The Legacy continues……III

---> Party

Man we were killin' time
We were young and restless
We needed to unwind
I guess nothin' can last forever - forever, no

And now the times are changin'
Look at everything that's come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
I think about ya wonder what went wrong

Of the Snowspark food and Party’s enlightenment

The biggest worry for any North Indian traversing this neck of the woods is Food. Specially one elusive of Roti and Daal.. Give them a plate full of those staple delicacies and half the worries vanish in thin air. The Gang at Raagamallika wasn’t any exception. Initial months passed in search of that elusive Roti and a decent dinner. Lunch in office was as horrible as peeing in a public loo. Yet the spirits never drooped. It was decided the cooking will be imbibed as an essential skills of software professionals of “multi national software company”.

Most Sardarji have this uncanny knack of being a real good cook. Somehow in their genes the cooking skills dominate in obscene proportions. For the foursome nothing could have been better than this. Chawla’s whining habits never propelled his inclination to even earn a basic degree in cooking, Party didn’t like to mess with a thing which hasn’t had any glamour and extra terrestrial virus associated with it, Addy did meddle his hand at times yet the kitchen of A-1 Raagamallika belonged to Bhatia. It was Bhatia’s exclusive laboratory.

Initial experiments comprised of half cooked paratha , puris along with surprisingly delicious sabji. However even the genes within Bhatia couldn’t give the Picassoian or Mozart touch to the gourmet. The torture didn’t last too long when Party seeing his fast reducing waistline decided to get hold of a caterer called Snowspark which could fill his pythoinised appetite. After all “Khaane ka…peene ka…tension nahin lene ka….” - Party’s buzz word was under serious threat.

The dinner use to kick off with Chawla’s discernible scrutiny about the purity of Aata in the Roti , the content of oil in the sabji and the taste of daal to suit the tongue. Only after the judgment was passed by Scientist Chawla, in presidential style, about the defects and errors, lack of ISO certified compliances and missing of CMM level 5 adherences in the preparation, the rest three could do the jumpstart towards filling their starved tummy. Word floated in the air of Chennai that Chawla’s purity test and refined palate was impeccable and of most stringent order. If you can satisfy saliva of Connoisseur Chawla, you are the epitome of The Cuisine Art.

Meanwhile Party’s loitering mind decided to sense another dimension of intellectual bliss, an experience of writing the toughest examination in the country The CAT. Simultaneously Cupid too finally decided to bestow its blessing to his romantic quotient and introduced not one, not two but half a dozen species from Venus, the women – the elusive fairer sex - in his life for which he had been struggling for ages. Perhaps it was too much for his fickle mind to handle and probably for first time Addy, Bhatia and Chawla started sensing something humanly brewing up inside his physical frame. It was omen of something improbable to happen.

The clear motifs inside Party’s mind started conflicting with his new found intellectual and romantic blessings. The confusion prevailed to such an extent that he found himself distancing from his very motto of “Naachne ka …Gaane ka…dabaa kar khaane ka!!” Perhaps it was an ideal case where Party found himself at the cross road of his life on what to pick and what to leave. Which girl to get hooked to and whom to dump? Whether to bell the CAT or get 'belled' by torture of preparation?
CAT coaching classes were pain for him for they were not conducted in “air-conditioned” room. The usual wit and humor within his personality was replaced with silence. Procrastination became his character and virtue.

It was decided ,based on mutual understanding among Addy, Bhatia and Chawla , that time has come to relieve Party from this quagmire in which he has trapped himself. Somewhere down the line non-conformist attitude of Party was more endearing to them than this humanly conundrum that prevailed in his mind. The Party of old was lost somewhere.
Human touch of love and intellect had ruined his personality. Addy decided to be the Man to bell the Cat while Bhatia and Chawla will play the support crew in the proverbial CLASS where reality of life will be taught to Party.

The discussion started. For the first time the three spoke and for a change Party listened. Addy led the way with series of trite and remarks challenging his very existence, his very purpose of life. Also for the first time this bantering left Party pondering and thinking!! And finally it boiled down to the issue where Party found himself visualizing - standing in front of dozen feminine characters, who had romanticized his personality, with a garland in his hand. He had to choose one of them as his future life. It was an apt personification of his mental state.

Party was in love and that was his biggest ailment. It was too crude shock for him to handle. The words of Addy boomed in his ears – Party you have to choose one from the lot…Party you have to choose one from the lot…decide your life…seek the motive…..

Party crashed and fell like a wounded knight. The pressure of love and intellect was too much for him to handle.The class had left an indelible impression in his mind. For a week it was a completely transformed Harsh – who woke up early, attended coaching class, was serious about his life , had sought a direction of his future, was man with limited words….
”Party has changed…” Chawla bemoaned “He has become serious about his life. Finally he has found the purpose of his life.”
“Wait for a week. The clock will turn back!!” retorted Bhatia.

On the other hand Adarsh was completely elusive of the fact that his class had brought a serious transformation within Party’s personality.. Perhaps it was too big an achievement for him to comprehend.
“Finally I managed to change a person!!” he must have grinned within himself.

Bhatia was right.. it was all illusion. Within a week the romantic and intellect virus ,that had crippled Party, was jettisoned from his very mindset. ”Aaj dabaa ke khaaya…do chaar maal ka game bhi baja aaya!!”He boomed. Party was back and back with vengeance. His new motive of life – “Khaane ka…peene ka.. LECTURE nahin sun ne ka..tension nahin lene ka..maal sirf dekhne ka!!” Party decided one fine day that no body can mess with his existence. He was enlightened to the fact that his original self was the best for him and people around him. And definitely nobody can take his class from now on. Ladki ka sirf game bajaane…senti nahin hone ka!!

The usual routine resumed. Normalcy was restored at A-1 Raagamallika. The roles again were back to the original script. Room was filled with Party bellowing at the top of his voice and the rest three as the mute audience. Party’s life had came a full circle within a week

“Bomb nahin maarne ka…
Party se poochne ka…!!”

The Legacy of A-1 Raagamallika Apartment II

----> Bhatia
Ghoomta raha door to kahin
Udte baadlon ki tarah
Kaha se tujhe aayi hai sada
Laut ke aa ab zara
Tera yeh aashiyaana..Mera bhi aashiyaan

The Gym freaks and Party’s tryst with Dental College Girl

Adarsh and Bhatia made it a point to smother any competition when it came to body building. The nearby Fitness Centre a la Akhaara proved to be their ideal budding ground. The day started at five o clock with Sardarji ready in his track suits pushing bleary eyed Addy out of the comforts of his bed and dreams of nightly mermaids.
Definitely Adarsh’s morning sleeps were far more valuable then those sweat laden T-shirts in Gym. Yet Bhatia’s perseverance drove him to sacrifice his sleep on many occasions.

By the way Party wasn’t left behind in getting hit by this fitness bug. After all Bhatia and Adarsh had presented sugar- coated- delicious stories about hot girls, in their skimpy clothes, venturing into Akhaara for training and aerobics. So one fine day Party too decided that its time for him to pull up the socks, leave behind the Not Yashi syndrome and net a new fish in the aisle of fitness centre. Early morning Party was ready, even before the Rooster could give the morning lark, in his exercise kit.

Sensing the impending danger in fitness centre both Bhatia and Adarsh wished their destiny bestow them one final luck – Escape from Party’s wrath on discovering the truth. At the counter normally any fitness aspirant asks about equipment details, fitness regime etc etc. But our Party’s first question was how many girls pay visit to the Gym. Surely even the manager of the Gym was taken aback by absurdity of the inquiry. He grazed across the Gymnasium with an investigative eye looking for Bhatia and Adarsh. Thankfully their innocent face suggested that they don’t have even distant connection with Party and were saved from being kicked out before getting hold of body building,

Unfortunately Party couldn’t sustain this trauma of being misled by opposite sex again and again. Hence this time he decided to pave the wave of his tryst with a girl in Cheenai on his own.

Party’s morning though started pretty early yet it took him ages to prepare himself for the biggest ordeal of his life – Reaching office on time. Sure enough he had arranged his means to lessen the pain of going to office by hiring MTC- NOT Madras Transport Corporation bus but one Mutthu Transport Service.

Mutthu was a genial , soft spoken Senior Associate in Party’s project Seeing the pain that Party had to go through every morning , he decided , out of humanity, to lend a helping hand to Party so that he can overcome this excruciating feeling of be on time in office. Poor fellow didn’t know the fact that if you give an inch to this guy he will make you run a mile. Instead of Party reaching office on time, Mutthu imbibed the habit of reaching office late courtesy Party’s hour long mental preparation before going to office

Out of frustration one day MTC stopped its service. Party was left stranded and inspite of his strong wishes; he had to report to office. It was time to take original MTC bus and suffer the hot Chennai weather. It’s said- Jab Khuda Mehrbaan, to Party Pehlwaan!!
Like a pool of water in desert , Party found a hot Chinki in MTC bus while on his route to office. Bhaad mein jaaye office..Ab to Game set karne ka!!

Party displayed his company tag and brazenly introduced himself as a guy working in
Multi National Software Company. The girl supposedly studied in Dental College. She was more flummoxed than flattered seeing the confidence with which Party approached her. Sensing danger to her dignity, integrity and whatever –ity you can think of , she stopped the bus and scampered through for safety. Party followed the suit and chased her all the way to her house. Whether it was his good luck or bad luck -it’s beyond anybody's comprehension- but from distance a guy came towards the Chinki and turned out to be her brother.

Seeing a risk to his life , Party ran away from the scene with the tag of Multi National Software Company dangling on his side. For days he had long lasting hope that he can have a peek at the girl of his dream. To fulfill his desire he continued venturing near the periphery of dental college, but all in vain

Meanwhile that day Party made his royal entry to office well past noon…and his punishment was that he didn’t return to our Aashiyaana for next two days...Project Manager had already planned to screw up Party's days of happiness

Aage ke episode mein....Jab Addy ne lagayi Party ki class..Bhatia ki laboratory....Chawla ne machaaya dhoom...

The Legacy of A-1 Raagamallika Apartment….

The author disclaims any responsibility in case the following write up hurts the sentiment of any caste, society, religion, and ethnic community whatsoever. The readers are at their own risk for sustaining any intellectual Violence by reading this blog .

Chennai ek dum danger place
Where North India survive only if he has face
Deekhne mein ek dum changa
Climate ne kiya sab ka danda
Logon ne maara tamilian bomb
Acche acche shaano ka ban gaya tomb

The Union

A- Name – Adarsh …Adarsh Abhineet… known as addy to some…adarswa to lot..addu to many and for some Mr AD. Passion: Late night flights of fantasy. Every second ex-Gen women’s ideal son- in- law…for each new-Gen women ideal brother- in – law and for every future –Gen women ideal Bhaiyaa. Oh really!!!!...you got to believe your neighbor’s wife to trust the scripted description.


B- Train from Pune screeches to halt on platform no 9 at Chennai Central. Out comes a discernible, conspicuous Sardar. Name- Bhatia…Harmeet Bhatia. The Infosys placard announces…Welcome to the gallows of Chennai…Bhatia gives a wry smile and trudges along the pathway. Passion: Body Building, Sleeping and of course traveling on his rollicking G-51 MTC bus …A Sardar’s nightmare is Bhatia’s delight!!

C- Chawla…Aman Chawla…the third musketeer in the fiefdom called A-1 Raagmallika. Passion – Aatey di Roti…He can smell from a distance the purity of a Roti and percentage of maaida in it. With his melodious vocal and sneezing skills he can drive even Pakistanis out of Kashmir. Cacofonix is a distant second when Chawla sings. His gadget called “Fukni”- Nasal Inhaler- is his life line!!

P – My name is Party…Harsh Party..
Party ko chhod sab bakwaas…Party ka under jo rehta bindaas
Party ko jo dega kharaas
Ho gaya woh khallas..
Sab ka blood bana dega tomato sauce

Khaane ka… peene ka .
Hasnee ka..Ronee ka …
Chalne ka…firne ka…tension nahin lena ka..
Party se poochne ka…Kahan se aata hai…
I am Party!!

Welcome to the A-1, Raagamallika Apartment….And its strange world of inhabitants!!
AD, Bhatia, Chawla and Party.
5th December 2004, to be precise when unknown quarters of destiny propelled the union of four highly asynchronous minds pushing them under the same roof of brand new flat at Raagamallika Apartments. What followed for rest a year or so was one of the most enthralling experience of camaraderie, brotherhood, fights, freakiness ..

Naachne gaane ka...khaane ke.. peene ka..
Tension nahin lene ka...Party se poochna ka...

Of the Corn Flakes trauma and Not Yashi syndrome

Somehow the ambience of Chennai and motherly-in-law affection of the landlady transformed Addy from a filth and lousy creature in college into genial, meticulous and clean human being. The passion for cleaning of house, arranging things in a right way etc etc propelled his prospect, in the eyes of “Aunty’s”(Landlady) son-in-law, to astronomical heights . However, in the process the ordeal created a heavy baggage on the back of rest three. Party couldn’t do much but groan and tread the way of unfathomable alley of cleaniness…so did Chawla with his hanky wrapped nose and "Fukni" by his side.

The torture reached its crescendo when it was decided with mutual understanding that morning should be kick started with healthy diet of Corn Flakes and Milk. By that time the bug of fitness had crippled Adarsh to certain extent that he started seeing himself rivaling the likes of Arnie and Sylvester Stallone It was no big “ load” – as he would say- for him to gulp down those tasteless glass of milk soaked with Corn Flakes. But for the rest three it started taking on their nerves big time. Every morning kicked off with brown flakes floating on top of white membrane like fluid – challenging likes of Party to push the solution below his throat.. Thankfully the ordeal came to an end when Party revolted against the torture and ostracized the Corn Flakes diet miles far away from his physical existence. Bhatia and Chawla followed the suit.

Harsh has always been the Maverick and Hedonism personified - Challenging the very virtue of homosapien characteristics. The strong iconoclast image that he carried with himself somehow created a revulsion to the likes of Adarsh , Bhatia and Chawla.As the rumor goes: Every single so called "hot" girl is in danger if Party was in vicinity. Game bajaane ka is his motto. To temper with this attitude of Party , Bhatia and Adarsh decided to test his profound skills towards the opposite sex.

Bhatia had a major crush on one of the rare hot cakes in Infosys-Chennai called Yashi. The days talk use to revolve how Sardarji manage to lure Yashi for lunch, for coffee and those brush against her hands blah blah. Meanwhile Adarsh too once managed to get a lucky peek at this golden goose in the theatre and since then he too started fantasizing about Yashi. Unfortunately our Party got the sniff of whole affair and couldn't tolerate the fact that such a hot property - which is rare in circles of Chennai- is still elusive from his domain. Grrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!

Seeing a third contender jumping into already stiffened competition, Bhatia and Adarsh decided to push Party out of the game and built a derisive plan. Bhatia's past , present and future crush resembled almost identical name(how its possible...you got to read the complete story??)- Except the last character where I in Yashi was replaced with A -and the X and Y –Crush’s contact number was stored in Bhatia's cell. Desperate to hook the fish, Party raided Bhatia’s cell and in excitement misread Yash with A as Yash with I..

Out went the first call to Yash with A. Party’s flirting skills at its best.
Admittedly the not-actual-Yashi was honest in her response and acknowledged Party's mesmerizing talking skills by calling herself Not-Yashi. But the poor lad already in love with her voice took the deal of accepting his Yashi of dreams as Not Yashi. Calls followed for minutes. Minutes ran into hours. Bills rocketed to gargantuan heights. But Party was focused on his mission – To net the fish. Everyday the dinner talk use to revolve how Party is closer and closer to his target. While the rest three used to let out controlled grin boosting Party’s confidence in further enticing his babe.

The drama went for a month or so. Harsh was in total influence of cocaine like Not- Yashi syndrome. But the day when bankrupt Party received his Airtel Bill., the bubble burst with a BANG!!! The credit had crossed the limits in big way and poor fellow didn’t have a penny to pay the debt. Seeing the pity state of Party’s paranoia having a paradoxical conclusion, Addy played the party blooper- pun intended- and let the word out about Party’s foolishness. Down came the castle of dreams crashing down!!...the month’s effort gone all waste. The elusive love bug that had hit Party vanished into oblivion. While the rest had a hearty laugh and fun, our Party was heart broken.

But Party is One of his Kind!!! Again the normalcy resumed

Khaane ka Peene ka…
Hasne ka …Rone ka
Naachne ka…Gaane ka
Bomb Nahin maarne ka..
Party ko dekhne ka!!...

A new day and a new mission started…Party’s next big fish!!

Aey abhi khatam nahin hua dhakkan – Aage ka kahani kal padhne ka!!!

I yearn for P- P for Patience….

A break from Raagamallika legacy...I felt this thought was striking vehmently in my mind for too long.Hence I share with you...my maniac odyssey of "The Legacy of..." will resume shortly..

Often the most trivial attributes in mankind grows into importance when confronted with outside world. We hear people talking them over and over again. Yet there is nonchalant attitude that surmounts our thoughts – ‘I have it in abundance…Its others who need to care about it’. Attributes like Integrity, Honesty, Discipline, Confidence, and Patience et al- we all seem to possess them. Yet there is always a defining line which demarcates a successful person who is proud owner of these qualities and the rest of the lot. The Success not necessarily associated with professional and materialistic term but the one where holistic approach of a person effuses prosperity.

Patience is the word I often use to hear in Cricketing circles especially in Test Matches. Test match arena is always perceived as real test of character, stamina and skills of player. Very few sport stretches the players’ mental strength session after session, day after day for a five day period on trot. The experts commenting about the quality of a batsmen or bowler, having “Patience”, to grind for hours and hours to reach that apogee of success. Players attribute their success more to their temperament than their technical skills. That left me baffled most times – why there is so much fuss about such a trivial characteristics which each and every individual possesses.

I was wronged and wronged in a big way. Not many of us in fact possess Patience. I can say about myself with regret that I don’t have “It” even in sporadic measures in my personality. More often than not I sensed my inners self or ego challenging me to make things happen rather than wait for it to happen. I don’t know which quality is more important in long run of a mankind. Yet I feel sometimes waiting for things to happen can lead to rich dividends than forcing it to work by hook or crook.

A quality in human being is often judged in relative terms. When the physical parameters is not supporting your strengths , its more than fruitful to allow those external circumstances that Fifteen minutes of Glory. Wait for the right time to wear it down and then strike with vengeance. Perhaps that’s what Patience is!! Unfortunately what I feel is my ego never allowed me to accept my adversary to bask even in that momentary and illusionary glory. Always questioning my manhood and strengths I presume that’s where life at times bluffs you- when you spent your energy trying to surmount far lesser goals than that final destination.

I was reading the Autobiography of Lance Armstrong, the seven time champion of Tour de France, few days back. Often these autobiographies works as mirror for me where I put myself in author’s mind and then start analyzing what would have I done if I was confronted with same situation. Remarkably I find myself thinking on the same lines as the author do yet I never tried to implement it in my day to day activities. Coming back to Lance Armstrong, he had already won the most arduous competition in the cycling circuit – Tour de France- when destiny cracked the biggest joke on his physical existence. He was diagnosed with Prostrate Cancer and doctor put his survival rate as low as 40 %. Leave aside his passion cycling, it was doubted whether he will be able to survive the affects of Cancer treatment.

Armstrong admits that till that point in his life he believed he can make anything and everything work his way for his happiness and success. He can vanquish any opposition with his skills and self belief Patience was the word which didn’t exist in his dictionary. For him waiting for right time was a defeatist attitude. Cancer taught him the biggest lesson of his life. At times in a battle you have to give enemy an extra inch to gain a mile. More often than not this enemy is none other than our very own Ego and Overbearing Consciousness.

Profession or in personal terms the life sets its own due course. Yet thinking too much about my future and neglecting my present I often run out of Patience. I look back at times when I could have gained more as an Individual whether in terms of my goals, ambitions or relationships had I given the circumstances, situations and adversary due respect and chose the appropriate time to strike back.

Certain things in this world are indeed beyond my control and I need to respect this cycle of Life. I yearn for Patience to understand this phenomenon…