Close encounters with the dreaded coughlings

As the festival season begins to settle in, as the cold and nostalgic breeze stirs my memory into a feeling of longing, i suddenly WAKE UP, sniffling and coughing, half-cursing the gloomy weather as my feet slowly turn lifeless and cold.

For priviledged citizens like me who get to ride the famed Delhi public transport system everyday, no amount of Vitamic C will help us avoid being overwhelmed by nano-microscopic organisms who humiliate us by giving us runny noses, blocked noses and purring chests at least once during this joyous season of love and cold-wave deaths.

All my hygenic rituals and warm clothing could not save me from everyone's scourge, although, i proudly must admit that i held out for quite some time. But alas, when every person next to you on the street and on the bus coughs and sneezes in your face relentlessly for a couple of months, your immune system eventually raises its arms and say- you got me, pardner.
An encounter with the cough-lings always lead you to the cougher side.

And with my luck, it was only logical that I would fall additionally ill through food poisining. An exciting assignment ended on a sour note when the day i returned, my stomach started giving me sleepless nights for almost a week, with the obvious result felt most acutely in the bathroom. I'm never going to munch on butter-and tomato sandwitches on trips again. Ever!

I'm recovering, thank God, and i'm all set to take my plane ride HOME FOR CHRISTMAS at the end of the week. The thoughts, the memories, the smell of bonfires, of glowing embers of charcoal and wood, of chilly but starry nights, and yes, a full moon without the obstruction of ugly tall concrete buildings.

I'm set, i'm set i'm set. All my bags are packed i'm ready to go......and i'm leaving on a jetplane (provided it's not cancelled due to the wretched delhi fog).

In case I don't post anymore before I leave for the holidays, Merry Christmas to everyone. ----by Hobbs (taken not from the philosopher but from my favourite cartoon character Calvin and Hobbs). yea

Finally, something to write about.



It finally happened. The inevitable. Yes, Michael Jackson has decided to return to his home planet of Xabu in the Andromeda galaxy. Ok ok, i was just kidding. Although, i firmly believe he will... about 30 years from now, when global warming or his array of creditors hound him out of Earth.



What actually happened is-I am now officially part of the system that runs the well-greased(money-greased) machinery of the government. But wait, before i continue, i'm categorically stating that this post is NOT legally viable and anything i write/state will be denied/withdrawn in a court of law...or something like that. U get the drift.



Yep, i've finally given Chai (Tea) money to an official, that too after doing all the neccessary work and submitting every bloddy document, paper, fax, wax,xerox, photostate copies etc etc etc..I could understand him demanding money if i didn't have the neccessary papers or wasn't entitled to get a PP. But nooooooo,,,he even demanded papers which were quite, quite unneccessary (the instruction booklet asks for one documents for proof of address -- i had to give three different ones, which by the way, i had already submitted at the office and which he wasn't supposed to ask for anymore).



And after all the neccesary paperwork, he smiled, said thank you, and told me to take a walk with him outside. I admit it was a beautiful morning, but i didn't even have time to smell the flowers as the moment we got out, he turned to me and said.....(verbatim) "yes, tell me(smiling)". I wanted to tell him to go bugger himself. but i was told beforehand what I was supposed to do. So... reluctantly, i said thank u and slipped more than a day's salary in his hand.



He smiled, shook my hands and left. I thought for a moment, trying to convince myself that i had no choice. I've known cases where people did not get their's because they didn't give money. After all, he was a policeman and inspite of giving him all the papers needed, just three, four words from his pen in the verification paper and I would have fallen in the last hurdle to get my PASSPORT. Life! bugger.

BUGGER! life's so ironic
Once again, my spider sense has failed me. i really had a gut feeling that smthng big was gonna come my way. If not something good, at least something like being shot in the butt with a 22-mm shotgun. now that would have woken me up from this medically unheard-of slumber that i'm in. and i just can't get inspired to even write new posts on my blog. But truth be told, i've been doin a few things; twas just that things just did not materialise . a couple of my big plans went awry... and a couple of personal projects i can't reveal on this blog, so i'm playing the waiting game. and waiting can only mean a couple of things - a horizontal expansion of unwanted places and spaces (read belly, cheeks etc) and shrinking of others which were scarcely filled in the first place (read the brain). meanwhile, i'm increasingly getting hooked to country music, which i used to think are kind of corny. So here i am, a brain-dead, country music listening failed spiderman hammering away at the computer keyboard at 4 am in the mornign during my much hated garveyard shift. can it get any worst?? wait, yes it can ... or at least more ironic... i'm being given more responsibility at work (yeaaaa) without a PAY HIKE!

Almost eight months of morbidity. it's been a quaintly tedious and banal period , with a few and welcomed interruptions to my preoccupation with boredom -- a new, unexpected relationship and a couple of adventure trips. but otherwise, it's been far too .....lifeless, even for this homeboy. something's gotta give! and the sooner the better. that spider sense is kicking in..something lays ahead. and i'm heralding it (where else) on this personal space of mine-my long neglected blog.