the park bench

... and we were walkin barefoot on the grass, holdin hands, shoes on the other hand. we werent saying anything. just walking. a quiet evening. moist grass. starry night. moon playing hide and seek with the clouds. there was so much i wanted to say. but no. it was one of those comfortable silences. very reassuring.
found a lonesome park bench. steered ourselves toward it. i sat on one corner, dropped my shoes. she decided to lie down. stretched out on the bench, with her head on my lap and feet over the armrests on the other side. took my arm and held it tightly across her like a seat belt. i pushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear and started to play with her hair.
she was just looking straight at the starry sky. would have given anything to know what she was thinking. was just going to ask her, when she spoke.
"beautiful."
"yes, u are."
"i was referring to the sky above."
"and i was referring to u."
"u are crazy, u know that."
"yes, i know that."
everything was quiet save a few insects in the bush, probably urging me to say something romantic or just something stupid like 'i love you'. i opened my mouth, but she beat me to it.
"i also love u, u know that."
"yes, i know that."

so whats cooking ?

"lets cook", said S.
K and i looked up, half surprised, half in awe at the suggestion.
well, i was back from my little trip down south. All being well with my family, i started back, happy that i had found time for some old fashioned rock 'n roll and a few hilarious novels that i had enjoyed during my wonder years. Had to make a short stop at Bangalore to attend a colleague's wedding. Its was swell and everything worked out so perfectly for the merry couple. I called up everybody i knew in Bangalore to let them know i am in town. After a few hours, there being nothing more i could do to screw up their lives, I called up everybody i knew in Bangalore to let them know i am leaving town. so there i was travelling back to Mumbai, little did i know what awaited me.
had settled into the apartment, met the guys and the spent the whole day watching the Australian Open and the much delayed India-Pak encounter. we were just back from dinner.
"lets cook", said S.
K and i looked up, half surprised, half in awe at the suggestion. we had just finished dinner but were still a shade hungry. there was a pack of noodles.
S: lets cook
K: u mean, now
S: yes, lets cook
B: u mean, now
S: i feel like it
K: u feel like cooking
S: no i feel like eating
B: we have Tang
S: we'll have that too, with the noodles
To ordinary men, such an ordeal might be quite the third instalment of mission impossible, but not to us marine engineers. we like challenges and believe me, this was one of a kind. surely, i must add, this was a giant leap for mankind.
That started the discussion on thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, convection currents and so on. we discussed whether the Rankine cylcle was relevant to our discussion. after so much of brain storming, we hit upon an idea, and quite successfully managed to boil water. It was simple and efficient. All we did was take water in a pan and placed it over a-recently-procured-electric-stove and plugged it to a 220 volt a/c supply and switched it ON. voila, after a few minutes, the water started to boil. simple and efficient like i said.
K: (looking at the pack) it says here, that 100gm of this noodle would fulfill 20% of our dietary requirement for protein and calcium
B: wonderful, wonderful
S: open it then, make sure u tear along the dotted line
totally enthusiastic, we decided to use up 200 gms from the pack, confident that 40% our dietary requirement for protein and calcium would be fulfilled. so out of the pack and into the pan, went the noodles. we watched in awe as the noodles melted in the hot water.
S: it says here, that we should stir
B: then stir
S: it also says, it would be ready in two minutes
K: damn, i forgot to time it, do we have a stop watch
B: no sweat, that was the test bed results, in actual, it would take more time, owing to actual weather conditions
everything went in an orderly fashion. grand finale - a mixture of assorted spices was added and the whole thing was stirred again, first in the clockwise direction and then when that got monotonous, in the anti-clockwise direction.
K: we did it
B: yes, we did it
S: oh my god, we did it
yummy. it tasted so good, we were left wanting for more and what an experience it was. it elevated the standing of cooks, wives who cooked, moms who cooked and other helpful souls who would cook to a whole new level. so let me summarise quickly the ingredients that go into the successful cooking of some yummy noodles:- a pack of noodles, ofcourse, vegetables (optional), mixture of assorted spices, one electric stove, 220 volt a/c supply, 3 marine engineers and a bottle of fire extinguisher (just in case u wanna play it safe)
wouldn't go to the extent of saying that it was a nerve-racking experience, but would surely appreciate if someone would just invite me over for dinner everyday !

yikes

if i lived anywhere near ramblings i am sure a juicy kick on the butt would be the order of the day. yikes.
i presume, everybody had a wonderful festive season, without my help and all. mine was good owing to a bottomless glass of Port. wonderful what these things can do to you. then i decided to make a trip.
hey, i am just home with my parents. i've just bin diggin up all my old music collections. yahoo, found some of the old beatles records. god, how much i miss them. guess what else, found some P.G. Wodehouse books. yahoo again. so excuse' moi, for a change i am reading books. rest assured, i'll be back to giving blogs a similar treatment.

oh well

well, here i am, in T. Its not a bad place. I am not having a bad time. Everythings not bad. The weather is not bad either. cheerio then.
p.s. : what the fuck am i doing here ?