Thursday, June 28, 2012

Dream on, Sam

I woke up early yesterday, for a change. As we were having our morning cuppa, I was telling my mother about the dream I'd just woken up from.

For some strange reason, in my dream, we were all in tents. The 'we' here includes an assortment of people - my mother and brother were there, plus some of my friends, an old friend of my brother's (who once came running all the way to our house to prevent the ice-cream he'd bought for my brother's b'day from melting), some neighbours. I don't remember the rest of the dream. I remember that it had something to do with our being in tents, as I found the image in my mind's eye extremely funny.

My mother then told me she'd had a dream too, where Protugal and Spain were playing a match. (Some background info here : my brother had chosen Portugal as his team to win the Euros, while I've been a Furia Roja supporter for quite some years now. And things were heating up with the semi-finals between the two teams. ) She said that after a while, the game became very friendly, and suddenly there were two balls on the ground, so each team played with one and kept scoring, playing away to their hearts' content.


I still do not know if she actually had the dream, or was trying to pull my leg. I often end up swallowing tales whole, and then realizing that I've been had yet again...

 

***


One morning last week I woke up from an unfinished dream.

And so, I'd just drifted off to sleep, having just re-read The Fountainhead. I'd checked the TV, but as it was the time between the two Euro matches, and as I couldn't even get the score of the first, I decided to go to bed.

And, suddenly, there I was walking. To my bus-stop, around campus. And suddenly there was this guy following me. It was really funny, and then I suddenly decided it was time for lunch and started on my way to the canteen.

There it was, the canteen from Madras university, in the middle of the HCU campus, with the steps of the bakery near NIAS leading up to it :) Anyway, when I reached there, I just sat down at a table. And then the guy came, discussing something with two girls from his class, and I joined them!!! We all went to sit on the stairs, and I finally took my box out of my bag.

Alas, I woke up just when I'd started eating...

***

The other day, when Germany was playing Greece, I chatted with NV after a long time. As I was unable to watch the match (and had to settle for reading live commentary instead), NV was giving me frequent updates as we chatted of various things - we had quite a few things to catch up on...

Anyway, she said something very funny, it brought back memories of the times I used to ask her for advice, and she'd give me more food for thought.

And so, I've been running that conversation over and over in my mind, with the effect that earlier this week, I had a dream featuring me and he-who-must-not-be-named :D

It struck me as an extremely funny one, as far as dreams come, but NV (who's now studying psychology) might do some analysis and end up finding some deeper meaning to it. The subconscious desire stuff, you know?


(I, for one, am glad that there is no way this dream would even come true - it's way too absurd. And awkward as hell. I'm sure he-who-must-not-be-named will feel the same, if he ever came to know :) )


***


Anyway, what with being up most of last night watching the match, by the time I went to bed, I just dropped off into a sound sleep.


Maybe I should take a siesta now, just to make up for it, and maybe to see if the day brings any interesting dreams ...




(P.S. : The title is half-'borrowed' from a song called 'Dream on, Hayley'...)

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

This is what you get when you ask me to write when I don't have anything to write about

SM just came to me and asked me why I haven't written anything today. I'd been listening to "Comfortably numb" and it took me a moment to register that someone was talking to me and had asked me something.

Well, if you ask me, I think there are a couple of things that you have to check before you expect me to write something. For starters, you should check whether I'm actually awake, and aware of the fact. I woke up at around 6:15 A.M. this morning, and it suddenly occurred to me to wonder if I'm awake or asleep.


The other thing you need to check is whether I've eaten :) Talk to my friend L, and she'll tell you what happens when you try talking to me before I've eaten - I've bitten her head so much that nowadays when she calls, the first thing she asks is whether I've eaten.

Anyway, I think I'm somewhat awake, plus I've had my breakfast. So maybe you could expect me to write something. Right? NO! I'm not a machine ("You shook me all night long" suddenly starts playing in my head). And I need something to write about, and maybe some time to string my thoughts together.

But still, since SM asked me ever so politely, the least I can do is jot down something.

So, let me tell you about yesterday. It was a lovely morning - the sun shining, glorious weather and all that. I'd slept in a bit of frustration - my team hadn't scored by the 80th minute, and Italy had already scored before half-time. What with the biscotto reports I'd been reading, the Sportskeeda articles and comics, and watching my team's play, I'd had enough. And so, in the morning I asked my dad to check the news, and when he confirmed that my team had gotten through, the day seemed off to a good start.

Having missed my university bus due to certain circumstances, I got into another bus and got a window seat. I happily started listening to music, and brought out my paper to do the cryptic crossword (which I've started doing of late). There was a lovely breeze, and all was well with the world.

As I like being like this :


Or maybe, I look like this :



But no matter which one I resemble more, at the end of the ride, I resemble this :



But I digress. So what?

Anyway, I was telling you about yesterday.

So, as I sat in the bus, I got an SMS from PM. It made me smile. I replied, and we ended up having a quite longish conversation until I reached my lab. The conversation continued after a break, and ended only at night :)

And it looked like I had competition - I thought I was the only one saying M&B-type lines, and suddenly, there was PM using the phrase "running from myself". I have to admit I was non-plussed for a moment, and I resented the competition. But, thankfully, it proved to be a one-off thing and I retain my title of being the entertainer-supreme :P

Sometime last evening, we decided to go somewhere, in order not to waste any good weather that came our way. But, due to certain glitches (in the course of which SM had to make some unnecessary trips owing to her designated position as the Transporter as she was the only one amongst us who possessed a bike - I've lent my cycle to a friend, NW's had a flat tire, and A had already ridden away on his, and I bugged SM totally by harping on the fact that I wanted to go home early, and was not keen on getting drenched in case of a sudden downpour), the plan changed slightly - I came home, and the others went exploring.

I called A to tell him I was on my way home, and the others were on their way (SM had left her mobile in her bag, and NW was busy getting her cycle fixed, so I thought I'd inform A). And he told me it was ok, I could come another time :)

Anyway, I called NW when I was nearing my house, and she told me they'd just come back to the lab due to some rain. I called A as well, and he told me he was home, and once again reminded me that we could all go again another time :)

On reaching home, I got to enjoy some good hot coffee, and watched Astro Boy :) After a spot of studying (accompanied by screaming songs at the top of my voice), I just lay down and pulled up my warm blanket. The moment I closed my eyes, my mother's phone rang.

In the end, I had to go to my granny's place, and the brief walk there had revived me a bit. I thought of watching the matches, and settled down in front of the TV after some anti-ant-attack action, but twenty minutes into the France-Sweden game, I felt a familiar lack of action. Plus my eyelids were growing heavier by the moment, and so, collecting my senses, I got up to turn the TV off before going back to sleep.

And this morning, I finally woke up early, like I was saying. And I finally managed to be on time for my bus. But alas, the bus was late...

Such is life...

(Pictures : Courtesy Google)

Monday, June 18, 2012

The entertainer in me?

Oh, damn!

My friend PM and I were having a text conversation, and in the middle of it, I actually used the phrase "risking our friendship". The moment I'd sent it, I wished that the earth would open up and swallow me (not really, but still...).

Thankfully for me, PM is a good sport, and he let it go. I told him I was sorry for having used a line worthy of a really bad novel, but he laughingly assured me that it was more a bestseller-type line :)

I seem to be an entertainer. Especially when I don't want to be one!

Another random update :

This morning, I came across this chameleon in our department. It was jumping about, trying to scale a glass window. I wanted to help it, but wasn't sure how to go about it.

I was about to call A to ask him about it, then thought maybe I shouldn't be disturbing him yet again on a Monday morning - I'd been calling him too often, what with the Euros happening, and with G away, he was the nearest person I know to actually have some interest in the matches.

Anyway, on the way to the library, I had chai with NR, and we discussed the chameleon, among under things. He told me it'd been there since yesterday. I asked him if we should call A and ask him to do something about it, but NR said that A was in a higher grade - he dealt with snakes, and not these other reptiles :)

When I came back from the library, A was sitting on the stairs, working away. I asked him if he could help the chameleon-in-distress, and he said, "Sure", and came down. He then caught it (it had its mouth open and was ready to bite), and I followed him to the terrace where he carefully put it on a tree.

And so, another new week gets on its way...

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Present, sir!

I'm being asked why I haven't been blogging of late. (actually, only SM asked me) I've been busy getting my brother married. :) And gorging on the special wedding food. And also ganging up with my cousins to tease my brother.

I did have a few good ideas for posting on my blog, but they'd disappeared by the time I actually sat down to write them down. And so, this post is just to say I'm still alive. And I should hopefully be back to writing soon.

And as the good ideas seem to have gone, my mind is blank at the moment. Well, almost. There's a voice singing "Stop crying your heart out" in my head, but it seems stuck at the "Hold on" which keeps repeating over and over endlessly. And something from the book I was reading is also floating in my mind.

Anyway, I've to leave now. I have a team to support, you know. And I have to wake up by midnight when they start playing. So, adios, folks...




Sunday, June 3, 2012

Boy


A smile plays on my lips. I've just been talking to A, and something he said had me laughing at the funny situation he was in.

Scenes from memory come back to me. A voice calling “Boy”; a vision of A drumming away happily, snatches of a conversation with him one fine summer night, the feel of a snake A had found in our building, a vision of A looking down on us from a tree, A sitting atop a rock...

How we came this far still amazes me. It was at a seminar that I first saw A, and he soon became a frequent visitor to our department. In the initial days, I'd always put him in what my friend calls the “Jango-mango” category, and what with my usual way of taking time to get to know a person, it was many months before I said something beyond “Hi” to him.

With time, we did become friends, but I don't think I really had a proper conversation with him until the day we'd all gone out for lunch, and I finally discovered that he was a drummer. (In fact, he'd been the drummer I'd seen last year, but I hadn't recognized him as he'd changed his hairstyle!) If you ask me, I'd say I was glad to have at last found a drummer among the people I come into regular contact with, and I did end up asking him for advice on drum kits. (I can't say whether he shared my pleasure, though :) )

I still remember the way he suddenly started laughing when I showed him a video to show him what footdrums were. I can still picture him sitting with a book, sitting absorbed in his work and oblivious to the world around him. I recall how fresh and in high spirits he would be even at 1:30 A.M., and even on the afternoons when I'd be struggling to keep my eyes open, he'd be just bursting with energy. I once asked A the secret behind his liveliness, and A just smiled. Another friend told me that it was because A was a couple of years younger to us. :)

Now A is busy with his band, as they'll soon be going their separate ways. He will soon be back for an year more. I don't know if I'll get to attend any more of his band's shows, whether we'll have discussions over tea at 1:30 in the morning, whether I'll see my friend calling out “Boy” to him, or whether we'll just drift away. But even if it is farewell tomorrow, I'm glad that A is one of the people I'm come across in this journey called life.

P.S. : Thanks to Marie Corelli & SM for the title. 
This is an ancient draft, and it just got okayed, so thought I'd post this first, bad as it is. Will be posting more soon. Until then...