tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486854761949918932024-03-13T15:21:13.836-07:00Around a Pink Mango TreeDark and silly secrets revealed Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.comBlogger155125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-49426625785285465572016-05-11T13:02:00.000-07:002016-12-13T10:13:48.471-08:00Condom Story of a Twentysomething Fool<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Recently one of my friends suggested that I should look
for an advertising job. That discussion led to sharing my ad film making
experience with him. Before he adds <i>masala </i>and spreads fake story, as precaution, let me publish my version here :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Rewind to college days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">As part of an Advertising assignment, we had to produce few video ads based on certain themes. Instead of choosing a </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 14.98px;">familiar,</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> uncomplicated and jovial subject, I
decided to make an ad on condoms. Let the blame be on the age…the phase when kids
go to any extent to prove their nonexistent intelligence without realizing how
idiotic their actions are!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Coming back to my ad – the aim was to convey the
importance of using condoms. F</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">amiliarizing the product being the first s</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">tep in the process of film making, I decided to buy one. There were no super
markets or upscale stores close to college, so the only place where I could get
it was a medical shop near our hostel. I leaned against the counter, scanning
the shop to find out where it was kept. When I saw a strip of </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Moods </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">sachets hanging,
I felt relieved and happy. The shopkeeper asked me, “</span><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Hmm? What do you need?</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">” I
said, “</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Vicks menthol</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">”. Like a loser, I walked to my hostel room with useless
menthol drops not knowing why I bought them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">To arrive at a quick solution, I shared my problem with
my junior roommates. One of them, a micro biology student asked, “<span style="color: #783f04;">Akka…
do you want one for male or female?</span>” Before I could even say anything, t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">he B.Com girl affirmed, “<span style="color: #783f04;">Yes yes…condoms are definitely not
unisex</span>”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Since the cyber café search histories were monitored diligently,
I didn’t want to do any research on this misleading topic from the hostel. If you are wondering if there were no better ways, let
me remind you...this happened during a time when mobile phones were not smart enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">To help myself, I recalled all the sleazy portions from Mills
and Boon and novels of Nora Roberts</span>. <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I
realized that in fantasy, there are lots of necessary detailing that deserve attention and a condom
holds least significance. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The reader will definitely be annoyed if the author </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 14.98px;">reminds</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 14.98px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 14.98px;">the hero </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 14.98px;">about taking precaution </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">while he tries to slip his hands inside the heroine's blouse. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Then I thought I would ask my pregnant sister to
shower more gyan on the topic. But I did not want to take a chance with her unpredictable
hormones. Pregnancy mood swings could cause lot of emotional damages, I have heard.
I didn’t even want to ask my ‘always jump the gun’ cousin because I feared even
before I finish explaining the project to her, I might get a call from my mother
asking why I need a condom.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Later when I remembered the “</span></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">garb nirodhak goliya
sirf mahilaoke liye</span></span>" </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Doordarshan
ad, I was convinced that I was right.</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I asked
my roommates to consider learning zoology instead of biology and accounts, for future benefits. </span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I went to the same shop again. With all the courage gathered and a straight face, I placed the order, “<span style="color: #274e13;">I need 3 condoms. Pink.</span>”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">After a brief five seconds pause, he said, “<span style="color: #4c1130;">I don’t have
pink ones.</span>” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Me, “<span style="color: #274e13;">Any other color? Like…dark green, sky blue, lemon yellow?</span>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">He, “<span style="color: #4c1130;">I only have white. <i>Beta</i>, color doesn't make any difference to how it works.</span>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Me, “<span style="color: #274e13;">Okay…give me one white. And do you have colored
balloons?</span>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">He, “<span style="color: #4c1130;">I don’t sell it. But I warn you…don’t ever use
balloons. Very dangerous!</span>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I burst out laughing, couldn’t stop even after
reaching my room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyways, long story short…I made a very shitty ad with
the things purchased. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>PS - Dedicated to the guy who initiated this post. Who's he? The one who closes loan deals worth million Dirhams almost everyday. Oru puli :D </i></span></div>
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Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-79894240263959112622016-05-01T03:30:00.000-07:002016-12-13T10:21:59.222-08:00An open letter to Vineeth Sreenivasan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Open
letters are very much in trend these days. I too have been wanting to write one for a long time. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However,
whom to begin with was a tough decision to make considering the fact that I have got
lot of </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">prudent questions to ask and </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">personal anecdotes to share with </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">many
significant people in the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After
an intense filtering process, I short listed few people and of them, I decided
to write my first open letter to the boy next door, Vineeth Sreenivasan. If you
are wondering why I have narrowed down my choices to this guy, my only
reasoning is…<span style="color: #0b5394;">“ഓൻ നമ്മളെ Kannur-കാരൻ മിടുക്കൻ ചെക്കൻ അല്ലെടോ!"</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> :) Congrats dude, you
have won over Arnab Goswami, Mohanlal, Dalai Lama, Baba Ramdev and Jayalalitha.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span> <u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Disclaimer:
Written in Kannur Malayalam so that my emotions do not get lost in translation :)<u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dear
Vineeth,<u1:p></u1:p></span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">First
things first. "</span></i><i><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ജേക്കബിന്റെ കഥ ഉഷാറായിന് കേട്ടാ. നാട്ടിലെ പ്ള്ളറെല്ലും ഓന്റെ മോന പോല ആയിനെങ്കില് ഈട ഭരിക്കാൻ LDF-ഉം ബേണ്ട, UDF-ഉം ബേണ്ട. നാട് താന നന്നായിക്കോളും. ഒറപ്പ്!" </span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When
I watched your first movie, I exclaimed at my friends with disappointment, "</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">ഒറ്റ ഒന്നിനും പാടാൻ പോയിറ്റ് ഒന്നു മൂളാൻ പോലും അറീല. ചുമ്മാ യൂട്യൂബ്-ഉം തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ട് ഇരുന്നോളും. Waste!!" </span></span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then
I watched your next movie. I reminded my friends, "</span></i><i><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">എത്രപ്പാട് തട്ടം ഇട്ട മൊഞ്ചത്തി പെണ്ണ്ങ്ങള് പൊടിയും തട്ടി ഈലേക്കൂട പോയി; ഒന്നിന പോലും ആരെങ്ങിലും line അടിച്ചോ? തല്ലിപ്പൊളികള്!" </span></i><i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After
watching the next one, I couldn’t help saying this to them,</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> "<span style="color: #0b5394;">സെൽഫി, കുൽഫി എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞ് mobile-ലും പിടിച്ച് സമയം ബെറുതെ കളഞ്ഞോ. അതിന കൊണ്ട് എന്തെങ്കിലും ഗുണം ആരിക്കെങ്കിലും ഉണ്ടായിനാ? ഒരു കള്ളന പോലും നിങ്ങള് എപ്പങ്കിലും പ് ടിച്ചിനാ? useless-ഉകൾ!"</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ahh...how I wished, like in your movies, if </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">my friends could spice up </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">my mundane home-cook-office-eat-sleep life. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Beyond
this, my friends couldn’t take my ranting. Like every other conventional cinema
loving Malayali, they too opened the big fat book of 'greatest ever Malalayam
movies’ and began to preach, <span style="color: #0b5394;">“ഓ...പുതിയ കൊറേ ചെക്കൻമാര് സിനിമ ഉണ്ടാക്ക്ന്ന് ണ്ട്. പഷേ, പഴേതിന്റെ അട്ത്ത് പോലും വെരൂലാ. സിനിമാന്ന് പറഞ്ഞാല് കിലുക്കം, ചിത്രം, അമരം..."</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></i>
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">“എന്ത്ന്നാന്നപ്പാ നിങ്ങള്!”</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #0070c0;"> </span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I interrupted,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><i><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Stop resting on your laurels. Move on. എന്ത് പറഞ്ഞാലും അപ്പം തൊടങ്ങും - നാടോടിക്കാറ്റ് , മണിച്ചിത്രത്താഴ്, തലയണമന്ത്രം!"</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile,
in the background – “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB0tQC5FAeY">മങ്ങലം കൂടാൻ ഞമ്മളും ഉണ്ട് ചങ്ങായി...</a>"</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Suddenly one of them suggested, <span style="color: #0b5394;">“Goa-ക്ക് ബ്ട്ടാലോ?”</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since
I believe in the saying 'what happens in <strike>Vegas</strike> Goa stays in Goa', <span style="color: #0b5394;">കൂടുതൽ എനി ഒന്നും പറഞ്ഞ് over ആക്കുന്നില്ല</span>. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">:)</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Vineeth, <span style="color: #0b5394;">എന്തായാലും Thanks-ണ്ട്, കേട്ടിനാ..</span>.for all the awesome movies made so far. Looking forward to many more. Cheers!! </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Much
love,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pink Mango Tree</span></i></div>
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Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-83809214865894139642016-04-10T21:30:00.000-07:002016-05-11T15:58:39.135-07:00My First Snow Adventure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was a
little girl when I first saw Arvind Swami and Madhoobala chase each other in
snow with the picturesque Himalayas in the background. Their game of throwing
snow balls and rolling over in fresh snow seemed fun to me. During <i>Roja</i> era, my ultimate dream in life was to
slide down the snow-clad mountains of Shimla with my brother, blowing
raspberries and screaming out in excitement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Years later,
I watched Madhuri Dixit in a blue transparent chiffon saree cuddling Anil
Kapoor in a similar setting. That’s when I realized how stupid my former snow plan
was; there are far better things to do in such awesome weather. Few
modifications were made to my whimsical life goal…thus brother was replaced with
boyfriend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Years went by…plans
remained as mere goofed up plans that failed to even get out of my head. Reality
was very different from the dreamy teenager’s holiday ideas; neither could I find
a boyfriend nor visit Shimla. However, destiny led me to America, the official
land of chilliness and snow. I was glad to realize that my old plans were actually
not dead and I found hope in bringing them back to life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We decided to spend few days in Chicago with our cousins. While packing stuff, I was wondering if I should include a saree too. My
husband is not a good dancer or a singer; yet I thought running few laps in the
snow together would be very romantic. I was excited as a child when we boarded
the flight; couldn’t wait to explore and experience what was in store. It was a
dream that was going to come true! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Even before giving a welcome hug, my cousins
who came to pick us at the airport wrapped
me in a five kg jacket, fixed fleecy muffs to cover my ears, slipped my hands into feathery mittens and to finish, put a woolen stole over my head. “Isn’t this a bit too much?”,
I asked them feeling stuffed and heavy. Their reply was just a sarcastic giggle.
</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">After we
reached home, I removed all the extra fittings and I went to the backyard in my
pajamas to feel the winter as it was. In less than 10 seconds, I couldn’t feel my
face, thought my limbs were going to fall apart and felt breathless.
Immediately I ran inside yelling, “How the hell are these rhinoceros-skinned
Bollywood ladies doing it then? Bloody deceivers!” </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPIN5LsDgaLGYQOw0GkZZG10_QE0N3xsLIUQ2FIOcJpJ7FkIozMxR1MZ68zl6C66gIXJcMsM1SXkCX9jS9MjZZfRBZnyxMA-7aPrKhN2NhJCgAkE3EURffcd3x6muogGeAuihYRFyy5jT/s1600/1IMG_20160104_120007255_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPIN5LsDgaLGYQOw0GkZZG10_QE0N3xsLIUQ2FIOcJpJ7FkIozMxR1MZ68zl6C66gIXJcMsM1SXkCX9jS9MjZZfRBZnyxMA-7aPrKhN2NhJCgAkE3EURffcd3x6muogGeAuihYRFyy5jT/s400/1IMG_20160104_120007255_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: left;">In spite of having said the above, snow is <br />actually a beautiful experience. So, go for it :)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 25px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444;">#MondayMusings</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>PS</b> - This post is a continuation of the WhatsApp conversation I had with my 7th grade buddy. Ahem...who also lived in the same Roja era. </span></i></span></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-67550107211652968712016-03-11T16:50:00.000-08:002016-06-21T11:08:47.418-07:00The day I decided to grow up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I happened
to mention to one of my friends that I still watch the TV series F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
He laughed at me, asked me to grow up. How mean!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">However,
when I evaluate…I think he has made a valid point. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px;">The world has moved on; p</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">eople have left behind television
sets that looked like pregnant woman and have acknowledged the presence of 3D
TVs. But look at me - still stuck on F.R.I.E.N.D.S.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">At
times it helps when somebody wakes you up to reality. And as per his
suggestion, I decided to watch the popular Netflix series NARCOS. The name did
not impress me at first. For some strange reason, I was reminded of Suresh Gopi throwing up superfluous English jargon at a giggling
Godman.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">However, once
I started watching the series, I realized it is not what I expected at all. The
hero doesn’t provoke the villain by narrating his own story of fatherless
childhood some 718 times and the heroine is not so dumb to mistake the heinous villain
for a pious man. (<i>Ekalavyan </i>fans in Kerala...you get me, right?) NARCOS has got the perfect blend of everything that a
thriller demands – plot, suspense, fights, locations, bloodshed, nudity and so on… After six
episodes, I wanted to take a break. It was too much for my delicate chick flick brain to
handle in a day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I went back
to F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and laughed my head off at Phoebe’s “Smelly cat…smelly cat”! Giving up an old bad habit is harder than giving up narcotics :p :p So what about my decision to grow up?
Hmm…forget it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-6238712500636045582016-02-29T13:46:00.000-08:002016-03-01T10:32:30.840-08:00Rewind. Play.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.75pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br />When I was a
child, I couldn’t wait to grow up. But now that I’ve grown up, I realize
writing imposition and standing under the sun during PT classes were any day
better than living an incompetent life in a disgraceful real world.</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.75pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">The time spent
with friends within the walls of our school undoubtedly contributes to most of my
childhood memories. Pen fights, passing lunch boxes, throwing chalk pieces,
shooting paper bullets, giggling at strict teachers…we have done it all.</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.75pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">Thanks to
technology; those kids who once upon a time were together inside a classroom in
uniforms gathered virtually from across the globe after about 20 years and
became active conversationalists. If not childhood friends, I don’t think
we could talk with much ease, without any inhibitions.</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.75pt;">From where we
left in the mid-90s, things have definitely changed for each of us. Like…this
boy who was chubby, who was so white, who punches others, who teases everyone, who
breaks pencils and rulers, who eats my food and who makes faces at the class
when punished. I thought he would grow up to become a Gabbar Singh</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.75pt;">, the anti-hero of that era who
represented villainy.</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.75pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">But what is he now? He
is very witty, also a hopeless romantic who talks endlessly about his affectionate
wife and mischievous son. He sings beautiful love songs and is very encouraging
- the kind of the guy who brings in high-spiritedness to the lives of those
around him.</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.75pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">I regret for being so
wrong; unlike what I presumed, he grew up to become a Shah Rukh Khan and
not an Amjad Khan :) </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.75pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br />#MondayMusings</span></span></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-35636620491482944162015-02-19T00:43:00.002-08:002015-02-19T08:39:41.817-08:00Super Dramatic Filmi Mornings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;">“</span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Open
your eyes Amma”</span>, </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">he
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">whispered
in</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
my ears.</span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><br />
<strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0c343d;">“Today is Sivaratri, </span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">you may s</span></span></strong></span><strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0c343d;">leep
for some more time.”</span> I replied </span></span></span></strong><strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">with
my eyes still </span></span></span></strong><strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">shut</span></span></span></strong><strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span></span></span></strong><strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Turning the whisper into a roar, he snapped back </span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></span></strong><strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poking my eyelids, </span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></strong>“</span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">No
Amma... I can see light through the window. </span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It cannot be </span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">ratri</span></i></span></strong></span><strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #274e13;">
for Shiva”</span>.</span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">That
was how Sivaratri began at home, a no-school day for my son.</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> H</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">oliday
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">for
him </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">means
I don't </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">need</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
to </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">drag
myself out of the bed very early</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
to </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">stuff
in</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">tooth</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">brush
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">into
his mouth</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">implant
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">milk
& breakfast into </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
same</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
mouth, </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">pull</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
him out of the pyjamas, </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">dress
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">up, bury his legs into the shoes and send him to school. </span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I'm
sure </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">e</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">very
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">mom</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
reading this will </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">nod</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
their heads in agreement; but w</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">hat
about the dads </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">who </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">sleep
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">with
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">drooling</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">mouth</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">s
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">when
so much </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">is happening in the </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">background</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">?
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Their
reaction could be, </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">“Oh;
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I've
heard this somewhere!</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">”</span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">To
every non-parent who thinks what's the big deal </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">about
this routine</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
can</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
explain.</span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">W</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ak</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ing</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
up </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">early
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
see </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">silent
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">& dark neighboring
houses is </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">quite</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
depressing. </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">hate
to even visualise them snuggling under the blanket when </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I'm
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">already
awake </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to
take on the day</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Yes
I admit, I'm jealous.</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> For
a person like me who has zero </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">minimum
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">f</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">lair
for cooking, kitchen is not </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
place to start </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">off
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">t</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">h</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">e
day. And whenever I </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">enter
there, </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">look
at the </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">dosa batter sitting on the table </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">wishing</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">if
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">magically
turns into </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">consumable food and redirects to respective tummies and lunch boxes. </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Alas;
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">unfortunately life's not that easy!<br /> </span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Couple
of days ago, w</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">hen
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
was preparing morning tea & breakfast, </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
little fellow </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">came</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
to me rubbing his eyes, <span style="color: #274e13;">“Amma... </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
want to go to Cubbon Park. I will not </span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">go
to school </span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">today</span></span></span></span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #274e13;">”</span>.
Totally ignoring </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
statement, I </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">took</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
him to the rest room </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
asked</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
him to </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">brush
his teeth</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">When
he noticed</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
picture of</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Mickey Mouse on </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">his</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
toothbrush, he </span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">began</span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
<span style="color: #274e13;">“</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">When
Donald was trapped </span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">on
a tree top, the mouseketeer..."</span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Me</b>:
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Shhh...
</span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #0c343d;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Keep
quiet.</span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Lil
Fellow</b>: </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Don't
talk to me; Amma's not my friend.</span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Me </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(trying
to be nice)</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">:
<span style="color: #0c343d;">Do you know what happened to Bobby's teeth cos he didn't brush </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #0c343d;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">well</span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;">?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Lil
Fellow</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">: </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">If
you don't want to listen to my story, don't tell me Bobby's story.</span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></strong>
<strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I took a deep breadth to hide my </span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">impatience
</span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
exasperation. As I listened to his </span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Disney tales, he successfully completed the </span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">rest
room rituals. </span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">From
there I towed him to the dining table placing him before a glass of milk and </span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">went back to the kitchen to finish my work. E</span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ven after five minutes, he was seen holding the glass looking into</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">infinity,
totally expressionless. I yelled, <span style="color: #0c343d;">“What is there so much to think
about? Finish your milk. FAST!</span></span></span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">He
reciprocated with a y</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">awn.
</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And
with a baffling </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">s</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">tre</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">t</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ch,
</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">he
was all set to embrace the day. He started </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">blowing
into the </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">glass</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to
make</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
bubbles </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
in the process, spilled it</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">all
</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">over</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">screamed
</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">s</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">o
loudly that I would have perhaps put my n</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ext
door neighbor </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to shame for sharing the floor with a child abuser</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Not having enough time to waste on more drama, I </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">forcefully
ma</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">d</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">e
him </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">gulp
down </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">rest
of the drink</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Next, I served dosa </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
asked</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">him
to finish </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it
soon</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Though a portion was deposited in the fish bowl and smudged against
the table, I was glad that without my involvement, he consumed some
bit of it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As
I was helping him dress to school, he asked, </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">“</span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Amma,
can I come to your office?”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Me</b></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">:</span></span></span></span><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="color: #0c343d;">No. my mam in office doesn't
like kids coming to work.</span></span></span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Lil
Fellow</b>: </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Then,
can we go to a restaurant?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Me</b>: </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #0c343d;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Yes,
we could </span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0c343d;">go
in the evening.<br /> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Lil
Fellow</b>: </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Okay.
Then I will get ready in the evening.</span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Before
I could even react, he removed his trousers & tee & </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">jumped</span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
around in underwear. </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
was feeling bad for my vocal cord as I had no choice but to shout
again. Cutting the long story short, somehow I managed to </span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">step out of the house with him feeling l</span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ike
a champion.</span></span></span></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></strong>
<strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">On our way to the bus stop, we laughed and c</span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">onversed with every flower, grass blade and butterfly. J</span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ust before boarding the bus, he gave me a tight hug saying, <span style="color: #274e13;">“You are
prettier Amma, when you smile!” </span></span></span></span></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #5b5b5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div>
</h4>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-42343605086298005462014-07-01T23:55:00.001-07:002014-07-04T03:00:49.439-07:00Test of G.K. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Last month was fun. I made friends with few extremely entertaining
ladies and had a gala time with them treating our taste buds from small & big </span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">eateries around</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> and also pulling each others legs</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of them is an expat, who was born and brought up outside
India and recently relocated to India. I felt it was my moral responsibility to
be a city guide and take her for an exploration to make her too fall in love with <i>Namma Bengaluru</i>!
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As part of the exercise, we were in Landmark where this book
titled, </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Satyajit Ray’s Ravi
Shankar</b> kept on the shelf caught our attention. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Me</b> – Do you like him? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Charu</b> - Indeed yes; I have
read about him. He has even written a popular book, right?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Me</b> – In fact, many. His
short stories are interesting and gripping!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Charu </b>– Oh; are there scientists
who write fiction? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Me</b> (confused) – Errr….scientist?!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 115%;">Charu </b><span style="line-height: 115%;">– </span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Wasn't</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> he the
Prime Minister or something of India?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Me</b> – Ab… Abdul Kalam? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 115%;">Charu</b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> – I </span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">didn't</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> know
there are many ministers in India with aviation background! Impressive, I
should say!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Me</b> - <i>Speechless</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Charu</b> – By the way, what
is this cartoonist doing with him?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Me</b> – Cartoonist? Who?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 115%;">Charu</b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> – </span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Isn't</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Ravi Shankar
the guy who created this ‘checked shirt dude’?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Me</b> – R.K. Lax….???!!!! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Charu</b> – I have decided to
buy this book, anyways.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Even without checking the
synopsis behind the book, she bought it and walked out of the store. It is definitely going to surprise her; a helicopter launch is probably what she expects turning every page!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-14682380388931241162014-02-17T00:50:00.000-08:002016-01-25T13:45:03.752-08:00When Shibu was Renamed...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shibu
is my friend (<em>read 'shi' as in shit + 'bu' as in bull</em>). His full name is Shibu Wallance. I have always felt that his first
and last names make such a horrible combination - like malabar fish curry and
apple pie. Imagine consuming the two together; ones digestive system would hold its operations for an indefinite period declaring <i>hartal</i>. What would have sounded better as a pair is Bullet Shibu or <i>Komban </i>Shibu or may be <i>Alavalathi </i>Shibu :p</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Talking about Shibu, he is a fantastic story teller; but
sadly he could find no listeners. He is also a fabulous writer; but he had no
readers. Shibu was deeply disappointed. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However my point is…how could somebody with the name Shibu
even attempt to write or tell a story? All the Shibus, Shajis and Byjus on this planet
are supposed to shadow the ugly anti-heroes in Malayalam cinema whose only job is to
chase Mohanlal/Mammooty and get beaten up black & blue.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Coming back to our man; Shibu continued to be sad and lived
with a heart ache until God showed him the way. He decided to come to me for
advice. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I</span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> had the solution to his problem. “It is time
to wipe off your parents' first gift to you. Find a
new name for yourself. Do you have the courage to embrace the change?” I asked him. "Yes", he roared!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shibu definitely liked the idea; he was excited and all set. </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
had a few self-invented, ground-breaking, truly-enterprising names in my mind like Raj Malhotra, Mangalasseri Neelakantan and Mogambo Khush Khush. However, the selfish devil in me hinted that I could use them later when
I release my first book as I too do not originally have a great name. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Anyways thanks to Google; </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">after testing all possible permutations and combinations, he finally zeroed on </span><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Jude Virgil Wallance</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">. Shibu
was thus reborn! Jude published his first novel and was overwhelmed to see the
response. He finally lived his dream of becoming a novelist.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I</span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> felt very happy for <s>Shibu</s> Jude; was so thrilled to see
hundreds of online articles about him and his new book. The best was when I asked
Google with the help of a Voice Search App, “<span style="color: #4c1130;">Find Jude Virgil Wallance</span>.” As
you know, Google need not think a lot; so the answer came to me in the next second, ‘<span style="color: #4c1130;">Nude
Virgin Videos</span>’, followed by an array of YouTube videos. As I rolled on the
floor laughing, I shared the screen shot of my latest discovery with <s>Jude</s>
Shibu and he replied, <span style="color: #4c1130;">“!@#^&**%#*&*^%# WTF!!!</span>” </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><em><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><strong>PS </strong>– If you find me missing, some random Shibu or Shaji who
has read this blog post would have kidnapped me. Please do the needful to find him and rescue me. God bless you, thanks in advance.</span></em></span></div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-16832206215844184632014-02-06T04:05:00.000-08:002016-05-24T16:00:36.761-07:00Scary …when I almost got mugged! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was window shopping at Hyper City this evening for close
to three hours. Oh; in fact I can spend days looking at home decor stuff, stationary
items, books and CDs. The only thing I hate about these shops is the white
sticker with numbers and bar code they place on the things I can’t take my eyes and hands off, which they
fondly call the price tag. It reminds me of the tale of sour grapes :p<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When my legs became tired of carrying my weight, I decided to exit the place, promising to return soon to the store, to redo the exercise. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As I walked towards home, I tore opened the wrapper of the
chocolate I bought to pamper me - the little delights I gift myself! I
licked the edges of the chocolate bar to satisfy my dreamy heart which believes
that I am the girl who jumps in joy in the Cadbury TV commercial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Reality check! I hurt my feet bumping against a fruit
vendor’s trolley and there goes his oranges - rolling on the road one after the
other. Both of us could do nothing but just helplessly look at cars and buses
squeezing them with their wheels to splash the orange juice all over the place!
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was sure that he was going to yell at me in Kannada for
the mess I made. This language in high pitch would definitely give me a head
ache. So before he could open his mouth, I admitted my mistake and promised to
pay for his loss. As usual, I had no money in my wallet; so had to visit the
ATM counter across the road. As a deposit, I gave him the half bitten chocolate and </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">immediately ran towards the money machine </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">as I didn't want to give him any time to react. Through the corner of my eye, I saw him standing by the road like the Statue of Liberty - one hand up in the air which had my chocolate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I inserted the card in the machine; that is when I
remembered to check my phone to find out the ATM pin. As I was doing all this
patiently, I realized something was stinking. Yuck; it was terrible. As I
turned around to find out the source, I noticed this guy standing right behind me, who
wore a pair of yellow shoes. And, the Sherlock Homes in me spotted dung below his shoes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“<i>Will you please step out till I finish? Sorry to say this…but the
dung stuck on your shoes is giving such awful smell</i>.” I said this and looked at
his face. He had his helmet on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“<i>Hey lady…enter your password. Now…right now! Don’t dare
to utter a word</i>” He even had a knife pointed at me that resembled the knife
Sreedevi used in some Hindi movie whose name I don’t remember.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I realized he is the famous ATM villain the newspapers and
TV channels celebrated a few months ago. I felt it is wise to let him loot, so that he will not harm me. After all, nothing is as precious as my God-given
life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I entered the pin and pressed ‘ENTER’. I could see his eyes
fixed on the screen, one of his hands still had the knife and the other followed the instructions of the machine to find out my balance. And when
the magical figure popped up on the screen, to my surprise, he just collapsed
on the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The doctors who did his post-mortem declared that the reason
for death is sudden unanticipated grief. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now, this is a warning to all the muggers out there – you
may not die (which is an extreme case) like this fellow. But I am afraid; you
might end up giving your hard earned money to me as my bank balance is indeed a
sad figure! True!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">* * *<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Added later – Two of my concerned friends wrote to me to
check if there is any truth in the above story. Darlings…if so, do
you think I will have the time to sit at home and reply to your messages? I
would have been with Arnab Goswami, sitting under his saliva
shower, talking to the nation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have a great evening friends!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>PS</b> – However, I was serious when I wrote about my bank balance. I
swear :) </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i> </i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-66885706202351390462013-12-13T21:11:00.001-08:002013-12-13T21:15:52.729-08:00Those silly dreams!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I child, those gigantic brown-colored NP lorries fascinated me a lot. I
remember reading in my mind, the names of the states it traveled, written in the
columns on its body – Maharashtra | Andra Pradesh | Orissa | West Bengal and
so on...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I used to envy those lorry drivers and dreamed of becoming
one when I grow up. I believed it was one of the easiest ways to visit places. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ahhh… those days when dreams were not associated with money! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlxm0a7NFJFPk2Ng3HEwXDIps1SxTM-z38scv93wqDcld82mwWdufDpu5G_2Gs1GHgdaxfwWSvos-UTfoyffNeVQOBzbQMFEaBRk_hTRzVN5jqwgMecdSvPCjc8MfjZvvrYB4xMnSp1vf/s1600/lorry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlxm0a7NFJFPk2Ng3HEwXDIps1SxTM-z38scv93wqDcld82mwWdufDpu5G_2Gs1GHgdaxfwWSvos-UTfoyffNeVQOBzbQMFEaBRk_hTRzVN5jqwgMecdSvPCjc8MfjZvvrYB4xMnSp1vf/s320/lorry.jpg" width="316" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What was your dream, as a child?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px;"><i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;">PS:</span></i></b><i style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;"> This post is part of the </span></i><a href="http://writetribe.com/write-tribe-festival-words-2/" style="background-color: white; color: #2d6e89; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px; text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;">Write Tribe Festival of Words 2</span></i></a><i style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;">. The challenge is seven posts in seven days and this is the seventh (and the last) one in the series, on the theme Dreams.</span></i></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;"> </span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px;"> </span></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-54195425852219124822013-12-12T19:45:00.002-08:002016-01-28T12:47:42.733-08:00Oh no… I can’t stand them!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I say I am fond of many people, I should also admit that there are
people whom I cannot stand even a bit. Like...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I
cannot stand people who spit on roads. Slap them please! And you have to believe me when I say there are people who even pee in the apartment elevators. How filthy is that?!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I
cannot stand parents who bring their noisy children to theaters. Wonder why they need to be such sadists to not let others watch the cinema in peace.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I
cannot stand people who write Raju + Radha on public properties. How annoying is to find such stupid names inside creepy hearts even on
monuments. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I
cannot stand those bloody oglers. Every time, I feel like scooping their eye
balls out with a swiss knife.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I
cannot stand people who speak loudly on their mobile phone inside trains. Do they realize that nobody is interested in knowing their business deals or extra marital affairs?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I
cannot stand people who gulp down all the food with no
consideration for others. Probably they don't know that there are others too barely surviving in the same planet.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I
cannot stand people who shower <i>gyan </i>on me all the time. A little bit of it is
tolerable; but I wonder makes them think I am dying for they advice so that I can prosper in life! </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I
cannot stand people who decide my physical attributes. They have a problem when
I am plump; they also have a problem when I am skinny. My life. My looks. I
decide. Period.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I
cannot stand those who dig their nose. That doesn't make you Mr. Bean, alright? Worse are those who
poke their nose into my life. Look you Nosy Parkers, mind your own bloody business!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I
cannot stand people who misspell my name. And even those who say <i>pand</i> for pant and <i>mangey</i> for monkey. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t have anything against
those <i>simble</i> people <i>dringing</i> <i>joos</i> :p</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, who will be in your list? It will be interesting to know.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><b style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px;"><i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;">PS:</span></i></b><i style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;"> This post is part of the </span></i><a href="http://writetribe.com/write-tribe-festival-words-2/" style="background-color: white; color: #2d6e89; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px; text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;">Write Tribe Festival of Words 2</span></i></a><i style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.828125px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 16px;">. The challenge is seven posts in seven days and this is the sixth one in the series, on the theme People. </span></i> </o:p></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-12277250982176704312013-12-11T19:15:00.000-08:002013-12-11T21:23:24.752-08:00How we planned the trip<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I guess it
was around the same time, many years ago. We 11</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> graders were very
jealous of our seniors who went for an excursion to Ooty. That was when Kerala was
just the land of coconuts and not of the Gods. So Ooty was the dream
destination of most of the South Indians – be it for honeymoon or even school
trips!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whenever these guys got a
chance, they narrated their never-ending stories of the tour and flashed
photographs of their monkey faces against the green meadows of Ooty. Yes, i</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">t’s universal that seniors love to nag their juniors.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So envious
we were of the fun they had and couldn't wait for one more year for a similar trip with our classmates.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">T</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">hrough our
class teacher, we requested the Principal to allow our batch also to go on a 2-3
days trip to some place. However, it was ruthlessly rejected with no bit of
consideration. We were all deeply hurt at the dismissal of our request and were
angry about it. However, we were not ready to give up so easily; so we decided
to try another route – the Mallu way! Tadaaa…!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By that I didn't mean holding </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dharnas</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> or
boycotting classes. Our idea was to submit a memorandum to our Principal
stating our need. After all, we Malayalees are good at mobilizing people! So, the
core members of the program enthusiastically collected the signatures of almost
every student of the batch. Betrayers will be found everywhere and we also had
a few among us. We secretly decided to not include them in the trip after we get
the permission. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">It was
D-Day, the Deciding Day! The class leaders approached the Principal with the
so-called memorandum presented in a few A4 sheets, neatly
clipped in a file. She was at her desk checking some registers while one of
them cleared his throat to grab her attention. Not lifting her head, she just
raised her eyebrows at them. That one piercing look and our guys almost lost
it. Probably, there was something in the air that drained away all the confidence
they had gathered from us to put forward the mass request.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">One of them
began, “Mam, this is a memorandum… I mean a request …a humble request on behalf
of the 11<sup>th</sup> graders to go for an excursion this year”. He stretched
the file at the Principal. She continued to look at them; her eyes moved from
one face to the other. The boy who began still had his hand stretched; they
were not sure if they should stay back or just exit the room. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
Principal put down her pen, leaned back on her chair and removed her
spectacles. As she rubbed her eyes with one hand, she pointed towards the
corner of the room with her other hand and said, “Dump those papers into the
dustbin and get back to your classes.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Stunned at
her response, they stood there with puzzled faces. She continued, “Is that not
clear?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The next
second, the glorified memorandum lied in the trash; all of them got back to the
classroom and with much difficulty, ignored the heartless betrayers who made
fun of them, <i>“**enthokke bahalam
aayirunnu… malappuram kathi, machine gun, bomb …olakkayude moodu!!”</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">However, the
drama was soon forgotten as we had lot other fun things to focus on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">** a very popular dialogue from an
old Malayalam film, which only my Mallu friends can relate to.</span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">PS:</span></i></b><i><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> This post is part of the </span></i><a href="http://writetribe.com/write-tribe-festival-words-2/"><i><span style="background: white; color: #2d6e89; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Write Tribe Festival of Words 2</span></i></a><i><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">. The challenge is seven posts in seven days
and this is the fifth one in the series, on the theme Travel. </span></i></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-49613934204056781162013-12-10T19:00:00.000-08:002013-12-10T21:33:31.090-08:00The Music Within<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #4c4c4c; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The best ever music in
my life - not something that I listened to with my ears, but it was something
that I felt with my heart - when I had a little someone growing inside me. The feeling
itself of bearing a tiny life within me was musical.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #4c4c4c; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #4c4c4c; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I felt I was warmly
held in those tender fists floating in the womb because my thoughts and words
were always answered by the little creature in some way. Our conversations had
a rhythm that cannot be explained. Another
life that fluttered inside me which tried to claw its way out, just wanting to
meet the world - heights of joy and an overwhelming feeling of love! I do
reminisce about those nine wonderful months and feel blissful about it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #4c4c4c; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #4c4c4c; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I write this, my
little boy… <i>I imagine you as a man, handsome and righteous, sitting on the sea
shore letting the waves wash your feet while you read this age-old note. I will
be there too, older and happier, sitting next to you with your dad, watching
the big red sun touch the horizon as we listen to the music of togetherness on
that beautiful summer evening. </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #4c4c4c; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">PS:</span></i></b><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"> This post is part of the </span></i><a href="http://writetribe.com/write-tribe-festival-words-2/"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #2d6e89; line-height: 115%;">Write Tribe Festival of Words 2</span></i></a><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">. The challenge is seven posts in seven days
and this is the fourth one in the series, on the theme Music. </span></i></span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-57495998369198684052013-12-09T19:21:00.000-08:002013-12-09T20:41:00.804-08:00In Her Black Dress <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">There was
an Iranian girl in our class who lived in a <i>burka.
</i>It revealed just her fair little face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Extremely
reserved, she doesn't even laugh at the silly pranks that happen in class. Most
of us believed that perhaps their way of having fun is very different from ours.
While we roamed around in the campus indulging in all possible nonsense, this
girl spent all her free time in the library. So she was labelled as the
official nerd of the batch! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">However, of
the very few friends she had probably in the country, I was one. We have had
discussions on lot of topics, but very rarely she talked about her home. But whenever
she did, I felt her relationship with her folks lacked the intimacy and
fondness that most of us shared with our family. However not much I know about her personal life as she
never liked to dig out the grief and pain she buried in her black dress. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">One day,
she came to me and said, “I am sure we will not meet again. My dad wants me to
go back, so I am leaving India” I could only look into her eyes in surprise and not react as it was
not expected at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Saying that,
with her nimble fingers she wiped off the tears that rolled down her cheeks and
continued, “Thank God, I don’t have many people to say good bye. Here’s a small
gift for you; it has foreseen my life. Please don’t forget me…” Her voice cracked
as she gave me a book wrapped in silver cover. We hugged each other and even
without looking at my face for one last time, she walked away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">****<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">She left our
college during the time when social networking sites were quite unheard of.
Before leaving, all she gave me was an email id to get in touch with. Sadly, I
have not received any replies to the umpteen messages I have sent her. And she
is not to be seen anywhere in the virtual world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I only wish
and pray that her life is different from the one told in the book she gifted
me, “Not Without My daughter”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“My dear
friend, I hope everything is fine with you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span>
<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;">If you have not read the book, you may read the synopsis <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Without_My_Daughter">here</a> to understand what I am talking about. </span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><b>PS:</b> This post is part of the <a href="http://writetribe.com/write-tribe-festival-words-2/" style="color: #2d6e89; text-decoration: none;">Write Tribe Festival of Words 2</a>. The challenge is seven posts in seven days and this is the third one in the series, on the theme Books. </i></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-49011047390067046872013-12-08T19:09:00.000-08:002016-02-04T10:05:34.730-08:00The Barter Deal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">This is
also an old story. However not as old as the previous one. This happened during
our under grad college days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">We famished
hostel girls were invited to one of our teachers’ daughter’s wedding. Ahh… a
wedding invite! We were all so thrilled. That evening, we discussed the rituals
of a Brahmin wedding. We knew the wedding would last for three days, but were
not quite sure if we were invited for all the three days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">“<span style="color: #134f5c;">An
invitation is supposed to be for the whole wedding and not for just parts of
the function. Right?</span>”, one of us tried to clear the doubt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">“<span style="color: #741b47;">Yeah,
yeah. Absolutely. I have heard that Brahmin wedding starts early in the morning
and will go on till late in the evening</span>”, somebody was kind of sure about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">“<span style="color: #20124d;">Oh! Is it?
Well, that means breakfast, lunch and snacks. Three days. Three meals. Wow; nine
times in a row, we can treat our taste buds</span>”, she just couldn’t hide her
excitement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">While I had
a different point of view, “<span style="color: #274e13;">It is not only about food, you see. Our sir will be
so glad if we participate in their joy from start till the end.</span>” I looked at
others and saw giggles and grins on all the faces. The next minute, there was a
burst of laughter! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">A dozen of
us, decked-up exuberant girls attended the wedding with much vigor and fervor. Our
twelve heads were a common sight on all the three days. We kept ourselves busy being
the bride’s happy maids, posed for a number of photographs, consumed limitless starters,
main course & deserts and laughed our hearts out while we had lots of fun. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We showered
the bride and groom with our love and blessings; the grand wedding thus came to
an end. At the closure of each day, everybody was given a fancy pouch, with a
coconut and some tidbits in it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">We,
hostages of the girls’ hostel had no idea what to do with all the coconuts we
had collected. The idea of donating them to the mess was immediately rejected
as they were unkind and merciless folks who did not feed us well. So they don’t deserve any goodies from us! After a rigorous round of
brainstorming, we decided to give the coconuts to Subbannan the next morning if
he is ready to offer all of us free breakfast.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who is
Subbannan, by the way? He is the God-sent alternative to the awful food served
in our hostel mess. Subbannan owns a small eatery very close to our hostel
building and we loved him because he allowed credit to the hostel girls.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">The next
day, we skipped the ‘so-called’ idlies in the hostel mess and rushed to
Subbannan with the bag that contained our prized possession! Our man was seated
in his chair, all set to feed his hungry customers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">As we had no
time to explain, without beating around the bush we came to the point.
“<span style="color: #274e13;">Subbanna… Keep these coconuts. Instead, please give all of us breakfast</span>”
saying that, I winked at him and we took our seats. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">Totally
confused, for a couple of minutes he just starred at us. Then he shot, “<span style="color: #660000;">Look
at you girls… lipstick and high heels. But to eat two idlis, you had to steal
coconuts. If you don’t have money now, you may give it later.</span>” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">We were
trying to understand what he was grumbling while Subbannan continued, “<span style="color: #660000;">I wonder,
why they don’t lock the store room in your hostel!</span>” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In shock, none of us
could react immediately. That was obviously the least
expected!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><b>PS:</b> This post is part of the <a href="http://writetribe.com/write-tribe-festival-words-2/">Write Tribe Festival of Words 2</a>. The challenge is seven posts in seven days and this is the second one in the series, on the theme Food. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-79325552564581550812013-12-07T21:29:00.003-08:002016-05-12T11:58:18.758-07:00Behind the Mango Tree<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Life was so less complicated when we were children. It was so easy to live life to the fullest. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">Recalling an incident from my childhood...there is a grandfather mango tree standing in one corner of our school ground, which has stood testimony to generations of thick friendships, roaring
successes, bitter failures, true love, few heart-breaks, plenty of laughter and
tearful goodbyes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">This mango tree has seen
me grow into an adult from a little girl; it knows everything about my childhood – my
little secrets and fantasies, my likes and dislikes and my mood swings. It even
knows about the friendship I shared with this brown-haired, dimple-cheeked boy,
whose face or name I don’t remember now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">It is an old story that
happened during the time I lived in brown pinafore that remained above my
knees. …the time I believed Cinderella and Snow White existed in a land far
away from mine. …the time I laughed when I felt happy & cried when I felt
sad. ...the time I worried very little!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Whenever we played
hide-and-seek in school, my favorite place to hide was behind the fat mango tree
trunk. Once I hid there, holding hands with the dimple boy. Nobody in the
world, except the tree knows about the silly game both of us played in secret.
We blew raspberries in the air and I vaguely remember him wiping my drooling
mouth with his sleeves. His brown hair appeared golden when sun rays through the
branches, fell on his head. And as we mastered the art of making bigger and bigger
bubbles, the challenge was to break one’s bubble with the others. When we
exhausted the saliva in our mouths, we moved on to next phase of the game,
which was kissing the tree and nailing ripe mango leaves on it with a sharp
piece of bark. In the evening, before boarding the school bus, we ran till the
tree to find out if those leaves still remained there. Both of us were sad to
see none on the tree, but we departed kissing each other’s cheeks. What
happened after that is blurred in my memory, beyond recollection.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I don’t know if that game
was played later; but I remember that beautiful day at school, I can still feel
the gentle breeze and the swaying branches of the mango tree; can even hear the
soft guiltless giggles of the little boy and the girl. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><i><b>PS:</b> This post is part of the <a href="http://writetribe.com/write-tribe-festival-words-2/">Write Tribe Festival of Words 2</a>. The challenge is seven posts in seven days and this is the first one, on the theme Memories. </i></span></div>
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<h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Francois One', sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 36px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
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Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-60540540761900091402013-12-06T02:41:00.000-08:002013-12-06T03:32:15.389-08:00Look, who’s back in town!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I am back, hopefully
this time to stay. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">While I absconded,
what has been happening in the world? Three years is indeed a long time.
Everybody’s life has been so eventful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Sachin Tendulkar
decided to stop playing cricket and instead he thought it makes sense to help
his wife make rotis for dinner. I think it is truly a fantastic idea to spend
quality time with the family. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">This NaMo
guy became the latest ‘yo boy’ of the country; his name is dragged into every
conversation, even if the discussion is on mosquito repellants or extra-terrestrial
attack on America. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">While
Mohanlal and Mammotty, in their lungis and dothis continue to rule the mallu
hearts, I think Fahadh Fassil and his boxers are a welcome change. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">One thing,
by the way has been a constant – Salman Khan’s virginity! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">While all
this has been happening, what do you think I was doing? Sun-bathing in Bahamas?
Setting up my billion-dollar-company? Writing a film script? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In fact I
wanted to do all of them, but I didn't! All I did was nothing, just nothing! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Finally, I
have decided to make up for the long silence. Many thanks to this dude Sooraj,
a follower of this silly blog. He pleasantly surprised me one day with an email
asking why I don’t update this little space with my stories and fundas. He
mentioned a lot of things in his email about which I felt nice. Oh… it was yet
another moment when I fell in love with myself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Also,
thanks to my very good friend <a href="http://www.godyears.net/">Roshan</a> </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">who helped me get over the inertia and
start all over again. He has motivated me to take up this <a href="http://writetribe.com/write-tribe-festival-words-2/">challenge </a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">– ie, seven posts in seven days,
starting from Sunday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Let me see, how well I can fair at it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">See ya soon! </span></div>
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Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-57682525885349557722012-04-14T10:00:00.000-07:002012-04-15T21:30:34.876-07:00Happy Vishu!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAg-S7y4hCOQ950ionOv3PPhtBz9iyUFk4xDA8I-kstSM6VxyhEiZICk9_oyd6-s4GUIxdSa1uxNaLSGV7fTOe5Y0OereyyqdNREqTWeX8Ngiwy03Rll_2sk5Wxzk1bTR-xWR5edZh5mk/s1600/vishu2012+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAg-S7y4hCOQ950ionOv3PPhtBz9iyUFk4xDA8I-kstSM6VxyhEiZICk9_oyd6-s4GUIxdSa1uxNaLSGV7fTOe5Y0OereyyqdNREqTWeX8Ngiwy03Rll_2sk5Wxzk1bTR-xWR5edZh5mk/s400/vishu2012+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #002060; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Loka-samastha-sukhino-<wbr></wbr>bhavanthu!</span></i><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #002060; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Wishing all a truly fulfilling year ahead! </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #002060; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">J</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
</span></div>Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-67457986929240424012012-04-11T10:21:00.000-07:002012-04-11T10:43:10.059-07:00What I didn’t do this afternoon!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was
holding it. Trust me; it is not so easy, not a joke. I felt powerless, found it
tough to focus, was unable to sit and in some time I went mad. Yet, I was not
ready to give up!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, the minor
disaster was the earth quake that hit many parts of India this afternoon. But,
what was the disaster, on top of the disaster? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well… that
was me wanting to potty! Grrr… these uninvited guests; I tell you… they are
such pricks! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God… I didn't want to die such awkwardly and give a chance to my naughty friends to celebrate
it on facebook and twitter! “Oh; she died while potty-ing!” </span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good Night friends... </span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Going to bed hoping to read only delightful stuff in the newspaper tomorrow. </span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></i></div>
</div>Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-34526427367733688412012-04-04T23:36:00.001-07:002012-04-05T22:13:35.042-07:00Just 28 Rupees!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Do you spend more than 28 rupees a day? Really?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><br />Wow... Congratulations!!! You should be proud to be in the elite category of people in India who can afford an easy living! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Our </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Sarkar </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">says all you need is just 28 rupees a day - to be content, to not be unhappy, to lead a family, to hang out with friends and to 'hold your head high'! </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Sarkar </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">cannot be wrong; oh... when has </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">he </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">ever gone wrong in this country?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px;">Watch </span></span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">Agent Vinod</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"> in your neighborhood thatched theater sitting in the first row. You have no choice but to hold your head high. Else, how do you see the screen? There are additional rewards too - you can watch more of Kareena Kapoor's zero sized legs and less of her makeup-ed face! And your are a happy man, indeed! See, I told you; our </span></span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">Sarkar </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px;">cannot go wrong!</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">Travel in the general compartment of Indian railways. To avoid the stink of your neighbor's sweat, you have to hold your head high! In the 10 centimeters space you have to rest your legs, you try to balance yourself holding your head even higher, calling out God aloud, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">"Areee Bhagwan... are you not watching me?!"</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"> At the same time, you might also think of the Railway God in Bengal. You become a more spiritual person!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">You get back home; you have nothing else to do except count stars in the beautiful night sky... obviously holding your head high!!!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Long live our </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Sarkar</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">! </span></div>Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-47393203200235605552011-11-23T23:53:00.000-08:002011-12-06T03:16:55.257-08:00Where have I been?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0zP-GeaXrspVRUSTkCqwN1heDzs_YnpgOvEK6qlhCsD4pYI3_2NHZOot5Dl9H8-P683iHxCGWqYSN0KaxOL5YUtKCrtkGSAROGdaWXWDRrMakSJiqPvem4M2CJuhPQaUiNGGsOzI1Y3T0/s1600/dec+5+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0zP-GeaXrspVRUSTkCqwN1heDzs_YnpgOvEK6qlhCsD4pYI3_2NHZOot5Dl9H8-P683iHxCGWqYSN0KaxOL5YUtKCrtkGSAROGdaWXWDRrMakSJiqPvem4M2CJuhPQaUiNGGsOzI1Y3T0/s400/dec+5+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Well… my world is around my small wonder, my bundle of joy!! </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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</div>Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-45512795482768942182011-07-13T05:03:00.002-07:002012-04-04T23:13:48.372-07:00Healing Madam!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The work place sucks, the country sucks, the world sucks! There isn’t a thing around me which is less than being wretched! Sadly I realize that our planet is ruled by a bunch of useless morons. There is no escape from those boring routine faces; bumping into them only makes life all the more depressing. How can a poor feeble little creature like me repair the sad state of such affairs, I keep wondering! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Ting Tong… Ting Tong!”</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> My mobile phone beeped, indicating that I have received a message. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Depressed in life? Finding it difficult to laugh out loud? Then, come to us… we have the right remedy for you. We will heal all your mental and physical tensions and help you rejuvenate! For related help, call us on 8800 0011 1100. Regards, Lakshmi Chengappa, </span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">A-HOPE”, </span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">read the message.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh wow!! A customized message from God? He has finally decided to help me!”,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> I felt. Not giving it a second thought, I dialed the number. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hello… This is Shalini Surendran here; I just received a sms which said you can cure my mental tensions. I just wanted to discuss the same with you and take this forward”,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> I said hopefully. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Welcome Mam… to Aavarapan Healing Opulence Private Enterprise, A-HOPE. Let me please connect you to our healer, Agent Lavanya. Mean while, please enter your personal details following our customer assistant.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Agent Lavanya? Have I reached a detective agency?”</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> I had my doubts!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Welcome Ms. Shalini to A-HOPE. This is agent Lavanya. So, shall I begin the first session with you?”, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">said the sweet voice on the other end.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh sure… please go ahead. I am all ears!”,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> I said enthusiastically.</span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">“To begin with, let me give you an overview of A-HOPE. We are the only organization in the world that identifies one's inner potentials and strengths. Our founder, Poojya Shri Lakshmi Chengappa-ji was born with the ability to see lives of people, see their energy patterns and can find out which part of the body is diseased. She can also ascertain whether or not one is connected spiritually with oneself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I thought,<span style="color: #e36c0a;"> “What the hell is getting connected to oneself? Is that something like tying oneself to a pole and dancing in bliss?!!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I couldn’t make any sense of what she went on and on about Madam Poojya Lakshmi-ji. Hence I interrupted, <span style="color: #e36c0a;">“So, when can I submit my problems to Lakshmi mam? Please share her email id.”</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Agent got pissed off. She said, <span style="color: #00b050;">“There is no need to do that. Lakshmi mam’s extra sensory perception skills will by itself find out your problems and automatically heal you.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Magic?”</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> I thought of the movies Mr. India, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, while the agent continued blah-blah-ing. It was more like attending an absolutely boring physics lecture after years. After 20 minutes of one sided non sense, the only few words I could recollect were aura, mind-body-soul, spiritual destination, healing, inner & outer selves ...which were of course meaningless to me!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally she concluded, <span style="color: #00b050;">“There is no past, present and future. All collapse into a single experience!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Before I could ask <span style="color: #e36c0a;">“What the bloody hell is that supposed to be?”, </span>agent said,<span style="color: #e36c0a;"> </span><span style="color: #00b050;">“We shall share the details of the next session with you via email. Thank you. Have a great day!”</span><span style="color: #e36c0a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I received the email in the next 30 seconds. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear Ms. Shalini, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We hope that Session-1 has enlightened your spirits. Now, we enter Session-2. All you have to do is let us know a convenient time, during which you are supposed to go to sleep. We will connect with you while you are asleep, your problems will be then captured impeccably. You will be surprised to wake up into a new world, a fun filled and joyful world. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank You, <br />
Lakshmi Chengappa. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I went to sleep at the scheduled time, woke up to see their second email which said, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear Ms. Shalini, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Welcome to the new world of possibilities. All your problems are erased off your mind; you are a new human being from today. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Please find attached the invoice. Account details are also given.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank You, <br />
Lakshmi Chengappa. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Totally clueless, I tried to recollect the flow of events during my sleep. But in vain… all I could remember was my dream of eating prawns biriyani at our house in Trivandrum and playing cricket with my small and big cousins! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I opened the attachment. For the first Latin/Greek <i>gyan </i>over phone and the magical sleep therapy, they have sent a bill of just Rs 8500!!! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Lesson learnt</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> – When I felt low, all I had to do was watch <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahkYlrbs9oM">Mohanlal</a> & <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QetkLi9m4qM&playnext=1&list=PLD56F0A2A97628F8B">Jagathy</a> in <i>Yodha </i>or <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OamXHAG5vk">Inspector Clouseau</a> in <i>Pink Panther</i> …rather than letting some cunning Chengappa indulge in day light robbery!</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">(As narrated by Big-B… from the dairy of his adventures!!)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div></div>Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-31628382288478976682011-07-04T06:18:00.000-07:002011-07-04T06:22:01.194-07:00Empathising with ourselves!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bCfFAa3yb4NNrXSfpNb36k3b5v8OJ5ygnSx62cQgDXLTkAQ-FFQG7d5Yud_RmMRKsoQgw3UUBcq8m8-gKBV1E3IusKtBaxlz0_noSoX8Zk4K9G02gqvW-QDYTCllFmdTIFhV-AQygRu5/s1600/blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bCfFAa3yb4NNrXSfpNb36k3b5v8OJ5ygnSx62cQgDXLTkAQ-FFQG7d5Yud_RmMRKsoQgw3UUBcq8m8-gKBV1E3IusKtBaxlz0_noSoX8Zk4K9G02gqvW-QDYTCllFmdTIFhV-AQygRu5/s400/blog.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Forget us, poor Bangaloreans... not even Super Man can speed on this road!</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Picture clicked on Outer Ring Road in Bangalore, which houses lakhs of IT professionals.</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br />
</i></span></div></div>Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-25427674548788295192011-06-30T10:41:00.000-07:002011-07-01T22:28:55.625-07:00Trend Setters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Q_jJVRhq3nxc5wLFX4bmX0dgVH7I-_wctraiAuTbTkgdkFdjG87eGi3s6YTpL6gfbyzB5UxQ1Q1qFjDyQbdWzOuWASUYjj2I1RJzjo61NTmhgWqbXCKIRH-LUUTZrQ49nZp1El4f_Frz/s1600/sam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Q_jJVRhq3nxc5wLFX4bmX0dgVH7I-_wctraiAuTbTkgdkFdjG87eGi3s6YTpL6gfbyzB5UxQ1Q1qFjDyQbdWzOuWASUYjj2I1RJzjo61NTmhgWqbXCKIRH-LUUTZrQ49nZp1El4f_Frz/s400/sam.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Two of my non-malayalee friends in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guruvayur">Guruvayur</a> – not knowing it is strictly a “no-trousers” zone! </i><br />
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But you never know… in this ultra-fashion age, there could be folks following their style – dothi, backpack and sneakers!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div>Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148685476194991893.post-45550109486187945182011-05-26T23:40:00.000-07:002013-11-11T23:23:09.754-08:00Email Trail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;">An email conversation I had with one of my colleagues in our neighborhood.</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Subject: </b>Awkward Question</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Hi Shalini,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">I know this is very embarrassing. But I cannot help </span></i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">L</span><i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">For the past one hour I have been composing this email; I’m still hunting for words. I really don’t know how you will take this. However, for professional reasons, I am forced to ask you this. Please try to understand my situation... Hope you will not take this as a work place harassment!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">So, here is my question: Which type are you - boy or girl? I am so unfamiliar with Indian names, that I cannot even make a wild guess.</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Thanks & Regards,</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Yuan Chow</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Seeing the subject line, I was both curious and nervous to open the email. But reading it which ends with the sender's name, I was first reminded of menu card in a Chinese restaurant!! I, who think too high of my name, couldn’t believe that in spite of exchanging so many emails with her for more than a year, she couldn't yet make out my 'type'! :P Anyways, I decided to reveal my gender indirectly. Here is what I wrote back.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Subject: </b>RE: Awkward Question</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Hello Yuan Chow,</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">I belong to the category of Aishwarya Rai</span></i><i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">J</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Cheers,</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Shalini</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">After clicking the send button, I felt she would have thought I am boasting of my looks, comparing myself to Ashu! I seriously regretted trying to be funny!</span></span></i></div>
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<i><i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Subject: </b>RE: Awkward Question<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></i></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Sorry to ask again Shalini, I didn’t get you when you said A.Rai category! You mean... errr!!! Please make it clear!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">That definitely is insulting the women in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>… not knowing ‘what’ Aishwarya Rai is! Also, letting thoughts go wild! What would she have meant when she said "errr..."? So this time, I decided to keep it simple and "straight"! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;"></span><i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Subject: </b>RE: Awkward Question</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"></span></i><i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Yuan Chow,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">I am a girl and so is Aishwarya Rai. If you are wondering who she is, she is just another girl like me; by mistake I mentioned her in my previous mail.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Have a wonderful day. Bye…<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Thanks,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Shalini<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;">I have written many sarcastic blog posts, making fun of my friends and others having witty names! Never had I thought, I will get it back from somebody across the border, who doesn’t even know me! :P :P</span><br />
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Pink Mango Treehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456900186361040730noreply@blogger.com32