My Friend Anil Sen : Bengali Englishman in a Jat Regiment

 My Friend Anil Sen : Bengali Englishman in a Jat Regiment 

I met him  Anil Sen in the Kalkaji U Spl in 1982… he was in Hansraj doing Eng Hons  which slowly made him eventually a little bit of an English Msn or was it his Fathers’s influence.I was in KM doing History…

In his off time he rode a Black regular Cycle with pride while we aspired for motorcycles..

We smoked Wills King Cigarettes… he continued I quit that’s probably what took him down..

To continue we studied French together, and had a crush on our French teacher at Alliance Francais , she was petite sexy well endowed and cute… we imitated her beaucoup ( large) hands on her breasts whenever we met , it was our code.

We met in college infact he and Kabir Dubey forced me to fill the CDS form to join the Indian Army as an officer. I very reluctantly did it . As fate would have all three of us got selected.

Once commissioned , I went 15 Armored, he went to 16 Jat, which I think his father commanded it and Kabir went to Punjab Regiment.

As fate would have it in 1988 or so 16 Jat came to my neighborhood in  Mamun Cantt , a stone’s throw away behind our tank garages perhaps in tented accommodation… I invited him and he  invited  me to his mess…

We were sitting around fire and drinking when I started rolling a joint… slowly we were rolling many and every one there joined…that’s another story that someone that evening bragged or sneaked and I was summoned to the Intelligence Corps the Gestspapo of the Indian Army for interrogation at the Brigade HQs a day later… well that’s another story as this about my friend Anil Sen…more about that some other day.

One weekend we wanted to test out his new Hero Honda CD100 we decided to head to Dharamshala and onwards to Mc Leod  Ganj after that… 

He rode hard that day both taking turns riding from Pathankot until we took a break at St John’s Church and Cemetery short of Ganj, the clouds came down I was listening to Beethovens 5 th Symphony on the Walkman and we smoke a joint in that setting… was ethereal and one of the most memorable setting and moments… it felt that day we had been to heaven and come back..time stood still.

We went to the Ganj and  had a Tibetan Meal.. we saw so many hippies and heard Neil Young and Credence Clear Water Revival wafting from restaurants . We saw some live gambling games  among the westerners till was late in the night we began to ride down the hills to Pathankot…

Farmers offered us Morrels or Gucchi Mushrooms at Shapur Kandi which we didn’t buy as we then didn’t understand their value . 

We were back and then we got onto our lives…

Somewhere in the early 90s while dating my wife… we stopped by to meet Anil his Mom and his wife briefly at A6 and then nothing for 34 years.

I met him last year at our course SS42 reunion at PBG Presidents Body Guard Mess… he was looking like a Gentleman Cadet with straight gait and narrow waist but still smoking away.. I did mention I quit 6-7 years ago he shrugged… we exchanged numbers… I messaged him a few days ago later he didn’t get back or he didn’t get my message…

3-4 days ago Sanjay Saini a dear friend and a course mate in the manner of speaking said your friend Anil Sen you should speak to him.. I said give me his number he gave me the same number I spoke to him day before.. 

He picked up and said in A guttural voice something.. I felt he has some tubes in his mouth and throat and heard a suction sound . I couldn’t bear it.. he was having difficulty in speaking.. I politely said goodbye and said don’t worry science and technology and your will power will help you overcome.

Overcome it did and took away my friend a day later.. I am very sad. All I have is his memories … each of us mourn differently… I wish him beaucoup love in the great GiG in the Sky no un peau ( little) measures there.

My love to his family if they read this.

Jaat Balwan Jai Bhagwan

Rust to Rust: Rust in the Wind

 Jyoti Chugh was my boss in Bombay, in International Representation, Times of India in Bombay. Until , she became Jyoti Verma, she was dating Vivek Verma circa 1993….we were called by PG (Pradeep Guha) to a restaurant in the back lanes of The Taj, in a Bungalow which later became Indigo.. and then something else, that evening as some partners were also invited to cocktails and a Hyderabadi dinner..

Vivek Verma was wearing a burnt rust shirt with light a nearly white blue jeans and a rust or matching suede Moccasins, he used to work with Haferz Contractor who has perhaps designed / refurbished parts of the Times office, perhaps Response office..  which was the talk of the town..

But this is not not about anything about that but the burnt rust shirt , I had to have it regardless…

I looked for it high and low, in days of no internet… Praveen picked up on my penchant and search somehow brought an Espirit identical shirt( the brand was a rage in late 90s or early 2000s). Nearly a decade later.

I wore that shirt to the ground almost threadbare.. and forgot about it satiated for another a decade or so.. 

Unknowingly the seed had grown into a large looming tree in the background… covertly I did keep looking for a replacement a little low on the search meter…though 

5-6 years ago I got a similar colored Benetton T shirt.. I wore it half heartedly probably the fit.. then a Ralph Lauren similar one  last year.., it had a lot of spandex and not a great fit either…

Of late I have been browsing and picking up stuff from the mass affordable fashion store Zudio, near our college… catching on the trend me-too brands like Style Union, Ownd by Aditya Birla and Snitch have also opened massive 5-6000 square ft stores… all two decades later… on the trend of Primark an Irish Company that took UK and rest of the world visiting by storm..by the wear for a season wardrobe good on the pocket but bad for the environment as Bandana Tiwari a colleague and now a fashion environmental activist educated me that a Tshirt takes up a few dozens of gallons.. and so on and so forth…

Recently watching a film on Netflix with dear daughter Ananya , People you meet on a Vacation… seeing the male lead in one… albeit in linen, my interest was yet again rekindled. The Sartorial sense provoked me to visit the nearest stores looking for one.. I finally found a round neck at Style Union..  it was an itch I had to scratch…

I was back and smug as a bug in rug with latest and fresh fresh burnt rust Tshirt yet again…Rust to Rust… all we are is Rust sorry Dust in the Wind