Timepass

Today, I may have lost two of the brightest, nicest and most committed colleagues I've worked with.

I'm hoping that my charm will make them change their minds about moving on but it does look like the legendary allure I had is wearing off.

One is a gent who's asking me why I'm still here. The other is a young girl who's wondering how many damsels in distress will I bail out.

And then I recall Piet Bels... (whose image I can't seem to set right by turning it in any clockwise direction!). He was sitting outside Wenger's in Connaught Place last Saturday sketching portraits. A Belgian language teacher who's been visiting India since 1998, Piet lives in Pahargunj and paints to pass away his time and also make a slow buck. that's what I'd like to do someday... only, I don't know how to paint!

And then, on another trip to Bombay, I see this homeless man (whose image is also lopsided!) waking up on the porch of a watch repair shop. The irony of it: he's passing time as well - and his life badly needs repairing.

Makes me wonder whether I'm serving my time in this world in the ideal way.

Update (February 15, 2008):
The charm still works... thank God! At least 50% of it (the right 50%!)... as for the other half, am sorry but I failed. Perhaps he'll change his mind at the nth minute (eternal optimist that I am).

Update 2 (February 22, 2008):
Sunday, February 17th... the nth minute happened! The other half agreed to stay back... the charm - and some other stuff - worked. Phew!

Ho Calcutta :-)

When you're in Bombay every week and don't really want to be there, when you return to work in Gurgaon only to feel like running away from all the turmoil around, when yesterday has been tiring and you feel today should never have dawned, when you're getting nostalgic about things and people and places, thank God for people like these...

Happiness is...

I've been told - nay, ordered almost - to do at least one thing every day that makes ME happy all through 2008.

So, here goes...

Sunday was spent at the Auto Expo in Delhi, Dilli Haat and the country's longest shopping mall. Now, I hate crowds but ended up happy nonetheless.

The Auto Expo was a quick zip-in and zip-out visit to see a website's stall, the famous Nano, some vintage beauties, Audi and Mercedes. Fortunately, one managed to escape before Delhi's auto-drivers hit Pragati Maidan to check out Ratan Tata's replacement to Mr Bajaj's stuttering three-wheeler.

Dilli Haat was a disaster. Kashmiri food that wasn't very palatable and stuff on sale that couldn't be bought because they were overpriced and had a boring sameness to them. The only bit of excitement came when a gust of wind took an eight-feet signboard off its perch and it missed my head by a foot or so. The children, just behind me, gasped; one even exclaimed "Oh shit!" and then wondered if Daddy had heard it... you bet.

Having gained a second life (for the umpteenth time in this life) we then proceeded to Ambience Mall on the Delhi-Gurgaon Highway. Much to my dread, if I may add but I'd decided that happiness would happen today.

The mall was an eye-opener. I'd avoided it for months but the stores were truly world-class until one discovered Reliance Trends (Mukesh-bhai's response to Kishore-bhai's Panataloon just across the foyer). Good clothes at very affordable prices... so time was spent stocking up kids' wear for an imminent Sindhi-Thai wedding.

Shopping anywhere is tiring. But billing at Reliance Trends can drive you to tears. Not just because you have to queue up but because their billing system can't calculate percentage discounts. They either overcharge you or undercharge. And if you don't check every item and its final price meticulously, you could win or lose money depending on what your horoscope has in store that day (and this wonderful mall has several palmists hanging around to tell you your future). Be careful when you shop at Reliance... evidently you can't rely on them.

So shouldn't I have been irritated and angry?

Naah... I was happy because I'd lived that Sunday through the eyes of children, had candy-floss and enjoyed Delhi's rare winter sun all day.

Would I have been happier had that signboard fallen on me?

Figure it out, friend.

Cheers!

Never Be Lonely

You have a raging fever for several days that makes you want to lie down and die and never get up because the office refuses to leave you alone and because you won’t switch off the mobile in case an ‘important’ call is missed.

You have to catch a fog-delayed flight to Hyderabad on Indian Airlines (or Air India as they now call themselves) and the soup tastes like dishwater, the food looks like it’s been eaten once already and the blanket is dirty (and you’re travelling Business Class!).

You reach ISB at midnight, seven hours after you left home, where you’re going to be part of a three-day course for which you’re completely unprepared… and discover that the campus is heavenly. Even though it’s dark all over.

You want to reach out and speak to someone, anyone.

But the people you’d like to unburden your fatigue on are either asleep or have turned against you or have gone far away to an alien land.

So, you’re alone. Which is good, because that’s what you’ve been yearning for anyway. Some time to yourself.

But there’s a difference in being alone and being lonely.

And then MTV plays Never Be Lonely… the number of times Never Be Lonely is repeated at the end is special – for me at least.



It’s better than a hot chocolate or a cognac. Though not as good as snuggling up… but hypnotic enough to get six hours of dreamless sleep.