We all will become aged one day

I witnessed a pathetic scene few days before in a crowded bus stop... An old lady was deserted by her relatives just because she is OLD...the scene left me shattered for days...



I couldnt resist myself when i saw a very old lady crying in the bus stop that she was being deserted by her relatives coz she is old. I could see the fear of being alone in her eyes. She could hardly walk properly. She must be 75 years old. Finally, when i wanted to complain to the local police station, a lady police present in the scene cajoled that old woman and took her along with her to the nearest station. Her lamentations are still ringing in my ears "My son left me here, my son left me here"



Why is it so bitter to keep elders after realising the fact that they can no more be a use to anyone?

Its happening with everybody. Leave educated, uneducated. Everybody is doing the same mistake.

Imagine our plight when we grow old? Despite of all earnings and savings, we will be left alone. If we dont follow the legacy of keeping our parents?how'll our kids do???

Isolation is the worst punishment given to an individual. Never allow it to happen in your case as well.

Welcome to the world of kuchi mittai and kuruvi rotis

Heard about it somewhere???kuchi mittais and kuruvi rotis???this post is all about that.

There are few things that i was crazy about when i was a kid.

TUBE Pepsi:
I wonder how many know about this divine…this amrit. This is definitely not manufactured by PEPSI Co. Colorful liquids (meaning varying flavours, hardly matters) available in tubes in two defined shapes and sizes. There are two varieties of tube Pepsi. One is the ice Pepsi and other one is the milk Pepsi. It gives you a heavenly feeling. Leave those beverages, this product puts you into great addiction.

You pay 50 Paise for the ice Pepsi, you get the small tube. 1 re for the large ones and largest cost you Rs.2/-. We never miss going to school for this one reason. We get tube Pepsi near our school. My gang was one reason for the shopkeeper to expand his shop. When there is an economic depression (particularly comes end of the month), we expect sponsors from affluent girls or settle down with one 50 Paise ice Pepsi. A person who drinks Paal Pepsi (milk pepsi) daily is considered the most affluent among the gang. There was girl named karthika I remember who drinks this Paal Pepsi almost everyday. So we keep loads and loads of ice on her to get sponsors (during month ends). Mostly our birthday treats are like getting Pepsi for all our close friends. Spend some ten bugs, they are content and so you are.

My strict advice for People with less immunity, never go for it. I tell them that you might end up suffering from diseases like Typhoid, Jaundice and other communicable diseases.

Best way to have Pepsi is to first make a small hole in the upper left corner of the Pepsi tube and starting extracting the contents slowly. That’s how you reach the doors of heaven. I drink it almost everyday. Never mind if I have cold, sinus, wheezing, I never tend to miss this divine. Such a pleasure in having tube Pepsi for just 50 Paise.

Most important of all is that our parents don’t know that we are having this divine everyday coz there are chances of us losing our pocket money of Re.1/day. Parents mostly prevent us from drinking this. Well I must ask them one thing, were they drinking milkshakes and fruit juices when they were young??? They would have been worse than this. Yet they do not allow us to drink. So we hold the Pepsi in kerchief and drink see that no one notices us. My mom is aware of it, yet I manage to get a Re/day by giving her fake reasons. Its worth all this effort.


KAMAR KATTU:
I saw these kamar kattu (stuff made out of jagery and groundnuts) in shops here neatly packed in a famous departmental store in Chennai. It took a long time for me to realize. Who needs all that? You spend some ten paise, get it from the local petty shop finish it before you reach home. There lies the thrill.

These stuffs are usually available in square shape placed in packet kept hanging in front of the shop to attract customers like me. Again there is a THADA for kamar kattu at home by elders because it is kept in open air and they say “No kutti(ya don’t mind) you are susceptible to infections”. My blood would boil if my parents talk about their childhood experience of getting money, i mean oru aana rendaana to buy these kamar kattus. But if you eat it, they are mad at you. Best thing is to hide it from them and eat it in their absence or finish it in the shop and go home as a goody girl (That is what I do most of the time, I sometimes go to the back yard of my house. there are times where I have been caught red handed by my sister. Anyways who cares???).


THAEN MITTAI: (the honey candy):
I proudly present the next product Thaen mittai. Yummyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Delicious. My mouth waters at the site of these candies. Again available in same packets hung outside the shops. The colors of these candies differ from dark yellow to dark orange. Price varies from Ten Paise to Twenty paise depending upon the size. They are round in shape, with mildly hard crust, very soft core and the mantle is filled with honey (mouth watering even now, Thaen mittai where are you??? I am coming). Very famous among kids. I once upon a time hated it to the core though I am a big fan of it now. I searched for Thaen mittai in lots of places, but couldn’t find anywhere. Kind attention to People reading my blog, you can take attempts to get me Thaen mittai.


WATCH MITTAI:
Watch mittai was a sensational hit because the candy resembled a wrist watch. For kids, who were denied even a balloon kaaran watch which costed about Rs.5/-, this is the best option. Watch mittai is very colorful, the centre of it resembles dial of wrist watch. It has two strings attached to either side so if you are not really interested in eating the candy, you can tie it in Ur hand like watch.

Watch mittai is the costliest mittai available among the group. Costed about 1Re and 50 paise (that’s equivalent to 3 coffee bites, 3 caramilk chocolates). Watch mittai is made of sugar and nothing but sugar. Highly demanding during Thiruvizhaas. Because every kid aspires to get this somehow and show uttufy infront of other kids.

You should be very careful with watch mittai. If you happen to go in sun with this watch mittai tied in your hand, then the sugar starts to melt giving an itchy-pitchy feeling on your skin or sometimes negligence can lead you to become a victim of ant bites.

No exception to watch mittais as well. Again banned at home but we somehow cajole mom by saying “Amma come on, am just goin to tie it in my hand for sometime and throw it.” When Amma goes other side, only string of the mittai remains and you burp with a naughty look on your face.


WHITE&PINK KUCHI MITTAI:
I bet nothing can beat the taste of this white and pink kuchi mittai. Again an indigenous variety available in packets hung in the shop. What a taste it has? Spend ten paise it can leave you speechless for sometime. You will get engrossed in its taste. Again a banned variety because, parents feel covered lollypops makes sense… Who cares??? White and pink kuchi mittai was another reason apart from tube pepsi for ruining my kajaana. (for ignorant people this kajaana is nothing but a small box consisting of coins ranging from 5 paise to 1 Re obtained by singing in various houses during navarathiri, varalakshmi nombu etc).


BALLI MITTAI:
Origin of the name: Lizard’s eggs, coz they resemble the size and shape of lizard’s egg. What an innovation?? Balli mittai are the most economical mittais... 2 for 5 paise I guess. That’s the standard measure. Balli mittai are simple sugar candies... Dint impress me much coz I always had a nasty feeling about it due to its shape and size resembling a lizard’s egg.


ELANTHA PODI:
This innovative invention created a wave of happiness among my friends. I endorsed this to all and they became immediate fans. Elantha podi available in small packets…stuck to paper pads, neatly packed. This is the only product which was allowed at home. 20 paise/packet. So bloody tasty. They make you addicts. Not advisable beyond 5 packets (Evlo kammi pa) a day because they generate a lot of heat in your body. Believe me to get this packet, I have to walk to that shop for about 20 min. I had determination to eat atleast 5 packets a day and that let me to the destination.

These were the things that brought priceless happiness in me without much price. Now, I earn a lot of money visit coffee pubs. Order a coffee for 50 bugs, pay 100 bucks for a sandwich. Load it and leave. What happiness do I ultimately get from all this??? We have money but we seldom enjoy our food. Those days, we had time but not enough money to buy whatever we needed, yet we were extremely happy with what we had. I know dough nuts and chocolate fantasy are tasty but nothing can beat the satisfaction kamar kattus and kuchi mittais gave me. I know sweet lime soda and milk shakes are delicious but nothing can quench my thirst like the tube pepsi. I cherish those moments in life where I found happiness in anything and everything. Priceless moments, priceless memories

Is it Dupatta Dupatta?????Nope

This blog is about an incident that happened 10 yrs ago, when I was in Coimbatore. Me and my mom traveled to the so called TOWN (nothing but heart of the city). We went to a place called sungam. This place was about 20km away from my house and we had to take two buses to hit the destination.

On our way back home, there was a big fire accident in a famous cloth showroom. This place was the shopping hub of Coimbatore (most crowded place in Coimbatore) jus like Usman Road in Chennai. We had to catch the second bus to reach our home from this place. There was a big traffic jam and buses were moving on the road inch by inch. I was losing my patience coz we couldn’t find a single bus to our home. Finally a private bus named S14 (I guess, not sure). The bus was damn crowded. I hesitated a lot but I cajoled myself by seeing my watch. It was 9PM. I was very hungry and my stomach started to secrete acids. There was a huge advantage in Coimbatore buses. Unlike the buses in Chennai, first half of the bus will be always occupied by ladies. They have to climb the stairs in the front and climb down from the same side. Second half will be occupied by gents. So scope of irritation is always minimal except for few country ladies fighting for seats. One horrifying thing is, if you happen to stamp on the feet of these ladies, they abusively drag your entire family into the issue. So you gotto be careful and watch out every step.

I and my mom somehow managed to find a place to accompany our feet in the bus. There was a lot of pulling and pushing, yet there was one thing that kept me calm and submissive, my hunger (no strength to retaliate).

The bus came to a halt in a stopping called sundaikkamuthur(name sounds weird, isn’t it?). There were men hanging from the foot board coz they dint have place inside the bus. A man was getting into the bus and simultaneously a girl was climbing down the bus. She was wearing a salwar with white dupatta. While climbing down, her dupatta got stuck in the crowd and with great effort she had to pull it out. Finally, she got her dupatta, putting it back on her shoulders she walked into the darkness (no street light. don’t think that she was some kind of a ghost). Suddenly we heard a voice, “EN VAETI EN VAETI, AIYO EN VAETI”. Amma and I peeped out to see a man sans his dhoti. Guess wat happened? The girl had actually pulled out the dhoti of this man and walked away thinking that it was her dupatta. We couldn’t control ourselves. One way I was feeling sad for the man and other way…oh my god wat to do? Human tendency. Thank god he wore his patta patti undies….otherwise manathuku no guarantee.

One of the passengers searched for the girl. Fortunately found the girl and she came back to get her dupatta and give back his dhoti back. She had no slightest mark of embarrassment on her face. She casually gave it to him, said a SORRY and walked away.

This one another hilarious incident from my past…..

Extraordinary Dance Performance - Part II

This is the most hillarious moment in my life. When i was doing schooling in coimbatore, my school used to organize cultural events every year with wide variety of events. The most popular event was the group dance.

My sister actually wanted to perform a group dance and she did not get a partner.I was hardly 8 yrs and she was 10. She wanted me to join her. But I plainly rejected because when she likes to travel south, i take the north pole. However, i couldnt reject her plea later because i could'nt withstand her kickings and gummings. So i finally gave up.

She wanted a good song for dancing. We selected that something something song from anjali(very famous that time). She just thought too much about herself. Whenever she does a mistake, its forgivable and whenever I did a mistake she used to punch me right on my face. Apart from all these constraints I never rejected her request.

The D day came, me and ma sister clad in colorful attire, took up the dance stage handing over the cassette to the assistant. Biggest blunder on earth. My sister brought the wrong cassette. I would have pacified myself if it had been a different movie cassette. But she gave one devotional song cassette sung on aiyappa by Yesudas. . I got down the stage. But my sister gave me one tight slap and asked me to dance for the current track. Ya we danced for the aiyappa song with something something step. buahahahaha!!!!!!!! lord did not punish us coz we were kids that time. awful, the teachers who were acting as judges couldnt control. Our song was switched off in less than a minute.

Next most hilarious thing was the costume. She was wearing some weird dress. Till date i dont get the picture of what she wore. I was wearnin "paavadai chattai".......enna oru kevalam(again decided by my sissie)....haaaa i would never forget that day in my life. Even now we make fun of my sister, she laughs out of heart. Good old hillarious memories. hehehee

Extraordinary Dance Performance

This post is about the Extraordinary Dance performance given by me and my college friends during the inaugural ceremony of Civil Engineering Association.

When I was in third year, Our HOD wished to open the Civil Engineering Association (CEA). He wanted us to organize a small cultural event (really have no clues of why he asked us to do so). So we decided to give a group dance performance. We gathered 10 girls from my class. My friend selected a beautiful patriotic song which was very famous during the Kargil war time. It was an album sung by Shuba Mudgal and Sukwindher Singh and the song was “Rangilo Maaro Dolna”. The song was a fast, long and a tough song. We decided to dance for only half the song, as it would kill 200 on a stretch. Anyways the idea of dance actually was to bunk class sessions.

We gathered near a small room in our dept building to practise daily. The whole fun behind it was, we danced but never danced for the song we were supposed to dance (problem started here). Instead we switched on the radio, discussed on stupid topics. Ya we did occasionally dance for the song we were supposed to dance. Daily dance, bunk classes and we had a gala time.

We had 5 pairs in the dance, one in a pair has to wear pyjama kurtha to act as a guy and other was a girl. Ofcourse I was always elected to act as a guy. My partner usually gets nervous and forgets all her steps. So I start laughing in the middle. The day before the performance, we framed steps almost for the needed stretch of the song. We decided on pyjama kurtha for guys and gagra choli for the girls.

Next stage was to rehearse for the song in the hall we were supposed to give our performance. I went to inspect the hall. To my horror, the capacity of the hall was max 300 (since this was a program only for Civil Branch) and the stage was about 10ft breadth and some 15 ft length…. I called my choreographer (she actually dint teach us dance, but she just organized. We started calling her choreographer). I told her listen, it’s really impossible for ten of us to dance on this stage mapu, please don’t be stubborn. She tried to convince me a lot, but I said don’t make the audience realize that we are fools in real life. We decided to call it off. I left for my home at 4.30 pm waving my troupe bye coz they weren’t satisfied about the stage as well….

It was 10.30 in the night; I got a call from Vasu (nick name), one of the girls in the troupe. She said “Dance programme will go as scheduled machi. We have changed the last step. Kindly come early in the morning to college and practise. Please arrange costume for your jodi and for you”. She dint allow me to utter a word. I couldn’t say a NO and scene pottufy coz all agreed. My bedroom was in the first floor and I had to beg for pyjama kurtha from my uncle staying in the ground floor and the gagra from his daughter (I cannot ask in the morning coz I had to leave early). I saw the clock, it was already 11pm. I went down to find the main door was locked. I was banging the door and you know wat would have happened. My uncle and aunt were mad at me. What to do, to gain something you have to lose something. I saw the costume, there was only kurtha and the pyjama was missing (shame shame puppy shame). I jumped into my own wardrobe, searched for half an hour like a lunatic, to find a off white pant. At last found one and it was not even closely related to my kurtha. It was already 11.30 and so I had to make up my mind. Went to bed at 11.45pm

Next day morning I was in the college by 7 am. I had to practise the last step for half an hour. The function was proposed to start at 9am. I was unfortunately given the responsibility of singing prayer song. Irony behind it was, I had to be in SAREE then. So first I wore sari and asked my friends to keep my other costume ready. The function started. I finished the prayer song and ran to the costume room, changed to pyjama kurtha with big tilak on my temple. People commented that I looked exactly like a SAETU PAYYAN. I told my partner “Ranju please don’t sothapify, I will start laughing in the stage.” She gave me a remorseful look and said “Podi, I will try my level best, don’t ask expect more from me”.

Our dance performance was announced on the stage. Oops now what problem?? Yes, a girl was missing from the troupe. Total damage. I again went to stage to adjust it by giving a horrible solo performance. Nope I dint dance, I sang again with that ghastly costume. I looked exactly like a filthy beggar who actually begged for a night dress (with unmatched pyjama and kurtha). After a frantic search we found the girl. Happa there was a great relief (for both audience and us).

The whole fun began here. The song actually starts with female playback. So females will dance first and men would enter the song when their playback comes. I was standing off stage waiting for my turn. Bad omen took over me that time. My choreographer stood besides me and another girl and said “Mapi nalla suthi suthi aadanum (rotate and dance well)”. The girl standing besides me started laughing. She has got such an infectious laughter that I started laughing. If I start laughing, I ruin the entire stuff. I tried my level best to control it. The effort I took was inversely proportional.

Finally entered the stage. My position was front left along with my partner. I had just a feet space before me. If I happen to dance with full enthu, I might go underground. I couldn’t control my laughter. So the whole dance sounded like some Lollu sabha dance. Audience started rolling on the floor laughing and HOD was warning me “PAATHU ADU MA, YOU WILL FALL DOWN” (with his usual tone). That is it; I started bursting out with laughter. Then a moment came where I controlled myself, but illuck played its part again. There was a step where all the dancers have to come in a line. But a girl alone was standing in the corner of the stage giving solo performance. Inorder to pull her into our line, her partner shouted, “yei puppy (nick name again) shaniyanae, thuuu vanthu line la ninnu aadu (thu, come and stand in the line and dance).” (Ya there was a SOLO in a GROUP dance). Look how entertaining was our dance performance. Now I again start buhahahahahaaaaa. There was no order, no steps, and no change of position. We were dancing like hooligans.

Already the audiences were on the verge of pelting stones, tomatoes and raw eggs at us. But they had to control themselves, thanks to my HOD. You know wat he said, “Please enjoy the performance” (Seriously manasatchi (conscious) illa antha manushanukku). Finally the climax came. Biggest highlight of the day. I stepped on spilt oil (spilled out from the kuthu velakku). Couldn’t avoid coz the stage was too small. You can imagine wat would have followed. I fell down on the stage dragging another girl with me (she was not my partner. So u would have guessed the order in the dance). Without Slightest embarrassment, we were still laughing holding our stomach. My friends took lots of effort to drag us out from the stage.

We took our heals from there. Never turned back to see wat happened. Hid ourselves in classroom. We never even attended the valedictory function ( I asked my friend to switch on the tape recorder for national anthem). We were laughing like fools in the classroom. For next one week, we couldn’t show our face in the public. Why? We couldn’t even face our classmates. From Hod to class staffs, from office bearer to Principal we were given high respect. We later came to realize that there were few students from other department as well. So our fame wasn’t restricted to our department alone, it spread to the whole college. Why it was even spread to my friends from other colleges when they came to my college for symposium that followed after a week of CEA inauguration. I was well regarded for this performance at home by my aunt and uncle . My friend narrated the entire incident to my aunt (Sathigaari) when she came home the next day. Buhahahahha….. However, that was the best moment that happened to me in college life.

Freaky Kosu (Mosquitoes) in Chennai

I decided to write a blog about mosquito menace in Chennai coz it has been haunting the daily routine of people in Chennai stealing their blissful sleep. Mosquitoes breed mostly during rainy season and they multiply during winter.

Mosquitoes in Chennai (from my personal experience. Ofcourse there are mosquitoes in other places too. I can write about the place where I live now)

1. They are generally small sized compared to mosquitoes in other stations.

2. They never give you the sense of drawing blood from your body (This is the best part of mosquitoes in Chennai) But once you notice, your skin will develop red patches and you start scratching all over. As time goes by it leaves horrible marks in your skin that you gotto personally visit shenaz hussain’s beauty clinic to correct it. Sometimes it can lead to serious skin complications depending upon the sensitivity of your skin. (I am suffering and am taking medication for last one year). Prior to sucking the blood, they inject a mild painkiller, which numbs the host to the pain from the "bite" (Note: mosquitos do not actually bite but still we say kosu kadi (mosquito bite)).

3. They don’t have time, place. Mosquito menace is very high when you have lots of trees and greenery around place. Menace is on its peak when you happen to stay near a park (there are few kadhal jodis (lovers) who come to the parks in the evenings and have good time despite the trouble they undergo by the mosquito. They develop resistance to bites I believe.), a canal or a water tank. As far as i know, other station mosquitoes dread to come out during the day time. They launch their army only at particular time. i.e morning 6am to 8am and evening 6pm to 8 pm. If you keep the doors and windows closed at that time, then you can avoid the kosu kadi to some extend.

4. They are not biased and true to themselves (unlike us). Present in thatched houses to big bungalows. It knows no Gopalapuram or Poes garden. It knows no Royapuram or Avadi. Its presence is available everywhere. It bites a CEO (just because he uses powerful mosquito repellent, he is not spared) and also the same mosquito can travel to bite a fisherman.

5. They are very brilliant because when we generally keep our windows open during day time, the army enters and occupies small crevices, curtains, and hide in restrooms and also under bed sheets. They launch their army in the night with full swing that you will not be able to completely arrest them or bring them under your control. U will have to sacrifice your sleep for sometime to completely curtail it.

6. Mosquito repellents are few chemical substances that were once upon a time used to drive away mosquitoes. Now our modern mosquitoes are immune to these repellents. You can compare it with hacking. How much ever security measure you take and whatever modern technology you use, they might remain uncracked for sometime. There will be atleast one hacker in the end to hack the entire stuff. Similar is the case with the mosquitoes. You keep changing the chemical ingredients, first few days they are a big hit in the market. But the mosquito association develops resistance after some days. That is it your repellents are of no use.

7. I was first using the conventional mat system repellent. Fair amount of kosu were driven out. Then came the era of liquid repellents. Later came repellent with suffixes like turbo, jet, power shot, silver etc etc. Nothing worked for more than 3 months. You have lotions, creams and gels as repellents. Mosquitoes have started feeding on these lotions and you experience more bites when you use those creams these days. Hmmm nothing seems to work out. Sometimes the mosquitoes sit on the repellent itself (shown a black and white pic).

8. One way to drive out mosquito is to burn the mats, run behind the mosquito cluster and show the fumes. Elimination is more in this method. But it can be harmful to you as well because, it can prevent the growth of your next generation (More harm to men).

9. Our corporation occasionally brings this “KOSU MARUNTHU” van and sprays the repellent across the streets with a good intention of killing mosquitoes. You might notice that the menace is on its peak that particular day because, kosu in order to save its life makes our home a refugee camp and in the nite sneaks out to drink all our blood to become more energetic. They make this mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm sound then to irritate you like anything.

10. KOSU VALAI (Mosquito Net), this is one of the oldest, innovative inventions to keep away from kosu. Children generally like them a lot. So they play “akka - thangachi, appa - Amma, police - thirudan” inside the net. Since they frequently open the nets, some villainous mosquitoes take this opportunity as a golden opportunity to enter the net. The person who sleeps in the net thinks that he/she is protected the best. Ultimate fate is they become worst victims. The kosu devours the prey.

11. PAATI VAITHIYAM (Grandma’s methodologies) – Olden days they used to burn lots of dry neem leaves that helps to prevent mosquitoes. But who has time for all that nowadays?? My granny asked me to use neem oil. She asked me to apply it on my hands and legs. I noticed that barring mosquitoes, all avoided me (neem oil na enna gappu??? Badddd smelllll). Mosquitoes developed immunity to neem oil as well. Accepting the request of ppl around me and seeing their welfare I stopped using neem oil.

12. Last but not the least, Best way to drive out mosquito is the Electronic Racket that is available in the market ranging from Rs.150 to 250. They have rechargeable batteries so no worries. All you have to do is to Close doors and windows and start hitting all the mosquitoes with the racket (don’t forget to press the side switch; otherwise your efforts go vain). There will be “putputu” sound accompanied by a spark. The intensity of both depends upon how healthy the kosu is. If the kosu is very healthy (gundu kosu/obese), then the sound and spark is intense. It is mild when it is a olli kosu (malnutrious kosu). This is a nice time pass for people who definetly have nothing to do at home. Search for kosu in curtains and also in bedsheets, places where there are lots of junk. This gives a good relief.

13. However, in the nite there are 2 – 3 mosquitoes that escapes out of your eyes and hides itself under dressing table, cots and furnitures. They sneak out in the nite. They bite your face, temple and forhead of yours because you generally don’t cover your face with bedsheets. Morning you wake up to see small spots on your forehead and face. Ultimate result, you have lost the war. Kosu has won.

First 6 months of college life in Chennai (Bits and pieces)

I know i had a bad Engineering cutoff in hand despite of it I wanted an engineering seat (Veetla pressure). I told my dad “i will either study Engineering in free seat quota or do some Bsc. Degree in a reputed institution”. My 12th score was good enough to get a seat (Bsc.Applied chemistry) in top class colleges in Coimbatore. I hated one subject the most. The subject that is ruling the world now. Yes "Computer Science", Hated every bit of the subject. So decided to go for a branch that has nothing to do with circuits and computer programming. Zeroed to Mechanical, chemical and Civil. I went to the counseling center on the allotted day. Noting down the availability of seats, I suddenly told my mom "Amma ni padicha college la Civil engg 4 seats iruku ma, so why don’t you ask paati for permission to stay her place?" Of course she was reluctant to ask my paati, but i somehow convinced her. My uncles were living together in paati's house (joint family in this era. that was mind blowing).Since i was a goody goody girl (I am sometimes sarcastic) with adjusting temperament, they decided to give me permission to stay at their home. But their decision was quite late. I already decided to quit counseling and i was walking out with tears in my eyes. There was still 20 min for reporting. When I was walking towards the exit, there was one white ambassador car coming towards me as if it was going knock me down any second. It halted near me and my sis jumped out of the car. she just managed to come all the way long (no one had cell phones those days) to convey those golden words "Mamas have given you permission, Go attend ur counseling." I was near the exit gate and saw my watch, 2 min left and i had to run to the counseling center which was about a km away from exit. Amma me and managed to run to the hall (Amma had knee pain after that for about 10 days).

I was 5 min late. I was scolded by a guy in the fee counter for coming late. Grasping for breath I paid my counseling fee and entered the hall along with my mom. 1st choice was Civil Engineering from Meenakshi college, 2nd choice was Mechanical from Dr.MGR and 3rd was IT from Arunai (pona poguthunnu I took up). Got the confirmation and happily walked out of the Hall. I went home and immediately called up my uncles to express my gratitude. Came to chennai after a week waving all my friends good bye with great difficulty.

I met a girl of my wavelength in college when I was paying my fees she was from a different dept. She introduced herself as Meenakshi (one of my best friends till date).

First day college I was searching for one familiar face I knew in Chennai..yup it was Meenakshi. Guess what? she was also searching for me. Befriended few more girls. One was rohini (The most unpredictable girl. She seldom opens her mouth. Ofcourse Now tables have turned. Thanks to my influence. Cutest friend till date) The other one was Harini Rajagopal, basically a fun loving girl with lot of brains. We were sitting together in same bench for first 6 months coz we had common subjects. (Rohini was my bus mate, street mate wat not? Rohini’s mom is one of the reasons why I never missed my mom).

Ya coming to the subject part of my Engineering, We had English, Maths, Engg Mechanics (the subject that gave me night mares), Physics and Chemistry in the first Sem.
1. Basically good at Chemistry so no issues.
2. Physics – occasionally fail in unit tests and manage to coupe with it in mid sem and models.
3. Math – I was cornered.(never pass in any test).
4. English – Fun and sometimes clueless (I am from a normal English medium school, I again had difficulty in understanding few words. Had to carry a pocket dictionary. Meena was the angel for me those days. Where on earth did she find those words from??? I certainly had no clue).
5. Engg Mechanics – Sounded Spanish and French (Greek and latin is usual stuff. So trying something diff this time).
I did my schooling in Coimbatore. The IQ level of a moderate student doesn’t even match 50% with an average student who did their schooling in Chennai (might not be the case with everyone but was surely with me. Ofcourse Exceptions like Harini do exist). I used to wonder how Harini did problems in Engg Mech wit ease. Though Rohini speaks a little she did wonders in Math and Mech. Meenu was the only girl of my level, matched my standards. (Doesn’t mean that she is not intelligent, she was trying to just console me and give me company. Benevolent female. Ohhh Let me make an article specially dedicated to these girls who brought a big change in my life). I fail in almost all the tests which never happened to me in school.

I used to cry the moment I see my E-Mech unit test answer sheets (its not a joke, I seriously did cry for such petty issues). Marks are like 8/50 or 25/100. No scope of getting thro’. Express my agony. Feel depressed (laugh at myself now). Used to call up my mom everyday and keep crying over the phone. “Amma ennala inga padika mudila. romba kashtama iruku…..”

Finally managed to get hall ticket (This itself is an achievement in my school oops, sorry college). We had just 14 days of Study holls. I was spending those 14 days in my room like I was under some Vanavaasam. I come out to brush my teeth, take bath and eat (evenings alone 1 hour to temples to pray god to give me questions from lessons am familiar with). Daily go to Rohini’s place to learn maths and mech (superb tiffin by aunty and one masala paal surely available. There are days where I have carried my silly doubts to rohini’s place to have masala paal(milk) alone). Worked out every problem in prescribed book (never happened after first sem). Hardly watched TV. Theatres were cursed.

Did 4 exams well and my final exam was E.Mech. I was praying every god on earth for an easy paper. (Actually I dint know that the question paper for E.Mech was out the previous nite. Like a PAZHAM (not anymore) I wrote the exam and it was upto my satisfaction). I just ran home to pick my baggage to catch train to my home town (Was going there after 6 months). There were bunch of students (my year) in my compartment told that E.Mech paper was leaked the previous nite of the examination. I cared the least coz all I knew was “I did the exam well and i will pass”. Went home the next day. ( i was treated like this MYLU character in the movie 16 vayathinilae.coz the place where i lived was more like a village with sugar cane fields and rice fields. Whenever ppl in my place used to go to the heart of the city, they say "AKKA TOWN POITU VARAEN". ofcourse things have totally changed now). Relaxing on the couch in my house, I took out the news paper (dont ask me how do you get news paper in ur place? there are educated ppl in my locality as well). There was a big AAAAPU on the first page of the paper. It read - “Re-exam for Engg Mechanics Exam announced by VC of Anna university”. I was in peak of Anger and totally disappointed. (Well I have to surely write a post separately about that aapu alone. Its too big to be chronicled here). Wrote the re-exam and was sure about keeping arrears in first sem itself.

Finally my results were out and to my greatest surprise I stood second in my class (82%..proficiency prize ellam kuduthaango during College day celebration). I was least bothered about other subjects but I was eager to find my mark in E-mech. I scored 65 marks and this is where the theory of “Miracles do happen” proved perfect. God knows….but it was definitely a happy ending due to his grace.

Star hotels or Our local Restaurant??????

Hey I finally entered into the blog world. This is my first blog and it can be crappy. It can make least sense. I just wanted to share some experiences. This post is out of my personal experience.

When i was about 13 yrs old i always had a fascination for Star hotels (well who wouldn’t have?).I was living in Coimbatore till about age of 18.There were just 2 to 3 star hotels and frankly speaking i have never visited any of these hotels.When i joined an Infrastructure Company after 4 years of engineering, i was asked to attend an official meeting in a famous star hotel for 3 days. They arranged coffee with cookies (yummy!!) in the mornings and a buffet lunch in afternoon. God i pinched my hand coz i really couldn’t believe myself. There were parathas,pulav,noodles,desserts( am a big food lover). Ambiance was excellent. Coming to the hospitality part , they treat you like a Celebrity no matter wat you are.

It is a fact that if something keeps repeating in your life it bores you finally. Happening wit me now. Excitement lasted only for few days. I frequent those hotels so such an extent that i can remember the standard menu they offer in buffet. Ya there is always a pulav(Kashmiri,jeera,veggie are some standard pulavs available), there are rotis, rice, sambar & rasam(sometimes),CAULIFLOWER FRY(comes in various forms and names which bores me the most) is never missed out. Non veg dishes just two. They surely have this combo - fish and chicken or fish and mutton(don’t eat though).I tell my mother "ma i seriously wanna take a break” and ask her to keep curd rice for next one week for lunch, after having food in those hotels.

Few points that happens/can happen when you visit a star hotel for the first time in your life.(strictly for ppl who do not/cannot spend out of their pocket and goes for a treat organized by his/her friends)

1. Menu card first sounds Greek and Latin. If you don’t know anything you gotto sit blank and eat something crappy.if you are veggie then you are done.(safe to have atleast one person in the group who has some knowledge about the items in the menu card)Otherwise you end up ordering the same dosa and vada for which you spend 10rs outside and 1000 bucks here(makes no sense) because you are here to order something new. The following are few categories of ppl (when it comes to ordering )
a. some ppl think they know everything and mess.
b. some hesitate to ask the waiter and blink to finally settle with dosa or some form of it.
c. some take risk.
d. some try to impressively ask the waiter coz they don’t like to take chance.
I fall under category (a)
2. You act like you know table etiquette ( i swear you wont even know where a soup spoon is and which hand to use for fork).
3. Have to be so conscious about yourself. This is a place where you cannot be yourself (atleast to some extend).
4. Sit inside your wardrobe to find the best possible dress you can wear / start planning from the previous day.
5. You won’t realize that a cloth usually kept near every seat on a table is for you to put on ur lap. Some simply think that, it is for a decoration purpose.
6. Can’t fiddle with cutlery coz if it happens to fall down then the whole crowd turns back to notice you.(atlst once, your cutlery falls down and you blink like a fool).
7. Watch your step.(But how much ever you watch, you will surely trip or fall down).
8. Open an EVION mineral bottle on ur table, without even realizing the fact that it costs 150 bucks and gulp the entire water in it. Finally when the bill is out, ur friend is mad at you.
9. .Above all, you make a fool of yourself.

The above mentioned things have happened to me atleast a 2-3 times. First time i felt bad. Things changed after it happened the second time and now i don’t care.

The above mentioned things are just a choice and it is not mandatory in normal hotels. So i prefer having a good time without much strain. After all you go there to fill up ur stomach...is it not a valid point? Some nice quality restaurant would do.

I make sure that i mostly keep away from it because it is surely not of my level(barring my official visits).wen my friends treat me, i will be the first to raise my hand to say NO to star hotels. Rather ask them to treat me in any hotel that offers decent South Indian food and kaiyyendi bavans makes a lot of sense to people like me.