I wasn't expecting the courtyard at the British Council to be so pleasantly comfortable in the Chennai heat. There were just a couple of pedestal fans placed at the periphery and this made the open-air movie screening so much more enjoyable.

Having studied the play at school, appreciating British humour was a tad bit easier. The screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest' was a treat, though I was laughing out loud even before the dialogues came thru.

Woke up to Shombit's frantic call that he was grounded. The Chennai Marathon was underway, and everything was apparently happening, just outside his home ?!? I was informed to stay put, because all routes in the city were blocked thanks to the Marathon.. Ok Dude. I didn't even have plans to get out of bed this morning, until you called. And then Sarin called...

Our meetings usually involve considerable planning, so Sarin's call to assemble at Ega Theatre at 12:30pm on a Sunday Morning was a little too wayward. My girl wasn't purring perfectly and for all purposes, I knew I needed a chauffer-driven vehicle. Luckily, Punnoose obliged.

When all of the city is crowding at Satyam cinemas, Ega theatre is the place to be. We got there at 12:00 and still got the tickets. The weekend shows at Satyam were sold out on Friday morning itself. Plus, Sarin had spoken with a lot of conviction about getting the tickets at Ega. The dash to the Theatre, having bathed, but not brushed, was therefore worth it.

I had had only a glass of milk this morning, and with time still at hand, we all headed to Nilgiris. Their Chocolate Pyramid pastry is oh so good. It made up for the skipped breakfast. Well, almost.

Shom, Punnoose, Sarin, Vins and myself. This was a bunch of schoolmates grouping up after ages. And somehow I felt, we were not ready to watch 'Black'. There was so much of life-since-school to chatter about. But the movie was captivating enough to leave us speechless. Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his team have crafted a masterpiece by scripting a movie based on Helen Keller and her real-life Teacher, Anne Sullivan.

Best of all, the emotions were like those of a stage play. There were no glycerine effects for the numerous emotionally charged scenes, and I nearly wanted to burst out weeping. There were a lot of clichéd dialogues, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. The Big B had his usual unparalleled aura, but me thinks Shernaz Patel (as Catherine McNally) and Ayesha Kapoor (as the young Michelle) stole the show. Ofcourse, Rani Mukherjee's 'I can feel it snowing' dance sequence now finds a permanent place in all my celebrations. I perceived the tale of a girl's victory over her disabilities, as a story that celebrates life..

The chatter that was interrupted with the screening of Black, resumed full-swing at the Sweet Chariot Cafe in Ispahani Centre. Their jumbo sandwich was well grilled and it brought back memories of School.. And till we split, the discussion on our circa '98 canteen Burger (for the present day-price of a Chinna Pepsi) held the fore.

I've been curious about Middle-eastern cuisine for sometime now. And the visit to Sea Shells on Greams Road, finally happened. The service was quick and the salad served, tasted brilliant. The pleasure in enjoying delectable shawarma, with freshly prepared kubboos, hummus and the stinging tahina (Garlic paste?) was, very very dry. Well, the chaps have no curry in their food, but I really did enjoy swallowing the differently-prepared dishes. The sorepoint: Was left with parched lips and a breath that'd keep women miles away.

I couldn't help ordering some liquid. It was a tumbler of bleached-white super-chilled Apricot ice-cream shake. And they called it Blue Boy ? Was marvellous.

And what's with 'Sea Shells' ? Very confusing moniker, if you consider the cuisine. BTW, the only thing thing about the decor that made the place Middle-eastern, was the air-conditioning. The Arabs in Chennai are crazy.

Cheeru is out of town. And Cheeru being Cheeru, he asked me to deliver flowers to HIS girl this morning. The fun part is that he has never done something special for V-day in the brief 24years of his exciting existence. Incidentally, gifting flowers on Valentine's Day is not my idea of showering affection on women, but the prospect of treading on unventured turf seemed exciting..

Cheeru had taken the trouble of identifying the 'correct' florist. So I just had to go to 'our' man, collect and finally deliver the goods. V-Day is indeed rosy for them florists. This chap was open even before our neighbourhood Dhobi had pulled up his shutters. All this while, I've never spotted our flowerman or his little shop, just next to the Corporation Bank ATM in lovely Indira Nagar.

I was the only person at the shop so early in the morn. And the flowers I bought. The roses were fresh and delicate. Had trouble balancing them on my girl's tank. The thing is, when you're taking extra trouble to get something done well, everybody will be there to notice. I got a LOT of attention with them flowers. Most people on the streets don't obviously know how to react, to watching a person carry gorgeous flowers for a buddy's girlfriend. If you look close enough, you can see them turning green. Ha ha. Bliss.

As for the errand.. I've already received umpteen messages profusely thanking me for the job well done. And even his girl called (after having recovered from the shock, after a good 20minutes!). And as the news spreads, I've had delivery requests coming in from Visakhapatanam.

Me was hungry and Shombit suggested redE. When one says redE repeatedly, it sounds more like a south Indian Saravana-Bhavan-like chain. Bang opposite Shopper's Stop in Chennai is this neat place called redE. They have a strange layout for a restaurant, why, I am still to figure out. You descend down steps, into an air-conditioned hall, and begin to wonder if its a fastfood joint, cause there are no tables in sight. I was almost preparing to leave, figuring they have no seating, when Shom located the dining area to the right..

The chairs were not the sink-in types but I was drained and couldn't be bothered. We had just placed our order, when there was this sound of plastic blocks tumbling. The kids in the play area were having a blast tossing the super-light furniture all over the place. Shom noticed that it was a tiny little girl responsible for all the commotion. That one kid had enough energy to drain out the Bose™ music system in the background. She was also responsible for the terrorised look in all the little boys' eyes. We were able to enjoy dinner only after her Mum asked her to cool down.

I couldn't help laughing to myself.. remembering the British Airways Calendar campaign that went:
"All over the world, little boys hate little girls, and then they get married."

The day after, is V-day. tut tut.

Zerish had plans for tonight. 2230hrs we were to rendezvous at the Besant Nagar bus-stand. 2225hrs and there was nobody in sight. So Cheeru, Dil, Arun, Zerish and myself headed to Java Green for some 'Bring me to life' coffee. By the time we returned, there was a fairly large group of people assembled for the 'Turtle Walk'.

Groups of people in shorts and slippers with shoulderbags. Moving down a deserted Besant Nagar road at an odd 2315hrs. People stare at you with that quizzical look 'Scout camp ?'

We walked from there and again assembled at the beach, near the Murugan Temple in Besant Nagar. Arun, from the School Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN), gave us a brief introduction. Yeah. The pregnant turtles come to shore around this time. Dig deep pits on the shore and lay their eggs. We're here to find those eggs and carry them to this shelter which they call the 'hatchery'. There, the Olive Ridleys have a better chance of survival. Wait a minute.. Did he say we ? Me was a bit unprepared for the 'we'. I was here for the Turtle Walk. The fine print in the Adyar Times never mentioned that we'd be digging up the sand and carrying eggs. Cheeru, Arun and myself dashed home to be 'suitably dressed' for the evening.

By the time we returned, the others had got a two km lead. The walk from Besant Nagar to Thiruvanmiyur beach takes a while. The entire stretch was desolate and the waves kept crashing onto the shore. We kept walking. The only people we spotted were two youngsters who wanted us to join, in their game of flood-lit beach football.

Some 20mins of walking later, we caught up with our group of Turtle lovers lying on the sand. I've been part of a Nature trail earlier, and such lazy breaks are, mandatory. The air was moist. My hands felt salty and all of us were already hungry. My remark on having turtle eggs for breakfast did not go down well with the women.

I don't know how long we walked. This was unlike a regular nature trail through swamp, grass and creepy-crawlies' infested country. We stopped once more to watch some SSTCN volunteers poke their sticks in possible turtle cavities. No luck.

At around 2AM we were at the hatchery in Nilankarai. We were dumb to assume that there'd be eggs all over the place. They were, but all buried 20cm in the sand. The area was enclosed in a bamboo fence and there was not much left to witness. So all the nature lovers pulled out their quilts and sleeping mattresses and collapsed.

The Famous 5. Salted, hungry and tired. We were in no mood to rest on the sands. Got directions for a 24hr coffee shop nearby and before we realized, we were on the ECR. Helped ourselves to some Tiger biscuits and Coffee/Tea, flagged down a share auto and returned home. It was 4AM. The only thing you'll get in all of Besant Nagar and Adyar at that hour, is more Coffee/Tea and inquisitive cops.

We didn't see any of them turtle eggs. And I didn't even see the tracks. But somehow everybody had had a good time. And Zerish wants more of it. I'm not going back till its sprouting season.