Updates

There could have been many reasons why its taken me almost a month to get back in here. Perhaps I was busy, so filled to my tendons with work and related socialising that it was impossible to lay hands on my own piece to the world, but that, really wasn't the case.

I've stopped analysing myself for the state that I find myself in. Its a state of total vegetativeness. Now, isn't that something we've discussed before? I guess we have. So let's leave that and talk about how it feels to be back home after quite some time, the longest period so far actually, and its specifics.

Let's talk about other things I've been wanting to talk about. I've been in Delhi for almost a month now. There have been a few new things that I've been doing. I've started learning swimming. After almost a decade of chiding different people on their inability to drive/ride a horse/swim, I decided it was time for me to learn the only thing left out for me. So I trudge the 90kg weight into a pool full of water each day, and heave ho. Apart from the marathon sleeping spells it induces, life's been good so far. Its a nice start to day, though I'm already becoming weary of it. The refreshing feeling is being replaced slowly by one of dread. Of waking up and finding myself in a pool full of children. Its summer vacation and there's a truckload of them out there. This is a public pool, not very expensive, and also, BSES has an employee arrangement. So there are about 100 children in the pool everyday. Agreed they don't swim where I do, me being tall and all, but a few of them do. And can they get up your nose.

There's this one particular girl who's worth a mention. Must be 12-odd. She thinks she's the queen of Sheba. Each time she deigns it fit to swim, she shouts excuse me at least 249 times across the length she's decided to wade through. Its supposed to be clear for her to swim. In a public pool. If there was one drowning allowed per summer vacation, it could be her. Or she could take up Yoga you know. Don't really know what to do. But if I hear another Excuse me grating me to madness, I'll order a execution, aquafina style.
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Went to see a live match for the 1st time. It was the partly rain-washed, we lost match between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab. The match was a non-event, so I'd tell you something else instead. You've heard a million hindi songs by now in your life, that talk about the beauty of the rains. You haven't really felt it so far. Baarish is just another word that rhymes with Khaarish, so you'd think people just fit it in. Its only when you've seen it falling in a floodlit atmosphere from over 200 ft, that you realise the beauty of it all. It feels like a pale gray sheet on the dark dark night. And it keeps changing its shape every so often. The wind plays havoc, and it persists. And then it comes down like a piece of heavy drape, and becomes a muslin chunni in a minute. There's so much to it. I wish I had half the literary talent needed to tell you what it feels. If you get the chance, try and go see a rain-washed night cricket match. Just the rain would be worth it. Only when you're under the covers.
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I've been spending time with a NGO. Not that I volunteered, but I had to. The experience so far hasn't been as uplifting as I expected/wanted it to be. I've always had this urge to work in the Civil Society, as they call it. The call is yet to come to me. I've been trying. The real life examples give me the adrenaline, but they are far and few between. The guy I've been working with, joined the Salaam Balak Trust as a Street child, and has brought together everything to have gone through multiple jobs, and be a supervisor at the Trust today. We have a good time. Street Children are taught, aided with life skills and given assistance with other things. Most of them trip on Fluid, the type that's used in sarkaari offices and some modern ones to thin the correction fluid. Some take tokes of it, others drink it! What it does to there internals is anatomy sangfroid, but that's the truth. Many of these children beg around PVR Anupam, so there's a fair chance if you ask them about me, they'd know. Most of them. Some of them are too inebiriated most times of the day to tell us their own names.
This center is pretty small, but there's loads of fun to be had. You'd be amazed at their ability to do the kind of stuff they do. We play, we study, we do loads of other stuff. A few pics-


This is the NGO. That red structure in the middle. That's it! There's no space available for NGO's in the high rental Saket area, so we make do with what we have.


Some of 'em playing carrom inside. That's how big it is.



One of the chimps up the wall.

A party.