The Man in the White Suit

Last Saturday, I saw a man in a white suit. He spoke of love, hate, drugs, women, war, peace. His preachings were, for the most part, in song. All quite unnecessary because, in the words of the man in the white suit, "the answer is blowing in the wind".

Its too good a day to...

to be hungover in bed.

A List

Sorry to go on about Pembrokeshire (and special apologies to Sryon and Priyanka) but here's a short list on how to have a good time when you're there:

1. Catch the 9:30 PM to Swansea and change for Carmathen.

2. Reach Carmathen at 1:30 AM to realise that the connecting train is only at 5 and the station is closing.

3. Go out to explore Carmathen town and startlingly find a doner kebab shop open which is open at 3 in the morning to serve "party customers" and is willing to save two starving souls.

4. Reach Haverfordwest at 5:30 to and wait for your bus to Pembrokeshire till 9. The station will be freezing but a cafe opens at 6 and will serve you delicious bacon and eggs.

5. Reach Pembrokeshire at 9:30 and start walking the cliffs on the coastal path.6. At about 2 PM face the reality that you are miles away from civilization and must survive on peanuts and chocolates for lunch.

7. Get chased by bulls (this is becoming pretty routine but believe me its extra special when your being chased on a cliff side).

8.Find a hippie campsite round 4 PM and get a few hotdogs off them.

9. Reach civilization at nightfall to be told there is no public transport to the rail station for London and you have to pay upwards of 25 pounds for a cab.

10. Have a beer.

11. Walk a bit more and set up camp on a cliff.

12. Have another beer.

13. Wake up and hit the road to hitchhike it back to Haverfordwest.

14. Get abused by the first four drivers you ask for lifts only for the fifth one to offer you one himself.

16. Reach St. David's ridiculously early for your train and head off to Whitesands beach.

17. Have a sleep on the beach to make up the sleep debt (do sleep on your side; this way only your profile will face the sun and you'll have this cool two-face look because of sunburn when you wake up).

18. Take the train back to London to reach home at about 2 Am on Monday morning.

For the more enthusiastic, a pictorial guide can be found here.

Old Games

A post on Archie's Blog about games played at tiffin break in school brought back a random memory. Its one of those things you remember but you have no idea why you do. It's so unreal to remember this one thing from all the others that you think that perhaps you dreamt it. Anyone know what I mean?

Anyway here's the memory: We are playing touch rugby with a tennis ball in the school field. The opposition had just scored and we have the ball. I run zig zag, really fast, clutching my stomach (pretending I'm holding the ball) and trying to avoid a touch. My friend Suvarshi (who runs really fast and is usually the player the opposition focusses on) ambles casually over the opposition touchline, takes the ball out of his pocket and puts it down. Touchdown!

In case you were wondering...

...what I was on about in my last post.

Journal Entry 20 April 2009

Location: Pembrokeshire
Time: 8:30 PM

I am sitting on a cliff on the Welsh coast and drinking beer while watching the sun set into the Atlantic Ocean.

A Moment from the Isle of Wight

A cocker spaniel is sitting in the middle of a field looking up. It is clearly lost and unable to comprehend the footpath sign it is looking at. It hears Rahul's footsteps, turns around and walks towards Rahul with a self assured 'I'm not afraid of you' slow trot. Rahul bends down to pet him but he ignores Rahul. As soon as the lil guy is past Rahul it breaks into a run, desperate to find his master.

Liverpool

When I visited Liverpool some time back something struck me about the city. Something felt strangely familiar and comforting in a way London was not and never could be. Maybe it was because there wasn't a single person wearing a suit in the city. Maybe it was because the people there seemed to have a lot of time for you. Maybe it was because Liverpudlians are insanely passionate about their sport and their music. Maybe it was because Liverpool has stubbornly chosen slow decline over big business in spite of the world and its mother trying to "invest" in the city.

Today, in Notes from a small island, I came across Bill Bryson's description of Liverpool:

"I'm exceedingly fond of Liverpool. It's probably my favourite English city. But it does rather feel like a place with more past than future. ...It is [now] impossible to believe that until quite recently - and for two hundred prosperous years before that - Liverpool's 10 miles of docks and shipyards provided employment for 100,000 people directly or indirectly.

The decline happened in a single generation...But in its heyday it was something special. Maritime commerce bought Liverpool not just wealth and employment , but an air of cosmopolitanism that few cities in the world could rival, and it still has that sense about it. In Liverpool you still feel like you are some place."

My hometown is, of course, Calcutta, India.

Ullswater Photos

Among the many crazy things we did on the Cumbrian Mountains last weekend: having a snowball fight on realizing we were more lost than we thought and on top of the wrong mountain. Pictures Below. Full album here.

Lake Ullswater

View From Campsite

Life's a Breeze

Campsite

Where the fuck are we?

I leave for the Isle of Wight on Thursday. Hopefully more photos to follow.