Bring On The Crazy!

Taking a detour from my usually boring posts...

Another weekend, sleep till the afternoon and enjoy a brunch with the family, sit home, relax; was how it usually went. But the 4th of May, is one weekend which took a turn for the BEST!

Free entry passes to Wadi Adventure, Al Ain (UAE), thanks to Anoop, set the tone for an adrenalin packed Friday! Two days to go and the guy pumps us all up wid his, "wwwaaadddiii...bbaabbyyy... wwoohhoooo..!!" And to get us all into that CRAZY mood, Vikas a.k.a precast, suggests that we watch the 'Avengers' in the morning and then head out to 'crazy-land'!

The movie had all the right elements. The villainous Norse God, Loki, forming an alliance with the Chitauries, raises hell on Earth. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow gave the oomphh... factor, along with her talents of kicking-ass! Tony Stark / Iron Man, with his sly comments and punch-lines, kept the mood light, after intense action sequences. Thor, swinging his hammer around and calling on lighting strikes, was bent on getting his brother (Loki) back to Asgard.  Captain America, with his vibranium-steel alloy shield, plays the role of the leader and keeping the team as one. Hawkeye, an expert marksman and with his arsenal of arrows, supported the team. But surprise... surprise... The Hulk, both, as Dr. Bruce Banner and as the Green Monster; made the movie a real treat!

Loki: How dare u! I am a GOD! I am not going to be bullied by...

(Hulk grabs Loki by the legs... *bam *bam *bam... )

Hulk: (walking away) hhmmpphh... puny GOD!

Audience: F***!! LOL!!

Wow...craazzyy..., is just an understatement! 'A'vengers in two words... 'A'wesome, 'A'mazing!

So with the mind dialled up to CRAZY, it was time to move onto the real show of the day! Foster's, Toyota Prado, was fuelled and ready for our Road Trip! We move away from the city limits and head to the, "eastssaaiiddeee...!" - Ali G. Al Ain, known as the Garden City,  is situated on the eastern side of the UAE, with a major part of the topography being mountains and sand dunes. We head-bang, dance and sing out loud (American and Indian Idols all under one roof!) in the jeep en-route (E66) from Dubai to reach Al Ain. Once in Al Ain, we grab a quick lunch from KFC and with the smart 'precast's', even smarter phone, guides us perfectly to our destination.

 

"Waaddiii...bbaabbyyy...wwooeee-wooeee-wwooo...!!" - Anoop.

It was time to 'bring on the crazy'! We move past security check, and walk out onto the wave pool, just in time to catch an eye-full of God's perfect creation - women - wearing man's (Louis Reard, an automobile engineer / fashion designer) perfect creation - the bikini!! Thank you God for the hot summers!! Bags safely away in the lockers, we head out to face the turbulent waters with our first shot at 'rafting'. Briefed on the safety and techniques of rafting, we (group of four) gear up and move to our designated raft. Our instructor (Dan from Nepal) gives us a practice run on the beginners course and then head out to the advanced course to test our mettle! A total of 1.5 hours, with two laps on the beginners and four laps on the advanced course was a real workout; intense and tiring and a whole lot of fun!

After that adrenalin pumping ride, we cool off with a dip in the pool. It must have been the effects of the cool water or maybe the adrenalin wearing off, because we were contemplating on how to get rid off the 'Avengers'! We were successfull in getting rid of four of the super-heroes, but Thor and Hulk were the wrench in our near impossible yet cunning plan. Get a bunch of crafty, brilliant and devious guys together and we can change the future! This is also when we came up with a (soon-to-be popular) tongue twister - "Fascinating Facts of Foster's Frosted Frames"! With all the intellectual discussions and brainstorming done, we moved on to the final adventure - the Air Park. The air park includes a climbing wall, high ropes obstacle course, zip line and a 14m falling swing. The high ropes obstacle course is of two seperate levels, by the end of which you are able to get over the fear of heights. Safety is of utmost importance, and so we are strapped into a harness that is connected to a roller, which moves on an I-beam throughout the course. And finally we just lay back on our harness as we fly across the channels and lakes on the zip line. 

A day well spent, with great friends by your side.... planning to conquer new horizons! Good-night Al Ain!

The School-boy (1)

... the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school...

Wake up groggily from bed, taking my own sweet time, and to find that breakfast is served... just a myth! School has begun! Rush through brushing my teeth to taking a shower to getting dressed, and finally foooddd...! All great moments are short-lived, because a minute late and I miss the school bus (please GOD, let me just enjoy my cereal and watch my cartoon!). So it all comes down to timing. It feels like I am on a production line, where the 'Product Assembly' has to begin at 7 a.m. and the 'Final Product' should be ready by 8 a.m.. After which there is a 'Cool Down' period for ten minutes, only to be followed by the 'Inspection' (done so proudly by my mother!). Assembled, inspected and approved; I am handed over to my father who thinks of me as a coolie, unloading my heavy-duty school bag onto my not-so developed, frail shoulders! He takes me to the bus stop, where I am excited to catch up with my 'kinda people' (under-developed, frail shouldered kind)! The 'oldies' form their group and complain about us. While us 'newbies' form ours and discuss important matters ranging from games to cartoons to more games and more cartoons!

All aboard the (not so) s-cool bus! AC/DC knew exactly wat they were singing when they played, 'On A Highway To Hell'! If only I had my ipod back then, and was well versed in translating 'heavy metal' could I have known that the bus driver was the devil's minion!

Finally we arrive at the 'Gates of Hell'! Along with my comrades, we take small, calculated steps through those huge black gates (it was actually a soothing sea blue...!), and enter, left foot first (purposefully) into 'No Man's Land'! Us 'hobbits' were ushered into the primary section of the fortress, to gather for the assembly; where 'El Diablo' (the headmaster), ironically, asks us to close our eyes and bow down our heads and to repeat after him, the morning prayer!  It is surprising how by just closing one's eyes and taking HIS name can have a soothing effect. With the prayer done, 'El Diablo' seemed more human and the surroundings looked a lot more beautiful and pleasing to the eyes!

The bell goes off, signalling its time to learn our 'ABCs' and '123s'. Try to understand why 'humpty-dumpty, had a great fall...' or why 'Jhonny' was lying to his 'papa', and so on! Slogging, hard and long, through numbers and alphabets, and the occasional chit-chats and pulling pranks on each other, only to be told by Ms know-it-all (our sweet teacher!), to either get out of the class or to stand on the table. I used to go for the option of standing on the table, as I could tower over my fellow comrades (they seemed like ants!). More than the teachings going on inside the four walls of our classroom; the highly talented and very bright back-benchers (and the guy standing on the table) always looked forward for physical education classes! Experience must have taught our teacher well and surrender to the whims of untamed children; because it was our class teacher, who let us barking 'mad' dogs out, for this particualr class! And at last that icy-cold, monotonous wailing of the school bell, seemed so musical... "freak out... pa papero... pa papero re ro... school's out... !" The teachers also heave a sign of relief, knowing that us rugrats will be bak tomorrow more stronger and better equipped!

On the ride back home I was glad to see the 'halo' on our bus driver! AC/DC was soo... wrong!

Back to my 'home sweet home':

"Mom! I'm home!"

"Good. Change your clothes and finish your homework."

This is when I exactly learn how to calculate numbers and my physical education comes handy, so that I could catch the bus back to school; which seemed like a safe haven at that moment!

All said and done, those were the times when mischievnousness and innocence got us past the cold stares of our parents and teachers. The best moments in everyones life to be cherished, begins at school. If only Dr. Emmett Brown and his plutonium-powered 'time machine' were real, I would have loved to go 'Back To The Future'!

The Seven Ages

Life...

You open your eyes to a sea of onlookers. Blink twice and they give u faint smile. Move your limbs around and they heave a sign of relief. And as a closing act, they applaud to your high pitched wailing (somewhere close to note A below the middle C)! Little do we realize that it wasn't our closing act, but more of an applause for entering onto the stage - the stage of life. "Aaawww... wat a darling!"; "he looks just like his father"; "...has his mother's eyes".

Your a 'Rockstar', with all the tugging and shoving, just to get a glimpse of you! Fans screaming your name, and again with the 'aaww(s)...' and 'eeee(s)...'. The first taste of fame, we definietly cherish the moment with a bit of head-banging, rolling around and looking all cute! And you, in that awesomelely cute baby voice, "guuguu....gaa..gaga...gguuu!!", translated: "Ladies... ladies, please, everyone will get their turn, I ain't going anywhere!!". How right we are. From being an infant, thru our teenage lives and finally into adulthood; we're still here playing our parts.

"All the world's a stage", from William Shakespeare's 'As You Like It', talks about the seven stages of a man's life: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon and second childhood. The monologue goes as such (courtesy: wikipedia):

William Shakespeare

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school.

And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow.

Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation,Even in the cannon's mouth.

Seven Ages of Man, 1838, illustrating the speech

And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound.

Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

.....sans everything. It is inevitable.

You have made your first impression as an infant (enter, stage right... applause!). Miles to go and roles to enact before we get to play the much awaited and acclaimed part of the 'second childishness' (exit, stage left... standing ovation!)

....Goes On

Choices

The future is always a mystery, and everyday life brings us to the 'fork in the road', which decides what our future beholds. It is true, that our past decisions have brought us to this bifurcation, but who said, “Life was 'a smooth sail' with clear sign boards pointing you in the right direction?”

In Russian tales, a knight comes to a fork in the road, where he sees a large upright standing stone with an inscription that reads: "If you ride to the left, you will lose your horse; if you stride right, you will lose your head". What the knight wouldn't have given for a third and much easier option!

The courage to travel the 'road less taken' can easily get you through harsh realities and difficult times because there is always light at the end of the tunnel. And in this case, the knight (being courageous and brave-hearted) - for sure takes the right bend in the fork - gets to keep his head intact; and moreover nothing was said about losing his horse if he were to go right!

We all should strive to be that knight; take risks, make decisions that people might think are crazy and completely out of this world. Take heart! For they seem to forget, "none but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear".

So today, I chose to take this path of writing my very first blog and share my experiences. After all these years, with my impulsive decisions and choices, I finally decide to take refuge in putting my thoughts in words on a virtual sheet of paper. Neither an author nor a topper in 'The' English language, I would like to think of this Blog as my 'pensieve'. As Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had his... I Pramod Menon would like to keep one too.