Life In A Metro..

We live in a selfish world. A world where the thin line between love and lust are blurred. A world where technology makes life easy for us, but the very same technology adds on to our day to day stresses. A world where, people would do absolutely anything to climb up the corporate ladder.

But admist all the madness, there still is some innocence left in our hearts. Some of us choose to see it and act upon it. The majority of us bite it down and adapt to the situation at hand. We leave the things and the people we love in search of something better.

Life In a Metro is OUR story. The story of ordinary human beings, who make choices and live with those choices, happily or with sadness.

School..

School.. For most people, it was the age of joy, bliss and innocence. But i was a sick kid, (no REALLY, there was no innocence whatsoever, i was a pervert then and i suppose i still am) and i had a bunch of very deranged friends. All in all, school was not my happy place. The happiest day of my school life, was when i passed out. I laughed the loudest and ate the most for my farewell, whilst everybody else were sad and gloomy.

Now after saying the afore mentioned you'd presume, I'd never go back to school. But life as they say, is weird with a capital W-E-I-R-D. I met all my 11th and 12th grade teachers today and a few others. I don't remember the conversations now, it was a blurry haze of words, summarising each other's lives of 3 whole years.

My goals and objectives in life, became more sharper and clearer after having spilt my guts out to all of them. I knew right then, I had to do something really mind-blowing in the next 1 year, namely : Be Barkha Dutt version 2.0

Although i hated school and everything about it, with every last nerve in my body, today was the best day ever. I feel so content and at peace.

The cute hairdresser boy..

A man who goes clip clip clip with scissors to cut hair. Nothing can get hotter than THAT. For a beauty parlour to do good sales, all they'd have to do is employee ONE very cute hairdresser boy who talks smooth, looks like your next boyfriend and has the most piercing gaze. *sigh* I think I'm in love.

What started out as a very boring day (a trip to the doctor, a trip to the nearest diagnostic center) ended with a trip to the beauty parlour. I don't generally get too excited about beauty parlour trips, but this morning, I could smell something in the air, woman's intuition told me that good karma was in the air and i was in for something exciting.

Mum wanted to give her hair a trim, i didn't protest, i just nodded along absently to the words coming out of her mouth. We parked the car on the street, walked down the street to the beauty parlour block, climbed up the stairs, reached the foamy glass door of the parlour, opened it and VOILA, our eyes met. He was a Greek God.

He was not too tall, not too short, just the height i liked, he donned a small diamond stud on his ear, had a smart pair of jeans on, very nice sneakers and a smart shirt. And he was cute. Not the boy next door type cute, but the OH MY GOD i think I just died and went straight up to heaven type cute.

I decided very impulsively to get a pedicure, partly because i care about my legs, they're legs after all, we need to take care of them, and mostly because i wanted cute thing to see my gorgeous legs. *evil grin*

Mum took her seat and the man began to clip her hair. I envied mum for the very first time in my life, i wished i was sitting on that seat and his fingers were running through my hair. I couldn't take my eyes off him, he was a complete professional, very focused, very dedicated, he had on a very serious expression whilst chopping mum's tresses. And at the end of it he advised her on the hair products to use and how to comb her hair. I was blown away. This man knew hair care like the back of his hand. I fell a little more in love with him now.

He finished off faster than my pedicure lady, which gave us some time to discreetly look at each other and then pretend we're not looking at each other. I wished he'd drop a note off with his number on it while walking past me. No such luck though.

Rest assured, i shall be a very regular customer. Pedicures say hello to your newest friend.

My Ammumma and Appuppa..

The title of this post is the very first Malayalam words i have ever used on this blog, which stands for, "My Grandmother and Grandfather"

When i was 3 years old, i got a very severe attack of Bronchial Asthma. My dad was posted in Calcutta then. Each trip to the hospital was hoped to be the last, but the Asthma kept getting worse, i don't remember much about the disease, except being injected with needles in both hands all through the day, with tubes all over my body and running around in the hospital hall and playing with the other kids there, until the Doctor came on his rounds. Then we all had to be "Good children" and lie on our beds for the next 5 minutes.

After being hospitalised for a month,with no sign of recovery, the only solution, was to take me to a less polluted city. And so, Trivandrum became my home for the next 6 years. I stayed along with my Ammu and Appu.

Ammu and Appu had a nice big house with hens and dogs and a huge compound with trees. 3 year old me was in heaven. And it goes without saying, i was spoilt rotten.

My Ammu has six siblings in total and my Appu had three. All of them came home everyday of every week armed with toys and chocolates. I titled myself "Princess Hemagiri" and bossed over all the grown-ups. (Hemagiri is the name of Ammu and Appu's house by the way)

Taking me to school everyday was my Appu's job. I used to cry all the way from home till the front gate of the school, then dragged Appu along with me to my classroom, gripping his fingers with one hand and stuffing a handkerchief inside my mouth with the other hand.

Every Friday, Appu did a pooja for me at a Ganesha temple, the Prashad was some sweetened bananas, which i ate like a pig, without sharing with anyone, not even Appu.

Saturdays was Rasna day. Appu used to mix the Rasna powder along with the water concentrate in a huge steel vessel. Next he poured it into glass bottles and stored them all away in the "meatsafe" (a cupboard with loads of junk food). Next me and him drank a glass each of Rasna, with very little water and loads of the Rasna. Highly concentrated sugar syrup, in other words.

Sunday was Fun-Day in Appu land. His definition of a peg of alcohol was very warped. He had one huge elephant sized glass, which he never washed and he gluged 2 pegs (4 pegs considering the size of the glass) along with sweetened peanuts, fried peanuts, roasted peanuts and various varieties of the peanut possibly invented by mankind.

Ammu was in charge of feeding, dressing, making me do home work, taking me to temples etc. And each ritual had to be done keeping in mind various factors. For example, my hair had to be standing on my head like a rocket-spider, the pony must come in the middle of my head (resembling a rocket) and spread out around my head (resembling the legs of a spider). Breakfast had to be fed to me ONLY after wearing my tie and not before wearing my socks.

And as for the temples, i lost track of how many i went to with Ammu. Even now in fact, when i go to some of the temples in Kerala, the poojaris look at me, smile and ask "Indira ammede kochu molle alle?" which means are'nt you Mrs Indira's granddaughter?

I slept between Ammu and Appu till i was 10 years old. It was my job to switch off the lights and cover them both with bedsheets.

To make a long story short, Ammu and Appu became my everything. So, when Dad got posted to Chennai and it was decided that I'd come and live with Mom and Dad, my world came crashing around me. I couldn't leave my Hemagiri and everything inside it. I begged mum and dad to just leave me alone and go away. But, every child has to live with her parents eventually, so i was introduced to the city of Chennai and the Cooum River.

As the years flew by, i remembered less and less of Malayalam, the city of Trivandrum and i began missing my Ammu and Appu lesser and lesser.

The yearly trips to Trivandrum during X-Mas hols and summer vacation was always done with a hope of coming back to my adopted home-town as soon as possible.

My Appu passed away when i was in the 11th standard. It came as a shock to the entire family because he was only 77, walked everyday, drove around in his Maruti 800 and brought groceries and fish for the house, managed all the finances and the plumbing, fed the dogs and the fishes everyday, tinkered around with the pump attached to the well.. It was not his time, it was just NOT his time. My faith in God went down completely, I became an Atheist, refusing to even look at the prayer room in the house.

I had dreams of Appu very often and i heard his voice calling out my name. Either i didn't want to let him go, or he was still around. I want to believe he was still around, trying to console me.

Ammu now, had to live all alone in that big house. And i felt guilty because i didn't want to live in Trivandrum anymore, i wanted to keep my Ammu company but i just couldn't.

2 hours ago i called Ammu and spoke to her. After hanging up, i cried for 45 minutes, because she sounded very weak.

I wonder whether I'm leading a selfish life, i wonder if i should go back to my roots and look after the things and the individuals who were instrumental for my being here today.

High On You..

There are some who walk into our lives and stay for an eternity,

There are others who walk in and walk out faster than a lightening strikes the face of the earth,

Then I met the third kind..

And you know, I’m such a fool for you,
You got me wrapped around your little finger
But I choose not to say a word, I choose the path of silence..

Stay a while Angel boy, you could stay a while
And lets shake things up,
Come again and tell me what you’re going through..

Sit up straight and look at me
Leave some crazy memories behind..

In you, I see a new life again
You’ve opened my eyes to something unknown and exciting..

This is the way I want to be with you,
I don’t want to hide away..

I want to bask in your light for a while,
You’re the rainbow in my ocean of clogged thoughts..

Children..

I've never liked them. Leaving out the tiny outfits and the cute slippers, whats the high? I'm sure i hated myself when i was a kid. They bite, scratch, throw up, say mean things and they always manage to get their way.

But this morning, something happened. I was in the kitchen making some toast, when the auntie next door waved hello and we struck up a conversation. A few seconds later, i heard the little monster's anklets and desperate squeals of "Akka Akka". Auntie immediately lifted the thing up and put it on the kitchen counter. I looked into that small face and i saw pure undiluted joy. I'd never seen someone looking more happier on seeing me. She was gurgling incoherently as usual, while auntie translated everything for me. A 10 minute nonsense conversation and a flying kiss later, i was back to attending to my toast, which was now burnt.

What is the point of this post you wonder, why am i rambling on and on about a child and burnt toast. The point is this : Kids are genuine, honest and in your face. So, when it comes to kids, trust them blindly and shove your head up in the clouds, because they accept you for who you are and they will never hurt you to the point of insanity.

What is life..?

Swimming in a mini ocean womb for 9 months, finally seeing the light of day at the end of the 9th month, screaming your guts out because you're in shame shame puppy shame outfit and the whole world is ogling at you.. Is that life?

Growing up, being bullied by siblings, screaming for attention, getting things done by biting and scratching the nearest arm or leg, being the youngest kid and naturally a spoilt brat of a loud crazy family.. Is that life?

Going to school, making fling friends, real friends, best friends, true friends, fake friends, close friends and finally loosing touch with all of them unknowingly.. Is that life?

The half child, half adult college goer who has the time of her life, given all the freedom in the world, painting the town red and then realizing she has to loose weight and throws herself into the cause whereby falling sick every 3rd month and looking more and more like Dracula's kid sister (because of the pale whitish face, all thanks to anemia).. Is that life?

Again i ask you.. What is life and are we living it the right way?

Ritu-ness..

Ritu. I didn't give the name or the person a second thought in the 1st semester of college. She was a pesky kid with glasses and way too many teeth. She was always butting into our scheme of action and ruining our well laid out ideas. She cried too much and spoke funny. She wasn't exactly one of my favourite people.

And then something happened. Female bonding. Ritu was no longer the pesky soda putti girl, she became close friend, confidante and source of all craziness to our somewhat sober group. She rubbed off the madness and now we can't do without her. Days without Ritu are boring, dull and monotonous.

So, when i saw Ritu walking in today after a zillion days (she had taken study leave to prepare for CAT) i sprung up like the famous cuckoo in the cuckoo clock, screeched Riiiiiitttuuuuuuuuuu and gave her a HUGE spot jogging falling on her like a sack of potatoes hug. And i wouldn't have let her go, if not for my friend Megha's breathless gasps. We had managed to flatten Megha's nose in the process of potato hug.

The rest of the day was a blur of activity, with everyone vying for Ritu's attention. And i spilt my guts out as well, telling her about the boy who has been running around in my brain like a chimpanzee for the past zillion weeks and we did a detailed analysis of his zodiac sign, dissecting every possible aspect of this new development, whether it has a future or whether I'm being stupid and wasting my time.

We bunked the last hour, walking out like soldiers on a mission with Megha and Vani on the lead. Meghs looked very confident and declared to the watchman, that college was done for the day whilst Ritu and i tried our best to suppress squeals of laughter, because we're lousy liers. We ran out quickly before the man could put two and two together.

5 minutes later we were seated at the brand new ice cream parlour which opened out nearby, walloped tiny blow up your nose proportions of fancy ice cream for which we payed through our noses.. again.

Finally it was time to say bye all over again to Ritu for 5 whole days. I gave her another signature G-Hug, wished her luck and walked away with Meghs.

God, Ritu and certain 'boy' have one common underlying thread. They work in mysterious ways, leaving behind them a trail of happy faces, light hearts and lifted spirits.

Kaakha Kaakha..

I could'nt pronounce the title properly back in 2003, when it was first released and folks made fun of me, asking me why i was squaking like a crow, and now if i dont hear a person pronouncing the title correctly with stresses at all the right places, i'll either pinch them or make them repeat after me 15 times or more.

I love this movie would be an understatement. I'm obssessed with this movie. I've seen it more than 55 times, by hearted all the dialouges and scenes part by part and i get so involved in the movie, its not a pretty sight. I scream and yell along with the 4 cops each time they beat the shit out of a rapist/pervert/kidnapper bad guy.

The very last scene where Anbuchelvan stabs Pandiya with a knife a few million times, with flashes of all his loved ones battered and bruised running through his head was the most intense of all the scenes. Surya is an absolutely brilliant actor and i dont think anyone else could've done justice to the role of ACP Anbuchelvan.

Kaakha Kaakha is THE BEST cop movie ever made in the history of Tamil cinema, or maybe Indian cinema for that matter.

What women want..

This is my 100th post, and i thought the best way to celebrate it would be to spill some deep dark secrets of womankind. So listen up gentlemen, keep your eyes on focus and your writing pads ready. Or you can just read this post a few 100 times and memorise the following.

1. No woman gets up every morning from her bed thinking, "I wish i DON'T get swept off my feet today. I wish i DON'T meet Mr. Right"

2. When a woman says, "I'm really focused on my career right now, i don't have time for a relationship" what she's really saying is try harder stupid or yea sure we can go out sometime, sometime called never and a place called never land.

3. Women never make the first move. This depends from woman to woman. Personally, I'd NEVER make the first move. I prefer leaving strong hints, which clearly screams out, "I like you, you dumbass, so ask me out already"

4. Women love listeners. We love talking. So when we talk, LISTEN to what we're saying. Don't look at our lips, don't look at our gorgeous assets. (I meant the amazing hair, you pervert!) So at the end of our HUGE monologue, when its your turn to talk, we'd appreciate it, if you could say something other than, "i love your lips."

5. This overlaps with point number 4. Make intelligent conversation. This is a HUGE turn on.

6. Appreciate women. Treat us like goddesses. Showering us with expensive gifts is not counted. Spending time with us, giving us a little bit of attention, say 10 minutes, would be more than enough. But the entire 10 minutes must be spent with the woman in question wholeheartedly and with enthusiasm.

7. When you say things, anything at all, really MEAN it, otherwise don't say it altogether.

8. Chocolates and flowers work. ALWAYS. Especially when she's angry and wants to grill you over a hot oven.