Of broken specks, unshaved beard, biting shoes and changing roads

Am home...after a long time. Some things were bound to change. A little later on that. The day started with a resolve to do purposeful things these seven days at home. Purposeful meant anything other than lying in bed the whole day. The first task was to open a bank account. Yup, it sounds stupid and it is that I dont have a pass book, a licence (either car or kinee), a passport or PAN card. While I could get round the licence part courtesy the Army dependency card ( not entirely but the discounts on the fines were very generous), at the age of 21 the realization to have a document stating that I am indeed Abhimanyu Shirwalkar residing in so and so place in India was desperately needed. And the starting point was a pass book. That done, I decided to head for the much due shopping- am a person with limited necessities but buying Lee in Pilani is still a stuff people talk about doing in their 25th yr reunion. It was at this point that my left shoe started biting exruciatingly. I had surpassed the limit where I could bear it. The result being the 50 yrd walk to the parking lot took an eternity with me doing an amazing mimicry of Gregory House..albeit without a walking stick. It then dawned on me that perhaps Hugh Laurie does indeed were a tight fitting shoe on the "crippled leg" ...if Shilpa Shetty can rue not being able to shave for a role...his scarifice seems trivial..though it begs the question that are they really good actors if they get so close to their roles?..Should ask Amir someday. After strapping on the helmet , legs firmly in place and back straight ( I drive a scooty...know it sucks but well am a perfectionist too..I get as close to the real thing as possible..haha), I realised that I hadnt withdrawn money inspite of having been to the bank. I sat contemplating in the parking lot for a good five minutes with my typical habit of right forefinger on the right cheek to help arrive at the answer to the paradox of walking all the way back in those murderous shoes or drive to an ATM on a nearby road. I followed the law of nature and chose the path of least resistance. Now whoever numbskull arrived at this genius of the path of least resistance conveniently forgot to tell the world that it is also the one with the most difficulties..like potholes..you dont see them till you stumble upon them. The ATM on East Street was jam packed..not an inch to even park the vehicle. So I decided to go to the one on the adjacent street and turned round. It is at this point that the change I referred to at the beginning befell me. The direction of the roads had changed ! I can accept any amount of change in beloved Pune but roads changing directions is just not done. I have driven on them more than any where else ( Pilani ensured that) so when I go straight on the one way street in front of Kayani I want it to go straight. I shouldnt have to look at the direction of the incoming traffic. It is my most natural instinct. The direction of the traffic had been REVERSED. In that moment I felt betrayed and defeated. Here you are driving people out of the state to preserve the roots of the people but you betray and offend them - by changing the direction of a road. Imagine the plight of race horses if one fine day they wake up to being told to race in the opposite direction. It would be revolting. So who wins, one smart ass may question, the one who comes last?.
But am a man with a lot of courage and spirit. I chose to overcome the personal offence on my identity and turned for the alternative road. It was then that I neared total collapse. The cheap bastards had reversed the direction there TOO. Is this all people had been upto ..pointing at a road at a map and pulling draws to see if it deserved being reversed.
Abhimanyu in Mahabharat couldnt find his way out of the chakravuyh. The modern incarnation was stuck in a chakrayuh running against him in the opposite direction. But I didnt need to fall back on recorded tutorials from my mother's womb to be victorious. I parked in the nearest spot vacant and took to walking. Damn these buggers ... I will not bow down to their whims and fancies and follow the flow. I shall walk. Humming the words from the Chumbawamba song ..I get knocked down but I get up again.
It was a slight matter that my feet were screaming...Physical attyaachaar.
I had won.

PS: Shaved my beard and done with the Langada Tyagi look.
Gotten my specks repaired.