The Race on Spit-field road.

Horrible Pune Station Road?

Everyone who has been to Pune knows that stretch of road from Sasoon Hospital,via Pune Station Bus stand, passes in front of Pune Station (His Highness Aga Khan Road,if anyone knows it by that name) and ends up before Alankar Theatre.

Apart from the perpetual road-jams that belong to this stretch, the only reason Joshua detested this road was the part of it near the Station bus stand-
It could be renamed Pune Spittoon Road. Spit-field Road maybe.
The purpose of this road, it would seem,was to receive spit and phlegm until Kingdom come. Never mind the buses,they can skid on the spit, nah?

It was a minefield out there. Joshua always had to walk VERY carefully to avoid all the spots or gashes on the road. There used to be days when he had to run just like the villain in Terminator 2 on that road (Remember the scene when Arnold drives the car with the Connor kid in the back, and the bad guy runs with that Cyborg-like steadfastness and determination behind the car for quite some time? Yeah.).

And when Joshua had to run like that behind the Vishrantwadi bus.. never mind the minefields.Its just infection and muck. Yuck.

He was standing there one night, praying to God for the Swargate-Alandi bus to appear. And he knew what he was praying for.

He wouldn't get a seat. For sure.
He would have to stay squeezed for some time,once inside the bus and do the ballerina thing to avoid being stamped for the rest of the time. For sure.
He would also reach Wadi,real fast and real cheap. For Sure.
For Sure.
Of course, IF he could GET a foothold on that bus,all this would come into the realm of possibilities.
But Joshua had never missed a Swargate-Alandi Bus. It would somehow take him along.
IF he missed it, the next one would be quite an eternity away.

Tired of looking down that road,he did a ballerina-thing to avoid the spit.. he ignored the stupid behemoth-like Wadi-bound buses lying behind him. They would not even scratch themselves for the next 15 minutes,let alone move.

He looked on, hoping to spot the distinct Swargate-Alandi bus. He could read the board on the bus from far,sometimes. A couple of years of running around in Pune had hard-wired into him that gut-feeling,call it intuition. He knew it when the Swarg..

Oh Crap, here it was! The bus glided out of nowhere,bright lights and all! Joshua was just pulling his bag up a bit more securely when he saw the murderous rush at the rear door of the bus.
It was just like a swarm of bees that had found the last flower before the impending famine. And this swarm of madmen would stamp you to chutney. And if you didn't stay clear, that odd suitcase,or that sack full of metal things,or that IRON-box(^%#%&#) on their shoulders would turn your head into pulp and you into Jason Bourne.

Joshua had opted long back to just go home,so he skipped out of the way of the swarm,never mind the spit-minefield.

The bus was here. And Joshua could not even get within 2 metres of the door.
It looked like all these henchmen were trying to avoid Joshua. Did he have the plague or something?

No. NO trying the front door,are you mad? Better stand in front of a multi-barrel machine-gun. The Driver would stop the bus and chase to death anyone who tried to enter through the front door. That's the exit you see.

By this time,half the swarm was in, and Joshua could not find a single foothold. He TRIED to think of toe-hold on the foot-board,it was pointless..he would lose half his precious teeth in 30 seconds.

Joshua could not believe it. The swarm was hogging the foot-board and the bus was moving on without him on it. WAT the.. Joshua thought as he started jogging behind the bus. His mind was on fire..
" I cant miss THIS bus. THAT'S not happened. EVER!! What will i do now..it's so late!"

The bus was gone. Joshua had lost. Unbelievable. Joshua stopped trying to run. The bus had picked speed and had proceeded to climb the ascent to the circle near Station. It was over. The Behemoths behind were smiling in wait.

Joshua was a believer in Jesus Christ,so his mind turned to Him - "HOW DID THIS Happen??".
He was talking almost as if Jesus was driving the bus he missed.
Joshua was furious and who else to pour out your wrath on to?
("What.. i prayed so much..! i thought You would help me out today.. You can't do that Lord? AM STUCK HERE..My folks will be angry if they know am late LORD..what the heck is this??")
His mind was already jumping options, from auto to shared-auto, to Stupid Wadi buses in-wait to next Alandi bus (" that will be Too late! ") and his eyes still looking at the bus 40-odd metres away..


Oh, the bus had stopped at the circle. Traffic snarl.
Oh,it's just a spit-field.

Joshua would have always agreed that running to the middle of a Pune Road to board a bus was very stupid,very risky. And he knew if he thought a bit rationally,this he would not do. And he didn't give his mind a chance to think. So he ran.
Joshua was not the physical-stamina kind of guy,but he was never in this mess before either.

And Joshua,ran only to win. He could not take failure. That was hard-wired into him a decade back maybe. The bus was some 30 metres away.

Joshua ran up the ascending road. Freak, the bus had started moving now!
("Oh,LORD Noo.. pleaaase help me")
He ran right across the circle,vehicles coming in from 3 directions,crossed the road and was some 10 metres behind the bus.
It had picked up speed again.

("LORD,if i miss this, YOU will be ashamed! Look at me! I would be in no condition to walk back to the bus-stand,LORD.. PLEASE.. STOP the Bus!!")

The bus was growling along on the road to Alankar Theatre. Joshua was huffing,and running. The Swarm hanging onto the foot board was watching. They must have shouted something,all of it missed Joshua's ears.
" There goes the villain from Terminator2 ",some fellow could have shouted for some inspiration.

If the bus reached the curve before the theatre, Joshua would simply have No chance. It's there that these things accelerate like crazy.

The bus slowed down and picked up speed at least 5-6 times on that road.
And Joshua's hopes were dashed and pulled up that many times. And this was His Highness Aga Khan Road, so Joshua was busy dodging Autos,people,jerks,other kinds of humanity,a wall,cars,bikes,suitcases and similar stuff.

The furious talk in his head with God didn't stop all this time.
("I will stop now! You have let me down. This was sad! I cant Breathe!")

("I will hitch-hike instead. I WONT go back to wait for another STUPID BUS,Lord!!")

( "Yess.. RUN Man.. God will help me out! ")

And suddenly,to Joshua's horror, the bus had reach the curve before the theatre.
It slowed a bit, (once again the hope-dashing thing happened to him) and then the freaky driver stepped on it. The bus swerved ahead and Joshua's insides screamed silently.
( "NOO Lord.. pleeeaase no..")

He was angry,spent,frustrated,sinking in despair,terribly at a loss as to..








The bus had stopped.
Must have been some stupid pedestrian who had crossed the road suddenly.


Joshua ran like a one-man swarm, bag flailing,lungs working overtime(!), eyes and mouth wide-open. The bus started moving again,very slowly. And this time Joshua was shouting on his inside,
("LORD, i will get it! YES LORD, i will get THAT bus..")

As he reached the foot board, he wasn't his usual polite self. As he reached the bus, he was ready to give heck to the henchmen. And as he looked on,it was awesome. There was no more swarm. The bees had moved inside. Foot board was clear to go.

He jumped on,caught the rod at the door,got the ordained metal bit of foot-board and he stayed there.
("Lord,I CANT Believe it!! Thank you LORD, THANK you LORD!! Oh yesss..")
Conductor and swarm must have said something,he didn't catch any of it.
He was doubled up on the foot-board,learning to breathe at that place,in that way for the first time.
The wind was waving in and out of him and Joshua was still trying hard to breathe.

He didn't want to sit.
He didn't want to stand.
He just wanted to breathe it all away.

His God had given him the foot board.

~~~ The Silent Bluebird ~~~

Bluebird (2004) ..

Chanced upon this movie on tv this afternoon.

It looked so realsitic, for the first few minutes i thought it was a documentary or something.

Could not finish watching it, but it was about the life of someone so different from what i am.

An ambitious, talented, fragile, bullied, silent ( her silence, i loved ! ) , skateboarding, train-riding, absloutely-engrossed-in-reading (even when she's getting off the train, she cant put down that Roald Dahl book.) occasionally shop-lifting, 12-year old girl.. Merel.

I believe her severely handicapped younger brother Casper to be the most blessed person around with a sister like that.. see, now am talking like all this actually happened.

THATS what a movie should be like.. it should stir you to the extent of making you talk about it as if you lived to see it happen in flesh; as if this was not a cast of actors pretending on-screen.. man!

To add some more, it rotates around this girl's daily life..day after day after day.. sound boring enough? Then you should watch it.. and if you are the action-movie-only kinds, well i understand you might feel it challenging to watch this.

But the flow of emotion that runs through the entire story is admirable. The actor who plays Merel is scintillating in performance- its a treat to see her mould into the character of Merel..

the sudden freedom she experiences while diving at the swimming pool, her need of recognition, her wants, her desires she tells no one,( but she does try; take a look at this)-

Merel: can i have piercings ?

Father: Piercings..? You are only 12..!

Merel: 12 and a half in three days.

Father: ok, how about earrings, thats a piercing!

Merel (disappointed and gets off the car): Earrings..

Father: Merel...

her immense love for Casper, her patience with his disabilities, the way she scoots him to the docks in his wheelchair and the way they both sit and talk about stories of far-away lands that exist in the minds, the terrible sadness she faces when Casper is all set to be sent to an institution, the way she hides the taunting and bullying she endures quietly at school.. it was lovely. These are the times you wish you could pause the movie on tv,rewind it and watch it from the very beginning..

The Serene

Of All the things i have gained, i miss my friends the most.

i wish i were Homeward bound..?

F5..
no new scrap.
F5..
no new scrap.
so,visit my own profile. scroll down. double-take at "hometown".
Hometown : Trivandrum.
Yeah right. Born in Udhampur,Jammu and Kashmir,India (or was it Pakistan..? leave it to Mushmohan and Manarraf, sorry did i mix up their names..?)

that Hometown remark set the erstwhile cogs in my head a turnin..
Trivandrum..i never belonged there.. yeah i am a native of Kerala (and i Adore that place),i can speak Malayalam (my own version please..) but i cant call the capital city Trivandrum my home. Yeah lived there for 4 years and did my kindergarten there,so? Go on vacation every semester break,so?
Trivandrum was never my hometown, just an obligation. The beaches are beautiful,my strongest memories of family reunions have a touch of Trivandrum-every single train i boarded due South,made me long for the Enchantment called Kerala. But Home- naah..
So- Hometown : __________ .

Hyderabad? 5 years -5 Blaze of Glory years.. Onslaught of Teenage. Mr.Academics at High School.. Introduction to Rock,Pop,so on.. so forth. Riding the Kinetic Honda up that hill to watch the blazing sun set by Golconda Fort. Every evening. Every single train i boarded for Hyd n Sec,pushed me down the memory stairs to the days of Glory.. Not home.. not yet.

Pune? 4 years - that single most memorable event in life called College. The Pits in Acads. Saying goodbye to the Maestro within. Standing in front of the mirror,trying to look at failure,but not being able to find it. Stood watching as Life became a cold,Cold milkshake- Flavour~ Gaming and Movies and Music. Then found friends who actually lived. And made me live~ 3rd Year and 4th year running.. finding Everlasting Hope, Enduring Love.. Un-Crunchable Faith. Wont want to leave Pune,nope.. every single train i boarded for Pune made my heart sink and soar.. like a ship with a cargo of yo-yos on high sea.. Home- maybe, just maybe.

Every single time i board a train now.. all those years of relentless Nation-trotting rush into my headspace like floodwaters.. papa bustling around trying to make sure we got our berths,our food..that sense of security with him around.. me and my sister going for Rail Aahar instead of mummy's yummy homemade food (man,Mummy Must have felt bad,u know..) Never being able to stand at the gateway.. always longing to do just that.. Me and my dear sister fighting over Who would get to sit by the window,me winning most of the times and- Now am feeling bad for her..How papa and me almost didnt notice the train beginning to move out of Balasore station in Orissa,while we were having a stroll there..how he shoved me into the compartment while running at full speed..
All those years bygone,now i walk alone (yup, just like that Green Day song goes)..
Now,its just Me standing at the door,wind rushing in and out of my mouth (you know,dogs have a gala time poking their heads outta the windows of cars,its Fun- i speak out of experience now..)
whizzing past shades of coastal Green that God created.. Letting the morning Goan mist smother my face at 80kmph.. He must have said- have Fun kiddo !

Hometown : Every time i get into a Train, i feel am at Home..