Adventures in Serendipity

"Cruising through the EEH,
Cool wind in my head,
Warm smell of bangda fry,
Rising up through the air"

Anything novel that arrives in life has its own spark of excitement for e.g. a new car. Last Sunday me, along with my parents had taken it for a test drive. Driving through the fields near Nashik highway - pure bliss and romance! Wohi "Swades" waali feeling. :)

However, serendipitous discovery of entertainment has its own quirks. In May 2020, when the Lockdown was at its peak, had watched the movie "Karwaan".

This was one of the rare Bollywood gems, a real funride to watch. I would rate it one of the best Bollywood movies that show relationships within the family, akin to Udaan (2010). Tanya (played by Mithila Palkar) plays a boarding school teenager, daughter of a single mom. Dulqeer plays Avinash, a 30 ish aged IT employee. However, he has a strong passion for photography which his father strongly disapproves. And the late Irfaan Khan, plays the character of van driver Shaukat. Due to a strange set of circumstances, the 3 characters embark on journey to Kerala from Bangalore. What transpires between them forms the crux of the story.

Having a legendary actor such as the late Irfaan Khan would have been a great learning experience for the rest of the starcast, especially for a newcomer like Mithila. The supporting cast like Amala Akkineni, Akash Khurana are also in their smaller roles.

Music

The music is top-notch. "Chota Sa Fasana" being my favourite track. Would have been great had the music directors released a unplugged Coke Studio version! "Kadam" transports you to a tent-like campfire atmosphere after a trek in the hills. And "Heartquake" is romance at another level, perfect accompaniment for morning jog to places such as this 10 min away from home:

The audio quality in "Saansein" is so kickass, esp the cool piano tone and the drumsticks.

The styling and fashion is top notch. Principal cast has been styled really well.

 

"Bhar De Hamaara Glass"Upon the end of probation period and further confirmation of employment, in Jul last, I had organized an evening self-party swinging to .

Personal Connection

1.  Daddy Issues - All 3 characters share their Daddy stories through interaction during the "Karwaan". And on account of having an extremely successful and equally passionate Daddy at home, with his own share of negativity (read tantrums 😂) and idiosyncrasies, have been at the recveing end quite a few times - twice this year😂).  And thanks to stressful situations - had faced and overcome Depression/ Depressive periods twice (in Finland while doing my Masters 2010-13) and in Mumbai (2014-mid 2018).
   All due to the usual excessive worry & concern about career 😂😂.
   Took me quite a lot of courage/ cool aggressiveness (हट्टीपणा) to reassure him that m sorted and things are smooth going.
2. Ooty/ Coonoor - Have visited multiple times on vacation during my schooling days, thanks to dad's school in Lovedale and College being in Ooty. Hope you would have got an opporutnity to ride the NMR (Nilgiri Mountain Railway).
3. Tanya's personal choices - She indulges in all the guilty pleasures (Alcohol, Non Veg). Ghar par Main to veg/ eggetarain hi hun, but baahar can't resist the temptation of a well cooked rawas fry/ prawn/ tangdi kabab. 👊 . And the occasional vodka with boys gang. "Jis bande ne "Vodka Museum" dekha hai, usko kaise rok paaoge"✌

TEDx Talk

Later that week, due to the lockdown and associated stress of isolation, had a few mentally difficult nights. And then this talk provided inspiration. Since then, have been on an occasional "Mithila marathon" thanks to YouTube. All kinds of "serendipitious discoveries" propped up - for e.g.

1. How PocketAces used "Video Analytics" & "Data Science" to decide the comedy gag lines for next seasons of their OTT Series, "Little Things" in particular. (m like dayuumn, that's my professional area of expertise 😅👌)
   
   
2. "Little Things" - font style being identical to the one used in the Web Series. - at office cafe.
   

Passionate Hobbies

1. Music - Both of us have a shared love for Hindustani Classical Music. And I've been volunteering for SPIC MACAY https://spicmacay.org/ right since my Btech days.
   
2. And you listen to John Mayer as well :)
3. Foodies - hmmm, Vada ya Misal ? ya Thal Peeth?
   but all said and done, mummy/ ajji ka banaya hua food is another 😋 feeling, chahe woh simple si Curd Rice ya Pithla Bhakri ho.

Tribhanga
Regarding your recent projects, Tribhanga takes the cake :). It was a dream come true to see you working with Kajol. And her on screen pair, the SRK is an alumunus of my school in Delhi 😊😊

Toally got you when during your last Insta live session you had mentioned that "one shouldnt take social media too seriously". Which is why after posting this on your account, m gonna take at least a week's break from Insta/ Facebook.

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Even though you are a famous celebrity, could we become BFFs? And could there be a possibility of us collaborating for music sessions (preferably f2f)?

Keep the 😊 ongoing :)

Best Regards,

Ajay

Lunch Date and ...

They say men are from Mars and women are from Venus. But I am pretty sure that after reading this, you would realize that women are from a galaxy much farther away from the Solar System.

This blog post is about my first lunch date which on that day, felt pretty awesome. However, was unprepared for the bummer that struck me later. Read on to know more.

It all started in Dec 2017, when I had gone for a trekking trip to Harishchandragad fort, located about 5 hours from Mumbai. There were 10 of us in the group.

As we started the steep ascent, the group got split into smaller sub-groups of 2-3 members each. Me, the girl and her younger brother started talking. Over the course of the trek, we got to know each other better. We discussed at length about career, interests, hobbies etc. She was also reciprocating and being friendly with me. Things were proceeding well. After the trek concluded and we returned to Mumbai, exchanged phone numbers and connected on Facebook.

I didn't think much of it then and assumed her to be another casual acquaintance, yet another record in the huge list of contacts that we carry on our smartphones. Then slowly I started checking her Facebook page every now and then. And in a matter of months, was smitten by her pretty face and considered trying my luck. So I mustered enough courage to ping her. After a few days, she replied. Her exams were going on, hence we decided to meet a few months later.

Fast forward to Jul 2018, we decided to meet for lunch at Pritam Da Dhaba, an upmarket restaurant in Dadar (central Mumbai). Her house was in Vasai, a 1 hour train ride away. The day dawned dark, damp, rainy and windy, as is the norm during the monsoon months in Mumbai. All of a sudden it started raining cats and dogs. This is when I contemplated calling off the meeting. However, she was quite enthusiastic about meeting me in spite of the pouring rain. So we proceeded ahead.

Our date was supercool. We reminisced about the trek and had a scrumptious lunch. She was suggesting that we should hang out more often. Impromptu plans were made for a movie, going to the beach, and the like. I was being friendly with her but didn’t overdo it. She seemed to take the cue. During the entire course of the discussion, she didn’t mention a boyfriend or her marriage plans. She casually enquired about my relationship status, to which I replied that I am happily single. After some more friendly banter, we parted ways. We walked together to the train station and after her local train left, boarded the Central local home.

Internally, I was quite satisfied with the date. The conversation seemed to flow naturally, without awkwardness or long pauses. I realized that there could be an opportunity to take this up further. After a few days, I pinged her again. This time, however didn’t receive any reply. Hence I assumed that she was busy.

Meanwhile, thanks to the girl, my creative bent had started conjuring up all kinds of crazy ideas. I modified the lyrics of a popular Hindi song, which I would like to share below:

One month passed by and still, there was no communication from her side. I decided to give her a last chance and called her. She didn’t respond. Neither did she send any SMS or Whatsapp message even after a week. I realized that something was seriously amiss and decided to drop the matter.

Cut to Dec 2018. On a long and boring Sunday afternoon, I open my Facebook account and the first thing on my newsfeed hit me like a rollercoaster. WHAM!!! She had gotten married to someone else. Then it hit me. I had been “acquaintance-zoned”. We have all heard of the term “Friendzoned”. But “acquaintance-zoned” takes it to a whole new level altogether. A marriage is a big event in a person’s life. Could she not have had the civility in sharing this happy news with me?

We have all heard of one-night stands and how they don’t work out. However, my experience was, to put it bluntly, a "one-lunch stand" 😊 😊.