This part of my life is called Joy.

Just when I was about to give up on the damnit-you-blink-and-they-dry Acrylics ...

~Annie.
P.S: I think my 'A.' at the top right looks pretty cool! What say? :)
_______________________________________________________
Now Playing: What A Wonderful World | Louis Armstrong

26th July 2005 - - part 3

(Late post. Sorry folks, office is killing me! & on top of all that, they blocked blogger! ARGH! :| :|)

Read Part 1 & Part 2 first.

Imagine being surrounded by a complete blanket of darkness around you. Add to that, walking/trying-to-keep-your-self-from-drowning in water. Not to mention a middle-aged lady who was... suprisingly fast! I mean dude, you are in water. you are in the dark. & hello? you are like 35!! How can you move that quick???!!!!


So, the situation looked grim. It was like you get halfway through something and then you have the "Uh-oh" moment. We were as far away from Linking Road & from S.V.Road & suddenly it didnt look like a escape route anymore! The water for some reason was rising alarmingly fast, the lady seemed to be getting taller & hop-skipping to safer places. Bhavik was getting scared at how chest high water for the guys meant a literal visarjan for the tiny me *gulp*. Nik looked tense for the first time during the night, we were holding hands really tightly so that we dont lose anyone. Bhavik suggested that they should carry me. My expression was the precise equivalent of "???!!!!" After some delibration the idea was dropped because the water was overpowering whatever we would do anyway. It was safer to hold hands. I distinctly remember slipping once and almost drowning, with my poor heart in my mouth, thrashing around in the water that a freaking eel! After what seemed like forever, we finally noticed that the water seemed calmer (apparently the earlier rushing water was due to some pipe burst + rain + road slope) and seemed to be going down. Finally reached S.V.Road, where the water was indeed lower and thats when Rupesh says, "Erm.. guys.. where is that lady?". We look around & there are very few people around us, and we exchange looks of "wtf happened to her???!!!" Bhavik swore she was ahead of us when we stumbled upon S.V.Road & right now there was no lady in sight...

26th July 2005 - - part 2

Read Part 1 here.

Four people. Two umbrellas. I was mentally doing a jig, wonder if everyone could hear it. I mean come on!!!! Anyone who stays here in Mumbai knows how romantic the rains are - its grey and windy and there is this slight chill in the air that feels quite nice. I am really short (barely 5 2") and I was walking on the divider, one hand over Nik's shoulder, hunched up under the umbrella. The water was rising, though it was just drizzling.. Our other two friends (Bhavik & Rupesh) were walking behind us, discussing Mechanics - I.(?!)

That month, there was this new newspaper that was breaking into the largely monopolized market of TOI - DNA (haven't heard of that since then actually :P but they did come with a bang..) They had this survey thing, where people wearing boring blue shirts caught you at bustops and stations, asking "Kya aapke paas saath minute hai?". There we were soaking wet, given up on the umbrella, walking with a crowd of people, and Nik, very well known for this stupid PJ's says, "Yeh loh mujhe maarenge na, if I ask them, kya aapke paas saath minute hai?". "If you don't shut up, main tujhe maroongi" I say, giggling nevertheless :P

26th July 2005 - - part I

Its been five whole years, and yet when I think of it, it makes me smile for some strange reason. Almost everyone I know has a '26th July Story', I do too, and no, its not  something extraordinary.. Its something that happened to a lot of people, that walk back home.. For me, it is one of the awesomest, thrilling times I have ever had., simply because Im sure no other city other than Mumbai would have given me such an experience.... So what happened? Read on... :)
 

26th July 2005'.. 

Just after lunch break, it starts to rain. It isnt pouring, its drizzling steadily, fat drops of water... exactly how I like it. Its starting to get chilly, and my socks feel so warm in my brand new shoes. Its that shade of grey that I really really like outside, but unfortunately I have a book that I really really hate in front of me. Applied Physics - I. Nothing that can ACTUALLY BE applied in real life anyway. Looking up, I watch the teacher drone on about Gauss's Theorem and start to zone off. Mom calls and the vibration thats as good as a ringtone, brings me back to the present. I put it on silent and throw it into my bag. Turn back, bleary eyed, to "...the volume total of all sinks and sources, the volume integral of the divergence, is equal to the net flow across the volume's boundary ..."

---------------------

Mindblowing Welcome - III

The guys who have come in are very drunk and immediately the guys form a protective circle around us. :P Drunk#1 takes one look at the open vending machine, the coke in Deepaks hand, and looks like hes going to have a spasm :P Drunk#2 is a wimp of sorts who obviously looks up to & acts like he follows all instruction by Drunk#1.

Drunk#1 quickly summarises the issue at hand in his own words - we are the drunk youngsters *which we were NOT!!!*, who decided to stay back in the dining hall when everyone else has gone back to their rooms *we were FORCED to stay there because of the freaking hail!!!* & we decided to vandalize the hall.. *rolls eyes* :

Comes next is the most hilarious convincing game we have ever played :P
Drunk#1 : Yeh dekho yeh diwal, aap logon ne todd ki (accusingly) Look here, you people have broken this wall.
Pratik : (calmly) Humne nai todi baba, dekho yeh darwaza, hawa se yeh zorse takraya aur diwal ki frame ki wajah se toot gaya.. We didnt do anything, because of the wind, the door slammed into the wall & it broke because of the frame.
Drunk#1 : (vehemently) mereko c****** mat banao. main engineer hu!!! dont make a fool of me, im an engineer
Gulshan: (even more aggressively) Aree toh hum kya hai? Hum bhi engineers hai!!! Accha aisa hai toh aap diwal todd ke batao!!! :P :P :P Then what are we? We are also engineers. if it is indeed so the break the wall & show me!!
Deepak & Pratik hurry toward to calm down our Batinda ki sikhni :P

Next these people go into a half an hour worth of lectures which started at kharab quality of cement used for building the wall and ranged over the entire Mechanics we learned in 1st year, & finally ended when Drunk#2 took the discussion to deeper waters when he spotted the coke bottle which was STILL in the idiot's hand! *rolls eyes*

Drunk#1 : yeh coke toh aapne churayi haina??!!! chori toh ki hai!! You have stolen the coke!!
Everyone looks here & there, wondering how to get out of this.
Deepak says: Haan toh yeh to maine li hai, toh aap merese paise le lo.... Main subah dene wala tha paise, yaha pe koi nai tha... he finishes rather lamely :P I have taken it, so take the money from me, There was noonbe here I was going to give the money in the morning.

After half hour of convincing , during which the storm calmed down to a slight wind & occasional lightening, we girls started getting really bored of the whole drama, Shilpa enquired (its around 1.30 in the night) is there any chicken left around here??!! :P , in true wizards style, we even took a few pics here & there, people posing & all, while Pratik & Deepak (the CR's of the class btw :P) sorted out the whole matter.

Finally after a long Bollywood like eventful night, we set out from the dining hall, its still dark, but there is no hail, its cold & my wet clothes are making me shiver like mad.. & then me & Pranita spotted something that made us shreik. The guys came running forward, anxiously looking at us, expecting some exclamation like "snake!" or "tiger!" lolz. As it turns out, the wind had shook up the mango trees all over the hotel area & the ground was strewn with kairi's (raw mango). And as expected me & Pranita went mad, running in opposite directions gathering up the mangos as if they were made of gold :P

We reach our rooms, & its starts to rain again. Deepak is disappointed his Bollywood fantasy didnt come true, and to cheer him up *wink wink* we invite him up to d girls room :P He, as expected, jumps at the chance, actually going in his room to check his hair & dab some perfume. lolz :P We trudge up to the CC's room (my room) where we throw the guys out & get changed of the wet clothes & the girls crib about how they are running out of night suits & then claiming my extra ones :P (I had 5 of them... what??!! I ALWAYS carry unneccsary stuff.. lolz Im a girl!! :P)


We go to the adjoining room, where a dumb charades session is already on the way. I go join Nik's team & take advantage of Mundu in the other team by giving movies like "syed abrahim ko tsunami se daar lagta hai" :O *we always give such crazy home productions :P* where Mundu hits the people sitting in the front row while depicting the word Tsunami *apparently this signifies destruction, hence he hit people :O :P :D* At last they get the movie *rolls eyes*. Nik is even more shana, he has invited signs for Biology, Physics & Chemistry (because we normally give complicated words from these subjects :P) & so we quickly get all the movies :P People start falling asleep & the Deepak proposes to shift the game to his room *in a come-hither-sultry voice* we throw pillows on him (and I think we even threw Rahul ON him) and shut him up :P

The dumb charades continued for hours, laughing & joking & dancing. We absolutely LOVED the first day of our 10 day trip, & at 5 in the morning, we girls retire to our rooms & another session starts - GOSSIP!!! :P :D :D the details of which I obv cant give here. :P We finally slept when the first rays of dawn started to creep into the room.


Morning revealed more secrets from the night. The funniest of which is this : Yogi had put this clothes in the evening to dry out on trees in the lawn *why would ANYONE do that!!! sheesh!!! :P* & during the storm all this clothes flew away & were found miles away from the original spot. But very strangely his underwear was in the same place. Making us all wonder, how can jeans fly away but not underwear!!! This provided the source of "IronMan Underwear" & "Yeh andaar ki baat hai" jokes all through the remainder of the trip...



*********************************

Damn I miss the awesome days! *sad smile* :)

Annie.

Mindblowing Welcome - II

We run to the dining hall that is dark and empty, but thankfully open for us to take shelter from the cold rain. The wind chimes make the most beautiful sounds as the wind kicks up a strom, trees and leaves swaying like they were made of paper. Shilpa and I are overcome with excitement as we get drenched to our skins in the cold harsh rain. We all stand on the front steps, reluctant to go in, take shelter because right then in the darkness, with not a single soul in sight, this was turning out to be quite some night.

Half of us are getting wet when some cold and INCREDIBLY heavy lands on my head. I give a howl of pain and squint up and realise that it was ice. Its raining HAIL!!! Cussing and howling we run into the hall, as big huge hailstones droped from the sky. The echoing sound in the darkness sounded like gunshots. The door refused to stay put and kept banging against the frame. We all wondered what to do next. It looked like we were stranded.

Pratik, Deepak and I try our engineering heads to somehow attach a big spoon used earlier in the night to serve chicken, to hold the door in place. After few miserable attempts we finally manage to shut the door. We all gather near the door, talking excitedly (my head injury all forgotten :P) All too soon, thanks to deepak, a Bollywood like situation was envisioned, with a group of young enthusiastic idiots forced to spend the night in a room togther as it rained (hailed) outside with no escape in sight. Maybe some singing and dancing (again thanks to deepak :P) Maybe some Bhoot ki kahaniyan. Our excitement knew no bounds. So its decided that we gather up some chairs and get cosy.

Deepak in his enthusiasm has gone to the Coke vending machine and finds that it is unlocked. So smartass decides its a awesome thing and grabs a coke and turns to us yelling 'Hey guys look at this!!!' Some of us are overjoyed and step towards the machine.

Then two things happened at the same time.

As our backs are turned towards Deepak, one huge hailstone comes and crashes right on the door glass. And a big crack runs right across it, it dislodges the spoon and with full force the door does a 180, sweeping over where we were standing exactly 2 seconds ago, and bangs on the wall. And large peices of the wall come crashing down.

For a split second noone moves a muscle.

Before we could make some sense of the broken door, the fast crumbling wall and the coke in Deepaks hand, two big burly men, also very drunk, come pushing into the room. They looked like they were the people in charge and boy oh boy, they did NOT look happy at all!

To be continued....

Mindblowing Welcome - I

5th June 2009' .. Late evening..
Jim Corbett National Park.

The Wizards have finally reached Hotel Nirvana in Jim Corbett National Park after a long drive from Delhi, which was like a burning furnace. The heat has made us all tired as hell, and reaching our destination has made us all heave a sigh of relief. The hotels name puts Varu in a Nirvana song singing spree and she cant get enough of "Lithium". I m tired and hauling my BIG bag upstairs to our 1st floor room, has me wheezing for breath. The room is small but cosy, with a balcony overlooking a nice lawn. The sight of the AC makes us all go "Ahhhhhh" as we fall onto the bed, and for a while noone moves a muscle. We quickly discover something strange in the electricity system around the place. The AC being on means everything else goes kaput (weird i know) We refused to turn off the AC even for a second so we had to take showers in the dark. Since I take the longest time, I m the last one to freshen up. I start to feel human again after a cold water bath (singing "come as you are" in d bathroom) and I make my way alone to the dining hall which is at the end of the hotel grounds. After a good dinner of chicken (Ahhh) and YET another paneer dish, we make our way to the edge of the swimming pool and everyone takes up some seat, in chairs, loungers, and sunbathing chairs..

The sky is the color of ink, its getting colder, and as we are lounging there, some people decide to go catch up on some sleep. The CC's (me n my girlies) and few other wizards are reluctant to go, cz the breeze feels amazing. We sit there talking and joking, laughing and planning the next day. Suddenly, there was a flash at the horizon, and everyone sighs in relief. FINALLY the rains were going to make an appearance. Shilpa argues that it wasnt lightening, someone was taking pics and that was the flash. That has us rolling in laughter around the pool side. :P Soon enough, she is proved wrong, as the storm builds up, throws purple flashes of lightening across the cloudy sky. Everyone abandoned the idle chit chat, and gathered around the far side of the pool, sitting on the stone floor on the side of the pool, and watched the lightening as it progressed across the sky. The wind was catching up, and soon a dark cover of cloud covered up the entire sky. The lightnening was so strong, that it seemed that we could reach out a hand and touch it. It was intimadating and fascinating us at the same time. Everyone watched mesmerized.






Each flash more stunning than the last, had us getting up to our feet. Everyone switched off their cells and talks veered towards "What if we got stuck by lightening". Some enthusiastic people even start with "What causes lightening?" (Engineers through and through :P *rolls eyes*) When we thought that nothing could get more beautiful than this one, another flash ripped across the sky, proving us wrong. And then something happens that made us all give one collective gasp. The lights go off and we are plunged into total darkness.


The clouds gather up right above our heads and the winds start gathering force.. The lightening being the only source of light within miles in sight, every odd second it threw ghostly silver light on us. There was a jungle full of wild animals on the left side of us and a river flowing somewhere at the backyard. It was difficult to make out where the howling was some animal or the wind. It literally gave me the goosebumps to be standing there in the pitch black, excited and spooked at the same time, not knowing what will happen next. Then it starts to rain.


The lightening flashes again, the wind builds up so much that chairs start flying around, and we are running for cover from the sudden rain. The rain came suddenly, with full force, raining fat drops of cold water, that actually hurt. People hurry from the poolside, some people take leave now, a huge storm now very apparent. A few of us decided to stay on. CC's, King and Queen of hearts, Pak, Pooja, Karan run towards the now empty dining hall. I m the last one to walk away from the poolside, bcz the cold cold rain on my face feels so right. The rain falls on my face, feels like its washing away all that there was to do away with. There was so much going on in my mind before I left for this trip.. and suddenly for the first time in ages it seemed, I feel free. I feel happy.



It felt like it just couldnt get better than this.


Little did we know that the night was just beginning...

Some FroM ShiMLa TRiP...