All characters and events in this story are figments of an imagination that is both vivid and daffy.
He walks into the subway car. He's listening to Jethro Tull's "Aqualung". He knew he had to stand all the way to his office. He was used to it. It has happened everyday for the past six months. He never usually notices the people around him. But, this day, today, something made him look up. Made him glance at the people around him. Notice the people who are sitting in the car. That's when he sees her.
Sitting in the subway car. Legs crossed. Reading the New York Times. She looks up. He starts to hear "The first time I ever saw your face" by Johnny Cash. She notices him looking at her. She does what every guy looking at a girl hopes for, she smiles at him.
All he can hear now is "She Loves You" by The Beatles. He knows that it's a bit much. Patting the back of his head, he starts to wonder what to do. Chances like this are probably 1 in a million. For him at least. And for someone who believes in karma and destiny, he thought that it fit perfectly. It had been a difficult eight-ten months. Getting fired. Being unemployed. Getting hired. Settling down at the new place. Things were looking up. This is just part of the world helping him become the top dog again. He wasn't going to miss out on an opportunity like this.
The first stop arrives. He looks to see if she gets down. No, she doesn't. She happens to do the same. It's like the first battle has been won. He starts to make his way over to her. She starts to fix her hair on seeing that he's coming over. He realizes that's a sign. She seems interested too. His day was getting better. He mistakenly pushes a lady against the door. He wants to apologize, he's a nice guy. But the next stop is coming fast. He needs to get across the car. The lady he pushed turns and is about to shout. But, she sees why he's moving fast. She smiles to herself and thinks, "Young Love."
People in the car notice him moving towards them and see her starting to get excited too. They make way, as much as they can, for him. He knows that this is it. This is God making everything work for him. For her too probably. She starts to get up. He has convinced himself that it's for him. She's going to make her way over too.
It remained him of scenes from the movies. Two people, falling or fallen in love, running towards each other. In a cornfield. In a train station. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Overture is the only thing he can hear. Everything else has fallen silent. They seem to be alone. The train seems to have stopped moving. She is next to him. They are face to face.
It was now. There wasn't a 'or never' part for him. This was it.
He can see only her. Her beautiful face. He starts to speak. No words come out. he stands with his mouth open. Seconds pass. To him, they seem like hours.
She starts to say something. All he hears is "I knew I loved you" by Savage Garden. He starts to remember that the video for the song was in a subway car too. He cannot believe that is what he's thinking off. She says something. He doesn't hear it. She says it again. He tries to get the song out of his head. He succeeds.
She says, " Excuse me, your blocking the door." He doesn't register what she said. He stands there with his mouth open. She puts her hand across his chest. He almost melts, but smiles. She looks into his eyes, smiles and pushes him aside.
As she gets out of the car, she shows him her left hand. He sees a ring on her finger. He sees her walk up to a guy in a suit. She puts her arms around the guy and gives the guy a hug.
The doors closed. He stands stunned. He still can't take his eyes off her. The train starts to pull away from the station. As it does, she turns, sees him, smiles at him before walking away with the guy.
He stands. Still stunned by the events that just occurred. He looks up and sees the crowd minding their own business. He smiles to himself and says, " Women."
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Random Notions of the Nonsensical - I
Have you ever wondered how it would be had you been in a different time period ? I'm not talking about the prehistoric or mesozoic eras. You don't have to think so far behind. Just a couple of decades or centuries back. Though, coming to think of it now, living in the dinosaur era might be the coolest thing ever. Think of that old cartoon that used to air on the old Cartoon Network "Herculoids". Interesting huh.
Why I am talking about this is because I have thought about it. And like everything else I think about, there is no sanity in any of it. Imagine being there at great historical events like The Indian Independence Movement, the assassination of JFK, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. Being there when the Easter Island heads appeared. Finally solving the mystery of "What Happened to the dinosaurs?". Being there at Stonehenge. Going back and asking The Mayans whether the world will really end. Figuring out whether the Knights Templar knew the secret of the Holy Grail. The list is endless. For me at least. Though I'd like to believe that many people will share the same thoughts.
This brings me to which part of time I really want to go to. I have always enjoyed the Classic Rock and Rock 'N' Roll more than the current stuff. I think it started when I first found my dad's 'A Hard Day's Night' audio cassette. That led me to the Eagles and it went on from there. Yes, there was also a phase where nothing could beat the Backstreet Boys. Ugh. But as I grew older and wiser (supposedly), the magic of the classics found me again. The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel , The Rolling Stones , Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix and the list goes on. Playlists of 50 best Rock songs, VH1's best ever rock songs. I was hooked. Even more now than before.
Now, the events mentioned earlier have something to compete with. But they can't even come close. If I could transport myself, all 23 years of age and wisdom (there I go again) , there's one place I want to be - The Woodstock Music & Art Fair
WOODSTOCK BABY !!!!!
Imagine being there. Listening to musical legends like Jimi Hendrix , Santana , Creedence Clearwater Revival , Canned Heat , Grateful Dead , Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and many many more. Imagine if Bob Dylan, Zeppelin and the Beatles hadn't declined the invitation.
AHHHHHHH! !! ! ! !
I am going crazy just thinking about it. I think had I been a teen or in my 20s back then, I might have joined the hippie movement in all it's glory. For sure. It's obvious when my favorite song is by The Beatles and is "I am a Walrus". Carefree. No care in the world for authority. Unkempt appearances. I think that works.
Yes. It does. ;D
To sign off,
I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob
G-goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' goo
G-goo goo g' joob goo.
Atu
Why I am talking about this is because I have thought about it. And like everything else I think about, there is no sanity in any of it. Imagine being there at great historical events like The Indian Independence Movement, the assassination of JFK, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. Being there when the Easter Island heads appeared. Finally solving the mystery of "What Happened to the dinosaurs?". Being there at Stonehenge. Going back and asking The Mayans whether the world will really end. Figuring out whether the Knights Templar knew the secret of the Holy Grail. The list is endless. For me at least. Though I'd like to believe that many people will share the same thoughts.
This brings me to which part of time I really want to go to. I have always enjoyed the Classic Rock and Rock 'N' Roll more than the current stuff. I think it started when I first found my dad's 'A Hard Day's Night' audio cassette. That led me to the Eagles and it went on from there. Yes, there was also a phase where nothing could beat the Backstreet Boys. Ugh. But as I grew older and wiser (supposedly), the magic of the classics found me again. The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel , The Rolling Stones , Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix and the list goes on. Playlists of 50 best Rock songs, VH1's best ever rock songs. I was hooked. Even more now than before.
Now, the events mentioned earlier have something to compete with. But they can't even come close. If I could transport myself, all 23 years of age and wisdom (there I go again) , there's one place I want to be - The Woodstock Music & Art Fair
WOODSTOCK BABY !!!!!
Imagine being there. Listening to musical legends like Jimi Hendrix , Santana , Creedence Clearwater Revival , Canned Heat , Grateful Dead , Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and many many more. Imagine if Bob Dylan, Zeppelin and the Beatles hadn't declined the invitation.
AHHHHHHH! !! ! ! !
I am going crazy just thinking about it. I think had I been a teen or in my 20s back then, I might have joined the hippie movement in all it's glory. For sure. It's obvious when my favorite song is by The Beatles and is "I am a Walrus". Carefree. No care in the world for authority. Unkempt appearances. I think that works.
Yes. It does. ;D
To sign off,
I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob
G-goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' goo
G-goo goo g' joob goo.
Atu
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
India Pakistan World Cup Semifinal.
On March 24th,a Thursday, it was known that India will be playing Pakistan in the semi finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. India, playing at home, had just beaten the current champions Australia, breaking their record of 3 consecutive world cup wins. Coincidentally, Pakistan was the team who snapped Australia's unbeaten streak in world cup matches. A record that dates back to 1999. India vs. Pakistan. It doesn't get bigger than this in the world of cricket. The Ashes comes close maybe, but an India-Pakistan match is far beyond anything else. And it being for a spot in the World Cup Final made it even bigger.
Indo-Pak cricket has always been a spectacle. With the political histories of the two countries, it is a big deal. It always is, always will be.
The excitement started probably form the second after India beat Australia. With Pakistan beating the West Indies the previous day, everyone knew what was in store in Mohali on the 30th of March. India and Pakistan matches, tests , one days and T20s always create an atmosphere of unbelievable intensity. Lately, matches between the two have been few and this just added even more spice. It was going to be memorable.
People started talking. Discussions with my roommates about who should play, who will win, who the favorites are, who the underdogs are. It was cricket fever like never before. Friends started posting links and videos on Facebook about the passion of these matches. Memorable moments, confrontations between players, tensions running high. It probably is the biggest match possible (other than if they met in the final).
India had a record of 4-0 against Pakistan in World cups. Pakistan had never lost to India in Mohali. One of these records was going to be broken. Memories of Javed Miandad vs. Kiran More in 1992, Venkatesh Prasad vs. Aamir Sohail in 1996, Sachin Tendulkar vs. Shoaib Akhtar in 2003 flood back to us like it was yesterday. It was setup like no other game had been setup.
Everyone at school was talking about it. Rumors flying around that the Graduate Indian Student Association was planning on telecasting the match on a big screen. For a cricket match that starts at 5 am. Meeting people at school just to talk about it. There wasn't much talk about tactics or predictions. Most talk was directed towards it being an India-Pakistan match. Everything else seemed irrelevant. And the rumor was true. GISA was going to telecast the match in the Gym on the 30th at 5 am. It was going to be incredible.
It was finally the 29th. GISA had all the preparations ready. Everyone was confirming whether or not the were going to make it at 5 am. Whether the streaming would be of good quality. Whether we were allowed to bring drums and empty plastic bottles to bang like any cricket match in India. A facebook event was created. Over 150 people said they were attending. Asking everyone anyone met whether they are coming or not. I left school at 6 in the evening. The plan was to sleep a little earlier and wake up by 4 am. I crashed unexpectedly at 7:30 and got up at 10:30. Err. Damn, was I gonna be able to make it through the night. There wasn't any food at home as yours truly was supposed to cook and didn't. A late night walk to the Chinese restaurant to buy food for whoever wanted to eat.
12:30 am on the 30th. Four and half hours to go. In the midst of deciding whether to sleep or not, Avinash, Vivek, Kanishka and I started a game of AOE. Coincidence was that we were playing against someone from Pakistan. For us, the battle had begun. If only my laptop wireless worked like it is supposed to, we would have won. As always, we played Counter Strike after. It seemed like any other night at home.
3 am. 2 hours to go. Madhan comes and tells us to check out ESPN.com. It has Sachin on it's homepage. The title reads - 1 man, 1 billion hopes. That says it all. Again, we start talking about the match. Watching India-Pakistan videos again. Wondering who made the video because it had more of Pakistan than India. Stupid. The intensity was reaching it's optimum.
4:30 am. A half hour to go. Standing in the Euclid Avenue station. A shuttle train from Ozone Park pulls in. A lot of people get out. We know it's a part of the Indian contingent from school.
5 am. It begins. India wins the toss and decides to bat. The setup for the match is nice. A large screen. People sitting all around. It's been ages since I've seen a match in this kind of atmosphere. Sehwag gets off to a blinder of a start. People are cheering, screaming. Then, he gets out. Silence all around. It was crazy again when Tendulkar was given out leg before wicket. He reviews it. A successful review. People start to curse the umpire. This is what it's all about. He gets stumped the next ball. It goes to the 3rd umpire again. He's not out. This was simply unbelievable. Then, the middle overs come. All the screaming and cheering mellows down. Random clapping and cheering for a four , a good shot. It starts to build up again once the last few overs come around. It doesn't matter that only Raina remains. Harbhajan Singh provides a few laughs. Especially with the dead ball call when Raina (at the non-strikers end) drops his bat. Eventually, India finish with 260. I was pretty confident as long as we bowled well.
Pakistan start to bat. Pushkar and I head upstairs to our lab to watch the match there. There is always something about watching a high tension game in solitude that appeals to me. Pakistan start like India did. I fall asleep, miss the first wicket. India seems to be bowling really well. Munaf Patel is bowling perfectly and even Ashish Nehra is bowling well. A second wicket falls. Crucial. The Pakistan batsmen are getting starts. The Indian bowlers are not letting them off the hook. Wickets start to fall at regular intervals. But Pakistan bats till number 8. And dangerous men in Razzaq and Afridi to come. Razzaq gets bowled by a beauty from Munaf. Afridi walks in. The equation is in India's favor. But, Afridi can change a game. Afridi gets out in the 42nd over. We had to go down to the gym. It was electric down there. Balaji leads the chanting. People are screaming everywhere. Misbah does his best to silence us but to no avail.
India dismiss Pakistan in the last over. Pandemonium everywhere. People are going crazy. India are in the World Cup final again. India beat Pakistan in the world cup again. It was a perfect script. A close game. India face Sri Lanka on saturday in the first ever all-Asian world cup final.
Today was brilliant. Something really memorable. The whole occasion. India-Pakistan. Semifinal. Watching it at school at 5 am. Cheering, screaming like everyone would have back home. and most importantly, India win. The final is going to be special too if we win. Though even a world cup win might not take away the intensity of this one.
Atu
Indo-Pak cricket has always been a spectacle. With the political histories of the two countries, it is a big deal. It always is, always will be.
The excitement started probably form the second after India beat Australia. With Pakistan beating the West Indies the previous day, everyone knew what was in store in Mohali on the 30th of March. India and Pakistan matches, tests , one days and T20s always create an atmosphere of unbelievable intensity. Lately, matches between the two have been few and this just added even more spice. It was going to be memorable.
People started talking. Discussions with my roommates about who should play, who will win, who the favorites are, who the underdogs are. It was cricket fever like never before. Friends started posting links and videos on Facebook about the passion of these matches. Memorable moments, confrontations between players, tensions running high. It probably is the biggest match possible (other than if they met in the final).
India had a record of 4-0 against Pakistan in World cups. Pakistan had never lost to India in Mohali. One of these records was going to be broken. Memories of Javed Miandad vs. Kiran More in 1992, Venkatesh Prasad vs. Aamir Sohail in 1996, Sachin Tendulkar vs. Shoaib Akhtar in 2003 flood back to us like it was yesterday. It was setup like no other game had been setup.
Everyone at school was talking about it. Rumors flying around that the Graduate Indian Student Association was planning on telecasting the match on a big screen. For a cricket match that starts at 5 am. Meeting people at school just to talk about it. There wasn't much talk about tactics or predictions. Most talk was directed towards it being an India-Pakistan match. Everything else seemed irrelevant. And the rumor was true. GISA was going to telecast the match in the Gym on the 30th at 5 am. It was going to be incredible.
It was finally the 29th. GISA had all the preparations ready. Everyone was confirming whether or not the were going to make it at 5 am. Whether the streaming would be of good quality. Whether we were allowed to bring drums and empty plastic bottles to bang like any cricket match in India. A facebook event was created. Over 150 people said they were attending. Asking everyone anyone met whether they are coming or not. I left school at 6 in the evening. The plan was to sleep a little earlier and wake up by 4 am. I crashed unexpectedly at 7:30 and got up at 10:30. Err. Damn, was I gonna be able to make it through the night. There wasn't any food at home as yours truly was supposed to cook and didn't. A late night walk to the Chinese restaurant to buy food for whoever wanted to eat.
12:30 am on the 30th. Four and half hours to go. In the midst of deciding whether to sleep or not, Avinash, Vivek, Kanishka and I started a game of AOE. Coincidence was that we were playing against someone from Pakistan. For us, the battle had begun. If only my laptop wireless worked like it is supposed to, we would have won. As always, we played Counter Strike after. It seemed like any other night at home.
3 am. 2 hours to go. Madhan comes and tells us to check out ESPN.com. It has Sachin on it's homepage. The title reads - 1 man, 1 billion hopes. That says it all. Again, we start talking about the match. Watching India-Pakistan videos again. Wondering who made the video because it had more of Pakistan than India. Stupid. The intensity was reaching it's optimum.
4:30 am. A half hour to go. Standing in the Euclid Avenue station. A shuttle train from Ozone Park pulls in. A lot of people get out. We know it's a part of the Indian contingent from school.
5 am. It begins. India wins the toss and decides to bat. The setup for the match is nice. A large screen. People sitting all around. It's been ages since I've seen a match in this kind of atmosphere. Sehwag gets off to a blinder of a start. People are cheering, screaming. Then, he gets out. Silence all around. It was crazy again when Tendulkar was given out leg before wicket. He reviews it. A successful review. People start to curse the umpire. This is what it's all about. He gets stumped the next ball. It goes to the 3rd umpire again. He's not out. This was simply unbelievable. Then, the middle overs come. All the screaming and cheering mellows down. Random clapping and cheering for a four , a good shot. It starts to build up again once the last few overs come around. It doesn't matter that only Raina remains. Harbhajan Singh provides a few laughs. Especially with the dead ball call when Raina (at the non-strikers end) drops his bat. Eventually, India finish with 260. I was pretty confident as long as we bowled well.
Pakistan start to bat. Pushkar and I head upstairs to our lab to watch the match there. There is always something about watching a high tension game in solitude that appeals to me. Pakistan start like India did. I fall asleep, miss the first wicket. India seems to be bowling really well. Munaf Patel is bowling perfectly and even Ashish Nehra is bowling well. A second wicket falls. Crucial. The Pakistan batsmen are getting starts. The Indian bowlers are not letting them off the hook. Wickets start to fall at regular intervals. But Pakistan bats till number 8. And dangerous men in Razzaq and Afridi to come. Razzaq gets bowled by a beauty from Munaf. Afridi walks in. The equation is in India's favor. But, Afridi can change a game. Afridi gets out in the 42nd over. We had to go down to the gym. It was electric down there. Balaji leads the chanting. People are screaming everywhere. Misbah does his best to silence us but to no avail.
India dismiss Pakistan in the last over. Pandemonium everywhere. People are going crazy. India are in the World Cup final again. India beat Pakistan in the world cup again. It was a perfect script. A close game. India face Sri Lanka on saturday in the first ever all-Asian world cup final.
Today was brilliant. Something really memorable. The whole occasion. India-Pakistan. Semifinal. Watching it at school at 5 am. Cheering, screaming like everyone would have back home. and most importantly, India win. The final is going to be special too if we win. Though even a world cup win might not take away the intensity of this one.
Atu
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