New Year Jinx

A jinx, in popular superstition and folklore, is:

• A sort of curse placed on a person that makes them prey to large numbers of minor misfortunes and other forms of bad luck;
• A person afflicted with a similar curse, who, while not directly subject to a series of misfortunes, seems to attract them to anyone in his general area.
• An object that brings bad luck.

Did I tell you that my New Years is Jinxed?

If you know me well I probably would have. I don’t know why it is so, or what I did to deserve it, but it is the way it is.

I don’t remember a good New Year’s Eve party ever, I remember one where my elder brother got really angry and ruined his and my new year’s eve and I remember one where was the party we went was so boring that we had to actually had to walk out of it much before midnight. But these are only childhood one, the last 5 ones I remember vividly (people tend to remember their bad experiences pretty well).

New Year’s Eve 1 (31st Dec 2003) -

The first year in college and the first one in Bangalore. I’m all excited that I’m out of home now and can have a REAL New Year Bash.

Luck is supposed to favoring me too. See the thing is my friends have made plans for one of the hottest bashes in town, the party is supposed to be big and real fun. My friend (let’s call him A) is good friends with the ‘localites’ of the city so he makes plans for them and being a good friend of mine asks me to come. He has also asked a girl to come with me as my date; the girl has bought my ticket and is very much willing to go. Only thing left to me is that I have to arrange a Car for the night, or rather rent one for tonight. Piece of cake! My brother rents car from this guy all the time and he said no issues, he will go with me to get that car. So assured I chill out and say to my friends that their work is done and we are all set to go.

But when 31st arrives and I call the car guy asking for a car he says that today is 31st and all the cars are already rented (Apparently there are other Wise guys like me). Now I start to panic. Brother says don’t worry I will get you one, let me talk to that guy. So he talks to him and argues for half an hour, after stomach churning (for me) half an hour he says that he arranged one car for me, the car is not in top shape but hey! Beggars are not choosers!

So I call up my friends that I got the car and will be there in an hour, they ask me to hurry up as we are already getting late. I assure them and head to Johnson Market to get the car. When I reach there I realize that car is not there and will be there in some time (which turns out to be an hour or so).

A is a punctual guy by nature and even after adjusting for my lackadaisical approach he is furious at me and says we are very late. After what looked like an endless wait the car arrives and we head back to college to pick 'A. I call him and say that I’m on my way, call everyone and tell them to be ready.

We fill up lot of Petrol (I want to be extra cautious, its new year’s eve and I don’t wanna screw this up) and head back. As soon we leave the petrol bunk tragedy strikes! Car dies in middle of ‘MG Road’ and won’t start! Now if you have ever been to Bangalore or any of the big cities you would know what the traffic is on the busiest road of the city on New Year’s Eve. It is your worst nightmare comes true.

Traffic Piles up behind the car and I have people honking, shouting, cursing and basically doing everything short of bashing me up. I get a traffic cop shouting at me, asking me to remove the car and I have a tough time to explain him the car won’t start, that’s why I am here in the first place. We call all ‘Car Help Lines’ and even they Guy who gave me the car. But hey, its new year’s eve all the lines are either jammed or nobody picks up.

Frustrated I call up A and tell him I won’t be able to make it and ask him to take a ‘City Taxi instead, he asks what about that girl, I reply “Find a replacement guy also, there would be some loser who hasn’t made any plans yet”.

So Finally I push the car to the nearest empty parking slot and head out to a bar to drink. After being turned out from a couple of places we finally reach one place and stand there whole night and drink to drive away the blues.

‘A’ told me next day that was the party was Rocking! And my ‘could have been date’ got really drunk and made out big time with my substitute (which could have me according to him).


New Year’s Eve 2 (31st Dec 2004)-

Don’t remember much but it wasn’t pretty either.


New Year’s Eve 3 (31st Dec 2005) -

My third year in Bangalore and my third year exams are about to begin. Normally that wouldn’t stop me from partying but I had also fought with my friend. Let’s call her ‘P’. So my mood was off and I was sitting in my room and was trying to study. My other Room mate ‘T’ was is in the other room, he was partying with his girl friend and her friends with the door shut. Two of P’s friends said they would be coming to our house in the night. They both used to go around once, but I didn’t know that then.

Now they were supposed to come well after midnight. But I was surprised when there was a knock on the door at around 11 and ‘R’ walked in. His words were something like “Arey Andy ye kya hai ? Main to soch raha tha kee Full volume pae music baj raha hoga. Daaru beh rahi hogi. Main andar aate hee dance karna shuru kar dunga. Par ye sab kya hai ?”

Then Surprise of Surprises! Another one of P’s friend ‘S’ walks in. And she was supposed to come after the party at around 2 or so. What a COINCIDENCE! So inspired by the above dialogue and appearance of the above two I get into party mode, get dressed and head out to buy booze. I come back in a 15 mins, happy that my new year is saved from being ruined and with big plans.

We start drinking and after sometime both R and S disappear. After some time I realize that they both have been gone long time, so when I look for them I find them in the kitchen talking, they say they will be right with me in a few minutes. When I return that I find P has also slept and I’m left all alone to drink.

Great!

So frustrated I go to sleep too.

After a year or so ‘S’ told me that they both got back together that night and she wanted to thank me for it. (And maybe all the coincidence was pre-planned) Well anyways, Glad to be of any help.


New Year’s Eve 4 (31st Dec 2006) -

My Final year in Bangalore and things isn’t going great with me. It was just that I was not getting along with 'P' very well. So anyways I tell my friends that I’m not in a mood to party and my New Year’s Eve is jinxed so I won’t make any plans.

I get treated to dialogues like “Andy bhaai app to party animal ho, aap hee party ke liye mana karoge to kaise chalega?” and “Andy bhaai aap load mat lo, aapka New Year hum accha karaayenge” and “Andy saale tu tension mat le, bhaa tere saath hai, tu daaru pee aaj, bhaai tere liye baat karega” I shrug them off. But when Big Brother calls and asks me to make a plan I can’t say No.

So I start making the arrangements, I want to have a decent enough party so that I can drive away from my blues. So when my plans are well under way ‘P’ walks in with a load of her friends including ‘Q’ and a case of beer and few other bottles of booze. To say the least I wasn’t very crazy about Q, so enraged (at nobody in particular, after all it was P’s house too and Q was her friend, I should have thought about it) I walk out of my house.


New Year’s Eve 5 (31st Dec 2007) -

I have left Bangalore and in Kota now. I have no plans when my two of my School friends call me and say they are in town and say that we’ll party. I’m meeting them after few months so I can’t say No. So hesitating I say yes.

Then I wait, wait and then wait some more for them to come pick me up from home. After calling ten times I realize that one hasn’t reached Kota yet and the other one is busy in his factory.

Finally they come after 12 when I have had dinner and am so pissed off that I want to strangle the first person I see. ‘B’ says that was himself stranded by ‘D’ and one other guy who were supposed to pick him since morning and didn’t so he had to come in a bus finally. And 'D' makes some silly excuses that how he had very important work in his factory. By this time I am sick of his excuses and too pissed of to argue further.

Now it’s well past 12 and nothing is open in Kota city, leave alone a liquor shop. So we roam around for an hour in the deserted streets of Kota with nothing to do. And then one guy says he has to go back home. So we drop him off and then everybody goes home.

Super Ending to a Super Year!

P.S. - This year wasn’t a tragedy of this proportion but it wasn’t great either.