The Piscean dreams
12 Dec, 05
1830 hrs
The restaurant in The Oberoi Cecil is full, not a single table is empty. The air is filled with noises…everyone is talking, kids screaming, families shouting as if there is no end.
I am standing in the restaurant trying to meet every guest….I am hearing my name being called up from every direction….its absolute commotion.
Suddenly I saw a family for four...parents and two little girls sitting on table fourteen….I go to them and ask them about their meal and give them the dessert menu. I tell them that we have a specialty dessert where in we write anything on a T-shirt with chocolate!!
The girls seem to be excited and suddenly one of them says something which they want me to write. It was too fast and I could not apprehend.
I ask the mother, “it’s a shloka in Sanskrit”, she replied back. I
ask them to write it on a piece of paper so that I can write it.
The alphabets are not Sanskrit but looked like some alien language.
The shouting and screaming continues….I tell the guest that the dessert will be ready and will be sent to the room…..suddenly someone has his hand on my shoulder….I turn back to find Tapan….the same old grin on his face….
“What’s up”, says he and start walking towards the PDR………
……….I wake up.
Sometime in 2005
Early hours of morning
I find myself standing in chokhi dhani (a village resort in Jaipur), sun has already set and moon and risen.
The entire village is empty….absolutely no one….the only light is that from the moon. I can see the silhouettes of the bullock carts, the well, the tower and rest of the structures.
I am standing in a courtyard where there is a small buffet arranged….suddenly I see my parents, major (HR manager of my hotel) and his wife.
There is also small temple in the same place…..and a local villager standing next to the temple…..we all take food and stand next to the temple……suddenly a person appears from behind…
…….he has long hair, large beard and is wearing a skull necklace……he starts shouting,” has anyone checked the area…..has anyone checked the area”, I raise my hand……there is a deep silence…………….
………….and then he shouts,” what is this”, and he is holding a bone in his hand…………………..
01 Jan, 06
1800 hrs
The kitchen is busy…smashed with orders. People are ordering as if there is no tomorrow. Pantry is worst hit of all. Suddenly I see the GM standing on the pass and munching papads with mint chutney…..
…..He comes to the pantry pass and shouts , “Vikas, I would like to eat a chicken shawarma roll, now.” “Sir, give me some time please”, says Vikas.
“I said now…..pls do it right now”, shouts the GM back……
…..I get irritated seeing this and request him for some time……he agains speaks and this time very rudely, “its not my problem….Bhaskar, pls make sure you send some nacho chips along with my roll to the GM’s office”………
……….. my alarm rings
02 Jan, 06
1800 hrs
A large bungalow, a long corridor with lot of doors, I am standing in front of a closed door and silent whispers coming from the room. I slowly open the door and see Mr. Oberoi standing and talking to all the vice presidents, I come out and shut the door.
The next door is partially opened, I can see light coming out of the room, I peep inside and see the vice chairman talking to some one on the phone.
Suddenly I hear noises coming from the end of the corridor. I start walking towards the noises and reach the end of the alley.
There is a small door which is shut. On opening the door I find lot of people standing outside and shouting slogans…… I wake up.
3 Jan, 06
1852 hrs
I am standing in a kitchen; it’s not Cecil but some other place. The team is the same. I am cooking something, there are lots of orders, and kitchen is smashed with them.
Suddenly there is an order for a poached trout and I throw the fish in a pan with water. Suddenly Chef Barani appears and say, “atleast put some mirepoix, peppercorns, herbs and wine….it won’t taste good with water.”
When you know how to do something and you still don’t do the way it is supposed to be done, it pinches when someone tells you the right way thinking that you do not know it.
I get irritated with myself and start throwing everything I have around me, all around the place in anguish.
The next thing I remember is that I am standing in sun and looking at this hotel. It’s not Cecil for sure but a combination of Rajvilas and Udaivilas. The sun is very bright and I am trying to look around as I am new to this place.
This hotel has lot of lawns and landscaped area, I keep on looking for my way but I am lost. Suddenly I see a small door which reads “SPA downstairs”.
I take the staircase down and I reach a long corridor which is absolutely empty. I keep on walking and suddenly I see a door which says the “café”.
As soon as I enter the door, the café cook is standing with a plate in his hands to offer me and says, “good morning chef, hope you are feeling better.” I suddenly look at my clothes and I realize that I am not in my uniform but a shabby dress which I think I’ve been wearing since last couple of days. I soon realize that I am new to this place and I have been transferred here as a chef.
I take the plate and go to the buffet, take my food and sit on a table.
There is another man sitting next to me who is busy eating his food. “Are you a new joinee ?”, “Yes this is my first day, I have joined kitchen.” I reply.
“Which section?”, he again asks me. “I know only about bakery but I keep on working in all the sections, that’s what people ask me to do.”
The man appears to be uneasy and not convinced with my answer. He again asks, “but how is it possible to know everything?”
“That’s okay, you tell me, which department do you work in?”
“I work in F&B service and my name is Dharmadhikari”
I could not see what happened next……..I woke up.
Jan 4, 06
1800 hrs
I am looking at my watch….it’s a timex with a blue dial. It was a gift when I was doing my industrial training in 1999. Suddenly my chef jacket’s pocket gets heavy. I take out something and it is a watch…….. a timex with a blue dial !!
I don’t remember what happened next
Feb 6
I have just come back from my break and as soon as I enter the kitchen, I see a in room dining order going to the room. I remove the food pan to see a pizza, which is as large as a roomali roti, hole in the centre and charred onions on top.
I am furious and come shouting in the kitchen, “who has picked up the pizza ?”
Ajay Negi raises his hand and I loose it. I am shouting on top of my voice as if there is no end. Suddenly I saw the other Ajay. He is standing in the western section, cooking something and laughing in middle of the commotion.
I call him, hold his coat and shake him, and then give him a tight slap on his face.
I wake up.
Feb 7
I am standing in a small room; it looks like a small butchery. I am holding a small sharp knife in my hand and looking at a mirror.
Suddenly I make an incision on my stomach and remove one of my kidneys. After stitching the cut, I wash the organ and slit it from the middle, marinate it and slap it on a hot plate…..the sizzling noise wakes me up.
Mar 15
I find my self standing on a deserted ground. There is nothing there except the land and the sky…and the horizon. I try looking at all the directions but I find only land and more empty land.
I keep walking for miles and miles till I reach a dead end. It’s a very large pit….humongous…..almost 20 kms in diameter.
Deep inside the pit are the excavation sites. I find an elevator which takes me down to these sites. The pit is very deep and it took me almost a day to reach down.
As soon as I enter, I find a large room with lot of gadgets…..I press one of the buttons and then suddenly a clock starts ticking….I realize it’s a bomb …..a big nuke.
I run for my life and take the elevator up. As soon as I reach the surface, I start running……I can hear the ticking of the clock…….
Suddenly an explosion……..and the force throws further miles away and I get stuck on a wall. The wall gets cracked and a yellow lights starts emitting from the other side of the wall.
There are two shops next to that wall…..one of the shopkeepers come out and asks me, “did you press the button”……
………..I wake up
April 17, 2006
1800 hrs
I am going to meet Priyanka’s father in a car. The car stops in front of a house which is very familiar…it is B-1603. The same place where I used to live earlier.
The same house…the same rooms …everything is the same.
Suddenly I realize that her father is in the army and has gone out for some work. He will return only the next day.
Priyanka ask’s me to change and have dinner till we wait for him. I change my clothes and sit the on the same dinner table to have dinner.
Suddenly the cuckoo bell rings and I wake up………
April 18 , 2006
1800 hrs
I am standing in front of a building….a three storied one. Every floor has only one room which is very small…just to accommodate one bed.
This building is located in a muslim locality.
I take the stairs up and reach the first floor to see my mother sleeping on the first floor and my sister sleeping on the second floor.
Suddenly my sister wakes up and asks me to accompany her while she wants to buy few books.
We step out and its raining very heavily.
The roads are sub merged under water and we start walking slowly.
Suddenly I see a car parked on the side.
The driver takes out a revolver and aims at a small shop keeper. He is holding the gun and is not shooting.
We cross the car and walk just in front of the gun. As soon as we step forward, the person shoots and I see the other person fall.
We start running and see a large crowd assemble…
I wake up
August 26, 2006
1830 hrs
Scene one
I am walking through the service tunnel of Udaivilas. I keep on walking till a reach a very large parking area, which is absolutely empty. The area is so huge and dark that I am not able to see its corners.
I walk little more to find out a pair of escalators, which are at a very high speed, I think 200 km/hr. One of them is going up and the other one is going down through the floor. Metal chains have cordoned off both the escalators.
I do not wait for long before I see Mr. Gray coming towards me. He asks me to brief my team about the malfunction of these escalators and also to ensure that no one uses them. He soon leaves.
I am left alone. The area is full of silence; the escalators are still running but are not making any sound. The silence is killing me and there is a chill in the air.
Suddenly I see a door, it has a flight of stairs going up. I start climbing and soon I reach the roof of this building. It has a swimming pool and another tall building on the roof. It resembles Oberoi Towers.
Sun has already set but still there some faint light. The sky is full of darkest of clouds and there is a strong breeze.
I am standing alone on the roof and looking at the tall structure, which is almost 70 floors high. The sky is getting darker by the minute and I don’t know what to do.
I enter the building and start climbing the stairs. The entire area seems to be abandoned, there are lots of rooms but all of them seem to be empty. Suddenly I hear somebody talking, the sound is coming from one small room.
I try to look for the sound and end up entering a room. I see a lady sitting there and watching television. I come out leaving her undisturbed.
February 20, 2010
0700 hours
The dream is set in a colonial wooden house, surrounded with hevy bushes and trees, open large windows which are constantly letting the cool breeze to pass in.
I am expecting to see the chairman and waiting for him with all his paraphernalia.
After a while he arrives with Ms.B and goes to his room directly. After a while I decide to go and offer him some water, keeping in mind all his dietary standards and being extra sure, I go to him and give him a glass of water.
For the kind of image and aura he has, he is looking very different; very calm, friendly and casual. He takes a sip and waits..."The water is spicy ! ", says a thick and old voice. Baffled with the feedback, I go back and check the water and all the glasses...to my surprise I find traces of chilly powder in the glasses... "Oh man !"
The next thing I remember is sitting and discussing things with him, one of which is his suggestion of getting a deep red formal suite made for myself...he says that it will look nice on me...... .......I wake up !
1830 hrs
The restaurant in The Oberoi Cecil is full, not a single table is empty. The air is filled with noises…everyone is talking, kids screaming, families shouting as if there is no end.
I am standing in the restaurant trying to meet every guest….I am hearing my name being called up from every direction….its absolute commotion.
Suddenly I saw a family for four...parents and two little girls sitting on table fourteen….I go to them and ask them about their meal and give them the dessert menu. I tell them that we have a specialty dessert where in we write anything on a T-shirt with chocolate!!
The girls seem to be excited and suddenly one of them says something which they want me to write. It was too fast and I could not apprehend.
I ask the mother, “it’s a shloka in Sanskrit”, she replied back. I
ask them to write it on a piece of paper so that I can write it.
The alphabets are not Sanskrit but looked like some alien language.
The shouting and screaming continues….I tell the guest that the dessert will be ready and will be sent to the room…..suddenly someone has his hand on my shoulder….I turn back to find Tapan….the same old grin on his face….
“What’s up”, says he and start walking towards the PDR………
……….I wake up.
Sometime in 2005
Early hours of morning
I find myself standing in chokhi dhani (a village resort in Jaipur), sun has already set and moon and risen.
The entire village is empty….absolutely no one….the only light is that from the moon. I can see the silhouettes of the bullock carts, the well, the tower and rest of the structures.
I am standing in a courtyard where there is a small buffet arranged….suddenly I see my parents, major (HR manager of my hotel) and his wife.
There is also small temple in the same place…..and a local villager standing next to the temple…..we all take food and stand next to the temple……suddenly a person appears from behind…
…….he has long hair, large beard and is wearing a skull necklace……he starts shouting,” has anyone checked the area…..has anyone checked the area”, I raise my hand……there is a deep silence…………….
………….and then he shouts,” what is this”, and he is holding a bone in his hand…………………..
01 Jan, 06
1800 hrs
The kitchen is busy…smashed with orders. People are ordering as if there is no tomorrow. Pantry is worst hit of all. Suddenly I see the GM standing on the pass and munching papads with mint chutney…..
…..He comes to the pantry pass and shouts , “Vikas, I would like to eat a chicken shawarma roll, now.” “Sir, give me some time please”, says Vikas.
“I said now…..pls do it right now”, shouts the GM back……
…..I get irritated seeing this and request him for some time……he agains speaks and this time very rudely, “its not my problem….Bhaskar, pls make sure you send some nacho chips along with my roll to the GM’s office”………
……….. my alarm rings
02 Jan, 06
1800 hrs
A large bungalow, a long corridor with lot of doors, I am standing in front of a closed door and silent whispers coming from the room. I slowly open the door and see Mr. Oberoi standing and talking to all the vice presidents, I come out and shut the door.
The next door is partially opened, I can see light coming out of the room, I peep inside and see the vice chairman talking to some one on the phone.
Suddenly I hear noises coming from the end of the corridor. I start walking towards the noises and reach the end of the alley.
There is a small door which is shut. On opening the door I find lot of people standing outside and shouting slogans…… I wake up.
3 Jan, 06
1852 hrs
I am standing in a kitchen; it’s not Cecil but some other place. The team is the same. I am cooking something, there are lots of orders, and kitchen is smashed with them.
Suddenly there is an order for a poached trout and I throw the fish in a pan with water. Suddenly Chef Barani appears and say, “atleast put some mirepoix, peppercorns, herbs and wine….it won’t taste good with water.”
When you know how to do something and you still don’t do the way it is supposed to be done, it pinches when someone tells you the right way thinking that you do not know it.
I get irritated with myself and start throwing everything I have around me, all around the place in anguish.
The next thing I remember is that I am standing in sun and looking at this hotel. It’s not Cecil for sure but a combination of Rajvilas and Udaivilas. The sun is very bright and I am trying to look around as I am new to this place.
This hotel has lot of lawns and landscaped area, I keep on looking for my way but I am lost. Suddenly I see a small door which reads “SPA downstairs”.
I take the staircase down and I reach a long corridor which is absolutely empty. I keep on walking and suddenly I see a door which says the “café”.
As soon as I enter the door, the café cook is standing with a plate in his hands to offer me and says, “good morning chef, hope you are feeling better.” I suddenly look at my clothes and I realize that I am not in my uniform but a shabby dress which I think I’ve been wearing since last couple of days. I soon realize that I am new to this place and I have been transferred here as a chef.
I take the plate and go to the buffet, take my food and sit on a table.
There is another man sitting next to me who is busy eating his food. “Are you a new joinee ?”, “Yes this is my first day, I have joined kitchen.” I reply.
“Which section?”, he again asks me. “I know only about bakery but I keep on working in all the sections, that’s what people ask me to do.”
The man appears to be uneasy and not convinced with my answer. He again asks, “but how is it possible to know everything?”
“That’s okay, you tell me, which department do you work in?”
“I work in F&B service and my name is Dharmadhikari”
I could not see what happened next……..I woke up.
Jan 4, 06
1800 hrs
I am looking at my watch….it’s a timex with a blue dial. It was a gift when I was doing my industrial training in 1999. Suddenly my chef jacket’s pocket gets heavy. I take out something and it is a watch…….. a timex with a blue dial !!
I don’t remember what happened next
Feb 6
I have just come back from my break and as soon as I enter the kitchen, I see a in room dining order going to the room. I remove the food pan to see a pizza, which is as large as a roomali roti, hole in the centre and charred onions on top.
I am furious and come shouting in the kitchen, “who has picked up the pizza ?”
Ajay Negi raises his hand and I loose it. I am shouting on top of my voice as if there is no end. Suddenly I saw the other Ajay. He is standing in the western section, cooking something and laughing in middle of the commotion.
I call him, hold his coat and shake him, and then give him a tight slap on his face.
I wake up.
Feb 7
I am standing in a small room; it looks like a small butchery. I am holding a small sharp knife in my hand and looking at a mirror.
Suddenly I make an incision on my stomach and remove one of my kidneys. After stitching the cut, I wash the organ and slit it from the middle, marinate it and slap it on a hot plate…..the sizzling noise wakes me up.
Mar 15
I find my self standing on a deserted ground. There is nothing there except the land and the sky…and the horizon. I try looking at all the directions but I find only land and more empty land.
I keep walking for miles and miles till I reach a dead end. It’s a very large pit….humongous…..almost 20 kms in diameter.
Deep inside the pit are the excavation sites. I find an elevator which takes me down to these sites. The pit is very deep and it took me almost a day to reach down.
As soon as I enter, I find a large room with lot of gadgets…..I press one of the buttons and then suddenly a clock starts ticking….I realize it’s a bomb …..a big nuke.
I run for my life and take the elevator up. As soon as I reach the surface, I start running……I can hear the ticking of the clock…….
Suddenly an explosion……..and the force throws further miles away and I get stuck on a wall. The wall gets cracked and a yellow lights starts emitting from the other side of the wall.
There are two shops next to that wall…..one of the shopkeepers come out and asks me, “did you press the button”……
………..I wake up
April 17, 2006
1800 hrs
I am going to meet Priyanka’s father in a car. The car stops in front of a house which is very familiar…it is B-1603. The same place where I used to live earlier.
The same house…the same rooms …everything is the same.
Suddenly I realize that her father is in the army and has gone out for some work. He will return only the next day.
Priyanka ask’s me to change and have dinner till we wait for him. I change my clothes and sit the on the same dinner table to have dinner.
Suddenly the cuckoo bell rings and I wake up………
April 18 , 2006
1800 hrs
I am standing in front of a building….a three storied one. Every floor has only one room which is very small…just to accommodate one bed.
This building is located in a muslim locality.
I take the stairs up and reach the first floor to see my mother sleeping on the first floor and my sister sleeping on the second floor.
Suddenly my sister wakes up and asks me to accompany her while she wants to buy few books.
We step out and its raining very heavily.
The roads are sub merged under water and we start walking slowly.
Suddenly I see a car parked on the side.
The driver takes out a revolver and aims at a small shop keeper. He is holding the gun and is not shooting.
We cross the car and walk just in front of the gun. As soon as we step forward, the person shoots and I see the other person fall.
We start running and see a large crowd assemble…
I wake up
August 26, 2006
1830 hrs
Scene one
I am walking through the service tunnel of Udaivilas. I keep on walking till a reach a very large parking area, which is absolutely empty. The area is so huge and dark that I am not able to see its corners.
I walk little more to find out a pair of escalators, which are at a very high speed, I think 200 km/hr. One of them is going up and the other one is going down through the floor. Metal chains have cordoned off both the escalators.
I do not wait for long before I see Mr. Gray coming towards me. He asks me to brief my team about the malfunction of these escalators and also to ensure that no one uses them. He soon leaves.
I am left alone. The area is full of silence; the escalators are still running but are not making any sound. The silence is killing me and there is a chill in the air.
Suddenly I see a door, it has a flight of stairs going up. I start climbing and soon I reach the roof of this building. It has a swimming pool and another tall building on the roof. It resembles Oberoi Towers.
Sun has already set but still there some faint light. The sky is full of darkest of clouds and there is a strong breeze.
I am standing alone on the roof and looking at the tall structure, which is almost 70 floors high. The sky is getting darker by the minute and I don’t know what to do.
I enter the building and start climbing the stairs. The entire area seems to be abandoned, there are lots of rooms but all of them seem to be empty. Suddenly I hear somebody talking, the sound is coming from one small room.
I try to look for the sound and end up entering a room. I see a lady sitting there and watching television. I come out leaving her undisturbed.
February 20, 2010
0700 hours
The dream is set in a colonial wooden house, surrounded with hevy bushes and trees, open large windows which are constantly letting the cool breeze to pass in.
I am expecting to see the chairman and waiting for him with all his paraphernalia.
After a while he arrives with Ms.B and goes to his room directly. After a while I decide to go and offer him some water, keeping in mind all his dietary standards and being extra sure, I go to him and give him a glass of water.
For the kind of image and aura he has, he is looking very different; very calm, friendly and casual. He takes a sip and waits..."The water is spicy ! ", says a thick and old voice. Baffled with the feedback, I go back and check the water and all the glasses...to my surprise I find traces of chilly powder in the glasses... "Oh man !"
The next thing I remember is sitting and discussing things with him, one of which is his suggestion of getting a deep red formal suite made for myself...he says that it will look nice on me...... .......I wake up !
posted by Bhaskar Adeeb at 6:14 AM
0 comments
