Wake up Amal!!!

It was indeed one of the most memorable days of my life. When suddenly things started following a rhythmic path, life began looking completely different. I think the last few months really created a kind of possession with Bangalore that, it was eventually impossible for me to live on any place in the earth.

I was feeling a kind of loneliness that evokes me to those days (college days) of my life when I used to cherish a silence that always brought out the best of my imaginations……creativity was at its all time high…romance was in the air every where….Somehow I was finding myself alone in this world of corporate race. Always finishing in the last line where I found every single one is a usian bolt……..

Illayaraja used to be a good medicine during tough times….I mean music…then some chocolates …last few months even these medicines started giving side effects (mood swings!!!...dullness)

Then, as I knew that's life, however it sometimes throws you amazing surprises…and it happened when I was asked to go to Bangalore for a few days….

18^th Sep 2009: Generally I am scared traveling by air even though I rate my biggest gain of corporate life in the last few years is the fact that I am a frequent traveler with many airlines. I still get shocks…and goose bumps the moment any flight takes off. But on 18^theven though a small earthquake affected this part of the world I was least bothered about all these things. I am sure it was my excitement to go to Bangalore which kept me motivating that I got little time to think of earthquake…air traffic conjunction…bad weather…or even…the good looking girl sitting right next to me….

As per my instructions Rakesh was waiting eagerly after the so called heroics in the pool (Now a days he acts busy by joining a near by swimming pool. According to him it reduces his weights..keep him slim…no comments L).We were all set to explore the beef biriyani @ Trupti hotel, which used to be our first luv in Bangalore. After a heavy dinner we generally take a walk to the near by juice shop where I always grab a fruit salad & Rakesh some fruit punch. This is the same old shop (above which gundu stays!!!). I know you guys will be wondering what kind of a bachelor we are instead of having a chilled beer and a smoke I am writing about biriyani & fruit salad….don know we were always kids…never wanted to come out of our child hoods…and trust me its not easy when you are surrounded with lots of adults!!!!.

Anyway things changed in the next few days whatever small plans I had (Infact we had me & rakesh) got completely changed by the arrival of molu in Bangalore!!!Life mein twist….

Molu I don’t think anyone needs an introduction about her..she is the one whom I choosed year back to share my madness….she is now a busy ’recessionizer’( my contribution to the English dictionary : Means A fresher who is lost in the current recession). She is here in Bangalore to give some interviews and of cousrse to meet me.

Her entry made me to change all my small small plans (like dhaba hang out…watching some late nite movies…jose ettan's mess etc). Infact the actual planning started after her arrival…me nandu … twinkle decided to explore few places in and around Karnataka…as usual I started exploring all the places from Yerkkad to Sravanabelagola…in the net (I mean Google!!!) and in this due course, i called many caretakers and eventually lost a lot of money by roaming charges to the ever booming Indian Telecom Industry.

The decision finally was unanimous Nandi hills (A place 75 km from Bangalore) as usual we started late…we stopped every single corner in Bangalore (either traffic made us to stop…or molus…hunger made us to stop)…the best part was when we started climbingthe Nandi hills belt we could see all the people who had visited were coming back from the hills …infact we were so late that forget about seeing Nandi hills, I was afraid whether can we see each other (It was getting that darker).

Eventually we dropped the plan and started driving back home…with empty stomachs (till the time we stopped in a near by Dhaba)..After having an early dinner @ dhaba while coming back accidentally we saw a ‘Dandiya’ happening in palace ground.

Wow that was indeed a surprise… we some how managed to squeeze inside without releasing that we neither had sticks nor had the costumes for the Dandiya….but each one of us had a strong appetite towards dance (except rakesh who had strong appetite towards something else!!!! J)

It was a memorable night when we danced till 2 in the night….except sometimes when rakesh actually vanishes …he was busy searching a soul mate….It seems someone told that Dandiya is meant for that.

We all were happy after that nite ..i believe even though rakesh was disappointed not meeting his soul mate he will also agree to fact that it was a brilliant night.

Days went passed we planned many things including a tour with in the city a party for friends..Wonder la…as usual nothing happened due to various reasons.

However the next week we all met up in Nandus place…when I say we all this time members are quite huge we were 12 in number. Tat include Govind,Achu,Chandu,Renju,Rahul etc etc…A night we all spent eating my biriyani which I prepared in 45 minutes…don know whether I can call it my biriyani as I may face a legal battle with the ownership with molu…coz she and her contribution was equally important for the success of the biriyani ..Although much of her contribution was in consuming it rather than conceiving it…….Kidding….

That night we went for a movie Wake up S!D….About the movie nothing much to say…it is a simple urban movie or you can call new age movie…or brand it like farhan Aktar type…anything..but the movie litterly woke me up..it made me realize few things ….and u know what it is??..any Guesses???..u might be wondering… is it Life???….no not at all…its about Bombay!!!...Oops….Mumbai (Scared calling Mumbai….Bombay because don’t know when Raj Thackrey will sue me)

The amazing cinematography and camera work of the movie which revolves around in the background of Mumbai was simply outstanding. I was wondering is this same Mumbai where I stayed these many months….is this the same place which I was finding messy & busy all the time….

Yes it is indeed Mumbai…a beautiful urban city…it was stunning through the eyes of camera…when it is raining it was even more beautiful..during sunset ….the city looks fabulous….Why the hell these many days I was not able to realize this…The same messy crowd which was haunting me suddenly started looking bright & beautiful… the night…the sunset…which use to give me sleepless night suddenly started looking completely different.

Wow this is something unexpected…..everyone come out of the theatre discussing movie and reviews on the movie…but nothing was going through my mind…neither Konkana…nor Ranbir..or not even molu was there in my mind …I was just thinking about Mumbai..and how I mismanaged my last couple of months in Mumbai without knowing this city.

I opened my camera…how many snaps I took in the last few months it was at a staggering 1835 snaps…but interestingly not a single snap of Mumbai…. Was i sleeping all these days??? …may be…suddenly first time in my life started missing Mumbai…first time I was feeling good about being in mumbai….

I still want to comeback to Bangalore …however I have decided I will comeback with a bag full of memories…a life full of experience and a camera full of snaps of Mumbai…

Don know whether Sid eventually woke up in the movie…but I certainly woke up after the movie ….and this time I felt myself reinvented….

We went to few more places in Bangalore during that stay (Will write in my next blog), after 2 days when I was coming back even though I felt missing everyone there…I was looking forward to see mumbai again this time.

And when I landed Mumbai after a good 1 hour spend in the Indian Ocean ( Due to air traffic conjunction we were flying above the sea ) t..it was raining heavily…I took a cab from the airport and was traveling back from airport to my apartment.

When I opened the cab window…wow the city looks brilliant in the light of neon bulb. and the rain was making even more beautiful…I was so happy when I got stuck in a traffic…I felt so happy to realize that I belong to Mumbai……I was so happy that I paid an extra 10 rupee to the taxiwala and slowly got into my room…Room looks messy…..but not me …prepared a cup of coffee…..open the window…a gentle breeze was flowing inside I was feeling nice…the coffee kept me awake..it kept me hot…just to make sure that I should realize the beauty of Mumbai….and I felt the rain was dancing to the tune of….Wake up S!D…Oops…Wake up Amal!!!.................