A vacation gone by..

Sometime in December in a very immaculately planned mission otherwise called a vacation this soul took the avatar of a human being in search of a precious vital element for the survival of mankind. The avatar was accepted by the ayyo paavam malayalee tribe and they sympathized with desperate search of his resulting in a pact enabling the avatar access to copious quantities of naadan food which was consumed at a alarming rate which later lead to chaos in that part of the world…Vaiko threatened with blockade of livestock and poultry supply to the state, LPG tanks were blown up in protests against depreciating stock of food and a propaganda movie was released in malayalam sympathizing with farmers….Facing hostile conditions the avatar retreated back to Hamburg where he was welcomed by a crowd waving sausages and baguettes… The avatar now looks back with fond memories of those 25 days when he was transported to a wonderland where he swam with neymeens and karimeens and flew with quails and ducks….well ducks can’t fly but hey it was a wonderland!!

Sometime early December I took the flight to Trivandrum to begin my short escapade from realities of life…Considering that I had a hectic two weeks just before the India trip as I had to travel for work in Toulouse, I slept off during most of the flight…So as I landed in tvm next day morning I was hardly tired and whisked home by Dad, Mom and Bro from the airport…After a few days in tvm I started off with the detailed trip I had chalked out..

Mumbai
Visiting the maxim city was a dream come true….Though I spend less than 24 hrs in the city, it was awesome to jaunt around the city with 2 college buddies who gave me a quick tour of the metropolis and I was left wanting for more…Landmarks like Leopold café, the Taj Hotel, Gateway of India, the sea link all covered in a single evening with visits to two pubs to drink tea…err… ;-D .. A friend who fondly address his place of residence as ‘Candy Valley’ instead of Kandivili and another resident Navi Mumbai resident harboring dreams of a villa at Malabar hill never missed an opportunity to sing halleluiahs about their beloved city…It’s undoubtedly a city of contrasts which gives you the impression that there is something for everyone…taxi drivers and rickshawswallas who could teach a few lessons to their counterparts in other cities like Bangalore…witnessing a traffic jam at 1 am in the morning…finding a eat out serving fried rice and chicken at 2 in the morning….it was absolutely impressive to see a city that never sleeps…the day I left the city it only left me with a longing to visit the city again and hopefully for a much longer time…I missed meeting a good blogger friend of mine in the city too and I have to make up for it sometime!!

Bangalore/Mysore
Arriving in Bangalore the next day…the city I know the best outside Kerala…I was happy to be greeted by more welcoming weather than Mumbai…Met up with a German friend of mine after almost a year and it was a short meet up...But very glad to meet up with her whose juggling act of doing a MBA and at the same time working a hotel left me impressed…sheer German ideals of self-independence!! I am yet to hear a Ph.D holder from India who would do that…I travelled to Mysore the same day to meet up with another old buddy….The next day morning I went to our office, the place from where I left almost 3.5 years ago…and it was a very nostalgic experience for me…the office had grown sprawling huge and the sight of the new buildings were jaw dropping…just like old times relished a breakfast at the office canteen…though there were hardly any recognizable faces insides the office anymore….I took the bus back to Bangalore to visit my grandma and other relatives…and Amma had arrived in the mean time from Trivandrum…At my uncle’s place is Bangalore I feel perfectly at home and there is no dearth of topics when family meet...Unfortunately time was short and we had to fly to naadu the next day..

Note: The new Bangalore airport is awesome…great ambience and feel and easily international!!

Kottayam/Changnacherry/allapuzha
Meanwhile bro picks us up at Cochin and we drive down to kottayam…and we cousins did what we did best…get into nerves of the elders at home ! Ever since cousins got older, many getting married, having kids….its rare to get everyone in place for a full family get together…But thankfully except for 3 who missed out we had a wonderful family get together at a hotel in town…Like old times we cousins got to play dumb charades and pull each others legs…One of the best parts of the trip was meeting my peppy and cute adorable nieces who just were an absolute delight to be with…And my aunt had a lipsmacking kappa with yellu which I gorged in vivacious enthusiasm…Above all it was the company of loved ones that made the whole time I spend there memorable!

Trivandrum
Being a very hectic vacation I couldn’t really relax at home...We did have a great time around with Dad's birthday, his retirement party and ofcoz christmas with family!! And ofcoz I did not miss visiting my favourite hangouts in Trivandrum….the beach, museum, the burgers in Ambrosia …A pleasant surprise this time was meeting up with school friends some almost after 10 years and one among them being a blogger!! We drove down to Kovalam beach and enjoyed a cup of coffee at dusk…And I also managed to meet mother in law of a very famous food blogger friend of mine!! :-)Being the foodie I am, I checked out my favourite eat outs there including new ones…

Note:Loved the buffet spread at the Keys hotel and the sandwiches at all spice !

Trichur
Apparently this is now bro’s adopted city…and he invited me over to his place.. As they say in Thrissur, it is one city where it is okay to go round in circles! I guess Thrissurians get that one! ;-) Got to see the famous Vadakumnathan temple…whatay fabulous piece of architecture…and ofcoz other famous landmarks like Thiruvambady and Puthenpalli…Loved the local cuisine there as well…which was actually quite different from Kottayam / Trivandrum...

Though I met a fair share of hostile people in between like the rickshaw driver who was asking for 500 bucks for a ride from pattom to the railway station on a strike day to drivers along the city roads who would honk and take pleasure in breaking the rules, they were minor irritants…Travelling by bus or train in Kerala would normally not be exciting on a regular day few year back…But this around I relished the sights and the experience as much I would love going to a new place…

Well…I think it wouldn’t suffice to write how much I enjoyed the trip in a single post….Sorry to all my friends here for being lax at updating the blog and replying to comments…I have to catch up with a lot of blogs!! I was apparently not feeling positive to post anything here, the reason for which I ll explain in a later post…Wishing you all a lovely weekend!!

knock knock.....

Rice...fish curry....koorka thoran...pavakka thoran....pullisseri.....chemeen chammanthi.....kappa with ellu......parotta....beef curry.......burp!!! phew so many in the list done by day 2!!


Sorry for this short abrupt post...but just couldnt find anywhere else to say this! ;-D
Have a great and happy week ahead......... :)

The Perfect Delivery.

A few weeks…on a Saturday evening my neighbor who works in the same office as mine dropped by home…This guy was my ex-roommate and now happily married and stays in an apartment in the same complex. So he drops by home occasionally to figure out how bachelors still live and to check out my beef fry since he says that it tastes just like how we get in the Bar!! :-P

So we were standing at the house balcony and I was sipping my wine…Our friendship is actually quite formal and hence our talk often centers around restricted small-talk topics like what’s happening in office...or is there something special in town…and he sometimes say the market is going up or down to which I agree nodding….Since this guy works in the same office as mine I would say we talk more office matter …So that Saturday this is how the conversation went along…

A sullen faced roommate arrives at the balcony..

J: “it’s too much man…too much…!”
Me: “what …what happened?”
J: “I saw this delivery video…it was bad!!”

Working in a place where aircrafts are made and supplied to customers it’s often a gala event… Special deliveries are often marked with quite a lot of glitz and glamour…And the previous day there was a delivery for Air France.

Me: “Really!! I can’t believe it”
Me (thinking): “wow...this guy is so passionate about his work and bothering to check out the videos too...impressive!!”

J: “yeah...it was not as I thought…it’s quite a scene!!”
Me: “yeah…you are right… I was there for the last one…and it was awesome!!”
J (his face has now changed drastically): “awesome??”
Me: “ofcoz!!…they even gave us a T shirt….btw…where did you watch it? ”
J: “in youtube…but man…I couldn’t bear watching it!!”
Me: “hmm…I understand…sometimes it get a bit boring...with all the people!!”
J: “I mean its not boring…but its kind off gory!”
Me: “I don’t think so…c’mon…if you saw it ...the Emirates one... they pulled a fine job and now you are saying that they did not do the same with Air France...eh…hard to believe it.!! I think for em all customers are alike….am sure they must have made the whole thing spectacular”
J:”spectacular!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?”
Me: “Oh yes….SPECTACULAR!!”

*silence*

*still silence*

Me (mocking) : “Now what…you agree…isn’t!!”

*silence*

J turns and walks away…..

And then it dawns on me...

J is expecting to be a dad soon…Apparently the fathers do take part in the delivery procedure out here… he was curious to check out a baby delivery video in youtube….and I was happy thinking about more important things in life like whether I should buy a Reserva or a Bordeaux wine for the weekend….

And I couldn’t help a parting shot now that I realized…

“J…you know what…the pilot gets to cut the cord when the aircraft is delivered!!!”

And he walked away with a grin on his face…

A game plan !

Mike and Gill went up the hill…
To fetch a completed stadium
Mike fell down and screwed his plan…
And Gill came tumbling after…

Now Mike did laugh and Gill did cry
But his tears soon abate;
Then Gill did say that they should play
At see-saw across the New Delhi gate.

~ excerpt from a nursery rhyme yet to be published.

Some time ago we saw our Prathibhajee doing a Patel pose at the courtyards of Buckingham palace with Elizabeth rajnee in what was arguably a very antique pair of national leaders holding the commonwealth games baton...Though we all wished the queen had given us back the Kohinoor diamond as a token of appreciation, she excused herself and instead offered us kidney pies and a free tour of the palace in a horse carriage which was lying unused at the Windsor stables…And as the ceremony took place we all saw Kalmadiji looking visibly tense pondering over the pace of construction back home…Damn the media for being critical of him!! Losers!! He was later seen shouting furiously over the phone to the bhai at the apparent lacksidal pace at which his villa in Pune was getting in shape. A concerned man indeed!!

Amidst all fennell seeds of distrust which seems to haunt Kalmadiji, we think the games are right on track…After all this is a event to showcase the rising India…Now the commonwealth games is actually a pretty serious event where we have to fight for medals with countries of fine sporting traditions like Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Samoa and of course the dark horse Tokelau. Though the first guffaw is already out when a athlete from Samoa was send a email by a sleepy games official confirming his participation…which went like …”It’s our honor to welcome an athlete from our ally Kingdom of Samosa…” Apparently the clergy is also up on their toes after news gained prominence that India would be welcoming three saints during the event…Special evening prayers are already in place in anticipation of the blessed arrival of St Helena, St Kitts, St Lucia and ofcoz not to mention Saint Vincent and his Grenadines…Personally am looking forward to athletes from Niue, Jersey and Isle of Man as I am not yet convinced that they are not fictional places from Lord of the Rings. But seriously to be fair, isn’t the whole games a huge ragging exercise where big countries like Australia, India, Canada and England invite tiny speck of islands which look more like cinnamon sprinkling on top of coffee. I mean isn’t it cruel to expect a country like Norfolk Island or Niue whose entire population might be less than the support staff of the Indian archery team to put a decent fight!!

However overconfident we are, we face intense competition from countries like Jamaica. Rather small as our spies figured out from a unused Atlas at the RAW office , Usain Bolt and Air Jamaica do share the only runway in that country in turns…It not just in athletics we face threat in our quest for medals…After all Pakistan has become virtually unbeatable in shooting events and Bindra dude can well kiss goodbye…Intensive training camps at Swat and Warzistan have left other competitors aimless and looking down the barrel. Our lone hope in this event apparently in quick gun murugan who might be able to thrown in a few surprises.

The inaugural showpiece ceremony as insiders say would be a bollywood affair with lot of daredevil stunts expected to be performed... Akshay Kumar would be swimming all the way from Caribbean’s wading his way through the shark infested Atlantic Ocean and Pazhassi raja might just drop in to showcase his sword skills… There is already a lot of debate happening over who else should take part in the ceremony. Reddy brothers have claimed the support of 64 IOA members and yet to figure out what they will do with the support. Close Reddy confidantes promises us a mine blowing show…With Kareena Kapoor romped in as a brand ambassador there are already fears expressed in media circles. 15 enormous weightlifters, the pride of our nation who were fed round the clock over the past few years with generous quantities of chickens, paneer, lassi and mutton soup by sports mantralaya inspite of the looming drought in the country have suddenly become frail .Doctors are still trying to ‘zero’ down the cause!!

Well any games doesn’t begin with its own share of controversy… A Mauritius swimmer was forced to swim all the way back home after he was chased by a welcome committee stationed at a western city in India...Apparently his desire to have Bombay duck was not taken too lightly!! The swimmer becomes the first person ever to swim across the India ocean and has wholeheartedly thanked the “Reconstruction Army” for make him realize his true potential…In a unfortunate turn of events the hockey sticks kit sanctioned for the Indian team was stolen from Thyagaraja stadium when visiting grey haired games officials mistook it for walking sticks. The authorities are trying to retrace it back.

To look at the positive side, the games village canteen is expected to satisfy all athletes from various countries. The chief chef promised that the menu was tailor made for each discipline. The games committee was not surprised to see a famous archer munching over arrowroot biscuits apparently trying to figure out the root cause of his loss of form. However coaching manuals leave a lot to be desired after one tennis player arrived at the hockey stadium coz his coach repeatedly told him ‘dhyan se kelo…dhyan se kelo’. He had to go back disappointed without any aces smashed down the court.

The event also promises improved language skills as intensive spoken English courses have started showing results… A recent event pointed out gives us a ray of hope…

Phoren tourist showing the map: “hey maan…I cannot find the place…”
Trained rickshaw driver: “I find Connaught place for you…. “
Phoren tourist:”okay…thank you…you can find the place...good”
Phoren tourist:”OK…. Lets go Teenmurti”
Trained rickshaw driver:”No sir...I am Narayana Murthy...I take you to Connaught place”
Phoren tourist:” uh!! “

Meanwhile as we speak and the phoren tourist is roaming lost in Connaught place I know deep down in my heart that we were having fun with the British by holding a games long held ago in their honor… And what could be a better tribute in current times than making a movie called London Dreams and hopefully make the queen watch it in Wembley….


P.S. Sorry folks for this post..i know you guys will understand...after all just the other day I saw london dreams.......

Listening to cheap tricks..

just some thoughts..

Friends…
Strength and comfort shall we seek...
Hugs and kisses exchanged in bonhomie…
Happiness and love we would crave…
Poems written and frescoes painted in pursuit…
Fear and anger we bump into in this ride…
Leaving us abandoned… in thoughts sometimes…
Leaving memories strewn… in a canvas called mind...
Some which got etched without asking us…
And we scrubbed hard hoping they fade...
Though the cobbler had warned… it only shines brighter…
And we move on…with dollops of myriad thoughts…
And we move on… looking ahead…
Hoping to touch that island of hope…and fresh starts…
Which seems so far away and yet…
We wished were close by!

Probably it’s the autumn which doesn’t help me write anything these days…I would like to share a quote meanwhile I saw in a email signature recently…

"If a drop of water falls in lake there is no identity, But if it falls on a leaf of lotus it shines like a pearl. So choose the best place where you would shine...."

I wish everyone of you the same!!

P.S. Today I finished 4 years in blogworld..Thanks a lot for the wonderful people out here who have given me company!!

To Maria

Every time I open a fresh new notebook, before writing anything in it, I glance at it admiringly…so fresh...clean and white… that as you move it closer to your face, it brings a whiff of fragrance like a new born baby powdered with a dash of lavender.. There is a frailty of the untouched…unblemished piece of work which sometimes make you pause before you write those first words in a blank page…There is a feeling of responsibility because you are going to change the life of the notebook for ever…it might pass across several hands...its edges lose the fineness and the pages bereft of aroma of fresh papyrus…I am in a way the first person the book came across in its life…This is what I feel when I start writing the first letters on this book because you were just like this new book for me when I met you and I want you to know that it will remain like that forever… ~ Fred.

Fred was sitting at the hospital verandah where the shades from the maple tree nearby gave patients much needed relief that summer. After writing those few words in the moleskin notebook which he had bought, he relaxed back on his easy chair…intermittently closing his eyes in rhythm with sunrays that escaped through the thick foliage of leaves above….He was soon tired playing this game and closed his eyes, as if making a point to the sun that he was not interested in the mischief it was playing. And soon he drifted in his thoughts…

It was infact one sunny day several years ago, Fred and Maria got married at the Catholic Church in Cologne…

It was the 70’s and Germany was booming…..When the young Goan girl Maria arrived in the country she had no clue about her future…After studying nursing in Madgaon, she was one of the lucky few who got a job in Germany…. A place far different from sunny palm frilled Goa where the flavour of fresh fish curry cooked with coconut milk would hang in air till dusk…A place full of white people with pink cheeks and blue eyes, far different from tanned lean Goan men who took to the sea back in her hometown…But she was sure about one thing….she wanted to embrace the new land….

Maria quickly adapted to the new culture and place….She was the sprightly one among a bunch of Indian girls who where brought in by the catholic mission …Her eyes glowed in eagerness to the new sights and smells while others cowered in fear timidly…. She was the darling of german nuns who took a special liking to the cheerful girl from India who would sing and dance like Julie Andrews to the delight of the kids in the hospital where she was working…. There was a spring in her walk and a song in her heart which was hard to resist for anyone not to notice…And it was no surprise that a fellow Goan chap called Fred did not need much reason to talk to her…a talk which went on for long durations followed by long letters and poems and made official by something pretty short actually….when both eagerly said at the church to each other…”I do…….”

And it was a truly special time of their lives when they were looked upon as the perfect happy family by the whole community…As years passed by, Maria aged beautifully unlike others who were at peace with a age when people didn’t mind gaining a few pounds or greying hair…After all Maria was the athletic lady who would jog every day morning and cycle her way home along the Rhine promenade taking delight in the breeze that caressed her mind and cheeks alike… She was youthful as ever in mind and body in unison….Her children adored her and she was a lovely mother who deserved the adoration….Like the roses in her patio, the orchids and blueberries in the garden she was the color in epiphany for her kids and loved ones….

One day as usual Fred made the morning coffee and woke her up for their morning jog….But that day she was almost frozen…Maria told Fred she could not lift herself up from the bed…Two days later the doctors informed Fred that the paralysis which Maria was affected with was a rare kind off poisoning which affected her nervous system….She would be bed ridden for life…That day when Fred met Maria at her bedside they did not speak…after all in a beautiful relationship like theirs silence did speak a lot…

There were plenty of get well soon bouquets and cards at her hospital room…but the docs could not do anything but feel helpless about how unrealistic those wishes were… Fred’s close friends asked him to move back to Goa where he could live comfortably with his savings and Maria would be cared by nurses whom he could employ… After a few days Maria was lifted on to a wheel chair and taken home….to their little home in Cologne…

Fred held Maria’s limp hand and squeezed it…A tear fell down from Maria’s eyes in a desperate attempt to return the squeeze…but she couldn’t….From that day in 1983, Fred did what not many men have done…He became a mother for their kids…He cooked food for all three at home…He ran the house along with his regular job…He took care of his beloved wife’s needs….bathed her…fed her….Months later, to the surprise of the doctors Maria could finally walk with some help….

Maria is fade shadow of her older self…. She doesn’t anymore look like Julie Andrews…She cannot hold anything heavier than a pen…But her face effuses a glow of contentment… contentment of having a husband who took care of her… a contentment in being able to fight the doctor’s predictions….for being at peace with her unconventional life…

‘Uncle Fred…’….. Someone touched Fred’s shoulders…

The nurse at the hospital woke Fred from his thoughts…and he walks slowly back to the hospital…Maria would be discharged today after her annual blood transfusion....He held her frail yet warm hand and gives it a little squeeze…This time she squeezed back…..

In a few days, Fred and Maria would be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary… Fred as always is never sure with birthday gifts….He is quite tense whether Maria would like his little birthday present….a brand new moleskin notebook with the preface he wrote that morning…Maria would write poems and bring color again………


P.S. inspired by a real life couple i know in Hamburg..taken liberty of fictionalising into a story..
P.P.S. Post dedicated to a good friend of mine from Cologne.

To tell a telly tale

Last week I was watching the India-Pakistan cricket match with my friends in Hamburg….I am not a cricket buff but when I was invited to watch the match I hurried immediately since I love to see a match huddled together in a group where everyone got a comment about how a shot should have been played, why the field placements are wrong, why the ball should come on to the bat and why it was swinging in the other direction and the list goes on….After all everyone relishes giving authoritative opinions on the game… with all the tension so visible in the faces and a chilled beer to accompany...watching a game together is fun…..So last week while watching the match together I was transported to a incident which happened 5 years ago….

Place: A duplex flat in Pune
Year: 2004

That was the time when we started working and six of us were staying in a 3 BHK duplex flat at one of the most well known addresses in Pune…We were new to the city and we had arrived packing only our clothes and essentials…So like all just out of college newly employed folks we survived on bare essentials… We just had a huge empty flat with not a single chair or bed…. And since we were 6 guys living in this flat (all of em from same college who got placed in the same company) there was never a dull day….The tension of clearing the training at the company coupled with our new found ability to splurge thanks to our salaries, we were having time of our lives…I am sure ‘B’ helped liquor sales double in Pune those 4 months and restaurants sprung up around Aundh after they figured out ‘S’ had arrived in town ….So it was not that we really lacked entertainment , but we missed a television where we could watch a match together…

12 kms from our place stayed another group of 7 guys from the same college…But they were arch-rivals back in Trivandrum, them being hostellers….But then in Pune the famous mallu unity came into the picture thanks to a common love for OCR Rum and beef fry….The old enemies became friends …

Then one fine day my roommate made a grand announcement..…

“Guys…I want to share a great news with you guys….”

We all sprung up eager to know what it would be…did he finally get the scotch we wondered?

“My folks are sending a television from Kerala for all of us …We can watch the upcoming cricket tournament LIVE..!!” he exclaimed……

Our joys knew no bound….and we started marking off dates from the calendar anticipating the expected day of arrival… The television was expected to arrive on match day… So we made space for the TV in one of our huge rooms…Set our bed and pillows in the corners of the room for a viewing experience similar to those mughal dancers with hookah smoking junta around…. Considering our new found friend ship with the hosteller group in Wakad, we has specially invited those 7 guys as well along with a few from the neighbourhood….Around 16 guys were assembled in one of our rooms and it was packed…Serious pre-match discussions were happening around….some heated and others leisurely having their beers….It was like a big party where everyone were waiting for the chief guest to arrive..

Time: 1 pm

We got a call from the courier man that the TV was waiting for handover at the ground floor…Note that our duplex was at the eighth floor…So two of us went down to pick it up…As we signed the papers the courier guy handed us the box.. The HOLY BOX….

After the courier man left , We did not utter a word and just looked at each other…a bit stunned … But we both knew what we would do in such circumstances…..B picks up his mobile…

“Daa…Raghu…Could you come down…bring a couple of guys along…its quite heavy for two of us”…..my friend rang up ..

In a few minutes we had a couple of guys down who had come down to help us lift the ‘heavy’ piece of electronics…Rest of the folks back at the apartment were getting ready to give a warm reception to the television….As we came out of the lift we shouted at the remaining guys to give way lest the huge TV hits somewhere on the way and gets damaged…

Time: 1:15 pm

There is silence…of the eerie kind by the way..

The box was to be opened in front of everyone …Many amongst us who were quite proficient at therrivili suddenly found themselves short of words to express …mostly out of shock…As my friend did the caesarian of the cardboard box and we looked at in anticipation, and it did come out without much ado and without a whimper of a sound… a beautiful, cute 5 inch TV !!...the kind off which you see in taxis…or somewhere in barbershops or in miniatures exhibitions ...looking more like a lunch box or rather a soap box …and shouldn’t I mention the black and white plasma screen with a surround sound it boasts of…

We kept the TV at our designated area quite ceremoniously like a deity in the puja room…Most of us had never seen a smaller TV in our lives…and hence we sort of felt blessed to see one..

That evening 16 guys watched the match on that tiny contraption of electronic wonder …From a fair distance we looked like 16 rats trying to drink milk from a pan since we had to huddle together into a mass heap to see what exactly was happening in that little screen…The thadiyanmaars amongst us trampled on top of the skinny ones… We don’t remember much about the match…But we very well remember that particular day when we invited 10 unsuspecting folks, 12 kms away from our place to watch a match in a 5 inch screen!! That was a sight to see….

This is the best I got from Google images…the one we had was much smaller..;-P