Trapped in the endless cycle of birth and rebirth of software project lifecycles, my mortal lifecycle seemed to have lost track of which avatar or version I’m currently running on. My rebellion is my hairstyle. It resembles a tiny rainforest rooted on my scalp. Picture me with a mid-parting and a clean shave, and you will be there. The best part is I didn’t realise how ‘advanced’ the growth was till I saw tears swelling in the eyes of a middle aged Thai couple. They thought they found their long lost son!
Holi was not as much fun as it was supposed to be. We thought we would turn up in traditional wear in the office in true cultural spirit. Seeing the sea of puzzled face around us we realised Kurtas and Saris do not exactly blend-in in a British office. Unfazed we began the four day Easter trip planning. It was not too late; after all we still had whole twelve hours left for packing, hostel reservations and taking printouts. Oh! Did I mention we are renting a car? Oh yes we did. The plan was to start on Saturday morning. And as most plans go, yours truly proposes and the dispassionate Almighty disposes. Ashish and Sauji (Ankurs friends) managed to get stuck in the wonder-maze called London for 3 hours in the wee morning hours. Armed with nothing but a set of colour printouts from the net- Bhute, Ankur and myself, got cracking on the maze. In half an hour, London was way behind us.
Zipping at 100 miles an hour, we had to decide our first destination in Wales for the night. It had to be somewhere in Northern Wales. After enquiring around, we concluded that Landudno would be the only place with rooms left so late this Easter season. We finally found a really comfy place to stay for £25 per head. By the time we reached there, I looked like a velichappadu (a male temple oracle with a frayed hairdo).
The clock complained that it was nearly midnight, but we were still full of beans. Time to see the nightlife! Despite the time, every lane had a merry crowd or sometimes more than a crowd. The espionage reports were indeed true. This place is much better than the sleepy streets of London. We even managed to get free passes to a hip-looking club called Buzz. But the happiness was short lived as they shrugged us off seeing us in trainers (British-ism for sport shoes or sneakers). Multitude of twinkling lights blankly stared at us in the beautiful promenade of this seaside town. And even more blankly we stared back. Many swear words later, we all hit the sack. We must have all dreamt of an alternate ending, the one without the trainers :wink:
