There are somethings in life for which you wait desperately, your first
date, your first (you exactly know what!) and your close friend's
marriage. Manav one of my close friends, fortunately or unfortunately
(depends on your experience) got married couple of weeks back. His
marriage was nothing less than an epic adventure which would give JRR
Tolkien a run for his money. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the entire
story (as then I have to write a triology similar to Tolkien'e Lord of
the Things or Hobbit) but would certainly give away the juicy part of
it, just like watching an epic trailer at your nearby imax theater.
The wedding date was announced as a threat to me that if I failed to come, then my house would be raided by Naxalites or an air plane will be crashed by Al-Queeda to my building. As I live on the first floor and it pretty much makes up for the top floor as well, I didn't have any other option than to give in. I blocked the entire last week of January for the wedding and my boss not so happily approved it. I practiced some killing dance moves for the wedding and also taught them to my fellow friend Shoorbir who would accompany me on this journey. Shoorbir is a Michael Jackson in his own, he doesn't require any dance steps in fact I could bet a million that he hardly requires music as well. So, dance steps had been practiced, appetite deliberately been increased for that special day and I rehearsed my one-liners to woo away girls from the bride's side.
In the month of January, I get to hear a bad news, as destiny wants to have her own way the wedding had to prepone (my English teacher taught me that this word doesn't exist but so did she for me). Sometimes we become so helpless that even our karma can't overcome the circumstances that life puts in front of us.
Now, the wedding was in the middle of January. Manav informed us the new dates and this time requested (not with a threat) for us to come. I was in no mood of giving a heart attack to my boss, if I had told him that I need a week off two weeks earlier as mentioned, then Mayans might have got their predictions right of doomsday. Manav was in for a real harsh times and even he accepted the fact that we wouldn't be able to make it. But one thing for sure don't underestimate Manav, he came out with a shrewd plan with his shrewd mind. He proposed (and this time with a threat) if we can't come in the wedding that's fine but we should come in the reception as it lied in the weekend. Manav was being practical, as the place where reception was going to take place was Ranchi, just 1200 kms from Delhi where we lived and Manav had this master plan that depended on Indian Railways time table.
Finally, Shoorbir and I gave in (once again), we booked our tickets a day earlier and reached the platform at perfect time. A small brief about Shoorbir and me: We both are most unpunctual person, Gandhi would have thanked Godsey for killing him, he should thanked his gods that he never met us or heard about us. But at this time we reached two hours earlier at the platform just to know that the train is two hours late. We were supposed to be travelling in Rajhdhani who supposedly run on schedule but only on papers. Train arrived, we took our seats had some food and then got in discussion. The most debated and discussed topic in this world is politics and I learned this fact on this journey. Train was just 4 hours late to its scheduled time and I am not being sarcastic because I had heard some horrific stories of train journeys at other parts of India.
To my surprise, Ranchi seemed to be a pleasant place. It was quite, roads were neat and clean and so was the railway station. We called up Manav and he arranged our ride to his place. We both met Manav after a long time and for the first time (of-course) his wife. They both make a lovely couple, who complements each other very well. Felt nice that our friend had got such a nice person as his life-partner. Manav then announced that we are just few hours away from the reception, but now my heart was broken, what about my killing dance moves and my one-liners that I practiced for girls? My appetite was more or less killed by a long journey. Nonetheless, we both went straight ahead and break a leg and the dance floor (literally) with some help of Manav. After a delicious meal we went back to our rooms to take a nasty nap of all the hard work done.
Next day, we decided to give Ranchi a visit. The place is famous for its waterfalls, everything was in order, except one thing. I got to see clash of the titans or may be dragons in which my friend Shoorbir was in the lead role. Manav was just a supporting actor and I was a junior artist one of those people who stand among the crowd. My friend Shoorbir is also Hercules when he is not Michael Jackson, he was involved in a feud with a fellow greek god. Its hard to predict who won but nonetheless the war was over at least for the time being. We both packed our bags and headed straight towards the nearby railway station. I was following Shoorbir just like a lost puppy follows his master. We had no train tickets and so far had no success in finding one. Thankfully Manav came to our rescue, he arranged our tickets and a decent place to stay as our tickets were booked for next day.
Finally, the time had come when we had to bid farewell to Ranchi. Due to shortage of time Manav booked our ticket in Garib Rath, co-incidentally this train name matched our socio-economic status. This time the train was on time and we both were happy but we reached Delhi six hours late as per the scheduled time, what can we say its the same story with each train.
I wish all the luck to Manav and Manisha, that you have a very sweet life ahead. Manav had another story to tell about the same event and trust me its much more thrilling. May be in the next blog you get to hear the tale from the horse's mouth.
Tarun Bahuguna
Correspondent
Pahal A Milestone
The wedding date was announced as a threat to me that if I failed to come, then my house would be raided by Naxalites or an air plane will be crashed by Al-Queeda to my building. As I live on the first floor and it pretty much makes up for the top floor as well, I didn't have any other option than to give in. I blocked the entire last week of January for the wedding and my boss not so happily approved it. I practiced some killing dance moves for the wedding and also taught them to my fellow friend Shoorbir who would accompany me on this journey. Shoorbir is a Michael Jackson in his own, he doesn't require any dance steps in fact I could bet a million that he hardly requires music as well. So, dance steps had been practiced, appetite deliberately been increased for that special day and I rehearsed my one-liners to woo away girls from the bride's side.
In the month of January, I get to hear a bad news, as destiny wants to have her own way the wedding had to prepone (my English teacher taught me that this word doesn't exist but so did she for me). Sometimes we become so helpless that even our karma can't overcome the circumstances that life puts in front of us.
Now, the wedding was in the middle of January. Manav informed us the new dates and this time requested (not with a threat) for us to come. I was in no mood of giving a heart attack to my boss, if I had told him that I need a week off two weeks earlier as mentioned, then Mayans might have got their predictions right of doomsday. Manav was in for a real harsh times and even he accepted the fact that we wouldn't be able to make it. But one thing for sure don't underestimate Manav, he came out with a shrewd plan with his shrewd mind. He proposed (and this time with a threat) if we can't come in the wedding that's fine but we should come in the reception as it lied in the weekend. Manav was being practical, as the place where reception was going to take place was Ranchi, just 1200 kms from Delhi where we lived and Manav had this master plan that depended on Indian Railways time table.
Finally, Shoorbir and I gave in (once again), we booked our tickets a day earlier and reached the platform at perfect time. A small brief about Shoorbir and me: We both are most unpunctual person, Gandhi would have thanked Godsey for killing him, he should thanked his gods that he never met us or heard about us. But at this time we reached two hours earlier at the platform just to know that the train is two hours late. We were supposed to be travelling in Rajhdhani who supposedly run on schedule but only on papers. Train arrived, we took our seats had some food and then got in discussion. The most debated and discussed topic in this world is politics and I learned this fact on this journey. Train was just 4 hours late to its scheduled time and I am not being sarcastic because I had heard some horrific stories of train journeys at other parts of India.
To my surprise, Ranchi seemed to be a pleasant place. It was quite, roads were neat and clean and so was the railway station. We called up Manav and he arranged our ride to his place. We both met Manav after a long time and for the first time (of-course) his wife. They both make a lovely couple, who complements each other very well. Felt nice that our friend had got such a nice person as his life-partner. Manav then announced that we are just few hours away from the reception, but now my heart was broken, what about my killing dance moves and my one-liners that I practiced for girls? My appetite was more or less killed by a long journey. Nonetheless, we both went straight ahead and break a leg and the dance floor (literally) with some help of Manav. After a delicious meal we went back to our rooms to take a nasty nap of all the hard work done.
Next day, we decided to give Ranchi a visit. The place is famous for its waterfalls, everything was in order, except one thing. I got to see clash of the titans or may be dragons in which my friend Shoorbir was in the lead role. Manav was just a supporting actor and I was a junior artist one of those people who stand among the crowd. My friend Shoorbir is also Hercules when he is not Michael Jackson, he was involved in a feud with a fellow greek god. Its hard to predict who won but nonetheless the war was over at least for the time being. We both packed our bags and headed straight towards the nearby railway station. I was following Shoorbir just like a lost puppy follows his master. We had no train tickets and so far had no success in finding one. Thankfully Manav came to our rescue, he arranged our tickets and a decent place to stay as our tickets were booked for next day.
Finally, the time had come when we had to bid farewell to Ranchi. Due to shortage of time Manav booked our ticket in Garib Rath, co-incidentally this train name matched our socio-economic status. This time the train was on time and we both were happy but we reached Delhi six hours late as per the scheduled time, what can we say its the same story with each train.
I wish all the luck to Manav and Manisha, that you have a very sweet life ahead. Manav had another story to tell about the same event and trust me its much more thrilling. May be in the next blog you get to hear the tale from the horse's mouth.
Tarun Bahuguna
Correspondent
Pahal A Milestone
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