Half Past Dead

Times have moved on.. I still haven't..

Life's still the same bag of stray newspaper cutouts that I've read over the years.. The same old dreary bits and pieces of little nothings that convert life into the thing that it is.

Two quick trips over the last 2 weeks have been great fun.. The 1st one was a same day sojourn to Ajmer Sharif that I undertook with my buddy Rajat. Started off at 4:30 in the morning after sleeping less than a couple of hours that evening. We drove through the Jet Plane landing worthy Delhi- Jaipur Highway. We stopped at Le Meridien Jaipur for Breakfast. It was your run-of-the-mill Buffet Breakfast fare, cold cuts, porridge, stuffed omelettes at all.

What made it a little different was our c0-diners for the meal were Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Shiney Ahuja. These guys were down there for a Shoot, for a movie called BhoolBhuleiya( I think I've spelled this right, but I'm sure by the time it releases it will have some extra b's, o's and a's attached to it) The film also stars Vidya Balan and Amisha Patel, but the lovely ladies did not grace us with their presence.

It was almost funny the way these guys walked in. Initially, there was only 1 small time comic-actor, who used to play some role in Saas ki Bahu eons ago, and who I thought must've come for a serial shoot. In walks Shiny, complete in a skin tight Tee with his trademark unkempt look, but what the hell, it was 7 AM on a Sunday. Just gave him a look as you would any artefact in which you are mildly interested, while he surveyed the scenery with a disdainful look.

I told Rajat that we might just have someone Big walk in as the entire unit was coming up one by one... Paresh Rawal appeared, struck a conversation with the comic previously mentioned, and so began the wait for Amitabh Bacchchan, or so I had convinced myself by the way star value was increasing in the room, something I mentioned to Rajat. Can't really say was disappointed to have Akki join us next, he was right up there, star material to be gazed at, both a youth icon and a mature man.

The above two paragraphs were written just to check how badly I can write about arcane and mundane things. I will edit this post very shortly.. I think my Internet at home will start working. So this might be the last time you are reading this para.

[Edit]

Okay.. So I did not take that last para off, lets just have it there for the time being...

And the trip from then on was smooth as silk.. The road from Jaipur to Ajmer rocks!! This is the road to speed test your wheels, we sped Rajat's Santro to a top speed of 146 Km/hr. It would have been heady had I not been reading Robin Cook, all whose novels seem to me to fascimiles of each other. He has a fixation for Syndromes, all victims are people who've had elective surgery and are convalescing in the hospital, when a Psycho decides to kill them using Potassium and related compounds. If in case you are interested, read some of his books back to back and you'll know for sure what I'm talking about.

Moving on to the blast that I had last weekend, it was the office trip to Rishikesh. Our motley group has been servicing Canadians for so long that it was therepautic to be out there and see the stars. The view from my camp was breathtaking-

The night however, was something beyond an ordinary rememberance, I HAVE not SEEN a sky with more stars. It was pockmarked with constellations and solitary stars galore. Couple this with a bon-fire that required Kerosene to generate heat every few minutes, and we shall know where I stood, sat and pondered. No cell phones, no parents, no girlfriend, no thought process that had me raving or deadened, no photo ops; peace and just that, period.

Food tasted extra juicy that night, the alcohol I couldn't have coz there were a coupla moderately, lazily, funnily drunk people for me to handle. All in all, peace at its worst, fun at its best, so will take this on any day!

Day 2 was rafting time, all geared up in life jackets, crash helmets et al, we were on..

Rafting was as much fun as anything can be, my team mate Chirag tagged up military style to effectively overcome and undertake what, now that I look back at it, was a tepid challenge. The best fun was had by those not on the oars, but sitting starboard side and getting the surf drenching them to the soul. Sample this-

Life's best moments go by in a flash, I'll just quote from an email forward that I got recently, read this and do something about the things written...

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.