Friday, September 24, 2010

Sundays Around Doon – Don’t Do This

You, me and Rohit, Sanjay, Neeta, Gayatri and everybody else is talking about it. Yes, we are all talking about one thing; the devastation that rains have caused all around us. There is not a single river or stream or even ‘nallah’ that hasn’t seen glorious days return, what with flooding to the extreme. Even the dry, forlorn Bindal and Rispana have returned to their ‘youth’, and in doing so have caused extensive damage to those who thought these rivers! were dead and went ahead building their houses on it.

And then, there is a not a single road that’s left untouched. Sounds sinister, but it’s just as if someone has mutilated my beautiful valley, and has left it with pock-marks and gashes all over. “Kisi ki nazar lag gayi hai meri ghati ko “ I sincerely tried, but my heart just could not bear the thought of roaming around and merry-making on Sunday, while my beautiful valley cries all around with wounds.

So here’s the deal. This week let’s not talk about getting away during the weekend. Let’s talk about what not to do on a weekend. Here are some starters that I thought of. Add to the list if you have more ideas. Here they are:

1. Many of us love to sip a late Sunday morning tea, and plan their outings. The planning continues over to the second cup of tea, and different opinions later, it’s already lunch time when they finally decide to go out. So, the morale of the story is – plan early, plan on a Friday evening or Saturday, and chalk out the nitty-gritty’s, to avoid confusion later on.

2. And then there are those of us who are into heavy partying. Partying of course, is incomplete unless it’s done on Saturdays. A vibrant, healthy Saturday party goes on till 2-3a.m. Yes, and you thought it ends at 11 p.m.? That my dear is when the last movie show ends. So after hitting the bed (or wherever) at 3 a.m. the spirits do not rise again till late next morning, and the Sunday trip has all but melted in air. So, if you have a plan to go out on Sunday, avoid the Saturday partying. Or (having trouble to decide) avoid the Sunday trip. Period.

3. A typical group among us is of those who love to go out. All is well until they would love to gather all their relatives and friends together. So Sunil and Nisha and their kids are invited. Masi ji and her family are also coming. Rishi and Kanika would join after they have left the kids at in-laws. Mohit has a morning appointment (can’t avoid it, yaar) so he will join by noon. And Ajay will pick up bua ji and her family in his big car. And they will all meet up at Astley Hall and go from there. The only people who end up enjoying are the kids who get treated to Burgers and Ice creams and Pizzas while Bua ji and gang is on the way, Rishi and Kanika are caught in the jam and Sunil and Nisha are just leaving the house! Keep the numbers small and you will enjoy longer.

4. And there are those who just don’t plan their Sundays. Do you know why? Because they don’t like to go out anywhere. They will be sighted outdoors, like that rare sighting of Neptune near the Pluto, that happens once in a millennia. I hope God will sincerely try to repair the genes of these people and let them know what all they are missing by not going out and having a blast. I mean, who doesn’t go out and enjoy? Are you one of those types?

5. And I’m not talking about those of us who are caught up in the game of – “Rohit wants to go see the Buddha temple”. “No, let’s go to Dakpathar, it’s so lovely”. “No, the roads are so bad, let’s catch up the afternoon show of ‘Dabang’, I can’t wait to see Munni”. “Offoh, tum bhi na, bas ham Mama ji ke ghar ja rahe hain. Pata hai, Tinky aayi hai Canada se, mere liye pata nahi kya kya laayi hai”.

Got more ideas? Do let me know.

Him Ahuja is an avid traveler and runs a travel blog named http://allhimalaya.com


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