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!
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