Mujhe neend na aaye...

I must have been 10 years old when i heard this song for the first time... but only now i can truly understand what Aamir Khan meant. Though its not love thats driving me sleepless, i am having great trouble sleeping at night.... in my case, its not Madhuri but Tauqeer and Obama. (tolly, you dont need to be insecure... you know how my mind is working these days.)

Let me tell you why am i having sleepless nights when i am thinking of Tauqeer and Obama. On Sunday night, i returned home after a great stressfree day i spent with Amul, Mayur, Arjun, Janki and Abhay (Bapu). We had our share of Gorasiya Sunday*, overeating, expensive nasto (dominoes pizza just for snacks) and a cheap dinner and having a guest appearance (Bapu) over... it was a pretty normal sunday. And all of a sudden, around 1am (early monday morning and late sunday night) i receive a call from Delhi. "We have heard that Ahmedabad and Mumbai police are involved in an encounter near Manor on the Gujarat Maharashtra Border. Please check with your sources."

And that was all i needed to get the stress back. I called up a few police officers and a journalist friend-Toral in Mumbai. While Ahmedabad Crime Branch was scattered in Delhi and Ahmedabad, the Mumbai ATS feigned ignorance over the entire matter. Toral (who by the way has amazing contacts with Mumbai Police officials) too had 'heard' about the 's0-called-ongoing-encounter' but was almost asleep when i called her at 1.15. She said that her sources claimed that Mumbai wasnt involved but rather Rajasthan and Ahmedabad Police was involved in that encounter. At the end of it all, a team comprising a reporter and a cameraman alongwith our OB van was despatched from Mumbai. You see, nobody will take a chance if its Tauqeer, even if there's no confirmation. After explaining the site location, site demography and a road direction to our Mumbai correspondent, i finally checked the news channel. None of them were even flashing the news which had taken channels into a midnight operation. Finally after speaking to delhi, toral, mumbai correspondent, surat stringer and amul... i finally fell asleep around 3.30. In the morning, Toral messaged - Mumbai ATS is laughing at our desperation. :) ha!!

So that was Sunday night... then came Monday night...

I returned around 12.30... quietly slipped into the house without waking up mom n dad. Amul and i had a yummy dinner of spinach and potato delight (a fancy name given by kalpana aunty to spinach+alu+cabbage+pudhina paratha) And after dinner, we both parked ourselves in front of the TV. Watched Bertie and Elizabeth- a documentary on George VI and his wife Elizabeth's journey from being second in heir to the throne to becoming a king... with small glimpses into Elizabeth II's upbringing and coronation lead up. And after that we saw a BIOGRAPHY on Sultan of Brunei... on History once again. It was hilarious to say the least... that Sultan has 5000 cars, calls Michael Jackson on his 50th birthday for a free concert for his population and has a gold plated palace... where during its construction the labourers had to sign before taking each piece of gold inside for engraving... :) How can one be so rich??? well, thats besides the point...

i returned and Devam called... and i was telling him about my sleepless 'neend na aaye' nights... and told him how terrorism in our country was affecting me... and he came up with his own reason of 'fear'... he tells me 'mosqa... politics ma to padaay evu j nathi...'

Devam: "In my gym, some 60 year old black americans come who exercise for 5 minutes and rest for an hour... they spend some 5 hours at gym exercising and chatting everyday. So one day in the locker room, i overheard this conversation among a group of these oldies that Obama will definitely win the elections... but soon after he is elected, he will be gunned down and a white president will replace him. Democrats will definitely win but Americans will never let a black rule the world's superpower. Its a conspiracy to make Democrats win and still not have a black president."

Now that was dreadful enough to take sleep away on Monday night. Poor Obama. God knows how many people believe or talk about this conspiracy theory... but being a target itself is unnerving... What if it actually happens? God forbid.

But while... the struggle continues for people like Tauqeer and Obama - considering they are on hitlist, my struggle with sleep too will continue. Never have such things in life bothered me ever, but say its the side effect of living an urban, informed life.

Any tips for a good, nightmare free sleep???

(After my mom's ultimatum, i am off books that i have been reading recently on Israel, Gujarat riots and chaos in afghanistan... thats my mom's solution for a nightmare free sleep.)