Saturday, February 25, 2006

Night Life in Atlanta....

I wanted to write about my "night life" experience here in Atlanta but then Europe decided to test "freedom of expression" and that made me write about insult to the prophet instead. Anyways, this is how it unfolded....

As I had mentioned earlier we were at this grand builing in the midtown Atlanta. It was very cold night but folks in the que were dressed up as if they were going to a summer camp. When we entered the builing the first thing that I noticed was that there were no windows. That made me very uncomfortable. I can not stand a place where I can not see outside. I am an outside person and walls suffocate me. The only fear I have with death and my burial is not having windows six feet down under.

It was around 11:00 pm that crowd started tickling in. Wow...where do these guys n gals ( mainly girls) go grocery shopping was my first reaction. ...The noise... err music was so loud that meeting them at Kroger or Home Depot was the best option if I wanted to have an inteligent conversation, I realized. Anyway who goes to the club to talk?

Darrell came upto me and said " Shaheed , brother make sure you have a good time" - Yeah right. DJs were working hard and Music was getting louder every minute past 11:30. The lights were also keeping pace with music and shining brightly and in harmony creating an unsettling effect on my mind. And suddenly I realized the change in my pokcet was shaking. Yes, the vibrations from music were shaking the change in my pocket. If this is the case with my money what the hell is going on with other sensitive organs of my body, I wondered....

Usually when I am in an un-chartred territories the writer/director in me takes over. I started looking at the whole thing from different perspective, but there was no escape from LOUD music. I tried to hide behind the columns and even some beautifull people ...but nothing worked. Darrell was the one who was " really" having good time. Great self control -I would be thrown out for indecent behaviour if I find myself in your shoes, brother.

And then I realized I am having trouble breathing. Asthama attack...no way. It was smoke. Clubs are the only buildings where non smokers go out to have some fresh air.

Lastly I smelled perfumes. All brands and types. There were elizabeth, Lisa and Bijan. These perfumes have a lot of alcohol in them. and I do not like things that contain alcohol... apan ki matti kuch aur hai. Give me " Raat ki raani" or "Chameli" any day and I will not complain. ....

Shahid

ps: Darrell says we need to go back and that I will be more comfortable this time around......well, dekhte hain !!!

Thursday, February 16, 2006

A few good men....!

I have so many thoughts but too little time. Well, let me clarify something I overlooked when I was writting about the club expereince last weekend.

My friends , Beniquez and Darrell are some of the best friends that I have in Atlanta. When I wrote that post I did not realize I am accusing them of neglecting thy neihbours. They are not the type I was writting about. They are just like me in many ways and that is why I call them friends....They are a few good MEN in America for me.....