Total Recall

If someone enjoys cribbing and he had lots to crib about. Is he happy or sad?

If the TV in the advertisement shows much better picture than mine, how would I notice that on my inferior TV?

People say I drive well. I don't think I drive that well. Perhaps, I drive well because I don't think I drive well.

Excuse the musing mood.

It has started to get chilly during evenings here in Bangalore. Last night I got my blanket out from the hibernation. As instructed by my mom, I had packed it in my trunk and put some camphor balls along. It was smelling of camphor. I like that smell. It announces the change of weather. When we were kids and the weather would change to such an extent that we'd require to transform the wardrobe, it was the time to meet some long lost friend. Ah.. the joys of getting back your favorite half-pant or that snugly sweater or comfortable but old t-shirt! It wasn't all that joyful to discover that you've grown much to fit into some of the favorites of last season, but then, that meant new clothes!

We used to have these silly debates about which weather is my favorite. "My favorite" was just a wrapping, we would shred each other down to prove that the weather with my birthday in it, was the best. My points: we get to eat grapes in winter and if it gets too cold you can still do something about it, but in summers when it gets too hot, then there is not way you can beat that! That wasn't all that was silly, we once made a comics club in Bharatpur (Vivek was an equal share partner). We used to spend whole lot of money on comics, so the idea was to lend them to people and charge a nominal fees for it (It was 25 paise perhaps). It was a solid business plan, the only problem was logistics! During the summer holidays, you don't have school to meet with whole lot of comic-hungry kids. Initially we planned to used our cycles but then we needed to have publicity, we couldn't go hawking! Thus, our brilliant idea died a silent death. The last nail in the coffin was my dad's transfer from Bharatpur to Bikaner.

I joined K.V.No 2 (Army area) in Bikaner. I had spent one year in this school during our earlier stay in Bikaner. So I already had the old set of friends and foes in the school. Shambhu Nath Tiwari was the fella who wasn't liked by many in our class. I don't know why, but we all hated him. It's not that I hated him because everyone did, but I can't put my finger on why I hated him. I'm sure he knew, if he is reading this he won't be surprised. Now, in that school we had one math teacher (some punjabi name; perhaps Arora ma'am) who was a legendary knuckle breaker. She'd usually put pencils between our fingers and press them. Once she had some test copies to check so she'd put the class in silent mode. The rule was that if you see someone talking, you go and slap him/her across the face! I pounced upon this opportunity and slapped 2-3 guys including Shambhu. I wasn't very big for my age but my hands transferred such huge momentum that one of them got swelling around his ear. Worse part was that he was the son of vice-principal! Now he and Shambhu went to principal and I had to apologize and all.

On my recent trip to home, I went to Bikaner to attend a wedding. We also went to our old house for breakfast, uncle, who live there now, being a friend of papa. The huge kothi just opposite to PBM hospital looked smaller than what mental image I had. Even my school looked smaller, so did the ground opposite the school. I didn't go to my room, but saw it from outside. Uncle had made it his living room. TV has taken the place where we used to keep our badminton racquets. The lawn we maintained meticulously, was now gone with the weed. It was a very short trip and I went to Bikaner after perhaps 6-7 years. The memories really rushed back to me. I passed from the gates of the zoo we used to frequently visit, passed from the front of my school, and the Shardul club we used to go swimming at. I attended the marriage of Rajesh, who is now a vet. We were together first at Anoopgarh, where I started schooling. Then at Bikaner. He was two years senior to me in school. We were never close friends but his family & my family were friends. So that way, we grew up together. I met Manoj bhaiya, who must have been in 12th when we were in Bikaner. Now he is a lecturer there. I thought I missed his wedding but wasn't sure if it was his wedding I missed, so I was hesitating in congratulating him. Good thing that I didn't congratulate him for his wedding, I didn't know he has became a father too! My bum-chum of Bikaner, Bijendera, is now in Jaipur and is about to get married soon (or probably has already got married). Isn't it funny how it gets awkward when you meet great friends of old times and you feel that both of you have now changed quite a lot; a lot of water has flown down the bridge? I face this awkward situation all the time.

Am I sounding like an old hag? Don't know, just felt like talking about good old days.