Long live astrologers.

" The company has won the best employer of Asia award last year and there is no doubt on job security ",He added patting his moustache ." And our share price has gone up this year "
"Ohh , is it ?", exclaimed Neethu as she was planning to buy some .
Her pearl necklace which she forcefully put around my neck that morning has started irritating. I could feel the weight of the ear ring which held two arrays of white stones in its silver backbone.
" We get away to Pondichery on weekends , most of our friends are there " , Neethu glanced meaningfully at me since we knew Pondichery is the booz paradise . I was watching two old women wrapped in fine silk having Idlis , the only other customers in the restaurant. Their nose studs looked like nuts and bolts made of gold.
" Whats the nature of your work ?" , he asked and Neethu was explaining some thing . I wondered I have already explained this thing over phone hours ago. Once Neethu finished he talked about the business that the company he work for do and the number of offices they have in India.
" Why don't you talk ?", I wished to say that I was recollecting my employers financial status in the last quarter .But I ended up with " Me?...Oh...yeah , you have a sister ,right?" , He had shared that information over phone.
"Yes , she is married", he said quite unconcerned.
"OK....so you did your graduation before PG ,right?" Every one gave me a puzzled look and I corrected myself ," I mean... from which college?".He said some college name.
"Is that all you wish to know ?", even Neethu was looking at my face .I decided to admit frankly " Eh ...I 'm first time into a scene like this ...so ..." , I tried to smile as brightly as possible so that I can hide my unhappiness. I tried to have the juice but the heavy breakfast which went inside my stomach just 30 minutes ago prevented me from that.
It all started with a phone call from my father the previous day . Some close friends has come up with a wedding proposal and you may receive a call from them .He tried to sound casual but he couldn't. I asked him if he wanted me to get married and sent away . "You are not going to marry this one I'm sure, but the obligation to this friend who came with the proposal ....You can refuse after meeting the guy but turning down the invitation to meet will be inappropriate. And after all its nothing like sending 'away ' ...they too are from the North Kerala."
I nearly screamed, "Why do you think of the possibilities and all these North Kerala stuff...you said this is just ...."
"yes ,it is ....Just informing...", dad finished.
After a while I got a call from this guy very politely introducing himself.A few seconds later he started like
' I have studied this subject , working in this company , I have dad , mom ans a sister at home,she is married , my height ,my weight .............' Felt like I was a recruiter and this candidate has given all the details including his vital status.
He continued like filling the form to join a social network 'what my friends think of me, the city I like to work , the food I crave for....' I got enough time to Google his name while talking and I was surprised by Google's accuracy .The first result was his name and same thing happened with Orkut and Facebook .I went through and tried to find out reasons to avoid the meeting . But this guy had a perfectly diplomatic profile.At the end the meeting place was decided , the restaurant which is famous for Dosas and sweets which smell ghee.
"Ha ha ha ha....", that was Neethu's response ( Why ? ) .
Another friend asked ," why don't you feel interested? Planning for higher studies?"
I said ," No.At least , not very soon "
She lowered her voice ," Got a crush ?"
"You know Rahul Dravid and Tom Cruise are already married ."
"Oh ...You still fantasise those old men !! " She continued,"...Then what ? This is your perfect age to get married."
A cousin who used to argue about being single and enjoying the freedom of life advised ," Go and meet the guy , at least you can blog about it ."

Neethu agreed to accompany me after half an hour of compulsion and we made it to the restaurant next morning. Plenty of time left to the appointment , we had a heavy breakfast .The guy accompanied by a friend arrived after we finished our breakfast and they ordered some fruit juice.
After a while of my aloofness , every body stopped talking .By that time almost all possible questions were asked and facts were informed. The official declaration of the end of meeting came . The waiter brought the bill and placed it at the center of the table as he was not sure who is responsible for payment.

"Its already late for you , you can leave .We 'll settle the bill ." I offered as humbly as possible.His obsession about his employer was not enough to make it to Mr.Punctual title.
"Any way I'm late , I can wait for the bill too.I'll pay ", we gave in when they moved the bill to their side and he pulled out the notes of hundred from his wallet, obviously more than what costs for four fruit juices in an ordinary Chennai restaurant. But he looked at the bill and the currency in his hand.I wondered if they have specified ' payment in South African Rand only '.He put his hands again in the wallet but there were not enough hundreds and he started searching for his cardholder.Meanwhile his friend glanced into the bill and took money from his pocket and closed the bill . Neethu and I wondered how come four juices cost that much .
On the way back Neethu said her hands still smell of the ghee from the breakfast .Suddenly everything made sense.........money,bill,blank looks , going through the bill again and silently paying the bill.They gave a combined bill for our breakfast and the additional juices. Those guys didn't had a clue that we had our breakfast there till they got the bill and they payed for it too .And we ...had forgotten about that part of the bill totally.
Embarrassed we were heading to work , again my phone showed my fathers number and he informed me that some astrologer advised not even to think of wedding for next one year.
Some times I do support astrologers too .


Pic courtesy :gaming today

Whats missing ? , Season II

'Onam is the national festival of Kerala '.The first sentence I used to write in essays on Onam through out my primary school exams.It was a sure as well as welcomed question.The exams 'd get over a few days before
Onam and the mirth starts.Even the word 'Onam' always accompanies a happy smile.Ten days of making Pookkalam* .Starting with a single color of flower on the first day ,two colors on day two and so on till the tenth day.New dresses and sadya* on 'Thiruvonam*' add the glamor.


Through the years my Onam celebrations have been changing its flavours.When I was a kid I strictly observed making Pookkalam ,collecting flowers from here and there.As time changed I gave a reverse inheritance of my rights to make Pookkalam back to Amma and she did it Only on Thiruvonam.From collecting flowers , my happiness diverted to celebrate Onam at a friend's place , extend a helping hand in Kitchen on the day of Thiruvonam and now to work in office on the day of Onam( I can't call it my happiness and even I hate calling it my fate).
As years go on , I feel like I had better celebrations in previous years. During the last Onam season I had an insight that this year , just like any other past year , will be remembered as a good old time in future.So I tried to enjoy the festival consciously. It was literally a free time.A few weeks after I graduated from college and a few weeks before I joined my present job.
This time I 'm waiting to see how my Onam will be registered in tomorrow's album.I am waiting for an Onam which I 'll long to celebrate for the sake of my happiness and not for it to be remembered. Every one says , as you grow up the enthusiasm vanishes.If it is true then I'm waiting for a day when I become a kid again.I know some thing is missing now.

My last Onam is here Whats missing?

Wish you a happy Onam

Pookkalam - patterns made by flowers
Sadya - the feast
Thiruvonam - the 10th day of Onam celebrations

Badshah Bhai

There were two incidents which make me talk about music.The happiest is that my friend Neethu sang for an album named 'Interval' which is expected to release soon.And the other is ,I talked to a college mate who gave up his engineering career and learning music production now.Their passion for music made me travel pretty back down in my memory lane .
My school had a group of students who sing for all the programs . Me and my friends used to frequent their practice sessions.We gave them chance to bask in the glory of their talent with our admiring eyes.The teacher who used to train them in school knew how badly I wanted to sing.Once he gave a chance for me to sing with his group in a training session and every one who was present there could identify my voice running far beyond the others.The teacher asked me to return to the audience side after a few minutes .He did not bothered to gave me ,not even to my friends, another chance...that much was the impact.A friend consoled me," You can't sing without proper training in classical music .Once we get trained for at least six months we can sing better than these people".We knew all those students were trained in karnatic music from their childhood.
That night I told my parents I wish to learn music.My father asked me " Do you feel you sing good?"."Acha , how can I come to a conclusion without getting proper training .First lemme get trained ". There weren't any music teachers around , so I demanded them to take me to a music school which is pretty far away from home.Being a primary school student I was not used to travel alone , so my parents could easily discard that institute.I came to know about a full time music school which have hostel facility.I was ready to give up my regular school classes and I dreamed of a future devoid of mathematics teachers but blissful music .My mom raised her head from the book she was reading " Bhavya, do you know , In my childhood I wanted to learn drawing .But circumstances didn't allowed me to and I don't regret for it now.Very less people make a living out of art". "I 'll be one of that very less people".
The news of a music school opening near to our place didn't escape my notice.Classes are handled by a famous artist retired from All India Radio.I found myself enrolled in the class on the next Mahanavami.My class mates were in the age range of 5 - 40 .Needless to say , except the few of 5 and 6 year old , most of them already had basic training earlier.And 4 of them were doing degree courses in music and came to the class just to get the Guru's blessings.But the teacher insisted of starting from scratch.Forgot to mention, that was a part time class .(I couldn't drive Mathematics teachers away from my life).
Every day the class had wonders in store for me.I understood how 'swaras' are laid in the back bone of a song and how 'tal' framed the songs.The teacher was an expert ,not even in singing but teaching too.I remember how he moved his hands in air to show the ascending and descending swaras.Still I wonder how perfect he puts each swara in the exact position , how his voice dissolves in the shruthi of 'Thamburu'.
As strongly as I admired the music lessons , I hated that much to sing.The only reason behind that was my voice not being obedient to me.My voice never cared for 'shruthi'.Except mine and two other boys ( they were brothers) ,every body else's voice converged as one and flowed in the tune.I tried to hide my voice in others.But the Guru declared " he can count the number of voices that comes out.Don't try to hide your voice ".Even if he didn't look at me ,I knew I was the target.When it came to individual practice even lip synchronization couldn't save me.There were theory classes on the second Sunday of every month.He used to explain how different Raga's came into existence and talked about the history of music.It was in such classes he used to talk about the similarity between different genres of music. I liked such classes only.
Then came the next Mahanavami and every one was supposed to sing for the pooja. I set my mind up and Guru grouped me with two other best singers .(He was sure I'll do lip synchronization only). To make things even worse , he invited the student's parents and some how one of my neighbour came to know about it.That uncle himself assumed the duty of publicising it.In the evening of that program I could find all my well wishers lined up the first raw .I don't know what happened , nobody criticised after the program.
After some days the two brothers I mentioned earlier, those who too were as pathetic as I was, left the class.Then the teacher said ," There are people who are not gifted in music , they might have some other talents.Even if such people try hard to learn music , they won't succeed .They may come inside the rules of music.But music is not some thing about rules .So if you are not gifted its better to leave and go in search of your piece of cake.I was talking about those two boys...".That words of wisdom opened my eyes.I thought of giving up music and I did after a few weeks.
From that day I haven't ever tried humming a tone even in bathroom.I realized my role is to enjoy music as a listener.I don't regret that I can't sing.I don't regret that I joined that music class.That incident gave me valuable insights.
Later in college hostel a senior girl asked me to sing a song as part of the so called 'ragging' ( I guess , it was me who got ragged least in our batch .This girl was the weakest of the seniors who never got a prey).I warned her as humbly as I could " I sing really bad, nobody ever allows me to sing" ,"Ohh...is it so? then I'm giving you a chance" .I started with "har ghadi badal rahi...." she couldn't control her laughter and told me "I didn't expect when you said...".
My cousin used to say , he can run a remix company with the help of me.If I sing , nobody can find out it was a popular song.A friend used to say , I sing like the priest in their church.In short I never open my mouth in singing.
I met Badshah Bhai very recently.I have a feeling of coherence when I listen to his songs.Eey...I'm talking about the new character in 9Xm family , Badshah Bhai.I got a boost up and I may sing one day...he he...just kidding.

My Chi

"You are wrong ,do the other way",
"You should pronounce that word like this.........",
"This dress doesn't suit you",
"Oh..you don't know what is it!!!",
"Use your commonsense..."

If you think these abuses/criticism/correction come from my parents or a friend of mine , you are wrong. These all are the occasional knocks I get from my sister who is five years younger than me.Lets call her Chi.After going through my blog she noticed , I haven't ever made a mention about her anywhere. Since I'm afraid of a "So mean you are ..." ,I promised her "Eey ,I have some thing in mind.'ll pen it down soon" .So this is more of a 'post on request'.

It was in a hospital bed, I met Chi for the first time, laying beside my mom , after a few hours of her entrance to this world.Standing on a stool by the side of the bed and leaning over my mom I saw her sleeping silently.My grand mom introduced her to me and I found a lot of scope in that toy like thing.I fancied of carrying her instaed of a doll , in my mind.But more than the baby what caught my attention was a green mosquito net and a feeding bottle.I started playing with those things and left the baby.I can't recollect me shouting at my mom to throw that baby away and let me stay with her.But my grand mother kept on describing that scene every now and then when I grew up.But I I din't...........
When the baby was brought to home I badly wanted to carry her in my hands but no one allowed me to.I waited for one day when I grow up to a lady and hold her in my hands .But a cousin asked, "Do you think she 'll remain a baby once you become a lady ?".



Untill Chi was six she din't had any friends except me.Those were the days I got respected the most in my life.She watched whatever I do as heroism.She always wanted my company but school was a big obstacle.By the time I get ready to school Chi'd start asking me secretly "Baa...only today , I wont ask you anymore.Please don't go to school today ,let's play".I 'd agree her a hundred times to bunk school but dad ,mom......When I leave home she 'd start crying with all her might and most of the days I too wet my eyes and curse school.Once when I was in 3rd STD she asked me to take her to school .But how? My aunt made a master plan.I'll take her to school and by the time the class starts aunt will come and bring her back to home.Aunt was damn sure about she being afraid of the teacher and begging to take her back.But when teacher came to class , she said she 'll stay there with me other wise I too have to accompany her home.But my teacher was so sweet and permitted this 3yr old to sit in her class beside me.But when teacher told us to write some thing Chi told me it 'll be good if we draw a picture instead of following the teacher.I was in a dilemma.We were a team and I started writing and gave her a rough book to draw in.But she wanted to draw in my book itself.At last I had to give her space in the book margin.After hardly one hour a boy in the class did some thing mischievous and the teacher beat him with her cane stick , followed by a shower of scolding.By that time my sister buried her face in my lap and started crying "I want to go home".Teacher gave me leave and send my friend with me.At home she was fully contented, "I saved you before your turn came ,na?".

I was not permitted to stay over night at any of my relatives houses since she'd be left company less.Once she somehow agreed on me staying in a cousins house and the very next day early in the morning we woke up to see my dad with the crying Chi in hand.From then I couldn't leave her except for school till she was some 5 or 6 yrs old.

She attended hardly a ten days in nursery that too in my company.She used to hold my hand tight and ensured my presence.When she started attending school I used to take her till her friends house and they 'd go together from there.Till we reach that house she used to nag me like 'take me back home'.And I had handed over my exclusive possession of our dad to her when she was born.Instead of me dad told stories to her and made her sleep to comfort.

As time went on , she got many good friends and she explored a world beyond me.And she started taking her teachers words for value.Once when she was asked to bring Rs.10 to school she asked dad to give '10 roopa*' and he asked her back '10 urpika *?' .she demanded 'roopa' and not 'urpika'.He gave a 10 rupee note and assured her its '10 roopa'.On the way to school some one asked her why are you holding '10 urpika' and she came back home and asked dad whether it is '10 roopa' or '10 urpika'.
And to mention our fights ,it will take a whole series of posts.Will consider it that way.

Now that she is grown up and I don't ever felt insulted when she corrects me.And miss her calling me 'Baa...' when she is not around.As a wall paper she once created in photoshop says 'Baa & Chi rocks'

Phoolon ka tharon ka sabka kehna hai
Ek hazaron mein meri behna hai
Sari umar hame sang rehna hai

* Roopa & Urpika = Rupees