Sunday, September 26, 2004
Eat Meat BOY!
We had planned a barbecue at Ashu's. We had been planning this for a while, but Ashu's family was observing a particular hindu tradition of being vegetarian for a couple of months. I cannot even dream of things like that. Gives me nausea thinking about it ;-)
We decided to get the stuff worked on, on Saturday. I headed out, bought some 16 kilos of chicken, which when cleaned turned out to be about 10 kilos. Then I picked up some vegetables, bread, condiments, chips, herbs etc.
I divided the chicken into 5 containers, and made five different marinades. Hickory smoked sauce with onion bits, barbecue sauce, coriander/mint sauce, malwani and honey/garlic. I wanted to eat the meat raw.... mmmmwaarrrrrggghhh ;-)
Turned out that, I needed help to pick everything up, so I called Ashu and he, very graciously dropped by and we loaded everything into an auto (Tricia had the car and I did not want to take the Optra) and took it to Ashu's. There we got a rousing welcome from Bruno.
It started drizzling as soon as we got there, so we decided to put a plastic sheet up to protect us from rain, which turned out to be a good idea. Ashu warned us that a coconut could fall any minute from the hundred trees he has in is garden. Later that evening, a coconut did fall, giving everybody a bloody start, but the sheet remained intact.
Sushil, Ashu and I picked up coal, ice and some drinks around his area. Sushil also gave me a Bhaskar update, which was quite interesting, but that is another story for another day... maybe.
Tricia and Afshan had come by that time. We started getting things in order. People started tricking in. We got the drinks ready. My razz-cocktail was appreciated, but the Cooch Behar was mostly rejected. This was a bit like a bloody mary, the difference being, that the Rum (not Vodka) has to be kept with a couple of red chillis in the freezer for a couple of days... I guess I made it a little too spicy, even by my standards :-)
KT and Ashu's dad got to the task of lighting the coal, took them a while. I did not let them onto my secret ;-) maybe next time...
Soon we got the meat on, by that time Rashmi and her posse had arrived, on girl even that the quintessential wallet chain. Everybody settled down and soon we ate at lot of meat, pulled legs, had people who hadn't showed up in a while (Rohan, Praveen, Abu etc) Mandar was curiously in Delhi as was Benny.... hmmm, ah well.
Venkat arrived a few hours later with a bruised body. He had fallen off his bike. He told me about it, but I was a buzzed and cannot recall the story. I remember he said that he hurt his hand, I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the accident. ;-) Bruce too came in a little late and got to assembling his barbecue almost immediatly. Now we had twice the capacity of meat grilling... fabulous!
Sushil picked up a fabulous 10 year old bottle of wine for Tricia and him, I had a glass too. It was excellent, I wasn't sure of the grape, but was nice and mellow like a Merlot. He also told me later that he was going home to pick up his Banjo... I was horrified. As always he was yankin' chains, he brought his guitar, which Stef promptly picked up and sang some crowd favourites and then Rashmi's friend also sang a few songs. The last song that Stef sang was full of innuendo :-)
All in all we had a grand time... Tricia and I left around 2am, I believe the rest of the boys helped Ashu clean up. We just got back and crashed. Before we left, Bruce, Ashu, KT and I divided up the meat. Left the bulk for the host.
The next day Shay, Pia and Vicky came over for a late lunch. We did a barbecue again and ate even more meat. I took lots of pictures of Shay. He was in a very good mood. Tricia and I headed off to "The Village" later. The movie was interesting in the first half. I guessed the ending quite early, so was bored in the second half. The movie did not quite live up to expectations. Lets see what "The Termial" is like.
We decided to get the stuff worked on, on Saturday. I headed out, bought some 16 kilos of chicken, which when cleaned turned out to be about 10 kilos. Then I picked up some vegetables, bread, condiments, chips, herbs etc.
I divided the chicken into 5 containers, and made five different marinades. Hickory smoked sauce with onion bits, barbecue sauce, coriander/mint sauce, malwani and honey/garlic. I wanted to eat the meat raw.... mmmmwaarrrrrggghhh ;-)
Turned out that, I needed help to pick everything up, so I called Ashu and he, very graciously dropped by and we loaded everything into an auto (Tricia had the car and I did not want to take the Optra) and took it to Ashu's. There we got a rousing welcome from Bruno.
It started drizzling as soon as we got there, so we decided to put a plastic sheet up to protect us from rain, which turned out to be a good idea. Ashu warned us that a coconut could fall any minute from the hundred trees he has in is garden. Later that evening, a coconut did fall, giving everybody a bloody start, but the sheet remained intact.
Sushil, Ashu and I picked up coal, ice and some drinks around his area. Sushil also gave me a Bhaskar update, which was quite interesting, but that is another story for another day... maybe.
Tricia and Afshan had come by that time. We started getting things in order. People started tricking in. We got the drinks ready. My razz-cocktail was appreciated, but the Cooch Behar was mostly rejected. This was a bit like a bloody mary, the difference being, that the Rum (not Vodka) has to be kept with a couple of red chillis in the freezer for a couple of days... I guess I made it a little too spicy, even by my standards :-)
KT and Ashu's dad got to the task of lighting the coal, took them a while. I did not let them onto my secret ;-) maybe next time...
Soon we got the meat on, by that time Rashmi and her posse had arrived, on girl even that the quintessential wallet chain. Everybody settled down and soon we ate at lot of meat, pulled legs, had people who hadn't showed up in a while (Rohan, Praveen, Abu etc) Mandar was curiously in Delhi as was Benny.... hmmm, ah well.
Venkat arrived a few hours later with a bruised body. He had fallen off his bike. He told me about it, but I was a buzzed and cannot recall the story. I remember he said that he hurt his hand, I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the accident. ;-) Bruce too came in a little late and got to assembling his barbecue almost immediatly. Now we had twice the capacity of meat grilling... fabulous!
Sushil picked up a fabulous 10 year old bottle of wine for Tricia and him, I had a glass too. It was excellent, I wasn't sure of the grape, but was nice and mellow like a Merlot. He also told me later that he was going home to pick up his Banjo... I was horrified. As always he was yankin' chains, he brought his guitar, which Stef promptly picked up and sang some crowd favourites and then Rashmi's friend also sang a few songs. The last song that Stef sang was full of innuendo :-)
All in all we had a grand time... Tricia and I left around 2am, I believe the rest of the boys helped Ashu clean up. We just got back and crashed. Before we left, Bruce, Ashu, KT and I divided up the meat. Left the bulk for the host.
The next day Shay, Pia and Vicky came over for a late lunch. We did a barbecue again and ate even more meat. I took lots of pictures of Shay. He was in a very good mood. Tricia and I headed off to "The Village" later. The movie was interesting in the first half. I guessed the ending quite early, so was bored in the second half. The movie did not quite live up to expectations. Lets see what "The Termial" is like.
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Aborted Ride :: Fresh Plans
Yesterday we found out that the Pune Ride has been cancelled. That really sucked since we had been looking forward to that for a while.
Venkat and Ashu came over to my place and we looked at the map for locations we can ride besides the obvious choice... Lonavla. I noticed Kelva beach, which seemed to be a decent ride. 70km on the highway and another 50 through winding mountain road. So we called everyone, except Abhilash, whose phone could not get signal, even if it was welded onto a transceiver.
Venkat, Ashu, Bruce and some of the guys headed off to the Bombay Aces/Roadshakers party (?) at Marve, which Tricia and I not to attend, since it would be 4 years the next day of us dating.... Yes! Tricia still wants to celebrate that. We went to Mainland China for dinner where we ran into other friends.
Back to Sunday:
We woke at 5:30am. I called Ashu, Sushil and Venkat. Venkat would not answer his phone. His excuse was that, he was in the loo... Oh well. We all know Venkat's excuses.
Met up with Ashu and Sushil at Apna Bazaar and rode off to the highway. Soon three Jap bikes overtook us. These were possibly part of the ride we were originally supposed to be on.
We headed north towards Dahisar Check Naka, to catch up with the rest of guys. Ashu peeled off to pick Bruce up, which for some unexplained reason took him over half hour. At this time Tricia reminded us that it was Venkat's (Rabid Dog) birthday. We wished him and demanded that he pay for lunch, like the good friends we are. At 8am, we decided not to wait for Stephanus any more and we rode off. Tricia was already hungry and we decided to look for a restaurant. The highway was nice and empty. We pepped up north.
The road was in great shape. The sky was severely overcast, which was a good thing, since it made the ride even more pleasant. Halfway through the ride, we found a decent restaurant, this was 2 kilometers before the turn, off the highway.
Inside we sat down and ordered the usual fare of Idlis, Dosas and the scariest breakfast in the world "Missile Pau". For the longest time I have convinced many people that is actually called Missile Pau because by afternoon, missiles will launch in your loo. It is, in all seriousness called MISSAL PAU. I have no idea what it is made of, but I'm not brave enough to find out.
At the restaurant I went to the manager and asked him for the directions to Kelva beach. He gave me a very non committal answer and walked off to greet another guest. As always, I was pissed off. I guess large prides of bikers (like lions) aren't the most respected, but HEY! So I walked up to him and threatened him with dire consequences... And pat, came directions to the T.
As we were getting ready to mount our steeds, we noticed a monkey chained to a a metal railing. The little monkey, while playing around had entangled the chain to the railing, which was about 5 feet high. If the monkey had jumped to the ground it would have certainly choked. I was at my greenpeace best as I pulled out my wire cutters to free the monkey. Tricia talked sense into me, saying that we need to speak to the establishment. I went spoke to a few people and someone came back to untangle the chain. Unfortunately we had to leave the monkey there. I will call PETA to find out if they can keep a monkey in captivity like that.
We got back on track to head towards Kelva. A few minutes down the road we took the turn, and headed towards Manor, Palgarh and eventually towards Kelva. Almost immediately we started climbing hills. The road was a little wet, so we kept our speed at 60-70. Tricia pulled out the camera and got some excellent shots of Chief, Abhi, KT, Venkat and Rashmi.
We were almost at the beach, when the rain gods decided that we need to pay our respect to the local economy. We stopped at a small eatery. We were promptly directed to the family room, which was meant for a family where the father would be a pimp. Each of the strobe lights on the ceiling was a different colour of the rainbow. We sat around and promptly Venkat started on his favorite topic. Bruce bashing. So to distract everyone, from the bashing, Bruce pulled his gadget out. Nope, it's not what you think. He pulled his PDA/Phone out. Venkat made fun of it for a few seconds till he saw it... Then he was all over it. Tricia got a video of me scratching my belly, very classy, you should see it.
That place was a Chinese restaurant with the menu in Hindi... They had Singhapur Flied Rice... mmmm yummy. I just cannot wait to dig into this. We left that place as soon as the rain let up a little. Some of the boys, jumped on their machines and rode off... In the wrong direction. :-D We had to send a rider after them to bring them back.
We got to the beach after a few wrong turns and once completely missing the turn off. As we got to the beach we realized that we had to (could) ride another 2 kilometers through a sparse palm forest, which had very dense undergrowth. The path was only 6-8 inches wide and our feet were cutting through the grass constantly, but we pepped through that too. At the end of the myriad of paths, we got to the beach head and promptly headed down to the beach, where all of us rode for a while and I decided to head back the way we came, to park on hard ground. But the sand was too soft to climb.
Mandar pointed out a different spot a bit down the beach where it would be a little easier. So I rode down leaving the rest behind. There was a steep incline, which took some doing on my part since my clutch was a little... iffy. As a got to the top, I saw a couple engaged in some activity, which should best be kept out of blogs like these, but the guy clapped for me, since Mandar, Abhi & Sushil had gone before me and had disturbed their peace already. I believe Mandar was also doing the rodeo thing with going up, jumping off and pepping up...
We went down to the beach after that. But the sun had come out in all it's glory. So we quickly took cover. In 30 seconds flat, Tricia and KT found a good spot and took a nap. We sat around and chatted for a while. Rashmi, Bruce and I took our cameras out and spoke at length about the shutter speed we should use, aperture, film pushing etc. Rashmi was playing with Bruce's tripod, then also asked him if it became any bigger. Lots of tongue in cheek at that point. I found a little pennensula, which I dubbed the "Maharashtra's pubic mound".
It turns out that Sushil and I are connected by the follicle. He used to shave a girls head. That's girl's brother was my housemate who to help me when I used to be skinhead. It was quite amusing to realise how easy it is to find people who know each other.
Mandar, Abhi and Venkat rode the 10 minutes to the village to pick up beer. I took the seat off my bike so Tricia could be a little more comfortable. We finished our beers (Tricia and I decided against it) and got back on our bikes and started the ride back home. After we crossed the village, Venkat rode alongside me and said something I did not get over the thumping of our bikes. Thinking it was not important, I rode off. KT, being the team player that he is, rode off very fast, we had no way of catching up with him, unless we wanted to break away too. Another 10 minutes of riding and Venkat came back, next to me. We turned our engines off. He told me that Ashu went to the village to buy some stuff. Immediately, Tricia wanted to head back to the village too ;-)
We rode hard through the mountain, taking the turns low without hitting our brakes. A good ride. We stopped at a random bus-stop, Venkat immediately parked INSIDE it. Ashu and Bruce caught us with us a few minutes later, when we rode off again. We reached the highway, and started looking for a loo for Rashmi. The closest one was 20 kilometers away. Venkat/Rashmi & KT/Abhi rode hard. I was keeping up, but I could feel my bike start to overheat, so I slowed down and stopped for 5 minutes. Sushil and Mandar caught up with us. Ashu/Bruce were left far behind. They had problems with points again.
After 5 minutes, we started off again, and I realised that I was in reserve. Needed gas... ASAP. Had about 20-25 kilometers left in my tank. Rode at asteady 60kmph pace and found a gas station right next to where the other guys stopped for food and bladder release.
We ordered omlettes, after 3, were told that, the establishment had run out of eggs. So we got a few mix veggie bhajji (fritters) plates. Suddenly we realised that it was still Venkat's birthday and picked him up and kicked him till he was screaming for his mommy and his family doctor. He still owes us a few rounds of drinks for making this a very memorable birthday. Mandar had to leave early due to family festivities.
We rode back to Bombay, where Sushil, Ashu/Bruce and Tricia/yours truly kept pace. Bruce told us he lives parallel to the highway, it took us 20 minutes to ride to his place, inside Borivali, through the processions that slowed us down dramatically. As soon as dropped Bruce off, Ashu's bike died. After a half hour, his bike finally started and we rode back to Andheri. Ashu and I lost Sushil for a while. Riding was a little difficult since my cluch was not working well at low speeds. So I was pepping through traffic. After a very full highway, we got back on the streets that took us home.
Got back, took a shower, put our clothes to wash and had noodles for dinner.
All in all a good way to spend a day celebrating 4 years together.
Venkat and Ashu came over to my place and we looked at the map for locations we can ride besides the obvious choice... Lonavla. I noticed Kelva beach, which seemed to be a decent ride. 70km on the highway and another 50 through winding mountain road. So we called everyone, except Abhilash, whose phone could not get signal, even if it was welded onto a transceiver.
Venkat, Ashu, Bruce and some of the guys headed off to the Bombay Aces/Roadshakers party (?) at Marve, which Tricia and I not to attend, since it would be 4 years the next day of us dating.... Yes! Tricia still wants to celebrate that. We went to Mainland China for dinner where we ran into other friends.
Back to Sunday:
We woke at 5:30am. I called Ashu, Sushil and Venkat. Venkat would not answer his phone. His excuse was that, he was in the loo... Oh well. We all know Venkat's excuses.
Met up with Ashu and Sushil at Apna Bazaar and rode off to the highway. Soon three Jap bikes overtook us. These were possibly part of the ride we were originally supposed to be on.
We headed north towards Dahisar Check Naka, to catch up with the rest of guys. Ashu peeled off to pick Bruce up, which for some unexplained reason took him over half hour. At this time Tricia reminded us that it was Venkat's (Rabid Dog) birthday. We wished him and demanded that he pay for lunch, like the good friends we are. At 8am, we decided not to wait for Stephanus any more and we rode off. Tricia was already hungry and we decided to look for a restaurant. The highway was nice and empty. We pepped up north.
The road was in great shape. The sky was severely overcast, which was a good thing, since it made the ride even more pleasant. Halfway through the ride, we found a decent restaurant, this was 2 kilometers before the turn, off the highway.
Inside we sat down and ordered the usual fare of Idlis, Dosas and the scariest breakfast in the world "Missile Pau". For the longest time I have convinced many people that is actually called Missile Pau because by afternoon, missiles will launch in your loo. It is, in all seriousness called MISSAL PAU. I have no idea what it is made of, but I'm not brave enough to find out.
At the restaurant I went to the manager and asked him for the directions to Kelva beach. He gave me a very non committal answer and walked off to greet another guest. As always, I was pissed off. I guess large prides of bikers (like lions) aren't the most respected, but HEY! So I walked up to him and threatened him with dire consequences... And pat, came directions to the T.
As we were getting ready to mount our steeds, we noticed a monkey chained to a a metal railing. The little monkey, while playing around had entangled the chain to the railing, which was about 5 feet high. If the monkey had jumped to the ground it would have certainly choked. I was at my greenpeace best as I pulled out my wire cutters to free the monkey. Tricia talked sense into me, saying that we need to speak to the establishment. I went spoke to a few people and someone came back to untangle the chain. Unfortunately we had to leave the monkey there. I will call PETA to find out if they can keep a monkey in captivity like that.
We got back on track to head towards Kelva. A few minutes down the road we took the turn, and headed towards Manor, Palgarh and eventually towards Kelva. Almost immediately we started climbing hills. The road was a little wet, so we kept our speed at 60-70. Tricia pulled out the camera and got some excellent shots of Chief, Abhi, KT, Venkat and Rashmi.
We were almost at the beach, when the rain gods decided that we need to pay our respect to the local economy. We stopped at a small eatery. We were promptly directed to the family room, which was meant for a family where the father would be a pimp. Each of the strobe lights on the ceiling was a different colour of the rainbow. We sat around and promptly Venkat started on his favorite topic. Bruce bashing. So to distract everyone, from the bashing, Bruce pulled his gadget out. Nope, it's not what you think. He pulled his PDA/Phone out. Venkat made fun of it for a few seconds till he saw it... Then he was all over it. Tricia got a video of me scratching my belly, very classy, you should see it.
That place was a Chinese restaurant with the menu in Hindi... They had Singhapur Flied Rice... mmmm yummy. I just cannot wait to dig into this. We left that place as soon as the rain let up a little. Some of the boys, jumped on their machines and rode off... In the wrong direction. :-D We had to send a rider after them to bring them back.
We got to the beach after a few wrong turns and once completely missing the turn off. As we got to the beach we realized that we had to (could) ride another 2 kilometers through a sparse palm forest, which had very dense undergrowth. The path was only 6-8 inches wide and our feet were cutting through the grass constantly, but we pepped through that too. At the end of the myriad of paths, we got to the beach head and promptly headed down to the beach, where all of us rode for a while and I decided to head back the way we came, to park on hard ground. But the sand was too soft to climb.
Mandar pointed out a different spot a bit down the beach where it would be a little easier. So I rode down leaving the rest behind. There was a steep incline, which took some doing on my part since my clutch was a little... iffy. As a got to the top, I saw a couple engaged in some activity, which should best be kept out of blogs like these, but the guy clapped for me, since Mandar, Abhi & Sushil had gone before me and had disturbed their peace already. I believe Mandar was also doing the rodeo thing with going up, jumping off and pepping up...
We went down to the beach after that. But the sun had come out in all it's glory. So we quickly took cover. In 30 seconds flat, Tricia and KT found a good spot and took a nap. We sat around and chatted for a while. Rashmi, Bruce and I took our cameras out and spoke at length about the shutter speed we should use, aperture, film pushing etc. Rashmi was playing with Bruce's tripod, then also asked him if it became any bigger. Lots of tongue in cheek at that point. I found a little pennensula, which I dubbed the "Maharashtra's pubic mound".
It turns out that Sushil and I are connected by the follicle. He used to shave a girls head. That's girl's brother was my housemate who to help me when I used to be skinhead. It was quite amusing to realise how easy it is to find people who know each other.
Mandar, Abhi and Venkat rode the 10 minutes to the village to pick up beer. I took the seat off my bike so Tricia could be a little more comfortable. We finished our beers (Tricia and I decided against it) and got back on our bikes and started the ride back home. After we crossed the village, Venkat rode alongside me and said something I did not get over the thumping of our bikes. Thinking it was not important, I rode off. KT, being the team player that he is, rode off very fast, we had no way of catching up with him, unless we wanted to break away too. Another 10 minutes of riding and Venkat came back, next to me. We turned our engines off. He told me that Ashu went to the village to buy some stuff. Immediately, Tricia wanted to head back to the village too ;-)
We rode hard through the mountain, taking the turns low without hitting our brakes. A good ride. We stopped at a random bus-stop, Venkat immediately parked INSIDE it. Ashu and Bruce caught us with us a few minutes later, when we rode off again. We reached the highway, and started looking for a loo for Rashmi. The closest one was 20 kilometers away. Venkat/Rashmi & KT/Abhi rode hard. I was keeping up, but I could feel my bike start to overheat, so I slowed down and stopped for 5 minutes. Sushil and Mandar caught up with us. Ashu/Bruce were left far behind. They had problems with points again.
After 5 minutes, we started off again, and I realised that I was in reserve. Needed gas... ASAP. Had about 20-25 kilometers left in my tank. Rode at asteady 60kmph pace and found a gas station right next to where the other guys stopped for food and bladder release.
We ordered omlettes, after 3, were told that, the establishment had run out of eggs. So we got a few mix veggie bhajji (fritters) plates. Suddenly we realised that it was still Venkat's birthday and picked him up and kicked him till he was screaming for his mommy and his family doctor. He still owes us a few rounds of drinks for making this a very memorable birthday. Mandar had to leave early due to family festivities.
We rode back to Bombay, where Sushil, Ashu/Bruce and Tricia/yours truly kept pace. Bruce told us he lives parallel to the highway, it took us 20 minutes to ride to his place, inside Borivali, through the processions that slowed us down dramatically. As soon as dropped Bruce off, Ashu's bike died. After a half hour, his bike finally started and we rode back to Andheri. Ashu and I lost Sushil for a while. Riding was a little difficult since my cluch was not working well at low speeds. So I was pepping through traffic. After a very full highway, we got back on the streets that took us home.
Got back, took a shower, put our clothes to wash and had noodles for dinner.
All in all a good way to spend a day celebrating 4 years together.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Dahi Handi (An Indian Festival)
Woke up at 7 today. Ashu had asked some of us to come to his place in Juhu for Gokul Ashtami aka Janmashtami. This as far as I remember from my childhood is the celebration of the god Krishna. Krishna as a child was known to steal the cream that was kept in a clay pot suspended from the rafters.
That tradition continues.
A clay pot is suspended from a rope tied at varying heights. In some parts of India they can be almost 7 floors high, it's quite impressive. Almost every year injuries are announced in the newspapers. Some of the difficult ones even have a cash prize involved. In the villages, the Pola or the harvest festival is celebrated in which bullocks are bathed, decorated and taken out in a procession to the accompaniment of beating drums.
Back to Ashu’s, where the reality was quite different.
So I woke at 7, headed over the the gym, which I had been ignoring for the duration of my stay in Hyderabad. After a good workout, I headed back, woke Tricia, made some smoked chicken and cheese grilled sandwiches, some coffee and by 9:30, we were at Ashu's. As we ride in, we realise not much had happened. Ashu was still asleep.
Then started the fun. Two huge 70 litre barrels came out of nowhere and were quickly filled with bore-well water. Then a dude started climbing trees and ropes were tied to them. Bruno, Venkat's nemesis was leashed to a pole that was guaranteed to hold buffalos. Bruno tries to catch all the water thrown at him with his tongue, while Ashu's other dog, Super, is petrified of the wet stuff. He is ferocious chap who gets really rankled when hears the thumping engines of our bikes.
Soon there were tons of people there. Venkat got there about 2 hours late with Rashmi, his photographer neighbour. She had a good Cannon, though I've always maintained that Nikon/Nikkor camera bodies/lenses are superior, but that is a matter of much contention. Aastik asked me... nope, demanded that I get off my ass and help around if I expected to get lunch. I sprung into action tying bananas and oranges to the rope in a very ungainly manner. A banana fell of the rope which was immediately blamed on me. Sometime during this, Nikhil arrived. He used to be Ashu's neighbour and now he's mine (neighbour that is).
At this point Tricia was still trying to get to her 100% and failing quite badly. Then were all called to help Ashu's dad (Ashok) string the pot full of yogurt and money... money??? Yeah man. Money. We put notes and coins into the mixture. And don't worry; the notes were in tiny little plastic bags. It took a while to tie the pot up correctly and get it in the right position with everybody pitching in.
We were all called indoors for the prayer ceremony. It took a while, but as soon as that finished, Ashu's relatives brought in buckets of water and threw it as hard as they could at the congregation. We were told it was going to be wet... and how! Then we all danced at more water was thrown at us. As if the buckets could not hold enough water, hoses were brought in. We were drenched. Venkat tried to hide, but after a while he got the brunt of the water chucking. These were water wars of a totally different nature.
Tricia and Rashmi watched the proceedings from a safe distance. Tricia's excuse was that she had to get to work and when she gives me the look, I quake in my boots :) Rashmi an amateur photographer was using this event as her homework, so did not want her camera wet. Tricia left at about 1:30pm for work. She was sad to miss out on the pot (handi) breaking.
Then another prayer started and halfway through that, everybody walked out to the porch. Ashu's dad climbed onto another person's back and took the coconut kept on top of the pot and broke it. And after that it was a sight to see. 30-35 wet people were on all fours scrambling for the money and then holding it up like an enemy scalp. Was quite amusing for me, watching from a distance.
Then the kids reached up for the fruits on the rope. They were helped by the adults. Bruno poor chap was leashed through the entire proceedings, and was quite unhappy about it. He is usually left to his own devices. Then ensued, more water throwing. Rashmi was cornered by Aastik and after keeping her camera safely, she was drenched. She left soon after.
By now all of us were completely soaked to the bone and it was a cooler day. One of Ashu's colleagues was freezing for some reason, but the rest of us weren't drying up fast enough. We chatted while the meal was set up. The first round of people ate, while we watched very sadly. Then came our turn. The food was really good. We had puri, bhaji, aduvali, some dal with okra, shrikhand, peas, bitter gourd among other things.
We then hung out for a while. Nikhil left. Venkat and I sat around, chatting with Aastik and Ashu. Aastik quietly slink away to catch up on his 40 winks. Ashu looked drained too, considering he had slept 12 hours the previous night.
Venkat and I rode off to my place to meet up with some other friends for some work, which is another story.
Dinner was really good. We went to Millat Nagar, the Muslim housing society. I am of the belief that the Muslims in each state cook the best food. Kerala, West Bengal, Orissa, UP, MP, Delhi.... the list goes on. We had kababs for dinner. The bill for the 4 of us was 66 rupees. Nice huh? After all this, I picked Tricia up from work and off to bed hey ho!
That tradition continues.
A clay pot is suspended from a rope tied at varying heights. In some parts of India they can be almost 7 floors high, it's quite impressive. Almost every year injuries are announced in the newspapers. Some of the difficult ones even have a cash prize involved. In the villages, the Pola or the harvest festival is celebrated in which bullocks are bathed, decorated and taken out in a procession to the accompaniment of beating drums.
Back to Ashu’s, where the reality was quite different.
So I woke at 7, headed over the the gym, which I had been ignoring for the duration of my stay in Hyderabad. After a good workout, I headed back, woke Tricia, made some smoked chicken and cheese grilled sandwiches, some coffee and by 9:30, we were at Ashu's. As we ride in, we realise not much had happened. Ashu was still asleep.
Then started the fun. Two huge 70 litre barrels came out of nowhere and were quickly filled with bore-well water. Then a dude started climbing trees and ropes were tied to them. Bruno, Venkat's nemesis was leashed to a pole that was guaranteed to hold buffalos. Bruno tries to catch all the water thrown at him with his tongue, while Ashu's other dog, Super, is petrified of the wet stuff. He is ferocious chap who gets really rankled when hears the thumping engines of our bikes.
Soon there were tons of people there. Venkat got there about 2 hours late with Rashmi, his photographer neighbour. She had a good Cannon, though I've always maintained that Nikon/Nikkor camera bodies/lenses are superior, but that is a matter of much contention. Aastik asked me... nope, demanded that I get off my ass and help around if I expected to get lunch. I sprung into action tying bananas and oranges to the rope in a very ungainly manner. A banana fell of the rope which was immediately blamed on me. Sometime during this, Nikhil arrived. He used to be Ashu's neighbour and now he's mine (neighbour that is).
At this point Tricia was still trying to get to her 100% and failing quite badly. Then were all called to help Ashu's dad (Ashok) string the pot full of yogurt and money... money??? Yeah man. Money. We put notes and coins into the mixture. And don't worry; the notes were in tiny little plastic bags. It took a while to tie the pot up correctly and get it in the right position with everybody pitching in.
We were all called indoors for the prayer ceremony. It took a while, but as soon as that finished, Ashu's relatives brought in buckets of water and threw it as hard as they could at the congregation. We were told it was going to be wet... and how! Then we all danced at more water was thrown at us. As if the buckets could not hold enough water, hoses were brought in. We were drenched. Venkat tried to hide, but after a while he got the brunt of the water chucking. These were water wars of a totally different nature.
Tricia and Rashmi watched the proceedings from a safe distance. Tricia's excuse was that she had to get to work and when she gives me the look, I quake in my boots :) Rashmi an amateur photographer was using this event as her homework, so did not want her camera wet. Tricia left at about 1:30pm for work. She was sad to miss out on the pot (handi) breaking.
Then another prayer started and halfway through that, everybody walked out to the porch. Ashu's dad climbed onto another person's back and took the coconut kept on top of the pot and broke it. And after that it was a sight to see. 30-35 wet people were on all fours scrambling for the money and then holding it up like an enemy scalp. Was quite amusing for me, watching from a distance.
Then the kids reached up for the fruits on the rope. They were helped by the adults. Bruno poor chap was leashed through the entire proceedings, and was quite unhappy about it. He is usually left to his own devices. Then ensued, more water throwing. Rashmi was cornered by Aastik and after keeping her camera safely, she was drenched. She left soon after.
By now all of us were completely soaked to the bone and it was a cooler day. One of Ashu's colleagues was freezing for some reason, but the rest of us weren't drying up fast enough. We chatted while the meal was set up. The first round of people ate, while we watched very sadly. Then came our turn. The food was really good. We had puri, bhaji, aduvali, some dal with okra, shrikhand, peas, bitter gourd among other things.
We then hung out for a while. Nikhil left. Venkat and I sat around, chatting with Aastik and Ashu. Aastik quietly slink away to catch up on his 40 winks. Ashu looked drained too, considering he had slept 12 hours the previous night.
Venkat and I rode off to my place to meet up with some other friends for some work, which is another story.
Dinner was really good. We went to Millat Nagar, the Muslim housing society. I am of the belief that the Muslims in each state cook the best food. Kerala, West Bengal, Orissa, UP, MP, Delhi.... the list goes on. We had kababs for dinner. The bill for the 4 of us was 66 rupees. Nice huh? After all this, I picked Tricia up from work and off to bed hey ho!
