Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts

It was a blazing, scorching day yet again. Of late, the days had become unbelievably Bangalorish. Noon resembled heated Owens. The Sun God showed no hints of wearing down. It was the day of “Shivaratri”. Yet the Gods had no mercy on the devotees. But meet our protagonist, who is no devotee, nor is he an atheist. It was obvious for him to flinch, to the searing power of the sun once he stepped out of his guarded adobe. His day was planned. He had chosen the day to shop. What a dumb idea. Even more surprising was the location to shop at – avenue road and majestic. It would have taken a great deal of persuasion to convince even a fool, but our agonist didn’t need persuasion, and he was not alone either. 2 others were to join him! Talk of stupidity, you didn’t need another illustration. After what may seem as an agonizing outing, which he may politely say it was not exhausting, they even headed to SP Road! The way back was no cake walk either. The Gods had conspired against him. Who would expect the KR Market to be abuzz in such a hot Friday mid noon? Foreseeing the peril, he decided that his only escape was to fly over the chaos. He used the “Fly Over!”

He had skipped breakfast and even lunch. Who would have fathomed that he could survive without eating. Not that he was frail (well, he’s the opposite of frail); the only thing he loved was doing just that. Or was it the Lord’s will to let him know of his presence and make him know you are supposed to eat nothing on Shivaratri? That would have been cheesy. So, when he finally came to the aplomb shelter of his home, it clocked 4. Recapitulating the previous day’s college conversations, it dawned on him the program that they had agreed upon. Had his friends already forgotten the pact? Lately, none of these previously decided or planned programs were ever being realized. Would this one join the group of these never-conceived plans? As if in desperation, he texted his friends “MES at 6?”

But there was a bigger scheme of things unfolding. The phone rang for a couple of seconds. It was his uncle. He was coming over, by 6! So, he was torn between deciding what he wanted to do. It felt like being on the cliff. All he needed was a push, rest was gravity. The push came from his dad. “Go to the concert, you can catch up even tomorrow. As such, you won’t go to college.” Oh yeah, he still had 1 semester to finish his engineering.

It was sharp 6. So confident was he that none will turn up at the decided time, he left his home. At the venue, it was 6.15 and yet, no sign of his friends, nor Raghu Dixit. Yes, the concert was Raghu’s. What a sensation he had become in a short span. The recent songs of his in the movie “Just Maath Maathalli” were awesome. Waiting for his friends, all he did was watch the people around him. It was his field just two days ago. It was here where he played cricket. Now, a stage stands erect on where his pitch was supposed to be. Studying the surroundings, he noticed a few stands being built and a make-shift temple. Slowly, his friends started to arrive. It was almost 8 and 4 folk programs that the last one missed.

Once all together, they hunted for seats. People had started to swarm, if not for the function, for the free food. That has always been the case, isn’t it? With seats nowhere to be found, they perched on the stone benches besides the Basketball court. This was the farthest point from the stage, where a dance troupe was performing. Although the dance seemed good, neither he, nor his friends pretended to like it. They were engrossed in talks which had no bounds. These talks - which lecturers can’t understand the essence – continued till the programs changed for who-knows how many times. In between the talks, were two rounds of being in the line for free food. Would anyone believe him if he says the food were delicious and great? He didn’t care – he needed what he wanted, good food.

And where were Raghu Dixit and Sudeep? He eagerly awaited the arrival whilst laughing his hearts out at the comedians Richard Louis, Indushree and Mysore Anand. It was 11.30PM when the wait ended. The crowd went berserk when Raghu’s team and Sudeep made to the centre. He too felt the thrill. He had never been to a concert before. Although it was not as big as he had seen it on TV, it was big enough to make him realize how it feels to be at a concert. Raghu and Sudeep’s impromptu act was enough for the crowd to get excited. The whistles and applauds came rushing. The songs began, and he started to get to the rhythm of the evening’s gathering. He had heard most of the songs. But that didn’t matter, everything seemed different. From being seated, he began to stand, tapping his feet, waving his hands in air and jumping. While a chunk of the crowd started to disappear, he along with his friends, made way towards the stage. The speakers blasted the sound as if it had been assigned the job to make someone fall. There was no point of trying to just stand in front. It was frenzy. Never had he once imagined to be in a concert in the front jumping in the air to the beats. Never had he dreamed of singing in chorus with the crowd to Raghu’s songs. Be it his folk adapted songs like “Gudugudiya…” or “Kodagana koli…” or his movie songs like “Munjaane…” or “Ninna Poojege…”, he enjoyed to the brim.

His watch showed 2.30AM. Never had he returned from somewhere at that time. All along the way, he feared he would wake someone. He had a key, but he would wake up someone nonetheless. Ironically, it was his uncle, who was awake! After the awe-inspiring concert, now he was filled with guilt. And thus, his Shivaratri now complete, with no night’s sleep – Jaagarane!

Now, after three days post the concert, he is still in the same rhythm. The same rhythm has pushed him to write a piece for his blog which he has long lost his touch. Finishing his post and looking at its length, he starts to feel he would have to say “Jahapanah, tussi great ho…” to anyone who manages to read his post entirely!

Remember the good old days, when watching cricket was as if a festival celebrated? At least, that was how I used to watch it. Thanks to cricket, the 1999 world cup was when our house got the “cable” connection for the first time. And by that time, I was Dravid’s one of the biggest fans (don’t think physically when I say ‘big’. I was slim and trim then). There was one particular ad that used to be aired back then. Dravid was shown practicing batting with the ball hanging from the roof. If that was how he practiced, I did the same. I even batted in the same fashion when I used to play with friends. In bowling – Srinath. The action, same as his. That was how cricketers had an effect on me.

Once in Navodaya, although playing cricket was restricted only to Sundays, we rejoiced them. Watching the game was even more fabulous. With the whole school, in front of a 21” TV, with the grainy picture quality, the pushing and pulling to be in the front row added to the excitement. The radio that I had smuggled in, helped me to keep abreast of all the scores in the 2003 world cup. Sport meant only cricket those days. We played every game alright, but it was cricket that topped our list of priorities in games.

Even today, cricket is the reigning sport which would make me watch. Cricket has remained my favourite game and Dravid still my favourite. But it is cricket with all the zeal being eaten up. T20 sure has reinvented the game, but the excitement is what is missing. Today, as I juggled my TV channels, there were two matches – T20 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand and the other being a 50 over game of Australia v/s England. Both of them failed to ignite any sparks of interest. When I eventually watched it to avoid the grueling torture of the prime time soap operas, I had to struggle. Hope Dravid’s return to the 50 over matches would instill some fervor in me and make me watch again – and perhaps, you read again!