Sep 18, 2006 03:13 PM
4098 Views
Note: This is about the small MSians meet we had on 16/09/2006 from 7.23pm to 11.49pm @ Bangalore. Since this was the first ever time in the history of man-kind ( & woman-kind) that MSians had a organized meet, I thought of reporting the ‘Minutes of the meeting’ though the meeting ran for hours ;-) In a way it also makes sense to post this under this category, as we all met first on the net (on MS), then met on land. The sole intention of writing this is humor + giving the inside story abt the meet. Also I have to earn my Rozi, Roti, & Chutney ( RRC) on MS ;-)
Planning : Previous attempt at meeting up failed due to reasons still unknown. This time it was decided that we will meet up, however less the numbers may be. Abha proposed sept 16 & her own residence as the venue ( May god bless her for this). Canvassing on Orkut & Bangalore MSians group was done to attract more numbers.
Participants: Abha (amateurabe), Mayank (Matwalaboy) & his wife, Magicalsummers & a friend .. & Last but the least myself, the aam aadmi himself ;-) The Star(writer) of the evening was Magicalsummers who travelled extra to be a part of this meet. Next in line would be Abha for being the hostess, followed by the Mayank jodi.
How to break ice with a credit-card: Now by Thursday abha sent the venue address & her contact numbers. Having confirmed my turning up for the meet, I thought of giving Abha a ‘Ice-breaking call with a credit card’. Now ‘How to break ice with a credit card’ is a secret known only to the caller (me) and the recipients, the previous one of whom was none other than our own Shyam-Baba ! ;-)
The D-day: I was the first to reach & introduced myself to Abha – ‘hi, I am The Aam aadmi’. I am welcomed into a neatly arranged home & we both started at what we are good at – talking. After initial introduction, what do u do, etc, I felt at home-pitch & the batsman in me came out of the defensive shell & attacked the first thing I saw – a few marriage photo albums! I browsed thru 237 photos ( I didn’t count, but I know its 237! ) of 2 weddings ( Abha’s & her brother in law’s ) which in a slideshow wud have looked exactly like a ‘hum aapke hain kaun’ or any bollywood wedding movie ;-)
Aajtakwanted to cover the event, but being media-shy we shut the gate on their face. Once when I saw down from the third floor, I saw Aajtak & NDTV crew fighting for space nearest to the gate. Seeing no coverage on TV, Megs called in herself to get a first hand report of how the meet was going on. Just then Magicalsummers called abha for directions, I sensed the media ppl wud act crazy on seeing the starwriter & wud pester her for soundbytes. I went down & scared channel ppl saying ‘if u don’t disperse from here, I will let loose the (non-existent) dog’.
Once up there it was 3 ladies & a aam aadmi. He did the best thing by keeping quiet after exchanging pleasantries. I was (mute) witness to three ladies discussing Mags new hairstyle etc. Then enters Mayank & his wife. Now with everyone present began the party. Everyone had their share of wine, water, pesticides etc + chat items. Soon everyone was discussing MS, its controversies, some writers ….. & world peace ;-). At times the ladies went inside as they were also preparing something to eat. Mayank & me made use of this time to discuss ‘manly topics’ like technology, entrepreneurship, software, career ….. including Iran/north korea nuclear standoff & its effect on MS ;-)
Mags had to leave at abt 930 as she & her friend had to go different ways after dinner. After a cpl of group snaps we bid her goodbye. After that it was a kaleidoscope of topics as we talked over a lot of things, media, prince episode, TOI, MS, writers on MS ( we only had good things to say abt you ;-)
India needs a ICBM:now reduced to 4, much of the talk was around issues closer home like marriage, newly married life, adjustments, expectations out of bahu, balancing career & home etc. Being one of the most illegible bachelors on MS, I did best by keeping quiet, listening from Abha & Mayank couple’s mistakes ..err I mean experiences. I also got my 11th commandment when Abha told me “santhosh, when u get married support your wife”. I could only say yes! ;-) But the compassionate man in me came with an idea when Abha & Mayank’s wife spoke not so happily abt the number of times they had to bend-down-touch feet of bujurg log on wedding day. In the public intrest of our national country I proposed India shud have a ICBM .. ( Mr george bush don’t think of sanctions, its not about Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) . Its Indian Conveyor-belt Blessing Machine ( Patent pending)
It works simple: Groom&bride stand at one place. Before them at an height of 4ft is a conveyor belt carrying bujurg log. The couple stretch their hands as if on a keyboard, just touching/brushing the toe of every bujurg log being carried on the conveyor belt. Embedded within the belt is a tape that can play ‘jeete raho’ ‘jug jug jiyo’ at small intervals! ;-) … u see the MSians meet resulted in the accidental invention of something, to which billions of bride/groom to be will be grateful ;-)
Winding Up: The fact that I have survived & telling this tale means the paav-bhaaji made by Abha was good.! Having talked on & on a lot over virtually everything around us, we decided to call it a day, at abt 11.45. Few more snaps & we bid each other good bye promising to be n touch.
Some Revelations: 1)you can meet MSians around you –they are human just like you
2)Since you alredy have RRCd them, u know something abt them, so just a little intro, you are on a roll. I didn’t feel at all that I was meeting all these ppl for the first time. Its just that you have met them online, now meeting landline.
Please do RRC, and let us know wat we coud have done, wat more we cud have done better, all queries, questions, request for details etc welcome. ;-)
