therunawayjuiceincident

I’ve been shooting in some bizarre Delhi heat since 8 am today. Which is fine. But every time it gets really hot, it takes me back to April 2006. When my brother and I decided to take a week off and go to Thailand. Just. To explore… and maybe have a beer. And we assumed that the weather would be awesome. Because all the pictures on the internet seemed so….cool. So anyway, we land in Bangkok and shop for two days and marvel at all things Bangkokian. Ooo look! Tuktuk! Ooo look! Beer! Ooo look! Street food. Oooo look! scheming tuktuk driver who will rip us off. It was fun. I got shooting stars tattooed on my ankle; Dhruv sulked because I didn’t want to drink constantly.  Then we decided to go to Koh-Samui for a couple of days. It was very last minute so trains and flights were out of the question. So I suggested “Hey! Why not take a double decker bus and then take a ferry. Its only 6 billion degrees but we don’t know that yet. Lets also run out of food & wait by the side of the road for 4 hours. And also, while we’re at it lets take the worst seats on the boat so that we sit directly under the sun and get skin cancer. It will be fun.” I’m glad Dhruv is my brother. That way he can’t run away. We are still related and on talking terms. And at some point I feel he might forgive me. I think.
But the story didn’t end there. And much as I’d like to talk about it, I feel that I need to concentrate only on the good parts of every trip. Which I have….. already. Though I must mention that on the very cramped double decker bus we took, we met a circus troupe from England. Satya had red hair, she was a trapeze artist and her younger brother, Charlie the clown (no, really!) washed down many a valium with buckets of whiskey and was kind enough to share. Good times!
In the course of the trip we perfected the art of sulking and ignoring each other, not listening to the other person, arguing, shouting publicly, learning how to say ‘moron’ in different tones, getting lost on an island the size of a shoe, using each other as a human cushion on aircrafts, buses, boats, trains & tuktuks and laughing a lot, together.
If I had to do this entire treacherous trip all over again, I would. In a heartbeat. And I have a feeling Dhruv would too.
Oh and hey Dhruv! If you’re reading this, I have one word for you – Haddas. It means ‘flower’ in Hebrew. Ring a bell?

I don’t think I’ve traveled to Delhi these many times in such a compressed period of time. Work beckons, hence the ‘lets look important and fly lots’. Which is fun, in bits. Mostly because I have an awesome travel partner in Manish. And when I say awesome, I mean that he has the patience of a saint. I usually leave a trail of things from home to airport and then from airport to home. Earphones, chapstick, boarding pass, book, hairbrush, inflatable pillow, belt. And he just picks it all up, and hands it to me . I used to look sheepish before, but I have realized that he doesnt judge me. So now I take the entire process for granted. I don’t have to go to the counter and get the ticket, I don’t need to check my email for the PNR number, I don’t have to show my I.D to the seccurity guy. I just walk behind Manish like an incapable child. Either he’s an awesome friend who really does care about me or he’s going to take a bat to my head sooner than later. Only time will tell. But until then…. I’m just going to enjoy these Bombay-Delhi flights and continue being absolutely incapable.