Motorcar Diaries :P

Studying in IIT, and supposedly being groomed to be an A-class automotive engineer (which, by the way, I am definitely not going to be, in fact, far away from it), I had to at least try and impress upon people that I was doing something along that direction. 

Not at all technically inclined, with only an exclusively theoretical love for maths and science, I usually have no idea of what to do in a lab, any lab. Mostly, I end up lapping up the theory, chat up tips from the class brains, angelically smile at the T.A*’s and concoct fluky answers at the finals, in short, somehow scrape through. Practical work was, is and will always be (I guessL) a tough nut to crack for me.

But this time though, I had no way out. Core courses and labs were coming up after hols, and almost all of them dealt with the main course subject, cars. (Oh great.)
I had to get acquainted with cars, one way or the other. Leave alone disassembling the engine and drooling over the parts like most of my classmates, man, I had to at least learn and drive one.

My dad was apparently waiting for this day to arrive, I guess, what with being the only child and all, I was the sole one to be counted upon, you know, to take over the dreaded driving duties. “Finally I can peacefully lean back with an iPod while YOU take us on all our road trips”, he wickedly grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

So, obviously, as soon as I requested, a pleasantly balding, pot-bellied ‘driver-mama’ was popped out of nowhere, who would allegedly wrench me into “one heck of a driver”.

 Or so he thought.

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At first, it was just fine. The ‘mama’ opened up the bonnet of our car and pompously pointed out and named few parts. I was happily nodding and questioning, in my element, as usual, while in a class-like aura. My head jerked to a stop midway, all of a sudden, when I saw that the car door was being held open for me to have my debut ride. “Oh, no need, mama, we can start tomorrow. I’m quite the slooow learner, you see...” I tried to back off. But my pitiful pleas were waved aside by a big bellied ‘Santa Claus’ laugh from driver mama, and my first lesson began.

I blinked my eyes at all the myriad levers and buttons, ones which I have been chancing across the side seat for years. But now, about to employ them, I felt that usual blankness envelope me, the numbness when encountered with machines.

So that was why I was here, staring helplessly at the steering wheel, big drops of sweat dripping down my forehead, swallowing deep breaths as if I was going to bungee jump off a cliff or something, while ‘driver-mama’ was trying to egg me on to turn that wretched key. With one twist, I bobbed up and down like a damn Jack-in-the-box, as the vehicle gave a huge rumble.

Oh man, this was a BAD idea.

And that, my friends, was going to be THE understatement of the century.

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For the next hour, I was sending poor ‘driver-mama’ ricocheting back and forth, as I braked and throttled, almost pulling the steering out in the process, and the gears were groaning by the incessant, merciless shifting. That poor man was screaming his throat hoarse, asking me to brake, shift and clutch all at the same time. By the finale, I had expertly bumped down two to three of the H-posts, almost went headlong into the old banyan, before ‘mama’ pulled at the steering, so instead, we settled on banging down few bricks of the compound wall. Needless to say, by the end of it, both of us were screaming out really loud. (Well, it was mostly me. ;) He was just going “Clu..Shif..Kuttiii**..braaaaake.!!”)

By the time I actually managed to bring the car to a halt, unfortunate ‘driver mama’ was literally pulling at his hair in pure anguish. God, I almost felt sorrier for the guy, when I saw his thoroughly shaken-up state. But then again, seeing my dad fuming up to a vague shade of burgundy up at the far-end, I realised that the situation was spelling out to be far more dismal for me.

Just Swell. :/

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You know, the funny part is, after all this drama, due to strengthened efforts of “driver mama” (who is now, btw, a dear old friend :)) for many MANY days, I actually did learn to drive quite passably! And even managed to earn myself a license! (Oh, I still brag about that one :D)

And, surprisingly, I wasn’t even grounded for that long, you know, considering that I ended up practically demolishing our car.. ;)

Dad’s ‘preciousss~’, our Santro, had to have a complete body servicing done, for her to recuperate from my, to put it easy, “bumpy” first drive. You see, he had foresightedly switched my motoring exercise to the rickety driving-school hand-me-down after that fateful day. :P

And the best part, my dad finally stopped trying to push the car keys into my hand before road-trips!! :D Quoting from him, “I really do not want to risk my life expectancy, and especially, my car again, at least, when I can still move my limbs.” :P

Oh well, what can I say dad, it’s your wish. ;)

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Ps: Of course, everything’s a wee bit exaggerated! :D You guys can trust me with your cars, really! ;)

Mama- Uncle in Malayalam

*: Teaching Assistants **: ‘child’ in Malayalam ~Like Sméagol’s ring in LOTR ;)

The Journey back home..

What can possibly be sweeter than the journey homewards?

After 4 months of scorching Chennai heat and an exceptionally tumultuous end semester fortnight, the lo...ng wait had come to an end!

I was going home!!!

During the first few hours of the journey, I rarely looked out the window, my head buried in the latest issue of “The Week”. 

Really, I’d seen enough of Chennai, with its hurry-burry life, slum-ridden suburbs, men and women who like to speak really REALLY loud ;) and the ubiquitous scent of jasmines and orange blossoms.

In fact, I was quick to clamber up to my berth and surprisingly, slept soundly, even amidst all the ruckus. My mind was at peace, dreaming happy dreams of the three months to come.

Yes, I was going home....finally.. 

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Early next morning, so impatient was I to get a glimpse of Kerala, that I prodded Mom awake, cast meaningful looks at her and strode noisily  up and down the cabin, until everybody just  had to wake up, cast  a few “Wherever did this pest come from?” looks and straighten up their bunks. B)

And, it was worth it.! :)

Lo and behold.! My very own home land.. my heart warmed up at the very sight of it. <3   

Aah..The alluvial smelling air..

 The spongy cumulous filled sky of typical Kerala summer..

The pleasantly humid seductress of a climate..

 The million coconut trees peeping out from every corner, the bunches of coconuts swaying in the strong breeze..

Vast, stretching patches of fields with a solitary hut in the right centre..

The dozen cows grazing in lonely grasslands..

The worker tapping toddy from palm trees at the break of dawn..

 The multicoloured croton leaves jutting out from the household walls..

The plantains poking their heads out from the roadside walls..

The jack fruit bunches heaving out, spreading their delicious fragrance throughout the entire neighborhood. 

Peaceful folk sauntering about with their typical Kerala “don’t have a care in the world” aura..

The hazy mountains , visible at a distance, silhouetted against the foggy horizon, sky and earth bonding hands in a fashion difficult to distinguish one from the other.

There is the hint of a nearing summer shower in the humid air, there always is. The climate seems to tease us with its transient mood swings.

Finally, as if to appease us, a 2 minute burst of mushy rain materializes..and disappears as quickly with a cheeky grin..

It reminds me of the actual rainy season in Kerala. Rain, in all her majesty, has the time of her life here. The rainy smell pervades each corner of this little land, filling it's occupants with a strangely strong rain-connected nostalgia.

But then, Edavapathi* is not long away.. :)

The snow-white storks meditating on one foot like venerable saints in the algae-filled lakes..To watch them flapping their wings amidst the coconut trees (of course ;)) in the early morning sky, with the sun’s rays filtering through the foliage is really a visual treat.

Early morning Kerala is indeed a beauty..

The scenes seem so fragile in their existence, like a Monet painting in a different avatar..Everything seems to blur into each other with perfect synchronisation of brilliance. 

Life seems so unhurried; easy-going...time seems to dwell in this panorama of natural splendour..

Aah..Kerala..How I’ve missed you..

That struggling writer in me dove deep down into the caverns of desolation without your beauty to feed my poor soul. 

After months of oblivion, I finally found her today, eyes pressed to the train window, gasping with relief to see your grandeur unfolding before her eyes, greedily absorbing every image of scenic loveliness, eyes moistening to see that nothing has changed, her land still retains its innocent, village-like beauty.

I think she has finally found her way out. And God, I hope she stays out for good.

Yup, its definitely good to be back home.! :)

Cheers! :)

*South west monsoon. Starts in June..

Rain...and an epiphany...

Three months summer break had sluggishly crossed the halfway stage...leaving me to continue the process of successfully boring myself to ti...ny little bits...

And this day, like hell it was, turning out to be extra hideous...!  That nuisance of my sworn enemy...the neighbourhood cuckoo, had to choose precisely MY window sill for it’s morning’s break that day and had had the nerve to wake me up by it’s cackling at 7 AM in the morning...!!!! 7 AM..!!! : o 

What the hell.. . L

 i’d never seen 7am for the past 1.5 months...!! :P

 i had lost my blissful sleep, there was practically NOTHING whatsoever to do, no new novels, all the downloaded movies seen and done twice at least.. and moreover it was R.A.I.N.I.N.G... 

Period. :/

I was feeling so right down in the dumps that i would’ve welcomed even one of Ramu’s comp-sci classes (oh! The horrors..!!) for a diversion...yup..that’s ryt..i really had it bad.. :P

 Mom was in the kitchen...dad was engaged in his favourite pastime...washing  the car..duh..( sometimes i wondered whether he loved that machine more than me...u know..the best daughter in the whole wide world... :D well, i guess that’d be almost rightly phrased .. ;P) 

Ok..so where was i.. yeah..down with a severe bout of the infamous BLUES... L i listlessly sauntered out to the balcony..yup..’twas mighty drizzling all right..oh! bother..bother this old rain...it was ‘navy’ising my already dark-blue mood.. :P

I was just beginning to enter my singular full-on pout mode, whence, out of the blue, on  an impulse, i stepped out into the drizzle.. 

Poooff..!! :o

All of a sudden, my frustrations, all but just melted into oblivion... and now i was staring at the world around me through  a fresh, iridescent( u know, like the changing-colour stickers they have on new books..! J ) veil of raindrops...

Walla! My mood took a U-turn altogether...All sorts of wistful thoughts crossed the threshold of my cranium as i felt the dampness on my face..aah...the rain... J

Beep..Beep..Red alert...Red alert... I hereby announce to have officially entered a philosophical mode.. ;) you guys can flee for your dear lives now..

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:o still hanging there? J

Oh well.. i warned ya...If you had any sense of reason, you’d have closed this window..and opened another.. preferably fb... As you haven’t... :D well then, my mate, so shall you suffer.. J

Aahh...the rain... JS 

It was suddenly so..o astonishing...how such a uncomplicated innate, “evaporate->density change->condense” phenomenon manages to intrigue the mind and revitalize it so much, if we are ready to take the little trouble to observe it momentarily and receive from it...

 Heyy.. :/ how come i didn’t notice all this before..and it had been incessantly raining for the past one month here in the ‘so-called’ god’s own country.. :o Come on.. Here I was, cursing it for the past fifteen minutes..and now....?  Was gawking awestruck at it’s beauty...! aah.. old man Mr. Irony strikes again... ;)

Corny though it seems, the rain, really, seems to have a touch of magic concealed in it’s mystic shrouds...I felt it...for the very first time today... ’Tis no ordinary evaporated water, nay, its true magic precipitated in all essence... ~

 It is a much-clichéd notion that our ancestors live in the sky...gazing down at their past dwellings as stars during twilight....Though not a spiritualist, I’ve always believed in that, you know...:) 

Somehow, it gives such a “phoenix reborn from the ashes” sort-of feeling of hope and inspiration to life... Accepting that moving piece of hope, I’ve felt now that it is the countless emotions and untold feelings of those “transcended” well- loved ones spilling down as rainfall.. Each tiny drop seems to bring with it umpteen memories, all bundled up, since eternity, in those soft cottony bags up in the blue...now finding a channel for catharsis...how liberating..ryt? J (Sorry for that jargon..! :P ;) )

So, today, i realised, once and for all, that however troubled our minds may be, once we yield ourselves to the rain...those drops seem to wash away all those hassles and qualms into IDYLLIC MUSES... (Yes, indeed! ;))

 Who knows... maybe it’s the love and adoration of our treasured ones that surrounds us at that moment, wiping away our tears and silently soothing our poor hearts... :o

I leaned over, all in high spirits now.. J and breathed in heavily..aah... a piece of heaven t’was...! I now understood why these poets make a big deal and sing accolades of that  “ after-rain smell” ...! People should bottle it up and sell it...seriously..!! 

(as room freshener, ‘fcourse..! ;))

The earthy smell with which the shower embraces the soil, with so much zest..and days of built-up eagerness...

We can palpably sense that musky fragrance of reunion...

The dreary lo...ng seasons of those myriad souls ,up above, gazing down home-sick for another touch of mother earth...

Everything was being realized with the dewy -long fingers of rain...

Silent music of the souls, playing symphony with the bubbly rivulets...moist earth...expectant foliage...Truly, no conjuror can craft a more poignant piece of enchantment... ~~

Yup, you guessed it ryt..! ;)  I was in love.... unconditionally and irrevocably with the rain.... JS

J ok...rise and shine, guys...you can steady your drooping eyelids now... :P

Coz I’m done ..!! :D cheers.!

Clash with the Simians-Sem 1....

Being totally frank with you, I confess, the sole aim of that purposefully pompous title was to create a sort of majestic, "Stephen-Spielberg"ian type aura around my first post... You know...like "the clash with the titans" !! *wink* If any of you had been 'enthu' enough to grab the nearest dictionary as soon as the word popped up, I'm sure you'd have been deflated like a pricked balloon... :D because, simians, spelt out in brutal reality, refers to my (and most of my friends's) mortal enemies... :P the monkeys... Now you get the hunch of what i was saying about the title,don't ya..? i mean, how would "clash with the monkeys" sound like..?! yuck o..!! ;)

         Now, the moment i was sure of being admitted into iit madras, the first thing,seriously, that popped into my head was...phew..now i can at-least be sure of a comfortable and safe college life..
 Pleasing and sensible accommodation, luxurious gardens...naturally popped into my ignorant head... The hostel website also cheerfully depicted the beauty and spaciousness of the girl's hostel, overlooking the library (duh.. what a place to overlook..:P ) ... restaurants and all facilities nearby... it seemed a chunk of heaven on earth... but, aaaah..the sheer irony of it....Every single corny guide-book, every wretched website had happily forgotten to mention the terrible,nay,dangerous companions who would dwell with us as hostel-mates...the SIMI... oh well..:P...i give up...the MONKEYS........ :(
The first morning in the insti, all of us roommates, jumped up at the very first ring of the alarm, all pumped-up (mind , it WAS the first day...! ;)) .. we grabbed our buckets ,towels and poured out altogether....and.........*long silence*.....FULLSTOP...
As i gawked away, one moment, i pinched myself, for the desperate urge to get back into reality... Looking around at my roomies, i, slow as i was, somehow got the point that this was not an early-morning "nightmare"...


Sigh..... There are some moments in life ..when you want to just, goddammit, get out of that location of yours..to somewhere else..ANYWHERE would do...! And WALLAH..!  :\


Thirty or so HUMONGOUS monkeys were luxuriously seated in various positions in and around our wing corridor, practically inches from our feet...Little ones were playing tug of war with  the under wears of some unfortunate neighbors who were enthu enough to do some washing on the first day in insti... i blinked twice... hoping that the temporary darkness would envelope me..... and then....."AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH...." B)
The door jammed close...




That first day...our entire wing crouched by our windows....till 745, till the whole monkey junta, having enjoyed their morning sunbath...slowly patrolled away...to haunt some other unfortunate wing, i suppose... :P Somehow we scrambled to the classes at 8, unbathed and famished...
Our 5yr long wing-war (read ..world war) with the monkeys had begun... :P
As weeks went on, we managed to swallow our fears..and made our troubled ways through the monkey gangs , seemingly unfazed to an outsider..but in reality,our poor hearts beating like a humming bird's wings, right there in our mouths..
We, who had to tiptoe with our buckets...early morning..half asleep...amidst the (ugh) monkey tails..
We,who had to give up umpteen water-bottles (highly provocating for the creatures, though i havent the slightest idea of why..?), in return for our unscathed limbs..
We, who were chased by an occasional fiersome loner, all around the floor...
We, who had to collect our washed clothes (yet, even more "dirty-fied" :( ), from the acacia trees underneath our wing...
We,who nearly broke open our windows,in our anguish to get out,when these little terrorists entered our rooms through the slightest of open doors...
We, who screamed like all-hell broke loose when few mischievous ones, bold enough to grab hold of our legs, and manage to,disgustingly, remain hooked there...




Aahh...One year of fateful co-existence.....We girls have become experts in the research of "how to drive away a monkey".. My personal patented favorite, btw, is the well-exercised (and heavily successful , i must say..! B) ) use of body sprays right in their faces..!! :D I'm sure that many of my wing-mates can very well take a PhD in that subject...
Now, dont consider us to be sadists ..and take that against us... :(
We are all, in essence, animal - lovers...but  obviously, "monkey-haters".... :)
Thus ends my first post.. ( you guys can stop yawning... :P ) i should have based it on something nice..something like parents,friendship,love...you know, dat kinda stuff... ;)
But, who deserves more respect than your Enemy.?!
"Vengeance is our's, my friend ; and we shall repay..." ;) :D