Besan Ka Halwa

(The Absolutely True) Minute to Minute Schedule of an Officer Trainee’s Day* * subject to the vagaries of space and time. Conditions apply. --by Vikram Grewal 5:00 am - RING RING! Deliberately set ambitious Alarm. Snooze. Back to sleep. 5:20 am - Wake up. Realize that your Roommate is in the Bathroom and hence the pointlessness of your waking up. Back to sleep. 5:40 am - Wake up. Reduce the ‘to-do’ list from “Brushing, Shaving, ‘Freshing up’” to just- “Washing Face”.  5:45 am - Changing to Track Suit? No worries. You went to bed wearing it last night! 5:50 am - Check FC 94 Whatsapp group hoping against hope for a “PT has been cancelled” message. Look at the sky- you no longer relate clouds to rain. You now believe that it rains only during exams (no, Geography Optional did not teach you enough).   5:55 am - Run/ Jog/ Walk/ Crawl to Polo Ground. Occasional heaps of cow dung keep you awake. The cold winds keep telling you “Yoga le lete bhai”. 6

Days UnderCloud  #21 19th Nov '19 When your birthday clashes with the Innovation Day at the Academy, you realise that a whole lot of free time in between classes can be utilised 'innovatively' in clicking photos- to send back to your Mother who isn't really sure if anyone's wishing her son on his special day- so much so that she gets a cake parcelled- which creates a supply pressure on the birthday boy to create demand from consumers around him. But she doesn't know that the number of incredible friends that he has made in Mussoorie make him feel like home. They shower him with best wishes, hugs, Gifts and cream and cake...lots of cake! And he sends her the pictures from the day, to which she replies: "Brush kiya na sone se pehle?" Days UnderCloud  #22 23rd-24th Nov '19 India Day. A celebration of culture, cuisine and colours of the country. An opportunity for me to take out the Kashmiri Pheran and Patha

Days UnderCloud  #9 The Himalayan Trek. The second week of October has a lot in store for a group of high spirited officer trainees. On the very first day, their trek is all about sitting in a bus and singing along to the evergreen tunes of 'Dil Chahta Hai'. They clearly have no idea that their call for 'Kabhi na beetein Chamkeele Din' will go unheard by the tall daunting mountains of Uttarakhand. The mighty peaks will try to crush their bonhomie but they all will emerge stronger...at least stronger than this evening game of 'Mafia' (photo) they played on the first day which was full of deception and betrayal in the village that goes to sleep time and again. Days UnderCloud  #10 9th October '19 It's when you smell the air and hear the wind; and taste the hail; and feel the leaves of grass- that you see yourself melting away. You realise that five senses aren't enough to gauge the depth of the moment that seizes