In the rear view

I pulled out a couple of pages from my 2005 diary.

July 2005
Disconnected

I shifted house a few days ago. And with it I was disconnected from the world. No I haven't moved to the outskirts of the city. I'm on Airport Road now, but my Internet connection had to be cancelled since my service provider hasn't made forays into these outskirts. My computer is all packed up. And till I find someone willing to hook me up to cyber land without taking all my money, it will stay there.
Got a call from Delhi last week. Unidentified number.
"Hello."
"Is this Manoj Jacob of Shoestring?"
"Yes."
"I'm calling from Platform magazine, and we'd like to do an interview with you."
Gee, and to think I was disconnected.

Aug 2005
Mangal Pandey - The rising that wasn't
The higher they go, the harder they fall. And how 'The Rising' collapsed. In 3 hours, every expectation of mine was dashed hopelessly to the ground. The Saturday night show of Mangal Pandey was money well sent. Down the drain.
That apart, the 3 day weekend was fun. Caught up with some long overdue beer and sleep. I also found time to start putting my verses together for a new song. There's nothing more inspiring than the Monday morning blues being postponed by a day.

Keep on swingin', don't stop swingin'...

Goa, Dec 2003

Boys by the sea

Goa, Dec 2003

Careful who you turn your back on

Shot in Goa, December, 2003

In the rear view

Meeting the maker of the Common Man

Captain Gopinath and I meet RK Laxman in Pune. Seeking the great man's permission to use the Common Man in an Air Deccan ad.

In the rear view.

My travels in Oz. October 2005.

I landed in Sydney a few minutes before the clock struck 7 pm. From the airplane window, 'phoren' didn't look any different. I walked out of the aircraft as fast as my cramped legs allowed me to. And went through a routine check of my papers.

Then a few steps down to pick up the bag I had checked in. Bag however, wasn't in any hurry to come out. Guess he knew he wasn't going to see much of Sydney anyway. And was making his displeasure evident.

Finally my luggage emerged. With a bump and a grind. I heaved it out. With a grunt. Next stop, the exchange counter. Ozzy dollars obtained, I turned to proceed to another check post. But hold on, here's a handsomely dressed couple coming my way. 'Can we see your papers please?', asked the lady with a smile. 'Sure', I said. Airport security. They probably thought I looked suspicious. I'd noticed the male half of the couple whispering into his partner's ear while trying very hard not to let me know, that he was looking in my direction. Many more polite questions, honest replies and satisfied curiosities later, I stepped out of the airport. Uncle Ram and Prem waved.

A little later we hit the road with Uncle Ram at the wheel of a roomy Mazda. And as we breezed through the streets of Sydney towards the suburb of Strathfield, I started to fall in love with the city.

The roads had lanes, and guess what, people stuck to them. There were zebra crossings where vehicles actually stopped to let pedestrians cross. This must be wonderland!

In the rear view. Last June.

Was going through an online journal I used to keep. Had an entry on what I thought was a very interesting piece of fungus.

June 14, 2005
To beard or not to beard
This morning I got a little creative with my razor. I shaved, but not entirely. Left a little on my upper lip, a wee bit on my lower and a fair bit on my chin. I quite like it. My wife doesn't. So I popped before the web cam and took a pic. For posterity's sake, before the fungus became history.

The day at work wasn't much different from other days. Many cups of coffee, pages of copy and a few rounds of carrom. Back home, I played around with my guitar. And by dinner time I had written 2 new songs. I played 'em for my wife, and she nodded approvingly. First round cleared. Let's see if I am as excited about them when I wake up.

Good night world. Good bye beard.