A cricket team, bag of chappatis and a matchbox
Prologue
Ghoomtalakalagalagala.....I screamed at the top of my lungs,gagging up blood as the scream weakened...I was expecting a 'hoo haa hoo haa' in return.Well that was the code we all had agreed upon in case any of us get lost in the woods.A couple of my friends had gone for a walk and were found missing for quite sometime...No answer came...My voice grew hoarse and strained from screaming and my guts felt heavy and cold...A dense chilly wind blew over my face..A minute before, Sachin and I had encountered a mysterious trio carrying a huge torch.They flashed the torch on our faces and I dont know what came over them ,they started running across the flat expanse (It had to be my spooky eyes or my intimidating physique..:B) .And we darted in the opposite direction. It was then we realized that those two guys could have been in trouble.I started feeling a little nervous . Ofcourse they wernt wearing platinum necklaces or diamond studded ear-rings ,so the chances of them getting robbed were very low.And the subjects in question wouldnt really appeal to wild cats and cannibals unless they like bony meat...As far as I know only dogs like bones and I 'm pretty confident they could have fought dogs in case they were chased by them.Then we decided we would go back where the rest of the gang had parked and ask people to split and go in different directions..........
A day before - 7:30 PM IST, Hyderabad
I still wasnt sure if I would be going for the trip.Eleven of us had planned to spend the extended weekend at Mahabaleshwar.Our project was at a critical stage and me holidaying at a hill station at this juncture would be a bad idea.When I informed my neighbour about the trip, he let out a snicker.However my PL had ratified the proposal and asked me to hand over my modules to one of my team mates.And I handed them over.What happened later(after I came back from the trip) is a disturbing tale by itself which I shall narrate sometime in the distant future.And then I rushed home, packed my suitcase AND my make-up kit and rushed to the railway station.We boarded the train and settled ourselves in our allotted seats.There were uncles and aunties all over the place.I sympathized with them.Little did they know that this pack of punks would start playing antakshiri in a few minutes and they would be treated to our high pitched mellifluous voices.I too was asked to join the game.I'm pretty sure,the people in the neighbouring compartment had really horrible nightmares(like sitting on top of mount everest with bare minimum clothing or walking barefooted in a cactus field etc., etc.,) that night if in case they listened to me.The game went on for a good 4 hours and then we decided to crash.The aunties and uncles heaved a sigh of relief.
Dawn
We woke up at 5:30 the next morning and got down at Kurdu Wadi (thats Sachins village).The population of that place spiked by a huge magnitude.We reached his place and Sachins mom(henceforth referred to as 'Aunty') welcomed us. She packed a huge basket of goodies for our trip and we did the usual 'itnee takleef uthaane ki kyaa zaroorat thee Aunty' and she replied with the usual 'Isme takleef kee kyaa baat hai bete' and similar blah blah blah...Neways,all the dirty dudes like Jitin et al took bath and the ever fresh hunks like yours truly decided not to, and setout on the cab.We reached at about 2:45P.M...We had planned to go on a moonlight trek in a forest which could be reached only through water but before that we had to take permission from a certain local forest authority there.But the forest officer there refused to grant permission 'cause apparently a wild life census was going on at that time and he felt that the count might exceed if we were let loose in the forest.So we set out to a different, less exotic trekking place.We reached the place at about 6:00 PM.We parked the cab at the base, packed our equipment and set out for the trek.It was drizzling slightly and I had promised a friend that we would be lighting a campfire that night.We prayed to the clouds to go away...It worked!!!.Meanwhile Ashish got friendly with a buffalo and it wouldnt leave him...It chased him for sometime.Then with 'utmost' difficulty, we made our way through the dense forest and reached the top of a hill by climbing a tree.we felt like we were on top of the world.Even Edmund Hillary wouldnt have been more elated after scaling everest.
The Bon-fire
As mentioned before, we decided to light a camp fire this time by hook or crook.A few of us set out to collect twigs,dry leaves and wood.They were easily available(or in Jitins jargon availabalable)...We digged and made a huge pit using a tool belonging to the neolithic age.(a stone)...doublechecked for any hidden treasure we could lay our hands upon.On finding none, we arranged the leaves,twigs and the wood in and around the pit.Ashish and I got under a bedsheet and lighted the ensemble.Within a minute there was a huge fire.We danced around it for like an hour,took photographs, ate, drank and lied down counting stars .And then a few among us
started discussing patterns, axioms and the metaphysical.Unable to tolerate it, a couple of us decided to go for a walk.And they went...I however decided to stay back and take a nap but couldnt....Then Sachin and I decided to go for a stroll...We reached a place , a kind of plain land, and saw a bright huge torch moving towards us.We waited patiently until they came reasonably close .They flashed the torch right at our face and started running across the flat expanse..........
Ghoomtalakalagalagala.....I screamed at the top of my lungs,gagging up blood as the scream weakened...I was expecting a 'hoo haa hoo haa' in return.Well that was the code we all had agreed upon in case any of us get lost in the woods.A couple of my friends had gone for a walk and were found missing for quite sometime...No answer came...My voice grew hoarse and strained from screaming and my guts felt heavy and cold...A dense chilly wind blew over my face..A minute before, Sachin and I had encountered a mysterious trio carrying a huge torch.They flashed the torch on our faces and I dont know what came over them ,they started running across the flat expanse (It had to be my spooky eyes or my intimidating physique..:B) .And we darted in the opposite direction. It was then we realized that those two guys could have been in trouble.I started feeling a little nervous . Ofcourse they wernt wearing platinum necklaces or diamond studded ear-rings ,so the chances of them getting robbed were very low.And the subjects in question wouldnt really appeal to wild cats and cannibals unless they like bony meat...As far as I know only dogs like bones and I 'm pretty confident they could have fought dogs in case they were chased by them.Then we decided we would go back where the rest of the gang had parked and ask people to split and go in different directions..........
A day before - 7:30 PM IST, Hyderabad
I still wasnt sure if I would be going for the trip.Eleven of us had planned to spend the extended weekend at Mahabaleshwar.Our project was at a critical stage and me holidaying at a hill station at this juncture would be a bad idea.When I informed my neighbour about the trip, he let out a snicker.However my PL had ratified the proposal and asked me to hand over my modules to one of my team mates.And I handed them over.What happened later(after I came back from the trip) is a disturbing tale by itself which I shall narrate sometime in the distant future.And then I rushed home, packed my suitcase AND my make-up kit and rushed to the railway station.We boarded the train and settled ourselves in our allotted seats.There were uncles and aunties all over the place.I sympathized with them.Little did they know that this pack of punks would start playing antakshiri in a few minutes and they would be treated to our high pitched mellifluous voices.I too was asked to join the game.I'm pretty sure,the people in the neighbouring compartment had really horrible nightmares(like sitting on top of mount everest with bare minimum clothing or walking barefooted in a cactus field etc., etc.,) that night if in case they listened to me.The game went on for a good 4 hours and then we decided to crash.The aunties and uncles heaved a sigh of relief.
Dawn
We woke up at 5:30 the next morning and got down at Kurdu Wadi (thats Sachins village).The population of that place spiked by a huge magnitude.We reached his place and Sachins mom(henceforth referred to as 'Aunty') welcomed us. She packed a huge basket of goodies for our trip and we did the usual 'itnee takleef uthaane ki kyaa zaroorat thee Aunty' and she replied with the usual 'Isme takleef kee kyaa baat hai bete' and similar blah blah blah...Neways,all the dirty dudes like Jitin et al took bath and the ever fresh hunks like yours truly decided not to, and setout on the cab.We reached at about 2:45P.M...We had planned to go on a moonlight trek in a forest which could be reached only through water but before that we had to take permission from a certain local forest authority there.But the forest officer there refused to grant permission 'cause apparently a wild life census was going on at that time and he felt that the count might exceed if we were let loose in the forest.So we set out to a different, less exotic trekking place.We reached the place at about 6:00 PM.We parked the cab at the base, packed our equipment and set out for the trek.It was drizzling slightly and I had promised a friend that we would be lighting a campfire that night.We prayed to the clouds to go away...It worked!!!.Meanwhile Ashish got friendly with a buffalo and it wouldnt leave him...It chased him for sometime.Then with 'utmost' difficulty, we made our way through the dense forest and reached the top of a hill by climbing a tree.we felt like we were on top of the world.Even Edmund Hillary wouldnt have been more elated after scaling everest.
The Bon-fire
As mentioned before, we decided to light a camp fire this time by hook or crook.A few of us set out to collect twigs,dry leaves and wood.They were easily available(or in Jitins jargon availabalable)...We digged and made a huge pit using a tool belonging to the neolithic age.(a stone)...doublechecked for any hidden treasure we could lay our hands upon.On finding none, we arranged the leaves,twigs and the wood in and around the pit.Ashish and I got under a bedsheet and lighted the ensemble.Within a minute there was a huge fire.We danced around it for like an hour,took photographs, ate, drank and lied down counting stars .And then a few among us
started discussing patterns, axioms and the metaphysical.Unable to tolerate it, a couple of us decided to go for a walk.And they went...I however decided to stay back and take a nap but couldnt....Then Sachin and I decided to go for a stroll...We reached a place , a kind of plain land, and saw a bright huge torch moving towards us.We waited patiently until they came reasonably close .They flashed the torch right at our face and started running across the flat expanse..........
posted by Dijas at 5/01/2005
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