A tale of two wheels and a CAST!

I knew this day was coming but I did not know that it would be so close on the heels of triumph. Within a month managed to get my Driving license, drive 30 kms a day and crash land from the bike. Yes, Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall.

So Dear Me was getting to work. As always  I focussed on looking the part and being a big day et al, spent an extra few minutes on the looks department. Eyes lined with khol, hair fragrant from shampoo, lips shimmering with gloss, cheeks powdered up and a trail of my perfume following me.

A Train Ride..

Yesterday was a day filled with nostalgia. The morning was busy with not a minute to rest. I had an incessant cough and plenty of chores to complete before catching my mid-day ride.

I was on board the train, drugged, drowsy and tired, fast asleep even before the TT could confirm who I was. After over an hour of being under a Coma, I woke up.

This is not how I usually travel. I bury my head in a book or drown myself in music. I was too weary to indulge in any of them and just decided to look out.

Voila!

This Place Called - SHIVAJINAGAR

I have been visiting this place for almost 2 years now. My office is located here. Here, this place, where I get a glimpse to a City that was very new to me just a few years back. Today, I feel I know it a little more than what I had expected, in such a short time.

The Audi zipped past me one evening and some days later there was a Jaguar. BMWs are so common here. Latest to this list of exquisite beauties, a Porsche ( say POR-Sha).  Every evening I am treated to the buzz of traffic, smell of dung and garbage which is soon followed by strong musky perfumes.

Here you get to see men clad in White and come September everything turns Peachy-Pink. You hear the Maulvi every day and the Church Priest’s Sermons on special days. Not left far behind is the temple nearby, where in August the festivals are celebrated with some fire.

If I fancy some tea, I can get it, along with some delicious Mutton Biryani. But since I am a vegetarian, I can settle for some tender coconut or some Fruit Salad or spiced nuts or even some sweet corn.

I get to hear a lot of Urdu and also a generous dose of Tamil. There are lot of Malayalam speaking people here too. But the street where I tread daily, Urdu it is.

Supermarkets are normally set in multi-storey buildings and carry central Air Conditioning. Over here, the supermarket spreads across the many roads and shopping is done under the skies unmindful of whether it is daylight or dusk.

When it rains you have to be wary as the roads turn slushy. It is common in any market place and this place is no exception. However I got lucky cause I had gotten a Jinxed Umbrella. Ever since I bought it, there were no rains.

In short, my experience here has been an Eye Opener (and a nose closer). 

And I LOVE YOU 13B (the old faithful that takes me home every evening)

Traffic Signal...

It was a lazy morning with no real task to accomplish. So after a quick shower, dress up and dabbing of some cream-powder-perfume and gulps of a so called breakfast, I was ready.

Faced with the option of a Rs.100 auto ride and a Rs.14 bus ride and given the time available on hand, I decided to do the 700 m dash to the nearest bus stand. There it was, ready and roaring, the bus to my destination, well at least it would be taking much closer to my destination. Window seat and all, I was set. About 45 minutes later, I was on board an auto heading to The Office.

The Auto. It always amuses about how much of my surroundings I am able to take in while in an Auto as compared to the times when I am in a Car. Probably it is cause of the need to stay alert when being driven around by a stranger or the fact that there are no doors and raised glass windows to cocoon you in to a very personal space. In an auto, you are bound to have lots of things coming in and going out.

As the three wheeler kept rumbling and rolling down the road, it came to a stop at a signal. Slowly other vehicles too followed suit. A couple of bikes rolled up in to the front line. Typical.

Typical. It is typical for the auto guys to make abrupt turns and screeching halts. Typical for bikers to criss-cross other vehicles and get in to the tiniest gaps available. It is typical for the car fellas to block the way and take tedious U-turns and park haphazardly. And all the more typical for all of them to blame each of the others for the chaos.

At the signal now, as the vehicles roll to a stop, I take the time to observe my surroundings. Two guys in their courier company's Red - tees, looking anxiously at the signal. A matching red bag slung across their shoulders, unclear whether full or empty. A techie ahead of my auto, with a backpack that says "SAP" with a tiny water bottle tucked to the side, waiting for the signal. On a similar wait I also find two middle aged men, bike-pooling and wearing identical stripped shirts. Then there is a guy sandwiched between two big black bags and one of them read "SONY". Not difficult to guess that it was a Video Camera and his tripod accompanying him.

Just before the signal could turn green, I noticed one other biker with a bag hanging from the side. It was odd. It was a bag that I have seen the milk man carry around in the mornings. It felt out of place with a guy dressed in full formals complete with shoes and socks to match. Still trying to figure that out, I watched as the vehicles now came to life again, well some never really went to sleep.

The cameraman, veered to the lane on the right and vanished from eye-sight. The SAP guy went straight and the colour coded bike poolers rode along. The courier guys, I didn't have extra pair of eyes to follow, never realised where they had gone.

The chaos of further more workind day morning traffic continued and slowly I turned my head down towards the book that I had been reading,  wanting to finish a few more pages before I had to get off. After a stop at two other signals and then a final left turn, finally as my auto ground to a halt, I paid my fare and hopped off, all the while listening to "CHANDRALEKA" on high volume and praying for a place where I could just DANCE.

PS. Did I mention that sudden "SLOCH" sound I heard? Well it was birdie-poo landing splat on the road. Lucky fellows, it missed its mark.

Kannadadhalli maathadadhuke gothu!!

On my way home yesterday, I hailed an auto. The driver immediately responded in HINDI.

Koi baat nahin. I can understand Hindi  But I wondered how he assumed I could. But thats not the point here. Driving down further, I had to give directions. That's when I realised that I was speaking in Kannada to him.

As I struggled to chose between Hindi and Kannada, I realised that this was not the first time for me to get language-mix-mash. It happened once before too. I had to respond to someone speaking in Malayalam. And I blurted out in Kannada. What happened to good old mother-tongue of mine Tamil?

They say that languages come to you easily when you are a kid as your brain is young and fast in learning. Despite science working against me, I did manage to pick a new language in the last 3 years. Well seems that I broke down the CODE of this language.

Starters - Baeku (want), Saaku (enough), Baeda (don't want), Bannee (welcome), OOTAA (food), Thindee (tiffin), Annaa (rice), Saaru / Thilee Saaru (Sambar / Rasam), Bissi (Hot), tannagay (chill), illa (no), oudhu (yes), idhey (is there), aachey (outside), ollagay (inside), maelgadey (on top). Now you can proceed.

Pa to Ha Conversion Theory - Applicable in many places. When in tamil you say Pasu (Cow) in kannada it becomes Hasu. Likewise Paalu (milk) becomes Haalu and Pallu (teeth) becomes Hallu.

But then Palli (lizard) does not become Halli (Village). Mind That. It is better to consult a trusted partner before testing this.

The "u/vu" factor - Lets see - Avaru(him/her),avalu (she), Ivaru(he), neevu(you), naanu(me), naavu(we), namdhu(ours), nimdhu(yours). Point established

Plural-gaLu - Avar-galu, ivar-galu, buss-u-galu, hennu-galu (fruits), tharkari-galu (veggies), car-galu, road-galu etc etc-galu

Bruce Lee - I mean lee for respect, rather some ee for respect. Say Thago vs Thagolee (take) , Ba vs Bannee (come), Kuthko vs kuthkolee (sit), Maadu vs Maadee (instruct to do), Haaku vs Haakukolee (wear).

Thae Thae I will - Jharathae (it will slip/ be slippery), hogathae (it will go)

and with a thaithey  as a suffix you get Present continous gadigalu hoga-thaithey 

Furture continous - tha-iruthey neeru hoga-thairuthey (water will keep going)

Past continuous - tha-iththu 

Strangely the more I learn, the more i discover its similarities with tamil. The grammar and language structure is identical.

Other than the joy of conquering a new language it also gives me an edge. Really like the response I get when I speak to someone in their language. I don't forget to add that I do not know it too well, so as to cover up for the mistakes I make. That makes them even more gracious and accepting of you.

WARNING: USE WITH CARE. PLEASE PRACTICE IN FRONT OF A KANNADIGA FRIEND AND CALL HIM KANAU.

Hope it was useful. Thank you. Bartheenee (See you soon).

to to to Aaauttoooo....

So here I was today morning, walking in the bright hot sun, slowly yet kicking up a dust storm and impatiently chewing at my lips and thereby having lipstick for breakfast.

It is an auto strike and therefore I was forced to walk a few hundred meters and catch a bus. Yes, I am now in advanced stages of Lazy Bum-ness.

My trysts with Auto-wallas has left me with mixed opinions about their clan. There are the good and the bad, the smooth talkers and the ruffians, the honest and the liar and the ones who demand and the ones who beg. Quiet recently I was ditched by two autos in the same evening. The first left me stranded halfway quoting technical difficulties and the second charged me extra extra for no extra effort by him. Since my Jhansi -ki-Rani avatar had gone on a holiday, I turned in to Little-Bo-Peep and paid up.

When in Chennai, I abhor the idea of having to hail an auto to go somewhere. I'd rather travel in an crowded bus than bargain with that slimy auto-driver. When in Bangalore, I would have to repeat my destination to many autos and risk myself a strained voice and neck before finally one agrees. If luck be my side his meter would be correct and i'd be sparred with a confrontation when getting off. Most evenings, Luck would be in the driving seat leaving me to fend for myself.

Chennai :  Auto = Criminal Daring Looters.

Bangalore : Auto = Masters of the Art of saying "NO". (Outcast students of Art of Living?? I wonder!)

There are a few (understatement) BAD memories associated with autos and bet everyone who has ever boarded one would have. And succumbing to the Educated and Decent class expectations, it is I who usually bows down and pays up. One really good memory though. An Angel in disguise helped me and my friends get home when we were stuck some place late evening and the roads leading out were jammed.

But that can't be claimed to be an exception amongst these meanies, because it was a Private Auto.

All said and done, boon or bane I depend heavily on their services. I am actually pretty thankful to the fact that the autos at Bangalore ply with a Meter and I can know what I am being charged.

Finally before saying "The End", I'd like to say "Thank you and Have a Nice Ride back Home"

Tired out...

Wanted to blog a great lot of things, but feeling extremely tired and thereby unable to do so. The reason for my fatigue and the subject of the great things are the same. Without further delay, I shall divulge the secrets

8th July 2011 : The blogger had paid a visit to dear old T.nagar.

There was something important to be done. But once it was dealt with, T.nagar woke the Shopaholic in me. It didn't take much effort to get in to every shop that seemed new and unexplored. Though I am not a fan of window shopping, I walked out empty handed from each little store. To my dismay, I hadn't wasted any money that day. But had spent a lot of energy in all my shop-hopping.

9th July 2011 : The blogger found it difficult to stay at home so left early to work.

Ok, I reached office by 10:30am. From there headed to Perambur (hour long journey) for a holiday with the cousin. It was there that I happened to join in a shopping expedition. A trip to Parrys Corner wholesale market. For the uninitiated, It is an area filled with Things to Buy and consists of many intricately woven tiny streets, each with its own speciality. It is easy to get lost and end up in another part of Chennai altogether. After some good 5hours of Kasi Chetty Street experience, battery got drained.

10th July 2011 : The blogger chose to exit Perambur and enter Mogapair

That meant another hour long journey but in a direction that took me farther away from home. I shall directly move to the best part of the day. A little Miss was dressed up in her new RED frock. That sparked an idea of Little Red Riding Hood. A mini, to-be-shared-with-family video was made featuring the acting talents of Miss Seven, Mister Eleven and Miss Fifteen, directed by Mrs Twenty Seven. This ten minute video was shot just under Two Hours. Shabaaaaa.

11th July 2011 : The blogger had chores to finish

Mogapair to Home. Break. Home to Parrys Corner to T.nagar to Home. T.nagar involved a lot of walking and Trial Room touring. Again I returned empty handed. A disappointed shopper is a drained shopper.


If this post is dull and boring, it is merely because of the fact that I am tired to my bones. With that would also like to grant few days leave to the wonderful people who have patiently read on. If you did find any spark of good writing here, it is purely my genius to write well even when am sleepy. Have spent an entire hour on this and plan to blog soon. Till then I shall recharge.

Good Night and Good Day (Making up for all timing differences)!!!!

Break ke baad!!!

I would recommend this to everyone. A little break. It always teaches you many things.

The words to pen my experience seem to evade my thoughts. Three days that went by beautifully cannot be summarised in 300 words. But here are the few excerpts of my experience:

There can never be enough Rain With that in mind we had planned for the inevitable. July in Kerala means rainfall. But our luck

Warning!!!

This blogger is heading on a pilgrimage to God's Own Country.

Warning to all those who cannot sleep without reading my blog. Kindly look for alternatives in my older posts till my return on Monday.

The Day of the Power Cut!!!

Peak summer and EB has announced a power cut between 9am to 5pm. What would do you? Go to office? Okay, but what about job-less people like me?

Power Cut management is the new order of the day. Faced with this power crisis, we have to plan our work around it to ensure optimal productivity and less resource wastage. Illustrated as below:

the unsaid...

Saar auto saar, Rs.70 'ku Roller Coaster maari auto otinadhuku, nandri.

Saar auto saar, Rs.20 'ku Mother Tongue'la ketta vaartha solli kuduthadhuku, nandri.

Saar auto saar, andha savari kitta avaru thoppai'ku sethu Rs.20 extra ketadhuku, nandri.

Saar auto saar, thapaana right'la thirumbi aparam sandhu vazhiya correctaa eraki vitadhu, nandri

Saar auto saar, auto'ku vela sollama, route'ku mattum vela sonadhuku, nandri

a sumaar day...

early in the morning, had a very auspicious start... as per my new routine was walking at 6:30 am... on one side of the road, stood a few people... i saw them from the corner of my eye..

wearing white shirts, dark pants and a tie... salesmen.. and what were they selling so early in the morning???? suspense.....

I was supposed to start work on a new assignment today.. everything was perfect... perfectly not right...

i was made to sit in a store-room cum cabin... and had to wait for almost half a day until someone noticed i was in there and provided some information... information provided was somewhat connected to my actual work and more directly related to the level of sleepiness i was feeling...
in the end.. i was happy to be out of there... but the sad part is, I have to return tomorrow...

Just 2 days back.. on Sunday.. i was having the time of my life.. a trip to the amusement park... walked in the hot sun... played like a teen (can't say kid cos i was not allowed on kid's rides)... drank litres and litres of pepsi/miranda/sugracane juice/lemon juice/water ( tank was full but still felt very thirsty).... rode the cable car... fell almost asleep in that 30minute ride... and returned home tired and tanned... i can be called Karupaayee till my tan wears off...

back to the start.. what were they selling??? actually i didn't even want to know... they were canvassing for a FREE FAT check up...

Insult.. oru orama pora ennai.. satham potu kooputu fat check panna sonanga...

I was walking peacefully, on the other side of the road, intentionally to avoid them.. and they target me and approach with "Madam"... yappa saami... vidungada...

TALK TO THE HAND... and i escaaaaaaapeeee...........

Coffee break...

Had a coffee break just 15mins after entering office today.. and the coffee break extended for a fully 20mins.. coffee gup shup...

today is about something during the lunch break rather...so the guy eating from the canteen says that his wife is out of town.. and so claims his status to be Married Bachelor... I almost said "It must be fun"...

Not as a joke but rather as a matter of fact.. as a Married Spinster myself (status since last 2months).. i have enjoyed every bit of the change it brings.. it is like a holiday of sorts... like when u have worked too hard u deserve the vacation... not exactly in my case.. but still vacations are always fun...

that brings me to Mother's day... as i have returned home after almost 2 years...I am enjoying every bit of it.. distance helps u realise the worth of things...

so what about mother's day??? well since i am at home after a long time.. my mother takes extra special care of me.. and makes sure that i have everything that i always liked and which she knows i have missed in the past 2 years...

that makes going back difficult.. cos now i know what i am missing...not the food... but the love and affection... dad included of course..

it should rather be father's and mother's day... cause they are both equally important..why leave the father's behind??? why don't we celebrate both together?? but that would mean business loss to many...

taking about loss.. i have lost 2 kilos as against the one kilo i posted earlier.. and i also lost a lot money as fees for this... :)helps having deep pockets..

i enjoy having a deep pocket... i constantly keep an eye on my bank balance.. i am not a miser.. i am a big spender.. so i earn today and save now, so that i can splurge tomorrow..

Tomorrow being a tuesday, does not bring much hope as there are 4 more working days left..

Of the above, my husband is going to spend 2full days hopping flights to attend an half day meeting at a different country on a different continent...

which brings me to the fact that my passport remains brand new.. even after it being OLD... it was taken 8 years ago.. hope i get a visa chaap before i stop resembling the pic in it or the passport expires, whichever is earlier..

"whichever is earlier", comes out so because i have been reading the Accounting Policy of a company recently and hence the terminology...

with that.. i chose to Terminate this post.. as i can go on like this.. and hope u enjoyed this Anthakshari... which was unintentional for the most part and then very laboured towards the end...

Must haves...

You... being a girl... (boys ignore).. Must have

1. a water proof eyeliner.. colourless lip gloss.. lip liner and atleast 1 shade of party wear lipstick

2. a paddle brush to untangle ur hair and a round brush if u like to have little wavy curls..

3. black and white sets of salwar/chudi pants with duppata for almost all conceivable mix-match solutions...

4. a pair of jeans(if u wear them)... the colour being Light Blue is the must have...

5. some kurtis in ur wardrobe and some party wear salwar sets...

6. atleast one pair of footwear that go with ur party wear..

7. a pair of casual chappals... (even when travelling).. the ones that keep u most comfortable...

8.a set of PEARLS... they are cheaper that other semi/precious stones and suite almost everyone and can complete any type of wardrobe... from casual to elegant...

9. your phone on full charge every morning and a wallet with minimum cash and your plastic money...

10. Good sleep, good food and a Confident smile...

When in Travel with Old Men

Thatha 1 and me in the same bus... he is almost 80... sitting in the midst of women...

thatha: (after talking to all other ladies) where do u work ma? u travel this route regularly??

Me: (had to stop listening to music to reply) i am working in a CA firm... ya i travel daily..

thatha: what have u studied?? and ur husband??

me: i am a CA... so is my husband..he works nearby...

thatha: so u have done ur B.Com? (he doesnt know what is CA)..you have to go home and cook?? (looking out the window) this is Taj hotel... very good...

me:(looking at the over-sized tea stall called Taj hotel).. oh ok!!


Thatha 2 and me...once again in bus...

thatha:(in kannada) which bus stop comes first BDA or petrol bunk?

Me:(again was listening to music)..sorry? i didnt get ur question.
he repeats and i answer explaining that i dont know kannada much.

thatha: what phone is this..

me: sony ericsson

thatha:(taking phone away from my hand) this can record music? this has camera also? how much is it?

me:(slightly shocked by the invasion of privacy) yes..yes..now it costs 4k..

then he spared me conversation and went on with his AAAAwwws (yawns) and aaarrbsss (burps).... and finally moksh for me when he got down...


just 1 question.... why dont they realise that person listening to music is (a) not interested in conversation and (b) cant hear a thing when u talk to them

but on a final note..maybe they are lonely and need someone to talk to...

final opinion is.. if u can take it...sit next to an older person.... if u cannot steer clear...

When boarding a train...

when boarding a train...

1) check whether u have the ticket..

2) check train timings...

3) check the DATE...

4) check platform, coach, seat, luggage

Have a safe journey....

But when me and my colleagues followed all the steps above.... me missed out one small detail...

- check date and time together in correlation with each other....

why???? u may ask...

that is cos we had asked the travel agent to book the Friday night train.... which leaves at 1am.... and he had booked the Friday 1am train aka Thursday night train...

what happened next??? we checked that the ticket was for Friday(date matched)... saw the time as 1am... and dumbly noted that Friday night we have to catch the train...

catch the train we did.. running and jumping into it and our luggage thrown in after us... the adventure had already begun....

and catch us did the TT do... cos we had an expired ticket in hand...

finally with jus 2k in hand and 4 ticketless travellers... we managed to give a cut to 2 TTs and book general tickets and change compartments in the next big station...

the luxury of 2nd AC was given up so that we cud have some money left atleast for some chai paani the next day...

so be warned and stay alert...some adventures are fun...and the others are called a SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS...

When in Kerala...

When in Kerala.... watch out for one thing.... God's own country has all the beauty and picturesque scenes to offer any tourist... but it also has one minor problem... bandhs...

bandhs are a common phenomenon...and when will one be called upon no one can predict... this particularly puts travellers to the state in a bit of a fix... especially when u have other places to go to... trains or flights to catch to a different location and so on and so forth...

this is stemmed from a trip to kerala my family and I had taken up sometime back... we were on our way to Guruvayoor... we had just reached Ernakulam and had been to Chotanikara... that is when we learnt that the next day it was a bandh... problem was that we had to get to Guruvayoor that night itself...else our return would be jeapordised...

getting out of Chotanikara itself became a task..due to the following day bandh, bus services to Ernakulam were already halted... finally bargained and hoped into a rick to the city.... there another trouble awaited us.... buses to Guruvayoor...

we ended up travelling all night long on a bus to Thrissur and thereon on a bus to Guruvayoor... the entire journey was done standing due to the huge crowd... finally on landing in Guruvayoor we had to search for a place to stay also... because of the bandh all hotels were full....

luckily we were able to find decent lodging and managed to find few hotels in operation...

it was one travel that will not be easily forgotten... and the bandhs will never keep us away from Kerala either....