When you know your are going to die

Aai- mee atta Germany la yeoo shakat nahee, pun mala tuzhi kaljee vattey
Mulga- aai aga asa kahee nahee aahey, thoda kanatala yeto hospital madhe. Kiti magazines vaachnaar and kiti TV pahanaar?
Aai- mee October madhe yenyacha prayatna kartey
Mulga- aga aai ghai karoo nakos, savkash zamel tevha ye
Aai- arey tuzhya hospital la sang na tula laptop dyayla, thoda virangula
mulga- aai tey fakta terminal stage madhlya lokaan laptop detaat.
aai- hey bagh kaljee ghe, aaraam kar ani mi phone karat raheen

after a month the son calls
aai- kasa ahes? vel kasa zaatoy tuzha? Gym la zaato na roz?
mulga- aai mala Laptop milala.

I cried after my mom narrated this story about her friend's son. Was restless for days afterwards. I coundnt bring myself to translate this into English

Being nice to others

You might wonder at the somewhat bland title of this blog. I didnt know what else to call it. On way to work, I pass by (not meet) at least a dozen people who I pass by every day- my neighbour's cook who is about to start her say, the house-keeping lady, the car wash guy, the security pesonnel of my complex, the security guard of my organisation who checks my ID and gatepass, the security guy at my building reception and finally the house-keeping lady who is fervently picking up used coffee mug so that she can wash them and rady them for the onslaught of early morning coffee drinkers. Wow, I am tired just reading this list. Look at how many people you cross auras with without meaning to and who you do not have any direct transactions with. This does not include your colleagues (your buddies), your colleagues (strictly colleagues), your boss, your children, husband, househelp, nanny, parents, relatives and other peripherals
Well I have not included the most sticky aura among all these- those with the most powerful weapon in the world- the telephone:). These tele-auras will sell you credit cards, pre-approved-upto- a crore-personal loans, club memberships, car loans, home loans, will ask you have paid your mobile bills (at least 5 times). I am tired again.
Now comes the moot point- be nice to all of them. It wont cost you rupee. Tell the tele sales girl/ guy that you dont need a credit card (or whatever product she/ he is offering) and then hang up. I am the kindest to the guys hanging outside my office (at all times of the day and year). I was stunned to see credit card agents at 1.30 in the morning outside the office gate. They were still sticking out application forms to everyone who came out of the gate. Be glad you are not in their shoes and thank your Karma.
You don't need to bang the door in their faces, just closing it will do. Be nice to everybody, they are fighting their own battles.

Dinner at Prego

The new Italian speciality restaurant Prego was launched at the Taj Coromandel and I couldnt resist taking up the invite to check it. Prego has a great wine cellar. The best part is, it is not in a cellar where the sommelier or even the occassional wine lover has to climb down a ladder. It is also not beyond the wondering eye of the diner. The neatly stacked rows of bottles are right there, tantalising you whenever your gaze wanders from your plate. And I loved it. We started with a Dr. Wolf Riesling. The fruity flavour of the riesling going well with the Quenelle of Ricotta in 4 flavours followed by Polenta and mushrooms in cheese sauce. The proportions are just right and the flavours of every ingredient remains with you right after you are done with your dinner.
Our tongues are totally blunted and taste and olefactory senses are assailed or rather killed with the smells of Indian kitchens. We are used to masalas and tadkas and meats and vegetables that are bludgeoned into the seasoning so that the dish comes out as ONE WHOLE.
I enjoyed my Prego experience but at the same time I absolutely cannot go without my varan bhat with tup for more than 2 days.

My shots!

WIth every passing week, I am getting better and better at tennis and it won't be soon before I am fit to lose 6-1, 6-1 to any decent player. Now you will wonder just what I mean by this? Well having started so late in the game, I am still a beginner. I might not fumble or look clumsy at the baseline or even serve well for a beginner but I still stand no chance. So where exactly is my tennis game. I mean I only have to climb a 40 storeyed building and gaze down at anything that looks as tiny as an ant. That ant is where my game is.
I started in the first week of August this year and gave myself a month to see if I would continue. At the end of 3 months if I was still smacking balls and wearing my soles thin at the net then I would present myself a good- quality racket.
I had bought a cheap Kuawei racket not knowing if I will still be with the game and not wanting to invest in something wishful if thats what my whim turned out to be. I am happy playing tennis and surprisingly it didnt take me long to actually connect the racket with the ball and send it smartly over the net. I had been watching Martina and Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Sabatini, Becker and Sampras and also John McEnroe (though memories are fading and are restricted to his smashing the racket:)) and now my present day hero Roger Federer. He is GOD! I have recorded all those moves of theirs on court- all those shots that I loved, I now appreciate them even more and when I watch any game I participate-sigh when the beautiful forehand lands a whisker outside the sideline or a guaranteed volley is gulped down by the net just like people do while watching cricket. It thrills me that I got this far. It is absolutely more exhilirating than say completing a 5 Km walk on the threadmill or managing to do those painful push-ups for the 3rd time. You run, you swoop down on the ball, you smash, you make a passing forehand (believe me nothing is as thrilling as this) and you run across this court that you felt was so small that you could cover it in three strides and now that you are actually playing on it, the world seems like a smaller place than the court
And I must mention when I go to bed, I am thinking of my serve and my right hand actually involuntarily twitches. I see that as a "divine sign" that I will continue with tennis for many years to come and evetually turn a 1-6, 1-6 loss into a win with 6 on the left hand side.

Who needs a friend?!!!

The last month has been very busy. Getting hold of carpenters, electricians, plumbers and then dancing to their tunes and times. We have been settling down in the new city and really warming upto it. But there are times when I wake up and really don't know where I am. Geographical disorientation! I had a guest last week- old friend of my father's. I was marvelling at how old age finally catches up. And there he was talking about his son, daughter-in law, his grandchildren. He hardly sees his children these days, they are forever travelling, or working late or on weekends taking a short holiday on those expensive resorts. His grouse was that they hardly socialise, no friends coming over or them visiting any. Just colleagues, phone calls from office, work, work and more work. "Well its OK now that you folks are young and wanted, you are skilled, do a good job, you are on a roll, a high that your professional successes give you. But when you retire, grow old, no longer have your routine to fall back on, no place to go to every day, no mails to check, no meetings to attend, what then?"
I wasn't really paying attention so far to his conversation but the last one got me. Yeah what then, when we are old and our children have flown the coop...we need friends, we need constancy, stability of familiar places, old faces, poeple who have known us long and know us well. People who have genuine affection for us; long forgoten relatives, friends we somewhere stopped talking to..
So guys - moral of the story is start making friends along with buying insurance. Both will be great walking sticks when we need them when we are no longer needed.

The year is coming to an end

Ganapati cha visarjan zhala, sigh!
Now its Diwali and I have decided to make all the Faral goodies at home. So, Ganpati, Dassera, Diwali and Christmas holidays; thus comes 2007 to its end and then its time to view the same old 'new year' programmes. Well but the subject of my rumination is the city of Chennai with all its strangeness. It has medicine shops that stocks " all vetnary medicines and English medicines", "encourage" and "discourage" are two words that I have come across more frequently than in the books I have read (goes to show that Chennai is indeed consarrvative). I was given a circular by the society association containing all rules that residents have to adhere to 'in order to live in peaceful harmony'- "drivers are discouraged from loitering in areas other designated' which means they are encouraged to loiter in designated areas!!!! They shall not drink in the parking or smoke or gamble and are also discouraged to talk agressively, spit or interact with people living in the colony. So here again we find 'encourage/ discourage.
Hotel Aiswarya serves 'Chettinadu , Chainies and Andhra'
Hotel Bharani also does 'Tiffen'
many more such peculiarities....so until my next thought-blog
Ciao.

Modak, Aaraas, aarti, prasad and lots of fun!

Its that time of the year- I think Ganapati is more exciting than Diwali. This year the theme of my Ganpati is "Shetatla Ganpati" - representing bountiful harvest. We have sown mustard, fenugreek, aaleev, rice and we can already see the seeds sprouting. In the next couple of days Ganpatichi murtee will be surrounded by an abundant crop. I have placed the murtee in the middle surrounded by cardboard strips on which I have shovelled soil (using the children's sand set) and sown these seeds. We hope that this year will bring the same abundance in our lives a nd those of our near and dear ones- family, friends, colleagues, those whom we work for and those who work for us!