AWAY WE GO!

Do you have to sometimes pinch yourself several times because you can't believe what is happenning to you because it seems too good to be true? Well, that was the way i felt when i was standing in the railway station with my friends waiting for the Chennai-Allepey Express. There we were, the seven of us, and for the first time in my life, nobody elderly was there to see me off. We were all by ourselves, fooling around and teasing each other. It looked more like as if we were all set for a tour rather than heading for an international seminar held by the WHO.

The 7 of us were:

Mr. D: wearing a full sleeved shirt (as usual) and not so sure about what to do next(again, as usual). "Should i buy the soap or the cards or a cup of coffee first? or maybe i'll buy it when i reach chennai, or maybe..."

Ms. M: looking around as if she knows all and is the very picture of a mother hen looking around at her chicks. (But in actual fact she was the only one who cried when saying bye to her mum while leaving for the railway station.)

Ms. N: smiling and giggling in her charcteristic "quiet" way (she makes me feel like a clown because she everytime giggles when she looks at me). she claims to not feel excited but i know that she is. This trip brings her sweet memories of those few months she had spent in Ooty.

Ms.D: with that blunt look on her face, you'd think she is devoid of feelings. at times, though, she shows out those calcinated teeth of hers on the slightest provocation and answers back amidst broken laughter, in a mixture of english, malayalam and gujurati.

Sr. T: complains about the rain and about the dirt splattered on her dress(all nun sisters seem to have that common worry). she had packed three sets of sarees, carefully washed and ironed, for the trip.( I pointed out to her that nobody would know even if she didn't change coz all da sarees are of the same colour. )whatever said and done, though, you'd think twice before doing any kind of mischief when she is around.

Mr.K: dressed in a T-shirt and trousers, has a school-boyish look, especially with that naughty smile and twinkle in his eyes. At 1st sight, one wouldn't think he was the tour organiser and the official leader of our group.

Me: extremely excited but apprehensive because i'm well aware that the 7 of us could blow up like dynamite even over a slight disagreement - big ego problems most of us have...

The only time i sighed with regret was when the bangalore express passed by us...i would've been on my way to bangalore and not to chennai if i was not given permission to attend the seminar...whatever said and done, i always dream of that cold place...

(to be continued)

MA 5 ADDICTIONS

Rampi, wise guy, decides ta tag me again...

n here goes....

i'm addicted to:

1) MUSIC- music works like a wonder drug for me...it can give me the high even when i'm feeling soooooo low...

2) SLEEP-something i can't do without even on a hectic day...i can actually put my pen and answer sheet aside, in the middle of an exam and go to sleep...

3) SALT- i like eating granules of salt (when nobody's watching, ofcourse)...

4) SOLITUDE-i 've got to have time to actually sit back, everyday, and think and daydream...all by myself or else i'll be totally out of sync...

5)COFFEE AND TEA-i didn't realise that until lately, when someone asked me if i developed a headache if i skipped the morning drink...

A HAPPY DEATH ANNIVERSARY TO YOU....

the 27th of Sept 2008 was a day i wasn't looking forward to. It happened to be my grandpa's and grandma's death day (bless their souls) and mum came up with this great idea, a few months back, of honouring their souls by having the parish priest celebrate a mass for their souls, saying a few prayers over their graves and providing my uncles and aunties and their children with breakfast and lunch ("Grandma would feel so proud!", mum said) Knowing how much grandma had done for her children and her children's children, I shared (as much as i could) in my mum's enthusiasm and said, "yea, why not?!". On the 26th of Sept, on my way home, i groaned inside. Being a co-hostess (or whatever you call a person who helps the main hostess) is not an easy job-you'll have to engage in all the pleasantries of the occassion, smile in an appropriate manner (it shouldn't be too wide either), serve the people around with refreshments in a very quiet and polite way (ugh!), shouldn't laugh or talk too loud, answer the questions politely even though you feel like strangling the quesstionner, etc.,etc,....and worst of all, CONTROL THE KIDS!...

The next day, we went to the grave, decorated it with flowers and candles, attended the 1st morning mass, said a few prayers over the grave and walked back home with our relatives. The kids were the first ones to gather around me while i was unlocking the door and they pushed and shoved each other, chattering away in their shrill voices about their latest adventures. I wearily got down to buiseness- making juice to satisfy those tiny, parched throats, setting the fire so that mum can make tea over it (we use the prehistoric method of cooking and heating food...we stopped using the stove that works on gas a long time back)...after the initial refreshments, i sit down in the dining room and watch the kids play around the dining table. Miraculously, they weren't running around but were playing with their hands and fingers. They shout and bawl and hooray and fight with each other. The entire thing is a mess and i find it difficult to figure out what's going on. I politely interrupt and ask about the rules of the game and they all scream it out, all at the same time. I get a rough idea and join in. When i successsfully start winning, the eldest and the most smartest stands up and says, " I QUIT!". Very soon, they flock around me and start asking riddles like:

KIDS: A bird was flying in the air and happened to lay an egg but the egg didn't hit the ground. Why?

ME: coz twas wearin an underwear

KIDS: NOOooooooooo.....

ME: Aaaaah, i dunno

KIDS: coz it had it's zip CLOSED.....HaHAhA!!...

ME: hey, not fair! that was cheatin!

and the kids do the red-indian dance around me.

Just when i was starting to enjoy myself, mum says,"It's time for breakfast" and i regretfully leave the dining table. The rest of the day turned out to be quite boring but bearable- serving the kids breakfast, serving the big people in the next batch, sitting down with the whole lot to say the rosary (i slept through half of it) and later settling down for lunch.

For lunch, i sat down last with the gossipy aunties and everything went well until they started talking about marriage proposals and the like...

Aunty 1:....she's a sweet girl basically, but she's a little dark and short...

A2: Hhmmmm, yes, now, that's a problem...

(i glumly observe that their own daughters don't happen to be beauty queens themselves)

A3: and did you know that so and so didn't agree to that proposal because he got to know that that devil-of-a-girl had a boy friend?

A4: Oooooo...what a mess she's in...

(i gulp and wonder if anybody would if they digged out the "skeletons in my closet")

A5: the youth these days are simply impossible...especially the girls....too much of an attitude problem...blah,blah,blah....

I feel slightly uncomfortable and pissed off. one would think that their children (who are married off) were perfect and didn't have problems of their own. I've lost my appetite and i long for the companionship of those care-free kids who are playing upstairs...

A TAGGY POST.

Aw crap, your iPod’s jammed on one song! And you won’t be able to get it fixed for a week! What song do you hope to christ it’s stuck on?

*"if ur not the one"-daniel beddingfield...i'd listen 2 it till i become erotomanic...

You learn that your new cable package has the Anytime Movie Channel! Which movie do you immediately flick to?

*LOTR-the trilogy...i can't cum n do da chores now, mum...da movie's not over and there are no ads in between...

You walk in the front door and smell dinner cooking! What makes you go, “Oooh, I like that!”?

*hmmm, nothin in particular...anything (edible ofcourse) would make me salivate if my poor ol stomach is empty...

What’s your favourite season?

*winter...i like snugglin under my blanket wid a book or my music player n later wid my own personal laptop...

What’s your favourite word?

*nothing....as in, i have no favourite word in particular

And your least favourite?

*SHUT UP...ooops, i've typed in two...

If you could be anything in the world when you grow up, what would you be?

*i wanna be a rockstar....or mayb a yogi....i think i've got a dual personality...and thats what makes it hard for me to decide...

What’s your pet peeve? C’mon, you can tell us! What makes you go, “ARGH!!!!”?

*people talking confidently about something they entirely have no clue about...BLAH,BLAH,BLAH...

And finally… Which celeb makes you go all fluttery and swoony whenever you see a picture of them?

*none, i know of...

and i tag REJOY and MAGGIE...

OBSESSED?

PAP'S OBSESSION

"(jingle, jingle)...hey, mum what's this!....(jingle. jingle)....hu?!hmmm, pap's coin collection....(jingle,jingle)....weird, i never noticed this craze before...aaaah, pap's weird sometimes, i guess...i guess i've got to put it back.... " In many other tin containers and small pouches pap's stored up coins...not the rare ones, just the usual coins...weird!

MUM'S OBSESSION

"nooooo!", i groan..." you can't just up root those plants, mum...it belongs to someone else". Mum looks around stealthly and says,"shhh, don't shout! These are just the stray ones...they wouldn't notice...they've got lots anyways...and even if they want to maintain their beautiful garden, they'd want to pluck out the extras...and...blah, blah, blah..."...sigh!mum should've been a lawyer...she stands up, dusts her saree while triumphantly holding on to the poor plants. what makes matters worse is the fact that that's not the only obsession.

-"did you just dust this place ponni?! OH MY GOD! there's an eenny, weeny particle of dirt here"

-"did you pray today? and yesterday? and the day before yesterday, and oh! we didn't go to church today!!..."   

BIG BRO'S OBSESSION OF THE SERIAL "FRIENDS"

"..and like i was saying, that incident just reminded me of an episode in friends...Ross comes along and says, "hey dude, what's the thing about....." and monica says,"hmm, don't really know..." and....HAHAHA!!!....that was sooooooo FUNNY!!", says big bro and wipes the tears from his eyes. i politely laugh along and say,"it must sure be funny when ya really see it, huh?haha...hmmm". 

BIG SIS' OBSESSSION OF HER ONLINE TUTORING CLASSES

"so big sis, wazzup?!"i ask. "well, nothing actually....oh yes!did i tell u this? i just got through my 1ooth online interview and as expected they liked me and all, were willing to take me in, which is not so surprising, but the pay was low, atleast not as expected...and yes, i've got a new student and he/she insists on me teaching (which is not surprising at all, you know)  and...." -the one-sided phone conversations goes on for another hour...

A FRIEND'S OBSESSION OF DWELLING ON "THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE" 

"you've got to transcend reni...just imagine that you are happy and you will be happy (duh!) and that's not all....think, think about "THE SECRET"...it's got a scientific basis, you see..."a friend says while  i sit back and listen trying hard to quip in my opinions and casual observations...

FRIEND NO. 2's OBSESSION OF MASALA DOSA

"i'm hungry!"whines another friend....i look at her startled and say, "but we just had lunch!" "huh!yea, but i'd like to have a masala dosa...just one...tis been a long time since  i had one, you know....hmmm, lemme see today's tuesday aaaannnndd the last time i had one was when i went home last weekend....aaaahhh yes, i had one last sunday.....awww, that's such a long time back....i want to have one NOW!"

MORAL OF THE STORY: we all have obsessions of one sort or the other, at some particular period of time or maybe even throughout our lifetime...it's not an abnormality, ofcourse...just something we've got to live with...ask me about mine, and i'll give you a list :-)... 

Travelling by bus is one of the most irritating things i've got to constantly go through in life. Waiting for the right bus is irritating enough especially if you have a heavy load to carry and you know that you look tired, disoriented and stupid. The luggage ofcourse is sometimes used as a weapon to force my way through the rush and crowd without being touched in the "wrong" places...when i am finally in the bus, i'll have to literally struggle to get a seat, or atleast find a decent place to stand...what with my load and harrassed look, all the "elderly", "wise" women will be looking at me soberly and i know i'm obliged to give them a "sorry" look (now it's different ofcourse....i've forgotten how to look polite)...when the bus starts to fill, and leans to one side because of the weight, i realize that i don't have the space to stand on my 2 feet firmly...there's something wet and sticky on my face, and i understand that it's the oil from the oil-soaked hair of the lady standing in front of me...some don't really bother about the injury their own hands and legs bring about when trying to survive in the oxygen-depleted-bus...when suddenly, the brakes are stepped on, everybody falls forward (just like it's predicted in the"law of inertia")...the consequences basically depends on the body built of those around me...either i'll be smashed to pulp, or i'll be poked in the ribs, or my body may be in danger of being split into 2 from the waist downwards(if a short stout lady happens to be standing behind me and falling forward)...the unfortunate girls or ladies pushed to the back, where the men are standing, will be trying desperately to get away from the clutches of those "losers" who seem to be forever touching or stroking "by mistake"...when i finally reach my destination, i wade through the sea of people to get to the exit, bags and all...after checking if i'm still in one piece, i'm glad that i've finally made it and that i'm out...but this feeling of accomplishment and relief is not enough to bring me to a state of ecstasy when i'm on my way to the next bus...

A CATHARSIS

It's sure difficult to catch up with life and with what goes around...sometimes i feel like my head is spinning round and round....i've got so many things to think about, but i know i'm getting nowhere....i've got so many things to do, i've left a lot of things undone, and worst of all i sometimes feel that i'm behind in the rat race...oflate, life has taught me a lot, but for some reason i feel that i'm also missing out on a lot...for some reason, i feel that i'm not smart enough to learn and remember everything i'm taught...there are things i want to do...things i want to make...things i want to discover...things i want to invent...but at the end of it all, i give up and accept the fact tht it's okay to be "dumb" once in awhile and relaaaaaxxxxxx....i am still who i am, and nothing is gonna change that!!!

AND I FELL IN..........A DITCH!!!

my holiday trip to bangalore started in Jan with a BANG!!...the very first day we arrived at bangalore, mum insisted on going to church ( it's a widely accepted fact that mum's very religious)....since it's not so far away and we can reach there in 20minutes walking, i and mum walk to and from church for the daily 5:30pm mass....on this particular day we were both walking through the usual shortcut my pap often warned the both of us not to take when alone or when it's dark...it was around 6pm, and we were doing just what we were forbidden to do -walking through the shortcut in the dark.... "hey mum, i think we're walking the wrong way! i can't find the ddDAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh..........!(surprisingly i was aware that i yelled out in a tune that roughly sounded like a religious hymn we sang in church that day) " CRASH! i groped around in the dark to find what i had gotten myself into and realised to my horror that i was standing (or rather trying to stand) right in the middle of a ditch. Since my hands, hips and feet had badly been hurt (uhuh! scraped it against the rough concrete sides of the ditch during the fall. Ouch!), i could think of nothing but the pain. i could see mum's dark profile above me and though i couldn't see her features properly, i knew that she was in complete agony. before mum could do something silly like jumping in to get me, i heaved myself up and sat on the side of the ditch. the effort made my head spin and all i could say was, "mum, i'm okaaaaaaaahhhh!!" i blacked out and for a moment i thought i was going to die or something. When i came by, i noticed my poor mum standing next to me, holding me with while rubbing her stomach with the other (mum always has gas trouble in her stomach when she is in a state of shock). mum somehow managed to get an auto and we reached home safely. once inside the flat, i folded up my pants a bit to have a good look at my wound and i almost vomited....a huge chunk of my flesh, just below my knee, had been scraped off and there was blood everywhere. Mum started her stomach massage again. She fussed over me for the next few minutes, applying holy oil on the wound, chanting a series of prayers and at last giving me a glass of warm milk for my broken bones and still fluttering heart. i found it difficult to forgive myself for fainting just because i fell into a ditch...well, we've all got our weak spots...

ONCE UPON A SPOOKY NIGHT!

The worst part of being a senior is trying to convince the rest of them that you are mature enough to handle things yourself and setting a nice example. What with my broken Malayalam, bizarre character and weird ideas, literally nobody takes what i say seriously. It so happened that one day, i was sitting in the hostel mess hall along with three other first years. The poor girls were studying for a physiology exam they had the next day while i was sitting in a corner reading "The Other Side of Midnight" by Sidney Sheldon. The three of them being very comical and likable characters, made an otherwise ordinary event, remarkably hilarious. Sangu, kept yawning every five minutes and seemed least interested in studying her stuff. Her chubby cute face was a picture of boredom. While Anu occasionally woke up from her slumber and tried to study with sudden bursts of energy, Winnie had her eyes glued in her text only occasionally peeping sideways to see what the rest were up to. The heroine of my book had found the guy of her dreams (for the hundredth time) and i was so sure that she'd settle with him till the end, he being a handsome and charming man, when all of a sudden we hear a scraping noise at the door. Sangu opens her bleary eyes and has this quizzical look on her face. Anu looks blankly at the door and looks on with despair. winnie is still glued to the book and seems to be so involved that even a hurricane might not have disturbed her. It's easy to make up a story and scare the shit out of these innocent juniors provided they have atleast a seed of doubt or fear. These three bonkers seemed indifferent to what was happening in their environment and i couldn't have made them scared even if i was the best story-teller in the world. i gave it a try any ways......
Me: " did you just hear that sound?"
Anu: "twas the wind."
Me: "no, it wasn't!"
Sangu: "i'm feeling sleepy"
Winnie: "go sleep. it's ok. i'll come after some time."
Me: "it wasn't the wind. it's the sound of something scraping on the door. maybe a white cat or something.....ooooohhhh......"

The three of them look at me in a matter-of fact-way and seemed to tell me, "you cannot fool us ", when exactly, at that same time, we hear the sound again. Impulsively we look at the clock and to our surprise we discover that it's twelve- midnight. There's an eerie silence after that

Me: ahem, well did you guys know something?....aaahhh, well, i'll tell it to you tomorrow....you might have to spend a sleepless night if i did....you've got a physiology exam tomorrow and i don't want to disturb you...

"aww, c'mon...tell us". i notice that Sangu's eyes have opened an inch wider.

Me: i don't believe it myself ofcourse but everybody else seems to...(and i narrated an incident that happened two weeks back in the hostel itself, after midnight. two girls reported that they had heard a heart wrenching scream from one of the rooms and immediately saw a white cat run just past them and disappear into thin air. they had gone to each room to see who had screamed, but found out that everybody was fast asleep . Moreover, they didn't have the slightest clue of where the cat had disappeared. this incident scared the hell out of a few girls in the hostel. i assured them that i didn't make up the story)
well, it could be the white cat scraping at the door....."

Little did i know, when i uttered those words, that the next day i would be the butt of a joke. While i was having breakfast the next day, i noticed that a group of first years were actually looking at me and giggling. Anu asks loudly, "well did the white cat have a white dress on?", and the others burst out laughing. i indignantly reply, "Hey, i never said that! why don't you imagine the cat in diapers while you are about it! Afterall all even ghosts may need to shit".

NOW THIS IS THE LIFE!!

i can't get a grip of what's happening around me...the ending of the year 2007 and the starting of the year 2008 were simply wonderful....what with the frequent trips to bangalore and the movies and the extra fun and sense of freedom.....i can go on and on and on......and just for the heck of spicing up life a bit, i have these horrendous internal exams and university boards to keep up my drooping spirits....now that's being sarcastic!....

December 20th 2007

i board the train to bangalore ALONE....with not a care in the world...my "concerned" relatives say it's not safe....my friends open their eyes at the very idea of me travelling alone ("but you are so dumb!", they say.)....but i'm still brave and i go ahead to board the train, settle down in my berth and stare out of the window....."hey!who switched off the lights!....damn!the windows are tinted!...

December 21st 2007

i turn 21 and i feel all grown up and big overnight....i get down from the train and look around for my pap and mum....pap comes striding, asks me to stay where i am, so that he can go off looking for mum who got overly worried and wandered off in the opposite direction looking for me.....mum comes gasping, unable to contain her excitement like as if it's been years since we've met, when it's been only a month-long separation....she kisses me on my cheeks and forehead and calls me sweet names(the kind you call newborns)...... sigh!i'm not a grown up afterall...

night: we cut the cake after having come back from church....we take only a snap or two (since nobody is willing to face the camera)....

December 25th 2007

by now mum has managed to fatten me and big bro with good food...it's cold in bangalore and i am forever snuggling in my big warm blanket (when pap is not around, ofcourse...."why does she sleep all day?"he often asks).....i and big bro go to see "om shanti om"...while both of us say, "wooow!now that was funny...haha!good one......" at all the right moments....we also shed silent tears at the emotional parts, ashamed to say that we're actually feeling for this om prakash.....

December 26th 2007 to 27th 2007

we (pap, mum and i) fly off to bombay for a cousin bro's engagement....during our wait in the air port mum and pap deliberately and casually ignore the foreigners who are all set for vacationing in goa...i regret not having a friend with me to pass comments and openly goggle at the romancing couples...the engagement is a small one and all the keralites there seem to be having a hard time trying to look cool...the combination of styles and fashion statements makes my head hurt....but i smile to myself and say that this is an engagement i'll never forget...

December 27th 2007

we are on our way back to kerala to spend just one hour at my big sis's place...it's late in the night when we reach there...but her in-laws greet us warmly and show us the new born baby my sis's sis-in-law have given birth to...i tickle the feet to show that babys' curl their toes as a reflex...when that doesn't work, i say,"hmmm, just wait and see, it'll curl its fingers around my little finger if i touch its eeny weeny palm with my little finger"....and when that doesn't work, i say, "i think this babe's from mars".......so much for the child psychology i've learnt....

December 28th 2007

we are aboard on the train to vellankani...on our way to the holy place of pilgrimage to the church of "our lady of vellankani"...it's my 3rd trip there this year and i tiredly reflect on if i'll be able to go for the remaining 13 trips, my mum promised God that i'd go for......since it's a chance for me to see a bit of the outside world, i don't complain...

January 1st 2008 onwards

i come back to college and i very well know that i've got to face the internal exams in a few days....yuck! life's boring all over again and i sit in front of all those notes without even bothering to read a word....and then comes a brain wave.........why don't i go to bangalore again!......just a small visit....just for 10 days or so......

January 9th 2008 (on the day of my last internal exam)

i plan with big bro on another visit to bangalore, although i know that it'll be nearly impossible to do so....but miraculously my pap and mum agrees....

January 11th 2008

i'm excited and i can hardly believe my luck...i grin like a fool at everybody and can't contain the excitement any longer....what's more, is that lady luck smiles on me and i get to meet up with my old friends, go for another movie, and get a taste of a little more freedom.....

(to be continued)