It was in November 2008, when "kisaan" announced that he was getting married. "Kisaan" is Sandeep Gupta. Sandeep was my room mate in mumbai. For our common interest in melancholy we became thick friends. Even after I shifted to Delhi, we would say to each other, "Yaar tum aa jaao, kaafi baatein hain...adhuri hain...kahin adhuri na reh jaaeen..."..Being typical Kanpuri, I learnt alot of ways of the world from him. Despite being rubbished by most of our room mates in Mumbai, he still turned out to be the more responsible and sensible amongst all of us. I named him "Kisaan" in Symbi for his uncanny resemblance to a farmer in an old "DD" ad on contraceptives and difference between two children. The name spread like fire and soon the whole campus knew him as "Kisaan" and not as Sandeep Gupta. His marriage was in Kanpur.
We took a train to Kanpur. The guest list was quite limited - Me, Dev, Atanu and Srinath. We are all erstwhile roommates of "Kisaan" from Mumbai. We reached in the afternoon and as usual I began cursing the state of Urban infrastructure in Kanpur till Dev shut me up, "Boss, this is India, keep your economics to yourself..enjoy the earthen India in its flavor..."..As we cramped ourselves in a speeding Bolero that took us from station to our hotels. All of us are in love with our slumber and the compromise in the early morning was a cardinal error which we were desperate to correct. Wait a second.....for a sound sleep, we needed a catalyst..We searched for the nearest pub. After gulping down a couple of beers, we were ready to crash.
By the time we woke up, Sandeep's childhood friend had arrived with Sandeep's marriage promise - A bottle of whisky. In our group, I am "British". Sitcking always to processes and procedures. I said, "Ohh Shit, how can we drink in the middle of a marriage". Dev's instant response was, "Dekho, yeh UP hai, bina saraab kaise majaa aayegi..piyo jaani piyo..."
When we arrived at the spot of the barat, we were all high and ready for the dulaah. Kisaan knew we were drunk, so the moment he saw us, "Deepak babu, baraat aage jaane dena...". I said, "Dulhe raja, kuchh hamen bhi maje lene do jaani.....baraat to ab aage nahi jaayegi.."....I still remember the horror on his face. He knew that I am uncontrollable after liquor as far as dancing in concerned. When he got on the horse, the band was bland...... playing as though it was a mere formality.... a job bestowed upon them by life to earn their livelihood...... waiting to excite them. For a while I waited, and then I jumped in.
Jumping, snake dance, bhangra, break dance.....suddenly the band came alive to the occassion..Dev joined me...so did Atanu.........the party came alive....While I was still in trance and Dev was throwing away "tenners" like he was a farmer on a field sowing seeds, I saw that Dulhe's chacha, mama, taya, bhabhi, bhaiyya were silently clapping away to glory.........Overpowered by the music and the dhamaal, both me and Dev dragged the ladkawala's before the poor ghodi.......By the time they started to enjoy the music....we pulled out.....we were like a car without fuel...panting like dogs we realised age had finally caught up with us.....
With a few hi-fives and cold drink, we felt much better. The dinner was awesome. When I got back to senses, I was like, "off..Deepak, how could you do that??" But the rest of the junta sure enjoyed it and had fun.........
I am always a little reluctant and hesitant about enjoying myself to the hilt and letting my hair down(Dont have much left to let them down anyhow..). It has got nothing to do with liquor though. I normally underplay myself, whether its party or life...but there are occassions when I just let the flow blow me away....that when I really am Deepak......
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