Pak Conversations - VI / Hack! Splutter!

So the journey from Multan to Rawalpindi introduced me to the Pakistani version of the Rajdhani Express-- the Daewoo buses. This bus service is a part of the deal between the Pakistani government and Daewoo involving building these really amazing highways all across the country. Anyway, the buses were pretty plush, and I'd never seen a bus stewardess before. It was a rather interesting journey, beginning with prayers and a short speech welcoming all the passengers. The one in Urdu was easier to understand than the one in English, which was truly terrible. We were served chicken sandwiches which were actually quite good. I wish they'd better the standards of journey food in India. Sigh.

Getting back, these buses have radio and TV, but the TV is quite pointless unless you want something boring enough to put you to sleep quickly.So I thought some music would make the journey more pleasant, seeing as it was to last ten hours. I put the earphones on, and shook my head in disbelief. No, not here!! I couldn't have come so far away to be haunted by this spectre....no, anything but HIMESH! So, yes, radio was not an option, and I settled for sharing headphones with A and using her MP3 player. The consequences were rather hilarious. We each heard one half of 'California Dreamin'. Among other things, there were the regulation bawling babies (they are the same the world over), the police jeep waiting at Jhang where the bus stopped so that we could, ahem, use the facilities (may I add here that this stop was not exclusively for my benefit), and the stewardess telling us that the bus had never travelled so fast, as the road ahead was being cleared of traffic on our account. Sheesh. I also had to try very hard to not fall asleep, considering that gravity plays strange tricks on me when I fall asleep in a bus, and I really didn't want a bunch of normal people to have their psyches scarred forever with a view of the inside of my mouth. I didn't succeed, I must have slept for atleast eight hours. Thankfully, I woke up as soon as we approached the mountains. They were like a testament to time itself, layered in colours that were as solid as the rocks, and yet vibrant, bursting, beautiful inspite of being dry and bare. And I must say, I do take the most wonderful photos from inside moving vehicles. Pat(s) on my back.

On reaching Rawalpindi, we were wondering whether we should wait for our escorts to show up, as we'd been instructed to do by the cops in Multan. But we were tired and dirty, and in no mood to humour Pakistani intelligence. So we got into an ancient cab and left for Islamabad, all the while amusing ourselves at the thought of the hapless party that would have been sent to recieve us, and would now be frantic at the thought that they'd managed to lose five Indian women.

Islamabad was reached quite quickly, on account of being only forty five minutes away from Pindi. Its rather like a pretty American suburb, with wide, clean avenues, pretty houses, and no poor people visible. I rather liked it, although its been called lifeless and boring. It was more a place that a homebody like me would enjoy living in. Of course, it is most essential to have noisy, riotous Pindi nearby, so that one can escape from sanity once in a while.

We reached P's residence. It was quiet, beautiful and most important, it was home, finally. We luxuriated in the bathroom, and the beds, and the heater, and the television, and we gorged in the kitchen (tea, nutella on toast, glorious chicken in manageable portions, glorious vegetables after a long period of parting, more of everything in general, except for T, who kept up her tradition of being functional with food). We finally had to roll ourselves out of the kitchen, and I discovered that my blog, and all other Indian ones, are inaccessible in Pakistan. Talk about irony. They do have that demon called Orkut, though.

P.S.: - I'm taking a hiatus from blogging for a while (meaning a week, tops). the reasons are as follows: -

1. I have to work on a book review on something about a second nuclear age by Colin Gray. As you can see, I haven't even begun. Blech.
2. I have to catch up on my reading. The list is, well, long. For this week, I'll restrain myself to three maybe.
3. There is a mountain of clothes to be washed and bed linen to be changed.
4. Why would you want to know about my extremely mundane chores?

Also, everybody who went to the Roger Waters concert tonight in Bombay, I hope you realize that you shouldn't have, coz I couldn't. Also, since more than two thirds of my bloodstream now consists of cough syrup, don't take me too seriously. That's it for now. Be good, boys and girls. Tata.

Comments

ninkita said…
maybe its just cause I'm blue, but thats what your post seemed to me.. now was that or was that not a truly startling comment i just made??? wow, i'm outdoing myself these days, when it comes to being trite!!

god!! anyhow.. i'll start looking for some islamabad based fellow for you then..
and as for those concert-ppl.. boohoohoo!!!!!!!!
raghu said…
boys n gals?
abbe gadhon ko kya hua!
lol
islamabad decript was sooo nice..my dad also told good stuff about it
raghu said…
oye kya be.. jaldi vaapas aa na.. matlab blog again.. its good 4 health also.. doc says so.. always.
a post a day keeps the cough away.
heh? ok said…
@ nin
i'm blue too...kof kof..
@ raghu
abbe gadhe will stay with you forever.
raghu said…
aww..:D
dats sooooo sweeettttt....awww
raghu said…
u access the blogs thru http://pkblogs.com/abbeblah
etc..
http://pkblogs.com/garbled-thoughts
http://pkblogs.com/icecream-is-cold
first thngs first

And I must say, I do take the most wonderful photos from inside moving vehicles. Pat(s) on my back.

this is the best statement EVER made by u.. u kno y.. cz for once u said smthng good bout urself! am happy u did tht :)

ok.. rest of the post.. gr8 as usual.. umm.. 8/10 :)

acha.. roger waters was brilliant! i was ready 2 sponsor ur ticket.. now dont make me feel guilty tht i dint pressurise u into comin :S.. it was fuckin amazing sangy! fuck! one of the best thngs thts happened 2 me of late! :)
heh? ok said…
@ brick
hehe, thankee, teacher, for that score. and don't feel guilty, i'll manage all this own my own, soon. you'll see :)
Anonymous said…
i have recently realised the benefits of writing in points, so here goes...
1) i dont think you are very sick, u didnt cough too much!
2)long live himmesh darling!may his suroor never die!
3)i just added california dreamin to my palying list..i love that song!
4) babies are alternatively cute+bugging
5)oh god! woman u can sleep!
6)haw beechere escorts, how could you do this to them!
6)"glorious chicken" i want too!!!!
7)oh babes i wil miss ur blog!!!
8)(i was going to say something here but then thought not to cause am not sure how it will be received...sigh...yeah i think too much!)
i thinks its the longest comment i have ever written! no need to reply! am just so dead, ncm did this to me! :(
heh? ok said…
@ anonymous
amazing how i actually haven't the slightest idea who you are.
hehehehe.. dont tell me sangy u dunno who wrote tht! shit! its so obvious :)
or u being sarcastic n me being a dope? :S
Anonymous said…
:) guess guess!
i like guessing games!
@ another brick.... who are you?u know me?
haila! no yaar.. i jst dunno u.. hehee.. sangy.. heh?ok :P
raghu said…
sangy is playin tricks.. she wants more comments so shes postin as anonymous..nah sangy?
"pak"di gayi!
heh? ok said…
@ all of you
sigh...sim, stupid game. and the rest, well, go figure.
raghu said…
hahah.. no no dont do dis.. its u.. n nw by sayin its sim ur increasin ur comments evn more.. wah..ur the queeen!
heh? ok said…
@ raghu
are you implying that i'm playing cheap tricks to increase the number of comments? *fume*
Ranjit Koshi said…
some day, I will get to ride on a bus with a stewardess.. sigh.. until then I'll be content with our pathetic DTC's...
heh? ok said…
@ ranjit
this one was pretty too :P
Anonymous said…
oh!! no that wasn't me! i just read ur blog! realy sangeeta i didnt know u could stoop so low for the sake of publicity! haw sharam aane chahiye and then including me in your cheap games! chee chee chee....tauba tauba!
@ evryone, sniff sniff thanks for supporting me and not accepting sangeeta's word that, that was me! as if i could right such things!
heh? ok said…
@ sim
it was you, you're the only one who ends all her sentences with exclamation marks. or else it was akhila, although it doesn't sound like her. if not, i don't care, WHATEVER. groan.
raghu said…
ITS u.. n ur CHeap tricks.. 2 increace ur comments ya.. LOL
ur trapped gal.. n trapped badly :)
heh? ok said…
SHADDUP, YOU LOT!!
raghu said…
agin.. u noe if u tell em 2 shut ..i WONT!
so ur increasin ur comments more n more n more.. wah wah queen.. wise lady..:D
wat kinda weird publicity stunt is ths sangeeta das? i so dont approve of it! i am beginning to believe wat raghu is saying! it wasnt sim who commented ... i think it was u who'd commented as anonymous so as 2 show ur blog is oh-so-read :P
raghu said…
yay!
nw wat sangy.. ???
suk me sim vs U
hahaha.. id like anky 2 join our side as well.. bcos our side is right n truthful.. oh yea! ;)
raghu said…
im sooorrriiee.. i wont let ne1 noe the truth.. ok?
plz dont stop comment on my bloggy ya.
heheh :D

Popular Posts