My Day Back

This is my first post in a very long time. I’ve actually been away to Goa for the past few days and before that I was too busy thinking about going there. I returned today morning.

The bus that brought us back from the beautiful place was late as usual and we managed to reach the college premises by about 10.30 as opposed to 8 AM.

I said goodbye to my friends, had a sip of coffee from the college café and headed home. Arriving at my empty house was a bitter sweet feeling. I had spent the past few days in the company of my classmates in sub-standard accommodation and yet the yearning of the place called home had completely gone. I felt guilty for not missing my home.

I kept down my bag, and called mum.

‘Ya reached safely’

‘I’m alright…how’re you?’

‘Had the key with me…no problems….’

‘I’m tired now. Bye’

I sat down and watched some TV. We hardly spent any time in the hotel room in Goa, so watching my Panasonic 29 inch flat felt pretty good. After 30 mins of mindless surfing, I switched the set off and went to my room.

Mum had cleaned it while I was gone…and so naturally I had to dirty it again. I took off my traveling clothes and fished around for fresh garments. The cupboard as well had been neatly arranged in my absence and now smelt of naphthalene.

After changing into washed clothes and freshening up a bit, I made my way to the kitchen and gulped down 5 glasses of water. Whilst in Goa, we consumed very scarce amounts of water as the tap water there was suspect and so we had to buy or borrow water every time we went out.

I looked around in the kitchen and noticed that mum had made me some breakfast before leaving for office. Tasting home made sabudana khichdi after five days of outside food felt awesome. In the hotel where we were staying, breakfast only comprised of bread-omelet and egg sandwich. Despite being a vegetarian, I had to chomp down on egg-sandwiches every morning…which were not all that bad I must say.

After breakfast, I had a long hot bath. This was the only thing that hadn’t changed during my trip to Goa. Sure, the bathroom there wasn’t as big as the one at home, but I enjoyed the hot showers after a long and tiring day of sightseeing and time wasting. While drying off, I noticed how the color of my arms and face was many shades darker than that of the rest of my body. Roaming on the streets and playing on the beach all day long had taken its toll.

On any other day I wouldn’t even consider going to bed at 1o’clock in the afternoon, for it would consequently rob me of the little amount of sleep I get in the night time. But this wasn’t any other day, I was tired from the overnight journey in the bus and just wanted to get a good shut-eye.

The sound of the doorbell woke me up and I looked at the watch to realize that I had been asleep for 5 straight hours. I got up from the bed and opened the door.

It was mum.

‘Kay rey kaalya? Zhoplaa hotas kaa?’ (Were you sleeping or what? Blackie)

I told mum that I was very hungry, and after realizing that it was because I had skipped lunch she started yelling at me. Ahhh…I did not miss her yelling I’ll tell you that. This woman will go on for hours I thought, but only after five minutes I was being served hot tea and buttered toast(NICE!!!).

My LAN card is busted and so I couldn’t go online. It had been so many days since I had been to the Blue nowhere (I call the internet that after reading a book of the same name), what’s one more day I thought. I decided that I’ll go out and meet some friends and catch up on things, and at that very moment it started raining.

It rained the last day we were in Goa. Two of my friends and I had decided to visit the Candolim beach after a late and delicious lunch. It was just the kind of beach I liked…deserted and windy as opposed to crowded and sunny. After strolling on the beach for a while, we had decided to head back to the hotel and just then it had started to rain. We didn’t take cover…just kept walking, it was beautiful.

Anyways, back in Mumbai, it had stopped raining after half an hour and so I went down to the parking lot. The bike wouldn’t start, so had to kick start her. This didn’t work either, at first, but after a few more kicks she was roaring like a lioness. I felt liberated and free, riding my bike after almost a week. In Goa I had to ride in the back of a small car which the five of us had to rent for the duration of our time there.

I met up with a few friends, shared stories from Goa.

I got back a little later than I usually do. Thought of calling up a friend but then decided it was too late to call, so I picked up a pen and made a reminder on my forearm. I had dinner and watched some soaps with mum. After she went to bed at around 11.30 I got bored and decided to play some Counter strike. That too got boring…and so I opened MS Word and began typing away.

So here I am, after an hour of continuous typing. I think there’s a ManU match right now (UEFA Champions League).

Bbye for now…

My Scorecard

epOch 1, Monsoon 0

The rains, they come every year...to fuck up our schedules, flood our gutters and cause horrific road accidents.
Dont get me wrong..i'm fine with the occasional drizzle, riding my bike in the rain...the droplets kissing my face, and the beautiful smell of the soaked earth.
But where i live, Mumbai....when it rains, it pours. Especially in the past few years, the weather has taken a turn...for the worse, more like towards hell!

I'm still lucky enough to stay in Navi Mumbai which is a little better planned than its older sibling(just a little, mind you). But when the rains effect the railway services it hampers the functioning of the whole city.

I used to ride a scooterette Bajaj Spirit since i was in the 9th grade, and every year during the monsoons i got into an accident. Nothing serious...just a few scratched elbows,knees, torn jeans et cetera...but they were accidents none the less.
I dreaded getting out in the rains on the spirit...fearing that i would ultimately end up hurting someone other than myself. Thank God that didnt happen for the entire duration of my riding it.

Last year i bitched and moaned and finally got my parents to buy me a motorbike. Nothing fancy, Bajaj Discover DTSi 125cc...but a bike nonetheless.

June 2006, arrival of the monsoon.

We braved the elements...my bike and i and got drenched quite a lot of times. There was the occasional skidding of the back tire and the sudden braking to avoid the big puddle. I even got a puncture once, but luckily it happened near the gas station.
July and August went by without any incidents(read accidents). There was a huge down pour during the second week of july...but i wasnt stupid enough to get out of the house.
As september dawned i heaved a huge sigh of relief...in its second week, the sun has shone more often than not( especially today was scalding).

Time to throw the wind sheeter out of my back-pack. No more plastic covers for my cell. Wipe the dust off my shades and cruise the streets without fear.
The Sun, it will shine brightly.....thats all i hope for.
God cant hate me that much...again i can only hope ; )

My Bad Morning

I've joined tuition for this subject we have in 7th semester of engineering....Digital Signal Processing(DSP). I usually don't join classes for the obvious reasons that they are always overcrowded, overpriced and have in some cases pure waste of time. But after much coaxing from my friend(s) about the importance of this subject, and the fact that it is the cause for the maximum no of casualties (read KTs) in engineering...i succumbed to joining it.
But what i didn't know and also was too lazy to ask, was that it took place early morning at 7.30 AM!!! that too in dadar...which is like an hour and a quarter commute from where i stay. All this meant that i had to get up at 5.30 and get ready to catch the 6.15 bus.
I had never gotten UP at this time in the morning...that doesn't mean that i haven't been awake at this God-awful time of the day. Pulling all-nighters has been my habit since my 10Th std days. Usually 5.30 would be the time when i was tired enough to sleep. Ahhh...and how i slept after that...dreamless,thoughtless,carefree...not a worry in the world, not even about the 2 chapters i hadn't gotten around reading for the exam tomorrow.
Which brings us to today...3rd of September, when my classes started.
I was awakened by the simultaneous ringing of my cellphone aswell as that of my mum's(on which i had set an alarm for 5.25). As for my phone, i had convinced a friend into being my wake-up service.
Shortly after that came a text message...informing me of the time at which i should be at the bus stop (another friend...same deal...wake-up service..hehe).
So i got my ass out of bed...and looked out the window. It was wasn't even sunrise yet!
I got my act together and was dressed and ready by 6.10. I reached the bus stop at the designated time...on time for something at last. But the driver of the bus that i was supposed to catch...had other plans. S.O.B just drew past my stop...doesn't matter i thought here comes another one. I boarded the bus and asked the conductor for a ticket for dadar.
'Kya! dadar? arrey yeh Thane ka bus hai...'...FUCK!! wrong bus!
So i got down at the next stop and waited for the dadar bus. Lucky for me..i found another friend that had joined the same class...so i waited with her. The next bus in was dadar.
I bought the ticket...put on my headphones and settled down in the near empty bus.
Finally...i thought...now nothing can go wrong, you are on the right bus, its moving fast...today might not be that bad after all.
At this exact time...I'm not kidding...a truck containing what seemed like 200 chickens just overtook our bus.
And then began the worst 35 mins ever...the smell of chicken excreta, and the flying feathers...oh its too awful to describe. Especially the smell...the pungent smell...ewwwwwwww.

Finally the bus halted at Dadar and i gave a huge sigh of relief...little did i know of the mind-numbing,spirit crushing boredom that was the DSP class with Mr. KK Talele.
But that is a story for another time...coz this post must be boring you and i too have to get some shut-eye....
ciao