Where I stand

My book to your story
My spotlight to your show
My defiance to your destiny
My yes to your no

Only for the seeker

At times, looking into your eyes
Is like star-gazing at the skies


When in the darkness, I find
The light of what the fragile left behind.

From what? to whoa! in 10 emails

I reproduce correspondence with a friend from a couple of days ago. The series of emails made me wonder if men and women can ever fully know what the other one’s talking about. I haven't edited anything - even the typos committed in agitation remain. What we said to each other and why is bizarre enough.

Here goes:

Mail 1:

From: FRIEND@some e-mail address

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 10:15 AM

To: ME@ some other email address

Subject: RE: wrote a poem

Good Day.

One good movie that I saw & would recommend anyone is “Pyar Ka Punchnama” or Autopsy of Love. J

It clearly shows how girls in Cities manipulate guys. They have a lot going on in their life and how they use many guys for their personal benefit. It is so true and movie is hilarious.

Most guys from cities will identify with the 3 main male leads in the movie and must have been a victim sometime in their life. 

Watch it you will love it.

Got 2 mock interviews today.

Mail 2:

From: ME@ some email address

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 10:18 AM

To: FRIEND@some other e-mail address

Subject: RE: wrote a poem

Yeah. Have heard about it. If guys from cities can indeed be used, it’s commendable. I’d think they are fairly useless. He he he! But more power to the women who think otherwise.

Mail 3:

From: FRIEND@some e-mail address

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 10:37 AM

To: ME @some other e-mail address

Subject: RE: wrote a poem

If you see this one you will change your opinion. But never mind why are we discussing, J . Its Friday and week ends yippee.

Mail 4:

From: ME @some e-mail address

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 10:41 AM

To: FRIEND@some other e-mail address

Subject: RE: wrote a poem

We are discussing because you started it. Seems like it is unlikely to get an email from you that is not laced with some sort of bitter sarcasm. And while I may like a film, it’s unlikely to ‘change my mind’. Different strokes for different folks.

A friend of mine is visiting from Bombay today. So, yep – party time! My cook’s gonna make some yummy mutton – that’s what she says. J

Mail 5:

From: FRIEND@some e-mail address

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 12:29 PM

To: ME @some other e-mail address

Subject: RE: wrote a poem

Where was sarcasm ? It’s the plot of the movie. I was recommended by a girl to watch this flick.

Good have fun.

Mail 6:

From: FRIEND@some e-mail address

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 12:39 PM

To: ME@some other e-mail address

Subject: RE: wrote a poem

A ‘city girl’ recommended the film? You mean, those blighted creatures who ruthlessly use and abuse unsuspecting lambs (meaning city boys)? They actually recommend movies to others? Without any ulterior motive? How is that possible? Be careful. Maybe she wants your liver in return.

 Oh, and maybe you didn’t mean it as sarcasm…but in your earlier email, you mentioned ‘It clearly shows how girls in Cities manipulate guys. They have a lot going on in their life and how they use many guys for  their personal benefit. It is so true…’ You apparently believe that city women behaving like mean heretics is ‘the truth’. THE truth. (How one can arrogate oneself to the position where one’s opinion is disseminated as the absolute truth is disturbing and hilarious.) My email was a response to that. 

 And yes, I’ll have fun. Us city girls make lots of weekend plans. (We have a lot going on in our lives, as the movie apparently indicates. And who can argue with THE truth, right?) Plan to go for breakfast to ‘By the way’ on FC Road. Comes highly recommended. I wonder if my friend will come, though. After all, I wouldn’t want him to feel used by a city girl… J I’ll be sure to pass on the many facets of the truth to him, though. Men are so sweet and gullible. They must know all these things before they can make an informed decision.

Mail 7

From: FRIEND@someemail.com 

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 3:49 PM

To: ME@some other email.com

Subject: RE: wrote a poem

Yeah I had met a girl last year - arranged meeting you know. She had seen it many times and had liked it. She was from khar ghar stayed with a roomie in jogeshwari because of work.

Ask guys around they will tell you how they can easily identify with the characters of the movie. It’s so real that’s why it became a surprise hit last year. Also the dialogues were good.

So you think that I am jealous of you having fun. I am tied up with a lot of responsibilities as of now. Work and family both. Financially too I am a bit stressed. Men are not gullible but many a times we are cheated very easily even as friends. You help somebody in need and when you are in need they give excuses.

It’s not directed at you. It’s just a general observation. J

Mail 8:

From: ME@some e-mail address

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 4:37 PM

To: FRIEND@some other e-mail address

Subject: RE: wrote a poem

No. I do not think that you are ‘jealous’ of me. And frankly – in time, people tend to realize that they get what they deserve, not what they desire. And if we help people in expectation of what they will do for us when we’re in trouble…I doubt if it can even be called help. It’s just a different kind of barter. General observation. Not directed at you or anyone in particular.

Mail 9:

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: ME@some e-mail address

Date: Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 5:14 PM

Subject: FW: wrote a poem

To: FRIEND @some other e-mail address

If…

…you felt badly about anything, sorry. Friends?

Mail 10 

From: FRIEND@some e-mail address

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 5:31 PM

To: ME@some other e-mail address

Subject: RE: if...

 A few years ago I was discussing with my project mates that I saw ‘Musafir’ in theatre and I liked it. One of the guys who was from a small town & was quite orthodox said to me “Tujhe toh aisi hi filmein achi lagen gi” . The promos of the movie were bold – I think that’s why he said so.

Later he saw it on CD he came back and said he was sorry and I was right movie is good. He had formed a wrong opinion.

Well as I had told you a few years back you need to do something really awful so that I stop considering you a pal. This isn’t anything big.

Mock went fine.

Too little, too late, and still worth it

Long hours of yearning

Some respite at last

Many hours of baying

For some moonlight in a glass

Road to hell is paved with good intentions

Shouting at those walls, what?

Hurling all those stones,

For ‘freedom’, tearing down those walls, what?

And orphaning all those homes.

Redeeming Sunday

Saturday night at Hard Rock Cafe was okay. The 'Me too' attitude of the place and the sorry service was a downer (apparently having tattoos and sporting a ponytail is a waiter's license to be rude to patrons) as was Indian Ocean. But the club has superb location. It is beyond Koregaon Park and ABC farms. So, the route involves going past pretty little places decked up like tertiary fireflies. Also setting the mood are the cold, crisp Pune nights. Walking really is invigorating and my friends and I had a lovely moon to keep us company!

Sunday, though, I thought I'd stay clear of venturing into any new territory and just stick to spots I knew well. So, in my head, the day would involve being parked at Soharb Hall. I'd spend a solid hour at a cute, quirky store 'Either-Or'. (It has some pretty dresses in batik prints and cowl necks - very hippie-sipping-champagne type of stylish!) Then I'd go to Crossword and spend a few hours there. Yes. Sohrab hall, it would be. I made up my mind.

Now, in my case, making up the mind involves changing it swiftly. So, a friend called and I gave up my allegiance to familiarity. We tried out this restaurant 'Rasoi' at Shaniwar Peth. We had the thali there and it was awesome! It's Maharashtrian cuisine .A colleague had told me that this place employs cooks from families that actually fed the Peshwas in Pune. And what can I say? The lineage spoke on the plate and how! I don't usually like rotis and I had 4. I don't fancy puris and I had 2. I'm not a dahi wada fan and I had plenty.

There's this green sabzi - it's made with white lentils, spinach, and sweetened with jaggery and roasted coconut. When you eat that, it's a cue for angels to start singing. There were lots of different kinds of pulses and legumes and a tasty dish of bhindi. The gulab jamuns were strictly okay but some people had ordered rasmalai that they thoroughly enjoyed.

And service...that is truly what wins your heart over. Efficient, simple, and polite.

Rasoi got me thinking. Maybe history could have played out differently if Shivaji had made different choices. Maybe he needn't have fought the Mughals. Maybe he could've gotten them to eat the green sabzi and asked them to leave.

Who could say no?

Advice on Pune pubbing choices

To anyone shopping around for clubbing options in Pune, here's what I recommend: Skip Hard Rock - especially when they do 'cutting-edge' stuff like get Indian Ocean (Indian Ocean?!?!$!) to play  their songs from 5th century BC. (I'm pretty sure Kandisa dates back to that time by now.) And when the crowd wants an encore (why they wanted it after the band modified a perfectly good song and made it gimmicky is beyond me!), some dolled up chick comes up on stage and says, "Please let them go now. They played for you and they are tired."

Now, that's what we love to hear about our rockers!

Instead just head over to Cafe Leo's (in the same vicinity) and try their olive risotto or their cream and pesto fusilli. Tasty food, charming ambience, and (if that kind of thing means any thing to you), an off-shoot of the Mumbai Leopold's.

And if you do really want the 'Hard Rock' experience, just head to Mumbai.

Umm...Umm...

That time slipped in, that night slipped out
That life just fell off the hook
When the sky and the world fell away like peels
And I read the coffee asI sipped the book.

(Got scribbled in my head on one of those wonderful Pune evenings.)