Bestes-est birthday

As I drove through the quickly emptying streets of Hyderabad, close to midnight, I wondered if this was going to be my loneliest birthday midnight.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a sucker for midnight celebrations. And it's not like I have never been alone at midnight on my birthday. But there is that subtle difference between being alone & being lonely.
Anyway, as the clock pushed It's way past 11, I entered Subway to get a bite. Some friends started calling, wishing advance birthdays, as it was well past their bedtime. They candidly asked where I was, urged me to go home soon. After all, it was birthday, you ought to be home.
I ordered my sub, sat down & leisurely finished my midnight dinner. In the meantime, the.clock struck 12, and wishes poured in. By the time I left, it was close to 12.30.
I came out, and was abducted, by aliens. Yes aliens, this specific specie called "friends", who drive all over town with your birthday cake, at midnight, looking for you, just to play a birthday prank, and wish you health and wealth.
Keeping with time-tested rituals, I was picked up, hung in mid-air, kicked in the bums, and then an amazingly tasty cake was cut, half of which ended up on my face. All of this, in a parking lot. :)
Without a doubt, the best birthday ever. Doesn't matter how the rest of the day goes, this was the best one ever.
Oh and yes, now I'm just 4 short of hitting 3 decades. Wish all future ones are as amazing and surprising.

And for all of you who couldn't get a bite of the cake,

The search is ON!

So it's finally official.
I have achieved a feat reached by millions of men before me, and which will be crossed by trillions who will walk this earth after me.
I will very soon be expected to take late night calls, and make calls, to a girl. And both our parents will approve of it.
Very soon, I will be mandated to go on a serious diet, and loose some weight.
Discussions on clothings, home, furniture, kids and honeymoon destinations will probably be the order of the day.

If you haven't guessed by now, well, you are an idiot.
And yes, the rest, you guessed it right. I will be getting married sometime, hopefully in the near future.

No no. No girl has selected me yet. Neither have I.
Actually I have not even met any of the potential matches, filtered through the family checks and filters.

What's official though is that the Search is on. And I have dug up some of the check criterion:
Dad: should be stay at home girl.
Mom: should be a dancer, and a bong.
Naani: shouldn't be from a Muslim family.

And naani has now told me that I should start looking.

So world, the search is on.
For MY PERFECT BRIDE.
Join me, participate, refer, and who knows, you may win yourself a ring side view of the GREAT INDIAN WEDDING TAMASHA.

CYA ALL.

Cops, You Magical Creatures!

Over the last few years of my stay in Hyderabad, I have covered various localities and numerous roads. The traffic is bad sometimes, gives the rash drivers and sometimes the oddly demarcated roads. There are some terribly senseless traffic signals(The one near Pedammagudi temple for instance), and some breaks in road dividers that take away the whole point of having dividers in the first place(A break every 10 mts).
And of course, there's the bad policing.

Cops mostly sit in their cars, vroom around their beat areas, and signal at any stationary vehicle to move so as to not block traffic, or because it's late in the night. The cops manning signals and crossings are mostly on the phone, or chatting up his senior on the bike. The cops at the checkposts(Like the ones near Hi-Tech city area) are mostly invisible, or reading newspapers, or drying their laundry, or on the phone.

Sometimes it really makes me wonder. Who briefs these guys? What is their duty? Why is it that suddenly sometimes, for an hour or too, maybe on a weeknight, they are very active. What is their logic when they stop vehicles and check papers and licenses. Especially 2 wheelers. If I intend to recce an area, and have some antisocial activity in mind, won't i do it better from the safety of a car with tinted glasses? Especially in a up scale area? Where a loitering cycle-wala will look out of place? Maybe I'm wrong and the cops know more. Maybe. I just hope they do.

Another common scene is seeing 1 cop at each crossing even at the peak hours of traffic flow. Struggling with the surge of vehicles, his whistle overshadowed by honking cars(Damn! Why do people honk even when there's no place to go?), the cop usually just stands there, letting the traffic deal with itself. Looking all smug and tired, the cop would usually pick out his phone and stat calling someone(Hopefully for some help).
But then come a day! A twist! The Chief Minister's Convoy.

In last 3 years, I have seen changes at the top executive post of this state, and I have seen them disturb my peace very often. Well, of course, the Big Man has to travel. In his convoy of 10-12 cars. Of course I understand. And he has to block the traffic for ages before he arrives. Security reasons. I understand. Today's world. Tough. Dangerous.
What I don't get is a simple fact. How, and where from, do we deploy '1-cop-per-15-meters' both sides of the road, for 5-6 hours which encompass the CMs travel time? Where do these cops, (mind-it) super efficient they are in handling chaotic traffic, where do they go once the CM is gone? Are they special group, who barricade CMs paths? Only called into action wherever the CM goes? Or they are just everyday cops, who show up and work well, when the CM comes? If the last case is true, Mr. CM, please follow me everywhere I go!