Here, There, Somewhere

All in all, I have to admit that this has been a really, really bad period for me. Not just inspiration-wise, luck-wise, or internet-wise, but also pretty much everything-else-wise, too.

I have been having really, really slow going getting inspired these days. This blog was supposed to help inspire me to start writing again, and so it has. But blog writing is very different from novel writing, as all writers would probably agree. It takes very, very little to put someone off novel writing when they are in a slump and trying to make their way to fit word to paper (or screen, as the case may be).

With me, the lack of internet, which usually in no way has any direct correlation with novel writing (no, wait, the relationship is inverse; the more internet I have, the less time I have to write) aaaaand I lost track of where I was. Where was I?

Ah, yes. The internet, which usually makes me write less, is now gone, and for that reason, I am in no mood at all to write. Makes sense? Not at all, and yet here I am, determinedly sticking to this excuse like a guy standing smugly on ice that is both visibly and audibly cracking ominously all around him.

So much for my inspiration. And as for my luck, well, it could be so much better, only it isn’t.

Take today, for example. Remember the roommates I introduced you guys to in the post “On Surviving A Bane Of Sleep”? Well, circumstances arose that had me having to spend three nights and half a day in the Big City again this week.

What was I doing all this while, you ask?

Till now, the only commuting that I had been doing since January happened only on Sundays; I left every Sunday morning, and got back every Monday at like 12am. Efficient, easy on the shoulders (lighter pack, duh) and I get to not enjoy just one day of the week rather than three. This week, however, called for special classes tomorrow, as well as on Saturday and on Sunday.

In short, here I am, with the folks who unknowingly taught me to figure out how to beat snoring.

Things have changed in the short five months since I last broke bread with them. The biggest change was that they had moved away from the old place; but they invited me to the new crib readily enough.

Here was the phone call:

Me: Hey, Him! It’s me, Me. How you doing?

Him: Hey, Me! Long time, buddy. How you been?

Me: Doing good. Listen, I’ve got some stuff in the Big City from Friday through Sunday… I was wondering if I could crash at your place, like old times.

Him: Won’t be a problem, Me. One thing though, kid. We’ve moved since you were last here. We’re now at Thatplace, near Theotherplace. You know where that is?

Now, this is precisely the moment where I should have opened my mouth and said “Um, nope, not sure about it. Could you tell me how to get there?”

No. Had I said that, I would right now be stuck with a blank screen instead of half a post ready and written. I would also have gotten here a good thirty minutes earlier and my back would definitely not have been in this much agony.

This is what I said.

Me: Theotherplace? Wasn’t that near Somewhere? Got it, I’ll meet you there tomorrow at half past ThatTime,”

And it was only after I hung up did I realize that I had no idea where Theotherplace was.

Cut to the next day, and I’m on the bus. I had asked around my pals, and I had got varied directions to Theotherplace, most of which had links to more places that I hadn’t a clue about. But one thing stayed constant: apparently, I had to take Thatparticularbus to get there.

And so there I was, on Thatparticularbus. But here came the tricky part: where the heck was I supposed to get off?

Apparently, few of the passengers seemed to be aware of the geography around the route which they were taking. And true to the expression “Too many cooks spoil the travel destination,” after consulting half a dozen would-be travel agents too many, I ended up getting out like seven stops too early... smack in the middle of lands unknown.

             How did I know it was seven stops too early? I called Him and asked where I was supposed to get off. Too bad that brilliant idea occurred to me only after I had stepped out of the bus and hefted the heavy travel bag onto my shoulder. The light bulb lit up above head just as the taillights of the bus faded in the distance.

And why hadn’t I called him before getting off? Let you know as soon as I figure it out myself.

So there I was, waiting ten minutes for a bus that if I had been in my right mind, I would never have been waiting for. And did you think I learned from my last incident?

Of course I didn’t.

This time, I ended up three stops ahead; and this was when the people next to me suddenly realized that the landmark which we had all been looking for so eagerly through the misty shutters had been behind us for a while now.

This time, I stood still for a minute, with my laptop bag weighing down on my shoulders and the travel bag dragging on the sidewalk. And as I stood there, I contemplated what in the world I was doing, how this night was playing out, and what could do to remedy it.

Finally, I called for the last time.

I did what I should have done the night before. I took down every single detail, down to the species of ant living under the pavement in front of Theotherplace and the smell of the air that I was supposed to detect.

Reflecting back now, I might have very probably been going back and forth all night for the rest of the night, slowly, painstakingly iterating to Theotherplace by around midnight. Thankfully, that minute of silent contemplation saved me a load in bus fares.

Take a minute and contemplate. You will (probably) live to be grateful to yourself.

And as I walked a bit further, there he was, Him, who had been waiting for me for the last fifteen minutes, bless his soul. From there we walked for another ten minutes (these guys really knew how to pick ’em) till we finally came upon Thatplace.

Friendly reunion, handshakes all round, and customary banter. The self-inflicted nightmare was over.

And now, it’s after dinner, and the guys are playing cards while they graciously let me use their Wi-Fi on my pointless natterings. It’s raining outside, and even though it’s still balmy warm here, it’s quite cozy. I’ve got my laptop, after all, so what more do I need?

Might have been a rough ride getting here, but now that I am, it all seems like it was in the past. (Gee, wonder why?) At the very least, it’s given me something to write about.

And at the end of the day, that probably makes everything worthwhile after all.