A few weeks back I was travelling from Banglore to Chennai to meet a few friends.The train started after 11.30 in the night.Maybe everyone had gone beyond their getting-into-bed times.I noticed that all my fellow passengers including me, were not in a hurry to call it a day.Three young ladies were chattering away and nibbling at chocolates.Two young men were chattering away about(no prizes for guessing) technical jargons.Well.. you can't miss software proffessionals anywhere you go.Being in the field myself I did not stop myself from trying to decipher where and on what and for how many years they had been working.Without much strain I got to know that they were both about 2 years experienced and that they worked in respectable firms.
Dousing my curiosities, I happily settled down with my music player and a book I had won over from Letha after a squabble.In about an hour everyone was ready to settle into,for the night.Mine was an upper berth.As I prepared to climb up,one of the men asked me whether he could swap his berth with mine. Since his was a middle berth I did not have a problem.I agreed.
I heard the other man asking his friend."Hey why do you want the upper?".And my friend was like "Oh I dont want anyone to disturb me yaar.It is so much peaceful up there.The middle berth will have people either staring at you or dashing against your feet as they pass by.I choked on the water I was drinking out of a bottle.Pretending not to hear I struggled to tie up my hair while settling into the middle berth."You are right there, and yeah....verrry little head space too".The other guy offerred,seeing me struggle to keep my head high.I would not attempt any yogic posture other than a Shavasana in the middle of the night ,I wanted to assure him.Suppressing my irritation I smiled brightly at him and said."You should not have enlightened him in front of me".They grinned and went on their way to the upper berths.
The train was scheduled to reach Chennai at 4.30 am.I woke about 15 minutes early and went ahead freshening myself up.When I returned the guys were just waking up.Stiffling a huge yawn my friend was saying."Arrey yaaarrr the mosquitoes ate me alive.The fan wind was not coming onto me"."Yeah exactly!Even I was awake almost all the night.I had just slept when my alarm went off!".The other guy was saying.Both of them had not noticed me come in.They looked down at the same instant while I looked up at them innocently.
"The next time am asked to write an essay about the advantages and disadvantages of using the upper berth I will not get stuck".I said suppressing a much awaited giggle.As we grinned sheepishly at each other,I added hurriedly."Hey no hard feelings.Bubbyee".With that I dashed out into the already buzzling Chennai Central station.
Hard feelings or not they were just two other faces in the crowd.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
What have thou wrought?
The other day as I walked the flight of stairs to my apartment one of the kids in the flat came running down.I gave him a hello,ruffled his hair and moved on.I froze on spot when he called out."Aunty is looking glamorous today".He looked up and smiled innocently at me as I looked at him confused wondering whether the 6 year old had said what I had heard.Well...I sighed as I thought.Atleast the comment stopped there.He had not left me embarassed.
On one occassion as I sat with my friends in McDonalds we noticed a kid trying to catch our attention.He stood behind a glass separation and was all expressions and actions at us."Oh he is sooo cute!" I exclaimed."Ohh yeah cute!These days they could'nt get any cuter!".My friend said.When I frowned at him ,he went on indignantly."Hey dont go about cootchie-cooing him, I tell you.You might end up hearing colorful expletives or atleast see his finger".He narrated as to how a kid had called out a 'Get lost you dog!!' when the kid's seductive innocent smiles had led my friend to cuddle him"."Oh you must have tried to steal his french fries".I offered,triggering a war of words.We looked on at other kids around us.One Mama and Papa were grinding out french fries lovingly for their 6 - 7 month old kid.Well, if a baby can have a diet restricted to adults then why cant kids mouth statements restricted to the latter?
Talking of diet maybe the baby will grow up to hate its parents for its obesity.Like my little niece once said "I dont want to be fat like mama" or "Do I not have Aishwarya Rai's figure?" or "I would not eat that.I would grow fat".????!!!!!?????.How can anyone her age even consider such things!
A child's innocence is worth pursuing.But if it gets caught up in the 'wisdom' of the world what are we left with to pursue?
On one occassion as I sat with my friends in McDonalds we noticed a kid trying to catch our attention.He stood behind a glass separation and was all expressions and actions at us."Oh he is sooo cute!" I exclaimed."Ohh yeah cute!These days they could'nt get any cuter!".My friend said.When I frowned at him ,he went on indignantly."Hey dont go about cootchie-cooing him, I tell you.You might end up hearing colorful expletives or atleast see his finger".He narrated as to how a kid had called out a 'Get lost you dog!!' when the kid's seductive innocent smiles had led my friend to cuddle him"."Oh you must have tried to steal his french fries".I offered,triggering a war of words.We looked on at other kids around us.One Mama and Papa were grinding out french fries lovingly for their 6 - 7 month old kid.Well, if a baby can have a diet restricted to adults then why cant kids mouth statements restricted to the latter?
Talking of diet maybe the baby will grow up to hate its parents for its obesity.Like my little niece once said "I dont want to be fat like mama" or "Do I not have Aishwarya Rai's figure?" or "I would not eat that.I would grow fat".????!!!!!?????.How can anyone her age even consider such things!
A child's innocence is worth pursuing.But if it gets caught up in the 'wisdom' of the world what are we left with to pursue?
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Fall in place
Travelling in an office cab to and fro from work is inevitable.It was a week before route buses were allocated to us freshers.It was all about excitement from the start.We were excited to know that we had a cab service right in front of the flat where we were put up.Excited enough to be early to board the cab the first day. It would be quite a buzz that we created inside the bus.Rush for a window seat,call out to a friend to come and join ,celebrate when a popular song was on air in Radio Mirchi,do everything but jump out of the window when another cab passed ours and even more so if it was carrying a batchmate.
When I became sober enough to notice other cab mates they seemed out of the world.The first few days I did not care to bother as to why they seemed so abnormal.When I did care to, it frustrated me.Everyone looked like robots.No one seemed to talk or smile.Some of them had headsets on.Some slept.Once in a while one of them would be brought out of his trance by his ringing phone.At times one of them would turn around and give us a sick look."They look like bobbing hydrogen balloons plugged to the seats!"I had thought then.
Present Day
The time in between getting into the office cab and settling down into a seat moves with lightening speed.Most of the time we run behind cabs or the cab waits for us or we board an auto on realising that we have missed all possible buses along our route.The other day I was sitting in the cab with my headset on.A young man joined me in my seat.He is a new face who has started coming in my cab.There is a whole gang of them now.Freshers from the 2007 batch.Before the bus has started towards home,he had collected his gang around him.God!What a clatter they make!I refrain from turning around and giving them the look.I look at my other cab mates.Bobbing heads.Before I had noticed, I had joined their club.
When I became sober enough to notice other cab mates they seemed out of the world.The first few days I did not care to bother as to why they seemed so abnormal.When I did care to, it frustrated me.Everyone looked like robots.No one seemed to talk or smile.Some of them had headsets on.Some slept.Once in a while one of them would be brought out of his trance by his ringing phone.At times one of them would turn around and give us a sick look."They look like bobbing hydrogen balloons plugged to the seats!"I had thought then.
Present Day
The time in between getting into the office cab and settling down into a seat moves with lightening speed.Most of the time we run behind cabs or the cab waits for us or we board an auto on realising that we have missed all possible buses along our route.The other day I was sitting in the cab with my headset on.A young man joined me in my seat.He is a new face who has started coming in my cab.There is a whole gang of them now.Freshers from the 2007 batch.Before the bus has started towards home,he had collected his gang around him.God!What a clatter they make!I refrain from turning around and giving them the look.I look at my other cab mates.Bobbing heads.Before I had noticed, I had joined their club.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Sound Of Music
Singing and I share a very intimate relationship.I have been associated with music for more than 3/4ths of my life.The decision to learn classical music was made when I was 7 years old.At that time I never realised the repercussions of it.
My first music teacher was a Bhagavadar(music maestro) in my colcony.With all due respect I just hated him.Sincerely.Ofcourse I learned the basics of classical singing from him.Not that I got far.Every evening after school I would give him my attendence.We would sit on a mat .He opposite me and he would go."Varaveenaaaa mrithu paaaniiiiii".I was supposed to repeat after him.I would do the same in front of him as many times as he thought it necessary for me to get it right.Now that was not all."Now you can repeat that 100 times so that it gets embedded into your grey cells".He would say as he went out of the room for some entertainment .Grrr..I knew what he was upto.He would be getting his evening tea while I would let my stomach do all the singing.
I studied 'trying to sing' further for 7 years under him and one more Bhagavadar.By and by I began to hate displays of singing talents.Yet I was dragged into it on innumerable occasions.For me it was always horrendous.Why did God ever create audience??It was either in front of a visiting distant relative, during power cuts when no one had anything better to do,to earn an extra house point on the order of house captain, inside the excursion bus,for a college function.And that was not all.I had to listen to template comments.
I can never forget the first hoot I got .It was when I sang for my colony day.It came even before I finished the first line.It felt great.At least people were being honest.I did not have to listen to plastic comments.Like my bro once said if the ransom that had been invested in sharpening my singing skills had been utilised in planting a few coconut trees around the house it would have given us coconuts by now.
My first music teacher was a Bhagavadar(music maestro) in my colcony.With all due respect I just hated him.Sincerely.Ofcourse I learned the basics of classical singing from him.Not that I got far.Every evening after school I would give him my attendence.We would sit on a mat .He opposite me and he would go."Varaveenaaaa mrithu paaaniiiiii".I was supposed to repeat after him.I would do the same in front of him as many times as he thought it necessary for me to get it right.Now that was not all."Now you can repeat that 100 times so that it gets embedded into your grey cells".He would say as he went out of the room for some entertainment .Grrr..I knew what he was upto.He would be getting his evening tea while I would let my stomach do all the singing.
I studied 'trying to sing' further for 7 years under him and one more Bhagavadar.By and by I began to hate displays of singing talents.Yet I was dragged into it on innumerable occasions.For me it was always horrendous.Why did God ever create audience??It was either in front of a visiting distant relative, during power cuts when no one had anything better to do,to earn an extra house point on the order of house captain, inside the excursion bus,for a college function.And that was not all.I had to listen to template comments.
I can never forget the first hoot I got .It was when I sang for my colony day.It came even before I finished the first line.It felt great.At least people were being honest.I did not have to listen to plastic comments.Like my bro once said if the ransom that had been invested in sharpening my singing skills had been utilised in planting a few coconut trees around the house it would have given us coconuts by now.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Band Baja
One school year I had this sudden interest to become a part of the school band.Maybe the prim and uniformed band girls and boys invoked my interests.The process was simple.I just had to register my name for the band training and if I did well I would be in the school band.Ah a cake walk! I observed.And it was, until the classes began!
Hanging out with known faces and other wannabes was something.But to be able to play the instruments,another.The band master gave me the option of choosing between the drums and trumpets.Since trumpets reminded me of puffed cheeks and elephant trumpets themselves I opted for the drums.And I had always believed that I gelled well with wind instruments.
Imagining myself in those red and blue checked skirts drumming away to the National Anthem and leading the whole school in the drill ,I lifted a drum.Mannn! Was it not heavy!!.How in the whole world did they do it???I succeeded in getting its strings around my neck.As it hung against my body I felt the full force of it and my shoulders slumped.Before I fell with the drum crushing me down, I got my friend to remove it out of me.
But Lakshmi was not going to go back and tell everyone that she quit the band classes as she could not carry one of those puny drums.But then I could not be in the band drill drumming away while someone else carried it for me.So there I was.Back to where I started.Only those trumpets could save my face.Maybe I thought, trumpet was what was meant for me and I could get to play the whole National Anthem's background music unlike those dumb drums.Now that was something I had not thought of before.Bingo!Trumpets!My thing!
Now trumpets were not feather light but atleast I could carry it about.The band master must have realised from the start that I would not get anywhere anyway or he cared less.All the same he did not discourage me from trying out the trumpets.
He explained that for the first week I would have to try and get the windy sound outta the thing.Now that was quite a blow- because I had believed that I would be playing the tunes from day 1- especially when I tried blowing through it the results were either sound of wind through an hose or if lucky, the sound of blowing the nose when you have cold.Patience girl,Patience I told myself.Let us try for a week.Nothing happens in a day.
I continued the ritual for 3 days.The sound from the instrument began to become more audible with the more time I put into it.But on the third day I had lost all my wind ,blowing wind into it and I had my decision.I was quitting before my lungs blew up or I developed a heart attack.And just imagine how it would sound, if it did.Please!I wanted to die in style.
I dropped out.I did not bother to tell the band master what my reasons were.The last I heard from him was via a friend who said that he had asked for me."So are you getting back?"She had asked on his behalf.Err..well..ESCAPE!!!!
Hanging out with known faces and other wannabes was something.But to be able to play the instruments,another.The band master gave me the option of choosing between the drums and trumpets.Since trumpets reminded me of puffed cheeks and elephant trumpets themselves I opted for the drums.And I had always believed that I gelled well with wind instruments.
Imagining myself in those red and blue checked skirts drumming away to the National Anthem and leading the whole school in the drill ,I lifted a drum.Mannn! Was it not heavy!!.How in the whole world did they do it???I succeeded in getting its strings around my neck.As it hung against my body I felt the full force of it and my shoulders slumped.Before I fell with the drum crushing me down, I got my friend to remove it out of me.
But Lakshmi was not going to go back and tell everyone that she quit the band classes as she could not carry one of those puny drums.But then I could not be in the band drill drumming away while someone else carried it for me.So there I was.Back to where I started.Only those trumpets could save my face.Maybe I thought, trumpet was what was meant for me and I could get to play the whole National Anthem's background music unlike those dumb drums.Now that was something I had not thought of before.Bingo!Trumpets!My thing!
Now trumpets were not feather light but atleast I could carry it about.The band master must have realised from the start that I would not get anywhere anyway or he cared less.All the same he did not discourage me from trying out the trumpets.
He explained that for the first week I would have to try and get the windy sound outta the thing.Now that was quite a blow- because I had believed that I would be playing the tunes from day 1- especially when I tried blowing through it the results were either sound of wind through an hose or if lucky, the sound of blowing the nose when you have cold.Patience girl,Patience I told myself.Let us try for a week.Nothing happens in a day.
I continued the ritual for 3 days.The sound from the instrument began to become more audible with the more time I put into it.But on the third day I had lost all my wind ,blowing wind into it and I had my decision.I was quitting before my lungs blew up or I developed a heart attack.And just imagine how it would sound, if it did.Please!I wanted to die in style.
I dropped out.I did not bother to tell the band master what my reasons were.The last I heard from him was via a friend who said that he had asked for me."So are you getting back?"She had asked on his behalf.Err..well..ESCAPE!!!!
Monday, September 17, 2007
KL7-1697
As long as I can remember we have had her.This turd color FIAT Padmini.KL7-1697.Our very first car.It was quite a sight inside our car shed and on the roads.As it raced the roads resplendently the passengers subconsciously gave silent prayers.There was always a "what next?" with our car,'cause it had a dungeon of odd behaviors.
I loved her nevertheless and was possessive too."Ammeee he calls our car a motor boatttt!!!".Everytime Ajithettan visited, I would spill tears of same kind."Tell him that his car is a steam boat".She would say as she winked at him over my head.Not to forget mentioning that the neighbourhood would wake up if we went out in her at night.Talking of waking up people it did get people out of their beds one peaceful night.
As we lazed unassumingly in our house one night we heard our car horn go off.Well no one can ever be sure about the sound of horns.But we never doubted at the sound of ours.Our ears were in synch with its sound quality and frequency.Scared out of our wits we dashed out to find this person who had got into a car to honk at its owners!!
I stiffened when I saw that there was no one in the driver seat.There was no one inside the whole car!The horn was still sounding.Lights were going up in the neighboring houses.Achan unlocked the car door and got into the driver's seat.He looked curiously at the horn button resting at the center of the steering wheel.Realising what was happening he looked around at us sheepishly.Ma glared at him with a look that said all she would have wanted to say."Stop the damn thing!We woke up our neighbours!!!".
Acha asked me to run and get a spanner.Oh yeah some loose connection,it dawned on me.I had been blaming the ghost species.By then our neighbours had solemnly assembled at our gate.Imagine their faces when all they saw was the head of the family seated at the driver's seat honking away in the middle of the night while the rest of the family got entertained watching it!
Acha quicky found the culprit wire-with the horn sounding in the background ofcourse - and cut it short.Silence prevailed.Neighbours dispersed suppressing giggles.We got back in solemnly.Well one more to our Padmini's attributes list..
Epilogue
KL7-1697 still races against time in the roads of Cochin.We gave it away tearfully one spring. By then it had begun engaging in more merciless attributes.Long after we had all assumed that its scraps would be undergoing galvanization I saw it parked alongside the road one day.It had bright yellow flowers placed close to its rear glass.
I loved her nevertheless and was possessive too."Ammeee he calls our car a motor boatttt!!!".Everytime Ajithettan visited, I would spill tears of same kind."Tell him that his car is a steam boat".She would say as she winked at him over my head.Not to forget mentioning that the neighbourhood would wake up if we went out in her at night.Talking of waking up people it did get people out of their beds one peaceful night.
As we lazed unassumingly in our house one night we heard our car horn go off.Well no one can ever be sure about the sound of horns.But we never doubted at the sound of ours.Our ears were in synch with its sound quality and frequency.Scared out of our wits we dashed out to find this person who had got into a car to honk at its owners!!
I stiffened when I saw that there was no one in the driver seat.There was no one inside the whole car!The horn was still sounding.Lights were going up in the neighboring houses.Achan unlocked the car door and got into the driver's seat.He looked curiously at the horn button resting at the center of the steering wheel.Realising what was happening he looked around at us sheepishly.Ma glared at him with a look that said all she would have wanted to say."Stop the damn thing!We woke up our neighbours!!!".
Acha asked me to run and get a spanner.Oh yeah some loose connection,it dawned on me.I had been blaming the ghost species.By then our neighbours had solemnly assembled at our gate.Imagine their faces when all they saw was the head of the family seated at the driver's seat honking away in the middle of the night while the rest of the family got entertained watching it!
Acha quicky found the culprit wire-with the horn sounding in the background ofcourse - and cut it short.Silence prevailed.Neighbours dispersed suppressing giggles.We got back in solemnly.Well one more to our Padmini's attributes list..
Epilogue
KL7-1697 still races against time in the roads of Cochin.We gave it away tearfully one spring. By then it had begun engaging in more merciless attributes.Long after we had all assumed that its scraps would be undergoing galvanization I saw it parked alongside the road one day.It had bright yellow flowers placed close to its rear glass.
It got me started
As achan and I stood at the main hall of my going-to-be first college- for finishing off the formalities for admission- we passed comments on the couples around us.The couples comprised of a parent and child eagerly waiting to finish off the formalities and grabbing at any kind of manna from any one in authority.
Time and again it has been proven that when you are in a crowd and you dont have anything much to do other than wait for something to happen,gazing or rather non-intrusive observation of people around you helps.But then if people around you get hold of the tactic and begin doing the same, you lose interest.
At one such moment when I was cribbing to achan about how bored I was becoming he looked down at me .He seemed to have lost it too.As if he had made his decision he walked towards the huge college bulletin board which covered the entire wall on one side.I wandered around to where he was standing ready to get bored again.As he stood reading the notices put up, I also ran my eyes through the gibberish.They neither made sense nor were enlightening.As I tugged at achan's sleeve to complain again as to how much bored I was he shrugged me off and murmured that he wanted to finish reading something.I followed his gaze to look up at what he was reading.What the! He was keenly studying the exam time table for the 6th sem students!!
"Acha what the!!??" Come lets get back to gazing at people.Leave alone an unassuming wall!"
As we turned around I fell onto the neck of another curious spectator.Gosh! and he was not the only one.The entire herd of couples had swarmed all around us.I could feel their breath on me intense with concentration.As we passed the last of the couples craning their necks to get a peek, achan giggled.
"Now that was fun!!".He said.
We walked back to where we had stood initially.As I looked up at him I realised what he had been trying to do.For the first time ,that day I got a live demonstration of what we popularily call the "Herd Mentality".
Maybe the same factor led me to becoming a blogger.I Also Ran...
Time and again it has been proven that when you are in a crowd and you dont have anything much to do other than wait for something to happen,gazing or rather non-intrusive observation of people around you helps.But then if people around you get hold of the tactic and begin doing the same, you lose interest.
At one such moment when I was cribbing to achan about how bored I was becoming he looked down at me .He seemed to have lost it too.As if he had made his decision he walked towards the huge college bulletin board which covered the entire wall on one side.I wandered around to where he was standing ready to get bored again.As he stood reading the notices put up, I also ran my eyes through the gibberish.They neither made sense nor were enlightening.As I tugged at achan's sleeve to complain again as to how much bored I was he shrugged me off and murmured that he wanted to finish reading something.I followed his gaze to look up at what he was reading.What the! He was keenly studying the exam time table for the 6th sem students!!
"Acha what the!!??" Come lets get back to gazing at people.Leave alone an unassuming wall!"
As we turned around I fell onto the neck of another curious spectator.Gosh! and he was not the only one.The entire herd of couples had swarmed all around us.I could feel their breath on me intense with concentration.As we passed the last of the couples craning their necks to get a peek, achan giggled.
"Now that was fun!!".He said.
We walked back to where we had stood initially.As I looked up at him I realised what he had been trying to do.For the first time ,that day I got a live demonstration of what we popularily call the "Herd Mentality".
Maybe the same factor led me to becoming a blogger.I Also Ran...
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