Alu, Parantha and Amitabh Bachchan

Yes. It was a near perfect evening at my new address where I dared to cook for the first time. Though I enjoy cooking, but usually it takes a lot for heavy body like me to overcome the inertia of lethargy and step into the kitchen. I had slept the whole noon after a hectic house cleaning session that Saturday. I woke up at around five in the evening when I got a text from one of my friends, saying that they had cooked a full meal that day! I was like, ‘What the hell!!!’. Now, I had to cook. So, I tightened up my hair and woke up my flat mate to join me in the kitchen. Within 40 minutes, which includes scrupulous tasks like kneading the dough, we had prepared dry Alu ki Sabzi and Garam Garam Parantha. Just then, I remembered, that I had my friend’s pen drive which had the movie ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’. I thanked God for small mercies. We both set our plates and I played the movie. It was such a satisfying feeling to actually cook one whole meal for self. Not that I hadn’t done it ever before, but it was my first time since I had started living away from home. And with the Amitabh Bachchan movie playing along, what could have been a better weekend at home. Cheers to Alu, Parantha and AB.

Dream Again

Once again
I lie down
Sleepless in the night
Counting the pieces of my
Broken dream

Once again
I open
My little box of hope
To lock the
debris inside

Once again
I pray
For a slumber
To see that dream again
And again
And bring it to life
This time

The Other Voice

Its funny how our emotions play with us. Yes, they do. Coz one thing is for sure that we don’t control them. Rather, they are the ones who govern us, more importantly our moods. They kind of embody a subtle form of our being who speaks the same way we do and can be heard only by us. They are like a constant background score of our conscious life. I don’t remember a single moment of my life where there was no on going commentary by my other self in my mind, either paraphrasing or narrating the on going events. Sometimes that other self might multiply. It can morph into those small devil and angel that appear at the side of one’s head in the cartoon movies. Both fighting and suggesting different ideas to the poor mortal human, who can’t help but listen to them. They appear just like that. Poof! Especially when you are contemplating some issue, which might be as small as choosing between coffee and tea or as big as considering two different carrier options. They just like an undetachable part of our existence. My dad says there’s only one way to control these noises, meditation. Meditation! I mean I’ve tried it once. But it becomes rather more difficult for me. These voices literally begin to chit-chat with each other, completely ignoring my presence! Who gives them such energy to go on and on. They don’t seem to be mortal to me. They simply remain an unknown, unnamed part of me. When I am hungry, they are hungrier, tempting me to take just anything edible thing that I see first. When I am bored, they are even more jaded, trying to pull me out of the lecture hall. When I am scrared, they are scared as hell. Constantly prompting me to check behind the curtains, beneath the bed.
But in the end, they are a constant companion. Atleast they don’t leave us alone like people do. They are with us through thick n thin. I do admit that I am grateful they don’t leave me feeling lonely at times I need someone the most. Though they might not always help in placating my worries or anything, but they do stick around. Thank you… me!!

At Bangalore

I got a very warm welcome at my uncle's place in B'lore. It felt like home. I was proud of myself as I had finally succeeded in in pushing back all the sentimental thoughts and was able to wear a cheerful face. After long hours of chit-chat with uncle and aunty, I hit the sack. I was happy that the day left me too tired to entertain any emotional memories of home. But then, my sweet dreamless sleep didn't last for long.
So, here I am, wide awake at half past three in the morning. Sleepless in B'lore. But I don't want to succumb to my emotions and cry. I AM NOT GOING TO CRY.

So what to do?? I think, I'll just get up and have some water.
Done.
Two glasses.
Now what?
Had it been home, I would have taken out my laptop and would have read some ebook.
Well, had it been home, I wouldn't be awake and restless at this hour.
Ugh!! I am missing home. Why on earth did I have to come to this place, so far away from Ma and Papa. I hate everything. And guess what? Finally my emotions won over me this time.
Tears...
God!! Why do we have to move out, to learn to live... in this unknown world? Face such a gush of sentiments.
This new world better be good.

What the !!!!!!!!!!! (Part two)

At last, I boarded my flight. Got an aisle seat. But crap, its been twenty five minutes since the gates closed and our flight hasn't taken off yet. I guess, like me, this flight isn't at all willing to leave Delhi. It seems we aren't getting a clear runway. May be, all of these are signals that God doesn't want me to go to Mysore. First the flight got delayed, and now this. Remember how in the movies we have this climax where the plane is just about to take off and the heroine creates a scene to get off the plane and runs into the arms of the hero. Or the hero comes dodging the whole damn security, which is practically impossible, to the boarding gate to stop the heroine. Then he utters some corny dialogues which melt the heart of his girl plus the security guys. The former stays while the latter leaves, and then they live happily ever after. Well, atleast till the credits show up on the screen. Anyways, there are a lot of exceptions to this, in this real life scene of mine. First, there is no hero. Second, there is no heroine either. Yeah, it is hard to picture myself as the heroine of my own movie. And third, as soon as I was through with thinking about the climax and all, the anti-climax happened. The air hostess started her robot dance at the front and my flight prepared to take-off, and here I am, sitting on my aisle seat, trying to push back my tears.
Just as I settled, a kid started squealing, at the highest pitch, to go back to his father, who must have dropped them off at the airport. Though the noise was annoying, I wish I could do the same. But no, I have to behave like a grown up. And grown ups don't cry like a baby.What the hell?!!
Anyways, let me divert myself from the running-back-home topic. Talking about a movie on my life, it is going to be a disappointment for those who are looking for a romantic flick. Forget the hero, the guy sitting next to me stinks! Literally! He has got some serious body odor problems. I kept my face as much towards the aisle as humanly possible, trying hard to make it seem like a normal posture.
Then again, the movie is going to be a disappointment to those who are looking for some action. Apart from chasing a purse snatcher on a highway, sneaking into a computer lab at prohibitted hours in the first year of college, doing some water sports at Goa, and yes, slapping a guy in school, I haven't had much action in my life. But my movie will definetly get the audience who are looking for a comedy. A comedy, where all jokes are played on me. It may become a unique spoof of a mixture of some bollywood and hollywood flicks. (Definetly not a Scary Movie..plzzzz). I am sure many people would relate to this one. Having declared this, do i hear some directors approaching???
Ah.. forget it.

What the !!!!!!!!!!!

Ok now, this is not fair. As if having to leave home and reaching the airport one hour early wasn't enough, after check-in I get to know that my flight has been delayed by an hour!!! Plus, I don't have enough balance in cell to call back home. Argh!!! What crap?!
I guess I'll take some coffee and read what Mamta Banerjee has to say on landholdings. And yes, FYI, no cute guys in the waiting area. Life sucks!!

Good bye Delhi

So, I finally had to bid adieu to home, to delhi. It was really hard to digest that for a long time I won't get to see my mom's cute smile, won't get to play cards with dad and won't either have a pillow fight with my sis. For a long time, I won't get to hang around with my Bhaiya n bhabhi. As I am not much of a keep-in-touch-through-phone kinda person, I am practically gonna be without my people for a long time. That saddens me like anything. But then, when I look at it the other way round, I get to move out and make my own world, my own life. I must admit that as much as I want to study further (not that I've dropped the plan), I am secretly looking forward to the I-hate-my-boss feel. I know, I am going to regret saying this later, but as for now, sitting at the airport, waiting for my flight, this is the only thing I am looking forward to. Rest all sensations have been dealt with during my last visit to Myosore D.C as an intern. There is one more positive side of leaving home, atleast theoretically. I believe that being abandoned by my mom's delicious food might help me lose some kilos. Well, I have my fingers crossed, coz I suck at dieting otherwise.
When my family was bidding me goodbye at the airport, I saw something twinkle in my mom's eyes. It was a tear. A sweet combination of pain and pride. I wish I'll soon erase the pain and let only pride fill its place. I hope. Wish me luck Krishna...

The Mallu-Goody Days (Part one)

With the end of my five months internship at Infosys Technologies Limited at Mysore, my tryst with the southern part was far from over. As soon as I stepped back into Delhi, assuming that my coconut borne days have finally ended, I was informed that my family was planning a holiday in Kerela. I had to concede to the plan as my sister had already told her class mates about this trip and now it would be too embarrassing for her to go back to school without any souvenirs. So we went ahead. I didn’t pack any expectations in my luggage because I was least interested in the trip. All I wanted was to spend time with family which came at the cost of my college farewell party.

We boarded a holiday special Rajdhani Express to Ernakulum, Kerela. These railways people surely don’t mean it when they say ‘We would love to serve you again’. Their much famous frequency of meals and an equally annoying quality of that food surely increases one’s expenditure on antacids. You know, the strange part is, if we know that they will serve tomato soup at seven thirty then we start feeling uneasy as soon as the hands of our wrist watch near to showing that time. But, if in case their service gets delayed by significant amount of time, then we’ll think, ‘why aren’t they bringing the soup?’ and we’ll look at our watch in every five minutes. Not only this, our POA for playing games, dozing off or even for answering the nature’s call depends on the time table of the meals!  The first day in the journey was fine. We played cards, dumb charades etc. But towards the end of the day, when the TT told us that the train is running six hours late, I started losing patience. ‘Kerela better be good’, I said to myself.

As soon as we stepped out at the Ernakulum Junction, we were welcomed by a quick monsoon shower. I love rain. So, all my frustration of the train’s journey was rendered away. Now, I was all set to enjoy this trip.

Papa had already booked a car and a driver to take us around. The driver was a cute Mallu uncle. There was a huge communication gap between us. The only language he knew was Malayalam. Though he understood a little English, it was very difficult for us to communicate our plans to him. Every time we would want to tell him something, we would literally telegram him. For instance, if you want to tell him that you want to go to a restaurant for lunch, then you’ll have to say, ’Restaurant… Go… Lunch’, or some other combination of these words. This telegrammic conversation was often accompanied by some hand actions which made the scene funnier. It was quite amusing in the beginning but after some time, we felt like going on foot rather than telling him to drive us to some place. Apart from this, he was very well equipped with the knowledge of all the tourist places and best timings to visit them and so he made it sure that we can be at the right place at the right time. Though sometimes, we were lazy enough to skip a few spots.

We started our day at Ernakulum with a typical south Indian breakfast, that is, Dosa, Idly-Sambhar, Uttapam and Pongal. Being acclimated to the southern cuisine, I was not as surprised to see the variegated list of Dosa as my sissy. Unlike the north, these items are cheaper here. After the breakfast, we had the whole day with us, and as our actual tour was to begin the next day with Thekkady, we had abundant time to kill. So, we decided to begin with the very famous water park at Cochin- the Veega Land. It was about ten kilometres from the place we were staying at. With much excitement we reached the place. As soon as we stepped out of the car, it started raining heavily. Anyways, we decided to go ahead. But seeing the kind of rush there, my mother became quite apprehensive about the hygiene and became worried about catching some skin diseases and all. We couldn’t convince her (actually nobody can, once she makes up her mind), and hence we had to cancel our Veega plans.

Next, we decided to take a tour of the city. So, as the protocol, Papa said to Mallu uncle, “City… Tour… Go… ”. These three keywords activated our driver to start the engines and hence we commenced with our mission of aimlessly wandering around the city. Surprisingly, it turned out to be good. We saw the Cochin Port, the Dock, the big Navy ships (and a few handsome navy guys) etc. at the Wellington Island which is a man-made island. Well, this island is not a picnic spot but a busy port, and it also houses some very important shipping and naval offices. I never saw any big cargo ships or navy ships in real life. They were really amazing. I was reminded of my seventh grade Geography lessons which taught me about the shipping industry in India (Yes I remembered them thoroughly as I used to be a big nerd back then, unlike now). Then we boarded a one hour long cruise to take a trip along the coastline. Around sixty people boarded that cruise all of whom were talking in an alien language. All the ladies had jet black, oily and wavy hair. I had automatically adopted that wavy and oily hair feature since that morning. Coastal climate does that to my hair. I don’t know why, but at the coastal regions like Cochin, Mumbai etc., almost every day becomes a bad hair day for me.

I don’t know why, but I am fascinated by heavy machinery such as cranes, planes, ships (especially air force jets) etc. I can just keep looking at them for hours (that was one reason I wanted to study mechanical engineering, but again, there is a lot in it other than this stuff. So I dropped the idea). I enjoyed watching those big cranes shift the huge and colourful containers into the cargo ships. I don’t know about others but that was a delightful sight to me. As our leisurely cruise ended, we next headed to the Broadway Market at the Marine Drive. I hate shopping except when shopping for clothes (for myself), earrings, bags or stationery and sometimes cushions (:P). But Southern fashion wasn’t a magnetic enough for me. So I let Ma shop for spices and stuff (Spices and tea are the main agricultural products of Kerela), whilst I wandered around to find a coconut free eating joint.

The day ended with all of us lying drop dead tired at our room watching the movie Guru. My eyes were carrying sand bags but I was waiting for just the right moment to hit the sack. As the dragging commercials ended, the movie resumed.

Abhishek Bachchan enters the hospital room to see his newly born twins and I make a last attempt to keep my eyes and ears open just for that moment.

Abhishek (Guru) says ‘Disha…’ and I blissfully go to sleep. 

           

Slumdog tames the audience

What happens when a passionate heart lucks out while on his quest for his beloved?? Slumdog Millionaire. Adapted from Vikas Swarup’s novel, this is a 120 minutes journey through the life of a hard up teenager Jamal K Malik (Dev Patel), whose various misfortunes eventually win him a handsome twenty million bucks. ‘It is written’, this is what the film ends with. I really admire the approach of the film. Though Jamal is just an impoverished kid from the slums who is exposed to the harsh realities of the life too soon and is madly in love with his third musketeer Latika (Freida Pinto), but it is his will to fight and brilliant observation that brings him at the doors of the game of luck and cashes him up with all the answers. These answers he didn’t learn in any other school but the school of life. It is amazing how each and every question had its answer hidden in different stages of Jamal’s life. Apart from the main story, the movie simultaneously gives an insight on the crude realities of the life in slums, what is actually going on underneath the steel grey tin shades and the dark putrid streets of a city. Saying any further may spoil the fun of the watching it. It truly tells us that one must not give up. You never know… Luck might be waiting for you just at the next turn.

All the actors have given a brilliant performance and the movie has been nominated for 4 Golden Globe Awards. The director Danny Boyle has previously given hits like 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach.    

I end this review by rating the movie 4 out of 5. It’s a must watch people. 

Happy New Year

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend or a meaningful day.
------Dalai Lama

A very happy and prosperous 2009 to all .