Mamma, This one's for you

When Sweety(my sister) completed her Xth , we decided that she and Mamma would join me in Ranchi . After a lot of search, we got a decent two-room habitat ( I don’t know what to call it…it could not be called a flat…for sure). Everything was finalized, but not on paper. When Mamma and Sweety finally arrived with all the luggage…we found that the owner had given the rooms to another person…for Rs.200 more. We were shocked. How could he?? Where would we go now?? Our classes were starting 2 days later. I went blank. Sweety is too innocent to think of anything of this intensity. Papa had to return soon to resume his office. The owner offered us a room in the backyard…..a single room….with a downward slope so that water won’t come out naturally ( we realized it when it rained…and anyway did we have any option ???). And he was not being generous ……we had to pay for it.

Have you ever felt Homeless???....... I have.

We would have broken down if Mamma was not there. She assured us. We also somehow believed that she would be able to get a Home for us. I was feeling like a helpless kid. It was not that Ranchi had ran out of ‘houses to rent’….. We didn’t have enough money to afford them. Our schools had started. Mamma sent us to school every morning and then went out to search…..for a place to Live. She used to walk all day….wandering about in different colonies….asking every owner. Some rejected outright…some demanded too much rent…..some asked ridiculous questions before rejecting. She used to get back in time for lunch….our lunch. She did not eat. The second half of the day passed the same way….Mamma ( this time accompanied by us) searching. We got another room …a single room….after 10 days of being in HELL. We hoped for things to improve….they did…in the sense that….it was a good room to live. But the owner …. a lady this time….strongly believed in…A Landlord should trouble the Tenants……come-what-may. We were forced to bank upon Tiffin system for our food ( believe me….you will start loving the mess food here once you taste that). Anyways after spending some 15 days there we could find a proper house and our problems were reduced.

Those 25 days taught me a lot. I learnt from LIFE itself. I learnt from my Mamma. Even in case of extreme hopelessness….She never panicked (at least she didn’t show it). We used to get our strength from Her. I learnt that one can be absolutely alone in this Big, Bad World …. with problems in hand. And I learnt that they could be solved…Mamma taught me. I learnt the importance of money and, for the first and the only time in my life, I wished we had more money. I learnt how shrewd, heartless, cunning and dirty people can be. Those days left a deep impact on me. I witnessed the Strength of a Mother. I used to feel the protection Mamma gave us. We had forgotten to smile. We didn’t want to come back to that place. We didn’t want to talk to each other. Those are the darkest days of my life till date.

But….. Mamma didn’t break and didn’t allow us to break. I hold myself responsible for all these sufferings to Mamma and Sweety….and I want to say Sorry to them. ...... I had underestimated LIFE.

I don’t know why I have written all this……perhaps just to say…….Mamma , I Love you and I am Sorry.

CCD Revisited...

Our Romance with CCD continued as we again fell to the temptation, this time in GOA. After a long day at different Beaches, watching beautiful waves, babes, couples (and their PDA), and the bag which contained 9 cell-phones, 9 watches and 9 wallets…..we all were tired. By the time we arrived at Panaji market….mice had found a much larger place to jump around. We were looking for some nice eatery to pacify the jumping mice. We were scanning the market when….CCD appeared! Mumbai was relived for few minutes. Those of us who could not resist, convinced the few others that we can have ‘dinner’ at CCD …. and we again landed in CCD. THE MENU appeared again……we dug into it again….finally ordered something (this time it was not a common order) that could double-up as ‘Dinner’. Four of us wanted to have Chicken Pizza and the rest had found other things to offer to their appetite. As luck would have it….CCD had only 3 Chicken Pizzas at that time. The BIG Question popped up….Who will eat the VEG PIZZA?? The most reluctant of us to enter CCD (hereinafter referred to as HE) was quiet. A Non-veg will never eat veg in GOA…on a HOLIDAY. HE suggested going to another place. But others were not in the mood to move. To them there was no problem….1, 2, 3 will have the Chicken Pizza…..and HE can have the Veg Pizza. …50°C…HE was Quiet. They asked the attendant for the substitutes…to which he offered CHICKEN SUBMARINE…the last piece left. HE wanted to have ‘Dinner’ and a nice one too. Chicken Submarine could not present itself as ‘Dinner’ (the cost also played an important factor). Then came the solution (found by Baba)….. 1, 2, 3 would have the Chicken Pizza and…HE can have the Chicken Submarine…..70°C….HE was Quiet. The other orders came by then (the idea of chicken pizzas was dropped…and it was almost decided that we would go somewhere else). Everyone pounced on the Chicken sandwich and Chicken Burger and the juice (or whatever it was)…. HE was Quiet…60°C. Others were enjoying and taking snaps and ‘visiting’ THE CCD WASHROOM one-by-one!!....HE was Quiet…..65°C. Then Baba offered him that sandwich with a wicked smile……..85°C….HE was Quiet. Another ‘Drink’ was ordered (….and by then the mice had transformed into CATS)…..90°C…HE was Quiet.

Finally we left CCD(…80°C…HE was Quiet) and began another scan. Meanwhile HE was carrying an extra luggage and was walking behind everyone else….Mahe laughingly scolded everyone else for forgetting HIM !!….and others laughed with him….85°C…HE was Quiet. Our 2^nd scan landed us in a SHER-E-PUNJAB restaurant and finally the CATS (….mice, earlier) had something to eat. Finally HE also got something which was ‘Dinner…and a nice one too’ and could justify its cost. Everyone enjoyed their ‘Dinner’

…....45°C….and HE talked.

Hmmm…….Okay……HE was ME !!!

One evening@Cafe Coffee Day

8^th December, 2005…..Mumbai

We were going to GOA via Mumbai and our train was due at 11:00 pm. We had our dinner at McDonald’s (our pockets had made us believe so). As we came out of McD, we found CCD seducing us. Some of us fell to the temptation and we landed in CCD just because we had some time left to pass. The first few minutes went into appreciating the A.C., the ambience, the people around…..and then came THE MENU. All of us scanned THE MENU looking for some not-so-dear stuff (in my case that would mean “having a price in single digit”)……and we almost jumped out of our seats when we found an ITEM for just Rs 3.00 . I was so relieved at that moment. So all of us decided that we would have THAT ITEM, enjoy it, and will leave happily. THAT ITEM was “BLACK VELVET”. So we called the attendant (he was too smart to be called a waiter) and, in the most corporate way, ordered SIX BLACK VELVETs. The attendant (trying to be extremely polite) told us that “BLACK VELVET is an add-on…i.e. we have to enjoy a coffee in order to enjoy BLACK VELVET. We went numb. We (trying to be extremely polite) asked for some time and dug into THE MENU again. The next not-so-dear stuff cost Rs 12.00 and that was Mineral Water (we even thought of ‘ordering’ a mineral water and ‘enjoy it’ with the snacks our moms had given). After lot of permutations and combinations we finally decided to ‘order’ 3 Chocolate Brownies which amounted to Rs. 90.00 and we were ‘happy’ with it. The attendant finally appeared with our ‘order’ (he was considerate enough to place six spoons with three brownies) and we just pounced upon it. It was the tastiest form of chocolate I had ever had. We finished it off quickly and left CCD (imaging the attendant laughing wickedly at us).The good things that happened to us in CCD were:

1. The Delicious CHOCOLATE BROWNIES.
2. The ultra cool A.C.(but we had to pay Rs.11 for that)
3. A gorgeous BABE (and I mean literally…a BABE!!!)
4. 30 (or 40, whatever) minutes of non-stop, hearty laughter….we laughed at everything under the roof.

I had never been in a more embarrassing situation before but IT WAS FUN !!!

This incident was forgotten (at least not talked about) till recently when, during one of my chats with Baba, it came up.... but with a different face. I don’t know where it came from but we saw an analogy of the CCD menu with LIFE. I’ll tell you what we thought….and it’s upto you to decide….

Like the CCD menu….the first thing we observe are the add-ons (the external ‘qualities’…the physical attributes, etc.). The more valuable thing i.e. the Base (the inner self….the nature, the soul) ,without which you can’t have the add-ons, come later. The add-ons are meaningless if you don’t have a good (ok…a decent) base. But then...add-ons do add that extra ZING to the base and makes the base more tasty.

Life exits everywhere…..even in THE CCD MENU !!!