Trust Murphy's law and insomnia to collaborate - and I have to get up at 4:30 tomorrow morning and hie to the hinterlands. Oops, make that today morning. I am going to be one grumpy grouchy tourist - I hope the birds at Karnala will forgive me if I snooze off while watching them!

I've never really got the hang of mornings anyway. Sunsets are more my cup of coffee!




~lakesidey

......comes great pain.

Or to put it in another way, Spidey is sidey.

Folks, do not watch Spiderman 3. Unless of course you are in the mood for sappy romance, homily, moral rectitude and gratuitous advice about marriage. And a veritable pantheon of villains, including one who pops out of any handy sand-dunes (just when you thought it was safe to go back on to the beach, at least....!). Not to mention a director who comes up with kool (and obvious) metaphors, and then explains them in words in case the audience didn't get it. Metaphors for dummies, it would seem.

Welcome to the dhak side, Luke....

....and to think I missed a sunset for this!



Yesterday, though, I had my fill of the beauty of nature. Much has been written about the ethereal qualities of moonlit nights. Yesternight was all that, and more. There was the moon, cool and silver and remote and mysterious. There was the lake, a mass of quicksilver shimmerings and murmuring zephyrs. The trees, dark silhouettes of an entirely otherworldly beauty. There were the cicadas, chirruping away with riotous bass abandon, and the countertheme excecuted in flawless treble by the resident mosquitos (the percussion being provided, of course, by my arrhythmic slaps at the pesky creatures!).

And there was I, with ipod in tow, listening blissfully to "beedi jalai le" at top volume. Don't even ask....:P

~lakesidey

This weather is awful. Every time I venture out into the sun I get a slight idea of how an ice-cream cone feels. And given that my daily itinerary typically involves over 40 km of travelling (mostly in Bombay BEST buses, no less!).....

Summers don't agree with me (in general, actually, extreme temperatures don't agree with me. But Bombay doesn't have a winter to speak of). Twenty minutes after a cold shower I find myself streaming with perspiration again. My appetite is shot to hell and I survive on a semi-liquid diet all day (mostly cold coffee and pepsi - the caffeine content of my blood must be something awesome :)  After the sun sets, I manage to get some dinner down the hatch, albeit without a great deal of enthusiasm. And to add injury to insult, I'm developing quite a nasty little cold.

And it's only the end of March! Almost enough to make one believe all those tales of global warming and suchlike.....Ah well, at least all this is having a salutary effect on the paunch.

/endrant

*insert random pic of the hookahs in Mocha*



And now for something completely different (as a couple of my young friends would put it). Today, while wandering in Thane, my roving eye was caught by the signboard of a restaurant by the roadside. Nondescript place it was, name of USHAKIRAN. What was really interesting was that the U and the N had faded almost to invisibility,  making the name far more appealing to a large section of the populace. I wonder if it could've been intentional....?

~lakesidey

Today, after two years and a bit, I saw a PAF.

A PAF, for those who don't know, is a Performing Arts Festival. A concept unique to my alma mater, it involves two to three hostels teaming up and putting up a stage production - which would typically involve massive sets, detailed scripts and music, and intricate choreography, with a good month of effort going into it. Not to mention an amphitheatre full of unforgivingly critical people watching it - guaranteed to try the strongest nerves! It is an experience without parallel - even if the show is a flop, the sense of camaraderie and the lessons about teamwork, improvisation, and (most important!) just plain having fun, stay with one for life.

Today's PAF might not rank among the greats, but it was pleasant enough. Powerful choreo and fairly smooth execution were perhaps its strongest suits. Not that I would have cared if it were an unmitigated disaster - after so many years, it was amazing just to be there! It was a bonus that I thoroughly enjoyed the show :) Another night, then, of lovely memories to save up for the future....

But what really gladdened my heart was the sight of the unstinting efforts put in; my juniors may sometimes seem, from my ancient perspective, like a bunch of academically oriented *censored* but their hearts are evidently in the right place!

And oh yes, hazeldusk rocks. As always :)



~lakesidey

A werry happy Holi to all yer lovely folks out there......stay colourful!





Saturday was a fairly interesting roller-coaster. I woke at around 9 am, bleary-eyed after some four-odd hours of sleep, and set off with my flatmate to renew our lease of life. The lease of the flat I mean. I was already feeling as mean as a bear with a sore tooth (very possibly due to the fact that I *had* a sore tooth the night before, and had skipped dinner, and was consequently ravenous).

We didn't encounter the expected traffic jam and so reached half an hour early. That's not something to cavil about, you say? Ah, but hear the rest of it - Murphy therefore took pains to ensure that the party of the second part arrived an hour and a half late. A blurry webcam photo and a digital thumb-impression and several signatures later, we finally took our leave at around 2 in the afternoon. A very hot afternoon it was too.....
 
Prompt refreshment was called for and we therefore repaired to the new Pop Tates outlet in Powai. Joined by some boisterous youngsters from the old alma mater, we demolished truly unseemly amounts of rather good food (I must recommend the pizza and the lemonade particularly. Somewhat expensive fare but overall paisa vasool!)

Pleasantly full, I wound my way towards home at the mellow afternoon hour of 4 pm; but I was not destined to enjoy the pleasures of a good nap yet, oh no! Instead, I found myself hijacked by a couple of old friends, RB and AK, and spirited off to Juhu to watch a play. "Black with Equal" was my first experience of the celebrated Prithvi Theatre, and overall a good experience. I also took the opportunity to check out the Irish Coffee in Prithvi Cafe, which several old acquaintances used to swear by. It was OK, not at all bad (even for one like me who usually eschews alcohol), but really not my cup of tea.

A walk down to Juhu beach ensued, and the weather still being passably warm, we explored the mysteries of the local ice-golas (in passing, I must mention that I would not really recommend the chocolate flavoured gola :P). A plate of Lasagne - I forget the name of the restaurant - rounded off the day's gluttony. In a moment of misguided enthusiasm, I also picked up a small flute, a decision I suspect my flatmate will come to regret in time.....

And so, at midnight, a tired but satisfied lakesidey struggled back to home base and composed himself for sleep (OK, after posting this entry at any rate). Tomorrow's plans do not include an early awakening. I would not consider myself particularly racist, and accept coloured folks with a fair degree of equanimity, but when those colours start to include pinks and greens, well, that's where I draw the line.....

~lakesidey