Surfing the tide....

It was a Sunday afternoon. No one was at home. And it stood there, looking so inviting. I succumbed to the temptation and quickly drew the curtains. The room became considerably darker now. Aah…perfect. I looked around, half afraid that I’d be caught. But I quickly walked towards it, not wanting to waste any more precious time. It glistened because of a small ray of sunshine coming from a crack in the curtains. Slowly, I picked it up. Giving it a fond look, I committed the ultimate crime. I pressed the red button and switched on the TV. A cacophony of noise immediately took the place of eerie silence and I felt that familiar sense of warmth in me as I sat down with my partner in crime, the remote control; to do what I did best -Channel surf.

Bad habit, I know. It can spoil your eyes and all that. Yes, I’ve been told too. But I’m addicted to channel surfing. And this one Sunday, the remote was all mine. So I started off with the usual channel 8. I’d work my way upto 38 and then start all over again. I’ve tuned all my channels within that frame. On some really boring days, I’d even go all the way upto 99. And then come back to 1. So let’s see what treasure I struck upon today…..

Click Shah Rukh Khan is spending his New Year’s Day in Goa. Good for him. Click Hritik Roshan movie involving aliens and irritatingly bubbly kids. Click The best of Roadies…..all the contestants are sword fighting with some pehelwan kinda dudes. Click Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. Much as I hate to admit that I’ve watched the movie almost 35 times, I decided to bookmark that channel and come back to it later. Click Dawson’s Creek: Some funeral procession going on…not worth mourning for Dawson’s friends on a Sunday. Click High School Musical 2! Oh, but wait…it’s only one of the songs…and it’s in Hindi! Urgh! Click Heroes Nice. I’ll come back to that too Click Q Tv….man is explaining something in Arabic Click Kishore Kumar lookalike contest, I think Click Rerun of some singing competition involving children Click another show involving a children’s singing competition…..really, when I was their age, I’d spend all my free time in the park with other kids…not pleading with the audience to vote Click Oprah’s prime time….oh no….must change the channel quickly…I ran out of all the tissues in the last episode itself Click Some gory movie involving gangsters of some kind. Couldn’t really hear the dialogues…everything was being beeped off Click Tom Hanks….goodie…..but wait…this was only a trailer for the movie that will be aired on Tuesday Click Teleshopping network, I think. Whoa! They’re showing some miracle massaging belt or something Click Another Hritik Roshan Movie…oh wait….this is the sequel to the alien one! The prequel and sequel being shown on rival channels at the same time…doesn’t happen very often Click Click Click All News Channels 19 year old to head a political party. Click Kannada music channel: Kariya, I love you!! Oh dear. Click Discovery: Hmm…sparrows eating lichen with frost on Cacti in the Atacama Desert Click aaah Back to Shah Rukh Khan’s new year plans.

So what did I achieve from 15 minutes of non stop channel surfing? Well, for starters, I know I’m not missing out on anything fabulous while I waste my time watching one channel alone. The feeling of watching everything and yet nothing is so satisfying. Sigh….May god bless the person who invented the remote control!

This Magical Month

Walking home in the mild drizzle
Getting slightly wet, and yet staying quite dry
Singing songs and smiling at everyone around
Watching the trees applaud in the wind
Listening to ghost stories in the dark
amongst friends, sharing a huge quilt
shrieking at the smallest sounds
Running across the campus in the rain
to get that cup of steaming hot elaichi chai
Sneaking rose cookies into psychology class
crunching and eating them stealthily
Looking very interested in the seminars
and yet living in the far-far away world of dreams
eating in the terrace gardens of quaint resteraunts
dancing to goofy hindi item songs
getting all the steps wrong
singing completely out of tune
and yet having the time of my life
passing little notes from secret santa
waiting for letters to be passed to me
writing poems for friends on birthdays
watching their faces light up with joy
giggling at someone's sneeze
pulling monkey faces at one another
singing christmas carols during breaktime
tapping out rhythms with pencils and pens
shivering in the gusts of wind
and yet visiting the terrace at every given chance
eating steaming hot maggi clumsily
and then drinking a freezing chocolate milkshake
waving out to others from across the corridors
colour co-ordinating sweaters and socks
sprinting out of the last class of the day
splashing everyone with puddles around
flying amongst the clouds in the sky
with the feet firmly on the ground


I think I'm drunk on the drizzle of December.