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Showing posts from September, 2015

Just a gift

I am at work, in an office without windows. It is 4:10 pm and the floor is buzzing quietly. Like the whole nation, the office is on its tea break. In the canteen, I fill my mug with dishwater masquerading as tea, and am walking past a cubicle when I stop. I smell it first. And then see it. A familiar blue cardboard box on a new colleague's desk. She's from Poona too. She catches me looking at the box in incredulity, smiles knowingly and tells me to open the box and take one. I'm still unsure if it's a prank but I open the box anyway. And there they are, rows and rows of whitish biscuits with light brown edges. I bite into the crisply convivial, buttery crust, and a tsunami of homesickness washes me away in a whirlpool, even before I can appreciate the taste.   And it is 4:10 pm. A different, quieter Poona. I am cycling home on my red Hero Ranger. The sky is blue, the sun is warmly friendly and a slight breeze brushes away the heat. I have whizzed down

Outside looking in

So, here's something that happened to yours truly for the first time. After work on Thursday night, a few colleagues and I headed over to a popular new restobar nearby. None of us had been there before and it took us a while to find the place. It was the last working day for one of the guys in my team and we wanted to celebrate it with a quiet drink and a good meal. My team-mates and I are all over 30. One of them is a father and another is about to get married in a few months. Though were dressed casually, all of us were in jeans or trousers and covered shoes. None of us looks remotely threatening. Anyway, we get to the entrance and the guy at the door gives us a cursory glance and says "No stags allowed" . I was nonplussed. And then, outraged. Because, there's two ways to look at what happened. 1. We were being punished for being single men / men not accompanied by ladies. 2. We weren't deemed acceptable enough to enter. Indian men do not do themselve