White

We woke up before 5 in the morning, an achievement in itself for IITians. A cab (that had been booked yesternight over the net) took us to the corner of Russell and Flinders.

We met John, a Brazilian guy. He was funny. And it was quite surprising to hear "Ore baba" from him. Actually Brazilian TV serials are largely based on the Indian ones, and they use some Indian vocab as well to spice it up. He spoke Portuguese at home, but his English was good, since he has been staying in Brisbane for years. He also used the f-word at least twice in every sentence.
Azmir joined us (only Jai and me) soon, and then we ultimately boarded one of those huge Volvo buses, for the trip. It was the first time I rode a bus with a toilet on board. It was also a 'maal-gaari' in Jai's terminology (it is not necessary for maal to mean merchandise here. No, it isn't alcohol either.)


We went through the beautiful Yarra Valley, and the lushness the green was very appealing. Although the journey was to be of only 4 hours, three of them had past, and still there were no signs of any mountains. And then all of a sudden there was snow beside the road, with us just starting to go up. It was amazing. White in green with a streaks of dark brown (the straight thin trunks). Gradually the white-in-green transformed to green-in-white.

The bus took us to the base. We had to take a lift to reach the top of the mountain. Do not visualize a box moving vertically up and down when I say lift. It is more of a ropeway, but absolutely open, just a bench hanging in midair. The tourists mostly had come for skiing, from first timers to pros. We felt it was too costly at $150 and moreover we had to take lessons. From previous experience, I knew it wasn't cake walk. Azmir knows skiing and so I thought I could learn from him, but in the bus they announced that "There could not be a better way to end a friendship than learning to ski from a friend." Besides they also announced 6 requirements for skiing. For me, they turned out to be 6 reasons not to try it.

When we reached the top, it was a wonderful feeling. Cold though but the sun was out as well. There was snow in ever direction. It was a bit crowded though at places, with loads of people skiing or snowboarding down the slopes. And then started the expedition to conquer the mountain. Taaraan-taaaraaa......

Azmir was at a disadvantage, with his shoe sole so smooth that whenever tried to go up one step, he slid down two steps. Jai had to help him out holding his hand. But you know in the 21st century, it sometimes gets embarassing, and so Azmir ultimately said "I don't want people to get the wrong impression here" and decided to stay back while we carried on. We tried to reach the ever elusive mountain peak, and ultimately came to the conclusion that it was more or less flat at the top (small undulations resulting in multiple maxima). We carried on in the cold to a lift station. There were many. But we realized that our sight seeing permit didn't allow us to take most of these lifts. So we walked our way back, but this time with gravity assisting us, and my soles smooth enough at certain angles, helped me slid down almost like the snowboarders.

Next we went to yet another lift station which our ticket permitted. Here the view was majestic. It is beyond my literary capabilities to describe the scenary and feeling. We took the same lift ride twice before returning.

The houses were covered with snow and from time to time, they slid down with loud crashes. And it wasn't safe at all, with huge chunks of ice falling every now and then. The trees were white and the cars were buried in snow. After lunch, I had a hand at pool. We were among of the last few people to return to the bus at 4.30 pm.

It was another of Jai's firsts. But he had some linguistic problems during the trip too. I told him to speak amongst ourselves in English because Azmir was with us. But he did worse. He addressed to Azmir in Hindi once, by mistake and I know it can be very embarassing. And then the IITKgp lingo presented itself through him. The word 'highly' was used too often and highly inappropriately. He tried to explain to Azmir that they were similar in terms of taking things easy. An excerpt:

Azmir: Arnab, please give me a call tomorrow, otherwise I will be late to the University.

He generally wakes up at around 12.

Jai (to Azmir): You are like me, 'peace' maaru types... (then turning to me) Abbe peace marna ko kaise batlaye?

Azmir(pleasantly surprised): What do you mean?

Jai: Meaning, I and you do not take much 'load', like Arnab. He always takes 'load' about what he has to do.

Anyway, I shouldn't say more on this subject because if he starts on my Hindi skills, it will be very embarassing and might go on for pages. He is, by the way, a good Hindi Elocution stage performer. But while talking with friends he generally spices it up with a lot of flowery language that we learn in colleges. Frankly speaking, I enjoy it.