Ek Main aur Ek T

What's the V day plan?.... Shit ya I'm so upset I am going to be alone on Valentine's Day.... How I wish even I had someone to spend this day with.... My love life sucks....  Blah blah blah blah blah.....

Get a life people.....

Seriously what is the big deal about Valentine's Day??? Most of the tweets, the BB statuses etc etc I have been reading for the past 4 days were about Valentine's day.... And a majority of them were just a bunch of negative crap sulking over the fact that they had no special someone to spend the day with....

So while everyone (And many of my friends too) were singing the sulk song... I was completely unfazed and went about the course of Valentine's Day as any other day....

And as they say... When you don't expect anything at all... Pops up a surprise... Actually I don't know of anyone who has said this... So let me put it like thus.... As I say... When you don't expect anything at all... Pops up a surprise...

So here's what happened...

On saturday T and I planned to go for dinner on "Valentine's Day" to celebrate our "LOVE" for each other... Because Ashini was around us when we made the plan we thought of being sweet and asked her to come along as well... Ashi being Ashi didn't committ.... And Ashi being Ashi didn't confirm either.... Regardless of which T and I decided to meet...

On Sunday and Monday we re-assured each other ki chahe kuch bhi ho jaaye hum milke rahenge.... Humain milne se koi nahi rok sakta....

And boy could anyone stop us....

At 9.20 in the night, T told me she's leaving from work.... She works at Lowe by the way.... Is an esteemed junior copywriter....  T tried to convince me to meet her at some place in Juhu... But I being the uncle I am convinced her to come to Some Like It Hot.... Cause I was sure it was the only place that would give us a table at 10 pm on "Valentine's Day." After the usual disagreement which T and I have over every plan.... She agreed like she always does to come home.... I mean to come to Some Like It Hot....

She told me it would take her an hour hour and a half to reach but voila she reached in 45 minutes.... Seems like love wanted us to be together as fast as we could....

So we met at 10.15 and greeted each other with they hey hey hey... and Hi honey... Hi loverboy hug and wannabee talk.... Carrying two bags, one on each shoulder she looked hilarious.....We went up and were expectedly told by Vicky the waiter that we would have to wait.... But since our names are soon going to be carved on the walls of Some Like it Hot and their menu is soon going to have dishes like Tanvi Tiramisu, Kottage Cheese Karan, Spicy Curry Shachi etc etc, Vicky said he would give us the first table that got free... So we thanked Vicky and waited....

As we waited I told T how Shikha advised me to take some flowers along with me and give it to her.... I shunned Shikha and told her that the love T and I have is way beyond flowers and balloons...  And my belief in our love was consolidated when T told me she would have thrown the flowers had i bought them from her.... So Shikha proved wrong as usual and I was right as I always am....

Since the waiters couldn't see us standing anymore they requested us to wait at the bar till they gave us a table... With grumpy faces we sat down and looked at all the losers occupying the tables.... It seemed like an invasion of our territory... I actually told T... I feel like a guest in my own house...

She laughed and we started talking.... And we spoke and we spoke and we spoke and we spoke.... The best part about T and me is that we speak about everything... We cover the whole spectrum.... Films, Music, Life, Philosophy etc etc.... We also bitch about our friends... We devote very litte time to it.... But we bitch like true bitches....

What did we speak about.....

Everything.... We spoke about a certain N... or rather few certain N's.... (I bet Nupur and Shikha are like I knew it.... But hello we have other people in our lives too).... We spoke about work.... She told me about an amazing idea she came up with and how everyone loved it... We spoke about films... Like we always do.... About Iron Lady.... The descendants.... A separation... We need to talk about Kevin.... Etc etc etc.... She told me about the Grammy's and I told her about the Bafta's.... We also spoke about a weirdo called Ashini and also brainstormed about her birthday surprise which seems like a task....  We kept talking and talking, and there was a couple which kept dancing and dancing....

In the midst of it all, ofcourse we were shifted to a table.... we also ate and drank... T had ordered her pizza while we were waiting outside only.... And I ate my usual cottage cheese steak.... She had her usual Zinfandel and I had my usual Fresh Lime Soda.... Inspite of being stuffed to T (Pun Intended) we called for dessert.... She tried to convince me for the Tiramisu like always but I was adamant and we called for a B52 instead.... which FYI Shach was not at all good....

We split and signed the bill and left....

On my way home.... A thought struck me.... 3 years ago.... I would have never imagined going alone for an ice cream with T alone forget spending the hyped day of love with someone I used to detest in the first place... I smiled and thought how things change.... And how things have actually changed.... T was someone I thought was going to take my best friend away from me and today T has become one of my best friends.... What made the impossible possible I don't know... Or maybe I do... And so does T....

As they say.... And yes I have heard this.... 2 wrongs make a right.... In the case of T and me.... It was 2 Wronged Made A Right....

With this I think I should end the blog.... Neither T nor I can handle so much mush.... I'll just end by saying I love T.... I love T as much as I love Coffee.....

Films, Friends and A Furball

Phew!!! What a week it has been.... Ever since I read my ambassador's blog about the roller coaster week he had I felt "Wow... Even I want each day to have atleast one key event or experience for me" and Voila...

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, each had something in store for me and gave me a piece of films, family, friends, old friends, slightly lost friends, food and ofcourse a furball...



Mom Dad Anniversary   

It all started last Sunday on the 29th of Jan... Mom and Dad's 28th Wedding Anniversary... Since anniversaries and birthday's are like any normal day for mom and dad they were being themselves- Dull and Boring.... Thankfully my entire family.... had decided to meet on that day to have a discussion... or should I say loud discussion about my cousin Ekta's wedding which is scheduled for the 24th of this month... Actually not entire family... My entire family could give the family of My Big Fat Greek Wedding a run for their money... It was just the Bombay Bellongings (The one's living in Bombay) So the loud discussion and lousy lunch (My dad's thoughts not mine... I quite liked it) was followed by a little cake cutting ceremony forced on my parents by me...  All in all it was simple and sweet

Definitely not simple and quite bitter-sweet was a film I saw that evening... The Descendants... and I can say that I lay my Oscar bets on this one for Best Film... There's something about these films on dysfunctional families (All of which are far more wittier than your comic capers) that always fascinates me... Little Miss Sunshine, The Fighter, American Beauty, East of Eden and On the Golden Pond are a few of them that are still etched in my memory... Another one, though not a family, As Good As It Gets is one of my all time favourites...

Clooeney, as everyones been rightly tom toming, delivers his career best performance... But for me Alex and Scottie and Alex's friend Sid were the stars of the show... It baffles me how Shailene Woodley has not been nominated for Best Supporting Actress.. It's unarguable the best one after Octavia Spencer's... 

Just as I was wiping the tears I shed after watching Descendants I get an international call from the States.. A call from Neha... Neha who? My best friend (Yes I have about 3-4 of them)  Neha and I have been friends since school after which she moved to the States and has been staying there ever since... However the seven seas have not been able to change the course of our friendship... Yes it has all it's trials and tribulations... But we just don't let go... We would probably follow each other to hell also... And we would be quite happy there as well as long as we have all the wannas and the bees to gossip about... Neha loves to Gossip, loves to hear all the stories... But she loves to hear them from me primarily cause I have a latent talent of garnishing it with the required gravitas and chutzpah... So anyway... Neha and I had not been talking for quite some time (Just another phase I guess) But she called and we spoke... We didn't speak about why we were not talking to each other and try to sort out the issue... We never do it... We just pick up from where we left... So we spoke and we spoke and we spoke... She also for a change tried to play agony aunt and tried to talk to me about the slight problems cropping up between 'our best friend' Karishma... Normally Neha wouldn't care... But this time she had to... Cause Neha, Karishma and I are like Arjun, Kabir and Imran from ZNMD.  I could write a whole blog about just the 3 of us but I'll save that for later...

After the eventful Sunday, Monday was Nani Day... My nani came to meet me with a lot of food and a big box of Ferrero Rocher's (Which for me qualifies as the day's highpoint)... After Nani left, I joined Mom and Bhabhi for Ekta's wedding gift shopping (Yep preps started the very next day)... We didn't buy anything for Ekta but ended up shopping for ourselves... Bhabhi and I spend money as if we were the Descendants of the Ambani or Birla clan....

Tuesday again Mom and I left for the gift quest and made the necessary enquiries and followed it up by a lunch at Banana Leaf... Mom's favourite cuisine apart from her Gujju food is South Indian... But she doesn't like the food at Banana Leaf... Now you'll have figured out how mom is... So I won't go any further... That evening, after taking my ambassador's opinion (Superb was the opinion), I saw the extremely applauded Game of Thrones...  The opening scene gave me the shivers but I continued watching it and was hooked by the end of it... It's Gory yet Fabulous...

Wednesday I saw the over rated (That's what I think) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy... It crawls in slow motion really.... I had to like take regular breaks in between...  In those breaks I saw the 100th episode of Gossip Girl and was quite impressed... Thankfully, the much needed drama, plotting, scheming, confrontations and cross-connections were back... I really thought Gossip Girl was losing its sheen... But I guess they saved the drama for the 100th.... Ofcourse the revelation of Gossip Girl was the icing on the cake... In the Tinker Tailor breaks, Karishma and I decided to meet for dinner and sort out our ever cropping issues... I called Radhika who also had the same issues with Karishma as well... We went to our regular joint Some Like it Hot and spoke... And we spoke and we spoke and we spoke.. And we ate and we ate and we ate( I just love the food there). By the end of it all issues were forgotten except the one that we all want to forget.. Or rather want Radhika to forget but can't get her to do so... We came up with a crackling solution and now are waiting for the execution...

Thursday was couch potato day... I saw an Iranian film, A separation, and I feel it is by far the film of the year for me... I have always thought the background score of a film really helps accentuate and elevate the proceedings but this film shattered my myth... It was sans background music but the visuals and screenplay were so strong that it had me completely sucked in...  A Separation was followed by a nap which was followed by 3 more episodes of Game of Thrones

Friday seemed like a re-run of Monday with Mom, Bhabhi and me Mall-Trotting for the wedding... The highpoint of Friday was Al Pacino's Scent of a Woman which had me hooked on from the word go...

Saturday was A Better Life... What a film and what a heart wrenching performance by Demian Bichir... In the evening I was forced to go by mom for our building's annual society party... What seemed like a "oh god why do I have to do this" affair turned out to be "Wow I'm glad I did this" affair... There was nothing spectacular about the party... But just the fact that I could catch up with the people who have seen me grow up brought a smile to my face... Ofcourse I spent all evening with my childhood friend Ayesha who is one of those very few people who can have me in splits... Just talking about the fun we used to have whether at home or in school got me all nostalgic... After the party I went to WTF lounge to meet my gang of girls who were playing an explicit game of "Never Ever." Shachi was as usual high on breezer and made some not so shocking revelations... After WTF we went to Ashini's house... And we spoke and we spoke and we spoke... Or should I say... Bitched... Bitched and bitched....

Yesterday seemed like a normal Sunday... Eating,  Watching K3G and sleeping... But just when Kajol was going to say "POOOOOOOOOO" Ashini pings me to come down to my building lobby... After lunching at Some like it Hot (For which I was not invited) SHE AND T came to meet me... (I felt like a dessert which they wanted to smack on after lunch) 

Meeting T and Ashi yesterday was by far the biggest highpoint of my week... It was not we... I spoke and I spoke and I spoke.. About all the things that were troubling and bothering me for the past 10 days... Things that popped up many introspective questions as well as some shadows of self-doubt.... I was looking (not asking) for reaffirmation and I got that and much more from them...

From heart to heart we went shop to shop looking for a bag that T could carry to office... We went to the UVS mall at Infinity and found a bag that loosely matched what T had in mind... It was a brown bag with a liitle bit of fur and furball hanging from it... That's when Ashi did the naamkaran and named it The Furball.... We were all sceptical about it and hence decided to look elsewhere...

 With that intention we looked everywhere and ended up buying pants and shoes for T who considers herself a fussy shopper... But Ashi and me turned it into the most fun shopping expedition for her and she picked up almost everything we chose instantly... Pants and shoes on board but no bag... So we decided to go to Lokhandwala and look... We looked but we could hear someone calling us... It was Furball (She had become Bagwati for us)... Her haunting memory didn't let us buy anything and sucked us back to Infinity... I immediately picked her up and gave it to T... But the shadows of doubt came back and we got thinking... In the interim I saw a subtle shimmer pink dress and put it on T to see how it looked... And man it looked niccceeeeeeeeeee.... Ashi asserting pink is not T's thing brought her the same dress in black... She tried but refused to show us... We urged and she finally emerged... BOOMBATTTTTTTTTTT...... Ashi was flipping and I was tripping... T turned into a smacking dessert... We urged her to buy and boy did she comply... T finally bought her first dress ever... And we can't wait for to wear it and tear the other girls down...

Inspite of the drab Zee Cine Awards, it was the perfect Sunday, A perfect round-up to the perfectly seasoned week... T and Ashi gave me the re-affirmation and re-assurance that I was desperately seeking... ofcourse in return I had to give them the goss that I had... What was the goss... That's a secret I'll never tell... XOXO....

WEIGHT OF THE WAIT

"Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho... Toh puri kaayanaath usse tumse milaane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai...."

I completely believe and stand by what SRK said in Om Shanti Om... I believed it even when Paulo Coelho said it in English in The Alchemist.... It's unarguably the 'sugar quote' of my life... Makes me feel good through my lows and very lows...

However it also makes me realize (A realization I don't like) that to get the thing that you want the most.... In my case it's the only thing I want.... you have to be patient and you have to WAIT....

I agree to the theory theoretically... But the practical implication of it is a different ball game all together... It spirngs up doubt, fear, uncertainty at regular intervals and  most of the times get the better of me... And for that matter not only me... It would have the better of anybody....  You are sure in your mind, heart, body and soul that you're dreams are going to come true... But re-assuring your mind, heart, body and soul about it everyday is not easy... It borders and quite often crosses the lines of frustration... Which sometimes makes your friends (One in particular) ask you "Are you chumming." Hell ya... Mentally I probably am....

Like I said it's just not me.... It's all around me...

My fried Shachi (I somehow remember "My friend Zain") had been working on her book- The World Beneath His Feat (Grab a copy today) for about 2 years before it finally made it to book stalls and shelfs... And I know there was a time when all her work was over and all she had to do was wait... And trust me though she knew books stalls and shelfs would yield revenues (and in her case royalties) and bring the world to her feet, there were days when uncertainty and doubt got the better of her as well...  

Like I said... Surety is certain... Reassurance creates uncertainty... And it can be tiring as well...

To think of it T and Shikha (Yep both are back) also had a hard time reassuring and re-affirming their beliefs... Both got internships at top notch ad agencies Lowe and O&M respectively... However with the top notch internships came top knots in the stomach... "I hope I get my permanent job after the internship." They both had an interim period of wait between the end of their internship and the nod of permanence... And in both the cases I know they were mentally chumming too (Besides the other way round ofcourse)...

And then ofcourse there's Harsh... Who has gone through and in some ways is going through the same as well... The thing that works for Harsh however is his never ending zest for life and never ending quest for re-assuring himself and others as well... He has his lows and very lows as well... But he somehow doesn't show it... Rather he cannot show it... He's Harsh... We know he's going to make it work... He can make anything work... He cant talk about Zebras after all and can strike a conversation with a cow as well... I would love to see him strike a conversation about Zebras with a cow... I would love the sight and can imagine the plight (Of the cow)

Ashi and Nupur don't tell me anything so they don't get word space in this post...

So talking about Shachi, Shikha, Harsh, T & Me... We would all somewhere agree that it is the weight of the wait that weighs you down... And the icing on the cake is the weight of expectations...

And that's the weight that I don't think I can easily shed... My friends, my family, my neighbours and my enemies all expect from me... But more than them and more than anyone else... I expect from me...The weight of their expectations I will be soon able to knock off (The Kaayanaath is doing its job) but the weight of expectations I have from myself I hope I never shed... Cause that's the weight that has and will always keep me going....

So on a parting note, I guess I am (and so is everyone else) allowed to crib, to feel low (T can feel Lowe), to get frustrated irritated till the Kaayanaath takes it course which in my case I feel is a little too slow... I mean even the moon takes 365 days to make a revolution... It's been a tad bit longer than that but I am sure the time has for my revolution is JUST AROUND THE CORNER.....

See that's the best part about the sugar quote... By the end of it all it still entrenches your belief in it....

PS: I think I wrote my 'fried' Shachi somewhere... (Silly me... I mean putting fried and Shachi together is like talking to zebras about cows)