moonwalking

Ek ajeeb sa friday pana chhaya hua hai aj..jaise ki week ne khatam hona ka decision akele hi le liya ho..

At work after a very tiring and satisfying yesterday, I realised I can actually stay 24 hours without sleep. When I went to sleep at 5 in the morning today, I smiled thinking I could stay up a little more.

In the Metro, standing throughout, I even managed to nap a little.Amazing how human beings can make the most of something if they only try a bit.

At work, people thing am still not sober, but that is not true, I am just a little giddy with joy. I am shamelessly smiling for something that I didn't even do. Success is a sweet thing.

You could keep me on the streets today, and I wouldn't mind,
You could call me a tramp today, and I wouldn't mind..
Because the victory comes at a price, and no boy,
a little pain, a little toil, I don't mind..
Just be sure I don't start enjoying this misery,
It intoxicates me so..

Jeetega bhai jeetega

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
The semi final is day after and I still haven't found a way out of that thing called work. Madness cannot be repeated in two consecutive weeks I am told. The ticket shall rot while I attend work on Wednesday. But no, I cant let this dominate me. Must.find.a.way.out.

Last week, it just happened. It fell in place like the pieces in a puzzle. The great game of cricket. It makes you do things. Never before have I been so grateful about striking a connection with the state of Gujarat. The stadium which has far too many memories became the place of yet another great memory. I watched my first game of cricket where my own team played. And my bachpan ka favourite team played. Yes I know that isn't loyalty but back then when Baba had explained cricket to me, he had asked me to choose the team I liked the most. And I had chosen Australia. So no matter what, it was an amazing feeling to see both these teams from such close quarters.

I saw Saurav Ganguly, like right there on the field, doing the pitch report. Sigh! The walking till the stadium, the choosing seats with best view (so what if there was pigeon crap all over the seats) the lack of a mobile phone, was all worth it! I felt like I was in a trance and to imagine that it continued for a straight 12 hours almost. Tendulkar came in wearing his signature hat to practise while rest of the Indian cricketers strolled about, talking to each other in huddles. The Aussies were way more professional. Each guy took a spot and started to practise their game, without any idle chatter. Now, right there, we have a thing to learn from them.

Soon the match started and I realised I just HAD to scream with the crowd. So I screamed Ganpati Bappa Moriya everytime Tendulkar came too close to our pavilion while fielding, screamed Jeetega bhai jeetega India jeetega at almost all hours of the game and did Mexican waves with the junta. The most effective one was 'Aussies you suck'. It started everytime they asked for a review, hit a four or a six and later on when they took wickets. It just worked like a dream. We could see them become all nerves. India got so much support, it almost seemed unfair at a point. But then Brett Lee hit one bodyline after another and that too to Tendulkar! There was sledging as well. So I decided to stop feeling like a Gemini and just go full throttle for my country.

Ofcourse a few things upset him. Like that empty bottle of water I kept clutching onto from 12 in the afternoon. From that half eaten patty that I kept in between our seats. Like my non stop abusing. He said there were friends and family who knew us and I couldn't be so vocal about my thoughts about Watson and Johnson. I said just tell them am a frikkin Delhiite. So yeah, there were bursts of fights in between. But it was all for the larger good. No?

When Yuvi got all nervous and got Gauti run out, I sort of peed in my pants. Yes, I was scared. And I am that very easily when it's about cricket. So I started my final trump card. The praying and the JBLing. I did not get up after the next chaukka and they sent another one to the boundary. That is when I realised I couldn't jump off my seat any longer. I sat throughout the last 40 minutes and prayed myself hoarse. When 4 runs were left, he asked me to get up and dance anyway. And I stood, Yuvi hit a four, he dashed to the ground in exhilaration, I danced the victory dance and gave gaaliya to the dozen, all simultaneously. He scooped me out of the stadium soon after. My friend K said He should get a reward for having chosen me of all the women out there in the world. Basically they teamed up against me once the game was won. I let them act like stupid boys cos I was on seventh heaven anyway.

The lies, the bunking, the surprise, the money, the sweat, the pigeon poop, the lack of food, the no connectivity, the fear, the elation. The success.

And ofcourse, being called lucky. Just epic.

not cool

Today, I appealed to someone's darker side, and I now feel horrible about it.

I have always had a thing for speed, races etc, and today, my huge office cab (Xylo) was speeding its way to work. An Esteem or a Honda City (I think) came and tried to take our lane on the extreme right of the road. As a result of which, we had to put our brakes a little. The car went ahead after that.

I just smiled and suggested to our driver that maybe we should go scare him a little. Now, my driver is already a Jat and a very rash driver. He leapt onto my wicked suggestion and sped ahead. When he came close to that fated car, for a second or three, he went so close that we felt he would bump it to say the least. The guy who was inside the car was smoking and chilling in general and he suddenly realised what was happening and lost his nerves. He looked scared and didn't look like he could give the right responses. Our driver moved away in a few seconds, leaving the car on its own to come back on track. Luckily, there were no other cars in the vicinity so nothing major happened except the guy losing it.

Our driver looked at me from the mirror and smiled. I don't know why but I felt completely responsible for it.It was like I let him do something evil and actually egged him to do it, lured him. Felt shitty once the streak in me started to fade.

I blame Black Swan for this.

Miss-adventures after another

The past three days have made me feel like I am living out of my body and watching it. An evening back, I took a local bus at around 11 after heroically stopping it by coming in front of it in an Alto. The driver looked like he wanted to crush my friend’s car when I came out of it and asked him to open the bus doors for me. He smiled and joked ‘aur mai soch raha tha yeh ladkiya pagal ho gayi kya?’ Once inside, I saw twenty odd men staring back at me. Construction workers, hotel waiters and and just one tiny man who wore glasses and had an English novel on his lap. I knew my impulsive decision could be very pricey thereafter. I put on my distressed girl act and went and sat next to the conductor, and often gave the novel guy half smiles, as if to tell him ‘we are similar, no?’ I don’t think he got my sense of security or sanity. I updated my status on facebook and realized none of my friends would be cool with what I had done once I updated it. Too late. Buddies started calling and bashing me for being THIS adventurous in Delhi.

That was then. Yesterday was worse. Working for a huge event at work, I was told by my news editor to help them with all the sessions for the Conclave. Just as my luck always is, I got Kashmir and Sarah Palin amongst my share of the sessions. Dealing with the maximum number of questions that came in, I struggled with the amazing English grammar of a million people of our country. It was a journey against time as we had none on our side.

Being from lifestyle, it was refreshing to see how the news editor trusted us with our language skills and not his own team. It was a savoury thought but for the fact that I didn’t have the time to enjoy it. The day turned into night and my buddy whose birthday it was kept calling to see if I had left for her party yet. Sadly, I said no each time she did, till it was 10:30pm. Finally a jalopy came to drop me home, as no party waited that long. Friends called up and made fun, I joined along. When your life is a joke, its best to join the laughter.

Early morning today, 5:45am, I get up and get ready for an early day at work. The Conclave starts today at 9am so every hand on desk by 8. I came out of the washroom to hear my phone buzzing madly. Colleague informed cabs wouldn’t be coming due to transporter rift and that we would have to fend for ourselves. Called up the sardarji taxi service guy and he greeted me with a loud ‘satsri aakal ji’. Yes. Told him the route to which he told me there would be two taxes and two tolls and the sum would be pretty huge if I agreed. When I asked questions in between, he kept saying, ‘aap samjh nahi rahe ji’. It was extremely pissing off to keep being told that THAT early in the morning.

Once in the cab with my other two seniors, I realized what a wasted life this was. Here were two older people, just as wasted. In five years, I would be them. Shuddered. The news editor said I should pay and take the reimbursement from the office. I was stunned at his lack of responsibility. The other guy, the Crab I mentioned once before started bitching in Bengali to me. I felt more at home.

Reached office and seeing more such disgruntled faces, made me feel better. Like I wasn’t alone. Switched on my computer and realized it was not working. Called Ram, the IT guy and told him, ‘Sirf wallpaper dikh raha hai boss, dekh ke jao.’ To which he came, looked at my screen and said, ‘Haan, acha wallpaper hai.’

That was when I laughed my ass off. Yes, I and my office had finally snapped due to overwork and had officially lost it.

Let the madness begin.

Spending the weekend, the right way.

Having a super tough time in life. But no, I shall not crib. Will talk about other things. Like how I watched the match with the girls in the pub and cheered, and how I went to the first marriage anniversary of a dear duo and realised, how distant in my head I have become. And how maal, mod and getting wasted is becoming a thing I am starting to question. And most importantly, how I watched some awesome movies, The Kids Are All Right, The King’s Speech and Taken.

The Kids Are.. is a fresh film on a lesbian couple and their kids. Kids, they have had by sharing the sperm of the same donor; and how that sperm donor comes into their life 18 years later, becoming a lot of things to a lot of people within the family. Almost a father to the daughter, a lover to the feminine lesbian (the girl in the relationship, that is) a smart dude to look upto for the son and a certain threat to the guy/father/ masculine partner in the lesbian duo. The performances are so beautifully fresh, one would be at a loss to miss this amazingly unique story.

My favourite scene is when Julianne Moore starts sleeping with Mark Ruffalo and realises she is very much a bisexual. ‘I am a lesbian having a mid life crisis,” is how she puts her predicament in words. Just hilarious.

The King’s Speech is, ofcourse an Oscar winner and rightly so. Colin Firth has nailed the Brit act way back, when he became Mr.Darcy.but he has outdone my expectations of him. As Nandu puts it, Hollywood has just too much talent. Sppech impediment is something I will never understand, having been tagged talkative in almost all circles. But it is traumatic and hugely so when a king deals with it. The teacher (Jeff Bridges) is already a legend, but somehow, he keeps getting better. I want to be like him in my career. Like old wine ;) and did I mention I have the hugest crush on Helena Bonham Carter? Yes, for the longest time now. Awesomeness.

Taken is an old movie, starring kick ass Liam Neeson. Asked him to switch it on and watch it with me, to my surprise, he sounded worried. After Legion and Underworld, he has grown wary of how my tastes have changed at such short notice. Told him I plan to not be cliched with what I do anymore, he was even more worried. He said it was better when I was chicken about these things. Lol.

So Neeson is this amazing dad who is a former CIA paramilitary officer who has extremely unique set of skills when it comes to dealing with criminals. He also has a daughter and an estranged wife who couldn’t take his profession well. He is crazy about his daughter and goes to ultimate lengths when she is kidnapped by slave traders in France. The dirt of the world just frightens me sometimes and adventurism just becomes a little too much hype than what it really is.

Okay, must finish fourth and last movie of the weekend, The Fighter, before Monday and cervicle dawns on me. Yet again.