Sunday, November 25, 2007

BMM, Bankruptcy and Sugarcane juice

What do you do when you have two BMM students, fifteen rupees between them and a very hot sun? ok, so now that I have given away the suspense of the story, you might not be interested but read anyway.
It was one ordinary day (by BMM standards) when I was at GPO, asking perfectly uninterested government officials for permission to shoot a documentary there.
Time: 1200 hours
Temperature: 38°C
Place: Road opposite Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
I was with a friend, both of us extremely hungry, thirsty and tired, but still able to find strength to crib about the state of government offices. To refuel our system, we decided to eat something. We nervously emptied our pockets, wallets and other possible sites of monetary deposit. Present fiscal strength: Rs.15. minus the bus fare back to the station, Rs.5. Wonderful.
To our left stood the bright red-yellow McDonalds outlet. Commuters from CST trooped in joyfully and came out with higher cholesterols and lighter pockets. A kid with a little more than necessary puppy fat bounced out with a happy meal toy in one hand and a much harried parent in another. Nevertheless, the burgers seemed inviting………WAIT A MINUTE! Bad idea, and when you have just five rupees to spare, terrible idea!
To our right, a sugarcane juice stall stood in all its glory. All else disappeared as our eyes focussed on the stall. The din of the threshing machine was music to our ears. That the man tending it had different concepts of hygiene than us, did not matter. Now, only the road was between us and that glorious, wonderful glass of the golden elixir.
Both of us shared that one glass of sugarcane juice which ran down my throat like a flood in a desert, and within moments, it was gone. The juice was over! So was our money. Right next to it a man was selling nuts. Ah! Too expensive! We resigned to our fate, our poverty, our BMM!

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