That giant bright ball in the sky annoys me. Getting a call when that stupid ball is out annoys me further. A call at 9 AM made me start contemplating the joys of homicide. The call was from Zolin Gonsalves (friend and former colleague) asking if I was ready to go. In a night of alcohol-fuelled LAN partying I had forgotten we were going camping today. With the hangover working overtime I somehow managed to throw a couple of T-Shirts, jeans, swimming trunks and my sleeping bag into a travel bag before catching a shower as I waited for Zolin to make his unwelcome arrival.
Zolin arrived with 2 other friends looking annoyingly perky. As I dragged my hungover arse into the car, I went into interrogation mode to ask:
1. Where are we going?
2. Are we doing this by ourselves or are we being hosted?
3. Why are you such a wanker?
The first answer was Amboli, the second answer was that we were being hosted by WildTents since they offered us a discount comparable to Steam after last time while the third answer was “Go to hell!”. All in all, acceptable answers.
We were to meet the organizers near City Centre Mall. At this point, I could feel tap dancers on my brain so I took a nap after telling everyone to wake me when we reached the campsite. I wasn’t driving this time allowing my brain to relax but it was nagging me about something but hey if you can’t remember it, it can’t be important.
I woke up to find us on a dirt road just before a bridge with no guard rails. As I looked around I noticed that the bad driver from my last story was in front of us. I didn’t think much of it until we turned onto the bridge at which point, I contemplated dialling 100 (911 for India). I was expecting the dumb arse to fall off and he nearly did, but by God’s grace, we made it to the campsite.
I slowly opened the car door while taking a view of the campsite. It was a smaller area than last time with wood piled up in the centre for the campfire and tents around the border near the water. I liked where the tents were placed, it meant I could kick anyone snoring into the water, it’s the little things in life that cheer you up.
As I was carrying out recon, I felt a tug on my jeans, looking down I saw a beagle with big floppy ears and short legs investigating me. Being an animal lover; my brain offered me a deal: play with the dog and the hangover would be void, which I was only too happy to accept. It was later I found out that was Dushant Chavan’s dog: Candy, who had come along for the ride.
The discussion I had with Candy went on for just over an hour before I noticed a spec on the horizon. It seemed Hari (GenericGamingBlog’s editor in chief) had convinced WildTent’s Prathamesh to take him for a boat ride. Watching this the gears in my head started to turn, before I knew it I had changed, said “sorry” to Candy and was swimming as fast as I could towards the boat. Just short of the boat, I held my breath as I reached for the underside before using my full strength to push it over. As both parties emerged from the wreck, I could tell Prathamesh was annoyed and ready to lecture me but Hari was irritated and that more than made up for the lecture I was about to receive.
Back on shore post-lecture; I grabbed a chair next to Zolin who offered me a bottle of water. The water tasted funny. I asked Zolin why. It was filled with Bacardi Lemon! While WildTents don’t permit booze they can’t complain about what they don’t know so alcohol was flowing among our group. This was the perfect accompaniment to the food being served which was a mutton dish for the non-vegetarians and roasted potatoes for all the vegetarians… ME! As I sat with a plate filled with snacks and a drink in the chair’s cup holder the sun decided it was time to take a nap. Watching the reflection of a setting sun on the water triggered my memory; I had forgotten: my DJI/Ryze Tello who was sitting in my room being completely useless. This was the second time I had forgotten to bring it out with me, maybe the third time would be the charm.
With the sunset, I moved my chair a tad bit further away from the campfire. I wanted an easy exit in case something annoying started. Dread was taking control of me. Insects don’t worry me but I do fear something far worse: the egotistical guitarist. That cunt who plays his guitar when people should interact deserves nothing but a bullet to the spine and our group had one of them. As he started to steal the show I got up from my chair to move into a tent.
In the tent, I grabbed my Nintendo 2DS XL and started a Linus Tech Tips video. Azure Striker was starting when I heard an off-key note… the dumbass was too drunk to actually play. I closed the 2DS’s lid and rejoined the group who were at this point ready to play charades since the guitarist had failed. While I suck at charades I was able to grant Hari a point for guessing Fiddler on the Roof. The game of charades was accompanied by biryani. It was well made with a smoked flavour from the charcoal that could not be denied. Each bite felt like it was melting in my mouth. It’s rare for me to take second helpings but I did go for round two. The food was amazing and helped keep the alcohol down. They also barbequed bacon and chicken for the carnivores.
At around 2 AM everyone started to turn in. I saw Hari, Zolin and everyone else go into their assigned tents. For some reason I was wide awake, I didn’t have tired eyes or heavy shoulders. In an attempt to wear myself out I moved a chair next to water just after grabbing my 2DS again. There was a lite breeze coming over the water with the moon and campfire providing enough light for me not to worry. At 3 AM everyone was asleep, I reduced the volume on the 2DS so that I could enjoy the sound of the water rippling and some crickets doing whatever it is that they do. It was heaven on Earth: being isolated with such calming sounds. I started to lose track of time as the night went on.
At 8 AM both batteries, the 2DS’ and my own were on their last stand. I felt as if I had been teleported from the previous night to the current time. It was at this point that WildTents started their post-trip clean up. I joined in, however I could but with what energy I had left it was difficult. As we finished packing up the tents it was time to go. We got in the cars for our journey home. The plan was to grab misal at Sadhna for breakfast.
On the route there our driver of the year pulled a hard left from the rightmost lane nearly causing a friendly pile up. Yeah, he was going to die the second we stopped. The misal was great at waking me up. Lecturing our bad driver was even more fun especially since we confiscated his keys. After misal Zolin dropped me back home
It’s now 12 PM. I’m sitting with a glass of orange juice as I type this while dreaming about dreaming. These trips are fun but I would not enjoy them if they became more frequent. I don’t like socialising withe certain types of people and seeing them more often would annoy me but these little breaks from life are getting nicer. I wonder if next time we could convince WildTents to take a smaller group of maybe 5. Probably something I should ask.
