In a crowd I am alone
incessant talk breaks through
wandering mind
reverie broken brings a smile
Like maxi said
All those who wander are not lost.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
My eldest sister (akka) thinks I am a punk. I am not into body piercing or tattooing or coloured hair and the works. It’s just that I love wearing anklets and besides that my dressing style doesn’t go down well with her.
Pulse had given an anklet for me to Akka, with the anklet I got her trade mark lecture about how I wear junk and inappropriate clothes and all that. My parents were in the same room so I asked them why they didn’t think of putting my sis up for adoption when she was born. At which my dad remembered an incident that happened when my sis was a year old. It seems amma had gone out somewhere and my sis started crying. So my dad picked her up to calm her down and what did my sis do, she scratched my dads face real badly.
I just couldn’t stop laughing when I heard that. I said see that’s why you should have given her up for adoption. If you had learnt your lesson then I would have been spared moral lectures now. It’s nice to be the youngest in the house you can get away with anything, even panga’s with your sis who is about 250 tonnes of bone crunching muscles and if she really puts her mind to it can give Sunny Deol a tough time.
Pulse had given an anklet for me to Akka, with the anklet I got her trade mark lecture about how I wear junk and inappropriate clothes and all that. My parents were in the same room so I asked them why they didn’t think of putting my sis up for adoption when she was born. At which my dad remembered an incident that happened when my sis was a year old. It seems amma had gone out somewhere and my sis started crying. So my dad picked her up to calm her down and what did my sis do, she scratched my dads face real badly.
I just couldn’t stop laughing when I heard that. I said see that’s why you should have given her up for adoption. If you had learnt your lesson then I would have been spared moral lectures now. It’s nice to be the youngest in the house you can get away with anything, even panga’s with your sis who is about 250 tonnes of bone crunching muscles and if she really puts her mind to it can give Sunny Deol a tough time.
Friday, December 16, 2005
A Child's Surprises
The first time amma was down with fever I was in primary school. I was surprised and shocked that she could fall ill too. For me she was this super being who was above us mere mortals.
The day the doctor’s mother in our neighbouring block died I was surprised. What was the point being a doctor if you couldn’t make your mother live forever.
The first time I went to my native place I was surprised that there were people in this world who couldn’t speak hindi and they still managed to survive.
Raju adored me. He was diagnosed with bone cancer and eventually passed away. I was surprised.
Once dad bought a huge chocolate cake on my sis Pallavi’s birthday and invited all our friends home, that was some surprise.
A pleasant surprise would be good to break the monotony.
The day the doctor’s mother in our neighbouring block died I was surprised. What was the point being a doctor if you couldn’t make your mother live forever.
The first time I went to my native place I was surprised that there were people in this world who couldn’t speak hindi and they still managed to survive.
Raju adored me. He was diagnosed with bone cancer and eventually passed away. I was surprised.
Once dad bought a huge chocolate cake on my sis Pallavi’s birthday and invited all our friends home, that was some surprise.
A pleasant surprise would be good to break the monotony.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Bangalore Day 2 - 9th Dec.
I woke up at 9.30 in the morning thanks to the grumbling noises made by my stomach. Viyer’s last night’s or rather early morning exploits evidence was lying on the living room sofa, she had managed to finish the leftover Veg Kolhapuri, Paneer masala, a bowl of curd and a small vessel of jelly. I gorged on bananas and Lays chips. (I did brush my teeth before eating) Read newspaper something which I don’t do in Mumbai. Checked on Viyer she was fast asleep, didn’t have the heart to wake her up. Not that she would wake up, after all she is Kalyug ka Kumbakaran.
Went to the terrace, the weather in Bangalore is really good, you can actually get out of your house anytime of the day just to while away your time. Came back read, ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide ……….’ for some time and then went off to sleep. Woke up in the afternoon, for the same reason – hunger. This time even Viyer woke up, we ordered Pizza and Garlic bread. Ate, then I listened to some music then went off to sleep again. Some time late evening we woke up, no clue what time. Made some coffee and also drank it, listened to some more music.
Viyer had to go to office that evening, I panicked, there was no way I was going to sleep alone in a new house, in an unknown locality where I don’t even know the neighbours. And the fact that I had watched ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ on Sunday before leaving for Bangalore didn’t help me. The movie is not very scary but the demons in that movie come out every night at 3.00am what if that day they decided to come to JP Nagar find me alone and decide to possess me. I couldn’t take such a risk. So Viyer called up her aunt who stays nearby and asked if I could sleep at their house that night. Aunty said no issues and asked us to be at her house by 10.00pm.
We went out for dinner and wanted to go to Corner House and have this dessert called, ‘Death by Chocolate’ (more about it later) but decided against it as we didn’t want to be late. Viyer’s aunt and uncle are really nice people they made me feel very comfortable. Very sweet of Viyer too, to inform aunty that I will need drinking water during the night. Once Viyer left uncle gave me 4 books to read, probably he thought I was some kind of a genius who could finish reading 4 books in a night. I did read 1 chapter from this book ‘The Guru Of Joy by Francois Gautier. Interesting book, I will buy it. Bangalore has quaint houses which are right there on the road, so the whole night you hear vehicles passing by. Second night in Bangalore spent snuggled in and safe at Viyer’s aunt’s house.
Went to the terrace, the weather in Bangalore is really good, you can actually get out of your house anytime of the day just to while away your time. Came back read, ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide ……….’ for some time and then went off to sleep. Woke up in the afternoon, for the same reason – hunger. This time even Viyer woke up, we ordered Pizza and Garlic bread. Ate, then I listened to some music then went off to sleep again. Some time late evening we woke up, no clue what time. Made some coffee and also drank it, listened to some more music.
Viyer had to go to office that evening, I panicked, there was no way I was going to sleep alone in a new house, in an unknown locality where I don’t even know the neighbours. And the fact that I had watched ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ on Sunday before leaving for Bangalore didn’t help me. The movie is not very scary but the demons in that movie come out every night at 3.00am what if that day they decided to come to JP Nagar find me alone and decide to possess me. I couldn’t take such a risk. So Viyer called up her aunt who stays nearby and asked if I could sleep at their house that night. Aunty said no issues and asked us to be at her house by 10.00pm.
We went out for dinner and wanted to go to Corner House and have this dessert called, ‘Death by Chocolate’ (more about it later) but decided against it as we didn’t want to be late. Viyer’s aunt and uncle are really nice people they made me feel very comfortable. Very sweet of Viyer too, to inform aunty that I will need drinking water during the night. Once Viyer left uncle gave me 4 books to read, probably he thought I was some kind of a genius who could finish reading 4 books in a night. I did read 1 chapter from this book ‘The Guru Of Joy by Francois Gautier. Interesting book, I will buy it. Bangalore has quaint houses which are right there on the road, so the whole night you hear vehicles passing by. Second night in Bangalore spent snuggled in and safe at Viyer’s aunt’s house.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Bangalore Day 1 - 8th Dec
The flight was delayed by about an hour. So it left after 12 noon and we reached Bangalore at 2.00pm. Manju and I both had to go to Bangalore so thought will travel together. While we were waiting noticed a girl wearing a sexy ghagra with a tshirt and a dupatta, what a great ensemble! Then there was this I am the dude types with Harley Davidson belt and a tight tee. The most interesting person was this guy who resembled Emran Hashmi and was walking around with a pout. I even imitated him there at the airport and caught some people looking at me and trying to figure out if I was harmlessly mad or just mad.
Once we boarded the plane messaged my friend The Viyer who was gonna pick us up from Bangalore airport, that we are finally on our way. As usual Viyer was not on time but this time she blamed the traffic and not her erratic sleeping habits. We were famished; so Viyer ordered food on the way to her house to save time. Full of self importance she said how when she was new in Bangalore, she had to ask others to order food for her, things have changed now ‘The Order becomes the Ordee’. Reached her house, made coffee and the food arrived. Gorged on the food and then we just relaxed. (in girlie terms it means we talked non-stop) Manju was picked up by her friend in the evening and Viyer and me went to the market, bought some fruits, vegetables and masala. Its funny how Viyer speaks to everybody in Bangalore in Tamil and they reply in Kannada or Tulu, God knows if they understand anything she says, but they do reply. I have concluded that any tongue twisting language goes down well with them.
We picked up 3 VCD’s and went home. Put all the stuff away and then went for dinner with Manju and her friend. This restaurant we went to they started closing it at 10.30pm, for God sake in a city who shuts down restaurants so early. But they did not lock us in they allowed us to complete our dinner and leave. After 9.00pm rickshaw wallahs rule, not a single one wanted to take us home, one agreed but wanted 30 bucks for a minimum fare distance. Finally viyer and I reached home we put ‘When Harry Met Sally” on, (I had not watched this movie before) 15 minutes into the movie and it got stuck. After waiting patiently for few seconds for it to start again, we gave it some gallis, to be precise we said ‘teri jaat pe baida maru’ and it started working another 10 minutes and stuck again. This time even gallis couldn’t make it work. We struggled with it for some time and finally gave up. Viyer suggested I should go to Mumbai and watch this movie.
The twice of us started talking, we had to catch up on a lot. We didn’t realize how long we been up, I looked at the clock and it was 5.00am. We decided to sleep, every time I would doze off Viyer would ask me historical questions like when did we go to Malavali, when is your birthday and the like. She allowed me to sleep at around 6.00 only because she was hungry and had gone to the kitchen to hog on whatever was leftover from the lunch. And I slept peacefully.
Once we boarded the plane messaged my friend The Viyer who was gonna pick us up from Bangalore airport, that we are finally on our way. As usual Viyer was not on time but this time she blamed the traffic and not her erratic sleeping habits. We were famished; so Viyer ordered food on the way to her house to save time. Full of self importance she said how when she was new in Bangalore, she had to ask others to order food for her, things have changed now ‘The Order becomes the Ordee’. Reached her house, made coffee and the food arrived. Gorged on the food and then we just relaxed. (in girlie terms it means we talked non-stop) Manju was picked up by her friend in the evening and Viyer and me went to the market, bought some fruits, vegetables and masala. Its funny how Viyer speaks to everybody in Bangalore in Tamil and they reply in Kannada or Tulu, God knows if they understand anything she says, but they do reply. I have concluded that any tongue twisting language goes down well with them.
We picked up 3 VCD’s and went home. Put all the stuff away and then went for dinner with Manju and her friend. This restaurant we went to they started closing it at 10.30pm, for God sake in a city who shuts down restaurants so early. But they did not lock us in they allowed us to complete our dinner and leave. After 9.00pm rickshaw wallahs rule, not a single one wanted to take us home, one agreed but wanted 30 bucks for a minimum fare distance. Finally viyer and I reached home we put ‘When Harry Met Sally” on, (I had not watched this movie before) 15 minutes into the movie and it got stuck. After waiting patiently for few seconds for it to start again, we gave it some gallis, to be precise we said ‘teri jaat pe baida maru’ and it started working another 10 minutes and stuck again. This time even gallis couldn’t make it work. We struggled with it for some time and finally gave up. Viyer suggested I should go to Mumbai and watch this movie.
The twice of us started talking, we had to catch up on a lot. We didn’t realize how long we been up, I looked at the clock and it was 5.00am. We decided to sleep, every time I would doze off Viyer would ask me historical questions like when did we go to Malavali, when is your birthday and the like. She allowed me to sleep at around 6.00 only because she was hungry and had gone to the kitchen to hog on whatever was leftover from the lunch. And I slept peacefully.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Rendezvous With...
The realization hit me like a meteor. (Not that a meteor has ever hit me, nice things these meteors are) The work that I found boring and not stimulating; work that brought tears of sadness in my eyes and made me kneel down and cry. I have fallen for this work.
How and when it happened I can’t say, the process has been gradual. The Alchemist says if you really want something the whole universe conspires to make your wish come true. In my case it was just the MSEB* that had to be put in action to fulfil my subconscious wish. Consciously I have never wanted to fall for my job.
One fine day the MSEB decided to cut power for an hour or two every evening. The power would go off every evening and we would be plunged into darkness. We have backup power for the computers so work had to be continued in spite of no light. The beauty of working with just the faint light from the computer piercing through the velvety darkness spread in the office has to be experienced to be felt and appreciated.
Once the darkness fell I would be oblivious to my surrounding and just work and work. My colleagues were baffled to see this change in me. A girl who would do anything to get away from doing something constructive in the office had judiciously started paying attention to the much-neglected computer.
This continued for sometime and with each passing day I grew more loving and patient towards people around me. Oblivious I had been but not so much that I could work without able to see the keyboard or knowing what my hands would hit next. So one fine evening I lit a candle, and during that candle light work session I realised that I was besotted with my work. And thus started my rendezvous with my job.
*Maharashtra State Electric Board
How and when it happened I can’t say, the process has been gradual. The Alchemist says if you really want something the whole universe conspires to make your wish come true. In my case it was just the MSEB* that had to be put in action to fulfil my subconscious wish. Consciously I have never wanted to fall for my job.
One fine day the MSEB decided to cut power for an hour or two every evening. The power would go off every evening and we would be plunged into darkness. We have backup power for the computers so work had to be continued in spite of no light. The beauty of working with just the faint light from the computer piercing through the velvety darkness spread in the office has to be experienced to be felt and appreciated.
Once the darkness fell I would be oblivious to my surrounding and just work and work. My colleagues were baffled to see this change in me. A girl who would do anything to get away from doing something constructive in the office had judiciously started paying attention to the much-neglected computer.
This continued for sometime and with each passing day I grew more loving and patient towards people around me. Oblivious I had been but not so much that I could work without able to see the keyboard or knowing what my hands would hit next. So one fine evening I lit a candle, and during that candle light work session I realised that I was besotted with my work. And thus started my rendezvous with my job.
*Maharashtra State Electric Board
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