I was on earned leave and so it was a pity that I did not have to do a long drawn out speed workout because I had all the time in the world. I went for a gentle recovery jog because that is all my schedule dictated for the day. I then came back and dropped Bryan to school and hung around reading a book outside his class. It gave him a kick to have his dad sitting within a stone' throw from his examnination hall. I always wanted to do this and I ended up actually doing it!
After Bryan' exam and since I had nothing to do, I coincidentally got a call from Vernon who had arrived in Mumbai from Dubai on his quarterly junkets. He wanted to know whether I would join him and Bamoo for lunch at a place (malvan - what else) at Parel. Well, who would want to miss fish and beer on a day of earned leave. I got my driver to drive me to Parel and met up with Vernon and "Hagar":-). Would you believe it?; Bamoo claims that he does not drink during the season of Lent and no matter how much I tried to get his goat up about how God doesn't give a damn about his drinking, I was not able to get him to share a beer with me.
I have to find a way to avenge the fact that these guys made me drink 3 beers in 25 mins just cause they wanted to go to lunch at the restaurant next door and it was getting late. Anyhow, there was "Halwa" fry, squids and yucks - goats intestines - (Bamoo and his predilection for smelly cuisine:-)), chicken and puris. We had a sumptuous lunch and some banter that was as inane as the reasons for Vernon' frequent presence in Mumbai. I reached home sated but still woozy from all the beers. Talk about recovery runs:-))) There is something about meeting up with childhood friends that does not compare with any joy in the world - especially if its over beers wherein one can lecture with slurring speech, about all the follies the others have committed in their lives:-) HA HA HA......
