we are having a series of meetings as a build-up to the Sanskriti'09 and i have had the pleasure in attending a few of those. i love being in these meetings. they are hilarious the bonhomie excellent the singara acid-inducing and everything from classical issues to the banal are discussed with the same yard stick.

a serious discussion on internal logistics of the troupe some how meandered to the "mongoldeep" and the paraphernalia around it. it suddenly became of critical importance if a small centre table was required for the main dignitary. of course all said collectively. so a table was added to the list. but how can there be a table without a cover? so a table-cloth came on. but would it not look awful if a vase of flower does not adorn the table? of course !!! would fresh flowers be required or plastic would do? and while all this was being analyzed on a micro level Shubhamita and troupe is waiting at Seeb airport because the discussion veered from their logistics to the more serious issues about the table and flower. and Sanjoy desperately trying to bottom line the table arrangements with complimentary juice or cold drink.. which brought about another nerve-wracking issue. if a bottol of water needs to be kept who will get the glass? Yes let shubamita wait at the arrival lounge. we are busy with the glass indenting. and then the bomb of the discussion agenda.... the lighting of the lamp requires a source of fire and who will get the lighter? this discussion carried on for some time and i am sure the cave men took lesser time to invent fire than we took to get a lighter planned out.

Shubamita can still wait. of course there were cross-discussions as well. Amitava-da and abhijit were on a linguistic trip and debating if numero-uno was more European than numero-eins. i was personally more concerned about the ordering of the biriyani which was supposed to follow the meeting....

finally shubhamita was escorted out and managed to elevate herself from a pick-up van (recommended by me) to the cool confines of a sedan. but then taking her on a pleasure trip and offering her gastronomical delights was keenly discussed so that only the volunteer-guide adds to the food bill and not all the comrades.

a lot was discussed and a lot more was left undiscussed. like in all meetings, i was again chastised for speaking in my normal decibel and asked to whisper, as all were sitting just next to me and not in Timbuktoo.

Just a couple of pages in a 5 point agenda were discussed.... thank God !!!! or else the wait for the biriyani would be longer.........

P.S.
(1) the person in charge of the lighter was not categorically alerted to ensure that the lighter works. possibly another meeting with a single point agenda would be there for this.
(2) no one was roped in with a Plan B. if the lighter failed for some reason a match box had to be in place.
(3) the biriyani was not worth the wait. :( :( [[blame it on my Hyderabad biriyani eating habits]]