This compulsive urge to Live the Moment...

I woke up at 10 AM. The increasing day-time temperature made it impossible to lie down on the bed. I checked my phone- WhatsApp, FB updates and Hike. I sat down and thought to myself- Unlike yesterday when I did absolutely nothing throughout the day, I am going to spend some time outside this furnace, at some air-conditioned and fun location. Today is Thursday. PVR Saket will have all shows at Rs.75. Let’s go for it. I texted a few of my friends to see if they were awake and willing to join in the movie plan. A few of them agreed. Considering the rush that the booking counter sees on Thursdays due to the cheap tickets, we left early to collect the tickets. We got them. And so, we saw the 1.30 PM show of ‘Aurangzeb’ sitting right in the front row of the biggest auditorium at Saket. Craning our neck up was a little uneasy, but the unlimited leg-space available, compromised the issue.

I updated my facebook status: “This is gonna be an unforgettable movie experience sitting right in the front seats...hahaha… Shahjahan ka beta…duplicate Taj Mahal ka creator…Aurangzeb! :D”

As the movie came to an end around 4, I got a call from my good friend Ankit so we could plan something for the birthday of another friend. We decided to meet at CP and I took the metro to reach there by 6. We were joined by more friends, acquaintances, friends of friends. Lots of awesome food, fun and party later, as we bid adieu to the birthday girl around 8.30, we thought of planning something, doing anything apart from going to our homes and sleeping. And so it was…

 

9.30 PM: After CNG-filling into Ankit’s car, we reached PVR Saket with the plan of watching ‘Bombay Talkies’. As luck would have it, no tickets were available for the show. In the urge to do something, we decided to watch the paid preview of ‘Fast and Furious 6’, at no additional cost. The same tickets worth 75 bucks! We got five tickets for the 11.05 PM show of the film. Ankit, Sahil, Shivangi, Kunal and I. 5 tickets. But wait! What’s this? Our seats- H1, H12, H13, H14, H15! 4 together and one at the other end? As we entered the audi and spotted our seats, we decided to talk and get everyone from H2 to H11 to shift by a seat. Stubborn- The people were. No one would move. And the trailers were about to begin! As Kunal made a last attempt and amidst a little confusion about what was happening, the H2 guy finally moved to H1 and the entire shift-shift-shift process culminated successfully with a happy-ending and the five of us sitting together. Hahaha…!

As we sat down to watch the yet-to-be-released film, I checked-in on facebook: “PVR Saket to is hafte apna ghar hi bann gaya hai…Reluctant Fundamentalist, Great Gatsby, Go Goa Gone, Bombay Talkies, Aurangzeb and now the paid preview of Fast and the Furious 6..hahahahaha…:D”

And with this update, my smartphone’s smart battery died, switching the phone off. I didn’t bother. I would be home in just a couple of hours, I thought.

1.30 AM- The film came to an end. We left Saket. Ankit was going to drop each of us home. I lived nearest. As we reached my place, somehow suddenly the idea of going home felt not-right and unanimously we decided to not-go-home-immediately. And so it was… No second thoughts and Ankit U-turned the car. We were on our short very-late-night excursion to Murthal!

Amidst blaringly loud music from the car’s stereo system and unsuccessful attempts at using Samsung’s USB connector to charge my Nokia Lumia, on the almost deserted Grand Trunk Road, we talked, shouted, senti-hoed and masti-maroed as we reached Murthal’s famous Sukhdev Dhaba around 3 AM. We were hungry. Damn hungry. All five of us. 3 Masala Dosas, 6 Paranthas, 6 Tea, 2 Cold-drinks and a meal of after-meal mouth fresheners later, we were done. We sat there till day-break- clicking pictures, observing people, talking about life. We left by 6 AM.

‘Let’s drive to Chandigarh,’ I suggested. [Glaring looks from all] Ok, let’s think logically and with sense. Do we have enough money? No! Do we have work back home? Yes and No. Do we need to get back to Delhi immediately? Yes, Yes, No, Yes and No. LOL! Ok, let’s plan it for some other day! But opportunities once lost, may not come again!

We head back to Delhi. With the trucks off the road now, we are back inside the city in less than an hour. As I sat in the backseat of the car, I couldn’t stop but smile to myself throughout the 45-50 minutes. The reason? I told everyone- The one thing that I have learnt since I have known you guys is to forget worries for everything and live the moment, enjoy the present time, you never know we might not be together tomorrow.

Over the last two months, since the time FirstFrame 2013 ended, I have just wished to follow this. I don’t feel like doing any kind of ‘work’ and just want to spend some quality and fun times with the few people I call my good friends. These are the last few days of our college life and they ought to be memorable!

We reached Indraprastha and dropped Sahil and Shivangi at the Metro. As we headed to Kunal and my places, we stopped to have a cup of tea from the nearby roadside stall. We spent almost 30 minutes having the tea and deciding what we could do if we don’t go home immediately. We also checked our pockets- we were hardly left with any money. We finally decided to watch the morning show of a film. Anywhere, any film, a cheap one, close by. And having seen so many films over the past few days, we ultimately decided to watch one that none of us was interested in- Aashique 2. If need be, we could sleep in the audi’s a/c, we thought.­­ I was beaming with the new thing that I was just going to do. 3 new films on the box office in less than 24 hours! Wow!

We went to Noida. Looked for a café where we could spend two hours without falling asleep and then go to The Great India Place (GIP) for the film. We ultimately arrived at Sector 18’s McDonald’s, got the breakfast menu served for us and sat to while time. Two important observations here- At this age, Happy Meal toys are equally attractive to us and yeah, at this time of the day, nature’s call isn’t usually missed! The three of us spent the next two hours talking…and talking a lot about lot many things.

As the clock struck 10 AM, we moved to GIP’s Big Cinemas. We got the tickets (for almost double the price than was expected due to the inclusive popcorn and Pepsi combo, which we (or I?) were unaware of) and the show began. Probably it is our way of now seeing films from a critic’s point of view or the view of a filmmaker, which led us to tag the film as one of the worst love-stories we have ever seen. This was when the extra money spent on the not-required beverage combo actually seemed to make a hole in the pocket. Uh..well..Kunal, thanks for the sponsorship! :D

These tickets are worth imprinting in our memories, isn't it, Kunal, Ankit? :D

By this time, the batteries of all three of our phones had completely drained off and it was time to head back home. The clock struck 1.30 PM as we left. Ankit dropped Kunal and me at the metro station and we took leave. As I stood in the burning mid-day heat outside the Pragati Maidan Bus stop, waiting for I-don’t-know-how-long for the bus (I had no way of keeping track of time with my phone off), I felt immense happiness. I had loved the last 24 hours. Amazing time, amazing people, amazing places, amazing memories.

I reached home at 3.30 PM and fell asleep soon after that. This was going to be a long nap after two days of no sleep. At a time when my brain is almost closed to thinking and my body wouldn’t allow more exhaustion, I sit here in front of my laptop and write this entry because I haven’t been able to sleep after the thought of writing this entry struck me. Right now, I have no care for the entrance examination on Sunday or the University exams that begin from Monday. I am happy that I have fallen in love with my compulsive urge to not worry and Live the Moment… 

P.S.: I am waiting to get hold of all the photos of this entire journey. Will put some up as soon as I do. ;)