Deja Vu!

Author's note: Here I publish something I wrote last year (24.11.09). A travelogue of sorts.

Reached safe.

Result of a hurried packing? Remembered to carry along a set of razor blades but stupidly forgot to pack the razor, crème and brush!

Thankfully I followed my intuition and accepted the complimentary razor kit at the hotel in Stuttgart yesterday. Thankfully because I made the all important discovery of the missing shaving set this morning. The throwaway razor was bad but it was anyday better than to be walking in with an unflattering stubble, first day at work.

Was very tired (and running 20 minutes behind schedule) on Friday evening. So much so that I was yawning pretty deep on the taxi itself. They gave me an aisle seat right at the front of the economy class. The one that has the tv propping up from the armrest.
Without shame, I promptly surfed for a Hindi flick, selected Luck by Chance, watched a bit and slept through most of the flight. Nothing from the movie impressed me other than Ms. Sen Sharma.
The pretty airhostess (sigh) asked if I'd like something to drink.
'Un café', I replied with the cocky confidence of SRK.
'Aduley?', the damsel inquired.
'Sorry?', I yanked the earphones off and sat upright. Damn…wish I refreshed my French better, I said to myself.
'Some milk?', she helpfully translated.
'Ah…sure', I smiled sheepishly. 'Et du lait you idiot', my brain reprimanded me. 'Yeah, try and work faster next time', I retorted.

Began to watch 8x10 Tasveer. A boring movie on the surface of it peppered with few intriguing moments. Had hardly watched some when landing was announced.

The first gush of winter in Paris caught me quite unawares. In spite of my jacket, I sat shivering quite uncontrollably in the airport shuttle until the doors were closed. Stuttgart was warmer. Despite the exhaustion, I stood there at the bathroom mirror in the hotel room for an hour and a half that afternoon and tried to correct my most recent haircut from the previous evening. It had all seemed quite well until the guy blow dried my hair and then I was never happy with the result. But he wouldn't agree with me. They never listen, the coiffeurs. Anyway, by the end of my long drawn oeuvre with the scissors, it seemed better than it had been in the last 24 hours.


My boss was in Stuttgart and he was sweet enough to come over to meet up. We munched on some spicy banana chips that I'd thoughtfully packed. Later I unwrapped the laptop to work for a short while. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep. Better so since I needed to take the flight to Paris again the next morning.


'Ladies and Gentlemen, the weather at CDG is still stormy and windy…', the captain reported as we climbed the skies.
'Hah!', I scoffed. 'Just look at the Sun blazing through my little window. We should be just fine when we arrive'. A quarter hour later, the plane was bobbing through a strech of dark clouds with raindrops pattering impatiently on the windows. 'Whaddaya know boy! Welcome to stormy and windy CDG', the weather God seemed to snigger at me. The skies wore a solemn grey.


We were quickly ushered into the shuttle. This time I wore a pullover under the jacket. It seemed to do the trick. I had to weave my way around the ever sprawling airport to locate the right carousel. Checked in to the TGV with minutes to spare. The cold wind blew my hair astray and chilled my ears as I stood waiting for the train to Angers .


Determined to fight sleep, I began to read 'The Last Lecture'. A much recommended book that I had bought at the bookstore at BIAL. There is an astounding positivity in the way it has been written. A couple of ladies sitting in my booth were chattering without so much as a pause. 'Pardon Monsieur…', they finally excused themselves at a station.

Angers was equally cold, rainy and dark when I arrived. 'Ah….Monsieur Pradeep!', the receptionist at Hotel Atrium remembered me from my previous visit. I was quite astonished. But there certainly was reason because I had given a lengthy feedback the last time, suggesting improvements and had left the note where no one would miss it.

The girl apparently could do nothing about implementing the suggested changes but she did exercise caution while checking me in. 'You are staying until…..please buy the laundry token only when you need….use the laundry during the week….etc…etc…have a good stay with us!', she smiled broadly. 'You do remember me!', I prompted. 'Of course…..you stayed with us during this summer!', she whittled.

Made myself some veg atta noodles for dinner last evening. The contents within the packet were predictably crushed and it was difficult to tell the four cakes apart. I could only go by what they call a hand measure. By 9.30, I was in deep sleep. Woke up when Dad called at 6 this morning. He had discounted the daylight saving hour. The darkness outside was uninspiring to leave the comfort of the covers. The alarm on my phone dutifully blared 'bardaasht' every 10 minutes till I could no longer bear it! :)


The one good thing I did last evening was to line up my clothes for this morning. That saves a lot of panic especially when one wakes up horrifyingly late! Yet my eyes betrayed the sufficiently long hours of rest.

Had my hands full at work. Loaded my plate with dessert and pommes frites for lunch. Stephan raised an eyebrow and smiled 'You're happy to be back, aren't you!'. He dropped me off to the supermarche in the evening. Shopped for some breakfast, chips, Schweppes and especially razors.

Noodles again. With chips today. One thing about noodles and the hand measure, a little too much can get to be a lot too much! The network at the hotel isn't working this evening. 'But they said it will be fixed this morning', I whined to the receptionist. 'You're not the first one telling me that but I have word that it will be repaired tomorrow', he placated me. So I decided to take the time and give you an account of the past two days!

I have a very early day tomorrow. My eyes are demanding sleep and I'd rather obey, lest they plan a coup tomorrow morning :)