An Evening of HahahahaHehehehehe

It was a lazy Friday evening when I received an sms for the S Ve. Shekar drama to be held in Bangalore. I was immediately transported to the years I spent living in Chennai. I was introduced to S Ve Shekar's brand of humour by friends and cousins. We spent countless afternoons listening to his cassettes and laughing at his jokes. We actually even knew some of the dialogues by-heart. "Yenna Mirugam Aakathe" was a personal favorite that was usually uttered by the actor who played S Ve Shekar's father in the drama. I soon liked his clean sense of humour and his comic timing, which was an amazing contrast to the Sendhil-Goundamani comedy style that was sweeping Tollywood. I wished I could attend a live performance - but alas that never happened while I was in Chennai. So, receiving this sms was like a "Wah Wah Woo".

I pestered the Arien to book tickets but he was not too keen. Finally after a lot of rhona-dhona, usually a major part of all tamil mega serials, I got my way. The Senior Arien was going to be all-alone over the weekend as the Taurean was away at Chennai. Used version 2 of rhona-dhona and managed to get a Yes from him as well.

Sunday, 4:10 pm, saw us (the senior Arien, the Arien, and self) happily driving to "Ghana Sabha". I had amazingly deleted all the smses and so was not sure of the name of the place. An auto-driver informed me that there was no "Ghana Sabha" in K R Road and that I am probably looking for "Ghayana Samaj". After reaching K R Road, and taking various detours, we finally reached Ghayana Samaj at 5:15 pm. While the Arien goes to park the car, I get the tickets by sharing the online booking id and the senior Arien is asking ppl standing outside if the show has begun - we suddenly spot the comedian himself sauntering past us. He has not changed much. He is extra-ordinarily fair in person and he speaks in a typical tam-bram accent when he informs the organizer that he does not want to make the audience wait any longer. Both the Senior Arien and self are busy gogling at him, beaming at none in particular, when the Arien walks up and asks us 'bout the tickets - we tell him in hushed tones that HE jes walked by.

At 5:30, the play titled "Periya Thambi" began. It was a new experience for the Arien. The Senior Arien and self were laughing away to glory. It was funny, familiar, laced with political inundoes, and naughty as well. The auditorium was one of those "Thaatha Kalathu sabhas" and soon it was pretty warm inspite of the fans. We were seated 5 rows away frm the stage which was perfect - I spotted certain improvisations made by the artistes tht would not be visible frm say the 10th row. The grandfather who uttered senseless proverbs was hilarious. Its usually pretty tough doing a live show and I was pretty impressed at the way they performed. A young gal in the third row was recording the play using her cell phone and S Ve Shekar caught her and waved a No! from on stage. While it was pretty embarrassing for the gal and her companions, I was surprised he could make out smne was recording with all tht light on the stage and the near darkness that the audience is in. The play was 2 hours short and had an intermission for 10 mts after the first hour.

After the play, S Ve Shekar introduced all the cast members and he was at his funny best at tht time. He also thanked the audience for encouraging drama artistes by coming to these plays when temptation such as multiplexes lured you. He also shared details 'bout his first play in Bangalore. It was complete wholesome entertainment and we had a Hahahahahehehehehe evening. Both the Ariens enjoyed the different experience inspite of creating all tht fuss earlier :D

Not Without My Daughter

It was a hectic saturday and after checking all the items on my To-Do list, I reached for my "If-Possible" list. The only item on that list was to visit the library. Happy that we had completed all the tasks planned for the weekend on a single day - we went to the library. After picking up 3 books (all fiction), I was drawn to a book on the Non-Fiction section titled "Not Without My Daughter". I added that book to my collection and the Arien added 1 magazine to this collection and we were all set.

It was Wednesday when I got around to reading "Not Without My Daughter". As I read it, I was reminded of one of my childhood nightmares that would occur everytime I saw a horror movie. It is a sunny evening and I am happily walking hand-in-hand with a frend into a huge crowd. Suddenly, the crowd disappears, there is a huge storm and I am all alone with my friend.. who is now a monster. The fear that wud grip my heart was smthng I wud feel even after I woke up frm the nightmare. There are many places in this book that feel like I am walking into the same nightmare only in slow motion.

The story begins with Betty, an american woman married to Mahmoody, an Iranian doctor, going on a two-week vacation to Iran with Mahtob, their daughter. From the beginning of the vacation, Betty feels that they may never come back to America. Betty, Moody, and Mahtob stay at Amee Bozorg's house. Amee Bozorg is Mahmoody's respected older sister. Betty finds the entire stay at their place very difficult but is willing to compromise as it is only a two week holiday. On the day of their departure, Betty is all dressed to leave when she realizes that there is some issue with the tickets and that they will leave in a few days time. Days change to weeks, and Betty learns that Mahmoody has lost his job in the US and has no plans of returning to the US. He also wants to admit Mahtob to an Iranian school. The rest of the story is about how Betty gets back to the US.

The story evokes a lot of sympathy for Betty, especially the sections where she describes how her various escape plans are thwarted time and again, when she is not allowed to call her family in the US and find out how her kids from her former marriage are doing, how her dad, diagnosed with terminal cancer, is doing. And also, towards the end where she has described her perilous journey from Iran to the US. While Betty has potrayed herself as an intelligent, astute typical american, she has potrayed Mahmoody as an evil, illogical, violent Iranian man prone to fits of depression. I feel she was playing it safe by sticking to stereotypes. The book was also made into a movie starring Sally Field, Roshan Seth and others.

Mahmoody has also presented his side of the story in another movie titled "Without my Daughter". His grouse is that he can never enter the US - thanks to Betty. And he states that he is the one without the daughter. Betty has not allowed Mahmoody to contact her or Mahtob.

Maid in India - Boon or bane of working women

With the topic title like that - I am sure you are reminded of class VIII debates that one wud b forced to participate in. Well, this is not a debate and neither is it a post 'bout the notorious Shiney Ahuja case tht grabbed eyeballs. In fact, now that it is clear that the not-so-shiney Ahuja did indeed rape a minor, I must admit that I had not pegged him as an offender at all. Surprisingly, almost everyone who knew him said tht he was incapable of such an act, including his poor wife, Anupam. Or shd I say poorer maid? Anyway, thts not the subject of this post.

When my maid wanted 3 days leave to help out a distant relative around Christmas last year, if we had had any idea that we wud never see her again or how quickly our well-managed household wud fast become a mess - we wud have begged n pleaded with her to stay. Of course, since we did not know, we happily gave her leave to go. In the past 6 plus mnths - I have realized the important role a maid plays in the smooth functioning of my house and also how very difficult it is to get a good maid.

We have had maids who kept their own timings, demanded naashtha (breakfast), wanted Cha (tea) before they started work, or spoke too much. If they washed the dishes well, they did a bad job of sweeping and if they did a good job of sweeping they did a bad job of washing the dishes. It seemed so difficult to get a maid who did a good job of washing the dishes, sweeping and swabbing. Punctuality, cleanliness, gossip soon became the least of our concerns. They actually seemed trivial in comparison.

Some Gems:

• Stains? I cannot see any stain on this tea-cup. I have worked for marwadis. Do you know how clean they expect their cups to be? [This was in response to my pointing out a very visible tea-stain on the inside of a white cup.]
• Do I have to swab everyday? [This was a week after negotiating the salary based on the 3 things she has to do everyday: wash vessels, sweep the floor, and swab the floor.]
• I will work only wen you are there. [This comment had the Arien jumpin up n down. He said "Does she think I am another shiney?? Grrrr" A trip to KFC and a lot of "She did not mean tht... Its ok" helped him calm down n decide against kicking this maid out.]
• I am part of the ladies club and we meet at 4 pm every sunday. Can I just do the dishes for today? [Do I have to say anything?? ]
• Aunty, has uncle gone out??? [Whaaattt??? She was the mother of two toddlers and I was the aunty? Grrr..]
• When do you plan to have children? [Whoaa???]

Pfhwah!! Phew!!! Blaaaah!!! GRRRR!!! We had had enuf of it. We even did a pilot without having any one for close to a month. By end of month, we were praying for a maid. I was ready to accept all her conditions. I decided not to have any conditions of my own. As you can see, I was pretty desperate for a maid to help me out with some of the household chores. I brought this topic up at general get-togethers and this is what I found:

• No Maid?? Are you kidding me?? I have a toddler and in-laws staying with me. We have a cook, a maid, and a driver.
• Why wud I want to do all this menial work?? My brain will be pakaoed. I have a life.
• My maid cooks, cleans, sweeps, swabs, and washes clothes as well. I pay her well and she is almost like an extended family. She has breakfast and lunch at my home and packs some for her kids as well.
• Initially, when my MIL insisted that we don't need a maid for the two of us, I agreed. Our marriage almost crumbled under the pressure that I was going through. I don't care how the older generation managed... I cannot manage on my own. The maid brought a lot of peace in my home.
• I think a housewife does not need a maid. If you are working, it is better to opt for one. It also depends on the kind of work tht you do, and the support-system you have. Some one who has a stress-free life with fixed timings can take on additional tasks - if she so feels like it.

Interesting huh??!! So, what do you think??

Terminator Salvation

After having watched Hugh Jackman sleep-walk through X-Men Origins: Wolverine and waiting for something unpredictable to happen - I really did not think I would like Terminator Salvation. This was another one of the most hyped movies of the month but the Arien is completely crazy 'bout action movies and so I decided to go along, yet again. The only plus I cud see was Christian Bale who was fantastic in the Dark Knight and Illusionist. He plays the part of John Connor. The minus was tht some of the machines looked like the ones in Transformers but lacking the colour n the personality. It was a tie n so I went with the Arien's optimistic frame of mind.

For the folks like me who started with Terminator2 and then watched Terminator1 and missed Terminator3 alltogether - it was good. For folks who have not watched even one of the Terminator series - the graphics are cool, you may feel you are a part of sm JigSaw puzzle which you can solve only if you have watched the earlier parts but for most part you follow wht is going on. We were on time, thanks to the Arien's persistence. The movie started well. There were scenes when I wanted to whistle or shriek alongwith the crowd. There were a few surprises - making this movie really worth watching. *Spoilers ahead*

Wah Wah

• This was the movie tht made Arnold Schwarzenegger's career. Not seeing him in this movie was not ok. However, Christian Bale (John Connor) and Sam Worthington (Marcus Wright) were pretty good.


• The scene where Marcus attracts a magnetic mine; when he realizes tht he is not human and is a cyborg with the goal to bring John Connor to Skynet were taken very well.


• Seeing an almost lifelike Arnold (T-800 model 101 terminator), who starts fighting with John Connor gets full points for the surprise element and the computer generated graphics.


• The machines: they played different roles.

Blaah

• The look of the film was dark, dusty, and gloomy. I guess tht is the result or after-effect of the nulcear holocaust.

Verdict

****

X-Men: Origins of Wolverine

This movie is one of the most hyped action thriller of the month. Most ppl have been looking fwd to this movie especially after the Multiplex vs Single-screen theatre wars. Does the film live up to the hype?

X-Men: Origins of Wolverine

Before I start, I must share that we arrived late at the Hall and missed sme of the crucial childhood scenes of Wolverine. Naturally, the Arien was pretty bugged 'bout tht and wud have cribbed 'bout it till we left after watching the movie. The fact tht he did not, expresses wht he felt 'bout the movie. Missing some of the scenes however does not change my opinon of the movie. The movie was completely predictable. Somehow, Logan did not connect with the audience. Hugh Jackman is famous for his connection:- You feel his pain when he is unable to recall his past. However, when he loses his gal friend, it seems pretty much expected. You are waiting for him to get over it and get on with it. You do not feel the pain.

Wah Wah

• This story begged to be told - Logan's haunting memories and his inability to remember his past was, I believe a crucial part of the X-Men series. A movie that dealt only with Wolverine's past was a smart choice as the base for the movie.


• Hugh Jackman in his body-builder avatar in blue jeans n a vest.


• Ryan Reynolds as DeadPool or Weapon XI.

Blaaah

• I like Hugh Jackman. I liked him in Swordfish, Kate and Leopold, X-Men series, and The Prestige. However, I did not like him in this movie tht was all 'bout him.


• The movie stopped short of being anything spectacular and was a completely predictable, boring account of his totally forgettable past.


• The dialogues did not have the impact you have come to expect frm a sought-after movie. They seemed a tad cheesy in some of the important scenes.

Verdict

**1/2

Boyfriend's Jeans

It was one of those lazy saturday mornings when I came across this article on "Boyfriend's Jeans". It was all 'bout how cute Katie Holmes looked in them and how the said pair of jeans was soon going to become a popular fashion trend. Firstly, there is all together too much hype and hoopla 'bout TomKat. I felt Katie looked very cute b4 she married Tom. Kinda goody-two-shoes but sweet. However, she totally lost all sense of dressing after her marriage to Tom and she looked dowdy most times - blame it on scientology or Suri - but its a fact. Anyways, wanting to know what other ppl think of the latest fad - I took this up as a conversation starter to find out what ppl think.

Overheard at the Gym:

"Boyfriend Jeans???!! I wouldn't fit into them" said Thunder Thighs Tina. "I prefer borrowing their T-shirts - I can easily fit into a size M while I wud b a XXL if I had to buy T-shirts meant only for women. "

Overheard at the Pantry:

"Boyfriend jeans... Chah" exclaimed Sneezing Sneha. "I prefer borrowing their kerchiefs. Have you noticed how beeg they are? Perfect for my cold. These chuntu, lacy stuff - wht use are they? I ask you Aaah... Achoooo!!"

Overheard at the Mall:

"Jeans? Why on earth wud I wear my boyfriend's jeans? I spend so much time Gymming and doing Yoga to get this amazing figure - why would I want to hide it in a pair of boyfriend jeans?" asked shopaholic Sweety. "If I had to borrow something from my boyfriend - it would be his wallet for my shopping."

Over the course of the day, I found that most women want to borrow something that belongs to their man, but it was not their jeans. Hmmm... Well, do guys want to borrow something from their women?

Shared in strictest confidence
"I used to borrow my gal's Fair and Lovely cream for years" whispered Vijay. "That was until John Abraham endorsed Garnier Mens Fairness cream."

All names have been changed to protect the identity. If you would like to share what you would like to borrow, send a comment and I shall include it here.

Sea of Poppies

When you have a library membership, a pretty good one at that, you rarely buy books. I miss owning a book. So, last year when I received a Crossword voucher for my birthday, I was happy that I would be finally owning a book or maybe sm books. Of course, I forgot all 'bout the voucher and it languished in my cupboard until the Arien, while doing a routine clean-up, found it. We then made plans for the subsequent weekend for book buying. I still recall a time when smne asked me what I would with my first salary and my answer was "Buy a book". Hmmm... So much has changed.

The Sea of Poppies is one of the books I purchased using the voucher. So, at long last, we have a book review :) It took me a while to get started on this book. I was worried that it maybe a lil too intellectual for me as I had read one of his essays a while ago. While I found the essay well-researched, excellent to read - it was not smthng I would recommend as a light read.

So when I started on the Sea of Poppies, I was not sure if I would like it. On the contrary, I liked it. The book was actually pretty good. In fact, the first chapter kinda draws you into the life of Deeti - one of the central characters of the book. The other characters are introduced from the diagrammatic representation of them as drawn by Deeti: be it the simple giant, Kalua, the american sailor Zachary or the others. As the story unfolds, you appreciate his style of introducing the eccentricities of each of the characters, the difference in the language of the lascars and the malums, the concept of girmits, the voyage undertaken by the coolies and the sudden change in the direction towards the end. Its a good read.

Blah: The only blah part of the book is that it is part of a trilogy. I, after reading the first part, want to know what happens next but he is yet to write the next book :(

Angels and Daemons

It was a boring Friday evening and suddenly I decided that I had to watch "Angels and Daemons' on Saturday. Managed to convince the Arien tht it was ages since we saw a movie in the theatre and so off we went to Fame Lido to book tickets. Well, considering that the Innovative Multiplex has rats and had recently suffered a pretty bad fire, Fame Lido was a reasonable bet. So, imagine my shock when I am told to come back next Friday. I am so zapped - I do not question why. I recall having read that the movie was released on Friday and assume that all tickets are booked for a week. The Arien comes back after parking and I tell him the news and so we exit amidst a loong boring lecture 'bout how I must have checked earlier blah blah blah.

The Arien calls "Just Dial" and finds out that the movie has been released only in single screen theatres and so we decide to catch the movie in Rex. While the Arien attempts to find some parking spot in the ultra-crowded brigade road, I rush in to book the tickets. Imagine my shock-cum-surprise when I am told that the tickets costs Rs.60/- a head. Yes... thts right! I book two tickets and come back with a stoopid grin on my face. Meanwhile, the Arien has actually parked the car on Castle Street and expected me to join him there. Its not an interesting walk and so I am fuming. The Arien is so zapped at the price of the tickets tht he completely ignores my rants. Grrr...

Anyway, we make it on time for the movie and actually manage to park in the Parking Lot provided by Rex. The Balcony is packed. The usherer and the person who serves snacks - come to stare at us during the Intermission. I guess its been a while since Rex was this crowded. Hmmm....

Wah: Tom Hanks sans the wig as Robert Langdon, the story was non-conterversial almost simple in comparison to the hue n cry generated for Da Vinci Code(I have not read the book and so I may be wrong here), editing was slick and quick, fast-paced, the grandeur of the churches and the beauty of the sculptures was almost ostentatious or maybe shown in that manner. However, the city itself has been beautifully shot.

Blah: Not much really. Haven't read the book and so I guess I did not have any issues. Folks who have read the book did not like the movie much.

Conclusion: Lukewarm water on a cold day. Not a edge-of-your-seat thriller.

Dinner at Copper Chimney

Was away on vacation last week and got drowned in work when I returned tho' neither I nor my brain was aware tht we were bk. Ob. had to re-do most of the stuff tht I attempted early in the week :( And then out of the blue receive a call frm my Arien aunt who wants to catch up with everybody and soon everyone is happily planning a dinner.

Almost everyone had a reason to celebrate - Leo sis has got an admit into Moore School for Business, Capri Aunt is happy she is back in Bangalore again, Arien aunt wants to meet everyone as she is here on vacation, Libran uncle and Aquarian aunt are ready to break their 7:30 deadline after a looong tm, the rest of us are jes glad to catch up with the others which according to us was a reason to celebrate.

The Leo sis is in charge of finding an appropriate restuarant n booking a table for 10. The whole day goes by and we do not hear frm her - she is probably busy with her manager - its always difficult to state tht you are leaving and I am sure she was finding it tough. The Arien aunt starts panicking and asks me if the place is decided - I opt for Samarkhand as I have never been there. Its an option, I tell her. Arien aunt is kinda mollified tht we have a place to meet. Finally, my sis calls.

We talk for ages... We catch up pretty rarely and so any conversation lasts an hour or more and this also did - almost messing up my schedule for the day :D We finally arrived at the topic of discussion and she wanted to go to Copper Chimney - the place had rave reviews and she was totally in favour of it. I had not been there as well and so we decided tht tht was the venue. She made the booking, missed her bus hme, and I informed everybody of the venue.

We were all supposed to meet up at 8:30 pm. The Aquarian aunt and the Libran uncle are known for their punctuality and are usually the first ones to arrive at any get-together. The Arien aunt was the hostess for the evening - and she wanted to reach the venue earlier and by luck and a lil help frm the usually punctual folks - she managed tht. Knowing me, we started at 8:29. We decided to pick Senior Arien and Taurean on the way and in the process got pretty badly delayed. We reached the venue at 9:30 pm :D

The ambience was nice - food was good - the Dum Biriyani was particularly good. The regular Biriyani was bad. We are generally a very talkative group and there is a lot of ribbing, teasing, and jokes made at each other's expense - all of tht hpnd - however, all the older members seemed tired and did not talk much - wen they did- they discussed sm philsophy, a TV serial titled "Yengey Brahmanan", and some gen talk. The main conversation was lead largely by the kid - who was 17 - ya, not really a kid - the youngest Arien in the family. Usually, it is the Libran uncle who holds sway over the entire conversation. We have always been kids to them and this inspite of the fact tht the oldest of us, the Capri cousin in Chennai, has a daughter of 5.

When we started for the dinner it started raining, we cribbed 'bout the traffic, the distance - but the moment we met the rest of the family - all tht was happily forgotten - everyone was so happy we made it inspite of it all. We talked n talked n talked or rather yakked n yakked n yakked till we cud yak no more. My eyes started to close towards the end of the dinner - the sizzling Brownie with Ice-cream dessert woke me up :D

We saw tht they had these cute two-sm options for couples outside - on the balcony - it looked awesome - a worthwhile option for a romantic dinner I hinted to the Arien. He tried very hard to hold back the yawn as he agreed with me. And then we were off - we still had one more day before the weekend - everyone was saying their byes amidst gigantic yawns - it wud be a while before we all caught up with each other again. Had a Ni-YAWN-ce evening.

10 things tht make me SMILE

I have ranted, cribbed, poked fun at numerous things most of which have become funny posts but I have never written 'bout something as simple as wht wud make me smile - wen I am stuck in situations tht I have cribbed so much 'bout. Thinking 'bout such an apparently simple thing has taken an amazingly looong time. Well, here goes:

1. When my niece tells me the long version of the "Thirsty Crow" story over the phone and everyone arnd her is trying to get her off the phone.
2. Waking up in time to see the sunrise - a cuppa of hot, sweet chai in my hand - the whole day stretched out ahead of me. On a weekday, I am rushing to complete the cooking, cleaning and so I really cannot have a lazy morning and on a weekend, I am snoring my morning away :P
3. Listening to Yesudas's rendition of "Maha Ganapathim". Carnatic music has a major soothing effect on me.
4. When I wake up pretty late, am crabby, and I find tht the Arien has made breakfast and lunch for us. Beeg Close-UP smile comes up. Crabby, who me??
5. While struggling with multiple deadlines and worrying over my possible goof-ups, I recieve a loong appreciative mail from a senior reviewer and she has cc'd my manager on it.
6. I am in the middle of a "Its ur fault" fight with the Taurean or the Arien when I recieve a call frm an ole school/college/work friend. We spend the next 2 hours on the phone oblivious of anything else but the conversation. I return to the present with a smile n wud have actually forgotten the fight and may even accept tht I was at fault.
7. Recieving a Ganesha statue as a gift - I am always happy to recieve one irrespective of the number of Ganesha murthis I have with me at any given time.
8. When grandma, dad, and other oldies get nostalgic - you have heard the same story a zillion times n you actually know it by heart by now but U let them repeat it so they enjoy the experience once again.
9. It has been a boring day at work, I am bugged and want to go home when I happen to find tht smne has commented on my post and has included a link to my post frm their post. Full Khush - I now don't want to go home anymore.
10. Last but def not the least, when someone tells me I have lost weight even though I know I have not :D

Well, it has taken me almost 2 days to get this list right. Of course, there are a zillion other times I smile or feel happy but currently this list is the Top 10 in Town. Already, hazaar other items are trying to make their way into this list and so will append them or create a latest Top 10 list smtm later. Have a Happy Day!!

What do I have against Borrowing??

1. When someone borrows something beeg - they never ever return it to you in the same state. For instance, the Arien is forever borrowing the bike from me. When he takes the bike, it is overflowing with petrol. When I get it back, I spend the time driving to the nearest petrol bunk praying that the petrol lasts untill I reach the bunk.
2. When someone borrows a popular/favorite item - you may never ever see it again. For instance, when you lend your new book to ur cousin who is visiting - the cousin lowes the book as much as you do - you hold late-nite sessions to discuss the twists, the cousin is unable to finish the book within the visit - you are coaxed into lending the book- the cousin leaves and you will never see your book again.
3. When someone borrows a trinket - you automatically move it to ur museum of small things. For instance, when you lend your fav pair of ear-rings, the chunky bracelet, or other small cute accessories that you own, you will find them returned sans sm chuntu part. The ear-ring will come back without the snap-on, the bracelet will miss the lil stones, 2 of the 12 bangles will be broken.
4. When someone borrows a common place item - you will always be running short of it. For instance, when the person standing next to you in the queue borrows a pen from you - you are forever walking arnd without a pen. When the colleague frm the nxt cube borrows your Post-IT, you will never have them when you need them.

So how do we deal with this issue? Do we behave like kids and state bluntly "I won't share"? Tht seems childish. Do we tell ppl tht the item means a lot to us? Well, try explaining why the Reynolds pen given by your company (Rs. 5/-) means a lot to you. You will be considered weird by one and all. Do we jes accept what happens to all our cute and not-so-cute stuff? I hope not. What do you do??

Bangalore Rains

One of the best and worst things 'bout Bangalore rains is that they are absolutely unpredictable. I still remember when we used to visit B'lore for holidays: we wud set out for a walk on a sunny evening and come home dripping wet b'cos of the unpredictable showers.

So last week, when all of Bangalore had been dying a slow death b'cos of the scorching summer, I was surprisingly happy when we had some sudden showers. The plus was that all of them happened pretty late in the day and so I did not get drenched even once!! However, on Friday, when I left work, it was raining cats and dogs. I was really glad that I was not going home on my two-wheeler. Considering I spend most of my time on my two-wheeler, I usually hate the rains. You either have to find a nice place to park or you keep driving - either way you end up getting totally drenched and bugged. Driving in the rain is a pain. Folks who drive four-wheelers enjoy the rains b'cos all the two-wheelers are off the road during rains. Considering that I am going to be drenched n bugged anyway, I usually drive home when it rains. I don't like it - but rather than stay in the office, I prefer going home.

In my previous organization, we had a cab service. We would get picked up from our homes and dropped back via company cabs. Ya ya... it was a luxury :D Sitting inside a cab while it was raining outside was gr8 fun - but then its not like a fun ride - its more a lift home and the driver wants to drop you off as soon as poss so he can get back home. Obviously, you spend a lot of time listening to his rants on Bangalore, Traffic, damn rains, and what not. Of course, I have also had fun times.

So when the Arien picked me up that Friday, I felt strangely relaxed. He lowes to drive and is usually not a crabby person to be with when it rains. So, I was all smiles and the drive home was very nice. The Arien played some gr8 music. We got stuck at the Railway signal but did not lose our tempers. We were staring at the rain and enjoying it for the first time. The Arien turned nostalgic and spoke 'bout the hazaar times he was caught in those rains while he was on his way home after meeting me, 'bout catching dreadful colds b'cos of the drenching, 'bout going to watch Vantage Point at Lido when we were dripping wet after one of those sudden showers and shivering in the AC while cribbing 'bout Bangalore rains, etc. etc.

After listening to him, suddenly I was not so sure I hated the rains. We have tooo many experiences associated with these Bangalore rains. Not fair!! :D

Awful Friday

Fridays are essentially Wooohooo!!! days. Ask anyone whats on their mind and most of them are planning their weekend. Some people are waiting all week for Friday.... I have a frend whose gtalk status message is a countdown until friday. For some people, what you did last weekend is a conversation starter of sorts. While some folks laze the weekend away, some travel, others watch movies, and still others visit their hometown. I was recovering from a cold and cough that I had somehow managed to catch in the middle of a particularly wicked summer in Bengalooru. Naturally, I was totally looking forward to an amazing weekend and I was determined not to waste it. When I was leaving for the day at 6pm, it was raining cats and dogs.

The Arien picks me up frm work and we had a lazy evening. We relaxed over a cuppa chai, mulled over general stuff, changed channels a lot, watched a bit of IPL, had dinner, when we had a power cut. We were pretty chilled as we had a generator and so waited for the security to switch it on. Yes... this is the same person who metamorphises into a traffic policeman when I drive out of the apartment. After impatiently waiting for 15 mts, we realize that there must b sm problem. The Arien speaks to the security guard and finds out that the generator is under repair. It was soon pretty warm and suddenly there were zillions of mosquitos for company.

I was surprised at how quickly a nice day turned pretty bad with a power cut. All the enthu was long gone. I was cribbing 'bout the security guard who takes forever to switch on the generator and if he knew it was not working, he should have informed us. The Arien was cribbing 'bout the mosquitoes. We decided that maybe falling asleep wud b good and attempted tht. It was stifling hot as there was no breeze at all and so sleep was really hard to come by. Because there was no power, we could not switch on the mosquito mat. We managed to have a short nap for 20 mts before we were awoken by the buzzing of the mosquitoes and the lack of air.

I decided to sit in the balcony and left - as I walked towards the balcony, I could hear the Arien shriek in the background "Lock the balcony door after you - I cannot handle any more mosquitoes." I curbed the urge to retort.

The power came back at 2:30 am on Saturday. I rushed back to switch off the lights and try to catch a bit of sleep when we heard the unmistakable sound of a wire going up in flames. In 5 mts, we had the next power cut. The Arien decided to check out what had happened. He left carrying a candle as we could not figure out where we had kept our torch. He came back 20 mts later. A truck had hit the transformer of our building as it tried to navigate a particularly difficult turn and the wire went up in flames. So, there was no chance of the power coming back until BESCOM folks turned up which would be - 10 am. The generator was garam aagidhe according to our security guard and so we were likely to suffer for the rest of the nite.

I didn't know if I cud handle any more of the power cut or the mosquitoes. It was 4:45 am. I sms the Senior Arien asking him if we can visit him and sleep over. The Senior Arien is a habitual early riser and for once it was going to be of sm help for us- Yeah!!! The Arien was also thrilled that we had a way out of the current scenario. No response till 6 am. I decide to make coffee for the Arien. I make the coffee and feel overwhelmed with sleep. I fall asleep at 6:45 am. When I woke up, it was 11 am. The Senior Arien had finally replied to my message "Please go ahead" at 9:55 am. I burst out laughing n woke the Arien up.

One power cut and we were so damn vulnerable. You never realize how dependant you are on the electricity that serves you day in and day out until smthng like this happens. Saturday was spent catching up on lost sleep. I felt that this Friday was the worst Friday ever. All the enthu for the wknd evaporated with a snap of a finger. At the time, I was pretty bugged. In the larger scheme of things, people lose family members, jobs, money at a snap of a finger. What I had lost was hardly as valuable as all tht. Still, it is the lil things that bug us way more than the beeg ones, am I right?