Musing In Bullet Points

There are days when one thinks/speaks/acts in bullet points.

It was so on Friday morning. Possible reasons:

• G’s call on Thursday



• India-Spain hockey match (till 22:00, right?)



• Schindler’s List (23:00-02:00???). I had forgotten that this movie has a scene in which a kid jumps into a toilet/shit-pool as in Slumdog Millionaire, though there is nothing comic here. I remembered watching this movie at the Plaza theatre on M.G. Road, Bangalore. There used to be a grand old hall with wooden floor at the Plaza (if I remember correctly) – and, during the interval of that movie, groups stood silently, some with wet eyes, most looking down puffing fags like it was their last breath.



• Who the %$#@ set the alarm at 05:30?



• Very Very Heavy Indian-cum-Continental breakfast (artery clogging cardiologically risky but yummy stuff) (06:30-07:15) watching the break of dawn over Powai lake.

At Mumbai airport, I met an old pal Arjun who seemed to be in a similar bullet-point-state. On his way to Ahmedabad in a somber two-piece and an extremely loud tie, we talked

• Hi.



• Hullo, Arjun! What’s up?



• Thinking…there used to be a time when I used to think that I am special, that the airhostess smiling at me. She doesn’t even see me, does she?



• Huh…



• Byeeee.



• Take care.

On the flight, I read

• In the Indian Express/The-Economist-page, I read an article “Intellectual Fireworks” on Arthur Koestler: “Like many intellectuals who profess their love for humanity as a whole, Koestler had problems dealing with real human beings, especially women. He expected his girlfriends and wives to serve as maids and secretaries.”



• I felt good because I am not an intellectual and I certainly do not love humanity in any part.



• In the March 2010 edition of Jet Wings, the Tarot assured me: “Someone seriously exciting is coming your way. Don’t miss them.”



• It must have been that gorgeous person standing behind me during check-in. Trust my luck to miss exciting stuff. But, do I really want serious stuff?

I think I recognized a few people at the airport and in the flight:

• Harsha Bhogle (cricket commentator), was it? To Delhi? Maybe it wasn’t him. I don’t particularly like his style of commentary.



• A.K. Antony (Union Minister, Defence)? Economy class to TVM. I have always admired him, especially when he used to submit resignation letters to his bosses.



• Prakash Karat(CPI-M big honcho)? Economy class to TVM. Recently, after reading his interview with Ian Rankin in The Hindu, I found that we are both fans of crime fiction. I would have liked to talk to him about that and possibly give him a copy of my books-review “Crime As A Hobby”. Well, he was lucky and we stuck to our rows.



• As you might have guessed, I do not have any affiliation to the Left/Right/Centre/etc. Isn’t it more fun to bash everyone?



• Anyway, there I was basking in the happy state of sharing Economy Class with two VVIPs. But, every white cloud has a dark lining. When we deplaned, those two pushed off in the bus reserved for people in the First Class.



• I know I am being childish but it would have been nice if they had come along with the rest of us in the economy class, right?