Mango

This summer, very few mangoes are being eaten!

A Pug or a Hot?

Trrrring Trrrring

Me- Hey whats up!

R- Nothing, walking my dog

Me- Ooh! U have a dog?

R- Ya, I told u!

Me- What breed?

R- He's a pug

Me- Oh, I thought u had a hot dog

R- Noooo! I have a pug.

Blonde, Jane Blonde!

So Blonde comes closer and asks, "PJ, whats a platonic relationship?"

Well, for one's own benefit its always important to answer such questions with utmost clarity of purpose. "A relationshipn where in the two people share great chemistry but they're such dumbf*cks that they do nothing beyond it," I said. The answer aroused a chuckle and I thought the joke was over.

So then Blonde comes closer and says, "PJ, I want to have a platonic relationship!"

It was a nice laugh. Blonde didnt realise untill I told Blonde what was the joke about. Blondes are most welcome.

So I met Blonde again. Blonde said, "You know, I went to a disc and my friend's Bloke and I went out for a smoke. For kicks sake I told Bloke, "Bloke, I want a platonic relationship." And Bloke said, "Sure, lets have it!""

Blonde and I are still laughing at Bloke.

The Lost World

Its been really long I came here. And when i mean really long, i really mean really really long. But there couldn't have been a better reason than nostalgia to come back.

So there I am. Twelve hours have passed before i've had a fresh shot of nicotine. My blood vessels are crying out with desperation and my parents' overwhelmed being about my homecoming after four months hardly helps my escape to the nearest rescue point. Its way past midnight and the nearest saviour has already shut shop and has succummed to all the passive inhaling.

I kick start my humble bike to find that the regular 24x7 location is sealed beyond this time of the night. A lot of things seem to change overnight when you're out of town. You aren't accustomed to these changes and you can't seem to accept them. You feel miserable and helpless when something so familiar to you is taken away at such short notice.

But then, I vaguely recollect the existence of another dingy set-up not far away from this one. Its not long before the desperation pinches me once more and I am driven to this road side settlement of shacks.

Welcome to heavens abode. It's a regular night after a tiring shift in the call centre cubicle. Cold, indifferent and accusatory voices from another country have dried up my throat, an erratic sleeping schedule has already taken its toll. It must be 3 am right now, yet I dont feel upto it to hit my sack. So what the heck, let's go to the chai-place.

In about 4 minutes, we arrive at this road side settlement of shacks. It's the only place in the city where you can find solitude, conversation and smokes at this hour. No wonder it has become a daily routine after work.

The fact is that your favourite place also starts to bore you after a certain point of time. Stagnancy steps in, you start disconnecting from people around and dream on of another world. So this friend asks if we'd like to do something really crazy. Crazy? At 3 am? Its sacrilege to disagree.

What makes the this road side settlement of shacks so interesting for us is that despite the chatter of a few people, we can detach ourselves from everything around and be with ourselves. In fact at day time, it seems the most regular and not-worthy-of-going-there sorts. At night however, we drag our thumping heads behind this one shack with a couple of chairs and sit on till day break. It's the most pleasant here. The light from the bulb observes its most regular pattern on our half-lit faces. The rumble from the heavy vehicles seems to be distant and the loud bourgeoise chatter can be pleasantly avoided. Behind us is wilderness, the city's most green stretch occupied by the crowned king. The pitch black covers the woods, the only sign of existence being a vague rustling of the leaves. It's a jungle in between a chaotic city; to my knowledge, a palace, some mango plantations, some hut men and a railway track are the only occupants here.

At the corner of this road side, there is a discreet lane that loses its way into the pitch black. The moon is perhaps the only source that lights up the wild plantation here. And it was the least expected that I will be going in there.

The concrete lane further breaks into a barren land. I dont know where I am riding, the wild plants rubbing against my bike. All I am asked to do is follow the lead. We reach an iron gate in the middle of this nowhere. It seems to be meant for demarcating the king's territory but to my best sight, the lock is just hanging carelessly leaving us enough space to tresspass. I still dont know where I am headed, I am asked to keep the headlights switched off for safety reasons and at the same time, I am asked to watch out for a manhole on my right. The manhole is no big deal, we tread another thin lane and at some distance I see a temple-like structure appropriately spooky with a single light bulb keeping it lit.

Apparently, our bikes are allowed only till this point. It is a temple, a really old one with cobwebs and creepers. We enter, take a look and walk out. Dogs outside are howling and I am really thrilled to be here, right in the centre of the city yet no where.

But this isn't what we've come to see. We take another path beside the temple courtyard, the moon is right above my head. It is so dark, I can barely see anything ahead of me. I am told that we're going on the railway track.

We climb up a mud hill and reach the rail tracks. I am walking right in the middle of a railway track in this middle of the night. But there's nothing to worry because there aren't any trains at this hour. We keep walking on the railway track untill my friend asks me to be a little carefull henceforth. We're six of us, two girls and four guys.

Its indeed important to be carefull. The wooden planks perpendicular to the railway track are giving way to a stream of water beneath. The wooden planks cant be noticed for a good freeway to the stream, about 15 feet beneath us. We help each other over the broken wood panels and reach right in the middle of this broken bridge. We find a sturdy place and sit between the two pairs of the railway track. Three feet is all there is between me and the railway tracks in front and behind. Six of us are now seated in a row, in between the two pairs of rail tracks, on a broken bridge, over a water stream.

So that's it? No, I am to wait for a moment of a lifetime. "What's the time?" One friend asks the other. "It's time for the Delhi-Bombay Rajdhani."

This place is serene. No body but the six of us lost in our own thoughts. The sound of the water stream makes it only more ecstatic. Only till I hear a train honk at some distance.

"Hold your hands with the person next to you" Someone screams. Six of us hold each others hands tightly, we sit cross legged and crawl up with eyes closed and face looking to our laps. The earth is moving, the train approaches. The honk grows louder and out of rhythm. That's because there are two trains approaching.

Suddenly, there is gush of crazy wind on my face, two trains are passing by on the tracks. We're seated in the space in between these tracks. I have one train zooming past in front of me, another, zooming past behind me. It's the craziest feeling I've ever felt.

Tonight, our regular chai-place is shut, only the corner ones are awake. I have my nicotine and am standing with my bike. I try to unlock with the keys, someone yells and says it's his bike. I go onto mine and take another drag from the stick. I look around and I realise I am on the same discreet lane that still disappears into the pitch black. I remember the gush of crazy wind on my face about three years ago.

It had been really long I came here. Perhaps so long that I'd forgotten one of my most unforgettable moments in life.

Learning to count

One Tequila
Two Tequila
Three Tequila
Floor!

Five Tequila
Six Tequila
Gimme one more!

:-p

draw me a little sheep too!

An extract from ‘The Little Prince’ by Antoine De Saint-Exupery:

…I therefore stared in total astonishment at this sudden apparition. Do not forget that I was a thousand miles away from any inhabited region.

But my little chap did not seem to be either lost or dead tired or dying of hunger, thirst or fear. He did not look like a child lost in the middle of the desert, a thousand miles from any inhabited region.

When I finally managed to speak, I said to him: ‘But…what are you doing here?’

Whereupon he repeated softly and gravely: ‘Please draw me a sheep.’

When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey. Absurd as it seemed to me a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death, I took a sheet of paper and my fountain pen out of my pocket. But I suddenly remembered that my studies had been concentrated on geography, history, arithmetic and grammar, so I told the little chap (a little crossly) that I did not know how to draw.

He replied: ‘That doesn’t matter. Draw me a sheep.’

Since I had never drawn a sheep I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn before. That of the boa constrictor from the outside. And I was astounded to hear the little fellow saying: ‘No! No! I don’t want an elephant inside a boa. A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature and an elephant is very cumbersome. Everything is very small where I live. I need a sheep. Draw me a sheep.’

So I drew.

He looked at it carefully and said: ‘No. that one is already very sick. Draw me another one.’

And I drew.

My little friend said gently and indulgently: ‘Don’t you see that is not a sheep, it is a ram. It has horns…’

Once again, I made another drawing. But it was rejected too, like the previous ones.

‘This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live for a long time.’

My patience had run out by then, so I scribbled a box with some holes in it. And I explained: ‘That is only the box. The sheep you asked for is inside.’

But I was very surprised to see the face of my young judge lighting up: ‘That is exactly the way I wanted it. Do you think this sheep will need a lot of grass?’

‘Why?’

‘Because where I live everything is so small…’

‘There should be enough grass for him. I have given you a very small sheep.’

He bent his head over the drawing: ‘Not so small that...look, he has gone to sleep.’

And that is how I met the little prince…

Run!

OST- Run Lola Run
Artist: Franka Potente Lyrics
Song: Believe Lyrics

I don't believe in trouble
I don't believe in pain
I don't believe there's nothing left
but running here again

I don't believe in promise
I don't believe in chance
I don't believe you can resist
the things that make no sense

I don't believe in silence
cos silence seems so slow
I don't believe in energy
the tension is too low

I don't believe in panic
I don't believe in fear
I don't believe in prophecies
so don't waste any tears

I don't believe reality would be
the way it should
But I believe in fantasy
the future's understood

I don't believe in history
I don't believe in truth
I don't believe that's destiny
or someone to accuse

I want you to try, try
to needing to know why, why
No kidding, no sin, sin
No running, no win, win
I believe!!!

No angels, no girls, girls
No memories, no Gods, Gods
No rockets, no heat, heat
No chocolate, no sweet, sweet
I believe!!!

I want you to try, try
to needing to know why, why
No kidding, no sin, sin
No running, no win, win
No angels, no girls, girls
No memories, no Gods, Gods
No rockets, no heat, heat
No chocolate, no sweet, sweet

No feeling, no secrets...
The silence you feel...
which hides you from
the real...
I want you to try, try
needing to know why, why
[keeps repeating, becomes blurred & indistinguishable....]