THE new tattered book...!:(

Soon after Chetan Bhagat’s new book was out, the only thing we (me and my sis) wanted was a copy of his new and much awaited (we did await, even if you didn’t ;)) novel ‘Two States’. A visit to oberon mall (the hip shopping mall in kochi!) was a perfect idea to grab a copy. And that’s exactly what my sis did, and once she was home I could sense excitement all over her. With her usual dhaan te taan style she picks up the book from her bag. With extra animated gestures we rush to our room to have a team analysis of the book (meanwhile in the background I could hear my amma say, “What’s wrong with these girls?”) Ignoring all that, we got on with our business. The next important question was who will read it first! I knew very well I didn’t have any chance of winning it over, coz it was she who had bought it. So obviously she had the first hand on it. But it’s not fun when you give up that easily, so for no reasonable reason I went on arguing. And as expected amma came into picture, “what’s going on here? Started off again?”(With a handful of scolding she leaves the room) We looked at each other for a few seconds and burst out laughing for no reason at all (this is how we are, you can call us mad ;)) so it was decided, its she who will read it first and I agreed (puppy eyes).But I guess my sis knows my evil ways so she hid the book in her so called secret locker! Whose keys are open property (evil laugh). Soon my sis was off for a shower, and I couldn’t resist the devil in me…lol.
The summary looked interesting, and I couldn’t resist reading. A few pages were read and I knew I had the time to finish off two chapters (thanks to sis’s endless shower)
As expected it was full of drama and masala as in chetan’s other books. I was completely engrossed in it, when suddenly the landline rings up and my amma calls up,”anuuuuuu!”
Grrr …who is it to disturb me now? I walk up irritated to pick up the phone. ‘Hello’ (a bit dismayed) the person at the other end responds ‘hey it’s me minu!’ For a second I thought it was my sis calling from the bathroom, but thank god I came back to senses at the right time. ‘oh…minu para…whats it yaar?’ And a few minutes of chit chat and I was back.
But what do I find …..’poppy’ lying on the bed and nibbling at the pages of the book. A few tit bits of paper strewn on the bed and a big fresh piece hanging out of ‘poppy’s ’ drooling mouth! I was shocked, didn’t know what to do and screamed ‘ayoooooooo!’ at this amma rushes in, she sees all this and exclaims ‘daivame…am fed up of this dog!’ I felt like bashing ‘poppy’, but her puppy cute eyes and naughty ‘hi - fi’ like gestures made my heart melt and all I could do was shout at her. She was scared and left the room without a complaint. (Poppy knew a she had done a mistake, and it was better for her to leave!)
All this drama was audible to my sis and she screeches at the top of her voice from the wash room, “what the hell annuuuu…I had told you not to take the book ….who told you to leave it hear…I want my new book back…bla …bla...bla…” I very well knew it was my end! I somehow gathered the bits and started mending it with my cello type. It was more of a game of scrabble now. Thank god, I was back after a few minutes and ‘poppy’ could chew only a couple of the last pages! Imagine if I was late, I am damn sure ‘poppy’ would have eaten up the whole book then…uff…!
Mending a tattered book is not an easy job, but somehow managed to stick up the pieces. Soon my sis comes into picture, a dirty scowl adorned her face and she looked scary! She snatches the book from me…and yells “wow…super…I can read everything ….great…thanks anu!”(Taunt and anger, spilling at every word). I made up a puppy face, but it didn’t work! The pages were almost done …only a few holes here and there and I am sure we are clever enough to fill them up! Chetan’s last few pages are meant for ‘happy endings’ but I don’t think reading this one would be so!:((you know why..rite?!)

A journey enjoyed...

I have often felt that I have wandered far off places, and my surroundings are yet to be explored. And so I along with my friends decided to discover the true colours of Kochi.
It was election in our college so soon after casting our valuable votes; we set off to our destination …FORT KOCHI! I have been there many times, but when it comes to traveling with your classmates its real fun! And the trip surely was one of the best I ever had in my life. After a lot of discussion and arguments we (8) came to a conclusion, that boat ride would make it all the more fun…moreover it was cheap and speedy. The thought of a boat ride for jus Rs.2/- was more than enough for us to say ‘WOW’. And as expected with happy and cheerful faces we boarded our small yet comfortable boat with a around another 50 – 60 passengers. We were the only students on the boat, and I must say we were a noisy lot…and so we got all the necessary and unnecessary attention!

Thirty minutes of ride, and we were done. But our actual destination was another 20 minutes walk away, but when you are with friends ‘no road is too long!’ Fort kochi is a hub for big hotels and restaurants, though our pockets didn’t allow us to have a sneak peek at the same…we managed to click a few pictures outside the royal hotels ;)

As we neared the beach, we could feel the cool breeze from the sea. A bunch of hawkers were ready to lure us with colorful pearls and sea shells. But we were more interested to see the Chinese nets catch fresh pray. Huge, ancient nets are still a part of fort Kochi, reminding us the past engineering marvel. Vivid varieties of fish were caught and sold afresh; gelly fish was a star among us and our cameras couldn’t stop blinking at them.

The fishes were pretty, but something prettier roared at us, with its enormous volume yet spectacularly beautiful profile …the Arabian Sea! I must tell you the view was spellbinding. Though the sun was at its peak, the sea pecked our cheeks with cool and refreshing breeze. We walked along the new concrete pavement, enjoying the blue ocean on our right and lush green trees on the left. Renovations have made our sea look even better; a few rest places have been constructed along the walkway…so that you can sit back and enjoy the lovely sea allowing all your senses to relax.

No matter how lovely the sea was, we couldn’t stop our snarling stomachs to grumble for food!
And so our next mission was to find a neat hotel which could fit in our budget, and after a lots of roaming we managed to get in a reasonable looking restaurant …the place was homely, yet we were not prepared our homely meals …so decided to keep it light and ordered for some chicken rolls, puffs, cutlets and cool drinks. Our ‘halky pet pooja’was quite delicious and we were charged again.

Fort kochi is adorned with antique and handicrafts shops…yet you’ll find a dwindling customer population for the same…the sole buyers being, foreigners. We were happy window shopping and clicking the antiques at our reach! A lovely cute little park awaited us with numerous kids playing happily along the see-saw and the swing. We helped ourselves with a scoop of ice cream each and enjoyed being kids riding the rides with our little friends.

After all the fun and frolic, it was time to bid our dear fort kochi goodbye , we didn’t have heavy hearts though …because we knew we would meet her soon !:)

This is going to hurt just a little bit....

Sitting at a dentist, with your mouth wide open is one of the most awkward and undignified state one can be in. And last week I had to go through the same. Going to a dentist is the last thing I would like to do on any day ….I simply dread meeting him. And because of this I have to the bear the brunt of consequences….a cavity which could have been finished with a mere filling, was given the chance to grow and expand ,so much to the extend that it ate up the roots of the tooth…and the only rescue was RCT (Root Canal Treatment). Mummy…a RCT again, noooooo! Yes, I have gone through this before and I know how painful it can be. But then my dentist makes sure that he makes me feel at ease…and says,” this is going to hurt , just a little bit!”. Even though he smiled, I felt he was happy coz he got another victim where he could try and experiment his new tools and thus sharpen his own skills. First session began, he made me lie down on something which resembled a space ship, and with a big disco light hanging from above (well...it wasn’t a disco light but looked the same). Then the dentist commands,”ok now open your mouth” I lie down like a frightened chicken, ready to be slaughtered. And then a series of drillers and screwdrivers follow…which pay no heed to your cries…very mechanical tools I must say! And at times the dentist fills up the infected tooth with something which smells like the clove , I wonder why he does that…to strengthen the tooth or just to keep his “smell” organ intact!;).
Then comes a set of road rollers, which run all over mouth. Followed by some tar like substances which are used to fill up the ‘pits’ sorry cavities! All this long, one thing which kept giving me burns inside my stomach was…”what if, he makes a slight mistake and give a big cut…oh…scary!” But as soon as he realizes that I am scared he say”oh…it’s all over…it’s gonna hurt just a little bit” Though the words don’t work much, they help you change your attention.
Next he brings in something like a UFO, with a peculiar round cum long cum oval shape! As soon as it enters your mouth it makes a “beep beep” sound with a blue light flashing all inside…and this was enough to make me go…ayyo…amma…! My dentist laughs and says,”hey now don’t sound like a silly child”
And I could see the nurse, giggling at this from the corner of my eyes….what more do u need to add ‘insult to injury’! I simply wanted to get up and run, and my jaw too was aching and when I was about to say ‘doctor enough for today’ he say that himself ‘so we are done ,will continue the rest the next week’ I get up with mixed reactions…was happy coz it was finally over…and was tensed and sad coz it wasn’t finally over! Would have to meet him the next week and will have to go through the vicious process all over again!

But at the end all I can conclude is…it’s vital vicious cycle, which needs to be repeated to keep your teeth in good health! So happy brushing ….keep smiling ;)

onam, sadya and bus strike!

Well… I guess that sums it all. This was how we celebrated onam in our college, with all sorts of uncertainties and troubles. A working day with no private buses on road is a tough one. Here in kerala, it’s a common thing…every now and then you could see buses on strike, may be for a salary hike or bonus or may be for no reason at all… yaha sab chalta hai…! Usually, when we hear about bus strikes…Its something to be happy, (I admit it shamelessly) because you don’t have to go to college or office…one full day at home …which means sheer enjoyment! But this time round, it was something different. It was something different; our cclass onam celebration was scheduled on the same day ie on the strike day! Now what to do? How will we reach college on time? How will we go back home? This was what everyone was discussing about. Being our last year at college , we all wanted our onam to be a memorable one , but with the bus strike thing creeping in … all the fun was almost lost, everyone was down , not knowing what to do and what not to…we had given order for the onasadya(the main part of celebration …food ,in complete tradition style) so if we weren’t able to come , then it will mean a complete waste of money and efforts. Finally after lot of discussions we decided that ...lets cancel the programme ! Mainly because it was impossible for some of us to reach college, this was decided around 12:30 the day before the celebration. We, with our heavy hearts dispersed for lunch. Lunch hour is meant for gossip and chitchat , this time though everyone was silent ! Suddenly one of my friends comes up with an idea; “hey transport bus (govt buses) is available naa…and there are other means of transport too , auto or our own vehicles …we can take them out for one day….we have to celebrate our onam , its our last year… we have to make it great!” everything was far fetched in the whole concept , yet it brought in a ray of hope and all of us started thinking positively. And soon, we decided our celebration is gonna happen and we have to reach college at any cost. Though I was apprehensive about the whole thing, and about my means of travel …I too agreed. Next thing on the list was whether to wear the kerala traditional attire (setmundu or set saree) I personally find saris a bit disgusting, all difficult to manage and wear! And on a strike day...oh no I couldn’t imagine myself clinging on to a over crowded transport bus wearing a sari…no no…i had made up my mind , if it was going to be a strike, then no sari! Rest of the girls were all set for a fashion show…and at times I found my mind swaying in the wind, cajoling me to wear the sari…hmmm…with all the confusion , we all bid byes to meet again tomorrow for the grand day!

As soon as I reached home…switched on the tv , just to check if the strike was cancelled , but alas it wasn’t.( it was the first time in my life that I didn’t wanted a strike..lol). so the sari plan was cancelled. Next day woke up early jus to call up my friends and know how they were coming…in the mean while one of my friends calls me up. ...Jus to say that she has an aunty going our route and she has agreed to drop us on the way! Wow! My sari plans again get a new life , so decide to wear a sari …start the ironing and what not!
But sari as usual are so disobliging, you pull them here and they go hay where. After a lot of pushing and pulling decided not to wear it at all…pulled up a pair of salwar and was all set to go…hmmm!. My friend and I were the first ones to be in college …college was absolutely vacant, just a few staff here and there. I consoled myself thinking that even if I wore a sari no one would be there to appreciate my looks…and I felt happy!;). We opened our class room and had some discussions with our teachers who were already present. After about half an hour everyone was present, and each one was busy with their respective work…floral carpet topping the list…and I must tell you it looked quite pretty!
Next was the onasadya , it was a sumptuous feast I swear …loved the payasam…yummy!
Everything was well organized , thanks to the boys of our class who took the initiative for the sadya and for arranging each and everything so perfectly …Thank you guys!:)

So all in all it was fun to be in college on a strike day, though it was empty …it felt as if it was all ours …happy to be with us, celebrating our little joy!:)

My 'hanky' and me!

Boarding a bus after college is a tedious task. As soon as the last bell rings, everyone rushes to the bus stop …and it resembles a group of bees clustered around a beehive. If you could get into the first bus, then my god…You are an expert in it! I seldom get the chance for the same…but today made it somehow! Uff…the pushing, pulling …and what not…but finally found a place to stand by. My friend who is always in search of a seat, beside the driver was not successful today to fish one…and so was sulking about the same. I in the meanwhile was happy that I could stand near the window, and could enjoy the fresh air! After two or three stops the rush was a lot better and we could actually see the people standing along with us.

Suddenly an aunty who was standing next to me, turn around us and says “can you please lend me your handkerchief , my hand is hurt and its bleeding.” We simultaneously inquire “how?”. She then tells us that, there was something protruding near by the window, where she accidentally got her hand and it was cut, near the elbow. It wasn’t a major injury just a small wound, but then a little bit of blood was oozing out …and being ‘chingam 1’(new year day of keralites) she was dressed in the traditional kerala attire , like many other aunties! And so was very cautious, as she didn’t want her white sari to turn crimson! And this was the reason why she needed a hanky.

But then hankies are quite personal, they travel all along with you…and it’s a emotional moment if you have to part with it…especially when you are quite attached to it…lol…as I am . But then, somehow I persuaded my mind and decided to give away my hanky …after all it was for a noble cause and I was helping out a poor lady.

Though I was a bit sad to part with my hanky …I knew after receiving the same the aunty would thank me with a genuine smile and in return I would feel happy and content for helping some one.

With this thought in mind I offered my hanky with a sweet and generous smile. But as soon as the hanky was offered it was snatched from my hand…as a cat does with a mouse!. No word of ‘thank you’ or authentic smile, not even a look of gratitude. Everything was so fast, that even I didn’t know what actually happened! My ‘hanky’ was sincere with her duties and covered the wound well…but her present mistress was least bothered from where she came or the help she offered.She was bothered only about her sari and as long as her sari remained white she was satisfied.

Before getting down at my stop , I gave a last look at the aunty to see if she would want to thank me…but as thought I was disappointed ,not because she didn’t thank me… but simply because I could see my dear ‘hanky ’crying aloud wanting to get back to me!

proud to be an indian!:)

Another year of independence has passed by,its time to remember our leaders who made this happen!





Who taught us that UNITY IS STRENGTH!







Despite our vivid cultures , beliefs and traditions ,we still are ONE! and will ALWAYS be!















We believe in "united we stand and divided we fall"Its LOVE which binds us together!



With all these specialties in hand , its impossible for any force to dismantle us .With this vigor and passion at hearts ,our flag can only fly high!

JAI HIND

A day with palmistry!

Palmistory, a topic which excites most of us! And so was I when my sis brought along a book on the same. She got the same, from her colleague, who is a “somewhat” expert in it. My sis as usual in her over excited tone…took the book from her bag…with a ‘dhaan te dhaan’(in Kaminey style). Even I was too elated and came up with the ‘show me show me’ (Jab we met, kareena style)[you’ll remain confused if u haven’t seen any of the said scenes!;) ] Hmm…now begins the drama….

My sis flips open the first page and starts off as a ravenous reader…

Sis:(after a few pages of reading)….oh so if your index finger is longer than the ring finger…oh…acha….k. Hey anu, show me …nokkatte…

Me: (I was staring her in the meanwhile…like a dumb head! I stretch my hand out for her to examine ) if its longer…what?

Sis: it means you are a creative person….! Now see anu our fingers are similar ,wow great naa!(too excited and blushing)

(now since the first thing itself was quite interesting…I was keen to know more)

Me: then what else …(I ask, thrilled to know more)

Sis: arre wait…nokkatte(let me read…a bit irritated now!) hmmm…if the first two visible lines in your palms intersect …(examining her own)…ayyo…mine is not intersecting yaar…show me yours anu…! Oh god, yours too..

Me: entha whats the prob …(all perplexed and worried)…

Sis: it means we would me independent, so much to the extend that our compatibility with our partners may suffer!(with a somber expression )

Me: (with an unbelievable expression filled with some sort of concern)oh..do u believe all this ..Crap …I don’t …(I try to sound confident)

Sis: k…whatever…now see this, its about how many kids we’ll have…I have two, let me check yours…

Me: before that lets call amma and see her’s…if its right then we can confirm on everything….(I say this pleased with myself for the intelligence I just exhibited!)

Sis: ya right anu…lets call her…(and we screech at the top our voices ) Ammaaaaaaaaaa………

(amma who was busy with her chores , runs out panicked towards us )

Amma: entha…what happened…(with alarm all over her face)

Sis: show me your hand …(ignoring amma’s alarmed look!) hmmm….hey as per your lines it says …that amma you’ll have 3 kids!!!(shocked expression with eyes split open!)

Amma: what...3 kids!entha...what are you both doing here…its already 8:30 and both of you didn’t take your bath yet…and what is this silly book…palmistory!!...enough stop all this nonsense and go and wash yourself ! And anu…screaming at the top of your voice ..do u know how old are you…?...when are you going to grow up…daivame…oh..god…what will I do with these girls… (she marches off the room with disgust and a declaration …that if we are not ready by half an hour then we’ll have to help ourselves with the dinner!)

(I had heard enough, and the palm history was proved wrong too..so without wasting any more time I left to the bathroom…mean while I could see my sis still clinging on to the book in her hand!)

At around 8:45 I come back to the room , to see my sis still immersed in the book… and posing strange angles with her hands …sometimes talking to herself …and again confirming with the book…ok..so these are the lines…I have them…(satisfied with herself).Now she folds her hand to a fist ..and starts counting some new lines ,with eyes split apart in concentration and mouth a bit open and tilted (almost the look of darsheel safary in ‘taare zameen par’)…and the drama continues….

I watch all this with a bit of amazement , wondering how could she fall for this…then I call out…minu enough…its already 8:50….go otherwise amma will kill u…!

Sis: (trying to gather her senses back)...ayyo…I have to rush…(runs out of the room)

And I look along with mixed reactions …not knowing whether to laugh or not!