After the high drama of a live game followed by Duda’s melodramatic and theatric scream for attention ; everybody was exhausted. As we returned to Milan’s place , Mukku and Milan cursed Duda from the depth of their stomach for forcing them to eat Masala dosa for dinner. Chalo raat gayi aur baat gayi…the next day we were to set course to Kanha.
The next morning Duda had arranged break fast for us at his home. That lovable idiot amply pampered the previous evening, was cured and the usual blundering self. Typical to his nature he had a huge spread ready for break fast to cater to every taste. After breakfast we all rolled out to Kanha. Duda’s farm being on the way, there was a mandatory halt there where Duda piled me and Shyamal with whatever farm fresh we could perhaps have fit into our Scorpio. I must mention here the obsession Harvinder showed for Baingan especially the slender long ones! When her exclamations on the freshness and texture we pointed out the pervert angle to it. Harvinder promptly handed the baingans very suggestively to Valerie, Elizabeth ,Anjana and Urmi. Why? Because according to Harvinder, “ Tavera mein sirf ek Inder aur char auratein hai to unhe iski zaroorat pad sakti hai” Elizabeth having got over the shock told her that the baingans were only two while they were four…to which Harvinder replied “ Turn by turn please!” While all this conspired, Duda who had handed over the wheel of his Tavera to Inder, had planted himself along with Ajith in Joshua’s car to swig in peace. This car of tipplers kept getting lost as the car almost on auto pilot seemed to head towards any joint which mentioned “BAR” in any conceivable language. True to Madhya Pradesh where we see telephone booths with the sign board “ lo kar lo baat” we came across a place which displayed “ Khatiya Exchange” rather boldly. The entire batch was very keen to see what that place is really about…then the consequences got better of them and we moved on to an accommodation which had been arranged by Abhijeet.
The accommodation was amazing and really very comfortable. The décor of the place merged with the jungle and was very peaceful and quiet. After a sumptuous lunch we set off to the jungle. The evergreen jungle of Kanha was so beautiful that the riotous batch 77 was silenced by the awesome mystery of the jungle. The best part was that we actually saw a tiger. This youngster was sitting on a rock when he was spotted by a safari jeep within minutes almost 15 vehicles converged there and everybody climbed on whatever they could to have a look at his majesty. The tiger was naturally very irritated with the characteristic uncouth behavior of the humans. So, his majesty stood up shoed us his ass and walked off into the jungle. A befitting treatment to us intruders. We also saw a young bison who gave us a royal ignore almost telling us “mere angne mein tumhara kya kaam hai” Satisfied that we saw a tiger in the wild, we returned that evening happy and satisfied. Once again we converged around the bon fire in the evening. Everybody was somehow sobered as we settled the bills as we realized that our reunion was now coming to an end.
The next morning we were all up at 5 AM in the biting cold ,to go into the jungle and see the tiger. Well we were not so lucky this time…except Manjot who kept singing “jungle mein mor nacha kisne dekha” till he saw mor and mor and mor but no trace of the tiger! So, we returned trifle hungry and disappointed. But I think everyone was sad at the thought of parting ways of course with the promise to meet again.
We all packed our bags and Mukku and I were to drive off to Nagpur from there. As we left, we all finalized our next rendezvous point i.e. Kerala in 2010. We drove off …filling the sudden emptiness with memories of the last 4 days. I am sure the others felt better as they were still together…there too a vacuum would set in as each of the batch bates moved off in different directions carrying fond memories. Memories of pure unadulterated fun and laughter which would see us all through the business of life….bringing a smile irrespective of where you are. As the memories of the days spent together floods in, all cares and worries melt and we all smile. Smile for what we shared and what we will share when we meet again……....Hasta Manana.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Lunch in the wild and Lurch at the wild
After that momentous evening where we turned a sober gazal ki shaam to a desi disco we woke up to a bright and sunny day. Valerie, who was staying along with us with Milan, searched my face carefully for signs of hangover. She was still attributing Harvinder and my reckless behavior to daaru…well ab kis kis ko samjhayein. After a quick breakfast at the coffee house we set course to Duda Land. Now Duda has BIG political connections ranging missionary to mercenary to the political machinery. So, we were to set out to a Guest House made in Reserve Forest owned by the local MLA of that area. Since we were in his turf, he decided to be the leader and we all humbly followed keeping our fingers crossed about where all we could possibly reach with a leader like Duda. The bright sun and the lonely road soon caught on with everybody and yes the Bar i.e. the Scorpio driven by the eternal Barman Mukho was ordered to pull up. Each of the cars stocked themselves suitably and the entourage continued... this time nobody cared who is taking them where…
Our first halt was at a waterfall called Nizara. Now this water fall was nothing more than a sad pee like trickle. We all took pictures here and the guys went to answer the nature’s call. Duda returned with his kurta wet near the pocket…there were speculations about how his pee could reach there when Urmi told us that what were all speculating about is almost vestigial as it was not in use! After this irrefutable observation we all moved on to a place called Bhainsa Ghat from where we had an aerial view of the entire forest reserve. We then set course to the Guest house. The Guest House in the jungle was imposing yet not disturbing. The stones used to construct it merged well with the jungle. Our host, the MLA was personally present to meet the batch after all he too was a part of this gang. So was the “couple” of the previous evening who very politely told us how we had made the evening so special for them!!!!!! I am sure Manoj Singh has been black listed by the hotel authorities and can never hold a party there. Lunch was ready for us at the Guest House. We had the tastiest food cooked in traditional fuel. Even basic food like, roti tasted special. The menu was simple- dal, sabzi, desi murga, kaithe ki chutney, salad, papad, roti and rice. But I would rank it as one of the tastiest meals that I have had.
Lunch over, we decided to move on and visit Giri Darshan, a forest guest house with a watch tower to see animals. Well with the cantankerous crowd that we were, all animals kept away but we enjoyed a wonderful view of the jungle and some water bodies from the watch tower. Our Host the MLA then suggested that we go for a chota chakkar in the jungle where there would be more chances of seeing an animal in the wild. The jungle was peaceful and very quiet when we saw the MLA’s jeep stop and before we realized, out popped a gun and we heard a shot. We saw two of his cronies along with Duda and Joshua rush out… all we saw were that they were killing the animal, a wild boar with boulders as the shot had not done a complete job. We all watched in stunned silence as the yet to die animal was loaded into a vehicle. Somehow, this incident stunned us all and was a bitter twist to an otherwise happy day. The MLA who holds a license to kill wild boars as they do a lot of damage to crops. But this intrusion into the jungle and killing the hapless creature in its turf was just not fair. Duda and Joshua hung around with the MLA while we all completely disgusted decided to drive on.
We were all stunned and shocked and as we drove into Milan’s house, Duda too had caught up with us. Joshua had gone to put the animal away somewhere. Everybody yelled at Duda and expressed their disgust in very very clear terms. Soon our Duda was thirsting for a drink and then he binged, more out of tension than the need for a drink. And then began Duda’s emotional atyachaar. It started by blaming Urmi that she had not given him anything to eat and that he was hungry then he kept pleading that he wanted to eat... so everybody chucked their drink and decided to take care of Duda’s hunger. They rushed to their all time favorite clock tower which was closed and then everybody decided to head for the Coffee House in Sadar. All that Duda wanted was some kind attention after being bombarded from all sides for the Boar killing. Anjana and I fed him and he sat back and ate like a petulant hungry kid. Seeing his state, Inder decided to take charge of the wheel and drove Duda back home.
It was later that we learnt it was not just Duda who was so shaken; Munnu’s fiancée was also deeply affected. The MLA in all sincerity thought that we would be thrilled to see games that too live. He never thought that there would be such violent reaction to what he thought would be an entertainment for people like us who live in concrete jungles!
Our first halt was at a waterfall called Nizara. Now this water fall was nothing more than a sad pee like trickle. We all took pictures here and the guys went to answer the nature’s call. Duda returned with his kurta wet near the pocket…there were speculations about how his pee could reach there when Urmi told us that what were all speculating about is almost vestigial as it was not in use! After this irrefutable observation we all moved on to a place called Bhainsa Ghat from where we had an aerial view of the entire forest reserve. We then set course to the Guest house. The Guest House in the jungle was imposing yet not disturbing. The stones used to construct it merged well with the jungle. Our host, the MLA was personally present to meet the batch after all he too was a part of this gang. So was the “couple” of the previous evening who very politely told us how we had made the evening so special for them!!!!!! I am sure Manoj Singh has been black listed by the hotel authorities and can never hold a party there. Lunch was ready for us at the Guest House. We had the tastiest food cooked in traditional fuel. Even basic food like, roti tasted special. The menu was simple- dal, sabzi, desi murga, kaithe ki chutney, salad, papad, roti and rice. But I would rank it as one of the tastiest meals that I have had.
Lunch over, we decided to move on and visit Giri Darshan, a forest guest house with a watch tower to see animals. Well with the cantankerous crowd that we were, all animals kept away but we enjoyed a wonderful view of the jungle and some water bodies from the watch tower. Our Host the MLA then suggested that we go for a chota chakkar in the jungle where there would be more chances of seeing an animal in the wild. The jungle was peaceful and very quiet when we saw the MLA’s jeep stop and before we realized, out popped a gun and we heard a shot. We saw two of his cronies along with Duda and Joshua rush out… all we saw were that they were killing the animal, a wild boar with boulders as the shot had not done a complete job. We all watched in stunned silence as the yet to die animal was loaded into a vehicle. Somehow, this incident stunned us all and was a bitter twist to an otherwise happy day. The MLA who holds a license to kill wild boars as they do a lot of damage to crops. But this intrusion into the jungle and killing the hapless creature in its turf was just not fair. Duda and Joshua hung around with the MLA while we all completely disgusted decided to drive on.
We were all stunned and shocked and as we drove into Milan’s house, Duda too had caught up with us. Joshua had gone to put the animal away somewhere. Everybody yelled at Duda and expressed their disgust in very very clear terms. Soon our Duda was thirsting for a drink and then he binged, more out of tension than the need for a drink. And then began Duda’s emotional atyachaar. It started by blaming Urmi that she had not given him anything to eat and that he was hungry then he kept pleading that he wanted to eat... so everybody chucked their drink and decided to take care of Duda’s hunger. They rushed to their all time favorite clock tower which was closed and then everybody decided to head for the Coffee House in Sadar. All that Duda wanted was some kind attention after being bombarded from all sides for the Boar killing. Anjana and I fed him and he sat back and ate like a petulant hungry kid. Seeing his state, Inder decided to take charge of the wheel and drove Duda back home.
It was later that we learnt it was not just Duda who was so shaken; Munnu’s fiancée was also deeply affected. The MLA in all sincerity thought that we would be thrilled to see games that too live. He never thought that there would be such violent reaction to what he thought would be an entertainment for people like us who live in concrete jungles!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Woh Shaam kuch ajeeb thi......
I am really glad to know that Batch 77 is closely following my blog…lest I miss out some relevant detail; which as a matter of fact, I did. When we reached Bargi for the cruise it was written in huge bold letters that we cannot carry any food inside. But if you have a chronic muncher like Urmi, you can be sure that you will have something interesting to munch. So, Urmi smuggled in boiled Bers, a specialty of Jabalpur which tastes more of memories than the tangy salty sourness.
Now let me come to evening…as we drove off from Bargi, we stopped at a tea stall and had tea in peg size plastic glasses. The Batch mates wanted to meet their old Principal Rev Parampujya who was in a meeting at Sneh Sadan. Duda, who claims a special affinity with the Lord himself dissuaded all, making Sneh Sadan look as impenetrable as the Vatican itself. It took Harvinder and me to take the lead when we offered to barge into the meeting ; we could always fall back on the fact that we were outsiders and that we were unaware of the formalities of the matters concerning the Lord. Much to everybody’s relief Rev Parampujya came out of the meeting. He was old and feeble a far cry from the terror that he was. With a little effort he remembered the chief trouble makers headed by Duda who belongs to the rival camp of the Lord’s followers. Rev Parampujya was moved to tears for which Milan commented ruefully “ hame kitna rulaya tha ab khud ro raha hai?” Rev Davis, also present in the meeting, joined the group once again and after a few photographs, the Batch left Sneh Sadan. Everybody felt fortunate to have met Rev Parampujya.
We all broke up for the evening ….only to meet again. Hotel Gulzar looked a little extra bright that evening after all it was a special engagement party. Our good old friend Munnu, alias Manoj Singh was making a beginning….he was to get married! Well the couple were there, radiant, happy and deeply in love. The evening was special so special arrangements were made too. There was a local celebrity, a ghazal singer called in to add romance to the already romantic evening. The lights, the make shift stage, the white table linen and roses ….ah what a perfect evening!
The only hitch was the rest of the Batch77, had sobered down after the meeting with rev Parampujya and were now all braced up to booze and have a boisterous evening. In all sincerity everybody tried their best to enjoy the plagiarized other preschool rhyme pattern ghazals. Till, Harvinder and I began to get terribly bored. We were definitely not in the mood for candle lit romance and all this subdued sobriety was getting a little tiring. We first thought of doing a mujra , boob shaking style, like Rekha ( Now Padmashree Rekha) but could not quite do justice to it. So we decided to play the gallery…we clapped and did wah wah just about anywhere and everywhere in the Ghazal. Soon the rest of the Batch got into the mood and before the singer realized we had made his ghazal into a qawali and even a disco. The singer was glad to see so much of vocal appreciation from the audience. The only one who looked harassed and even murderous was the man playing the tabla who had to change the beats to suit our moods. Ranging from a soft Ghazal to a disco on which we jived.
While the Batch 77 had a rocking time….the other hapless invitees looked at us completely shocked! The women were scandalized and the men looked on longingly waiting to join this fun loving freaky crowd. In our hurry to reach the party none of us had carried a camera. How ever this shortcoming was made up amply by Narendra Chauhan who clicked away to glory. He seemed particularly fascinated by Harvinder due to her “media connections”. We are still waiting to see the pictures as Narendra did not join us for any of our outings after that….I wonder if his uninhibited pictures have anything to do with it.
In short it was an evening to remember….at least it was like that for the Batch. We might have shocked many maybe even our to- be- wed hosts and some very silent couples like Inder and Anjana. Anjana was convinced that Harvinder and I were pissed when the fact was that we were not even a peg down. I suppose when you want to have fun the intoxication lies in the mind, you can get a high just on the mood and the situation…like they say, agar sharab mein nasha hoti to kya botal nahi nachti?
Now let me come to evening…as we drove off from Bargi, we stopped at a tea stall and had tea in peg size plastic glasses. The Batch mates wanted to meet their old Principal Rev Parampujya who was in a meeting at Sneh Sadan. Duda, who claims a special affinity with the Lord himself dissuaded all, making Sneh Sadan look as impenetrable as the Vatican itself. It took Harvinder and me to take the lead when we offered to barge into the meeting ; we could always fall back on the fact that we were outsiders and that we were unaware of the formalities of the matters concerning the Lord. Much to everybody’s relief Rev Parampujya came out of the meeting. He was old and feeble a far cry from the terror that he was. With a little effort he remembered the chief trouble makers headed by Duda who belongs to the rival camp of the Lord’s followers. Rev Parampujya was moved to tears for which Milan commented ruefully “ hame kitna rulaya tha ab khud ro raha hai?” Rev Davis, also present in the meeting, joined the group once again and after a few photographs, the Batch left Sneh Sadan. Everybody felt fortunate to have met Rev Parampujya.
We all broke up for the evening ….only to meet again. Hotel Gulzar looked a little extra bright that evening after all it was a special engagement party. Our good old friend Munnu, alias Manoj Singh was making a beginning….he was to get married! Well the couple were there, radiant, happy and deeply in love. The evening was special so special arrangements were made too. There was a local celebrity, a ghazal singer called in to add romance to the already romantic evening. The lights, the make shift stage, the white table linen and roses ….ah what a perfect evening!
The only hitch was the rest of the Batch77, had sobered down after the meeting with rev Parampujya and were now all braced up to booze and have a boisterous evening. In all sincerity everybody tried their best to enjoy the plagiarized other preschool rhyme pattern ghazals. Till, Harvinder and I began to get terribly bored. We were definitely not in the mood for candle lit romance and all this subdued sobriety was getting a little tiring. We first thought of doing a mujra , boob shaking style, like Rekha ( Now Padmashree Rekha) but could not quite do justice to it. So we decided to play the gallery…we clapped and did wah wah just about anywhere and everywhere in the Ghazal. Soon the rest of the Batch got into the mood and before the singer realized we had made his ghazal into a qawali and even a disco. The singer was glad to see so much of vocal appreciation from the audience. The only one who looked harassed and even murderous was the man playing the tabla who had to change the beats to suit our moods. Ranging from a soft Ghazal to a disco on which we jived.
While the Batch 77 had a rocking time….the other hapless invitees looked at us completely shocked! The women were scandalized and the men looked on longingly waiting to join this fun loving freaky crowd. In our hurry to reach the party none of us had carried a camera. How ever this shortcoming was made up amply by Narendra Chauhan who clicked away to glory. He seemed particularly fascinated by Harvinder due to her “media connections”. We are still waiting to see the pictures as Narendra did not join us for any of our outings after that….I wonder if his uninhibited pictures have anything to do with it.
In short it was an evening to remember….at least it was like that for the Batch. We might have shocked many maybe even our to- be- wed hosts and some very silent couples like Inder and Anjana. Anjana was convinced that Harvinder and I were pissed when the fact was that we were not even a peg down. I suppose when you want to have fun the intoxication lies in the mind, you can get a high just on the mood and the situation…like they say, agar sharab mein nasha hoti to kya botal nahi nachti?
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
College and cruise
After a long period of hibernation…..I am back to what I am best at – rambling. I apologize to all my loyal followers who were left mid way the journey of the Batch 77 reunion. The reason was just the mother in me who wanted to indulge my boys…
After that great gathering in Duda’s farm, the next day had all the batch mates visit their college and the university. For all it was like travelling back in time, everybody recalled their old flames, though some lucky ones like Inder and Anjana could actually bask in the warmth of togetherness. They met the Principal Rev Davis who displayed amazing business acumen in extracting something or the other from each of the old students. Duda had informed Rev Davis about the visit, so there was a high tea arranged for them.
Then they all headed for a cruise to the back waters of Bargi. High spirits both physical and mental gave company all the way. At Bargi, we split ways as tipplers needed some more time to be in resonance with the surroundings while a hungry and sober group headed for a restaurant in Bargi. After placing our orders from the very limited menu, the restaurant owners tried our patience in bringing the meager fare that we had ordered. As we finished the tipplers trooped in too but with a very hungry Duda and a very very angry tippler gang. It seems Duda had characteristically picked out all the meat pieces from the Biryani and had left the others with insipid oily rice. Duda who was down by many pegs, many pieces of meat and choicest abuses chose to eat something as sedate as dal and rice keeping the whole group waiting at the lake side for a cruise.
At last the cruise happened. It was almost sun down and the cruise was lovely… there were some attempts to dampen the spirits by the likes of Joshua, who wondered aloud about the survival rate in case the boat drowned. The only “bachelor” amongst us , Joshua seemed to have more “unspent energy” making him dangerously hyper. His outbursts were so sudden and unexpected that it would quite often leave the whole group alarmed. Even Harvinder has to rethink her idea to get him married seeing his untamed outbursts. Well, the cruise was a little too short and we all broke up for the evening…..a really special evening…in more than one way!
After that great gathering in Duda’s farm, the next day had all the batch mates visit their college and the university. For all it was like travelling back in time, everybody recalled their old flames, though some lucky ones like Inder and Anjana could actually bask in the warmth of togetherness. They met the Principal Rev Davis who displayed amazing business acumen in extracting something or the other from each of the old students. Duda had informed Rev Davis about the visit, so there was a high tea arranged for them.
Then they all headed for a cruise to the back waters of Bargi. High spirits both physical and mental gave company all the way. At Bargi, we split ways as tipplers needed some more time to be in resonance with the surroundings while a hungry and sober group headed for a restaurant in Bargi. After placing our orders from the very limited menu, the restaurant owners tried our patience in bringing the meager fare that we had ordered. As we finished the tipplers trooped in too but with a very hungry Duda and a very very angry tippler gang. It seems Duda had characteristically picked out all the meat pieces from the Biryani and had left the others with insipid oily rice. Duda who was down by many pegs, many pieces of meat and choicest abuses chose to eat something as sedate as dal and rice keeping the whole group waiting at the lake side for a cruise.
At last the cruise happened. It was almost sun down and the cruise was lovely… there were some attempts to dampen the spirits by the likes of Joshua, who wondered aloud about the survival rate in case the boat drowned. The only “bachelor” amongst us , Joshua seemed to have more “unspent energy” making him dangerously hyper. His outbursts were so sudden and unexpected that it would quite often leave the whole group alarmed. Even Harvinder has to rethink her idea to get him married seeing his untamed outbursts. Well, the cruise was a little too short and we all broke up for the evening…..a really special evening…in more than one way!
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