Blue-Moon June

I return yet again to share with you a glorious experience I had last night.
But before I come to that, I shuttle back to the evening of June the 7th. That evening, I boarded a Jet Airways flight from Bangalore with my sister (who, on a side-note, managed to talk the ground-staff into allowing us 24 kgs of excess baggage at no charge) bound for home, which awaited us in New Delhi.
The flight, much to my disappointment, fell strongly short of my expectations. A ridiculous amount of turbulence (that I really can't blame them for) and a most unsatisfying dinner (that I certainly can) didn't quite treat us with the Jet experience. I suppose, in a convoluted way, we were reimbursing them for our excess baggage, though unfortunately at the cost of all the other passengers as well. Their bad.
And then, two hours and a half onwards, we stepped off the aircraft.

As we did so (the stepping off) I was greeted by a blast of warm air. Warm? It was excruciatingly HOT! I turned around to step back on to the air-craft and request the captain to promptly return to a destination where my fundamental-right-to-freedom-of-life-free-of-ridiculously-horrid-climate was not violated, but the moving crowd pushed me down the aero-stairs. I was choice-less.

During the three days that followed, I made myself home before either the air-conditioner blast or vertically under the fan, snapping at any individual that so much as dared to ask me to move so much an inch. When asked to perform any chores, I'd adopt an expression of utter shock and retaliate with my standard response of "In this HEAT!?!"
I'd become a cosseted one, over-indulged by my college.

But then on my fourth day here, magic occurred! It wasn't so hot any more! Scanty clouds camouflaged the grey smoke-ladened sky and I resolved that iron could not be smelted in open-air any longer. I thanked the weather gods and normal life began to return.
On the 8th day, another surprise was in store. It began to RAIN! And ever since, I would be woken every morning by the pitter-patter or raindrops on the balcony and the miniature asbestos roof.
Delhi just became a tad more inviting.

Last night undoubtedly took the cake. It happened such that we were returning from the international airport where my aunt had landed at 2 am from HongKong. Having received her and dropped her off at her place, we made our way homewards. As it so happened, my father developed a certain desire to sink his teeth into Club Sandwich. As it happens, not many eateries in the city are equipped to entertain such cravings at 4 am in the morning. Thus, we headed for the nearest 24-hour-coffee-shop-equipped-hotel, taking a detour through the ridge.
As we sped down an empty road, the windows rolled down, I popped out a hand, making waves in the rushing air. I was startled by a frosty nip. That, my father said, was one of the many gifts of the forests that fenced us, and the temperature outside wouldn't be in excess of 25.
Delhi is indeed a city like no other, with flora that few other metropolitans could boast of. As we sped down the stretch on that evening of June, it gave us an experience that was enchantingly.... December.

On New Year's and Astrology

Hello again! A happy new year to you all.

Once again, another year has ended and a mostly horrid one for me. The last few months, though, were certainly delightful and I hope that trend continues…. till my death.

However horrible, I can’t say the events of the year were unexpected.

I was reminded by my New Year’s date, if I may call her so, an old-time friend, 3 years to be specific (the friendship being 3 years old and not the person), of the events of last New Year’s eve.

Last year, I sat at home, pretending to study, awaiting my dreaded pre-board examinations with a preparation only marginally better than the neighbourhood dog’s.

A mind as distracted as mine would wander so, and I finally gave up the pretence, for after all, I was alone at home and when better to not have to pretend than in solitude.

And so, out of the blue, with a future as uncertain as new-born baby, I decided to pick cards, hoping to gain an insight into my future. As per the outcome, my worst fears were corroborated as a turbulent first half was on the cards, right up to that month of the year when the Central Board of Secondary Education updates its website, to some people’s joy, some others’ sorrow and, of course, to the indifference of a few. Further, I could expect a sea of changes in my life.

The accuracy of that reading, performed no more than half an hour after the commencement of 2006 till today renders me speechless. And it doesn’t end there.

Just then, I happened to receive a phone-call from my 3-year-old friend (then 2-year-old) who was subsequently acquainted with my rather peculiar hobby and fascinated by it too.

As I, upon request, picked cards for her, she was more than pleased with her gratifying forecast, which too, was precise in every way.

So did I repeat the exercise on the 31^st day of last month or the first of this? I’m afraid not, for the cards lie in an almirah parked in another part of the country altogether. Thus, I’m afraid I couldn’t initiate a small, funny tradition of my own.

I did, however, have pasta for my last meal of 2006 and first of 2007, and I’m hoping that sets the tone for my palatal preferences for the coming year(s).

On the astrological front, the paucity of my own cards was compensated by the reading published in the morning’s newspaper. Though I never believe in horoscopes printed in newspapers (for indeed how can one reading fall true for millions of people) if there has to be just one person for whom it may be true, there’s a ruddy good chance that as far as MPU’s reading for 2007 is concerned, I’m he. As my horoscope-obsessed mother read out my forecast for the year, I somehow knew it would come true. But will it? I suppose time will tell.