From the Deep End of The Pool

WARNING: ANYTHING BUT EPICUREAN

Umm, seriously. What is about to come up ain't exactly light reading, so if you're looking for the blog world's equivalent of a popcorn flick, plis to be coming back later. Today's not a good day for that sort of thing.

I remember standing outside Ruparel college, back in 2000. School had gotten over, and college was a brand new thing. I was worried about not knowing anybody, about the fact that the school uniform, and the ease of familiarity it bought along with it, was now a thing of the past. I was worried about the fact that I would now have to study new things, about the fact that I would have to make new friends. And all that jazz.
I knew life until then, and I did not know about my life up ahead. And therefore a little scared.

It's not the same story today.

I have known my life until now, and I know what is in store up ahead. Not the particulars, but the pattern. And therefore not scared, but a little depressed.
Life sheds the leaves of the autumn of our youth. I and the buddy clan I have, that is. The spring of adulthood is here, but the rain is gloomy and the air hangs heavy.
Things might, and probably will, clear up in the years to come, but now - today, the prospect of a mature life is a leetle bit sobering.
Drinking binges ain't exactly top of the list anymore. It's not that they won't happen, but they won't be as eagerly anticipated as they were before.
People younger than us will venture out on motorcycles and we'll know the fear I know my parents knew. Relationships will fructify into marriages, and others that we thought to be a shoo-in for matrimony will wither away - for keeps.
Folks back home will grow old and old Hippocrates will become a rather more frequent visitor.
Speaking of which, there will come a time when the doc nods disapprovingly at our tummies too.
Dreams of a home of our own will now be given a tadka of reality, and the dish may not be as tasty as we had dreamed it would be. Loans and cars, amounts outstanding on the plastic in our wallets and career speedbreakers. Hell, career breakers, for that matter.
Some of this has already happened, and some will, in the not so distant future.
We see ourselves growing up, and while that may be a good thing, saying adieu to the days of carefree laughter ain't topping my list of things to do.
But it must be done. If not now, then later. Soon enough.
Pack your bag, children. Peter Pan don't exist.





Umm.
P.S. types se hai.
While that and all that may be true (and it is), a cold beer is still a cold beer.
And buddies are still buddies.
All deserts have their oases, and my refrigerator has a coupla cans still.
Literally as well.

Are you ready boots? Start walking!

I know I want beer. A date with Angelina Jolie wouldn't hurt. Throw in a Suzuki Hayabusa for good measure, and while you're at it, add a bungalow in Goa... right on the beachfront.
In that way and like that, I know what I want from life.But not that way and not like that, me be thinking, me exactly like you, the reader.
I mean, when you're a couple of beers down, and the beats of "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" fill the room, biting of lower lip and ponderous nodding of head, no?
Most of us are doing well enough in life. A decent enough education, a nice cushy job, or awaiting one, family nicely settled in and all. And yet, deep down, when confronting yourself about what it is that you want to do with your life, there isn't half a decent answer forthcoming.
Most of us, including me, don't know, haven't felt, that kind of passion, or single-mindedness. You see it, you hear of it, but experiencing it is thoda the impossible... apparently.
Meet Pradeep Apte, professor of economics at Fergusson College, Pune.
A reluctant commerce graduate, a teacher by happenstance, one of the most fantastic beer drinkers I know (and given the company I keep, that is saying something, trust you me), an avid enthusiast of classical music, an awe-inspring knowledge of history, knows Maharashtra inside out, an acknowledged WTO expert, amateur wine-maker,self-taught mathematician, cine enthusiast, Sanskrit scholar and not that he has much of a choice, mentor to a certain Ashish Kulkarni, among other varied things.
Well, OK, that last bit isn't really a talent that he has as such, but ain't he lucky? I mean, imagine mentoring me.
Jokes apart, the point of that little paean was to let you know that Pradeep Apte, till date, has no clue about what he wants to do with his life.
Seraphic smile in place, Professor Apte has a rocking time, 24/7. If there
be an apt description of the man, it is that he is benignly curious.
If there be something that he knoweth not, he tries and changes the status quo. And if it doesn't change soon, that's ok.
With that remarkably laidback phiosophy unswervingly in place, Apte Sir has had a rocking time of it, thank you very much.
Moral of the gyaan session?
Not knowing what you want, come to think of it, may not be such a bad thing. The world is your playground. Go explore.
Comprenez-vous?