Saturday, April 24, 2010

J'Nagar and 'No Girls Club'

J'nagar. The place I dig more than anything in this world....

It's a small place, cut off from rest of the world with chain link fences and towers with armed guards. Not an ideal place to grow up if you want to make it 'BIG'. People there don't worry about JEE's, GATE or GMATs. Neither did I, growing up. But I ain't doing that badly, am I?

Nestled between hills and 2 small rivers with a forest reserve covering the open west end off and with magnificently sluggish way of life, it is one place where I want to be when I want to run away from the world...
When I was kid me and my buddies would occasionally cut school and trek in the hills nearby. There were small riverside beaches, forests and hideouts. A day without a discovery was a day wasted. Like Pirates we roamed our universe and made our conquests...

The earliest club we formed was 'No girls Club' with me and Andy as chairmen and the membership was limited to 6. Mainly because our headquarters (A enclave in the bushes behind the school) had space only for 6 kids. We met regularly, spoke in hushed tones in school about it, discussed black magic and all the haunted places in our vicinity, debated on how rockets flew, ghosts, worshiped Sachin and made plans to kill teachers. Membership was strictly by invitation and limited to boys. Females weren't allowed 3 reasons. They sucked, they sucked big time and they sucked hugely. Basically anybody eager to please the teachers and not having a rebel streak wasn't allowed.

Me and Andy have changed our position on women since then... considerably.

Andy my friend if you are reading this, I miss our adventures man!

It has a decent Library (which my father managed for free for 10 years!) where I spent a majority of my childhood. Before long I was into Shaw, Tolstoy and Shakespeare. And marveling at prose and poetry. We had three clubs (All free!) played footer in school, cricket in evening and badminton in night post dinner to aid digestion. I remember walks back home with my buddies and getting no dinner for being late.

By the way never noticed the 40 C heat...

We hit our beds by 10 pm and never watched TV, roamed the jungles till the chain-link fences and wondered about what lay beyond. Nowadays kids get a medal pinned if they do this and wear funny uniforms (boy scouts) while doing so.

I still don't watch TV, sitcoms or 'chat'. Neither do the other members of 'No Girls' club. I so fucking hate typing fake smiley's and weirdo chat expressions. How can you bloody replace a smiling face and the sound of laughter with a smiley? I have no clue.

Internet is the worst thing that's happened to mankind... Or maybe I am just outdated.

Andy, Sango, Ajju, Amol, Sado and Suzy (I hate that name..) would concur. (better do or I will publish the dirt I have on you guys...)

What qualifies you to the best club in the world?

You need to be a pirate first at heart. Pirates don't email or chat. They sail the seven seas, fight the sea serpents, march thru the gates of Hera, loot the treasures on offer, ogle at the mermaids and go nuts on the first sight of adventure. Rains, thunders, mountainous swells don't deter them. Aye, they dive straight into it and make a meal of it.

They have no homes and prefer the open sky and stars overhead when they sleep. Oh for the smell of salty breeze, and the spray of surf and the feel of sand! Bull rushes, fearlessness, impulsiveness, curiousness are the signs. They dont mind getting beaten, but getting beat up? No sir! They ride fast, think fast and live fast. They don't avoid Kraken, they bloody ride it.

Ups and downs, comradeship, Danger, adventure, thrills, spills, we dare the Poseidon and flip the bird to Zeus. They can kill us, but they can't take us. Take whatever you can, Leave nothing behind!

I am going to take my pilgrimage today. Visit our old enclave and catch up with the members..

So many friends wonder why I don't ever call or mail when I am at home. How can I be such a incommunicado?
---
---
You need to be a Pirate first. Membership open...

No comments: