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!!!