Sleep! I find that pseudo-activity the most creative of all, and I have an explanation for it which I hope you’d accede to. You have something called a subconscious mind. It thinks a lot, works continuously, and you don’t even get to know that! But, those thoughts come to you in your dreams. Have you ever tried remembering the myriad incidents (virtual though) we see almost every night? It’d be a stark lie if somebody claimed he never dreamt, because everybody does! And in the pursuit of making those things happen, that’d never happen to them, they’d just see them right ahead! I could have written a collection of short stories if I’d have been meticulous in jotting them down immediately after getting up. And I believe it’d have been a #1 bestseller, at least in India. Well, why? Not because I’m writing it (lol), but because they scored well on the eccentricity meter, colorfulness, regards to swerving among various unimaginable destinations and also in time i.e. between past, present and sometimes even future, the implausible characters in them ranging from Yeti, the abominable snowman to Mr. Bill Gates & a few pugilists of the order of Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), and finally the feasibility of the incidents happening in tandem. In fact, they can hardly be classified into the genre of ‘nightmares’, as, for me, they have been pleasant most of the time. I had the uncanny knack of completing the dream even if I woke up all of a sudden! So, I’d stick to bed and try imagining a happily-lived-ever-after kind of conclusion adding a bit more of absurdity to the already absurd happening!
The other day I’d dreamt of interviewing Sourav Ganguly! No, that’s not a recreation of some Cricinfo commentator taking one or a de javu involving Harsha Bhogle blabbering from the commentary box with Dada responding live from the ground, but that interview was happening at a very weird location! Guess what? He was there in our college campus and that too at the Training & Placement Office. God knows why he was there! Consciously, I can never ever think of Ganguly as a recruiter, although it was his recommendation that brought Chappel in. There seemed to be a crowd hunting him down for his autographs and I waited patiently till everyone left, and then I was allowed inside. I started talking at ease and very frankly with him and described how I looked up to him for a source of inspiration for doing anything or taking any bold decision. Somehow I realized in the dream itself that this was what I’d wanted so far!
“Dada, I’ve been following you since 1996. I’d started watching cricket since then. You’ve been my idol all these years.” I was candid.
I recollected how embarrassed I used to get when my classmates discussed cricket and I couldn’t participate in it. That was the time I started seeing the World Cup that too the Quarter-Final clash between India and Pakistan at Bangalore (yes if you remember, super-6 didn’t exist in ’96 WC) being the first ever match I watched. The credit of making me watch or for that matter play cricket could be attributed to my mommy to some extent. Resurgence of dada immediately followed in the England tour, so I’d associate the developing interest in cricket because of him.
Then suddenly I urged “Dada, would you mind taking a snap?” He smiled and agreed, but I frowned “I don’t have a cam in my phone; neither do I have a digi-cam.”
“Never mind, I have one in my phone, will send you.” He assured.
I looked more pathetic than ever “Dada, my mobile can’t accept multimedia messages.”
“Then some other time.”
I lost track and I’d find myself in a completely different place all of a sudden! Within a fraction of seconds I was near Boy’s Hostel Number 2. I found a guy talking to me.
“I am waiting for Dada, seen him lately?” He nodded negatively and again I’d see Dada coming towards us!
I insinuated at the Canon Powershot S3IS in my hand. I was absolutely flabbergasted about how I managed that camera out of the blue! Dada posed with me and the other guy had just uttered “Say Cheese” when I’d hear the calling bell! The dream was up, I was thrown back to reality from cloud nine, and the maid was waiting at my doorstep with the newspaper having Dada on the front page for his 239, a feat that I had seen live the previous day at Chinnaswamy Stadium!
The other day I’d dreamt of interviewing Sourav Ganguly! No, that’s not a recreation of some Cricinfo commentator taking one or a de javu involving Harsha Bhogle blabbering from the commentary box with Dada responding live from the ground, but that interview was happening at a very weird location! Guess what? He was there in our college campus and that too at the Training & Placement Office. God knows why he was there! Consciously, I can never ever think of Ganguly as a recruiter, although it was his recommendation that brought Chappel in. There seemed to be a crowd hunting him down for his autographs and I waited patiently till everyone left, and then I was allowed inside. I started talking at ease and very frankly with him and described how I looked up to him for a source of inspiration for doing anything or taking any bold decision. Somehow I realized in the dream itself that this was what I’d wanted so far!
“Dada, I’ve been following you since 1996. I’d started watching cricket since then. You’ve been my idol all these years.” I was candid.
I recollected how embarrassed I used to get when my classmates discussed cricket and I couldn’t participate in it. That was the time I started seeing the World Cup that too the Quarter-Final clash between India and Pakistan at Bangalore (yes if you remember, super-6 didn’t exist in ’96 WC) being the first ever match I watched. The credit of making me watch or for that matter play cricket could be attributed to my mommy to some extent. Resurgence of dada immediately followed in the England tour, so I’d associate the developing interest in cricket because of him.
Then suddenly I urged “Dada, would you mind taking a snap?” He smiled and agreed, but I frowned “I don’t have a cam in my phone; neither do I have a digi-cam.”
“Never mind, I have one in my phone, will send you.” He assured.
I looked more pathetic than ever “Dada, my mobile can’t accept multimedia messages.”
“Then some other time.”
I lost track and I’d find myself in a completely different place all of a sudden! Within a fraction of seconds I was near Boy’s Hostel Number 2. I found a guy talking to me.
“I am waiting for Dada, seen him lately?” He nodded negatively and again I’d see Dada coming towards us!
I insinuated at the Canon Powershot S3IS in my hand. I was absolutely flabbergasted about how I managed that camera out of the blue! Dada posed with me and the other guy had just uttered “Say Cheese” when I’d hear the calling bell! The dream was up, I was thrown back to reality from cloud nine, and the maid was waiting at my doorstep with the newspaper having Dada on the front page for his 239, a feat that I had seen live the previous day at Chinnaswamy Stadium!
