23 December 2010, Train from Bombay to Ahmedabad

Well, its been a long time since I have written a journal entry but here I am , on the 23rd of December, a night before Christmas eve, sitting in the general compartment of the Ahmedabad special train from Mumbai Central, while somewhere else , back home at NID the choir sings carols in the cold winter night. That wouldn't be the first of good things I have missed this week.

I missed the ‘party of the sem’ thrown by five friends –Varun, Deepika, Ashu, Malvika and Shruti- for their birthdays; I missed Meshuggah and Enslaved live at Pune L; I missed at least three shooting stars right above my head (allegedly) and finally I missed my train back home! Interestingly most of these misses can be attributed to my Bombay trip this week. Having missed Porcupine Tree and Mood Indigo as a whole last year, I had made it a point to go this time – Katatonia, MoodI , beer and old friends. As always though, you never get to meet all your friends in Bombay during the same trip.

Was it really worth all this? Tough one that. I had fun, did things I may never have done but for this trip. The Katatonia gig was alright but there was something missing which neither I nor Tim was able to identify. Maybe it was just the lousy crowd, I don’t know.

After the great lengths I went to get a tatkal train ticket to Ahmedabad, I missed the train by a measly two minutes. I should probably stop tempting fate when it comes to train timings; but to my credit this is the first long distance train I have missed in a few years. Guess I just like the rush of being on the edge, the uncertainty of not knowing if I will finally get the train. The feeling when you miss the train though, is just plain lousy. No headrush, just a rush of if-onlys through your mind. Come to think of it I shouldn’t have bothered with tatkal tickets and just taken general tickets. No hassle, no fuss, just get there a little early and grab a spot.

I was sitting here and sketching when I had this sudden urge to write. I think I’m over it now. Looking forward to the Diu trip tomorrow and I’m glad I chose to go with the rest of the gang. Maybe I’ll carry my guitar and we can still sing carols on Christmas eve.

Cheers and more beers on the way!

Birthdays at NID

Nothing short of a mini nightmare! I type this with a sore ass, two bumps on each thigh and smelling of 'vicks' as someone mentioned (we'll come to that later). It has been an exciting week what with the first time I experience Garba, we're working on plaster of paris(POP) sculptures and yea my birthday. Birthdays at NID can get really messy, and violent at times. No point complaining, designers are a creative and more often than not, wild bunch. We've seen everything from cowdung solution to papier mache to live jumping frogs thrown on the special person. Things were only getting more and more well planned and intricate with each passing birthday. With Matthew's birthday just yesterday, seeing him getting his ass whooped only made it scarier. Therefore it was with mixed expectations that I walked to the celebration of the day I popped into this world 23 years ago. There were threats looming in the air of obituaries in the paper right next to birthday wishes. Oh enough dramatics already. Our work this week with POP made it quite the possibility for a bucket of that to be dumped on me and with Sudhir's constant, not-so-subtle hints of 'collected POP' I was pretty sure I would look quite the chalk statue tonight. Well that didn't happen, thankfully, but everyone wishing giving me birthday hugs before the messy business had me expecting the worst. It wasn't all too bad though :) hot water, cold water, some cake, all topped by three smashed eggs and a frog (nice touch that). By the end of it I had cake all over and in my face. I don't know if its funny to blow your nose and have cake fly out of you nostrils! Not to mention partial deafness due to cake in the ears. Mitin's bald pate attracted more attention than he would have wanted, old chap got both the cake and egg treatments!

And yes the violent part...I have never gotten my ass kicked like I did tonight! Maybe its the rather small anatomy of my body but a lot off the kicks did seem to go way off target - the bottom, people! you're supposed to kick the bottom! I think the human bottom may as a matter of fact have been built to withstand such treatment. Evolutionary foresight perhaps. Nevertheless injuries sustained include the sore bumps on my thighs (get your targets right next time, you sons of icecreams), blood clot on the left palm and general weariness. For a moment it did feel like they were going to beat me to death. When i try to spray some painkiller on the affected area the cap pops off and the can starts spewing an endless stream of said painkiller all over me, which is how i end up smelling like vicks!

Well, I cant deny i didn't have fun. A memorable birthday in the end, I suppose. Thanks ppl! next time birthday bumps happen, be merciful - remember, only the bottom. Cheers!