Continued
from
So HP is
a figure renowned in SSN Gents Hostel for his timely remarks. I remember an
incident where one of my friends by seeing another after years claimed
“Machan,
in college you resembled Actor VIJAY and now you look like Thalaivasal VIJAY.” (Reference
was about the lack of hair)
Such was
the spontaneity of our fellow ‘gangsters’. I suppose HP would have played a
stellar role in either naming or popularising the nick names of us in hostel. Every
youngster is a MOUNAM PESIYATHAE Gowtham and Chiyan SETHU in his own sense
during college life. Such ‘beautiful’ nostalgic memoirs would be there for
every reader and its time that we relish it for a while.
A caveat:
SMOKING IS INJURIOUS TO HEALTH.
‘Mathu’ NAATUKKU,VEETTUKKU,UYIRUKKU
KAEDU.
HP
returned home earlier from office to spend the evening with us. So what else if
we adults of post 1991 economic reforms era meet?
***SARAKKU
THAAN.
When we
are about to order for beers, J said he would require just a full and HP asked
sarcastically “just one, J?”
J starred
at me that if decrypted would mean “Makka, NAMMAKITTA”.
Yes, you are
right we have a flash black.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HP helped
us (J and I) in boarding a bus to the nearby bus stop in the morning so that we
shall reach the venue of marriage function at time. After having a glance of the
marriage function we were ready for the feast. But was deeply dissatisfied to
see no paruppu, sambar,vathakulambu and rasam in the feast. If you ask my
fellow ‘Nagercoilians’, they would completely rebuff the meals as there was
no‘AVIAL’, a Kerala heritage, mixed vegetables side dish. The ingredients for
the recipe are simple. Collect all vegetables that could be cultivated in a mountainous
terrain, don’t forget coconut slices and coconut oil.
“AVIAL
ILLAINAA,GOYAALA,TENSION AAGIDUVAANGA”
However, PASI
and RUSI belong to different departments. So after devouring the Karnataka
style vadai, paayaasam, the vegetable fried rice and of course the
‘politicised’ Cauvery water, i-Phone’s GPS application VELLAKKARA THURA AKKA
directed us to the nearest bus stop.
No window
shopping in Bangalore’s shopping mall is similar to a trip to Chennai without a
gaze of MGR’s SAMADHI. Chennai can’t be imagined without MGR SAMADHI,
BEACH,SARAVANA STORES for many even now. Even if you don’t agree with this assertion,
you have to be informed that we had decided to go to Forum, Coramangala. Window
shopping ideal ended up in the purchase of 400Rs worth Children’s book at a
discounted price of 170Rs in Landmark. I did clear all the 50% discount labels
from the books because ‘status’ is important. But no sufficient time was killed
in this and hence J decided to give nostalgia another chance.
“While
working in Robert BOSCH, I was frequent to this bar, makka.”
So we were
in that bar.
* One
full beer of XXXXXXXXXXXXXX, a mini Mountain Dew, Prawn masala(strictly
non-Chinese) was the first order. A full beer was sold at a price 30% over MRP.
The bar was not too good but not bad as the 5 billion $ TASMAC bars. Perhaps no
gated site would be as bad as that of the best performing public sector
undertaking in India. Two more orders of half XXXXXXXXXXXXXX beer each followed.
After completing intermittent rounds of smoke, we were riding in a ‘metered’ auto
to Narayanapura.
CUT
PANNINAA …..
Location:
liquor shop in Narayanapura.
Flashback
ends
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So HP was
informed about the reason of J restricting himself to just a beer.
HP : “ADA
PAAVI. RIGHTU VIDU.”
* Totally
three full beers of the same XXXXXXXXXXXXXX were ordered.
Though
initially we had decided to buy aerated snack packs as side dish, a sudden turn
out of an incident exhorted us to go for PAANI POORI masala as side dish.
Without focusing the hands that secure a puppy in a
drizzle or the lock of hair falling over the face in a breeze, the only
FEMALE passer-by of my travelogue is being introduced.
A mobile
Paani Poori Shop, some **Hindi speaking customers with their cacophonic noise around,
the sound and flame of an illegally diverted domestic purpose only gas
cylinder-stove duo, some THERU NAAIs (not us) surrounding,
the GIRL
orders for one by two paani poori masala
and stands beside the shop chatting with her accompanying friend.
***To our limited knowledge we believe that
she was well aware that we were not just looking but staring at her sometimes. According
to J she looked at him, to HP she stared at him and to me she would speak to me
soon .So generally speaking, she would look at US and suddenly she would turn
towards her friend.
We were
even discussing
J: “Shall
I go and speak to her?”
Me: “What
would you speak?”
J: “I am
about to be engaged else I would surely approach her”
J: “I
would ask her name”
All: “She
is lean, homely and lovely”
We did
not worry about knowing what they both were discussing.
Her order
was ready by then and so was our purpose being there. We left the place.
J: “I
think she is about 20 years”
HP: “No
she would be a school goer”
Me: “I am
not sure.”
HP: “I saw
some acts of immaturity. She is around 17.”
Discussion
about her continued in the first round of beer….
J: “She
had been waiting in the parking slot for some time before riding her vehicle.”
Unanimous
decision: “Let’s have someone eye the shop for next one week at this time and follow
up then…”
“CHEERS
MACHI”
Now discussion
took the topic of what Love is?
HP to me:
“What do you think?”
I know
about them and remained placid…
HP: “NEE
USHHAR PARTY. You won’t speak now.
My mind
voice:
சாதாரணமாவே அவனுங்க off பண்ணாத வாய்க்கா pump-set
மாதிரி நிக்காம பேசுவானுங்க..இன்னைக்கு கேட்கணுமா.
For those
who know me, it’s business as usual for me. Others could take anyway. As a passive participant, paani-poori as a
side dish appeared novel and really missed a Chicken Tandoori and chettinadu
masala.
Discussion
continued…
HP: “I
had been following a girl in my office but was afraid to tell her.”
J: “It’s
not love. Love is instantaneous.”
J in full
form: “You are not afraid. You are deliberating the situation before deciding.
Love is about spontaneity.”
In the
mean time we were searching for some profiles and asking
“Google,
google, please search……..” and you know by now why profiles are not to be made
public.
In the III
round GOD made the entry but did not know how he did.
“ KADAVUL
IRUKKAARA ILLAIYAA?”
HP: “MACHI,
when I go mid-night alone to get a smoke, I would think about GOD and would get
the valour to go alone. So GOD is a feeling and he is there.”
Me: “Super
mapla”
J: “No.You
can neither disprove nor prove his presence. The faith of presence of GOD or
his absence or the agnostic faith that he may be present/absent is itself GOD”
J
continued : “makka, I went from level 0 to level 2 in the afternoon drinks and
now I started again from level 1 and is in level 3”
But after
hearing this, I totally felt like out of order and helped myself by diverting
the topic.
J: Where
would a boy look at when he first looks at a girl?
Me: So
what about a girl then?
I do not
wish to give any chance to the recently flourishing ‘outrage’ industrialists to
utilize the comfort given by the lenient laws. Answers to the above question
are hence CENSORED to abide to the Indian Constitutional principle of freedom
of speech and expression subjected to restrictions on the grounds of decency
and morality.
J: “How
many cigarettes, do you smoke?”
HP: “What
about you?”
J: “Depends
on the combination. If I am drunk then it would go uncounted within sometime”
HP: “Assault.
I would smoke many”
Me: “How
many of us know that our father would have guessed that we would smoke and we
are a drunkard?”
HP: “I
lost cool when my father cut a phone call in front of me and looking at me
said “KUDICHUTTU
OLARURAAN, THAMBI” .”
There
were also many unconnected discussions throughout. As the reader would have
understood by sometime earlier there is neither objectivity nor conclusion in
this Incident 3 which is so perplexing. However this would be the state of mind
of anyone who remains passive in the situation like above.
He would
think “MACHI ROMBA MOKKA PODREENGA DAA.”
But ask
the main actors they would be self-complacent since they would have shared
whatever is there on their mind. “NEEYA NAANA” Gopinath would have apparently rewarded
them, according to their version. It is a state of mind where all externally
imposed morality would be wilfully broken and vengeance is ventilated and even reticent
would become excessively demonstrative.
By the
time another friend of ours entered the scene we were done with our discussion
and he found us scattered in the room in this fashion ‘A leg of one on
another’s stomach’
If you
did not notice asterisks anywhere above, search for them again.
* XXXXXXXXXXXXXX represents a liquor brand.
Have you
ever wondered about the reason why liquor brands spend a lot for promoting soda
or water and calendar of theirs but not for liquor? It is unlawful to advertise
and promote liquors in TASMACised India. Be proud of how law abiding the
writer( ‘padippu mela sathiyamma’ NAANAE THAAN) is.
**I would
have phrased the sentence as “some Tamil speaking customers with their cacophonic
noise around” had I published this post to Hindi speaking audience.
***I wish
that this part be taken less seriously.
Incident: 4
The intention of our travel was to attend the marriage
function of my friend’s brother and this was the first time I have attended a
marriage function in Karnataka. So don’t ask me how many functions have I
attended in Kerala or Andhra. I haven’t. Having known the background of this marriage
we are not disappointed to see a low turnout of ‘relatives’ for the event and one
reason being the marriage was on Wednesday. Seems not just Tamils but also
others too follow this
“PON KIDAICHAALUM PUTHAN KIDAIKAATHUU“
A marriage being an alliance between two families in Indian
society, this case it was an Inter-State family alliance. Forget about the
political differences between the states, Tamilnadu was under Karnataka based
Vijayanagar Empire for over centuries and the bride’s family could content
themselves by noting that Vijayanagar Kingdom and the groom’s family both are
Telugu speaking and of the same religion. Who knows my friend could have had a
royal association. Thus they could look out for anything integrating them. Mean
while if you have guessed the caste of my friend, then you are a ‘qualified’
social scientist and
ATHUKKU NICHAYAMMAA NEENGA SERI VARUVEENGA. Fill few suitcases and approach
THALABATHI or AMMA; book a berth for Loksabha 2014.
Love cum Arranged marriage is widely in public discourse in
recent times and in my personal discourse at least, as both my brothers did
decide their life partners themselves. I had even attempted to canvass my
eldest brother to go in sync with my parent’s view but was matured enough to be
reluctant in the case of second. My parents are ‘convinced’ that their
daughters-in-law are either of the same caste or of the same religion however they
are without any regrets now. But having seen me as an ardent supporter of my
brother’s love, they would be worried that I might repeat the same. Even if I
do there would be ‘acceptance’, if not reception but if I don’t, it would mean MORE
for them. And MORE here is more to the core; perhaps sky as the limit.
An average middle
class father ostensibly is not ready to be denied the right to choose the life
partner for his ‘kid’, for his kid is a kid even when he becomes the CM of
Uttar Pradesh.
And now a days it appears as if MARUTHUVAR AIYAA also has a
role in deciding who should marry whom. So please get an NOC from him if you
are married already and an authorisation charter if yours is imminent.
ENDS
*********************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment