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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Last Night


As I look back on the night gone by there is an awareness in me that I have experienced possibly what will turn out to be one of my most poignant memories of Pune.
 As I stood there on the road and watched people, cars and bikes go by all with various voices echoing one word in their hearts. I felt one with them and, if I may say so one with India. I just felt that strange feeling,  when something which was always there but was hidden just comes out of no where and overwhelms you. I felt a strong connect to the notion,that is India, and more importantly all those people seemed in unison with me.As I stood there I knew that its going to remain only for a few more seconds or hopefully minutes.The cheer, the joy and the unison of a victory brought people together devoid of boundary and class. I myself danced with a group of people you would never find me socializing with and my friend hugged some random guy shouting ‘ Hum Jeetgaye’ on the road he will never cross paths with again. For those brief moments we were all one. We were not Individuals, we were Indians.
I felt light, as if I could fly. There was a sense of euphoria, elation and peace in the air which left no one untouched. There was a fluidity in the atmosphere coupled with an infectious thrill. Everyone was shouting, jumping and cheering. For a few brief moments, people divided by life came together in joy. My friend started dancing hysterically with a street kid, a man stopped his car in the middle of the junction, only to climb on top and dance to the latest item track blaring from his speakers, bikers passed by waving the India flag, and each passing car got a cheer and fist up. This was a celebration of a different kind . A celebration where you could feel the silence around the noise. A celebration which you do not prepare for, a celebration where letting go is effortless, a celebration where we celebrated as a nation.
 As the World Cup started, Cricket for most people was an interest, yet somewhere down the line it has turned into a passion.And after Saturday, chances are it will go back to being an interest as public memory fades each day with the morning newspaper. In being transcendental it remains and in times like this it reaches.
The whole of India came to a standstill, from Aamir Khan sitting in the Mohali stand to the Auto wallah who could not stop talking about the match while he dropped me home.
They may not even remember this victory a few weeks from now as they will move on with life. Yet whenever they recollect this day and these moments they will definitely have a lingering smile.
I often wondered why Cricket was the only sport that mattered in India. Last night I came close to understanding this phenomena. Cricket makes us aware that we are one, those brief moments of joy on a win, or loss on a defeat bring our nation and more importantly its people, together. In India, cricket is not only a sport but also a medium of expression for the masses, an escape from their humdrum reality. An event which makes them feel important. When the team wins, they feel as if they themselves have won. Here is where they feel close to their aspirations. A momentary peak experience.
Some of us may not feel the exhilaration, freedom and flight of it all, but on that junction on SB road, I did and hence even though I have an exam in the next few hours I am writing this.

Hum Sab Ek Hein, Bas Kabhi Kabhi Yaad Dilana Padta Hai :)

Friday, March 4, 2011


I do not know where to start from. When I think of Pune, thoughts race through my minds, filled with people, places and memories. It often happens when you look back on life that, what earlier seemed like a pothole was actually a disguised stepping stone.
In these series of articles I shall share with you my journey and how Pune became, from a city on the map to the place I now call home.
My First Friend
When I first came to Pune, I had mixed feelings of what it was going to be here. After every summer is was back to school, the same place and the same people. This time it was a paradigm shift, a chapter of my life has just ended and a new one was about to start. I was filled with my baggage from school and with the insecurities of a new social set up. I expect a lot from myself and that often spills over to my surroundings and I was hoping that Fergusson lives up to them as well.
On the first day I wore a crisp,well ironed white shirt and my favorite pair of blue jeans, checked my hair in the mirror * A lot of times* , adjusted my shirt to make sure it was falling properly and left the top button of my shirt open to complete the look. I made sure everything was perfect, after all you only get one chance to make a first impression. 
With a bag slung across my shoulders and a confident stride I walked right in, filled with optimism and the thrill of discovery. What is college? Why is it such a big deal? will it be as good as I expect it to be?. I was also looking forward to see new faces and make new friends, as I hardly knew anyone in Pune.
 On my first day I met this guy from Delhi who I had seen during the admissions. He had come with his father that day and as they walked past my father commented saying that he and his father look exactly similar. Surprisingly, when I shared this with him he told me that his father said the same as well. When we glanced past each other that day we knew that we would go on to becoming good friends, because sometimes you just know. 
When you first start getting to know someone, its like reading the blip on the back of a novel. You only see brief parts of the various shades in their personality.
We hit it off on Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Butter Chicken. If you put two Bollywood fanatics in a crowded room, trust me, they will definitely find each other and we did. While we were sitting and chatting in Coffee Day * A luxury we can hardly afford on out student budgets* he showed me his photographs, as in not his photographs, but some shots that he had taken. I was like why is he showing this to me? ; I asked him this question right now and he said he was showing off. Lol ya right! =P, to which I modestly replied, I did not even need to show off.
He had all the cliches on a typical delhi-ite. The strong voice, the accented english jumbled with hindi words, laughing at people from South India,Cracking jokes on Gujratis, dreaming of Tandoori chicken even at breakfast and doing a impromptu jig every time a hindi item number played on the radio. 
Once he made Butter Chicken for me and a few others. It was good, or that is what I told him when he asked how it was. I don’t know why but since then he has never made it again.
Since then its been one helluva journey. He has made me drop down on the floor crying with laughter due to his antics, spoken to me when I needed to talk to someone but could not say it, and spent some of my best times in Pune with me. I have spent countless evenings with him tripping on B - grade hindi movies, Cold Coffee, Anu Malik songs and Santa Banta jokes and what makes me smile as I type this is that they are many more such evenings on the way.
He was the first friend I made in Pune and his name, ladies and gentlemen, is Siddhant Chawla - Item Girl, Photographer, Foodie, Kulfi Lover, Biker ( as he does not like it when I mention his khatara scooty) and Friend.