Going to Buffalo back rekindled a lot of memories. For one, staying with Raj brings back the best days out. And there is beloved JK, Singh and Prasad. What more can I ask?
So, the first two days went in Niagara, Chippewa street and Lewiston Whirlpool Jet Ride. What started as a 'strict one margarita' at Lewiston village pub went onto 15 drinks with 7 shots in it. By the end of it, we were hooting to the local band playing and calling quite a few people in India over phone(he he he!). The last day went in Beaver Island Park with us sipping on beers and playing volley! That was when Raj came up with the idea of partying at Jim's place.
Now, Jim is Raj's friend. In his 50s. Lives up in East Aurora village in a place which is like the village limits with the forest on one side. When we landed up at his place, it was around 10 pm. Jim had setup a perfect partying place with a fire, standup lamps, chairs, tables, beer and what not. The setup was in his backyard touching the woods. Just to the partying place, a road led up from the back to nowhere. When checked, it landed in a house decorated in lights with a ranch that we could make out in that poor light. Nothing else around. Just the two houses and the woods. And it was very cold for a summer night.
We were around 8 guys who were overjoyed with the party settings and partly scared with the surroundings. I mean what were we like one day before ...partying in Chippewa street with all that glitz and glamour and crowd...and here we were in a setup straight out of Ram Gopal Verma's mind.
Anyway, the beer flowed and kept us in senses. Some Spanish songs followed by Hindi songs set the crowd in a dance. Jim's definition of Indian dance was to run around his house with his hands flailing up in the air! Deepak and Praneet grooved with Singh. Prasad and JK caught up now and then in it!
Me was sipping beer and sitting near the fire. That’s when I saw those legs on that road half hidden in the dark and the shrubs. One second....and they moved. Still, could not make out the figure except that it was a lady. I crept upto Raj and told him and he passed it on to Jim. Idea was that Jim would be able to figure out and we could get over it. Nopes...either the beer got to him or he never expected someone, he had a creepy look which was worse than ours! Anyways, we called out 'whoz there?' and out stepped Carol!
Carol is the loner in her 50s who lived up there in the house with lights. You heard it right...a loner in that lonely house up the drive next to a ranch (a straight rip off from the Hound of the Baskervilles). No hounds but....horses. We couldn’t avoid the question and asked "how do you live alone in this scary setting?” Her answer summed up what we missed to see "I don’t see anything scary here...it’s beautiful". Imagine...the woods...two lonely houses...a ranch with horses...moonlit night...a party....now, that’s what we read in a fairy tale, right?...:) We missed the pic at that point. When the above thought was settling and we were about to smile, Jim and Carol added "ohh ...a coupe of bears do turn up here." So much for a fairy tale...sigh.
Carol and Jim sang and danced together. We all stood up and sang our National Anthem (that’s the common song we all knew...Indians!). Later, it got too cold outside. So, me walked into Jim's house. Everything in there was antique...in the real sense. Jim was not a collector. Its just that he never changed to new things. So, instead of a cd music system, we found a tape recorder. TVs (small tv, medium tv, tiny tv) in all rooms. Old gramophone player. A bird in a cage which will whistle if you whistle. A painting of Mark Twain (yeah..u heard it right) which looked more like Stapleton (again from HOTB). His attic was filled with weird things like a head made of plaster of Paris in a glass bowl, old horror movies, etc. Someone said that Jim used to have a snake as a pet. That’s when all of us walked quietly and quickly out of the house. Enough for one party to freak you out…free beer or not.
When we started from there, it was like 2 am in the morning. Jim played the perfect host and acted like an air traffic controller when we backed out our cars. That is still my image of Jim whenever I think of that night!
So, the first two days went in Niagara, Chippewa street and Lewiston Whirlpool Jet Ride. What started as a 'strict one margarita' at Lewiston village pub went onto 15 drinks with 7 shots in it. By the end of it, we were hooting to the local band playing and calling quite a few people in India over phone(he he he!). The last day went in Beaver Island Park with us sipping on beers and playing volley! That was when Raj came up with the idea of partying at Jim's place.
Now, Jim is Raj's friend. In his 50s. Lives up in East Aurora village in a place which is like the village limits with the forest on one side. When we landed up at his place, it was around 10 pm. Jim had setup a perfect partying place with a fire, standup lamps, chairs, tables, beer and what not. The setup was in his backyard touching the woods. Just to the partying place, a road led up from the back to nowhere. When checked, it landed in a house decorated in lights with a ranch that we could make out in that poor light. Nothing else around. Just the two houses and the woods. And it was very cold for a summer night.
We were around 8 guys who were overjoyed with the party settings and partly scared with the surroundings. I mean what were we like one day before ...partying in Chippewa street with all that glitz and glamour and crowd...and here we were in a setup straight out of Ram Gopal Verma's mind.
Anyway, the beer flowed and kept us in senses. Some Spanish songs followed by Hindi songs set the crowd in a dance. Jim's definition of Indian dance was to run around his house with his hands flailing up in the air! Deepak and Praneet grooved with Singh. Prasad and JK caught up now and then in it!
Me was sipping beer and sitting near the fire. That’s when I saw those legs on that road half hidden in the dark and the shrubs. One second....and they moved. Still, could not make out the figure except that it was a lady. I crept upto Raj and told him and he passed it on to Jim. Idea was that Jim would be able to figure out and we could get over it. Nopes...either the beer got to him or he never expected someone, he had a creepy look which was worse than ours! Anyways, we called out 'whoz there?' and out stepped Carol!
Carol is the loner in her 50s who lived up there in the house with lights. You heard it right...a loner in that lonely house up the drive next to a ranch (a straight rip off from the Hound of the Baskervilles). No hounds but....horses. We couldn’t avoid the question and asked "how do you live alone in this scary setting?” Her answer summed up what we missed to see "I don’t see anything scary here...it’s beautiful". Imagine...the woods...two lonely houses...a ranch with horses...moonlit night...a party....now, that’s what we read in a fairy tale, right?...:) We missed the pic at that point. When the above thought was settling and we were about to smile, Jim and Carol added "ohh ...a coupe of bears do turn up here." So much for a fairy tale...sigh.
Carol and Jim sang and danced together. We all stood up and sang our National Anthem (that’s the common song we all knew...Indians!). Later, it got too cold outside. So, me walked into Jim's house. Everything in there was antique...in the real sense. Jim was not a collector. Its just that he never changed to new things. So, instead of a cd music system, we found a tape recorder. TVs (small tv, medium tv, tiny tv) in all rooms. Old gramophone player. A bird in a cage which will whistle if you whistle. A painting of Mark Twain (yeah..u heard it right) which looked more like Stapleton (again from HOTB). His attic was filled with weird things like a head made of plaster of Paris in a glass bowl, old horror movies, etc. Someone said that Jim used to have a snake as a pet. That’s when all of us walked quietly and quickly out of the house. Enough for one party to freak you out…free beer or not.
When we started from there, it was like 2 am in the morning. Jim played the perfect host and acted like an air traffic controller when we backed out our cars. That is still my image of Jim whenever I think of that night!
2 comments:
awesome post mama, u have captured the happenings in words as if on a video camera.
Jim and Carol mentioned every living being (bear, fox, racoon) except human beings :)
it was a great time.. not to mention that jim's fridge had nothing but weird beer.. never seen or never heard of such beer
jim had setup a hammock too that touched the ground he he.. i had to precisely land my body so that the hammock balances perfectly. there was no tolerance level at all :)
Post a Comment