Whim Bar
(A plain Sunday morning. I am bunking the Rotaract meeting and sitting home to make better use of my time. However, the excuses that I made just not to be there are passe’ and flimsy!)
Sathya Saran’s piece in the relatively new coffee table booklet- Me, gave me the boarding pass to a new train of thought. Saran talks about finding a book in a fair in Delhi. The piece is not about the book. It is the mysterious origin and future of the book.
She found a note inside the book, which said “the book had been registered at a site called bookcrossing.com, and once I was done with it, could I please go to the site and make a journal entry.”
A unique way to keep a track on books and the various experiences it has, a testimony to the kinds of people and the various purposes they use books for, this site brings back the idea of a ‘message in a bottle’ and SOS messages from the Swiss family Robinson.
Exciting indeed! I ventured into the site and I am exploring it now. There’s also another site called phototag.com, which, on a whim, gives out a fully loaded camera, marked with a return address, to friends or strangers to click one picture and pass it on. The last one to click must then turn it back to the address indicated in the camera, which is nothing but the American Postal Department! The website, then posts these images on the site, a visual testimony to the journey of the camera.
I happened to meet Anita and Michael Norman, an English tourist couple under peculiar circumstances on Ambarnath station. They were returning from a week in a Matheran and were flying back to England the next day. They were stuck at our humble station, thanks to a burning train in Ulhasnagar and a riotous situation. They were travelling on a whim that they will see at least half of the world before they bite the dust. Michael, who is turning sixty this year and wife Anita had already seen been to Thailand, Japan, Russia and other places. “This is surely going to be a memorable visit as this is the first time we’ve got held up”, giggles Anita.
Man, just the thought of it makes me smile. Weird ideas these goras get. Wonder what they eat. (Chuckle!) Now, my train of thought. What do we do, that can be at a comparable level with such eccentricities that give tremendous adrenaline kick? Just for the heck of it?
What is the craziest thing I did ever? Drop in suddenly at a friend’s place to surprise her? Mimicking stand up comedians in a crowded train? That’s it?
What is the best prank that I played on someone, till date? An April fool’s day letter to friends, apparently from their coaching classes, stating that they’ve been rusticated from their classes and that they would not get a refund of fees! LOL. Ok, done.
Hari did not no what point to make until now. Now he thinks he can, though he doesn’t know why the drastic change. The point here is, HARI, GET A LIFE!
I happen to know that a bungee jump will be a great kick. Does someone know where I can indulge in one?
