit

Some trips are not meant to be taken….this was one! But when I look back, I’m glad I did…I know that’s confusing, but hey…I am a confused person!! We decided to go to Digha on Saturday evening. No reservations, no bus tickets….this was gonna be one heck of a trip.

Digha is a rather popular beach destination in West Bengal …about 4 hrs from Kolkata. We decided to take a bus…I was rather reluctant…I hate long journeys in a bus and that too a local over crowded one. Add to it the fact that this was almost a night bus starting from Kolkata at about 6:30 in the evening. The seats in the bus, as expected were cramped….especially for a gigantic person like me! I was with Nitesh and Abdul….and decided to take the aisle seat. We stuffed our bags with Lays, biscuits and pepsies knowing rather well that the place that the buggers are gonna stop at would be rather sad and overpriced to say the least! WE started moving at about 6:45 and almost immediately got stuck in the famous Kolkata Traffic near the station. By the time we were out it was almost 7:45. I was prepared for the worst and the worst was just about ready for me!

The bus was super full with people standing in rows or fours in the centre almost. The guy standing next to me was sleeping … yes sleeping while he was standing and kept falling over on me until I jutted my elbow into his leg. Not even an hour and my behind started to hurt coz the seats were that bad! The guy played Himesh Reshamiya songs on the TV…I don’t know what it is with the kolkatans and Himesh Bhai Reshammiya!! Luckily he decided to switch after about half an hour of torture and put on “Prahaar”…it’s the Nana Patekar- commando movie if u remember!

He stopped midway after which I took the window seat. The biggest mistake…I was merrily enjoying the movie and the cool breeze when suddenly the guy in front of me started to vomit….and my window was open …unfortunately….the rest as they say is history!! I ended up swearing and shouting at the guy and all he did was offer a “sorry” which infuriated me further! A bad start indeed!

We reached Digha at about 1130…rather late by Bengali standards and started our hotel hunt. WE did finally locate one which looked reasonably ok for the amount that it was charging….The first thing I did as soon as I reached was to have a bath…..no hot water..!! It was rather cold that day….the first time I felt cold in and around Kolkata. The bed was rather inviting after the tiring and eventful journey and crashed on it. O yeah….we did switch on the TV at the hotel….Late night TV at its worst! We decide that the sunrise tomorrow would be better than what was on.

I decided to get up early ….Abdul got up with me too. It was still dark. The air was still chilly…we took the road to the beach…it was uncannily empty and we wondered if we were too early! The beach was a rather unpleasant surprise. Hoards of people….and I mean loadssssss of them….looked as though they had spent the night on the beach…A whole lot of them dressed as though it is -25 degrees with their mufflers, monkey caps and everything else brushing their teeth on the beach as though it was a private bathroom and spitting in the sea water. Talking and walking while u r brushing…..bengal never ceases to shock me! I even saw early morning droppings on the beach which gave me a rather icky feeling and we decided to walk to the corner of the beach which would be less crowded even though far.

The sunrise was a spectacular site…U gotta see it to believe it! It gave a sense of peace, calm , tranquility almost as though telling us that this day would be better! We just stood there and watched it come up from the rather dull red small sphere to the bright orange and rather warm one…WE walked back to the hotel room and ordered breakfast. We were rather hungry having not eaten the night before so we ordered parathas. What we got was anything but a paratha…Square shaped pieces made of maida and oil deep fried to the point of them becoming papads served with guess what???? Aaloo…what else!! Rather disappointing!!

We checked out of the hotel and decided that we need to head back when we suddenly remembered about Sankarpur. I’d read somewhere that the beach was rather serene and quiet and u can actually see the fisherman work out there. Not expecting too much we decided to head off to the place. We took yet another bus to a place called 14th mile…It’s a village of sorts….14 miles from Digha. The beach is another 5 kms from the village. Not locating any mode of transport we decided to walk. Suddenly we saw a person an a Thela rikshaw which had a motor attached. He drove to us and offered to drop us to the beach for 50 bucks. WE decided to take the hitch and as we were going, realized that this is a rather common mode of transport here. The roads were empty and almost non existent. It gave us hope…yet again of the place being clean. It looked rather clean. 15 bone shaking but extremely fun filled minutes later we reached the beach. WE had to walk for about had a km through the trees to reach the beach. And it was a wonderful sight….The beach was absolutely clean….pristine. Abdul and Nitesh got excited and decided to jump into the water. I was not up to it for reason best known to me and decided to sit and relax as my mind started to wander over the last few months of my life which’ve been a big learning experience for more reasons than one. I decided to pick up my book and start reading it. I’m reading this autobiography of Lance Armstrong… “It’s not about a Bike” for the second time in as many months. A very inspiring book...very simple and hard hitting!

I could see the fisherman at work….pulling the net, which they put earlier, back. Little by little they pulled it back…looked like a Herculean effort and the catch was rather small. Yet another reminded that good things come only if u work hard and even then there is no certainty.

After having spent about 2 hrs there we decided to have our lunch and head back. WE hiked for almost a km before we found something to eat. We took another motorized thela…this time to a place called Ramnagar from where we were to catch our bus back to Kolkata. It was a state bus and the seats were harder than the ones we came on. However, in a way I was glad I was coming back…4 hrs later the first thing that came outta my mouth was…” I’m glad, we are in Kolkata…!” I never thought I’d say that ever!!

Another reminder….Now is Not Forever!!!!

Let's do the Kansas City Shuffle!!

Very seldom does a movie inspire me to think…this one did.

Sunday mornings are usually lazy. While reading the newspaper on the Saturday before, I’d come across this movie with one heck of a star cast and I just had to see it. Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu….had to be a great movie. We decided to catch the early morning show on Sunday….LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN!

The movie turned out to be rather disappointing…more like a Quintin Tarantino without the suaveness and the punch. Maybe I was just expecting too much….the plot was weak and much too predictable. When the movie scores is the performances in spite of the insipid plot and the dialogues….some of the best one’s in a long time. There was this one dialogue which really got me thinking….but first, here’s what the movie was about ….

A good-looking dude with a broken nose is crashing at his bud’s apartment when a mob boss calls him in for a visit. It’s a case of mistaken identity, you see, and the good-looking dude is now forced to kill someone or else…he’s a dead man himself. And as if all that wasn’t enough, the other mob boss in town also calls him in for a visit and gives him (well, the person they think he is!) 48 hours to pay up on some hefty debts. What ensues is a whole lot of jabbering and killing.

The movie begins with a man in a wheelchair (Bruce Willis) telling an inexplicable story to a stranger in an airport lounge. The story involves the story of a fixed horse race, and there is mention of the Kansas City Shuffle… when the crown looks left u go right and do ur thing….

Josh Hartnett, playing Slevin, arriving at the New York apartment of his friend Nick, and being mistaken for Nick by hired goons working for The Boss (Morgan Freeman). The Boss, played by Freeman with his usual suave charm, tells Slevin (or Nick) he owes a lot of money, but the debt can be forgotten if he will kill the son of The Boss's rival crime kingpin, Shlomo ,The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley). In no time at all, Slevin/Nick is hauled by an alternative set of goons before The Rabbi, who makes him an alternative offer he can't refuse.

I ain’t giving out the end here coz if ur interested go catch it….Here’s the dialogue I was rather impressed by…

Slevin is taken in by Rabbi. This is almost immediately after the Boss takes him in and asks him to kill the Rabbi’s son. (Its not exactly the dialougues…but the meaning is what matters here)

Rabbi: You look worried
Slevin: Should I be worried?
Rabbi: U should. You owe me $33000.
Slevin: I do?! Boy…do I feel unlucky today!
Rabbi: That’s relative….don’t u think? If you don’t pay up in 48 hrs, you might end up thinking you were lucky today! You see, probably yesterday you thought that you were unlucky coz you got mugged, today u might think yesterday was better and today is unlucky for u. Man is never happy…is he?
Slevin: I guess not! So how do u justify urself being a Rabbi and doing what u do?
Rabbi: U see, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I live on both the sides…..So u see, I always have green grass!

I love what the Rabbi has to say… and it made me think. Why do we end up wasting today
thinking that we are not having the best of days…maybe its better than the days to come!! Why not enjoy the green grass that we have? And if u don’t…move to the other side!!

Let’s do the Kansas City Shuffle……… Why be ordinary when u can do more much more?

Thoughts…just thoughts!! Now is not forever!

Devilishly Delightful

They say things happen for a reason….I believed that things happen coz they have to happen…its like ‘things’ have nothing better to do but to happen. …..Not any more!!

6 months seem like a drop in the ocean of a lifetime. Lifetime, which promises laughter & sadness, smiles & tears, joys & sorrows, hope & worthlessness. Emotions which make the lifetime worth living…Little was I to know that the ‘much acclaimed’ cheesy comment was to change my life…for the better.

A friend who listens, a friend who expects nothing, a friend who cares, a friend who bears the worst of my tantrums (and a lot of them at that), a friend who has seen and taken me through the highest of highs and lowest of lows, a friend who taught me the importance of being me and not to care about what others think ….This doesn’t even begin to describe Mann. She claims to be much older than her and somehow has made me believe her. She’s seen a lot more than I have, she is a lot wiser than I am… always has the right thing to say and has this uncanny knack of knowing what I am thinking.

Finally, it was to happen….after almost 6 months of talking to her and almost knowing her like the back of my hand, I was to meet her. “I was nervous” is an understatement. But I shouldn’t let it be known!! Coz, knowing her, I was sure that she would be too. So I pretended that I was the calmest person alive when we spoke on that fateful Friday afternoon. “We’ll meet at Barista…around 2 – 2:30. Don’t reach there until I call u abt me leaving from office.” My precise last words to her. As expected, she reached there at 2 and called me. I was still at office. Some 45 mins away!!! I took a cab and we spoke for almost about 30 mins about random things. I could sense her sense of nervousness as well and I wondered if she would sense mine too.

MD: You aren’t walking in t\with the phone in your hands. That’s would be funny!
Me: y would it be funny? I think that’d be rather appropriate!
MD: NO!
Me: Ok Ok….I’ll tell you when I’m abt 5 mins away from u……hey I can see the flyover. I am 5 mins away!!
MD: OK….
Me: Should I keep the phone down? Do you want 5 mins before the shock?
MD: Yes please….

I hung up and waited for the taxi to reach the new market. Those were one long 5 mins. I was walking towards Barista and suddenly something came over me and I stopped. I looked around, bought a mint and stood there for abt a minute and then walked past the Barista. Realizing suddenly that I’d missed it, I walked back towards the glass door …As I entered, I could see a rather squishy, cute bespectacled girl sitting rather edgily on the chair in her bright blue kurta reading on something. This has to be her!! I walked in and suddenly, the nervousness seemed to disappear in her aura. She still had not notices me or was she pretending not to have. . “Whack!!” I smacked (or so she says) on her head with the papers in my hand and she looked up…Suddenly a cold chill ran down my spine… “What if this isn’t her?” It was too late….!

Thankfully it was her! She smiled and we said our “customary” hi’s! The self proclaimed shy girl turned out to be a rather talkative person and very pleasantly so. We were at barista for almost an hour talking away to glory, still squabbling over petty things like her refusing to show her college I card. A cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin later we decided to get outta there. I suddenly remembered…. “You haven’t ever had a Gulab Jamun…Have u?” We started walking towards KC das when she grabbed hold of my hand for the first time and pulled me towards a shop or rather in front of it and pointed somewhere. I looked in to see 4-5 puppies sleeping at their cutest best. Zapp…she takes out her Motorola V3 and shows me a picture that she had taken earlier….

MD: Aren’t they really cute…?
Me: Yeah…very!! Those are street dogs….right?
MD: No…they are puppies…!!!
Me: Ok…can we go to KC das??
MD: look look…there are more of them….an entire litter…8 of them! I wish I had 8.
Me: You already have 4.
MD: I have 5. Don’t forget Gin! And another 20 at my farm house.
Me: Hmmm…Nice!! KC das?

We walked to KC Das after dodging through the Kolkata traffic. It took us ages to reach there. I made Mann have her first Gulab Jamun….and I’m so proud of myself for it. However, her face told a different story. She gulped it down….with an expression on her face that I’ll never forget. It was a cross between an expression that u make when you are made to eat something that u hate and one when u eat something u love. You had to see it to know it.

The plan next was to spend a lil time together…what better place than the banks of Ganges…Right? So off we went on to millennium park…took a ferry ride to and from howrah. The sun setting provided the most picturesque of all sights! She sat there, sitting on the wooden bench on the ferry dangling her feet in the air as though she was a 5 year old. The thing about Mann is that she never seizes to surprise u. One moment she’d be this really serious 17 yr old who’d seem like a 91 yr old and the other she’d do something which’d remind u of the kid in her which she tries so hard to hide.

All this while we kept talking …not a minute of uncomfortable silence. Never did it seem a first meeting. As the sun set out came the love birds…and plenty of them…hiding behind the trees….thinking they weren’t visible….Me and Mann had a laugh riot pointing at them and laughing at them. We decided to grab a quick bite at Bar-b-que and then head home coz it was getting rather late for her and uncle would’ve been waiting.

Here’s a list of what all I ate when we were together….one coffee, one blue berry muffin, 2 roshogullas, peanuts, Ice cream, soup and Prawns!! 4 hrs….lots of talking, food, fun…awesome time. I dropped her off at her hotel and we decided to meet the next day in the morning at flurry’s.

The second day… I’d heard a lot about breakfast at flury’s which is supposed to be one of the best confectionaries in Cal. I hadn’t ever had anything there except a glass of juice once. I was woken up in the morning by my phone ringing at the usual 8:00 am.
MD: “Get up!!! By when can u reach Flury’s?”
Me:…ehhhh…what time is it??? Umm….I’ll be there by 9:30…or maybe 10. I’ll call u when I get out.
MD: Ok…I’ll be there….Dad’s coming too!
Me: I know….
MD: Wish Dad…eat properly…joke around….dad likes funny people….Don’t be nervous!
Me: (to myself) Why would I be nervous….I’m just meeting a friend’s dad!! Its not like she is my GF…!!! He wouldn’t kill me….would he???!! Why did she have to say that??

I rolled out of the bed by abt 8:30 and got dressed….took the metro (which was supremely crowded) to Park street and walked to flury’s. We had breakfast …rather uneventfully..except me dropping the fork a couple of times . I wasn’t nervous….!!! I know someone who would tend to disagree. I had a cheese omelet and a couple of sausages. It provided for the strength I needed next to help move the luggage to a hotel. The hotel seemed pretty decent for the room. I couldn’t help but get a feeling that it was because of me that they had to stay where they had to….they deserved a better place though!!

I had an appointment with the dentist for Saturday morning. All I could think about sitting in the dentist’s chair is that I should get over with it soon. We were done by about noon. Mann and I decided to catch a movie. We got the tickets for casino Royale and decided to go eat something. Hakka was at the top of my mind for more than one reason. It’s a Chinese restaurant with great food. We had Hot and Sour soup which was the awesomest u’d get anywhere….I had crabmeat for the first time. Great food always makes me happy. More was to come. City center is an awesome place to spend time. We still had some time to kill so we decided to kill some time at Timezone….a videogame parlour. Yes …you read that right….We killed some dinosaurs and drove some cars and killed some more dinosaurs. The movie was ok….the ice cream and the coke kept me going. Saturday evening usually is rather crowded. And we were rather full…So we decided to keep it light . I left Mann with her dad at night. While coming back the only thing I remember thinking about is…. “Great company….I wonder why she wouldn’t accept!??” Had an awesome night’s sleep that day….the best day in Kolkata yet….Little did I know….there was more to come:)!

I for one am really scared of heights and that’s precisely I had to face the next day. We decided to go to an amusement park….the only one in cal….I was apprehensive at first. Little did I know that this was gonna be one of the best days yet….I decided not to have breakfast that day and popped in a coule of avomines fearing that I’ll end up puking on one of the rides. We reached Nicco Park at about 1130 which was rather early even by Calcutta standards. We decided to roam around for a while and then start of with the rides. The virtual simulator, the civilization boat ride, the water shoot, the ropeway….and more. This was the first time that I decided to get on to a roller coaster. To say that I was shit scared would be an understatement. My palms were sweaty and my heart was beating at the rate of knots!! I decided not to back out. As it began to move u grabbed on to the handle with all the force. It started to climb up and all I could think was “I wanna get outta here.” All I could say was…. “Oh ****!!” the next 2 mins of my life are a blur….the ups and the downs and the turns and more ups and more downs… As I got off it…I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself…My heart was willing for more, my mind said no. and the person who’d made me overcome this fear was right next to me…and I was glad she was there. I was glad I did this….

Once the rides were done, we decided to the next obvious thing….eat:D. Shared an egg roll of which I ended up eating the lions share. At the counter, Mann stood with her arms spread straight looking at the person making the juice with droopy eyes as though pleading him just like a 5 yr old would do to hurry up. Lunch done…Mann had this awesome idea that we should go to the science city….now I’d seen science city but I always thought it was a rather kiddish place to go. But we did end up goin there and believe me it was fun. I guess it’s got a lot to do with the company. Mann was almost like a child lost in a huge candy store…moving from one display to the other. I was there right behind her almost feeling like a guardian. Once I got into it, the roles reversed….!!! She became the guardian and I was the child in the candy store. The rather impressive Evolution zone, the rather sad 3D zone, the rather exciting time zone and the rather cozy space theatre, it was all a lot of fun! By the time we were done with all of this it was rather late…late evening and dark. And when the darkness comes, so do the coochie cooing couples. Unfortunately, we found ourselves walking out of an area infested….yes INFESTED by them. 1 couple per tree was the order of the day…and there were plenty of trees!! I always wonder why on earth do they need do what they do in public…?? Makes me icky..!!

We walked out with we making lewd remarks about what we just saw and Mann almost feeling embarrassed to the point of disowning me!! We took a taxi and decided to go get something to eat….The taxi broke down in the middle of nowhere and we had to walk almost half a km before we got another one to take us to where we had to go…the much acclaimed and awaited Honey da Dhaba…. I’d heard so much abt this place from mann that I soo wanted to go there. It was very unlike what I had pictured it to be…it was a proper restaurant with carved furniture, napkins, AC, an LCD TV and more. I was looking for a open air thing with charpais and manjas with onion and green chilly in glasses with trucks standing all around! I was a little disappointed; however, the disappointment vanished as soon as I started eating. Awesome food would be an understatement. I had butter chicken for the first time in Calcutta and enjoyed myself. I have this major weakness for food…. (As if it wasn’t already evident). Mann hardly ate anything in spite of me forcing her….Coming to think of it, of all the times we were together , I remember myself hogging everywhere and her…just pecking at food!! I always wondered, how anyone can manage to do that…my sister does that too! C’mon…its food…its there to be eaten!!! Mann said she was happy seeing me eat …. Ideally it should’ve made me conscious….I didn’t even notice it until she said that. Good foor, great company, great times….what else could I wish for??

Satiated, we took a cab and moved back to where uncle was. My cell played Goo Goo Dolls and Aerosmith while we drove back to Barista…where else? Funny how things come full circle…???!! I met uncle and we ended up having cold coffee ….rather yummy ….I guess it was the company again!!!

I went back thinking….What did I ever do to get such a friend? The answer I gave to myself…Ur just plain n simple lucky!!

The next day was a Monday…office time. Mann and uncle were to shift to Keshtopur. I was glad she was coming nearer. We decided to meet up at about 2 and I told her I would show her my flat. I know it was in a mess. She called at about 1:45 and said that she would be delayed….I fled to my house and cleaned it up a little. Made it just about presentable. At least what little I could do in the little time. Met her at about 2:30 and we walked about 10 mins to my house which I was rather proud of by now after cleaning it. She’d gotten her laptop…She was rather impressed to see my part of the house…I was glad that someone was…I always find it a lil too empty! Mann opened her laptop and all I could do was ogle at the huge collection of awesome songs. To my surprise she’d already burned most of them for me and she gave me 2 rather incredible CD’s which I just can’t stop listening to! We were there for almost an hour after which we decided to go grab something to eat. We went to the food court and had a kiwi shake which tasted rather bad but Mann still insisted on finishing it. And some Malaysian chicken curry. We had to go back to Time zone and kill a few more dinosaurs. This time we had a rather freaky idea…..let’s get a sketch thing done…. And we did…turned out rather well. We sat at CCD together and then she had to leave….We came back home…Mann did what she wanted to do for a long time….met Abdul…I wonder what makes her think that he is my househusband…..we just cook and clean…he ain’t my househusband. I did a rather stoopid thing by asking Abdul to come along for a walk to drop Mann off. She got yet another opportunity to pull my leg…I told Abdul that he should go home and I’ll drop Mann midway…which he did! I dropped Mann in front of her house…which was rather far (which I realized while coming back alone). While going all I was hoping for that it should be far….i didn’t wanna let the moment pass. I don’t remember looking at her eyes while saying a goodbye….nor do I remember her looking at mine….it was a goodbye in the hope of meeting again…yet again and having even more fun!

Mann was flying off next day morning….I reached the airport rather early. Almost about half an hour before her. … I was that eager to see her. It turns out that her flight was cancelled. She was rescheduled on an evening flight. I went back to office with a strange sense of happiness knowing that she’z still around. Even though I wasn’t able to take time off that day, I did manage to get out of office rather early and see her off at the airport for the second time….I had a feeling in my gut that this time, it was for real and I had to tighten up. I have never been good with bye’s ….. I always end up not looking at the person I am saying a bye to and start thinking of something else as soon as I leave. Mann, to her credit was a picture of composure. So was uncle…Neither of them cried, neither of them wanted to see the other person cry….! The inevitable was near. The byes were difficult, she flew kingfisher to delhi and then to pune…and I drove a ambassador taxi home. Things had come a full circle yet again….

Now is not for ever!!!