21 days is how long I have waited to write this ! Believe me when you want something so desperately, every second seems like a year.
Day 1 - 21st Dec
Salaam Bollywood:
A perennial problem with me, I understand him only after days and hours of what he communicates to me in crystal clear English : I wanna back out of this entire picnic thing and spend quality time with both of them. But he just "hates" to see me comfortable (read that line again Papa Bear). However, he thinks he is a man of his word and does not like to call it quits just anyways (and wont let me either). I have no other choice - gotta join John on the road trip.
My train to Mumbai is delayed by over 3 hours. The bus to the picnic resort leaves at 4:00 pm sharp. There's no way in hell I can make it to L&T Mahape before 5:00 pm.
I arrive @ Bandra at 2:30 PM. Move swiftly to Vile Parle station by 2:50 PM. Standing in the queue for the tickets, I am debating whether Taxi would be an easier option compared to switching trains. The next man in the queue confirms my stupid and unnecessary worry by offering to help me reach Vashi in around 1.5 hours (by train of course).
Am in the local train going to Wadala and thanks to John - despite spending over 200 bucks in roaming charges, I am not even certain if the bus will wait. Finally, as I change trains for Vashi, I get 'Road Roller' Rani(not my fault, she prefers it this way. Ok, I will try not to be rude, will use the term 'Roadie' for the reminder of this post) to arrange for one bus to wait. Heres the bollywood climax scene you are welcome to imagine - Last minute plans' changed, I am goin' to Jui Nagar station instead of Vashi. Jui Nagar station runs parallel to the roadway that eventually joins the expressway to Pune. I make it to the station at 4:18 PM and am already running towards the exit to cross the road by 4:25 PM. Just when I make it to the other side of the crossing, a white bus, with Roadie hanging outta the main door, halts in front of moa. I made it !!! (After all I had to. How could I ever let down the rich heritage of Bollywood movie endings)
Curse and joy:
"Am in the bus" and am cursing John all the way till we reached the resort for the next hour for having actually boarded the bus without me in it.
In retrospect, there could not be a better sight than to see both "mummiiee" and "papa" bear after a year of separation. Roadie got busy with the songs.
Camp @ Durksheth Resort:
Just what the two of us hated began as soon as we reached the picnic spot - the weird and crappy ways of IT managers attempting to mobilise ppl. Since it aint very interesting lets skip it and get transported to the part where everyone was off on a treasure hunt. John and I, while physically seeming to search for the clues to the treasure, were engaged in our own meta physical conversation. The hunt seemed to go on forever, but it was fun to be walking through a jungle of sorts in the dark, flashing your torches looking for the way out (reminiscent of what happens in IT, if you can figure that out). Though the hunt was exhausting, I could walk forever (in mind) and here was Papa Bear, who was sweating as if he'd just walked outta the shower. After about an hour or so, just when we were about to reach the base, we caught glimpse of this man reading under the lamp. I have no words to describe the awe I felt at that moment. Thanks to John's camera, the photographer me, was able to capture this sight:
Back at the base, food and liquor started flowing and John and I laughed our stomachs out literally, watching the funny little acts ppl put after dissolving their minds in the glasses they held. While some genuine and others fake, ppl were all praises for the exceptional work we had done on our previous project over the past year. It was kinda difficult reading the minds of these bunch of wanna Be's as I saw them using the project manager lingo in wholesale - 'u did a great job', 'we really appreciate you', 'u deserve it'... and the likes of it. A sense of pity remained in me as I saw them perform their act.
It was certain that we weren't in for sleeping that night; after couple hours of loose talk, John, I , The 'Analyst' Mummiiee and couple of their friends decided to explore the sight around the resort. So we walked. We climbed down the steps carved out of rock and mud, walking deep into the darkness and slowly losing the sense of light. But once we had walked deep enough there was light - an insignificant but cool light - from the moon.
As we crossed the gates that formed the boundary of the resort property, we were entering uncharted territories - a vast expanse of land lay in front of us and our only companions were the trees rendered lifeless by the night, coupled with a mystical air around them; the buzzing of the infinite creatures in the woods and the occasional croaking of frogs. After having walked quite a distance, when we looked up at the sky we were speechless. The clouds seemed to form a progression transforming into a wave which was about to hit us; and from behind it the Moon shone slyly as if watching us closely.
There a tiny lake surrounding the resort and John and I were bent upon the idea of crossing the lake to step over the other side. While the rest decided to call it quits after a bit, we persisted. We walked, gauging the right directions, retracking our steps sometimes, measuring our steps as we neared the section of the lake which was the narrowest. And we did make it... just one step on the other side; we stood there celebrating the accomplishment. It was not long before we decided to turn back; getting conscious of whatever dangers lurked in the dark (and recalling one of the tenets of one of our clients - 'If it ain't safe, it ain't worth doing' or something like that).
The sad part, as I would crib, was that I could not use my camera then and John would step in with a quip - 'You have a camera; use it' (He meant my mind with my eyes taking the place of the lens). In retrospect, I don't regret it so much. Why? I searched the internet long to find pictures of the thick woods, the night sky, the moon and the clouds and but none were quite the picture I still see in my 'camera' when I close the shutters. If the following picture are to be treated as anything close to the real ones then my dear reader, you are invited to feed them your imagination engine.
One exploration done, we walked back to rest for a while. At this point, the images in my head are a bit scrambled so my narration could be flawed in the sequencing but not by content. I think we had dinner and then grouped to chat for a bit in a small circle of sorts. It was when Roadie joined as that I thought it best to share the souvenirs from my trip this past year. Of all the wordily things I think the group loved the chocolates the most. Atleast I know John did.
After a while we decided to take a shot at exploration part 2. We simply walked down the route we arrived at the resort, walking to the main road and then back. It was here that I found a few moments to talk to Roadie. It wasn't as if we spoke of anything extra-ordinary but then those very 'few moments' were special. Things had changed in the past year so as they say - sometime its best to keep certain emotions unexpressed. I came to understand Roadie a bit more. At that moment, nothing mattered to me more than the moment itself. I was glad beyond words.
The next best thing was the game of Dumb-Charades we played. Starting off with a few simple movies, I cannot recall how the players took on to think of the "tough" movies and even better - act them out. Mummiiee, as usual, was splendid - knocked each one out and conspired the most cruel movie names. I was rolling with joy when I managed to give hiccups to John for one movie.. what was the name?? Mann... here goes off my memory switch... hmmm yeah - "Shubhkamna" (meaning - Best Wishes);o). The part I cannot forget is the look in his gleaming eyes, which shone with wonder and contempt together. Boy we had fun.
Clock ticked away the time and it was around 5 in the morning when we decided to return to the marshy land around the lake to catch the first rays of the sun. Little did we expect the total lack of light down there. It was as if a black hole existed somewhere there and engulfed all light. The darkness combined with the silence was a killer. We had barely walked a few steps beyond the gate when our imaginations got the better of us. For a single moment we all felt there was some movement around the bushes but could not describe what 'it' was. John was quick to observe that Mummiiee, for once, was capable of fear. Just when the surroundings felt familiar and the sense of light returned, I turned my head to face the sky. _________________ I cannot fill that blank simply because my vocabulary fails me from describing the picture of the sky dazzling with a million stars. It was a moment. You could feel the isolation amongst a crowd and still be content with the mere existence of the stars up there; easily struck by the realization of being an insignificance bit in this limitless universe. Did I just describe it?? ;o) This should help you picture:
We walked back a bit and then waited for dawn to break the silence; to see the first rays that will add color to the picture. We must have waited for about half hour or so when it seemed that the sky had started to switch colors to a heavy shade of bluish gray; beginning to outline the huge mountains surrounding the lake and the vast stretches of mist. The trees that lay ahead of us, painted in fine black print against the serene background, stood there to show each of its branches distinctly.
As we continued gazing at the horizon, some painter kept playing with the shades up there in the skies. Light, it seemed would fill this place any moment, but not quite, it would do it bit by bit. And time seemed to couple to these bits cos it moved ever so slowly. And just when you would think that it was slow, the shades would have moved on to amaze you just again.
The rise of an eagle up there in the sky which reminded John of his mom. I learned more about John and the sweet emotional intimacy he shared with his mom. It was plain joy to hear him out, which is seldom. We heard the first croaks of a frog, the swift yet graceful flight of a dove, the chirpping of the sparrows who were now flocking the trees and then taking off in the skies. I wished to stop there, not move, not even to return back, just stay there as long as I could and... and paint (not my forte, but I 'wished'). I discovered John too liked to create pencil sketches.
The vast expanse up there had turned to shades of peaches with the orange trying to fight the red and the yellow to come out alive. We tried to 'estimate' the exact spot from where the sun would rise. But there was time, so we walked a bit to walk around the heaven, which the place was for that moment. After a bit we decided to return cos John had certain compulsions which I better not want to describe here. While John attended to his errands, I kept a close watch for the sun which was hiding behind the rocks. For a moment I looked at the people waking up and exclaiming - 'its morning already!!??', I smiled. When I turned, my joy knew no bounds - the sun did rise from the exact spot I had marked. Hurray !! Sometimes, you find it hard to believe when things happen as you expect them to happen, cos most of the time life seems to work the other way around. As I stood there, recollecting the exclamation - "its morning already!!??' it occurred to me that yesterday had passed.
Players
John, PapaBear : Sajal
Mummiee : Supriya
'Road Roller' Rani : Salonee
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