A trip down memory lane - MCET

When was the last time you did something for the first time? Did you wake up in the morning and ask yourself Aaj kuch toofani karte hai? Did you get the Kick that you so badly needed to last the rest of the day, maybe even the week? 4^th of August was one such day for me.

We’ve become busy, some have stayed here, some have moved on. We are not in the same city, country or continent. We may earn in different currencies now, speak different dialects. But there are things that bind us together. We may choose to run away from the past, but at the end of the day, it is the past that makes us who we are today. If you know where to look and which BEST bus to take, the past can be one to cherish as much as the present.

What I’ve written talks about memories and the past. Despite us being filled with attitude, ego and arrogance there are certain places still existing where these things just don’t matter. The feeling of being there, at that very moment takes over everything, including you. We think we’re too old for ourselves but there’s that young kid inside us just waiting to come out. People are getting engaged, married, having kids left right and center. I still want to be the kid I was. Wherever you are, however you’re reading this, I hope through my words you guys go back into time and feel like a kid. There’s no better feeling.

I pass by this building on my way to work sometimes looking at it, sometimes knowing it’s there and not thinking about it. But it’s still there at the back of your mind that such places still remain a part of you. You don’t need someone to remind you of your roots, it stays with you. Always.

It was a day where I realized that some buildings are just more than stones and bricks, much more than how many floors and how many rooms they have. A room is much more than four walls, some windows and doors. It’s the memories you had and shared that are the difference between a house and home.

Maneckji Cooper. Revisited. 4^th August, 2014. One day to remember. 

Aaj kuch toofani karte hai. Aaj kuch toofani karte hai

Monday morning blues, not exactly if you’ve decided to visit your school after years. The last time I went there for a small school reunion. There were no teachers, no students. Today would be nice, would be special.  

Who wants the window seat?

 I got off the Juhu Tara Road bus stop around 11 and all I see is an army of yellow and blue. Some in shorts, some in skirts and some in trousers. It didn’t even take me a minute to realize that the last time I wore this was eight years ago. It took me a while for that to sink in. I’m growing old, will be 25 next year. Silver Jubilee sala. You wait for the next day, August will soon become September. 2014 will become 2015. In the matter of minutes did 2006 become 2014, how did time fly so fast.

I walked towards the gate where parents still stand waiting for their young ones to arrive. Our parents did the same thing, even we will in a few years. I hate to admit it, but we’re all getting old.

I had spent 12 years at this place, but for the watchman, I was nothing more than a stranger. I didn’t want to play the ‘Press Card’ card at my own school. I took time to tell him how much I know about the place and assure him that I’m an ex-student not a spy. He smiled and told me to stay for as long as I wanted.

 You see the huge platform with the stairs leading up to the secondary building. You see the second standard class on the first floor if you look right, there’s a small classroom right below the notice board which has a tiny passage. Turn far right and the tiny tots from the pre-primary and primary section await you. You don’t think about anything else. You wish you remembered every single day spent in this place. You had happy days, sad days, but you still want to remember. You feel so good about yourself and coming back to school. 

There was a time where we could get three for 10 bucks. Now it costs 10 a piece. But the taste is still the same

So much to see, so much to do, where do I start from. I was hungry, very hungry. Let me come straight to the point and tell all of you was that one of the prime reasons why I visited school was for the samosas. Were they as good as they were eight years back. There was a time when we could eat three for 10 bucks, you can have one in that price now. But, but, they still taste the same. What’s even better, the curly haired Parsi lady with specs is still there. I’m sure she still writes the ‘account’ on that paper plate. 

He's selling more than just samosas

Staying on the huge platform, I then take a look at the notice board (which is still Green) and wonder if kids these days bother to stop by and read the quote for the day and achievements that the school has accomplished (MCET gets pasted in MSSA Division Three Football. Just saying)

The message is as deep as a Milan Subway porthole

Time for to take the school trip. I begin from the pre-primary section and see those young tiny tots with those dark yellow shirts. We keep using the word cute like it’s nobody’s business but seeing those badges tied by a safety pin to their shirt is what cute is. The girl at the bus stop maybe cute, but nothing beats this type of cute. Me and Junior KG seems a long way back. 

Baby, Baby, Baby.... O. Baby, Baby, Baby....O. Bieber Fever

Then comes the highlight of the entire school trip. The Baby Hall. Why is it called the Baby Hall? No one knows. Did someone deliver a baby here? Don’t know. But this is one of the most chilled out halls you’ll ever be too. There was nobody in that hall, but images of Karate classes, audio-visual class, tables and chairs lined up together for exams, you sitting down with your dabba for lunch flash across your mind. You had to fight for space in that hall at times. And now it was empty. We spent a lot of time in that hall. The tiles are still brown, there’s still that glass shaped like thing when you look up. All I wanted to do inside the Baby Hall was shout, run. Maneckji Cooper Baby Hall, smiles, smiles and only smiles. 

You remember the karate classes in the Baby Hall like they happened yesterday

 Come out and turn left, first standard kids learning their tables. Then that small passage that takes you to the ‘Garage class’. Of course you remember the Garage class. The stairway leading up to the class still exists. Keep walking, walking and walking and it keeps getting better. 

And they say a lot has changed

The basketball court awaits you. Those grills are still there (why are they there in the first place). My hands easily reach the basket now (they are repaired. Yay). I’m pretty sure besides basketball being the main sport, there was possibly every game invented by man that was played on this basketball court. Dubey Sir FTW !!! (had no hair, but still carried a comb. Like a boss)

Balls to you !!!

Walk straight, take a left, then take a right and you have the primary building and the PT Hall. Here’s some news for you, the PT hall no longer exists. The good news is that it’s been turned into a kickass audio visual room that can seat close to 150 kids. It has an amphitheatre kind of look (yes this is the same school I am talking about. We were just born too late for this)

You enter the primary building and you see the Nurse’s room. She’s still there (Hell Yeah). Remember the remarks you got in your diary when you didn’t carry your first aid kit. That lady. The lady who gave you crocin for a stomach ache, the reason why crocin’s very much in business, you remember her like yesterday now don’t you.

The third standard class was the first class I entered and there’s a lot that’s changed. The speaker which used to hardly work has been replaced by the speakers we use for computers. Black boards are no longer cool and we have white boards and markers. Projectors are installed in every class. The desks and chairs are no longer brown. The only thing missing is air conditioning (give it a few years :P)

Move to the first floor. And we have the Chemistry Lab. I have never smiled so much after meeting a person as I did yesterday after meeting Indu Bai. She was much more than a Bai. Indu Bai has left behind a legacy that every MCET kid will remember. She being a lab assistant knew way more than the ones who were paid to teach. Had she not been camera shy, I’d have got a nice picture. The chemistry lab is still the same. Test tubes, brown cabinets just waiting to be broken. There was a batch then, there will be a batch now. Indu Bai will still be there with that lovely smile of hers. Forget day, your month is made right there.

I badly wanted to take a leak. The bathrooms are so damn clean now it’s not even funny.  They have a soap dispenser and mirrors inside. You want to take a break from class and go to the bathroom. It’s that clean.

Teri galiyan, galiyan, teri galiyan

Climb one floor, then another. Floor number three and we have the greatest architectural and constructing marvel of recent times, the passage class. The passage class as the name suggests was made to make things easier. It still remains a class for the fifth standard and amongst the many things that have changed, I’m pretty sure classes are still disrupted by the constant interruption of teachers, peons and children from one side to the other. For those who have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, visualize the Dadar connecting bridge. Western line to Central line, this passage class serves exactly the same purpose. You see people scrambling from one side to the other at all times. The ones in charge try their best to maintain peace but who are they fooling. It’s a completely different world on the other side. On is the world of short pants, the other is the trouser section. Added audio effects are accompanied in the form of the sound made by airplanes passing by *covers ears*.

Switch to the central line, I mean secondary section, take a right and there you have Shukla Sir and Kailash Sir walking together. Tie a cloth around me and tell these two to speak and I can recognize their voice from a mile. That hasn’t changed one bit. Shukla Sir still has that sheepish smile that we’ll forever remember. Has the paunch but has lost weight. He couldn’t recollect who I was, but it was lovely to have a 10-minute conversation entirely in Hindi. And it’s safe to say that he still finds pride in explaining a sentence 10 times before it registers into your memory. Top man. I scored brownie points with him by letting him know I write for a living (next annual day Hindi play script. Who knows)

On his right we had Mr. Suave #2, Kailash sir. I didn’t understand a word of Marathi. Just happened to scrape through but I’ll be the first one to put up my hand and say no one tried harder to make us pass in Marathi. The moustache still remains part of him. It seems MCET has joined the Raj Thackeray bandwagon and introduced Marathi right from the 1^st standard. Chya Aaila.

First room to the right, 10^th standard A and we have Pooja Salian. The day just kept getting better and better. Busy correcting examination papers, ma’am was extremely kind to take time off and revisit the good old times not to mention reminding me about … (inside joke). I look around the class and see the tables and chairs that were newly made and painted for our batch. The tables still don’t have the locks on them with the chairs missing the rubber stand below. There’s a reason why she said the present generation can’t match up to ours. We take pride in such things, with a smile.

This picture has awesome written all over it. No need for caption

Then came the cherry on the cake. In fact this cherry was bigger than the cake itself. Geetika Wadhwa, Jessica Daruwalla and Sabiha Ahmed in the same class. Read that sentence again. I told my cheeks and jaw that you’re in for some serious laughter for the next couple of hours. There are energy levels you hit when you have Red Bull and then there’s a new found energy and enthusiasm when you have Geetika Wadhwa in front of you. It’s like Super Saiyan mode. You just feel so good about yourself and the person in front of you. Indus Valley Civlization, Mohenjo Daro was fun back in that time. The curly hair still makes me smile.

Geography would have been an utter bore hadn’t it been for Jessica Daruwala. Top Soil, Red Soil and what not about planet earth. Topography maps, journals. These words just flashed as I spoke to her. She was delighted to know how our batch was doing so good. We were really lucky to have her as a teacher and the current lot couldn’t be more thankful to have her. I want to go back to school.

Sabiha Ahmed’s still the cheerful and chirpy teacher we all remember her to be. It’s amazing how good her memory is. Oh yes, she teaches history and English. I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing after talking to each one of them. Imagine talking to all three of them at the same time. My cheeks hurt. With all of them saying, “Adit, call us experienced, not old” I had the widest smile all day.

I entered the secondary staff room and Mrs. Sethu, Poonam Chaudhary, Mrs. Bhuleshkar were some of the teachers who’re still there. The staff room still looks the same barring the washing machine. I was delighted to see the Hindi primary teacher now teach the secondary kids (close your eyes for a bit and you’ll remember her). One of the most genuine namastes anyone’s said to me in recent times.

Realizing I forgot another very important room, I dashed back to the primary building via the passage class and went up the next floor. The Physics lab. The bones of the human body are still kept as one turns right, technical drawing projects fill the cupboards and cabinets. Things have changed in the school but the Physics lab hasn’t. It needs to be painted and redeveloped big time.

I scaled Everest. Yaay

Back to the secondary building and it was time to scale Mt. Everest. During the 7^th and 8^th standard there was the class on the 6^th floor that we kids had to go to every single day with our bags. We had to think 10 times before going down for lunch but we still did (samosas). My sentiments towards Mrs. Mishra, Alka Sachdev and Mrs Kadam who were able to scale this peak on a daily basis (the class used to start late which led to it ending late). Enough about the cons, open all the windows to those classes and you can literally fly. Realizing it would take me a good 5 minutes to get to the first floor, I decided to enjoy the view from the class.

My legs still don't fit. shucks

I had met a lot of people today, but the most important one was still to be met. The one on the hot seat. I was too lazy to walk down so many floors so I took the lift (still has the old grill) to the first floor. My eyes then focused on the ‘Pranay Jain – ICSE board topper in 2006’ written above her door. I am not Pranay Jain, I am his good friend.

Thanda thanda, cool cool

The Peon told us to wait for sometime so I decided to visit another ‘relic’ in the building. There used to be a room whose door we hoped opened when we passed by especially after PT period since it was the only room with air conditioning, the computer room. Remember the guy named ‘cockroach’, of course you do. The AC’s still top notch, thanda thanda cool cool.

Back to the first floor and it was time to meet the principal. The frame of her spectacles hasn’t changed. The room’s still kept the same way as it was nine years back. I wanted to sit down but thought against it. For me, it was always the room rather than the person who sat inside it as far as the principal was concerned.

It was now time to leave. One of the best days of the year was coming to an end. I look around and see the place I spent 12 memorable years in. Did I feel young at that time, realizing that wherever I’ll go, wherever I are, I’ll always remain a kid for these people. Or did I feel old realizing that I no longer wear something on a daily basis to this place. I passed this place every day but why was it that I decided to pay school a visit. It’s true when they say you may forget your college, office when you grow old, but school is a place where you’d always come back. It took me time, but it was time well taken out for. I wish I’d done this earlier. School was always there, I just didn’t have the time. Or maybe I always did, but …

Stepping out of the gates there were only two things at the back of my head. One was the prayer I said at the end of the day for 12 straight years

Thank you God for the world so sweet

Thank you God for the food we eat

Thank you God for the birds that sing

And thank you God for everything

I may have more than 1000 songs on my phone, but there are some songs and prayers you don’t need to keep in ‘memory’.

And the last thing is the school motto, ‘There is no excellence without labour’. Blood, Sweat, Tears….. and Ink

There were kids before us, we were there, and there will be kids after us. The show must go on

P.S. I wrote this for my friends from my batch and other fellow Cooperites. We may be in Mumbai, some place in India or far away abroad, but it’s this one place that connects all of us together. We may be busy, some more than others with us looking forward to tomorrow and the future. But let us not forget the people and places and the samosas from the past which have made the present one to remember and cherish. For those in the city, do take some time out to visit school. Those far away, I hope I’ve given you a few moments to go back memory lane and hope you come soon to Mumbai and visit school. No one’s busy at the end of the day, we just got to make time.

And last, but not the least a special mention to a good friend of mine, Monish Parekh who is still remembered as the Chiwda King by all the teachers. Good old Jiggi

* Jasleen Sachdev (has zero relation to Alka Sachdev mind you), thank you for making this day one to remember and share about. Cooperites for life*

Chennai Express Review

Friday First Day, First Show - Chennai Express

First and foremost (too much first), dear Rohit Shetty, you have made a Hindi movie not a Tamil one. Subtitles toh dal deta dost. Tamil sabko samajh mein nahi aati. Allarikum Tamil Teriyade. Tamil Ila.

Knowing how much Shetty loves the word 'vehicle' I was just waiting at the edge of my seat to see anything with wheels flying up in the sky, break walls, topple. Shetty makes you wait a good length in the movie for the gates to open (like literally)

Deepika for once doesn't look sloshed or in the mood to party here (slow clap) but you can tell from the look on her face that she's just waiting to come out of the sari and PARTY (PUT YA HANDS UP) *maine pehne party shoes. gonna let my body loose. peeli hai thodi booze. lets party on my mind *

Towards the end, we see the hero giving a 'I love the girl' speech to father. Girl full flat after hearing. Goon fight scene follows (hindi movie/ rohit shetty). Watch SRK with dimples fight for love. Gasp and go Aww.

People flying north, west, east and south indians flying south (Fuck Yes)

Dad sees boy's courage. Rock like mentality of father melts. Gives girl to boy. Happy Ending.

And yes, SRK's name in the film is Rahul. Have we ever seen a hindi movie where a guy named Rahul doesn't get the girl.

Don't pay more than 150 bucks to see such a film. Pay more if you have company. And pay more attention to the company than the movie. There's a reason they're called corner seats.

Maid in Heaven

The less I speak about Chelsea’s season, the better. Rafa Benitez is still ‘interim ‘manager (that word is so important it’s not funny). What Mr. Abramovich was thinking we don’t know? The only things we fans can do is protest in the form of banners and chants telling him about the problem. What we do know for sure is that the ‘Fat Spanish Waiter’ will be gone in the summer. Whenever something goes wrong, as typical human behavior would suggest we’ll blame the person and the person responsible for the appointment. On the other hand, we’ll never give credit where it’s due. Roman has hired and fired the best and worst in the business. I always wonder what it’d be like to live a life like Roman Abramovich. Who doesn’t like to have power? The kick that one gets out of hiring and firing those under and in a weaker position is of great interest to me. What Roman does on an almost yearly basis is done on a smaller scale in our very own households. Why think about Roman when this hiring and firing happens in front of me on a regular basis. I’ve seen it happen in front of me and I can’t wait to do it for the first time.

My friends, I’m talking about the hiring and firing of maids and drivers. Something that our parents do on a regular basis. If you ask me, maids and drivers are as important to a household as managers to a football club. No one gives them importance when they’re there, we only realize what they bring once they’re gone.

We have mobile phones and what not to communicate. Most of our parents aren’t very tech savvy but their networking in recruiting a maid / driver makes me hang my head in shame. The entire neighborhood within no matter of time is aware that there’s a vacancy for a maid / driver.

Our networking’s good, parents much better but the best networking you’ll ever see is amongst the maids and drivers. If gossip is something that interests you, all you need to do is spend more time in the kitchen or the nearest chai stall in the neighborhood to be well versed with who slept with whom, who didn’t sleep with whom, who hits their kids, who wears torn underwear, who told the husband / wife they have to attend a meeting but didn’t. You see where this is going don’t you. These people are most than just your source.

Coming back to the recruitment process, all that one needs to do is ‘announce’ that you need a maid / driver. Some of the ways to do this is tell your friends in the neighborhood or tell a maid / driver. Within a matter of minutes your door bell / mobile phone rings with someone saying ‘ Sahab, Memsahab, aapne driver / maid ke liye bola tha ‘
This is networking at its very best. You just sit back and watch in excitement. You know exactly who this starts and how’s it going to end. And the best part is, the best is yet to come.

After the ‘announcement’ stage comes stage two. I call this the ‘what have you done/ can you do’ stage. Past history is questioned, verified and what not. One of the benefits of being in power is that you can ask anything you want. The best question asked is ‘Why did you leave your previous job?’ I love the answers that these people give. This is no less than a viva for them. Looking at some of the candidates, one can tell they need the job more than you need them.

Drivers just have to do one thing, drive. What type of maid do you want is key. Maids will tell you then and there ‘Madam, kapde nahi karegi mein’, ‘Katka, jhadoo sirf’. If your stars are lucky you will get an ‘all rounder’ maid or mom will have to appoint more than once maid.

Post this comes the salary, the ‘ khich khich ‘ stage. ‘ Bartan ka itna aur jhadoo ka itna’, ‘ Sahab office Churchgate mein hai’, ‘ Mahine mein itna din nahi aayegi’. I don’t know how the number is decided but in the end it’s all good and the person is hired. Congratulations.

A few weeks pass and we come to stage four, the ‘ Realization’ stage. It is here that the person who does the hiring gets the answer to ‘ Apna kaam is se hone wala hai kya?’ If the answer is no we give the person ‘time’. If things still don’t improve its bye bye. Repeat process from step one. Hurray.

If you’re decision is spot on you’ll tell yourself and the whole world what a wonderful person the driver / maid is. This is where everything they do is right. You feel you have found ‘The Special ONE’. The whole day will be spent in singing praises of the person you appointed.

But should this not be the case, then it’s time for a replacement. Reasons for things not going as per plan could be working conditions, working hours, ego battle between the employer and the employee, never ending demands of the employee. This is where ‘unrest in the camp’ happens and nothing goes right. The employer now needs to hire more than the need to fire. Things have to be right again.

We come to the day which though sad is fun to watch. The ‘ Bye-Bye’ day. But before we say goodbye, we prepare for the future by already appointing who is going to come next. So this stage is nothing more than fake formality that needs to be done so that there’s no ill will amongst the parties involved. They take their money and leave. Sometimes a huge argument arises and they still leave. On the rarest of occasions does the employer decide to give them yet another chance (yes, at this stage). The house breathes a huge sigh of relief when he / she shut the door. We’re back to step one. Yaay!!!

Getting the right maid / driver is a task in itself. It sounds like an easy job but it’s only when they don’t come and you’re asked to do what they’re paid for do you realize what a back breaking job these ladies and men do for a living. We might think they’re arrogant and don’t like to talk much but we must look at the other side and see the situation where they’re coming from. A sad part of this profession is that age is not a criterion. We see kids as errand boys in so many places. They’re supposed to be running and playing. Not running to get vegetables and eggs. On the other side we see such old ladies working in households doing a job that is not in their best interests’ health wise. We have the money so we have the power. It all seems and sounds great to hire and fire but I don’t think our parents enjoy it when we ask a maid / driver to leave.

So the next time you criticize Roman and the other guys out there in the business, just think about what I just said. They like us are people, and people make mistakes. It’s the realization and rectification that he / she does that counts. Because at the end of the day we all want what’s good for us and the people we love the most.

P.S. Mera Jose Aayega

Boy with the terrace

Pata Hai, Yaha se bahut door, Galat aur Sahi ke paar, Ek Terrace Hai 
Mein waha milunga tujhe

The year was 1980 and the month October. A couple by the name of Alok and Shanta Ganguly along with their son and daughter made the switch from to Nepean Sea Road to Versova. The building that they settled in was one of the few on the stretch. There was hardly anything around it. This place used to be a British cantonment. The only thing worth seeing was the beach. One had to just Hop Skip and Jump (it’s much more than that actually) and your feet were in the sand with the waves passing over them.

10 years later, a boy by the name of Adit was born. He played in this building, he ran like there was nothing to stop him, he fell down, he rose. Balls were hit into the sea which were never found again. As kids, our curiosity to find out what that boy and girl used to do behind those rocks were answered. 22 years later, Adit still lives in the same place. There is a reason why he will never leave this building. He just cannot. There might be better places in the city to live, he might earn the money to live abroad for that matter but at the end of the day Adit will come back to the place that he calls HOME.

The building playground (that used to exist once upon a time but it’s nothing more than rubble and concrete now) and my residence were always there, but these two places aren’t the reason for my being so attached to where I stay. That place belongs to …

A terrace is something all buildings have. Mine’s a bit special for it’s a stone’s throw from the beach. I’ve got compliments like ‘ What a wonderful view’ , ‘ it’s so beautiful’ , ‘ You’re so lucky ' and not to forget ‘ How are you still single’ from friends. For this, I have only two people to thank, my grandparents, Alok and Shanta Ganguly. Thank you for choosing this part of the city to live in.

My terrace started off as nothing but a place above the 7^th floor of my building. I hardly used to go there until the second half of last year. It slowly became a room of my own due to the number of times I kept going there. I think if there’s anyone after the watchmen of the building who have visited the terrace the most in the past year, it is me.

There is now more than just a bond between the two of us. From a room, the terrace is now a person, one of my closest friends. I share a lot of things with my terrace. Things that no else knows about. Wherever I go, I feel that some part of the terrace is within me.

There’s a lot of stuff inside my head. I keep thinking about the things around me. A lot of thinking was done on the terrace. I used to go up and spend hours by myself. How does time fly and sunset turn to darkness sitting on the parapet of the terrace I do not know? One of the reasons why my book was named ‘The Answer Within ‘was because it was at this very place where I got the answers to most of the questions I asked. Such was the magic about the place that many times I got the answer before asking the question. If Karthik (From the film Karthik calling Karthik) had a phone where he got an answer, I have my terrace. Whatever I asked and replied by my friend is what fills those of my book. What is in the book, that we shall discuss someday later. That day is not today.

This is what it looks like from the top

This friend of mine has brought me nothing but good luck. I got my happiness, creativity, sense of humour and unpredictable nature back. My friend told me that for you to be happy, one must make the people around him happy. And thus started my daily jokes on Facebook. I was told that no matter how sad you may be, even if you’re in no mood to smile, put others before yourself and add a smile to their faces. I set out on this journey making sure that the morning of the people I know starts on a good note. Making the world smile is not an easy thing to do. My friend taught me how to do that.

When I asked a question, this friend showed me another path to get what I wanted. A terrace can’t be called a person but if there was ever a reason behind me teaching the kids, we all know who to thank.

I ' CHILL ' at the terrace

And then we have some people in the building who don’t like to see other people happy. This prick has a problem with my happiness and the place I get my happiness from. Mr. Prick comes across that type of person who never had ‘ fun ' in his life. Mr. Prick doesn’t like me taking my friends to meet my ‘best friend’. He wants me to take permission from him to visit my own terrace.

What Mr. Prick doesn’t understand that he is fighting a lost battle. He is 60 years old, I am 22. He is going to die in some time; I have my whole life ahead of me. I am not leaving the building anytime soon. So who is the loser at the end of the day?

Most of the people that I've taken to my terrace don't live that close to the sea. They feel that they've come to some wonderland when they come to the terrace and on the beach. I never used to pay much attention as I've lived here since birth. I used to see the same sun set by the horizon day after day. What was so special about it. Couples used to come, do what they had to, and leave. What was there to feel good about where I stayed. And don't get me started on Ganesh Visarjan. The noise and people on the last day, the garbage, the condition of the beach and the sea after everything is over. What's so good about living by the sea?

These were some of the initial questions that I'd asked this friend of mine. Within minutes, I had found the answer. Such is the case today, that each time I visit this friend of mine, it feels like I'm visiting the terrace for the first time. I don't know if such a thing is called magic, but there is just something about the place.

The year has started on a superb note. Each day thus far has been more exciting than the previous day. There is a lot to look forward to. If the first month of the year has been this kickass, I can't imagine what the next 11 months have in store. I am so happy, cheerful and pumped up these days. I have a trip to Rajasthan next month, the excitement is such that the wait is killing me. I have got back all the things I'd lost thanks to this friend of mine.

This aside, I have another journey to set out in the last week of this month. Despite the happiness and craziness returning, there is still something missing. I asked my friend where I could find it and like always I wasn't disappointed. To rediscover myself, I need to get lost first. And I will ‘get lost ' for the next 7 days. Getting lost helped me find myself a few months back. Need to find myself again.

It's time , Didier

Thank you Didier , For Everything * wipes tears *

If you’re a top footballer in Europe, your career in incomplete if you don’t win the champions league. Watching players like Zidane , Raul , Pirlo , Nesta , Kaka , Maldini , Shevchenko , Henry , Eto’o , Deco , Rooney , Ronaldo , Ronaldinho , Gerrard , Iniesta , Xavi , Messi one gets the feeling that these players were born to win this trophy.

Such players come once in a generation and you get the feeling that they just couldn’t have retired from the game without having won the Champions League. It would be really heartbreaking for them if after years of playing the beautiful game with a passion, determination not seen by many they didn’t have a UCL winner’s medal on display in their trophy cabinet. 

His final kick in a Chelsea Shirt

249 days ago, a man’s last kick in a Chelsea made sure his name will go down in that exclusive list. 19^th May 2012 is a day no Chelsea fan will ever forget. It still feels like yesterday if you ask me.

3 days after that, this individual bid farewell to the club where the world recognized him as one of the most unplayable forwards on his day. Opposition fans were relieved that he would be plying his trade in Europe anymore. If this was the fear he could strike in the hearts of people who watched, one could imagine the state of opposition defenders. Surely, many would have been happy reading the news of his departure from European football.

This man was the reason I’d kept my hair long. The reason why I always tied a ponytail when I sat in front of the TV during every UCL game Chelsea played that season. I read the news of his departure on the official site. Headed straight to the barber’s shop. There was no ponytail when I came out.

This was the love, respect and adulation I had for my favourite Chelsea player, Didier Didier Yves Drogba Tébily aka Didier Drogba.

They say people come into your lives to leave one day. Didier Drogba seems to be an exception. I still haven’t gotten over his departure from the club. When I see a certain Spaniard waste chance after chance my heart cries out for the man from Ivory Coast who wore the number 11 at the back of his shirt.

Farewells are sad. But Didier could not have asked for a better sending off. Drogba was the Champions League’s ‘Problem Child ‘. How different would things have been had he not slapped Vidic and taken John Terry’s penalty. Everyone remembers the ‘fucking disgrace ‘episode at Stamford Bridge. The ringleader behind that was none other than Didier Drogba. Having played 4 Semi Finals and 1 Final not many were expecting Chelsea and Drogba in particular to set those wrongs, right.

Many of us knew the Final in Munich could very well be the last time we’d see Didier Drogba in a Chelsea shirt. He and the club were 90 minutes [plus extra time and penalties (how can we ever forget)] away from lifting the Holy Grail. The 33 year old, 6ft 2 inch Ivorian was Chelsea’s best chance of victory. Fans knew it, the players and the manager knew it. But above all, Didier Drogba knew it. Such was his presence and influence in the team that he knew when and how to rise to the big occasion. His ability to raise his game in cup finals is unparalleled and unmatched. The man was born to play football, and at the biggest stage possible. The stage was set for Didier Drogba, it was time for one final bow.

Fast forward to the 83^rd minute of that eventful night in Munich. A cross from Toni Kross to Thomas Muller, who heads the ball down into the ground, causing it to bounce over Čech and in off the crossbar. 

Chelsea fans can’t believe what they’re seeing. Wins over Napoli and Barcelona mean nothing after Muller’s goal. Will this generation of players be known as the ‘team never to have won the Champions League’? We would get that answer in the next 7 minutes ( plus added time )

88^th minute and Bayern Munich are two minutes away ( plus added time ) from having their name etched on the trophy. Fernando Torres wins Chelsea their first corner kick of the game. Juan Mata takes the corner and curls one in the box. It hits someone’s head and Chelsea is level. Chelsea’s hopes of winning the Champions League that were dead some moments ago are now alive and kicking. Chelsea fans watching all over the world go into a never seen before frenzy.

And the Dream lived on

If you didn’t guess who scored, Drogba’s his name.

Didier Drogba , Tra La La La La !!!

Drogba soon turned from hero to villain fouling Ribery in the box to give the Germans a penalty in extra time. Ex-Chelsea player Arjen Robben did his old club a huge favour when Petr Cech saved his penalty. The referee blew the whistle at the end of 120 minutes and it was a visit to familiar territory for the men in blue. A penalty shootout in a Champions League final. But this time they had the man from the Ivory Coast still on the pitch.

He knew Drogba wouldn't miss

Mata misses , Olic misses , Schweinsteiger pulls his shirt over his head after his missed shot. Chelsea fans celebrate, but they are reminded of that eventful night in Moscow. But for some reason they know what the last penalty kick means to the man who’s stepping up to take it. Who else but Didier Drogba?

Images of the red card in Moscow, that Barca game at the Bridge flash in my head. As Didier makes that ‘ walk ‘ towards the penalty spot one knows that here’s the chance for the man to make amends. He knows what he has to do to enlist himself amongst the Footballing Greats.

Drogba kicks. And the ball goes to the right of Manuel Neuer. Chelsea wins the Champions League for the first time in their history. Everyone who rooted for the men in blue ends up in tears. It was a night to take to the grave. All thanks to the man from the Ivory Coast.

Drogba had redeemed himself. And regardless of which team one supported, you had nothing but respect and admiration for Didier Drogba.

He left the club 3 days later. Due to his equalizing goal and winning penalty, the club were able to enter the 2012-2013 Champions League as defending champions despite not qualifying for it via the league standings. This led to the club being able to sign players like Eden Hazard and Oscar. Drogba’s played a very important role in getting these two players to Stamford Bridge.

That said, Didier Drogba has won everything there is to win at the club level. 3 League Titles , 4 FA CUPS , 2 League Cups and 1 Champions League. Despite all this there is one last thing left to do before he hangs up his boots. One final tick needs to be made on the list of medals he has to win. Before a Marseille and Chelsea player, Didier Drogba was something. He was an Ivory Coast national. Winning the African Cup of Nations is the unfinished business that Didier Drogba will set out to complete come this January.

Time for unfinished business

When we talk about Didier Drogba’s career, his international career seems to be left out. As per the latest standings , Ivory Coast ranks 14^th in the world, above the likes of Uruguay , France , Sweden and 5 time World Cup Winners Brazil. Their talismanic captain Didier Drogba being a main reason. Having made his debut in 2002 and has scored 59 goals in 91 appearances for Les Éléphants. He’s captained the national team at two World Cups (2006 and 2010).  Ivory Coast may be the best African team in the world but it’ll take some time before we see a team from African lift football’s greatest prize to win. But what Drogba and his team can do is lift the continent’s biggest prize. The African Cup of Nations.

Like the Champions League, Drogba and the AFCON have a history of their own.  Drogba captained the side in the 2006 edition taking them all the way to the final losing to Nigeria in penalties ( Drogba missed a penalty in the shootout ). The 2008 AFCON was one to forget for the Ivory Coast as they lost 4-1 to eventual winners Egypt in the semi finals. 2010 was even worse as the Ivory Coast crashed out at the quarter final stage losing 2-3 to Algeria. 2012 would be the 4^th time Drogba would lead his team. They reached the final having gone the entire tournament without conceding a goal. Drogba had a brilliant chance to win his country their 2^nd AFCON as Ivory Coast were awarded a penalty late into the second half but fate had other ideas. The match went into extra time and penalties led to Zambia handing the Ivory Coast another defeat in the AFCON.

Off the field, Didier Drogba is no less than a God for the people of the Ivory Coast.  Drogba was the face of his country; the symbol of a new, post-civil war Ivory Coast. Civil war had been raging for five years when, moments after leading his nation to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany back in October 2005, Drogba picked up a microphone in the dressing room and, surrounded by his team-mates, fell to his knees live on national television. He begged both warring factions to lay down their arms and, within a week, his bold wish had been granted.

A single soccer match achieved what five years of combat and negotiations could not: an apparent end to Ivory Coast’s civil war. The man who brought the warring sides together was not a politician or a gun-toting strongman, but Didier Drogba, the star striker for Ivory Coast.

In 2007,  Drogba was appointed by the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP) as a Goodwill Ambassador.  His involvement in the peace process led to Drogba being named as one of the world's 100 most influential people by Timemagazine for 2010.

The Ivory Coast go into the 2013 edition with the same tag they’ve been holding before every tournament, ‘favourites’. Once again the team will be led out by Didier Drogba. On paper, the Ivory Coast should win this easily. But this was the case in each of the past 4 tournaments. The team is filled with talent with majority of the players plying their trade in some of Europe’s big clubs. This ‘golden generation ‘of players have been together for a long time but this is not the case for the man who put the Ivory Coast on the footballing map. The 2013 edition will be Drogba’s final AFCON. If you thought the Champions League was all that was left for Drogba to win, think again.

Going by the man’s personality, what he has given football fans across the world and especially his hunger for victory and success, his determination and passion to end his country’s wait for the trophy, fans of the Ivory Coast have a lot to look forward to this tournament.