Rohit’s Weblog

A roller coaster of a weekend. If weekends are for ‘chilling’ then this was something else.

Caution:The incoherence in my post could be due to my lack of sleep.( 41hours without sleep- 2days+1 night). But there are so many things to talk about this weekend.

Grandpa is in the hospital. He had an attack of pneumonia last week which turned pretty bad at  a stage due to his age. But he is recovering now. Talked to him for a whole long time on saturday. Hospitals are not great places to be in and they get worse in the night. I was on hospital duty for 24 hours. I finished reading half of  ’Life of Pi*’, tried to make sense of some medical terminology, was glued to the display screen and was praying that the spasm oxygen level does not fall below 80, watched how different nurses and doctors kept themselves awake on night duty, watched some emergency patients battle out their injuries. Just waiting for my grandpa to come back home as soon as possible. 12 days is too long to be in a hospital.

Sunday was just MAD-ness. Running around adorable hyper kids, watch them sing and dance(perform),eat and play with them, watch the ‘friends of snakes’ pulling out one snake after another from their bags( I held a python!), dance for some mass Telugu songs by the campfire. Context: MAD(Make a Difference) was organising a summer camp for kids in TARA( a home for the homeless). There were 40 kids between ages 2-17 and it was 3 day camp in a resort where they learnt a lot of soft skills,yoga,painting, dance etc. It was typically MAD. .

Also in the weekend:

Rafa lost on clay. Having difficulty typing this also. If Federer ever had a chance to win the French open, this is it. Can he win this one and equal Pete ‘The Legenedary’ Sampras’ record?

Watched ‘Angels and Demons’ in IMAX. Mini Review: Not even close to the book but the effort to compress all that into 2.5 hrs without losing any major part of the story was commendable. Too much talking in the movie but just loved all the Visuals. Brought back the days of me walking through the majestic streeets of Rome.

*Life Of Pi – Only finished half of the book. Really liked the story and the anecdotes for religion used in the book. Was not too impressed with the writing style. Maybe I had too much hype in my head. But ther best part of the book is supposedly the second half,so looking forward to it.(Damn this hype)

The holiday is over.:(

I am no longer sleeping in a sleeping bag in a tent. The AC in the room has replaced the sound of the mighty Ganga flowing past. I wake up to see a missed call from the cab driver instead of sunrise over the snow capped Himalayas. There are no beautiful valleys or winding curves on my way to office. Corn Flakes and Muffins have replaced the elaichi tea and aloo parathas in the mornings. I am using the elevators to go 40 feet after having climbed more than a 100o metres on foot.

The Google Food( which is one of our greatest incentive) has replaced aloo-paratha/jeera rice/dal tadka/raitha and maggi(very popular in those regions). High speed broadband has replaced ‘power’less and ‘connectivity’less days. Places are called Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills and not Gangotri,DevPrayag and RudraPrayag. Ringtones have replaced the calls of the wild.Wallpapers have replaced the actual locations. The adventure now is only in meeting deadlines and expectations.

Life seems more comfortable but it doesn’t seem so beautiful.

But one thing is sure- I am back to where I belong.

P.S- I was on a vacation for ten days in Uttaranchal. Went Rafting in the mighty Ganges(Grade 5 Rapids), Enjoyed gazing at the snow of the himalayas, Camped in forests,  Walked long distances,  Traced back to the source of The Ganga, Travelled for long hours on winding roads, Ate whatever was available, Did some soul searching, Took morning walks on river sides,Trekked the highest peak of Uttaranchal(4000mtrs), Made some impromptu plans, Went to the Wagah Border and experienced the pride of the uniform first hand,Planned,Laughed,Argued,Voted and Contemplated. Am I missing something?