Watha ummaley (continued)

It was ten minutes to 12 .The soft rustling sound from the trees mystically combined with the silence of the darkness producing a rather strange sense of tranquility . With the fading street lamps far across the horizon and the beautiful moon peeping out through the veils of the clouds , there I was lying on top of the tank on my terrace. The trees swayed sending a whiff of cool breeze across my face. Felt like heaven . there is something special with darkness . Though it has always been associated with negativity I believe its just an illusion . Darkness is beautiful .It does something special to you that you begin to wonder how the most romanticized sunny day has robbed people of the ecstatic pleasures hidden in the darkness of the night.The so called eeriness crawls through your spine giving you a strange chillness but however even that adds to the grandiose of the night .With the silence getting more and more profound , it was just me and the starry sky enveloping all around me getting to enjoy all of these.

" Wish you were here.....
.....so you think you could tell
heaven from hell " ....floyd was mesmerizing me, coming to life through the earphones of my W810.

These guys are the gods when it comes to playing these psychedelic rock . Call it mesmerism or the strange art of losing your senses , but still there somewhere between the conscious and the subconscious ...the music continues ...and you slowly transcend to another world, a world just known to you ...with each and every chord stuck , the higher you go , whoaaaaa maybe I dont know the wright brothers or can neither afford MR Mallyas kingfisher but with floyd playing at their best , I was flying ....It felt so light , my mind was empty , a soothing feel throughout each and every part of my body ... 'wish you were here ' it continued.........

What a day it had been . I was just recollecting each and every moment when suddenly the question popped out "WHAT IS OTHA UMMALE ". Well , on any other day this question would not even have got a first thought leave alone pondering over it and i would have simply said it means motherfucker . But today I was in a different plane or atleast that was how I convinced myself . maybe there is more to it ...

"OTHA UMMALEY " . Its a statement . Its a way of life ...

10th jan , 2000

Taking a deep breath , there I was standing with must be a lot more than a bucket of sweat on my face .Accompanying me were the equally tensed faces of 2o more guys and a equally or must be more tensed goalkeeper . It was the penalty shoot out and getting the ball across the goal would not just mean a victory ,it would end the pathetic consecutive losses that our team had faced against the seniors . This was the closest we ever came to winning thanks to the injury of their best player and we knew we never might get to see this day again. Phew ,that was a lot of pressure . there were no cups to be won but it was the feeling of walking across the field with your heads high . It was about that OTHA UMMALE feel ..
"OTHA UMMALE ,I am going to do it " , I told myself.

The whistle blew and I started of slowly towards the ball gaining momentum in each and every stride and "whoof" the ball glided with my foot brushing against it. for the next few microseconds every heart had stopped beating .The goalkeeper swung across his right side stretching his hand to the maximum .
"yaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh" the thunderous sound broke the silence of the field and before I could realise what was happening I was lifted into the air by a bunch of my team mates and whoa we had won it . OTHA UMMALE we had done it . OTHA UMMALE to the seniors . What an OTHA UMMALE feel.."OTHA UMALEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY" we shouted in unison.....

17th august , 2005

" Macha , I proposed to her yesterday. I dont know how I had the guts to do it. But somehow I told her da . And you know what . She had been waiting for me to tell her this . She knew all this before ...ooooo....She said ok machan.whoaaaaaaa"

These words would mean nothing for anyone except for the fact that it had changed the lives of two people . To one it brought the start of a new life and to one it brought the end........


And the one to whom these words brought the end was none other than me . It still hurts even to type those words . How could she do it??? but why?? and what about all those moments we spent together ??? but didnt she say she likes me ??? is everything a lie ??? ...there were only unanswered questions . And for a few seconds it felt dizzy , like falling through a deep chasm and strangely I never seemed to hit the bottom . Something was pulling at my heart . Seemed like it was getting heavier with each passing minute . It was something I had never experienced before and would pray to gods though I am an atheist that no one should ever get to experience that . In plain simple words it was pain..pain and more pain . The entire world came to a stand still . the pain was just increasing proportionately with the time . Though I used to be a critic of all those dumb poets who equated the loss of a loving one to the pain of death , for once when it comes to experiencing that yourself even death seemed to an understatement.
I kept walking . I didnt know where I was going .
otha ummaley it hurts ....otha ummaley entha ponnungaley eppadi thaan ....
otha ummaley gimme the strength to keep going....
"otha ummaleyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy "I kept mumbling closing my eyes and looking up at the open sky wishing for the pain to transcend up somewhere out of my reach ....These words meant the entire life to me at that moment .


JAN 19th , 2006.

It was just another usual day with no clue or foresight about the same day going to be the greatest day in my life. The clock struck 8 indicating that I had just whiled away yet another hour in my life .Anyway it doesnt matter. I am not that stingy with time . Bored to death I switched on my computer with MR BILL GATES'S invention taking yet another few minutes from my life .

"KATHAL SEITHAL PAVAM " suddenly a voice interrupted . Nothing to worry it was my k750i ringing . "Oh god ...Who is this? " I exclaimed struggling hard to get my seat off the sofa seat . It was an unknown number . Must be the vodaphone guys or the usual "Is it kabeer basha beef stall???" wrong no. With so many permutations and combinations on who the one was I took the phone and said "hello". There was no response from the other end . Hello I said again. After a few seconds of silence a girl's voice said 'Hi , do you remember me??' . Wouldn't I? How could I forget that voice ? the voice that had made my world go around and had made me crazy . Two years had passed , but the memories were still fresh. Watha ummale she is back .Watha ummale my life is back ....watha ummmmmmmmmaleeyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!

A month later , there we were sitting at the premier of the movie "the emily rose"(you obviously know the reason why I chose a horror flick) at the cornermost seat in satyam cinemas .Add to it the ingredients like her tight grip which used to border between pain and pleasure depending on the intensity of the horror scene , the popcorns and cold coffees which filled the gaps if any when we didnt speak , and the giggles for which no one including us would be able to give an explanation." aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa "sreamed the speakers . "aahhhh" (the different and softer one )sounded through my brains as she gripped my hands . watha ummaley life is really funny ...Watha ummaley ,the one whom I lost is back with me . Watha ummmmmaaaaaaaaaleyyyyyyyyy!!!!!

Well watha ummaley ....What does it mean exactly ??? For me its a way of life . Its an atitude towards life . Be it the sorrow , victory , happiness , joy ,ecstacy , pain or whatever be the emotions "watha ummaley" captures the essence of every emotion . Well its a word which you would hear across each and every street of chennai , used in various contexts . I think it brings out the quintessential local flavour of chennai bringing in a deep philosophical context with it . Watha ummale is what you are feeling right now .Its about what you want to be . Its about your dreams .Its about our strength to bounce back each and every time we fall.....

watha ummale to our dreams !!!

Watha Ummale to our success !!!

Watha Ummale to our failure !!!

Watha Ummale to our joy!!!

Watha Ummale to our pain !!!

Watha Ummale to our life !!!!!

Watha Ummmmmmaleyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy !!!!!