Step 2: first day at home

 The girls are here in Chennai after a span of nearly 6 years. There is not much that they remember about their home. 

It was the dead of the night that we reached Chennai. K was there to receive us. Once we reached home, we unpacked our change of clothes. I went off to relax while the girls got busy with their paati. They were finding it a bit hard to get to sleep, so amma took them over for a stroll around the apartments. They were surprised to see the number of stray cats and dogs! Once walk done, they were a bit peckish and went on to have a quick breakfast of some cereal. The UK sleep cycle eventually kicked in and they drifted off to sleep. 

K and I after we were refreshed ventured to get some shopping done. Primary among them was some utensils and pressure cooker. Shopping done, we came home and had a gorgeous home cooked lunch. Living 3 mins away from the beach mandates an evening trip to the beach. That's where we proceeded. The girls just loved it to the hilt. They were surprised by the warmth of the water. And since the water was warm there was no end to the time they could spend!  

But we had to draw them out around 1900 to wrap up soon, for next day we were off to Bangalore!

Step 1: the onwards journey

When we travelled the first time from UK to India, it was with a 5 month old Chiyaa. She was a naughty raucous baby who had to be transferred from the baby bassinet to our arms intermittently. I had a few moments of calm when she slept off and I could enjoy my meal in peace. As I sat waiting for her next demand, I saw two ladies who were watching movies with subtitles on. I was reading the text and watching them sip their gin and tonic and having a 'pleasant' journey. I thought what a fry cry from my dishevelled state was their journey.

It does not take long for time to turn around. This time when I was travelling to India, I had a 7 year old and 11 year old in tow. I had some worries, but I was amazed by how smooth it was (touchwood) The formalities at the airport were done smoothly. I had come well prepared with food for them. So we took the time to recharge ourselves. Once we boarded the girls just busied themselves on games provided in the flight console. They needed the slightest bit of nudge to take a nap or to have their food. I managed to watch 1.5 movie in the flight and was pretty much like the ladies 7 years ago.

The flight was surprisingly ahead of schedule. And we managed  to get out quite quickly. And what greeted us was beautiful India! 

Last few days

I have not written about my last leg of vacation. 

After K reached bbsr it was a mad rush. Food, family and the final packing. My sister was around and those were my time with her. My sister had come over to spend the first 4 days with us and work from home for the next week so that mummy and papa did not feel our absence. I really like her thoughtfulness but then in many ways she is a much more mature person than me.

The day we were up start, it was raining heavily. As if there was a pall of gloom all around. I had insisted that no one come to drop us since I wished to say my good byes at home. We boarded the taxi amidst tears and hugs. It will take some days before the image of Papa, mummy and Lichie crying at the gate is obliterated. 

While there was grief at bbsr there was revelry at Chennai for the granddaughters were coming home! As soon as we reached, we took a walk to the beach which is a few minutes from home. The lovely sea can make one feel a lot better. K was at home. In every aspect. Roaming around in  track pants, in the place where he was born and brought up, I could see him blending in all aspects. We had a trip nearly everyday to visit a friend or family member. An example of India shining, I could see how Ola and Uber had revolutionised transport. Auto fares had actually seen a decreasing trend.

I managed to meet two friends of mine which made the trip worthwhile. Renu from bloggerville. I have been following her blogs since 2008. It was a special thing to meet up with her in person. She is a vibrant, optimistic lady who sees a lot of good in the world. I was impressed by her positive views of everything down south though she happens to be from the Hindi heartland. We could have gone on chatting if a certain four year old and infant  did not keep interrupting us.

Being a bit unsocial I have single digit number of friends. One of them is Preeti from school. She came over all the way from Bangalore to meet me. That she felt I was worthy of it was humbling for me. The evening zoomed past and I will have only memories of it. Just like I will have memories of the day spent with my college friend Basu who travelled 4 hours to meet me at bbsr. Just like I will have memories of the past 13 weeks. 

In these last few emotional days as usual my best friend K comes in as the sounding board. I asked him if he was sad that his holiday was over. He said 'I couldn't have asked for more '. 

The final installment

of my vacation reverie.

Well once back in Chennai it was just a new set of packing and re-packing again. This time, the munchkin's stuff was a lion's share of the luggage - there were gifts, clothes, toys, it was an avalanche of pink :)

On the day of our return flight Chennai was hit by Nilam. There were rains and power cuts and all the anxiety that follows untoward climate. K kept making calls to the airlines and giving point to point updates (which in my honest opinion was of no use ;)) There was a lot of enthusiasm about a ship which had come ashore.People flocked the terrace of our building to catch a glimpse. K took this shot from his camera. Kids were very excited to see the life boats approaching. We even saw a few distress flares being let out into the sky. 

Though later it was pretty sad to know that it was the ill fated vessel Pratibha Cauvery. Little did we know then as we stood on the terrace being blown by the wind.

Somehow by the evening things started to mellow down. There is a temple of Lord Ganesha in Besant Nagar which I like a lot. I had plans to go there but somehow could not make it all the while. As things were piping down I asked K if we could make it and he willingly agreed. The temple was empty and there was the diets in all his resplendent glory ! It was as if He was waiting for us. It was very surreal to be on His presence

Once home we did the remaining packing and wistfully looked back at a stupendous trip!

First leg

Dummy me forgot to mention I am back in UK. These posts are a retrospect of the wonderful vacation. 

After nearly 20 hours of travel we finally reached Chennai.

A must sleep deprived Chiyaa went in a trance to her granny, which pleased granny to no end. But then a moment spoiler - the loud honk of a lorry! And she was surprised out of her wits and shrieked out! K took her back and consoled her.

Once home, she was most amused by the - ceiling fan! She had never seen one just as she had never heard a horn. She was placed in the middle of the room as mil and sil fussed over her. After some rest we were raring to go. It was much anticipated that Chiyaa would have a lot of stranger anxiety since she spent much of her time with me or K. Being surrounded by relatives would be totally new to her, and there were lots of doubts as to how she might behave. Somehow, she was very receptive of everyone which was a pleasant surprise. She went over to anyone who beckoned.  She formed an instant bond with K's grandpa. She did cry once or twice when she went to other relatives and acquaintances, but then that's normal :) On day 2 sadly she got a stuffy runny nose due to the change in surroundings.She was very mellow and would go over to anyone and rest on their shoulder. It was heart wrenching to see her breathing with difficulty.

We met up with K's friends who were kind enough to come over home. One had got kid, one had gotten married, one had lost weight! Sometimes how much changes over 2 years and sometimes nothing at all (Hai! Philosophical me :D ) Anyways catch up with friends is always pleasant :) 

There was lots of eating, we even had a wedding reception to attend. We savoured the most fantastic fare there. Wedding menus are always delish aint they? Even though in Tam-land I have observed, the wedding feast is much similar to what served at home, but still, the taste varies! Again Chiyaa was at her best behaviour, going to everyone, enjoying a cuddle there, a kiss here. She was especially pally with K's paternal uncle who I felt had a natural knack for kids. 

There were quite a few chores to be handled at home as well - K got busy sorting his financial stuff and I was occupied arranging my cupboards and all. My niece was also around and it was good fun to see Chiyaa and her play along. There were quite a few tantrums from the elder cousin when she felt that the baby was the centre of attention. :) The funniest altercation though was when K caught her hitting Chiyaa with a stuffed bunny! He reprimanded her, she denied she did it (the bunny did it duh! ) and what ensued was a long drawn fight between mama and bhanji. It finally got sorted by a fight between mama's bunny and Neetu's bunny :) Who won? Well its like the toffee coffee dilemma :D 

The week thankfully neither passed too fast nor too slow (we dreaded that the vacation would come to an end too soon) But what I was eagerly waiting for, was soon there. The wonderful Saturday of the 20th day of October, when we took the flight to Bhubaneswar. We had an early morning Indigo flight. The check in formalities were a total utter mess! The staff were asking queues to be formed on a totally ad hoc basis much to the annoyance of people already standing in the 'original' queues. There was just one counter open where they were allowing passengers of flights that were due the next day and the next month to also check in :P ! Then suddenly they realised passengers departing today should check in first and announced the same. What followed was pandemonium. By the time we reached the end of the queue, they announced BBSR seats were over. K joked we may need to stand and go.Moved from one counter to another to yet another, we finally managed to get seats :) though not together. One saving grace through the agonizing wait was we happened to meet a colleague of K's who was also with us in the UK for some time. I had a good time seeing pics of his 3 month old baby girl while poor K stood in queue :P 

We were again having our reservations as to how kiddo would react to yet another travel. She was shrieking in delight for some time, which was followed by crying in distress which was followed by zzzzzzzz. We too took the opportunity to catch 40 winks ;) At 10:15 we landed! Bhubaneswar! Home! Maika!! 

Weekend Musings

The life of a software professional is from one weekend to the next. And the weekend which went by, 1st and 2nd of August to be precise was a pretty tumultuous for me.

Now let me build the background a bit before I leave my readers completely bamboozled. I think there is one unsolved mystery which could make it to atleast one of the many freak shows on tv. And that is of married women putting on weight out of no reason at all. My friend A and I spend a good amount of time mulling over this life and confidence altering fact. :( We are just not able to figure out, why inspite of everything remaining same, just having a life partner makes the body's equation with calories go berserk. I am more on the utterly critical side, cos I hit the gym regularly, do cardio, pump weights and all I get in return is reflection which shows tyres. Come on now, how pathetic is that!!?? :( As a consequence, except for one pair of jeans, I was weaned of all my western wear and am surviving on the same, boring, repetitive wardrobe of kurtas :(

But last weekend, I pumped up by my mom whose words, confident is what confident does went the bold way and decided, I am ready to accept this new me which looks more like the Michelin Man. K was highly supportive and we ventured on the highly ardous journey of getting me a new wardrobe of western wear. 4.5 hours spent in Spencer's Plaza ( allegedly a mall which sports 'most' of the brands) and I resulted in a naught in the western wear section and got 2 more kurtas... bwaaaaa (who wanted more kurtaaaasss boooo hoooo ) I was devastated. The size which would fit me, did nt have the colors I wanted. The colors I wanted teased me for being the size I was in. It was a diabolical smirk of fate.

In spite of all the pep talk from K about me getting back to my previous size thanks to my 'regular' and 'rigorous' and 'religious' gym routine - I felt dejected. I was switching between unsurmountable wrath to unfathomable grief. After a point, K lost his patience, and washed his hands off the entire affair. I tried many things to revive my spirits, but even ginger tea did not work that day.

Thats when my mom called up. First I thought, I could spare her the grotesque details of the day, but then me being me, had to off load everything to my darling mom. And she being she, gave the most bizzare idea - "Go to Bangalore for shopping, that place has better choices" Ahem! well, not infeasible, but is nt it carrying the whole thing a bit too far? Just for a new wardrobe am I supposed to travel to another state? None the less, the girl talk and the irrelevant planning of where all I could shop there, give bring the smile back :D. I casually mentioned it to K, and he said "Why not??" Ahem ahem.... are pigs flying??? He stated, we could meet a lot of relatives and generally roam around too - Bangalore being a place which sparked our 'romance' holds a special place for both of us. So we are all set to travel to Bangalore the Independence Day weekend. I would also get to meet my kiddo sis and a whole lot of friends and relatives.

If fate turns out my way, I will be back with some chic clothes too. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I dreamed a dream

No this post is not an ode to the sensational Susan Boyle.
I generally have dreamless sleeps but when I dream, I dream like no one else I think.

Yesterday, rather early morning today I had a rather strange dream which gave me enough fodder to make a post.

My house is just a stone's throw away from the beach. And I dreamt we were being attacked by the Taliban from the sea route! We saw from our terraces the whole big fleet of the Taliban catamarans approaching the Elliot's Beach (If a few readers are reminded of the movie Troy, I appreciate their skills to put things in a proper perspective.) No sooner did we saw the approaching fleet, than we started making preparations to fend the attack. Everyone started bolting their doors and putting extra locks.

But in no time we got news of Block A of the apartment complex being completely taken under Taliban control (Thank God we stay in block B) We also started getting news of the atrocities meted out by the Taliban like ordering the inmates to cook food, provide fluffier beds and all. We were counting the hours before we too would be under their control. Then I remembered that my friend A stays in the same floor as us and just 2 doors away (She actually stays in a different city). She has the dubious distinction of being the last person to know things that are important, I felt it was my moral duty to warn her. I walked the corridor carefully and reached her house, and as I had expected, the main door was open. I was filled with trepidation. Then when I entered her house, I saw 2 militants, hiding under a rack, and thankfully with their back towards me. I tip toed inside and in hushed tones warned my friend that the militants were already in her house! We carefully walked back to the front door (again praise the Lord that they did not look back when we were walking out of the house in stealth mode. ) We locked the door from outside and ran to save our lives.

But by the time we got back to my house, pandemonium had broken loose. That is when the whole building was evacuated and we all started running. There were gun shots, sounds of siren, smoke and fume all around and we were all running being chased by the men in turban. And all the time I was thinking - I don't want to die running :(

Suddenly we spotted a cavalcade of trucks. We were scared again since we were unsure if they were friends or foes. We all started to run backwards. Some people started climbing trees and hiding in a park nearby. That's when my Dad called and asked me - "Where are you? Why are you breathless?" I said Taliban has attacked Chennai. He was aghast and asked why had'nt I informed him? I said, "But you were sleeping" (I have no idea why I replied that.) He said, "Atleast you could have told me, I could have got the car. Rather than running we could have used the car". Then I said, "Dad there is no place to use a car here. Everyones running!" Then the call got disconnected and I heard someone on the loudspeaker from the trucks saying "We are the Indian Army. You all are safe now" I heaved a sigh of relief and calmly opened my sleepy eyes.

Mil and K were in splits hearing of the dream. But imagine what all I can amalgamate. This dream had traces of 2 news stories - the Taliban and LTTE saga. It was also influenced by Dr. Manhattan's character from Watchmen. Plus I had my usual family characters and friends whom I love a lot and think about too. Some dream!

Bas yun hi

Seems as if I am writing after eons. Work kind of kept me off blogging completely. And so much has happened in the midst that now I am at a loss at to where to start from.

A hell of a lot has been happening on the work front. Finally I seemed to be inching towards a role which I always thought of doing - and I feel challenged every moment of it. Managing people - its cakewalk if you take it as just another task, but if you decide to do it properly and with your conscience not pricking you, it is tough. Atleast for me as I am taking the baby steps.

In the midst my mom had visited Chennai - for a seminar. And so God had it, that the day she arrived, we had a 3 day visit scheduled for US execs. So much so that I was not even able to go the station to receive her. It made me guilty to no ends. Mil also said, I should be taking a day off and be with my mom the day she arrives, but sadly, we had a round table scheduled that day with a top shot and it might not have looked nice if I would have missed it. And my mom, as the feisty lady she is, said point blank there was absolutely no need for me to stay back and she would do just fine the whole day with mil. Still till she reached home, I stayed back so that I was atleast in a position to welcome her home - this being the first time she came here - the other time she had come was during the wedding and that was too hectic and jam packed with rituals for her to actually be with me. I was casually working on something expecting a call from her any moment asking for directions to our apartment or something, that I heard the sound of a vehicle. Just for the heck of it, I peeped from the balcony - and there she was! I was so amazed - without knowing the language, being here first time un escorted - bingo there she was!!! And the first thing she said on seeing me was " Why aint you in office?!" I was like "Mummy!!" And gave her the biggest hug possible!

After carrying her stuff to our home, I set her on the morphology of the house - the bathroom, the kitchen, the toileteries etc and scooted to office. On getting the least bit of free time I called her up to check how she was doing and with a giggle in her tone she answered that she and mil were off shopping in T Nagar! End of day, they had purchased 8 sarees between each other. And they even made a trip to Mylapore to the Kapaleshwar temple. There in some shop, mom had chanced upon Hema Malini! Yep, the actress! :D After a hell of a lot of snacking and packing for family, both samdhans had come home and were waiting for me to be back. Sadly I was in only by 2230 :( And the joy with which my mom received me, the un measurable pleasurable with which she waited for me and had dinner with me - it just made me realise, why mil dotes so much on K.

The next day mom was busy with the conference. But once back, she and mil took a long walk of the beach, shopped tit bits from the roadside vendors, snacked upon stuff, chatted, did cooking, arranged vessels, folded clothes - the whole lot of it. I was so charmed to see their easy camaraderie - touchwood. Generally down south, the relationships between sambandhis(I am at a loss for the english equivalent for it - could some one help me :S ) are a bit formal, I had felt ,while up north, its a very jovial and informal one. I was a bit skeptical as to how the two ladies might get along with each other - and it was really heartening to see them actually get along like a house on fire! So much so on friday when I came back early to be with mom, I found the house locked! They both had ventured to some hotel for grub! And on the way they even played rescue rangers for a poor couple who did not understand Tamil who were being harassed by an unscrupulous auto rickshaw driver! I was ahem speechless.

The penultimate day before mom left, she and I chanced to have a real long walk. We never intended for it, but it so happened that we walked some 5kms maybe discussing everything under the sun. My mom is everything I always want to be - smart, pretty, gregarious, vivacious and intelligent. If some one ever says I am half as good as her - that would be hmmm something for me. Now that shes gone back, there's a strange vaccuum in the house...... Love you Mommy.

Bloody politicians

I hate these bunch of people called politicians.
I know its a common feeling among Indians, and Murali Deora said that he was ashamed to call himself a politician (in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks). But I feel, the day God just lost all virtues from his tank, but still had to meet some deadline of creating species, he went ahead and made the ignominious one of politicians.

Today I had to attend a training at 10 in the morning. For that, given the awesome traffic condition that Chennai boasts ( I am not passing a general comment on Chennai, but yes - I would love to spit on the face of the CM who is so occupied in grooming Stalin ( Gosh what a funny name!! ) that he has scant regard for anything else) (Parentheses ended there :) - read on ) I started from my home which is some 14 odd kms from my office at 0815 hours. Yes a good 1 hour, 45 mins ahead of schedule.

All along the road, there were pictures of the old *&^^)$ (This is what I will refer to the CM as) smiling at the gentry. Some were re-ee-aa-lly hideous smiles. I was able to reach Guindy which is kind of a middle point for me around 0915. I had 45 more minutes with me, and I was optimistic that I would be able to meet the deadline and reach the nearbies of Ramapuram by 0955 ish at the least.

Buttttt.... At Butt Road (Yea thats the name of the road :D )- there was not a but but a full stop.

All on-going traffic was halted for the Prawasi Bharatiya Diwas celebrations at Chennai Trade Centre. We were halted at Butt Road around 0925 hours. First I had no clue whether it was a traffic jam or there was some other problem. So I started my fervent prayers to Ganpati Bappa who is my friend in need. When the clock ticked to 1005 and I came to know of that traffic had been blocked for VVIPs I gave up all hopes of reaching office remotely on time and I started messaging K complaining about the way things were functioning.

Being crammed in the share auto for over 40 minutes was already cramping our legs. Finally around 1010, I asked the other two girls in the share auto, if they would be game for walking the stretch (it was still some 6-7 kms from office) The girls readily agreed since there was no clue as to when the blockage might end. There were quite a bit of people who had started alighting from their respective means of public transport and walking. After walking for say 500m we were stopped by a policeman who said that "VVIPs were supposed to come, so no one would be allowed to proceed." This irritated some people who were walking ahead. An elderly uncle standing at a bus stand retorted "These fellows are going to work, at least let them pass. What problem might you have with people who actually work". A couple of gutsy men also got into an altercation with the policeman.

Then we saw a man strut right ahead tagging a bag along. In a pretty brusque way, he reprimanded the policeman and made a gesture from which I could understand he was surging to slap the policeman. Then he shouted "I am a DELEGATE out here and you are stopping me? And why not allow these people to go? #!$$^$%^# (some profanities in English) I was like Hallejuiah!!

There was a crowd of atleast 500 people stranded in the middle of the street opposite to Madras War Cemetary, for nearly 35 minutes under the hot sun watching one or the other vehicle with a red light and screeching sound zip past. Then another funkily, but "out of placely" decorated couple who screamed "WE ARE NRIs" through their clothes passed by. By standers went ballistic and had a roaring time passing comments on the white kurta of the man with dyed blonde hair and the heavy jacket ( yeaaaa in Chennai if someone flaunts fur she has to be a NRI) of the woman he had in tow. But some 15 minutes after they passed, strangely we were allowed to walk through.

As I passed through the Chennai Trade Center, I saw the first delegate fellow who had passed us, and I really felt like thanking him because I felt he must have mobilised some support for the people who were sweltering in the heat. Then on, we walked for some 2-3 kms till we were able to board an auto and get to office.

What irked me the most was the total dis regard for the convenience of the common folks. There was the MIOT hospital on the way - what if someone needed to get there urgently. The way the police force was behaving, I am sure, they would have no regard even for human life. And if there was something planned like this, where the hell did the minimum sense go of sending out a circular that traffic might be stopped/diverterd. Does it need the brains of a rocket scientist to figure this out - or was the civic administration and political class so busy licking the boots of the fellow above him, that this completely missed him? Seriously, the politicians here are gung ho about supporting the LTTE folks which completely the problem of another independent nation and would even go to the extent of de stabilising the government in Center, but would not bat an eyelid for the people of their nation.

I somehow believe, we always have a trickle down effect - the head of an organisation should be proper to ensure the organisation is functioning properly. Any where if the person heading an institution/initiative is proper, he/she can ensure that all subordinate to him follow his path, but all the people down the runks might not be able to pull it through, if the person who heads is corrupt. Sometimes they might be able to reach success, but there are greater chances, that the dubious credential of the man heading, might mar rather than make things.

That India would actually be in a position to show the light to the world one day needs nothing short of a miracle. We do need a miracle so that we are able to succeed INSPITE of the gruesome malice called politicians.

Some Day!

Well.. Today I just had to write this post. Morning I was feeling so strongly about this issue that I decided no matter how much the work load, no matter what the deadline, no matter what is my state of mind, I will write this post.

First of all, commuting was problem number 1 for me. Work arounds were galore. But for me, travelling comfortably is of vital importance. No matter what, I should travel in utmost comfort, at any cost. And I am shelling out some Rs 200 per day for commuting. If we consider 20 working days per month this comes to Rs 4000 only. And per year ahem ahem a wooping 48K. People might find the numbers eye popping. But I have decided to turn a deaf ear to what others have to say. For me, I dont want to reach office drenched in sweat neither to I want to reach home pissed off because of travel. So better invest this money for peace of mind.

Anyways the mathematics of my travel cost has motivated me to lay 2009 July as the milestone date for owning a car. Amen.

Now for problem number 2.

One problem that peeves me to no end in life is Water Problem. And see my destiny - Chennai has no dearth of it. On all my prior stays at Chennai, I have been blessed with a really smooth existence. I some how loved being in this city. But now I feel, they were all baits by God to lure me :S

I had heard Chennai has water problems. Hmm there is a difference between hearing things and living them! :(

Every day I literally come prepared that some new water related problem will be there.

In our house, we have lines from which saline water comes. And there is a separate tap for fresh water in which the water comes for some 10-15 mins from 0730 hours. This water is stored in drums etc for cooking and bathing purposes.

2 days before I landed here, in our apartment provisions were made for 24 hrs supply of saline as well as fresh water. My joy knew no bounds. I some how dont get that fresh feeling if i take bath in stored water. So I was very happy with the arrangements.

But 2 weeks down the line, we got a circular from the apartment management, that the supply has not been able to meet the demands and some other lame excuses, so the old sys of 24hrs saline water supply and 10 mins fresh water will be the norm. I was like Ok fine.

It would have been all rosy dandy, if this had been the state of affairs. I was slowly getting acclimatised to using water sparingly (how I hated it initially ) . It was K who complained about my using a lot of water. I asked, You expect me to use less water. He said A lot LESS. That day onwards I mended my ways to suit Chennai :)

Ever since I became a good girl, water started throwing tantrums. Some day, the fresh water would not come for the adequate duration ending in all the drums not getting filled up. I would be pissed off that day. Some day salt water wont come for some time rendering the flushes and basin taps useless. I would be pissed off that day too. And now we have a new problem - no salt water but fresh water for 24hrs - means no use of any tap/flush in the house except for the one tap. I have forgotten the joy of opening a tap and water running down, small simple things I used to take for granted.

I remember when I was in school, and we were staying in dads government quarters for some years. There water used to come from 7-10 in the morning and 5-7 in the evening. That was BIG WATER PROBLEM for us. Apart from that, I have never faced any water woes, no matter in which part of India I have resided. Here when I told the same, my sister in law said," If fresh water comes daily for 10 minutes, people in Chennai say there is no water problem." I was shell shocked.

And today, when I came back from the gym, my mother in law was standing just like that(usually shes scurrying around the house) When asked she said, no fresh water also. So many emotions ran through me like :O :S :( :(( :'(

K had to push off first. So he took crows bath and left. And I was left waiting. The last thing I want to hear when I come back all sweaty from the gym is "There is no water" But that was the first thing I got to hear today.

The watchman said at length that water would be coming in some time. We waited and waited, all we got from the tap was a hiss. Since I was getting late, I asked my mother in law, if I could borrow a bucket of water from the ground floor residents in case they were getting it. She consented and accompanied me. But see my luck, we hardly filled half a bucket, water stopped running. Mom in law told me to wash face and leave for office. I geared myself for it. But when I stepped into the bathroom and saw the precariously less quantity of water, I balked. I decided, I will go late to office, but I wont go unclean.

I read and re - read the morning newspaper as I waited for water to come. Finally at 0930 hours there was water!! I felt like a villager in the movie Swades, just like they rejoiced for Bijli I was doing a hurray when water came!! I was smiling at the sight of water for a good 5 minutes!!

Getting used to

The last post had me in a pretty disconcerted state. I am still far from being settled, but I am slowly getting used to this life.

The fact that I am yet to get a machine in office and the broad band connection at home is kaput is keeping me away from the net. I do keep visiting the blogs I used to frequent, but I dont have the sustained access to the sites, so I give posting of comments a miss.

But I remember the comments which were posted by people who read my last blog. And that helped me a lot in ironing out my restlessness.

Here a standard day involves a lot of loitering around. At home I follow my mom in law around. I feel like Marys little lamb ( yea the same lamb from the nursery rhymes).

Commuting to office is a big pain which burns a big crater like hole in my pocket. The killing heat of Chennai completely dissuades me from taking a public means of transport. So I end up taking an auto all the way to office which is very far from home. And in office since I dont have work, I am yet to have a machine of my own. Which means I end up sharing 4 systems with 10 odd new joinees. There is literally a game of musical chairs in and around here.

We have resource managers who are responsible for mapping us into projects. And Murphy s law is at its best, my resource manager is the lousiest one. He s a youngistaani with a scar from his nose through his left cheek. Let me call him ScarFace. Now he comes in at 0815 hours pronto. And then works till God knows what time cos I scurry out at 1600 hrs. And whole day he is attending telecons and phone calls which sound important to me. But till now I have not seen him map a resource into a proper project (#@$^&*#$^@#) I am not sure when he will be able to put me in my due place. It better be soon else I feel the chances are very high that he will get a scar over his other cheek courtesy me (#$^#^@$%@).

I reach home early in the evening, and have a nice cup of tea. If my mom in law gets on with the cooking, I give her moral support by standing next to her in the kitchen. Else if she is daring enough that day to give the task of cooking to me, I don my chefs hat and get on with the work. At 2020 hours, I get the message from K to pick him up from the bus stop. I dont miss the chance to do so, cos thats when I get to drive the scooty, and dont I love it :)

I miss my old office a lot, I miss everything about it. The work culture, the space, the people, the friends I had there. And I miss my friend Sw a lot. I still keep calling her up a lot and shes such an angel that even in office hours when she has work, she spares time for me :) And of course I miss my flat mates and room mate. But I am not clinging to the fact that I am far from them. Hyderabad as of now seems pretty approachable from Chennai.

Here I feel I am slowly reverting to my old self. I am getting used to the life here. The way of living out here. I cannot vouch for the fact that marrying the person you loved makes life any easier. The ups and downs still exist. For me I believe the best part is that I have very supportive in laws. At no point have the forced me to adopt anything. As I have a lot of time in hand now, I feel the urge to get going again. To learn some new sport, nurture some new hobby, study for some exam. I am not sure what exactly I want. May be its just the wish to be gainfully employed for all the 12 waking hours of the day.

Cosmic Connection

I must have had some cosmic connection with the city of Chennai.

It was on the date of 30^th of June, 2004 that I had got the mail for the posting of my very first job – to Chennai. While most of us were anticipating and looking forward to Bangalore to be the first destination, it was Chennai for me.

My parents accompanied me to consign me to a new world; to see me off at the threshold of change from being a student to an employee. On the day they were supposed to return to my home town, I was on the throes of despair. I remember sitting on the benches of a mammoth shop shedding copious tears. I was too crestfallen at the thought of my parents bidding me good bye. I had been a hostel boarder through out my graduation life, but some how maybe the situation made me feel so vulnerable that I could not help but be morose.

After the initial training, my permanent posting was in Calcutta. Now this place was much closer to my home town. All other folks who were in and around the eastern part of India were overjoyed at this stroke of luck. But I dunno why, in spite of Chennai being so far from my home and in spite of the culture, the food habit and the very way of life being so different from my native place, I was sad at leaving it.

May be there was some bonding which I felt with it.

Luckily I got many more chances to re visit the place for short as well as long terms. Every time I went there, there was a sense of “being at home” in me.

Most people from the northern half of India face the impediment of language out there. But some how I was able to maneuver with ease. Luckily I generally ended up with auto rickshaw drivers who were conversant in Hindi, or dhaba folks from the north of India. (Now people who stick to logic and reason might say – that’s a direct consequence of the IT boom which has completely transformed most metropolises in cosmopolises in India) But I some how like to believe, its like my second home, easing out my stay a bit, ironing out some minor inconveniences so that I have a pleasant stay.

Not only that, I have never once encountered “bad weather” there. Ask any north Indian about Chennai, and they wont miss mentioning “humidity”, ”sweat”, ”oppressive heat”. Luckily or unluckily I never got a chance to crib about the weather at Chennai. I have been there in months of June – March, but never ever has the weather unnerved me. May be I have to try the month of May once:-D.

I think I am in love with most of the things of the city. I like the ethnicity of the place. The deep rooted culture of the people. The omnipresent shoppers. (Some how I feel people there always have a reason to shop. The shops always have the same density of population :-)) The raw mangoes available on the streets. The beaches. The plush shops standing vis a vis the street vendors selling their wares. (And each getting their fair share of customers). The awesome temples where you can literally feel divinity.

The city holds some charm over me. It’s simply a joy being at Chennai.

Coffee Faux Pas

I go by the comments on my past blogs to write on the future ones. A friend of mine told that my blogs were a bit too long, so this is going to be a short one :).

Well this blog pertains to an incident which happened when I was at Karthik‘s place one evening. Some guests came over to visit them. So his mom asked me to prepare coffee for them. As I went to make coffee into the kitchen, Karthik came to help me. I was instructed not to add the sugar into the milk but add it later. And the coffee decoction was already prepared. So I religiously boiled the milk. Then I put the sugar into the glasses in which the coffee was to be served. Then I added adequate amounts of decoction and milk into the glasses. I was about to mix the sugar in the glasses that Mr. Know All Karthik stepped in and said, “No, No we don’t mix the sugar in the coffee. Its Tamil style, you are not supposed to mix it. You put a small container under the glass and they will mix it themselves by pouring the coffee back and forth from the glass into the container.” I felt ok it was his home turf after all. So I put the glasses in a tray and went ahead to serve the same.

The guests were all pretty pleased with my sweet “homely” girl role playing. I served coffee to all of them. And waited for them to mix the coffee and savour it. But to my utter horror they started sipping the coffee straight from the glasses. It must have tasted awful as I could clearly read from their faces :(. I could not stand onlooker to the scene, and I said,”Uncle, Aunty, I have not mixed the sugar. So could you please mix it?”

At that point Karthik’s mother and the guests burst out laughing. Then I told that Karthik had told me to uphold Tamil tradition and not mix the sugar in the coffee. Then they mixed the sugar and had it, and I think perfunctorily said that the coffee was good :(.

But I was not able to recover from the public disgrace for a long time.

I don’t know whether the ruffian Karthik did this on purpose or it was unintentional (as he claims it to be). But I hope he gets his just deserts some day when he pays a visit to Orissa.