Bhale, Happy new year ho gaya

First of all, I am a bit pleased with myself. Finally got down to writing a blog after few months.
After 5 consecutive weekends, I spent this weekend at my place in Mumbai. I rediscovered the joys of laziness and procrastination.

But I am writing about the time spent in Delhi/NCR last December.

First of all, to all those who say I plan too much ... In You Face suckers ... I planned this trip and I made it happen ...

People say I end up writing a structured emotional itinerary of my trips with friends. So, I will try and make this one different. No recall of how the time was spent, no names of places visited. Just a few plain moments which are still vivid in my mind...

I still cant forget the uncertainty that bugged me before my flight for Delhi took off ... The flight had been cancelled in the days leading up to departure date, and things looked bleak. Too much Fog in Delhi. Funny thing, I was not really bothered about what would happen if I don't make it to Delhi ... bigger fear was I had no plans to do anything in Mumbai as a backup ...

So, the takeaways from the trip ...

It was Parag's call at 6:30 am on my B'day that set this all in motion. He told me he was coming in Dec, and then Goel also said he had some 'work'. It was the time of exorbitant Flight fares, and I was skeptical. But things fell into place, and I reached there ...

Now, being in Mumbai for so long, I had forgotten the joys of a warm sun in chilling cold ... I rediscovered that at Galleria over a period of 3-4 hours one fine morning.

No matter what, I cannot forget the formulation of our theory as to why and how really India got Independence ... the true story that was covered up ... How Bapu got up with his Lathee in his hand, and others followed him, and Dandi march happened. And what was the real reason behind Quit India.

Arpit, thanks for the endless cups of Green Tea / Herbal Tea. I loved them. The image is still fresh in my mind ... that steaming mug in hand, looking down from balcony, and seeing nothing but a layer of fog down on earth ... wow.

A standout was the nice peaceful conversation with Parag in icy cold balcony in the dead of the night ... that one to one chat was awesome. Very Boston Legal type Balcony conversation.. There was another one the previous night, with Parag and Pulkit ... it was no mean feat. We got Chojan to think, and thats all we are capable of.

The Wassuppppp commercials, the timely utterance of True, True .... Man, I shouted Wassup as I wrote this, ha ha ha.

That shitty Rihanna song which I hate from the bottom of my heart ... which was played over again and again ...

Gupta and his SLR ... and the conspicuous absence of Chojan One at times. Was nice to bump in to Kapoor saab, meet Arpit, and not so nice to miss Banerjee by a whisker.

It was a good place to start this 'Happy New Year'. I recall one of us saying this, 'shadi ke baad ek sheher me nahi rahenge, warna sab ki biwi ghar se nikaal degi'

This trip was different from the previous ones we had. Everyone was laid back. Very less was spoken but a lot was said. Advice was sought ... advice was given ... situations were judged, with underlying accepted on any course our lives take in future.
This just might turn out to be one of the last such meets ... the mood was different when we met at Pune in Jul 2010.

Hope to meet up soon, this time a bigger group ... things will surely change for all of us in 2011. Just that nobody knows where will the roads lead us.