Another random dream....

I needed to get some work done in a government office. Imagine RTO at Pune. Lots of agents standing right outside luring you with your work getting done within hours with just a "small" amount of money. They stand right in your way making sure you take hours to actually get to the officer.

One such agent kept following me....asking for money. I refused and moved ahead. He was very annoying, he kept following me. I was getting scared as well. I was alone in a jungle of these agents. Nevertheless I managed to get inside. The officer I had to meet us out for lunch. Yes, they take lunch when they want to and how long they want to. There is not much I could do other than wait. I met another agent inside. He was kind of a boss of the agents standing outside.

He was very very sad(not by looks, I mean emotionally. Actually, even his looks were sad...). Apparently his wife had left him just recently. I talked to the man and he promised to get me the forms when the officer gets back. The deal was that I had to pay no extra money for his kind services. He decided to get the papers in a park that evening. By doing so, he had irked his fellow agents. I wasn't aware. I was happy that I could get my work done with less "efforts".

That evening I stood under a tree waiting for the agent with the papers. He came on time and handed over the papers. I signed where I had to. The job was almost done. Could I be happier! Just then he expresses his love for me....I'm shocked. I tell him that I talked to him in a sisterly fashion and that he should not talk like this. He wouldn't understand. He kept on repeating that he was in love with me. I told him, " I don't need favors of such kind from you. Give me back my papers...". I started walking off with the papers.

As I left the scene, a couple of his fellow agents came and started beating the poor agent (who was in love with me :P) (Ok, I know my dreams are inspired by Bollywood movies... :D).

Cut-to

We are at a railway station. I see him there all beaten up...yes the agent who is in LOVE with me. (Well, you have come up to speed now!! I'm not going to repeat this for you henceforth...). Ok, now the person changes to a person I know (a childhood friend!), but he's still the same agent. He confesses in front of my husband that he is in love and tries to hold my hand! We start running to catch the train....again in bollywood style ;). My husband stops me and asks me, "Don't run with me just because you're scared. I think this man is really in love with you. After all he knows you for a long time..." (Remember, I told you, the agent turned into a childhood friend). Now this is my turn to deliver a bollywood style dialogue! "You are my only love dear! I cannot think about anyone else....Let's run". I'm more interested in catching the train that to carry out this conversation :P

So we're on the train. Yes, we made it! Knowing the agent, the fear doesn't stop here. I know he could follow us on the train. We have a strategy. "Let's take a seat where there are only 2 seats left. That way, the agent/friend wouldn't be able to bother us.". We see Balaji and Snehal coming towards us. There...our problem is solved! (The train has 4 seats in a row....) They grab a seat in an empty row. We go closer only to find that one of the remaining seats has been reserved....(there was phone charger on the seat....come on....that does mean that the seat is taken!) Sigh....we had to move on. We meet Abhijit next. They have reserved all the 4 seats. They want to be comfortable with the baby along with them. Still searching for the right seat.....

We see Amber, Pooja, Pooja's sister and little Ishaan in the train as well. They offer us seats. We somehow manage to squeeze in. Ishaan instantly becomes friends with us! Lovely boy. He starts playing with us. Looking at that, Pooja decides to freshen up. While we are playing, I ask Ishaan, "So, how do you like it here?". To my surprise, he replies (like Stewie-family guy), "You know, I like it here. I'm taken care of. These parents of mine, they do everything for me. I can just poop around and they don't mind it! I don't like them over the weekend though....I'm up at 6 and they are sleeping until 8. Just imagine....for 2 full hours, I'm on my own. I cry, make noises, no effect. Other than that they are fine...". He realizes he is missing Pooja by then. He starts to cry... "Maaaaaaaammmaaaaaaaa......Maaaaaammmmaaaaaaaaaaaa". Pooja is right there to handle the situation. Guess what, he cannot talk now! He is just a baby again going "whaaaaaaaaaaaaaainnnnnnnnnnnnnn".

I had more to worry about than a talking baby....

When Sunday is not such a fun day...

It was a lovely Sunday morning. Our community does a noble deed of arranging for brunch every Sunday morning. And when you say free food, people from any caste, creed, culture get excited (even if they are serving you leftovers). As for me, I was happy too....after all, it was a no-cooking day for me! We were the last ones in the long line for brunch. While people in front of the line were trying to fit food in their plates, others were trying their hand at small talk, even if their eyes were on the food and only the food :-)

Just then, cops came near the club house. They stood right behind us. "Everybody, clear the line and go back to your houses, NOW! This is for your safety. A person on a bike is running people over...", they announced. "There goes my brunch and my Sunday.", That was the first thought I had. Then of course, I was scared and like all others, we started running in a mad panic! We climbed up the stairs. Nobody however seemed to go home. All of us stuck together to see who this person was. We were all hiding on a terrace.

There, the action starts....We see a person wearing a helmet on a bike rushing through the gates into the parking lot. He doesn't slow down. He runs over a person (all draped in white), right in front of us. Splash! There is a pool of blood right there. In a typical bollywood style, the wihte drape goes off and only the man's face is seen. And to my horror, it was none other than Salman Khan!!!! (It is Karma playing its role I guess :P). I was horrified to the core. I did not expect to see Salman Khan in my life...and not like this for sure! All of us held hands at this point. Nobody moved.

I then happened to figure out who the biker was....(Yes, it is my dream...I can identify people behind masks, helmets, whatever!) There came a second jolt! The biker was my friend Raj!! I was petrified now. I know Raj for so long. How can he do such a thing?! He is such a jovial person. I have never seen him get angry in my life. How could he just take a bike and use it as a weapon? I didn't even think he could ride a bike in the first place. He looks more like a car-guy. Why is he doing this?!

There he was, another cop to break my chain of thoughts. Had he waited a little longer, I would have solved the mystery of why Raj was doing all this. Anyways, the cop said all of us had to "uninhabitat" the place right now as it was getting dangerous. (Oh yeah, uninhabitat! Don't you get such weird words in your dreams and they mean a whole lot....Well, here the cop just meant that we had to evacuate the premises.). "Uninhabitat people, uninhabitat NOW! Move it...".

"Uninhabitat now...uninhabitat now...." It kept lingering in my mind....Raj was coming on to us next! Will he spare us if I talk to him as a friend?! Is it worth taking a chance at this point....I did not know. We just decided to do as others did. We went back to our house, trying to gather papers that we'd need to flee. I got my hand on the VISA papers. Chinmay was sitting there lazily on the couch. "Thud thud thud thud....", I could hear the sounds outside my house. All the people were running in the hallway. I asked him if the cop said we could take the car or just run. Chinmay seemed to be calm as ever. (Be it to catch a train on time or anything else....Chinmay is never in a hurry) My blood pressure was rising looking at him. He told me very calmly, "Look Reshma, you haven't had anything to eat. Do you want to wait here at home, while I go to Standard and get your favorite Jalebi?". As mouth-watering as it can get, I just couldn't imagine why he would think of jalebi when it was time to run, run for our lives!

Taxes taxes taxes...

As we do all our work at the last minute, taxes were no exception. We had 2 days to go before the deadline. Chinmay decided to go for a tax consultant. We did so and fixed an appointment.

I didn't have to cook that day. Incidently, we were invited for dinner to Tanuja's place (in Pune :P). I had already told kaku to make batate wada and kheer. Yummy!

The tax consultant arrived at 6:30 PM as scheduled. This man had the most annoying looks. I think the tax part made his looks worse. He was a short spectaled man with a moustache. His hair was very neatly combed. Looked as if he used at least 1/2 a bottle of parachute hair oil each day! He was seated in a chair opposite to Chinmay's. To make Chinmay understand every element of the tax filing, he had to jump out of his chair and explain it to him. Chinmay did not mind his jumping every now and then. Overall, he looked somewhat like SRK in "Rab ne Bana di JoDi". Annoying, very annoying.

The conversation went on and our filing process seemed to progress. I kept out of the conversation. I was starting to get hungry. Everytime he jumped out of the chair, I thought that was his last jump for the day. I was all along thinking of the wada and kheer.

It was 8:00 PM and kaku called up to check what time we were coming. She mentioned that Tanuja was also coming over for dinner. This can happen only in dreams... You go from LA to Pune for dinner and your friends also come to meet you there from other parts of the world!

I told Kaku that we would be coming any minute as the tax filing is about to be done. By now I was hungry. There was a long pause. Chinmay and the consultant were very tired. That's it, I thought. The consultant was about to leave. But alas, the wada and kheer had to wait.

The consultant jumped again. This time he jumped to make it clear that he was tired with all of Chinmay's tax related questions and was hungry. I know he can get tired with all those questions. I was. But, hungry? Now do I have to cook for him? He offered to go to J. C. Penney, eat something and get back to work. This part confused me like hell. First of all, JC Penney, for food? I knew even in my dream that JCPenney is not a place where I would go to have food. And after 3 hours, you little rat, you are not done yet? Why did we hire him if he is taking so long?!

He had interrupted my beautiful thoughts about the fun at the dinner party. I was to meet Tanuja after so many years! What if she would have already come and what if she has to leave early? Afterall, it's a long flight for her back home. I tried to ignore his offer. Now I was really really hangry. That's a new word for hungry and angry. Was almost on the verge of pulling my hair. His voice, his jumping was getting on my nerves. This annoying little tax consultant wouldn't budge.

I woke up in the morning with a bad headache. Realized that we still have 2 days to do the taxes...

Can't think of any title for this one...

We were standing in the patio of my house in harihar. The patio instead of overlooking the confluence of Tunga and Bhadra, had a country house in view. I told Abhay, there used to be rivers flowing here when I was a kid.

It was a sunday afternoon, we had nothing better to do than to chit-chat. Abhay was this great actor (Like Joey :P) and he was talking about his journey in the field. He was boasting about how confident he is in any role and how his stage presence has helped him throughout. One such incidence he narrated...."When I was in school, we had annual functions for kids to show off their talents..." Every school has such an event, what's so great about his, I thought to myself. "The peons in the school would dress up the kids for the show". Now this is something different We had our teachers put on pink rouge on our cheeks which could be seen from the last row of the auditorium. "On one such occassion, the peons told me that the dress came off when the kid went on stage and warned me not to wear it." That could be very unpleasant! "I wasn't scared at all....I told them I'm confident nothing like that will happen to me. In spite of all the warnings, I went on stage with that costume on..." I'm glad I don't remember what happened next. He told me other stories about his adventures in the acting world....and the conversation went on and on...

cut-to

I enter my house after that long conversation. The moment I enter the house, it is Bipin Mama's new house. There were curtains in the house right from the ceiling to the floor. They were not covering the windows! I don't know what they were hiding behind them. There I saw a bunch of women from family sitting and chatting....like in Chikodi. There was toddler there. It was a girl. This girl was beautiful, she had nice silky hair. Only people who have seen me know what "silky hair" mean to me. Baby had an ear-to-ear smile when you looked at her. No escape from that smile! After some time it was established that it was Mukta's daughter. She was the sweetest baby I've ever seen! But Mukta's daughter and such soft silky hair?! I know Mukta has long and healthy hair but so silky? We were at Sharada's house at stanford. Shearada was here to visit. Her old room was so different now. Her roommate had changed it completely. There were two beds in the room and a nice lamp by the beds. Every single soul in the room was playing with the baby and you couldn't have more!

cut-to

I'm at a friend's wedding function. Sandeep, Radhika and Atya are with me. The baby in the last scene is still with me. Only difference being, she's Sandeep and Radhika's daughter now :P Now I know where the silky hair come from ;)

Superstar of the month

There was a show in the company for employees to demonstrate their ideas. There were so many entries that the organizers had a hard time. Afterall, the winner was to be called the "Superstar" for the rest of the month!

There were preparations throughout the company. Every team was putting their heads together to come up with something brilliant and interesting. Among others, our very own Tanuja had participated. Her team worked very hard for it. The hard work paid off. The winner was none other than Tanuja and her team!

On the day of the presentation, she dressed up like never before. Everybody is happy with her talk. What an excellent idea this is! But she forgets one thing. She doesn't introduce her team to the audience. The best part is, the teammates are not mad at her. I wish everyone had such a team!

After a couple of days, the news is in the papers. That's when Tanuja realizes that none of her teammates are mentioned in the article! She wants people to know that she is leading a team of 10 people. How could they miss that?! She calls for a press conference. They set up a very jazzy stage, one you'll see in award functions like Filmfare. Tanuja is very clear on what she wants. She makes sure that no one misses the teammates this time. They have to be seen. There is a huge screen in the background where names of the team mates are flashing with varied fonts and styles. I bet no one could have missed that!

And there she was...our "Superstar" of the month!

Mere bachpan ka saathi

Ranbir and I are childhood friends. We are always together. Rishi Kapoor, the father just loves me as his friend and Neetu Singh doesn't, for obvious reasons. I'm poorer than them. She doesn't like it that Ranbir is so close to me. She's always trying to see to it that I don't meet him often and tries to keep me away from him.

Anyways, that's not the point. Ranbir is leaving for US today. And its only after so many years of togetherness that I realize that I'm in love with him. Love always strikes you at the wrong time! I can feel the pain in my heart. I know that I can't stop him from going, but I want him to say that he also loves me, before he leaves. I know he does. But what a beauty it will be when it comes from him...My heart is crying out..."I'll wait for you sweetheart!"

I'm there at his place to bid him goodbye. I don't feel good seeing him go. We wont be having as much fun together from now on. It is an awkward feeling. I'm not able to talk to my childhood friend. Why am I being punished? I so want to be with him and I cant even utter a word?!

Ranbir, as I know him is a not-so-emotional person. He assumes that I'm going with him to the airport. After all, I'm his best friend. He can take me for granted. I tell him I can't make it. I thought he would be shocked. But it didn't seem to hurt him at all. Neetu Singh is very happy that I wont be going. But Rishi Kapoor insists that I should go. He always thinks I am a part of the family. Ranbir is not saying anything. I hate him for that! He is just so casual about the whole thing. My heart is torn apart. I know he wants me to go but he wont say it... Anyways, I tell Rishi Kapoor that I can't go as I have to be with Radha. She expecting a 2nd child. And I think I should be with her. He doesn't say anything after that. I'm still waiting to hear from Ranbir....Is he feeling the same way as I do? Is he feeling bad that he's leaving me and going to a faraway land? Finally, some long awaited words from him..."So, you are not coming along?" Is he asking me to go? Does he want me to go with him? OMG....if only it was so simple! I gather a lot of courage and tell him - "No, I HAVE to be with Radha". And I leave at once.

I am so heartbroken and sobbing that I can't go home. I decide to go to the tapri near NM class to have a sandwich. The grilled one with shredded cheese on top of it....wow...mouth-watering....

Guess what.....my misery doesn't end there. I cross paths with Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh and Ranbir again! They come to the Mrityunjayeshwar Mandir before leaving for Mumbai. Rishi Kapoor tells me "You must come with us to the airport. I called up Radha and all of them are coming to the airport too! So we'll all go together." I can't refuse further...

Ranbir again assumes that I sit in his car. So I do; this is my last chance anyways.....Neetu Singh is again mad at me that I sit next to him in the car....in the backseat. And Rishi Kapoor is really liking the fact that I join them. He really wants me to be Ranbir's wife. I can see that in his eyes... :)


On our way to the airport, Ranbir talks to me a few times. I can feel it in his voice. He doesn't want to leave. I don't want to make him cry as I am not too happy myself. After a few lame attempts to make conversations we finally reach the airport. We get-off from two sides of the car. We don't even want to look into each others eyes now.

Ranbir is this absent-minded guy. In spite of packing for him and keeping his papers in a file for him to carry, he has messed them up! He is fiddling with the file at the airport. He somehow manages to catch the flight in time....He has no time for me....not even to say goodbye...

I'm waiting....still waiting....

He knows who I really am...

While I was on my vacation, I got a temporary cell phone. I got a call asking for Sam (my cousin in high-school). I told the kid on the line that Sam's phone was with me and he could contact him on his home phone. He did not seem to like the idea of calling him on the home phone. He asked again if he could talk to Sam. I found something fishy. So I asked him his name. He said - Oomar Abdullah (note the double 'o' in Oomar :P). I told him yet again that Sam can be contacted on the home phone and if there was something urgent I could pass on the message to him.

Cut-to

Village in Maharashtra. Farmers are committing suicide. Completely helpless. All the produce from the farms has to be given to the zamindaar. The zamindaar's family is taking away almost everything from the farmers. They are squeezed for the last drop of their blood. I plan a scheme with the farmers and tell them how they should revolt. They should not give all their produce to the zamindaar. Instead they should load it in a truck and take it to the cities. I have a good network, so I could help them with the distribution in cities. But the zamindaar is very strong. They wont be able to hide the produce in the truck. There was something that struck me. It is election time! And the home minister is arriving in the village. The zamindaar would be busy preparing for the visit. I tell them that we can use this as an opportunity.So as per the plan, on the day of the visit, we start loading the truck. The zamindaar and his folks are busy at the function. The truck is loaded and we are about to leave. Just then someone calls me - "Reshma...". I see that a villager is calling out. He tells me that the home minister wants to see me. I'm perplexed. Why would the home minister want to see me? He doesn't know me. I don't even belong to the village. The worst part is that, the truck wont leave without me as the poor farmers have no idea what to do with it in the city. I have to be with them. However, I will have to see the home minister.

I go to the function. Now this home minister, is a very smart man. He looks very well educated in his white starched kurta and his speech in eloquent Hindi is making the villagers applaud every 5 minutes. I wondered if the villagers got any bit of what he said. They were probably just clapping on the cue they got from zamindaar.

After the speech, the home minister meets a chosen few. As he talks to us about his plans if he wins the elections, I realize that we have been split into 3 different groups by the home minister. The first group of people is the village intelligence service. The 2nd group, which I'm a part of, is a group of spies. Yes, I'm a spy from an Is---ic country. It felt as if we are playing mafia. All the mafias know each other but the poor villagers are clueless. The Home Minister....He was the coordinator! HE KNEW EXACTLY WHO WE ARE. He came there to tell us that, I reckon. Sitting in the group, I start thinking how it all began....

Flashback -
Once when I was a kid, I remember my sister came back from school, crying. She was teased by some guy on her way back home. I was furious.

The alarm went off....it was 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning....Weekend began!!!