Perfect Weekday

New Year's. All alone in a research institute. A researcher's idea of a New Year's party does not exactly coincide with mine. A desperate call to M. I'm to go over to her place. Yay! Delayed by a frustrating two hour long meeting with my prof, in which I would have (gladly) wrung his neck. :P An excruciating two hour bus ride to the other end of town. Remind me to never travel by bus in the evening, in Bangalore AND on New Year's eve. Madness. I was really convinced that I was breathing my last, when I could get to breathe at all. But at the end of it, I finally reach the peace of M's endearingly messy room. We dress. Promoted from non-male to chick. Phew. :) Party time! Good place on B Road. Eight of us, out of which I know only three. But I don't feel out of place. A happy bunch of people, who make you feel like one of them. I am myself, more than myself, and am completely in the moment. Masks, party hats, whistles, annoying little insecty toys, wine, a chocolate fountain, snide comments, trip taking. In short: a dinner with friends.

On our way back, we are stranded because of a bunch of autos blocking the road. Some kind of protest. Tempers in the car begin to simmer as we contemplate the possibility of welcoming the new year in a car. The mess gets sorted out and we speed back to the campus, just in time to toast to the new year. Firecrackers! And music in L^2! I'm surrounded by completely unfamiliar people, but who cares?. Feels good to be partying. Dancing. Checking out. Commenting. And of course, there's M. And then there is MR, in his element, competing with Govinda. Why can't research institutes as much fun? Sigh.

Post party, we walk .. to the "whispering teaks". Its almost four. Five figures cross the red earth of the large field, and head to the silent trees. It's misty and if I were alone, I would be totally spooked out. But four high people can take the spookiness out of practically anything. :) Don't remember doing so much masti in a single evening in a long time. Somehow the word 'masti' manages to convey so much more than 'fun'. :)

The next day is spent in lazing around. We order some food and watch 'The Incredibles'. Incredibly, I hadn't seen it. A cute movie. I so love the stupidity of nonsense. If the nonsensical is in good taste, it can take away the strain of the sensible. My professor is still not interested in meeting me, so I decide to stay over for one more day. 'Edward Scissorhands' in the evening. First: the stereotypes were well done. the nosey neighbours. the bored housewives. the eternally sweet mother. the preachy dad. the pretty and pretty shallow girl. the suffering boy. the jealous lover. Two: I am now convinced that Johnny Depp can carry off any role.

Back to work in the morning. Sigh. My prof is still absconding. It's time to catch his phd student.

When will I see M again? And Ta? Unanswerable questions. When M left college, I was genuinely afraid in a way. Afraid and sad. In the same way that I was when it was time for me to leave college. I wondered when we would meet again. And more than that, when we would get to just spend some time with each other. It didn't have to be 'quality time'. Because quality time is not necessarily fun time. The moments which you really miss are the silliest ones. This time round, I'm not afraid. Maybe it's called growing up. Or getting used to saying goodbyes. Or realising that it will always be fun. And that not all things change with time. Of course, it's fun spending time with friends. And of course, everyone has places to go.

It's time for me to go back too. It's been a good vacation.