The magic of love !!!

The heart beats got faster .He could hear himself taking a deep breath for each and every Milli second . He convinced himself that it must be because he had run almost a kilometer . Few seconds later he knew for sure it was not because of that . She was coming.... He could see her through the minute gaps between the trees of the garden which stood between him and the next street. The flowers seemed to be mocking at him as they kept moving with the gentle breeze , hiding her face and when he moved to see her, they followed . Well must be because they were jealous . Not must be , Certainly they are jealous of my sandya ...my own sandya - he thought .A chill breeze swept across him....

Sandya had joined the school a month back . Her father had got a transfer from ooty to chennai . And the day he saw her he knew she was special . It was something beyond his comprehension . He used to spend the entire day watching her ... her little nose,her cute ponytail , her round eyes which spoke a strange language understood only by him , and each and every time she pushed the two strands of hair which covered her forehead , his heart would skip a beat . It was a strange feel . And when she smiled it was even more stranger.... Felt like something was stirring inside him , and it became stronger and stronger .He felt the void in his heart and sometimes the deep chasm seemed to deepen further. He forgot the entire world , it was just her . Sandya ...as the name echoed through the tunnels of his heart , he slipped into a trance ...maybe nirvana or maybe something more pure , more divine and beautiful...

"Hi , I am sandya. Can we be friends " his angel had cast a spell on him two weeks back ...They shook hands . And it slowly transformed into those never ending phone conversations ,those secret glances , those you-are-more-than-my-friend dialogs , those innocuous happy-married-life dreams and those ever sweet "I love you "dialog rehearsals before the mirror....

The chill breeze brought him back .
"Hey , sandy ...wait..What a surprise . Long time...So how was your day ", he called out.
"We spoke for three hours yesterday . That's a pretty long time I guess " she replied notoriously but he was already lost in her eyes ..

He strolled along with her while she kept talking . But somehow he could never hear . He always kept getting lost in her eyes . But however he heard what those round little eyes had to say. Only he could hear those ....

He kept walking beside her slowing his steps to suit hers . She was a bit slow . But even the rhythmic movements of her walk added to the tranquility. And suddenly the back of her palm brushed against his unknowingly . He felt an indescribable dizziness inside his head . A cold wave swept across him and he couldn't make out whether he was still in the ground or flying . "Is this heaven ", he wondered...He just looked upto the sky and wondered why people thought it was up there . A drop of rain splashed on his eyes .It had started drizzling. He knew it for sure now . He was in heaven ...

"Oye , dumbo . Do u love rains "she asked ..

"ya "...but not just the rains he mumbled to himself ...

She kept kicking at the water, which eventually landed on him .
"ha ha " she laughed .Different forms of mesmerism he thought .

In a few minutes it started pouring .
"Lets stand under the shade near that house "he told her secretly thanking the rain god .
"But why go that far . We will stand here " she replied . But before that he had almost reached the place and she had no option but to follow.

"How nice it would be if we could have some hot coffee ..."she shivered.There was not a single soul in the entire lonely street leave alone a chai-wallah .

"Do you believe in magic " he asked her..

"Ya , sometimes "...

"Then just close your eyes " he winked .

A few minutes later there she was sitting on a couch with a hot cup of coffee in her hand .

"Idiot , I will kill you . You never bloody told me that it was your home " she laughed .

"Shut up princess ..How is the coffee " he smiled ...

"Not bad Mr magician. You make decent coffees too " she gave her cutest smile till date ...

"By the way , what happened to your mom MR MAGICIAN "

" I made her vanish for I wanted some time alone with my princess " he smiled mischievously .

The laughs continued ...

He just got reminded that she was wet and went inside and took a towel . He wanted to play around and so concealed the towel at the back of his hands . He went near her . She looked at him. . She was beautiful as always .

"Oye ..I ..umm ..err." he fumbled ...she knew it . He could see it in her eyes .
"I thought you would be better off if you could use the towel " he stammered .

She took the towel threw it back and stood staring at him. She looked as if she had landed straight from heaven . She took a step towards him for another step would mean she would have to pass through him.

"So MR MAGICIAN ...tell me " ...Her mesmerizing voice echoed .

"Do you believe in magic " he again asked her ...

She just stared without replying .

He just took her palms and placed it on his heart .

"What do u feel "

She closed her eyes for a second and then looked into his eyes . It said everything . He didn't need her to talk sometimes .

"Now I shall be telling you the magic words . Listen to it carefully and repeat ."

"Ya . I am listening " she whispered .

"I love you " he said ...

There was a strange prolonged silence . Didn't know whether it was from the calm-before-storm feelings inside his heart or from the stillness of the atmosphere outside .
He looked at her . She still had her soft rosy palms on his heart . He felt a slight shiver in her palms . A little drop of of tear which was hiding itself in her heavenly pupil came down ...

"I love you too " she whispered . And she smiled innocently ...

Click ...The eternal and everlasting moment was photographed by a lightning .

He just placed his hands on her palms on top of his heart and said " Jee Boom Ba !!" he lifted her palms ...." My heart is no more here . Its all yours ......."

He gently blew away the two beautiful strands of hair across her forehead and looked into her eyes .

Resembling the motion of a flower swaying in the zephyr , she gently came forward , kissed him and whispered into his ears " I love you my dear MAGICIAN ..."

The magic is done . The magic of love .

Changing desires !

1990...(age of 4 )

"Bujju , What do u want to be when you grow up ?" my mom was casually asking me trying to push in, one more handful of food into my mouth...
"Ma I want to be a doctor " I replied enthusiastically .
"Aah thats my boy . I am really proud of you . And may I know why ?? " , she asked curiously.
"To put injection to Appa " I retorted immediately ....
She soon burst into a laughing spree soon accompanied by my dad who was a silent spectator till then eavesdropping the entire conversation ...

"Ma I want to be a doctor " and thats how it started .......


1996 , (at the age of 10)

It was some function at my place . And as always swarms of my relatives had come . "Do you know me " they would ask . Honestly there were hardly 1 0r 2 that I could recognize . But as per the instructions from my mom I always replied " Oh sure aunty .. How can I forget you "...and thankfully they never asked anything beyond that..But on that day they had an extra question . As soon as they started talking with me my mom would signal them to ask as to whom I would be marrying . "Arun , who will you be marrying ".... "Kushbooo..." I would reply immediately . And what followed was the thunder bolt of laughter...
And they would again repeat the same question and I would still reply " I will marry only Kushboo"..

Seriously at that point of time my only aim in life was to marry kushboo ( sorry SUNDAR C )... And no wonder they laughed . And no wonder I laugh now....

"Ma , I will only marry Kushboo ...." the flashback keeps flashing across .

2000, (at the age of 14)

"Guruswamy , Monak Chand , Thamarai Chelvan , Sasi and me . Henceforth we shall be called The Pamous Pive "I proclaimed . And each of us placed our palms on top of each other and shouted "The Pamous Pive "...That was the time when I was addicted to novels - three investigators , secret seven , famous five and so on....So no wonder the "Pamous Pive " was my brainchild .

But unfortunately we never had neighbours who smuggled , lonely haunted bungalows where they kept a kidnapped child ( so that we could rescue them ) or secret passages at my home ..So the cases of the "Pamous Pive " included ones like collecting 10 maggi wrappers from each and every dustbin so that you could redeem them for a magic ball , ( the maggi wrappers were soon replaced by 100 lacto king wrappers for a batman pouch ) , finding a shortcut to the next street 'tanjore stores " via a old dilapted haunted bungalow ( Or thats what we thought till the day when the new inhabitants came and caught us while we were jumping over their wall ) or finding where I lost my one rupee coin in the playground for without it we would miss our "one rupee pepsi "( it is much better than our actual pepsi ... one rupee pepsi is nothing but frozen and flavored ice cubes in small plastic packets.... You have to bite on to them and make the ice melt...and obviously it tastes heavenly)

"Ma I want to be a detective " I thought to myself .....

2008 ( 7 donkeys age )

There was a deep burning smell . I was sure it was not from the gas because I was travelling in a share auto in kolkata to my office . And right in front of me were two gorgeous hotties . And right in the middle of them was the auto wallah ( Arey O... lucky dada )...He turned left , he turned right and he also drived straight . Aaah ....even I was sitting in the center . I looked to my right . Yogi da was sitting and he gave me the usual why-doesnt-it-happen-to-us look . And I turned left . Sriram da was sitting with his eyes focused on the obvious . Now I knew where the burning smell was from .....

"Ma , I now want to be an auto driver " , I sighed ....

Well , the desires do keep changing .What you desired today might not be what you desire tomorrow. But however the heart which desires is always the same . And its human nature to keep desiring .So stop arguing against desires and just let them run free..
And it is these desires that make life truly relishable . Irrespective of how small , how big , how foolish or how clever they are , these desires are always special and provide us with the most cherishable moments in life. .

Keep desiring and smile , come what may....

love phobia !!!

"Macha don't know why she left me da . I feel like killing myself. In fact I just want to drive up this flyover and just dive straight into the air and finally everything would be over " .......

A awkward chill ran through my spine. Because in case if he really does something like that though the probability was very less ( because most of the love-failure categories are like politicians , they have a long list of what to do, but they never do ) , along with him will get shattered the dreams of two innocent young guys ( me and visu ....stop laughing please we are really innocent...)...Oh god u still haven't stopped laughing ...k ...a la vijay style ....Dai .....pesitirukken ellai....silence (in case u don't understand please watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUosDdS9Rd8 ) ....

"Oh god, I still haven't seen anything in life ...literally anything ..." Visu thought to himself ....(when a guy says he hasn't seen anything it obviously refers to ...err...You are matured readers I guess)...

"Dai , don't get emotional macha . She wasn't lucky enough da . Free da. You will definitely get a better one " I said . "Ya macha.As if there is a scarcity of girls an the city. For every muniyamma lost there is a kannama waiting in the next street " , Visu was at his usual best . Thankfully Shakeela laughed and I gave him company . As long as we crossed the flyover any distraction was welcome ...

For every muniyamma lost there is a kannama waiting in the next street ..aaha ...sometimes even the most casual gigs have a lot of intrinsic meaning hidden in it .How true , if everyone were to think like that , there would be no more ayoo-my-gf-has-left-me lamentings , tears and suicides . But I guess everything is easier said then done and until we experience the pain of it , we would never really understand it...

Somehow we got deeply affected by it and I said " good one da...dai shakeela (his nickname and please dont ask me why ) , avala freeya vidu macha , You are going to fall in love with the next decent figure we come across after the next street ." ....

"Oooooooooooo ....ya da ...machi keep driving ...aga thats an aunty ..rejected ...that one is too young...and that one is too beautiful for you " Visu went on...( Well in case you didn't know my friend visu , he is one of the rare species of mankind who could literally rape a girl just by seeing them , his sighting techniques are that dangerous ...lol..in short "kannuliye karpazhikkaradhu "))

"Ada paveengala " shakeela exclaimed ...

We were in no mood to listen ..."Macha how about that one " , Visu asked me ...."I guess her husband walking along with her won't be too happy with the proposal...". The usual laughs followed .

This is the true fun of going out with guys even the most stupidest of ideas can make your day . And there are no hassles of going to coffee day ,rather you can sip a 2rs tea and comment on anything from the low hip jeans of the girl walking by(the most important point is you can see other girls) to why nayanthara is better than namitha..No requirements for table manners , can go out with just 20 bucks in your wallet , no boring romance flicks , no need to compliment " maplai , you look gorgeous " , most importantly you can hang out late in the nights and I don't need to ask visu and shakeela to cover their faces with their hankies for the fear of getting caught...lol.. And there are just three universal topics for a guys discussion ...
girls , girls and girls... 23 years and we still haven't changed ...

And suddenly "MACHA ...Just look at that...Can you believe that ...what hands machan...so tender, so soft ( just for the sake of decency and fear of anbumani ramadoss the actual words have been camouflaged )...macha thats the one " Visu said pointing at the auto in front of us . Aaaha the game had begun . Macha follow her...

"Dai stick to the left da ...signal da...careful..."

With a few wannabe stunts , courtesy THE FAST AND FURIOUS , we managed to park our car just next to the auto .. I lowered the window glass , and there I saw in the somewhat dark yet bright lighting ( maybe from her face ) inside the auto ...The most beautiful face on the face of earth or so I thought as it was not really clear . I knew it was beautiful . Maybe I had done a grave mistake in commiting her to shakeela...Aaaaah..."

" But everything is fair in love and war "I thought to myself ....
I bet even Visu must have been thinking on the same lines ....

The signal turned green . We followed . "Macha we are supposed to go straight but they are turning right ...."

"Just follow , macha " I shouted ....Phew , this love makes even the coolest lose their cool ...

We kept following with a few divine glimpses of her hands . Those coloured bangles contrasted with her fair hands , and though we were at quite a distance , whenever she shook her hands I could hear the music here in my heart ...Love waves I thought...lol

We kept following trying to get a good glimpse of her . We had come almost 3-4 km out of our way . But who cares. " Aah , there it is . I saw her legs machan . Beautiful sandals machan " Visu
exclaimed ."Super da ", we both congratulated him with envious smiles .

The journey went on with each one us getting different forms of blessings at different junctures of time depending on the driving skills of shakeela . Not bad at all...

And finally , to our surprise , we found the auto slowing down . Guessed that was her home . "Macha this area is pretty near , So it wont be a problem ", Shakeela spoke in joy . Now suddenly even 10 km's seemed to be near. "Funny people !!! Funny world !!!" I thought to myself ...

She got down . Heavenly structure . Truly . phew . I could hear the deep sighs of the other two . Her straightened hair covered her face . We waited with bated breath for our blessings just as people wait for the first day first show of a rajni movie . the much awaited wind blew . The hair across her face just swept along with the breeze uncovering the ....

Damaaaaaaaaal !!! ( A heart breaking sound)

I know you are all expecting this ..Ha ha ..Too smart . But I am sorry to disappoint you .No heartbreaks . She was more beautiful than we had expected . Her face was just round like the full moon and was spotless . Her bangles fought with each other and again I heard the music in my heart . Her eyes were so innocent and round complementing her face .The earrings dangled in the breeze and so did our hearts .She gave a mesmerizing smile , lifting us up straight into heaven . "What a beauty "we all exclaimed .

damaaaal !!!

damaaaaaaaaaal !!!

damaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal !!!


There were three loud bursts . The last and the longest one was mine .

but why ???

a one hundredth of a millisecond back ,

"Mummy , why so late...did you buy the chocolates ", young boy came running and hugged her .

"Ayoooooooo .....Pocheeeeeeee!!!!", we all wailed together .( Its gone ...Poi pochu ...The amrutanjan ad came in front of me )

That was the end of our short but sweet love story ...

Ten minutes later, there we were again on the flyover .

And maybe now the idea of diving from the flyover wouldn't sound bad at all...........

Aaa-ha moments

This post is inspired by the MOOV ad where a young model passing of as a mother of two, bends with her broom stick to clean , and the expected 'sprain ' catches up with her back and she gives an 'aaaaa' sound followed by her caring husband bringing moov for her and she concludes Aaa-ha ...and as the tag goes "AAA muthal Aaa-ha varai "...

There are lot of moments in our life where we get that Aaha feel ( other than when you use moov)...Be it those moments when a beautiful girl sits near you in a share auto ( probability is 0% in chennai but 100% in kolkatta ) , an unexpected phone call from a long time friend (and the aaha becomes aaaaaaha when its from someone of the opposite sex) , when you just-pass in an exam which you have done very badly , when the shopkeeper gives you a 10 Rs note extra by mistake , when you go to a movie to find your friend and his gf sitting in front of you and doing the censored stuff and you stay silent and pounce on him in the interval and say " macha , nice movie da " with a wicked smile and enjoy the rest of the movie while he wont be able to, when the bus jerks and a second later you find a beautiful girl lying on your lap ( sounds cinematic ...but trust me it happened to me ...good old 41D) , when you forget to take the porn movie cd from your drive and suddenly remember and return back just in time before your brother does , when you cry watching a movie ( two possibilities it might be after watching an extremely bad one like ananda thandavam- in fact that's an ayoo moment rather than an aaha one or a damn good one like 7g rainbow colony ) , when you release gas and your friend is branded as the culprit ( according to the law of one-who-releases-gets-the-smell-first theory) , and the list is endless .

I am still in my nostalgia mode and I am still yet to recover from my previous "3rd standard "story. So just continuing with the feel of it ...

It was the rainy season in chennai . ( trust me , I am not lying, we do have a rainy season ) . Jumping across the small potholes filled with water , few times missing the mark ending up splashing some water on my feet , few times landing correctly , I kept walking with the drizzling raindrops falling on my face . The mesmerising smell of the fresh sand , people running here and there with umbrellas , the leaves of the trees which looked so green and suddenly pour a shower on you when the wind blew across , the cycles which splashed the water on innocent by walkers , and the heavenly dark clouds which seem to be engulfing the entire sky ....The rainy season though scarce is always a delight . I prodded my way through the delightful streets , splashing the water with my Hawaii slippers , and a few times trying a la maradona style kick across the water ...I was on my way to school . I was in my fourth standard . Thank god ( else I would have been sleeping under my bed sheet because the school was closed for students up to 3rd standard and would have missed all these).

"Hi da. Why da, so late " asked my friend visu ."My cycle had a punctured tyre . So had to walk all the way " , I replied . Inside the class , few of my friends were wearing their sweater , and I could see opened umbrellas and raincoats hanging at the corner of the room . And there was a unique fragrance, courtesy the rainy season , which always filled my senses with a strange sense of delight .

The classes had begun and somehow the first 3 periods passed of without me even realizing them. and then came the good news . Nalini miss was absent . So the next two hours would be free . "Ooooooooo" we gave a boisterous shout . And as always , any classroom without a teacher would easily put even the mariyamma-song-playing loudspeakers during the amman season to shame ...Our class was no exception .
The commotion became loud louder loudest.

As luck would have it , the most feared Mrs mathilda miss was in our next class . Within few minutes the party had ended ....The fear had come true . As we all stood shell shocked , Mrs Matilda stood to her reputation and after 5 minutes or so of heavy blood-same-blood-type scolding we were all asked to stand up on the bench ( the basis for the 'primary education ' system in India ) .

Thank god she left . Standing on the bench was much better and we were much used to it compared to the scoldings . One hour passed by and I felt a strange feel .Well not exactly a strange feel , I wanted to answer nature's call . I looked at my friend's mickey mouse watch . The clock struck 12 and it also struck me that there was one more hour left to go . Oh...no...

Phew , I looked around . Everyone seemed deeply engrossed in their own thinking . 15 minutes passed ...well , thats it , I decided and walked straight to the other class and said "Excuse me".
I met the angry and ferocious eyes of Mrs matilda . I explained . "Get lost and don't move till the next period ".....oh ....no.......

I came back and stood . Tried lifting the right leg . no effect . then left. no effect . bent a bit forward . a bit backward ...No respite .

30 minutes passed . Looked back again at the Mickey mouse watch . Never knew the second hand was so slow . Cursed the one who invented such a slow second hand to my hearts content and again stood . 40 minutes had passed . 20 more left to go . But I guess that was it . I couldnt control

A nauseating stinking smell surrounded the room . The decibel levels of the giggles slowly started increasing . The smell was spreading all over . The class got into the whisper mode and I could hear them .Oh god . Why did this happen . I just pulled up my guts and just turned around .And I saw my friend rajesh with droplets dripping from his trousers and tears falling across his cheeks ...

"Oh god ...What have you done " , Mrs matilda exclaimed .

A few minutes later , there was the happiest man on earth , standing tall and proud , in one of the most disgusting and smelliest place on the face of earth - our school toilet .....Phew ....Finally ...What a relief ........Aaaaaaaaaaaaa-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

A truly memorable Aaa-haa moment . Aaaa-haaaaaaa

I guess you must also be recollecting your aaha moments . These moments add to the flavors of life complementing the phrase "Life is beautiful" . Perhaps most of us will fail to recognise those moments when it happened dismissing them as insignificant , but however few moments just stay beyond time carving out the words 'eternal' in the colorful canvas of our lives . Keep enjoying these simple but beautiful Aaha moments ....and in case u loved this post drop an Aaha in the comments...lol

Once upon a time .....

Long ago , at the dawn of Jan 13Th , 1986 was born , yet another useless addition to the earth ...and you guessed it right it was none other than me. and then .......hmmmm .....well even I am getting bored ...So lets not go back so far .

Once again long , but not very long ago , I was in my third standard. The age where we thought we could be anything and everything we wanted . Where the dreams had no limits , no apprehensions , no discouragements , no self doubts ..phew lovely old third standard . Being more specific ..lovely old third standard 'C' section...

"Arun its already 8 and you are still not out of your bed..the auto will be here anytime " ...and there I was dreaming about a world with no maths homework , no Mrs Rachael Jacob (our class teacher/science teacher aka terror) , no kalpana sundaram (our class leader who always used to write my name first on the board in between each and every period when the dreaded ritual of ' MINDING THE CLASS ' was going on) , and no Ramani Matthews ( our mallu geography teacher who had an unusual way of pronouncing each and every word with the letter 'o' - and adding to it she kept spitting unknowingly with each and every word she spoke ... still remember the front benchers trying all their tactics producing awkward movements thereby escaping from the saliva trajectory ..and the joy they get on escaping each and every shower ...priceless ) and our yoga teacher who in the name of some 'never ever able to pronounce ' asana asks me to interchange my hands and legs , to stand but not to stand , to sit but not to sit , and on top of it asks me to keep smelling with one nostril closed and in case I do it wrong she comes close and asks me to smell again...wish she would take bath some day or the other ...and suddenly the realization comes - I am getting late to school .

I quickly brushed , took a bath and put on my shirt and trousers ( the uniform version of patta patti ) and whoaaaa ...I was just in time for the auto .. With the usual fight with my junior , 2nd standard hema for the allocation of seats inside the auto ,finally I just about managed to make it on time .

The day was Thursday and thankfully there was no geography or yoga period . The only worry was Mrs Rachael Jacob's science class which was scheduled as the third period .

The first two periods went off smoothly and now it was time for the science class oops sorry science period . Mrs Rachael, my class teacher/science teacher arrived with her usual cunning , wicked , baleful and evil look adding more fears to my premonition .

"Sri gurub yo namaha" the chorus of the class broke the silence .

She began " I have received a few complaints from parents saying that most of you here don't have the habit of wearing an underwear " ....what the fu@$..well not exactly , I used a much subdued version but I don't remember what it was exactly ...anyway the emotion is conveyed I guess ..

"Oh god " I thought to myself . Now in case you are thinking as to why I am tensed it simply means that you have not been reading this post carefully as I had already thrown you a clue beforehand . Anyway if you still haven't found it out , bad on your part . Go to the first line of the 4th paragraph .(lazy buggers . k . I will reproduce them for the sake of my readers )

I quickly brushed , took a bath and put on my shirt and trousers

That's precisely and exactly what I did .I never had the habit of wearing an underwear because I was one of the rebels during those days and I always believed an underwear served just one purpose.

In case your shorts tore your underwear would protect your so called 'manam ' ( the word usually associated with kannagi or simply put - your honour ) .

And I didn't wear one because :

If ever my shorts tore it would be because of either my yoga classes or other breathtaking antics .But however they would mean that even my underwear would tear because such were the extremity of the asanas taught . So either way 'manam' is gone so why take the pain .

To this day I am astounded at the brilliance of my logical reasoning abilities at such a young age .

The thinking process was suddenly disturbed by the announcement that she would be coming personally to each and everyone and we had to show her the top part of our underwear . Thankfully since we were in our third standard we didn't understand the real possible repercussions of this bizarre checking .

Well , now what do I do . I ain't giving up so easily . I took my handkerchief inserted it inside my shorts and tried rehearsing it to my friend . "Wonderful . No way she can find out ", he applauded me . whoaaaaa . "well done arun ..go ahead", I told myself.

She was nearing me . A few signs of perspiration started showing up on my forehead . But unfortunately the kerchief had a different job at hand now .Arun show me yours she said . I did exactly as rehearsed but unfortunately the one I had was a ladies handkerchief and the beautiful pink flower at the end of the hankie showed up . aga .

For the next few minutes my ears had gone into the mute mode . I could see her yelling at the top of her voice .I could just see.... She was at her evil best . "You bloody , trying to disguise a hanky for an underwear . Get out of the class ". Well , mission failure .

Now I was an 'OUT-STANDING' student. Though I have bagged the title a lot many times throughout my school never was it for a reason as great as this . There were few more unfortunate souls to give me company . But still I stood with my head high as if I had won a 'Bharat Ratna ' award .

Unfortunately for me , the principal was on rounds that day and she saw us . And as unfortunate as it could get , she asked me "Whats the reason ?? " . "I didnt wear my underwear " , I told her proudly . An uncontrollable smile gushed across her face which was soon accompanied by the boisterous giggles from my fellow "underwear wearing" classmates .

Well , one thing was for sure . I started wearing my underwear from that day onwards . And the tradition continues till date . Thanks to the awe inspiring ritual by Mrs Rachel Jacob .

Ahem ...Ahem...So all is well that ends well......

Why me ????

It was yet another extremely hot day in chennai. With the sun blazing above my head and streams of sweat pouring down from my forehead , I gently glided my hands across the curves . The to and fro motion began to get frantic . I rubbed harder .Still no respite .She was not giving in . I decided not to give up . Started rubbing again with such a frenzied jittery motion that anyone who saw me would have mistaken me to be electrocuted (nothing else perverted minds) . aaahhh .... Finally she gave in . I heaved a sigh of relief.

"BLOODY KAAKAS(crows) ....FUCK U " I cried with a victorious grin . A bloody crow with a stomach upset( I am 100% sure it was a severe loose motion ) had mistaken myself and my bike for ...err whatever is the name you give to a place where a crow is supposed to shit....And here I was struggling for the past 15 min rubbing of the dried shit from my unicorn ..and to all those people who are reading please ,the next time you feed a crow in the name of a religious ritual ,you better offer it something decent to eat or otherwise please don't feed because usually the effects are borne by innocent by passers depending on the strategic location of the crow . Finally , I was done with the cleaning of my bike and was starting to walk towards my place when I suddenly saw the 'downstairs mami ' coming ...."aga" I told myself .

"Enna pa ??? tcs velai pakkura ???ennum car vangalaya ?? "(You are working in tcs ...why not a car???) she asked with a mischievous smile ....aaarghhhhh I KNEW WHAT WAS COMING NEXT ...
"Eppo pa USA pora ???"...........(When are you leaving for the states?? )

From the time I got placed in TCS which was two years back I always had to face this question . Sebbaaaaaaaa....hoping that one day the old mamis , pattis ,mamas ,uncles and thathas will get to read my blog , I am answering it now ...

Anyone who is in software does not mint money .Honestly though we get paid its not as exaggerated as you people think . True that there are lot of people earning in lakhs but mostly those are the guys who have been here for a long time. And for heavens sake I am not one of them . I make enough just to spend on myself and my girlfriend . Thats about it. So no more enquiry about my car ...

And coming to the USA TRIP ...Its true that many are usually sent to the US .But it depend on their project and depends most importantly on their client .And as a fresher you have no choice in picking up a client .My client is the unheard ALLAHABAD BANK ( My friends in the US still think I am working in a PCO booth...) ...Its a nationalized bank for those of you who haven't heard of it .And my on site would include places like tirupur , erode , karaikudi , kancheepuram and name any village and I have a fair chance of finding myself there ....lol....This is it about my life ...And I have been put in the most uncomfortable position of answering the same dreaded cliche question again and again....

So finally I am putting an end to this torture...yahooooo ...I have decided to go for an mba ...those endless mock cats , unsolvable quantz problems , verbal nightmares ,unpredictable gds and pi's have finally borne fruit . shebbaaaa ...finally I have got an admit . Yup , I am joining BIM, a decent B school ...and most importantly no more queries from mami.

Whistling away and enjoying my vetti days I was just strolling through my street ...the same old mami was coming in front of me...ha ha ...I told myself this time she wont be able to ask me anything .....yeaahhhhhh ...what a feel ...finally I am a relieved man ...This time for a change I gave her the mischievous smile and said "good evening mami "....

" enna pa panra??? " she enquired amused at my eagerness ..."mami I am going to do my MBA at BIM " I replied happily.....

"EN PA THAMBI !!! IIM'LA PANNA VENDIYATHU THAAANEEEE !!!!!!!!!!!"

aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh .....again the the damage had occurred ....I give up ....Now this will be the
next question for the next two years.....

sebaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa......................

Well I guess I got to live with these.....lol

THE GANG !!!!

Well before I go further into my next post I need to introduce the gang to you people .



bajji aka azhagu (non-native speakers may pronounce it as alagu as it would sound stylish and apt for our leader ) :

Mr azhagu holds the most coveted position of the gang leader with his responsibilities involving planning the outings , getting the gang together , playing the mediator and of course the only one who can listen to neela and vani patiently . In his free time he has authored many books in the MADE EASY SERIES like "CORRECTING FIGURES MADE EASY " , "BECOMING HANDSOME MADE EASY" and you name the topic and you have the 'made easy series' by Mr balaji ....He is a living example of the adidas logo nothing is impossible, for I had been with him when he took us to saarang and got us ten tickets for a Shankar Mahadeven show whose tickets were sold out a month ago .(mind you ,we went there just an hour before)...He is a record holder under anna university for the maximum exploitation of re-evaluation technique for passing . I am sure he will make it big in life for his attitude is worth its weight in gold .

arvind aka daddy :

Rock star , model , playboy are all the adjectives that he would want to describe himself with ...Though we have never ever heard him play guitar for always there is some problem with the tuning or the song but somehow he has made us believe that he is a rockstar in the making ...god knows how he managed that..other than that he has acted in a few b grade albums which never released . He spends most of the time in damage control mode against the various ineffective tactics used by neela while fighting with him .and his one liners are pretty famous " naanga ellam yaaru ....raja da" ...lol...On a serious note , a great guy to be with , a true rockstar at heart , the embodiment of patience and in case you guys have given up on life because you have been scolded very badly by your gf , hold , look down no more , its time you called this guy .A very ambitious guy (to the extent that we plan to open a soup stall or a tea kadai one day ), and loves flirting with girls ( anything from venthathu to vegathathu as long as its a gal excepting for the bollywood gay poppy) ...Well thats daddy in a nut shell for you guys .

Dinesh a.k.a DB :

The brainiest in our gang , has the knack of cracking any exam under the sun by putting the least effort (if any at all) ...Db was responsible for increasing my english vocabulary by a count of one . For without him I would never have known the meaning of 'stoic' . Lazy smart bugger is what I would call him . Unperturbed by whatever is the situation and giving his lazy smile , he is ready for any outing anytime . His dream is to become a tamil movie producer . And not a single day passes when I dont pray for his wish to come true because in case he ever does become a producer then I know what I would be asking from him as a treat(I am already drifting into my dreams ) ...lol ..and thats exactly why he wants to be a producer...

harish a.k.a suppy or chappai( vani's version ...no pun intended ...lol) :

In this world , where innocence is considered a taboo , this guy brings us a welcome sigh of relief . If ever there was a poll on the most innocent person in the world , he would be topping it . Suppy is the superman of our gang . The man has got a fan club in orkut and the proud owner of our gangs ferrari (the green colored zen) . Has the knack of shouting( rather whispering) at people on the road in such a way that he himself can hardly hear it . Mostly he is deeply contemplating about something or atleast thats what it looks like or is on a trip to some temple . He has been a regular visitor of gym ( yup , just a visitor) ...famous for the day when he fainted after lifting an empty rod without weights . All said , he is one of the most inevitable member of the gang .Summing it up his tagline would be

"ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE HIM !!!!!"


vani aka sani (cow dung) :

"Mother vani " as she rightly calls herself has nothing to do with mother theresa and simply signifies her 'age defying looks'( believe me she is 24 though you think she is 60) . She is the typical do gooder and has the honor of being responsible for the formation of couples inside our gang. At the first look you would dispose her off as lady villain from one of the tamil flicks but on knowing her better you would realize she is far more dangerous ( coz her mokkais and cribbings are highly injurious to your ears ) . Though she tells us she studied in Church park . We still have our doubts as to whether she was referring the corporation school behind that. Jokes apart, a true gem of a person . always there for everyone in the gang and without her honestly the gang would never have happened .She is currently a -'maarketing caard inator ' (or thats how she says ) in boron - a company whose name she will never ever be able to pronounce correctly .

Neela aka crybaby :

A true church park product , 100 % peter , known for crying at the drop of a hat, she adds to the diversity of different characters in the gang . A very caring ,hardworking and a nice person , she belongs to the padips category .Without her tantrums thrown at daddy , our gang outings would never have been so lively . Crazy about getting photographed , has a great photogenic face and the moment you take your camera out, she is right there in front of you with a great smile and a 30 degree slant of the head (see the pic and you would understand ) . Has the habit of inviting the gang to the most unusual of events like 'ear piercing of her sister's daughter ' etc...My only companion when it comes to eating non veg , she is yet another gem to the gang.

Manju aka RAMU -THE ELEPHANT:

She is our gangs version of Ramalinga Raju . Be it getting duplicate project bills , her so called temple visits , her hair straightening- everything points to a raju in the making . Known for her knack of pulling of lies in such a refreshing manner , she is so addicted to telling lies that she would rather hide under her bed at her home and tell her mom that she would be coming late rather than telling her that she is very much at home..lol..But having said all this , her attitude towards life , is probably what everyone must learn from her . Be it whatever that life gives her , she doesnt complain ,rather goes about chasing her dreams and finally does fulfill it..A true winner in life , and honestly there could be no other better example for perseverance and the strength of love. I am still left pinching myself , unable to believe that she has left to the US for ......umm...anyway all said , great going manju ...

divya aka dubai :
She is married . So no comments ...

and of course me. I guess I need no introduction to you.


OUR MOTTO:

" NAANGA ELLAM VETHU VETTU , AANA ATHA OTHUKKUTHAAN MANASU VARALA "
(" we are all dumb asses but we shall never accept that")

Well that's it about the gang .These guys are the most important people in my life . They were an integral part of the eventful life I had in SVCE. Now that you are familiar with the members of my gang please do proceed with the story that follows ...

Dad ...I miss you...

Dear dad ,

Hi dad. How have you been all these days . Its been a long time since we spoke . But now I have decided to break the silence. I just want to say something to you .Something that I always wanted to tell but didn't ....

I am sorry pa ...Yes , I am Sorry for whatever I have done (honestly for whatever I have not done )........
I have always wanted to tell you this but I couldn't and I have been living with that pain throughout my life .....

I still remember the day when I had failed for the first time in an exam .It was the dreaded tamil exam and I had failed . I just couldn't stand the humiliating look from my teacher or the ignominy of having to look at the answer sheet sitting amidst my class mates. I broke down . From my school till our home , I was walking with tears leaving a silent trail behind me . A trail of humiliation , sorrow and pain . As all these emotions tried to overcome each other one emotion stood tall trampling the others . It was fear . Fear about how you would react to this . Well , I just couldnt think of standing in front of you and narrating the entire ordeal . Just when I reached our gate , I wanted to turn back and run away. But instead I ran into my room , pushed my head into the pillow which temporarily hid the shame on my face .

Dont know for how long , but I lay down still, with uncontrollable tears giving me constant company . I felt a hand on my shoulders . I didn't have to turn in order to tell it was yours . I knew it . "What happened ?" you asked me. I tried hard but couldn't face you . Crying with my head hanging in shame ,"I have failed in the exam . ".....silence .....Well , i didn't know what to expect . But somehow strangely the silence prolonged . 5 minutes later I just struggled raising my head 30 degrees to find my dad in his tracks and he called "how about a match "....(I don't know why but you never spoke a single word about my exam)

What a match we had that day . I was giving whatever I had in me to win the game. There was a new vigor , a sense of fearlessness and unusual overdose of confidence . I won it that day . Won it in straight 3 sets . He came up to me and said "You might lose one day and maybe keep on losing. . but you should never stop playing.For one day you will definitely win .And what matters the most is Whatever happens the game must go on ....

Very true dad though the subject of tamil has hardly any relevance to my life now the experience of facing a failure and standing back again was priceless. As you said it was just the beginning . There were a lot more failures in life . More painful ones including the day you left us ......

But however the game must go on ....

You taught me what life was all about . And the day when I was lying in your lap in an auto on the way to the hospital because I had food poisoning I saw your eyes and asked you something ..Do you remember... . "Dad , will I die " ...You gave me a smile and said it was just a normal food poisoning and there was nothing to worry ...I was relieved realizing my foolishness , but little did I know that the same question would again be asked ...

"Will I die ?"
But this time you were asking me . I didn't have an answer ... I just remember those eyes filled with tears and sorrow when you looked at me and said take care of your brothers and mom .

I am sorry dad I couldn't answer . I couldn't do anything ......

I am sorry dad...

In fact the year before that , I hardly spoke to you because I thought you were making a big fuss out of a small stone in your stomach or at least that is how you made me believe. I know now that you did it on purpose make us isolate you so that when you leave us we wont feel the pain . But now it pains more .

One fine day , You came up to me and said "Son , I have got cancer and may leave anytime .So I want you to be strong and take care if anything happens ". What strength you had dad .You said it in the most unassuming and nonchalant manner . But however those were not just words , they had slowly transformed themselves into my endless tears in front of our bathroom mirror , those sleepless nights that I spent staring at you for the fear that maybe I wont be able to see you the next morning , those never ending curses hailed at each and every god of each and every religion , those badminton rackets which are still lying amidst the cobwebs behind our bathroom door ......

Dad I miss you ...

And finally , you better be sorry to amma . While you were lying down peacefully inside the ICU with not even a battling of the eyelid , amma was struggling to keep her tears down as she was scrolling through some religious book frantically reciting each and every mantra . I could see through her sleep deprived puffed eyes the pain and the suffering . She finally broke down only to be aggravated by an ever increasing pacifying relatives . My body shudders even today whenever I am reminded of that . But however she is doing a great job in taking care of us. Amma has always been extremely strong both mentally and emotionally except for the few instances when ashwin asks her as to where you are . Ashwin still doesn't know about what had happened to you because he was just two years when you left us . But anyway , as you always said

The game must go on .........

Though we take amma for granted and always take her on a ride she somehow manages us all and does a great job . Good selection dad . You were a lucky guy .

I know you are there somewhere near us , keeping a watch and blessing us in all our endeavors...

I just wanted to say I love you dad and I miss you so much .....

love,
arun