Work Up-1-DrinkEx

Post Visarjan,back to the usual work up routine.3 of the Dons are coming into the Colony in the coming few days.Starting with Rak,then Maz and then Big Boss
Rak has behaved appallingly with Maz before leaving for Injea,so we are pissed with him in return.This is simply not done;As Megs once said,I can find something good in anybody,but now even I am exasperated with Rak.So Rak comes in and we plan to meet up on tuesday the 20th.Darshan,the lost Bombayite in Bangalore is in town as well so invite him in too.Mika,the trusty sidekick,joins in as well.We arrange to meet at the refuelling base in Powai;it rains on the way;your correspondent turns up there on time only to discover Mika has overshot the Kanjur exit on the highway and will be doing a going around at Mulund and coming.Darshan is stuck somewhere in Andheri due to the rain,traffice and the three wheeled beasts.So anyways,I see a figure pop up in front of me while I am strolling in the rain ;the apparition hisses my name with a displaced mallu accent;bingo it IS Rak;he looks fidgety and uneasy.To cut a short story shorter,he says he has to rush back home as his grandma doesnt know where he is,he hands me the gear and then casually mentions he paid a 1000 rupiya to the autowala who got him here as his meter was not working.I stand rooted to the spot and then I am so dizzy it feels like flying with the cockpit canopy down.Anyways,he runs back off to Santa Cruz after i re instruct him how to read meters .Mika turns up after that,we call up DD for his fix,he is still where he was.We ask him to RTB and proceed up stairs for orange juice.With Smirnoff.Turns out it was a happy day there so we get another round free.usual weirdos in the joint,including one guy who looked suspiciously like Jagman but wasnt.
Then the resentment abt Rak and his auto fare,though we hoped the autowala had a kajra re of a time with Rak's money.Complained about it up my direct chain of command-both to AFA and High Wycombe.Both bosses extremely pissed;truly the things we endure doing what we do.
Maz comes in on Friday morning;first goes to local Andheri hotel near Chakala ciggy factory.Austin goes and meets him before i do;I turn up there around noon after getting away from work.Maz is waiting at the steps of the joint as I pay off the rickshaw.And he has a huge smile on his face to see me,laughs at my hair blowing in the wind.We do the usual hail fellow well met routine,Austin is int he lobby goin thru the stuff Maz has got for him.It feels good to be with him again,we end up mystifying Austin.Then we get into the Maruti pvt cab for the ride to da other hotel,the main hub aka the Base aka ITC Sheaton,Parel.Its good to talk on the way back;though frankly there is an epiphany that all this has been spoken before.With Maz,thats the way it is actually.SMSs arrive from Motu in kent and Networ in Sussex enquirin abt Maz's well being or lack of it!We reach the hotel,Maz is on full visual scana nd search,nobody at the hotel is spared.We proceed to check in,go up to the room where I am prevented by Maz fm sampling the bar and fridge.We talk back and forth for a while...then get a move on to Phoenix where his Visual goes kaputt.Its 1500 whenn we end up at Spaghetti Kitchen where we start on the Kilo Fox and yum food.We keep talking,switching topics seamlessly back and forth.Then off to Sharma Saab's house.A thorough old world gentleman.As expected,I blabber and blabber with him.But he has done some amazing things!
Had called Mika to meet us at Maz's hotel.He is waiting for us at the lobby.We go across to aFrederick's for the free tapki.Me and Maz with the LIT and the boy with Mojito.Our drinks order is taken by a Mizo gal and Maz opens up with his cannon.The girl gets pissed and someone else serves us,so Maz is back to mulling over his attraction to girls of the noth east and their lack of regarding him.We talk him out of it,then with 2 drinks down,decide to head back home.By taxi.Anyways a nice evening was had by all.Which means that Saturday will be splendid!
And it was.
Watch this space.
Pathfinder under radio silence.

Ganesha Says

Did MARS duty at chowpatty thi syear as well.Hats off to the authorities for pulling it all off what with the myriad threats in the area.Met up with Nirav,Shantanu,Huz,Zyros,Ulhas,etc.Good fun to be there and actually help people.
Incidentally,Ulhas is also part of birdsofbombay,so it really is a small world after all.
Its a Seva for each one of us in our own way.Chowpatty continued to be the hub for the Mumbai Golf Alfa Yankee community on Visarjan evening.Thousands of them.It makes one sad to watch the State armtwist these guys so much.Anyways,ours not to reason why and all that.
Too lazy to post pics from Visarjan.Maybe later.