Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Viva la Wonder La!!

Hail Fufys!

It all began when CondyFufy dashed off a mail declaring May 15th as the day when Fufy Reunion 2.0 shall be held at Wonder La. What with CondyFufy and WebFufy (hereon referred to as Capt.Fufy) threatening to take Fufys to task for shortage of attendance, people responded with lightning speed confirming their participation in the meet. After 48 posts on a single thread, a highly bored and hyper-enthusiastic Fufy gang finally packed their bags on the morning of the Ides of May and headed off to Wonder la.

The battalions arrived in the following groups - the Banashankari Bais DullFufy, KnurdFufy and TechFufy, MalleshwaraMachhas ShiverFufy(or is it FufyAjji?), CaptainFufy, UppiFufy, GlassDoorFufy and FundaFufy, Nagarbhavi Narasimhas Lord Condyfufy, BitchFufy and ShataFufy, Jayanagara Jollies MissingFufy, SlowFufy, SnakeFufy, GandhiFufy and MiddleAgedFufy and finally the Indranagar Idlis ForeheadFufy and LostFufy (the duo were even dressed in gladiator uniforms which left the others simply beyond expression!).

All battalions finally arrived by 12 noon. Condy however, arrived prematurely at 10.40 itself, even though Wonder La itself opens at 11, and fumed and frothed while he waited for the others. The gang then changed into the suitable gear and with CaptainFufy at the helm of affairs, the team headed off to conquer Peak 0001 – Y-Scream, FufyAjji going supersonic before we even reached the first ride! The queue to this ride had some extremely enthusiastic chetas from HeavyDuty’s native land, and seemed to consist of 30 of the most obnoxious people who had ever put coconut oil in their hair. These godforsaken animals, from God’s Own Country, kept screaming “Viva la Rassa!!” for reasons beyond us, and the name of one of their tribe was Rosha, which turned out to be a girl! Quite boisterous and lively she was too! Sometimes, a single letter can make all the difference. ;)

However, we were not to be outdone at screaming, since we had with us the secret weapon from Telangana/NY – the one and only FufyAjji repeatedly going out of the hearing range of humans, with “Gooooo YenAiTeeKaaayyyyy!!” and “Gooooooo Fuuuuuuuufyyyyyy” war-cries. Once the giant Y-Scream began flapping its arms around in the air, the entire world turned upside down. Er, literally. Our man CondyFufy was the only one who kept his cool and kept waving at random people. He didn’t as much as bat an eyelid when ForeheadFufy and ShiverFufy were directly above him (upside down of course) and the two compartments were flying in mid air.

Next came peak 0010 –The Maverick. If Y-Scream had you dangling upside down in mid- air two people at a time, the Maverick decided to do it to the entire bunch of about 20 people, twisting them diagonally as well. Naturally, all the Fufys rushed for this one as well. By all, we don’t mean Middle-AgedFufy, who developed cold feet at the last minute and chickened out, missing the ride to fool around with his Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham glasses, a souvenir of the Goa(Jai Infantaria!!) trip. With dik-chik dik-chik mujik to add to the effect, the Fufys were all in quite a daze after coming down from peak 0010. KnurdFufy and BitchFufy tried a “Viva la LANKA” chant while on the ride, but after sometime, when things got really wild, just held on and screamed for dear life.

Disorientated, and with bloodshot eyes, the brave-but-not-yet-battered Fufys headed towards the next challenge – Ground 0011 or The Hurricane, which looks like a giant three-bladed fan. Bah, a walk in the park, thought the Fufys. About 3 minutes later, most of them (except FufyAjji of course) were left speechless. Not because of the beautiful sights they saw while battling the Hurricane, but because they were screaming their asses off while the fatal Hurricane grabbed them and swirled them around mercilessly. Reminds us of the time when little HoFufy (she was dearly missed at the battle zone) supposedly swung a poor dead bunny rabbit,( a friend’s pet) over her head and sent it flying far, far away, never to return. This will also be remembered as the ride in which ShataFufy nearly passed out, and LostFufy was found in her seat at the end of it all, with her eyes closed and muttering prayers in a low voice.

Breathless and tired were the Fufys but not quite finished yet. Their spirit was simply indomitable. Slowly but steadily they trudged along to the toughest part of the battle – conquering Point 0110. Aptly named Insanity, that’s exactly what this one proved to be. Ruthless and insane. This one was a monstrous four-armed giant of a robot with four fingers to each arm where the Fufys took position. Each arm and finger began moving independently, turning, twisting and swiveling in every direction possible, tossing the poor Fufys into air like the contents of an egg-whisk. GlassdoorFufy was found in the adjacent seat by the time the giant robot decided to stop for a breather. Nevertheless, true warriors that the Fufys are with a never-say-die attitude, they didn’t just conquer it once. They did it again and some of the braver ones even said Bring-it-on for a third time. DullFufy even finished writing a complex piece of code and managed to debug it as well by the time he was done with Insanity. Bravo, bravo Fufys!

It was now time for some grub before the Fufys launched their attack on all the strongholds in the water. First came the water pendulum. After a lot of intense discussion regarding strategy, ‘weight’ mechanics and wave motion, and the discovery that FufyAjji outweighed GlassdoorFufy by a good 6 kilos, the Fufys split themselves into pairs to take on the giant water pendulum. Not surprisingly, the ‘heavyweights’ SlowFufy and MissingFufy emerged as champions, with Team Gults and Team PowerPuffs coming a close second and third respectively.

Next came the tricky part- tackling all the passes to the major sea points. After a long wait, the Fufys finally managed to push ForeheadFufy into taking down Twister – one of the major passes in the arena. What ForeheadFufy thought will be a ghastly journey to her watery grave turned out to be quite a pleasant ride indeed. The Vertical Fall was another spot where the Fufys used all their navigating skills and emerged winners all the way. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly CondyFufy joining a poor unsuspecting couple in a big tube and ending up quite embarrassed.

If heights couldn’t take us down, then what can some measly waves in a pool do, huh? Well the wave pool proved to be much more than just that. TechFufy, MiddleAgedFufy and ForeheadFufy, having had a taste of the wave pool earlier tried in vain to warn fellow Fufys. TechFufy also had had an unpleasant experience in the pool earlier on, when a fat, bald man in a tube shot through the water aiming straight for his privates. While he esaped unscathed, he couldn’t help a laughing fit that came on suddenly, and had him and all the other fufys convulsed for a good ten minutes.

Enter the wave pool - The entire army fought bravely despite being pushed back with every wave. As the waves got bigger and stronger, so did the resilient Fufys. 20 minutes later, the waves gave up and began receding. This was the moment the Fufys had been waiting for since morning. There was revelry all around. BitchFufy got so excited; he even tried to ‘sink’ ForeheadFufy by pulling her down from underwater. KnurdFufy got his usual dose of NeerYemme bath, and also tried a Underwater TripleLift with TechFufy and GlassdoorFufy, while DullFufy got so carried away by the Fufys’ victory that he was found disoriented and upside down in the wave pool.

Tired and exhausted, the Fufys went on a victory lap and commemorated the win with a second visit to some of the earlier peaks. Then finally, following the brave CaptainFufy’s orders, they decided to retire for the day. After changing out of their gear and a cup of hot coffee(read WonderLa gutterwater) and a light snack, it was time for the Fufys to retire to their respective quarters. The heavens above decided to give the day the perfect end with a cool shower under which the Fufys parted ways, promising to meet up for another very exciting venture very soon.
What a day it was, fellow Fufys! I salute all those who made the day so enjoyable. For those who missed it, there’s always a next time!

Memorable Moments and Quotable Quotes:

Bheemboy’s Beamer @ Lunch -
This was FundaFufy giving advice on how to face your fears: “….. Its ok!.. I mean.. You can keep your eyes open. Just don’t look at anything that’s all. Its all relative anyway….”

Why LostFufy is called LostFufy -
LostFufy(absentmindedly picking at her sandwich)to KnurdFufy: “So who’s Bheem Rao?”
KnurdFufy(taken aback): “You don’t know??? The tall one in glasses, next to Kushagra, that thin dude who’ll head to the loo in the next 5 minutes.”
LostFufy: “Aah. Right..”
A few minutes later,
LostFufy(now putting some KissOn(!!?) sauce on her sandwich): “And the green shirt is Bunty, and the blue one is Bellur?”
KnurdFufy(stupefied): “Yes!!”

Fufy Word of the Day – FATHOM
After one go at the Vertical Fall, GlassdoorFufy(bouncing around wildly): “Abbe yaaaaar!! That was unbelievable!! I cannot just fathom what has just happened!!”
Naturally, the rest of the Fufys picked on him endlessly, and decided that every ride after that was just as un-fathomable as that one. :)

Waves @ the Wave Pool –
LostFufy, who had lost a 10 Rupee note(knocked off her head by Knurd), was looking for it, when FundaFufy comes up to her: “Hi! I’m Aditya Bheem Rao. I don’t think we’ve had a chance to speak before.”
And with that began pool-socialising, which went on for a good 10-15 minutes, watched from afar by a silent BitchFufy who nearly died laughing watching this tango for two.

What a day it was, fellow Fufys! We salute all those who made the day so enjoyable. For those who missed it, there’s always a next time!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Fantastic Fourth: Rise of the Super Sister

Greetings fellow Fufys!

Firstly, a rousing Hi5 to all those who could make it to Wonder La on Friday! As the various status messages later that day/the next day made it quite clear, it was a day to be remembered indeed.
Between repeated bouts of Insanity and trying to "sink" ForeheadFufy at the Wave Pool, it was a very fun day indeed, but more on that in a separate post that Forehead and I will begin work on soon...very soon..

Things had been a little dull on the Fufying-at-home front, what with ToxicFufy hardly proving to be a worthy opponent, and MaFufy never taking any game too seriously, and always putting making gallons of Coffee/Tea/Bournvita for the rest of the players above her matches, Knurd's hopes of having high-energy tournaments dwindled. Until one fateful post on the Fufy group changed it all.

Sifting through the material, you may find a recent post by MiddleAge(he really needs a new name!), about how the rules of carrom have changed(that post goes on to elaborate those changed rules). MiddleAge also remarked that this was like a 20-20 version of Carrom, something that immediately caught my attention.

All it took for Knurd were some snide remarks about woeful shotmaking, and some more taunts about blaming poor skills on vaastu and the wind, to get ToxicFufy to try out the new format.
And so it began - Fufy Home League - The Twenty20 Version.

The Kings XI vs Deccan Chargers was going on as well, so both Toxic as well as Knurd were thoroughly distracted throughout the match. That being said, the match proceeded, and I would go on to take the first "Set" quite comfortably(12-0). (For what a "Set" means, refer MiddleAge's post)
After this, ToxicFufy lost all hopes, squandered some really good opportunities of making comebacks and handed the second set to Knurd, thereby ending the first Twenty20 carrom match played here quite prematurely.

Knurd was slightly disappointed at things having ended so quickly, and was wondering what to do, which is when it happened.

The Sister arrived, showing a keen interest to get in on the game. A weary ToxicFufy was only too glad to give up his place and toddled off to dinner. The Sister(yet to be christened) arrived, severely out of touch, professing that she hasn't played for years, and that this would be a disaster. Knurd, smug in the knowledge that victory was certain, indulged her, telling her that she might even beat him, who can ever tell?.. and so on and so forth.

All perfectly brother-sisterly you think? Think again!
Within two boards, the score read 16-0, in favour of the Super Sister. Sister, who seemed to be in remarkale form, pocketed her coins easily, while Knurd struggled to put away even the biscuit-est of shots, and "oota"ed so many times that had he been a witness, Uppi/EarthFufy would've wept with joy. At this point, KnurdFufy decided that the time was over to be nice to out-of-touch players, and to play as he usually did.

After some very close boards, which saw the use of loud and well-timed screaming, giggling and board-shaking courtesy Super Sister, Knurd managed to withstand it all, and bring the game to a 22-27 scoreline, in favour of the Super Sister.

To no avail. :(
Pulling out all the stops and tossing fair play right out of the window(my coins would all "accidentally" get pushed behind my baseline whenever she tried to play, which would mean me wasting hours trying to rebound all of them to a playing area while she swiftly cleared coins), SuperSister countered everything Knurd threw at her, and sealed the game in the next two boards.

Well..defeat certainly came from the most unexpected adversary to KnurdFufy, who has been greatly humbled by this. But he is not too worried yet; there are many more rainy days, and many more games to be played.

Quotable Quotes:

KnurdFufy: (after losing 11 points in a board) "My GOD you're still good!"
SuperSister:(arranging coins for next board) "Hmm. You're clearly still bad."
KnurdFufy:(in an undertone) "@#$%^&^$#$@#..."

KnurdFufy:(trailing 22-28, one black, one white, one queen left on board) "Don't think its over! I'm the King of Comebacks!"
SuperSister:(after Knurd has burnt the board to give her the win) "Sure. You can come back tomorrow. We'll see then."

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Kronikles of the Knurd: The Bored, The Bald and the Bargain

Greetings fellow Fufys!

I hope this post finds you all in states of good health, but I know this post will actually find you all in states of varying degrees of boredom. Well, upon returning from college, I found myself in a similar state, and decided that swift action had to be taken.

The day after I returned, I managed to convince my dad that what was preventing our home from becoming the ideal home, and a home that would be the envy of one and all was a good, new carrom board. After about ten minutes of skilful coaxing, cajoling and subtle blackmail, we were off to the sports shop(an entirely new experience to me I must say!) to try and locate the right board. It was not as easy as I expected it to be though. The rates are simply astronomical (one bloke quoted 1450!), and the boards were none too great. After making a few phone calls to the sports secretary of the college in which my esteemed parent works, we managed to find a shop that was guaranteed to give us a bargain.

And so we went to this great little place, (which was also selling "Honex" badminton rackets), and found the perfect board! Larger than the Fufy board, it immediately caught the eye. After I picked the board, the coins, powder and the striker, I went away to the side while the bargaining went on. After a few high-pitched shrieks and several "Illa Sir! Saadhyane illa!!" from the shopkeeper, we walked away with the entire set costing us a decent 900 bucks.

We returned home, triumphant with our victory over the shopkeeper, and broke in the new board.

We tried to create the perfect atmosphere too. Setting it up on the balcony, loud music playing from my room, and some good KF Premium to go along with it.

A little background story about my esteemed parent first - He was the one who taught me to play, is damn good at the game, and has not played since I was around ten, at which age I was an awful sport, and used to scream and bawl everytime I lost, and on one memorable occasion, threw water on the board so that no one else could play.

Back to the present then!
The match began, with Dad in great form, winning the first two boards to take the lead 12-0. I had to take a few calming swigs of beer and get myself together at this point. I came back with a thumping 13-point board to even things out, and keep the match alive. The next few boards were all close affairs, with Dad playing as dirty as possible, and me trying to get as many flukes in(it was my only way out!). In the end, the score read a respectable 29-15, in favour of yours truly.

Not content with this, Dad(now christened as ToxicFufy, for employing digestive diversionary tactics in the previous match) asked for a rematch. I was only too glad to oblige.
KnurdFufy vs ToxicFufy - Match 2.
Toxic was not happy with his seat in the last match, blaming the vaastu of the arrangement, and the breeze in the balcony, which, according to him, only affected his coins. (??)
Anyway, he began this match in great form again, with some stunning rebound shots(he's very good at those), and had KnurdFufy tearing out his hair, by hexing his coins, sneezing just before shots, and cackling loudly whenever Knurd failed to cover the queen. However, I once again managed to overcome all the odds, thanks to several untimely double-dues put by Toxic, and managed to win 29-22. Things were getting closer...

In the third match, ToxicFufy was a force to reckon with, and I was stretched to the maximum limit. With Toxic still employing all the negative tactics at his disposal, I had to block all my senses except my vision and focus on the game. After several missed opportunites on both sides, and a very excited audience(Mom) for the last few boards, I finally prevailed 29-27. Toxic blamed my supposedly baaaad playlist, which apparently disturbed his concentration. I disagree. The playlist was really good. He also said the beer was bad, which was also a lie. It was brilliant!

We're on a break now, with Toxic taking time out to rethink strategy, and me out to get my Buntyed phone back to life.

Quotable Quotes:
(Knurd plays beautiful shot #1)
ToxicFufy: "Beautiful!!"
(Knurd plays beautiful shot #2)
ToxicFufy: "Sexxxy!!"
(Knurd plays beautiful shot #3)
ToxicFufy: "That, was sheer pornography."

Memorable moment:
ToxicFufy trying to do something special, and hitting a coin into the next house.

Well, that's all for now fellow Fufys! Will return with more match updates as and when they happen. I wonder, if a Rao Family Cup is possible. This of course, depends on MiddleAgeFufy, and his Mom, of whom we've heard so much. Let's wait and watch! :)