The kittens have grown up..and a year gone by

Wanted to write this from sometime. I was home ..The last time I was there was when I saw three cute kittens ..(cute kittens blog post). and this time when I went, out tenants told that those kittens have grown up a bit..

I didn't expect them to be around, but was happy to see them. They had grown up and looked super cute..The naughty one came home one day and got into my bed room, scampered around as I hunted it out and showed the way. I loved the naughty kitten..Awesome to watch them running towards their mother, playing..More than me, my niece Diya enjoyed. On the pretext of dumping some food in her mouth, I would show her kittens and she would start jumping!! She loved them and if she would have started walking, I am sure she would have been more happy in their company..than us..

Fun days, maybe next time around when I go they would still be there..
I hope so..

Midweek mazaa..

It was one of the usual days when I came back from work and put on some rice into the microwave..I was hungry..Been skipping either lunch or dinner or breakfast. Thought, let me eat well. Just at that time..around 8.30 pm, the power went off. The killing Chennai summer, need I say anything about it, was gruelling...I was sweating..and walked about a bit and settled on my balcony, waiting for the power to come back..

After sometime I get a call from my friend Dosai (why dosai..thats a long story)..Hey balcony le enna panre (what are you doing in balcony)? Power cuta? I should cut it here that there will be overuse of Tamil or Hindi in my blogs..its the way I like using multilinguistic tones..so used to switching languages..back to the story..Ya, I said..Where are you calling from? Just look below, he said and waved out to me..

Dosai: Hey, come down man
Me: Ok, wait.I don't even have a candle..
D: Use your mobile and get down
Me: Quickly I walk down, quite gingerly..
Was quite a respite from the heat..
Me: What are you doing here?
D: My friend lives across and we are gonna have a jam session and he showed me his guitar.
Me: Super da..Ok, I am hungry, lets go to eat something. Actually I feel like eating icecream. God Bless you da!! I was so bored!
Let's go..and we are off to Madeena cool bar, opp T Nagar terminus. Ordered falooda..and attacked..The place has good stuff..As I lifted his guitar, I felt it was heavy?

Me: What is there in this bag? Heavy?
Dosai: Dei, there is a fenny bottle..
Me : Ada Pavi..no wonder..you guys are sure having fun..
We leave after gulping down the falooda in absolute speed..The power wasn't back yet.. Sigh, I said and standing down my apartment I was still chatting..How about another icecream I asked as the icecream seller passed by. I had another icecream. It was 10 and no power. I can't be here man..I guess I will go off to Bessie to friend's place..Called my friend Mona, "Sun yaar, power hai kya waha? Hai, she says..Listen I'm coming home. Ok, done she said.

Just when I was about to hang up, the power came back. Then I asked M, should I come or not. Come off, she said.
After a few minutes, as I am in the auto..M calls..Hey, kuch khana mat, we are making some yummy dinner..Ok, I said and hung up..

Just when I reached I found that our friend Mansi is coming to Chennai after two months..I was excited because we four (good friends) were catching up after long..The girls (anushree and mona) made an elaborate dinner. I couched up reading one of the chic lits 'Almost Single' (ha ha ha). Mansi came and soon with that the masti started..They served us roti, gobi ki subzi, boondi raita, dal..That night, we laughed out heart out. The next day, I lazed around with the book, ordered yummy cheese burst pizza (they melllllllllllttttttt in the mouth) and hung around in some deep conversations about politics and what not!!

It was a fun wednesday! More later, I'm back to work now!!

blackle not google

After tracking the energy sector (not too actively though), I have got hooked on to carbon markets, global warming..the love and passion for the environment has always driven me towards eco-friendly things, never mind the price..less plastic bags..more paper bags, and from the last two three months, started using blackle, the energy saving search. There is no difference in the search. the only difference is that blackle saves energy and google doesnt. For all those people who are reading me now, please use blackle and save energy for our future!

Also, it is said that having too many mails in the inbox adds to carbon emissons..though the component might be small..imagine if all of us would delete unwanted mails and have a better way of handling them, we can take a step to tackle global warming..

Three cheers to blackle..I'm proud I am saving energy!

होली Haiiiiii

I was at my close friends place at besant nagar yesterday..Since they were from the north, they were cribbing how they could not celebrate holi here. I could feel that too. Afterall, all these days, I used to play holi-in style in Bombay..with the fugas filled with colored water, colorful pichkaris in fluorescent green, pink...

We went to sleep, talking about Holi last night..And today morning, I woke up when I saw someone moving towards me..Before I could realise what happened, my friend Mansi smeared my face with gulal..What is this, I asked, half asleep..and trying to get up..Happy Holi, she said..Soon, Mona came and put some more colors on my face and immediately took my pictures. I woke up from my bed..took some colors and put it on their face...it was fun..So, day started with some bit of Holi..I could not see anyone playing holi though...

In childhood, we used to get loads of balloon packets, fill them with water..get buckets outside the house to the building compound..use the pichkaris to fill balloons and throw on passer-bys and all the people who entered the building..and then a little older..we used to attack all the guys with balloons..all this fanfare used to start a week before Holi..and before the day we actually play Holi..we used to get another chance to escape from the home for the pooja..Fire is worshipped and we took लोटा and coconut to pray...and have a litte rehearsal before the big day..

The next day, I used to peep put of my window to see if my friends have come,,,ay sharada, bahar nikal..holi khelna hai..haan..aati hoon..i would shout back..and jump up and down in excitement..the previous night i used to fill atleast two buckets of water balloons..ready to break..and then ..I am off smearing colors and playing with water..when I used to come back home..in the afternoon, mom would be wondering who I was..my face could not be recognised...she would clean up my face and then I would eat and sleep..evenings we used to go out with all the bachcha party and have fun..those were the days..I really miss Bombay for all that...

Holi was never so much fun and today, my friends gave me a little experience of Holi...Holi haiiiii...

cute kittens

I probably never admired cats as much as I did last weekend when I was home in Coimbatore. It was a cool, breezy morning, birds chirped in harmony and the big coconut palms in the backyard of the house swayed with the winds. I stepped down and saw a huge cat crossing me, I just shooed it off and said go away..I didn't drive it away though..I think I have my own way of talking to even animals, be polite to them..
After some time when I came back home, I saw the huge cat again climbing the stairs. In between, my friend told me that there are new born kittens..three cute ones in the sun shade of our house. I realised why the cat kept trotting up and down. I gave way to the cat in a friendly way, asking her to go..She looked at me convincingly..I thought she could feel that I am not her enemy. For some time, I looked at the kittens and the big cat kept quiet, and didnt think I posed a threat to her cute kittens..

It became a routine for me to watch their activities...Soon, I thought I should feed the big cat as she must be tired. I brought a bowl of milk and put it in the sun shade and the big cat came next to me..lapped up all the milk in the bowl..I got some more milk and rejoiced how she happily drank it. soon after, she went away to give food to her kittens. I watched them. Three little ones, pink legs, fluffly and they didnt even open their eyes..they were barely a couple of days old.. I had tears in my eyes watching them..tears of joy..witnessing the beauty of nature...the mother went to sleep cuddling its kittens..a sight to watch..

As evening came, the cat made some noises and I came running, just like it seeked my help..I told her I am sorry no milk left..I told my friend to feed her something and left the home dejectedly. I will miss those kittens..By now, the kittens must have opened their eyes and started walking..what life!!

A sunday Tam Brahm wedding

It was a grand affair, like every Tam Brahm wedding. Mamas and mamis clad in pattu podavai and vella veshti talking in an accent- ponnu enna panra becomes a topic of discussion. I was sitting in one corner..Didnt know much people but my uncle dragged me for the wedding. It was my mama's brother in law's sister's son's wedding...Phew!!



One thing that always entices me in the talks as I - how mamas and mamis talk about their sons living in farthest corners of americaaaa.. My son lives in Seattle, what about your son? Hello..americave ulagama? And then some mamis come and ask..indha ponnu yaaru..My uncle says, my younger sister's daughter, sharada. Oh enna ma padikaraya ile softwarele irukiya? I said none, I am a journalist..Oh thats really nice!!


As I was sitting and people watching (I love doing that), realised how some Tam Brahm girls were trying to walk hard in their stilettos..limping actually..And then an uncle came n asked me.."Indha kalyana ponnu is wearing a hair band on her head, chinna pasanga thane poduva.."I was a bit hestitant, ya! Don't know what today's girl..dont understand what they wear and what they do...

I kept quiet..I was bored of talking to mamas and mamis, telling them im not a software engineer..and then..they ask..oh nee thaniya irukiya? are you staying with friends? No..hostel..No..I live alone in a rented apartment..Hazaar questions..

Soon another uncle crosses by..he comes with another elderly mama and mami..do you remember her..sharada? remember we spoke about your younger son's proposal for her..and her dad refused? Oh yes yes, says the mami faintly..as she kept staring at me..rendu varushama we were trying to convince your father..grrrrrrrr..I thought..Iquickly called my uncle, wished the groom and asked if we can leave..I could not take mamas and mamis anymore..In a bit, we left and I heaved a sigh of relief! Whatta day it was!

Egypt unsafe for women? No way!

I was reading an article about how Egypt is an unsafe place..after Afghanistan for Muslims to live..Utter crap I could say after reading about this article by a foriegn journalist. Has this journalist even been there before he made such a comment?

I was in Egypt about three weeks back and before I left I had people telling me be very careful. Its a dangerous place. I did read up a lot of Egypt-do not wear revealing clothes was one thing which every website said..Only when I landed there, I came to know..its actually more safe than streets of Mumbai or Delhi..There are cops everywhere..To clarify, I asked my German colleague who lived all his life in Egypt. Egypt is one of the safest countries to live and women are not harassed..there is more respect for women..is what I gathered. I walked through the busy lanes of Khan-el-Khalili market..the crowded dinghy lanes did not scare me..yeah a few shop keepers though asked me.."Indian"?

For all the people who say and beleive that Egypt is an unsafe place..YOU ARE WRONG! The people there are as courteous as people in India and treat women with a lot more respect..

For all those silly journalists who write things out of nowhere, please think before you are writing something..dont give false impression to people..