Category: Delhi

Sing as though no one’s listening

RajanThambehalli1 Comment

It is one of those days when you are in full song quite literally as you walk past the mild fog while humming the song that’s on the mind.

I do not intend to think much into why this is happening.

Strangely, I am beginning to like the winter and the coolness associated with it. It’s a pain waking up and accidentally touching one’s feet on the cold marble floor. It feels like walking on ice.

Trust me; in places where there is no provision for centralised heating, it can be quite an experience. But, that’s how it is, and you know, in the end, it’s an experience 🙂

After having a hot shower, I am making my breakfast, the feel of which would last few seconds, before the cool ambient air surrounds my body, and I run towards my wardrobe. I don’t run, but if I am walking on my barefoot, oh man, it is running time.

After a long time post-Delhi summer, it’s been layered clothing from past two to three weeks. It is good to see people experimenting with lots of combinations with their outfits.

In fact, I love watching others during winter. When I am walking, exchanging pleasantries is a nice feeling. When fully equipped in the clothes section, I love winters all the more.

Coming back to the singer in me, it is nice to walk around the streets and sing songs from inside.

Very oblivious to events around me, and all I am bothered is to enrich the experience and feel it completely.

In this regard, I love walking more than running because it is more rhythmic to my moods. I guess I haven’t mastered syncing the run with my spirits when compared with walking.

This is my assessment. Is this the feeling, “My Dil goes Hmmmm”? Well, I am trying to ask too many questions here, and I don’t feel like thinking about it…

This feeling was warmed with the hot mushroom soup which I had a few minutes ago.

A bonfire with a book is something ideal considering the fact; I am all by myself…

Well, things could be much better; but you don’t feel bad… It’s just one of those days when you are in this kind of mood.

One such mode where I am singing loud as though no one’s listening 🙂

Can you feel the song I am singing? Is that so good for you 🙂

Countdown to the D-Day Part I

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This very day, April 6th, last year, will go down as the trigger day, or should I say the day that determined my future path. Just as when I had a feeling, I had quite a challenging stroll in the park, though I did an excellent job of going through it.

But it Happened One Evening. It was a Sunday, April 6th, 2008. I was able to appreciate it better because of few events that preceded this day. Although one cannot fathom the relevance, personally, all the events were necessary for what I turned out to be on that day.

This goes back to December 2007, when I was making plans about visiting Rajasthan with my mother. It was just two of us. I had made all the plans for the visit.

I got a mail from a very revered senior from my college about teaming up for an All India Cricket Quiz, sponsored by History Channel. I agreed. The next few days, we spoke at the most unexpected times, No hello, Just a funda (an appreciated factoid) from cricket would pop up, when I was working, sleeping, or having food.

That was the passion he had, or the superior managerial skills to pump up the intensity before a contest.

The quiz was to be held in Delhi on the last week of January 2008. We did well to weather the cold in the first place. It so happened, I got myself acquainted with a friend of mine in Gurgaon. She was kind enough to allow me to stay in her house, made Pav Bhaji one evening, took me out with her friends to have a hot cup of chai (tea) at midnight.

That was cold, and I never experienced that before coming to Switzerland.

Pradeep and I dreamt about smashing the quiz in our very own style. This was the second time we paired up as a team, the first one for the Cricinfo Quiz conducted by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan and George Binoy in Bangalore.

The theme was cricket, and we qualified for the finals and felt a bit warm inside the auditorium. The finals didn’t turn out the way we wanted. We missed quite a few sitters, coming third in the end. We left the hall disappointed and off we went to the airport. I messaged him early the next morning about taking part in the second round at Mumbai.

I was running short of cash since I had made all the arrangements for a long Rajasthan trip.

But, something inside me was haunting throughout. It was a case of redemption for me and us as a team in general. It is not often we get a chance to prove to ourselves that we are one among the league of very good Sports Quizzers in India. We knew we had to do it for ourselves if not for Rs 50000 as a cash prize for winners.

A fortnight later, Mumbai it was. On Valentine’s Day, I land in Mumbai. Oh, Ya, Good way to celebrate it, isn’t it? In my case, it was the best possible way to ward off the feelings from my previous relationship.

The next day, while he had some work to finish, I took this opportunity to meet Keith, a good friend from my undergrad days. We chatted after a long time.

Post Lunch, Pradeep and I were back for some Quizzing action. Bang bang, we were right on target from the go. We topped the prelims by miles, and it felt right for us in the finals. We earned it! Delhi episode was just a blur.

The form continued in the finals as we thrashed everyone by a 130-point margin. It was ruthless, felt for a while, as to why I idolise Sachin, Schumacher, and Sampras. It was for kicks for being sheer ruthless, not quite the way that undermines others, though. It was a point to prove for ourselves. To restore our pride, in some way, lost dignity. It was all in our minds.

“How about the All India Motorsports quiz?” – Pradeep
I said – “Let’s do it, mate.”

While I sat on a late-night flight to Bangalore from Mumbai, I wondered, Can we repeat this?

Let’s see, for the moment I was looking forward to my trip to Rajasthan.