Whiplash

On the road like a flash.

The beast rides on ... black as ash.
Take cover, or dare to get smashed.
As I name thee - Whiplash!

Mother of all coincidences

My uncle who is a commandant in the BSF had this seminar today in Gwalior. He went to Gwalior via Delhi. My aunt also came along and is staying with us till the seminar gets over. Anyways his name is Ajit Kumar (I will explain why the name is important..read on!!). He is like one of those ultra lucky ppl who get a wife who does all the work for him :D . He just sits and orders...and is very used to that lifestyle especially since there are soo many jawans to help him at home. Its a complete VIP treatment. Anyways so today my aunt who was responsible for packing his uniform and all, forgot to pack his name plate badge which has to be pinned on the uniform. Damn I cant even remember the last time someone packed my bags for me. Infact I dont think anybody has done that ever!! Anyways so he calls up in the morning asking my aunt to check if the badge is here. Thats when she realized that she had forgotten to pack it. Damn..the look on her face made us realize the seriousness of the situation. A commandant is the head of a battalion. Just to think that a commandant forgot to wear his badge is really unthinkable. The seminar also had D.I.Gs and I.Gs. It would have left a very bad impression if they noticed that he was without a badge. Its like a part of the uniform. A commandant who is not dressed properly can attract severe consequences. I left for office a bit worried about what would happen. However, when I came back..my aunt was her cheerful self again. I asked her if everything went fine at the seminar. Thats when she told me that my uncle found a malayalee driver who worked in the BSF with the name Aji Kumar!! He borrowed his badge and used it for the seminar successfully evading attention from anyone. Damn!...just think of it! .. pure coincidence ?? My mom doesn't think so. Anyways she gave a piece of her mind to her li'l brother...which was kinda funny. I never imagined a fully grown man - a father of a child - would get to hear statements like "How careless can you get? You should mend your ways. You cant expect people to take care of your li'l things." and so on ...and that too in front of his wife :D . Anyways guess if you wish for something hard enough..it can happen. See ?? .. Walt Disney has taught us so many things..its a pity ppl dont understand the importance of cartoons. Anyways I cant wait to hear the first hand account of the story from my uncle himself when he comes back tomorrow..hopefully over a glass of daaru.

My new pet bird

After envying everyone who owned it for the past dunno how many years, I finally bought one for myself. Behold the new beast - my very own Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark. Needless to say its big..its black..and when its 350 cc engine purrs, it sounds like a double bass drum line on a thrash metal song. I went for a drive and covered nearly 50 kms today itself. Now my bro has taken it out for a ride. Normally the things I buy attract loads of criticism/mean jokes/sarcasm/etc. from all my family members. Be it the Xbox 360, my precious Ryu action figure, my donald duck mug..each one is a topic of conversation to embarras me in front of friends and relatives. But this was one buy which was approved by everyone. Anyways I hope I have loads of fun with it. I gatta think of a name for it. Hmm..that requires a lot of thinking.

Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Dream Theater is set to release their 10th studio album sometime in June, titled - Black Clouds and Silver Linings. Their last one - Systematic Chaos was awesome. I hope this one turns out to be a hit as well. The title speaks of optimism .. something we really need these days with chaos all around. Eagerly waiting for them. I hope pray they tour India!

Happy Holi - the herbal way

Its days after holi...but I couldn't really get the time to fill in my blog. Anyways, Holi was spent the "herbal" way..for the very first time in my life. Bro knows this paanwaala (yes, he has contacts all over the place) who promised to make bhaang for him on Holi. Excited, he broke the news at home, that he would be getting this stuff for the entire family. Apart from mom; who is scared of bhaang, everyone was very excited. So on the D-day..bro wakes up at 6 am (for the very first time in his life..I think) to get the thandai. He comes back at 8 after having some of the stuff on the way..or as he puts it "assuring the quality" of the product. Since it wasn't cold, we promptly put it in the freezer. At 10 am sharp..after breakfast..out came the thandai..milk with the lightest greenish tinge mixed with loads of sugar and dry fruits. We lapped up a glass each and since I was asked not to hurry up with the thing..we spent our time watching Sehwag making a mockery of the Kiwis. After 5 glasses of thandai each..a little more than a liter, carefully spaced over 4 hours, my stomach was full but still no sign of "happiness". We finished up the leftover bhaang and proceeded for lunch. I had an unusually heavy lunch. Although things were stable but I could realize that I was eating more than I do normally. After lunch, I dropped myself on the sofa..my stomach full as ever. Thats when the stuff started to kick in. It all started with a feeling of this strange calm and contentment inside me. It was the best feeling ever..slowly and steadily things were fuzzy...my head became light and I was feeling the "happiness" all around me. I couldn't help wear a constant smile on my face...and I could see it on my bro's as well as dad's face. The stuff started kicking in as the hours went by. Its one of the smoothest ways to get high. The slowness of the process makes it a lovely experience. Obviously different people have had different experiences with this stuff..but for me..it was kinda like time had stopped. I felt this light tickle in my stomach and I was feeling this strange warmth inside me. It was really cool. I never experienced anything like it before. I slowly dozed off and woke up in the evening..still feeling the effects of the herb however, very subtle, by this time. I had a nice dinner and as I lay on my bed..watching the fan go round and round on the ceiling...I reminisced about the day that went by as I slowly allowed sleep to take over me.

Wow!..I am back!

Phew after a loong time I am actually enjoying a Sunday as I wished to. Woke up at 8:30 and the feeling of doing absolutely nothing is bliss! I dragged my body to the living room and saw the entire Indian innings. A lovely breakfast followed soon after my morning cup of coffee (see? ..I told ya ..absolute bliss). I have found this new appreciation for food now. Not that I did not appreciate food before. But now I have started searching for the finer tastes and flavors in every meal I eat. This has resulted in me taking a bit longer to finish up my food. Anyways I could go on and on about food...the one reason I live for. Apart from the fine food..I can now listen to music in my nice 4.1 speakers. Nowadays I am hooked to Suspended Animation, the solo project of John Petrucci from Dream Theater. Its awesome progressive stuff. Anyways my next plan of action is to get some booze for the afternoon..dad thinks its a bit early for beer season...so we will have ye old whisky. Damn..I missed India so much! I gatta get the Xbox working..the stupid disc tray is stuck..maybe cuz of a long period of inactivity. I am planning to buy Gears 2 ..I hope its still available and also Street Fighter 4. Apart from all this..Holi is coming up. Although I have no plans of going out and playing Holi..but I am looking forward for the holiday...more so since mom promised Gajar Halwa *homer drool*. Damn I hope I dont quit my running..I would definitely get fat again in no time! Anyways I am planning to go to India Gate today in the evening to watch the Commonwealth Day celebrations. Hope its awesome.

The Angel and the Gambler

I dint like this song much when I heard it for the first time. In fact it was one of those songs which you have but rarely listen. Anyways while I was crunching kilometers on the treadmill , this song came up on the Ipod and somehow I found it to be awesome! Somehow it blended really nicely with my running. Come to think of it, even the lyrics are kinda cool. The song's about taking chances and how one takes risks in the hope of an angel to mend everything if things go wrong. However it is a bit stretchy. I mean it really dint have to be this long..and damn..the chorus is repeated so many times!! But its catchy as hell! One of those underdog kinda songs..you write them off at first but they bounce back!

I am back!

Phew..after 9.5 boring, agonizing hours in the air plane (I subtracted the amount spent on booze) I finally reached home sweet home. My last day in Japan was full of drama. I woke up on Friday to a very rainy morning. It was my day off and I had loads of stuff to pack..some things to buy and some bills to pay. Anyways I get this call from Sumit (who had to go to office) that day..and he goes like.."Stop whatever you are doing and look out of the window!." On asking why..he says "Its snowing!!". I opened the window and there it was...small white flakes along with the rain drops. It was sooo f*cking cold and I was in a T-shirt! Nevertheless I spent the next 15 minutes watching the snow. We prayed for snow ever since winter started. In fact there were days when it was as cold as 0 degrees..but it was sunny..and hence no chance of snow. Anyways on our last day in Japan..it snowed. It was cool. However reality struck soon and I realized I had loads of stuff to get back to. So I kinda finished up packing all my clothes..which were ohh so many that I felt like a girl! Anyways I had the task of returning my modem to the ISP. I started packing up the modem and as soon as I ventured out of the house..I realized I had left my umbrella at the office and the keys with Sumit. I called him up, but he said he'll be a bit late. I was left with no choice but to leave my house unlocked and venture in the rain without an umbrella. I stuffed the modem inside my jacket and walked till the post office. I sent the modem and decided to go to the office and get my keys and the umbrella back. I met Sumit at the station..and decided to finish up my shopping. on the way back. I had to buy a guitar case for my new-old guitar. The funny thing is that the cover ended up being as expensive/cheap as my guitar. But its a nice cover. My guitar is in one piece after checking it in, in the airplane. Anyways back at home..I realized that we wont have gas (to cook :D) after 7pm. We had asked the gas connection guy to come to our place between 5-7pm. And like a typical japanese..he turned up at 5:15! I was in the middle of making Pasta. By that time Sumit also had arrived. We requested for a few more minutes and tried to bribe him with Tea. But he refused the tea and allowed us only to cook the pasta. No gas meant no hot water as well. Anyways I hungrily gobbled up the pasta and it was then I realized I hadnt eaten anything during the day. After that .. there was this girl who was interested in our vacuum cleaner. She called up saying that she was lost in Kawasaki. We went to get her and also had to escort her back to the station. But that was ok since we had to book the tickets for the train to the airport the next day (her being a girl also kinda tipped that decision to her favour). Phew!..we bought the tickets...and with every formality complete..we resumed our packing! We dint realize how fast the time passed..it was soon 10:30. We had to meet with our friends as well..and poor Anwarul was waiting for us after making dinner for all of us. We went to say our goodbyes to Syam and Ashish san and had the most amazing dinner with Anwarul. After dinner we had loads of stuff to transport to Anwarul's house. So we took him along to our place and packed everything. Sumit still had some leftover packing to do..I, in the meantime finished up half a bottle of Brandy and enjoyed every moment of it...which was also the last time I would be boozing in my apartment..a very emotional moment indeed. It was soon time to dump our washing machine and book shelf. We did that..and went to the topmost floor of our building...just for the heck of it! I really dunno why we did that. And the lift started acting crazy. It stopped at every floor till we reached 15! We took the stairs while coming down. Anyways, the watch read 4:45 am. We decided to start getting ready. It was 5:30 when we finished and since I was incharge of getting the taxi..I ventured out for the same. We see taxis normally at every hour of the day..but that time ..there was none..zero...zilch!! After runing helplessly for 20 minutes..I finally found a cab. We wanted 3 taxis..but that guy refused saying that its an odd hour to get a taxi guy. So we decided he would have to go "to and fro" from our place to the station. We frantically picked our stuff and after 20 minutes..reached the station. But sadly, we missed the train to the airport and the next train was after an hour. We asked the station master who suggested us to go to Tokyo by the next train and catch it from there. However since we had missed the time for the train...our reservation would be cancelled but the ticket would be valid. That meant we had to stand on the train till the airport..which was a li'l more than 1 hour. That was frustrating..there were empty seats every where but the train guy did not allow us to sit..as if we were punished for being late. We stood in one corner..dozing off in between..while standing! We reached the airport well before time though and checked in everything. We were loitering around the airport before boarding the thing sharp at 11'o clock. We took off and after 9.5 boring hours and some booze later..we landed home! My folks were there to receive me..all surprised at seeing how much weight I had lost. Anyways we searched for the prepaid counter for Sumit and Mustafa. We saw a counter but upon going there for some strange reason he told us to go to the second counter! Sumit and I smiled at each other...damn!..we were soooo back in India! There was this another "we are soooo back in India" moment when the trunk of the taxi slammed into Sumit's head...but then, we weren't smiling. It was soo weird..he was putting all the luggage inside when the trunk came down and hit his head. It must have hurt...more so since he is ehhh..ahem..."folically challenged". Anyways the ride back to home was fun..the daaru party after that was even more fun. However, mom's dinner after 6 months was awesome! :D