Toddler times

There are many incidents that flash upon my mind and keep running like an unending goods train. I'm trying to capture as much as i could from the fast moving train. A glimpse of my toddler times.

Toddler or teen or a young lady, my memories are always roped with Paru. (Those who've read my previous blog would know Paru is my gradmother). I can never think of a single incident devoid of her. Paru could not bear to see me in disappointment at any stage of life. From silly to the most serious incidents she's been by my side motivating me and doing as much as possible to please me.

I was in my second grade, we had done "shanmuga archanai" (prayers to Lord muruga) at the tiruchendhur temple. As part of the prayers they gave me a beautifully decorated floral Vel as tall as me (Vel is Lord muruga's weapon, which he holds in his right arm). It gave me immense joy as a toddler to walk around with it in my hand. It was when a little gal of my age from one of the families that accompanied us to the temple requested for the Vel from me. She told she would hold it for sometime and give it back to me. Naturally I refused, so she grabbed it from me and ran away. I started crying and complained to paru. Instantaneously she figured the gal , spoke to her and almost snatched it from her, saying that I would give it to her after sometime. Although I was happy, I felt sorry for the little gal.

Paru had this habit of getting lottery tickets every month. It was the time when lottery wasn't banned. She would stingyly allocate 1 or 2 rupees for  a lottery ticket per month. That was her budget. I never understood then, why she kept such a narrow budget for the purchase of tickets. She ensured she took me along with her and insisted me to choose the ticket coz I was her lucky charm. She so believed that if I chose the ticket with my hand she would win  the bumper. But that never happened. Everytime I chose a ticket she was sure to win some 10 or 25 rupees max. She would be so overwhelmed and would praise my luck to every friend and neighbour. When I ask her if she won the bumper she would say she narrowly missed it by a number and would say there is always a next time.

We 80s kids had only Doordarshan for entertainment in television then. My sister never needed an alarm to get up by 6.45 a.m on a sunday , since at 7 o clock was her favourite program 'Rangoli'. A show hosted by yesteryear actress hemamalini telecasting old hindi songs. Paru would watch the show along with us. She liked Shammi kapoor (yesteryear hindi actor) and used to get amused along with us when his song was telecasted. But she would smile and say "romba alatal ivan"(meaning a little showoff).

She also watched all hindi serials from reporter, tehkikaat to chithrahaar, turning point and surabhi. Surabhi was program that spoke of the history of india and the tradition followed in various parts of the country. At the end of the show the host gave 3 questions and requested viewers to write the answers in a post card. They gave answers to the questions asked the previous week and chose 3 lucky winners from the huge pile of letters sent by viewers with correct answers. My sister knew answers to most of the questions. Paru would be beaming with pride the moment she answers and would request her to write the answers on a post card and send. "If we are lucky we will win else no problem we have this satisfaction of answering correctly" was her thought. Very rarely did we send written answers on a post card. The next week she used to watch the show awaiting for the nail biting moment of Q&A and thus the lucky winners. We've never been lucky. But still she felt proud and happy for her grandchildren.

Paru was a genius in maths. She could calculate mentally as fast as the calculator. All the fraction calculations she used to do mentally and never used a pen and paper. Be it the grocery bill or the medical bills she would quickly scan through the items and check the total simultaneously. No mistake can go past her eagle eyes. She was really sharp. She  had 100 percent accuracy with no room for errors. So obviously as a toddler I got all the help for maths and all the subjects from Paru. She was kind and attentive and was able to make time for me amidst her schedule.

She gave importance to all my little concerns which she could have easily brushed off quoting me to be a toddler. She never did it. In my third grade paru underwent a major operation in which she donated one of her kidneys to her son(my maternal uncle). I never knew it was such a great sacrifice then. Post operation she reached home and she was wearing a maxi since doctor had asked her to wear only maxi for a few days until the stiches healed. Me ,not knowing the details told her innocently that I would love to see her in saree than maxi. Phew that evening paru had draped saree inspite of caution from mom and aunt. Such was her love for me.

To be continued..

INSIDE OF TUMMY TO THE WORLD (SAMARADHYA)

It was oct 25th, 2013 my husband's birthday. I was on my 17th week of pregnancy, a very happy moment indeed. But i had a chill run down my spine since i was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and it was my first visit to the dietician center.

The usual process of filling and signing forms, weight check, blood check were all done and I was kinda anxious as to what would be spoken to me for 2 hours..Yes it was a scheduled appointment and we were informed that the first diagnostic meet might take close to 2 hours.

We were called in and there was a person Anna, she was pretty cool and made me feel at ease by explaining to me that this wasn't a disease and it was common during pregnancy, (looks like she had sensed my anxiety). Then went on a long list of do's and dont's , what food to eat and it was done with so much professionalism that i was awestruck when she showed me wax models on the size of fruit i was supposed to eat and the little wax cups to show the amount of rice intake.

Me being a vegetarian and a strict no to eggs, she had a tough time figuring out the equivalent protein supplement in food and ended up with a protein drink. She had a chart writing down what i had to eat, meticulously breaking down the meal on what i had eat for carbs, protein and fat. This she did for each meal. I was spell bound by her sincerity and the love for her job. It was 12.30 pm now. We had stepped in at 9.30 am..3 hours..it was really tiring.

It was His birthday and me being a foodie, additionally pregnant, husband had planned for a date night. Been it any other day I would have been exuberant, but after the dietician meet I was kinda worried about what would be my sugar levels if i ate out. YES in addition to all the above i was supposed to jot down my blood sugar levels 4 times a day and send it to her end of every week until delivery. IT WAS AN ASSIGNMENT.

With much confusion, my husband came to a conclusion that he would take me to an indian restaurant so that it's easier for me to pick recipes per the diet chart, he still insisted that I could do the jotting down from the following day and not to do it that night, coz if the numbers were above normal that would tense me. I nodded for everything half heartedly and thus we stepped out.

We had a hearty dinner although I had this thought in my mind's corner which kept whispering caution. I chose paratha and paneer masala very much by the diet chart..but at the end of the meal the little foodie devil in me kept whispering gajar ka halwa..in the fight between mind and tongue..the tongue did win. I had it.  After eating tummy full, I started feeling guilty. Husband insisted never to take the blood test that night, he said "start fresh from tomorrow". I nodded. We reached home and as the clock was ticking the devil in me insisted to take a blood test. Husband warned me that if i decided to take a blood test , it's sure to be high and  not to get upset. I did it. PHEW the reading was 190..I was obviously upset. But that also gave me a conviction, I told  myself, I will control diabetes only by diet and I will never goto that stage of taking insulin. This i told to myself and went to bed.

PARU

                     Paru- this is how I fondly call her. My childhood and adulthood life’s most nostalgic moments were with her. When I think of her so many incidents flash upon that inward eye. She was a good pal, considerate kin, supportive sibling, lovable friend, fair critic , strict parent and guide and above all the adorable love of my life. She has played the role of all in my life.

I remember the days we used to sit in the front of our house and chit chat about the day’s happenings. She  was an awesome narrator, I used to listen to her spell bound.  Every evening she lets me play only after I complete  my homework. When I get slouchy she motivates me telling I could take rest after the game and that I would be done with all of it. If I still don’t budge I would have to face the wrath of paru. She’s  been an indispensable  part of my childhood. She could not bear  to see me cry or get disappointed. No matter what , she fixes my disappointment and gets glory seeing me happy. Here I go narrating one such incident.

When I was in my kindergarten  I had expected my teachers at school to pamper me, coz am the most pampered at home especially   by paru. It had disappointed me so much then that I had come home and complained to her saying the teachers din’t pamper me and additionally that the teachers had apple during the break and that they never offered me a piece ( I’ve been such a mean kid😀),on hearing this my mom being a teacher immediately warned me that it’s their right to eat and am not supposed to question and advised that I would be pampered if I behave well. I was quietly listening to her and my mom concluded that I got compromised. But cunning me dropped  my face sadly to paru and asked if my teachers were right. Hurray the next day she came to school and advised the teachers to pamper toddlers  and that's the way to encourage and bring in the best the of their abilities and finally added a word “neenga apple sapdradhu   na thani ya poi saapudunga..kuzhadha   Munadi   saapta   avaluku kudunga…pavam engi   poida   poranu” ( there’s no harm eating apples during the break, with kids around try to eat in the staff room or if u eat before her , offer her a piece, she is a kid and might feel bad ). Paru had such a charisma , that whatever she conveyed was totally agreed by my teachers (so sweet of them) and they ensured I was pampered every day, not only me but all kids in the class and they also made sure not to eat in the classroom before kids.

   Paru ascertained  everyday once am back from school if the teachers behaved well to me (lol) , my mom  was in utter shock when she heard what paru had done . But that it happened she could do nothing but sigh. She knew there would be no use offering suggestions  to both of us, so she left us to fend for ourselves , she warned she would never come to my teacher to defend me at any cost in future just in case I commit a mistake  , I never understood what my mom meant then. But paru had so much of confidence and hope that I would be an obedient and sincere student and so was I. She was my guiding angel throughout.

Any incident that happens at school I promptly update her. Once in my second grade during the annual examination I remember passing on the eraser to my neighbour. My teacher misunderstood   that we were trying to discuss and deducted marks as a punishment  , it was only 2 marks, but I was shattered since I was punished for no mistake of mine and that too for helping . I was in all tears when I came home , she quickly enquired and reassured me. Later when I got back to normal she patiently explained to me that helping others could lead to grave consequences  if done inappropriately. She was a fair critic.

Paru was so modern in thoughts and she behaved like a friend of our age (my sister and me). She played all indoor games with us from snake and ladder to  palanguli. She was the mediator   between me and my sister. When we had cat fights she was the one who announced the final judgement on punishments. She ensured we obeyed her. She was a considerate kin. She nurtured our talents and additionally took pride. She boasts of our singing and English speaking skills to every neighbour  and friend. There was one Spanish ship that had landed in our coast and people were rushing to have a glimpse of it since we had never seen such a huge ship. My sister a very enthusiastic gal, caught the attention of an English speaking employee of the ship, the lady was so impressed by my sister that we bypassed the crowd and boarded the ship to look around. Paru was beaming with pride. The ship and it’s architectural  marvel was of no significance to her now. She was waiting to leave the place and boast to everyone of my sisters skill. She was a lovable friend.

She used to watch all the latest movies with us, a huge fan of rajinikanth  and madhavan , she wanted to look for grooms similar to madhavan for me and my sister 😂. Did we get such handsome grooms  ? Of course yes. Both me and my sister have got madhavans  by personality. Both son in laws showered lots of love on paru and vice versa. Paru’s magnificence would spare none.

Talking of movies , am reminded of an incident.
I was a huge fan of mani ratnam and arvindswamy. I remember the movie Bombay was released when I was in my seventh grade. I was just waiting to watch it after my exams were over , but to my dismay my sister had her tenth board exams and everyone at home advocated I watch it at the theaters after my sister completes her exams. I was totally not for it, but none was willing to accompany me, it was when paru came for rescue .  She argued it wasn’t fair to deprive me of watching  the movie and she accompanied me. Although my sister was fuming paru had her own tactics to pacify my sister and make everyone accept her decision. With grudges or grins everyone at home obeyed the final judgement  passed by paru. I happily watched the movie in the theater with my all time friend paru.

 Paru had a magnetic perosnality. She was loved by all. The friends and relatives who visit home would be bowled down by the love and hospitality she showers. She attains pleasure serving others. She insists us to invite our friends home. She never showed a sign of tiredness in her face  anytime. She was such a loving soul.

Speaking of paru, her slang and phrases were so catchy. Whenever someone  was in a dilemma and delay decision making she used to call them "dhirdrashtran", a king in mahabharatham who made delayed decisions. "Asamandham" meaning dull headed for not doing things quickly.
"Achu pichu nu pesadha"meaning not to speak foolishly. "Pithukulli" frequently used on me meaning a nut and many many more in the bucket.

oops I havent revealed who is paru. She is none other than my most adorable grandma. Although she lives at the celestial world now ,she is part of me. She has molded me so well that I leave behind her impression after every action. I still strive to be kind and loving and hospitable as her  . Whatever I am is only a nutshell of her. She is part of my daily routine and part of my thought , word and  action.

First in flight

First in flight - Synonymous to the title I'm currently put up at Charlotte the place where the trial run of the first flight happened. It is because of this speciality all vehicles in Charlotte were tagged with title 'First in flight' in their number plates. This is just a piece of information and has a relevance with me choosing this title. This is totally about my first international flying experience alone. This might sound cynical  to many and even to me now. But before I could board the flight i could sense my tummy churning... Is it excitement , anxiety, fear, accomplishment..I really do not know which emotion to tag. It was all together.

The preparation to flight is an awesome time synonymous to how we prepare for festivals , the joy of the festival is more when we prepare more, likewise was our (my entire family i should say) preparation to the journey. I was starting a new life in the US from the scratch. So i had to purchase for the bare essentials cheaply available in our country, from little spoons to tawa. More than cutlery it was the sambar podi, rasa podi, vathal, vadam , milagai podi, oorukai(pickle), that was indispensable for living. Any tambrahm married girl travelling from india to any foreign country will surely have the above in her list. Life is almost nullified without the above items to us.

The heedful preparation of  all these items are taken care by moms and grannies in the family. Packing, weighing and ensuring it doesnt spill even if the suitcase is tossed from few feet height , is taken care of by dads and grandpas. They hold lots of experience packing for their cousins or brothers in laws or some distant relative of the family. So we can totally rely on their expertise.

Having got all the items ready, the next herculean task is to fit in all the items into the suitcase and ensure it doesnt go beyond the stipulated weight. Yes. Economy class has its weight limits and this being the middle class boon , we had to fit into the limit. The worst part is all the time i get overloaded, I get terribly confused as to which item to discard. But luckily I had one of my friends and cousin travelling to US on the same month and they were generous enough to carry few items for me. Atlast i was all set with 2 suitcases and 1 hand luggage fully loaded to his maximum occupamcy. The night finally arrived. Despite the fact i was going to miss my family, i was excited to meet my husband and about the new country and new life.

My sister and mom had prepared thachi mamu(curd rice) and idly for me with extra scoops of love. Although the flight provides food, not a thing stands before home made food. I finally reached the airport and checked in the luggage. Amazingly all of them weighed perfect, on the dot. I got my boarding passes and stepped in to pick the immigration slip. My family was waiting at the waiting arena. I went and bid a final good bye before i could join the queue. Everyone must have left with mixed feelings. As i stood in  the queue i was lost in thoughts. After I had completed the immigration I had to wait for an hour or so to board the flight. I completed a series of phone calls with parents, inlaws and husband when they announced passengers could board the flight. It was 4 am in the morning and I was feeling fresh. Paying less heed to all that was flashing in my mind, i boarded the flight. Less did i expect i would enjoy my journey as much as I did.

I could sense the bliss of solitude like how wordsworth had exclaimed. I was feeling completely independent and passionate about travelling alone. Soon the nightmare of the flight being highjacked and blasting mid way and crashing in the middle of the sea withered. Yes i had always had trouble flying, reason being i watch and imagine such incidents. I brushed behind all these thoughts and had my own time. Me and only me. I had taken my most favorite novel. What could be more blissful !Flying amidst clouds, coffee served at ur place, getting to read the most favorite book, watching movies or just simply sitting . I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my time. I had 2 transits. The first part of my flight was less than 5 hrs and that being mid night , I could not have much time for myself. I soon landed qatar, after few rounds of security clearance ,I boarded the longest leg and had the total bliss.

I sat beside the window, watching the flight take off. I was awestruck and feeling as light as a feather while the airplane was travelling amidst clouds. I started off my book and was engrossed in it. Then came the first meal time. I had a hearty meal and got occupied with movies from life of pi to Cinderella. I took a short nap here and there and the time had come for landing. Oops that was pretty quick. 16 hrs of travel whisked away so fast. Then the usual procedure of port of entry, immigration, luggage checkout and customs. I had to take the domestic flight, so i had this procedure of luggage recheck in. This part was little cumbersome since i had really huge suitcases. Once that was done, i got my tickets and walked towards the terminal. I was early and had to wait here again for an hour. I relished the idly mom had given and was very relaxed. I had couple of hours more to meet my husband. There were very few passengers in my terminal to board the flight.

This flight was really short that i felt the flight landed almost immediately. Few more steps to reach the exit  and i met my husband at the baggage counter. He was waiting wide eyed and gave me a quick hug. I had an extremely awesome time. It was when I understood that such simple joys in life are those that stand by as blissful memories.

My day(s) out - jab we met

Anticipatory, exotic, jubilant, anxiety filled eyes, unusually pounding heart, exasperating last few moments. Sounds like the climax of a movie? YES partially accurate. It was the climax of my long wait (with only 6 days to go for my marriage) to meet my MAN in person. He was on his way to my home to meet me. It might sound mystifying or puzzling to meet the person for life in person only a week ahead. But that was the actuality. We had been doing video-chat, telephonic chat, messenger chat, natter chatter via every possible social and electronic medium except in person which was the most indispensable medium. Our circumstance was so, that my husband (now) who was in the US then was unable to travel down to India due to certain Visa constraints. Back to pavilion..

 I was frantically waiting, counting the minutes now. I got an sms. “Near kathipara. Will be there in few minutes. Super excited”. This instigated my anxiety more. I had carefully made a bouquet for him commanding my dad and sister to get me red roses by hook or crook, waking them up early in the morning, making them hunt for roses. They pampered all my brutality, endured my tantrums and patiently tolerated my nuisance. I dint want to order one and I boasted that this act of making it myself showed my extreme love for my guy. My anxiety came to an end when he was at our doorstep. I waved a BIG HI. (I’ve been practicing with the mirror on “How to say Hi, How to present the boutique, How to be casual, etc..” Sounds cinematic, but I did enact those crazy scenes before the mirror in solitude). I dint know what to react next. I almost threw the bouquet into his hands. My throat became dry and I was stammering and searching for words. He quickly sensed that and was overtly casual and freaky so that I felt relaxed and composed. My sister did sneak in to comment that it was like, I was sitting in an unfamiliar place and he was so casual as if that were his own home. I despised her comment and retaliated with a cold stare. We had earlier planned to go for a mall and movie at least before marriage. As planned he initiated the move for our first day out and with cheerful good-bies from my entire family I sat beside my MAN and started for our drive into the city.

 I was still skeptical to speak casually. It was not a conversation but one man show. I was unable to correlate the person over the phone and one in person. He understood the emotional trauma I underwent and kept chattering the entire journey with my awkward reciprocations which was either a mild smile or an objective type answer. I had no reasons to justify my behavior; I whipped my brain hard to be myself but in vain. We finally landed in the mall. We had a short snack and did a little shopping and by now he was tired, not only coz of the monotony displayed by me but also coz of the jet lag. YES he had landed in Chennai early in the morning and had come to meet me. We cut down our movie plans and he left home after dropping me at my house. So was my first day out with my tongue-tied the entire drive.


The second day out was far better. Thanks to the confusion in the route by the auto driver, him and the mobile network that the conversation instantly picked by the little fight I put up for not replying to my sms on time and made me travel in the auto that caused unnecessary delay. He did not react to my petty fight as usual, but rather was enjoying the show since I was my normal self unlike our first meet. We did shop for his reception suit, ring and other minor things and left home with temple and movie plans in the forthcoming week. The D day arrived and I was all set with my stomach churning with some unusual pleasure. I did enjoy that feel. We started off to the temple, exchanged engagement rings since HE was only virtually present for our engagement. Courtesy: HIS Visa constraints. We then had our breakfast and went to the beauty parlor for his hair-cut and the groom set up. We were all set to move to the mall for the movie after inviting few of his friends when the earth shook. YES it was earthquake and we got frenzied calls from my mom and sister asking us not to go into the city and to get back immediately. My MAN was desired to go for the movie and as we started to move into the city, Tsunami alert was given and all people 5km nearby the sea were asked to vacate their shelters immediately. The most saddening part was his house was nearby the beach and his parents were all alone at home.


Now we were panicky too and decided to drive to the city not to the mall, but to pick his parents and get back to his uncle’s house which was out of the city. It was a frantic ride where we could visualize the real tension. People restless to move to their shelters, to some secure area. Mobile networks were jammed by now coz of the chaos. We were finding it very difficult to contact his parents and inform them. After trying many times we were able to get the line and we informed them to be ready and that we are fast approaching to take them to the outskirts. With 2 days before marriage our parents had frantic thoughts and were fervently praying that the expected calamity should never occur. We managed to reach his home by 3.15 and we had only 45 minutes more to vacate the place. The state government had announced all people at around 5km near the sea to vacate by 4 o clock since the Tsunami was expected to hit by 5.00 p.m. After much chaos we picked his parents and his brother’s daughter (the tiny tot) in the car and headed towards pozhichalur. There was heavy traffic since the entire city was rushing to the outskirts. The clock was ticking and its 4.45 now and we had not crossed the Mount road yet. Tension mounted. The vehicles were moving inch by inch. At around 4.45 I got a call from my sister and to all of our relief she informed us the good news.


The government had taken back the tsunami alert. They started flashing news in the television, that people requested to vacate could get back to their shelters and there was no danger. There was a great relief on everyone’s faces. We started chit chattering now and slight rays of disappointment started popping out of my mind. I had missed the movie that I was planning to watch with my MAN. I had just 2 days left and If not that day I can never watch a movie with him as his fiancée. I would be watching as his wife, but I did miss this thrill. After dropping his parents at Pozhichalur, both of us were disappointed about the day’s happenings. Suddenly my MAN decided that we would go for a long drive to the city outskirts towards Chelgalpet. It was an awesome ride and both of us enjoyed a lot. We were exuberant. We thanked GOD for the chaos coz had we gone for a movie we would not have interacted so much as in the ride. So everything that happened was for good. We had dinner at hot chips, tambaram. The thought that both of us would be married in a couple of days made us feel happier. He dropped me at home at around 9.30 p.m. and our family waved him good bye as he left back to his home at triplicane with loads of dreams about marriage.


Happy to recollect those moments now..Now we are married.

And then the prince and princess lived happily ever after ......

Sister pranks

My most merry and evergreen days are my childhood days and those days are incomplete or I should say are meaningless without my sister. Having expressed my love,  gratitude and the respect I have for my elder one in the previous blog it has long been in my cards to speak about the pranks she’s played on me and how innocently I’ve underwent them. With my disclaimer I’m getting into the content.

Being the eldest in the family  (the eldest among our cousins too) Subha always felt she was in charge of taking care of me, to nourish me with values and mentor me. She always portrayed herself as the most responsible and made all in the family believe the same way; not now but from my kinder garden days.

The naughtiest little girl was always on her mark to play pranks on me. She loved to see me struggle caught up in the menace and then would magnanimously act as though she was my savior who helped me out of trouble. Lot of incidents spring up when I think of childhood days, I’m sharing a couple of interesting incidents for now.

I was in my 1st standard when we had purchased a New Sony record player. I usually fear handling the new items that get purchased for the apprehension that it might get damaged and did not want to get into needless trouble. Unless dad educates me on the mechanism I never tend to touch them. But my sister was an engineer those days itself. The moment an electronic or any new item is purchased she would have sleepless nights if she had not thoroughly learnt the mechanism. She would give me a stern look if I get near to try my hand. She would act as though I was too tiny to handle such goodies. My fear for my sister more than my parents prevented me from exploring those goodies. Oops side tracked

One day my mom had played a sloga cassette and left out to a nearby temple. I was a little inquisitive and badly wanted to operate the player. My sister was quick enough to read my mind and encouraged me to operate it and cunningly told me that since mom was not there we could explore and get to know more. She patted me and said she would take care if anything went wrong. Believing her I tried my hand. She started off well asking to press the play button and then stop button, rewind, fast forward etc and I was overjoyed. Then she asked me to press the pause button. I pressed it and the song just stopped. I had thought that the song was supposed to stop only if I had pressed the stop button. I was completely unaware of the pause functionality. I tried every possible knack on the tape recorder but the song would not resume singing nor did the button bounce back to its original form. I started to panic when my sister knowing everything was giggling and started blaming me for having damaged the player. She said “That is why I told small children should never come near such electronic items, see now everything is gone, Mom is gonna wack you for your misbehavior” I was in total shock with tears rolling down my cheeks and my lower lips  protruding out (Subha had always loved to see the way I cried..she would say I looked cute ) begging her to help me out. She then wiped my tears and said that she would narrate it to mom in a better way and asked me never to open my mouth. I innocently believed her again and maintained silence until mom arrived as per her instructions. Both of us were sitting in the veranda waiting for mom’s arrival. The moment she saw mom nearing our house she sprung up and ran to her and said that I had damaged the player by handling it incorrectly and that the player stopped singing.

I was speechless, mom threw a miserable look on me and my sister was enjoying the show. She acted as though she was not present when I was operating the player. Mom simply went near the player and pressed the pause button again. The song resumed and the button was back to its original form. I was so relieved and stared at my sissy for having made me a fool. Then she casually revealed that she was aware of it and that it was her technique to make me understand the functionality of the player so that I never forgot it for my lifetime.

In the name of love and care taking she would stuff me with food and I would panic for breath unable to swallow the big mouth she feeds me. She would unassumingly enjoy me struggling hard. I have a peculiar habit of never having rice for dinner at any cost. I rather preferred to starve than have rice for dinner. My mom would literally beg me but I would be so stubborn that finally mom would give up and ask me have at least milk. I would drink it and goto sleep. My sister would then cunningly wait until I’ve slept and plan her next course of action. She very well knows that I hate to get disturbed when asleep and I would try my level best not to lose my temper if she tries to irritate me. She would feed me the remaining rice when I’m fast asleep and in the morning would nag me that If I had not eaten, the food would have been a waste and none other than me could have taken such a big quantity. I would feel so embarrassed and will put up a fight with mom. Mom would just laugh and leave the place since her mission has been accomplished :-).

Winding this off for now.

Living away from Home for the first time

Hostel life...–this has been a very important and integral part of my life, memories to be cherished for my lifetime. It gives a nostalgic feel when I think of hostel, friends and the merry making. Awesome four years which has taught me how to balance relationships in life. I still remember the first day of hostel when dad, mom and I landed with the big baggage, bucket and pillows (At any cost I required at least 2 pillows, but later found that I’ve been sleeping on the bare floor with my pillow snatched away from me). After all the admission process was over and greeting smiles from my fellow students who were new to the environment too, I stepped into the hostel after all the advises from mom and experiences about hostel life from my elder sister who was my super senior in the same college (although both our experiences didn’t match a bit), with mixed thoughts to achieve more and at the same time enjoy well, the fantasies I picked up from movies.

Fighting my tears, I bid good bye to mom and dad and reluctantly walked towards my block. Room no: 75 was the room allocated to me. Two pretty girls got introduced as my roommates. We chit chatted for a while, our conversation lingered around the cut-off marks, department and the town where we dwelt from. After carefully arranging the suitcases in the shelf, I slid out of my room to have a quick look of the happenings around. It was when I got introduced to two more girls who were little fun loving and bubbly, our frequencies matched well and we had little fun gossiping about the lab uniform of our college guys which resembled that of a PTC conductor. We then hurried for lunch after the announcement from warden especially for the new ones. It was supposed to be a welcome address but I didn’t feel it welcoming though rather I felt it was like a yell or cry of a bull dog. Later this became my warden’s nick name. We carried our plates hurrying for lunch; I was so scared of ragging and seniors, although my sister was my super senior she has previously warned me that I was not supposed to expect any pampering from her at college.

I’ve had many friends in school, but staying day and night with friends at hostel was totally a different and fabulous experience. That night the conversation with my roommates was a bit relaxed and moved over to hobbies and most instantaneously I was asked to sing once they learnt that I sing. They enjoyed my singing and the news spread like a wild fire and I enjoyed stardom at hostel in a couple of days, being a sister of an intelligent senior was another feather to my cap. Our hostel had very strict rules. We were supposed to be inside the hostel before 6p.m. in the evening, we were not supposed to sleep in any rooms other than the ones allocated to us, we were not allowed to use radios, transistors, walkmans etc. Entertainment strictly prohibited. We were allowed to sit in the verandah near the lawn after dinner until 8p.m after which we were supposed to go to our respective blocks with the respective wardens locking up the block doors and getting ready for attendance.

These rules were a nightmare to be in the beginning. It was only later I realized that I haven’t followed even a single rule quoted above. I had always struggled to catch hold of a bathroom to take bath; I had to hurriedly take bath since my heart would beat fast once the next person starts knocking the door asking me to come out soon. It was the first time in life I was taking up responsibilities for myself, same with almost all of my friends. I had always wanted my place to be neat and tidy and the first day evening after college when I opened my room I was quite annoyed since my bed sheet was not folded, my bathroom slippers each in different directions, my comb with hair in it and my dresses in the bucket not dried. It was when I understood that all these years I had been expecting my place to be neat but I haven’t contributed anything towards it. I started taking up these tiny responsibilities and till today enjoy doing them myself.

Spending money  was quite a big challenge to me. Dad gave me Rs.100 as packet money every week plus the travel expenses. I carefully saved the money to go out for a movie or lunch with friends. We spent most of the money in our college canteen for tea and baji and during weekends at our favorite hotel Parvathi. We saved every single penny and shared whatever we had with each other. It was when I learnt the Joy of sharing and giving. Birthday celebrations are unforgettable ever green memories. Cake cutting at 12 p.m., were most of the cake goes  applying on each one’s face and throwing at each other, smashing tomatoes and every possible nasty thing on each other , ragging on the birthday baby and dancing and yelling until the warden comes and thrashes us to pieces for our misbehavior. We’ve even organized treasure hunt were the birthday baby keeps running with clues for more than an hour just to find a rustic axe blade as gift.

Mmmm then rains have played a major role in my life making a few of us the iconic personalities of hostel. When there is heavy downpour irrespective of our semester exams our “rain gang” (that’s how we address our group who get wet in the rain) we get completely drenched in rain jumping and dancing in the verandah and singing or I should say yelling to the core even after many rounds of warning from our warden over the mike ordering us to get into our rooms. We were gutful to do this since we sincerely believed our warden would never come all the way from her room to our block to catch us red handed. The moment the rain subsides and we see her walking towards our block we would rush to our rooms, pick the clothes and run into the bathroom. She would come and scold my friend and roommate poor girl who would bear all the scolding for the pranks played by me, but still give a smile when I come back once warden leaves. We would try to hide ourselves each time we leave to mess hall for at least a week until she forgets the incident.

So many incidents pop up the moment I think of hostel. I’ve had bitter memories too, misunderstandings, tears, best friends moving away from me, few trying to make use of the innocent ones with respect to money and many more to quote. But these incidents have indeed taught me to face the outer world with maturity. But I would like to sincerely thank all my friends who have played an integral part in tolerating this rude and rustic girl and transforming me into what I am today. Thanks dearies for making the difference especially to Subbu, Sweety, Dhivya, Kasthuri, Sathya, Thilaga, Bama and Saras