Take it........ and go

Banff National Park, polar bears in their natural habitat and Aurora Borealis will have to wait for some other time. In the few days, we had for such a beautiful and enormous country, we saw a lot, and did a lot more. As Vishnu put it, "Canada was more of an experience" than just a visit or short stay. An extremely enjoyable and memorable experience indeed.

It became very hot towards the end, - a humid 35 degrees without fans and sufficient ventilation, made me sleep downstairs for a couple of days. In James' words, it was that time of the year when Canadians reach the tipping point, and start craving for some less of the sun.
After Keerthi and Rohit left, we were left at the mercy of Supriya for dinner.With the fall in the number of inmates of 65,67 and 69, card games like Prableen (6) had to be abandoned. We took to watching movies and Russell Peters shows during the nights, after spending some time on TT/fussball/billiards. Bob came over at times to give us company.
One night at 3 am we went out for a walk to have pizza from the University Plaza. We recounted the early days and our initial impressions based on names.

The project was wound up with hopes of success in the coming days as my code would be run on about a thousand images. James took us (Ryan and Uzair included) to the grad house, where we chatted for some time, before it was time to leave and I "keep in touch"-ed everyone.

I went through some of the lasts that I would miss... sitting out on the rolling lawns, walking to Sobeys over the meadows and back, speeding down the slope on my bike near the Ron Eydt village while returning from university. After putting up ads on Kijiji, I finally sold it for $75. Five hundred kms of cycling and fun for 20 dollars, - a very good deal, though it would have been great if I could bring The Stealth back home.

The final night was chosen for (not 'by') me to get drunk over Canada. 4 shots of Tequila, with lemon and salt as prescribed by Vishnu, followed by Jack Daniel's was more than enough. It brought out an unforeseen side in Sundaram. He spoke of how much he hated missing out on adventure stuff. Only later did we realize that he can lie when drunk. He went on to give character analyses of everyone in the group, and apparently was pretty accurate at it. Of course, I wasn't in the right state to register what all he was saying, and was half asleep. These details were re-narrated to me the next morning.
The parting was kind of emotional. It always is. Without elaborating on that, I would just wish that our lives meet once again.
Yan accompanied me back to the airport, where it wasn't absolutely uneventful. The travel bags crossed the weight limits. I had to open them up and transfer stuff intelligently taking care of weight and volume constraints, as the bags were not just packed, they were jam-packed.

I had about a couple of dollars in my pocket and about one more in my card just before boarding. I couldn't resist one more Iced Capp Supreme from Tim Horton's before I left the country.

Kaleidoscope

"I may be colour blind, but you are blind" - Madhavan (on the topic of Savita Bhabhi and Power Girl)

"Appearance blinds, whereas words reveal." - Oscar Wilde

"It was a first time experience for the 3 of us" - Me 
"I will forever be guilty in the history of Prableen" - Madhavan
"Was I making a lot of noise in the night?" - Mr. Iran to Irene

"We're talking of the same night.... right?" - Kung Fu Panda

"He is here" - Madhavan, in a whisper

"One Chinese is dragon, many Chinese is worms" - Chinese PhD & driver guy, Shaun

"She knows everything, you can speak freely" - Rohit, talking of Supriya
"Is that big enough for you?" - Supriya, talking of samosas

"We had 3 hours together. That was the best time I had with him without irritating each other" - Rohit on Madhavan
"I won't wake you up tomorrow" - Madhavan to Rohit

On having alcohol for the first time, Sundaram claimed to have gotten addicted the next day....
"Daa...." - Rohit
"I can't go to the loo without having something to read" - Vishnu
"Paa...." - Rohit
Adarsh's adventure with the Burglar Alarm...
"Baa...." - Rohit

"Black cat or white cat: If it can catch mice, it's a good cat" - famous Chinese saying

A career which started with amoeba shaped dosas ended in Vethakozhambu with nothing much inbetween. Retiring on a high....
"Is there something wrong with me?" - Madhavan

"Bring out the trumps, baby!" - Rohit
"Focus!!!" - Rishi

$4.99 Nesquik cereal => free icecream worth $5
"Take it..... and go" - Russell Peters

**Disclaimer: This is an assortment of famous statements made within the group, necessarily not in chronological order. The author cannot be held responsible for any misinterpretations by the reader.

Through Photographs of Waterloo and around

XP Wallpaper?

Columbia lake

The icon of University of Waterloo - geese

A Farmhouse

Laurel Creek Reservoir (above 2 photos)

Roller Coasters of another kind

The Final Countdown

Whenever Vishnu and I go shopping together, we end up spending more. We ask each other, "Shall we try this?" and the answer is never no. The most recent of our trophies was a bottle of marinated octopus. The reactions we got from everyone at CLV-home were legendary. Having touched the bottle, people reacted like they had just touched a dead body in a murder scene. Some screamed, some shrieked, some exclaimed just on seeing it from the distance. 

We have been eating out a lot - everyone's been calling for one last celebration before they leave. The Mongolian Grill place was good. Everyone makes their own combinations from a huge set of choices, and gives it for cooking on the large central frying place. It was the first time I was having something real hot in Canada. The previous week, Yan and Mohammed had come over to our place for a pizza party. Yan gave us Chinese hand fans as gifts, while Mohammed brought traditional Egyptian sweets.

And now there are goodbyes all over the place. That is one thing I find very difficult, but it is a contract you enter into, the moment you say hi to a person. Keerthi was the first to leave, and then came Rohit's turn. Adarsh was next in line, though I will keep meeting him back in IITK.

In the department, Stephen and I were eager to have one last card game night along with a few other friends, but finally didn't get the time for it, as Stephen left for Ottawa on 16th. We just had beer together along with Uzair, Caroline, Ryan and Jonathan. I also have to buck up a bit in terms of my project, to give a fitting conclusion to it.

Montreal: An Eternal Party - 2

We woke up late. But the hosts were still asleep when we left. Today our first destination was Basilique Notre-Dame. It is the beauty in the architecture and paintings that I like most about churches.

We walked down St. Laurent Boulevard and entered China Town. We came here to find one specific restaurant on Rue De La Gauchetiere, and it was special for its all-you-can-eat for 10 dollars. I am always in for variety and we couldn't have got a better offer. From the 30 odd non-veg preparations, I tried at least half of them. There was sea-food too including prawns, crabs and mussels (this time cooked). After 3 platefuls, I helped myself to a dish of desserts. And then we were too full to move.

We made the best of the 16$ 3-day all transportation ticket. On reaching Rue Saint Catherine, we found that the entire length of the street was lined with temporary stalls, with no traffic allowed. This is the arrangement for every Sunday.

Soon afterwards, Rajarshi had to return to Quebec, and I made my way to the foot of Mount Royal. Everyone had told me that I would be able to hear from the distance. And so I did. What sounded like a soft buzz from the kilometres away, gradually could be recognized as drum beats. This is known as the Tam-tams. Musical instruments of the drum family all over being played by drummers from a wide cultural background, but having one thing in common- they were all high on booze and drugs right in the open. There were many crazy dancers around as well.

The atmosphere was awesome, and when one guy left his drum to take some rest, I took over, and went with the beat with a lot of spirit. With 50 more drums being played around you, mistakes go unnoticed. What onlookers noted was my enthusiasm and effort. A group of girls who were dancing posed with me for photos.

After a short walk up the Mont Royal to another viewpoint, I was at a place where there were scores of raccoons coming out from the bushes and having food and water from tourists.

Montreal is also famous for it's gay village. The subway stop at Beaudry is the gateway to it. Lots of rainbows all over the place, and only a few couples of the other kind. After a dinner of Spaghetti and Smoked Meat, I returned to the bus station.

"A time will come when you can express yourself freely" (in French)

I have been to many cities around the world, but Montreal turned out to be very different. When I was in Toronto, I saw many people walking on the streets, mostly formally dressed up, and seemed kind of busy with themselves and distant. Here in Montreal, it is like a lifelong party. There are people merrymaking all over the place. The carefree attitude. There aren't too many notable points of tourist attraction in the physical sense or any natural beauty, but people come here to just let go and enjoy life. And they were so right about the food and the girls. Just can't get any better.

Montreal: An Eternal Party - 1

A trip by myself and I was back to my usual self where I went through some serious last-minute exercise just to make it in time to the bus. Montreal is about 700 kilometres from Waterloo. An overnight journey changing buses at Toronto, and the capital Ottawa. At Ottawa again, there was a situation. There were ten of us and only two seats left on the bus to Montreal. The next bus was about 6 hours later. That would be quite a lot of loss for a 2-day trip. Without joining the queue, I walked right up to the conductor, played the mercy card of me being a foreigner and having come all the way from India to go to Montreal, and without seeking his permission or looking back at the other passengers boarded the bus right away.

At 5am, I expected Rajarshi at the Montreal Bus Station. I didn't know whether it was too much of an expectation because we have never met before. He came about an hour later.
Our first stop was at Chez Cora, where we filled ourselves with a proper English breakfast. It was 7 and the streets still had a deserted look. From accounts of others, I guessed that the city had just gone to sleep.

We freshened up a bit at one of the MITACS students' room in the hostel. Then we set out. For starters, Montreal has a north deviated from the Geographic North by 80 degrees. I didn't find too good a reason for this other than the fact that Montreal-eans want to officially claim that they are crazy. Also this is in the state of Quebec, and has majorly a French speaking population - which possibly explains as to why the girls here are so pretty and cute. A metro ride took us to the Parc Olympique and the Biodome. We walked around the place, but didn't go for any guided tour. There was an adjoining Insectarium and Jardin Botanique (I love the sound of French when pronounced in English) We gave all of this a miss, because these are present in all major cities around the world. What we were looking for is a different kind of experience.

Biodome (previously Olympic Velodrome)

Practice underway for some stage performance

Montreal is named after the central hill in the city called Mont Royal. This was our next destination. We walked the streets, entered random shops, tried out random stuff, and then after a steep hike finally reached a viewing point, from where we could see the whole city. We made our way down by a different direction. On the map there was a huge 3 sq.km. graveyard to the West (yes, Montreal West) of Mount Royal. When asking for directions to it, a shopkeeper seriously told us not to go inside, as it is very easy to get lost. It made us all the more eager to go in. Might have been a fun idea to get lost, but with me around, that is kind of difficult. Besides we didn't go in to the core.

The tomb waiting for the living to come join the rest of the family

I have heard of the French delicacy of raw oysters, and have seen people have that in Paris. At Jean Talon Marche (Market), I tried it. All it took was a verbal assurance that it won't make me sick. I slurped it at one go, and couldn't dwell on the taste too much, but it is not anywhere close to repulsive irrespective of how it looks.

Slurp it at one go

A double lunch of Fish and Fries, and later Shawarma at a Lebanese place replenished us. In the river to the East, there is a large island (For that matter even Montreal itself is one huge island, with the river forking out and rejoining). It seemed like all of Montreal had come here to party at this Sainte Helene Ile. There were public shows, and lots of people. The island is also famous for the casino, and for the F1 race track which hosted the Montreal Grand Prix just a few days ago. We walked along a long section of the track, saw the race starting point, the pits. The road quality itself was nothing special. Seemed pretty normal with a few cracks here and there.

We returned back to the main island, and on the Street, we found people lined up, waiting for a procession to come. I was eager to see one in foreign land, but this turned out to be a Fashion Parade, whatever that means. What I saw, was a bunch of weirdos in weird outfits, doing weird stuff and passing us by. There were people on stilts, huge chariot like things, lots of dancing... as random as one could think. Brought to you by Jean Paul Gautier.

Around every corner of the street something or the other was going on - be it some band performing, or some kind of an exhibition, or some open air dance lessons going on.
After a Tim Horton's break, we continued to Old Montreal. By now it was getting dark. The cobbled streets with archaic looking buildings and churches on either side all in the dim yellow street light gave the place a definite charm. Around one corner we saw a video shooting taking place with some artists behaving or posing in strange ways. By now, Rajarshi and I had learnt better to accept things the way they are in this city and not to give in to our instinct of questioning logic behind everything.


We walked on till we reached the port. Lots of expensive boats and liners. And there were so many people all around, it reminded me of the Kolkata book fair. The crowd built up further until finally the fireworks started. Today was Australia's turn and of the 8 countries in the finals of the fireworks competition, going by public opinion, today's was the best.

Some more walk, some more shops, gyros for dinner, and then finally back to the hostel at 2 am. The hosts were very kind. They offered me Absinthe (69% alc.) in the manner prescribed with the sugar cube and all the rituals, and then I called it a day.

3As from CBS

Call it coincidence or whatever, a third friend from the 100-strong legendary 2007 batch of CBS was in town at the same time (the second being Aritra). It was impossible that we not get together once during the 5 day stay in Toronto. Aritra and I had been chatting for hours at a Tim Horton's. Abhirup joined us later. He is in Canada for his dissertation in journalism. For that, he has been travelling around Canada to interview many immigrants. On that day he was coming directly from Ottawa driving his uncle's car.
We had a hearty dinner at a restaurant, but Aritra's high hopes of getting high on alcohol, and spending some time in a club, had to be abandoned for practical reasons. Abhirup drove us to the Humber college where I had been staying for the meet. His talk-around skills got me permission to bring in my guests against the rules.

We chatted late into the night... inevitably the talk went on to our school days. All the funny incidents retold for the two hundred and seventy seventh time. And we laughed our hearts out. Never do they lose their charm. This went on till 4 am when Abhirup left. The next morning, the farewell with Aritra was extremely abrupt, as the subway train door closed with him just not making it, as soon as he had stepped out to get me a transfer ticket. We will all meet each other again.... someday later at some other place.