Chicken Biryani LIVE flown from Hyderabad

Piping hot ! picked it up from dhawal at 12.30 am in the morning on his way to his hostel from the airport. it was still hot. it smelled impeccably indian. strong! i slept with hyderabadi dreams! i couldn't wait till i feasted onthe biryani. kuku was to join me for lunch but for unavoidable reasons he couldn't so i invited tanay and bela. bela got veg. biryani for her tummy. the biryani we had was rich in spices, little tangy, with succulent chicken pieces well marinated, and a warm aroma. just irresistible.
i have a few recommendations to make -
1. you must have a very sweet friend like dhawal who although is strictly veg. got 2 large packs of chicken biryani from Hyderabad
2. you must never forget to tell your friend whenever they go to Hyderabad to get chicken biryani
3. and never ever miss a chance to eat biryani from Hyderabad House
4. thank God for 1 to 3 above!!!

Intro - The day CPT results were announced!

I know it’s a bit too late to write this. Actually I began writing almost instantaneously after the results but had time to complete it only now. And since my blog has come up only now, it’s only correct to put it up now. Better late than never!
The series narrates a day in my life, viz. September 8, 2007 if my memory hasn't failed me yet. This was the day when my CPT results were declared. The rest is history!

I have tried to compile the day in 6 parts already posted on my blog!!!! Do read and leave your comments!!!

PART I - The day CPT results were announced! – The day begins!

It was Monday, probably the third or fourth day of ENIGMA. Reached college early at around 8 am or should I say, was forced to reach early. Double tension – Himani and BC tutorials! I wasn’t thinking much about the CPT results, they were to be the next day. I had a bigger test today. I had just finished scripting our BC Tuts dialogue. Akanksha had to still read it and I didn’t have the time to go through it. She had been told to reach the Admin Room around 8.30 am. She came only by 9 am. Relief! We took a bench for ourselves & started preparing. She first wrote the whole thing down for herself. I did Admin duty till then. Nobody showed any signs of tension – results were tomorrow! Still I kept asking people how they felt a day before the results. Akanksha finished copying & we left the Admin room obviously having taken Himani’s permission. WE moved upstairs to ‘my’ class – S5. Took the last seats and started memorising. Some people had walked in & walked out. We hadn’t even switched on the lights. There was no need. We had bigger worries than fighting darkness. We sat lost in ourselves, individually memorising the lines of our respective speeches. After some silent monuments, we felt we were ready for dual practise. We began! After a few rounds of re-scripting our dialogues & then delivering them, I felt that was enough. We left, to meet our ‘destiny holder’. He was busy having Snacks (Poha) in the staff canteen. I told him we would wait in one of the T-floor rooms. He agreed. W left. On our way, other fellow-warriors were seen, some joined us. Others were late!

Slowly the remaining warriors gathered. I as usual was waiting at the door, waiting for the ‘opponent’. Hrishikseh & Kunal joined me on the watch. With his usual self-glorifying insults, Sammit stood tall on the platform, his short frame fighting a losing battle with itself. Then I got THE call. The call which changed the sullen morning, increasing my heart-rate, diverting my focused attention from the looming war to the nearer. More future-defining battle. A battle already fought twice. The first one ending in an obnoxious truce. The second, awaiting its fate!

PART II - The day CPT results were announced! – Results a day in advance!

Nishant asks me ‘kitna mila’? I mean come on, I say, isn’t the result due tomorrow? This line enlivens all those standing around me. They ask which result am I blabbering about. Some fake fright, others try to hide surprise. He still repeats the question. I say, I really have no clue about the results. I am more worried about my BC-Tuts! I ask him his score. He very reluctantly divulged – 178! I am scared. Isn’t 178 too good? Still, I am scared. The hysteria, though, now had to be dealt with. I couldn't. Control myself. No one could actually, though Sammit initially wanted to see his result personally. Kunal turned out to be the quickest. His ‘fairy-godmother’like sister was sitting in front of our fortune-teller. But he was very sad. He had scored 177. I expected him to be one of the merit-grabbers. Expectations shattered sans remorse! Akanksha sat beside me pacifying my uneasiness like water on a hot stove. She didn’t know what was going within me. Nor did I bother to tell. It was an insane thought about to turn les saner.
Suddenly, hands are being shaken, smiles being spread. I catch one; it increased my worries. Behind me was sitting the 3rd ranker from all over India. I am sad. Not because Hrishikesh got 187 – certainly not – but because he got the 3rd rank! (I am not against him getting the 1st rank either but that time anyone getting the 3rd rank was like hell for me.) I expected to get above 187 & if he has got the 3rd rank, that leaves only 2 ranks above him, meaning just 2 different scores left above him. I expected more than 187, but then not the first 2 ranks, or did i? I was sad, dejected, tensed, nervous and morose! I was wishing that that damn tutorial got over in a jiffy. Everyone slowly contributed to my wishes. I was being asked my seat number. I couldn’t recollect. Meanwhile ‘I’ had spread the news. It was burning through the college. Burning aspirations, lighting faces.
Dhawal was informed and told my number. WRO 0274445 I said. He was warned to not blurt out my score to me. Farheen & Sanjana were also alerted. The battle had announced its fortune showcasing the sheer inability of the divinitioneers- for loss of a better word! Akanksha continued to be supportive! Sweet!

PART III - The day CPT results were announced! – In search of my number!

Shit! It was my turn. I and Akanksha got up, moved to the dais and took our pre-decide places. Sammit had created an aura of sympathy and compassion with his sermons. Impressive. We carried out our 3-4 minute miniscule skit. Sir didn’t comment. He should have I felt. Why build up unrequired suspense. We consoled each other. Again not required. Strength remains unspoken.
Sammit wasn’t capable of harnessing his inquisitiveness. He allowed Kunal to do his bidding. Tension surrounded him. And me too. I was eager to try judging the overall report. He scored a serene 182 – 8th All India. I was further scared. Everyone was scoring aces. What if I…?
Feeling-less, uncaring & discretely aloof from worldly cares, people continued with their speeches & more popular dialogues. It was Hrishikesh now. AIR 3! Even I stopped to listen. Sammit was going berserk. Sanjana called to ask how much I had got. She withheld her marks in anticipation of mine. I ended the call. My bag was only what separated me from my Professor’s vision.
Dhawal called back saying we needed seat numbers and not registration numbers to download the results.
I asked him whether he remembered mine. Tough Chance. He said he got 178! Jaie shouted behind him that he had missed the merit list by mere two marks. Congratulations! The call ended. I was more than eager to get out of this class. But the line of people giving speeches didn’t seem to end. They seemed to like giving speeches.
I was being constantly asked my seat number. I said I needed to go home to get it. I didn’t even know my pin code. Later I was told that the pin code was unnecessary. Salomi was 2-3 seats behind me during the CPT. I messaged her to ask her her number. Stupid girl! Didn’t even reply useless! The moment the last person finished his speech, we all burst out of the class. Sir was saying something. His own speech. We were not interested. Sammit rushed to the reading room. He wanted to hug Vaidehi. He was overjoyed. He deserved it after all those long days spent studying.
I glided downstairs; towards Salomi. She was near the main gate. Luckily I spotted her instantaneously, tall that I am, tall that she is. I yelled at her, demanding a reason for her not having replied. She showed her cell to show that she was in the middle of replying. I didn’t believe her. Who cares? The other matter was more urgent. She recited her number. 1604… something. My doubt had been cleared. My number had to be 16047. I turned around in one sweep and rushed upstairs. Direct into the AV room. There were more like me in there. But they had opened the wrong site. I sped up the ritual. I first got it clarified from Shantanu whether they showed our names alongside the score. I was not interested in giving myself false hopes or borrowed grief by seeing someone else’s score. He and Gaurang said yes. Thank goodness.