1…2…3…..4………………………………………and its out!!!

A dedication to my dearest chums who make my journey lovely and lively!!!

Most innovations happen in serendipity. This however folks is not a chat on the discovery by Sir. Alexander Fleming or wireless products of a bustled computer age. It is about Kms of travel over tarmac from my niche to the skyscraping grey jungle for 9 hours of sweat. Eager eyes watch minutes go tik-tok, tik-tok, till the needle points at the hour of departure. Woopy, I find myself again in the back seat of a faded white 12 seater coach along with 8 of my cab mates.

A sneak at moi chums:

WCC: The first to enter and last to leave, he is called nari or kudikara from the land of Karaikudi . Often morakkafying with his tiny eyes, he’s quiet friendly (to just one) and a miser when it comes to use of words. Well, that is mainly because, he believes in ‘watching’ than confronting a ‘anyone/someone’ with words and scaring with his signature laugh and first ‘funny’ word ‘aayyo, ayyo, ayyoyo’. Loves admiring all beauties the city offers, be it the left, right or the front view from the cab. It’s a talent and he does it like a cat sneaking into your kitchen, removing the lid from the milk vessel slowly, with its eyes shut to drink, thinking that no one is watching it. Little does he estimates the eagle eyes of his expert pals behind who can easily spot the tiniest of movements. Lean and picky in eats, he spends most time watching an outdated mobile for a message that seldom comes. Its understood though, when you’re in love, you are prone to look at words sent by your better half (moon ailu ailu). Another deep aspect of him which altered his interests was his dear best friend bestowed with special favors (hush hush) and late calls even though he is sung his favorite song ‘Alaipayuthey’ to change his mind, to treat everyone equally.

Nuts: The once skinny glassed innocence from Madurai prone to all the kinds of micro-organisms, soon transmogrified to a tyre of countless dimensions and an ACC. Uh-huh, hold your thoughts there, the next few lines will say why I said this. Months back when he was new, the only way he made acquaintances with our group was with his first introduction – my father is from CBI. To all of us, CBI meant ‘Central Bureau of Investigation’ and it was appealing to have a friend who’s father belonged to this prestige service. A month gone by with the same belief, and here he is…..bombing our notions by saying CBI – Central Bank of India. The laughter and anger that followed stringed into friendship and brotherhood. He is also known for his late reflexes which resulted in ---- to bulb, tube light, iron box making him desirable by lot of young girls for his innocence. May it was ‘this’ that led to ‘that’ day when a certain ‘desirous’ sat right next to him. Awwwwww!!! He loves repeating sentences like ‘What did you say at that time’ zillion times after few gulps of an nepenthe. All this changed for a short period when we turned to newer roads resulting in his death wish to speak ‘Hindi’. I don’t have to say why… you all can guess, but all he learnt was ‘muh bandh kar’. Phew!!! At this rate, I don’t see any hopes of a double future…. Wake up bro!!!

Droopie: From the land of camels, he has become one of the important members of the eating community. Appreciates food and also follows WCCs footsteps occassionally. Reserved and lost in his own world of calculations, he is a workaholic. A father to a beautiful child (which was a surprise) probably accounts for his deep sleep during the travel, heads home for extra work at his shop. We are lucky in a way as who knows… in the future, he’ll have chains of his store in the city, and we, proud owners of products with big discounts – Buy 1 and get 10 free!!!

Savei: Quiet with no signs of emotions on those flawless cheeks.. this was her first appearance. Born in my very own (humid) city, this dauntless articulator loves talking, reading and again, eating (a proud member of the eating community). Appreciates yum food ranging from potato crisps, oil soaked bondas and a steamed sweet corn. Hmm… am getting hungry now… She is the only one to share few words with Droopie when he’s awake. Well, as my cab is dominated by women, discussions are more with the ladies than the lost gentlemen. Open in thoughts and words, differs her from many of the people behind the grey walls and having her in our lot is quite interesting.

Chinna Mami: Another city babe and the newest chirper, inspired eyes of boredom (you all know who this is being referred to). With a close resemblance to one of my P. G lecturers, she can amaze you with her sweet talks. A good articulator and spectacularly sportive by nature, she spends a lot of time under the shadows of the great mami and yes folks, she’s the immersion rod, the rod used for heating water in the bucket, a lower version of iron box and definitely ‘under qualified’ for a future in the eating committee. She’s also a filter, letting through a comparatively less of what she filters (4), believing heat for the outcome than the uploads..

Thenga Mami: Born in the land of thengas (Kerala) in a place under Kollam district, she immediately moved to T.N. to kill (kollarey) my tamizh bro named Toni. A mirror image of a mami, she sits silently like a round ball in the second last seat, having a kerchief for her ‘always’ blocked invisible nose. Subtle mornings soon gets replaced with a charged avatar. Loves talking again but what will intrigue you is her movements. He rounds plump hands leaves you spellbound, forcing you to admire her and the intensity of those smiles when she utters her love story, stories from her childhood or a gossip at office, swaying her hands beautifully in air or the seat…Oh la la!!! Oh yes, she also loves eating, rubbing hands (am not saying why here) and is an expert at making nakaras, solving the puzzle to ‘why tamizh guys marry a thenga kutty’ (oh, I didn’t mention it, she married our naatu paiyyen). Emotional and humorous, she charms us all.. Stop acid vakrufying now. I wonder if the boys in her floor are able to concentrate on work… Hmm!!!! Toni Beware, Keep an eye on this thenga kutty!!!

Guruji: Ironed cotton salwars, kumkum on the forehead, neatly plaited hair and nose stud, are her initial strikes. There has been a confusion about Guruji, my guruji’s POB. Some think she’s from the land of spices and gongura pickle (Andhra Pradhesh) while she is a native of the land of swamys (kuppuswamy, karappuswamy, muthuswamy…. Swamy, Swamy and more Swamy’s). Good things come in small packages, and so does she. She’s the 1000 ladi of the cab, silent for long suddenly bursting with an array of words and laughter’s. Romantic and Emotional, she teaches songs like ‘Alaipayuthey’-

Alaipayuthey Kannaa En Manam Alaipayuthey (2)
Aanandha Moagana Vaenu GaanamadhilAlaipayuthey (2)
Alaipayuthey Kannaa En Manam Alaipayuthey (2) stretch……..

and loves the song ‘Vaanga Periamma’ especially ‘Udit Narayan’. Holidaying on Fridays is on her top list of ‘The To Do’ book followed by a regular visit to the Amman temple, she sure is a package of surprises. Wanna call her out? Invite her for your reception or marriage? Wanna shop, and want her to join??? Forget it, she hates going out and literally is never seen on any occasions with her boss washing his hands off after multiple attempts to drive her into extracurricular activities. Everything just crashed!! Spotting the plastic box near those ears is needless to say and appreciating life through the forest of uncertainty puts your spirit up. If you have any niece or nephews, contact her. She could be your instant substitute for a baby sitter or part time mom. I know where I will need to go in the future…Hmmm!!!

We had more back then, but as time flew so did they… to a different cab or greener pastures or just got married. Competitors to the latest singing sensations were the golden Jesh, Hrits, Maathe Gaar with a deafening ‘Pehla nasha’, to the dance guru’s like Prabhu Deva and Hrithik Roshans were the flexible Nammam, to the strong views of a power packed Indian women were G’s, S’s and M’s, to a romatic era of Heer-Ranja and Laila-Majnu were the tear breaking scenes of Yanans, WCC, Nuts, Jesh and Nammam….. Gone are those lovely days..SIGH!!!

OCs are also not alien to us. We’ve had many in the past but it was the regular OC ‘the lead’ of ‘Malai thandi Varuvaaya’, was a favorite time pass of all, jamming the back seat with his killer appearance (funny looks and ‘Onna panna modiyaadu’), fighting for his love with WCC(they share a common love interest ---- the noodles). You all will be cordially invited to watch the much awaited preview of this epic movie soon under ‘VJ productions’ on few of the locals channels like Sun/ Jaya/Vijay T.V. As the website is under construction, online booking is impossible but then again, don’t worry… books your tickets with your posts right here.

Adios, see you all at the premier !!!

Tapping to a green milieu

A hormonal twitch embellishes your very existence on discovering a new milieu, ideated over and over and over its existence, in search of withholding doors of ancient secrets. The excitement seems ineffable lost between anxiety and curiousness. Dreams of the future leaves your mind restless. Thoughts of where you would head, what will you do, what you would wear or what you would shop, are just the beginning to a rain of questions and virtual images. It can numb you till you find yourself to feet’s of determination. This was the onset of my first travel to two of the beautiful cities in Karnataka – Coorg and Mysore.

Mysore:
Famously known as the city of ‘Tipu Sultan’, wrecked the staggered slumber on the very first email by the company’s events team. Though relatively close to each other (TN and Karnataka), not many prefer crusading a path of rejuvenation. Nevertheless, it was something which caught a lot of attention. The start of this journey was boarding the 4am train. On board, running wheels, turbulent seats, and all you can hear is the high spirited chit-chattering amongst the ELS filled boogies. Crossing Bangalore was painful where my eyes spot the very place I saw my Pot with flowers in her hand, followed by a final halt at the Mangalore station.

On reaching the hotel, a sumptuous meal and a quick change withdrew the lagged body at the entrance of the historical ‘Mysore Palace’. As the saying goes, old is gold, the palace carried the poise of the yesteryear's, the elegance of the craftsmanship and the inspiration of the epic. Grasping onto every minute of adulation ended with the memory of a golden palace back to the reservoir of deep slumber.

Coorg:
Still at Mysore, the morning started with an eager look at the sunrise in the balcony. Along with 2 of my friends, we set our suryanamaskars by few kicks in the air, deep inhales, secret chats and captures of nature. Past 8am trailed a journey to the beautiful hills of the evergreen Coorg. Lots to see and little time with us first stopping at the ‘Brindavan Gardens’, - my first introduction to the dancing falls.

The set up dazzled the patchy sky with its dancing waters accompanied by rays of colors and music to an audience of mixed cultures. The nights stay soon shadowed in the arms of a cottage house owned by an old retd. Col. Homemade dinner and a bonfire defined the term vacation with a cozy mattress on the floor waiting to bear the tiny soul. The cottage had wooden beds, more of a dormitory than a bedroom with me tucking under a woolen blanket with no electricity, most importantly no computers!!!

Early morning…. and I find myself with my close friend outside playing with the house dogs. Minutes went by and we found ourselves in front of a gang from my department. As believed, early birds get the worms, so did we as we began our short walk through the hills to a directionless road. Frogs, worms, scorpions, snakes and colored insects whose names I don’t know and never seen, filled the moist atmosphere with life. Naked fog waved across the hills and brushed our brown faces while many white birds flying high. Everything was so perfect!!! There wasn’t any noise, any pollution, any concrete buildings, any smoke, any work, and no stress except serenity. The locals were a splendor in their own way living a simple lifestyle away from the boggles of life. Around our return at 7am, we were informed about the stream nearby. Groups of men and women parted to the two different sections of stream, immersing under the chill waters of a far waterfall. After the bath, it was time to visit the elephant sanctuary. Our travel comprised more of travelling in the 4 wheeled coach making our destinations few. Now, don’t get it wrong. It was still worth it!
I don’t want a ride: What interested me the most was the voyage on a small boat as the elephants were housed at the other end of the rough river. The gushing flow of Cauvery marked the monsoon bless and a view I still miss. While few of my colleagues enjoyed the ride on their broad backs, I preferred watching the peaceful animal being fed by its mahout. Guess what, I also drove the courage to stand next to it, caressing the rough trunk of the gentle beast. Though elephants are not new to us (particularly Tamilians), this feeling was different. Here was a massively sized animal known for its delicate walk along with its comrades in a forest. It wasn’t a temple where it had to bless those who offered a coin and neither was it a zoo. It was free but with humans.
It was now time to capsize our findings of the city, the life, the beauty and nature in its true form, which each of us did in the form of a memory, a picture or few words in a tiny book (and me on blogger)... On the way back to the Mangalore station, we bought souvenirs for our loved ones and some for us, to remind us of our short and sweet trip. Moving forward, I do intend to visit the cities once again in my life and learn so much from what our ancestors did and how we are doing now. As I end this, I hope you all could find yourself mapping them in your next vacation list. Have fun as much I did!!!

Rattling commuters or cylinders

Walking past my colleagues at work, I realized its just not the ‘out of shape’ me adding to the list of unhealthy or malnourished aimless souls but many, whom I know and don’t know. Rows of seated genders saccading every letter on the keyboard, monitor and time, wondering if the deliverables will be met along with a not so long yet, anticipated encouraging email from the manager. Toggling between home and office life streams through the paid hours, slendering thoughts at a narrow end. Concentration here is a battle. Phufff !!!!

Life isnt that bad after all. Relaxation does come into our real life of a devoted wife or a daughter during the long back and forth commute. As most IT companies or MNCs are located on the outskirts of the city, irreversing the possibility of a short travel is ruled out. To eke out an refreshing twirl during the rolling tyres is initiated at the very strike of 5:30pm on our monitor with a speedy pack of our belongings and rush like ‘famished children to a candy story’ to our dear cab, lining horizontally at the building sideline.

Initiation:
The usual settling down succumbs as the wheels run, soon overtaken by varied noise of different frequencies. Our interesting start happens with the usual ‘who said this to whom’, ‘what she/he did’ and blah blah blah… Once the office gossips is over, our focus shifts towards thrilling activities which flies through:

Ø Eating
Who doesn’t love it? Once an adulated me is now replaced by the term ‘obese’. Why? For starters, we have a food court in the ground floor. Now a food court like the name suggests, is a big court with many food outlets serving vegetarian to non-vegetarian, Indian to continental, punjabi to madrasi cuisines. Did I forget to add the junk part of it? Naaaaaaaaaaaa, we also have burgers, fries and colas of McDonalds to KFCs. Subway is a way cornered, visited by few as well. The ‘Nuts and Spices’ corner is an oasis in the epicentre of a busy comb of employees from top notched companies marked with sweets and savouries of all kinds, from all parts of the country and world. Infiltrated with youngsters who need to keep fit by eating healthy food, binge on the layers of food stacks of all kinds. Money doesn’t seem to prevent the buy resulting in a huge pile of cholestrol lurking nearby, inside.

This is just not it. We do get to stop somewhere on the way when the sky is too heavy and roads horribly busy, sneaking into ‘Kerala chips’ for bags of crispy and crunchy ‘salted’ and/or ‘spicy’ potato chips, banana chips with murukku at times or the ‘Murugan Idli Shop’ for a mouth watering treat of ‘small, round, steamy, fluffy, white, spongy idlis with 3 varieties of chutney, podi, hole wada, chakara pongal and filter coffee with jigargandha as the dessert (liked by Kalkaand). The bajji’s of potato, onion and banana doesn’t lose its position in the battle of ‘I want to be eaten’. It sways itself with contemptness to the round belly, slowly forming the yellow layer soon to stay as a permanent member when bought from the local cart outside office, venkateshwara poli stall or the stall near kerala chips. For a change, the steamed corn too makes an entry with its tangy coating of chilli powder, salt and lemon juice. Then again, nothing is more tastier than a fry, be it potato bajji or chips and personally for me, the 'Murugan Idlis'tops the list.
P.S: this is the cause for the transformation of a curved structure to a cylinder.

Ø Singing
From ‘aleypayuthe’ to ‘mungare male’ to ‘o my friend’ to ‘heal the world’ to ‘papa kehte hain or a pehla nasha’, the list is endless. We play a game called antakshari too singing like nomads at the top of our voice, deafening the other with mixed expressions and actions. Our audience, those who travel by bus, auto, car, two-wheeler, pedestrian near the signal etc, the eyes just glare at the courage and melody of our vocal chord stinging us with a ‘we want more’ look. I wonder where is Rahman and Shankar, Ehsan, Loy.

Ø Debate
Topics of any kind. A movie watched recently, a television series, something from NGC or discovery, diseases, life, guys and their ill attitude, places, corruption with politics, animal welfare, sewage systems and what not. Annoying shows of a Rakhi Sawant to a pompous ‘Karan Johar’, Ageing ‘Rajani or Amitabh’ to a we are bored ‘Give new talent a chance’ for a change, endless flights of the ‘Congress to the BJP’, corruption in ‘politics’ to the scams in the ‘army’, kidnaps of minors to rapes of women by protectors, raging waters to forest fires and dry lands, pollution of nature to system to people, What will I do If I was given a chance to make the country better to whom will I sack first for all our demerits, just name it and we have it all… am tired now.. my list could go on and on and on!!!

Ø Dumbcharades
We divide ourselves in groups of two, one member enacts, while the others guesses. It’s a short and sweet game with few members like our fraud wcc texting the answer through his mobile to his teammates.. what a cheater….Grrrr!!!

Ø 20 questions game
Each one has to think of a famous personality. The first one will start by playing dumb giving only a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ as answer. The others will have to guess the personality’s name by asking questions. E.g. if you think of hitler, I can ask you 20 questions like –
1) Is this person an Indian?;
2) Is this person a man or a woman?;
3) Does this person act in movies?

Ø Sight seeing
Tired of all that, lets see whats outside. Wait I can see a couple on a bike, a dog scratching his ears or looking at a human with its ‘die for’ eyes asking for some food, women fights near the water tank with beautiful colored baskets on their hips, an old couple holding hands and crossing the road, cranes or parrots flying around or above you, sky-scrappers, ads, food stalls..and what not.. It’s the time to notice something which nowadays we hardly have the time or patience to do.

My cab truly falls under the category of ‘National Integration’. It’s a mix of culture, cuisines and craziness. We have members from the northern and southern parts on India with few who have travelled distant lands within the country. ‘Amazing’ is a peek at the others life, their city, school, bringing up, parents, most interestingly crushes and love outside and within the office (if at all). Life doesn’t seem to hault and travelling never seeks boredom. Its strange with the amout of time we’ve spent with eachother, lots are archived waiting to be discovered. In the meantime, you could think of what you do or could do. Post your ideas here and help me in having more interactive sessions with my cabmates.

Adios commuters !!!