In transition...

They say a week is a long time in politics. Yeah, right! Talk about the last week I have spent here and it probably will stretch from Lucknow till Delhi. And me, not even in politics! Anyways, talking of politics, its election time in U.P. and the newspapers reek of half-page ads of who has done what (and who has not) and what targets have been achieved...its boastful branding at its best! And the people who least benefit from this political mumbo-jumbo are the ones who are most concerned. Like the maid who comes to our house. The other day, she asks me, which party is the best and what promises are they making. I tell her I hardly know. She says that maybe because I was in Delhi that I wasn’t able to keep myself abreast of political happenings in Lucknow. So can I tell her something about the political scenario in Delhi? I tell her that I really don’t know. She asks, “Kyon, aapke MBA mein nahi bataya?”I am shell-shocked...not only she knows the MBA-word but questions MBA education too!! But then a lot of people do that. Among the whole lot of relatives that I have been meeting since I came, an Uncle very fondly asks, “So, What are your key-learnings in the two years of MBA education?” Hmmm...Key learnings...I try to find the answer somewhere in between the blades of the ceiling fan but as all mothers are, my mother is sort of omniscient. She knows all my answers. “Key learnings!!! The only thing she has learnt is to spoil her lifestyle! Sleeping late...getting up late...uff!” Someday, when the Supreme Power will descend to grant me my three wishes for being such a good person, the first thing I am going to ask is, “Why, why are parents so very allergic to late-to-rise-in-morning routine?” I mean, its not that I am going to change the world or something by getting ready at eight in the morning...and the more late you get up, the shorter the day automatically becomes. Short days are good. There are less number of things and events that trigger the memories of people and the last few months spent in hostel. I realize that at the end of the day, memories are just a miniscule part of your equation with friends. Sometimes, you just start where you left off. I have met some of my school and college friends in the last few days. These are the people I have not met in the last two-three years, even more. But we bond beautifully...as if we had been meeting daily all this while. Not that I mind having a lot of memories...but they should at least be the regular ones. Not like the other day, while I was sipping some sprite after dinner and instead of missing my bunch of friends or the terrace parties or those dance and song sequences that ensued...I was missing the dull, aching, lukewarming taste of chilled vodka. I think I am in for some serious trouble.