Encounter with Nadal

She was startled by my sudden embrace
Her eyes, so green, gave a steady gaze
For my touch had left her in a daze
She flipped over, ready for the chase

She wasn’t certain of my intention
She looked for help, for intervention
As she looked at me with great attention
I could sense her coyness and her tension

I stretched my hand for her to sense
She smelled me, gave up her defense
As I caressed her warm and thick fur
She welcomed it with a gentle purr

For she is Nadal, the timid cat
Once she knows you, she is a tiny little brat!

Irish July & Singaporean August

I had a chance to trot from the west to the east or rather north to south of the northern hemisphere in a quick span of time which left me completely tickled as well as throttled. It was a rare opportunity to spend July in Ireland and August in Singapore, the only common factor in both these trips was that I was neck deep with work. However the variegated experiences in both these countries, the good ones and the not so good ones, were enriching and elevating. It helped me evolve as a person with more maturity and poise.


Dublin matches a lot with India especially in terms of the freedom struggle that it had to endure. The Irish flag resembles with Indian one, horizontal stripes are replaced by vertical stripes minus Ashok Chakra. The city is well maintained and well connected by Luas tram services and buses, people quite warm and friendly, the only turnoff being the cost factor. Cathedrals, museums, parks are the major tourist attractions like any other European counterparts.

City is famous for its literary heavyweights – James Joyce, Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, W B Yeats… can find books at very cheap prices. Another must to do is to taste Guinness and Baileys! Luckily, I visited Dublin at the right time of the year, around July – August when the sun never sets before 10pm.

I thoroughly enjoyed the short stint during July in Ireland but was extremely let down with my long stay during August in Singapore. May be it’s because Dublin and Singapore are on the extremes as far as the climate and citizens are concerned. Heading straight from Dublin to Singapore was not a good idea at all - from severe chills to humidity that kills! It took nearly a week to adjust to the tropical climate and the stinking odor of the oil used to prepare food. While in Dublin, one get to see most of the fellow travelers quite engrossed in books, in Singapore, they were quite engaged with the high end phones, laptops and other gadgets. As for working environment, I prefer Dublin to Singapore, for Dubliners know exactly how to separate out play and pleasure!


Singapore has mixed population – Chinese, Malays and Indians, settled in well defined regions. Since each section represents the different cultures of its inhabitants, it’s good to travel to places like Chinatown, Little India, Paya Lebar and experience the diversity! The various parts of the country are well connected by MRT as well as buses. It just takes a week to cover the entire country!

Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park is worth one time visit. River cruise at night is quite invigorating – cool chilly breeze, illuminated elevated buildings, magnificent marvelous Merlion statue! The man made island Sentaso is a huge tourist attraction.

Now as I enjoy the Indian September, I recollect these beautiful lines brilliantly penned by Robert Frost

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

How true! The cities abroad are good in their own way but home is where my heart is and it is known by the name India!

From Sin To Asin

Astrologer studied my “jhatakam” (horoscope) with profound attention. At once, he gestured “She is going through testing times. God seems to be quite unhappy with her. She needs to make few visits to temples to get things back to normalcy.” This caused a huge concern and commotion in my aunt’s mind, she made a frantic call to my mom and said “Its time for pilgrimage. Call her up and summon her as soon as possible.”

And that was it! Last Thursday, I packed my bag and made a short trip to appease and make peace with deities at Guruvayur, Palani and ancestral home.

Day 1
---------
I reached home early morning on Friday and within an hour’s time, I was on my way to Guruvayur. Newspaper reported of a huge crowd swarming in to get “darshan” of "Lord Guruvayurappan" (avatar of Krishna), but Friday seemed to be my fortunate day or should I say, Lord was indeed in a generous mood/mode. Apart from a decent "darshan" of Lord, got an invite to have “prasada ootu” (sumptuous feast at temple) which was quite lingering and lip smacking!


At any time, on any day, the atmosphere in Guruvayur is serene and silent, amidst vast turnout the temple, the sanctum are maintained well, clear and clean, adding more luster and sheen. We called it shots, by evening we were back in Palakkad, discussing and deciding to meet at wee hours, the next day.

Day 2
---------
Now that we had pleased Lord Vishnu (The Preserver in Hindu mythology), it was time for Lord Shiva (The Destroyer) to shower his blessings. We started our journey to Palani at about 6am, a temple which had "Lord Murugan" (son of Shiva and Parvathy) as the main deity. Having a cuppa tea in the empty stomach, we were pretty hungry on arrival at Palani. We headed towards “New Tirupur Hotel” (supposed to be the best in the town), but there are no words to express the nauseating experiences we had there w.r.t lavatories and food. It’s high time for my fellow Tamilians to work on their personal and environmental hygiene (no offense meant whatsoever!)


While mom and I decided to climb all the way up, dad and aunt chose to use the rope way, their ill health shattering their hopes to do it the hard way! It took us solid 15 minutes to ascend the hill while dad and aunt reached in less than 5 minutes. Money speaks a lot in Palani, we indeed had a special “darshan”, a kind of direct rendezvous with the Lord. Throngs of “pujaris” were conducting “pujas” and distributing “prasadams” to the special set of devotees! It made me wonder how Lord was taking in and tolerating all the corruptions that were unfolding in front of his divine eyes! What were scarce at Palani were found in abundance at Guruvayur – sacrosanctity, serenity, decorum and discipline!

On our way back we decided to surprise my uncle by visiting him, but he wasn’t surprised at all because we had informed him about our visit while having lunch at Pollachi. His wife prepared some scrumptious “gobi bhajji” (a delicacy made of cauliflower) for snacks and must say it was the best food that I had on that day! We reached Palakkad at about 7pm dog-tired.

Day 3
---------
A day when I tracked down my ancestors, being a Malayalee, I inherently inherit maternal surname! We reached “Nallukettu” (ancestral home) at Kuttanur (nearly 10 to 15 kms from Palakkad town) by 10.30 am. We were welcomed by an old grannie (still not able to figure out how she is related to me) who remembered my mom and aunt. Though it was extremely hot outside, the Nallukettu was quite cool and chilly, must say, craftsmen during those times had immaculate skills! We prayed to our “Kulla Daivam” – "Amma Bhagavathy" and "Lord Ayyappa"! I also got to meet the oldest member of my family – a dignified, distinguished grandpa. Talking to him was indeed an eye opener for me!

Overall it was an enriching and exhilarating experience to trace my roots, a feeling similarly shared by Alex Haley!

Three day pilgrimage did cleanse my soul and spirit, so isn’t it time to get back to my sinful, sinister ways again?

Why Should Boys Have All The Fun?

Plot
Adventures of Three Musketeers in Thiruvanthapuram and Kanyakumari,
24th – 26th January 2009
*ing
A (Athos) working in Mysore
B, that’s me (Porthos) working in Bangalore
T (Aramis) doing PhD in Thiruvanthapuram
Supported by
P, doing engineering in Thiruvanthapuram
V chechi & H ettan, working in Thiruvanthapuram
G1 & G2, nephew & niece studying in Thiruvanthapuram

Planning
Christmas day, Palakkad – A, B along with P visited T. A and B disclosed about their London escapades to their younger cousins T and P. Out of the blue, they devised a plan to make a trip to Thiruvanthapuram since V chechi, her family, P and T were now based there.

The room was filled with sudden exhilaration and elation. The conversation took place as below.

T said “Thiruvanthapuram is a beautiful city. Why don’t you guys (A and B) come over? We can have some memorable time together.”

P was equally excited. She said “I would like to have food at Maurya. I am just waiting for an occasion to make a maiden visit there.”

B said “A, if you are fine, why don’t we visit them on January? We have a long weekend starting on the 24th.”

A said “That’s great. I am for the game, but need acquiescence from my Mom.”

When B conveyed to her Dad about the Girls (cousins) Days Out plan, he smiled, lifting the famous line from Mahabharata, he said “Shoot arrows instead of words!”

That reminded B about a conversation that she had with G, one of her closest associate. She had some plans to visit him in Mumbai which got foiled, thanks to Mr Kasab and team.

He said “B, is there something that you wanted to do 10 years back and didn’t do it?”

She thought for sometime and said “Yes, aplenty.”

He said “Don’t repeat it again. If you plan for something, execute it at once. Its way better than not even essaying it and repenting later, say 10 years down the line.”

In order to start the New Year on a promising note, B resolved not to have the plans go astray, went ahead and booked tickets for the arrival & return trips. She knew that 16 hr trip via bus is going to be too fatiguing, and train is the best option. To get train tickets in such a short notice was merely out of the question.


from left G1, V chechi, T, G2, B and A

Execution
January 23rd
A boarded a bus from Mysore to Bangalore, together with B left for Bommanhalli at about 6.15pm. To live up to the India Stretchable Timings construct, the bus started 1 hour after the scheduled departure time of 7pm.

A’s mom was not quite pleased with the decision of travelling by bus and she conveyed her displeasure at the nth hour. It didn’t dampen the spirits of A and B because they knew fun and frolic awaits them at Thiruvanthapuram.

Because of the last minute booking, A and B didn’t get seats next to each other. Girly sentiments do sometimes soften a guy’s heart. And it did. The guy henceforth called X who was sitting next to B agreed to exchange his seat with that of A.

At about 10pm, the bus stopped at Krishnagiri for dinner and loo visits. At A2B outlet, A and B gobbled ghee dosas followed by hot cup of dainty, aromatic coffee. Since A insisted that she needs to brush before she boards the bus, B gave in, in spite of the continuous honking by the bus driver. The look that the driver and co-passengers gave when A and B finally got on, can not be scripted in few lines.

At about 7 am, B woke up. She was comforted by the fact that the bus would reach its destination in 2 to 3 hours time. At about 8.30 when the bus stopped at Tirunelveli, X made her realize that the bus was 2 hours behind the normal schedule. She received a call from H’ettan asking her about her current co-ordinates. Meanwhile, A was woken up by a call from her home.

B continuously bugged X asking him about the time when the bus would actually arrive at Thiruvanthapuram. The bus finally reached the terminus at about 1 pm, 24th January.

A and B were dog-tired, but in hearts of heart they acknowledged the fact that they just had 2.5 days and it needs to be utilized to its zenith.

When B and X parted ways, he did ask her “Is it the first time you both are travelling to Thiruvanthapuram?” B said “Nope. We have been here before but this time its gonna be different.” Using this medium, B wants to convey “I don’t know who you are, what you do. Thank you for your remarkable tolerance and patience.”

January 24th
To be continued ...

London Dreams

27th July - Day 1
----------------------
27th July was the day when I boarded the flight to London from Bangalore. Prognosticating that the security check would be exacting and exasperatingly difficult, I took a cab at 1.30 am in the morning for a 6.45 am flight. This is the first time I was visiting the new airport. All the processes got over in less than an hour. Sitting all alone, I whiled away my time by reading "Veronika decides to die". But soon, exhaustion took over me. I ended up sleeping till 6am. It's at this time when I heard a voice calling me from behind. It happened to be that of my long lost friend. He was boarding the same flight, though his destination was USA.

All through the 10 hour journey we did a lot of catching up. We also tried interviewing each other. It was quite interesting and gratifying. To give my mouth some rest, I saw a calamitous movie called "Laga chunari mein daag". It really put my mind to test!!! One of the steward onboard seemed quite impressive. Eventually we managed to break the ice with him.

We reached London by 12.15pm GMT. I discovered that the roaming was not activated on my cell (Airtel sucks big time!!!). Luckily I could make a call to my cousin informing her about my arrival using my friend's phone. He & I took a couple of snaps together. He bid adieu and he rushed to catch his next flight to US. I followed the crowd and managed to get all the formalities done very quickly.














[My friend & I @ Heathrow Airport]

Then, came the long wait. I could neither find my cousin nor the cab driver. I tried to ring her up but the calls were not going through. Later I met an Indian guy (airport staff) and took his mobile and gave her a ring. She was already in the airport by then looking out for me. Due to miscommunication between her and the cab driver, we had to wait another 1 hour for him. The cab driver happened to be an Indian too. He had been in London for the past 50 years. He seemed to be very enterprising guy.

We reached the hotel at about 4.30 pm GMT. Took a quick shower and left for some sight seeing - St Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge. Bought an Oyster card (common card for trams, tubes and buses)to travel around London. Felt really good being a part of the Sunday mass at St Paul’s Cathedral. London Bridge reminded me of the old rhyme recited at school (London Bridge is falling down :-)). Night was spent at my cousin's house at East Croydon. Fatigue soon conquered me as Day 1 made a slow but steady exit.

[St Pauls Cathedral]

28th July - Day2
--------------------
The day I need to go to the new office located at Snow Hill. At 7.30 am, I called up a colleague over here, enquiring about the office's location. I should have apologized for waking him up but I didn’t do that. May be my Indian mentality of taking every(thing/one) for granted refrained me from doing so. I reached office at about 8.30am. I was the first one to arrive. Soon, others arrived. I learnt from them that in UK office, people have an option to work from home. Hence, I got to meet only few of my colleagues.

During the lunch time, my colleagues took me out for lunch. The topic of discussion was kids. This is when one of my colleagues asked me "Do you have kids?". My instant answer was "I am not married". Ghosh, I thought and I continued with a smirk on my face "I don't have kids either" ;)

My cousin joined me in the evening and we decided to explore the Tower Bridge. We roamed around. Mr. Sunny gave us company till 10pm. Poor chap, being summer, he needs to do overtime everyday!!! We had Subs for dinner and decided to call it a day. We parted and proceeded to our own destinations. Jetlagged that I was, I got up at 2am. I forced myself to sleep for further few hours.

[London Bridge]














29th July - Day3
----------------------
The day, when I met another long lost friend. He was my ex-colleague and neighbor. I just mailed him and he happened to work near my office. We decided to meet after office hours at Oxford Circus tube station. We met at around 7pm and walked down the streets of Oxford Circus and Bond Street. These are the major shopping centers in London. The places were crowded, clustered and cramped. I realized - Everywhere, the women are the same, shopping binge seems to be in their blood ;)

To avoid the crowd, we decided to do some sight seeing and catching up. So we took a tube to Waterloo and walked down to London Eye. We saw Big Ben and IMax. My cousin was supposed to join us, but she could not as she was loaded with work. In the park, it was amazing to see people playing guitar/singing/tap dancing for their living. The tap dance was prodigious. People were enjoying his steps but they were stingy when it came to payment ;). At last, an Indian family made the first move. Generosity was overflowing as each member in the family paid the tap dancer. I felt a little proud at that moment.

My friend asked me "Hey, why don't you pay that guy". I replied "If I do, I need to dance next week as I am on a stringent budget. I won’t be able to draw the crowd the way this guy could." Mr. Sunny was in a hurry that day. Guess, he got a call from his house. So my friend and I decided to part. I reached my hotel around 10.20pm. I was not feeling sleepy, so I switched on the TV. Nothing interesting was being aired. Instead I watched "Kismat Konnection" in my laptop. It was a good movie because it did put me into sleep ;)

30th July - Day4
----------------------
My cousin & I decided to visit Buckingham Palace after office hours. Infact, Queen sent us an invite, so didnt want to let her down. Around 7.15pm we reached the palace. In the park, people were strolling, slackening (and what not ;)) after a very hectic day. Unfortunately we didn't carry the invite and were not allowed inside. We tried hard to gate crash, but luck was not gracious enough. Took a couple of snaps and decided to explore Queensway(the place where I am put up).

[Gate Crashers]














Queensway is indeed a good place for shopping. You name it, they have it. Since, we were not ready with the list of things to purchase, we decided not to explore further. Soon, we retired for the day. On the lighter note, this day I had a chance to chat with my friend in India. He asked me "How is London? Hot or cold?". I replied "It's hot". He asked "Why?". I answered "I am here. I am too hot to handle". His instant repartee was "Are you the reason behind Global Warming?"