Days Homebound - Volume II - "When 2020 wasn't 2020"

Days Homebound #10

9th Jan 2020

There are smirks. There are grins. There are smiles. And then there are smiles that come bursting out of you when you experience moments of uncontrollable happiness, but to make sure that you don't jinx it, you try to keep it to the level of a smirk and what the camera captures is a grin. This was one such moment- after a week spent in borrowing, buying and beaming at books. All because of one of the most motivating elements for an IFS Officer Trainee: the book allowance. 

Days Homebound #11

11th Jan '20

At Pragati Maidan Book Fair...

Me: 100 ka note dena please.

Mum: Why?

Me: Have to buy tickets.

Mum: Teri ticket kyun lagegi? Exam clear kiya hai na tune toh.

Me: Usse kucch nahi hota. Anyways it is just 20 per head. Give fast, it's a long queue.

Mum: ID card dikha de apna.

Me: Pehle line mein lag ke entry tak toh pahunch jaaun.

Mum: Tu line mein kyun lagega? Tune toh exam clear kiya hai na.

Me: Toh aap lag jaao.

*2 second silence*

Both: hahahaha...

P.S. Line mein bhi lage. Ticket bhi li. Bhutte bhi khaaye.

Fin.

Days Homebound #12

14th Jan '20

Lohri celebrations- which means lots of moongphali, lots of revdi, hot chai and samosas. (Thanks Cultural Committee). I'm Charlie Brown when it comes to Peanuts and Snoopy when it comes to dancing while eating. So me shaking a leg is obligatory for Sai's camera...coz they say people don't take you seriously if you tell them you are there just for the food. (Honestly, everyone's there just to munch as a community :P ).

P.s. No I don't know why people throw the eatables in that boisterous fire. I throw just the chhilka.

Days Homebound #13

15-16 Jan '20

Raisina Dialogue. My first encounter at this event was while waiting in the lobby of the Taj next to a tall spectacled gentleman who had a name tag that said 'Carl Bildt'. I googled him just out of curiosity. He turned out to be the former PM of Sweden. He saw me do this and smiled.

At such a high profile event, it's a tiring effort for your brain to process the people around you. Even after you are lucky to get front seats, rather than focusing on the 'sessions' you are mostly like: 'Isko toh maine TV par kaheen dekha hai' (I have seen her/him somewhere on TV)...and the same thing happens outside the event halls. Walking up to and talking to the people you grew up watching/reading is indeed a surreal experience. Though it makes it harder to catch up on the snacks...and the customary photos with the batchmates.

Days Homebound #14

21-22 Jan '20

Negotiation is an omnipresent scenario. And learning this realistic skill through a fantastical set up made the two day workshop feel like a bilateral, multilateral game of monopoly. Trying to understand the needs and desires of the people of fictitious lands such as Huronia and Cambria and negotiating agreements on their behalf was like identifying amongst ourselves our own Starks, Lannisters and Baratheons. Perhaps, it was like getting transported into a neo-Middle Earth. I wondered if Aragorn, son of Arathorn would be in favour of liberalizing the labour market, and if Frodo and Samwise Gamgee would be paid their fair wages, or if the Hobbits be given a universal basic income.

Anyways, Huronia was 'my precious' in this case.

Days Homebound #15

26th Jan '20

I was 10 when I attended the Parade for the first time. I remember sitting on the wet carpet specially laid out for children a day or two before the event so that they can feel the chill of the January dew drops on their butts...and try to dry them against the sun (that usually plays hide and seek on republic days) for the rest of the programme.

Everytime I went to see the parade after that- the goal was simple: Carry old newspapers, grab a seat and don't move until you see the Sukhoi jets disappear into the stratosphere.

Because of the past learnings, this time seemed like a cakewalk. A rather long cakewalk though.

Days Homebound #16

28th Jan '20

There's only one thing better than the Beating Retreat Ceremony- the Dress Rehearsal of the Beating Retreat Ceremony. Less crowd, more symphony. This was a unique fanboy moment for me. I could go ahead and get the Indian Navy Band and myself in the same frame. There's only one thing better than the Indian Navy Band in the previous performance- the Indian Navy Band in the next performance. I remember being totally blown away by them playing Deep Purple's 'Smoke on the Water' and Lalo Schifrin's 'Mission Impossible' down the Raisina Hill in the previous installments.

Days Homebound #17

Feb '20

This post should be about the Vietnam visit. But there's time for that. So this is just a story through pictures about how my mother's 25yr old vintage Ray-Ban shades captured the hearts and minds of more than half of the group that visited Hanoi.

It is also about the 'resurfacing' of my usual haircut. I must also declare my newfound love for coconut and egg coffee (in case I forget to mention it later)- thanks to Dhananjay and the Umbrella Group (more on this later).

Days Homebound #18

Feb '20: Vietnam

I was so looking forward to going to Hanoi and Saigon that I shaved my head. True story. My reference points for a country that were traumatized by war for years was Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and most particularly Apocalypse Now. And when I stayed there for a week- I never thought about those reference points even once. Here was a country that had been resilient, beautiful, self-reliant and one that preserved the most hopeless events in its history as sources of eternal hope and pride for a better future- which is certainly in the making. Cam on ban, Vietnam! And thanks for the coffee! :)

Days Homebound #19

11th Feb '20

Parents' anniversary is an annual thing but the four of us together is a rare occasion. This is our only day together since a year now. And thanks to corona I haven't even been to a Baskin Robbins store ever since. Now we eat ice cream across time zones. Family goals: Will have Mississippi Mud sundae next to Mississippi on a Sunday, someday.

Days Homebound #20

13th Feb '20

Subtitles: 'I can't get no Satisfaction.'

What is a suitable way to inaugurate the newly renovated Hostel Lounge? Barge into it and stir up a spontaneous concert of substandard Rolling Stones impressions. Sai's impeccable on the drums...I'm no Mick Jagger in any sort of way. But gotta make do with whatever is left of the instruments. Jagpreet captures this cacophony for posterity.

Days Homebound #21

27th Feb '20

This goes back to the earliest memory I have as a kid: watching Lagaan in a movie theatre in Hyderabad and dozing off after eating half a burger and not understanding anything happening on the screen. The person who took all of us out for this screening was Lt Gen Anbu (then the Commanding Officer of the unit)...it was he who made me sing songs from the film 'Refugee' during parties and asked everyone to applaud. Motivating a kid when he can't even make sense of the world around him is something perhaps only an inspiring leader can do. I met Gen Anbu at SSIFS, after years. He'd come to organize a bunch of enlightening simulations. Now I addressed him as 'sir' and not Anbu Uncle. He didn't ask me to sing any song this time, but if he'd even gestured towards that I would be like 'Pancchi nadiyaan pawan ki jhonke...koi sarhad na inhe roke.' :)