On a trip home..

Hard to believe that am the same one who once was so caught in the blogging fever. Looks like its not only me, also friends out there have their last posts dated 2010 :). Just as Orkut gone Facebook born, are there any new born Blogger sites or the whole idea of blogging has become so old fashioned?? If you happen to know, please do tell me as I've never been in touch with the world of writing.

So, why am I here all of a sudden after years? You might have to read this blah-blah blog to find out :). I am just back from a nice long vacation in India. Weeks flew off like days and my brother's wedding kept me busy more than I thought it would. Friends, cousins, family, home food, pani puri, shopping, chit-chats and what not. And should sure mention the extra special care we got wherever we went.

I have heard stories of how some people change after their stay in US, of how they carry water bottles, talk in pounds, miles, gallons and degree Fahrenheit when they get back home. Hmm, I didn't change I thought to myself. But then there was this funny incident that happened. I had left my fully drained phone to charge all night. Next day, just as we were getting ready to go out, I pulled the phone from the charger. Why wouldn't it charge?? I checked the converter pin and everything seemed fine. My cousin who was watching this, came and plugged the phone back in, laughed out loud and guess what? I had forgotten the switch. Damn, I had forgotten to switch it on. I couldn't stop laughing at myself. But by then I had already become the victim of the comment I hated to hear, "You are in India dear, not US !!"

And then a series of such things happened. I didn't know my son's weight in kgs, it was really embarrassing when the nurse looked at me like that in the hospital. Struggled to use the gas stove's lighter and the difficult of all was getting my son to enter the toilets. That's not it, had to hear comments like why don't you teach him Tamil at home. You should help him adapt to any kind of food etc etc. You'll not believe but a close one even said that I had no right to comment when we were having a discussion on expenses. Because I earn in dollars, I had no right to comment :(. Huh.. 

In almost every sentence I say and everything I do, there was this cousin who could easily say, this is not US dear !! Again and again. I became so cautious day by day, had to think so much before I utter a word or do something. I really didn't like hearing that comment, even for fun. It didn't feel like home anymore :(.  After all home is the only place where you need not think before you talk. 

All the way back in the flight, thought so hard about this. I had the same struggle when I had to learn to talk in miles and pounds. I had the same struggle when I had to get my son adapt to the language and food in US. When he spends 12 hours outside the house, how could I expect him to talk in the language he hears just a couple of hours. May be its still my fault of not teaching him, I don't know. When for a year or two if someone is so used to plugging in a charger without having to switch it on, is it not natural to forget what she had been doing before the 2 years. I earn in dollars but I have to spend in dollars too, how come the close one didn't understand. Pondering over and over on these, can't believe am saying this, home didn't feel like home anymore :(. 

Maybe that is why people who come here never want to go back. Money and comfort may not be the only reasons. Just as how it takes time to adapt to any place, it takes some time to adapt back at home too. I wish I could adapt faster in the next trip and I wish my close ones will understand this in the next trip.

This whole blah blah.. whatever..  may sound trivial for some, but am sure there are people who might have felt the same way I did. 

The Nellai Express !!

'Why would the seats in a group booking be so scattered ?' - everyone mumbled as they got into the train.. 14 in S11.. 6 in S12 and 5 in S13... A little disappointed that I couldn't sit along with my sis-in-law's kids, I too was staring at the tickets.. Just as how you find an MBA ian in every group, there was one in our family too, busy drawing a fish bone diagram :) . Soon he found out the problem and also the solution. In the 25 members group booking, all the berths allotted were UPPER berths and the fact that made everyone worry was that 60% of our family members who were travelling were above 50 years in age..


Hmm.. so this happened when we were all returning after one of our cousin's marriage in Tirunelveli. We desperately needed 3 lower berths - one for the aunt who was sick , second for the aunt who had a phobia for upper berths and the third for my cousin who had an eight months old baby. Good that our uncle who booked the tickets was not in the train , otherwise.. :)Without a question of doubt, my cousin got a lower berth ( even if she had not got one, shez smart enought to make her husband get one for her :) ) . And with the help of our MBA cousin, we managed to get more LOWER berths :). So by 9 pm, we were all set to have dinner and sleep early as we all had to wake up with MONDAY blues :( . Dinner was over.. Kids tucked in berths.. lights switched off.. and we were all asleep by 10 pm..


Suddenly there was a loud noise and the train stopped. People were running around. I hopped out of my berth expecting to see something wrong going around.. Guess what I saw ? ................................ I couldn't believe my eyes.. there was this man looking like a gypsy with a SNAKE in his hand. I could hear my heart beat fast.. And to make my heart beat still more faster, he bit the tail of the snake that was fiercely moving forward to attack the TTR who asked him to get down frm the train... There were few more gypsies and also a monkey which made strange noises.. My heart almost stopped when I saw my husband in the upper berth just closest to that gypsy and right above the SNAKE.. my GOD !! I closed my eyes tightly and opened again wishing it to be just a nightmare... but it wasn't... :( ....The TTR ran away and there came a railway police officer who threatened that gypsy and even hit him in his stomach.. Guess what happened ? he took the SNAKE out again and the scene looked much worser. Almost all in that compartment crowded near the gypsy and some even clinged tightly to the upper berths with the fear of the SNAKE being let down in the train..

All this happened in a deserted area somewhere near Dindugal. So the police officer knew that nothing could be done unless we reach a station, so the train started heading towards Trichy. One of our aunts was by now running between compartments and woke up all our cousins whom she could.. Trichy came.. The gypsies closed the door towards the station side and jumped out of the other door.. They didn't expect a 15 member police force waiting to attack them in Trichy.. The gypsies getting beaten up left and right was a pathetic scene yet they deserved it for scaring people (young and old) to death for more than an hour.. People breathed lightly and relaxed after they knew they were saved from the SNAKE and also from the stampede if he had let it down (dreadful to even imagine!!)

What a night it was !! Still fresh and scary in our memories.. The superfast Nellai Express was late by 2 hours that day and finally we reached CHENNAi... Actually I wanted my hubby to write this blog, as he was the closest eyewitness for the scene :) ..if you are interested in knowing more technical details..please do contact him... :)

Note from my hubby : There were 5-6 baskets of snakes ( 20 was the count given by the gyspy ) and that is how the gyspy scared everyone shouting that he would let them down in the train...

Shaping your dreams - II

Ever paused to breathe..
the subtle breeze that brushed past you..…
Ever let time slip..
through your fingers till it ceased to last..…
Ever lost hours in counting..
the innumerable angles of green around you......

homes away from the bustle of city life amidst
soothing greenery and unparallelled serenity...

isn't this very impressive?? .. we too were impressed.. so we walked to the stall, enquired the location details and rates and left home with the brochure.. I was silent in the drive back home.. so was he.. it ringed a bell for him too .. i guessed.. the next day was Monday.. we went to see the place during lunch break.. exact 7.5 kms from my office then.. i already started dreaming of coming to office in a black honda activa (was planning to buy one .. :-))

the location was good.. it was by all ways 'A Dream Apartment in a Non-City sort location' .. construction of 2 blocks were almost over by then.. so it wud be less pre-EMI we thought.. now came the actual budget... + Covered car park + Corpus fund + pre-EMI + 1 year maintenance charges+ any changes to the plan charged + safety grill charges etc etc.. it seemed well more than we expected it to be.. and only 2 double bed room flats we liked were available by then.. my husband was almost convinced that this was not going to be our dream apt..

Conversations floated between us thru mails in office.. I closed my eyes and prayed..
somehow we both felt, any dream apartment will have the same ++ charges and if not now.. we might have to regret that it is too late.. so with the only paper cash we had , we decided to book the apartment.. with 2 nd floor-A block set in our mind, we rushed to the head office which was inside the city.. it was already 9 pm.. on the way we called the sales mngr and requested to wait for us..
We had a warm welcome from the manager ... We confirmed with him abt the rates and ++ charges.. All set to go..

Suddenly the manager said .. m sorry .. the 2nd floor was booked just before you came, we have only the 4th floor left.. both of us were dumbstruck.. Oh my God !! my husband said.. 'hmm... so lets go.. no way we can stay in the topmost floor and enjoy the height and heat of Chennai'.. I didn't talk a word.. the Manager left us alone to decide.. I made my mind as usual -not waiting to struggle to get the best and convinced with what I get,,, I said , 'Letz go for this' .... My husband looked at my face once.. and he said 'OK' .. (dont think he wanted to do soooo much for me.. he was just not willing to start all over again -- apt-- city--no --no--drive--call--mail--fight--propery fair etc etc :-)) .. so he was more happy to finish the hunt..

from that day till the day of possesion of the apartment is something I can write as a book.. to simply say in a line..
"It wasn't that easy"...

Now when I stand in the balcony in the fourth floor... 'pausing to breathe the subtle breeze'... my husband with a coffee mug in his hand .. joins me .. and says .. ' though u blindly take decisions, it had ended up so high ' ... all credit to me.. he he..

Shaping your dreams!!!

'Looks good.. but still it's not going to be as good as an Apartment' I said staring at an empty land near Tambaram... Disappointed, my husband headed towards home.. ' The toughest job on earth wud be convincing a woman' , I could read his mind :-)

'No, a separate house is alwayz better' my husband loud and clear this time.. I started again.. 'An apartment is alwayz soo good .. u get to know a lot of ppl.. safety and security is there.. neighbours.. playmates for children.. association to take care of everything... I can never get all these in a separate house.. hmm..if its a separate house, then the location should atleast be City sort'... I said... 'No way... Noise.. Pollution .. Crowd .. I can't bear them everyday ... and also a city sort separate house crosses our budget.. ' he said...

I was determined not to compromise on 'City-Sort' locations and 'Apartments' and my husband on 'Non-City-Sort' locations and 'a 'Individual house' .. After a lot of no-no arguments we ended up in one option.. tho' it meant little compromises for both of us.. The option was "An Apartment in a Non-City-Sort location"...

The next spot in our house hunt was Chennai Pattinam .. I still wonder y they named it so.. it was well well far from 'Chennai' .. but u never know, just as the real Chennai was termed as Old Chennai and a New Chennai was formed.. one day it might also become 'Chennai' .. The looong car drive was good.. But even before we reached there, we wanted to come bac.. Not to make the whole trip a waste of time, we got down at the site which had only compound walls by then.. spent some time talking to the person in-charge there and came bac.. the trip was so tiring that we put our search on hold for the next few weeks..

Weeks later.. we were browsing some online ads for aprtments in Perungudi, Thuraipakkam, Medavakkam, Pallikarnai, OMR.. and I called almost every one of them enquiring the square feet rates... Some rates were really head-spinning rates.. Some builders even hung up the line, saying 'We currently do not have projects for ur budget, mam'... That was so disappointing.. So we increased our budget by 5L , hoping to somehow manage... The next try was a Property Fair.. That made us feel a little better.. but still none of them looked like our dream apartment .. The same drawbacks.. either the distance or the budget..

When we were almost near the exit.. we saw that all bright poster in a stall... a little, it looked like our dream apartment.. But check out my next blog to find out if it was really our dream apartment .. :-)

Dog says...

'Have you not seen that in Animal Planet? ' my mom asked from the balcony... 'No 'ma ' I said 'I don't even remember the last time I watched Animal Planet/Discovery.. Not waiting to hear my answer she continued..

'Dog says' said my mom, 'Whow Whow' my son chorused..
'Cat says' said my son, 'Meow Meow' said my mom..
'Duck says' my mom, 'Quack Quack' my son..
'Sheep says' my son, 'Baa Baa' my mom..
'Cock says' my mom, 'Cock-a-doodle-doo' my son.. he was all set for his next turn to ask..
'Camel says' my son, '!!!&%%^&!!##' my mom.. not satisfied he took the next turn to0..
'Zebra says' my son, '%%^^**$$!!!*' my mom helplessly turned to me.. 'If not the Camel, have you atleast seen what Zebra says in Animal Planet ?' she asked .. !!!$$^^&&!!^^

Camel says ?? Zebra says ?? If you have ever seen/heard what they say , do tell me.. My 2 year old little one will never stop this unless he finds the answer!! :-)

my Science Revision Exam

We were a big joint family then.. my dad was the youngest one of all the five brothers.. we were all staying together in a BIG house.. happy times.. Each brother used to have a living-cum-dining-cum-bedroom( a single room) and a kitchen and a bath.. There used to be a common hall where u can always find my pattima.. (now I miss her soo much).. Imagine cousins staying together in a house.. kaathadi, cricket, hide&seek, a rented movie casette in a rented VCR player..It was all fun and fights..

it was 1997.. few cousins finished their UG and started working.. few were in college.. few in school... me and my bro were also schooling.. myself 1oth std and my bro in 7th std..
I never used to be a night owl then.. (though I am becoming one now :-)) .. I used to get up very early in the morning and read..and could even wake up promplty without an alarm.. (now my morning maid rings the grrrrr..grrrr bell a hundred times.. but still it sounds to me like a lullaby..) .. that day I woke up and looked at the clock.. it was 4 o'clock in the morning.. good I thought.. 5 more hours left for my revision exam.. Science.. just 2 more chapters to revise..I knew the book upside down.. coz it was just one month left for the public exam.. closed my eyes for a small prayer and decided to freshen up.. we were in the first floor.. and I have to cross a 20 ft long pathway to reach the bathroom.. ( we used to dry clothes along the pathway) .. the bathrooms were outside (verandah sort- open area with one bathroom for each family) .. half- sleeping, I went and freshened up... I was walking back to our room and when I just crossed the pathway.. I heard a loud THUDDD.. I could hear my cousin's pomeranian bark .. and someone running towards the steps.. I wanted to shout THIEF.. THIEF, but couldn't.. then in sometime ( i thought it was minutes later.. but it was an hour) my mom came and she had the shock of her life.. I was gagged with a cloth in my mouth and I was lying there near our room door.. she shook me hard and took out the cloth from my mouth.. it was then I shouted .. THIEF..THIEF.. almost after an hour.. my earrings and finger ring were missing.. the THIEF had hit me hard on my head and took them away..

I started crying by that time.. all my cousins had woken up and had surrounded me.. they started to console me, but still I didn't stop crying.. I couldn't come out of the shock.. but evryone else had come out of it.. they started guessing who the thief could be .. auto-drivers nearby?? someone from the mansion nearby?? etc etc.. me still sob.. sob.. The robbery was reported at the nearest police station.. a policeman in mufty came to our house and started asking me questions..that made me feel still worse.. I started crying very loudly... those days I've seen policemen only in movies ... even the very sight of a police station in the road makes me close my eyes tightly till I cross the place..

hmm.. it was 9am .. my Science Revision exam started.. but the paper was all wet with tears.. my mam asked me if I was ok.. I said no.. and started shouting 'THIEF.. THIEF'.. she had the shock of her life..

In my 18 years of education (including lkg and ukg), the only exam I ever failed was my tenth standard Science Revision exam.. I didn't write even a single word in the paper other than my roll no. :-)

the Butterfly Bridge

SanFrancisco,CA:
It was his last day in this office.. ten years was quite a long time to stick to a company.. though he was worried about how he would ever get used to the new company, something else was troubling him more than that..the decision of leaving this place once for all and moving to the 'new' place.. he couldn't term it 'new' exactly..

Chennai Airport:
The flight was about to arrive.. it was half past nine in the night..Though the Chennai Airport was crowded with ppl to receive their nears and dears, the two felt very lonely.. twelve years !!! away from their only son.. the day when he left to do his MS was still fresh in their memories.. they had come with all their relatives and friends to send him off ... they were one among the parents who took so much pride in their children going abroad for their higher education.. but still now they wanted him to come back..12 years was toooo long..

The landing of the flight was announced.. He was at the window seat.. but still he didn't want to look at the view his City had got for him to see.. all he could remember about his city were the extraaa-crowded pallavan buses...so called 'me first' queues at the railway station and theatres.. free dyeing of white shirt to yellow on his bike-ride from his house to college.. the street where thermocoal boats had to be used in the back..no.. black waters..the license he had got without taking a test.. the accident which made him take bed rest for 6 months..(an autowala had come in the wrong side of a one-way and hit him badly).. the kathipara junction traffic jams which had made him miss his exams...But unlike this, the place where he had been for the last 12 years was different.. where most of them had their own cars.. the traffic rules were followed more strictly than words from the Bible.. it had so well-planned roads and lanes.. the driving test there was more difficult than any other exam.. the self-disciplined ppl who would get into queues themselves wherever necessary..his apartment.. the clean air.. oh.. he was missing all of them so badly now..Did he take the right decision in coming back?.. waves of memories and thoughts were rushing in and out..'Sir, can you please fasten your seat belt...' the smiling pretty air hostess interrupted his thoughts.. finally he was there..

His mom and dad looked much older than he had last seen them.. He gave them a big hug.. he could see tears rolling down his mother's cheeks.. happy tears.. soon he was in the Innova he had gifted(online) his dad last year.. after a short conversation with his mom and dad, he turned to see his 'new' City.. wow!!.. first the road.. then the lanes....the new shades of Pallavan buses... the AC volvo bus to Tambaram... and finally the most beautiful Butterfly Bridge..(he was expecting to see the old traffic jam at kathipara jn even at ten-thirty in the night).. Surprisingly they crossed Guindy within minutes..

His mom knew it would be morning for his son now in the 'city' where he had come from.. she came out of the kitchen with a hot filter coffee.. hmmmm.. it tasted like heaven for him... better than any Starbucks'.. he was all fresh now.. set to go for the new job..and the new life.. his NEW developing city and his mom's filter coffee had given him all the enthusiasm he ever needed.. it has wiped away all thoughts of confusion he had in coming back to his 'HOME' city .. :-)

( Note- for ppl who have not seen the butterfly bridge:
this is the Butterfly bridge - it is on the way from Chennai airport to Guindy)