The Team outing

“Its past 4.30”, I heard Ms Mumbai say. “Why don’t you shut down your system, Ms Lotus is waiting for you”.
It was a Friday evening and my colleagues and I were all set for our team outing. I was not really enthusiastic about it as we were all set to go for a round of bowling and dinner.
‘What’s the point’ I thought, ‘I can’t play’. Not that I sucked at bowling, but due to my recent mishap I had a minor back injury which ceased me from lifting any heavy object or from bending. And to my luck Bowling constituted both these No’s.
I reached the venue with Ms Lotus, the friendly and sweet girl from our counterpart sub team. Apparently I had to travel in a mosquito, the 3 wheeler vehicle. Why do I call it mosquito? Well I’ll update that in my next post.
Anyway, the ride was bad. I had not taken my vehicle as I was scared of causing discomfort to my back. But the mosquito ride put my usual ride to shame. It was the heights of discomfort. The driver made it a point to drive on every pit on the road. I thanked my stars as we safely got out of it.

Tosh and his reviewer (veggie) were at the entrance of Amoeba. It felt really good to meet the guys from our other office. “Where are other” I asked Veggie. From nowhere someone tapped on my head. I turned to see Smokey and my reviewer (well now this is really hard; I can’t find a suitable name for my reviewer) walk away. Probably they were out for a sutta, I thought.
We went upstairs to find many familiar faces. It was quite formal for a while but the all wear pretty geared up for the game. I was playing the role of the boring person in the group who looks after all the ladies bags. That was strange, as I had never been in those shoes. I was always at the other end wondering why some people stood back and just watched others play.
I sat there, feeling like a loser till the DJ played my numbers. Well that surely made my day. I was sitting there tapping my foot lip-syncing every word that was being played. Not that I was sitting there alone, I had my buddy there, sitting next to me. We were watching the two teams play.
“Only if I could play, I would have surely added to the score,” I told buddy, “I would play in HK’s team, just like the last time”.
Buddy thought otherwise, he thought that it was better if I refrained from playing till I could get a proper diagnosis done.
We chatted for a while, till the game got over.

We then had a photo session. I didn’t know most of the people from the counter sub team. Our interaction was limited to just exchange of smiles.
For the first time I saw my reviewer in a new form. He was not the snub serious person whom I interacted with on a daily basis. He was different. That just reminded me of how I used to call him an un-cool person, and he used to tell me that he is not the same when he is at work and otherwise. He was not lying.
He was jumping around like a kid at the carnival, enjoying every single bit of it. So true, first impression is never the last impression.
Café Masala, the restaurant where we had our reservation, was on the 5th floor of Eva mall. I stalked around the mall with buddy. I could get a proper look at the camera I was intending to buy. We also checked out few keyboards (musical instrument) and apple laptop.

After a while it was time for dinner and we went upstairs. It was quite strange to enter Café Masala, with a different group of people. Normally I go there with my other friends after a visit to Vaayu, the next door hangout place.
But for a change, I actually got to see the interiors of Café Masala. It had a nice ambiance. The sight of UB city enhanced the beauty of the night. The table was set for 25 people. It reminded me of a train, though there are passengers at the other end going to the same destination, you never really know what might be going on at the other end of the train.
I sat adjacent to Ms Mumbai who kept telling me how hungry she was. She made me realize that there were mice playing football in my stomach. Buddy sat opposite to me and Smokey placed himself next to him. My senior sat next to me and Veggie on his other side. That was it. I was ready to attack the food. I did not know what was going on at the other end of the table. Colleagues from the other sub team were seated opposite to HK RJ and GH. PP sat diagonally opposite to Ms Mumbai at the farthest end of the table.
It was quite funny to watch Veggie eat. As she was a very careful about the food she had. We were engrossed in random conversations like, Veg food, Smokey not drinking as it was Friday, why Buddy was in formal attire, How Ms Mumbai would be going back home, Why Tosh was sad of late and the pure veg item- Green Chilly.
Buddy and Ms Mumbai left early and their seats were occupied by Tosh and Veggie.
I watched my reviewer eat the green chilly with ease. I couldn’t believe my eyes at first. Realized how stupid it was of me to try it. It was strange, to be just a spectator for a change, watching Tosh behave like a (……… sorry I can’t describe it), my reviewer talking and acting like a kid and Smokey actively participating in all the conversations.
Amidst all this PP gave a small speech on public demand, which was barely audible at our end. Smokey was trying to capture it on Veggie’s cam. Was I deaf? I could not hear anything that was being spoken at the other end, how could the camera record it??
Anyway, we waited for Tosh to finish his last piece of Cake, which was offered by GH. Someone around thought that GH was upset only because he was not allowed to drink. Lolz

We walked out realizing that Café Masala, would never make any booking on my reviewer’s name, after what they witnessed that night. The booking was for 25 people, but I am sure that the food consumed was for more than 50.
Outside the restaurant, there was another photo session, after which we parted our separate ways. Thanks to my reviewer, I reached home safe and sound. We had to travel with the car windows down lest we die of lethal gas. The way RT and my reviewer were commenting on every one on the road was damn funny.

That night I realized lot of things:
- being a spectator is not always bad
- First impression can be wrong
- Tosh can eat a lot.