The day that was - Part I

Munaf is back! Well, after about an year of being MIA, I think I finally figured out a way to restart. Let me start off with what kept me from writing for so long:

(c) Bill Waterson

Well, you probably wouldn't be surprised but I was beta-testing for dear ol' Calvin. And to be honest, I works like a charm. :)


Amidst all this effort to advance technology, what brought me back to writing is one of the harsh realities that usually affect you lesser mortals (and rarely, me) - nostalgia. I was just looking over my Facebook and found some real great memories back when I was studying in Hyderabad. (For those who don't watch News, I am currently operating from Tempe, AZ, USA while studying for an MS in Electrical Engg. from the Arizona State University.) That was, I believe, as Ranjit from HIMYM would say, "Too many informations." :P :P


I just wanna take this slow for the first post after a year, and so start off relating a day - sometime in February 2009. I'm looking up the date as I type - yeah, it was the 26th. Let me dive right into it;


I was just done with my GRE (24th Feb, 2009) and was Cloud 7 (I did not score so much as to be on Cloud 9) and so were my friends, who for the sake of the blog are called A, B, C, D, Me (yeah, me!) and one F. So, how did the day come about? We were in the third year of college, what do you expect? Everyone around was having these crazy-ass road-trips to Mount Opera (no, not a mountain, it is a resort/water-park/hang-out place). And of course we were not gonna pay the heavy entry-fee (well, we Hyderabadis are cheap like that! :P). We found out about an offer. Some departmental store was offering a free ticket on purchase of two large sodas (these are gonna be important later...). Well, so we were all set, with tickets and trying to convince F to come. F lived in Banjara Hills (now in Kingsville, TX) and we make fun of him even today "Kyun F bhai, Mount Opera ku Banjara Hills ku shift karaarain, chalo ab tho jainge...". From now on, we'll try and move Mount Opera to Kingsville, TX. (Kyun F bhai, ab tho bi chalrain?? :P :P)


Of course, you might've realized that we were bunking college to have this all-day trip (not that, it was a big deal...not anymore at least...). We were supposed to start from my place at around 9:30 in the morning. Of course, these things never happen on time, do they? And of course B (and sometimes, even A) has never been to a class on time, how can ou expect them to be on time for fun, and on a separate note, I heard an interesting story about B (who works for a company now) being late for work and being told off by his supervisor. If anyone knows how that went, leave the description in the comments section :). OK, so, C was supposed come to my place and I was to pick him up or something. B was getting his own bike, so were me and A. Yeah, did I mention that road-trip here means on bikes for like 50 km or something like that.


You must be wondering how this is sooo not an interesting story, that is because I haven't started yet. The real fun begins now. I woke up at about 8 (well, pretty early as compared to today's standards) and had a look at my bike (an awesome 2007 Honda Shine, if you are wondering) and it had, wait for it, a flat tire. Well, I figured, it's fine, I'll get it fixed before we even start. So, I got all ready, calling up everyone and finalizing with F if he still wanted the resort to be shifted to Banjara hills. Well, at around 10 we were supposed to meet at a common point on the way to the resort. Me and C on one bike, B and D on one bike and A on one (because of his bike). A came to the point with C and so did B and D. A as usual came late and he had a broken leg guard (I'm not sure that's what it is called, it is the thing that stops the bike falling on your leg when it topples to the side). We had to go back to my place to put it at home and leave. I don't remember properly now, but I believe B's bike was also screwed up in some way. So, finally, it was about 11 by the time we started.


So, we did start, finally. Now comes one of the best parts. Location: L.B. Nagar X Road. A, the quintessential rash rider went totally overboard. There was a stop sign (a red signal, for you desis :P) and in trying to beat the stop sign, A went and beat another bike rider. As luck would have it, a cop saw all this and came running (almost literally) to the spot and took the key from A's bike (that is the style of Hyderabadi cops) and directed A to the center of the traffic island. Here is a funnier part: B was so amused by A's accident (?) that, he was laughing out and squinting in A's direction (in Hyderabadi: Jhaank jhaank ke dekhke hasra tha). For good measure, the former cop's sidekick came over and took B to the island too. Me and C were left alone (and sometimes I wish this ordeal ended here with all of us getting a loss in money). Well, after about 15-20 minutes of convincing the cops and having to pay like 500 bucks (post the amount in the comments guys :P).


This is definitely gonna be in parts, so I'll end here with a few pictures of the ride...and the trip so far:

This is A.

Me and C.

The cam was on B and D's bike, so no pics of those two so far...

I'll be back soon with the second installment of this day...