A Perfect Circle

11-11-07, 5:45 p.m.

"For the last two hours, one thing has been constant on this desktop. That bearded mo'fucker on the steps there; yeah, he's more jobless than us."

I turn around and through the glass wall I see this guy on the flight of black stairs that connects The Mall to the Ridge.I can see him. He's got his hands on his head and his knees are joined. His head is bowed and is oscillating with a time period just sufficient to cover 27 human footsteps. And from where I'm seated, I can say that his cap is more to conceal the stares rather than to keep his hair in place.

"But he's jobless, dude. I'm writing. You're playing the guitar.He's holding his head."

"I'm dedicating this song to him. Let it be."

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be

Words of Wisdom: There are two ways to see the world go by. One requires you to check in and out of airports, hail taxis, ride buses, walk where wheels can't tread, cycle around streets that have no name and talk to people stranger than yourself. And here's the other: Sit down by the window side table in Barista Coffee House on the Mall and do nothing besides sipping on a hot latte and watch city beautiful (and I believe that 'beautiful' describes the people living here) as she walks past you.

Twenty four hours earlier
"Your telling me that this store crushed the competition?" Pratik asks looking at Rohit 'Good Host' Kondal.

And we burst out laughing.

"Imagine the competition in that case.", I'm quick to dish out my smart arse comment hoping to put the situation from Funny Gear 3 to Funny Gear 4.

We oscillate The Mall (Solan) a couple of times. No bro, this ain't anything like her cousin Shimla. But yes, every smackin' 'ol ATM is here, trust me.

I'm hungry. I can eat a whole Jumbo Burger. We walk into 7's Cafe. And this is when it dawned on me: this is the best interiors of a restaurant I've seen in the hill state. Probably the first floor at Balajees in Shimla compares distantly.And then maybe the bar at HHH ;).

We order. I didn't, they did.And 15 minutes later, it dawned on me again that I hadn't tasted tastier butter naans before.

She's wearing a pink top and a lovely black pant. I say 'lovely' because it tells me she's 30. But her company suggests she's 40 (I do think of Demi Moore). And as she throws her hair aside and glances towards my table, I figure it all out. She's 20.

We pay the chek. I have eye-balled her one too many times to walk away under a pretence of her absence. I go over and say it all in one breath - "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I think you have great eyes."

She mouths a thank you in between a smile.I flash a thumbs up and send her out of my life by walking away.

That night, we smoked a vanilla cigars over some fine Raffles Whiskey; the English way.


Five hours earlier

Every bus that stops is crowded.

"I aint making a two and a half hours journey to Chandigrah on my feet. I'd rather do it on my arse. And I say you take my word." Some things are best thrust up on others for their own good.

Pratik starts the day on two shots of whiskey. I prefer the conventional soap and hot water.

Ten minutes later, we cross the road. Literally. We decide to head back to Shimla. The chiks are better there, it seems. And besides that, what to do in Chandigarh anyways?


11-11-07, 5:45 p.m.

We pay up and walk out into the cold winter evening. We know why we made this trip. One person was to be healed. And the other guy was running out of ideas for his blog.

We got what we wanted, and so did you.

Travelling heals.