The Elusive Elephant Ride

I almost caught a thief last night. Yes, almost. If only I had managed to do it successfully I would have fulfilled a childhood desire of mine. A bravery award from the President and a ride on an elephant on Janpath on 26th January. But (sigh!!) I guess that’s only for children and I would not have qualified for the prize more importantly for the “Elephant Ride”. I have spent so many ‘26th january’s of my life watching the Republic Day parade and eyeing the kids riding the elephant enviously. Anyways I guess I can live without that elephant ride. After all how many people get the chance to ride on an elephant except nobility maybe.
But wait, this blog was about the “thief” and not about me or my silly childish desires. It was the night of 18th Feb and I had been sleeping fitfully the entire night. I had a bad dream, though exactly what I could not recall. Anyways I woke up suddenly and realised I was thirsty and needed a drink…(oh .. clarification….I was just looking for plain water) The idea of getting out of bed was not tempting however with my throat completely parched I realised I could not fall asleep again without the water. I finally managed to pull myself up to sit on the bed and lo behold what do I see, a man standing outside my window. He had something in his hand and was fiddling near the wall. The curtain of the window was partially drawn and I had to crane my neck to get a better view of the man. Of course not that I got a chance to see him. It was too dark and all I could see the silhouette of the man. He was tall and appeared to have wavy hair. Too shocked to think rationally I simply went over to the window lifted the curtain and looked out. This action of mine drew his attention to me and for the first time he stopped fiddling with the wall and faced the window. He stared at me for a fraction of a second and then bolted. Since it was still very dark I did not dare to step out of the house and chase him. I thought for 1 fleeting moment I had seen a look of fear on his face but it must have been merely my imagination. It was too dark to see his features so I could not have seen his reaction at all. Within a few seconds I heard the gates being shut and realised he had left the premises already. Too shaken I did not sleep till it was daylight , luckily for me I had to wait just half an hour. It was 6:15 when I had spotted the thief. I finally went back to bed at around 6:45 and was fast asleep by 7:00.
That was the end of the episode. Nothing more happened, but for someone like me it was a big adventure. I really don’t know whether that act (of lifting the curtain) of mine was an act of bravery or plain stupidity. I am not even sure if I could have qualified for the bravery awards. I can imagine the announcement being made as I walk onto the stage to receive my certificate and award -“Presented to CD for her act of bravery, she lifted a curtain”. Ahemm….it just does not sound convincing. But as I sat alone in my room that night I was proud of myself. I could have been no prouder if I had sucessfully foiled an attempt to assasinate the President of the country. Anyways I am glad I am old enough not to qualify for the awards. I can imagine my parents distress as they would have tried in vain to explain to me why my act of bravery wasn’t good enough for the “Elephant Ride”. Well I guess I will just have to be satisfied with a bar of chocolate which I promise to treat myself to over the weekend to instead of the glorious ride. I know chocolate cannot substitute that ride but it comes pretty close.

Bollywood Ishtyle

Being the typical movie buff that I have always been I try and relate myself to various characters in movies. At times I come across situation in life when I realise I have been behaving like a certain XYZ from a certain movie ABC. And at other times this realisation sinks in much later..long after I have moved on in life.
As I think about it I realise I must write about the 2 very interesting (I refuse to use any other adjective to describe them…) characters I had come to relate to in the course of my 25 years of existence.
Well for the benefit of those who don’t watch too many movies the first character is from a movie called “flavors”. It is a small budget movie about Indians in the US. The character (sadly..very sadly I have forgotten his name….so I’ll just call him A) goes to America after completing his studies in India in search of the dream job. However inspite of the distance and his new life he cannot forget his beloved “Gita” who is back in India. He misses her immensely and even calls her home in his hometown only to be greeted by the curt tone of her father enquiring who he is. The best part is when he covers the mouthpiece of the phone with a cloth and asks “Can I speak to Gita pls” . Of sourse you have to watch the movie to hear his tone..it’s superb. ….tell me if you don’t crack your sides laughing. He tells everyone how they were in the same class and how he would ride his bike past her house and how she would glance shyly at him from her porch. However mid way through the movie he receives a parcel from home and his sister sends him a wedding invitation (of course Gita’s wedding invitation). This incident shatters him completely and he is almost inconsolable. The next day he attends a friends wedding and lo behold bumps into Gita. She is at the wedding with her husband who is a friend of the groom. She recognizes him but only vaguely as the guy in her statistics class and the guy who would always ride a bike near her house.
The moment I watched the movie (after getting over that obsession with a certain Mr X) I almost screamed “that’s me ….I am A!!!!!!!”. I had done everything like him including giving blank calls (not trans continental though..) just because I was so madly in love (or so I thot …..). This was hillarious. I was this guy who I was laughing at now. I fail to understand how my friends did not laugh at me then. Hats off to them and their never ending patience. I almost cracked my sides laughing that day when I realised I had behaved like this immature sad pathetic loser. Mr X was my biggest obsession till date ….however I managed to get over him......and fell in love with a Mr Y now.....(this was no obsession it was a honest 2 sided love)...I finally managed to walk out the the skin of “A” straight into the skin of another unforgettable character “Subodh” from the very famous movie “Dil Chahta Hai”.

“Dil Chahta Hai” was a hit movie watched by most Indians so I will not dwell too much into the details of the story. “Subodh” was the unforgettable character who was Sonali Kularni’s former beau before Saif manages to win her heart. He was one character who could never forget dates (Not the dates you go for..but calendar dates…). For instance he never forgot when he first met his gf..the first time they went out for coffee or the place , time day and date when he proposed her. Aaaaggghhh..he was bloody annoying. ..remembering dates is sweet but he was like saccharine(I just hope i got the spelling right)……. And yes I have become “Subodh” ……I find it hard to believe but how can I deny the truth…the ugly truth. I sit and count days since my boyfren(Mr Y) ditched me. …(like Tom Hanks counts days since he was stranded on an island in “Cast Away”..the only diff being I don’t scrawl on walls…my lanlord would not approve of that)...I remember the date time and year when he first proposed…..ewww.. I have become soooo revolting. I remember his birthday…(ok..so I remember everybody’s birthday), the first time I spoke to him for and even every damn topic we talked about that day hours (How did I mange that..????? I forget what I tell within a few minutes ). I remember his favourite colour, his favourite song , his favourite dish, his favourite movie, his best friend..(well I should be nice to myself …he did not have many friends so it was not difficult to remember that) his numerous admirers, his alternative career plan..(I never even made an alternative career plan….or maybe I am living my alternative career plan…chucked the actual plan years ago) , his favourite person on earth..(sorry that wasn’t me….it was his mom) and even his rank in college…I mean I don’t even know what was my rank in my college but I know and remember his rank…I know his GPA..the names of ppl he works with in his labs..his professors..and the name of his (I mean his professor's ..not Mr Y's) daughter too…phew…!!! Thank goodness he did not have a dog..i would have remembered his/her name too along with details of it's vaccinations etc…(I wana kill myself …will somebody pls do the honours).

Now that I am over both of them I am wondering who will I become when I fall in love (or so I will think...yet again) the next time. The suspence is killing me. It’s almost like watching a “to be continued” episode of a spine chilling suspence thriller. Will keep everyone posted.