"December 2006.
I still remember that day pretty clearly. One of the Dombi guys had called to invite me for some Dombivli Fair which comes up once a year. I laughed it off at first..it was an apt addition to my constant joke on this place Dombivli having just one post-office, one school, one theatre and now this one annual fair. “Arey kitna fundoo hota hai!” is what i remember being told. I still remember wearing that Pink (yeah pink!) Fab-India kurti on my regular jeans. Had met KK at thane station and we happily travelled dangling from the footboard from thane to dombivli. Met up with Viraj, Nachi, Aditi and Prachi and finally reached the fair after a rickshaw ride from station.
Well, the Grand Dombi Fair was just like any other fair...So much for “Arey kitna fundoo hota hai!”:D But I remember having a lot of fun at the rides especially the Giant Wheel. You sit in the car and lock the safety rod and then they slowly take you up till the highest point and stop. Suddenly the morons in your car start behaving like hyper oxygenated monkeys jumping up and down and sideways and you start to feel giddy and just when you want to get down, the Giant wheel obediently starts but this time the acceleration gives you that ‘potaat khada padla’ feeling! You cringe and the Dombi guys laugh their guts out..little do you realise that the ordeal isn’t over yet and since you can’t escape, its better you join in, in the fun and start making fun of the next victim in line :P
Soon it was time to leave for home. Well Dombivli being this tiny village on the outskirts of Mumbai, one has to leave early if one has to reach home well before the deadline (I am so dead now!) :D Just then someone in the gang was hit with this brilliant idea of having a night out at KK’s home. Aditi was game and with one girl in tow, I somehow convinced my mom to let me stay over too :) Prachi however had to leave but not before we had a nice dinner of Pavbhaji (at that one single restaurant in Dombivli, mind you!) and clicking away pictures till the cam batteries died. I still don’t get it why we click the same exact pictures of ourselves with those same exact smiles but nevertheless we continued with this grand ritual till the owner was glad to see us leave.
It was pretty late now. Almost 10.30 when we reached KK’s home. KK’s mom was about to leave for their Ghatkopar home. I have no clue how he convinced his mom to let 3 guys and 2 girls stay under one roof all night. But I must say his mom is one helluva cool lady! I mean no dirty looks and no questions asked!! Again a brilliant idea and we packed a mattress, a few cushions and water bottles and made our way to the terrace. It was a cold winter night. But not a harsh winter ..just a mild coolness in the air. That is when it began, under the starlit skies, with cool breeze blowing, the mentally retarded game of Dumb-Charades!! ‘Shaitan ka Honeymoon’ followed by ‘Shawshank Redemption’. You get the idea? We cheated, we teased, we fought but the truth is we had the time of our lives that night. We made so much ruckus that KK was sure his neighbours would ring the police and you know what? We would have been game for even that adventure..we were so high on life! Mood Indigo was to begin the next day, plans were etched and promises were made to keep this fun going. I even remember Nachi teaching me Salsa steps he had learnt a year before at MoodI workshop. That night was full of fun and friendship. Finally we decided to go off to sleep. The next morning, it felt slightly bad to put an end to this joyride, but we had to leave. It was time for goodbyes to Nachi and Viraj as me, KK and Aditi made our way to station. Caught an early morning local train and when I got down from the train at Thane, I managed to catch a glimpse of KK standing at the footboard of gents compartment. His smile said it all..the good time that we had shared and more so of those which would follow in this friendship of ours :) "
