aditya kumar's weblog

On my way back home from work, near the Sony world Koramangala intersection, I saw an Enfield Bullet with “POLITE” written on back, Red bold letters. Curiosity, like always, had the better of me and the red signal as it was, I went near the bike, dragging my (relatively) mediocre looking Honda Activa and I asked the rider what was the whole “Polite” thing all about. I mean, if these letters had to form a word on the back of an Enfield Bullet, “C” had certainly to be a part of it, instead of the “T”.

Turned out, our rider had a little sense of humor. His first reaction was a frown, but as I completed my question, it turned into a smile and he told me that “POLITE”, in those big Red letters, was actually meant to scare off the rude Autorickshaw-wallas, for the menace that they have become on the roads. And since he really didn’t belong to POLICE, he could not claim that “C”. In these mad streets, at high speeds and manoeuvres , “POLITE” could well be “POLICE”.

Presence of mind?

Now, I had to read this a few times to be really sure of what it was. On the exact same spot, a month or two back, a lady driven scooty with, believe it or not, a sticker that said:

“DON’T KISS ME”.

Oh, how could I lady, especially with that helmet you have put on.

Absence of mind?

“MYSELF [name here]. I HAVE AN EXPERIANCE IN LECTURER”

“IM COOL GIRL BUT VERY SENSITIVE BY NATURE. I DONT LIKE THE SHORT TEMPERED PERSONS.”

These are actual matrimonial advertisements, quoted verbatim. With these coming my way, It would be a good ten or twenty years before I settle down in life. Of course, needless to say, I find myself in this situation since I have failed to find someone for myself but thats another story.

Then, this latest one:

“he should be smart… intelligent!! Looks don’t matter much but he should appreciate me”

A closer look at her profile — Hobbies- Will tell you later; Interests – Will tell you later; Favorite Reads – Will tell you later and also, we would be knowing “later” about her favorite music too. No other information whatsoever, in fact, I am surprised and thankful that she made it clear that she wants someone who appreciates her.

I shudder to think how casual one can be while looking out for the right person to get married to. If only one could get away from situations like these at will.

THE COOL GALS and EXPERIANCED IN LECTURERS, never mind the spelling, time to bring them on…

Today I came back to Delhi after 17 months. I had to. I think I owe this one to this place. No marriages to attend, no specific purpose per se; and yet I find myself in Delhi, spending a good half of my days off here.

Since I was born here and since I have spent most of my adolescence here in this city, I usually use Delhi’s name as a way out when someone asks me where I belong to. I have stayed more in Bombay than Delhi but yet I do not know for sure if I belong to this city more than any else. After spending my life in 6 cities, what place I really belong to is a question that shall always warrant a definite, and probably a more justified conclusion, something that I would never be able to arrive on.

I am yet to come to terms with air travel. Now, I have traveled by train for most of my life and I still do, but the idea that I was on the seashore till today morning and in the plains of Delhi at lunch still bewilders me.
It bewilders me because the transition is way too fast. A train travels at its own pace and you get to see the landscape changing with your own eyes. You hear the changes in dialect and your mind knows that a change is happening. You get away from the sea and the smell of the muddy swamps leaves you slowly. You start breathing more air in air. The short gushes of wet, cool air that come in intervals of the omnipresent breeze become less frequent. And you get time to soak in, sink in. The journey may take 36 hours but in a way you feel more fresh, more ready when you arrive at your destination.

I had more plans; I was to have my dinner at Amritsar tonight, the northwest frontier of India. If I didn’t have this upset stomach now, I would be in the holy city of Amritsar by night to stay there for a day. But in a way I am glad that it has stalled me here. I have traveled alone all the time and I have never had any problem with that but strangely, this time, Delhi leaves me with a feeling of voidness. I think the concept of traveling alone does not work for me anymore. It is good that I have understood this shortcoming, If one can call it that, now — precisely when it has happened.

There was a time, in this very house in Goa, I used to listen to my walkman when the power used to go off. The “power-going-off” apparently, happens rather usually here. And when its a dark and gloomy evening like what it is now, there was no question of electricity. So, in those days not so long back, I used to take out the tapes from my travel luggage that I used to carry along from Indore. In a way it was funny because I always thought that my walkman would not be of use while I’d be at home in Goa. We had an audio CD player at home and walkman was for students who used to travel in second class coaches in trains and spend their lives in a single room, studying for nights, while during college days.

So the U2s and the Robbie Williams used to come out and since there was no power, saving the power contained in those batteries added to the objective, even if it meant pushing the end of a Reynold’s 045 Fine Carbure pen into one of the tape’s reels and rotate it endlessly, one way or the other, depending on what you wanted to do — Rewind or Fast Forward.

6 years later, nothing much has changed. I don’t do that tape thing anymore. But I do open up my IBM Thinkpad, connect it to my nokia mobile phone, download my email, write on my blog and download a podcast. The power is still not there and its raining heavily outside. It never rains in Goa in November, let alone a day before Deepawali.

This could be the Monsoon’s swan song but it has reminded me of the many days that I have spent here, rewinding the tape with a Reynold’s pen.