Meeting Madhu

     I was summing up my courage to taste the Rajma at hostel 3 mess, on my very first day of the college. There was this guy sitting opposite to me on the same table, with a stud in his left ear, a clean shave, a tucked in formal shirt, a soda bottle glass thick spectacle and  underneath them, a pair of fierce eyes. It all seemed very contradictory to me. Like the one they show in movies, a gunda getting dressed so well that he looks like a manager at a bank. But I kept my opinions to myself  as I thought he was a senior guy and staring at him would only lead to me getting ragged. In the later days, Madhu told me that he though I was a senior guy and hesitated to talk to me. Years later, when we look back to that day, we laugh our lungs out.

     It so happened one day that I had a big fight with some rowdy guy in college. And when it eventually came down to settling down physically, Madhu stepped in. The more important thing is that he never asked me what was it all about? Not by a single word. And that's what I like about him. Or how he used to curse the professor when he got more marks than me despite copying from myself. Funny! 

     Most times, it used to come down to just two of us up for a thing. Like watching movies in exam times, playing pool while others were busy doing assignments. He used to be friendly with most of colleagues and I hated most. I believe it's the academic trouble that brought us together.

     One more insignificant but memorable incident. We were coming back to hostel in Madhu's car when someone bumped it from behind, on a red signal. Without saying a word, both of us got down, ready to kick some. Thankfully, there wasn't any damage and so we let it go. The point is we had such strong communication between us that we didn't need words. And I am sure that he doesn't remember this. 
     
     Madhu had been a great friend till date and I hope we remain.    

The Last British Hill Station

There couldn't be any quicker runaway for a Mumbaikar than Matheran. Being just 90 km away from Mumbai, one actually doesn't need to plan  much to tramp there. He could just put on his shoes and head right there. Neral is the base town and can be reached through local trains. When we got there, we found that the toy train running on Neral-Matheran was called off due to rains. I kind of expected it. This toy train is one of its kind in the country. I feel bad I didn't get a chance to experience it a single time, despite going so many times to Matheran. 

Matheran Hill Rail

We took taxi all the way up. If you visit this place in monsoons, you can notice the frequent, tiny waterfalls at the side of the road. One could just pull over and have a nice little shower there. It's that awesome. Well, we reached the top and had to take tickets to enter Matheran. Let me tell you, there are other ways too. One could just wander through the jungle and get into. 

Falls by the road

It was sunny. We decided to go to Panorama Point first. It was a healthy three kilometres walk there and back. Oh! I forgot to tell you that motorised vehicles are banned here. The most comfortable thing you could get is a horse. At the Panorama point, one could see 360 degrees standing there. Punit explained me the meaning of Panorama and the fact that digicams have such a mode, used to capture long, continuous images.

A lovely path

People talk about hundreds of vibrant colours in a scenery. For Matheran, there are just three. Red, green, blue. The red soil, green woods and blue sky. And it didn't make it any less beautiful for sure. It was getting darker as clouds were having a get-together in the skies. We scrolled back to the main area, called Bazaar. It soon started raining. Gradually, it was all white. It surprised me that being just 800 metres high, we were already walking in the clouds. Punit and Ankit were not ready to get wet, but a little persuasion worked. It felt good, and cold. We had some snacks and started skipping again. 

Bazaar

There is this point, One Tree Hill, which is quite amazing. I loved the empty spaces on that tiny hill, for a change. Other points seemed pretty much ordinary to me. We couldn't take out time to visit the temple on the other side of the hill. There's nothing special about it except for there's a dam nearby. Don't get your hopes  high; they don't allow swimming there. Although there is a club which does this thing. Crossing the valley on a rope. I don't know what do they call it exactly. 

One Tree Hill

Dam reservoirs 

While coming down, we chose to go by the railway tracks. The scenery was just amazing. Also, had a natural shower. It was an awful long  and lonely way down. I noticed some numbers besides the tracks, like the ones they write for informational purposes. 109... after some time 108...107...106. To my horror, those meant fucking kilometres. It was actually 109 km from Neral to Matheran via the railway. I kept mum about the fact and let my friends enjoy the scenery. Tired, exhausted, we took a cab from the first intersection point, to Neral. We reached within minutes. Took a local back home. 

The Railway Track

The Ganesha Idol

As Punit Says - Boys love it, nature isn't too far behind.

My First Afghani Friend

It was a lonely road. The midnight cold breeze, a flickering street light, distant sound of dogs barking made the stroll only more enjoyable. It was silent. As silent as it could get. We were heading towards the main gate of the campus. An auto-rikshaw approached us but it  left us disappointed when we found out that it was already taken. But we still took our chances and stopped it. There was a boy, our age, sitting alone in the corner seat. It was dark and I couldn't see his face properly, so I did not make an opinion about him. 

'Dude, can we share auto till Sindhi Camp? We have to catch a bus.', I asked hesitatingly, while Dodo was looking at sky as if he had no hopes to get a ride.

'Sure! Hopp in.' It brought instant smiles to our faces. We did. 

'Ketan. Final year mech', I said, approaching him for a handshake. 

'Dodo. Same.', Dodo said, bringing an artificial, forged smile.

'Hi! Lativ. Second year civil engineering. Where are you guys headed anyways?' He was talking in a very slow and broken accent. At the same time, his voice seemed full of pride and respect. It hit me that he must be from Afghanistan. I knew that they had some kind of scholarship programme for Afghani students in our college. There were a few in our batch too but I never went their way.

'Delhi', we said in union. 'We'll take a bus to Delhi from Sindhi Camp...'. He didn't let me complete. 

'That makes us friends till Delhi', he said in excitement. 

That last line made me like him instantly. All three laughed healthily. We didn't speak a word for the rest of journey in that old, noisy, annoying auto-rikshaw. We retired at Sindhi Camp just to find out that the last Volvo bus to Delhi was already full. Shit! We turned to other private buses; but no luck. 

'Weird. There are buses to Delhi every 15 minutes. What is it today? WTF day or something?' I said getting a little frustrated. 

'Guys, I can't afford to get late. I have a flight tomorrow, to Afghanistan, at 11. It's gonna cost me a lot if I miss it.' Lativ said in a serious tone. 

'Don't worry Lativ, we'll get you there...on time.' Dodo said promisingly,  putting his right hand on Lativ's shoulder. 

Without wasting a second, we turned to most ordinary government buses. These were the cheapest, dirtiest and most dangerous buses one could get. There was a long queue. I stood in line like a good boy, while Dodo and Lativ were trying their luck to get a cut in the queue. Lativ got one. When he reached the ticket counter, he asked for three tickets to Delhi. There were only two available in that bus. (It surely was WTF day that day.) Lativ was in confusion again. He couldn't decide weather to take it or wait for the next bus. 

'You go ahead. Me and Ketan will catch the next bus. dont worry about it.' Dodo told him. Standing a little behind them, clueless, I could only guess what could be the matter. Both returned with long faces. 

'They had only two left. I said Lativ should take it as he has a flight to catch.' Righteous thing as it seemed to me.

We helped Lativ to put his luggage and bought few food items for him. He seemed awkward. To be sorry or to be thankful. We hugged and said good bye. We got another bus half an hour later. It felt good. Good to have a stranger as friend for such a short time!

Identifying a Pure Heart

We were three. Wandering on the streets of Delhi. The city flooded with filth. While some are living the dream, others live like rats. But I never thought about it at that time.

Scrolling up the staircase towards the metro station, we were lost in the conversation. It was me, Dodo and Adi. I paid hardly any attention to passing faces. Just then an elderly man, carrying two big, heavy bags, fumbled, just a couple of steps ahead of us. He regained balance. Tired and soaked by the sun, he put down the bags. He was too ordinary to gasp our attention otherwise. Mine or Dodo's especially.

I was so engrossed in talking that I didn't even give him any look. But only Adi saw exactly what all should have seen. He swiftly went up to the old man and offered him help. The old man denied him out of dignity. Adi joined us back in our talk. It happened so quickly that I didn't even take a pause in my verbal shit. Avoiding eye contact, giving indifferent looks, Adi pretended as if nothing happened. He kept walking. And so did we, as me and Dodo exchanged glances.

Do we need a reason to be good? That day, it differentiated us. The pure and the corrupt. I envied him. Though it was a very usual incident, I still remember it. I could just wish, I had such a heart.