13 August, 2006: Sunday

This was the day I chose to return to Munger after attending my convocation. In the morning at 9, I was at the airport lounging around waiting for the plane. The flight was delayed and eventually, we left Delhi at 11 in the morning. It landed at Ranchi in one and a half hours and then took a further 45 minutes to Patna. I had a train from Patna to Kiul (about 2 hours from Munger by road) at 3.30 in the evening. As things were, the train got delayed by an hour en route to Kiul. The earlier plan was to take a local train from Kiul to Jamalpur (about half an hour from Munger by road – Munger, in case you have not been able to figure out this far does not have a railway station). On reaching Kiul at about 7.30 in the evening, we (I had another guy with me) found that two trains to Jamalpur had been cancelled and the next train was at 10.30 in the night. Now, traveling in Bihar after 10 in the night is not exactly the stuff dreams are made of! So, we decided to call the taxi agent at Munger and ask for a cab. We were told that the taxi could only get to Kiul by 9.15 PM. We decided to pass our time in the fading sunlight while we explored what ever Kiul Junction had to offer. There were six platforms (‘Kiul bada station hai, wahaan badi wali trains aati jaati hain,’ we had been told earlier) and on the second platform was the way out. At the exit of the platform was a ramp leading into a tunnel. To the left of the tunnel was the reservation counter and to the right was the taxi stand. The smell of urine, much stronger than one would be accustomed to expect at railway platforms, filled our nostrils as we entered the tunnel. The tunnel was very similar in appearance to the ones in Gotham city (if you remember them). The only difference being the pan streaks that spattered the walls at every second spot. We decided to explore the left side, not knowing that the taxi was to be found on the right side. There was the reservation counter with KIUL written in large Hindi and English in red neon letters, except for the fact that they were not lit. The only form of lighting was a dimly lit bulb nearby. The space in front of the reservation counter was occupied by people, lots of them, taking a nap. Finding ourselves a spot to sit on, we sat with our back towards the reservation counter. In front of us lay the entire expanse of Kiul, in pitch darkness. There were two paths, perpendicular to each other and at the corner were three street shops selling cigarettes, eggs and tea. They were all we could see, for everything else was as black as the wisps of her hair, as some romantic would have said. Romance or anything similar, however was the last thing on my mind as we sat there ...

Follow the link, speaks more for itself than anything I can say.

http://iamart.livejournal.com/90194.html

Oh, will post tomorrow, in case someone still visits this blog.

Forty Four days to go in Munger, Bihar.
This shall be updated !

Life !

From a comment on a post on Harry's other blog.

Isn't this funny , One of us gets stuck in a dry state, the other one though boasts of absolut for rs 80 but craves for burgers and pizza and any other decent food or a place to hangout and the third one though dwelling only 100 mtrs from liqourland cannot drink for religious reasons :)

As you set out for Ithaka
Hope your road is a long one,
Full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
Angry Poseidon-don't be afraid of them:
You'll never find things like that on your way
As long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
As long as a rare excitement
Stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
Wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them
Unless you bring them along inside your soul,
Unless your soul sets them up in front of you.


Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
With what pleasure, what joy,
You enter harbors you're seeing for the first time;
May you stop at Phoenician trading stations
To buy fine things,
Mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
Sensual perfume of every kind-
As many sensual perfumes as you can;
And may you visit many Egyptian cities
To learn and go on learning from their scholars.


Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you're destined for.
But don't hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
So you're old by the time you reach the island,
Wealthy with all you've gained on the way,
Not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.


And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
You'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.


- Ithaka, Constantine Cafavy

Statistical Fluctuations

Sample Conversation 1

Date: 2 May 2006
Venue: EB - 46, Kumaon Hostel, IIT Delhi

'Yaar, chal Priya chalte hain'
'Kya karenge Priya chal kar? Bahaut garmi hai, chill mar ... shaam ko chalenge kisi hot spot!'
'Haan, Priya par hai bhi toh kuch nahin, sala Pizza Hut aur McDs toh overdone ho gaya hai, aur Nirulas ka enthu nahin hai'
'Hmmm ... chal, aaj Passion tea bar explore kartey hain'
'Chalo!'

Sample Conversation 2

Date: 26 July, 2006
Venue: Somewhere in Saharanpur

'Chalo, aaj raat kuch karte hain'
'Kya?'
'Baahar chaltey hain ... Nathus ya Hotbreads'
'Hmmm... chodo yaar, enthu nahin hai'
'Haan chodo, it is not that great anyway'

Did I mention that it has been almost a month, or more since I had a decent pizza / burger / anything!

I will probably write about the good times we had in the room mentioned in this post, but will keep that for sometime later. Probably, sometime when I am feeling suitably nostalgic about it. Till then, it will have to wait.
Oh, incidentally, I wonder if both of these experiences are stastictical fluctuations and there is an average line somewhere, something entirely different from both of these places. Or, is this the maximum deviation from what I used to call and liked calling my life. (Don't you even think about making a joke about munger !)

One Wild Night

This was written on Saturday, the 22nd of July, 2006.


It's a Saturday. It is around five in the evening. Just about three months back, in a similar situation, I would be calling up a few friends to fix up which pub / any similar suitable place where we would be crashing in the evening. Today, it is slightly different. I am sitting in my room in Saharanpur, listening to Pearl Jam and reading Asterix comics, knowing perfectly to the minute details what I would be doing on the weekend. I would sleep. I would watch a couple of movies (on the TV / laptop). I would sleep. I would read a book. I would sleep. Ah! the joys this city has to offer. Among other things, this is a place that truly makes one appreciate the title of the book 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'. No, I have not read the book. I don't plan to read it in near future either. Anyway, getting back to the point - this god forsaken place truly makes one think if the females (or the remotely desirable ones atleast) are sitting pretty on some other continent! Or on some other planet itself! But, this is just the beginning when it comes to the funky town that Saharanpur is! And to think, Munger is not too far, if I look at it. Though, in all fairness, I have been informed that Munger is half an hour away from a golf course. (Yes, it was not a typo. It is half an hour away from a GOLF course!) In all fairness, we do that wee bit every now and then to spice up our lives. For instance, we had a mini-soccer (this is like the soccer equivalent of mini golf) match yesterday. We lost 3-1, but that is beyond the point. Had infinite fun. This might interest some (or atleast one) of the readers this blog gets. So, I will mention it here. This was also the occassion I had a mug of beer, after 8 - 9 months :) Not that I plan to make a habit out of it. The last time I did, the results were just slightly less than favourable ;)

* * *

It is about 11 in the night. Yes, it is a Saturday night. Imitating wild Saturday night celebrations, I had dal and gheeya (lentils and gourd, for all you vilayatis!) for dinner. Oh yes, there was curd too! (I was about to type in the word 'yoghurt' here, but it reminded me of the Strawberry flavored yoghurt at college). Anyway, so the evening lived up to its promise of being an absolutely uneventful one with spectacular accuracy. I have finished reading two Asterix comics in the day and at the rate I am going, I will soon need to replenish my stocks of comics and TV eps. Convocation is not too far, which serves as a valid excuse to visit home and college ! (Yay!) I am feeling sleepy, but there are some important things that need to be tended to.

Oh, wild parties of Saharanpur... here I come !