(November 1996)
Ajay Sathyanath
Hi there,
Some times when you get desperate, a blinding light from
the heavens finds its way through the alleys and reaches you, provides
you shelter and warmth!! IT SUCKS, IT NEVER HAPPENS.
Starting off in that manner might only reserve more in that fashion; then behold a surprise. Yet, would you believe it, if i said pigs fly. Well, not so quite, heavier still. Still quite vague aren't we? The whale flew, Kieko the whale flew. The 9000 lbs whale in Free Willy named Kieko flew. I believe he did it in the movie(baah !!). For those of you, who have still managed to keep their sanity may read on. The fact isn't all that terrible when you consider that, miles away in a distant land, Ajay was on a rented Ford Taurus, on his way to see the giant of a movie star. The great mammal is rehabilitating in a large tank (the one in the movie), in Newport. Newport is in itself a beautiful place. Some Nizzim Ezzikiel lover even put a giant slimy Octopus in a tank nearby. I personally came across the largest aquarium i had ever seen, with bloody many different species living in it which turned me to be a pseudo marine biologist among my room mates!!
Tacitly arranged next to the great chilly waters of the pacific, Newport was filled with majestic salty air and conifer trees that buzzed a certain way when the winds blew through them. The great pacifier was also a great make-you-a-thinker. One tends to get lost when one is cringing onto his jacket; pulling his hood on; and yet removing it to admire the beauty that is; and pulling off his shoes in craze to feel the numbing chilly waters of the biggest ocean on earth from where the brilliant sun was setting to the west. That sunlight had something special as the thought of beholding the last ray of that day before it came out in Japan signaling the beginning of a new day for the orientals!!
After some costly gift shopping, we went back to the race where man wanted to make lotsa money!!!
November 2nd was planned for Mt Hood, a mountain around 2 hours drive from my place and around 11500 ft high. Driving along side the Colombia with Washington state a stones throw away (really, depends on which machine is throwing it, aha without a ticket from a cop too !!), makes the heart grow lighter or as heavy as the leaves that turn ripe and rich in colour only to fall down; as is the season. The colours are brilliant really, the panoramic view stunning, the car all curved and smooth, the head slanted adjacent to a window, the eyes catching the landscape that is Oregon, and the ear in resonance with a tune I dare not say. Wonder how many people would like Bally Sagoo, not me definitely. That ?bastard? spoils every single old hindi music to some beat of mama mia (thats a strip bar here - not that i have been to it, ya see am a little ole for that !). Even Bally Sagoo sounds nice, amazing, yup, but some sorta music is all you are looking for. Dil Ke Chaine and every other melody pumped into disco, still had that magical touch, a nostalgia, a melancholy happiness of a distant memory and times that you missed, when you are zipping at 150km/hr on a freeway within the cosiness of Nissan Altima alongside the most gorgeous Gorge (that was Colombia).
Planning wasn't my trump card, surprises are. Mt. Hood was hiked on a unique shoe all over USA - Power (made in India). With my first glimpse of snow, I started rattling like a baby, with my first touch, I licked it, and with the first step on it I rose a few thousand feet above ground level. I meant physically; thats how much we hiked, before the frost bite on my feet impaired any further advancement the sense organs prompted despite the excitement they felt perceiving the earth below from a white mountain cap.
One could easily imagine the frustration when one didn't have boots to do the job. Skiers were present below a certain point, and much below on the way out to the parking lot, a blonde went topless, revealing the American freedom and liberty -- to change in the presence of fortunate Indians who caught the show. An Addidas factory outlet was visited en route and am now the proud owner of an ADIDAS shoe, that would make a kidnapper think of taking the shoe, rather than the smart lad who bought the shoe, for ransom.
Anyways, the week ended like it always does, and I am now in office with a job to do and shoes to wear.